It’s a basic principle in economics, what everyone wants is higher in price. On the other hand, the price is relatively less for what few want.

If you try and observe your life, you’ll see that most things that you want are because of what you see others around you wanting. This has a name for it “herd mentality”. According to this, people tend to base their wants on the wants of the masses.

Everyone wants a good academic score, so you want it too. Everyone wants a good job, you want it too. Because of this, there is high competition to get these things, in other words their price is high. But still we seek these things. Why? Because these things, if achieved, carry societal validation along it. Validation is what we seek after all.

But can we live without validation. Absolutely. Validation doesn’t fill stomachs. Food does. What buys food? Money. How many ways are there to make money? Plenty.

Then where’s the issue. The thing is 98% run after the safe ways of making money. A 9-5 job is an example of this. Starting your own small business is another way but a bit more risky and hence less people go for it and hence there is less competition there. I’m not saying there isn’t any competition, just that it’s lesser than in a college job placement.

You see how unique wants can actually cost less. Though there is more risk, more adventure there. But you’ve got only one life, right? Why play it safe?

-ChoubeySahab

First, why did I fast? Because it was supermoon, the day on which the moon is closest to earth. It is said to be scientifically beneficial for the body and mind to fast on this day.

Interestingly, I got to know about the supermoon around 11am and I hadn’t eaten anything until then. So I thought, I’m almost through half the day of fasting, why not extend it to full 24 hours. That’s exactly what I did.
Coming onto how it felt during the fast. Peace is the word. The mind was a lot less cluttered, I could think clearly. The most important thing that happened is that, time seemed to have slowed down. All of a sudden I thought I have so much time on my hands.
Because of all the above reasons, I could work a lot more than any normal day. Though not everything went the way I wanted. There were failures. But that’s the same for any other day. The failiures always outnumber the successes.

At the start of it, I felt I will probably have some issues by end of the day, say headache or something of that sort. Nothing of that kind happened. Though I did feel a lack of energy by the evening but that’s understandable as I didn’t eat anything, not even fruits, nor milk. Water is all I had, so the energy level is bound to fall.
But again. What did I gain out of this?

It may have a good impact on my mind and body. But honestly, I didn’t do it for that. I did it for 2 reasons: I wanted to do it and to test my self control.
But after completing it, it taught me a valuable lesson.
Fasting helps you understand how having the accessibility to something doesn’t mean you can use it. It makes you get a good sense of how much value these things carry. The food you take for granted isn’t something that all have access to. So many go hungry into sleep.

When you deliberately deprive yourself of the things you have, you understand the real value of it. For me this is the real meaning of fasting. I’m glad I gave it a try and would totally recommend this to you too.
Happy fasting!

-ChoubeySahab

Bragging is an important skill.

Many people I know see bragging as a negative trait about someone. I don’t understand why. It’s just marketing done for one’s ownself. Now don’t tell me marketing is bad too.

In this crowded place (world) we live in, it is important to upsell what you’ve got, because if you don’t, then you won’t find any buyers. Who are the buyers here? The employers. If you run a business then your investors.

The world needs to know what you’ve got in your bag. Noone has time to ask you or check your bag. You have to go out and tell everyone.

Tell people how much value you can create for them. Show them proof to back what you are saying. This is how you get results.

Opportunities don’t just come to you. You have to go and seek opportunities and then pitch in wherever you fit. That’s how you make it happen.

Brag about your skills. Your past achievements. The world needs to know about all that, only then will they give you what you deserve. Else, you would be ignored like countless talented people are.

Bragging is a skill. Learn it as soon as you can.

-ChoubeySahab

Best way to lead.

Over the past few months I’ve done a lot of research on what makes effective leaders. After the research I’ve found the best way to lead. A way of leadership in which people happily listen to what the leader says.

This technique is hardwork. When you work the hardest in the lot, you start leading by example. You convey it to people, how serious you are about something.

Charisma is one trait common in all effective leaders. This charisma is not there in anyone by birth. There’s no charismatic baby. This trait is built by the work you do. The command you carry over your actions. The control you have over the destiny of yourself and the organization you work for.

Another trait common in best leaders is, their words carry weight, they do as they say. Atleast people believe that they’ll do as they say.

One last thing and in my view the most important, is that true leaders are those who make more leaders. If you can inspire people to take control of their destiny, you are a true leader.

-ChoubeySahab

Television is degrading.

With each passing day and with the coming of digital streaming services, television has lost steam. TV channels are no longer able to keep up with the internet.

People spend more time on YouTube, Instagram, Netflix than TV. The only 2 groups of people that still watch TV are the toddlers and the elderly. Even this is not wholly secure. The toddlers can frequently be found using smartphone without having much problem navigating.

The elderly have found a place for themselves at Facebook. Yup that’s how Facebook is surviving. It’s because of our parents.

