40 Stories at 40: The e-Book

When I turned 40 in May 2019, I made a public commitment (on LinkedIn): I decided to reflect back on life and share ‘Forty Stories’ from my life (which have taught me important lessons) on the platform.

So far, so rash.

It was a crazy, ambitious project, and I had no idea how long I would be able to sustain it. In fact, there were times when I almost felt like giving up.

One thing kept me going: the unbounded love from all the readers. They overwhelmed me with a ton of encouragement, support and inputs!

Many readers expressed a desire to read the stories as a compilation. And that’s how this e-book came into being.

Here’s a brief overview of the compilation:

• Chronology: The stories start from when I was about 7 years old, right up to the present day. But I haven’t grouped them chronologically…
• Themes: Instead, I decided to group them by themes, such as—better decision making, communication and persuasion, people management, client management, initiative, perseverance et al.

Essentially, these stories can help readers in two ways. They can learn life lessons through the entertaining medium of stories. More importantly, by observing how the stories are structured and refined, they can hone their own storytelling skills.

Many business (and social sector) leaders are great at what they do… but are unable to tell others a compelling story of their work. If, after reading this book, even a few of them become better storytellers—and in turn inspire others around them—I’ll consider this e-book to have met its purpose.

Here is the compilation PDF.