"When we are born, we look like our parents. When we die, we look like our choices."
That quote framed one of the most powerful conversations we’ve had on Baskets of Knowledge, with our guest, Amit Khanna.
Amit’s life hasn’t been a straight line. It’s a story of resilience, loss, and rebirth.
Once labeled the “dumb student”, Amit carried that identity through his childhood and early teens. He believed it. because the world around him reinforced it. Comparison crushed his confidence.
But one defining moment changed everything. After being publicly dismissed by a professor, Amit made a choice, not to fight with fists, but to fight with effort. He studied with intensity, passed an exam most failed, and realised: “I’m not dumb. I’ve just never directed my effort in the right way.”
That single moment sparked a lifetime of growth.
Since then, Amit has:
- Lived and worked across seven countries.
- Transitioned from physics and IT into leadership and communication.
- Built a career helping corporate leaders navigate office politics, manage upwards and downwards, and communicate with impact.
But behind the achievements is a man who faced profound loss. Losing his father at 15, his mother later to illness, and carrying financial struggles that forced him into work as a teenager, Amit learned that at every crossroad, you only have two choices:
1. Give up.
2. Continue.
He chose to continue. And more importantly, he chose to live fully, to not just exist, but to create impact.
Key Learnings from Amit’s journey:
Labels don’t define you, your choices do.
Comparison can be dangerous. but it can also drive you.
Communication is the ultimate career advantage.
Authenticity creates trust.
The middle matters.
This too shall pass.
This episode is for anyone who has ever felt underestimated, labelled, or stuck in the middle.
It’s for anyone who wants to rise above office politics, sharpen their communication, and lead with authenticity.
It’s for you. if you’re ready to remember that your current situation is never your final situation.
Social Media Links & Thank You gift from Amit Khanna:
- CCC SKOOL Free Community
- YouTube Channel
- Medium
- Website
- Amit Khanna’s TED Talk
- Corporate Circus Book
As a gift to all out listeners you get a Free download of Amits Best selling book - Corporate Circus for all the listeners
Enjoy
Prajesh and Tane
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
(00:04):
Hey everybody, it's Prajesh herein Tana here.
Welcome to our podcast, Passes of knowledge chats with a
difference. In our podcast, we invite guests
from around the country and around the world to talk about
how they got to where they at the moment.
It's about a journey, it's aboutan experience, it's about their
life. Welcome to another episode of
(00:28):
Baskets of knowledge Today. You just hit me.
Turning us away, doing somethingvery exciting with his sister.
So wishing well would that be. And as always, we we start the
podcast. I think about what we've put
into our basket since we last spoke and over the last week,
the thing that I've put into ourbasket is when we are, when we
are born, we look like our parents and when we die, we
(00:51):
look, look like our choices. And I think about that.
That was a very powerful quote that someone said to me.
And I was like, this is really true because every single day we
make we make choices in life. And you know, depending on those
choices, rather healthy and healthy, we're more successful.
So the next thing you think about that you think about the
choice when you're towards the end of your life, what choices
have you made to get to where you are?
(01:13):
So that's something for you to think about and ponder about.
And maybe that might come through our podcast today as we
speak to our guests and our guest today.
I'm really excited to introduce our guest today.
This is someone that I connectedwith a few years ago quite
randomly, very randomly, I was invited to go to a a call for
(01:33):
one of my other clients to come see us to talk.
She appeared on our guest podcast, The Show, and that was
it. That was many years ago.
And I said to them, 01 day, I'd like to walk with you at some
point. Forgot about it.
And as you know, history happensand life happens.
And then boom, this guest actually became a mentor over
the last few months in the worldof speaking that I do.
(01:55):
And not only are there a mentor,but when I look at what they do
when listen to this story, I'm like, wow, this is someone that
has really done a lot to get to where they are and will be
pretty awesome for them to sharea bit of this story, but also
for you to maybe connect with them at some point.
And once you acknowledge this story, listen to what they've
got to say. So it is my honor, my privilege
and really excited to invite to boss of knowledge Ahmed kind of
(02:16):
welcome Ahmed. Thank you so much.
Yes, very interesting way we connected and thank you so much
for the lovely introduction really.
No worries Ahmed, it's all, it'sall true Ahmed, for people who
don't know who you are And who is Ahmed today on the 7th of
(02:37):
September 2025? 7th of September 2025.
Ahmed is a proud father, a loving husband and someone who
is trying to make a impact, Small one, but still in the
(03:00):
world of corporate employees, helping them to understand
office politics, communication, leadership and while doing it in
a diplomatic way as well. It's beautiful.
(03:20):
That's just, that's where you'retoday.
That's where you are today. I love how you started off.
You know, most people start off with their title, but you went
straight to what's really important in life because titles
can come and go. But being a father, being a
husband is, you know, something that is really, really
beautiful, you know, and it's something that no one can take
away. The jobs can go, but that's
something that's always going with you no matter what happens
(03:40):
in life. But if we rewind a bit and if we
Fast forward and I said to Amit when he was say in high school
or you know, in, in anybody's life, hey Amit, in 2025, you're
going to be a successful person living in Australia or you've
said to us at that point in time.
I would surely have laughed a lot.
(04:03):
And the reason is, if I rewind me back in my early teens or
yeah, during my school and high school, to be very honest, I
didn't know how who was I back then for two reasons #1 so I've
been a very pampered child. All right, That's thing.
(04:26):
Second is that I never knew my own limitations or my own self
in terms of education. So what I'm saying is that I was
defined or labeled by others andthat's what I had been agreed
upon in my head. So back then it wasn't.
(04:48):
It was informed, told rather than asked or updated and stuff,
right? So So here's my label.
My label was that I'm a dumb student and I'll not venture
into anything good. I'll probably be a big burden.
(05:10):
And you? Know what's important is, well,
if you think about human psychology, you know, from zero
to six children take on the world from around them, from 6
to 12, they mimic everything. And then from their own state,
they, they either fight it or they accept it.
And it's interesting how the labels, whether they're good or
bad, start defining who we are. And as you said before it was
given to you, you didn't, you didn't ask for this, but
(05:32):
somebody said, do you wonder, hey, Amit, you are a dumb
student. And you believed it because
nothing else around the world said anything else.
Yeah, yeah. And that's exactly what it was
because. And it's, I don't know, it was
that time. And you know, back then it was a
different generation, different thought process.
(05:52):
Imagine no phones and stuff, right?
So back then it, it's still competitive, but there's always
a concept of comparison, right? And comparison has created many
amazing things where as broken as well.
So I was in that broken section where I was compared compared to
somebody whom I still love. And like most, he's very good
(06:15):
friend of mine still date. But because of this thing of
education being compared, I was dumb compared to him.
And you know, that became a stigma in my head.
And I'm like, you know what, what the hell?
Why should I even put the efforts now I'm dumb.
Let's take it like that and continue.
Yeah. And, and you know what I like
(06:35):
there is we always think about comparison is a bad thing, but
lovely sometimes a good thing. Sometimes comparison can be a
good thing, depending on how youframe it.
Yeah. And when did you realize that
actually, hey, this label of dumb is actually not you.
How how old was it? Or was it moment of realization?
Yeah, it took me 13 years. The realization happened in the
(06:56):
final year of my graduation where I, this is a very
interesting story. So because I was labeled into
dumb category, I also, now that friend, we got departed after
the, you know, the 10th. So his uni and my uni was
different, his field was different, mine was different,
and we stopped comparing. But that thought process of me
(07:18):
being a little silly was always there, all right.
So I also attracted that kind ofpeople around me.
So that gave an impression of mein the UNI that, you know, he's
like a useless kind of a child. So this happened in the final
year of my BSE. So I'm a bachelor's in science,
physics graduated person. So I went for my college
(07:42):
professors had a separate tuition that they had started.
So I went, I took a fee from my aunt and I went to them and I
think, all right, this is I wantto join your tuition.
And there I am in the physics head of departments room in the
entire, you know, with all the teachers.
(08:04):
And this guy actually insulted me, saying that I'm not going to
get a student like you to join my tuition to make a impact, you
know, to put a bad mark on everyone.
Oh my. God, that's huge.
All right, so at that time, you know, there was a feeling of
revenge, right? So how do you take revenge?
(08:25):
The the one way is, of course, go and beat him up.
But that's not me. So the other way is that all
right? You know what?
I'm going to beat him up by passing it to get better.
And I did, to my surprise that 73 people sat for the exam, 26
passed. I was one of them, and without
(08:45):
paying the tuition fee and all. And that was the year that I
realized, Oh my God, all I'm missing is the effort in the
right direction, that's all. And I can do anything.
And yeah, it was, yeah. My life changed after that.
What a what a crazy moment realization.
Really interesting. I'm with a lot of our guests
(09:06):
that have come on and said the same thing that somebody in
their life had said to them, youcan't do this or you're not good
enough or whatever it was. And through some crazy
coincidence, each one of those guests have basically, we want
to prove you wrong, whether it'sstraight away or or not.
And that proving of wrong has been there basically sliding
those moment where they've changed their whole life because
(09:28):
they go, wait a minute. I was limited by another
person's perception of me and it's just changed their whole
life. And what is what is like for you
And and you've now, because now you, because that realization is
is really massive, because you know, as you said, you've hold
this building of dumb your wholelife.
Then you pass. What does the What does your
world look like then? So now, so when I started, like
(09:51):
the first thing that I realized that Oh my God, I can do many
things. So I started to study.
So it's very weird that I actually never started or like,
so you know, when when you studysomething for your uni and your,
when you're in your graduate, you study and you remember
things, right? I don't remember anything
because I started for just passing.
(10:15):
So then the, my inquisitiveness began like, Oh my God, I don't
know anything. Like 21 years I've passed by and
I'll do everything. So I did that.
I did a lot of certifications that I needed for my technical
staff and this and that. I did my master's degree.
I did my, I did my diploma in human psychology because I'm so
(10:37):
fascinated with all that. And I still read study, but it
changed everything for me. I think that that thing changed
everything. It's just sorry.
No, no, no. I was just going to say that on
to your point, right? That the moment when someone
insults you and stuff, it just wonders.
(10:58):
Sometimes I really wonders that why that moment, why it didn't
happen earlier to prove my parents wrong or to prove my
other teachers wrong. I don't know why, but it
happened at that particular age.I don't know.
And sometimes, you know, the universe and whether we believe
it or not, just has it at that point in time.
This is when it's meant to happen for you.
And, you know, the learnings, ifit had happened earlier, maybe
(11:21):
your life had been very different for you or later, but
different for you. You just never know.
As you say, you just never know.Yeah.
True, true. I.
