Life Skills for the Young technocrat (From a Hermit’s ...intranet.daiict.ac.in/~rahul_dubey/Hermit_techie.pdfLife Skills for the Young technocrat (From a Hermit’s perspective)

Life Skills for the Young technocrat

(From a Hermit’s perspective)

Rahul Dubey, PhD

The Hermit and the Techie Page 2 ________________________________________________________________________

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Background: It would not be incorrect to label the 21st century as a century of computing and communication advances. These advances have changed the way we live, work and interact. One of the serious fallouts of the advances is the changed lifestyle. Most of us agree that the 21st century has brought in great amount of stress in people. Most of us go through cycles of feeling high and low. The wiser ones amongst us can handle the stresses of modern life but majority of us are unknowingly part of a stressful rat race that is not even allowing us time to realize this. The 21st century generation is not willing to reconnect with the world, when there were no emails, mobile phones and 24 x 7 operations. They are all too absorbed in their own technical world to even think about staying healthy and sane. The following pages contain a collection of ideas, borrowed from the technical world to help us live a better life. Most of the techie world examples are based on the ubiquitous computer – which every techie loves. These ideas are put forth using technical world analogies through the story of the Hermit and the techie. It is not feasible to live by what has been said in this story. In fact, realistically speaking, it is not possible to be in control of life situations, as is mentioned in the different examples (if we could, we would no longer be humans!). The great gurus


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flounder, while they preach to the world. They basically share the lessons that they have learnt from their failures. The book hopes to help one reconnect and have a good life by presenting these examples. There is a possibility that certain examples from the technical world do not fit in with the lifestyle statement. But the motivation is to align the thoughts as close as possible. Also there are ideas which are very close to each other but are represented differently. About the author: The author is a faculty at DA-IICT. He teaches courses on digital system design. Most of the examples used in this book originate from ideas on computers and their working and the author’s experiences.


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This story is about a young technocrat (techie) who is braving a quarter life crises. Although he has a great high paying job, big house, gets to travel to different countries, yet somewhere he is not happy and satisfied. The CEO of the company senses the indifferent attitude and also sees signs of burn out in our young techie. The techie in the story had already put in several years for the company, so the human resources department decides to send him for a weekend break. It is supposed to rejuvenate him to take up greater responsibility at the office. Someone at the office tells him about the weekend break to the Hermits ashram. The Hermit is a retired technocrat, who has renounced all worldly pleasures and lives in an ashram. The Hermit is attributed to diluting and making sense of the problems young people face by giving examples from the world of technology. Although young techies first sneer at the thought of learning life skills from a Hermit, they seem to savor the experience, after their return. Our young techie finally decided to visit the Hermit on a weekend, by convincing himself that there is nothing to lose. He enrolls for a weekend course to spend time at the ashram meditating and experiencing catharsis. The first thing the ashram asked him to do was to deposit his mobile phone and laptop. Initially our friend was reluctant to part with his mobile and


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computer, but since he did not wish to return back from the outskirts of the city, he complied. The first meeting with the Hermit was in the open; in a courtyard surrounded by trees. There were several other registered participants who had assembled to listen to the sermon. There were carpets laid down on the ground, where everyone was supposed to sit. There was curiosity as to what the Hermit looked like. When he came out, the gathering saw the Hermit wearing a loose cotton shirt and jeans. He did not fit the monk like image our young techie had in mind. There were no saffron robes. He had a glowing countenance which was not dimmed by daily tribulations of life. He seemed content and happy. No deals to close. No code to debug. No deadlines to meet. No loose ends to tie. He seemed to be reveling in the moment. He seemed to have a clear perspective on life; much like the time when one returns from a funeral. He came and sat on the podium, under the tree. He introduced himself and then sat still for some time. The gathering seemed to be getting restless. They all expected the Hermit to say something. “Do you all know why we are sitting here, in this open courtyard with trees around?” asked the Hermit. No one spoke up.


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“Both Gautam Buddha and Isaac Newton, got insight into the way the world is, while sitting under a tree!” he smiled to put the gathering at ease. “Although the tree is symbolic, the message is to be close to nature. All of us seem to be getting away from outdoors.” Our techie friend was distracted on seeing some black garden ants walking on the carpet. The Hermit could see his discomfiture. He decided to use the garden ant to illustrate a point. “How many of you have heard the Panchtantra story of the four Brahmins who try to bring a tiger to life, by the power of their accumulated knowledge?” Several people raised their hands. “Ok, tell me, can we create a black garden ant like creature, using all the accumulated knowledge of mankind?” There was silence. The Hermit went on to tell the audience about the challenges in creating a garden ant. “The major issues would be intelligence, weight and flexibility. These ants start walking even after falling off from tree branches.”


