Nuggets - Thoughts, wonderings, and philosophies. | Arpit Bhayani

There is no direct correlation between education and degree.

There will always be a missed opportunity.

Ignore often.

Day 1 is not about perfection but execution.

Ego is a frictional force that acts against your growth.

Conversation is never about winning or losing.

Life is unfair by design.

To make better decisions, be emotionally detached.

Don't explain, prove.

We all suffer from Imposter Syndrome.

Consciously make an effort to learn about your weaknesses.

Fear of failure grows as you progress.

Society seeks results, not efforts.

You become proficient by doing, not watching.

Be coachable.

Opportunities and complaints co-exist.

Bragging wrecks your status.

Initiatives are rewarding.

You don't have to be perfect to succeed.

The world notices your failed attempts only when you become successful.

The more chances you take, the luckier you get.

Be bold enough to make and admit mistakes.

Be imperfect but have a growth mindset.

Back your opinions by results.

Rushing thoughtlessly is fatal.

Strike a balance between self-awareness and self-belief.

You feel bitter when confined.

Read between the lines if you seek clarity.

Define your own definition of success.

Choose what you want to work hard on.

Learning the "whys" is more fun than learning the "whats."

Meritocracy is a myth.

Hard work = Success is an oversimplification.

If you are ignored, get better.

Impatience repels success.

Life-changing opportunity never knocks at the door at random.

Struggle is a prerequisite to success.

You gain deeper insights through experience.

Lifelong learning demands lifelong discipline.

Learning is easy if you have mastered the basics.

Consistency beats inconsistent head starts.

Seek solace.

We are remembered for our actions and not just for having the intent to act.

Strive for excellence and not perfection.

To get better at creating, create.

Don't be guilty of wasting time; your mind deserves a break.

A decade worth of effort always pays off.

Success attracts haters.

Time spent worrying is time spent wasted.

People lacking the zeal to learn think they are always "right."

To experience exponential growth, understand the difference between telling and showing.

Do not spill out your anger; instead, channelize it to your advantage.

Ironically, too much motivation is depressing.

Books prepare you well for the worst-case scenarios.

It just takes one "Yes, you are right" to resolve a conflict.

If you have to boast about your past accomplishments, you haven't grown.

Manage time well.

To grow quickly, be around people who ask "good" questions.

In the midst of chaos, don't lose sight of your priorities.

If you cannot enjoy the success of others, do not expect others to be happy when you succeed.

Be ambitious.

Most of the conflicts are forced by the egos.

Overthinking slows you down.

Clarity is conveyed only when you have a thorough understanding.

Competing against people who enjoy learning is mighty tough.

You develop an inferiority complex by reading/watching too much about successful people.

You cannot justify your stagnation.

Anguish is temporary; don't let it take over.

Focus is a differentiator.

Have a strong bias for action.

Believing in something does not make it a fact.

Have high standards for the content you consume.

The harder the task at hand, the greater is the opportunity to grow.

"It's too late to start now" is just an excuse.

Outwork.

You don't have to take everything personally.

Self-confidence is fragile, it shatters even a with minuscule of a failure.

Read something you disagree with.

Keep your inner child alive and have a never-ending zeal to experiment and try out something new.

The biggest asset you own is your creativity.

The way people treat others is a reflection of how they treat themselves.

Want to be unstoppable? Be consistently creative.

Understanding compounds over time.

Your life needs a purpose because the world needs a story for the ages.

Either waste time criticizing or spend time building.

Jealousy is you getting distracted by seeing others grow.

Missed opportunities hurt more than risk.

Most minds are not malleable.

Just like in games, never settle for a difficulty level in your life. Level up, face a tougher challenge, and win big.

You can compensate for lack of talent with focus, consistency, and hard work.

To worry less, detach.

Beliefs are meant to be questioned.

You can attain short-lived success with Luck, but long-lived success demands skills.

Never be too proud to admit your fault.

