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Category: experience

Making good habits stick

Posted on by Nirmal Thapa

Most of us desire to build good habits and stick with them. However, it’s so much easier said than done. From the research done on habits and my own experience, I can attest that there are very simple ways to make good habits stick.

First and foremost, start ridiculously small. It is extremely easy and rewarding to do the smallest thing possible to get started on the new project, new diet, new workout, a new blog or a new podcast. Then once you do that smallest part, you feel you can do more and it keeps you motivated. This is one of my favorite tools to make good habits stick: start small. As Lao Tzu said A journey of a thousand miles begins with one step.

Other ways to make good habits stick are to celebrate small victories, design your environment according to the habits you want to enforce/act upon, surround yourself with supporters. Read more at How to Make Good Habits Stick: 7 Secrets From Research

Convoz

Posted on by Nirmal Thapa

It’s refreshing and inspiring to learn about Convoz.

Convoz is an app for creating public collaborative conversation through video, which is what we call a convo. Users can create a convo to share their opinions and receive video responses from others. A convo allows individuals to communicate face-2-face sharing their thoughts and feelings as if they were speaking in the same room. – Convoz.com

Founder and CEO Chamillionaire talks passionately about Convoz. Confident, classy, and a cool presentation.

Gross National Happiness

Posted on by Nirmal Thapa

Life skills: From school to the workplace and beyond

Posted on by Nirmal Thapa

Besides science, math, business, philosophy, arts and others, we need to teach valuable life skills to our students. Students will need more than domain knowledge to survive and thrive in today’s world. Some of the life skills to teach in schools are:

Personal financial management – Students and young professionals need to be aware and smart on managing money. What better place to teach them about money than school? A solid personal financial management course will prepare students for the long term.

Cooking – Students and young professionals can be more healthy and live independently if they know how to cook. There can be a lot of eatery options if you live in a city area than being in a rural area. However, knowing how to cook a few dishes can mean a more healthy lifestyle, more savings, and more personal satisfaction.

Travel – Students and young professionals can learn so much from travelling. Besides visiting a new place and learning about its history/geography, travelling allows us to realize a bigger world, know more about ourselves, and appreciate others’ culture.

Moments that make you

Posted on by Nirmal Thapa

One of the defining moments in our lives is when we get rejected: for a job that we really wanted, for a position that we really wanted or anything that we strived to get. There could be many reasons for why the rejection happened. However, we need to keep these moments in perspective, not let these moments define us completely, and become stronger.

Mentally strong people use the “rejection” situations as learning experiences. They become self reflective and assess what they could have done better next time. Instead of blaming others or even themselves, they acknowledge that “rejection” is just a part of life. Everyone faces rejection in one way or another. We all respond differently to rejections. Mentally strong people also don’t let the rejection define them entirely. Rejection does not mean someone is a complete failure or a complete loser. They become even more hungry, work towards improving themselves, and focus on what they can control. I personally try to laugh off “rejection” moments as much as I can and strive to get better next time.

Mastery by Robert Greene

Posted on by Nirmal Thapa

Mastery by Robert Greene is on my book bucket list now.

A friend of mine found this book very useful and highly recommended it. I read several book reviews of Mastery on GoodReads and Amazon and most of the readers were raving about the book.

Make mistakes

Posted on by Nirmal Thapa

If you are scared that you will make mistakes running a project or organizing an event, you are consumed by fear and discouraged to take action. No project or event runs as perfectly as planned. And by the way, what does “perfect planning” really mean? It’s better to prepare the best that you can and be extremely detail oriented/honest to make improvements next time.

If we don’t make mistakes now, how will we learn, improve or do better next time?

the money lessons

Posted on by Nirmal Thapa

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 things that I learned through an article about money and kids/young adults are:

For kids, money is a lot more visual. The best way to help them understand the concept of saving is to use a jar that lives in a visible place, so they can watch money being put away and spent at a later date.

Use a summer job not only as an opportunity to start the conversation about budgeting and finances but also about the responsibility of earning money and saving it.

Encourage them to ask questions when it comes to money and create a safe environment where they can come to you about it.

Source link: An age-by-age guide to teaching your kids about the value of money

Decision memos

Posted on by Nirmal Thapa

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 discuss

This simplicity allowed the decision maker to make decisions easily while understanding the context. The decision maker can then spend more time solving the problem than spending time trying to understand the problem.

Staying ahead

Posted on by Nirmal Thapa

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 to change your perspective and your goals.

The weight of awards

Posted on by Nirmal Thapa

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 other awards going forward. He said the weight of the awards keeps him from moving his work forward.

A very interesting perspective. My hats off to him. It takes courage and guts to say that on stage and also makes us aware of the significance of awards to the work we do everyday.

Why go to college?

Posted on by Nirmal Thapa

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 online courses and workshops have taken off and students have abundant resources (YouTube, learning platforms etc) to enhance their learning or increase their knowledge/skills?

How does a college justify that huge cost (or investment) for students to attend? What is the return for the students after 4 years of classes, late nights, weekend projects etc?

How can a college coexist with the growth of new and abundant online learning platforms?

For the US colleges that attract a lot of international students, how will they navigate the new landscape where domestic colleges start to offer quality, less expensive, and more industry driven education to its students?

As technology continues to make certain current courses outdated, how frequently will colleges update their course curriculum, keep teachers trained, and stay competitive with other colleges?

For prospective students, the questions to answer:

Why is attending college important?

What value will the college degree have once I graduate or if I want to start a business?

Will I get the expected return on my 4 year investment in a college degree?

If the job that I’m planning to get does not require a degree, how important will that college education will be?

If I am already very self motivated and have big dreams, will college actually be a hindrance to starting my freelancing business or entrepreneurial journey?

Lots of questions and they are more relevant than ever.

The Long Game Part 2: the missing chapter

Posted on by Nirmal Thapa

A must watch!

The Long Game Part 2: the missing chapter from Adam Westbrook on Vimeo.

Take a walk

Posted on by Nirmal Thapa

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 one of the fastest, most effective ways to calm down.

The above sentences are from the Reader’s Digest website.

Are you ready?

Posted on by Nirmal Thapa

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 professional life can seem to be smoothly executed. The reality is that most people who start new projects and businesses are anxious, nervous but equally thrilled to venture into the unknown. Circumstances favor those who go through the “challenges” and “problems” and come out on the other side. Being ready is just a state of mind.

AI Superpowers China, Silicon Valley and the New World Order

Posted on by Nirmal Thapa

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 your thoughts on the book.

To learn more about AI Superpowers China, Silicon Valley and the New World Order, visit https://aisuperpowers.com/

Eisenhower matrix

Posted on by Nirmal Thapa

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 recently started using – https://app.eisenhower.me/

Eisenhower matrix

Action is your competitive advantage

Posted on by Nirmal Thapa

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 with a billion dollar idea but if the motivation and action is not there, nothing happens. On the other hand you could be living in Hattisar, Kathmandu, Nepal and if you are extremely hungry to make a global impact, things happen. Yes, certain types of financial and networking access comes with being at the right place at the right time. However, the competitive advantage now is in the action.

Actions speak louder than locations.

Fundamentals of success

Posted on by Nirmal Thapa

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?

Posted on by Nirmal Thapa

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 based on Bill’s research and experience.

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