don’t think about careers today

its saturday. you scroll twitter, or worse? linkedin.

that founder from your batch just raised series a. someone's "thrilled to announce" their vp title at 28. your brain's already doing the math on how fucked you are.

stop. please?

see– you've done the career audit. you know which discomfort you're in. you've calculated your 80,000 hours.

good. now i need you to do something harder.

forget it all. just for today.

here's what four days of career analysis does to your brain: it makes every moment transactional. every conversation becomes networking. every hobby needs monetization potential. every saturday morning feels like lost ground.

this is the career advice i'm not supposed to give

not everyday is about obsession. it shrinks your world down to next quarter's okrs.

every decision gets filtered through "will this advance my career?" every weekend becomes potential networking time. every hobby needs a professional angle. you optimize so hard for the game that you forget why you started playing.

four years ago, sitting in a friend's mumbai apartment during monsoon, he told me something that sounded like startup gyaan. "my best ideas come when i'm not trying." i nodded politely while mentally updating my to do list.

i am not averse to this. i do this all the time. we all do. but your brain needs distance to see patterns. if you keep feeding it the same career anxiety, expecting different insights.

just look around you right now.

it’s raining in bengaluru. pune/mumbai got those proper monsoon vibes. delhi’s still trapped in summer. (sorry about that folks)

wherever you are,

here's what i need you to do.

one hour. phone off. not on silent. not face down. like OFFFF.

go outside if you can. walk if your body allows.

if it's pouring, find a covered spot. your balcony. that chai shop with the tin roof. the building entrance where uncles solve world problems. whatever works for you.

no, there is no outcome to this exercise. there are no payoffs. this is the outcome.

see, scarcity thinking makes your brain focus on immediate threats. everything becomes about survival.

one hour won't change your bank balance.

maybe the first 10 mins your mind rebels. "this is stupid. i have real problems. monday's presentation won't prep itself." but resist it.

we spent four days mapping the problem. naming the weight on your chest. enough analysis. today we release.

cook something. maggi counts ;) anything that puts hands to work instead of thumbs.

forget about careers today.

not forever.

just long enough to remember who you are without them.

P.S. I am curious what you’ll see when you stop looking. post a photo if you want. tag me. or don’t. or just call someone you love. hear their laugh. let it travel. think about what are you grateful for. just be in the present.