"Clash of the Egos" is the worst game of all time.

You restrain growth when you seek consensus.

If you want to teach something to yourself, write.

Do not judge what you don't understand.

Hard things are hard because they change your life for good.

You will always wish to have had started earlier.

Once a while, let your ego get crushed, crumbled, and broken into minuscule pieces.

Envy stops when you are self-focussed.

"I don't have time" is a lie.

Questioning is not arguing; most people do not understand the difference.

Foolish and catastrophic decisions are inevitable when we put blind faith in someone.

To worry less, do more.

Once a while, pause.

A few months of self-reflection save decades of struggle.

Most people do not truly seek freedom because they are afraid to own their decisions; freedom is being responsibly self-reliant.

You radiate confidence if you truly understand what you are talking about.

Say no to toxicity, be it food, people or thoughts.

Consistent effort put over a long period of time is how you develop talent.

Your life is a direct outcome of how you choose to use the Internet.

Life-changing opportunities come within a scary-looking trojan horse.

It is insanely hard to be truly creative if you lack the time to think.

It takes years' worth of effort and discipline to end up at the right place and at the right time; people misattribute this to luck.

Be your own critic.

Understand the perspective of others before disagreeing.

Always punch above your weight.

Be ambitious and enthusiastic; being one without being the other has a near-zero value.

"Needs" are different from "wants". Classify your desires into the things you need vs the things you want, to make better decisions.

You stagnate when you stop being curious.

You get anxiety when you realize your stagnancy.

For your biography to be interesting, it needs to have at least one leap of faith that made you who you are.

You are the hero of your own story, so struggle, grow and succeed to make it a blockbuster.

Learn how to learn.

Beliefs are meant to be loosely held.

Being intellectually curious is rewarding.

While explaining, come to the point faster, for attention span is at an all-time low.

No one is qualified when they start; credibility is built over time.

Do not spoon-feed them the answers, instead, make them think.

Self-confidence is not taught but earned through years of effort, hard work, and accomplishments.

Having a victim mindset is how and why you think it is okay to accept defeat; so consciously avoid playing the victim card.

Stay perpetually curious.

Self-reliance demands struggle. If you want to be self-reliant, be ready to struggle.

Life is already hard, don't try to make it harder by overanalyzing your decisions.

You have to surround yourself with supportive people because it is unimaginably hard to attain success in isolation.

Knowing when to not overthink and overanalyze is an unfair advantage.

Keep asking Whys' until it all makes sense.

If you seek freedom, you should value self-education. Do not expect everything to be spoon-fed to you.

If you find a shortcut, look out for traps, for there is no shortcut to success.

Be interesting.

You do not deserve more just because you sacrificed more.

Most of your desires are just outcomes of good marketing.

Rejections happen to everyone; learn from the mistakes and move on. Rejections and failures are prerequisites to success.

Your lightning speed doesn't matter if you are running in the wrong direction.

If you do not believe in yourself, no one else will.

Raising your voice does not make you right.

You need not have an opinion on literally everything; pick your niche.

Life is a long-term game, massive results don't come quick.

There are no shortcuts to attain Clear Thinking; it demands years of reading, writing, and being open to feedback and criticism.

Efforts you put in today will reap compounding benefits in the future. So, what seems like pressure today, is actually hope.

Rejection accelerates growth.

If you think you are not creative, start spending some time alone and let your mind wander.

Success is attained when you stay disciplined towards your goal, for years, even when you don't feel like it.

Learning is all about keeping your momentum in check. Harder to make the first strides, overcoming the inertia, but once you start to roll, just ensure you are not losing momentum.

Talented people are just average people having a growth mindset.

You get great results when you put hard work in the right direction.

Unlearning is a pre-requisite to growth.

Original work demands wasting time delving into the unknown.

Feeling envy? Time to refocus on yourself.

If you have nothing nice to say, say nothing.

If you are not failing, you are not pushing your boundaries; instead, you are just being safe and trying to survive.

