080 - Mohan Ananda - Entrepreneur (sold Stamps.com for $6.6 Billion), Inventor (15+ patents and designed GPS) and Author (Autobiography of an Immigrant) shares the secrets to his success.

Mohan talks about his experience moving from India to the US, his incredible rise going from inventions for the DoD and NASA to becoming a serial entrepreneur and experiencing the ultimate financial success with a $6.6 Billion all cash sale of his company Stamps.com. Mohan shares some of the secrets to his success. 

Mohan Ananda is a serial entrepreneur and renaissance man having founded Venture capital firm JAB Holdings Limited, Envestnet, which develops and distributes wealth management technology products and Stamps.com, which he sold in an all cash transaction for 6.6 billion. Mohan knows how to grow from zero to a billion. 

Not only this, In addition, Mohan He is the Chairman and CEO of Innovative International Acquisition Corp, he currently has 15 patents issued and pending, he was the primary architect in shaping the design and implementation of GPS for the US Department of Defense AND was instrumental in achieving interplanetary navigation to Venus, Mars and Jupiter as well as contributing to the Viking, Pioneer, Voyager and Mariner missions. He’s also the author of best-selling book “Autobiography of an Immigrant”. 

Transcript

Mohan Ananda

[00:00:00] Jolie Downs: . Today we are speaking with Mohan Ananda. Mohan is a serial entrepreneur and Renaissance man having founded Venture capital firm, j a Holdings Limited Investnet, which develops and distributes wealth management technology products, and stamps.com, which he sold in an all cash transaction for 6.6 billion. Mohan knows how to grow from zero to a billion. Now, not only this, in addition, Mohan is the chairman and CEO of Innovative International Acquisition Corp. He currently has 15 patents issued and pending. He was the primary architect in shaping the design and implementation of GPS for the US Department of Defense, and he was instrumental in achieving interplanetary navigation to Venus, Mars and Jupiter, as well as contributing to the Viking Pioneer Voyager and a Mariner missions. And oh yes, he is also the author of the best selling book, autobiography of an Immigrant. I am really excited to learn more.

[00:01:10] Mohan. Thank you for joining us on Fresh Blood. Please could you tell us a little bit more about your story in getting to where you are today? And I know there's a lot to cover there, . 

Mohan Ananda: Thanks. You were very, very kind. I'm humbled by that. Very interesting introduction. Uh, thanks a lot. It kinda, uh, I came as a, an immigrant.

[00:01:34] I came from, , India, , many, many years ago, , as a student to. Here in Pasadena at California Institute of Technology. Then obviously since then, I have not gone outside of, you know, living here in California for the last, uh, close to 54 or 55 years. Great. So you like California apparently

[00:02:04] more than many people. I'm curious, what was that transition like for you? Cause that is a really big change. I mean, what was it like for you to move to this new country and, and, and begin to acclimate? Exactly. That's a very, very interesting question. I, I come from a, a, a remote village in a state of Kerala in India.

[00:02:23] Mm-hmm. , which actually, when I was growing up, we didn't have electricity. Oh, wow. So this is a, a small village, no electricity. You, you are learning from Carin oil lights. That's the beginning. Oh, wow. That's fascinating. But, you know, I'm not from a poor family. Mm-hmm. , I'm a very, you know, I would say a poor middle class, you know, istic landowner, family.

[00:02:47] Mm-hmm. . Mm-hmm. . But I was, uh, you know, obviously just like many of the, the children in India those days, they were, we were pampered. So did everything, you know, others do things for you, . So I had that luxury. Yeah. But then I finished my. Early college, I was looking for opportunities outside India. Mm-hmm.

[00:03:11] many Indians generally go to England because. The close relations between England used to rural India for 354 years, , but I did not wanna go to England, so I wanted to go something really exotic to the United States, but u us those days, it's not that easy to come. Very, very few people, , come to us from India.

[00:03:37] Mm-hmm. . But I, the way to get here is to get admission. Into colleges. Okay. I applied for admission. And not only that, you know, the, we cannot really take money. Even those who have money in India, it's extremely difficult to take money from India to US for education. Really? Because they, they limited, like you can only take $8 outta India.

[00:04:04] are you saying almost like a joke? I had no idea. That's crazy. Its very, so the only way you can come here is by getting scholars. Wow. So applied to five schools and I so happened, I got admission to all the schools I applied. Great. But Caltech being one of the most prestigious schools and also in a very nice climate, uh, Just came here.

[00:04:35] That's how I, wonderful. Yeah. . So you go to college and, and clearly you enjoy it because you stay. Now what happens through, through that time? And, and, and how did you, you know, I'm just curious, was it, what was the transition like for you? Was it fairly easy for you to, to do since it was college and there's so many people?

[00:04:53] Or was it a big transition culture-wise to adjust to Yeah. Transition culture-wise was very difficult. Cause you know, I, of course I come from a, a college in India with a very great, uh, you know, kind of, I did well performance, so I was little thinking too much about myself when I came to the college here.

[00:05:17] Mm-hmm. . But then I realized I was nobody, I mean, compared to them. So I felt very challenging. Um, just give you the college kids dilemma. Yes. Uh, in the first class I was at Caltech, this professor, , is in solid mechanics. I, you know, I didn't want to go into the detail. So he came very, , he is a German background.

[00:05:43] Nice, good looking tall man. And we had about 60 students in the class sitting, but we don't know each other. Mm-hmm. . Cause we're all new. So first class. So he started writing a, an equation on the boat, , in, , tenor notation. I did not know what tenor notation was at the time. , probably nobody. So I, I could have felt, okay.

[00:06:11] So he wrote this generalized cancer notation, , very important equation, and started, , discussing about it. So I was listening. It looks like totally French to me cuz I don't understand what, so what is going on? And I was sweating, practically sweating. And I was looking around how the others are, , feeling.

[00:06:33] Yeah. They looked okay to me. So then I knew something is wrong with me. So, but anyway, to make the story short, after the end of the class, I really recognized, I think I have to do a lot of hard work if I continue here. Mm-hmm. . So that was my beginning of the school. And so of course from a cultural. Point of view.

[00:06:58] It's something new. Everything is new in those days. We don't have access to phone. Oh, wow. I mean, the phone is, you know, you have to book a trunk call to, , get to India and the, the letter would take about 15 days to come. So it, it's a, it's very lonely. Let's put it there. Yeah. So that, this isn't, I'm talking about in 1967.

