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What the Heck Do I Do with My Life?: How to Flourish in Our Turbulent Times
"As the world grows in complexity, Ravi’s guidance to be curious and adaptable has never been more relevant." (Bill Gates)
Our world will change more in this century than in all of human history, driven by many factors including technology, climate change, demographics and inequality. Such extreme change is throwing up unprecedented opportunities and creating an ‘adaptive challenge’ for individuals, organizations and societies. Those who can adapt to a fast-flowing, complex, volatile and uncertain world will flourish. Those who cannot will suffer greatly.
There are clear signs everywhere that we need new ways to think about the world and our place in it. Our old ideas about education, lifestyle, success and happiness no longer work. How is work changing? How can you know what skills will be useful when jobs of the future are still being invented? Will ‘jobs’ even exist, or are we moving to a world of projects and gig work? How do you make sense of all this and more?
In What the Heck Do I Do with My Life?, Ravi Venkatesan makes the case that successful adaptation in the new century requires a ‘paradigm shift’, a different mindset, new skills and new strategies. Ravi also reflects on how we will need to live life more intentionally, making deliberate choices about who we are, what we do and how we live rather than simply being carried along like a piece of driftwood.
Our world will change more in this century than in all of human history, driven by many factors including technology, climate change, demographics and inequality. Such extreme change is throwing up unprecedented opportunities and creating an ‘adaptive challenge’ for individuals, organizations and societies. Those who can adapt to a fast-flowing, complex, volatile and uncertain world will flourish. Those who cannot will suffer greatly.
There are clear signs everywhere that we need new ways to think about the world and our place in it. Our old ideas about education, lifestyle, success and happiness no longer work. How is work changing? How can you know what skills will be useful when jobs of the future are still being invented? Will ‘jobs’ even exist, or are we moving to a world of projects and gig work? How do you make sense of all this and more?
In What the Heck Do I Do with My Life?, Ravi Venkatesan makes the case that successful adaptation in the new century requires a ‘paradigm shift’, a different mindset, new skills and new strategies. Ravi also reflects on how we will need to live life more intentionally, making deliberate choices about who we are, what we do and how we live rather than simply being carried along like a piece of driftwood.
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Published October 15, 2022
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Displaying 1 - 10 of 10 reviews
February 9, 2022
4th Book of 2022
We know that people say never judge a book by its cover but I must say that there are few books which give you great vibes the moment you have a look at them. Something within you keeps asking to get the book and read it. I don’t know if it’s cover page, author’s name or synopsis or the mindset in which you get a glance of the book for the 1st time but there’s a connection that gets established. Something similar happened with the book “What the Heck Do I Do with My Life?” written by Ravi Venkatesan. I made big expectations from it the moment I read its title and saw the testimonial of Bill Gates on the cover page. It made me believe that I would get to know the concepts I have never read before. Now that I am done reading this book, I can say that the book has everything you look from a self-help or motivational book.
Ravi’s intent with the book is very clear which he himself describes in the first few pages before taking us deep into it. His purpose for writing this book is mentioned on the cover page too which says “How to flourish in our turbulent times”. Author discusses about the shift happening around us in terms of industry etc. which is going to change the way we look at money and earn it by associating ourselves with it. He tells how AI is changing things and how it is going to impact all of us – majorly the working class. Similarly, author talks very confidently about the green revolution that’s going to happen and how the industry boom is going to be 10 times bigger than the IT boom. He tells us to prepare ourselves right from now if we want to benefit from the boom. He makes us understand that personal growth in a not-so-growing industry becomes difficult whereas just being a part of a growing industry reflects upon our career, finance and securities.
