What You Hear Depends On What You Listen

Here is the complete transcript of the podcast

Good afternoon. Good morning. Good evening to you wherever you are. Happy Friday morning to you, as I’m recording this welcome or welcome back to success with Srini. We are now entering officially, we have already entered into this part of the year where things are slowing down. We are in the holiday mood. As I’m recording this podcast, we have what, six days away from Thanksgiving? So we’re slowing down. This is the time to use your mental energies to create a wonderful image of what you want to be next year, or where you want to be next year. And why you want to be next year. All this is the time to think all that this is the time to self-explore, this is the time to ponder this is the time to put together a plan that you want to execute at the beginning at the start of the next year, the new year. So be slowing down to really take off in a very big way. We’ve got a blast off starting January 1. And January 1 is the common start date for everybody on this earth. So you’re looking for a common start on January 1, but you’re looking for a start.

Now, in this moment right now, then you feel you’re welcome. And feel free to use this time to achieve some goals. Tomorrow on the podcast, I’m going to talk about some things that you can do to really accelerate your success in the new year. We’ll talk about this tomorrow. But then today, I had something else on my mind. So allow me to share that now. But do not forget to listen to tomorrow’s podcast. I get this question all the time. Is there one thing I can do to create success? To undo all the wrong things, all my failures? Is there a secret that you know? Does nobody know? I answered this question. I don’t know how many times on this podcast. But for sure. Like a zillion times on my radio show. Nobody knows the secret. Nobody has a secret. Everybody, anybody who talks anything writes anything. Just like me doing podcasts radio shows, seminars or workshops, writing books, whatever. None of us know, the secret to success. And if I ever, in my lifetime, ever, like telling you that I know the secret to the success and tax success which you want. Then I’m sorry, I never did that. And because nobody knows. Nobody knows the secret. But then, because I was getting this question so many times over the years, I have constantly pondered on this. Like if somebody asks me the question next time around, what should I tell them? What’s the secret? They’re expecting a secret because they think that I know it? And over the years, my answer has changed. Sometimes I said, You got to really work hard. Sometimes I said you need to really work on your emotional state and physical state. I mean, I gave all kinds of answers without really because these answers all the answers make sense.

So if anybody asks you a question on how to find a job, let’s say you’re not a career coach, somebody asks you How do I get my next job? You will have a valid answer. I know you will. All you will say is that listen, hey, go write a resume. And then keep applying that the basic, basic advice. And it sounds right to do it. If somebody asks you how to lose weight, you will tell them go listen, hey, work out, eat well eat right sleep well workout. Because I’ve done that. I have given that advice. But then the truth is, the advice is right. But the question becomes says is it applicable? Will it work for the individual whom you’re giving that advice? That’s the challenge. Each one of us is made differently. Even though we look identical, we have symmetry. But we are humans, but we all are different. So every mind is different. Every individual is different. And each individual’s personal, social, financial, emotional, and physical, the cont all these contexts are different. That’s why each one of us is unique. So what can I say that is going to make sense?

So here’s what I know, based on my own observation of myself. If I get a bit better, on my health a bit better, with my money a bit better with my relationships a bit better with my equation with my higher self, spirituality, my life is going to become much better, just a bit, just changing a bit. And I have all goals that I have in my mind around these areas. But then the question is, what is the one thing that I can do? That’s going to make all these areas stand out. So I don’t need to really work hard individually in all these areas. There are some common things that apply to all these areas. So over the years, based on my own understanding, and my own exploration, I have come to realize that if I do this one thing, this one thing, it will completely change my game, because I have done it. And I’ve seen the results. And that is my ability to listen more. I talked about this in earlier podcasts also. But I’m making a big deal today. So your success is your listening. Not reading, not watching. Not working hard. Not getting lucky. They all may be true. But this is the secret.