[00:07:23] Yeah. Before, you know, before all of these Yeah. All of our communication devices and whatnot. Yes. Big change, big difference. The future was very primitive. Mm-hmm. very, very primitive. You have to, I don't know. You, you are too young, so you wouldn't know. We have to have this deck of cards. You have to put this big machine, you have to put it in the system, and it'll take like a day or two to get one processing done.

[00:07:47] It was in a very, very, very primitive situation, so it was an interesting. But a very, , enjoyable from that point of view. Oh, I can only imagine what an inter, I mean, just this just fascinates me cuz you, you're in this new country, you're not able to communicate with your family and friends very well.

[00:08:05] You're completely, because going to college is, is a big deal in and of itself. You're in a new world. It's very unfamiliar. You're learning all of these new things. You're on all these new people. But not only that, you're also in a new country, , different language, you know, I mean like in all of things you're doing, you're doing in another language.

[00:08:21] So it's just that next level up of everything. Exactly. In addition to that, the people I started meeting with, like, um, various faculty members, these. Well known, , very successful. I mean, amazingly important people. So that, that also, you are kind of a, coming from a very, very primitive background and working with this so-called the, the most intelligent people.

[00:08:51] So it was interesting. Yes. Yeah. But it was at the same time, , , an amazing experience. Oh, I can only imagine. Yes. So, so what brought you into your entrepreneurship? Because you started, founded multiple companies. Now, was it always in you, did you always have that drive, or did you fall into it? How did this happen?

[00:09:10] I, I think I probably might have been innate. Innate. Mm-hmm. , but not really. I, I wanted to do something really exotic because that's the reason I come to United States. Yeah. Not to make money. Yeah. I mean, not be it wealth. That was not, I wanted to really do something really, uh, Innovative in the sense of, uh, science.

[00:09:33] Mm-hmm. , , first I took as, , aeronautics. From aeronautics. I went into Astrodynamics and from there I went to astrophysics. So looking at, , basically looking outside the world. Yeah. In world. So that's how you got involved with the GPS mapping, the different planetary. So that came first.

[00:09:52] That was my, that, that kind of was my real passion. Got you. Okay. Confinement, one of the most prominent, , trophy physicist in the world number prize winner. So I had the, you know, benefit. I was working with them. So I, that kind of created certain interest in me. So I wanted to do some really, really, Fundamental work.

[00:10:17] Mm-hmm. that interesting. Mm-hmm. . So that I joined NASA at jpo, so I worked there for some years, then I went to the D o D and started working, creating gps. So those, those things happened and that was, uh, I mean, I was fairly young. Oh, amazing. Really quick before you on, because this is really big, okay.

[00:10:37] You're fairly young and you're getting work and nasa, you're getting work at the d o d. How, what did you do? I mean, people wanna know . I have a PhD in astrophysics. Yes, but you know what, there's other PhDs, so you know what you're competing with other people. What, what do you think, what do you think helped you get that job?

[00:10:54] , in many of these places, actually I did not apply for the job I was recruiting. Got you. be excellent in your work. They come for you, . That's cause you, you write papers, you do things from in a university environment, then they know you.

[00:11:12] Mm-hmm. . Meaning the people who hire people. Yes. They come to me and they said, would you like to come and talk to us and see whether you wanted to join our group? And you know, then obviously depending upon the, the project there. For example, when I was recruited for the very, very early stages of gps, there was gps, not even a piece of paper.

[00:11:36] They were thinking as a weapon system. And then they knew that I was in the, the planet remission. I, I was one of , the persons who initially I could even call it, invented what is called optical navigation. What is optical navigation? , it's the same. For example, when you go to, uh, say planets near planets, Mars, Venus, you, you go, when you launch a satellite, , it goes into, Heliocentric Corbin, okay?

[00:12:08] Means you are launching it. Of course, it first gets into the earth, orbi from, then you make a correction and it goes around the sun, okay? And then it reaches this one. The satellite reaches near the planet. You want to go like Mars, then you have to make a course correction, or what we call insertion manual.

[00:12:29] That means you have to correct. To go into the mar. So this is how peop, you know, satellites go to areas I That's fascinating. This is all done through radiometric measurements, meaning you get radio signals and you look at it and then you analyze it and find where it is you, in order to go someplace you need to know where you are then no, you can go somewhere else.

[00:12:54] This is true in life. Good in life, . Exactly. But that's how its done. And all the time they were looking at it from the radio metric measurements. Mm-hmm. . But what happens is, as you go farther and farther from the earth, the radio measurements gives angular information. Okay. You know, it's our technology, but don't know about it.

[00:13:18] Mohan Ananda: But angle, the, the error, the error in angle gets multiplied. Enormously by distance. Okay. Because the, you know, angle multiply by the distance becomes actual distance, I mean distance from earth. Yes. Because the location error. So the Aries is becoming more and more because our, at the time radio measurements and, you know, errors mm-hmm.

[00:13:43] everything. . So I, with my some thinking, I said, that's not the way to do the job. So you, because everything is measured from the center of the earth. Yeah. But you really want going to Mars, so you should get, , measurements from the center of Mars. Yes. So you have to make the transition. And the way I did see every, had cameras, you know, we have, that's the whole reason taking pictures, right?

[00:14:09] Mm-hmm. . So why don't we use the camera as a measurement, taking the picture. Of the planet with regard to it's satellites or, or it's rim alone because we know approximately where the, the Mars is. And as long as Mars, even if it is a wrong area, we want to get in relation to the, that center of the Mars. So what I did was creating these images and create an location determination based on the MAR centric co.

[00:14:44] That's incredible. From Earth centric too. I mean, this is all technical, but I, that was the optical navigation tool. I came up with the software. So when it reaches near the Mars mm-hmm. . It takes these pictures and tell the comp, you know, system back down on earth and say, it can create, calculate the location more accurately than the radiometric.

[00:15:10] So when you make the insertion maneuvers, you will be more accurate, so you will not misfire and lose the satellite. So that was a, a great contribution I made. I mean, it's, 

[00:15:22] Jolie Downs: oh, that's amazing. I mean, basically if we ever do live on Mars, we can thank you for figuring out where it was . But now every, every, , mission to planetary system uses my system.

[00:15:35] Amazing. What does that feel like? 

[00:15:39] Mohan Ananda: So that was very cause of that reason. So the, when the GPS people are looking at it, so they knew I have a great kind of background for navigation, so they brought me to the team and I became one of their key architect. Awesome. That's a, that it's an interesting story, but I, I never really explained it this deep.

