Arjun - Identify What Is in Your Control and What Is Not in Your Control, Work on the Former and Accept the Later (Book Reviewer From India)

 

In March 2020 during the first lockdown, there was less work as we were working from home and at that time I was idle.I thought why not share things I learnt from books with the people who already follow me on Instagram? I turned my private account into a public account and started posting things about books and what I learned from them.

1. Tell us about your background and journey.

I am a petroleum engineer by academia, I graduated from MIT Pune in 2019 and have worked with Cairn Oil and Gas as a Drilling Engineer for 2 years.

In May 2021 I switch to full-time freelancing and content creation. Right now I am a content creator, YouTuber, freelance book reviewer, content strategist, and consultant to small businesses.

 

2. What inspired you to read books? Any experience you would like to share that made you love books or was it your passion?

When I was in my fourth year of engineering and as it happens in engineering colleges that companies come to your campus and offer you placements

I wanted to get placed in my dream company ONGC, PUC in Petroleum Sector.

I screwed up the ONGC campus interview in the worst manner you could think of.

After that interview I was very demoralized for 2 days I didn't know what to do and at that time I found this book known as Attitude is everything in my PG mate’s room.

The book had the subtitle “Change your attitude and change your life” and that subtitle made me read that book and it literally changed how I perceive the world.

I used to be very negative prior to reading that book and after reading that book everything literally changed for me I used to look at the positive side of things and it ended up changing my attitude and that is how I think I got into reading and it became a habit.

 

3. How did the idea of making blogs and reviewing books on Instagram come to your mind?

To be very honest I didn't know such a thing existed.

In March 2020 during the first lockdown, there was less work as we were working from home and at that time I was idle.

I thought why not share things I learnt from books with the people who already follow me on Instagram?

I turned my private account into a public account and started posting things about books and what I learned from them.

I started sharing things and lessons I learned from books with people and as time passed people started following me.

A few months later an author approached me and asked me if I would be able to review his book on my page

That is how I learnt that there is this thing called book reviewing where you can review books and earn money through it

 

4. How did you manage to make a presence on Instagram and Youtube? What challenges did you face and how did you overcome them?

I would only say that right now my presence on YouTube is not that good.

On Instagram, there are three things that will surely help each and everyone who wants to be a creator

First is consistency because the algorithm needs you to be consistent it is the bare minimum requirement that you need to stay consistent

Secondly, you need to make valuable and relatable content

Third, the content needs to be share-worthy.

If the content that you are making is not valuable or relatable it won’t be shared and if it won’t be shared it won't be discovered by new people

In that case, you will be stuck and stagnant with your growth

So if you tick those three boxes that you remain consistent with your content, make it valuable and relatable, something that people share on their stories or with their friends I am damn sure that you will be successful in the long term.

 

5. Is it financially sustainable to be a book blogger and how do you earn from it?

To be honest I haven't reached the stage yet where I could firmly say that it is a financially sustainable model to continue it full time so it would be very unethical from my side to answer that question right now.

I would definitely let you know once I reach that stage.

 

6. How and where do you find books to read and do you have criteria to select a book for reading?

I often find it on Amazon while surfing, I check the title read the description and if I find it interesting I order it, I usually don’t pick books that are recommended on Bookstagram because the majority of people who recommend them are usually the ones who don’t read it all.

So it is Amazon, sometimes in podcasts and sometimes if the book is mentioned in the book I am reading.

 

7. After reading so many books what learnings from them would you like to share with others?

There are few learnings that I follow everytime

1. Identify what is in your control and what is not in your control, work on the former and accept the later
2. The most appropriate answer when someone asks your opinion in a generalized conversation is “I don’t know” because things most of the time depend on context.
3. To Give more in value than you are being paid for
4. Passion is overhyped, you should rather ask “What I am willing to struggle for?” or “What pain I am willing to endure to get what I desire?”
5. Humans are insanely weird and imperfect, until and unless we accept this, we will make our lives miserable

 

8. What impact did books make in your life?

Anything I write for the question will be always less, to say it in a few words will be that it changed me as a person and the little success that I enjoy right now is all because of reading those books.

 

9. How much time do you take to read a book and what is your strategy to finish a book on time?

There is no strategy it depends on my mood sometimes it is 30 minutes a day or sometimes 3 hours, usually, I try to make at least 30 mins every day for reading.

I finish an average book in 7-10 days.

 

10. Do you follow everything that a book states or do you sometimes disagree with it?

No, I don’t follow everything, if it makes sense to me then only I follow it, I obviously disagree at times because the author is human too and he/she has written it from his/her point of view.

 

11. Some underrated books from self-help and top books in fiction which you would like to recommend? Also, suggest some best books for a beginner.

Self Help underrated books

1. The Millionaire Fastlane by MJ Demarco
2. Freedom from the known by J Krishnamurthi
3. Thinking in Bets by Annie Duke
4. The Art of Thinking Clearly by Rolf Dobeli
5. Predictably Irrational by Dan Ariely

For Beginners

1. The Alchemist by Paulo Coelho

2. The Go-Giver by Bob Burg and John David Mann

3. The Ultimate Gift by Jim Stoval

4. Tuesdays with Morrie by Mitch Albom

5. Eat that Frog by Brian Tracy

 

Interviewed By - Shashank Sehgal