Kurogo

Content Writer

We create thought leaders through personal branding

Post-Grad Survival Guide

Took over the publication from my friend Tom. With 44K+ followers on Medium, we're one of the biggest publications on Medium. We help 20-somethings live happier & healthier lives.

Editor in Chief

FinGhost.io

Helping finance and real estate professionals build their audiences on LinkedIn

Writer

Foundry 

Writing content for world-class professionals and industry leaders across niches such as Law, Tech, AI, Business, and more.

Kohort

Head of Content

Building the copy for the website, creating eye-catching LinkedIn posts for the founder, and writing informative articles, among other things.

Ghostwriting & Copywriting Consultant

Mobco Media

Helped build the CEO's personal brand through LinkedIn and writing articles on highly reputed websites like Forbes.com and Entrepreneur.com.

Ghostwriting Consultant

LinkedIn

The LinkedIn Creator Accelerator Program is an initiative designed to invest in creators. In India, 200 creators were selected from all over the country and given financial grants, resources, and mentorship from the country’s leading creators and executives. I was one of the youngest people selected for the program and worked alongside thought leaders from various industries.

LinkedIn Creator Accelerator Program India 2022

upGrad

I was a part of the Business Intelligence team for most of my tenure at the company. Among other things, I also worked in Talent & Acquisition, helped organize and manage the National Sales Meet 2021, and worked on researching colleges and subject matter experts in the course-building process.

Business Intelligence

WellnessCalendar.ai

Wrote, edited, and published content, based primarily in the niches of Health, Wellness, and Fitness. I also wrote captions for Social Media, emails, and posts for the Founders’ handles.

Torrey Pines Foods

Responsible for designing, creating, and publishing all of the company’s Social Media content, campaigns, and generating leads through Social Media platforms and other online mediums.

Social Media Strategist

Content @ Kurogo | LinkedIn Creator Accelerator

I just moved from Bangalore to London on a fully sponsored writing job. Here's my story so far:

Age 17: did 4 internships in a gap year before my undergrad
Age 18: started writing online on Instagram, Medium, and LinkedIn
Age 19: signed my first ghostwriting client
Age 20: graduated uni with first-class distinction
Age 21: one of the youngest members of LI's creator accelerator, got paid lakhs to write here (wild)
Age 22: beat 700+ people to get my dream job in personal branding
Age 23: dropped out of a Masters degree from KCL
Age 24: moved back to London for work

I've had quite the unconventional story. 

The fact I'm the proudest of isn't any of the "achievements" but that I did it all my way.

I write mostly to my younger self. 

My journey is an example of how your life can change if you refuse to conform and earn the right to play your own game.

Today, the clients I work with at my job are multi-millionaires dominating their industries. I'm lucky I get paid to learn from them everyday.

If you'd like to get in touch with me, email me at varunkhadri@gmail.com.

Varun Khadri

What people see:

1. Financially sorted
2. Moved to London at 24
3. Get to ghostwrite for a living
4. Work with the smartest people

What people don't see:

1. Said no to everything and saved £ for years
2. Felt alone and depressed for a long time
3. Hated every job and gig before this
4. Outgrew almost everyone I knew 
5. Chronically anxious

Social media is never the full picture.

Don't compare your dark moments to their highlight reel.

I ordered Paneer ghee roast. I was served Prawns ghee roast.

I was too hungry to notice the visual difference in the texture so I took a couple of bites.

I'd never eaten non-vegetarian food in my life before, so I quickly realised something was off upon tasting it.

This was a week ago, I was on vacation with my family, in one of the most popular restaurants in Coorg.

Understandably, I was fuming.

And I wanted to throw up.

But I knew I had a choice.

I could cause a scene, hold the restaurant accountable, post bad reviews, get into a screaming match, demand reparation, etc.

For my non-Indian audience, this might feel like an overreaction.

But we Indians take our vegetarianism pretty seriously 😅

So the mistake the staff made was pretty much the worst thing you can do in F&B here.

But it was just that, a mistake.

The waiter/chef simply misheard our order.

Getting into a fight wouldn't fix or undo anything.

So I sent the food back, let the manager know what'd happened, and told them I wasn't pleased.

They apologised, served us the correct dish, I ate it half heartedly (having lost some of my appetite), and moved on with my life.

Sometimes, you just gotta put a pin in things, be the bigger person, and leave it at that.

Who among us hasn't made a bad mistake at our jobs?

