Blindingly Ordinary
The podcast by Joshua Karthik

Discussions on business, photography, and literal odds and ends.

Episode 5: How many steps does it take you to /do/ something?

I've always found that when I love doing something, say photography with my iPhone, I tend to be in flow, and all the steps it takes to observe the world, bring up the phone, dial in the settings, frame the photo and shoot are just part of the process, not things I'd ever count out to you one by one.

In this episode, I'm contrasting how we talk of the things we love versus the things we don't, and how we talk to ourselves of the things we fear. And if there's one big takeaway, it is this: love the grind, not just the goal.

Here's the Derek Sivers post that inspired this :)

Episode 4: Is learning more addictive than doing is?

Back in college, I found that the world splits cleanly into three groups: those who dislike programming, those who love it and can't wait to code, and those who love programming but just won't ever code.

I see this everywhere now: we aren't ready to start doing something because we "just have to learn a little bit more". 

In this episode, I refer to Roosevelt's "Dare Mighty Things" passage, which you can find here: www.goodreads.com/quotes/51936-far-better-it-is-to-dare-mighty-things-to-win

Episode 3: The “Do Bias”

I had an interview with Ebay once. The interviewer found that I'd just gotten in photography, and he asked me one simple technical question.

In this episode, we talk of how it's not *how much* of something you know that counts, it's what you do with *what you know*. If you've ever held yourself back from trying something because you "didn't know enough", this episode is for you.

Towards the end, I mention the Green Lumber Fallacy. Read more about it here: https://fs.blog/2016/11/green-lumber-fallacy/

Episode 2: Most things aren’t that hard to do

I chanced upon a tweet by Visakan Veerasamy that talked of how most things aren’t that hard to do in real life. Over a lifetime of picking up some proficiency in various things that seem hard to do, I can tell you this much: they're all easier than you think. There are some unwritten rules for taking on a challenge you’ve never met before, and I’ve got a few pointers written down from my experience that I talk about in this episode.

Episode 1: Pandemic checklist for the smart entrepreneur

Stuck in the lockdowns with time on your hands? In this short discussion, I look at my five point checklist for spending time wisely in the pandemic lockdowns, while we wait for business to resume. This episode is aimed at practising entrepreneurs with active businesses in creative fields.