Season 2
Assert your Ideas, Not Your Voice
We’ve all been in brainstorming sessions where there are two kinds of people. One who is just sprouting ideas constantly and the …
Prakhar Gupta on Tackling Trauma
Have you been told to move on, look at the positives, be happy when you’re at a low phase in your life? What if experiencing that…
Feedback loop
You can Order Varun’s book “Everything is out of syllabus: An instruction manual for life & work “ at https://amzn.to/335QKow Fol…
Prakhar Gupta on why you should stop being nice
Do you find yourself often swallowing your opinion? Do you not feel confident enough to share your thoughts with the world? Maybe…
Is Hustle Good or Bad?
You’ve often heard the terms, ‘I’ll sleep when I die’, ‘I work 24/7’ or ‘Fake it till you make it’. Collectively these are all pa…
Dev Raiyani on (Not) Seeking Validation Online
What do you need to be a successful YouTuber today? Is simply having an internet connection and decent editing skills enough? Or …
Rethinking What It Means “To Sell”
“Sales”, the term, is often followed by a shadow of negative emotions. Sales are an integral part of winning both businesses and …
Making Time Work For You
Do you constantly find yourself chasing deadlines? Does your to-do list overwhelm you? In this episode of Take aPause, Varun shar…
Happiness is a Bonus, Not the Goal!
Have you heard the saying “Aim for the stars, and you might get to the moon”? Well, it sets us up for an eventual disappointment.…
Leeza Mangaldas on Why Don’t We Talk About Sex in India
In this episode of Take aPause, Varun and Leeza discuss the hush-hush way sex is discussed in Indian society. Leeza presses upon …
“What we radiate is what we reflect and feel”
If you had to equate yourself to an object, what would it be? Do you have an answer? Shonda Rhimes, in her book Year of Yes, shar…
How I remember what I have learnt!
The podcast revolution has definitely given non-readers something to binge on, especially for the generation that has grown up t…
Build a System of Co-Creation With The Power of Interdependence
We have all entered meetings with certain expectations. Either we expect to leave the room with all our ideas heard and accepted …
Change your life & mindset with these 5 quotes from Ryan Holiday’s Th…
We are often burdened by problems that we truly cannot control. We worry about things that we cannot change. In this episode of T…
5 powerful learnings from Journaling & how you can start your journey…
Journaling doesn’t have a specific process; everyone chooses their own time and purpose for it. Varun self-admittedly journals sp…
Varun Mayya on dropping out of college & the Entrepreneur mindset
In this episode of Take aPause, Varun Mayya and Varun Duggirala discuss their entrepreneurial journey and choices. While Mayya as…
Why create a Goal Board
We often struggle to keep the evolving nature of our careers, life and the world around us in constant sync with our goals. And w…
Unlock your Confidence
Being a public personality does not always mean that it guarantees public speaking confidence. Varun talks about an incident from…
Why Strategic laziness can help you progress
Is hard work the surest route to success? Or is there a way to strategically mix in slacking off with deep focus on the stuff you…
What to Expect in Your 30's: Varun Duggirala on The Ranveer Show
In this snippet from The Ranveer Show , Varun shares his thoughts on family life, asserting that no matter how busy life gets, he…
3 ways to Persuade others
Most of us believe that facts are the best way to persuade people to believe what we want them to believe. But Aristotle might be…
Sohrab Khushrushahi on fitness, community and finding your own path
Fitness can be an extremely intimidating task for some. Taking that first step to enter a gym can be overwhelming. Many back out …
5 ways to remember better
Have you struggled with remembering things and often look for ways to improve your memory? Varun shares tips from four time US me…
Visualize your Day
We work to achieve goals we set for ourselves. And often these goals are to attain a life we all want. But there might be a bette…
How to put out the fire of self-doubt
Ever felt that crushing sense of self-doubt every time you set out to do something outside your comfort zone? A big presentation,…
A hidden treasure
Do you find yourself often looking for newer pieces to consume? In this episode, Varun talks about why it would be a good idea to…
