34 (new) life lessons on turning 34
There are years that ask questions. There are years that answer.
Raw and Real conversation
Earlier this week I turned 34. Yay :)
So like every year I sat down to reflect on the top lessons this last year has taught me. I hope you find them valuable:
You just need to go through the first 10 minutes of doing anything difficult. After that, life is the easiest even in the toughest of things.
Once you start dealing with your own issues, the issues with your parents get resolved too.
Your heroes are also human beings, going through exact life difficulties as yours. Instead of waiting to meet them, strive as often as possible to meet yourself.
Someone else was bad to you once. You repeated their bad in your head 100x. And you call them bad. Don’t be so mean to yourself, my friend.
The best way to live a great life is to read books. The joy you feel on getting lost in someone else’s world and reflecting on your own, there is NOTHING that comes close. On the point of books, I have something for you to know:
(PS: Just for this month, i.e., last 2 days, my ebooks are at their lowest price ever. Starting July 1st, the prices will almost double. And never come back to this price. Grab the instant ebooks here, right now:
The Corporate Life Handbook: If you are in corporate job and struggle with daily humdrums of it, one-pagers with harsh truths are something no one is going to tell you :)
The Career Changing Guide: If you are looking to change your career, miss this ebook at your own risk.
How to Deal with Heartbreak: A book almost everyone needs but no one gives you right in your hand. If you don’t need this, get this for a friend you know certainly needs it :)
Every Writer Needs to Read this: A book I wish I had 11 years ago when I was starting out as a writer.
You will keep running from everything in life, until you realise that the very thing you are running from is the thing you need to make peace with. That is when the thing you are running from loses its power.
The most powerful shortcut in life is an hour’s meditation every morning and every evening. If you do not have time for it, then you need it all the more.
There is no such thing as “tomorrow”.
Social media should have only dedicated 10-15, max 20 minutes of the day. Beyond that, it is a loophole of wasting time.
The cool way to being productive is taking at least a week off every quarter and reflect on your life while spending some time in nature. You can only recognise it when you see it for yourself.
No one is entitled to their complains. Even if you have all the reasons to complain, you also have all the reasons to change things in your life. Make a choice to change versus making a choice to cringe.
The boring life filled with a daily routine is the best life. Your goal is to make that boring life filled with a routine you love.
Living in a clean room, having a clean kitchen and a clean washroom are instant mood busters. They also subconsciously impact your self-worth. Are you the person who lives in a clean environment? Or are you someone who thinks their life is a mess?
Once you start making money, the world will give away its arms and legs to make you succumb to lifestyle inflation and make all the expenses that make zero sense in your mind. Living a life way below your means, and quietly letting go of FOMO everyone around you throws—that is the richest quality of life.
You can just do things. How? By doing things.
You can just stop doing things. How? By stopping to do things.
Everything in your life is a reflection of your beliefs. Even if you think that is not true, that is also a belief. And beliefs always come true.
When you live your life from a place of gratitude, goodness follows you everywhere. In tiny and big places, and so much more. It is almost magical.
The world is ready to be offended when you peacefully say them no and prioritise yourself. Still, say no as often as possible if that is something you don’t want to sign up for. Here’s a little secret: The people that hate your “no” are also the people who respect it tremendously but never admit it. You just need to do it respectfully, though.
Reading spiritual wisdom daily morning and right before sleeping is equivalent to centering your life. It takes care of everything else.
No one is living their truest life on social media. Myself included. No one can. Wise people do not let anyone’s social media identity turn into their entire perception about them.
When you run your business, do not ask the question “What is in it for me?” Rather ask, “How can I best serve?”
Don’t be too desperate to be successful. Work consistently in order to deserve to be successful.
You lose your most energy while speaking. Resolve to stay quiet some hours of the day (for me till 8 am) and see your energy skyrocket.
The people you think are having a great time after hurting you—let me tell you, they are so hurt inside that even they have no idea about. I have found this truth to be uniformly true that it has astounded me with an open mouth :)
You inspire people who pretend to not even see you. (Saw this somewhere on social, and I agree.)
There is no such thing as a loser who works out at 5 am. (Sahil Bloom said it, and it is now my life mantra.)
Sometimes you just need to take the leap of faith instead of strategising and thinking about all the questions why something is not working.
Money is the source of confidence.
If a human being does not want their friends and family to know you are their friend, why are you still their friend?
If your intuition says something is not to be done, then it is NOT to be done. Period. We will figure out the reasoning later.
You can always be a nice person while living life on your own terms. You do not have to choose either.
The only person whose company can heal you is you.
The best thing of my life is every night before sleeping, I vent out my entire day to God in a letter. All the things I did not like, all the good things, and everything else I want to speak out. It takes things out of my system, and lets Him take care of everything else. This followed by meditating for 30 minutes and reading 1-2 pages of spiritual wisdom is truly something that has kept me sane every day. If there is one thing you pick from this long post, I hope it is this.
Alright then, my friend.
That was a long post. So I’ll skip raw one liners and real gratitude/quotes this week. Please re-read the above. Forward to a friend who would love it.
And please don’t forget, last two days for the following instant access ebooks at their forever lowest price. The prices are never coming back again. Ever. Behave like a Sindhi (like me) and make the best of these instant access ebooks:
Here they are:
The Corporate Life Handbook: If you are in corporate job and struggle with daily humdrums of it, one-pagers with harsh truths are something no one is going to tell you :)
The Career Changing Guide: If you are looking to change your career, miss this ebook at your own risk.
How to Deal with Heartbreak: A book almost everyone needs but no one gives you right in your hand. If you don’t need this, get this for a friend you know certainly needs it :)
Every Writer Needs to Read this: A book I wish I had 11 years ago when I was starting out as a writer.
Thank you again, my friend, for reading this.
It means a lot.
I will see you next week.
Stay raw, stay real, and never stop reading.
Nishtha Gehija
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I'm actually not surprised at how good you write always, as I've been following your writing for a few months now, whether it's in LinkedIn posts or newsletters. It hits home and feels so personal every time I read it. I'm someone with a short attention span, but your writing always has something that keeps me hooked, and I feel grateful to come across your profile. I feel some writings are meant to find the right readers, and I guess I'm one of the lucky ones among them.
These 34 lessons are gold, and I will always come back to read them again and again.