Becoming financially savvy will help any individual manage their personal and professional lives easily. The sooner you start becoming financially aware and responsible, the better prepared you will be for different stages of life. Teaching kids and teens about good money habits early is key for their long term financial security and personal/professional success. Some…
Category: experience
Decision memos
I love this productivity tip. A Fast Company article cited how former President Barack Obama made decisions when he was in the White House. The article stated how the former president preferred written advice to spoken ones and how “decision memos” get delivered to his desk with three checkboxes at the bottom: agree disagree let’s…
Staying ahead
If you want to stay ahead, you have to constantly challenge yourself. Taking on challenges keeps you hungry, humble, and in a learner state of mind. The hardest part is not just getting to the mountain top but staying there as long as possible. Do your goals scare you? If they don’t, then it’s time…
The weight of awards
At a recent award ceremony, one of the pioneers of taking wireless technology to rural parts of Nepal, Mahabir Pun was honored with the Pioneer ICT Award. On stage, he gave a short speech where he made a humble request to the media and people present in the audience to not nominate him for any…
Why go to college?
At a time when technology has enabled most of us in the world to take online courses and workshops from anywhere plus colleges are an expensive investment, we need to reevaluate the importance of physical academic institutions. For colleges, the questions to answer: What is the value proposition of a college in a world where…
The Long Game Part 2: the missing chapter
A must watch! The Long Game Part 2: the missing chapter from Adam Westbrook on Vimeo.
Take a walk
Walking has so many benefits. Walking can instantly lift your mood—especially when you go outdoors. A recent study published in Frontiers in Neuroscience found that walking improved both convergent and divergent thinking, the two types associated with enhanced creativity. In a large meta-analysis of sleep studies, researchers found that regular walkers had longer and better quality sleep. Science says one of the benefits of walking is it’s…
Are you ready?
Well…one is never “completely” ready. Launching a new project, starting a business, or something major in our personal or professional lives, an individual is never completely ready. We can prepare ourselves to be ready as much as possible. From the outside, the new project or the new venture or the new change in personal or…
AI Superpowers China, Silicon Valley and the New World Order
A couple of my friends are currently reading AI Superpowers China, Silicon Valley and the New World Order. By hearing them talk about the book made me want to read it as well. I’m really looking forward to reading this book. If you have read this book already or are currently reading it, do share…
Eisenhower matrix
I found it very useful to put all the activities that needs to be done on a project or a day on the Eisenhower matrix. By having everything up there on the matrix, we’re able to prioritize and work on them efficiently and effectively. There’s a web app of the Eisenhower matrix that I have…
Action is your competitive advantage
The internet has created an almost level playing field for individuals, companies, and countries. We can access information, get insights and find just about anything we are looking for with internet access. The competitive advantage now is not just information but taking action on that information. You could be living in Silicon Valley, California, US…
Fundamentals of success
Success is followed by the application of key fundamentals. For me, the fundamentals are hard work, vision, execution, focus, humility, commitment, team work, fun, and some luck. Hard working people get lucky. Success can mean different things to different people. However, the fundamentals of becoming successful are mostly the same.
Why startups succeed?
Startups succeed for a variety of reasons. It could be the idea itself, the team, or the business model. Bill Gross of Idealab shared The single biggest reason why start-ups succeed in a Ted talk. Besides the idea, team, business model or funding, there was an even more revealing reason why some startups take off…
How do you teach culture?
Can you actually teach culture at your company? How about putting the company’s core values in places where everyone can see? And what exactly is culture? These questions are not that easy to answer. But starting out with the right set of questions can help build a strong foundation for company culture: What culture do…
It’s the people
Once upon a time, I read somewhere “Most tourists come to Nepal for the first time to see the mountains, they return for the people.” People are what makes Nepal a country that tourists want to come back (again and again). If you talk to tourists who have traveled to Nepal, most of them talk…
Rising above the machines
There’s a lot of hype about AI and automation these days. The hype is real. It is reshaping companies, industries, communities, and even countries. Yes, countries as well. An opinion article on the Financial Times talks about China battles the US in the artificial intelligence arms race Understanding what AI is and how automation will…
The coach
All managers should, in part, be coaches. This is from the Picking up the Bill article on The Economist (May 25th 2019). Gallup, a polling organization cites research showing that when managers involved employees in setting their own work goals, the latter are four times more likely to report feeling engaged. Managers are responsible for…
The omnipresent school
The class is in session. We’ve gone from cave settings to our current access from anywhere online class settings. Schools, colleges and universities meant physical structures with classrooms, playing areas, and facilities designed to engage the students. Now the places to get education are omnipresent. The web has literally transformed how we gain, use, and…
apples to oranges to mangoes
The road to success is different for each individual. No one success story follows the same track. The fundamentals of becoming successful can be more similar. Hard work, focus, dedication, creativity, sacrifice, team work, vision and so many other components can be the ingredients of success. Comparing one individual’s success to another is like comparing…
First mover disadvantage
We’ve heard of first mover advantage where the first company to venture into the market benefits from an early entry, building a brand, creating customer loyalty and so forth. Is there also a first mover disadvantage? I believe so. Some markets are as adaptive as other markets and the factors could be culture, consumer lifestyle,…