I have seen many idiots in my life. The kind who wear their office badge like a holy medal. "Office is my temple," they declare, crawling in early, dragging themselves out late, sacrificing weekends at the altar of corporate ambition. And then one fine day, they are replaced. Just like that. An email goes out, someone new sits in their chair, and the world moves on without skipping a beat.
You are replaceable at work. Accept it. The sooner you do,
the freer you become.
Your Family Will Never Replace You
You know who can't replace you? Your kids. Your spouse. Your
aging parents. That one friend who actually picks up the phone when life hits
you hard.
Build your family. Not just in the biological sense, build
the damn bond. Sit with them. Talk to them. Not the "how was your day,
fine" kind of talk. Real conversations. Ask your friend how they're
actually doing. Help them when they don't ask for it. Support them when the
world won't. Be present, not just physically, but with your full, undivided
attention.
These are the people who will stand by you when that corner
office means absolutely nothing.
Your Work Has Value. Respect It. But Set Bloody
Boundaries.
Let me be clear, your work is valuable. It pays your bills.
It funds the life you want. It puts food on the table and a roof over your
head. Respect it. Show up. Deliver excellence.
But deliver it in the time frame you're paid for. Not a
minute more out of guilt or some manufactured false loyalty.
In India, we have enough corporate parasites who will tell you with a straight face that working from 9 AM to 9 PM, six days a week, is "the culture." These same people will stand on public stages and claim they don't draw a single rupee as salary. Very noble. Very inspiring. Until you dig a little and find out they've quietly transferred equity worth 450 crores to their grandchildren.
Don't swallow that bullshit. Not a single bite.
You hog and you just build someone else empire, no folks are compensated with life changing wealth for what you build for them.
Your job is a transaction, nothing more. You provide a
specific value, and you get compensated for it. Create that value within your
time frame, get paid, and go home. Your job isn't a "wealth creator"; it's the floor that ensures you never go hungry. Real wealth and security
come from diversifying.
If every corporate investor has multiple income streams, why
the hell should you rely on just one?
Your Job Is a Transaction. Treat It Like One.
Read that again. Your job is a transaction. You create
value. You get paid. That's it. There is no romance in it. There is no family
in it. The moment your value equation shifts, the transaction ends, from
either side. They won't think twice. Neither should you.
So stop treating your employer like a deity. Deliver what
you're paid to deliver. Make sure you're compensated fairly for what you bring
to the table.
If you are undervalued: don't beg. Don't plead. Don't write
long, emotional emails about your "contributions" hoping someone in
leadership will shed a tear.
Simply deliver exactly what they pay you for, not a drop
more and channel every ounce of remaining energy into building other streams
of income.
Your Job Will Never Make You Wealthy
Here's what nobody in HR orientation tells you your job is
not a wealth creator. It is a survival tool. It makes sure you never sleep
hungry. That's its only job. Nothing more, nothing less.
Look at every corporate bigshot, every successful investor.
They don't have one income source. They have five. Ten. Real estate. Stocks.
Side businesses. Consulting. Intellectual property. They preach loyalty to you
while they hedge every bet in their own lives.
So why are you putting all your eggs in one corporate basket
like a fool?
Build multiple channels of income. Start small if you have
to. But start. Your family, your community, your future — that's what actually
matters. Your salary is just one river feeding the ocean. Make damn sure there
are others.
The Art of Money Is Not Earning: It's Preserving
Never beg for a raise. If your employer values you low,
that's their assessment and their loss. You deliver for the value they've
set, and you quietly, ruthlessly, work on opening other doors.
Open a single-person company or an LLP and bring in as much
as you possibly can. Your main job is not your main source of income: build
multiple main jobs.
Spend what's necessary. Never on credit. That shiny new car
on EMI? That gadget you don't need? That vacation funded by a credit card?
That's not living that's borrowing from your future self and calling it
ambition.
The real art is not in earning money. Any hardworking person
can earn. The art is in preserving it. Growing it. Making the right decisions
at the right time. Understanding what money actually means in your life — not
as a scoreboard to flash at dinner parties, but as a tool for freedom.
Be Bold. Be Open. Say It to Their Face.
Be bold in your transactions. Be open. Way back in 2007, I told a room full of people exactly what I saw:
"How long are you going to keep lipsticking the pig?" I was
kicked out immediately. No discussion. No "let's hear him out." Just
shown the door. And you know what? Life went on. Theirs and mine.
"तू नहीं तो कोई और सही, कोई और नहीं तो कोई और सही,
बहुत लंबी हैं
जमीन, मिलेंगे लाख
हसीं, इस जमाने में
सनम तू अकेली तो नहीं"
You're not there, someone else will be. There's no shortage.
That line cuts both ways. They replaced me without blinking, and I found
something better without begging. So speak your truth. The ones who fire you
for honesty were never worth your silence.
Teach Your Kids What Actually Matters
Teach your children about your culture. Your roots. Your
language. Your festivals. Don't let them grow up as cultural orphans,
disconnected from where they come from.
Develop reading
habits in them. Real reading. Classical literature. Philosophy. History. Epics
that have survived millennia because they carry the weight of civilizations.
Otherwise, what happens? In India, reading "Chetan Bhagat-style"
mediocrity becomes their highest literary standard. That's not reading. That's
intellectual poverty. That's killing time and calling it education.
Give your kids books that teach culture, history, our rich
Indian heritage, our culinary traditions, our philosophical depth. Give them
something worth carrying into adulthood.
Travel. Meet People. Shatter Your Bubble.
Visit places. Eat the local food. Sit in a village tea stall. Talk to a
fisherman who knows more about life than your CEO ever will. Attend a festival
in a state you've never been to.
Mingle with different cultures. It does something to your
mind that no corporate training program, no leadership seminar, no
team-building retreat ever will. It gives you perspective. Humility. And a
deeper understanding of how beautifully different and yet fundamentally
similar people really are.
The Bottom Line
Your work is valuable because it funds the life you want to
live but it is not the life itself. Deliver excellence during your hours,
demand your worth, and then shut the damn laptop. Your family and your
community are the only ones who will remember you. Make sure you gave them a
reason to.
Know the value of every rupee. Not because you're cheap.
Because you refuse to be a fool.
Your office will forget your name within a week of you
leaving. Your family and community never will. Divide your time wisely.
Note: I have edited this articles over a period of time, when some were advocating 9-to-9, 6 days a week and I don't a draw penny as salary and work 7 days a week.