Short-Termism - Focus on Today at the cost of Tomorrow

"Strategies don't come out of a formally planned process. Most strategies tend to emerge, as people solve little problems and learn things. They come out as some little thought that grows into a major shift into how companies see the world." - Henry Mintzberg

The above emergent perspective on strategy is in contrast to the other popular view from Porter that considers strategy as a more deliberate exercise. The reality must be somewhere in between as the former recognizes the forces managers have to factor while the latter recognizes their element of choice.

After working with many firms for close to two decades, and now putting it all together to feed into my research work, one phenomenon that has intrigued me the most is short-termism. It's only recently, as I have been going through academic literature especially in the areas of Strategic Management, Economics and Finance, that I could map my observations of a phenomenon pertaining to managerial behavior to a well-defined academic construct.

Short-termism is defined as excessive focus and prioritization of short-term interests at the cost of long-term. Since firms' strategic position is a function of managerial choices and decisions, most scholars use the term managerial short-termism. It has been widely studied from various angles e.g. shareholder pressure, markets & signaling effects, organizational & social influences, incentives, competition, information asymmetry, bounded rationality, etc. While the degree of short-termism varies across types of firms and the larger context they operate in - some firms are more short-term than others - the existence of short-termism has been well-established empirically. An optimum level of short-termism and thus the positive sides of short-termism have also been investigated and recognized.

While there's that academic side which I am uncovering with immense curiosity, at the same time as I sit to do my job every day, I see short-term tendencies in most things leaders do in our companies. I have closely observed short-term behavior patterns and tendencies in the IT companies that I have worked for, and they are almost always driven right from the top and in the process get enmeshed in organizational cultures. And it gets extremely concerning when the actions jeopardize the companies in mid to long term. For example, making aggressive risky and difficult to deliver commitments to clients, even contractually signing up for those and agreeing to hard penalties - just to close deals, especially large ones - coz there's pressure from shareholders that's transferred top down all the way to sales and delivery teams on the ground. And if you monitor market reactions to such announcements - large deal closures or number of large deals signed - you would think the pressure is real and the immediate outcome is worth the short-term thinking.

You may look at it as leaders taking leap of faith, that somehow the company will make it work and manage to deliver what they're committing today. It can be called risk taking; but then, there is a significant difference between being quixotic and taking calculated risks based on thorough evaluation of all underlying parameters and extent of possibilities realistically. In other words, these are two extremes even within risk taking.

One may argue - what are customers thinking! how do they end up buying into unrealistic stories? The answer to that is two fold, in my view. Firstly, technology, the efficiencies it can bring and possibilities it can present are difficult to predict, and have often thrown pleasant surprises. Therefore, a strong case can be made that it's a dark tunnel worth walking into, coz in the past light has often appeared from unpredictable directions. So both customers and service vendors make those bets. And that's where the second factor becomes important - the fundamental capabilities of firms to tap into emerging possibilities, incorporate them into their businesses and bring value for themselves and their customers. Companies rarely are on the same plane in all aspects - capabilities, maturity, vision, values, readiness and agility. Therefore, when opportunities present themselves to a company, depending on their nature and that of the company itself, the value derived can vary across firms.

For example, automation has been a buzzword for over a decade now. Extent of automation has become a benchmark, which forces IT service providers to commit to those benchmarks. However, various companies sit on various points on the automation spectrum, where some companies have almost perfected automated service delivery while many just promise it but still do it manually to a great extent by putting more people to save time and appear fast enough. The limitations, which make it difficult to automate, may be both from the customer side and the service provider side. Same is the case with Generative AI now. There's lot of talk by everybody, but very few may really be in position to bring it in any material sense right now. And the gap in their ability to do so will broaden with time, although the benchmarks for efficient services leveraging generative AI will be set for everyone to try and meet.

This can make or break companies, or can bring fundamental shifts if there is an adequately strong long-term drive. For the latter, a company would need to consciously insulate itself from the pressures demanding short-term outcomes (go private? sell a story?). But that's possible only if there is willingness to do so. Shrinking average CEO tenure further exacerbates the tendency to show quick results and make a quick buck. But there are numbers on both sides of an average. And hence, there are companies which evolve, grow stronger for longer term - at least have extended phases of that - and then there are many who drown in their own pool of commitments and expectations.

