Niharikaa Kaur Sodhi’s Post

Yesterday I ate home-cooked lunch by an Armenian family in Alarvedi, Armenia 🇦🇲 I thought I’ll write about my travels each day but honestly I’m loving the no-scroll life during my holiday. Plus, I can always write them later instead of real time hehe. Now that I have 5 minutes - We went on a day trip to Armenia 🇦🇲 yesterday from Georgia 🇬🇪 I’ll tell you in a few days about the UNESCO hertitage sites and yada yada. Today I just want to say that people opening up their most sacred place, their home, is a big deal. It’s the one place you protect 🏡 It’s the one area you seek safety. To open it up to absolute strangers who’s language you don’t understand just to give them a local experience is beautiful. I ate delicious food followed by coffee and dessert. I also saw their daughter’s paintings across the house and met 15 cats and 3 dogs they’ve adopted(I’m terrified of pets btw). From all the things I saw yesterday, this lunch was my favourite part. I felt welcomed and warmth. Experiences like this make you feel oneness with the world that’s usually in news for tearing each other apart.

Today is my second day in Tbilisi, Georgia. It’s my 26th country and I screwed up such a basic. Before that, here’s a series of events: • Dressed for winter in the morning. And then it was sunny so dressed for back to summer. • Went for a free walking tour which is something I do in all European countries. It started raining so bad and I was the only one without an umbrella. • The wind chill was harsh and I regretted not wearing a sweater. • The sun thereafter was so sharp I was grateful to not wear a thick sweater. • We called off the plan to hike because of the rain and instead visited a wine museum. • Ate food at a home-run restaurant where the kitchen was run by 4 women. So far I’ve tried home-run restaurants in Hakone (Japan), Phuket (Thailand) and now Tbilisi. There’s certain warmth and freshness in the vibe (and the food). Basically - I still do a terrible job at packing the right clothes. I packed summer clothes in April 2019 when I visited Spain as it was 18°C, but it was freezing cold. For the same temperature during this holiday I packed summer clothes as I learnt my lesson in Spain, and it’s so hot during the day and freezing cold at night 🤷🏻♀️🤷🏻♀️ I suppose such is life. Can’t ever plan enough no matter how much experience you got. Even though those of you up in the hierarchy think otherwise 🤪 I’m going to now head out for wine because I’m in the oldest wine-making country in the world, and my husband and I are trying a local variant each day. Today I’m grateful for a partner who’s love language is the same as mine - food.

Hello from Tbilisi, Georgia 🇬🇪 Pretty cool how various countries have their own form of what we call ‘momos’ in Delhi. Japan has gyoza 🥟 And Georgia has khinkali. Other local food I tried today was: - ostri - imeruli khachapuri (cheese stuffed bread) Travelling makes you realise how there’s similarity in local food from across places. (Another example: Turkish stuffed bread and Indian parantha) Just like even though we all speak different languages, we’ve felt similar emotions at some time. Similar experiences too. Food for thought (literally).

This month, I’ll complete 7 years of gratitude journaling. One book made me do it. And I haven’t stopped since. Here’s what I do: every day, I write 10 things I’m grateful for. They aren’t different things all the time but I’d say 60% are similar each day. The point isn’t to find new things. The purpose is to be consciously grateful. The similar stuff includes: • my healthy family • waking up to a new day (many don’t) • my health • doing what I love for a living • being able to eat fresh food • having a home I know a lot of the above may sound ‘basic’. But A LOT of people in the world don’t have it and they’d do anything for it. I do it because it makes me feel good. And it’s a routine now. It’s also helped me become optimistic and grateful in general. Even when things aren’t going my way, I’m grateful thinking that something better is in store for me. Being optimistic makes life so much easier, lighter, and free. It helps you swim through life instead of fighting against it. I highly recommend it :) “When eating fruit, remember the one who planted the tree.” - Vietnamese Proverb