[00:16:02] Oh, it's fascinating. I, I mean, I'm not a technical person, but I followed that I, I'm fascinated and there was, I mean, I didn't know how, how that worked. I mean, when I think of a launch, I always just think of this, you know, , it goes around the sun, I mean, Very, very interesting. When you launch a satellite, immediately it goes around earth because it's, that's how everything, you know the gravity earth.

[00:16:25] Yeah. I mean, I didn't realize that. Yeah. But then you have to make a, a escape, you know, insertion to the, go to the around sun, because earth goes around sun. Everything goes around the sun. Yeah. I didn't know that. , you reach nearby a planet in order to go around that planet, you have to make another insertion that, you know, another firing, and then, you know, if you do it right, you just go, otherwise it go somewhere else, then you'd never see.

[00:16:54] So that's, we have women lost some satellites like. Misfiring. That always happens. Oh. But I just want to let you know this is the, so because of that kind of a background I have, so they wanted me to, they recruited me. Yeah, they recruited you. It makes sense. Complete sense. Yeah. . So, so how long were you in this, in this business and with the D O D nasa?

[00:17:18] I was around about 10 years at NASA and 10 years with dod. Okay. So I had a 20 year of, , space. Mm-hmm. related, uh, kind of background now, what brought you out of that back industry? Like how, what was the transition That is I was, , in the last few years, , when I was working on gps, I became the, the contact person for narrow countries, , for G GPS is a weapons system.

[00:17:45] Mm. Uh, even though it now everybody else GPS on the phone, but those days it's purely a weapon system. Yeah. And, , it has to be survivable because if you lose gps, then the weapon, there's no value. Yeah. Yeah. So, but those are all we have taken care of. I'm not going to go into that. But then I used to travel a lot to nano countries.

[00:18:08] I mean, used to travel so much. It's, it became a little bit hard for my family. I have, , my working wife and a small children. Uh, so that, uh, prompted me to some more other. Change my profession. So I went to law school, I finished law and became a lawyer. , I didn't even know, I didn't realize this actually.

[00:18:31] So oh, in between it all, he's a lawyer. . Okay, go on. Meaning then you, you don't go that far. Yeah. You basically stayed near home. So that's the, the reason I took, and also I always liked to, because American, you know, oh, that real reason is I found out everybody who is in power in America is a lawyer.

[00:18:56] So I said, if you can't fight the join, smart, smart man. , , smart man. What, what, what kind of law did you go. I did, I basically started as a, you know, like a corporate lawyer. Mm-hmm. , I had, because of my technology background, I became more involved in the intellectual property. Mm. So was this kind of what led you into the starting of the companies as seeing all come together now?

[00:19:22] Okay. Now I'm curious. Did you enjoy the law profess. Law profess is because I, as a student, I was a good student, by the way. I enjoyed the constitutional law. Mm-hmm. constitutionalized more. It's really intellectual. Yeah. You, you know, of course now you get all these Supreme Court decisions. So I, I might have analyzed all the, that it's all constitutional law.

[00:19:46] Even though though, from a practical point of view, constitution law is not that typical because, you know, you, you either you're suing for a contract or you are, or those who are in, , criminal law. All these lawyers mostly do transactional things. Mm-hmm. constitutional law comes only when you rights are challenged.

[00:20:07] Mm-hmm. , you're right now. Right now you're all of this, , abortion area. Yes. I mean, this is going so huge. So all these things are, so that was my passion. Mm-hmm. I mean real because of it's very intellectual. Mm-hmm. . But, , I, people don't generally practice unless you go into universities and, , then you become a Constitution law.

[00:20:30] Yeah. Faculty, professor. Then you go into those, you know, institutions in the Supreme Court and things like, I didn't do any of those things, but I enjoyed, but, , that gave me, , some ideas that it's not the practice of voice. Uh, interesting. It is. Now you create some companies mm-hmm. and make it or create wealth.

[00:20:54] Yes. So what was your first company? Which one was your first one? Okay. The, uh, the first company, I mean, there was few small things I did Okay. But something which didn't really successful, but major company is like, uh, Microsoft Trades. Microsoft Trades is a, again, a very technology company in the, in the integrated circuit or chip mark.

[00:21:20] In substrate is the, where the, the printed securities 

[00:21:24] But that was my first company I started, but then I, you know, worked with the company, and that lasted for 22 years. Wow. Very, A lot of people employed, so, I mean, it did well, but it that I couldn't take the company public or exit in a profitable manner.

[00:21:42] Mm-hmm. . Cause what happened was, as we grew. There was other technology happening. Yes. Yeah. And we didn't cope with that. We were on a, on a calcium aide background material, and the other technology came with plastics. Mm. Okay. That kind of, so we had to exit after. And you learned, you learned from the situation.

[00:22:04] So I, I think I became very kind of knowledgeable in that very specific area. Yeah. Okay. So, so you spent 20 plus years on, on this chip business and, and you realize, you know, you don't have the best exit strategy.

[00:22:18] What, how did you decide to go do something new? I mean, what happened there? Because at this point, you, you grabbed your choice. It's not sequential. Okay. It's mostly, many things are in parallel. So I was, while Microsoft's, I was only on the boat, I was not. Got you. Okay. So you, okay. You're not full-time. That is one thing I have done.

[00:22:40] I have only, uh, taken responsible executive job for a very short time. Mm. Every company I started mm-hmm. , I had somebody else. Right. Somebody else. I, I sit on the board. Mm-hmm. . That's, that's my, my kind. No. Yeah. Basically you put in where your strength is and then you let everyone else take over their strengths.

[00:23:04] Yes. I always tell there are three things for a starting a company. Mm-hmm. , you need to know the concept. Mm-hmm. or the, whether it is a product or a service, or a product as a service, whatever that you need to know. Yeah. Then there is, you need to have a team. Mm-hmm. the people because it's not a one man's job.

[00:23:22] Yes. It's the right team, and the third is the right capital. So you need all these three things together and, , I accepted stamps. , I was not really CEO of any company. Mm-hmm. stamps. I did stay there for about three years. Then I found another ceo, and then I, you know, was more like an executive chairman.

[00:23:46] So I, I, my job has been more on a, looking from a much higher and down and helping and mentoring rather than running smart. So that's a, just, just even the, the current position, I'm a, you know, of course CEO and the chairman of this mice pack. Mm-hmm. , but operational most have done with. People, those who with me.