The answer really depends on what's our question. Are we arguing that the fundamental responsibility of a firm is to sustain itself for long-term? Or is it to work for its stakeholders? Or to deliver the greatest value to customers in the market it operates with the resources it has access to? Or is it to create a workplace for people to collaborate, contribute and earn respectable livelihoods? Or something else? Perhaps a lot else. I think all of these are true to various degrees, which also vary based on countless factors. It's also a philosophical question. It's also a matter of personal opinion and will rarely garner clear consensus. But each question can be further qualified with a temporal color. When?

I would therefore see this phenomenon as a key contributor to the evolutionary process of a business, as it thrives in an environment of competition, customers, vendors, shareholders, employees, etc. all making their own moves and counter moves while the firm itself makes its strategic choices as it tries to answer the above questions for itself and put up its fight in the arena.

What's your take on short-termism?

ChatGPT and the like - an interesting era has begun!

My previous post with thoughts on "Artificial Dumbing" - the phrase totally coined by me - was pretty much in the words of ChatGPT! It is amazing how it expands blocks of ideas into such wonderfully articulated pieces of writing which largely resonate with what you think and want to communicate if you express yourself well enough to the tool. I hear a lot else is possible with Generative AI based tools already (check this out). And I am curious. Looking forward to try them all, at least the free ones.

What I have experienced through extensively using ChatGPT of late, is that the low hanging fruit of direct productivity improvements is something everyone must immediately tap into. It's primarily in terms of quick generation of specific content, including code, which would be as precise as the context and details provided by the requester. So, if you know what you want to achieve, just type your requirement as clearly as possible, basically whatever is in your mind and whatever you would tell yourself that you needed to do. And ChatGPT might give you a better output in a few seconds than what you might in a few hours. There are constraints on the type of input it takes and the type of output you can derive out of it. But then, you can be creative and push the boundaries to some extent. Also, the way the current ChatGPT works, you can use it to augment you, may be even do majority of the work for you, but there will be gaps and you have to fill those so that the output is complete, coherent and meaningful.

A powerful feature of ChatGPT is its conversational format, and working through multiple threads which behave like separate conversations. For example, if I am working on creating a report on a specific topic, with a many sub-topics, side-topics and nuances to deal with, I can first carry on a conversation with the tool like I would with an expert; exchange ideas, views and feedback, and through this process get to a point where, like a human, rather like a friend or colleague conversing with me, or perhaps even better than any of them in a way we wouldn't want to acknowledge, the tool actually understands my views and intentions which need to come in the report. Now with the framework already set, I would now ask the tool to give me the content as I desire, with the structure I want, with the nuances I want, with the messaging I intend and with the tone I desire. And even after that, if there are slight deviations, I can tell the tool to make necessary fixes, add or remove stuff I don't want, change the tone if I'd like, even change the person - pretend to be me or someone, and regenerate the content. I can make these tweaks multiple times, and even ask for many versions by regenerating responses, just for the heck of it sometimes. It won't take too many iterations to get what you need. It's not only a huge time saver, but also gives you the quality that you may not be able to deliver yourself in 100 times the time it took. And that is one aspect that both enthralls and worries me.

The reason it worries me, is that if tools like Generative AI become fully integrated into our lives, especially from our childhood, but also in later years, we will diminish, or not fully develop our abilities to imagine, create, express, articulate, write, draw and develop from scratch - something that is so unique to human minds and bodies, as we would have tools to do better job more effectively. The tools still have limitations, at least so far and for the near future, in being not capable of surpassing all human ability - what they call singularity - and are only capable of what they can copy / learn from, which is the entire body of human creation so far. Which means that there would still be value to things we can imagine or create beyond what anyone has ever done, and there are really no boundaries to that if history is anything to go by. But then, if we are out of practice with the basic level, aren't we generally dumbing down our faculties? How can we run for iron-man if we rarely jog or get into water or cycle?

Or am I looking at it all wrong? The time we save by using tools for mundane tasks can indeed be devoted to pursue goals of higher order. But the tools we are looking at have abilities beyond the mundane, and if we set boundaries to where they play a role, I think we'd be trying to suppress the impact of one of our greatest inventions. And something so great will always find its way around the stupidity / rigidity of humans, eventually.

