I have a feeling today’s post might come out better than most. Let’s see.

About the day, woke up, recorded a 6 AM podcast with Saurabh and Riya, went to college, read Show your work – notes soon, got an Uber Black for home – cool experience, worked on Spill Pot – this is my matar + need more time to actually pull this off, spent two hours at the gym – leg day, went out and bought some essentials, came home, had late lunch, canceled some calls thinking I’ll do some maker-tasks but ended up napping instead. That was part one of my day.

Now, I’m wide awake, showered, caffed up and ready for a longer night. Which is some co-working + some home-chore-things with a friend. We start with writing about the day. Chalo!

One. The bad luck of the day ends here.

So I was in a rush this morning. And while showering, my towel hit the toothbrush stand a total of 3 times. In a span of mere 10 minutes. Now I wish I was better than being irked and upset by this, but no. Stepped out extremely irritable and frustrated by this. I told Om what happened and he gave me the best reframe possible.

“Think of it like this. The bad luck of this day is now spent on a random, silly inconvenience. So nothing worse will happen. Only good things now.” And I think a switch flipped. Now I’m pretty sure this has no logical backing but if I could look at small things that bother me like this, or even big ones, I could save so much energy and headspace. Plus, that’s a great attitude to have. Only thing is, I must not start expecting the rest of the day to suddenly start looking better. Just be okay with the now.

For someone like me who easily lets the rest of the day go down the drain if one thing goes wrong, this is incredibly helpful. Now, I want to start consciously doing it; practicing it. Hopefully this will become who I am.

Two. The story of Kent Evans.

I’d be surprised if someone who’s reading this hasn’t heard of Bill Gates? The Microsoft man. There are a ton of books and stories and interviews from him life. He’s also pretty, pretty rich. Rightly so, the man made personal computers easier + accessible for all the world.

The tale facts go: If there were 300 Million High School students in Seattle, there were some 300 that went to Bill’s High School. Lakeside. Where happened to be a professor who had leased an advanced computer that was rarely accessible to the publics. 300/300 Million. The math is one in a million. Literally. This access was a chance, rare, unfair advantage; which clubbed with Bill’s grit and curiosity and smarts paved the way for Microsoft. Of course, Paul Allen was key to this too. But this one’s also about a lot of luck.

Now, Kent Evans. Same High School. Spent a lot of time doing the same things on the same computer as Bill. Unfortunately, he lost his life in a mountaineering accident. And guess what — the chance of a High School student dying in a mountaineering accident, also one in a million. Kent could have gone on to create a Microsoft with Bill or do more. Like Kent, that’s a lot of risk that you always run.

Point is: Any success is a lot of external factors. While you can do a lot to prepare for success, there’s also tons you can not control. That should bring in some humility and perspective on the life you lead. And the things you do with it.

Three. Being in the people business.

So, I woke up at 5:30 AM to record a 6 AM podcast. With Riya and Saurabh. I’m not giving you a summary of the podcast. You’ll see it go live here. You might want to subscribe. What I want to talk about is this — For most folks, the idea of recording a podcast at 6 AM is nuts. But there were 3 loons taking a shot at it today. And that’s basically all you need to know about being in the business of people.

Over the last 3 years that I have known SG + 2 years with Riya, we’ve spent time + made a lot of efforts in building trust. Respect. A friendship. A relationship. Whatever the word for this is. That doesn’t make this feel like an inconvenience at all. Would I do it for any random person? No. Would a random person ever do it for me? Also no.

The idea is to find your tribe and nurture it. Nurture it fiercely. Put disproportionate effort in that. Do fun things together. And ruthlessly get rid of the fluff. So that. How do you do this? Only one way to find out.

Lastly. Micro-thoughts from the day.

1. Passed around a silly note in the middle of a lecture today. And then saw other people joining in on it. Reminded me of Derek Sivers’ talk. It’s not funny how often I see it pan out in daily life. Also re-affirms the idea I only need to find the first believer and a few adopters. They will carry the rest.
2. Read this Twitter exchange. I’ve decided to read Show Your Work, make video summaries of each chapter along with ideas (basically, my action points and checklist) on how I apply the book. Love me an action-inducing book.
3. Did some cool new exercises at the gym today. Got pretty tired after but really enjoyed it. I never thought I’d like it so much. Maybe it’s just the thrill of being able to go heavier with my weights WoW.
4. Did a few things I don’t generally do. Went in to a different store to get my socks and sports bras. Took an Uber Black from college to home. Slept in the evening. Did a different cardio routine. Got a different coffee. Interesting.
5. My laptop has been getting a little slow lately. I hate it. Will have to see what to do about it.
6. Read somewhere that feet arches tend to go flat with age. So got a ball to exercise with. Will do it in the morning as I brush my teeth. Let’s see how long I stick to. Just a fun, new thing honestly.

And yeah. That’s all!

Anshika – on Instagram, Twitter and LinkedIn.

Ps: I share interesting links and stories that tickle my brain through the day on this WhatsApp group. Most of it doesn’t make it to these blogs, but should you like to join — here.

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