Author: Sindhu Mohan

I was talking to a friend about stress recently and realized something I’ve always believed isn’t actually that common: I genuinely think that if you keep trying to improve, stay reflective, and don’t give up, you’re basically guaranteed to succeed eventually. Maybe not at the thing you’re working on now, but the skills and mindset compound until something hits. And so why stress?

I know how that sounds. Delusional? Privileged? Naive?

So I tried to figure out where this belief actually comes from…

Maybe it’s because I read books about compound effects¹ when I was young and got obsessed with the idea that consistency always wins.

Maybe I just don’t find it useful to spend precious headspace² on failure scenarios, so I choose to believe things will work out.

Maybe I’m actually terrified of failing and this is just elaborate denial.

Maybe it’s because I have a family safety net, so “failing” doesn’t mean homelessness… it just means trying again.

Maybe I’ve read too many biographies³ and started seeing my life as a narrative where setbacks are just plot development.

Maybe it’s because past “failures” (like my marketing agency) still added to my experience and reputation, so I stopped seeing failure as purely negative.

Honestly, it’s probably a combination of all of these. Or maybe there’s something deeper I would only figure out in therapy!

But for now, this belief (whether it’s wisdom or functional delusion) is serving me well. I don’t get too stressed. I assume all problems are solvable. And I think clearer because I am emotionally stable despite the situation. Maybe one day I’ll hit a wall that forces me to reconsider. But until then, I’m running with it.

1. Shoutout to the Slight Edge by Jeff Olson ↩︎
2. I wrote about headspace ↩︎
3. Shoutout to James Dyson. Also, someone please start reprinting more hardcopies of his first autobiography: Against The Odds. I really want one. ↩︎

If you are not sure what to do, create.

I think a lot of us like to keep ourselves busy with consuming because it’s easier.

But I believe real growth comes from creating.

No matter how many linkedin guru posts you read or twitter threads you scroll through, or even self-help books you finish, it just would not compare to the level of growth you get from seriously just doing it.¹

Creating doesn’t have to be something big and massive. It can be something easy. Baking cookies is considered creating. It’s way more fulfilling than watching someone else bake cookies.

Because of how social media companies are designed today, content is abundant. Too abundant. And the quality is only getting worse (thanks to AI as well)

So if you want to do something with your life, spend more time creating than consuming.

Read footnote ↓

1. I don’t think all consumption is bad. The smartest people in this world read voraciously. I just believe consumption (especially when intentional) is more effective when you actually do things. The experience of creating gives context to what you consume which enhances learning.
   
   At some point, you will indeed find it beneficial to pause and consume before you could level up in whatever you are doing. But just don’t get stuck at consuming. Consumption is merely a supplement to creation. ↩︎

​​People talk a lot about time management. Blocking calendars, optimising schedules, squeezing more into each hour. But I have been thinking more in terms of headspace lately.

I personally find it strange when someone says they are working on several things at once. It may sound impressive to most others. To me, it means their headspace is split.

When your headspace is split, it’s hard to be great at anything.

Ideas need space to form, marinate, and evolve. That’s impossible when your mind is constantly switching tabs.

I don’t think managing headspace is like managing time. You can’t schedule it or optimise it.

I think managing headspace is more about protecting emptiness, i.e., taking on less so your mind has room for the one thing that matters most.

The hardest part, in my opinion, is having the discipline to say no. It is extremely tempting to say yes to the shiny new opportunity or the supposedly harmless distraction.

But every “yes” takes a little piece of your headspace away. So, it’s important to be absolutely stingy with what you commit your headspace to. 

I do see this level of focus and headspace-awareness in high performers generally.

Because it only makes sense for clarity and creativity to show up when your head actually has the space for it. 

I was listening to an MFM episode with Dharmesh Shah where they were talking about hard work. Something they said stood out: in most jobs, not having work-life balance is looked down on, but when a pro athlete or musician spends hours every day practicing, it’s celebrated.

That made a lot of sense to me because I’ve always believed in that. I’ve found the idea of “work-life balance” kind of pressurising. Why is it wrong for me to work longer if I want to? Maybe it makes sense if you don’t enjoy your work, but that’s a separate issue. If you do enjoy it, then I don’t think there’s such a thing as “too much.” Anything great takes a lot of hours. So shouldn’t it be a good thing if you’re working longer?

