I’ll start by telling the story of how I lost about Rs 2.5K just yesterday. I was surfing on Google search and the topic of my search was books and reading. Google AI recommended a mobile app Bookly. It said that this app would help organise my reading.
Organize my reading means this: I want to read only those books that help me in my goals. Gone are the days when I used to read for the pure love of reading. Now I have to force myself to read. And as I approach the evening of my life (now I am past 60) I want to read only those books that will help me as a person. And I want to read those books repeatedly.
Anyway I thought that this app would help me in my attempts to stay focused regarding my reading. So I installed the app and paid for a year’s subscription (about 2.5K).
And that 2.5K is pretty much down the drain. I found that the bookly app’s website was not functioning and YouTube had a video that told me that the GoodReads app is free and much better. Google Play sent me an email saying that there will be no refunds.
So what’s the takeaway? Don’t trust Google AI blindly and surf online before making purchases. Google AI may have not mentioned GoodReads because it is owned by Amazon. Live and learn.
Ok so that’s that. But just the day before yesterday I saved Rs 34K. And guess what – it was not because of Google AI but because of my philosophy reading. Ha ha.
It happened like this. I get these jhatkas when I think that I simply must do something to earn. Nothing wrong in that except that you shouldn’t start a business because of a jhatka and I am not cut out for business. More on this is discussed in this blog below. Read it if you are trying to decide whether or not you should start a business:
So I almost enrolled for a course teaching AI that costs Rs 34K. At the last minute before I pulled out my card I asked the course representative for some time to think. She was not happy but agreed. I read the above blog but that did not lessen the impulse.
When I get these jhatkas I am not myself. That is I can think rationally but not act according to what I know to be right. Any cigarette smoker will know what I am talking about.
In the end what really freed me from the jhatka was the passage of time. I just had to wait it out.
During the interim I reminded myself of Advaita Vedanta concepts. The basic concept is that I am of the nature of bliss itself. Bliss is not something to be found in experiences or objects. In fact your seeking happiness through outward activities takes you away from the very space where it can be found (that is within yourself).
These Advaita Vedanta concepts enabled me to outlast the jhatka and I was able to WhatsApp the course representative saying that I am not interested.
This has saved me 34K and a huge amount of time and effort attempting something that I was sure to fail at. Age 60 is not the time to learn new skills.
So overall it was a profitable week for me. I wish I hadn’t spent on the bookly app but overall I saved more than Rs 30K.
For more intelligent advice on what you should read and how, look up chapter 36 of the book The Art of the Good Life by Rolf Dobelli. The chapter is titled – Read Less but twice – on principle.
Mr Dobelli is a (very successful) author so it is his business to read as well as write books. Yet he limits his reading to no more than 10 books a year. In this chapter he explains why.
Mr Dobelli’s book also has a chapter on the concept of The Circle of Competence. This is invaluable career advice from Warren Buffett. Read the book or at least the blog below:
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