So why is it hard for us to empathise when someone from the hospitality sector makes one?

Being kind in situations where being unkind would be an understandable reaction is what reveals the kind of person you really are :)

P.S.
My no. 1 pet peeve is people who treat waiters badly, I instantly lose respect for these people.

P.P.S.
What would you do if you were in my place?

7 unhinged things I did to build my dream life that paid off:

1. Ended a 3-year relationship that wasn’t going in the right direction

2. Dropped out of a Masters program at one of the best universities in the world

3. Moved to another continent for a remote job I could do from anywhere

4. Cut off childhood friends who I knew were toxic and bad for me

5. Stopped aimlessly partying, getting wasted, and chasing girls

6. Played multiple sports at a competitive level until I became a Jack of all trades

7. Invested 50% of my income for 3 years straight, lived way below my means

The result: I’m healthier, happier, freer, and wealthier than I’ve been in years.

This is your reminder to make the “crazy“ choices that make sense for your personal goals.

Seek advice from others, but remember only you know what’s best for you ✌🏼

Top 5 feelings I love:

- Drinking a hot cup of coffee on a chilly morning and having it slowly warm you up from the inside

- Going through a client’s LinkedIn posts and only seeing triple digit reacts

- Cutting open a piece of burrata and watching it melt over the pizza

- The sound of a feather shuttle when I hit a jump smash with a newly strung racquet

- Being in bed after a warm shower at night in fresh sheets

I’m trying to appreciate the little things in life that we take for granted more.

What’s your favourite feeling?

Friendly reminder: if you don't ask, the answer will always be "no" :)

I’ve experienced heartbreak, almost lost all my money once, and survived childhood trauma for years.

But leaving my friends and family behind and watching them cry at the airport,

Will always be the most painful thing I experience.

These are the people who’ve stood by me for a decade.

My flights from Bangalore to London are always a teary mess.

But this time, I’m choosing to remind myself that for a few weeks a year, I still get to live life, travel, and laugh with my day 1 people. 

Not everyone gets that.
Not everyone is so lucky.

There are still tears as I write this while touching down at LHR - but some of them this time are also happy tears and me thanking God I get to live this life ❤️

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Taking care of myself is a non-negotiable.

Not because I love self-care.

But because I want to be the best version of myself.

I want to be the best writer, athlete, and person I can be.

This means eating right, sleeping enough, reading more, not drinking as much, and cutting off bad energy.

I do these things because I have high standards for myself and big goals.

So I better align my actions with my ambitions.

High performance starts with taking care of yourself better.

“Being the best in the world requires you to set your standards higher, and to demand more of yourself than anyone else ever would” - Graham Weaver

3 lessons I've learnt the hard way this year:

- If you don't have your health, nothing else matters.
- Narrow your focus, don't try doing everything at once.
- You're allowed to outgrow the people/places you still love.

What's been an eye-opening lesson for you in 2025?

I've been on my first real break from work all year.

Here's what I've been up to over the last 2 weeks:

- Being a tourist in the city I grew up in has been fun
- Playing sports each evening (padel, Badminton, pickleball, Football)
- Playing FIFA every other night with the boys
- Spending time with the people I grew up with
- Plotting my next move on my content journey (YouTube)
- Trying out as many breweries and cocktail bars as possible 😅
- Dentist visits (9+ cavities filled in one week, I'm dead)
- About to go on an annual trip to Goa with my closest friends

Life is good.

I'm very lucky I get to experience the best of both worlds - my life in London and the comfort of being in familiar territory with my people back home.

As my India trip comes to an end, I can't help but think how grateful I am to have the kind of inner circle around me that I do.

Your people are who shape you, so be mindful whom you allow around you!

A good friend asked me what to post about on LinkedIn.

I write LinkedIn posts for a living, this is what I told him 👇

1. Document your journey, tell people what you’re learning, show them the life you’re living, share your wins and losses, your story is more interesting and relatable than you think

2. LinkedIn isn’t a journal though, make sure you’re adding in something valuable for the audience to take away in each post, even if it’s just stirring a positive emotion in their minds

3. Packaging is everything, format your posts carefully, nobody likes reading long paragraphs, add in personal pictures whenever possible, insider tip: aesthetic pics with your face in them do better

4. To write banger hooks, ask yourself: what’s the most interesting part about the post, lead with that, remember - the hook is THE most important part of a post

5. Don’t overthink it, nobody cares as much as you assume they do, yes - some people will judge you and make fun of you for posting here, but I guarantee you: if someone’s trying to pull you down, they’re already beneath you anyway (literally and figuratively speaking)

Posting on LinkedIn can change your whole life, it’s certainly changed mine :)

P.S.
Please don’t post crying selfies though. What’s your most hated LinkedIn trend?

