Hi “Love.
The only reason that we are alive
And none of us should have to wait until we’re 85.”
It is a beautiful poem from IN-Q or IN-Question(stage name for Adam Schmalholz), an American songwriter and National Poetry Slam champion from Los Angeles, California. “This is for everyone in love and for everyone looking for love. None of us should have to wait until we’re 85.”
I was introduced to IN-Q recently when he was one of the guests at the Rich Roll podcast. “If you’re not inspired by life, you’re not paying attention.” In this 2 hours long conversation, he shares his story, wisdom and his beautiful poems. IN-Q is provocative, entertaining and refreshingly honest.
Author of “Finding Ultra: Rejecting Middle Age, Becoming One of the World’s Fittest Men, and Discovering Myself”, Rich went from an obese alcoholic to ultra-athlete. “In the 1980s, he was a talented swimmer who had a choice of top US colleges. But he battled internal demons and descended into alcoholism and drug abuse. This spiraled into a disastrous wedding, drink-driving, estrangement from his family, and a floundering career as a lawyer.”
“Running was about reconnecting with my environment, and with myself, physically and spiritually. It is about trying to live as natural a life as possible and in accordance with the rhythms that are natural to us as a species.”
I was introduced to Rich by Taher Merchant - India’s first finisher at Everest Base Camp Ultra Marathon in 2018. “Running was about reconnecting with my environment, and with myself, physically and spiritually. It is about trying to live as natural a life as possible and in accordance with the rhythms that are natural to us as a species.”
In December 2019 he successfully completed the half marathon Des Sables Peru - a 120Km ultramarathon over a period of four days through the desert. “Running a kilometer in a dessert was taking 30 minutes.” He did finish the run while twisting his ankle, breaking his back and almost giving up at one point. And when Taher was in two minds, incomes Adam Mustafa, “Brother I know you, you are a warrior, you can do this.” Mustafa and Taher follow each other on Instagram but Taher had no clue.
Taher recently was on one of my Insta Live sessions which I started with India going into lockdown with an attempt to listen and learn from the different interests people have apart from their work. “You have to be a nut head, crazy enough to push your mind and body to extreme limits.” Over a period of 60 minutes this light-hearted man, father of two shared everything from running, diet, why training is so important and how her wife is now his running partner.
Till now I have done 12 Insta Lives and this is what I have learned:
People are generally confused and shy to talk about their interests. I understand not everyone is shameless like me and most of us fear that we are going to be judged.
I spoke to someone who has been following me on social media for years and he met me six years ago in Delhi at a Diwali party. I still have no clue but he remembers our conversation. Thank god I was sober that night.
Last evening my guest was one of the inspiring personalities of the Indian digital world who comes from the same town and our families have a deep connection with Railways. Over a period of 90 minutes, we bitched about brands-agency, philosophy, how women are multi-talented, and god. “I have a very personal relationship with God, I don't need to claim or prove it to anyone as I have with my mother.” We both have tremendous love for Maa Durga - she is a mother.
Sometime back I had a young man highly influential on social media because of his knowledge, connections, and humility. We chatted about how brands would go crazy trending things on Twitter, his love for nature, photography, and why he believes that he is spiritual. “Happiness is a way of living, you don’t chase it.” In the course of 90 minutes of amazing conversations in Hindi, he told me that his boss would often say that Prasant is an arrogant prick and very difficult to do business. “He is too idealistic and he won’t survive long.” Well not everyone is wrong.
An accidental chef and friend who was introduced to the world of the Internet and today he is running one of the successful digital marketing training institutes in Bangalore. His love for food and cooking has been the hidden reason for his success.
And then I spoke to a young man who started an agency in Kerala when he was just out of college. I had met him in 2011 and since then I have been in touch with him. After working hard for years, he finally decided to sell his agency, make some money and then moved to Australia for higher studies. I just love the young generation and envy how they push themselves. Today he has finished his masters, working and still inspires me with his smile and perspectives. We talked about his entrepreneurship days, why he went for higher studies, photography, travel, and what he is reading. “Be rational and work on how to make money if you want to survive the madness of entrepreneurship.”