Most conflicts are unnecessary, so think twice before you jump to resolve one.

Face difficult problems and break your illusion of being smart.

Don't seek the weaknesses of others, instead, learn from their strengths.

Think independently without seeking anyone's validation.

To have a thriving relationship, throw away the ego and listen.

If you do not count the hours spent at work, you have a thriving job.

Care about what's being said more than who said it.

Be around driven people, and see yourself changing for good.

News that doesn't impact you is gossip; ignore it.

If you doubt yourself, self-reflect.

Forming good habits take years, don't give up so early.

If they think they already know better, leave; no point in wasting time.

You are not entitled to anything, you'll have to earn it with your hard work.

It is insanely hard for a lone genius to succeed because success demands collaboration; hence surround yourself with the right people.

Scroll less, create more.

Don't impress others by boasting knowledge, try being considerate and helpful.

Stop pretending to like what you don't.

Do you think people expect a lot from you? In actuality, they don't; so stop bogging yourself down with unnecessary pressure.

Trust shouldn't be fragile; it should not take mere 10 minutes of conversation to break decades' worth of trust.

People think you have time to argue with them, but you don't.

Life is not supposed to be easy.

It takes a decade worth of effort for anything to become tangible; so persevere and stay consistent.

Reading, writing, and learning becomes more enjoyable with time; so, start, form a habit, and let the amusement and dopamine kicks take over.

The best moments of your life were, are, and will always come unplanned.

You cannot do everything at once so pick your battles, prioritize and focus.

Keep your life a little adventurous, you should have a lot of stories to tell.

Great ideas are hidden in outliers.

Doubt is not ignorance. Getting doubts means you are listening well, thinking, and not just ready to accept things as they are presented.

Be self-reliant, because everyone else is busy doing things for themselves.

The addiction that affects the worst is comfort.

Being obedient in school can systematically take you far, but if you want to create a dent then you will have to evolve. Actionables - be insatiably curious, read books, gather experiences, and most importantly learn to self-learn.

Being wrong is okay but staying wrong isn't.

Want to connect with like-minded people? Simple, make your ideas visible by putting them out on the internet. The world has never been closer.

Most people lack focus, not talent.

Don't react when irritated.

You get luckier with preparedness.

Do you lack motivation? seek clarity. Understanding why you are doing something gives you enough motivation to get it done.

Reading more is not an achievement. Important is the fraction you understood and instilled in your life to change it for the better.

Opinions you form should be based on facts; baseless opinions are fatal.

Never fall in love with your comfort zone.

Your mind can only process a finite number of thoughts daily; so stop engaging it into doing something unnecessary.

Scratching the surface is done by the masses, but you create massive value for yourself when you learn something deeply.

Memorization is not the same as learning.

The best time to do something was yesterday, second best is today.

You are not ice-cream, so give up on being liked by everyone.

Life is sinusoidal, and hence bound to have highs and lows; so fasten your seatbelt and enjoy the ride.

Learn to create, but more importantly learn to sell.

A more difficult path usually leads to an easier life.

Motivation is short-term so act on it quickly, build actionable, and form a habit around it.

Be in a relationship where you both grow happier, kinder, and wiser.

Make growth your default motivator and not greed.

Stay mediocre or work hard and get the hell out of it.

If you cringe upon your past, congratulations, you have grown.

Why should you set an aim before starting anything? Efforts are inherently a scalar quantity, you can put a magnitude of it but if those efforts are not made in the right direction they will potentially, more often than not, yield to nothing. Having an aim gives your efforts a necessary direction.

Before you learn anything new, build the courage and get rid of any self-doubt that could pull you back.

Want to impress others? Be honest. You impress the most when you are fully honest.

Do not absorb everything you are fed, learn to identify the signal from noise.

Life changes for good when you have that one person trusting, backing, and believing in you.

Never say no to new adventures in life, you never know when serendipity kicks in.