Agree. And, and it's, it's interesting,
you know, you spoke about just now you said you've done all
these certifications and you keep doing that There it it just
before I jumped on, I just againjumped onto your LinkedIn
profile. And one of the things that
really caught me was the quote that you put there is that
(11:41):
Einstein, which is once you stoplearning, you start dying.
And it sounds like this is something you've just taken on
board as a mantra for your life.Yeah, I think you know, same
thing, right. So I'll tell you what happened
with me again. So once I got after this, you
know, and whatever 21 and onwards, so I started studying
and this and that. But again, I came to a point
(12:04):
where, you know, I think I became a bit egoistic as well,
right? And I truly believe in that.
And then came another. So I in my life, there has been
people who have come in my life to teach me certain valuable
things. So there was another colleague
who came into my life. I think I was in my 30s back
(12:25):
then, and he was younger to me. But man, he changed my thought
process. You know this guy, his name is
Kiran. And he came and he taught me the
growth, the true meaning of the growth mindset, OK, and how I
should be focused on gaining knowledge and learning and other
(12:48):
things. So that opened up very different
world for me. And yeah, I completely agree.
Now, I think what fascinates me now is, is the fact that there
are so many things in this worldabout, you know, like if I take
leadership, for example, right? There's like a hundreds and
(13:11):
thousands of books written on it.
Everyone has a different perspective, thoughts.
There's that experience and it'sso amazing to read and learn
about it. So yeah, I truly believe on what
I've mentioned there that, you know, if you stop it, you just
pause everything. And I love the tech.
I mean, I love the tech so much because this is again,
(13:32):
coincidence. This morning I was listening to
a podcast with Trevor Nowa and it really links right back to
what you just said about you meeting people in your lives
like like Karen. And one of the things that that
really stood up for me was they said that life is about us
meeting our teachers. Life does not have built in
meeting and when you find the teachers along the way, this is
(13:53):
when life starts having some meaning.
And that really goes back to you, what you just said before.
You know, as you said before, you are living your life.
Ego comes in and then somebody comes to teach you.
Actually wait a minute. And it's important for us to
look for those teachers around us, you know, because they're
there. Yeah, yeah, certainly.
Yeah, absolutely. And how did you, how did you
(14:15):
start? So you know, you, you physics,
technical skills, this is, this is your, your, your world.
And actually at the start, you've shifted into the world of
corporates. How did you actually wait a
minute? I want to start making impact a
little bit differently again, because you know, it's so
different. You know, you have technical
background. Some people just stick to, I'm
an engineer. This is my jam.
(14:35):
And now you've shifted quite dramatically.
Yeah, no, the reason I was smiling is because, yeah, I I
like physics, all right. And in physics I was very
fascinated with the atoms. So nuclear part of it, and a bit
of Einstein theory. Now, just for your viewers, you
know, like I said, I was a very pampered child, single child to
(14:59):
my parents, but I lost my fatherat 15 and I lost my mother as
well later on. So it had been a tough financial
upbringing for me. So the reason I say this is
because I couldn't pursue masters in further.
OK, we didn't add money. We had I had to go and do it
some job. So when I got into the we have
(15:22):
this. What do you call post
graduation? Right?
So I went and did my post graduation in computers because
hey, you need a money and money is in computers and I'm talking
2000 right here, 2002 thousand. So while doing so, everything
was fine when I was learning allthe initial stuff, when I came
to Java, the language and I, I, I got a test that I have to do
(15:47):
something in code and I, that isthe realization.
I'm like, all right, I can't code.
Amit, let's agree that you just do not know how to code.
And that was a defining moment for me.
And I'm very happy that I got that realization back then that
I can't code like a coder. OK, so that's where it realized
(16:10):
that, OK, I can do. So then there is two types of
work, right? One is you code like a website
and the other is that you work on that website, correct?
So I realized that I can work onthe tools that are created for
IT rather than creating the tools.
So this was my breaking factor and then I also learnt that I
(16:34):
somehow I can speak up, I can connect.
Well, I did my post graduation in Kolkata.
So that's city in India. So there it was.
Since I come from Mumbai, I was considered as a flamboyant boy
because I was able to speak to everyone and if people like Oh
(16:55):
my God. And I, I think because I was,
I've been working since age 15, right?
So I was a little strict. So that gave me that edge in
communication. That gave me that edge that, OK,
you know what, Amit? I can talk and I can back this
knowledge of it and I can use that in talking.
(17:15):
That was the whole gist of it. So for me personally, it hadn't
been a difficult journey in thisthat, oh, you know what I'm
doing. For me, it was day one.
You can talk, Amit. Go ahead and do that, all right.
And it's not good when getting into your passion.
You know, lots of us have the passion, but we don't lean into
(17:36):
it. We just say no, no, no, no, no.
I need to get my technical skills up.
And, and I was smiling because this is you are a mirror image
of what I did, but a different way because I also did a
computer science degree and I could not code, you know, I
could do HTML, but and went withJava.
And see, I was like, this is notmy world, but because I wanted
to my parents had paid all this money and I was like, Oh, I felt
(17:57):
guilty. So I just finished my degree and
it's really funny, you know, 20 odd years now.
I think I was like, why did I waste my time?
Because that's not what I wantedto do.
I never I never caught it in my life.
After that day. I was like, you have found
communication. But it's interesting how you
again, the label of the fee of or if I, if I don't finish this,
what are my parents going to say?
My PSA. But I love how you just leaned
(18:18):
into into the communication and it's taken you around the world,
isn't it? It's opened up a lot of
opportunities for you. Oh yeah, yeah, definitely.
I think this is like this is my 7th country that I am in right
now. So yeah.
Yeah, let's touch on that because, you know, our viewers
are interested. You know, when you when you move
to different countries, what, what is one of the I'm going to
ask you what is one of the awesomest things that you find
(18:41):
in your countries and one thing that you find the most
difficult? There, I think what I loved
about I'm that person, remember who is.
So just to give you a background.
So I flew first time to US. This is back in 2006 and I was
working for Donald Trump's casino, which is from Taj in
(19:03):
Atlantic City, closed now. And so I am, I think age 28 or
something maybe. And this is the first time I
ever sat in a plane ever, OK, not even domestic because we
(19:24):
couldn't afford it. I'd never been in a plane.
So imagine a guy who has never gone in the flight ever, flies
for the first time straight to United States.
All right, So that's a big thingfor me.
And so secondly, I come from Mumbai.
So people who know how Mumbai works, it is basically crowded
(19:46):
trains and you know all that. So now I'm going to United
States, first time in the flight.
It's very different for me. So I think my first experiences
were, Oh my God, I am in this beautiful place.
I am being respected. When I walk on the roads, people
are not there to bum me down. I know people in India would
(20:08):
like to hear this, but that's a fact, OK?
That's the first time I realizedthat, oh, I'm a human being
that, you know, people don't want to kill me.
And I was very happy and of course there's a lot of other
things as well. But what happened?
So then I after that I've been to many places.
I've been to China, Bangladesh, Philippines, in Sweden,
(20:30):
Australia and maybe a couple of more for a job perspective.
And of course then I've travelled other places, right.
So I think what I really like now is I love to travel because
and I love to eat, you can see by my meat.
So the thing that I love the most is how do these culture
(20:52):
function? And I'm also a person who
believes in if I'm in a particular country, I will adapt
the culture of that country, right?
So be in their home, respect their home, kind of a.
So that has put me in a very well position all the time.
(21:13):
So the first question that I always ask to somebody whom I'm
a little, little acquainted is that what are the things that I
should not say? So this way I know that and
people have told me in certain countries that you should not
say this or that. OK, So that's one.
Second is there's always the food that binds me everywhere.
(21:36):
So the food culture is the second thing that fascinates me
about a new country. And within the country there
then States and other things, and each has their own flavors
and stuff, so. Yeah.
And those are the good things. What are what are the what are
the hardest thing though? So those are all the good
things. What is the hardest thing when
(21:57):
you when you? Hardest things is a how.
Sometimes it is difficult to grab their accent, I'll not deny
that. So Southern accents of any
country has been a challenge. All right, So that's one thing.
(22:18):
Second is that there are certainnuances that they do at work and
that is a little challenging as well.
The other things that generally bothers, not bothers is
difficult is like you know, you are now disconnected from India.
So you are you don't get to connect like the festivals and
(22:38):
all those things that happens many times.
But if I'm with my family, for me it's because I've been a
loner, right? Like I like my parents were not
there and stuff. So for me, if I have my family
right now in whichever country Iam, I'm happy.
But I think those are the basic difficult things.
(23:00):
Sometimes the accent, sometimes the certain nuances, if they
have any, like, you know, cultural things and stuff.
But other than that, to be very honest, I don't think I have
found anything very challenging so far in any of these
countries. And this, this, you know, why I
asked the question is all because everyone goes, oh, you
(23:20):
know, when I when I woke up, people are like, oh, I'm going
to move to a new place. And it's so hard.
I was like, is it hard because you're making it hard and
because you're so stuck in your way that you are?
I'll tell you a funny story. One of my one of my good
friends, not anymore. One of my friends, he went to
South Korea for the very first time and I was like, wow, this
is amazing. I was so excited for him.
I was in my in my 20s and he waslike, I'm so nervous.
(23:43):
And I was like, why? It's like, do they have toilets?
What am I going to eat? I was like, what are you talking
about? And when he came back, I said,
why did you enjoy the food? Did you enjoy?
It's like I eat McDonald's everyday.
Like, well, how did you do that?I was like, oh, because I, I
just didn't trust the food. I was like, you know, so
different people, different, different stocks to people.
But you know, it is, it is, you know, like you said before, and
(24:03):
I love what you said, when you are at someone else's country or
their home, you live by the rules.
There's you're under the roof. So you go right, cool, this is
it. And it reminds me when the first
time, first time I went to India, my dad called me and said
to me, Hey, you produce, you're going from New Zealand to India.
It is what it is. You have to accept it.
You're going to see things that you don't like to see.
You're going to smell the you don't like to smell.
(24:24):
You cannot change it. You just have to accept it.
And I think that was one of the biggest piece of advice that
I've got because when I got there, I just accepted it
because otherwise I would have my biological mind and go like,
oh, it's so dirty here. It's awesome.
Oh, why this only? Why is it like this here?
And but as you say, you just accept it as it is and you enjoy
it. You enjoy it?
Yeah, no, that that's the thing,right?
That's the reason I didn't find places where it was like, for
(24:46):
example, Bangladesh, right? It's very different culture,
very different ways of working. You know, they have prayers
during the office times, which is fair because that's what day
it is. So the key is for me is like,
all right, I'm going there. You, if this is how you work,
you, this is how you work. I'm not here to change you your
stuff, and I'll adapt to it. Yeah, that's right.
(25:10):
Talk about adapting and what I'mgoing to talk about your your
role in speaking because this iswhere we cross paths and you've
done some really beautiful things that will be.