I can go on with more interesting interests(forgive me for the stories I couldn’t share here but I am great full that you took out time and shared with me) but the point I am trying to make is that when we are ready to listen we have opened the door of growth.
“Assume that the person you are listening to might know something you don’t,” says Jordan B. Peterson in his deeply engaging and thoughtful book 12 Rules For Life - An antidote to chaos.
Talking about interests one of them for me is writing. My grammar sucks, I am aware that I won’t be able to write like The New Yorker but I give my heart to my writing. Let me tell you how it all started.
As a kid, I was very shy, reserved, hardly good in studies and pathetic in sports. So I was there but hiding in my own shadow. I found comfort in writing with no idea what it was all about. I was attracted to Hindi from poems to stories. My school, St. Xaviers released a yearly magazine collecting the best of stories, drawing, poems from students. I saw this as an opportunity and submitted my first poem that was dedicated to freedom fighters such as Netaji and Bhagat Singh. The poem was published with my name and I was over the moon as if I had topped the class.
The sad part was that the magazines were given with your yearly report cards. So at one point you know you might barely cross the passing line but at the same time, you are excited to see if your stories and poems are published. Obviously no one was interested in my writing and then slowly my friends started using my skill. I started writing love letters and poems for their girlfriends. Trust me my imaginations are wild and I would never imagine that this skill would help me someday when I would start Lighthouse Insights.
My writings transformed into diary writing and I still continue the habit. During my college days, I started devoting my time to poetry and drawing cartoons. I was introduced to Sampooran Singh Kalra or Gulzar Saab - director, lyricist, and poet. I still believe that Jagjit Singh gave the melody to his words. Meanwhile, my writing disappeared in old soiled pages of dairy that was sold to the raddiwala.

In 2011, the same writing became the backbone of my blog that transformed into a bootstrapped startup. And the passion transformed into madness and finally broke me personally and professionally. I blamed the world, my startup and everyone for my failures but it was me who was the creator and destroyer of my dreams.
Finally, after closing down LI in 2017 as a startup and promising myself that I will never write again, I picked up writing in August 2018. Looking back my writing has given me everything in the past and even today. It has kept me alive, it has once again opened up my heart to meet beautiful people and the job today I have is because of my writing.
However, today I write for myself and in the process, I try to give value to my readers who have subscribed. I write because it makes me think and happy. Just like that, I wrote a poem after ages. I think the last poem I wrote was in my graduation days. Obviously it is about Love - Is baar sirf pyaar hai. Here is me trying to do justice to my thoughts in an Instagram Video.
It is interesting how the meaning of Love for me today has changed. From the whole Bollywood definition of love, today I think if you say you love someone then how are you helping the person to become a better version. Love is no more physical or materialistic, it is spiritual. I can feel it when I saw her, my eyes were just stuck to her face, never came down. I still feel it when I listen to her voice. That’s why I talk about loving someone without expectations.

Well, that’s one of my interests - Writing :)
So what are your interests? And if you want to share with me then just ping me, I will invite you to my Insta Live and we will have some fun. Even if you don’t want to share, it's fine. Cultivate your interests because they will allow you to be who you are as an individual.
Thank you if you are still with me. Now let me share what I wrote earlier this week:
A consumer perspective on brand communications during COVID-19: Trust is pivotal today. During these tough times, the consumer wants nothing more from the brands.
Read: A consumer perspective on brand communications during COVID-19
From governments to tech giants everyone wants to track people more efficiently while privacy takes a back seat.
Thank you for subscribing and reading my thoughts. I will see you next week, meanwhile please take care of your health and stay home.
Don’t stress yourself. The world is telling you how to be productive and all that crap. Listen to yourself. Take a deep breath, appreciate the things that you have, live in the moment and then do whatever you want to do in your life. Just make sure you are happy and loving it.
Peace and happiness ❤️