Excerpts From The Weekend Read: What I Did Not Learn At IIT

This weekend I read this book “What I did not learn at IIT” by Rajeev Agarwal.

A good light read.

Noting some pointers for self. You may find it useful too.

(P.S: Suggestions/comments in the brackets are mine. Not the author’s.)

Maintain a simple checklist for life. This can be divided into daily, weekly, monthly, yearly.

Daily:

1. Drink 6–8 glasses of water.

2. Eat a fruit. (didn’t know tomato is a fruit)

3. Exercise.

4. A low-sugar cereal for breakfast can do wonders.

5. Avoid sugar, as much as possible.

6. Reduce transportation costs. Live close to your work.

7. Travel during non-peak hours. Schedule your day accordingly.

8. Question yourself before spending: Is this expense necessary?

9. Eat homemade food. Save money.

10. Go to your boss with solutions & not just problems.

11. Practice Gratitude.

Weekly:

1. Exercise at least 3 days/week.

Monthly:

1. Read one industry-related book.
(Alternative: Consume long-form content — Videos, articles, podcasts.)

2. Review salary slip, bank statement & expenses.

3. Set & review your monthly budget. Make necessary corrections next month.

4. Review investments.

5. Monthly SIP & Investments. (Not sure where to invest? Start an Index fund first.)

Yearly:

1. Review tax returns. Figure out where you can save.

2. Medical Checkup. Dental checkup. Mandatory.

3. Buy plain-vanilla health insurance. (For 20–30 yr olds: you can check HDFC ERGO Optima Restore. I just bought this. Will soon be writing a long-form content around how to go about buying your health insurance.)

4. Buy an increasing cover term plan. (Add riders: accidental, critical & terminal illness, disability — better to buy early as the cost is fixed irrespective of ageing.)

5. Plan leaves, vacation 6 months in advance if possible. (expenditures like tickets, stays etc can be spread out across months)

There is this difference between 2 temporal blessings — health & money; money is the most envied, but the least enjoyed; health is the most enjoyed, but least envied, and this superiority of later is still more obvious when we reflect.

- Charles Caleb Colten.

There are 2 types of expenses: productive & unproductive.

Productive: Education, health checkups, books.

Unproductive: Restaurants, clothes, movie tickets.

(Maximise for productive expenses. When it comes to unproductive, maximise for happiness, relationship & comfort.)

Yearly checkups are one of the best gifts you can gift yourself & family. (Normalise it)

Dress conservatively.

Manage friends and family. Maintain relations.

Do not multi-task when on a call (unless work call) — you’ll experience much more engaging conversations.

Ask for help.

“Next time you have a question, get up from your chair.” — Jack Welch.

“If you do not ask, the answer is always no!” @warikoo

7 Decisions that can take your life to a different turn. Not the right or the wrong one, just different. 👇🏻

1. What do I study or what profession do I choose?

2. Where do I choose to live?

3. Whom do I marry?

4. How do I spend my income?

5. How many children do I have?

6. How do I take care of my health and spirituality?

7. What do I do to help others?

The hardest decisions in life are not between good and bad or right and wrong but between two goods or two rights.

- Joe Andrew

Choose your life partner carefully. Most people spend 30–50 years in the company of the same person.

Your habits, thoughts, behaviour are influenced & shaped by their presence.

From that one decision will come 90% of all your happiness or misery.

If you wish to buy the book: https://amzn.to/3qTog81

The End.