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Reflections by Kunal Gupta

Reflections by Kunal Gupta

By Kunal Gupta

Audio recordings of the written reflections that I publish on my blog, bykunal.com/blog.
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A Bird In The Hand

Reflections by Kunal GuptaMay 22, 2021

00:00
06:53
How to Haircut

How to Haircut

As I stood up from Wayne's chair, I felt lighter, not just because of the weight of the hair that had been cut, but due to gaining some additional clarity on how to live.

Oct 29, 202304:55
How to Surf

How to Surf

It was only when I relaxed and let the waves guide me that I was able to stand.

Oct 22, 202304:34
How to Trek

How to Trek

The knowledge of my mind mixed with the experience of my body created this wisdom that I can do things I don’t know how to do or know much about.

Oct 15, 202303:31
How to Not Live

How to Not Live

A healthy person has one thousand worries; an unhealthy person has only one.

Oct 08, 202306:40
How to Live

How to Live

My journey, like most others, has been often fraught with challenges and uncertainties.

Oct 01, 202306:12
How to Be Lazy

How to Be Lazy

Bill Gates once said something about choosing a lazy person for a tough job. Why? They'd find the easiest way to do it. 


Sep 24, 202306:45
How to Fail

How to Fail

The journey of paddleboarding, much like the journey of life, is fraught with challenges.

Sep 17, 202307:07
How to Grandson

How to Grandson

I find myself wanting to understand my grandparents better, to appreciate their struggles and their triumphs, to honor their memory.

Sep 10, 202305:46
How to Italy

How to Italy

As I stood there, I realized that this perfect day I had was a reminder about the journey, not the destination

Sep 03, 202306:39
How to Birthday

How to Birthday

Life continues to change me. I don’t need to control or direct the change. I can learn to allow it to happen.


Aug 27, 202306:33
How To Dance

How To Dance

The way I learned to dance was by doing it, whereas before I had been trying to think it.

Aug 20, 202306:13
How To Get A Red Phone

How To Get A Red Phone

As I stared at my empty hands, it took me a split second to acknowledge what had just happened.

Aug 04, 202305:06
How To Exhale

How To Exhale

It mattered less about where we were, what we ate or what we did, but rather who we were with and how we were with each other

Jul 29, 202304:50
Going To The Moon

Going To The Moon

Seeing the moon up close last night sparked something inside of me. It was a reminder to shoot for the moon. Permission to dream.

Jul 22, 202303:27
How To Be On Time

How To Be On Time

When I am in flow with time, choices become easy. When I am attempting to force time, everything feels difficult.

Jul 15, 202305:40
How to be late

How to be late

Life is not about trying to be right. It is about learning to live in harmony with my reality. To know it, accept it and thrive in it.

Jul 07, 202309:15
How To Be Canadian

How To Be Canadian

Being Canadian is a feeling, a silent commitment to universal values, and a quiet pride that needs no validation.

Jul 02, 202303:47
The Compounding Life

The Compounding Life

The power of compounding in life is a testament to the value of consistency, patience, and long-term commitment

Jun 30, 202304:58
Shape Of My Heart

Shape Of My Heart

The shape of my heart is not static, it continues to change

Jun 16, 202303:37
The Most Important Relationship

The Most Important Relationship

The realization that I understand myself more deeply than anyone else has been both liberating and empowering

Jun 09, 202304:23
How to Feel Alive

How to Feel Alive

My personal currency of inspiration serves as my compass, guiding me through major and minor life decisions

Jun 02, 202303:23
How To Disconnect

How To Disconnect

In my life, I've found myself living in two distinct modes.

May 26, 202303:55
A Balanced Life

A Balanced Life

A life void of risks is akin to a stagnant portfolio—destined for a slow decline due to inflation

May 19, 202304:18
Fear of Living

Fear of Living

It's a perspective shift, understanding that death is not the antithesis of life, but its culmination

May 12, 202304:18
How To Dream

How To Dream

Taking the leap and following my heart meant leaving the safety of my comfort zone behind.

May 07, 202304:49
Passport Privilege

Passport Privilege

It's important to recognize that while I've benefited greatly from my passport, it's something that I didn't earn.

Apr 23, 202304:21
Nature v Nurture

Nature v Nurture

A vacation with my sister in Greece highlighted the differences between our personalities shaped by both nature and nurture, allowing me to accept myself and appreciate the role of both in shaping who we are.