My weird visualisation routine that sets me up for a calm workday:

I visualise everything that can go wrong.

The client who's being a pain, the colleague that's on your case, the mistakes that I'll make at times...

I picture it all.

Then, I inevitably think about how I'd deal with it.

- What's the kind of mindset I need to have?
- What are some possible solutions?
- Where must I be extra careful?

Startup life can be complete CHAOS at times.

But when I've already pictured the worst in my head and thought of ways to cope,

Very little can faze me throughout the day.

Negative visualisation centres me. Try it tomorrow and let me know how your Friday goes :)

The best consistency hack I’ve discovered with habits I want to build:

Never miss 2 days in a row.

One day is okay - life happens.

But 2 days missed? 

That’s a choice :)

I had 1:1s with our new starters this week at Kurogo - Personal Branding Agency.

These are the 3 biggest pieces of advice I gave them:

- You’ve already made it.
You beat hundreds of people to get the job.
You’ve earned your seat at the table.
So give yourself a pat on the back.
We’re all rooting for you.

- Our goal is to be the best personal branding agency in the world.
Nothing less.
Of course, we’re all human and have crap days at times.
But keeping our North Star top of mind is key.
We can’t forget that what makes us an elite team is our standards.

- The hardest part about working in content is not burning out.
What looks like all fun and games from the outside,
Is bloody hard work in the day-to-day.
Pace yourself and take care of yourself well.
At some point, the sheer volume can get overwhelming, but don’t burn out pls.

What’s something you wish you'd been told when you started your job?

Things nobody taught me to do but are insanely important at my writing job:

1️⃣ How to stick to daily deadlines

This is unheard of for my corporate friends who have project deadlines that span months. 

In 2+ years at my job, there hasn’t been a single time I’ve missed a deadline by more than a day.

2️⃣ How to talk to clients

We have very different conversations with our startup clients than we do with the CEOs managing thousands of people. 

Some clients need to be hand held, others want to be left alone. 

Some send us too much info, others are a closed book. Knowing what each client needs is something you develop with time and experience.

3️⃣ How to get figure things out

I’m a copywriter. But I’ve also written PR blurbs for clients, written tweets, edited videos, designed graphics, and god only knows what else. 

Most of what you do at a startup/agency isn’t going to be in your job description. 

But you gotta learn. 

If you’re always saying “that’s not my job”, you’re not going to get very far in this game.

I’ve written 5475 LinkedIn posts over 3 years.

A short guide to high-performing hooks:

Hooks that win nail these basics:

- Short (under 12 words)
- Emotional or tense
- Outcome-driven (why this matters to me)
- Pattern-breaking (something surprising or contradictory)
- Specific to your worldview

Hooks work best when they signal:

➡️ Stakes
➡️ Shift
➡️ Tension
➡️ Contradiction
➡️ Earned wisdom
➡️ Future insight

Hooks that stop the scroll leverage psychology:

· Curiosity gaps
· Authority claims rooted in lived experience
· Contrarian tension 
· Identity hooks
· Strong POV 

How good your post is doesn’t matter if you can’t get people hooked in the first 2 lines.

P.S. My fav hook I spotted on LinkedIn this week: 
“How are people in jobs finding time to cheat on their partner?”
Tell me yours in the comments 🤝🏻

3 reasons I ghostwrite:

- I’m naturally a curious person and get paid to amass knowledge about new industries everyday. 

- I get to learn from the smartest minds in the world.

- I get to practice my craft and put in the reps, this improves my personal writing tremendously.

Ryan Holiday is a multiple times bestselling author and still occasionally ghostwrites books.

That’s a pattern across all the greats.

They say yes to things that enable them to learn.

Ghostwriting is a cheat code for personal growth - and this weekend I’m extra grateful I get to do this for a living.

Remember this feeling.

Remember how much you f*cking hate losing.

Then tell yourself that I'm going to do everything in my power not to lose at the next thing.

Use every loss to remind you how important it is to:

- Have the right prep
- Build the right team around you
- Win

Use every loss to remind yourself how hungry you are to win and how important winning really is to you.