[00:24:12] Oh, I love that though, cuz it just allows you to open up and focus on the areas that you wanna focus. Exactly. Give, give where your strengths give, and then just keep plugging and playing . I love that. More of a integration of ideas from the best people. Mm-hmm. , I get, uh, so hopefully, you know, there are, say a few people around me, they give me ideas and I'll put it together and bounce at them, and we then come up with a plan and execute them.

[00:24:41] Love it. So, so stamps.com, I mean this, it's just incredible, that story. Tell me about, about the creation of stamps.com and, and what happened with that? That's a, it's actually started my thinking in the, in the internet. Yeah. I came up with a, a patent, , application in 1992. Mm-hmm. 92 Internet is. Embryonic.

[00:25:07] Mm-hmm. isn't, you know, even there, but I knew this is the digital world. It could be, are going to be. So, but it took me four years to get the patent. So I got the patent in 1996. Mm-hmm. . So at that time that probably that patent, I had three of them, three patents I got same time. Mm-hmm. , these three patents are probably the foundation of all the eCommerce you see today is almost in every patent.

[00:25:38] Subsequently people got in that space. Mm-hmm. market space, all referred to my, because that's it. Thank you. Like , because I saw it happening. And uh, this application, one of the, you can have many applications. The one of the applications happened to be the STEMS application. Mm-hmm. . In 1996, we formed the company.

[00:26:04] As a matter of fact, we formed the company sitting this on this chair. Right now. I'm sitting, I love that . That's so great. That's the start of the, the, the journey. And of course it's done fairly well. Go. Yeah, I would say so. You know, all cash, uh, billion , multi-billion dollar deal sounds, sounds like a success.

[00:26:28] Now, did you enjoy this whole process? Was that something like has, you know, has fed your soul? Yes, I am. You see the one lack or privilege I have, I only do things. I enjoy

[00:26:46] That's one direction. In fact, even my life tells me, I mean, I, I, I don't know how many people can say that. I love it. I certainly can. If I don't like it, I wouldn't touch it. To me, that's, that's success right there. I to really enjoy in such a way that I am, I'm contributing and making myself happy that this is the thing to do.

[00:27:10] Yes, yes. I mean, that's, that's a privilege a lot of people may not have, but I, I have had that right from the beginning. Well, and I would say that has absolutely contributed to your insane success. I mean, I, I believe in, because, you know, I always tell my children as well as even my grandchildren, I tell them, you should do what you like.

[00:27:32] Yes, you do what you like, you yes, yes. If you do, cause somebody else is telling you to do you hate it, or you may, and your performance would be bad and you, you, your motivation will be bad. I mean, so I always advise everybody, pick what you like the best, then do it even if the remuneration or the return is not good.

[00:27:58] The what is the return, the enjoyment is the most important return to me. Yes. Oh, I, I applaud this. I completely 100% agree. That's something I've tell, I've been telling everybody I know and I keep preaching that. Yes. And you know, I've invited to give a talk at, , In June, I'm going to Oxford. Mm-hmm.

[00:28:17] University at the said business school. I'm going to talk about some of my experiences. Mm-hmm. . So these, one of the things I will tell, I mean, these are, some of the best students in the world will be there and I'm going to tell them, do what you like. Yes. Don't do anything else. Yes. I, I, I, I completely agree.

[00:28:36] And that's what I've learned from, from this podcast, talking to all of the people who are thriving. It's because they're focusing on the things that they like to do. They're focusing on the things they love to do, and because of that, they're able to persevere through any down times. They're able to get through the challenges and then come out on top because you love it.

[00:28:52] It's about the journey. , you, you, you called the shots. Yes. It happened. Yes. I love it. So I'm curious what you've done so much. I mean, what is your personal definition of. I mean, you know, success is not, in fact, I have given a talk on success and happiness. Perfect. Perfect. So what would you come up with for your definition?

[00:29:17] I'll tell you the reason is success is generally measured by people. Others think of success, right? It's not your, you know, they look at you, oh, this is success. So you are trying to impress on somebody else. Mm-hmm. Is the success and that's not, , but I think are ultimate objective should be how you happy doing, there's lot of wealthy people.

[00:29:41] Very unhappy. Very unhappy. Mm-hmm. , I mean, and even very successful people could be unhappy. Mm-hmm. very. Most of the time the happy people are successful. The reason is whatever that that success is to them, that happiness creates that. Yes. So the question comes, success is more important than happiness, or happiness is more important than which comes first.

[00:30:08] Mm-hmm. question comes, I think the I objective should be, you have to be happy to do whatever and the success comes out of it. Mm-hmm. , I completely agree. That's my definition. I don't know whether that's the right, that's the way I look at it. Well, and I believe what, what's important is knowing your own personal definition, cuz that's what it's about.

[00:30:25] If you don't know your own personal definition, you're living someone else's definition. So is that really success? That's No, that is like, you have to have your, you define what success to you. Yes, exactly. For some third party, somebody says, oh, this guy's successful. I mean, that has, , keep up with the Jones type of attitude, but I don't think that's the right, yeah, you have to be happy yourself.

[00:30:48] Yeah. What's your greatest success? I mean, what would you say has been one or two of your greatest successes? I mean, you know, I consider the most contribution I've made to the society is participation with gps. I thank you every day. I didn't know I was, but every day I Thank you. fact, every human being, almost, even in the remote parts of some real, you know, forest or deep, you know, somewhere in the jungles, even their GPS is there.

[00:31:21] I mean, people use, I mean, GPS has become the most used system. As far as I know, so that I have played a, an important role, not just a small role, literally have saved lives. Countless, countless, countless, that I feel like that's my contribution. Mm-hmm. , I mean, I've created, uh, , a lot of employment. I've created a lot of, we people, uh, I've, I mean, I've done all those, but those are good.

[00:31:50] But there is nothing to. Uh, you know, at that aspect, yes. The ultimate success is that you've helped an entire world . Yeah. It's more like I've made it more. Yeah. It's, yeah, it's pretty amazing. Well, what about, uh, the flip side of that question, you know, what's been a time of your greatest difficulty or, or, uh, a great challenge?

[00:32:10] I mean, I like to say perceived failure. Uh, you know what, tell us about it. It's, I, I mean that's fact. I wrote this book, the, one of the criticism. This is the book, by the way. Uh, the Autobiography of an Immigrant. Yes. But the one criticism I have in this book, Uh, I mean there are many criticism , but one criticism is, it's so all, , fairytale type.