Author, later, makes us understand about many factors that makes us think the way we think by introducing us to the concepts like Fixed mindset vs Growth mindset, Abundance mindset vs Scarcity mindset etc. Author gives us the confident that even if we are not from the required mindset needed for growing and accomplishing success in life, we can still develop it and reshape our life. In the next chapter itself, author starts providing us practical solutions as well where he discusses metaskills like entrepreneur mindset, agility, leadership and people skills that we must have to be able to walk along with the AI age. Author elaborates each of these points and help you understand how we can work upon it and include it in our working personality. Ravi considers Leadership quality as one of the biggest assets which makes him dedicate a whole chapter to it where he tried to make us learn that we don’t need to be in a leadership position to be like a leader but we can be one at any designation or grade in the organization.
Mr. Venkatesan also speaks about money in one chapter and asks us how much is enough for us. He tells us that money is a game which has no end and you’ll just keep on playing it forever hence it becomes very necessary to understand our relationship with money. Author talks about the factor of minimalistic lifestyle, decluttering our space, optimizing time before money as it’s more valuable in any sense and also speaks about criticality of disciplined financial planning and savings. In the second-last chapter, author shares with us 10 practical ideas to navigate through our career. I must say reading this chapter was so insightful that I couldn’t end thanking author after reaching almost every point. I will not speak much about what author shares in it as it will take away the essence of reading it whenever you pick it up for yourself but I must say it will make you reflect upon yourself and ask if how we are looking at life is even the right way at all.
The last chapter is more spiritual in nature where Ravi Venkatesan discusses the concept of happiness and success. He makes us understand how subjective they are in nature and why we shouldn’t end up defining it in a way other want us to define it. He also gives tip to stay happy through the process of life which becomes complex at times. After every chapter, author summarizes the chapter giving away the major key ideas from the same so that we can always refer it for our understanding whenever we get confused in life. Similarly, there is a grey section where sometimes it speaks about reflection or action and asks us few questions- just going through them and trying to answer them makes us realize how unclear we are about ourselves.
Author doesn’t shy away from sharing quotes and statements from other authors, psychologists or personalities. The language is very simple for you to just breeze through the book as it’s of about 180 pages that can be easily completed in a single sitting. It took me 3-4 sittings to finish it as there were so many insights to be noted that I just kept writing every now and then while going through the book. Author has himself said that almost every thing that every book or even this book speaks is already spoken in a better language in our ancient texts but still, there’s a try to give a perspective from the current scenario and I must say this book does that perfectly for you.
I have found it to be completely life-transforming and motivating just like Robin Sharma’s books. I have started to find self-help books speaking the same thing but the way author has executed this book makes it bit different and far better than many books in self-help shelves in the bookstores. I give this one 5 out of 5 and highly recommend it to everyone who’s a professional or going to be one soon.
Thanks.
WRITING BUDDHA
We know that people say never judge a book by its cover but I must say that there are few books which give you great vibes the moment you have a look at them. Something within you keeps asking to get the book and read it. I don’t know if it’s cover page, author’s name or synopsis or the mindset in which you get a glance of the book for the 1st time but there’s a connection that gets established. Something similar happened with the book “What the Heck Do I Do with My Life?” written by Ravi Venkatesan. I made big expectations from it the moment I read its title and saw the testimonial of Bill Gates on the cover page. It made me believe that I would get to know the concepts I have never read before. Now that I am done reading this book, I can say that the book has everything you look from a self-help or motivational book.
Ravi’s intent with the book is very clear which he himself describes in the first few pages before taking us deep into it. His purpose for writing this book is mentioned on the cover page too which says “How to flourish in our turbulent times”. Author discusses about the shift happening around us in terms of industry etc. which is going to change the way we look at money and earn it by associating ourselves with it. He tells how AI is changing things and how it is going to impact all of us – majorly the working class. Similarly, author talks very confidently about the green revolution that’s going to happen and how the industry boom is going to be 10 times bigger than the IT boom. He tells us to prepare ourselves right from now if we want to benefit from the boom. He makes us understand that personal growth in a not-so-growing industry becomes difficult whereas just being a part of a growing industry reflects upon our career, finance and securities.