There's another possibility. Human endeavor has always found newer areas and greater challenges. The invention of the wheel and everything that enabled us to move faster ever since, has possibly made us poor runners as a whole since we are less dependent on that skill for survival. Running has become a sport to compete in, with others interested, wanting, skilled and trained at running - it's become a form of entertainment that way. For many it's for fitness. But we certainly don't need to run from an angry tiger to save our lives or cover long distances on foot. The analogy is compelling but the key difference with AI is that we are playing with mental faculties now, and that's fairly recent. May be a few centuries later, we'll look back at this moment as a pivot in human civilization that totally transformed our lives, made us live longer, healthier and happier. Or may be we'll see this as the dark period that destroyed everything we stood for.

We must therefore develop this carefully, but definitely.

How do you think we must shape this? Can we, beyond a point? Where do we draw a line, to be safe? And should we?

I am tempted to ask ChatGPT for an answer...

Unveiling the Shadow Side of Corporate Decision-Making: The Era of "Artificial Dumbing"

In the age of rapid technological advancements and the pursuit of artificial intelligence, a contrasting phenomenon has emerged within the corporate world — one that can be described as "artificial dumbing" - a term I coined and which I think captures what's eating productivity of humans very deeply. This concept refers to deliberate non-intelligent actions taken by corporate executives that serve their personal interests, often at the expense of rational choices and genuine insights. From sales and strategy to delivery and beyond, artificial dumbing casts a shadow on the decision-making landscape. Let us delve deeper into this intriguing and concerning aspect of corporate behavior.

The Prevalence of Artificial Dumbing:
Artificial dumbing pervades various domains within corporate functions, where self-serving motivations can eclipse rational thinking. In sales, executives might resort to manipulative tactics and short-term gains, sacrificing long-term customer relationships. In presales, decisions may be driven by personal biases rather than objective evaluation, hindering the pursuit of optimal solutions. Even in strategy formulation, misguided ambitions and the desire for personal glory can lead to shortsighted plans detached from reality. This trend poses significant challenges to the pursuit of genuine progress and ethical business practices.

The Factors Behind Artificial Dumbing:
Several factors contribute to the propagation of artificial dumbing in corporate decision-making. The pressures of competition, quarterly targets, and the relentless pursuit of individual success create an environment that incentivizes short-term thinking and self-preservation. In addition, organizational structures and hierarchies sometimes prioritize individual achievements over collective wisdom, promoting a culture that rewards personal gain over the common good. Moreover, the abundance of information in today's interconnected world can lead to selective data interpretation, enabling executives to cherry-pick facts that align with their preconceived notions or personal interests.

Consequences and Implications:
The consequences of artificial dumbing can be far-reaching. It erodes trust within organizations, stifles innovation, and limits sustainable growth. Employees who witness such behavior may become disillusioned, and the overall corporate culture may suffer as a result. Moreover, the collective intelligence and potential of organizations remain untapped when decision-making is clouded by self-serving agendas. Ultimately, the negative repercussions extend beyond the corporate realm, impacting stakeholders, customers, and society at large.

Combatting Artificial Dumbing:
Addressing artificial dumbing requires a multi-faceted approach. Organizations should foster a culture of integrity, transparency, and collaboration, emphasizing the importance of long-term success over short-term gains. Encouraging diverse perspectives and empowering employees to challenge flawed decisions can help counteract personal biases. Furthermore, fostering a learning environment that values evidence-based decision-making and critical thinking can help dismantle the allure of artificial dumbing. Leaders must set the example by prioritizing ethical conduct and promoting a collective mindset focused on sustainable progress rather than self-interest.

Conclusion:
Artificial dumbing represents a concerning trend in corporate decision-making, where self-serving actions take precedence over intelligent choices and authentic insights. Recognizing and combating this phenomenon is vital for organizations to foster a culture of ethical decision-making, innovation, and long-term success. By challenging personal biases, fostering collaboration, and prioritizing collective intelligence, businesses can overcome the allure of artificial dumbing and embrace the transformative power of genuine intelligence in their pursuit of a better future.

Large Deals Closures - what are the IT services providers reporting?

This is the time for financial results in India. We had TCS share its Q4-FY23 results the day before yesterday. They sounded pretty decent to me in the first instance when I heard them, but then the market was quite brutal in declaring them disappointing. Infy came up with their own results yesterday, and although the results weren't that different in trends than TCS, the management sounded more nervous in communicating them and the market was more disappointed as expected.