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“I do not wish to belittle our scientific accomplishments, but we need to realize that nature has lots to teach us.” “If you visit a research lab, working on one of the latest gizmos about to be released; you will find lots of techies working on multi-core CPU’s, minimizing power consumed by hand-held devices, creating better audio and video compression standards, coming up with new sensors and using artificial neural networks or some kind of genetic optimization technique.” “The scientific community journals are filled with thousands of research papers on these areas.” The Hermit had earlier been part of a major research lab. He had quit his position at the lab, when he decided to share his realizations and ideas with fellow techies. “But if you think with a calm mind, you will see that many ideas originate from nature.” “With the coming of cable television, computer and the internet, most of us are confined to the luxury of home. We do not have the time to go outdoors.”


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The Hermit then went ahead and recited the poem on “Leisure” by William Henry Davies. What is this life if, full of care, We have no time to stand and stare. No time to stand beneath the boughs And stare as long as sheep or cows. No time to see, when woods we pass, Where squirrels hide their nuts in grass. No time to see, in broad daylight, Streams full of stars, like skies at night. No time to turn at Beauty's glance, And watch her feet, how they can dance. No time to wait till her mouth can Enrich that smile her eyes began. A poor life this if, full of care, We have no time to stand and stare.” Most of the participants had memorized this poem in school, but had never fully understood its message. The poem aptly described the hectic lives they were leading. Since it was close to lunch time, the Hermit concluded with certain recommendations that our techie friend jotted down in his notebook.

• Take time out to go to a nature park or to a neighborhood park.

• It is great to spend time outdoors and take our children along

with us. Not only does this make our engineering seem primitive, but it is also a great way to relax and learn.


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After lunch, the group reassembled indoors. There was a sense of lethargy and the body was begging for rest. Everyone was pleasantly surprised to see rocking chairs put up in the seminar hall. Each participant was allowed to take a nap. After the snooze for half an hour the lights were brightened and tea and coffee was served. When the Hermit walked in the hall everyone seemed to be recharged and attentive. He sat down on the dais, and asked a question. “How many of you have been through the process of dealing with a non-responsive computer - one that is hung up?” Several hands in the audience went up. “What do you do when nothing seems to work?” asked the Hermit. “Restart or reboot the computer,” answered one participant. “I will now put on my computer engineering hat to answer this”, said the Hermit. “We all know that the easiest ways, (and one of the most effective!) of dealing with a non-responsive computer is to perform a power reset. Turn the power off and then on again.”


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“When a power reset happens, the computer’s microprocessor brings the program counter (PC) and stack pointer (SP) to a predetermined location. The job of the program counter is to keep track of the next instruction to be executed, while the job of the stack pointer is to organize in memory, different variables from the programs that are running. “Programming errors or switching from one application to the other cause the PC and SP to loose their bearings. When this happens the computer just stands there staring at you!” “Very much similar to the information overload caused at work!” observed one participant. “Yes, and resetting brings both PC and SP back to a pre-determined location,” added another techie. “In our lives also, there are times of information overflow,” continued the Hermit. “How many times, you feel like just walking away from it all?” Many participants raised their hands. “For the sake of comparison, let us say that the hung up computer is like a dazed state. There are many times when humans also reach this hung state. One way to get out of this state is to perform a reset on the thought process. A short nap or a good night’s sleep helps.”


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Reset

“How does a nap or meditation help?” asked a techie. “How many of you defragment the hard disk of the computers?” asked the Hermit. Some of the participants raised their hands. During normal operation, the computer stores files and data non-sequentially on the hard disk. When you start the de-fragmentation process, you will observe the data is scattered in small clusters. After the de-fragmentation is done, you will see that the computer collates the data and places it in an orderly manner on the disk. This improves the data access speed of the system. Similarly there is lot of unrelated information contained in our minds. Sitting quietly and just focusing on our breath, gives the mind some time to organize itself – just like the hard disk. Perform a power reset on yourself once or twice a day – either by taking a quick nap or by meditating for a short while. It may be difficult to find a place to take a nap in a cubicle, but closing your eyes and shutting