Remember how much you hate this feeling and do everything you can to never feel this way again.

Niharikaa Kaur Sodhi

Authentic Influence Ventures

My content helps you live a more fulfilling life. My products will help you improve your writing game to attract opportunities.

Founder

Medium

> 20x top writer across categories.
> Co-editor of Medium's second largest Health publication - In Fitness and In Health

AuthenticIN

The only tool you need to grow on LinkedIn.

Summit 21

I help writers become more consistent with my cohort-based programme that takes place 4 times a year.

Genpact

Certified Lean Six Sigma Green Belt.

Won 3 awards for my performance in 2020:
1. Xcelerate Gold Award
2. Chatbot adoption in Healthcare and Management Services in Genpact India region
3. Special recognition amongst my team 

I work in the area of Digital Transformation with the help of Lean Six Sigma.

Currently leading 
-Lean Six Sigma Green Belt project to increase the adoption and content of our HR ChatBot to automate trivial tasks of HR Managers pan India
-Starting a Blackbelt Project in the domain of HR & Training


My responsibilities include:
-Program Management of all Black Belt Projects (HR + Finance) in LDT Enabling Functions 
-Project Management of Lean Digital Ambassador Program 
-Work on communications for the LDT vertical
-Analyze data and trends and tell a story!

Assistant Manager - Lean Digital Transformation

Zomato

I thrived in non-tech hiring, especially in the area of Sales across India. Additional to my role, I also helped in organising Zomato's volunteering program on weekends where employees taught our delivery partners' children.

- Worked on a Sales Hiring Playbook to make the hiring process uniform across India
- Actively hired for entry-level to mid-senior level sales and operations roles 
- Hired for various businesses of Zomato such as Food@Work, Ad Sales, and Cloud Kitchens
- Hired for tech roles for a short span of 3 weeks in Bangalore; organised a Hackathon for the same

Recruitment Associate

Alliance Manchester Business School

Student Representative of course MSc. International Human Resource Management and Comparative Industrial Relations. Responsible for communication between the professors, business school programme committee, and the students.

Student Representative

The University of Manchester

Women's Coordinator in University Residence Hall - George Kenyon Hall. 

Responsibilities include ensuring equal rights for women in the hall and taking women's issues into consideration in order to make the hall a better place for living.

Women's Coordinator

Manchester United

Worked at the kiosk in Old Trafford, Manchester, during match days to serve food and beverages.

Food and Beverage Server

CredForce

Team : Talent Solutions

I have produced data with intensive research on our various projects related to universities across the world as well as top CHROs across the globe. 

I also created an entire Psychometric Test with regard to the personality traits required in our organisation. The test is divided into 3 parts (Managerial , Learning and Cognitive) where a set of preferred skills is assessed. 

I have also worked on recruitments for hiring full time employees as well as interns. In the process, I have done screening of CVs, cold calls as well as face-to-face interviews.

About CredForce : CredForce is the first fully-integrated and the single largest global provider of state-of-the-art credentialing and capability validation solutions for corporations, professionals, and governments. With a portfolio of 50+ international credentialing products, the company is also a global leader in tailored development of standards, frameworks and systems for captive use of governments, transnational businesses and multilateral aid bodies. CredForce operates and delivers on the stringent norms of leading international standards bodies that specialize in certifying across a wide breadth of industry verticals, and are now on-board the powerful CredForce Consortium.

HR Internship - Talent Solutions

Founder @ AuthenticIN | I help you write online to attract opportunities | DM with 'GROW' if you want me to help you build your brand

A writer with over 3 million views/ month. :) An educator who has taught live over 150 people from 30+ countries, and has 12,000+ customers.

✉️ hi [at] niharikasodhi [dot] com

Coming to the 'story'...

I'm a writer. And with that, I also became an educator and entrepreneur.

I side hustled for 10 months in 2020 because something was missing. 

I refuse to believe you shouldn't be kicked to go to work when you wake up. I refuse to believe that you need to reach a certain 'level' to do high-impact work. Labels and designations aren’t exciting either. 

And I strongly believe that there's enough wealth we can all create if we play by the mindset of abundance and not scarcity.

We have a duty to be of service to other people. And we only have one chance at life to tap into our potential and unleash it.

So I quit my job in 2021 to write full time.

That led to:

• becoming a 22x top writer on Medium
• creating digital products 
• having a cohort-based course that's educated 100+ people across 30+ countries 
• getting accepted to LinkedIn Creator Accelerator Program 

As a writer, my purpose is to leave everyone healthier and happier. 