Your success is your listening. The problem is the majority of the time we listen to good things. But people tell me that I listen to your podcast, I listen to other podcasts. I listen to experts, I listen to, you know, people who are much more successful than me at my work. But somehow, it’s not happening to me. Then I tell them, it’s not what you’re listening to. It is what you are hearing. What you hear, obviously, depends on what you listen to. But then, if you’re listening to the good stuff, but you’re not taking away good things from it. It is because you’re not hearing and not hearing. How you hear this is where your values, beliefs, your understandings, your experiences, and your deep involvement with life come into play. If you want an example, somebody who rejects everything. Even if you put a good story, a good narrative, or good advice in front of them because their mind operates in rejection. They will reject someone who operates in acceptance, you put something that may not be the best. For example, Hey, go work out. Eat Right. Sleep well, you lose weight. And you say that to an individual who is literally hearing you. They’re in an acceptance mode, they are in a suggesting mode. And you say that to them, they take that information, they work on it, and they create amazing results.

So case in point, what are you hearing? What are you hearing? Hearing just not listening, of course, you have to listen. But as you hear, you become more intelligent. You build more empathy, you will remove conflict from your in your inside from your insight, and also from outside. You remove conflict you become an amazingly different individual just by hearing. But why is hearing difficult? Why people don’t hear the Listen, I people tell me, I’m working out I was working out. I was listening to a podcast while I was hiking. I was listening to a podcast and they’re doing something. It’s called distractive listening. I listen to your podcast. I don’t see people telling me that they listen to the podcast. I’m not. I’m thankful. But I’m not impressed. What impresses me is what they hear if You tell me that I heard this. The minute somebody says, I heard you say this, I know that they’re going to act on it. I listened to your podcast, and I’ve subscribed to your podcast and occasionally heard your show on the air. I know. Hopefully, they will. Eventually, they may hear something good. And hopefully, something good will happen to them. People tell me, I’ve been listening to your radio show for 10 years, and I just called you. And I tell them, I tell them, I’m sorry. Did you call me today? And they’re like, What? In their mind, like, called you today? You should be happy. Yes, I am. But I’m also sad. I’m sad. Because there is something there is a flaw in me, I couldn’t say something the right way. Or I did not say something the right way, in a correct way, in a way I could not present that otherwise would have compelled you to call me or would have compelled you to come to a workshop or a seminar. I couldn’t do it. The fault is on me, I take the onus of that. 10 years.

So I asked people, this caller How long are you dealing with this problem? Oh, I’ve been dealing with this for three years. Five years. I was listening to you for 10 years. And I’m calling you today? Why do you have to go through this pain, the suffering, I’m not saying I’m going to take away your pain or your suffering. All I’m saying is you didn’t do what I was expecting you to do, which is you call me today gotta call me five years ago. Not that by calling me your problem is gonna go away, or I can solve your problem. That’s not the point, at least, you know, from your side, you explored everything, you did not leave any stone unturned. Why is becoming a good listener hard, why people don’t become good listeners? Well, here’s why. The brain does two things unconsciously. Like, a machine it does, which is it is judging. And it is reacting. So I’ve had this happen to me multiple times on air when somebody calls him on my radio show, and I’m talking to them. And they’re, they’re talking that they’re either explaining the situation.

And they’re saying something, and I talk over them. And I did that for years and years. Despite my knowing because I analyze my calls, I listen to my calls, I listen to my shows. And I know that I’m doing wrong, and I want to slow down, I want to restrain myself from doing it. I don’t want to talk over and somebody’s talking to me. I want to give them the space and time for them to express themselves. And once they are done, I should speak but I do not. And I talk about them, it’s an insult to them. It’s also an insult to me because I’m displaying a lack of professionalism as I’m doing that. And when I talk over somebody, it shows that I’m not an authority. I don’t have what they’re seeking, they’re calling in because they have a problem. And I’m stopping them from expressing themselves. totally incorrect. And over the years I struggled with it. And I went through every possible mechanism to or seeking a solution to overcome this problem. And I came to these two things, the brain reacting and judging how sound operates. What do you do? The minute you want to say something, you stop. You don’t say anything. So now these days, over the last couple of years, I have this new rule that now has become autonomous in my mind. It’s like an unconscious response in my brain. I programmed my mind that I will not respond to someone.