I’m certain that within the next 5 years TV will be irrelevant and out of date. What will replace it is, quite obviously, the smartphone. Each one with their own entertainment in their hands.

There’s only 1 downside of all this. Those TV remote fights will be a thing of the past. I’ll miss that for sure.

-ChoubeySahab

Fear of failure.

This is one fear that almost all of us have. The fear that we might fail in what we are doing. The fear to not live up to expectations. The fear of letting others down.

I myself tackled this fear for a long long time. But then I realized that to live to my true potential, I’ll need to dump this fear of failure and try new things. I believe this had helped me in a big way to be constantly pushing myself and to take up new challenges.

This also helps me constantly grow as a person. I see people around me, all having great ambitions, few are willing to take the plunge. Why? Because they fear failure.

No doubt, the chances of failure are high. But the good thing about failure is that it always teaches you something. The more you fail, the more lessons you get to learn. Not taking the chance is failure by default, that too with no lesson whatsoever.

You are downplaying yourself by playing it safe. Take chances, realize your potential. You are made for more, much more than you have at this moment.

-ChoubeySahab

Beware of emotions.

Whenever I talk to anyone about AI and robots. They ask me if robots can emulate human emotions. My answer is that they don’t need to. In fact robots are better off without emotions.

Emotions cloud our thinking. It overpowers our thinking ability. If we look at emotions, rarely do they help us perform better. It is difficult to do a task when you are sad and dejected, while when you’re happy, you don’t feel like working. A neutral state of mind is where we perform best. Robots are constantly in this neutral state. What could be better than that.

Human emotions are not a plus to our species. It just makes us more human because emotions are a trait of homo sapiens. Robots neither need nor should be like humans. Ultimate goal is the get the task done in the most efficient manner and if robots accomplish it without emotions, so be it.

This also leads us to common question of will robots replace us one day. But I won’t touch upon that in this one, for there is a lot to say on it. So let’s wait and see what time has in store for us. Is it machines ruling us or machines inside us? Only time will tell.

-ChoubeySahab

I’m enjoying this.

Yes I’m, enjoying this writing habit a whole lot. The thing about most habits is that you get bored of them after a while, or don’t see a good point in taking the habit further, or you just stop enjoying it.

But there’s something different about this writing habit. Everyday day I feel excited about writing this blog. It’s a way for me to put out how I feel, how I think about this world. It feels amazing when someone tells me that my blog brought a change in the way they approach life.

Everyday I think about what should I write on today, and trust me this is the most difficult part. Once I get the thing to write on, the rest just flows out of my thumb. Yeah thumb, because I type using my right thumb.

It’s interesting to note here, that with the coming of the digital age, the power of a pen is now the power of thumb. Or maybe the thumb is more powerful than a pen.

Whatever it is, we have ever more power in our hands. Our should I say thumb.

Here I leave you with my thumb impression. This whole blog is my thumb impression. Don’t copy it. You have your own distinct impression, let the world brace yours too.

-ChoubeySahab

Get physical.

Doesn’t sound quite right when you first read it. Am I advising you to indulge in a fight? No I’m not.

My purpose of writing this is something else. I want you to get yourself out of the virtual world you live in and appreciate the physical beauty around you. Go for a walk, go cycling, go play outside.

We are moving forward when it comes to technology and ease of getting things done. But backwards when it comes to lifestyle.

Our lifestyle is worse than what our parents had, which is worse than what their parents had. Their communities were shorter but closer. They met more people. Everyday was a get-together.

But now most parents struggle to make time for kids and these kids struggle to find other kids willing to play outdoors. So all kids are left with is the device you’re holding right now.

With time we have submerged ourselves in the virtual world. But we need to take time off it and get physical. Play around with kids and pets, run, cycle. Get out there and express yourself. Feel the sweat dripping off your skin.

Feel alive. Get physical!

-ChoubeySahab

Dealing with dopamine hits.

The thing about dopamine is that it isn’t in your control. You can’t expect when it will hit you. Probably that’s the reason why we say dopamine ‘hit’, because it is so unpredictable.

You can get a dopamine surge when you least want to, like before going to sleep. Before going to bed you want your mind to be calm, so that it can go easy into sleep.

But as I said, you don’t know when it hits you. You only know after it hits you. What if it hits you at the wrong time? What do you do then?

Now that it’s hit you at the wrong time. You gotta act smart and use this dopamine hit to your advantage. Like right now, I’m using an untimely hit by using the hightened state of energy to write this blog.

There are countless ways to utilize dopamine hits. You can just pick up anything you’ve been procastinating on and you’ll be surprised by how easily you complete the task immediately after getting a dopamine hit.

Don’t waste dopamine hits. They are like the nitro boost you get in a racing game. Use them right and you’ll have a higher chance of winning the race.

-ChoubeySahab