The world is in a perpetually competing state, but while being busy competing for your spot do not forget to have fun.

Your brain is meant for thinking independently and not just absorb what's served at you.

One person that you should definitely and completely be honest with is you.

Efficient context switching enables you to accomplish multiple goals at the same time.

Do not waste your energy in belittling others; it unnecessarily makes you negative.

Want to accelerate your career? Start remolding ambiguity into clarity.

Never hold on to your past for far too long. The rope tightens with time leading to stagnation.

Understand the "why" before you jump to "how".

We are deadline-driven. It has a direct impact on speed and capacity; the closer the deadline, the faster the speed.

Your energy is contagious; liven up the room you are in.

There is a very fine line between Critical Thinking and Flaw Seeking; understand and practice the former.

Anger makes people drop their masks.

To succeed, be scared of stagnation.

Do not ask questions just for the sake of it, develop an ability to ask critical questions; because no one likes desperate participation.

To get what you want, understand the importance of focus.

Read a book only when you think it will have some positive impact on you. If it yields to nothing then you just wasted your time staring at some black ink on a piece of paper.

You get great results once you do not seek them, doesn't it? You didn't get results before because you were being needy and neediness adds confusion but your brain loves clarity.

Help younger folks, so they avoid pitfalls that you faced and get where you are faster than you did.

You feel jealous only when you are not focused on your own work.

You are not talentless, you are just not ready for sacrifices.

Ignore distractions.

Instead of complaining, try to use circumstances to your advantage.

Do not bother to argue where you do not need to; so round about 99% of the time.

Ultimate loop for collective growth - Learn, Execute, Share, Teach and repeat.

We cheat because we fear failure.

Reading without thinking, pondering and understanding is a waste of time.

Do you lack motivation? try adding clarity to your goals. Your brain prefers clarity over chaos.

The writer always learns more than the reader.

It is unnecessary to an opinion above everything.

The amount of time you get to spend with the people you love is also a measure of Success.

Don't be jealous of your friends growing faster than you; rather understand how they are doing it and seek help if needed.

Books can never match the experience but they prepare you for the worst.

Seek growth more than external validation.

Be it assignments, projects, games, or even life, you always have less time than you think. Utilize and manage the time you have wisely.

Life is a game that levels up every day, make sure you do too.

Pro tip: Never jump to conclusions.

One rejection is not the end of the world.

The ability to explain and express thoughts clearly is a superpower.

To have a clear mind, write every day.

Start small, expand.

If you disagree with someone, put forward your perspective respectfully. Raising voices does more harm than good.

Life is not an ego contest.

Credentials are useless only after you have succeeded.

Your growth is restrained when you accept your defeat before even trying.

Never live on an auto-pilot. Steer your life the way you want to.

You take longer to explain something that you haven't understood.

Never write about something you already know; rather write about something you want to learn and understand.

1 irrational decision is worth the 1000 lessons. *conditions apply

You grow when you acknowledge and face your own stupidy.

Great teachers are always lifelong learners.

If you feel learning isn't fun, it is because you are memorizing the facts and not connecting the dots.

Efforts are a pre-requisite to success, while the ability is something that can be picked up along the course.

You are happy when the success of others isn't uncomfortable.

Easier said than done.

Leaders don't shy away from stepping aside for the greater good.

Loosely, Maturity = Thinking Through.

Arrogance comes easy, humility demands integrity.

Acknowledge self-ignorance.

Once in a while, do something that makes you feel like an idiot.

If you want to be creative, start connecting the dots.

Lifestyle is a personal choice, pick one that fits you the best.

Life is non-binary.

Savor the journey more than the terminus.

Self-learning demands discipline.

The first success is always the hardest.

There are no bad days, just some days when you win and others when you learn.

Bridging an unbridgeable gap requires a leap of faith.

Don't react when you don't need to.

The most attractive trait you can acquire is humility.

It is near impossible to thrive in isolation.