However, one statistic that stood out for me was large deal closures. TCS had an all-time high volume of large deals signed, totaling to about $10 Bn in Q4 and $34.1 Bn in FY23. This baffles me coz if the market has that kind of momentum, why is the immediate sentiment so nervous? Infy on the other hand signed $2.1 Bn in Q4 and $9.8 Bn in FY23. I don't know whether that's good or bad in terms of performance, but what is interesting when you compare the two companies' large deal conversions is that TCS - which is 1.5 times Infy in its revenue - cracked 4.7 times TCV in large deals in Q4 and 3.5 times in FY23, when compared with Infy. How do you explain that?

Another statistic is Large Deal TCV as a multiple of total annual revenue. For TCS it is 1.17 while for Infy it is 0.52. Clearly there is something underlying that's not the same for the two companies.

I can think of two factors:

• Definition of "Large Deal": I checked a few places, including annual reports of both companies, but did not find anything mentioned on how the two companies define large deals. It would be great if companies clearly provide a definition, otherwise the large deal wins figure can be easily manipulated while reporting. One conventional way, among many others, to define a large deal is in terms of size - if the deal TCV is at least 10X the average TCV across all deals made by the company, then it could be called a large deal for that company. Given the size, scale and scope for TCS and Infy, I find it hard to believe that average deal size for TCS would be a couple of times higher than that of Infy. Another possibility is that TCS is winning many many more deals, albeit of similar large size.

A friend pointed out - and I think very correctly - that some companies count large contract renewals also as large deals closures. Is that the case with TCS? It seems so, coz otherwise these large deals will shoot the company's revenue next year when their year-1 value is earned. What about Infy? Neither of the two companies provide numbers of these large deals, which would have helped us understand these better. It must be intentional. I am keen to find out more on this.

• Advantage from size / scale or efficiency or offerings: If TCS is indeed able to crack bigger deals on an average, and also a huge number of larger than large deals than Infy - provided they both define large deals following the same underlying principles and benchmarks - then we can only try to explain why TCS is able to attract more and larger large deals. Size and scale of the company do increase its appetite for bigger deals, but the ability to deliver those depends on capabilities to deliver as committed, bring in efficiencies and offer value adds - which again the company can invest into and build better when at a certain scale - although that is not necessarily a given. Larger companies could be larger mess as well, but then they won't be large for long.

I checked the annual report of Accenture - a bigger rival to TCS - but it does not talk about large deals. Nor does Cap Gemini or Cognizant. Nor do some of the smaller Indian rivals I checked.

I can see why Large Deals matter in reflecting the health of client industries and the company itself. But if investors were to draw any useful comparison based on large deal conversion, they should be able to view them on the same scale. Otherwise there's room for manipulation and over-reporting just to manage optics. Similar used to be the case with reporting digital revenue, which was more distinguishing a decade back when digital was the buzzword.

So, what really are these Large Deals getting reported?

Being a Teacher

I owe most of what I am to all the wonderful teachers who have guided me along the way. So whenever I get the opportunity to wear a teacher's hat, I first reflect on 3 things - with all the teachers I have had the privilege of learning from, what worked, what didn't and what should have been.

Over the years I have taught different age groups ranging from secondary school kids aspiring for IIT JEE to business management post-grad students aspiring for great corporate careers to corporate employees to adults aspiring basic literacy and math skills. How you approach the learning process varies based on the audience, the setting and the context, and it's not just about the age.

I am not a professional teacher, nor an accomplished one. But as an amateur experimenter, I have learnt / experienced a few things about the role, and continue to explore the area with curiosity. And which I try to bring to the classroom whenever I get the opportunity. So, here is what I strive to achieve whenever I wear the exciting hat of a teacher. 

• Share and Facilitate, don't teach. A teacher doesn't know it all. A teacher is also a learner, except that he/she has a head start on the subject as compared to most of the students. Even that is not always a given, and depends on the students' profiles and unique experiences. A teacher's job therefore is to create a healthy environment for consumption and sharing of knowledge. And there could be many conventional and creative approaches to do that. To quickly set the framework at the outset without losing time or interest of students is an art. And to evolve the framework as the course unfolds, such that students still feel engaged and excited, requires finesse of higher order. A teacher therefore is an artist.

In my course on  IT project management, I have attempted to execute a peer learning model, where groups of students are expected to cover a lot of the course content, while I keep pitching in to provide insights from my experience and knowledge. I also selectively cover whole topics, but I'd limit that to those which I believe are deeply conceptual or where I have unique learnings or insights to share from my own experience.

