Universal Law of Burner Attention:
Just because you work for yourself doesn't mean you don't report to a tough taskmaster.
Work life balance is a function of who you are, not where you work.
I have had the fortune of working with many people who maintained a healthy balance long before it became a thing. And here are some things that are common to all of them -
A. They always prioritised their time. If you needed to meet them, you needed to send them an agenda and enter the room prepared.
B. They respected other people's time as much. If you were OOO, there would be no calls, no messages, and no emergencies. They would insist on you doing a good handover to a colleague so that you can take your PTO both guilt free and interruption free.
C. They included the families. They tried to create at least 1-2 events per year where families got to meet each other.
D. When they were with you, they were ONLY with you. They made you feel like a real human being, not one of the gadgets they interacted with.
E. This is the best part. It was very rare for them to be behind on their deadlines. They left office, and they left it with work done.
F. Most of them were empathic leaders.
The luckiest break in life was having these leaders around one at the very beginning of one's career. So, one got the right role models early on.
#WorkLifeBalance
If individual taxation does not reduce soon, it will mean a higher take home pay if we all incorporate One Person Companies and register as vendors rather than employees for tax purposes.
#MyBudgetWishlist
There is more than one way to milk the cow.
And more than one way for the cow to refuse.
Today, an individual taxpayer first pays 30% of their total income up front as TDS, and when s/he tries to spend the remaining money, ends up paying between 5-18% again as indirect tax on consumption (as GST).
This means that at the highest level, an individual taxpayer in India pays about 50% as tax.
Unless this changes, it will make a lot more sense for individuals to register as OPCs and then appear as vendors rather than employees for taxation purposes. This will allow them to get deduction for expenses.
Already, out of the 42,186 OPCs registered in India, 26,154 are engaged in either "Business Services" or "Community, Personal, and Social Services".
Of these, 9,781 OPCs were registered from Jan - 10 Dec, 2021 (the numbers for 2022 are awaited).
#IsTheIndianProfessionalLearning?
My realisation of this week was that the Venn Diagram of Ikigai is Japanese in the same way that French Fries are French.
Thanks to the shift in mindset, the brain now operates from a place of humour very often. So, as the entrepreneurs' group was discussing entitled customers, the mind was making memes. Somewhere, that and the Ikigai idea got merged. I picked up a pen and paper and started drawing the Ikigai' (Like A' in Set Theory - A' is everything that A is not).
When some of the places could not be filled, the family was called in. For instance, "What is it that I am really bad at and no one wants to pay for?"
"You taking care of your health" came the pat answer.
When done, I thought it was hilarious. So, from my personal Un-Ikigai, I created an Un-Ikigai template, for others to have fun.
Here it is:
Then, for 2 days, I laughed at my Un-Ikigai diagram. "Yes, I am terrible at this" "Gosh that one is totally true"
The third day, the penny dropped.
The Un-ikigai was not just a funny meme. It was a collection of things that need to be put out of life. I imagined my life without the things in that diagram. I was never going to enjoy A, I am not likely to be great at it. So, why is it still in my life? If "Playing to our strengths" had a corollary diagram, this was it. These are the things that I should not invest time on.
So, in 2023, I am going to act on that joke of the Un-ikigai diagram - By removing the items that truly add little value and are better accomplished through another medium.
Thankfully, The Children's Post Calendar has monthly targets instead of annual resolutions. So, it looks like one might be able to do something.
This is a forecast post. It has 2 pieces of forecast, both about Google.
Prediction One: Chickens will come home to roost
Within 2023, the Cyber Crime Cell of India will hold Google accountable for misinformation leading to fraud that originates on its website.
Why?
Google owns 92% of the global search engine market.
At this time, multiple frauds are based on incorrect service desk numbers published on Google. Unwitting customers dial these fraud numbers to get customer service on their bank/card/product etc. and end up getting conned.
Google is not held accountable for this in any way.
This is even more culpable because the fraud numbers are highlighted separately on the right in the Google Search result.
The other thing for which Google will be held accountable is listing fraudulent sites on top of the search results only because these companies have paid for search optimisation ads.
I am sure we all have been conned at least once by the top search result on Google.
Now, of course, I make it a point to check the reviews of the site before trusting them, but most consumers are not likely to do that. Here is one example:
The prices are at least 50% lower than those of all other sites.
BUT, at this point, before we order, we do a simple text based scam check:
Now, consider what is happening here:
Google is supposed to show the most relevant search results on top. This means that a user can assume, reasonably, that a search result on top is a relevant search result. They do not, at this point, have any reason to doubt the geniuneness of the site because Google has displayed it as a legit site to buy perfumes.
When a customer gets scammed, they have no way of bringing Google to book. They can only blame themselves for trusting Google. But Google PROMISES relevant results and enjoys 92.2% market share only because of reliability.
If you told everyone that Google search results are not reliable, do you think Google would still be at that 90%?
Also, Google directly controls what it shows on its search engine. Therefore, it cannot claim the intermediary benefit. Any fraud that happens on account of organic search results is the responsibility of Google. It cannot hide behind search engine optimisation.
It is difficult to identify a single, most controversial event of the 21st century so far, as different events may be perceived as more or less controversial depending on one's perspective and context. Some events that have been widely considered to be controversial include:
The 9/11 attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon, which occurred on September 11, 2001, and were perpetrated by a group of Islamic terrorists. The attacks resulted in the deaths of nearly 3,000 people and had significant global political and economic consequences.
The invasion of Iraq by the United States and its allies in 2003, which was justified by the US government as a response to the 9/11 attacks and the threat of weapons of mass destruction in Iraq. The invasion, which was not authorized by the United Nations, led to a long and costly war and the destabilization of the region.
The Arab Spring, a series of pro-democracy protests and uprisings that occurred in several Arab countries in the Middle East and North Africa in 2011. The protests, which were fueled by widespread dissatisfaction with autocratic governments and economic inequality, led to the overthrow of several leaders and significant political change in the region.
The COVID-19 pandemic, which began in late 2019 and has had a profound impact on global health and economic systems, as well as on social and political dynamics. The pandemic has raised numerous controversial issues, including debates about the effectiveness of various government responses and the distribution of vaccines.
We think people are addicted to their mobile screens and see it as a singular issue.
But, let's think about this - WHY are people addicted to their mobile screens?
What are they running away from? What are they holding on to?
My hypothesis is that we are in a loneliness epidemic.
People hold on to that mobile phone because as soon as they let it go, they will fall into that bottomless pit of loneliness. They don't know what to do with themselves. They don't have anyone to talk to. They have nothing binding them to the world. Very few hobbies, fewer friends, and those friends typically are halfway across the world.
That mobile phone is their link to the world. Their ONLY link to the world. Think. About. That.
Image generated by Dall E 2 on a written prompt.
I have just finished reading a book by Harishakar Parsai and while every single story/essay in the book is brilliant, the one that stays with me is his thoughts on the biographies of 2 bestselling authors - both women.