[00:32:38] I mean, it's all, , you know, optimistic. Everything positive, most of the things. Yeah. I mean, that's the way I am. Yes. Even the reason I look at the Pandemic, pandemic is it's really, it killed a million American people, several million people in the world. , it's one of the, the, the worst experience probably most human beings have in current lifetime.

[00:33:04] But I look at there is a positive part in it. Great. But for the pandemic, I could not have finished the book. Yeah.

[00:33:14] Cause I had the time because I used to travel. Yes. Lot. I used to travel so much. , but, uh, Two and a half years or two years, I didn't travel at all. And that resulted in the publishing of book because I had to do something. So I kind of used my spare time to write the book. Yeah. So that's a, there are a lot of, and many things in, you know, like, uh, the Zoom mm-hmm.

[00:33:38] what we are doing or, uh, you know, this communication and remote work. So a lot of positive things have come out of, and the technology has absolutely the many things have. Yeah. And even though there are a lot of negative things, a lot of people suffering, even now Covid is still going, you know, on. But I, for the criticism I have, I didn't talk about the struggles.

[00:34:02] Mm-hmm. , I mean, not that much. Yeah. I didn't talk about the, the, the failures. Mm-hmm. that much. I, even though I touched on it, you know, the journey I. But of course I look at it because of I come from place with no electricity. It looks better. Yes. . , so in that sense, I have this positive attitude.

[00:34:26] Yeah. But the, it is extremely struggling when you come to a foreign country, , and working with, , strangers mm-hmm. , and they look at you little differently. Mm-hmm. . I mean now, even though in California there is, you know, of course when I came, , there were less than 40,000 people of Indian origin.

[00:34:46] Wow. At the time. Now there are close to 4 million, so Wow. That's really big. But, , people wouldn't know and they all think, , when I, people meet me first time when we talk about we are from India. Oh, that is interesting. So you, you're all snake charmers. This is what happened. I mean, their perception of India was so.

[00:35:07] Right. But this are all change. Yeah. The reason thing, it's, it's say you have a, a very hard time to really culturally assimilate with , the society at that time. But I manage those, but I didn't highlight on any of those things. Mm-hmm. , but also look in my one area, I did say, , because of the, the time I came, the Vietnam War was going Oh yeah.

[00:35:33] And the Vietnam War, , being a graduate student, you cannot get occupational department. But I was working at that time after I finished my masters, not the PhD, I was doing PhD, but my masters, I was working with the North American Difference Command in Colorado Springs, but here. Mm-hmm. . I used to travel.

[00:35:54] I used to go like twice a month to, , Colorado Springs. Mm-hmm. and. Beautiful. I mean, that's where the Cheyenne Mountain, I don't, people may not know it. That's where , the, our defense monitoring system mm-hmm. to work with though. And, but I, because I was also a student, , I became what I called, uh, one a, one A means you are ready to, you know, ship it to yet, no.

[00:36:22] So I got this shipping orders because I took the A test. They have a written exam and the in person exam. But in person exam, you, you know, you pass written exam. I did fairly well. So they posted me, Not in the regular, , army. They posted me in. The intelligence division means beyond the enemy line, , you go in.

[00:36:47] So that's where I'm supposed to go. So I got my marching orders to go in for the training, but since I was, thank God, since I was, uh, I was ready to go. In fact, I started, oh, I say, thank God, you know what? I don't believe any human should have to ever go to war. I, I don't. I just, humans are not created to go to war.

[00:37:05] And I, and I'm sorry for any human that has had to as an American, you know, resident, and I was obligated. I could have many of my friends went to Canada. Many of my friends went back to India. I mean, those things, . I, but I said no. Once I chose my home, I have a. To serve. It's very admirable to go, I mean, to go meaning yeah.

[00:37:30] Whatever the destination is, I will go and seek it. But, , just the day before I was supposed to report, I got a, a, a order from the three star general of the, that then it's called the systems command that was responsible. Mm-hmm. for North American Defense Command. They send a letter, you have an occupation, deferment.

[00:37:51] Cause we are, we're more valuable here in Vietnam, . So that, that was a very, , very kind of a. I, I couldn't inform you my parents mm-hmm. that I, oh yeah, that's a, that's mindblowing too, to think about that. So that, that was a, a major, you know, struggle in the sense, but I, it so happened I overcame not by going, I didn't need to go.

[00:38:18] So that was a, then subsequently even when you work for, you know, big companies like NASA or dod, The, the, the struggles you go through to get the results. Mm-hmm. are extremely, you know, we are working on very, very important missions. I mean, these are not, you know, like when you are ready to go, you take this Mars mission, really big deal.

[00:38:44] When you came up with this new idea, how the hell no, it would work it so you mental, you know, struggles. Those are, but I didn't highlight the, the, the pain or, or the, the, the amount of the hardships you have to go through to make these things happen. Oh, that's the gps. Gps one of the things, because, you know, there are two, two survivability area.

[00:39:13] Mm-hmm. right to the signal, signal itself can be eliminated. Then the, the ground systems could be bombed because we were, those days we were, what do we call the potential. Soviet, we union Cold War, no. Yeah. Nuclear exchange. Yeah. Yeah. I remember these days. Yeah. So they, we had to do, so all these uh, technology related struggles are there.

[00:39:40] Yeah. Frequently when I started companies, like including the first one, Microsoft trades or the other cup, it's not easy, especially take IT stamps, for example, stamp. I went and talked to at least 30 or 40, , venture firms. Everybody liked the idea. I mean, really they thought it's a great technology, it as a potential, but this is a, a binary thing.

[00:40:07] In order to be successful, you have to get a approval by the United States Postal Service. They are the gatekeeper. Yeah. If they say no, you're out. So it's either they will say yes or no. And most of the venture people said, P s has not done anything for the last hundred years. They're not going to do this.

[00:40:28] So I can, you know, if you are developing a drug because if for fda, the periodically drugs, so we can take the risk and go through here, it's very, if you get the approval, come and talk to us. I love this. People are telling you it's not gonna happen and you just went out and you're like, well, watch me . I put my own money.

[00:40:49] Actually, I put almost half a million in my pocket, which is, this is days when I did not have much money at all, but without even telling my wife. Cause it's all money. Because if she knew that, she would've said . But I, I did it because I had this confidence in me. You knew. I knew this was going to work.

