Neil Pasricha: The Author of Awesome (Part 4: The Walmart Master, Untouchable Freedom, and Lessons from Mr. Pasricha)

        You know how before YouTubers get to the point, they have to talk about a sponsor, offer, future plans, "don't forget to like and subscribe", cute graphics, upbeat music, "if you haven't seen it, you should check it out...", "sorry that I haven't posted in a long time", "don't forget to follow me on IG", adorable kittens...

Et cetera.

Well, I'm not gonna do that, because as my comedy inspiration Trevor Noah says, "ain't nobody got time for that". (cue air horn sounds: pew pew pew pew pewwww)

"Neil Pasricha: The Author of Awesome"

"You Are Awesome" by Neil Pasricha

        EEEEEEP! This is the conclusion. The swan song. The moment before the credits roll (there's no credits actually, except for the book itself) It's the grand finale, so let's jump right into the last three (shhh) secrets... 

Secret 7: Find Small Ponds

        Neil remembers a very valuable lesson from Canadian John McArthur, the Dean of Harvard Business School from 1980 to 1995. Basically, the analogy that John gave Neil was that he's staring at the beach from a fence, and that instead of crossing to the beach, he should just get off the beach. So, what's the point? The point is that we should find a place where we easily stand out, instead of heading straight away to the big leagues. In other words: "Find the small ponds so you can be the big fish." Neil applied this lesson while he had a summer job at Walmart, and he was the only one with a master's degree. So after leading the first internal leadership conference there, the head of HR promoted him to a full-time job. His confidence was higher, now that he stood out at the job. Think of this question: "Would you rather be a 5 in a group of 9s, a 9 in a group of 9s, or a 9 in a group of 5s?" Surprisingly, the majority of people would pick the third option, I probably would too, but I fear coming across as arrogant. Speaking of which, Neil says, "Finding small ponds isn't an excuse to act arrogantly and feel boastful." Phew?

Secret 8: Go Untouchable

        To be more focused on our own ideas, we have to "turn off the noise", wait, what? MUST TURN OFF RADIO NOW! (But "Shallow" is a great song, okay, fine.) That's better. In this section, Neil describes the concept of an "Untouchable Day". It's basically spending the whole day without interruptions, although I do think breaks are okay. Each Untouchable Day has 2 things: deep creative work, and little "nitros" (like snacks and such). This kind of day is fun. I would love to try it; however, I am a student, and today is the last day off before a new semester. Fortunately, I feel like there is a way to work it out: I can just scatter Untouchable Days all over days off and summer break. That way, these periods of time will no longer be time-consuming. Moreover, Neil clarifies three excuses while going untouchable.

1. There are no emergencies, period.

2. Urgent meetings are an opportunity to encourage others to go untouchable.

3. It is possible to get others to take Untouchable Days, even if they are super occupied.

UPDATE (March 17, 2020): With COVID-19 in circulation, now is the perfect excuse to stay home have more Untouchable Days. Go ahead, don't be shy! If you still have mandatory work to do, that's another story.

Secret 9: Never, Never Stop

        Remember how in Secret 1 (Add a Dot-Dot-Dot), Neil told the story of his mom? In this section, he talks about his dad Surinder, and the experiences they have shared. Surinder was born in a small village in India, but Neil had thought for a long time he was born in New Delhi. While he was a high school physics and math teacher, everyone called him "Surrender". And as a parent, he would just give his kids easy-to-pronounce names, since he just wanted them to fit in. It is proof that keeping things simple is a great way to live. Surinder decided to come to Canada, not only because it was one of the best countries to live in that accepted immigrants, but because the first letter of acceptance he got...was from Canada. Neil's dad was always willing to teach his kids something, as a teacher himself. Neil even recalls when his dad taught him about the stock market, by actually buying him two shares of the Coca-Cola company, and tracking the price on a graph on a poster board. Best of all, he knew that there is only one direction you can go: forward. He never wanted to go back, physically and mentally. So every time Neil comes across a struggle or failure, this is what he remembers, we can only go forward.

Whew! That was a lot. Catch you next time, when I blog about...more stuff. Get excited, though, it's a surprise! A big surprise!