As an educator and entrepreneur, I want to help other creators level up their game and solve their problems.

I'm passionate about healthy living, reading, and mindfulness. I've also travelled to 24 countries and still have fear of flying.

I run two newsletters. Join thousands of people ⬇️
• On my life and self-improvement: https://niharikasodhi.substack.com/
• Side Hustle Saturdays: https://niharikaasodhi96.kit.com/profile


➡️ Collaborations:
Transparent pricing on https://www.passionfroot.me/nks

Twitter: @NiharikaSodhi

🚨PS: I have 25,000+ connection requests. If it's urgent, please send me an inmail. :)

Last year, I went for a 30-people lunch where most people were multi-millionaire entrepreneurs. A closed, elite group in the country. I made this one mistake -

Not at lunch.

But with my mindset.

AI was a big conversation then. Everyone was talking about how they were using it. 

And I was quiet.

I felt like a dumbo with nothing to add to that discussion.

Then someone asked me, “You’re a writer, you should be testing it.”

I behaved defensively and said, “No, I don’t think I will be replaced.” 

To which they replied, “I’m not saying AI will take over your job. But you can use it to do your job so much better. My business is different, but I still use it for ideas. Yours is online - you can do so much.”

I started using AI in Q2 this year 👀 

Yes, I’m that late. I feel like a VP in a company who has been warming their seat for 17 years and doesn’t budge to change or young ideas. 🥵

But when I started… I was mindblown!

For e.g. - if I tell Replit to clone LinkedIn for me, it does. I ask it to build a community for my students, and it does.

I DON’T EVEN KNOW CODING.

And I can build
- An app
- SaaS
- A website

Literally, anything.

If you don’t believe me, try it yourself. Use the link in the comments gives you $10 off ⬇️

I help you write in a way that attracts opportunities + builds your brand | 16,000+ customers in 180+ countries 🌎

I realised something over the weekend that can help you be free and fly. You’ll relate to it. 

You’re afraid of judgement. 

You’re afraid of what others will think. 

You’ve kept that idea in your head for so long. But you don’t execute it because if you fail, others will talk. 

I’ve come to realise that what helps me A LOT is being free… exactly of this. 


I’m judged frequently because I say no to

⭕️ all mentorship/ ‘let’s talk’ requests. Please book my $997/h consultation link - ALL my prices are public. 

⭕️ Discounts on any product from $50-$2500. It’s unfair to those who paid full price. 

⭕️ All hanging out or networking requests. My time is limited, and tbh I love to just hang with my family and childhood friends instead. 


I also feel this attitude comes from 

♨️ Being rejected A LOT when I started writing, I’m saying over 3 times a week.  

♨️ Launching and ‘failing’ online consistently. 

♨️ Knowing I’ve made an impact for those who’ve availed my services. That means I’m aligned to my purpose.


So if you’re reading this, I just want to say that life is too short to not live the way you want to. 

And people will… always talk. 

You deserve to live your best life.  

___

Happy Monday! 

I’ve been in bed all day watching Netflix and finally got out of the shell to type this 🙈
___

PS: last year this day was my first time in NYC 🏙️

5 years ago, I wanted to be a consultant in Human Resources and hopefully earn 1 lac a month (~$1300) before I turned 30. It felt like the right path to take... and this is a BIG issue.

My goal was to work in a Big 4 and my dream was to get paid to travel.

(Ok I still dream of getting paid to travel LOL)

I set that money goal because during my first job as a recruiter, I'd seen salaries across industries, and this number felt 'realistic'.

I call BS on all of this now. 

This is what society has conditioned us to follow and stay mediocre. 

Some of us are artists, writers, musicians, designers, stylists, bakers - but we're unaware of it.

We don't look within, because we're conditioned to chase a metric that's not true to our inner selves. 

"Chase XYZ designation and you'll be happy." But dear reader, you and I get happiness from different things, even different flavours of pizza. Then how do we assume that everyone is happy from that same path?

Since I stepped into the creator economy, I realised:

• there are zero barriers. $1300 to me now means biz is terrible!
• there's no ceiling to how much you can grow
• there are immense opportunities in the world
• multiple income streams are the way to grow
• passive income is a must

Your massive shift begins with awareness, and then working on your mindset shift.

The best part about mindset - it can be changed.

