Saturday, December 31, 2022
I started writing The Passion Pad in March 2021, meaning 2022 was the first, full calendar year for my newsletter. Thank you to everyone who has been reading from the launch issue and to those who hopped onto the journey over the course of time. The newsletter saw 21 new subscribers and accumulated a total viewership of 2970 this year, and all of this was organic growth. What started as an outpour became a personal brand for me as I kept sending out editions after editions. Jeff Bezos, the founder of Amazon, is famously quoted as saying, “Your brand is what people say about you when you’re not in the room.” The term “branding” used to be reserved for businesses, but with the advent of social sites and the gig economy, personal branding has become fundamental. It is how you present yourself to the world.
Today is the last day of the year and everyone around the world is gearing up for the new year. If you have any new year resolutions, make sure you stick to them for at least a month. Don’t quit on them too soon! This is the time when you go back to neutral, and start again with the first gear. It is time to find your rhythm back. One day at a time, reaching a month soon. Once you hit February, you would be having a stronger mindset, and here’s the tastiest cookie: only 28 days there. And just like that - you would be two months into the resolution, and hence a new habit at your disposal.
Here’s the last post of the year 2021 in which I shared valuable lessons that I learned, sharing it again because I think they still (and will forever) hold true.
On that note, let me share some of the things that I will take with me from 2022 into the next year -
#My top 5 favourite podcasts of 2022
This is one of the most beautiful conversations I have ever heard. Kunal Shah gives his two cents on money and culture differences between India and the West. My favourite part is when he explains the concept of religion in terms of open source softwares. And obviously, Shane being Shane, came up with exceptional research!
To be very honest, I was surprised to see Sadhguru on The Joe Rogan. But man, this is one of its kind conversation. He came onto the podcast to tell people about his ongoing mission of Save Soil – a Global Movement to invoke a conscious approach to soil and planet in all. Apart from discussing the #SaveSoil movement, Sadhguru left Joe Rogan stunned with his stories of childhood and how he became a Guru. Well that is actually the fun part xD
Although Meta shares dropped significantly in the last few months of tech slowdown, this podcast is a gem if you are into metaverse. Zuck’s vision of the metaverse is all I am in for!
I am a big fan of Robert Greene. His ideas of human motivations behind power, deceptive strategies are incredible and insightful!
This is the latest edition to my podcast list and oh man, an incredible one. This podcast is about Chamath Palihapitiya, Jason Calacanis, David Sacks & David Friedberg covering all things economic, tech, political, social & poker. This conversation specifically is about what they predicted in the fields of science, business, tech for 2022 and what actually happened. Also, Elon randomly drops in for a casual chat!
#My top 5 favourite songs
#Top 5 favourite beach pictures
#The 5 favourite quotes I abided by in 2022
Lastly, I hope you take on new challenges in the coming year. Challenging ourselves is how we grow - we send a message to our brain that “I am doing this, whether you like it or not” and it lets us break through the inertia that wants to hold us in our status quo.
Happy New Year!
See you next Saturday, with a brand new topic to discuss about :)
Cheers!