So far, I must admit, in 3 attempts of teaching the same course - 2 of which were remote - I am still working on getting the model right. The recent attempt was in a physical classroom and the feedback was mixed - many students did not enjoy the presentations by other students, and the level of engagement on topics would depend too much on how it was delivered by presenters. The model was intended to facilitate learning from each other.  However, quite a few students were unhappy with the fact that there was less of 'teaching' and more of student presentations. Project management is something learnt from practice and experience. We all manage projects in some form in our personal and professional / academic life. I therefore thought rather than covering a lot of theory, learning through case studies and experience sharing would be more helpful. I also stressed on the fact that students so grown up should consume simple and basic concepts on their own, and class rooms should be for further discussions, so as to draw maximum value from the time we had. Not all students saw the merit of this, and perhaps there's a conditioned expectation to just watch / listen to a good performance by a prof. I definitely need to work on improving this model and also make it more engaging and entertaining. It is important to balance knowledge delivery with peer learning. While neither works beyond a point, one has to find the optimum mix of ingredients to get the taste that is irresistible.

In physical settings, there is an obvious unease in some of the participants in having to appear attentive constantly. While there is the human aspect of near impossibility of doing so, a prof looking on makes it worse. In the older times we let our minds wander elsewhere. Now there is the constant urge to retreat to gadgets, which is an unhealthy yet all pervading practice these days. And in remote settings, one can detach with little inhibition or guilt. This could be the reason why the previous 2 attempts - which were delivered and attended remotely - were probably taken more positively (based on limited student feedbacks collected). But I can't be sure, there could be other reasons.

• Don't set boundaries. In my own lectures on IT project management, I don't limit discussions to IT alone. I let my thoughts wander into any area as I speak, e.g. non-IT projects, student projects, cinema, relationships & dating, startups, psychology, careers, etc. etc. Analogies, rather than text books, help drive management concepts deeper. So I also encourage students to reach out to people in various industries and learn from real experiences, and think about how they can apply their learnings within the IT context. I can draw a picture of how it all looks like from my limited experience, but what if we could tap sources beyond the classroom and share, so as to enhance all our knowledge collectively!

I encourage thinking wild and random, with of course some relevance to the topic, and often try to drive this by example. I tap into my sense of humor to help make it fun, and I hope some of it is received in the right spirit.

• Interest is not a given. Especially for elective courses, which have been explicitly enrolled for by students, one assumes, or at least expects, the students to be interested in the subject. However, I have realized that it may not be the case for many students. It wasn't the case even when I was a student, and I do realize 'interest' was not the reason for enrolling for some of the courses that I did. Options, availability, ability to score, ease, grades expected, perception of the prof, demand for the course, what my friends were doing, etc. etc. all played a role. Therefore, when you are teaching a course, your primary effort should still be to generate and sustain interest for the course in minds of all the students. It's easier said than done, especially in the current education system which places greater responsibility of generating learning outcomes on the teacher. And with gadgets integrating more and more with our lives, and finding their way into classrooms, getting students' focused attention has become a very complex challenge.

• Respect. I make it a point to treat business management students as grown-ups, as professionals who must behave responsibly, act with dignity and follow professional etiquette. It is equally important that I conduct myself with the same standards, so that I evoke respect from students and also lead by example. I often feel equal to my students, may be because of not being a teacher by profession or conditioning. And that keeps me humble and grounded. I also make it a point to be fair, honest and transparent, which is part of my duty as a teacher.

I am sure I have a lot to learn and improve upon in my teaching ability and pedagogical approaches. I hope I get more opportunities and I can do complete justice to those with full commitment and dedication.

My goal is to equip my students for careers ahead. It is extremely fulfilling and enriching to be able to play a role, albeit small, in shaping stronger and more equipped leaders for tomorrow, and helping them enter the race with greater confidence, genuine skillsets and shorter learning curves.

My 20 Kg Weight Reduction

In 2020, I lost about 20 kgs of weight over about 6 months period. I procrastinated writing about the journey for this long, in spite of some of my friends telling me it was an extraordinary achievement, and that I must talk (and brag) about it, mostly to show off, and to some extent inspire others. But the fact is, although I do realize that the achievement is great because of its near impossibility for most people, including me in the past, and because it helped me feel a lot better about myself, my health and my fitness, I have still never felt it was an incredibly difficult thing to achieve. Which might sound weird coz like most people, in the past I always wanted to lose weight but was only adding more and more on a resultant basis. Couple of times, I did manage to lose 2-3 kilos either from consistent running or a disease like dengue, but I gained back a lot more a little later. But on this one occasion, I understood the fundamentals of it all - mostly by chance. And once I started seeing the reducing trend, there was no stopping me until I was exactly where I needed to be.