As somebody who's been average at studies, work, and everything for the longest time - it's not worth it, and you CAN change things.

“We can change our lives. We can do, have, and be exactly what we wish.” - Tony Robbins

PS: Book recommendations for those of you who want to seriously change this - Unlimited Power by Tony Robbins blew my mind.

I stopped doing sales for my products. All my products are also priced on the higher side. But let me be honest -

NOTHING I tell you is something you cannot figure out, eventually.

The key word being 'eventually'.

It's the reason I don't do hard sales. 

Because hitting people's vulnerabilities isn't in my conscience and I'd rather lose sales.

When I deleted my Instagram influencer account, it's because I want people to feel abundant.

Not scarce.

➡️ What I do help via my products (and even courses) is saving you YEARS of time spent 'figuring it out'. 

So people pay a premium for time saved -> results in.

Not for a groundbreaking secret sauce.

🎟️ With that, after 2 years, I have a Black Friday sale thats now live: https://lnkd.in/gqr8T8T8

It may look like I dislike the 9-5 or the corporate sector, but I don’t. I can’t because it has put food on my plate and a roof over my head.

It's what my family does, they all do jobs.

I am not anti 9-5 or anti-anything (I’m too calm to be triggered by anything tbh).

I write what I write so somebody out there who is where I was 4 years ago sees a ray of sunshine. Plenty of us creatives are stuck in places that aren’t meant for us, but we think this is the only way to live.

It isn’t.

The essence of living is to be happy because life truly is too short.

And why should a job be normalised for all? If not everyone can be an athlete or a musician, why should everyone work in the corporate?

I think we've learnt by now that
- no job is truly safe
- one source of income isn't the way to live

So for some of you creative nuts, use your job to pay the bills till your little biz can pay it. If not entirely, at least you'll have a new source of income.

I tried something new in November - slowing down. As I told you earlier, I'm on a mini retirement for a few months :))

“There is more to life than increasing its speed.” - Mahatma Gandhi

I feel like most of us impose a self-induced timeline and keep rushing through this. 

Moreover, some of us are productivity nerds, and we take pride in it. 

I looove being productive. 

Lately, I realised it keeps me from being flexible.

While I thrive on a routine, the world will not adjust around it, and it’s okay to let loose.

I see many productivity enthusiasts who experience this.

This month, I kept telling myself “I have enough time”. 

One thing I know is that I’m more creative in a relaxed mind. But the self-sabotage of feeling that you don’t have enough time doesn’t make me work better at all.

Telling myself that helped me get adequate rest, be more optimistic, and get things done.

When you tell yourself you have enough time, you calm down. You just know you'll get things done, and that's a better feeling than rushing to do things because you think you're running out of time.

You also get things done faster, because you're not overwhelmed and escape decision fatigue this way.

If you resonate with the self-sabotage bit, maybe this is a message that it’s time to slow down. Slowing down mentally can help you be more productive and get things done while your mind isn’t all over the place.

“Nature does not hurry, yet everything is accomplished.” - Lao Tzu

PS: Learning a lot about time off during my first mini-retirement. Maybe in Q2 2026 I'll come up with more of such reflections haha.

Here’s something I do that makes me less money but gives me mental peace.

I have a public price list on how much I charge for brand collabs. I’ve only seen that with 2 other creators, both of whom are ultra-successful.
(I’m far from that)

My freelancing days taught me that the similarities between low-paying clients and unhappy brands are similar:
• haggle
• multiple iterations
• change the artist's art

The similarities between high-paying clients and happy brands are also similar:
• full freedom
• mutual trust
• no strict brief 
• no back-and-forth for hours
• the artist's tone is celebrated

Now, I

1. Don’t haggle, not even for $10.
2. Flat out refuse if someone is negotiating.
3. Take 100% advance.

Most brands, especially from my own country, don’t agree to any.

So while it means less money, it also means working with like-minded people and not going through
- “Where is my money? You said 7 days, it’s been 45!” (true story
- Going back and forth between iterations
- People negotiating hard

Just because something is normalised in your geography or culture doesn’t mean you should follow it :) Stick by your values, and you’ll find clients and brands that align with it.

This is the exact recipe I used. Here's why:

- My appraisal was lower than the inflation rate in India
- I strongly believe we're here for a reason, a purpose
- Finding and aligning to one's purpose is more fun
- You then realise that ABUNDANCE is there for you
- It's a path of self-discovery and giving back

But it all started with side-hustling and freelancing.

