Today I wanted to say "Don't waste water" in Hindi to someone.
Struggled to find the Hindi word for "waste".
I know "zaaya" in Urdu, but what's the word in Hindi?
I turn 43 today.
Here are 43 things life taught me, one way or another. It sounds weird to say, but there is no AI or "generic life advice". Every single one comes from something I personally experienced and learned over the years.
(This is an updated version of a post I first wrote 3 years ago, in August 2023, when I turned 40.)
1) (Almost) nobody cares. Do your own things without forcing people to watch you or trying to impress someone. You are also very focused on your life too, right?
2) Your life is your priority: in order to help others, you should be in a position to help them, so put yourself first.
3) Never neglect exercising. Based on your physical possibilities, exercising regularly will make you age slower and will keep you active for many years.
4) Use the past as a lesson, but don't base your life on how much you've already invested in something.
5) Gradual but steady change is better than trying a quick pivot. It's more of a state of mind than an overnight decision.
6) Learn to take time to celebrate your successes (something I was never used to doing, but now I do).
7) Don't drink or smoke to impress others. Do it if you want, but not to look cool.
8) It's ok to be confused about your life. Deciding what you want to do with your life is important, but not everyone knows their path at 10. Just don't give up and keep working on it.
9) It's absolutely ok to do a job you don't like for a period, especially if you have to pay bills or support your family/studies. But never forget your goals and dreams.
10) Value yourself. If you don't value yourself, others will tend to do the same.
11) Know yourself: your strengths and weaknesses, what calms you and what drives you crazy. Based on that, you can really improve your life.
12) Don't let anyone tell you that you can't do something, neither your parents nor your partner. Listen to feedback, but make the important decisions of your life on your own.
13) Don't make a report of your life in your 20s. There's plenty of time to change your life, even multiple times.
14) Everyone loves to work on their strengths. But dedicate some time to working on your weaknesses, too.
15) Don't drive if you are drunk. Really. Find another way to get back home. I risked my life 2 or 3 times this way and I just got lucky.
16) If a person is dangerous for your life, don't save their number on your phone.
17) You'll never regret the time and money you spent travelling.
18) Don't spend money to impress others. Spend it if it does improve your life.
19) Being rejected for a job might be the luckiest day of your career.
20) Writing down your goals can really help you focus on them. Also, when you have to make a difficult decision, write down the pros and cons of each choice. This helped me a lot to make the right decisions in my 30s.
21) Accepting your nature is what will really unlock all your true potential.
22) If someone makes fun of you or criticizes/hates you, it's likely their problem and not yours. Also, never take it personally, as they are mostly against what you represent rather than you as a single human.
23) Be patient, but not stupid. Set clear boundaries when someone just wants to take advantage of you repeatedly.
24) Cut toxic people out as soon as possible, no matter who they are and what they represent to you (relatives, friends of friends, ...).
25) About breakups, time will heal everything. It's not the end of your life, and ending a toxic relationship might be the luckiest thing that will ever happen to you.
26) When things go bad, set short-term goals. When things go well, set long-term goals.
27) In your career, always choose the good long-term opportunity rather than the quick and bad one. Time will fly.
28) Someone will judge you literally for anything you do, and even if you do nothing, they'll judge you for doing nothing.
29) People are not in your head, so they might miss many things about your goals and ideas. If you know yourself, you should listen, but don't do what everyone else says.
30) If you are mentally stuck for a period of your life, that's ok. Understanding the root cause should be your priority.
31) Getting distracted from your goals to support someone once is ok. Changing your life to support someone is not (quitting your job, giving them all your time/money). You will end up hating both yourself and that person.
32) Learn from everyone, both positive and negative people. Learn from their mistakes.
33) Stay open-minded. Related to travelling, knowing other cultures and ways of thinking is the best way to open your mind. We are not all the same, and this is the beauty of us all.
34) Be self-ironic: don't take yourself too seriously. We all have a funny side and a sense of humor, and making fun of ourselves gives us a lot of confidence.
35) Don't be too hard on yourself. If you tried very hard for something but you didn't achieve your goal, maybe it was not a complete failure. Maybe you still partially achieved your goal or gained experience from it.
36) Draw conclusions at the end, not at the beginning of something. When you have to do something important, like an event or a sports match, first focus on it. You can talk about it and all the things literally for years afterward, but not during the event itself.
37) Be authentic. It's hard to fake it 24/7. Be yourself and work on yourself.
38) Comparing yourself to others is natural. Do it in a healthy way. Take advantage of this, but never feel bad or angry/jealous about others' success.
39) Supporting someone else will never drag you down. Dragging other people down will.
40) Don't wait until you feel completely ready. Most of the important things I did in my life started when I was still scared, confused, or not fully prepared. You become ready by doing.
41) Protect your time. Money can come back, opportunities can come back, but your time doesn't. Be careful about who and what you give it to.
42) Reinventing yourself doesn't mean that your previous life was wasted. Everything you learned, every mistake and every experience can become useful in your next chapter.
43) If you are about to learn JavaScript, you might lose your 6-pack.
A healthy relationship will test you more than a toxic one. Because it won't let you run. It holds up a mirror and says: Show up. Communicate. Grow. Swallow the pride. It's a repeated choice to stay and work at it together. Even when it's hard and ugly. That's why real love scares people so much in this generation.
Best movies since 2000:
25. Wedding Crashers
24. Blade Runner 2049
23. Hell Or High Water
22. Midnight In Paris
21. Once Upon A Time In Hollywood
20. Superbad
19. The Prestige
18. Casino Royale
17. Inglorious Basterds
16. Harry Potter & The Goblet Of Fire
15. Wolf Of Wall Street
14. La La Land
13. The Notebook
12. The Departed
11. Inception
10. No Country For Old Men
9. The Big Short
8. Gladiator
7. The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo
6. Lord Of The Rings
5. Spotlight
4. The Social Network
3. Prisoners
2. The Dark Knight
1. Interstellar
This thing irks me so much tbh.
I regularly travel for classes and Delhi/Mumbai and Bengaluru are so genuinely insanely expensive tbh.
And then I visit Kochi or Bhubaneshwar or Lucknow and realise what normal pricing in India should actually feel like.
Heck, I kid you not - Tokyo is genuinely less expensive than Delhi.
I’ll spend less in a day in Tokyo on food and going out than in Delhi for similar food/eateries.