By day, Vikram Seth is a Senior Economist working on renewable energy at Shell.
By night, he is the co-founder of Bounce Bhangra, an award winning combination of high energy cardio and Indian dance.
And at heart, Vikram is a philosopher. Someone who spends much of his time thinking deeply about life and the meaning of it all.
In this episode we talk about how Vikram has cultivated balance between a demanding career (working for one of the largest corporations in the world), his personal passions, and his spiritual side.
Thanks for all of the feedback, shares, and replies. It looks like I’m going to have to do another list like that again soon, but not just yet…
For the past week I’ve been busy reflecting on the last year and thinking a lot about goals and plans for the year ahead.
My New Year’s Resolution
I don’t normally make New Year’s Resolutions. It’s too hard to pick just one thing for a whole year.
But this past weekend, I was taking a break from all the thinking and planning. I was in the park, being silly and climbing trees, playing with my daughter, and dancing with my wife.
The word “Hello” dates back to around 1820, and it only came into common usage in English after the invention of the telephone. Before that, people greeted each other with phrases like “Good Day”.
It was Thomas Edison who suggested “Hello” as the word to say when you answer a phone. Alexander Graham Bell (and Mr. Burns) preferred “Ahoy!”
That’s not the only common word that’s pretty new…
Last week I wrote about finding yourself and whether it’s a “success killer” to travel in your youth (instead of going all-in on career early on).
Reader Lukas replied to say:
This is great! Thanks for writing it! I also enjoyed the McAskill quote about “spending 5% of your time deciding how to spend the 95%”. I’m now wondering about the different ways on where to place those 5% … most of it at the beginning of your career (= the travel and finding yourself) or sprinkled throughout your life (= short sabbaticals)? I assume the latter is better because plans and goals keep changing.
Last week I wrote about what it’s like to become a digital nomad these days and shared a few recent podcast interviews.
This week I planned to write about Web3 and some of the interesting projects I’ve come across recently, but then my little corner of the internet blew up a few days ago, thanks to this tweet:
Hot Take:
The easiest way to put yourself behind in life is going travelling for months on end in you early 20's to "find yourself"
It's an absolute success killer and puts you behind the majority.
Why waste the key years of your life meant for building and getting ahead?
Needless to say, I couldn’t disagree more (I finally understand what the phrase “triggered” means). I feel so strongly, that I decided to make this the topic of this week’s Never Normal newsletter instead.
This week I’ve got a three new podcast interviews related to becoming a digital nomad and launching new ventures to share with you (plus a crazy love story).
What’s it like becoming a digital nomad these days?
In the past, one of the biggest challenges of becoming a digital nomad was finding a way to make money without being tied to a single location.
Now, since the pandemic hit and remote work has become much more common, there are new challenges and opportunities for those who want to go nomadic.
What is it like becoming a digital nomad these days?
Over the past year, Justin Gary ditched his office, moved out of his apartment, and got rid of his car to become a digital nomad. Now Justin runs his businesses while traveling and living around the world.
Justin Gary is an award-winning game designer and entrepreneur.
He started his career in gaming at the age of seventeen when he won the Magic: The Gathering US National Championships. Justin then escaped from NYU Law School to pursue his dream of becoming a professional game designer (we discussed Justin’s journey in a previous interview on Never Normal).
He’s since made games for global brands including Marvel, DC, World of Warcraft, and Bakugan. In 2010, Justin founded his own publishing company, Stone Blade Entertainment and released the hit deck-building game, Ascension.
Justin has also taught creativity principles at the Wharton School of Business and to companies including Twitter, Zillow, and Google.
Earlier this year, Justin and I launched Quality Questions together, where we collect and send questions that help you apply the key lessons from self improvement books and lectures to your own life.
Last week I wrote let’s meme the world a better place. This week I’ve got a new podcast episode and an assortment of related things I’ve been learning, listening to, and thinking about.
It all starts with a tiny push
Even though you know exactly what’s going to happen, it’s still pretty amazing to watch this short video (dripping with high school science class vibes), and see that it actually works.
Beyond the physics, there’s an important lesson here about the power of taking action — even a very small action — that kicks off a chain reaction.
Can you apply this to your life or business? What’s the first domino that you need to knock down on the path to achieving your goal? 🤔
BTW – If you like thought experiments like this, check out Quality Questions. Speaking of asking lots of questions…
The world has changed, and we have a choice to make:
Should we focus on the bits or the atoms?
I’ll do my best to explain what that means and how it ties together my nomadic lifestyle, the metaverse, crypto, cows, and a radical plan to buy the constitution.
The common thread is that people are asking: Why should we devote the majority of our time, during the best decades of our lives to work that: a) we don’t find meaningful b) undervalues our capabilities and creativity c) no longer provides certainty for the future, and d) interferes with our ability to enjoy life outside work
You’ve heard all of this from me before, but I’m not “antiwork” at all.
Ideally, we can all find ways of working that allow us to “give our gifts” and maximize our contributions to the world, bring us joy and meaning, and don’t detract from our ability to enjoy life outside of work.
A Ridiculous Fantasy?
If that all sounds too idealistic or unrealistic, then meet Rob Dyrdek.
Up until a couple of weeks ago, I only knew of Rob as a former pro skateboarder and that guy on MTV 24/7.
This week I’m excited to share a new episode of my Never Normal podcast with Paul Millerd.
In 2017, Paul decided to leave his successful, predictable corporate consulting career (working for the likes of BCG and McKinsey) behind to embark on what he calls “The Pathless Path.”