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off from the nitty-gritty of the external world, performs reset functionality. Concentrating on the breath is a good way to slow down and refocus the mind. By the time the discourse finished, it was evening and the Hermit invited the group to take a stroll in the ashram campus. “Talk through the campus and enjoy its beauty. Do not let thoughts from the workplace enter your mind,” he advised as the group set off for the walk. As the group walked through the ashram, they realized that it had been really long, since they had taken time off for a walk at sunset. It was a beautiful sight to see birds returning home to the trees, and the rise of the full moon. These every day celestial occurrences seemed so grand. It was as if they had all been away from this for so long. Once they returned to the ashram, tea was served. The Hermit sat amongst the participants at one of the tea tables and started to chat. Many members were animatedly talking about the experience they had of being away from work and close to nature. The Hermit talked about the advantages of such excursions. “Withdrawal from a given problem, at times yields new perspectives, which can eventually help in solving a given problem,” he said.


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“The concept of introducing negative feedback for a stable system occurred to Harold Black during a ferry ride to work. Since the lab notebook was not with him, he wrote down his idea on a newspaper. Many novel ideas have come not in the conventional workspace environment, but in restaurants, while walking or when taking a bath. Archimedes can vouch for this!” After dinner, the group again assembled in the courtyard. The sky was filled with sparkling stars when the lights of the ashram were dimmed. The Hermit walked up to our friend and said, “You are a project manager at work, what is your job profile?” “I need to make sure that all the individual tasks integrate together correctly,” replied the techie. “That means you have the big picture in front of you”, observed the Hermit. “Sometimes, we tend to get upset and anxious when small things go wrong. At times like these, we need to see the big picture.” “What big picture?” asked the techie? “At times viewing a problem from a distance makes it look more manageable. Whenever you feel low, take a walk in a starlit night. Though it is difficult to find starlit skies in today’s polluted cities.”


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“The stars remind us that we are all tiny players in the grand scheme of the universe. It is time to go easy on your problems, not to take life too seriously and to have a good time while we are here on this lovely planet.” This perspective of looking at things told you not to get overwhelmed by problems, thought our friend. Suddenly all insurmountable problems seemed more manageable. The next day at the ashram was supposed to begin at day break and everyone went to bed before the date changed. The room was designed with a transparent

glass rooftop, with the stars clearly seen in the night. It was difficult to sleep late, as the morning

sunshine spread out in

the room. Early in the morning the participants went for a walk in the ashram lawns and then a Yoga instructor guided them with breathing exercises. When they assembled after breakfast in the courtyard, the Hermit asked them about the importance they give to their health.


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One participant shared his concern of less sleep hours and unhealthy eating habits. The Hermit narrated an incident from his work life. “As an engineer working in a factory automation design firm, I visited many factories. One such visit to a plant manager’s office is etched in memory. On the walls of his office, I saw several charts showing that the uptime of the machines of the plant to the order of 95 to 98 percent.” “Being a continuous process factory, stoppage or downtime would result in production loss – which was unacceptable to the management.” “It was the job of the maintenance staff of these process plants to keep the machinery running, explained the maintenance manager. Lots of preventive maintenance was carried out weekly, quarterly or annually to ensure maximum uptime.” “Come to think of it, the human body is also a machine. It is much more sophisticated than any machine to be found in any factory. It is one of those intelligent machines, which tries to heal itself when damaged.” “The research world is trying extremely hard to come up with artificially intelligent, fault tolerant and self-healing mechanisms. But we are still a long distance away from creating a machine like the human body.”


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“Most of us do not stop to think about this machine that keeps us alive and moving. We have a calendar which tells us, when the car is due for service, but we seem to forget our own undemanding machine.”

• Let us eat right and exercise to ensure that this machine stays

fighting fit. Exercise for some time in the morning and evening. • Exercise creates a positive feeling that keeps you energized

all day. After the brief talk on the need for good health, the Hermit asked if anyone’s absence from the office yesterday or the invisible tether of the email had stopped the world. The realization sank in that since yesterday no one had checked their emails or voicemails. There was this urge to go and check if anything was amiss. Once in a while the chirping of birds distracted the audience from the morning talk. The cheerful chirping of the birds prompted the Hermit to ask, “If we were to think of God as a computer engineer, do you think he would make pre-programmed or programmable systems?”

Everyone was flummoxed by the question. “Would you agree with me that birds and insects around us have limited thoughts and abilities as compared to humans?”