I started earning 3x my corporate salary by working for 1/4th of the time in late 2020. This was when I was a freelance writer. It was hard to: • pitch myself in USD with an Indian name • take out all my free time to side hustle • deal with frequent client rejections • show up daily to build an audience But it was MUCH harder to: • stay focussed at work because it was boring • deal with corporate politics and toxicity • be inspired to give my best It took me 9 months to break free from the corporate shackles. 9 months of showing up and persisting when nothing looked hopeful. (Side note: I've been writing since I was 7 years old.) Both things are hard. Today, running my biz is hard but if I did a job I disliked I'd be unhappy as hell. At least I am happy today, every single day. Because I: • own my time • do the work I enjoy • spend only 3h working • am financially independent • have better mental + physical health Don't wish that it was easy. Just pursue something that makes every day fun, because you deserve that.  "Be courageous. Challenge orthodoxy. Stand up for what you believe in. When you are in your rocking chair talking to your grandchildren many years from now, be sure you have a good story to tell." — Amal Clooney

I’m in a city today that was one of my top 2 preferences to settle down and build my life in. Hello from Bombay (I refuse to call it Mumbai) 🙌🏼 I came here every year during my college time and thought I’d settle in either Bangalore, where I was studying, or Bombay. Reasons: • I felt safe • The vibe was ‘chill’ • The weather isn’t extreme • Simple people with simple values But then life happened and I got my first job at my hometown in Gurgaon. And I instantly got spoilt! • I reached everywhere in under 20 min. • Both my offices were 8 minutes away. • After having lived away from home for 9 years, I wanted to live with my family. Today I’ve spent 1 hour 40 min commuting, and I’ll spent another hour later today evening. It’s a level of commute I cannot comprehend anymore but is normal here. Just like back in my college days 30 minutes was short and an hour felt normal. Your anchor for everything in life whether it’s commute or even money changes as you grow. I’m telling you this because sometimes you can have it all planned and things will take a different turn. And that’s okay. It might just be for the better. You might just like it a lot. If plans were always supposed to workout life would be so… linear? — PS: two people asked me today where am I from because I’m clearly not from Bombay. I’m not sure what made it obvious but they say it’s the way I talk. Don’t know what to make of it… 😅

Here are some tools that sure I'm not trading time for money. They run the business while I'm asleep, or on a holiday :) Have you used any of them?

Most people overthink starting an online biz when it's literally easy (and super cheap). Because you don't need - a website - capital - investment Here are 6 steps to launch your online business: 1. Create consistently about one topic 2. Engage with others + your audience 3. See how you can help them 4. Propose that solution 5. Do it for free 6. Productise it Happy Monday :)

Today morning the tables turned a bit🤭. I took a guest session for Ankur Warikoo’s upcoming course. I say the tables turned because he was a guest session of Summit 21 last year and people LOVED his session. Especially parents! And while I took this session, it actually benefited me because • the students’ energy was another level! Made my Sunday brighter 🌻 • they are extremely high in intent from what I could gauge • their questions made my brain tickle If you turned back time to 4 years ago, I couldn’t ever imagine speaking to someone like Ankur. 2 years ago, I couldn’t imagine my course Summit 21 attracting people from 30+ countries. A year ago, couldn’t imagine becoming a guest speaker anywhere at all that too because of the success of my course and products. As someone who I’ve learnt from since years, maybe this was a really tiny way of giving back to other learners who are where I was not too long ago. Grateful for opportunities that come as a result of daily reps. Keep at it even if the needle isn’t moving. The bigger picture changes with small moves.

The question I get asked the most often is what I reply to with two words, or sometimes don't respond at all. It is - "how to start writing online?" Followed by, - how to get better at writing - how to get traction - how to make money The answer to this is, just write. Most people aren't even writing when they ask writing-related questions. The truth is that most people don't want to do the work it takes on their part. Whether it's the actual act (and art) of writing, or looking for people who have been there and done that and learning from them. When I started, I'd consume plenty of Youtube videos and blogs to learn from those who've achieved what I want to. It's the fastest way to get where you want to be. A success hack, really. The smart ones are using this hack. The lazy or entitled ones will keep asking and never take the first step. Please - leverage the internet. It has never been this easy to learn as it is right now.