Learning is more about connecting the dots and less about memorization.

Habit is enjoyed perseverance.

Unlearning is a pre-requisite of growth.

Trying to stay productive 100% of the time is, ironically, counterproductive.

The crowd does not always act logically.

Independence is the prerequisite to creativity.

The fastest way to grow: Every day spending some time with people who challenge you intellectually.

Writing forces you to think better.

Opportunities are lost due to procrastination.

Express disagreement without anger.

Read to understand, not just to remember.

Setbacks are non-optional, embrace them.

Not every book is a textbook, so feel free to skim and skip.

Companies you have worked with should not be the most impressive thing in your resume or your life.

Leaders treat everyone equally, bosses have favorites.

Admit failure

Overcompensate your misfortune with hard work.

Do something that threatens your winner persona.

A leader always brings calmness to the team.

Opportunity is omnipresent, it takes a keen eye to spot it.

Defeat does not lessen your capabilities.

Habitual changes are tough but always worth the effort.

Fear mediocrity.

Reading is less about reading and more about self-reflecting.

Celebrity status is relative and it is determined by belief and inacquantaince.

Never let the salt of your life go away.

Don't expect a crowd to be intelligent.

Life is not an ego contest.

Declining new challenges out of fear lead to stagnation because growth demands courage.

Reading improves reality.

Completion is achieved either by a strict deadline or an unmatched stubbornness.

To gain confidence, walk independently.

Successful people are just average people working hard.

Stop being a slave of praise.

If you seek originality, get rid of influences - think independently, think alone.

Humility is a rare virtue.

If your hobby feels like work, take a break.

The world doesn't owe you anything.

Growth happens when, despite having success, you scrutinize for flaws.

We are an overpraised generation.

Intelligence and schooling are disconnected.

There is always a way to heal a wound.

Switch offs are necessary.

Understand, forgive, and move on.

Life is non-binary. Not every decision requires to be classified as one or the other; in fact, in most scenarios, the best stand is an unexplored middle ground.

Never praise the ability, praise the efforts.

Accept imperfections.

Believe in harsh truths and not comforting lies.

Leaders are made, not born.

It is egoistic to think that your talent makes you superior to others.

Being devoid of a certain talent is not a blocker to try something out.

You grow the fastest when you repeatedly put yourself in situations that you are scared of.

Abilitites can be cultivated.

Books are not too long, our attention span is too short.

Be unapologetic about dropping a message to someone who intellectually challenges you or whom you find intellectually attractive.

Spend more time understanding the problem, and you will save on a bunch of unnecessary detours and back and forth.

The only habit that restrains personal growth and learning is preferring to be spoon-fed.

If you have a lot of money you get to make stuff up.

Efforts have to be gradual and consistent for your win to be sudden.

The only differentiating virtue between the best and the average is perseverance.

Don't seek a forced validation from a person you admire, instead, be humble and observe how they operate.

Shouting does not make you right.

You are boring when you talk about yourself.

Set audacious yet believable goals, so that even if you fail, your failure is above others' success.

Anyone striving for high performance and productivity, personally or at workplace note - setting goals is very necessary, for it is impossible to achieve something that you've never defined. Serendipity is rare.

Iteration is easy, innovation is hard but innovating while you iterate is insanely difficult. People and companies who do it excel while others just survive.

Ask yourself what you care about that you haven’t been able to pursue in your job.

It almost doesn’t matter what you know, unless you put it to use. Knowledge is secondary while execution is all-important.

Measure your progress, growth and output, quantitatively and systematically, and then analyze how to get more of it.

Do not fail to see how successful you already are.

Make your goals public - print it out and stick it somewhere for everyone to see. There is no better motivation and obligation than public commitment.

A problem well understood is well-solved.

Our brain doesn't like to decide a lot, it thrives on clarity, certainty, and explicitness. Things you should do to be more efficient: - big task at hand? - break into sub-tasks - Confused between two equals? - pick one at random - Do not overthink unless required

Credentials can only take you from 0 to 0.0001 but then it is accomplishments that take over.