Author, later, makes us understand about many factors that makes us think the way we think by introducing us to the concepts like Fixed mindset vs Growth mindset, Abundance mindset vs Scarcity mindset etc. Author gives us the confident that even if we are not from the required mindset needed for growing and accomplishing success in life, we can still develop it and reshape our life. In the next chapter itself, author starts providing us practical solutions as well where he discusses metaskills like entrepreneur mindset, agility, leadership and people skills that we must have to be able to walk along with the AI age. Author elaborates each of these points and help you understand how we can work upon it and include it in our working personality. Ravi considers Leadership quality as one of the biggest assets which makes him dedicate a whole chapter to it where he tried to make us learn that we don’t need to be in a leadership position to be like a leader but we can be one at any designation or grade in the organization.
Mr. Venkatesan also speaks about money in one chapter and asks us how much is enough for us. He tells us that money is a game which has no end and you’ll just keep on playing it forever hence it becomes very necessary to understand our relationship with money. Author talks about the factor of minimalistic lifestyle, decluttering our space, optimizing time before money as it’s more valuable in any sense and also speaks about criticality of disciplined financial planning and savings. In the second-last chapter, author shares with us 10 practical ideas to navigate through our career. I must say reading this chapter was so insightful that I couldn’t end thanking author after reaching almost every point. I will not speak much about what author shares in it as it will take away the essence of reading it whenever you pick it up for yourself but I must say it will make you reflect upon yourself and ask if how we are looking at life is even the right way at all.
The last chapter is more spiritual in nature where Ravi Venkatesan discusses the concept of happiness and success. He makes us understand how subjective they are in nature and why we shouldn’t end up defining it in a way other want us to define it. He also gives tip to stay happy through the process of life which becomes complex at times. After every chapter, author summarizes the chapter giving away the major key ideas from the same so that we can always refer it for our understanding whenever we get confused in life. Similarly, there is a grey section where sometimes it speaks about reflection or action and asks us few questions- just going through them and trying to answer them makes us realize how unclear we are about ourselves.
Author doesn’t shy away from sharing quotes and statements from other authors, psychologists or personalities. The language is very simple for you to just breeze through the book as it’s of about 180 pages that can be easily completed in a single sitting. It took me 3-4 sittings to finish it as there were so many insights to be noted that I just kept writing every now and then while going through the book. Author has himself said that almost every thing that every book or even this book speaks is already spoken in a better language in our ancient texts but still, there’s a try to give a perspective from the current scenario and I must say this book does that perfectly for you.
I have found it to be completely life-transforming and motivating just like Robin Sharma’s books. I have started to find self-help books speaking the same thing but the way author has executed this book makes it bit different and far better than many books in self-help shelves in the bookstores. I give this one 5 out of 5 and highly recommend it to everyone who’s a professional or going to be one soon.
Thanks.
WRITING BUDDHA
January 15, 2022
It covers diverse topics related to life in an incredibly smooth manner. It resonates very well with people who are in late thirties to mid fifties. When someone in this age group finishes reading the book, for a moment they feel that this was written and customised for them.
The book is full of questions for reflection and introspection. Many of them are central questions in life and the realm of philosophy, professional life and personal life such as, Who am I? Why am I here? What will make me happy? Why is this happening to me? How much is enough? What skills should one be equipped with in the age of AI? How to develop critical thinking? Ravi takes a balanced approach to answer these questions without taking you deep down the rabbit hole of philosophy. These are answered in a toolkit approach, where the readers are empowered with set of tools to navigate their life. Answering some of the questions will give the reader a better clarity and understanding of life and helps in steering their life towards a happier and meaningful path.
This book would lead you to more books and you can update your ‘to read’ list. It has references to some good writers such as Daniel Kahneman, Carol Dweck, David Epstein, Adam Grant and Yuval Harari. Few books that I have shortlisted are
- Ten Years to Midnight by Blair H Sheppard
- The Passion Economy by Adam Davidson
- Portfolio Life by David D Corbett
- The 4-Hour Workweek by Timothy Ferriss
I strongly recommend reading this book for someone who needs a right prescription for navigating life in these chaotic times. Ravi has taken a Goldilocks approach, neither too philosophical nor an instant gratification pill to success.