And also corporate politics. Why?
Why has corporate politics been something that you that is
passionate to you because you want to make a change in that
space there? What is the the reason?
You know, you could just be like, oh, OK, cool, you can just
do your thing. But I'm here because I want to
(25:30):
change the way people look at it.
Yeah. See, The thing is that I, like I
said, you know, when I realized that I can speak well, I can
communicate and I can talk. Two things I've learned over the
last two decades now is number 1is that there's a lot of people
who are very good with technical, right?
So they're those brainy chaps. And let's face it, 80% of the
(25:54):
people who get into it are brainy chaps, OK?
They're much smarter. They are technically sound, well
educated, you know heavy duty people in their heads, but they
just don't know how to put it out there, right?
They do not know how to showcasethe world.
They do not know how to climb the corporate ladder without
(26:15):
getting older, right? And there is this in India, we
called it as the Babu. That's a mindset, OK, The
mindset. There are group of people who
have this mindset of authority. So they will get into a position
of leadership and they will stick their ass forever and they
(26:36):
will start their autocratic way of behaviour, right.
You know, And I have personally witnessed this as well.
So like for example, in one of my projects, there was one of
the team leaders who's equal in my like, so I'm a project
manager, he's a tech lead of theproject.
(26:56):
We're talking 43 odd people teamand he's at the same level
designation as me. I'm just a project manager of
people. He's the tech right?
Like he had a a fuse in his head.
So anytime something goes wrong,stop.
And he used to actually shout atpeople.
And because I was very new to the project management rule, I
(27:18):
was shit scared. All right, seven people resigned
in that project. And then when when the feedback
came, of course, I said I didn'tdo well.
I'm all, I'm also scared. But then what I realized is that
so we kicked him out, the company decided to take him out
of the project, not the company,but project.
(27:40):
And then when I spoke to the team members, they said that
Amit, you didn't step up. You're the manager, you're
supposed to do it. And that's where I realized
that, Oh my God, there's many things, you know, I have to do
as well. So what I realized is that
office politics all boils like this.
(28:01):
One of my team members said thatAmit, he was shouting on me, so
I shout on others. So what's wrong about it?
I'm like, that's the thing, You were tried, treated bad.
Now you treat bad so that you become balanced.
So the point here is that it's not right, correct?
(28:21):
So when it's not right, it has to start from within as well.
So first I speak up. I should know what it is.
Then I'm like, all right, this is a weak point.
OK, let me go and help people who want to climb up.
Then we need to also, you know, things can't be done nicely
because it doesn't happen. Human beings are very, very
weird, everyone. So it's very difficult to know
(28:45):
what's going on in your brain ormy brain right now.
Yeah. I need to know how to do things
diplomatically as well, right? So with all of this, I realized
that, hey, I am helping people. I was part of PMI as well, doing
some trainings and stuff. So why not now shift from a bit
(29:05):
of technical side that is in theproject management side to the
people side? That's where in 2020 I started
with this communication leadership, basically office
politics. So helping people who can't, who
are very technical, who do not know how to present, what to
present. And the other thing is just last
(29:28):
point is that there are a lot of, you know, when technical
people sometimes present, they literally bore you to death with
their presentations. And the senior management will
then tell me, Amit, can you summarize this for me?
And I do that now, who will get the kudos?
Hi. So when I get promoted, this
(29:50):
person gets hated. But come on, you have to upscale
yourself, right? Unintentionally, It's like, it's
not intentionally. I'm sorry.
Sometimes it just happens because the person who can
showcase things well is the one who puts the front foot.
Yeah, and this is, this is so, so true.
(30:10):
And the reason I ask this question is because as we now
know in the world of AI and those technical skills will not
be, you know, AI can do it. I mean, no to some level, but
communication is going to be really, really important.
And you know, I love what you said there.
The switch that point in time view was, yes, the person did
the job, but they couldn't communicate it.
You can communicate it. Therefore you get all the
(30:31):
acknowledgement and how many times it happened out there to
some people and you, that personis getting angry at you, but
it's not your fault. Yeah, it's it's them, right.
So it's really beautiful. And I love how you are now
taking that to go actually this is not OK.
That's how do we, how do we change, change the skills?
So there's two things that spokeabout the communication, but
also the office politics, because both are really
ingrained, especially in bigger corporates and bigger companies
(30:52):
where you can't communicate or you have someone who can't
manage office politics because I, I, I expressed as well, just
because you're a manager or leader or manager doesn't mean
you can manage. Correct, Correct.
Absolutely right. Yeah, and I see this in
academia. You know, we, I don't know if
(31:14):
you work in academia, but in academia we someone is a
fantastic researcher and they'refantastic.
And then by default, they pick up head of department and
they're like, I don't want to beout of department, but this is
what they have to do because they're being, they've been
promoted by the university, but in their minds, they've been
demoted because now they're taking away from what they
really love into, yeah, managingpeople.
(31:36):
And as you know, not everyone loves managing.
People, Yeah, yeah. And that's the thing, right.
And you're absolutely. That's the nail on the head,
because a lot of people, when they do good technical work,
they then get promoted and when they get promoted, they get
promoted for their technical skills.
But now they have a team under them.
(31:56):
Yeah, I'm like, all right, now Ihave to take care of this and
these people. And yeah, they don't know how to
do it. Yeah.
And it's really interesting how the world works like that day,
the promotion when the world works like that day, which is
crazy. Yeah, it's crazy.
Yeah. I'd love to see how you're going
to shuffle that up there with your with the office politics
(32:17):
revolution. And you know, you spoke about
you're making an impact and whenwe think about the impact, if
you had to pick in an audience, who's the audience that you'd
like to make an impact to? Is there a specific group appeal
that you got? This is this is an appeal that I
want to that I want to impact. I have defined my group as a
person, a corporate going male or female so it's not biased.
(32:40):
Someone who is at least 5-7 years into the world now, so not
in the freshers group. So if you're into seven years
plus and up to 20 years is what I generally work with.
So they are mostly the tech leads, the project managers, the
senior project managers, the AVPSVPS, up to a director level.
(33:04):
So I don't work with C exec folks now.
That's a different thing that myclients have climbed it and are
now in C exec position. But when they joined me, they
were not. So the reason I like to work
with them is because they are those, you know, they are those
sandwich group who are crushed between the top management and
(33:27):
the bridge. And they're in the middle layer
right now. And it's very difficult to show
what and how, what are my capabilities because you have to
manage down. You have to manage up and they
feel they're crushed. So I work with those people.
And again, I'm smiling because there's a bit of an analogy to
that. The whole, I think we find in
(33:49):
most industries, the middle is the one that suffers the most.
And I think about in education, you know, you have students that
are excelling, they get everything.
Since they're not excelling, they get everything.
The ones in the middle, whateverthe C student, OK, whatever,
they're fine and the same thing for you.
This, the middle managers that you see, they just OK, cool, you
(34:09):
just do your thing. But they have to operate in this
this constraint where they're like managing both and there's
nothing for them. Yeah.
And think about it like so even if I take it in the economy
section, so we're not talking about the very poor people and
we're not talking about the filthy rich guys, we're talking
about the real tax paying people.
Yeah. Yeah, that's right.
(34:31):
That's what my clients are most of the time.
Yeah, I know it's, it's really, really.
And it's true because, you know,we forget about the middle.
We forget about, there's an assumption that the middle is
going to be OK. Yeah, yeah.
Which is which is, which is crazy.
And Amit, you know, one of the, one of the things that I really
like about everything that you do is you're very authentic with
(34:53):
what you what you put out there.And the reason I, I, I say
that's really why I like it is because sometimes it's really
hard to be authentic in the world where you can get pulled
on very, very quickly. And how do you navigate that
there? Because you know, you're out
there, you, you're telling your story, you're putting yourself
there and you're probably going to have people that are, that
are haters as well. How do you, how does Ahmed deal
(35:14):
with that there? So I think two things IA few
things that I'm very mindful about is what do I put out
there? So if there is something that is
a little hyped up for me, I try not to put out there because the
amount of time spent in justification is just way too
(35:37):
much for my head. So that's where I'm a little
afraid of. So.
And yes, there are haters, obviously.
Interestingly, I go, I check every Instagram wherever the
message comes. OK so recently a guy mentioned
that oh this is all fake on one of my ads and I'm like OK So
(36:01):
what exactly is it fake? So I asked him hey you never
connected with me why? And the reason is it's not to
justify myself it's more from understanding why that person
thought is a fake. And after chatting with him, I
realized I actually chatted withhim and I realized that he
might, he has joined something he was not happy.
(36:23):
So he put me label correct. So, so that's where I told him
that, hey, you know what, blah, blah, blah.
This is what I do and stuff. So I think the key is for me is
a, the content is created by me.So there are people who post it
(36:43):
on my behalf, but it's me who validates it.
That's number one. So I want to make sure that it's
not hide to a point where even Ican't justify it.
It looks fake to me. Secondly is that it has to be as
authentic as possible. So for me, I'll be very
(37:04):
transparent. I don't want to get into the
billion dollar group or anything, OK?
I don't want to. I'm happy with a certain level
of earning. So whatever is the basic
earnings, for example, if I am earning 20% more than that, I'll
be happy person. So I don't have this greed of
having hundreds and hundreds of people join my program.
(37:28):
I don't. I'm happy with 10's and I'm
happy with those few numbers because I'm at that stage in my
life that, yeah, I don't want billions, It's OK.
I don't want to be in the next billionaire list or whatever.
Yeah. And sometimes this is, this is
a, you know, an oddity, authenticity, because, you know,
(37:50):
it's about quality, not quantity.
You know, you, you see some people I know, I mean, we both
know programs where it just explodes.
And as they explode, they lose, they lose it loses that, you
know. Yeah.
I think about the training I didwhen I did my training with NLP
masters. There was a group of, you know,
20 of us really intermittently great, really eager to everyone.
(38:11):
And now the organization that does the training has 200 to 100
people. And like, how do you, it's great
for them, they're making tons ofmoney, but how do you connect?
Exactly. No, I, I, I made that conscious
decision. And I think the person, so I
forgot his name, Daniel. He's the one who wrote the
(38:33):
famous books as well. So.
Oh, come on, I forgot his name. But yeah.
So 52 assets or something. Daniel Priestley.
Daniel. Priestley he, he's a very famous
author, right? So I, when I was watching his
(38:54):
video, I saw one of the clips where he said that, you know, he
has created a group like how youcan be into your hundreds and
then, you know, into a basic millions and then blah.
And he said that most this, there's a point in life which is
good enough for you, which is like a team of 10 to 12 people.
You are getting into your first bit of millions and that's
(39:16):
pretty much it. That would suffice.
And then comes the company and all that.
