What was the worst mistake you made that was your fault?

In career :

• It took a long time for me to gain the courage to start my business. I really regret that. I wasted a lot of my time for paychecks. A brand takes 5 years to establish in any market. Initial payoff is low but it grows exponentially afterwards. I am still learning.
• The second mistake career-wise was to trade experience for money. To earn more I switched jobs more often. My salary grew, but my experience didn’t. I also preferred big companies in lieu of new ventures. Learning opportunities and challenges are scarce in big companies. In smaller companies, challenges are more abundant and you learn multiple streams like business development and communication skills. You are fed well, but you never learn to hunt on your own. For an entrepreneurial spirit this becomes doubly important.

In love

• Never give too much to anyone. It feeds to their ego and depletes your self-respect. We are humans and we operate primarily with our mind. We can never set off our ego or turn off our mind completely.
• You will come across one special person or girl in your life for whom you will feel that they complete you, they are different, simple, innocent, egoless, out of this world. You will believe that ”Yes, now here is the girl I was waiting for!” Don’t buy into that crap! All of them are the same. We all are human and no one is special. And this is natural. In this cruel world, how can one survive without all the tricks of the trade? Whenever your heart says yes but your mind says no…go with the mind. Whenever your heart says no but your mind says yes…go with the heart. Our gut feeling is almost right in abstaining decisions but not in the matter of assertion. People behave selectively, they may be nice and loving and good to you but they know all the tricks and games! They can use you too if they find you weak. Hence, keep testing and no expectations.
• Whenever your  heart says yes but mind says no…go with the mind. Whenever heart says no but mind says yes…go with the heart. Our gut feel is almost right in abstaining decisions but not in matter of assertion. When we want something badly our senses get marred by greed and need. When we have no greed associated,  the heart is usually right.
• Love is a long process. Until it is over you need to keep check off your feelings and investment. Getting sex from a girl is a bad test of love now a days. Earlier when chastity was honored it was a better test. Now the scarcest resource any one have is time. You can measure ‘someone’s’ love for you by amount of time they devote to you. Sex is too cheap to measure love! I prefer 10 hours from my girlfriend over three rounds of hot sex.
• Love has changed with the advent and evolution of social media. You can never tell how many WhatsApp numbers your lover has saved on their phone and what he or she does behind the curtains. Cheating is too easy to do and hide. Thus, learn some mind games or else be ready to be dumped and doomed.

In life

• This is very common. People care for non living things like money and cars and forget/neglect their own body. I still regret the wasted years spent in McDonald’s and Subway. I also regret the unnecessary amount of hard work that I put in to increase some numbers in my mobile banking app. I wish I would have continued with my physical workout without giving a break in between. I’m now active again but lost time never comes back.
• I wasted too much time in following my true love. She did love me but I was never practical. She was younger (age gap), lived in a different state, (Bengal) had a language barrier, had cultural differences and many other aspects. I thought love shall surpass all odds. But my friend, everyone is not that strong. Hence brothers, career first. Frame it on your bedroom wall. CAREER FIRST. Love is abundant. Don’t worry.

What are some unethical workplace and career life hacks?

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