Adi Kumar

Reflections of a Neurosurgeon Featured

GBM - Part 1

Time present and time past Are both perhaps present in time future, And time future contained in time past. If all time is eternally present All time is unredeemable. - T. S. Eliot, Burnt Norton Brain herniated and I had one question - where is the meaning in this? The

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#053 How to use geography for life-long learning

My greatest mentor frustrated me to no end. Every month he would take over part of an operation he had taught me. I knew he knew I was capable of doing this step.

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#052 How to achieve failure

“Negative results are just what I want. They’re just as valuable to me as positive results. I can never find the thing that does the job best until I find the ones that don’t.”

#051 Three ways to procrastinate like a Pro

Apollo's face swells as he screams across the ring: "THERE IS NO TOMORROW!" Released in 1982, when I watch Rocky III, sometimes I think I was born in the wrong era. A deflated Rocky shrugs in the ring as tells his training partner that they will

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#050 Productive Perspiration - The Unfashionable Secret to Extraordinary Success

Welcome to 2024, where working hard has become as unfashionable as mullets and dial-up internet.

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#049 How the Successful Move Faster than You

Those blazing past you aren't smarter or harder workers. They relentlessly keep identifying and eliminating bottlenecks. When you ruthlessly remove constraints, every drop of effort yields maximum impact.

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#048 The Biggest Problem with Time Management

And with that choice the things you do decide to do become more meaningful. You appreciate what is happening instead of getting frustrated about what isn't.

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#047 How to read to learn and become an original thinker

We are all taught to read. But few of us are taught how to read to learn. Fewer still learn how to come up with original ideas. Here is a 5 step process to learn to read and become an original thinker.

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#046 How to structure your workflow for maximum efficiency and quality

Effective solutions cannot be found in the same field where the problem resides.

productivity

#045 The most productive (and stressful) way to get things done

If you want to take the island, burn the boats. This is what commander Tariq bin Ziyad did in 711 AD when invading the Iberian Peninsula.

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#044 - What no-one tells you at the start of your career

I don't know when neurosurgeons started taking exams in driving centres.

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#043 How to do the impossible

This is impossible. The thought ran through my head as I peered at an exposed brain at 2 am.

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#042 Why your brain loves to procrastinate and three ways you can overcome it

Worthwhile things are hard. But hard things are not always worthwhile. Difficulty is necessary but not sufficient. Tolstoy knew this, "Happy families are all alike; every unhappy family is unhappy in its own way."

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#041 How your goals are stopping you from achieving your goals

“Come to theatre now.” Debbie is my senior registrar. She is loud, hilarious and only looking back, do I now appreciate how much effort she put into training me.

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#040 How you can take advantage of your Loser's Edge

We all have an edge to us. You might not see it, but you do. You can do things I will never be able to do.

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#039 You are not alone - why you can't get things done

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#038 Why being a surgeon is a Loser's Game

This mistake taught me more lessons than any other in my career, but I want to talk about one that I wish I had known a lot earlier.

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philosophy Featured

#037 Seven lessons I learned from when my 2-year-old got sick

Because if what you say makes everyone feel nothing, it probably didn't need to be said in the first place.

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productivity

#036 The big problems with being productive

Surgeons pray at the altar of Economy of Movement. Why do something in four moves when you can do it in two? We ask such questions for good reasons.

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#035 - Three contrarian success skills that no one teaches

The three skills that nobody teaches, but are dominated by the successful.

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#034 This week's newsletter sucks as planned

So the question is not so much ‘What are you passionate about?’ The question is ‘What are you passionate enough about that you can endure the most disagreeable aspects of the work?’

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#033 You're being lied to and that's a good thing

The Dunning-Kruger Effect isn't real. If you think it is the next 6 minutes will be an eye-opener. Even if you haven't heard about it before, you will still learn how false ideas can be useful and true ideas can be harmful.

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#032 Why You Shouldn't Listen to Successful People

Elon Musk. Michael Jordan. Steven Bartlett. You can learn their success stories with the click of a button. Every story contains sage advice that worked. But the part of the story that doesn't get told holds an equally important lesson. So let's dive in.

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#031 A Life Lesson from a Dying Patient

Eight years later I remember Craig's question to me with vivid clarity. In those darkest moments, his character shone a light on the inherent reflex within us all to care for others.

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#030 Hidden Brilliance - How to Master Anything

Mastering one skill is difficult. But mastering four is unheard of. This week we learn how to master any skill using the system of the most masterful person you've never heard of.