This is a summary of my answers to the questions I asked readers in my newsletter 10+1 Things. This is a never-ending list and the latest answers can be seen at the top.
#27 How important are book covers to you? Do you buy books based on book covers? [Read the Issue]
28-12-2021: These days I’m quite picky about what I choose to read. But there are times where I was influenced by the book cover and solely picked a based on the book cover. Some I regretted, some of them were a good choice. For example books like Atomic Habits and Subtle Art of Not Giving a F*ck, I chose based on the book cover and they turned out to be good. But one particular book I remember is the book called The Little Book of Hygge: Danish Secrets to Happy Living, which I loved the design, but the book turned out to be a bad decision. Apparently, the design of book covers involves a lot of psychology!
#26 What was a simple yet beautiful moment in your life? [Read the Issue]
21-12-2021: This happened like 3 or 4 years ago while I was driving back home on my bike. I saw a dog stuck in a football goal post net in a playing field where children used to play. I was reluctant at first to help the dog first as it was a stray one. I stopped my bike to have a look at the situation and saw that the dog had its front leg stuck. The dog was calm yet helpless, but after a few mins of struggle, I managed to free the dog. I expected the dog to run away, but to my surprise, the dog came and hugged me. He/She stared at me for a while and slowly walked away! I know this is small, but this was such a magical moment that I still cherish. It also makes me wonder how dogs are great social animals and how they have co-evolved with humans.
#25 Where do you live? Are you happy with where you live? [Read the Issue]
15-11-2021: I currently live in Kerala, India working from home. Even though I live in a tropical paradise filled with lush greenery, surrounded by beaches and serene backwaters, I’m not really happy with where I live. One of my main priorities and goals in life is to travel and experience different places and cultures around the world. Being an Indian citizen, I hold a passport that is ranked low in the world passport index. This means that apart from a handful of countries, I require a visa to travel to the majority of the places I want to travel to. This might sound silly but is a great deal for me as I plan to travel extensively in the next 15 -20 years. To give you some context, I was rejected twice by Armenian Embassy while applying for a tourist visa. Later on, I was also rejected by Azherbhaijan and Kyrghysthan embassies while trying for a visa. This is quite frustrating as these countries reject visas based on a person’s passport status. Ideally, I would love to relocate to Europe especially Scotland so that it aligns perfectly with my travel as well as other career aspirations.
#24 Are you doing what you had dreamed you would do as a child? [Read the Issue]
08-11-2021: As a child, I was so curious and I always wanted to become a scientist. I was fascinated by physics and thought I would do something in that domain. Years passed by and I took engineering as my career. Even though I do not regret the decision, I have this feeling that I would have been happier if I had taken the science route in my career. Last month I realized that I should stop complaining about my choices and move on by taking action. So I restarted studying Theoretical Physics part-time using resources such as ‘How to Be a Theoretical Physicist‘ and the book called ‘Theoretical Minimum‘. This is a slow process, but quite fulfilling. My goal here is to enjoy the process of learning rather than building a career.
#23 What can you do today that you were not capable of a year ago? [Read the Issue]
01-11-2021: I have made significant progress in terms of learning and self-development in the last 6 months Swimming is one thing I can do today that I wasn’t able to do last year. This is a skill I have always wanted to learn, and I decided to learn it properly this year. At the time of writing, I’ve taken close to 15 swimming lessons and I can now swim freestyle, backstroke, and breaststroke (in progress).
Also, a year ago, I could not read as fast as I can now. In the past few years, I had lost the habit of reading and I struggled to read. Although I struggled at first when I returned to reading, I now read at 450wpm with proper comprehension.