[00:41:13] Mm-hmm. , this is the right thing to do. And I mean, the reason I'm making all these, it's life is full of struggles. Yeah. But you have to make the decision based on your confidence, your, uh, desire to reach the destination. Yes. If you don't do it, nobody else will do it. Right. And if you doubt yourself, then don't do it.

[00:41:36] Mm-hmm. , no, you're right. There isn't an internal know. When, if there's something that is right, it just, you feel it and then, you know, , that, that's, you have to be in charge. Yes. You have to say that I'm going to go and not that take chance. You make it happen. Yes. Yes. Just between. Okay. If it happens, if you are on a chance and not go to Las Vegas and do something.

[00:42:00] But, , if you want to do it, you have to have that determination that I'm going to be successful. And you don't let people deter you by telling them by, because they tell you that you can't do it. I mean, I just think about that. I, if you had all those people tell you you can't do it, what if you just stopped, say it won't work.

[00:42:18] Yeah. You, of course you don't have, you have to be, you have to make a decision. , I always tell a CEO makes decisions. Yeah. And when you make decisions, , Of course you have to be based on the best information. . The best judgment. You cannot make a hundred percent of time right decision, but you still have to make decision.

[00:42:41] But in your best of abilities, you make decision and then make it, hey. But yeah, sometimes you have to prevent and make changes going forward, but you have to take it forward. Yeah. You know, you, you talked about the mental struggle and it, it actually was a little enlightening to me cause it's something that I, I wasn't quite thinking about.

[00:43:02] Yes. Through all of these, these programs that you were in and, and, and testing out these new products and ideas that you spent all these millions of dollars to go do, how did you deal with that mental struggle? I mean, when, when it just got to be that mental pressure? What did you do to help with yourself with that?

[00:43:19] Because look, a lot of people are dealing with mental pressure. Is there anything that worked for you? I, I think, , I make, , most of my decisions very calm. Mm-hmm. and collected. I mean, I don't want to say that I meditate or I do yoga. Those are terminology. Mm-hmm. in a way, there is some correlation to it.

[00:43:39] I kind of generally don't make any decisions abruptly. Mm. I make a certain decision and mean without really making it public. I sleep on it. It's smart. Think about it. I mean, I'm not talking every day. Mm-hmm. crucial decision. Yeah. Anything you have to do. I mean this is maybe personal, , while I sleep somewhere rather, , some breakthrough happens and it gives me some clue that has happened to me a number of times, but it's just the brain is probably working.

[00:44:14] I don't know the, how the, the, the neurology thing works. But it has happened to me. I mean, I'm actually, even as a PhD student, when I was trying to solve problems , and, , you could get the right thing I before you go to bed, it'll be, I'll be struggling how to do, but I then go sleep on it next.

[00:44:36] I get a little bright idea. That's great solution. So that has happened to me many times, and probably it happens to many people. Well, and you know, you can actually learn how to, um, bring that more into your life. There's, it's something called the Silva Mindset Method. And, and what you're describing is there's a whole method of, of learning and, and meditations that can actually help you create that in your life so that at night when you go to bed and you think about that problem that you're dealing with, when you wake up, your mind is going through, and when you wake up, it comes up with a solution.

[00:45:07] So it's really, I don't, I I have got any training on that, or I No, you have, naturally I have had that experience because, you know, not, not now even a very SA student, I had a similar, because sometimes I will have a hard time solving or whatever I'm doing. Then I sleep on it and the, the next morning I get up.

[00:45:33] There is a, there is a little clue it'll come and then I go back and do it. It it, it starts. It's so great. I mean, I don't know whether you can train for it. I, I have not trained, but it has happened. That's great. I, I'm curious is, out of all of the life lessons that you have learned throughout your life, what is the one that has brought you the most benefit that you think could benefit others as well?

[00:45:59] I mean, life, I think the, the most important thing to me, being optimistic. Right? Being positive. Mm-hmm. optimistic, meaning not blind optimism. You, you, I mean, as I was just telling you what the pandemic, I see something. Everything. I mean, I can't see much good in now what is happening in Ukraine. I feel very bad for , the people and the in what is the, , devastation going on.

[00:46:26] , even, you know, of course go back and look at the history of the Second World War, the whole devastation, but I'm a student of second word word by that study. I fascinated, I'm fascinated as well. Yeah. , I, I try to learn, right? Cause how could that happen? Right? Is that same thing? It's like, you know, yes.

[00:46:45] I, I don't know. Yeah. But the reason I'm bringing up is I see something. Something positive or some, some aspects of learning from this human atrocities or human creator devastation. But there is something good it can come. So that's a, that's my, I think that's a, you want to look at to make a, something better.

[00:47:13] I have to say that personal philosophy has been, um, one of the key threads through the most thriving, happiest, successful people. And it really, it really is imperative. And, and it's, it, it's just being able to look at whatever is in front of you and, and, and, and yes, you know, it's negative things. There's lots of negative things, but if you can find that, that gift hidden in there or that, that silver lining, lots of different ways that people put it, you know,

[00:47:44] Yeah. I think what you just said is the, I, I honestly believe in it and the human. Evolution and human success or meaning better is because of that, that. Yes. Yes. Completely agree. And, and that's why I like to ask people about their challenges or their, you know, their perceived failures. They, they're difficult just because it, it really, that's where so much of the beauty grows from, you know, the whole, the whole lotus flower coming out of the dirt, you know, I mean, all of the different things that we have to describe it, it's the beauty comes from those difficult moments and, and it comes when we learn from them,

[00:48:23] Exactly. That does not mean that you don't appreciate or you don't recognize the sufferings and how to Hundred percent. You have to know that, and then you make something better of conditions. Yes. You have to feel all those feels you can't ignore and you have to go, I mean, The, yeah, there's lots of, lots of, lots of pain in this world that we go through.

[00:48:47] , I mean, it is a pandemic is one example. Yeah. Most recent is this what is happening in Ukraine, another example. But that's part of the whole world. , a lot, not so great things. Yeah. . But at the same time , as a population, as a human being, there is, and right now we are going through this potential for this climate issue.

[00:49:09] Oh yeah. We have to some more other go out of it. I, by the way, just to speak of, I have come up with the not, it's not my, Solution. I have written, , one section in the book about my solution to the, this climate. I was just gonna ask you, when you say climate change, like, come on. Come on Mohan. Do you have a solution for us?

[00:49:31] What do you got? What is it? You got something for us? Mine needs space related solution. I call, , a sunshade. Okay. In the earth atmosphere or space. There is a place called lag Gran points. The lag points is, is where if you put something there, it follows the sun earth relationship all the time.

