Getting a handle on the controllables | Hats off to MSD | Weekly Report 206

17 Aug 2020 . category: report . Comments
#radicali #startup #singapore #fitness #dhoni

Welcome to 206.

i saw a Google News notification yesterday while i was cooking dinner - and swiped down to read something that made my heart sink suddenly. i could feel a physical difference in my body. Dhoni had retired from international cricket.

i have grown up watching MS on our home CRT TV screen since ‘06. i remember calculating required run rates while India chased 300+ scores. i remember believing in the helicopter shot till the last over. i remember watching the IPL auctions in ‘08. i remember laughing at my school friends after the MI v CSK finals, telling everyone how the field placement in the last over got us the trophy. i remember shouting with my hands in the air sitting on the sofa of our living room on the 2nd of April in 2011. i remember the dry stretch of India’s overseas test records in ‘12 and ‘13. i remember watching the press conferences when CSK got into the match-fixing scandal. i remember watching MS from the common rooms of Gandhi Bhawan with my friends. i remember the loss of ‘15 WC, i remember reading Twitter after that match. i remember taking my final-year wing to watch the autobiography all the way from Pilani to Delhi. i remember the runout in ‘19 semis, how i fell to my knees and went back home in disappointment. i remember having a feeling that this could’ve been the last of MS.

i’ve seen myself learn so much from Mahi, most importantly how you need to be indifferent to the results of a match. When asked about India’s record against Paksitan in world cup matches, he stoically replied that it is just a matter of time before we lose a match - that taught me how you separate ego from your thinking. i wish i knew more about how MS thinks, but i guess it is best that we don’t know as much about what happens in there.

i remember the entire common room of Gandhi bhawan being packed when we watched Sachin’s farewell at Wankhede - it left me teary eyed. i’m usually not affected by news, but i was surprised to watch my heart literally skip a beat on reading the headline yesterday. If i saw MS give his farewell speech, i could legit cry buckets. This guy has shaped my childhood, my way of thinking.

This is a tough segue, but this week was solid on work - got productive 10 hour days at the least on a daily basis. i feel like my function has become more of the machine oil helping all devs in the team function to their best abilities. We are in the midst of taking some important decisions around our distribution strategy, lots going on here. i put in a working Saturday pulling in a 4AM night with the plans of continuing over to Sunday but crashed. One thing that i’ve started off-late is walking 1-on-1s with my developer team members in the evenings - it allows me to catch the sunset and get some creative juices flowing through the body.

i’ve been sleeping close to seven hours over the last week, and haven’t been regular at my meditation practice. i usually sneak in a 15-20 minute power nap in the afternoon to get over the lethargy and they’ve been quite helpful. i’m currently on Day 45 of NoFap(although i’ve experienced a couple nightfalls). Staying on the path has become relatively easier now.

On the fitness front, i put in 3 short runs, 1 workout at the gym, two home NTC workouts, one foam-roller session and one tennis session this week. Hit all numbers, but i would’ve preferred if i convert all my home workouts to gym sessions. i’ve still not recovered to the same weights i used to lift pre-covid. This weekend has been good with a bunch of calls i did to a few friends, and also a new kind of networking call with a match from Lunchclub.

It was Singapore National Day last Sunday, and India’s Independence Day this Saturday - quite a patriotic week, although one where i didn’t go out to celebrate either. i cooked some minced chicken for the first time this weekend, and aim to learn fish this week.

Keep hammerin’

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