Stoicism - The chief task in life is to separate what you can and can't control. Then focus all your energy and resources on what you can control and don't bother about the stuff you can't.

Meditations by Marcus Aurelius, The Art of Thinking Clearly, Crime and Punishment, The Art of War by Sun Tzu

Self-actualized individuals

First ask yourself who you want to be, and then do what you have to do.

Excellence is a habit, not an act. Repeat it.

White Tiger, Glass Palace, Kite Runner

Terrence McKenna

"Hope is a good thing, may be the best of things. And no good thing ever dies" - Shawshank Redemption

It's not what happens to you, but how you react to it that matters.

1Q84 , Zero to One, Sapiens, When Breath becomes Air, Man's Searching for meaning.

If you begin to understand what you are without trying to change it, then what you are undergoes a transformation.

You are what your deep, driving desire is. As your desire is, so is your will. As your will is, so is your deed. As your deed is, so is your destiny. [ Brihadaranyaka IV.4.5 ]

Everyone is playing a different game, don’t copy or criticize without knowing what it is. Find and play your own game.

SUCCESS Equation (Michael Maboussain), Narrative & Numbers (Aswath Damodaran), Man’s search for Meaning (Viktor Frankl).

Bill Campbell

“Between stimulus and response, there is a space. In that space is our power to choose our response. In our response lies our growth and our freedom.” - Viktor Frankl

‘Spannungsbogen’ - "The self-imposed delay between desire for a thing and the act of reaching out to grasp that thing." Planning for a 10 year goal works best for me.

Dune, HPMOR, The Goal

Founders inspire me. They imagine a future that is yet to be, and impatiently will it into existence moving the rest of the world forward by brute force.

“Show me the money” from the movie Jerry Maguire.

Life is not in your control, so give your best till you have.

Onward: How Starbucks Fought for Its Life without Losing Its Soul

Sudha Murthy

Every pain gives a lesson and every lesson changes a person. - Dr. APJ

Think before you speak, words are sharp.

Randamoozham' by M. T. Vasudevan Nair

Dr. A. P. J. Abdul Kalam

I hear and I forget. I see and I remember. I do and I understand - Confucius

Never look down at anyone. Else, do not expect to be looked up.

The Language of God by Dr. Francis Collins, Guns, Germs & Steel by Jared Diamond

Charlie Chaplin

Not all that can be counted counts. Not all that counts can be counted. - William Bruce Cameron

Stay strong, stand up and have a voice.

The Alchemist

I get inspired by the people around me who do an innovative piece of work.

The difference between the impossible and the possible lies in a person’s determination - Tommy Lasorda

Change is the only constant

The Prophet by Kahlil Gibran, The Prince by Nicolo Machiavelli

Oprah Winfrey

It is better to travel well than to arrive

Attain financial freedom, do what you love, make minor improvements periodically & treat others the way you would want to be treated.

Thinking fast and slow, Saving capitalism from capitalists, Sapiens, Randamoozham

Abraham Lincoln, Bertrand Russel, Bill Gates, Raghuram Rajan

“I would never die for my beliefs because I might be wrong.” - Bertrand Russell

What goes around comes around!

The 7 habits of Highly Effective People. Running Lean. Ghachar Ghochar.

A child’s ability to run, fall, cry, get up, dust off, laugh and run again. Almost instantly.

All constraints are internal

Make peace with past, live in the present and look forward to a new day

Abundance, The Year Without Pants, My life in Red and White :Arsene Wenger, The Mamba Mentality: How I Play by Kobe Bryant

The idea of a socially democratic world.

“None of us is as smart as all of us” - Ken Blanchard

Kaizen, continuous improvement in a methodical way

Lab Girl by Hope Jahren, Open by Andre Agassi, Cosmos by Carl Sagan, Factfulness by Hans Rosling, The King's General by Daphne du Maurier, Daughters of the Sun by Ira Mukhoty

Grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change, the courage to change the things I can, and the wisdom to know the difference.

Whoever had created humanity had left in a major design flaw. It was its tendency to bend at the knees - Terry Pratchett

Relationships are our most valuable asset be it family, friends, colleagues or customers. Helping without expectations and having a sense of gratitude, helps build positive relationships, and acts as a catalyst for our success & happiness.

Think and Grow Rich, Code of the Extraordinary Mind, Sapiens, The Innovator's Dilemma, Crossing the Chasm, Zero to One, Good to Great

Human potential, Grandeur of nature

“Change your thoughts and you change your world” - Norman Peale