Eternal Truths

An overthinking mind is like a burning torch, ready to set fire to everything it touches. Calm your mind for a life of serenity.

Speak with clear intentions. Be aware of the words you choose. Do not speak words designed to hurt. The urge to use hurtful words when emotionally vulnerable must be resisted as hurtful words are the one that cause the most grief. Silence coupled with awareness over speech is the most important skill one must master.

"Empires do not suffer emptiness of purpose at the time of their creation. It is when they have become established that aims are lost and replaced by vague ritual." -- From Dune Messiah

The above quote captures my thoughts when I visit places which are remnants of a great civilization. It is a conversation with a past world where people knew to build great places. Those skills, those people lost to time.

But this emptiness of purpose is not limited to empires and civilizations. It is equally valid at an individual level. When you are too fixated on a purpose, to the extent that purpose is conflated with identity, what happens when the purpose is achieved?

Identity stagnates or decays sans a new purpose. New purpose implies building a new identity, letting go of past achievements, making room for new ones. When an individual thus reinvents, there comes a new time, a new empire and a new civilization as a consequence of combined efforts of such awakened individuals.

Being egoistic with a trusted person and shunning every ounce of ego with a person unworthy of trust is a sure way of finding misery. People who are egoistic among loved ones while too accommodating with others are a good exhibit of this behavior and are often miserable.

The feeling when you witness people sabotage their own lives out of fear and manufacture unfavorable circumstances or create enemies that don't exist, is unmatched and unexplainable. You have so many things to say but so little words to express and stop people from ruining themselves.

Money doesn't buy class. It only amplifies those without class. Classy people conduct themselves regardless of money. I have seen plenty of people without much money but with exceptional character. Only those with shady upbringings show their true colors when in possession of wealth.

Greatness is a consequence of right lessons distilled from the suffering in life.

A man must overcome affinity for material possessions, not as a cope for lack of it, but as a flex for not being buyable. Even kings bow down to sages who have mastered themselves, for the sage possesses what the king lacks.

Constraints force direction on our efforts and necessity forces innovation. Lack of constraints and necessity is slack and slack enables lethargy. A person with necessity will in most cases outsmart a person with discipline but without necessity.

The skills you bring to the table is dwarfed by the network you bring to the table. Skills matter when you are in a role responsible for execution by the means of zooming into details. Network is important when you are in a role responsible for execution by the means of leadership, connecting various ideas and crafting a grand vision.

Networking doesn't just mean the number of people you know. It also entails the quality of people you know. When you come from an environment that has a culture of excellence you will make connections that are equally valuable. This is what makes the network high value.

When you posses such a high value network, it neutralizes any weakness regarding personal skills. Strong network makes you suitable for leadership role. Marry that with strong skills and you are unstoppable, indispensable.

If you happen to come from environments where the culture of excellence is non-existent, your best bet is to up skill to the largest extent possible. You will have knowledge of all the tools of the trade, but you will lack a valuable network.

You can leverage your skills to build the network of competent. In the process you will find many people relatively less competent with skills, but with a strong network because they come from places where excellence is valued.

You can whine about the unfairness and bitterness of the world or you can be the light and illuminate those who come in your proximity. It is hard, but imagine being a presence which brings out the spark among people, give them a taste of sweetness in life, make them feel hopeful.

The difference between a winner and a loser becomes clear when you examine their response to setbacks and losses. The winner takes accountability even when the circumstances are out of his control. The loser shifts responsibility even when the situations were within his control. This translates to elegance in the demeanor of the winner and arrogance in the behavior of the loser.

Being scared is the most unmanly behavior which is a consequence of ideologies of the present. When a man becomes unapologetic of his existence and shuns the feelings of fear, he will find most of his adversaries vanish. What remains are the worthy adversaries and in most cases they aren't what you imagined.

The nature of a person can be assessed by looking at the way he shares information.

There are people who withhold even an insignificant knowledge. There are those who leave out the important part, leaving an impression that they helped and only when you follow on the information you realize the folly. There are also those who deliberately mislead.

Finally there are those who share the wisdom and knowledge generously. It is a pleasure to know and interact with people of this last kind. These are the people of abundance and one never feels depleted in the presence of abundant people.

This is my definition of rich and poor in many spheres of life.

When god gives you intelligence, wealth, power or knowledge, it is your obligation to use it wisely than to hoard it in ignorance or squander it in arrogance.

Improper use leads to suffering, proper use leads to peace and prosperity.

A person used to disrespect only responds to disrespect. Treat him with respect, he will think you are unworthy and will return the gesture by disrespect. He does this because he is internally convinced that he deserves the ill treatment.

Once you understand this fact you begin to understand why certain people do not reciprocate kindness. Why certain communities cannot be civilized. Why it is not reasonable to use reason when dealing with the public.

Every civilization that was once great and finds themselves as a faint shadow of its glorious past, has one phenomenon in common - degeneracy amongst its population. Further, such a degeneracy is normalized and rationalized through perverse use of intellect. There is no ascension sans introspection and subsequent correction.

World is a lot worse than your optimism allows and a lot better than your pessimism projects.

If you are too pessimistic, you will be surprised at the kindness the world has to offer. But such a kindness comes at the price of flawed decision making due to your own pessimism.

On the other hand, you will be constantly let down by the world due to your excessive optimism. But the upside is that your decision making is charged by your sheer positivity - a prerequisite for the ambitious.

The latter is the strength of the leader and thus being let down is his burden.

Prefer slow and sturdy growth over fast and fragile growth. It is important to take risky decisions in order to grow. But, it is not wise to risk the growth process itself. Fast growth is risky growth. The speed puts emphasis on quick outcomes. Slow growth on the other hand puts emphasis on the process which will lead to necessary outcomes over time. Invest in the process and let the outcomes compound.

I do not worry about perfection, but do seek perfection. I iterate due to the former towards the latter. Iterations have no meaning if you do not have a defined perfect state of what ever it is that you are trying to build.

Perfection and lack of clarity do not go together. The problem starts when desire for perfection and lack of clarity are operating at the same time. Seek places or situations where there is clarity and your desire for perfection will make sense again.