What do you say while talking to yourself
It’s ingrained in us to use a gentle tone of voice, to not raise our voice and use negative words when talking to people. But has…
4 stages to achieve peak human performance
Many of us dream of achieving peak human performance and try different methods. American author Stephen Kotler has a 4 stage proc…
Dr Sid Warrier on the Science of Motivation , Addictions, and Busting…
When faced with a long to-do list, do you tend to feel ‘lazy’? Do you find yourself constantly self-diagnosing every symptom on G…
The right thing to do when you are right
We all hate that person who says “I told you so” when they turn out to be right about something. But let’s admit it… We love to g…
“Candle Blowers” and why you should avoid them in your life
When you’re your best version, the light inside you shines at its brightest. In her book Atlas of the Heart, Brene Brown describe…
Find your inner Lion
Are you envious of confident people? Well, it might help you to know that they’re not always as confident as they appear to be. H…
One mathematical solution to your relationship problem
Building strong, healthy relationships that last is no easy feat. Oftentimes, for reasons unknown, you may find yourself in relat…
This too shall pass
Circumstances in life sometimes feel never-ending but they are in reality just finite events. The non-permanence of our state can…
Meredith Arthur on Dealing with Anxiety, Overthinking & Embracing Awk…
Do you often call yourself an ‘overthinker’? Do you feel an overwhelming sense of unease every time you need to do something that…
What regret can teach you
Haven’t we all seen ‘NO REGRETS’ stickers and tattoos? People embracing their decisions without regrets is most definitely a free…
The only person you need to impress is YOU
Do you want to change something about yourself or learn something new, but can’t seem to establish a disciplined routine? Ask you…
Pooja Dhingra on challenges and lessons from them
As much as we might hate them, it’s the challenges we face that help us grow. But most of the time we wait for life to throw us c…
Your habits don’t make you ‘YOU’ ( reset your mindset)
We love to hate on labels, as we should. And yet, we tend to label ourselves so many things – ‘lazy’ and ‘procrastinator’ being t…
Why 99.9% is better than 100%
Growing up, did your parents and teachers tell you to give it your all? Even as an adult, do you feel the pressure to perform at …
Megha Rao on Being Present, Making Your Own Identity & Creating A Leg…
Do you feel the need to overshare on social media out of the fear of being forgotten? Perhaps it would be helpful for you to lear…
Don’t fear failure ! You can learn from it
How often do you let fear decide for you? Do you end up not trying something simply out of fear? But growth and evolution cannot …
Don’t Try to be a Genius! You should focus on being a Scenius!
Is brilliance an outcome of one mind or the coming together of many minds? In a world that champions the likes of Elon Musk and S…
The “Truth” about Work-Life Balance according to “The 4 Burner Theory”
We’re constantly juggling the various spheres of our life – work, family, friends, health – trying to find a balance. Our inner j…
Why you should not fixate on problems
Problems can appear at times like a whirlpool, surrounding you entirely and pulling you in deeper. The small, mundane ones to the…
What you should do when life doesn’t go as planned (according to stoi…
Does it feel like the world is out to get you? Like fate is not benevolent in your specific case? In Stoicism, there is a concept…
Ankur Warikoo on Consistency, Inner-negativity & growing your passion
In the first chat episode of Take a Pause, Varun is joined by entrepreneur, content creator, and author Ankur Warikoo on approach…
#1 Question you should ask yourself before you share knowledge
Every time you choose to learn something, are you only learning enough to hold conversations about it, or are you trying to under…
3 secrets of The Rock’s Success
How is it that everything The Rock touches turns into gold? Find out on today’s episode, as Varun decodes the formula for success…
The true value of being imperfect and authentic as told in the Bhagav…
Ever been asked this question – Who do you want to be like? Have you ever found yourself emulating someone you truly look upto? T…