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Everyone nodded their heads. “These birds go about their daily lives without thinking much and being satisfied and happy. They have survival abilities, but no thought processes otherwise.” “The pigeon who is trying to make a nest on that air conditioner does not feel dejected when all the twigs fall off every day. It tries to make it again.” “It is difficult to find an unhappy sparrow or parrot, in this world. All creatures seem to be pre-programmed in a particular way. Unhappiness or dejection is not part of their program.” “Just like the microprocessor, which can be programmed to work as a bomb timer or as a heart pacemaker controller, humans are also programmable. We have this programmable brain that helps us think. Good and bad. It is a dual edged sword that has to be used correctly.” “How many of you think thought is supreme?” asked the Hermit. Many people raised their hands. “Why do you think thought is supreme?” was the next question posed by the Hermit. There was silence. No one wanted to answer this question.


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“I have read many places about the power of thought. To me it had almost become a cliché when some one said, thought is supreme!” “But come to think of it, thought, when looked upon as software of the techie world, thought is supreme.” “Let us start with this simple fact. If we were to compare the revenues of all software firms in the world vis-à-vis the revenues of the semiconductor companies – guess who would be the winner?” “The software guys – hands down!” observed a veteran from the software industry. “The key to software’s strength is that you can come up with newer applications using the same hardware. The personal computer can run a variety of applications – from Office, Games, Internet Browser and lots more. It is up to the creativity of the programmer, how he uses the personal computer hardware.” “Those of us, who have fulfilled their basic necessities of life (Remember the song from Walt Disney’s Jungle Book – “Just the bare necessities, that Baloo sings with Mougli as they walk down the jungle path), can be considered to be at the same level of a personal computer’s hardware platform. “Most successful people agree on the fact that there is no limit to the hardware or society approved stuff


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you can get, to make you happy. You can have a PhD, millions in your bank account, a luxury car – but still you can be unhappy.” “Material things can provide temporary happiness but it is the thought one hold’s that provides for the future. This brings us to the magical realization.” “You are as happy as your thoughts. Without good software (thought), the best of hardware (material stuff) is useless.”

• Think of the current pay cheque vis-à-vis your first pay

cheque. Which was more memorable?

• Many times the priceless moments are free and for the asking. They do not need materialistic investments.

The session broke for lunch to reassemble for the last time before the weekend came to an end. “The last lesson, which I wish to impart to you before you leave, will act as shield from the joys and sorrows of the world,” said the Hermit. “How many of you have noticed the porcelain insulators on overhead electrical transmission lines?” “We saw several of these towers on the way to the ashram,” replied one participant. “I think all of us have seen these insulators, whose job is to support the electrical wires which carry kilo volts of electricity. It is also used to ensure that the


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electric potential does not travel to the supporting structure.” “You can imagine the effects, if this insulation were to rupture. Complete devastation through a short circuit. There are fault detecting circuits which shut down the line, when this happens! Let us for a moment consider what would be like, if we insulate ourselves from the external world. Suppose we did not let external events upset and rattle us. Remember Howard Roark from Ayn Rand’s Fountainhead. In the novel, Roark went about doing his own thing, without caring for what everybody had to say. He had a rock like self confidence which the world could not dent. See how Roark and Rock rhyme! “In a similar fashion, we need to ensure that our self esteem, self-worth and confidence are insulated and protected from the external world.” Another way of looking at it is to tell yourself that you have nothing to loose. We are all humans with the same set of abilities. We have created all kinds of artificial titles (CEOs, Project Managers, Vice-Presidents and so forth). These are just temporary roles assigned to us. Go out there and do your thing. Do not worry about the outcome. You have nothing to loose. Everything


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that you hold dear is insulated. Enjoy the world as a child does. He does not seem concerned about falling down, getting dirty or the right place to play.” “I have shared my thoughts about many things, but before you leave I wish to answer some questions that you may have.” The techies asked questions related to their work place and their struggle to keep up with the fast pace of their jobs. Q1. A techie complained about being left behind in the rat race of promotion and salary. The Hermit emphasized the need for long term goals in place of short term gains. “We have young techies and executives striving to make a mark for them selves. They slog through our crowded transport system, work long hours, work weekends to establish themselves in the company. Fundamentally, there is nothing wrong in working hard, but we need to realize that there is a finite amount of energy that each one of us has. At times we get into a fast burn mode to meet deadlines. There are some of us, who are in the fast burn mode most of the times and they burn out early in the game of life. A good idea is to step off the accelerator once in a while. Sit back and think where things are leading to. Spend time with your loved ones.


