Reflections at 29: Principles That Have Shaped My Life

I turned 29 last weekend and for the first time in 2 decades, I didn’t want to do anything on this day. When I was a child, my birthday was a day to get pampered and get attention from everyone around. Even as I grew older, that feeling remained. The need for attention. For love. For feeling special. The day meant something to me.

Over the years even after childhood was over, I threw parties, met people in small groups on the same day, travelled, announced on social media that oh it’s my birthday but I wont say it, I will just repost photos my friends share appreciating me.

This year, there was almost none of that. I moved to New York City recently, which feels like a dream tbh, and all I wanted to do was spend quality time with my husband, walk around the city and be grateful for what I have. I was content.

The past year has been the most transformative so far. I graduated with an MBA from an Ivy League Business School (Tuck). I have a consulting job that starts in January. I started the year with a bang — no drinking for 75 days, consistent workouts for 160+ days, and most importantly, I started making content. Something I wanted to do for over a decade. I gave up my fear of “what would people think” and just started posting, and grew my following from 0 to 40K+ in < 6 months.

Anyhow, this post is not about content creation, or a recap of the year. It is about the principles I have read and accumulated over the years that have enabled me to reach a stage of contentment, yet keep pushing me to aim higher. It’s about the principles that make me chart my own path without fear of public perception, especially of those near and dear to me. Let’s dive deep into it!

1. Not succumbing to the Bandwagon effect: Everyone wants to fit in. People do things because others are doing it, even if there is no evidence to support how that thing would have benefits for them. You drink every Friday because your friends are doing so. You go on a trip because you don’t want to disappoint people planning it. Countless examples. I have done this too, especially in an environment like business school where there are great rewards for being associated with a herd.
   
   I read Poor Charlie’s Almanack this year where the first line itself taught me how I don’t need to do this anymore. “Acquire worldly wisdom and adjust your behavior accordingly. If your new behavior gives you a little temporary unpopularity with your peer group…then to hell with them.”
   
   This year, I quit drinking for 75 days, didn’t go on many weekend plans my friends had, cancelled plans to shoot or ideate videos and guess what? Whoever had to stay, stayed. I guess when you realise you are too old to please everyone, life really does get more fun!
   

2. Realising Media is my mode of leverage: Naval Ravikant talks about the four types of leverage in his tweetstorm, which if you haven’t read, you must.
   
   Capital, labor, code, media are the four leverages that let you multiply your output with minimal input. I realised I could use capital and compound it over time, but I don't have that much to begin with, so this will take forever. Labor and code too, won’t apply to me. I don’t have any coding skills (regretfully) and nor do I have a business which could be scaled with a large workforce.

   
   But media is something I could do and I have always wanted to. Social media is not just entertainment. It is distribution. Distribution for something you will build in the future. Or for something cool others are building and you believe in. And I want to be at the front and centre of it.
   

3. Ignoring money is dumb: I realised how important money is only during my 20s and especially more when I came to the US and saw the endless possibilities. Being in the centre of capitalism, experiencing your income 10X just with one degree definitely makes you think differently. But the most crucial was to realize the power of compounding. Seeing how I was sitting here but my investments in India were growing at 25-30% every year, without me lifting a finger.
   
   And that’s when I realised that this is what I want.
   
   I want to make money when I am literally sleeping.
   
   Amass as much capital as I can so that the interest itself funds my lifestyle.
   
   And not let lifestyle inflation take over my future aspirations.
   
   Can I continue paying off my debt and still treat myself with a luxury bag or two every year, go out on “fancy” vacations, have meals and drinks at cute rooftop bars every weekend? Sure. But will doing that allow me to invest 20-30% of my post tax income and let it compound and actually double in 4-5 years? NO. I am still charting a path to making financial freedom possible, but coming to the US and starting content creation were definitely steps in that direction. My life mantra is that everyone wants freedom, and money buys exactly that. Let me know your thoughts on money in the comments!
   

4. Stepping outside the zone of average: The zone of average is a place where things are not bad, but not so great either. It’s where things are comfortable enough as they are so you become complacent. Shane Parrish talks about it in detail in his book, Clear Thinking, if you want to read more.
   
   For me too, life was perfect in India. Everyone around me was aiming for a masters program right after undergrad. My parents pressured me into going for a masters right away too. I had all the comforts of home. I could have gone for a masters and come back even without a job and no one would have bat an eyelid.
   
   I decided to stay and work. I then had respectable jobs in Investment Banking and VC, which are highly coveted industries. I earned enough to have a good lifestyle. But I wanted more. Coming to the US for an MBA was a big risk. Taking on $200K in debt was a big risk. But that's exactly what I needed to do to step out of my zone of average. And life has never been better than it is now.
   
   So if you are feeling too comfortable where you are, maybe it’s time to rethink some choices. It’s tough, but I promise you even small steps outside the comfort zone could give compounded returns.
   

5. Having a Personal Board of Advisors, either dead or alive: At Business School, we were offered to connect with alumni who could be our mentors, and you could have a group of such alumni and form a Personal Board of Advisors (PBA) for your career. I did utilize this offering, but I realised that I had been doing this in another form for a long time. I consumed so much of content related to entrepreneurs, thinkers and just people across walks of life I admire, that the collection of their teachings made me think of them as my PBA for life. The biggest takeaway has been to consume content relentlessly and make a compilation of teachings from the very best in their field. At different points in life, communicate with your compiled notes and understand whether it’s the right next step or not. At least that's what I do. A go-to phrase in my life is - “What would Charlie (Munger) say?”

If you’ve read this far, thank you! This is a glimpse of my most favorite principles that I frequently apply to make decisions. There is a lot more to unpack — both in terms of things I have learnt from others and things I have developed for myself with time. I promise to post weekly now, so stay tuned and hit the subscribe button if you want it directly in your inbox!

PS. If you have actually come this far, I have a request — I plan to name the newsletter something different going forward. I really liked the name Sunday Thoughts, but it is taken by someone else unfortunately. So if you have any recs, drop them in the comments or DM me on Instagram!