Review of the week: Did Not Crush it. :(

So I have started this 4 weeks trial period where I would like to see if I declare in public what I intend to finish within the week to see if I actually finish it.

In short week 1 did not go according to plan. Though I have completed 6/8 works all were done at the last minute. Which led to satisfaction level less than 30%.

Enter the work I intended to crush :

  1. Complete the video editing for captain planet.
    • For this, I need to nail my After Effect tutorial videos to get the basics straight. Windows media player isn’t gonna cut it anymore. Did a very basic windows movie maker video.
  2. Complete the presentation for the pitching to the investors.  & a 10 slide deck.
  3. Spend less time on lurking around WordPress/fetlife/torrent.
  4. Do not check stats 120 times a day.
  5. Complete the PHP tutorial challenge. Did not even touch 1 lesson
  6. Fix the damn wardrobe door. An hour before my flight! Hence a haphazard work.
  7. Bring down OneTab’s total collection from 201 tabs to 185.
  8. About time I find a way to send Edenla her luggage back. Did not send the luggage and ended the entire friendship over the most trivial thing!

My Excuses:

  • Guests came to our house so I had to give up my room. Therefore, I could not sleep well at night. Ergo did not do work for 4 days + 1-day recovery.
  • Not in right mental state to do any work because I was leaving my family, friends and home for the unknown.

Well, I hope to get satisfaction rate up to 60% next week. But I am unsure if I can do a target for next week given I am a bunch of meetings and work and what not to attend. Thus I will take the week off and review it instead next week.

Do share what are you planning to crush this week. Best.

 

by I am Aranab

Starting from Ground Zero

Things I am grateful for today:

  • To know I have a heart and cried auto when hugging mum goodbye and when the aircraft became airborne.
  • The feeling of great joy of relief after peeing after holding it for a long time. Very Very long time.
  • Message from Tingyi.
  • Dad for coming with me.
by I am Aranab

Interesting articles as Brain juice.

Here are few articles that I read this week which had some profound effect on me.

As a man on a mission at 27, this has had some profound effect and impact on me.

Chances are you’re more like me and have no clue what you want to do. It’s a struggle almost every adult goes through. “What do I want to do with my life?” “What am I passionate about?” “What do I not suck at?” I often receive emails from people in their 40s and 50s who still have no clue what they want to do with themselves.

Some rather interesting questions that should be answered by us when deciding the life purpose and goals.

Everybody wants to have great sex and an awesome relationship — but not everyone is willing to go through the tough conversations, the awkward silences, the hurt feelings and the emotional psychodrama to get there. And so they settle. They settle and wonder “What if?” for years and years until the question morphs from “What if?” into “Was that it?” And when the lawyers go home and the alimony check is in the mail they say, “What was that for?” if not for their lowered standards and expectations 20 years prior, then what for?

Learn when to keep going and fighting to make someone better and when to back away from people who are simply not interested in becoming better.

Imagine the world has As, Bs, and Cs in any field. In this one, the As are already managing their money, they’ve read my book (and others), and they’re earning as much as they need to lead the lifestyle they choose. They’re already doing it.

The Bs are the greatest in number. They have the potential to do something great, but for whatever reason — like actual barriers, self-imposed barriers, or external responsibilities — they haven’t achieved what their potential first. They can be reached if you communicate to them in the right way.

The Cs are a lost cause. Sure, they might be salvageable to help, but that’s not something I’m interested in or capable of. This enrages certain people who believe that we should help everyone, but I live in the world of practicality, not utopia. If I have the chance to help an A become an A+ in 3 months, or a C become a B- in 3 years, who am I going to choose? There are other people who make it their life’s work to work with Cs, but it’s not me.

Rather interesting TEDTalk about self-assurance.

 

Have a great weekend.

by I am Aranab

Life of Experimentation, gross Ignorance and Mistakes leaves me Homeless, Countryless, Familyless, Luckless & out of contention for greatness at 27.

Exactly 15 years back my family shifted from Bangladesh to Singapore not by choice but by political forces from Bangladesh and Singapore government’s keen eye on special talent that my dad is they took us in like family. And it has become home since then. My parents and sister became Singaporeans. But not me. Today the reverse is happening to me and I have no say in it at all.

And today we are paying the price of that one mistake that took my life and sent it spiralling towards a collapsing bottomless pit of hell hole.  Just watch fate/destiny twist a daggered knife right through my spine.

You see, I was born in the UK and I was always meant to go back there to do my undergrad and settle down. That was my dad’s wish too. That + all the ill information we garnered from other expats led to a joint decision of me not taking PR here when I turned 17. Because all 18 years are drafted for army here for 2 years. As a result, our ignorance prevailed and we followed suit. Lil did we know that it will come back to bite off the entire butt cheek off and leave us in the middle of a salty water with an open wound the size of China. And it burns like fuck now.

I went to the UK to study Aerospace Engineering. The countdown to today began right there and then. Meanwhile, the laws in the UK changed for foreign students. After graduation only 3 of the 43 foreign students that studied with me managed to find jobs in the UK. & I went to do an internship in Nepal in 2014 just to slow down the process to today.

And finally the looooooong waited today has come and I am not up to the challenge to take it by the balls. We had done everything we could but the stringent policy and blind eye to stupid mistakes led us to here. With a high on demand degree from one of the top Universities in the world, I am left jobless, homeless and countryles.