The moment in the first point urged me to respond, I will completely restrain myself. So I’m not reacting. And I’m not judging. Of course, the judgment part is not there, but I do not want to react the first moment when I realized that I have to react. It’s very hard to control that but I’m learning to control it. So I want to share the resource with you which I have not tried yet, but I’m suggesting you do. This is a book by, I believe, Patrick Kang, I believe. And the title of the book is how to listen with intention. Go get the book, read the book, I have not yet gotten my hands on it. I will one of these days. But I want to leave you with two tips are two insights on how to become a good listener. Based on my own understanding of myself, I’ve seen two things that have played out very well for me. And this is how I have become a good listener with intention. I’m getting there. I don’t I can’t say that I’m a good listener, but I’m getting there. The first one is curiosity. The minute I put myself in a curious frame, as I’m listening to somebody asking me a question, I become a good listener. Curiosity means I want to explore this individual, I want to understand their values, I want to understand their beliefs. It’s funny, people call me on air, and they give me fake names. They ask a question, a good, genuine question, what a fake with a fake name. And when I go back and forth with them via chat, eventually they say Srini, this is not my real name. And I’m like, Okay. And I don’t ask them their real name. But it’s very interesting, because of how they are standing on their own path to the solution. So you’re using a fake name or incorrect name, I understand on the radio, you don’t want to give away your real name. And it’s funny because people will listen to your voice and figure out who you are, even though you don’t say your name. But anyway, so they don’t give their name. And I’m now off the air. And I’m interacting with them via text, and I’m trying to solve the problem. And I’m so vested in the problem, to find a solution to the suffering. And they reveal that Srini is not my real name. You know, if you would have given me your real name, I would have emotionally engaged with you at an even deeper level. And I would have found a solution to your issue. I’m curious to explore people, I’m curious to explore problems. And that’s why I’ve become, at least I’m on the path to becoming a good listener.

Now, the second thing, which I kind of already mentioned, as a part of curiosity, is building a perspective, see, you cannot listen to something and hear the message in that listening and take away something if you don’t have a perspective if you’re a casual listener to this podcast that has nothing in it for you. But if you are an intentional listener, who wants to hear something and take away something that means you’re here with a perspective already, or at least you’re a first-time listener, you’re listening to this in the last 18 minutes, I think I have already built a perspective for you, or at least the perspective is already building as a result of your listening to this. One of the perspectives I have is, What if everything I know is nothing? That’s the frame through which I approach things. That’s how I become curious. What if the caller is calling in with a problem is something that I have never ever dealt with? What if everything every tool every knows how every insight I have within my arsenal may come in sufficient dealing with this caller’s question, or with this caller’s pain, or with this call of suffering? That’s the perspective I have. I’m sorry, this podcast has gone this far. And I’m going to stop here. I think I already conveyed the message. But I want to leave you with one incredible quote from Voltaire. The road to the heart is what now? The road to the heart is the ear.

So listen to good things, take away some good things as you are hearing what you are listening to so that you have good thoughts and your thoughts are right, then your actions are going to be incredible. Have a wonderful Friday. I’ll be here with you as early as tomorrow. Keep listening. If you are a first-time listener, do subscribe if you found value in today’s podcast episode. That’s all for now. I’ll talk to you tomorrow.

Worried About Recession 2023? 3 Steps To Take Now

Here is the complete transcript of the podcast

Welcome, welcome back to Success with Srini. And today on the podcast, we are talking about the economy, something that I want to talk about as soon as possible because every media outlet is already talking about this, wherever I go, my go-to social media opens up, newspaper sites everywhere, people are talking about this economy. Obviously, when I log into my ETrade account, I’m seeing the chaos. So I don’t want to be left out on this podcast. And I don’t want you as a listener of this podcast to be left out. So what I’m going to do here is I’m going to share with you the mindset, my mindset, and how I am going to be dealing with this economy, if it’s going to become chaotic in 2023. And that’s exactly what the financial markets are showing. That’s what the experts are saying that it’s going to be a bad year. So this economy is going to be in recession, starting 2023 is what they are saying.