The book is full of questions for reflection and introspection. Many of them are central questions in life and the realm of philosophy, professional life and personal life such as, Who am I? Why am I here? What will make me happy? Why is this happening to me? How much is enough? What skills should one be equipped with in the age of AI? How to develop critical thinking? Ravi takes a balanced approach to answer these questions without taking you deep down the rabbit hole of philosophy. These are answered in a toolkit approach, where the readers are empowered with set of tools to navigate their life. Answering some of the questions will give the reader a better clarity and understanding of life and helps in steering their life towards a happier and meaningful path.
This book would lead you to more books and you can update your ‘to read’ list. It has references to some good writers such as Daniel Kahneman, Carol Dweck, David Epstein, Adam Grant and Yuval Harari. Few books that I have shortlisted are
- Ten Years to Midnight by Blair H Sheppard
- The Passion Economy by Adam Davidson
- Portfolio Life by David D Corbett
- The 4-Hour Workweek by Timothy Ferriss
I strongly recommend reading this book for someone who needs a right prescription for navigating life in these chaotic times. Ravi has taken a Goldilocks approach, neither too philosophical nor an instant gratification pill to success.
November 14, 2022
This book aims to guide the reader on how to navigate and flourish in this VUCA world. It strings together multiple thoughts and conversations from different books on this topic and links them in quite a seamless way.
The author talks about how the nature of work is changing and as professionals we need to adapt. AI will take away many jobs and white collared workers will be deeply affected. The number of jobs will come down, the stability of jobs will no longer be there - so he advises the readers to be open to self-employment and freelancing. He says that one should think of jobs as a series of projects. It is hence imperative to figure out the unique value you possess.
To progress in life, it is important to have a growth mindset. And meta-skills like Learning agility, entrepreneurship, soft skills and leadership, will be of more value than specific skills like coding. Meta-skills are higher order skills or general skills that enable a person to develop other new skills.
It's important to find your Ikigai to flourish. One should try out new things to understand what works well for them.
Another important point touched upon is that you need to define what success means to you. Define your 'enough'. Also know that it’s the mind that controls our happiness and not external factors.
While it is an easy to read book, it requires more time to reflect and imbibe the thoughts. It will be a good idea to keep a notepad and pen handy while reading this one. Also, this book led me to my next read - Designing your life, by Bill Burnett & Dave Evans :)
The author talks about how the nature of work is changing and as professionals we need to adapt. AI will take away many jobs and white collared workers will be deeply affected. The number of jobs will come down, the stability of jobs will no longer be there - so he advises the readers to be open to self-employment and freelancing. He says that one should think of jobs as a series of projects. It is hence imperative to figure out the unique value you possess.
To progress in life, it is important to have a growth mindset. And meta-skills like Learning agility, entrepreneurship, soft skills and leadership, will be of more value than specific skills like coding. Meta-skills are higher order skills or general skills that enable a person to develop other new skills.
It's important to find your Ikigai to flourish. One should try out new things to understand what works well for them.
Another important point touched upon is that you need to define what success means to you. Define your 'enough'. Also know that it’s the mind that controls our happiness and not external factors.
While it is an easy to read book, it requires more time to reflect and imbibe the thoughts. It will be a good idea to keep a notepad and pen handy while reading this one. Also, this book led me to my next read - Designing your life, by Bill Burnett & Dave Evans :)
November 13, 2022
I had to make so many notes while reading this book, I may have content to publish a book myself.
The author says - "you do not learn the most valuable lessons until you go through your journey. But i think that there is still some value in sharing what I have learnt so that it may affirm your journey".
And thats what the book is about.
It a book that will help open up the possibilities that may not have occured to you in the past for Example : a 4-day workweek, portfolio life , declutering - "if you add one thing, then 2 must go out ", pay for service not for things .
there are exercises at the end of the book that will allow for a thorough introspection .
You can allow yourself to slowly marinate in this book and take all the goods in .