[00:49:58] It's not a geo stationary, you know, position. Okay. Or it's not any other. , I just want to give you that, that, but if you can place a, a shade, So let's say you can place the shade. It covers the whole earth. Then if you can place it, it'll be always, it'll be between sun and earth, even Theros. And the sun moves, earth moves around sun and all, but it'll be always there.

[00:50:24] Like a, an umbrella. We, we think umbrella. We always umbrella goes with you, right? Like that. But here I'm not talking about putting an umbrella per se. We can put a, a certain square miles cover and you can even make it like a Lego thing. So you can adjust the , you can select the region if you want to. Yeah.

[00:50:48] Only when I just, so the, the real climate condition is because of the. Radiation coming from side. Yes. Yeah. Even the carbon content and all. Yeah. But this is, this would be a solution that, so if I can put a someway control the, the future temperature change, meaning not make it, you don't make it dark. Yeah.

[00:51:14] You can come True, yeah. Its heat. So you can reflect it to somewhere else such that doesn't go into the earth atmosphere or early. So this is something, I mean, it's not my own, , is this being discussed or we, are you talking about all this stuff? Yeah. Yes, I have. This is, it can be done with the current.

[00:51:36] It's not the, you need to come up with something really great. The only thing is you have to, it'll take some time and a lot of capital because you have to first go to a earth station, like a space station now, then you have to launch everything to that ar altitude, that LaGrand point. And you need a little bit of artificial, , intelligence to, to put everything together.

[00:51:59] But it can be all controlled from, uh, is the government working on this or are you starting a new. You know, I recommend that in fact, it should be treated as a national security. Yes. The, the survival of the planet. Survival of the country. Yes. Means you have to put, I would recommend our space there, you know, we have, we have a space force.

[00:52:22] The space force, or we can create a, a term called climate force or whatever. We need a climate force and bring the highest minds of the country in the world and pull it like Manhattan Project. Yeah. When it was put together, you know what happened when we invented the first nuclear, or , the moon.

[00:52:47] Project Yes. So something similar. There should be a determination. We're going to do it. I mean, doesn't shouldn't stop other things people are doing. Let them continue, whatever. But this can be done and this technology is there, . This is what I put it in my book by the way.

[00:53:04] I, I've been preaching this, but I, I don't have anybody taking that yet. Hopefully somebody will listen to it. Oh, I hope somebody, let's get that . You can promote and say that, look, there is somebody, , who was interested and I could be a, a contributor to that. So this is something very, , , current and something I believe it can be done and it'll solve the problem.

[00:53:29] It's the first thing I've heard of that. It could actually make, make a change soon in, in time. In time, you know? Well, it may take, if you start today, the earliest we can accomplish is about 10 years. I mean, well, that's about sooner than anything else I've heard at this point. Yeah. I mean, but you can achieve, the beauty of that solution is if you do it right, you can manipulate it the way you.

[00:53:57] If you want , Minnesota or some cold countries, little more temperature in the winter months. Oh, wow. You can, I mean, that's, that's a game, that's a complete, complete and total game changer. Holy moly. Yeah, it has a chance. But this is the solution I came up with, but nobody has done anything with it.

[00:54:17] So all but I hope somebody will listen to you. Please. This would good. And I, I'm, in fact, , I suggested it should be a military. Our Air Force should take, it's a security issue because just like a Manhattan project, I mean, they, they took in charge and in fact, I, I happened to meet with the person contributed to , the developing nuclear world, but, You know, but I'm saying it's, it has some similarity to that.

[00:54:45] Mm-hmm. , that was more for a weapon system at the time of the second World War. Right. Yeah. You know, but, , this one is now we are in the middle of this crisis. Yeah. We don't have a lot of time. No, we don't. No. We need to make something needs to happen soon. So we need the solutions. We need, we need people like you making some things happen.

[00:55:04] idea. Mm-hmm. , I mean, there's not that I'm the only person, there are people, you know, talking, using space as a possibility. But this is, I've really defined it much more like, almost like a project. Yeah. But it needs to take it and develop into an executable project that takes more effort. But it can be done.

[00:55:24] Yes. Yes. Please, please people. Let's get this rolling. , you get help on it. That's the best thing coming out of our, this conversation. Oh, it would be miraculous. Absolutely. You know, so I'm curious. Because you, you clearly are very well educated. Uh, have you ever read a book or watched a talk that had a really big impact on you that you think other people could benefit from as well?

[00:55:52] Oh, there are a number of books I have read these three books recently, just, that's why there is a book called Talking to Strangers. Ooh. Oh, I bet that, oh, by Malcolm Gladwell. He's so. Yeah. , this book is very interesting. Sapiens. Sapiens, A brief history of humankind.

[00:56:09] Interesting. So really quick before you, before we go, thank you so much for taking your time.

[00:56:14] My last question, what are you sure of in life?

[00:56:20] Oh, that's a tough one. I mean, I think, , everybody should be tried to, , be happy and if you can accomplish that, that's the, the best thing you can. Yes. Happiness is a, it's very subjective. Mm-hmm. . So , defined for, you know, , everybody the same thing. Yeah. It's, but you need to, uh, reach form of accomplishing something and make you happy.

[00:56:47] Yeah. That means you, you have a duty to contribute to the society. Yes. You do whatever that is. Meaning sometimes it's maybe small, sometimes maybe big, but you feel that you have done it. Yeah. It's yours. What's idea? Yeah. That's my, uh, I mean that's my way of thinking. I love it. Thank you so much for your time.

[00:57:05] I really appreciate Mohan. It has been wonderful. And for anyone to get in touch with you, I'll include a link to your bio and any other links that you want in the show notes as. Yes, anybody can get, get in touch with me. In fact, I can even share my email to you. It's very easy. Somebody wants to contact me.

[00:57:25] The easiest thing is great gmail.com. Perfect. Thank you so much, Mahan. Wonderful. Thanks Julie. So it's a nice talking to you.

Jolie Downs:

I loved talking with Mohan Ananda- what an incredible life already lived. For college, he moved from a remote village in India, where there was no electricity, to the US, a foreign country with a completely different culture and language. It was a huge transition. He went from being a hugely confident student to finding himself really struggling – it was hard for him to understand his professors and classmates at times leading him to have difficulties in following the discussions. 

So what did Mohan think to himself? 

Did he think to himself –I’m not cut out for this? What am I doing here? Maybe I should give up? 

