An Insight Called 24 ÷ U

I have a really good friend called Girish Aggarwal. He is part of the family that has build Dainik Bhaskar into the 20 Billion Rupee enterprise it is today. Now the DB group and I go back many many years and I helped them fight their first battles when I was a young copywriter and wrote their ads for 15 years as they grew bigger and bigger.

However there is one conversation with him I remember very well - a sort of life philosophy defining chat.

They flew me down to Mumbai when they were trying to take on The Times with the paper DNA. It's a well known fact that the Hindi papers have huge circulations but the English Papers get much higher ad rates because they command a big premium.

So in many ways Mumbai was a Final Frontier for them - the ultimate gamble - sort of India trying to beat Australia in their own country!

After a strategy session I remember sitting down with him for a cup of tea and asking why he moved base from MP.

He said, "Shivjeet, in Bhopal I used to work 16 hours a day (he really did), here also I work 16 hours a day. They only difference is that there I am playing a billion dollar game, and here I'm playing a trillion dollar game. Might as well give it a try. I have only one life and one shot at this."

They failed that particular war but it gave me an amazing insight which gives me a perspective in my entrepreneurial journey.

An insight I call 24 ÷ U.

Which is this.

You may be who you are currently - a student, a mid level manager, an analyst, a consultant - whoever it is that is reading this (thank you). Or you may be Donald Trump just voted into power into the most powerful country in the world. Or you may be Mark Zuckerberg sitting in your study and looking at tiny little red dots as FB takes over the world.

Who ever you are one thing will not change.

You'll only have 24 hours in the day. And even 10 million bucks won't buy you an extra minute.

Which should give you a perspective on life.

So just imagine if you had two farmhouses, 200 pairs of shoes in your cupboard, 1000 employees, a private jet and silk underwear. What would you choose to do right now?
Probably the same thing - read this article.

Which means it's not about what you have but what you do with what you have!

I try and remind myself this as our company grows bigger and bigger. Try and remind myself that wealth is no magic wand. You can hanker for more and more of it but after a while it doesn't really do anything more for you. The most important things remain your friends, your family, your relationships and your balance of life.

I remember reading a really interesting quotation which said 'Don't live your CV, live your Eulogy.'

Your Eulogy is something they read when you die. And no one says 'she was very successful, she became Vice President so quickly' or 'she was given a special bonus for two years in a row'.

Oh no.

They say. 'She was such a kind and loving person' or 'She would visit and feed the children at the orphanage' or even 'She started running marathons after 30.'

And all this is what the philosophy of 24 ÷ U is.

You may or may not have more than one car.

You may or may not have more than one house.

You may or may not have more than a crore.

But you will never ever have more than 24 hours in a day.