Pile On Motivation

Join 20.8K other subscribers

Tag: Leadership Lessons

Define your Flow state

Daily writing prompt
What activities do you lose yourself in?
View all responses

Remain in a state of Flow

If you know how to define your flow state, you will know those moments when you remain engrossed in activities you like the most.

The state of flow is a moment when the arousal is just about right to enable you reach peak performance.

This is when you focus on the present moment without fearing about the future or regretting of the past.

Every person is ware of those activities which we enjoy doing even when no one is watching. It may be blogging, cooking, music and the like.

As shown in the below snapshot, when skills meet the right challenges and we operate at A4, we are believed to be in a state of flow.

For another interesting insight around the same topic, please read below:

https://viewpointsunplugged.com/being-in-flow-leads-to-happiness-how/

To know more about this state, visit this link:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flow_(psychology)

March 8, 2026
The mirage of SUCCESS

Daily writing prompt
What is one question you hate to be asked? Explain.
View all responses

How do you define SUCCESS?

The one question I keep getting and hate answering is about the true definition of SUCCESS. The mirage of success educates us not to chase it and rather chase excellence.

Viktor Frankl beautifully illustrates this in his book, Man’s Search for Meaning as follows:

The more we aim for it the more we go away from it.

Very frequently we complain that in spite of all the hard work, we are not able to achieve success. For all such people, this blog post inspired from James Clear’s book is the most appropriate answer:

https://viewpointsunplugged.com/success-is-a-long-and-winding-journey-why/

Thus do not obsess over it, work hard and make yourself so competent that success is forced to chase you.

March 6, 2026
Be a Good Choice Architect

Who is a Choice Architect?

Be a good choice architect and see how you can bring about changes in human behavior by using the right nudges.

A good choice architect uses precision, context and intelligence to nudge people towards the right decisions.

Such a person can be a teacher, doctor, nurse or even a person who designs the school cafeteria menu placing healthy food at locations catching eyeballs preventing overconsumption of candies and brownies.

In his book the author defines such a person as follows:

For another insight around proper decision making, please visit this link:

https://viewpointsunplugged.com/need-help-for-a-decision-making-conversation-three-steps/

To know more about the author Richard Thaler and his work, please visit this link:

https://www.ubs.com/microsites/nobel-perspectives/en/laureates/richard-thaler.html

February 15, 2026
Be Obsessed with the NOW

Are you obsessed with Now?

I would like to be remembered as a person who was obsessed with the now or the present moment.

In the hustle and bustle of modern day life, we spent a lot of time worrying about the future and regretting about the past.

Very often we do not realize that the only truth is the present moment wherein we can unleash all our energy to leave a legacy behind.

Various techniques like practicing mindfulness, doing meditation teach us the virtues of focusing on the present moment.

The following insight mentioned by Eckhart Tolle in his book The Power of Now is very illuminating.

For another insight to inspire you to stop worrying and start focusing on the now has been mentioned below:

https://viewpointsunplugged.com/your-anxiety-removal-mantra/

To know about Eckhart Tolle and his work, visit this link:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eckhart_Tolle

February 14, 2026
The Power of Default Option

Understanding the power of default option

The Power of the default option has been wonderfully illustrated by Richard Thaler in his book Nudge.

As mentioned by the author, people have a strong tendency to go along with the status quo or the default option.

The primary reason is risk or loss aversion and hence this gets chosen by common people.

Further to this the following insight further supports the insight shared by the author.

To know more about the author Richard Thaler, please visit this link:

https://faculty.chicagobooth.edu/richard-thaler

February 8, 2026
Say Bye to Social Media

Daily writing prompt
Do you need a break? From what?
View all responses

If I were to take a break, I would say bye to social media.

In the hypermediated world dominated by social media and digital gadgets I strongly feel that we are surrendering our autonomy.

Being addicted to digital gadgets waiting for that one like or comment has slowly taken control of our lives without our notice.

As mentioned by Cal Newport in Digital Minimalism its high time we realized this and use digital gadgets and social media judiciously.

Read this post to know more:

https://viewpointsunplugged.com/surrendering-freedom-to-social-media/

To know more about Cal Newport, please visit this link:

https://calnewport.com

February 7, 2026
Perfect complement for TODO list

Daily writing prompt
Something on your “to-do list” that never gets done.
View all responses

To know your perfect complement for a todo list please read this blog post.

In his book When the author Daniel Pink mentions the important of having a BREAK LIST to make our TODO list more effective.

Very frequently in the heat of having a lot of todo items, we forget to take breaks to relax ourselves to get the items in the todo list done.

Hence break list is something I am trying to work on to get all my pending actions addressed.

Most scientific way of taking breaks has been mentioned in the book When as follows:

Hence once your learn the art of taking breaks rest assured your todo list will get addressed.

To know about Daniel Pink and his work, please visit this link:

https://www.danpink.com/

February 1, 2026
Science behind Technology Addiction

How do Tech Companies drive Technology Addiction?

The science behind technology addiction revolves around 2 primary factors.

In his book Digital Minimalism, the author Cal Newport enlightens us on these two factors that are exploited by tech companies to glue us to their products and websites.

The Drive for intermittent positive reinforcement and social approval are responsible for our addiction to all the technology platforms.

This has been highlighted in the below insight.

For another insightful post from the same book, please visit:

https://viewpointsunplugged.com/surrendering-freedom-to-social-media/

To know more about the author please visit:

https://calnewport.com

January 31, 2026
Surrendering Freedom to Social Media

Why should you not surrender your freedom to social media?

If you are in the process of surrendering your freedom to social, this post is for you.

In the modern day we have all become puppets at the hand of social media. Neither do we have the autonomy to enjoy solitude, it is as if the digital media has taken control of our lives.

Cal Newport throws more light on the same in his book Digital Minimalism and inspires us to maintain our autonomy.

For another interesting insight from the same book please visit this link:

https://viewpointsunplugged.com/control-your-idle-brain/

To know more about Cal Newport, please visit this link:

https://calnewport.com

January 26, 2026
Complain less Contribute More

Daily writing prompt
What do you complain about the most?
View all responses

Life becomes a better place to live in when we complain less and contribute more.

We complain in a state when we are not prepared to take ownership for any shortcomings that we see. This leads to a proliferation of such complaints and never any fruitful solution.

As Simon Sinek aptly mentions in this quote instead of cribbing we need to contribute and bring about the change we want to see in the world.

This not only leads to more fulfillment but makes our lives much better.

For another wonderful insight from Simon Sinek, please visit this link:

https://viewpointsunplugged.com/why-should-you-carefully-choose-your-mentor/

To know more about Simon Sinek and his work, please visit this link:

https://simonsinek.com/product/the-art-of-presenting/?utm_term=&utm_campaign=&utm_source=adwords&utm_medium=ppc&hsa_acc=6968735945&hsa_cam=22203731911&hsa_grp=&hsa_ad=&hsa_src=x&hsa_tgt=&hsa_kw=&hsa_mt=&hsa_net=adwords&hsa_ver=3&gad_source=1&gad_campaignid=22203735358&gbraid=0AAAAAojL0XuO4O6sBmAONZa5cQs50sWq9&gclid=Cj0KCQiAvtzLBhCPARIsALwhxdoxMEENRHfLXeBhSXr7xR81w7LJ_378QLi0vvPOmyXmrrxkNGP37OIaAhZHEALw_wcB

January 26, 2026