So I think that resonated with me a lot, much that OK, 1012
people in a team is good enough and I'm satisfied.
Yeah, that's really, really beautiful, Amit.
He's talking about about your work and who you are and that
how does Amit relax? How do you relax?
(39:38):
Yeah, that's. So I relax.
I think about how do I relax? Because I but I think for me, I
love to read. OK, that's weird, but I love to
read. So I have books all the time,
whether be it an audible, Kindleor physical.
(40:00):
There's much, much, much books than what you see here about
like 153 physical books with me right now and more than 7080
Audible and Kindle. So I I that's relaxing for me
because I just love to Audible let's me listen.
Second relaxing is music. I love it.
(40:22):
So that relaxes me third or I'm sorry, let's plan it this way.
The first relaxing is with my son because we play together.
So be it or most importantly, wewatch certain YouTube channels
together. So it's generally tech reviews
like Mr. Who's the Boss or you know, things like that.
(40:43):
So that's our relaxing time. The second is with my, of
course, with my family where we play board games.
So we love board games, sitting down and playing it or cards.
That happens. Then comes the reading, of
course, and music. And yeah, that's pretty much it.
(41:03):
I would love to add gym to my relaxation, but yeah, I I love
it. Here's the best part.
When I go to gym, I feel like, Oh my God, that was the best
thing to happen. But getting up and going there,
yeah. So.
Let's not. Let's add this into the bucket
list. Exactly 1 one day, one day, but,
(41:24):
but it's, but the reason I ask the question is because, you
know, there's a lot of people out there doing lots of things
there and it's important for us to real to not actually not on
the go all the time. You know, people see versions of
them, you know, but so hey, I actually relax with my I take
time with my son. I, you know, playing board games
isn't art. Lots of people don't play board
games anymore. They watch it because it's
(41:45):
actually physically, but left out.
It's not a not a device, it's it's physical, it's connection.
And, you know, reading, reading is a lot is an art that people
are losing. And I was again, like you like
to read a lot. And then I have just been
reading the Almanac of Naval Ravikant and, and then he just
talks about reading. He just says reading is and, and
what he says there. So it doesn't, you don't have to
(42:05):
finish the book because you can start reading it.
And if you don't like the book, just stop.
Don't, don't worry about this. Yeah, yeah. 100% and I'll just
what I do basically is so I create I am when I read or I go
through anything. So I create like the story
cards, right? So this is I have these with me
(42:27):
all the time. Like these are all filled and
they're two such boxes that are filled.
So every time I read something and I write it on the top here.
So that's a leadership tag. So that's persuasion or
whatever, whatever. So it can be anything.
But this is what I do. So that this way I have certain
bit of notes and stuff collected.
(42:50):
And you know, when I hopefully write my third book, I will get
ready. You know, thank you for inviting
me because this is one thing when we did run our mentoring
sessions, you spoke about that and and I I wrote that because I
have a notebook and I care with me everywhere.
But that is really powerful. And was this what to you was
this? Or did you have you always been
(43:11):
writing stuff as you read? Sorry, what?
What do you ask? You know, the question was, you
know, how you how you write. You know, you have those
notepads everywhere you go. And you know, you spoke about
that in one of our group entering sessions about how you
write and you have the body everywhere you go.
And it got me thinking, lots of people that are doing well in
(43:31):
their lives have a notepad or they write stuff down.
Was this something you picked upfrom someone or was it someone
in innately in your, you know, mid life?
I think I picked this from Ryan Holiday book Note taking system
right? So I, I also realized that there
is something called a zettle casting ways of taking notes.
(43:52):
And then I started researching on it and I found out then
there's another guy called his Ali Abdul who had been into
productivity a lot. But I think it was mostly either
Ryan Holiday or even Ryan Holiday's mentor, which is
Robert Robert Greene, right. So I love Robert Greene's book,
(44:13):
like 48 laws of power and stuff.So when I, when I used to watch
YouTube videos of that, that's where I realized that how these
work and story cards basically came because I work in IT.
So I work in age aisle and in age aisle, this is back in 2010.
We used to use physical cards. You know, you write something at
(44:34):
the back, you write something and you go and put it
physically. And that fascinated me.
And then when I realized that I can buy them, I'm like, alright,
I'll buy a bunch. And then I learned from Ryan and
these people on how they tag it,like tag it and stuff.
So. That that's a good idea.
(44:54):
Yeah. And I love how we, how we went.
We loved it because it's such a beautiful skill to have and to
take away. You know it's, you know whether
you write stuff for you, it's itbecomes visceral when you write
things down, becomes real. Yeah.
Yeah, I also, I also noticed when you went to get the
storyboard, a big picture of Einstein behind you.
Oh yes. Yeah, this Einstein I someone in
(45:16):
your world that you. Yeah.
I like, remember I said so when I was doing physics, you know, I
was very fascinated. The theory of relativity, that's
all. Very much.
I, I, he's a brainy chap, we know that, right?
I think this this. I got it from New Zealand, by
the way. So I was in.
(45:37):
Auckland and I think we were in those, one of those museums, the
Science Museum and think there. And I liked the poster and I got
it because it's nicely, it's very colorful and there's a lot,
all the quotes are mentioned here as well, you know, on both
(45:57):
the sides. Yeah.
So I thought it's a very good banner or maybe it will also
vibrate some good thing. Either either way, right?
Either way, it's not going to begood for you, right?
Yeah, I know. Maybe, Maybe.
So I'm hoping for that. Oh.
No, not beautiful. I love it and I love because
(46:18):
there's so many facets in your life that have you've only
touched a little bit, but it's really, you know, the
beautifulness of your story where you your origin story, I
guess the physics, the dumb students that you know, the the
leadership. It's you know, it's all what I
love about it. It's it it for listeners and our
viewers. You don't have to do one thing.
You can be a lot of things and you can find your thing in
amongst all that there. But he got I guess.
(46:40):
Yeah, yeah. I think the most important thing
is that you, we do not know what's going to happen.
So it's not good to just label yourself right now.
Yeah. So stick around, things are bad.
I get it, you have tried a lot. Nothing's working.
(47:01):
I get it. But just don't label it yet.
Yeah, that's right. Yeah.
And, and it's, and it's really, it's because things that are,
things are good or bad, right? Life is happening to us, but
life is happening. Life is going to happen.
You know, if you die today, lifewill happen.
If you stay in your bedroom today, the traffic will still be
(47:21):
out there, they'll still be happening.
So it depends on how you, as yousay, how you approach life.
Yes, there's bad things happening in life.
There's good things in life. It's how you approach those
things there. Yeah, yeah.
And, and to that point, you know, I, I always had this
thought of, there was a many times in my life where, you
know, because when my father passed away, we were like, like
(47:44):
in a homeless state because my house was mortgage.
There's a lot of things there. So, and then my mother wasn't
working either. So it was just me.
But many times there had been like, then my mother got cancer.
We came to know last stage and stuff.
She came out of that again. And then eventually she passed
away. All I have learned is that at
(48:06):
any given point of time, there'sonly two choices that you have
just two choice A, that you go and kill yourself, like end it
or B, continue. So I chose to continue.
And now when you have chosen to continue, don't continue like,
(48:28):
you know, you did a favor on somebody.
All right. Like my mother was very strict
to point to me on this, like at age 16 when I used to go to work
and come back and get feel tiredor something.
And she used to say that, hey, you know what?
You're not doing favor to me. It's just part of the life.
That's fair. So yeah.
(48:50):
So if you're if you're chosen tolive well, then at least be nice
or, you know, do the thing. Don't act as if you're doing a
favor to somebody. Yeah, that's a powerful.
And again, I love how how it's it's it's come right back to
what I said at the start. You know, the the choices cult
that we have. You're born.
You're when you're born, you look like your parents.
(49:11):
And then when you die, you look like what the choice that you
made. And as you said before, when you
start making those choices, you're either choosing to live
and or you're not using to live.And when you're using to live,
it's not a favorite. It's because you're choosing
making that choice. Exactly.
Beautiful. Love it.
I went through. We've been talking for almost an
hour or so. There's so much we can delve
into the the time I've just flown and there was a reason why
(49:33):
I want to join here because there's so much you've shared
today, which is really beautifuland I'm sure listeners will
enjoy and learn a lot. But before we go, we have a
tradition with our podcast. Our podcast is called Baskets of
Knowledge and we invite our guests to share a piece of
knowledge to put into our basket.
You've obviously shared a lot today, but is there any
particular piece of knowledge wecan put into our basket in any
from any part of your life? I'll, I'll say the same thing
(49:58):
that I just said earlier is thatyour current situation is not
the final situation. Your current situation is just
there. There's a dialogue that I
always, always keep in my head because a year, just a year ago,
last year, I was in the very badsituation when it comes to
financials. OK, no job.
(50:19):
Horrible place, Too much of that.
There's one line that had cleared me through, and the line
is this too shall pass. Now it works both ways, though.
If you're in a good place right now, remember this too shall
pass. Bad place, this too shall pass.
So A, don't get into egoistic place.
(50:42):
B. Don't overspend, all right,
because this too shall pass. What a what a wonderful,
wonderful way to close the podcast in this 2 sharp pass.
It's a reminder that it works inboth ways.
And because too many times we focus on, oh, this is a bad
thing. I've got to pass, but also the
good things pass because life isjust current situation.
(51:04):
Beautiful, Ahmed. It's beautiful, beautiful.
Any last words before we close if Amit?
So I just one small thing. So I would give my e-book to all
of your guests. So that's.
Fantastic. Book and I'll send the link for
the e-book so that you can, you know, pass it to everyone, give
(51:25):
it a read, let me know how it was.
And that's a small thank you from my side to your listeners.
Amazing, amazing. Thank you.
Just you want to give it a plug.What is?
What is it about so that this isnot what they're going to be
getting? So basically the corporate
circus is all about how do you handle your day-to-day stuff.
(51:45):
So you will find around 8 chapters in it, which is very
practical. You can pick up any chapter at
any point. So it talks about body language,
voice written, how do you handleconflicts, meetings,
presentations and storytelling. So it talks about that.
It is actually the things that Iteach in my program as well
written down as it is. OK so you will have everything.
(52:09):
There are bar codes as well for you to scan and grab the PDF so
you can implement it. Amazing what a what a fantastic
gift. We'll put that in the show
notes. So if our listens out there, you
know, this is a great gift because like we said before,
communication is going to be really important.
Now as the world progresses, theway if you can communicate,
(52:29):
things will change for you. I was at a training the other
day and I I wrote on something and said the person that can
ask, the person that asked the best questions controls the
conversation. Yeah.
So yeah, this is it. This is very true.
This is the way the world comes.Think about any prompting or
about questioning. Yeah, absolutely.
Amit, thank you so much for yourtime today.