Nothing moves us forward like a deadline.

Impatience is the most effective catalyst.

Most people are stuck in the past.

Curiosity drives motivation. If you are not motivated enough, question yourself - are you curious enough?

Time is a currency don't spend it, invest it.

Recreational reading is underrated.

Solving a problem 80% is simple; and all you need is some critical thinking and a knack to split it into solvable sub-problems; although for the other 20% you will require domain expertise. Approach, attitude, and grit help tackle a problem better than domain expertise.

You do not need habit tracking apps to form a habit; nothing works better than an aggressively defined goal.

It is always better to underestimate than to overestimate your cleverness.

Most interesting ideas brew when the participants are few but involved, passionate, and insightful.

Reading is important but it should be Qualitative, and not Quantitative. Quality reading translating into daily life action items is calibre.

Changing your habit without changing your environment is impossible. Environment, you have been habituated with, will always be a reminder of your past behaviour and practices.

Changing your life is hard and it will take a lot of risk, effort, and time to steer it as you desire.,

Insecure teachers try to act and sound smart; they seek validation by dominating struggling students.

Most limits do not exist, they are mere hurdles, your mind has created to keep you in your comfort.

Playing the victim card is an excuse. The world is ruthless and if you want to survive, you need to up your game.

Blaming externals (people or situations) for our setbacks and failures is an escape, that is best avoided.

Capabilities don't matter until you act on it.

A lot of things in life don't seek your reaction.

Your plan should always sound a little crazier.

No thoughts or actions are truly independent without financial independence.

Impulsive decisions made while you are having a bad day are, more often than not, detrimental and damaging.

Managing time is hard, and the ability to do it well is no less than a superpower.

You never forget what you actually understood.

We become self-confident once we start repeatedly doing what we thought we couldn't do; while we become overconfident when we mightily overestimate our abilities just to put forth a false persona.

Playing the victim card is the first line of defense and a default option that we have developed over our evolutionary course. Growth seekers avoid playing it.

True learning happens when we are purely driven by our intellectual curiosity while being devoid of any deadline or a need for external validation.

Anonymity allows everyone to say the truth; people who do not long for it, are fearless and, more often than not, are the ones that bring the necessary paradigm shifts.

Unlearning is more important than learning.

Talent, more often than not, is just a decade worth of channeled effort and perseverance.

The worst always happens in your head.

Solve non-trivial problems, for there is no easy way to success.

Compete with someone who is better than you.

Detachment improves execution.

Greatness can be achieved with raw perseverance but success can only be attained when persistent efforts are made in the right direction.

Quickly identifying and acknowledging you are wrong is much more beneficial than justifying how you are right.

The only constraint, that is truly universal and applies to every single one of us, is time.

You are a result of the people you choose to be surrounded by.

Living on autopilot is easy so don't do that.

Be critical of your own stupidity, more often than not, it is the root cause.

To understand what you don't understand - write.

Disagreement should never make you angry.

The right set of critical questions is important to solve any problem better.

Seek progress and not cheap validation.

Having a failure is different from being a failure. Unfortunately, we exaggerate.

Everyone gets 24 hours every day, what determines success is its optimum utilization. The only skill required to be successful is - Time Management.

If you have time to scroll, you have time to learn.

Discuss ideas, not people.

Having an opinion about stuff you don't understand is fatal. Impartial opinions always form when you have a deep understanding of the matter.

Anxiety and Restlessness is fuel for someone who knows how to wield it. It provides the necessary nudge to set you in motion.

Growth compounds if you have self-discipline, willpower, and perseverance.

Books can never replace the actual experience but it does a wonderful job of preparing you for the unknowns.

Don't keep yourself busy judging others; your brain can only have a limited number of thoughts every day and even your day has a limited number of seconds in it, use them wisely.

Trust is earned by results, not words.