On the flip side, I also see how it can get toxic if you’re doing it just for the sake of it or letting it affect your health. Health always comes first — both physical and mental. But apart from that, I don’t think you need to cut down your hours just to fit into some “balance” obligations like hobbies or social plans you don’t really care about.

TLDR just do what you actually want, and not let expectations make you feel guilty. The guilt would probably be worse for your mental health than the long hours themselves lol

I came across a blog post by Chris Dixon titled What the smartest people do on the weekend is what everyone else will do during the week in ten years, and it perfectly captures a trend I’ve been noticing: things that start in small, “weirdo” circles often go mainstream over time. We have seen it happen with vlogging, minimalism, crypto and many more.

This got me thinking about what niche communities are doing today that might become common in the future.

The first thing that popped into my head was health optimisation — mostly because I recently got into trying to optimise my own health, and people around me are definitely judging me for it.

Wait till they see the folks who take it even further¹ — tracking every biometric, experimenting with intense diets, and hacking their workouts. 

Anyways, here’s what I have started so far:

Sleep

I have worn an Apple Watch for years but never actually looked at the sleep charts until recently. Now, checking how much deep sleep I got feels like a fun little game every morning so I’m trying to maximise it.

About an hour before bed, I turn on the AC, switch to a red light, and use my Kindle only (no phone, no laptop). I did try journaling or planning for the next day in that hour, but I found it made me go to sleep thinking about work (which seemed to hurt my sleep quality) so I stopped. 

The hardest part about optimising my sleep is getting home early enough, which often means leaving social events sooner than the rest. Hopefully, if more people get into this, the norms will shift and everyone will want to head home early for some quality bedtime.

Diet

I haven’t done a huge diet overhaul yet, mostly because I eat whatever my mom cooks. But once I mentioned I wanted healthier meals, she started making me pazhaya rice, her “health mix,” and other Indian healthy foods that I never really paid attention to before.

Trying to have dinner earlier is also a struggle, since it’s usually a social event (and that typically starts later — don’t even get me started on supper). Another norm that I hope will change in the coming years.

Exercise 

I used to schedule runs at night, but social events kept getting in the way.

Now, I do it first thing in the morning, and consistency has improved. Running was the simplest place to start since I was already decent at it, but I also knew I needed strength training — something I definitely wasn’t. After a bunch of trial and error, I settled on a super basic bodyweight routine I can do at home. Over time, I plan to move up to a gym routine.

I also realized that hanging out with friends usually defaults to grabbing a meal (with dessert after), which isn’t the greatest habit.

What if the norm was catching up over a walk or — even better –some sports? I started booking tennis or climbing sessions with friends, and it’s been awesome. We actually end up spending more time together, and we get a workout in. Win-win.

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Anyways, I wrote this so I can look back and see whether I (and/or the rest of the world) actually changed on this. In a few years, maybe everyone will be geeking out over sleep data and protein macros . Or maybe not.

1. https://www.rejuvenationolympics.com/dunedin-pace ↩︎

For the longest time, creating a new social media app was impossible.

All of the big players we see today started many years ago.

Facebook was started 21 years ago. Linkedin 23. Instagram & Pinterest 15.¹

By now, they have it all locked down. User needs were largely met, and there was no demand for something new. The incumbents had huge network effects that let no one to switch and try anything else. 

But post-COVID, people’s behaviors started shifting and their needs are evolving.

The social media apps we use have become all about consumption. They are designed to keep you scrolling endlessly to maximise your time spent on the platform. The obsession with metrics like likes, comments, and shares means creating feels like a chore. It’s intimidating, and it takes effort to make something “worthy” of posting.

As a result, the average person barely posts anymore²—they just consume. And this endless consumption often leads to mindless doom-scrolling, leaving people frustrated and mentally drained.

Also, these platforms were meant to keep you connected with your closed ones. But it’s getting harder to actually see their posts because of the number of businesses and influencers’ and ads we see in our feed instead. 

And so, digital fatigue is at an all-time high. People are starting to feel the effects of endless scrolling: the wasted time, the mental exhaustion, the lack of real fulfillment.

There’s a growing awareness that something needs to change. 

It’s no wonder we are starting to see a rise in apps like One Sec and Opal, and chrome extensions like BlockSite and Unhook, which are all designed to limit your screen time. 

