Relationships Archives - Dot On Target

Starting a new series where every week I'll recap some of the most interesting things I learnt, reflected on or experienced. This newsletter is all about self-actualization through Entrepreneurship and I realised that there are so many micro-learnings I have each week that I usually just journal about, that I ought to share with all of you. Before I get started, a big thank you to Neil Parekh for his kind words about the previous newsletter. Neel- you asked me to write a detailed guide on how I am approaching the job market currently from. I intend to write about this very soon, especially how I am running my applications process like a 'sales funnel', which, whoever I speak with tells me, isn't the typical way most people approach this. Anyway, this week, I want to talk about 3 things: Fun: Random encounter with an Aussie power couple in a pub- successful entrepreneur out to celebrate his retirement at 41 with his journalist girlfriend. Personal Growth: Experiments with becoming a better friend to myself. Professional Growth: Progress on job applications How I Made Friends With The Oz Tom Cruise Last week, I was out to celebrate my friend Marco's birthday at a pub near his, with a bunch of friends. We were standing outside eating cake and noticed a couple staring intently at us. Marco offered them some cake, and we all got to talking - and ended up chatting for the better part of the evening. Anyway- this guy, 6'3", really handsome (dead ringer for Tom Cruise, if he were taller and Aussie) and his girlfriend were out to celebrate his retirement because he'd just made significant money from his startup and was going to take a break now. He had really fun stories from his time in the Army and my friends and I couldn't help fawning over him all night long. His girlfriend is an accomplished international reporter and is a veritable TV personality. The striking thing was how humble both of them were- insisting on talking the other person up rather than themselves. These two were perhaps some of the most interesting people I have met in London- but the funny thing is- this has happened TOO many times in the past year for me to be surprised anymore. It simply validates my thesis for moving to London- one of the biggest startup hubs in the world- the density of talent and interesting people here is WAY too high. How I Made A New Friend This Week (Myself) I am listening to this audiobook called 'How To Be Love(d)' by Humble The Poet. In one section, he talks about how little quality time we spend, or focus on being better friends to ourselves. It made me think about all the things I do alone: Work Exercise Journaling Going on walks Consuming content That's it. Mostly - these are the activities I do alone. Everything else, like going out for dinner, drinks, travelling etc happens with other people, if at all. If I had to allocate a proportion- I mostly spend 90% of my time working, even on the weekends. So I had the realisation that if I were to treat myself as another person, majorly, the only context in which I spent time with that person was work, or exercising or watching a show. If this were a real person, a friend- they'd probably have left the relationship by now, wouldn't they? Who wants to hang out with someone who only talks work? There's a reason why work friends suck. So, I decided to run an experiment for the next 4 weeks- to take myself out to do things I would usually only do with other friends. For instance, this week I went down to my university's pub by myself on Friday evening- had a couple drinks, ate a few tacos, journaled and walked back home. I was the only person there by myself, and honestly, it was kinda boring. I just put my phone away for most of the evening and sat there in peace, drinking, eating and journaling. I think I will be bored initially just because the mind is so used to stimulation- be it through the company of others or through the phone. Next week, I'll do something else, and I'll keep this up for a month before I review my learnings. Progress on Job Applications I am in the middle of two interview processes currently, one at a big tech company and another at a startup- both for Account Executive roles. I am really excited for both and have mostly spent my last week prepping for the next round, should happen the week of 21st Aug 2023. If all goes well, I'll have a job by end of the month. If not- the process goes on. Like I said in my previous newsletter, I don't intend to put pressure on the outcomes, rather only focus on consistent, daily action for my job hunt. Conclusion That's all for this week- let me know if you liked this format and would be interested in more of this. PS: Something Else I Wrote This Week I wrote a post on 8 Relationship Rules I Wrote For Myself At 26, that I believe you might enjoy. Take a look!