Apr 13, 202302:59
A Perfect World

A Perfect World

The world will keep changing. Those around me will keep changing. I will keep changing. However, I do not need to force any of it. It is in

Apr 07, 202302:52
Creating Space

Creating Space

The more I appreciate the value of space, the more I understand its necessity in moving through life.

Apr 01, 202305:44
Beyond Ourselves

Beyond Ourselves

Last week, I had a remarkable experience that left me feeling deeply moved and inspired.

Mar 26, 202303:55
Giving Up Control

Giving Up Control

I recently announced a new CEO for my technology business and that I have moved into a board role. For me, it marks a profound shift in my professional identity. Since founding the business 15 years ago, in my early 20s, I have been known to my external world as a CEO. This is no longer the case.

Feb 26, 202305:15
The Pursuit Of Pleasure

The Pursuit Of Pleasure

I recently got new bed sheets. The morning after sleeping on them for the first time, I lay in bed, awake, curious about their impact on me.

The first thought that raced through my mind was, 'did I sleep better with these new bed sheets?'. I then started to wonder how I would be able to tell.

Would my Oura ring pick up the difference in my sleep data? Might my energy level in the morning be noticeably different? I quickly concluded that there are far too many variables related to my sleep for me to isolate the impact of bed sheets.

Tired of thinking, I observed how comfortable the sheets felt on my body. I was really enjoying the sensations on my skin of these new sheets. I had a desire to stay in bed longer, even if I was awake.

Then a frightening thought arose. What if these sheets were worse for my sleep, even though I seemed to enjoy them?

Feb 05, 202306:06
Floating Anchors

Floating Anchors

My mind is capable of imagining the ideal scenario, for practically everything. It assumes the ideal conditions and circumstances by default.

Jan 28, 202304:07
Brilliant Moments

Brilliant Moments

In recent weeks, I have noticed a brilliant moment most mornings as I wake up.

Jan 21, 202305:08
Conditional Confidence

Conditional Confidence

I grew up learning to feel confident only once there was a reason to.

Jan 15, 202304:05
The Most Inspiring Person

The Most Inspiring Person

This past week, I got to spend time with the most inspiring person I have ever met in my life.

Jan 08, 202302:33
One Word To Guide 2023

One Word To Guide 2023

For nearly a decade, I have had a New Year ritual to pick one single word as my intention for the year ahead.

Jan 02, 202306:36
Disconnect To Reconnect

Disconnect To Reconnect

My experiment was to go into a silent retreat, in my own home, by myself, for 4 days.

Dec 28, 202206:59
The Scarcity Experiment

The Scarcity Experiment

When I observe for a moment my daily lifestyle, an abundance mindset guides my choices, without a doubt.

Dec 18, 202205:02
Time To Make Peace With The Past

Time To Make Peace With The Past

To make peace with my past is not easy.

Dec 11, 202202:39
How To Relax

How To Relax

If I wanted to feel more relaxed, more often, my default thesis was that I need to make more time and space for relaxing activities.

Nov 13, 202203:34
Threads Of Connection

Threads Of Connection

Very few of my friends know what I do, and even those that do don’t seem very interested in knowing more.

Oct 16, 202205:34
The Empire Of Worry

The Empire Of Worry

We all seem to live in our own little, for some large, empires of worry.

Oct 09, 202204:53
One Year In

One Year In

It was one year ago today that I moved to Portugal and it has been an incredible first year in this new continent, country and culture.

Aug 28, 202207:07
A Beautiful Day

A Beautiful Day

Earlier this week, I was complaining to my therapist about how I wanted more spontaneity in my life.

Jul 24, 202207:23
Swimming In The Sea

Swimming In The Sea

Flowing with waves of desires arising and disappearing is how I will continue to swim through life.

Jul 17, 202204:52
Third Place Thinking

Third Place Thinking

Every choice, action or word is part of a chain of cause and effect. I appear to be more the effect than the cause in my life, and that feels disconcerting to say out loud.

Jun 05, 202207:09
Annoying Parents

Annoying Parents

The love of a parent towards a child is said to be unconditional. It could also be said that the love of a parent towards a child is annoying.

May 01, 202204:29
Drive My Car

Drive My Car

I have observed in life that the benefits of practicing trust often outweigh the risks of feeling disappointed.

Apr 17, 202205:50
The Most Valuable Real Estate

The Most Valuable Real Estate

There is a piece of real estate that I have discovered to be the most valuable in the world.

Apr 10, 202202:59