A lot of my friends ask me for tips. And I tell them it's simple, at least in theory. But walking that path with consistent self-control is what makes all the difference. There's all kinds of propaganda the world and market aggressively throws at you in various ways to prevent you from doing it right. And you often don't know who to trust. Most people ultimately seek, are rather pushed to seek, short-term pleasure, as long term seems too invisible to matter at any moment. We are encouraged to live in the moment, and within the limitations of life, that pretty much means seeking the most basic among Maslow's hierarchical needs - food, intoxication, physical pleasure. The frequent need, abundance and easy accessibility of food makes it the most basic. And if we can afford it, we'd always seek pleasure from it rather than consume what's required to survive. So the first thing to do is - open your eyes to reality.

From my experience and what I've learnt in the process and since, here are 10 things I think one must do, to get on that path that will change your body, your mind and your life.

1. Eat healthy

Watch closely what you eat, right from your main meals to the little things you pop without thinking much as they seem too small and insignificant to cause any adverse impact. The food industry constantly surrounds us with all kinds of junk, and makes a tempting and compelling case for us to indulge, often by obfuscating facts and plain lying. And these junk foods chemically impact our minds to make them want more and more. Sugar, for example. It's well known that carbonated soft drinks are full of sugar, and should be avoided at all cost. But even stuff like bottled fruit juices sold as healthy drinks are still lots of sugar and less of any real fruit. Biscuits sold as containing nutritious dry fruits or oats are still mostly maida and sugar. Brown bread, whole wheat bread are all more than 50% maida still. Read the ingredients of any packaged food stuff before you buy, and if it has sugar or maida, move on unless it's that rare occasion when the junk still seems worth it for once, coz, you know, cravings are real.

Same is the case with cheese. The western countries may be crazy about it, but that doesn't justify eating loads of it. Combine maida and cheese, and you get the monster food - pizza. I was once a huge fan of Dominos Cheese burst pizza - with loads of molten cheese oozing out of a hand-tossed pizza. I ate it almost once every alternate day for a year when I was in b-school. Thankfully I got bored of it later.

Often, we just get carried away by apparent, yet bogus, common sense. I recently ate lots of banana chips on a few occasions thinking am eating a healthy substitute to regular potato chips which I thought were just carbs and fat. But a simple comparison of nutrition values of both will tell you that banana chips are junk of a higher degree. All the nutrition of a banana is meaningless when you fry it deep in oil.

It's a good idea, therefore, to check nutrition details of food items. Over time, you will have a good judgement of what's good and what's junk. When you are not sure, check.

2. Watch your calories

Human body has a certain burn rate for calories even in state of rest. Throw in some physical activity, and you burn a few more calories. And we have to supply that energy with food. Sure bodies are different and their needs vary within a certain range. But overall, we do have a fair understanding theoretically of how many calories we require - precise enough to manage our energy levels and avoid excess. So our calorie consumption should match the calorie requirement, broadly. Excess calories get stored in the body as fat - adding to our weight. And calorie deficit would lead to burning of stored energy (body fat), leading to reduction in weight.

So the fundamental formula for weight loss is to maintain the below condition day after day without exception for a considerably long time:

Calories burnt > Calories Consumed

How do you really keep track of these calories? Well, there's no accurate way of doing it, but there are many ways of getting a rough picture.

To track calories burnt, you now have fitness apps - that constantly track your movement, physical activity, etc., and based on your body characteristics like height and weight, they can give you a rough estimate of how much calories you are burning on any day. Good thing about these apps is that you just need to carry them along and they are automatic, and some of them are intelligent enough to guess the kind of activity you are performing. But generally, you have to at least tell the app what kind of activity it is - whether you are running, walking, swimming, playing tennis or just sleeping. And when you aren't doing anything, the app will consider a basic burn rate. Again, it's only approximate.

To track calories consumed, you have apps where you have to keep on feeding what you eat or drink all day, along with quantities of the items, and they give you an estimate of the calories you took in. Both the input and output are fairly approximate here. But then, you get a picture. I used an app called HealthifyMe, just the free version. It gives a pretty good idea of how much each food item is worth in calorie terms. Also you can set a target weight loss and the period over which you want to achieve it, and the app would tell you how many calories you can consume each day. Choose an app which has a good range of cuisines built in, especially the ones you eat. HealthifyMe is very well suited for all that you eat in India, for example.