(52:49):
It is Father's Day today, so thank you for spending your time
with us today. I've learnt a lot about you.
I'm sure I'll guess what I've learnt a lot about you and also
taken away some real beautiful pieces of wisdom.
We'll put that ebook in the shownotes.
We'll also put any ways to connect to the show notes as
well. Follow.
This is out there. Hopefully you enjoy this
episode. Hopefully you found something
(53:10):
interesting. If you haven't, it's because you
fell asleep. Go back and listen again because
there's so many gems in here Next time everybody, don't
forget to keep safe, keep smiling and like Ahmed said,
choice. You have choice and you're
nodding anyone a favour if you think that you are living just
because S Take care. Bye everybody, kiss everybody.
Bye. Thank you for listening to
(53:36):
Bastards of Knowledge. Yeah, we hope that you found
something useful to put into your bastard knowledge.
And as we said before, remember to put something little into
your Bastards of Knowledge everyweek.
And as always, feel free to like, comment and share this
podcast. Thanks, everybody.
Bye.
Hey everybody, it's Prajesh herein Tana here.
Welcome to our podcast, Passes of knowledge chats with a
difference. In our podcast, we invite guests
from around the country and around the world to talk about
how they got to where they at the moment.
It's about a journey, it's aboutan experience, it's about their
life. Welcome to another episode of
(00:28):
Baskets of knowledge Today. You just hit me.
Turning us away, doing somethingvery exciting with his sister.
So wishing well would that be. And as always, we we start the
podcast. I think about what we've put
into our basket since we last spoke and over the last week,
the thing that I've put into ourbasket is when we are, when we
are born, we look like our parents and when we die, we
(00:51):
look, look like our choices. And I think about that.
That was a very powerful quote that someone said to me.
And I was like, this is really true because every single day we
make we make choices in life. And you know, depending on those
choices, rather healthy and healthy, we're more successful.
So the next thing you think about that you think about the
choice when you're towards the end of your life, what choices
have you made to get to where you are?
(01:13):
So that's something for you to think about and ponder about.
And maybe that might come through our podcast today as we
speak to our guests and our guest today.
I'm really excited to introduce our guest today.
This is someone that I connectedwith a few years ago quite
randomly, very randomly, I was invited to go to a a call for
(01:33):
one of my other clients to come see us to talk.
She appeared on our guest podcast, The Show, and that was
it. That was many years ago.
And I said to them, 01 day, I'd like to walk with you at some
point. Forgot about it.
And as you know, history happensand life happens.
And then boom, this guest actually became a mentor over
the last few months in the worldof speaking that I do.
(01:55):
And not only are there a mentor,but when I look at what they do
when listen to this story, I'm like, wow, this is someone that
has really done a lot to get to where they are and will be
pretty awesome for them to sharea bit of this story, but also
for you to maybe connect with them at some point.
And once you acknowledge this story, listen to what they've
got to say. So it is my honor, my privilege
and really excited to invite to boss of knowledge Ahmed kind of
(02:16):
welcome Ahmed. Thank you so much.
Yes, very interesting way we connected and thank you so much
for the lovely introduction really.
No worries Ahmed, it's all, it'sall true Ahmed, for people who
don't know who you are And who is Ahmed today on the 7th of
(02:37):
September 2025? 7th of September 2025.
Ahmed is a proud father, a loving husband and someone who
is trying to make a impact, Small one, but still in the
(03:00):
world of corporate employees, helping them to understand
office politics, communication, leadership and while doing it in
a diplomatic way as well. It's beautiful.
(03:20):
That's just, that's where you'retoday.
That's where you are today. I love how you started off.
You know, most people start off with their title, but you went
straight to what's really important in life because titles
can come and go. But being a father, being a
husband is, you know, something that is really, really
beautiful, you know, and it's something that no one can take
away. The jobs can go, but that's
something that's always going with you no matter what happens
(03:40):
in life. But if we rewind a bit and if we
Fast forward and I said to Amit when he was say in high school
or you know, in, in anybody's life, hey Amit, in 2025, you're
going to be a successful person living in Australia or you've
said to us at that point in time.
I would surely have laughed a lot.
(04:03):
And the reason is, if I rewind me back in my early teens or
yeah, during my school and high school, to be very honest, I
didn't know how who was I back then for two reasons #1 so I've
been a very pampered child. All right, That's thing.
(04:26):
Second is that I never knew my own limitations or my own self
in terms of education. So what I'm saying is that I was
defined or labeled by others andthat's what I had been agreed
upon in my head. So back then it wasn't.
(04:48):
It was informed, told rather than asked or updated and stuff,
right? So So here's my label.
My label was that I'm a dumb student and I'll not venture
into anything good. I'll probably be a big burden.
(05:10):
And you? Know what's important is, well,
if you think about human psychology, you know, from zero
to six children take on the world from around them, from 6
to 12, they mimic everything. And then from their own state,
they, they either fight it or they accept it.
And it's interesting how the labels, whether they're good or
bad, start defining who we are. And as you said before it was
given to you, you didn't, you didn't ask for this, but
(05:32):
somebody said, do you wonder, hey, Amit, you are a dumb
student. And you believed it because
nothing else around the world said anything else.
Yeah, yeah. And that's exactly what it was
because. And it's, I don't know, it was
that time. And you know, back then it was a
different generation, different thought process.
(05:52):
Imagine no phones and stuff, right?
So back then it, it's still competitive, but there's always
a concept of comparison, right? And comparison has created many
amazing things where as broken as well.
So I was in that broken section where I was compared compared to
somebody whom I still love. And like most, he's very good
(06:15):
friend of mine still date. But because of this thing of
education being compared, I was dumb compared to him.
And you know, that became a stigma in my head.
And I'm like, you know what, what the hell?
Why should I even put the efforts now I'm dumb.
Let's take it like that and continue.
Yeah. And, and you know what I like
(06:35):
there is we always think about comparison is a bad thing, but
lovely sometimes a good thing. Sometimes comparison can be a
good thing, depending on how youframe it.
Yeah. And when did you realize that
actually, hey, this label of dumb is actually not you.
How how old was it? Or was it moment of realization?
Yeah, it took me 13 years. The realization happened in the
(06:56):
final year of my graduation where I, this is a very
interesting story. So because I was labeled into
dumb category, I also, now that friend, we got departed after
the, you know, the 10th. So his uni and my uni was
different, his field was different, mine was different,
and we stopped comparing. But that thought process of me
(07:18):
being a little silly was always there, all right.
So I also attracted that kind ofpeople around me.
So that gave an impression of mein the UNI that, you know, he's
like a useless kind of a child. So this happened in the final
year of my BSE. So I'm a bachelor's in science,
physics graduated person. So I went for my college
(07:42):
professors had a separate tuition that they had started.
So I went, I took a fee from my aunt and I went to them and I
think, all right, this is I wantto join your tuition.
And there I am in the physics head of departments room in the
entire, you know, with all the teachers.
(08:04):
And this guy actually insulted me, saying that I'm not going to
get a student like you to join my tuition to make a impact, you
know, to put a bad mark on everyone.
Oh my. God, that's huge.
All right, so at that time, you know, there was a feeling of
revenge, right? So how do you take revenge?
(08:25):
The the one way is, of course, go and beat him up.
But that's not me. So the other way is that all
right? You know what?
I'm going to beat him up by passing it to get better.
And I did, to my surprise that 73 people sat for the exam, 26
passed. I was one of them, and without
(08:45):
paying the tuition fee and all. And that was the year that I
realized, Oh my God, all I'm missing is the effort in the
right direction, that's all. And I can do anything.
And yeah, it was, yeah. My life changed after that.
What a what a crazy moment realization.
Really interesting. I'm with a lot of our guests
(09:06):
that have come on and said the same thing that somebody in
their life had said to them, youcan't do this or you're not good
enough or whatever it was. And through some crazy
coincidence, each one of those guests have basically, we want
to prove you wrong, whether it'sstraight away or or not.
And that proving of wrong has been there basically sliding
those moment where they've changed their whole life because
(09:28):
they go, wait a minute. I was limited by another
person's perception of me and it's just changed their whole
life. And what is what is like for you
And and you've now, because now you, because that realization is
is really massive, because you know, as you said, you've hold
this building of dumb your wholelife.
Then you pass. What does the What does your
world look like then? So now, so when I started, like
(09:51):
the first thing that I realized that Oh my God, I can do many
things. So I started to study.
So it's very weird that I actually never started or like,
so you know, when when you studysomething for your uni and your,
when you're in your graduate, you study and you remember
things, right? I don't remember anything
because I started for just passing.
(10:15):
So then the, my inquisitiveness began like, Oh my God, I don't
know anything. Like 21 years I've passed by and
I'll do everything. So I did that.
I did a lot of certifications that I needed for my technical
staff and this and that. I did my master's degree.
I did my, I did my diploma in human psychology because I'm so
(10:37):
fascinated with all that. And I still read study, but it
changed everything for me. I think that that thing changed
everything. It's just sorry.
No, no, no. I was just going to say that on
to your point, right? That the moment when someone
insults you and stuff, it just wonders.
(10:58):
Sometimes I really wonders that why that moment, why it didn't
happen earlier to prove my parents wrong or to prove my
other teachers wrong. I don't know why, but it
happened at that particular age.I don't know.
And sometimes, you know, the universe and whether we believe
it or not, just has it at that point in time.
This is when it's meant to happen for you.
And, you know, the learnings, ifit had happened earlier, maybe
(11:21):
your life had been very different for you or later, but
different for you. You just never know.
As you say, you just never know.Yeah.
True, true. I.
Agree. And, and it's, it's interesting,
you know, you spoke about just now you said you've done all
these certifications and you keep doing that There it it just
before I jumped on, I just againjumped onto your LinkedIn
profile. And one of the things that
really caught me was the quote that you put there is that
(11:41):
Einstein, which is once you stoplearning, you start dying.
And it sounds like this is something you've just taken on
board as a mantra for your life.Yeah, I think you know, same
thing, right. So I'll tell you what happened
with me again. So once I got after this, you
know, and whatever 21 and onwards, so I started studying
and this and that. But again, I came to a point
(12:04):
where, you know, I think I became a bit egoistic as well,
right? And I truly believe in that.
And then came another. So I in my life, there has been
people who have come in my life to teach me certain valuable
things. So there was another colleague
who came into my life. I think I was in my 30s back
(12:25):
then, and he was younger to me. But man, he changed my thought
process. You know this guy, his name is
Kiran. And he came and he taught me the
growth, the true meaning of the growth mindset, OK, and how I
should be focused on gaining knowledge and learning and other
(12:48):
things. So that opened up very different
world for me. And yeah, I completely agree.