Now, if that is the truth, then how should you prepare for it. And now I cannot tell you how you should prepare for it. So I’m going to see myself in your shoes, and explain how I would prepare for it or how I will prepare for it. So here is what is happening. We are slowly going away from a wants-based economy to a needs-based economy. So companies are laying off, Twitter laid off, Facebook laid off, that’s what we are seeing and flight. Just last week, I read that Apple iPhone 14 production has been reduced. I think the demand is going down looks but I’m not sure. But anyway, so there are indicators. And there is activity going on in the opposite direction in the market. So how should you prepare? How will I prepare for this, there are three things I would do first and foremost I will pay off debt, or whatever debt, credit card debt gone, loans gone, or any kind of a loan that you paying on any interest you’re paying gone. Now, if you can pay off your house, and do it if you can do it. So that has to go. The second thing I would do is build up a cash account. In some circles, this is known as an emergency fund. So I have to build up cash. And we build up cash for about 18 months. Typically, that’s how long a recession could last. So 18 months is a good situation to be in. So 18 months of cash. And the third thing I would do is make myself credit-worthy. I’m not saying credit score. I’m saying creditworthy. In my world creditworthiness means that if I take an idea, if I go to an investor, they will find me credible, and I’m going to invest money into my venture.

That’s what creditworthiness to me is in my world. In your world, it could be something different, you got to find out what it is. And if you think your credit score is going to help you then yeah, try to do something to raise your credit score. I’m not a big fan of credit scores myself. But if that’s what it is, that’s what it is, in my world. creditworthiness means that when I go to an investor ask for investing in a project and an idea in a startup in a concept, they are going to invest. So I’m going to do everything that I can to raise my levels. So that I can I can become more creditworthy for investors, and for partners. That’s what I’m going to do. So these are three things I would do. Now, when the economy contracts or when the economy goes down, I see opportunity there, myself. So this is the time to invest in businesses. So you buy businesses because businesses are going to be affected in a big way. People are going to exit people are going to retire depending upon where they are at that time. But this is the time when you can find great discounts. So I’m going to buy businesses, I’m going to buy cash flow businesses, and I’m going to buy them at a discount So I see opportunity, personally where I stand. So I’m looking forward to 2023. With an opportunity mindset, I’m looking, I’m taking advantage of a buyer’s market. Buyer, in my case, is a buyer of the business, and investor, the position that I take in my mind. For a long time, this was all about sellers, now is the time for buyers.

So I want you to start taking yourself seriously, I want you to start thinking about opportunities that are going to present themselves for you. Incredible. In 2023, I get a question, you know, what industries should I need focus on where is which industry not going to be affected? Now, historically, here is what we know. food, beverages, household products, and items, those things, will continue to stay in demand. So if I’m starting a business, or I’m going to buy a business, or I’m going to buy stock of a company, then these are the areas where I’ll focus on. And others also, you know, somebody was telling me the other day, you know, this is the time to get into the medical industry, you know, do something within that space. Yes. Could be, and I’m not, you know, yes, ever since COVID has happened. You know, we know that market, that industry is hot, that industry is going to grow, it’s here it’s going to stay. And regardless of whether there was COVID, or not, historically, we have seen in every recession that the medical industry has stayed constant. And in some cases, has grown, too. So there are specific industries, the legal industry is one. So there are industries that are going to be there, there are markets that are going to be there. But then what you need to think about is, what do you want to do? Can you add an income stream for yourself in this new reality? Can you start positioning yourself as a buyer or an investor, for all that, you need money? And obviously, there is not much money left in the market, you can’t go and take loans and things like that. So the money has to be created from someplace. And I’m going to give you a hint right now, the last time something like this happened. When I saw this happening, I went to the seller and had the seller, become the bank. So they finance the transaction. Because they want to retire, they want to leave. So let them finance the transaction. And I just simply take over, those opportunities are everywhere. I’m telling you, they’re everywhere. So if you’re thinking about going along these lines, I’m going to share with you two resources. The first resource is Craigslist.