The author says - "you do not learn the most valuable lessons until you go through your journey. But i think that there is still some value in sharing what I have learnt so that it may affirm your journey".
And thats what the book is about.
It a book that will help open up the possibilities that may not have occured to you in the past for Example : a 4-day workweek, portfolio life , declutering - "if you add one thing, then 2 must go out ", pay for service not for things .
there are exercises at the end of the book that will allow for a thorough introspection .
You can allow yourself to slowly marinate in this book and take all the goods in .
May 10, 2025
a very well written outlook and view about the changing world and job market. must read for anyone who is working or looking for work.
it really makes so much sense, with the rapid change happening everywhere and where our parent's advice and experience while growing up is not relevant anymore.
there are really nice questions to ponder to figure out your life.
of course there are some ideas that do not sit well with me, but they are not much compared to the practical advises offered.
I will be back to reread it and pen down the multiple exercises listed.
it really makes so much sense, with the rapid change happening everywhere and where our parent's advice and experience while growing up is not relevant anymore.
there are really nice questions to ponder to figure out your life.
of course there are some ideas that do not sit well with me, but they are not much compared to the practical advises offered.
I will be back to reread it and pen down the multiple exercises listed.
December 16, 2023
There are quite a few references to concepts in existing books like *Mindset* and *Designing your life*. I still found it very interesting, probably because it’s based on Ravi’s real life experience of managing multiple career phases and his openness in discussing all things luck, insecurities and background plays in all of this.
One idea that stood out was new to me was the need to think in terms of a 100 year life and short phases in all areas. In contrast to the “retire by x” and then live passively (and happily?) ever after, thinking intentionally that you’ll be actively doing something until you are 65/70 or beyond.. could help you make smart sustainable choices on balance . Once you get over the dread of a longer work life that is :)
One idea that stood out was new to me was the need to think in terms of a 100 year life and short phases in all areas. In contrast to the “retire by x” and then live passively (and happily?) ever after, thinking intentionally that you’ll be actively doing something until you are 65/70 or beyond.. could help you make smart sustainable choices on balance . Once you get over the dread of a longer work life that is :)
May 20, 2022
Phenomenal book.
It helped me cement my current beliefs about where the world is headed and what skills are truly important if we want to make a change in society or just want to be successful in the future.
I also reached out to the author or Linkedin and they were eager to answer my questions. I can't be thankful enough for that.
I can recommend this book for anyone interested in the current events of the world, how to adapt to them, but ultimately to reassure oneself that they are not crazy in thinking that the current reality is a downwards spiral, waiting to be rescued by the likes of us.
It helped me cement my current beliefs about where the world is headed and what skills are truly important if we want to make a change in society or just want to be successful in the future.
I also reached out to the author or Linkedin and they were eager to answer my questions. I can't be thankful enough for that.
I can recommend this book for anyone interested in the current events of the world, how to adapt to them, but ultimately to reassure oneself that they are not crazy in thinking that the current reality is a downwards spiral, waiting to be rescued by the likes of us.
January 19, 2022
The book helps us rethink about the purpose in life and provides key insights like:
1. Unlike earlier what works for you may not work for me (following a role model alone may not help)
2. We need to find ways to make your life more purpose driven
3. The skills, work and life itself are all changing including work from home like scenarios.
Ravi creates this case for paradigm shift for each of us as people. He clearly puts these in current context and provides practical advice.
1. Unlike earlier what works for you may not work for me (following a role model alone may not help)
2. We need to find ways to make your life more purpose driven
3. The skills, work and life itself are all changing including work from home like scenarios.
Ravi creates this case for paradigm shift for each of us as people. He clearly puts these in current context and provides practical advice.
July 24, 2022
A good book for today’s time….. author has talked about his journey in today’s VUCA world and what should be done and what not to…… touch the paradigm shift of social media, fake news and what not…… Success and Happiness are your own journey.
October 29, 2023
A book which acts as an enabler - peel off from the herd and walk your own path .
Displaying 1 - 10 of 10 reviews