But I believe they are just Band-Aid solutions. Most people are gradually quitting those apps because they don’t solve the root problem. 

We keep going back to social media, even when we know it’s bad for us because it fulfills deep psychological needs:

1. We crave staying in touch with your closed ones. The sense of belonging/community. ³
2. We want to know what others are up to. Feeds our inner curiosity. 
3. We need spaces to share who we are. Also serves as validation on how others will see us. 
4. We want something to do when we are bored.⁴ A default to browse anytime. 

These needs haven’t gone away, and they won’t. Telling people to “just don’t use social media” is not realistic. Instead, we need platforms that meet these needs in healthier, more fulfilling ways.

That is the opportunity. 

After almost 2 decades, the people are craving for another social app. A healthier alternative. 

The window to create the next social app has opened.

I can’t wait.⁵

Everyone knows that we are the average of the 5 people we spend the most time with. While I agree with that, I also believe that we are the average of the 5 activities we spend our time on. 

For most people, our top 1 activity (other than sleep) is work. Then, the remainder of the day is spent in a haze. A large chunk of that is digital, mindless scrolling feeds and watching dopamine-spiking shows. It’s not surprising that more and more people feel unfulfilled in life.¹

But I wouldn’t blame us. The system is rigged to make passive consumption in full HD the default mode. It’s 2024 and it is socially acceptable (and a norm) to binge watch or doom scroll in our beds until we pass out every night. 

While some will argue that we are screwed as a society, my slightly optimistic view is that this will change. Like all things, we will pendulum back. And you can see the seeds of it already.

So, I think we are self-correcting.

In less than a decade, I believe we will see people intentionally integrating meaningful activities into their lives — building identities they’re proud of.

Scrolling social media and binge-watching Netflix will be like the “fast food” of leisure: quick and easy, but ultimately unsatisfying.

The “real food” will be pursuits that bring genuine fulfillment, like creating, learning, connecting, and moving.

The demand for better alternatives is going to skyrocket. And that’s where the opportunity lies.

We need platforms that make it easier to discover local workshops, clubs, or events that they are interested in. And better habit tracking apps, accountability communities and structured challenges to help people stay consistent. As new needs come up, we need more people solving for them to support this shift.⁵ 

Once we reduce the friction and increase the incentives to pick up active habits, I believe people will switch. Passive activities won’t remain the default.

Maybe I am too optimistic, but I would rather root for a better future.

I used to think boredom came from external conditions. Like a lack of activity, an unstimulating environment, or simply nothing to occupy the mind.

And I believed that we should all be “more bored” because we overstimulate ourselves too much¹.

But I came across an article about the history of boredom. Turns out boredom is more about how you feel internally than what’s happening externally.

It’s not just about “doing nothing” or “not being busy.” Even with a packed schedule, you can still feel bored if you don’t find the work meaningful to you.

So, I guess the better definition for Boredom is “mental dissatisfaction”.

Your mind craves stimulation, purpose, or engagement but doesn’t find it. And this could happen regardless of whether you’re idle or active.

Boredom, then, is the disconnect between what you’re doing and what you want to be doing.

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So it doesn’t make sense to aim to be “more bored.”

The real goal is to escape boredom the right way.

Most of us take the easy way out. The second we feel even a hint of boredom², we grab our phones, binge videos, or scroll endlessly.

But that’s just a band-aid solution. It gives us a hit of dopamine, but it doesn’t solve the deeper issue (and it actually makes us feel worse)³.

If we allow ourselves to escape boredom the natural way, it could push us to think more deeply, to introspect, and to get creative. It gives us a chance to address the real issue—what we truly want or need.

Therefore, boredom is a signal — a nudge telling you something’s off, that you are not doing something meaningful or fulfilling.

All we have to do is resist shutting off our minds with cheap distractions.

Because if we let them, our minds can work it out on their own.

When I was 17, I used to blog because I wanted to turn it into a business. I hated it. I was doing it for all the wrong reasons, burned out, and decided, “I guess I just don’t enjoy writing.”

Fast forward to now, and I have zero intention of making money from this. I just want to write for fun. It makes me reflect, dig deeper into ideas, and actually put my thoughts into words.

Basically, writing = thinking clearly.

There’s also gonna be a lot of links to stuff I come across because, honestly, this blog would be empty if I only shared my own original ideas.