Now, I think what fascinates me now is, is the fact that there
are so many things in this worldabout, you know, like if I take
leadership, for example, right? There's like a hundreds and
(13:11):
thousands of books written on it.
Everyone has a different perspective, thoughts.
There's that experience and it'sso amazing to read and learn
about it. So yeah, I truly believe on what
I've mentioned there that, you know, if you stop it, you just
pause everything. And I love the tech.
I mean, I love the tech so much because this is again,
(13:32):
coincidence. This morning I was listening to
a podcast with Trevor Nowa and it really links right back to
what you just said about you meeting people in your lives
like like Karen. And one of the things that that
really stood up for me was they said that life is about us
meeting our teachers. Life does not have built in
meeting and when you find the teachers along the way, this is
(13:53):
when life starts having some meaning.
And that really goes back to you, what you just said before.
You know, as you said before, you are living your life.
Ego comes in and then somebody comes to teach you.
Actually wait a minute. And it's important for us to
look for those teachers around us, you know, because they're
there. Yeah, yeah, certainly.
Yeah, absolutely. And how did you, how did you
(14:15):
start? So you know, you, you physics,
technical skills, this is, this is your, your, your world.
And actually at the start, you've shifted into the world of
corporates. How did you actually wait a
minute? I want to start making impact a
little bit differently again, because you know, it's so
different. You know, you have technical
background. Some people just stick to, I'm
an engineer. This is my jam.
(14:35):
And now you've shifted quite dramatically.
Yeah, no, the reason I was smiling is because, yeah, I I
like physics, all right. And in physics I was very
fascinated with the atoms. So nuclear part of it, and a bit
of Einstein theory. Now, just for your viewers, you
know, like I said, I was a very pampered child, single child to
(14:59):
my parents, but I lost my fatherat 15 and I lost my mother as
well later on. So it had been a tough financial
upbringing for me. So the reason I say this is
because I couldn't pursue masters in further.
OK, we didn't add money. We had I had to go and do it
some job. So when I got into the we have
(15:22):
this. What do you call post
graduation? Right?
So I went and did my post graduation in computers because
hey, you need a money and money is in computers and I'm talking
2000 right here, 2002 thousand. So while doing so, everything
was fine when I was learning allthe initial stuff, when I came
to Java, the language and I, I, I got a test that I have to do
(15:47):
something in code and I, that isthe realization.
I'm like, all right, I can't code.
Amit, let's agree that you just do not know how to code.
And that was a defining moment for me.
And I'm very happy that I got that realization back then that
I can't code like a coder. OK, so that's where it realized
(16:10):
that, OK, I can do. So then there is two types of
work, right? One is you code like a website
and the other is that you work on that website, correct?
So I realized that I can work onthe tools that are created for
IT rather than creating the tools.
So this was my breaking factor and then I also learnt that I
(16:34):
somehow I can speak up, I can connect.
Well, I did my post graduation in Kolkata.
So that's city in India. So there it was.
Since I come from Mumbai, I was considered as a flamboyant boy
because I was able to speak to everyone and if people like Oh
(16:55):
my God. And I, I think because I was,
I've been working since age 15, right?
So I was a little strict. So that gave me that edge in
communication. That gave me that edge that, OK,
you know what, Amit? I can talk and I can back this
knowledge of it and I can use that in talking.
(17:15):
That was the whole gist of it. So for me personally, it hadn't
been a difficult journey in thisthat, oh, you know what I'm
doing. For me, it was day one.
You can talk, Amit. Go ahead and do that, all right.
And it's not good when getting into your passion.
You know, lots of us have the passion, but we don't lean into
(17:36):
it. We just say no, no, no, no, no.
I need to get my technical skills up.
And, and I was smiling because this is you are a mirror image
of what I did, but a different way because I also did a
computer science degree and I could not code, you know, I
could do HTML, but and went withJava.
And see, I was like, this is notmy world, but because I wanted
to my parents had paid all this money and I was like, Oh, I felt
(17:57):
guilty. So I just finished my degree and
it's really funny, you know, 20 odd years now.
I think I was like, why did I waste my time?
Because that's not what I wantedto do.
I never I never caught it in my life.
After that day. I was like, you have found
communication. But it's interesting how you
again, the label of the fee of or if I, if I don't finish this,
what are my parents going to say?
My PSA. But I love how you just leaned
(18:18):
into into the communication and it's taken you around the world,
isn't it? It's opened up a lot of
opportunities for you. Oh yeah, yeah, definitely.
I think this is like this is my 7th country that I am in right
now. So yeah.
Yeah, let's touch on that because, you know, our viewers
are interested. You know, when you when you move
to different countries, what, what is one of the I'm going to
ask you what is one of the awesomest things that you find
(18:41):
in your countries and one thing that you find the most
difficult? There, I think what I loved
about I'm that person, remember who is.
So just to give you a background.
So I flew first time to US. This is back in 2006 and I was
working for Donald Trump's casino, which is from Taj in
(19:03):
Atlantic City, closed now. And so I am, I think age 28 or
something maybe. And this is the first time I
ever sat in a plane ever, OK, not even domestic because we
(19:24):
couldn't afford it. I'd never been in a plane.
So imagine a guy who has never gone in the flight ever, flies
for the first time straight to United States.
All right, So that's a big thingfor me.
And so secondly, I come from Mumbai.
So people who know how Mumbai works, it is basically crowded
(19:46):
trains and you know all that. So now I'm going to United
States, first time in the flight.
It's very different for me. So I think my first experiences
were, Oh my God, I am in this beautiful place.
I am being respected. When I walk on the roads, people
are not there to bum me down. I know people in India would
(20:08):
like to hear this, but that's a fact, OK?
That's the first time I realizedthat, oh, I'm a human being
that, you know, people don't want to kill me.
And I was very happy and of course there's a lot of other
things as well. But what happened?
So then I after that I've been to many places.
I've been to China, Bangladesh, Philippines, in Sweden,
(20:30):
Australia and maybe a couple of more for a job perspective.
And of course then I've travelled other places, right.
So I think what I really like now is I love to travel because
and I love to eat, you can see by my meat.
So the thing that I love the most is how do these culture
(20:52):
function? And I'm also a person who
believes in if I'm in a particular country, I will adapt
the culture of that country, right?
So be in their home, respect their home, kind of a.
So that has put me in a very well position all the time.
(21:13):
So the first question that I always ask to somebody whom I'm
a little, little acquainted is that what are the things that I
should not say? So this way I know that and
people have told me in certain countries that you should not
say this or that. OK, So that's one.
Second is there's always the food that binds me everywhere.
(21:36):
So the food culture is the second thing that fascinates me
about a new country. And within the country there
then States and other things, and each has their own flavors
and stuff, so. Yeah.
And those are the good things. What are what are the what are
the hardest thing though? So those are all the good
things. What is the hardest thing when
(21:57):
you when you? Hardest things is a how.
Sometimes it is difficult to grab their accent, I'll not deny
that. So Southern accents of any
country has been a challenge. All right, So that's one thing.
(22:18):
Second is that there are certainnuances that they do at work and
that is a little challenging as well.
The other things that generally bothers, not bothers is
difficult is like you know, you are now disconnected from India.
So you are you don't get to connect like the festivals and
(22:38):
all those things that happens many times.
But if I'm with my family, for me it's because I've been a
loner, right? Like I like my parents were not
there and stuff. So for me, if I have my family
right now in whichever country Iam, I'm happy.
But I think those are the basic difficult things.
(23:00):
Sometimes the accent, sometimes the certain nuances, if they
have any, like, you know, cultural things and stuff.
But other than that, to be very honest, I don't think I have
found anything very challenging so far in any of these
countries. And this, this, you know, why I
asked the question is all because everyone goes, oh, you
(23:20):
know, when I when I woke up, people are like, oh, I'm going
to move to a new place. And it's so hard.
I was like, is it hard because you're making it hard and
because you're so stuck in your way that you are?
I'll tell you a funny story. One of my one of my good
friends, not anymore. One of my friends, he went to
South Korea for the very first time and I was like, wow, this
is amazing. I was so excited for him.
I was in my in my 20s and he waslike, I'm so nervous.
(23:43):
And I was like, why? It's like, do they have toilets?
What am I going to eat? I was like, what are you talking
about? And when he came back, I said,
why did you enjoy the food? Did you enjoy?
It's like I eat McDonald's everyday.
Like, well, how did you do that?I was like, oh, because I, I
just didn't trust the food. I was like, you know, so
different people, different, different stocks to people.
But you know, it is, it is, you know, like you said before, and
(24:03):
I love what you said, when you are at someone else's country or
their home, you live by the rules.
There's you're under the roof. So you go right, cool, this is
it. And it reminds me when the first
time, first time I went to India, my dad called me and said
to me, Hey, you produce, you're going from New Zealand to India.
It is what it is. You have to accept it.
You're going to see things that you don't like to see.
You're going to smell the you don't like to smell.
(24:24):
You cannot change it. You just have to accept it.
And I think that was one of the biggest piece of advice that
I've got because when I got there, I just accepted it
because otherwise I would have my biological mind and go like,
oh, it's so dirty here. It's awesome.
Oh, why this only? Why is it like this here?
And but as you say, you just accept it as it is and you enjoy
it. You enjoy it?
Yeah, no, that that's the thing,right?
That's the reason I didn't find places where it was like, for
(24:46):
example, Bangladesh, right? It's very different culture,
very different ways of working. You know, they have prayers
during the office times, which is fair because that's what day
it is. So the key is for me is like,
all right, I'm going there. You, if this is how you work,
you, this is how you work. I'm not here to change you your
stuff, and I'll adapt to it. Yeah, that's right.
(25:10):
Talk about adapting and what I'mgoing to talk about your your
role in speaking because this iswhere we cross paths and you've
done some really beautiful things that will be.
And also corporate politics. Why?
Why has corporate politics been something that you that is
passionate to you because you want to make a change in that
space there? What is the the reason?
You know, you could just be like, oh, OK, cool, you can just
do your thing. But I'm here because I want to
(25:30):
change the way people look at it.
Yeah. See, The thing is that I, like I
said, you know, when I realized that I can speak well, I can
communicate and I can talk. Two things I've learned over the
last two decades now is number 1is that there's a lot of people
who are very good with technical, right?
So they're those brainy chaps. And let's face it, 80% of the
(25:54):
people who get into it are brainy chaps, OK?
They're much smarter. They are technically sound, well
educated, you know heavy duty people in their heads, but they
just don't know how to put it out there, right?
They do not know how to showcasethe world.
They do not know how to climb the corporate ladder without
(26:15):
getting older, right? And there is this in India, we
called it as the Babu. That's a mindset, OK, The
mindset. There are group of people who
have this mindset of authority. So they will get into a position
of leadership and they will stick their ass forever and they
(26:36):
will start their autocratic way of behaviour, right.
