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Since August of 2004, when I joined Cerner in Kansas City, I have been living the single, “bachelor,” life. I have my own apartment, a healthy source of income, a decent amount of “free time.” When I was in college this seemed like a destination, I wasn’t really looking beyond this stage. But now, I am more confused about what next to do with my life. During the day I work for Yahoo! and after work I work on my ideas for “the next big thing.” Anyway…the reason for this post is that all throughout this ride, I have learned some things about life I wanted share with all of you. My intention is not to give everyone advice on how to live life, because I know most of you are older and wiser than me. I had made this list for myself in my diary…my intention is just to share this with you, so you can get a glimpse of where I am mentally in my life. Ok…so here is the list…please share your thoughts and insight

The lessons…

• Doing well in school is not the same as doing well in life.
• This sounds cliche, but it’s true: You must never forget where you come from. Keep your feet on the ground and your eyes on the stars.
• Luxury is over-rated. I have realized I was much more mentally comfortable driving the red 91 Civic than my 2005 Acura.
• Home cooked food is highly under-rated.
• Pressure cookers have a lot of pressure…gotta let them cool down before opening!
• Being authentic (even if it makes you uncomfortable to do so) goes a long way in avoiding communication games and problems in cooperation in the long run
• The best thing about life is no matter how well I think I know myself, I continue to surprise myself each day.
• Just about any career can be frustrating at some point. Dedication is sometimes just as important as “liking” what you are doing.
• Every happiness is temporary (once you get used to it, it no longer makes you happy). In college it was like a dream to think about working for Google. Then when I had the choice, I saw something better…now it doesn’t seem like a big deal.
• Hollywood/Bollywood has really diluted the meaning of the word love. Love is not what I felt for some girl in high school, nor is love buying your wife a necklace or flowers…love is the years and years of dedication and sacrifice my parents have gone through for me. We should love by doing and showing, not by saying.
• Success is more about persistence than intelligence. If you look at most successful entrepreneurs, their successful venture was not their first.
• Days, months, years pass by faster and faster as life goes on. In school, one year seemed so long. Now…just yesterday I was joining Yahoo!, and now it has already been 7 months.
• Life is short, but days are long. It’s surprising how much you can accomplish in one day only. I saw a bracelet in the sky mall catalogue on a plane once that read “Nothing is worth more than this day.” Keep that in mind.
• It is more important to do right than be right.
• Speeding is not worth it.
• While making life decisions, forget about people, because people forget about everything. Next year there will be something else to talk about.
• You can take the man out of kachchh, but you cannot take the kachchh out of the man.
• Loyalty is important. If you don’t toil for your family, who else have you got?
• Obsessive saving is harmful. Never forget why you are saving money in the first place…is it worth sacrificing your (and your family’s) daily well being/comfort to save money? No. It is not. If you spend all day worrying about how to save $1, you will miss the opportunity to make $1000.
• Don’t waste your time on jealousy, sometimes you’re ahead, sometimes you’re behind. The race is long, and in the end, it’s only with yourself.
• The best advice I got in high school still applies today in different ways: “Don’t worry about your grades. Worry about what you learn, and your grades will take care of themselves.”