Please note - don't be too aggressive with your targets. You do have to push yourself, and suffer a little bit in the process, but don't make your life too difficult.

You have to work with both these apps for some time, along with monitoring how your body parameters are behaving, to get some sort of calibration in your mind on how to interpret these numbers and get a sense of their relative scales, so that you can compare them appropriately. Also, it's always safe to err on the conservative side, when the goal is to lose weight, rather than try to be just below the borderline; i.e., it's better for you if your calorie consumed reading is overestimated and your calorie burnt reading is underestimated.

I know it's a lot of work to keep entering your diet into apps, and consistently do it for a long time. But my experience has been that you don't need to do that beyond 1-2 months. After that, you get a pretty good idea of where you stand in terms of your calories based on what you eat. You also get some sense of what the common items you consume are worth in calories. Beyond that, if you are popping something new, or you are in doubt, check in the app for that item alone and assess for yourself.

Also, please understand that eating fewer calories does not mean eating less. It just means you change the mix of items in your diet such that you are eating fewer calories while eating the same quantity. For example, you can cut on the staples like rice or wheat and eat more of vegetables, dal, curd, chutneys, sambar, etc. etc.

3. Binge on raw and natural

We have to agree that weights are high for a reason. For most of us, it's coz we love to eat and we eat what we love. Growing up, we didn't care about factors like content, nutrition, calories, etc., coz it really didn't matter. But after a certain age, the body started responding differently to food without our realization. For one, it didn't need so much of food. But our mind was yet to adjust its expectations and continued to crave for what it's used to. And as we continued on the path, slowly the excess went on accumulating on our bodies and we got bigger and bigger.

I think eating is fun. And we don't need to be so hard on ourselves to almost stop eating. We only need some effort to condition ourselves to choose healthier alternatives. And thankfully, nature has given us so much variety and such wonderful menu to choose from, if only we could open our minds a little bit, and then divert the focus. My observation is that the body has a way of processing natural, uncooked stuff such that it can take what's needed and ignore the rest. Nobody gets fat by eating lots of fruits or raw veggies. Pick the ones you enjoy the most, try out new, find your favorites. I eat lot of fresh fruits and nuts - apples, grapes, mangos, oranges, watermelons, pomegranates, bananas, pistachios, peanuts, raisins, litchis, etc. etc., and whenever I feel like, without caring about the quantity or calories. It somehow works, doesn't harm you.

4. Hitting the gym is not the way

There is a very strong lobby trying to sell gyms, exercise products and sports paraphernalia in the name of losing weight and getting fit. If you observe the calories burnt vs calories consumed relationship more closely, and watch the stats for some time, you'll quickly realize that what we burn by working out is a miniscule number in comparison to the impact food has in contributing calories.

For example, a 330 ML can of Coke has about 139 calories. That's about the amount of energy you'd burn by walking half an hour. 100 gm of banana chips give you 500 calories. You have to walk or cycle 2 hours to burn that. You can look up more of that, but the bottom line is that what you eat largely determines your weight.

Besides, working out too much with a lot of weight can injure your body, and sometimes do permanent damage to your joints. I, for example, used to run a lot while my weight was in the 80's (kgs). And in the long term, that caused damage to my knees - which was in fact the trigger for me to relook at my approach to managing weight.

In fact, for the first couple of months during my weight loss journey, I didn't do any exercise, but rather focused on my diet alone. My knees had terrible pain due to inflammation caused by reasons mentioned above. And the COVID lockdown initially left me no choice anyway.

5. Get rid of stress

In addition to triggering the tendency to over-eat when we are under pressure, stress screws with our internal mechanisms somehow leading to distorted metabolism, hormonal imbalance and weight gain. I can't tell you how to get rid of stress... find what works for you. But having a stress free life is extremely essential for losing weight in a sustainable and healthy way.

I had quit a very stressful job just before I started on the weight loss journey. And I was able to achieve what I had never been able to achieve before while working. Of course, I am not recommending you leave your job to get back in shape, but you definitely need to find a low-stress way of life - not only for losing weight and be healthy, but to live happier in general.