Going back to Bangladesh would not have been a problem had I went back there on regular basis during this 15 years. Or if I had a home. Or if the country wasn’t so unsafe and 3rd worldly. I know there are opportunities there and I know there is money to be made as it is a developing country but this empty feeling of being helpless and not able to control my own destiny, being forced out of a country which I called/known to be home and where I felt I belonged and where all my family and friends are gonna be…

I was down and out a couple of times before. But never have I ever been so alone or helpless. Without friends and family. Never have I ever had to worry about my bed. No matter what I was going through I always knew I have my bed to go back to at the end of the day. I knew I had a safety net in form of my parents and friends. But not this time. This time I am on my own with no safety net.

It is not as if I did not go back there after Nepal in 2015 to start my own business. However, it was by choice then and by force now. Also, I had a plan and goal. I knew what I wanted to accomplish and I knew I was coming back to Singapore. But not this time. & I absolutely hate to be forced to do anything. Maybe that’s why the pain is so unbearable at the end.

Yes, I will come back out on top. But maybe not today or tomorrow or next couple of days and weeks. All I feel like doing now is just wallow in my sorrow, be down on my knees and just cry it all out. And then dust me up and take on the world and continue my journey to the pursuit of greatness. Perhaps this tough and painful process someday be useful to me. But not today! For now….

by I am Aranab

Grateful | QOTD| It was not the apple on the tree but the pair on the ground that caused the trouble in the garden.

Things I am grateful for:

  • Final dinner with the boys.
  • Completing my presentation.
  • Finding a suitable way to send Edenla’s stuff and along the way reaching the end of our friendship.

Things I need to fix whenever, wherever, however, whatever:

  • Never ever again say yes to something in the future if I am not prepared to do it at that moment.

Did I do everything today to take a mini step towards my bigger goal in life?

  • Yes. Creating a new logo for the joint company.

Affirmation:

  • I, solemnly swear never ever to help anyone with their baggage unless it results in me sleeping with the girl!

|QOTD: Quote of the day|

**Dear readers, if “Grateful | QOTD |” is written as headline then that means the title has absolutely nothing to do with the content. They are just funny one liners that I would say if I were as articulate with words. It is just my very private practice in a public space. Because I do believe from the bottom of all the peoples- who know me intimately-heart that I will make it big one day & that day I would like people to look back & get inspiration from my struggling days as well as learn that it is never a continuous upward path. And overnight success is really many nights of heart break, blood and sweat.

||Thank you for taking the time to read. Forever grateful for any comments you have on any of my posts.Folded Hands on Apple iOS 10.3

by I am Aranab

Why getting to 50 “followers” is a big deal to me?

I really do not like the word follower. Because that would imply I am a leader. I just wish there was one word for this quote “Don’t walk in front of me — I may not follow; don’t walk behind — I may not lead; walk beside me and just be my friend.”

Also, this article by a popular Instagram artist basically says everything I believe about following and followers in any platform where either is required. Now to the main part.

When I had started this blog back in Feb 2016, I had asked on Quora what is the best way to generate traffic on WordPress? I knew already what the popular answers are gonna be-posting on Social media to Podcasting to videoing. While all these are true I did not want that. If I really wanted followers the way normal people do I would have posted on my Facebook, Twitter and Instagram pages and asked my friends to follow me to get me to at least 300 followers in the first month.

However, I wanted something different. I did not know what yet. But I did not want to publicise to get followers. Mainly because I was not and still am not ready to have people who know me intimately to see my blog. As a matter of fact, only my parents, 4 best friends and sister got to know about my blogging only last month and they still have no access to it. Maybe I am scared to be judged. I do not know.

Anyway so up till July 2017 (1.5 years later) I blogged and blogged with not many readers and 0 followers. At the same time, I was getting countless requests for follows on Instagram. And it wasn’t as if I were posting A+ stuff. In fact, there was literally nothing there worth following me for. So where these people finding me from? And it hit me in July about a year and a half later. I was always leaving comments on famous people’s posts and that is possibly the only place they are finding me. And this gave me the eureka moment.

I decided to start doing that in the blogosphere too. Comment on topics that I have the surface level-tip of the iceberg-knowledge about and give my opinion. But I must avoid the following cliches:

  1. Asking anyone to follow me back.
  2. Posting my sites’ link on anyone’s site.
  3. Follow without expecting a follow back.
  4. Give opinion only if the article resonates with me and not just spam any and every post that comes my way.
  5. Post my contents on Social media.

And from July 12th to 16th August I went from 0 to 50 followers simply by following the rules above. And I realised, as far as I am aware. no one in last 10 years prolly did that. Of course, I did it the hardest way as it meant averaging about 6 hours weekly on WordPress over the last 5 weeks.

However, I do know everyone following me are as holistic as it gets and totally organic too. In addition, the best part of it is that the people who have followed me are 10x BETTER THAN ME. About 75% of them have anything between 400 to 4k followers and I felt my inflated ego just about going to burst. And I feel uber grateful that I did it this way. I do not know what I am trying to achieve here but the satisfaction I have got from this way is beyond my capability to put into words the exact emotion.

What tactics have you used to garner followers.

 

by I am Aranab