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The laptop computer is a ubiquitous device that most of us use. The power consumed by a laptop (microprocessor) is related to the frequency of the clock and the voltage. When not in use, (detected, by finding inactivity of the keyboard) the computer starts operating at a lower frequency and reduced voltage (translating to lower speed) to conserve battery life. Learn to slow down, enjoy your work and extend the quality time of your life. All of us know that steel is one of most used alloy in the modern world. It is known of its strength and resilience. Steel does not get into this form very easily – it has to go through a long drawn tempering process which gives it the qualities that we attribute to men of steel. Most of the good managers have gone through this process of seeing the good times and the difficult times. They have learnt how to ride out the tough times, by using their experience. Reaching the top in terms of salary and promotion is an organic process and cannot be cut short.” Q2. A young CEO complained of being impatient with his subordinates and frequent mood swings.


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The Hermit gave some pointers on the benefits of not reacting impulsively. Also a long term goal helps one get over glitches on the way. “In this era of high efficiency and large workload, often there are unreasonable demands on the workforce. The boss walks in and sets an unrealistic deadline for a project. There is this insidious email from a colleague who wishes to foist his work to you. All this makes you real angry. There are many who go ahead and respond to the unjust demand by loosing their cool and reacting impulsively (a spike). They have a heated dispute with the boss or write back an obnoxious email to subordinate or colleague. This only makes matters worse.

This also happens at home with the kids. Sometimes for no great cause, we tend to react harshly with the kids – only to feel bad later on.

I have repented all the exchanges I have had, when I had lost my temper.


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Not only did it spoil my mood, I did not achieve anything out of it. There is a saying, “Count to Hundred, before reacting.” An averaging filter helps to clean out a spike by averaging it out with other adjacent samples. Give yourself time before responding – this will help in a well thought out reply. Also one does not have to respond to every argument or provocation. We need to choose our enemies, wars and arguments with discretion. The detailing required to get a certain water flow from a sink water tap is not the same as the fuel flow rate from an aircraft fuel nozzle. Certain times small distractions fade out when one has a long term goal. Most human achievements can be traced to challenges and long term goals. President Kennedy’s mission to the moon is an example of a long term goal. These long term goals help to ride out the small bumps along the way. The idea is to keep in mind the end goal, in difficult times.” Q3. A new entrant to the workforce wanted advice on being more organized at work and at home. The Hermit focused on the need for documentation and keeping one’s material needs to the minimum.


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“What distinguishes humans from other animals on this planet? We share many of our traits with other animals. There are intelligent dolphins, dogs, apes… But humans have taken the lead in running the show on planet earth. One of the advantages that human’s enjoy is akin to the domino effect. Humans have developed means to disseminate their experiences and knowledge by documenting it. Since the arrival of paper and data storage means, human knowledge has grown manifold. This has been accentuated by the coming of the Internet. There are many times when we have repented for not documenting well. Documentation puts off most people. Techies are no different. Project managers have to thrust documentation down the throats of their engineers – like bitter medicine. As a techie just starting out, I would advise you to document well. Human memory is volatile. Not like the Random Access Memory (RAM) of computers. We do not loose our memory after a nap or a sleep. But most of us will have difficulty debugging a code written six months back.


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At home one needs to manage time and keep your materialistic requirements to a minimum. The modern lifestyle has become very demanding. You may be talking on the phone, when the door bell rings. As you walk to open the door, your newborn child starts to cry. There are lots of things to keep track of. There are multiple credit cards, EMI’s of various loans, multiple email accounts, bank accounts, mobile phone, taxes and much more. Every time you miss out of a deadline, there are people waiting to levy large penalties (for example, the credit card companies). If a microprocessor needs to attend to many tasks in a given time, the microprocessor does have any time to rest! One of the jobs of an operating system is to schedule tasks the microprocessor has to carry out. If there are lots of task closely spaced with hard deadlines (deterministic!) the CPU’s loading factor goes high. This also applies to humans. Multi-tasking for long periods get us worked up. One way out of this labyrinth is to keep things simple. Keep one’s needs to the leanest possible. Do not tether yourself to too much stuff.