6. Sleep well, sleep smart

Enough is said about sleeping 7-8 hours a day, sleeping early and sleeping 3-4 hours after your dinner. Won't repeat that, although I do get the feeling that to some extent it is all a bit overrated. From my experience, I think it's important to be consistent in your sleep schedules. Throughout the period of my weight loss journey, I used to sleep at 4 AM and get up at 9 AM. I slept again in the afternoon for a couple of hours. This worked best for me with the baby and everybody else at home during the pandemic. And I had no office to attend during the day.

Also, I do agree that sleeping a few hours after you've eaten is beneficial. Your stomach feels empty, and you can fill it up with a lot of water before you go to sleep. The urine that builds up as a result will act as a natural alarm to wake you up!

7. Shut the pamper

Stop pampering yourself until your goal is reached. I don't believe in cheat days and cheat meals while trying to lose weight. You can have a lot of all the stuff once you are at the new weight level where you intend to be, coz then you just have to maintain your weight at that. While maintenance also means you've to continue to be in control, but that's when you can cheat at times.

8. Exercise for health, fitness, weight management

I said before that exercise is not the tool for weight loss, as it hardly makes a dent. But it definitely is a tool for weight management once you are at the level you want to be. Any slight ups in 2-3% range can be easily reverted by working out. Determine how much exercise you need by looking at how much more you need to burn vis-a-vis how much you eat for how much you weigh.

This is where gyms come in handy. Or pick up a sport. Or just go outdoors and walk. Or run. Or cycle. Or do anything for an hour a day. Pick up something that you enjoy. See what else would make it fun - music? outfit? partner?

Even if your weight is stable, it is important to exercise regularly. Indulge in any moderate to high intensity physical activity for an hour every day. Not only will it help you stay at that weight which you hit with so much hard work, but it will also help you be healthy, energetic and active both physically and mentally.

9. Make fitness a priority

Can't stress this enough - fitness is a never ending pursuit. It is synonymous to a good life. And you don't want to put that in the backburner because of work, stress or lack of time for whatever reason. You have to be 100% consistent. And to achieve that, find ways that suit you. Don't worry too much about what is conventional. For example, I walk or cycle for an hour every day. But I have difficulty being consistent if I try to do it early in the morning. I just can't wake up that early every day. I've tried but I can't be consistent for long. So I decided I'd do it in the night. It might be as late as mid-night, but I have no difficulty being consistent with that schedule.

I also keep a regular watch on my weight now, which has been near stable for 2 years. Whenever I see small ups or downs, I do minor tweaks in my diet or exercise or both until I am back to the right level.

10. Stay committed

Last, but not the least, make this your way of life rather than your goal. Don't make weight loss a tale of suffering. Rather choose the path which is sustainable, gradual and fun, although it does take a bit of pain initially as the body adjusts to the new routine, diet and regimen. If you have any medical conditions, do make sure you are taking care of them and not compromising on any of it. And then, it's all a simple formula to get to a healthier body. And believe me, once you are at your goal, it'll all seem worth it and you will not have any difficulty continuing to commit yourself to being fit and healthy.

Many people need a trigger to push them toward a goal, even though the goal itself may be best for their well being. For me the trigger was a knee condition which was sure to improve if I shed some kilos, and it did. But for most people, such strong triggers are unlikely to occur. They continue to go through gradual deterioration of bodies, until they run into health issues which can't be reversed easily as they grow older. So it's wiser to act early, when you are still young, and move to older age with a healthier body. You don't have to give up anything in the true sense. You just need to make the right choices, while giving utmost importance to your pleasure and happiness.

Don't wait for a trigger. START NOW.

Back

Making this quick post to register my come back to the blog after a gap of 2 years. The last I was posting was during the peak of COVID era. The lockdowns, taking care of our little daughter, my experiments with creative pursuits which didn't go too far, and the lure (and push) of getting back to a job, which I eventually succumbed to... memorable times.

In the meanwhile, some time last year one of my credit cards expired, and the domain I had been using for my blog - SochVichaar.com - was left unpaid for. Someone who does just that - claim domains which are somehow freed up - took mine. He/she isn't using it, but it's not available to me either. Anyhow, I registered another one - SochVichaar.in and moved my blog here. Luckily it isn't very different, and in fact, looks better in some way.

I didn't make any post in 2021, and this is the first in 2022. I'll make up for the lost 2 years of sharing, by sharing more, and more often - as most bloggers say after coming back from a break. These 2 years involved lots of activity, lots of leisure and lots of learning. Less eventful than gradually transformational. And I am sure it'll all come here in more processed and mature form now.

Keep reading, commenting, sharing and exchanging.