Where you live matters

So I was scrolling through Twitter, and I read this quote from Naval Ravikant:

“Three of your most important decisions you’ll make in life are — Where you live, who you’re with, and what you’re doing.”

Now, I’m constantly working on that third one, which is obvious as I’m in my early 20’s and apparently, career is one of the most important areas of concern for almost everyone in their early 20’s.

I’m also focusing on that second one — Who I’m with. Not just romantic relationship, but I take this further to people I’m spending my time with, the one’s I’m calling my friends and family.

But that first one..I didn’t spend that much time thinking about it, until now.

For the past few months, I’ve been thinking more than usual about “place to live in”. (the usual amount was close to zero).

Back in 2019, I badly wanted to move out of my parents house. And then the pandemic happened which stopped just exactly that. I couldn’t move out until 18 more months!

I spent time daydreaming about travelling places until the right time came and I actually moved out.

I chose Delhi. It was the most practical one.
Living in a big city teaches you a lot. And that was my main goal with living in delhi, to learn how to live.
I lived in a 1-bedroom apartment, and did all by myself — cooking, cleaning, shaming myself to change the sheets and not live in a dirty environment, shopping for grocerries, etc.

Why your area matters

When I was in Delhi, I was in Lajpat Nagar — a decent place to live it. It was a residential place, full of parks, markets, and many things that’d make day-to-day life easier. I didn’t spend a single evening inside, I just had to move out of the house. I had 3 small parks within 200 metres radius from me, I had market at 500 metres, ..you get it, life was good there.

I didn’t realise about how easy it was for me because of a good locality, until I moved out of there.

And not just parks and markets, the place you chose to live in, the locality, the neighbourhood, it effects a lot of things. For instance, I had this image that people, (esp. neighbours) are generally not-so-helpful people. This was because I didn’t had great neighbours in Delhi. Some encounters were rather..negative. I became aware when I visited the mountains(Himachal & Sikkim), and was surprised to see almost everyone being kind and generous.
So people around you matter.

Plus, the opportunities you are presented with.
Jonathan from AJ&Smart told a story of how he started AJ&Smart. He wasn’t planning at all to start that company. He was freelancing, doing client works alone and sometimes with a friend. One such client demanded that they had a company for billing purposes. So Jonathan and his friend got an LLC, they didn’t care about the type of company, the name, the logo, anything. They just got the one that took the least time in paperworks.
Now, since they had this company now, they decided to reach out to their neighbourhood for work, and they apparently got enough work that they stuck only with their neighbours for one whole year. Their neighbourhood HAD opportunities.

Your environment, the place you live in, make sure it has the right people, opportunities, activities, places, etc. These all influence the type of person you become, and can massively transform your life.

Leaving Delhi

I left Delhi after 8 months. I Loved my experience there, and have some real good memories.

My family had moved from Madhya Pradesh to Lucknow. And right now I’m helping them do so. So for now, I’m living in Lucknow (but wrote this article while sitting in kolkata ;)

But I know I won’t be in Lucknow for long. I’d still have this as my “home”, I’d come and go around a lot, …but I’d live in other places as well.

So, where am I deciding to live?

The answer is…I don’t know.

I honestly don’t have any clue where should I live. What place has the best combination of people, opportunities, things to do, nature, and all those things that matter to me. I have to figure that out.

So what’s the best thing I could do right now?

Go and explore! Go live in different places, in cities, towns and villages. Go and explore life!