You know, And I have personally witnessed this as well.
So like for example, in one of my projects, there was one of
the team leaders who's equal in my like, so I'm a project
manager, he's a tech lead of theproject.
(26:56):
We're talking 43 odd people teamand he's at the same level
designation as me. I'm just a project manager of
people. He's the tech right?
Like he had a a fuse in his head.
So anytime something goes wrong,stop.
And he used to actually shout atpeople.
And because I was very new to the project management rule, I
(27:18):
was shit scared. All right, seven people resigned
in that project. And then when when the feedback
came, of course, I said I didn'tdo well.
I'm all, I'm also scared. But then what I realized is that
so we kicked him out, the company decided to take him out
of the project, not the company,but project.
(27:40):
And then when I spoke to the team members, they said that
Amit, you didn't step up. You're the manager, you're
supposed to do it. And that's where I realized
that, Oh my God, there's many things, you know, I have to do
as well. So what I realized is that
office politics all boils like this.
(28:01):
One of my team members said thatAmit, he was shouting on me, so
I shout on others. So what's wrong about it?
I'm like, that's the thing, You were tried, treated bad.
Now you treat bad so that you become balanced.
So the point here is that it's not right, correct?
(28:21):
So when it's not right, it has to start from within as well.
So first I speak up. I should know what it is.
Then I'm like, all right, this is a weak point.
OK, let me go and help people who want to climb up.
Then we need to also, you know, things can't be done nicely
because it doesn't happen. Human beings are very, very
weird, everyone. So it's very difficult to know
(28:45):
what's going on in your brain ormy brain right now.
Yeah. I need to know how to do things
diplomatically as well, right? So with all of this, I realized
that, hey, I am helping people. I was part of PMI as well, doing
some trainings and stuff. So why not now shift from a bit
(29:05):
of technical side that is in theproject management side to the
people side? That's where in 2020 I started
with this communication leadership, basically office
politics. So helping people who can't, who
are very technical, who do not know how to present, what to
present. And the other thing is just last
(29:28):
point is that there are a lot of, you know, when technical
people sometimes present, they literally bore you to death with
their presentations. And the senior management will
then tell me, Amit, can you summarize this for me?
And I do that now, who will get the kudos?
Hi. So when I get promoted, this
(29:50):
person gets hated. But come on, you have to upscale
yourself, right? Unintentionally, It's like, it's
not intentionally. I'm sorry.
Sometimes it just happens because the person who can
showcase things well is the one who puts the front foot.
Yeah, and this is, this is so, so true.
(30:10):
And the reason I ask this question is because as we now
know in the world of AI and those technical skills will not
be, you know, AI can do it. I mean, no to some level, but
communication is going to be really, really important.
And you know, I love what you said there.
The switch that point in time view was, yes, the person did
the job, but they couldn't communicate it.
You can communicate it. Therefore you get all the
(30:31):
acknowledgement and how many times it happened out there to
some people and you, that personis getting angry at you, but
it's not your fault. Yeah, it's it's them, right.
So it's really beautiful. And I love how you are now
taking that to go actually this is not OK.
That's how do we, how do we change, change the skills?
So there's two things that spokeabout the communication, but
also the office politics, because both are really
ingrained, especially in bigger corporates and bigger companies
(30:52):
where you can't communicate or you have someone who can't
manage office politics because I, I, I expressed as well, just
because you're a manager or leader or manager doesn't mean
you can manage. Correct, Correct.
Absolutely right. Yeah, and I see this in
academia. You know, we, I don't know if
(31:14):
you work in academia, but in academia we someone is a
fantastic researcher and they'refantastic.
And then by default, they pick up head of department and
they're like, I don't want to beout of department, but this is
what they have to do because they're being, they've been
promoted by the university, but in their minds, they've been
demoted because now they're taking away from what they
really love into, yeah, managingpeople.
(31:36):
And as you know, not everyone loves managing.
People, Yeah, yeah. And that's the thing, right.
And you're absolutely. That's the nail on the head,
because a lot of people, when they do good technical work,
they then get promoted and when they get promoted, they get
promoted for their technical skills.
But now they have a team under them.
(31:56):
Yeah, I'm like, all right, now Ihave to take care of this and
these people. And yeah, they don't know how to
do it. Yeah.
And it's really interesting how the world works like that day,
the promotion when the world works like that day, which is
crazy. Yeah, it's crazy.
Yeah. I'd love to see how you're going
to shuffle that up there with your with the office politics
(32:17):
revolution. And you know, you spoke about
you're making an impact and whenwe think about the impact, if
you had to pick in an audience, who's the audience that you'd
like to make an impact to? Is there a specific group appeal
that you got? This is this is an appeal that I
want to that I want to impact. I have defined my group as a
person, a corporate going male or female so it's not biased.
(32:40):
Someone who is at least 5-7 years into the world now, so not
in the freshers group. So if you're into seven years
plus and up to 20 years is what I generally work with.
So they are mostly the tech leads, the project managers, the
senior project managers, the AVPSVPS, up to a director level.
(33:04):
So I don't work with C exec folks now.
That's a different thing that myclients have climbed it and are
now in C exec position. But when they joined me, they
were not. So the reason I like to work
with them is because they are those, you know, they are those
sandwich group who are crushed between the top management and
(33:27):
the bridge. And they're in the middle layer
right now. And it's very difficult to show
what and how, what are my capabilities because you have to
manage down. You have to manage up and they
feel they're crushed. So I work with those people.
And again, I'm smiling because there's a bit of an analogy to
that. The whole, I think we find in
(33:49):
most industries, the middle is the one that suffers the most.
And I think about in education, you know, you have students that
are excelling, they get everything.
Since they're not excelling, they get everything.
The ones in the middle, whateverthe C student, OK, whatever,
they're fine and the same thing for you.
This, the middle managers that you see, they just OK, cool, you
(34:09):
just do your thing. But they have to operate in this
this constraint where they're like managing both and there's
nothing for them. Yeah.
And think about it like so even if I take it in the economy
section, so we're not talking about the very poor people and
we're not talking about the filthy rich guys, we're talking
about the real tax paying people.
Yeah. Yeah, that's right.
(34:31):
That's what my clients are most of the time.
Yeah, I know it's, it's really, really.
And it's true because, you know,we forget about the middle.
We forget about, there's an assumption that the middle is
going to be OK. Yeah, yeah.
Which is which is, which is crazy.
And Amit, you know, one of the, one of the things that I really
like about everything that you do is you're very authentic with
(34:53):
what you what you put out there.And the reason I, I, I say
that's really why I like it is because sometimes it's really
hard to be authentic in the world where you can get pulled
on very, very quickly. And how do you navigate that
there? Because you know, you're out
there, you, you're telling your story, you're putting yourself
there and you're probably going to have people that are, that
are haters as well. How do you, how does Ahmed deal
(35:14):
with that there? So I think two things IA few
things that I'm very mindful about is what do I put out
there? So if there is something that is
a little hyped up for me, I try not to put out there because the
amount of time spent in justification is just way too
(35:37):
much for my head. So that's where I'm a little
afraid of. So.
And yes, there are haters, obviously.
Interestingly, I go, I check every Instagram wherever the
message comes. OK so recently a guy mentioned
that oh this is all fake on one of my ads and I'm like OK So
(36:01):
what exactly is it fake? So I asked him hey you never
connected with me why? And the reason is it's not to
justify myself it's more from understanding why that person
thought is a fake. And after chatting with him, I
realized I actually chatted withhim and I realized that he
might, he has joined something he was not happy.
(36:23):
So he put me label correct. So, so that's where I told him
that, hey, you know what, blah, blah, blah.
This is what I do and stuff. So I think the key is for me is
a, the content is created by me.So there are people who post it
(36:43):
on my behalf, but it's me who validates it.
That's number one. So I want to make sure that it's
not hide to a point where even Ican't justify it.
It looks fake to me. Secondly is that it has to be as
authentic as possible. So for me, I'll be very
(37:04):
transparent. I don't want to get into the
billion dollar group or anything, OK?
I don't want to. I'm happy with a certain level
of earning. So whatever is the basic
earnings, for example, if I am earning 20% more than that, I'll
be happy person. So I don't have this greed of
having hundreds and hundreds of people join my program.
(37:28):
I don't. I'm happy with 10's and I'm
happy with those few numbers because I'm at that stage in my
life that, yeah, I don't want billions, It's OK.
I don't want to be in the next billionaire list or whatever.
Yeah. And sometimes this is, this is
a, you know, an oddity, authenticity, because, you know,
(37:50):
it's about quality, not quantity.
You know, you, you see some people I know, I mean, we both
know programs where it just explodes.
And as they explode, they lose, they lose it loses that, you
know. Yeah.
I think about the training I didwhen I did my training with NLP
masters. There was a group of, you know,
20 of us really intermittently great, really eager to everyone.
(38:11):
And now the organization that does the training has 200 to 100
people. And like, how do you, it's great
for them, they're making tons ofmoney, but how do you connect?
Exactly. No, I, I, I made that conscious
decision. And I think the person, so I
forgot his name, Daniel. He's the one who wrote the
(38:33):
famous books as well. So.
Oh, come on, I forgot his name. But yeah.
So 52 assets or something. Daniel Priestley.
Daniel. Priestley he, he's a very famous
author, right? So I, when I was watching his
(38:54):
video, I saw one of the clips where he said that, you know, he
has created a group like how youcan be into your hundreds and
then, you know, into a basic millions and then blah.
And he said that most this, there's a point in life which is
good enough for you, which is like a team of 10 to 12 people.
You are getting into your first bit of millions and that's
(39:16):
pretty much it. That would suffice.
And then comes the company and all that.
So I think that resonated with me a lot, much that OK, 1012
people in a team is good enough and I'm satisfied.
Yeah, that's really, really beautiful, Amit.
He's talking about about your work and who you are and that
how does Amit relax? How do you relax?
(39:38):
Yeah, that's. So I relax.
I think about how do I relax? Because I but I think for me, I
love to read. OK, that's weird, but I love to
read. So I have books all the time,
whether be it an audible, Kindleor physical.
(40:00):
There's much, much, much books than what you see here about
like 153 physical books with me right now and more than 7080
Audible and Kindle. So I I that's relaxing for me
because I just love to Audible let's me listen.
Second relaxing is music. I love it.
(40:22):
So that relaxes me third or I'm sorry, let's plan it this way.
The first relaxing is with my son because we play together.
So be it or most importantly, wewatch certain YouTube channels
together. So it's generally tech reviews
like Mr. Who's the Boss or you know, things like that.
(40:43):
So that's our relaxing time. The second is with my, of
course, with my family where we play board games.
So we love board games, sitting down and playing it or cards.
