10,000 feet above the ground, I see the California mountains from my window seat as I’m headed home. My new home as of 3 months ago. I left Chicago, the city that raised me for all 29 years of my life (this is when all the people living downtown cringe and make sure I know “Aurora is not Chicago”). No one who knows me – including myself – could have pictured me leaving the greater Chicago area (happy?), much less for the state of Indiana. “Why don’t you and Bhumi go somewhere nice?” asked Naitik, my younger brother who had just returned home after grad school in Berkeley. I would be lying if I said I didn’t have similar thoughts about the location to where I was about to move to. (more…)
Category: Happiness
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6 Reasons Why You Should Visit Zappos When You’re in Vegas
My wife and I had the privilege of going on a Zappos Tour on our Vegas trip last month, and I’m so glad we did! I knew I wanted to make it out there ever since I finish reading Delivering Happiness, the story about their company & how they built a great culture written by their CEO Tony Hsieh.
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4 Pieces of Content About Happiness That You Shouldn’t Miss
I’ve been posting a lot about business, marketing and entrepreneurship lately, so I thought I’d change it up and go back to happiness for a bit. Here are links to a few great videos and books about the subject of happiness that I’ve watched, read and listened to (audiobooks are the greatest gift to commuters in the world – and your local library has so many… for FREE!!!) recently. I’ve started jotting down takeaways from each of them, but I figure I should share them for the people who want to actually go and experience these pieces of content about happiness for themselves.Why Happiness is the New Productivity (The Story of Mindvalley)
This video features a talk by Vishen Lakhiani, the founder and CEO of Mindvalley. If you haven’t heard of him and the company yet, you will soon. He offers 10 tangible takeaways to help you make your life and the lives of everyone at your workplace happier. (more…) -
The People of Taco Bell Versus the People of the DMV in Aurora IL
Several times over the last couple years I have experienced something so rare that each of these experiences have nestled themselves into my memory. What are these experiences you ask? Excellent customer service at fast food restaurants and the DMV. No not just any fast food restaurants – specifically the Taco Bell in Aurora, IL near me (1000 N Farnsworth Ave Aurora, IL 60506) and the McDonald’s in Oak Brook, IL by my workplace.
So where does the DMV come in? We’ll get to that later [shudder]. (more…)
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28 Reasons Why I Am Lucky As I Turn 28 Part 2
I’m glad you made it all the way through part 1, the second half is a wee bit longer than that one… enjoy:
- I grew up a little oblivious to what people thought, and later realized how nice that was. Until someone blatantly (and condescendingly) pointed out that I was the only boy playing the flute in our band I didn’t think much of it. I feel like I lost something when I started taking those kinds of things to heart. I literally wore sweatpants under a flannel button-down shirt in middle school without thinking twice. I was damn lucky that I still had friends despite of myself… but really it’s a nice state to be in to not have to worry about what others think – and I like to think I’ve finally gotten back to that state and now: (more…)
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Birthday Reflection: 28 Reasons Why I’m Lucky As I Turn 28 – Part 1
Saying the number “twenty-eight” kind of hit me today. I’m 28 years old. That number seems immensely greater than any other number that has been associated with my age before. For most of these 28 years of my life, I like most other people have spent my time either: A) doing what my parents told me to do, B) getting an education so I can earn money, or C) doing what I think is fun (why I celebrated my 20th birthday at Chucke Cheese’s… see below). Well, A and B have been becoming a smaller part of my life over the last couple of years, but C is definitely still a huge motivator and will continue to be for the rest of my life. (more…)
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10 Experiences That Made My Life Better in 2012
1 – Best Motivational Speech I heard in 2012 goes to Eric Thomas – Watch this for some ENERGY:http://bit.ly/VpVkhX2 – Best TED Talk I heard in 2012 goes to Sean Achor (The Happiness Advantage) – Watch this for a SMILE: http://bit.ly/RZm2Cx
3 – Best New Music Artist I discovered in 2012 goes to Arjun from the UK – Listen to this guy to SWOON:http://bit.ly/VNRqhV4 – Best Travel Destination w/in driving distance of Chicago I discovered in 2012 goes to Grand Rapids, MI – go ENJOY: http://bit.ly/TqiA23 (more…)
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Remove Laziness From Your Life on Kali Chaudas this Diwali
Diwali 2014 Dates:
Dhanteras (10/21) | Kali Chaudas (10/22) | Diwali (10/23) | New Year (10/24) | Bhai Beej (10/25)In 2014 Kali Chaudas is on Wednesday, October 22. This 14th (“chaudas”) day of the month Ashwin reminds us to get up and make use of our strength to overcome the evil and darkness (“kali”) in our lives such as laziness, jealousy and negativity. We worship Kali Mata, the Goddess of Strength (“shakti”), on this day to give us the strength to overcome our own weakness and to for the courage to help others. (more…)
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Why I Don’t Drink Alcohol
Someone recently asked me why I don’t drink, but more importantly they didn’t accept my generic “I don’t need it” answer – that’s why I’m writing this post. It’s an important question that I think most 18 year-olds don’t think about enough, especially kids going off to college. I assure you this is not going to be some morality rant where I tell you how bad it is to drink, but I do think it’s fair to say though that I do stand by my choice and that it was a conscious decision. I don’t drink because (more…)
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6 Ways That Advertising Negatively Affects Us
Advertising is constantly demanding your attention everywhere you go, unless you live in the ad-free city of Sao Paulo. If you’re like me, you probably haven’t thought about the negative affects of ads that much. Why should you, it’s just a part of life right? Indeed, it is and we’re so used to having it around that it has desensitized us. We as a society barely notice the billboards next to parks, building walls covered with flyers, and the school buses driving by with ads, yup you read that correctly. Here are some reasons why you should be more aware of what advertising can do: (more…)