Where will it go? I'm not sure. 

I just know it's SO much fun and gives me LOTS of time with myself and my family, which is my priority.

So if you're in the mind space where I was a few years ago, this is your sign to work towards it.

Image credits: Justin Welsh

I sometimes wake up with so many ideas, only for them to get lost. If you do ay creative work, I'm certain you've experienced this too.

(Most of my students have!)

For one, sometimes I don’t follow my own advice of writing down your ideas ASAP 🙄 This is something I preach SO much to my students.

(The book Big Magic shows you this happens to the biggest of authors too!)

But also, because building them felt impossible. 

In July this year, I discovered Replit.

You type what you want in plain English. And the platform builds it for you.

No tech stuff. Just your idea coming to life.

I’ve been testing their new mobile app for a week. I can literally build a new tool for my community while sipping on my evening chai. ☕️

If you have:
• A business idea
• A dashboard you need
• A problem to solve

Stop sitting on it. Life is too short not to bring your ideas to life.

Just open Replit and tell it what you want.

The link in the comments gives you $10 off ⬇️

Last weekend, I found this notebook which I wrote in 2017 while I was applying to colleges for my postgrad degree.

I'm assuming I was doing some exercise from a self-help book?

Can't recall.

Growing up, I've tried to find my 'purpose'. I've always known it exists, but my under-confident and average-performing self just couldn't find it.

This page probably says the broader aspect of what I want to do.

I was shocked, because I'm actually doing ALL of this right now. 

📚  Educating via Summit 21 from 2021-24, and Authentic Influence program in 2025. Plus digital products.
🪭 Empowering by helping people be more self-aware, for some of them that leads to a second source of income online or a career change.
🧠 Awareness via my content, especially my weekly newsletter Side Hustle Saturdays
All the above, that ultimately leads to change ✨ 

I gauge change from the courses I teach as they all require my 100% presence, and others in the form of DMs and emails.

What I do, preach, and talk about isn't for everyone.

But that's EXACTLY what my fight is - no one path in life is for everyone yet we are blindly following it.

Just a little something that got me in awe so I wanted to share 😀

Last year at this time, I visited a city I had dreamt of visiting since I was a kid. Only to be disappointed 🫠 

Watching Home Alone as a kid and growing up with S*x and the City and Devil Wears Prada, NYC has been on my bucket list since... forever.

Hell - KJo is to blame as well for his NYC-based Bollywood movies!

The flaw wasn't in the city... it was me. 

I realised:
• Skyscrapers look prettier from afar, not when you're between them.
• I was 31 countries old, and my travel preferences are different.
• It's okay to not enjoy a city that the world claims to love.
• Enjoying slow and scenic is a vibe too.

Not everyone has to like the same stuff...you're not a ChatGPT prompt, you're human.

You're meant to be a weird and unique creation 🦄 

I wrote in detail last year about what I disliked, and it got decent flak.

For now, I'll end by saying that I'll tell you tomorrow why I really went there. I walked on fire (literally).

This month, I created a digital product after YEARS. Here's what I did:

- Updated my playbook after 2 years
- Downloaded ALL my LinkedIn posts (thousands)
- Created 145+ templates with examples -> ready to use
- Analysed my top-performing posts between June 2024-25

I also conducted a superhit workshop this year that got only 5-star reviews. I know, the stars must've been aligned that literally everyone loved it.

So while I couldn't keep conducting it.

(Also didn't want to, because that's too much work)

I productised it instead. 

💰🫰🏻 LinkedIn Monetisation Workshop has my top-performing strategies to convert from content ➡️ clients. NOBODY has had access to this material before.

You can get all of this at the only discount they'll ever be at ⬇️ 

https://lnkd.in/gqr8T8T8

taplio

The Battle

Varun Khadri

Niharikaa Kaur Sodhi

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Performance ScoreVarun Khadri's LinkedIn Performance

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taplio

The Battle

Varun Khadri

Niharikaa Kaur Sodhi

Followers

Posts

Engagements

Likes

Performance Score.css-goub6s{font-size:var(--chakra-fontSizes-md);font-weight:500;color:var(--chakra-colors-gray-600);display:block;margin-top:var(--chakra-space-1);}Varun Khadri's LinkedIn Performance

Performance ScoreNiharikaa Kaur Sodhi's LinkedIn Performance

Ready to grow your LinkedIn presence?

Performance ScoreVarun Khadri's LinkedIn Performance