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Unless you are a senior executive with a personal secretary to take care of all that we have been talking about, it is advisable to lead a Spartan lifestyle. Cut loose from all the paraphernalia of multiple cards, EMI’s, emails, PDAs, and bank accounts. Life becomes much simpler and manageable, by not having to worry about servicing these self generated interrupts.” Q4. A techie was constantly trying to cope up with various projects single handedly and this had made his life difficult at home and at work. Some of us find great deal of satisfaction, trying to operate solo. We do not want to delegate responsibility. There is lack of trust in the ability of the subordinate to do the job right. But many real life projects are not one man projects. Teams of professionals collaborate from different locations. What eventually happens is there are signs of fatigue and slowdown. Let us take an analogy from electrical power generation, where there are huge turbines coupled to electrical generators. When the electrical load goes up, the mighty turbines start to slow down. As the speed of the turbine starts to reduce, the frequency of the power transmitted to our home also decreases. More turbines are brought in to share the load. These turbines are synchronized, just like multiple horses pulling a chariot. If there are too many


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tasks assigned to one individual, there are chances of the person slowing down. Q5. Why is breathing right so important, asked a participant? “I quote from hatha yoga pradipika,” said the Hermit. “When the breath wanders, the mind also is unsteady. But when the breath is calmed the mind, too, will be still. Therefore learn to control breath.” Our breathing pattern is a good indicator of the state of mind. Quick shallow breathing usually indicates behavior when you are trying to cope with the situation. Slow deep breathing is associated when you have mastery of the situation. When one goes to the Task Manager of a computer, you see various processes and applications that are running. Certain times there are tasks running in the background that one may not be aware of. Similarly there are many thoughts which occupy our mind and deprive us of present moment enjoyment. To fully enjoy the present, all the tasks and applications need to stop so the mind is free to engage in the present activity. International Standards Organization (ISO) requires periodic recalibration of test and measurement


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instruments. Similarly we need recalibrate our breathing rate by breathing exercises. This relaxes the mind and puts you on the right track. Q6. How can I ensure success? “There are very few of us who get our software codes to work the first time. The compiler spews out syntax or other errors the first time. That does not stop us from writing code. We are confident that even if we make mistakes, we can set it right by keeping at it. The computer does not get damaged because it just tried to compile an incorrect code. The same thread of thought can be extended to our everyday life. Consider the position in life that you are presently in as the most conducive condition possible. Try and build upon it. Do not worry about what has happened and what will happen. Make a small list of what you want to accomplish in life and then start chipping away. I finish this by this quote by Buddha,” “The secret of health for both mind and body is not to mourn for the past, nor to worry about the future, but to live the present moment wisely and earnestly” As our young friend headed back to the hustle and bustle of his daily life, he stopped at a coffee shop and summarized the experiences of the week end.


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A. Analogue world. There are trade offs everywhere. No ones or zeroes, black or white.

B. Be your own controller. Do not let the external world sway you.

C. Connect with nature. Be outdoors with God’s creations.

D. Document well. Consolidate your work for the future.

E. Eddy currents – cause heat but no torque Finish or terminate overdue activities so that you can move on.

F. Flowchart your plan Spend good percentage of your time in the design. Implementation follows.

G. God’s creations. Learn from them. Children, birds and animals.

H. Have a long term goal. Helps in getting over small obstacles.

I. Interrupts and interrupts. Be wary of them. Do not get caught up in them.

J. Judgment matters. Pick your opponents and issues wisely.

K. Knee jerk reactions. Think before replying. Filter out your response.

L. Live the moment. Lim t→0. Zero in on the present. Past x[t-1] and future x[t+1] samples are meaningless.

M. Marathon, not sprint. Do not burn out very fast. Long way to go.

N. No pain no gain. Lenz’s law. More effort, more electricity.


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O. Ooze confidence. Possess the can do attitude.

P. Protect your self worth. Insulate your self esteem. It is not on the line.

Q. Quite mind. A quite mind thinks clearly and weeds out noise.

R. Reset yourself to stay sane. Detach and come back stronger.

S. Software – thoughts. Keep lofty thoughts and aspirations.

T. Take good care of your body. Well oiled machine is needed for traveling far.

U. Undertake new activity New experiences lead to new perspectives

V. Vacations and breaks Rejuvenate.

W. Withdraw and rethink. Serendipity. Unexpected results.

X. eXperience - the tempered you. No shortcuts.

Y. Yoga Recalibrate your breathing and mind.

Z. Zoom out Get a better perspective on things

He decided among other things to think like the Hermit in times of difficulty; frequently find solace of a quiet mind, and take regular time outs from daily routine.

Documents

Life Skills for the Young technocrat (From a Hermit’s ...intranet.daiict.ac.in/~rahul_dubey/Hermit_techie.pdfLife Skills for the Young technocrat (From a Hermit’s perspective)