There are businesses that are being sold right now, on Craigslist. I bought a business on Craigslist in 2016. And I ended up making $100,000. I bought it for $4,000. Then the secondary source, obviously, is bizbuysell.com bizbuysell.com. Go check it out, we’ll be amazed by the number of businesses that are being listed right now in the zip code that you could buy, and you possibly could buy with no money. And I’m not claiming that I’m not advising you to do that. I’m not an advisor. But if I were, as I said, that’s the disclaimer, if I were in your shoes, I wake up tomorrow in your shoes, and this is your 2023 let’s say I’ll be doing that. Okay, I’m going to stop here. I don’t want to drag this out any further. This is not a how-to-buy-a-business podcast. This is a successful podcast. So I got to stay very clear about what this podcast is. But nothing hurts, right? Of course, buying a business is also about success.

Making money is also about success. Anyway, so my idea was to inspire you. My idea was to kind of put that, that seed of thought into your mind. And I’m expecting that you’re going to take this and you will push this forward. Okay, I’m going to stop here. Have a wonderful, wonderful Thursday, and tomorrow is the weekend. I’ll be here and we’ll talk. I don’t know what it is. Stay tuned. Bye now.

How To Acquire Knowledge: Advice From Socrates

Here is the complete transcript of the podcast

On the podcast today we are talking about how to acquire knowledge. So if you are a knowledge seeker, then today’s podcast episode is for you to stay with me. Growing up, I think age 1314 1516, the teen early teenage years. At that time, when I used to meet people who were amazing with their knowledge with their presentations with their speaking, I used to get curious, I used to go home and asked my dad, how can I speak like them? How can I come across, as if I have the knowledge that they’re coming across as if they have the knowledge? And my father, you should tell me you got to read. And that’s how I started reading. Even though I do not read as much, or I did not read as much then the amount kids today, teenagers today read a lot. So I was not good. But then the message I got back then was to read. And today, I give the same advice on this podcast, if you want quiet knowledge you got to read. But is it true that if you read a lot, you will acquire knowledge? I don’t know. There’s some truth to it. Of course, how can you become knowledgeable without reading?

So the information is a necessity for knowledge to happen. Clearly, that connection is already there. But knowledge comes from different sources. Sometimes people listen and learn, they don’t need to read sometimes people see the watch. And from there they pick up knowledge. Sometimes people socialize they talk to a lot of people and from there they acquire knowledge. And obviously, by reading people acquire knowledge, but all this is inflammation, listening, watching, socializing, and reading all this information, but there has to be something that should convert this information into knowledge and what is it that is you as an individual, your desire to turn that information into knowledge. There is a word that does it. It is called contextualizing context, applying context to information. When you apply context information, it becomes knowledge. How do you apply context? Context is when you take information, and you put that information to use, that means you apply that information. That means you take whatever that is, and you do something with it. So that you get an outcome. When you have an outcome, you have successfully contextualized that information, and you keep on doing that over and over again, for a long amount of time. Maybe it will turn into knowledge. It’s rare. for that not to happen. If you keep on doing it for a long amount of time, it will become knowledge.

The question is, I also have gotten this question, which I have been reading a lot. I go to seminars, and workshops, I study, why is it that I feel that I don’t have the knowledge? You could do all of the above. You listen to great conversations, you study, you watch, you read, you can do all of that, but still stay uninformed. That’s not a good position to be in. Now, many, many years ago, I had one very simple gentleman walk up to me at my seminar and asked me this question. He said, When did you realize that it is time to share your knowledge? And you know what my answer to him was? I said You think I have the knowledge to share with you? This was like at the end of a two-day workshop. And he was perplexed and he was surprised by my answer. I don’t think I have the knowledge to share with you. I don’t think I ever prepared myself. That one day I’m going to do a seminar or a workshop and I’ll share it with people whatever I know I’ll share with people I don’t think I ever did and I honestly if you if I go back to To my teenage years, late teen years, the early 20s, I never thought I would do that which I’m doing today. Never thought it was amazing how life has taken different twists and turns and taken me along the part that was completely unknown to me. And here I am doing what I’m doing. So my answer to that gentleman was, I don’t think I was ever ready to do a seminar or a workshop, I don’t think I thought that I had the knowledge. Things just happened.