No, he didn’t

He thought to himself

I’m going to need to work harder

YES

YES to this mindset

I’m just going to need to work harder

This is the truth to any goal you really want to reach. There will often be times where it feels like reaching the next step, it’s like it is in another language and you just don’t fully understand what it is you need to do. 

How often do we face these situations and think I’m not good enough, I can’t do this? It’s too much - and then give up? 

But here’s the thing, you are good enough, you can do it, it’s not too much (if it is something you really want) - sometimes you just have to put your nose to the grindstone and just keep working harder.  

Here is the truth. Anything that is unfamiliar will feel uncomfortable and hard. That’s normal. – that uncomfortable feeling, it doesn’t mean what you are doing isn’t right for you or that you re not right for it, it simply means this is something new you have to learn, you have to keep trying, you have to work harder and keep moving forward until that thing become familiar and comfortable. Which anything can become. When I started this podcast, it took me months to release the first episodes because I hated hearing my voice on the podcast – it was unfamiliar and it made me uncomfortable – fast forward a few months into regular productions and I’m wondering to myself, hhhmmm, could I be a voice actor? Big difference right. You have the power to turn any uncomfortable situation into a comfortable one simply by not giving up. 

So that is what Mohan does – he keeps trying and he goes on to become very familiar and comfortable at Cal-tech, thriving and learning a great deal. So much so that he then works for the likes of the Department of Defense and NASA where he is involved with inventions that have impacted each and every one of our lives. He found the interplanetary dimensions, he created patents that are the foundation of our e-commerce market place – and - This is the man who invented the GPS. I can’t even. When I think about the impact of that GPS invention, it’s overwhelming. Just personally, to calculate how much time, heartache and fear that  GPS has saved me in my own personal life is astounding – let alone the impact globally and the amount of lives it has literally saved every year. 

All because in that struggling moment, in a new school, in a new country with a new language, Mohan didn’t give up, he just thought, I’ll have to work harder. And now we can all thank Mohan for the positive impact he has made on our lives. Seriously Mohan, from the depths of my soul, thank you.

After working for the government, Mohan spent years working within the corporate world before breaking out as an entrepreneur himself. He admits to having a couple of stumbles as an entrepreneur, where he learned valuable lessons, before finding his success. Since finding that initial success, Mohan has replicated the process over and over. He starts the company with a strong concept, finds a talented team, makes sure the right capital is in place and then he allows that talent to do what they do best. 

Then he does what he does best, mentoring the team and focusing on new exciting possibilities. He has created success after success, again, his Stamps.com business sold for $6.6 Billion!

How did he have such great success? 

Mohan only does things he enjoys.

If he doesn’t like it. He doesn’t touch it. 

And for him, that is success. 

He knows that if he does what he likes, if he is contributing in a way that makes him happy, then whatever he does, he will excel. He has learned that when you do something because someone else is telling you to do it, often your motivation is bad, your performance is weak.

The lesson he learned is that It’s all about the enjoyment, because when you are doing something you like, it’s much easier to persevere through the challenges and come out on top. It is all about the journey. 

So I ask you – are you enjoying your journey? 

If not, what is something you can do to make your journey more enjoyable? 

Another key to Mohan’s success was believing in himself and listening to himself. With Stamps.com, he talked to all kinds of Venture Capitalists and they all told him they didn’t think it would work. No one was willing to invest because of the high risk. But Mohan had confidence in himself and his idea. He didn’t listen to what other people had to say – he listened to himself and invested in himself. Instead of watching others to see what he should do, he said, why don’t you watch me – and then went out and did exactly what he set out to do. He had that internal knowing and he honored it. You must take charge of your own desires, listen to that knowing inside and take responsibility for making your goals happen. Again – Mohan was told this idea would not work – if he had not believed in himself, if he had not had that confidence to move forward and invest in his own idea, he never would have created Stamps.com and experienced such a massive financial milestone.

Do you listen to yourself? 

Do you let others talk you out of the things you want to do? 

What kind of magic could you create in your own life if you did honor that voice within? I urge you to find out.

I appreciated that Mohan shared that he does not make decisions abruptly. He sleeps on it, he thinks about it, he takes his time to ponder and wonder. He’s found that often when he is a dealing with a problem, by sleeping on it, a solution would come to him in the morning. His brain having worked on the issue while he slept. Mohan is using his natural intuition. This is a great practice to get into and anyone can develop this intuition to gain insight while you sleep. It’s one of the processes taught in the The Silva Ultramind System, a variety of methods and mindsets that help activate the limitless potential of our minds. The concept behind problem solving while asleep follows these steps:

Meditate and get yourself in a calm, grounded, centered state

Visualize the problem you have 

Remember Intention is very powerful so set your intention and  State mentally that you need advice or a solution to your problem and that you will dream of this solution, 

Trust that it will happen.

When you wake, immediately write down everything that you remember or that comes to mind – and you must do this immediately as you will forget within minutes

If you don’t find the answers you seek, try again. Successful dream programming takes patience but once you put this into practice, it will become easier in the future. You can gain valuable information for your life through this simple exercise. Your answers lie inside of you, take the time to listen. 

I wonder if Mohan’s solution for climate change came to him in a dream? Wherever it came from, it sounds brilliant and like a viable solution that actually might work in time to help make a difference. If anyone is listening and has connections to anyone who could do something about this, please pass the information or podcast along so that the right groups can begin working on this potential climate solution. Please – we all need to do whatever we can to move us forward with potential solutions to this global tragedy. 

Finally, I loved what Mohan shared was most important to him and his success- being positive and optimistic. For Mohan, the best thing you can do in life is to try and find something good in everything. There is learning from every situation. His personal method is to look at whatever is in front of him and find that silver lining – how can he make this better? What good can he find in all the darkness? And this is a universal truth – one of the keys to living your best life –it is being able to look and find that gift amongst the ugly wrapping paper. Human success and evolution comes from this. From looking for the good. From looking for the learning. We must take the time to learn from every situation we are faced with. Learning is why we are here. And trust me on this, a lesson will be repeated until it is learned. As Mohan said, suffering and hardships will arrive in our lives without our choice, you can’t ignore it, you must go through it, but you do get to make your own choices. You get to choose where to put your focus. You get to choose to look for the good. 

So that is my wish for us all, that regardless of what life brings your way, you consistently look for the good, choosing to put your focus on the things that lift you up and that you find the hope, the learning and the possibility in every situation. 

Until Next Time