That happens. Then comes the reading, of
course, and music. And yeah, that's pretty much it.
(41:03):
I would love to add gym to my relaxation, but yeah, I I love
it. Here's the best part.
When I go to gym, I feel like, Oh my God, that was the best
thing to happen. But getting up and going there,
yeah. So.
Let's not. Let's add this into the bucket
list. Exactly 1 one day, one day, but,
(41:24):
but it's, but the reason I ask the question is because, you
know, there's a lot of people out there doing lots of things
there and it's important for us to real to not actually not on
the go all the time. You know, people see versions of
them, you know, but so hey, I actually relax with my I take
time with my son. I, you know, playing board games
isn't art. Lots of people don't play board
games anymore. They watch it because it's
(41:45):
actually physically, but left out.
It's not a not a device, it's it's physical, it's connection.
And, you know, reading, reading is a lot is an art that people
are losing. And I was again, like you like
to read a lot. And then I have just been
reading the Almanac of Naval Ravikant and, and then he just
talks about reading. He just says reading is and, and
what he says there. So it doesn't, you don't have to
(42:05):
finish the book because you can start reading it.
And if you don't like the book, just stop.
Don't, don't worry about this. Yeah, yeah. 100% and I'll just
what I do basically is so I create I am when I read or I go
through anything. So I create like the story
cards, right? So this is I have these with me
(42:27):
all the time. Like these are all filled and
they're two such boxes that are filled.
So every time I read something and I write it on the top here.
So that's a leadership tag. So that's persuasion or
whatever, whatever. So it can be anything.
But this is what I do. So that this way I have certain
bit of notes and stuff collected.
(42:50):
And you know, when I hopefully write my third book, I will get
ready. You know, thank you for inviting
me because this is one thing when we did run our mentoring
sessions, you spoke about that and and I I wrote that because I
have a notebook and I care with me everywhere.
But that is really powerful. And was this what to you was
this? Or did you have you always been
(43:11):
writing stuff as you read? Sorry, what?
What do you ask? You know, the question was, you
know, how you how you write. You know, you have those
notepads everywhere you go. And you know, you spoke about
that in one of our group entering sessions about how you
write and you have the body everywhere you go.
And it got me thinking, lots of people that are doing well in
(43:31):
their lives have a notepad or they write stuff down.
Was this something you picked upfrom someone or was it someone
in innately in your, you know, mid life?
I think I picked this from Ryan Holiday book Note taking system
right? So I, I also realized that there
is something called a zettle casting ways of taking notes.
(43:52):
And then I started researching on it and I found out then
there's another guy called his Ali Abdul who had been into
productivity a lot. But I think it was mostly either
Ryan Holiday or even Ryan Holiday's mentor, which is
Robert Robert Greene, right. So I love Robert Greene's book,
(44:13):
like 48 laws of power and stuff.So when I, when I used to watch
YouTube videos of that, that's where I realized that how these
work and story cards basically came because I work in IT.
So I work in age aisle and in age aisle, this is back in 2010.
We used to use physical cards. You know, you write something at
(44:34):
the back, you write something and you go and put it
physically. And that fascinated me.
And then when I realized that I can buy them, I'm like, alright,
I'll buy a bunch. And then I learned from Ryan and
these people on how they tag it,like tag it and stuff.
So. That that's a good idea.
(44:54):
Yeah. And I love how we, how we went.
We loved it because it's such a beautiful skill to have and to
take away. You know it's, you know whether
you write stuff for you, it's itbecomes visceral when you write
things down, becomes real. Yeah.
Yeah, I also, I also noticed when you went to get the
storyboard, a big picture of Einstein behind you.
Oh yes. Yeah, this Einstein I someone in
(45:16):
your world that you. Yeah.
I like, remember I said so when I was doing physics, you know, I
was very fascinated. The theory of relativity, that's
all. Very much.
I, I, he's a brainy chap, we know that, right?
I think this this. I got it from New Zealand, by
the way. So I was in.
(45:37):
Auckland and I think we were in those, one of those museums, the
Science Museum and think there. And I liked the poster and I got
it because it's nicely, it's very colorful and there's a lot,
all the quotes are mentioned here as well, you know, on both
(45:57):
the sides. Yeah.
So I thought it's a very good banner or maybe it will also
vibrate some good thing. Either either way, right?
Either way, it's not going to begood for you, right?
Yeah, I know. Maybe, Maybe.
So I'm hoping for that. Oh.
No, not beautiful. I love it and I love because
(46:18):
there's so many facets in your life that have you've only
touched a little bit, but it's really, you know, the
beautifulness of your story where you your origin story, I
guess the physics, the dumb students that you know, the the
leadership. It's you know, it's all what I
love about it. It's it it for listeners and our
viewers. You don't have to do one thing.
You can be a lot of things and you can find your thing in
amongst all that there. But he got I guess.
(46:40):
Yeah, yeah. I think the most important thing
is that you, we do not know what's going to happen.
So it's not good to just label yourself right now.
Yeah. So stick around, things are bad.
I get it, you have tried a lot. Nothing's working.
(47:01):
I get it. But just don't label it yet.
Yeah, that's right. Yeah.
And, and it's, and it's really, it's because things that are,
things are good or bad, right? Life is happening to us, but
life is happening. Life is going to happen.
You know, if you die today, lifewill happen.
If you stay in your bedroom today, the traffic will still be
(47:21):
out there, they'll still be happening.
So it depends on how you, as yousay, how you approach life.
Yes, there's bad things happening in life.
There's good things in life. It's how you approach those
things there. Yeah, yeah.
And, and to that point, you know, I, I always had this
thought of, there was a many times in my life where, you
know, because when my father passed away, we were like, like
(47:44):
in a homeless state because my house was mortgage.
There's a lot of things there. So, and then my mother wasn't
working either. So it was just me.
But many times there had been like, then my mother got cancer.
We came to know last stage and stuff.
She came out of that again. And then eventually she passed
away. All I have learned is that at
(48:06):
any given point of time, there'sonly two choices that you have
just two choice A, that you go and kill yourself, like end it
or B, continue. So I chose to continue.
And now when you have chosen to continue, don't continue like,
(48:28):
you know, you did a favor on somebody.
All right. Like my mother was very strict
to point to me on this, like at age 16 when I used to go to work
and come back and get feel tiredor something.
And she used to say that, hey, you know what?
You're not doing favor to me. It's just part of the life.
That's fair. So yeah.
(48:50):
So if you're if you're chosen tolive well, then at least be nice
or, you know, do the thing. Don't act as if you're doing a
favor to somebody. Yeah, that's a powerful.
And again, I love how how it's it's it's come right back to
what I said at the start. You know, the the choices cult
that we have. You're born.
You're when you're born, you look like your parents.
(49:11):
And then when you die, you look like what the choice that you
made. And as you said before, when you
start making those choices, you're either choosing to live
and or you're not using to live.And when you're using to live,
it's not a favorite. It's because you're choosing
making that choice. Exactly.
Beautiful. Love it.
I went through. We've been talking for almost an
hour or so. There's so much we can delve
into the the time I've just flown and there was a reason why
(49:33):
I want to join here because there's so much you've shared
today, which is really beautifuland I'm sure listeners will
enjoy and learn a lot. But before we go, we have a
tradition with our podcast. Our podcast is called Baskets of
Knowledge and we invite our guests to share a piece of
knowledge to put into our basket.
You've obviously shared a lot today, but is there any
particular piece of knowledge wecan put into our basket in any
from any part of your life? I'll, I'll say the same thing
(49:58):
that I just said earlier is thatyour current situation is not
the final situation. Your current situation is just
there. There's a dialogue that I
always, always keep in my head because a year, just a year ago,
last year, I was in the very badsituation when it comes to
financials. OK, no job.
(50:19):
Horrible place, Too much of that.
There's one line that had cleared me through, and the line
is this too shall pass. Now it works both ways, though.
If you're in a good place right now, remember this too shall
pass. Bad place, this too shall pass.
So A, don't get into egoistic place.
(50:42):
B. Don't overspend, all right,
because this too shall pass. What a what a wonderful,
wonderful way to close the podcast in this 2 sharp pass.
It's a reminder that it works inboth ways.
And because too many times we focus on, oh, this is a bad
thing. I've got to pass, but also the
good things pass because life isjust current situation.
(51:04):
Beautiful, Ahmed. It's beautiful, beautiful.
Any last words before we close if Amit?
So I just one small thing. So I would give my e-book to all
of your guests. So that's.
Fantastic. Book and I'll send the link for
the e-book so that you can, you know, pass it to everyone, give
(51:25):
it a read, let me know how it was.
And that's a small thank you from my side to your listeners.
Amazing, amazing. Thank you.
Just you want to give it a plug.What is?
What is it about so that this isnot what they're going to be
getting? So basically the corporate
circus is all about how do you handle your day-to-day stuff.
(51:45):
So you will find around 8 chapters in it, which is very
practical. You can pick up any chapter at
any point. So it talks about body language,
voice written, how do you handleconflicts, meetings,
presentations and storytelling. So it talks about that.
It is actually the things that Iteach in my program as well
written down as it is. OK so you will have everything.
(52:09):
There are bar codes as well for you to scan and grab the PDF so
you can implement it. Amazing what a what a fantastic
gift. We'll put that in the show
notes. So if our listens out there, you
know, this is a great gift because like we said before,
communication is going to be really important.
Now as the world progresses, theway if you can communicate,
(52:29):
things will change for you. I was at a training the other
day and I I wrote on something and said the person that can
ask, the person that asked the best questions controls the
conversation. Yeah.
So yeah, this is it. This is very true.
This is the way the world comes.Think about any prompting or
about questioning. Yeah, absolutely.
Amit, thank you so much for yourtime today.
(52:49):
It is Father's Day today, so thank you for spending your time
with us today. I've learnt a lot about you.
I'm sure I'll guess what I've learnt a lot about you and also
taken away some real beautiful pieces of wisdom.
We'll put that ebook in the shownotes.
We'll also put any ways to connect to the show notes as
well. Follow.
This is out there. Hopefully you enjoy this
episode. Hopefully you found something
(53:10):
interesting. If you haven't, it's because you
fell asleep. Go back and listen again because
there's so many gems in here Next time everybody, don't
forget to keep safe, keep smiling and like Ahmed said,
choice. You have choice and you're
nodding anyone a favour if you think that you are living just
because S Take care. Bye everybody, kiss everybody.
Bye. Thank you for listening to
(53:36):
Bastards of Knowledge. Yeah, we hope that you found
something useful to put into your bastard knowledge.
And as we said before, remember to put something little into
your Bastards of Knowledge everyweek.
And as always, feel free to like, comment and share this
podcast. Thanks, everybody.
Bye.
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