So today, when I look, I’m gonna rewind all the people whom I met, who at that point in time appeared as if they were known to me, and they inspired me. I guarantee today, you know, the renewed understanding with this new understanding that I have, I don’t think they even knew what they were doing. Back then. Date, I don’t think they came across as if they had the odd they ever thought they had the knowledge they were sharing. They were just doing what life was expected of them. And I said that today because that’s exactly what I’m doing. I’m doing that what is life expecting of me? That’s all. I don’t think I have any knowledge. And I told this gentleman, I said, my job is not to teach anything. And I don’t think your job is to learn anything at the seminar. All I’m doing is sharing what I know, hoping that somebody finds something in it. And your job is not to learn anything. Through my sharing, your job is to unlearn a few things. If you want to. If not, it’s okay. If not, it’s okay. So, I’ll get into this in a later podcast. But let’s go back to this question of how to turn information into knowledge. You turn information into knowledge by applying context. But then, once you feel that you have succeeded. And once that means you now know how to do something because you have acquired knowledge to do. the question now becomes says, How do you turn this knowledge into wisdom? That’s a higher-level question. Because everybody wants to have wisdom. Again, context comes in. But the context is different. In the second case, the first case you’re applying for a specific outcome. But in the second case, you’re applying context for a wider outcome. So I took the information and applied to get an outcome. And that’s how I built my knowledge. And with the newfound knowledge, I apply context again, so that this new form of knowledge can turn into wisdom, and how do we do that? See, when I was going around as a kid, and trying to figure out how I can become knowledgeable, I was thinking about myself as a little selfish. That’s the ask is a selfish ask.

But now, once I started doing that, over the years, at some point, the shift was how can I do it for others? What can I do for others, now that I know what I know? Now, when you take the world, you take different people, different belief systems, and different theologies. Now suddenly, you are not important anymore. different people, different belief systems, different values, different theologies, and different understandings. So you now are thinking about others at a larger scale, the same information now contextualized, to a larger, broader audience, and you keep on doing it over and over and over again. Now you’re acquiring wisdom.

I hope I’m able to express this, but there is a lot to this. So clearly, there is no shortcut. It takes a lifetime to acquire that wisdom, that knowledge, and sometimes a lifetime to acquire the basic information. The funny part is once you acquire the information, and you apply, contextualize that you gain the knowledge then again, you contextualize that knowledge at a larger scale. You gain the wisdom. But that only happens in one track. So doctors become doctors, and engineers become engineers. You know, whoever you want to become, you become, and you acquire the wisdom within that space, but then there is a whole different area altogether that is left out.

So, it’s once you take track once you set yourself up on a specific path, and that path becomes your reality. It’s very hard to acquire knowledge and wisdom in all aspects of life impossible doesn’t happen. That’s why Leonardo da Vinci is regarded as a complete individual who acquired knowledge in all disciplines. We haven’t seen anybody at that level ever since. As I wrap up the podcast episode today, I want to share a story with you that I think I have shared it multiple times on this podcast in earlier episodes. So the story goes like this, a devoted student goes up to Socrates and says, I want to acquire knowledge, what should I do? Socrates pushes this disciple into the river. And he himself jumps into the river. And he holds the student’s head underwater, and with pressure, the student struggles and wants to come out of the water, but Socrates keeps his head underwater.

Now the student struggles and he starts to fight, he starts to claw. And after a lot of struggle, he comes out of the water. Socrates then asks the student a question, when you were drowning, what was happening? What was going on in your head? The student says I was wanting air. Socrates closes it out. Socrates says, when you want knowledge, as much as you want it air, then you will get it. So if you are reading, listening, watching socializing, you’re doing all of the bows. You are going to different institutions, you’re following different authorities. You are tenacious, and you are doing everything you can, but somehow knowledge is not happening.

The question you have to ask is, are you seeking knowledge at the same level that you’re seeking oxygen? Okay, I’m gonna stop here to you have a wonderful hump day, and I’ll be with you as early as tomorrow. Even before you know it, I’ll be with you. Hey, that’s all for now. You take care of yourself and keep listening. Bye now.