Anirudh Dharmagadi is a Content Creator who posts a lot of empowering content on Instagram. Apart from this, he is also a digital marketing consultant, growth hacker, and startup mentor, who has been in the industry for more than a decade. Based in Mumbai, Maharashtra, he has a degree from the Indian Institute of Management, Lucknow.
During the peak time of his career, Anirudh Dharmagadi struggled to find his true meaning in life. At this time, he used Instagram as a platform to create videos and primarily help himself find answers to his life’s purpose.
The content creator has now has a strong base of nearly 7000 followers on his Instagram where he posts short videos that are knowledgeable and approving.
In his conversation with Icy Tales, Anirudh Dharmagadi opened up on his struggles, how he finds answers to his mind’s questions, and his opinion on topics like failure, and dealing with personal and professional insecurities.
“Until last year, I feel like I’ve been sleepwalking throughout my life” – Anirudh Dharmagadi
Anirudh Dharmagadi didn’t find himself not fully awake until last year, because he felt like he wasn’t productive enough owing to his capabilities.
“I was just taking life from weekend to weekend. Although I was doing great in my professional career, I went through my share of tough times.“
At this point, he fell prey to stress, depression, and anxiety, eventually making him question what he was chasing.
“I was having a mid-life crisis back then”, he says. During this time, Anirudh Dharmagadi took a 4-month long break where he discovered himself and his purpose in life. He read a lot of content that made him understand and learn different perspectives on life.
He remembers listening to a podcast by Naval Ravikant where a quote from it grabbed his attention. Naval Ravikant quoted that, ‘Everyone has two lives and the second one begins when you realize that you only have one’
Anirudh Dharmagadi was touched by that quote as it made him realize the importance of making the right choices. “I was chasing a lot of things that didn’t really matter to me, that’s when I realized where I was falling short.”
He unhesitatingly also admitted that he did engineering, joined the Technology field, and pursued a degree in MBA only because it was the most happening thing.
I was getting paid really well in my jobs but there were times when I felt stressed and really burnt out. The stress, anxiety, and depression really made me question what I was chasing. My life checked all the boxes on paper, but in reality, it wasn’t like that. All my choices were clearly based on FOMO, and never because I thought it would add value to my life”.
“The fact that I had no answer to what would be my purpose in life, was very interesting” – Anirudh Dharmagadi
Anirudh Dharmagadi struggled multiple times to find the right purpose in his life because the content creator had to draw the line between his likes, and what exactly is he expecting from life. He calls it a very philosophical question because he was very confused back then.
Anirudh Dharmagadi also agrees that the content he puts on Instagram is not from a content creator’s point of view. “It is just me trying to find answers for myself”, he says, upon asking about his content.
Anirudh Dharmagadi accepts that the content that he creates is already out there on social media. Insights are democratized, actions are not”, He is now in that phase of life where he is trying to bridge the gap between changing insights to actions.
Anirudh Dharmagadi uses examples of Biology, Psychology, and Philosophy, as he believes that these three are linked to a person’s well-being. He also shares that he creates content for a selfish reason as well as an unselfish reason.
“The selfish reason would be that my content makes me feel accountable and it also helps to take action and imbibe it in myself. Also, if it helps me, I am sure a lot of people will relate and help themselves too.”
“I am running some experiments for myself through the content I am putting out there. My content is not anything new, everyone knows everything but doing it is all that matters. If people are benefitting from my content, then great, and if they don’t, it is completely fine”.
“Failure is an existential threat” – Anirudh Dharmagadi
Anirudh Dharmagadi believes that sometimes fear brings about a very dangerous atmosphere because some people stop putting things into action, with the sole purpose of fear of failing. He aims to push people to never stop trying things because he perceives that it is okay to fail sometimes.
“If you act, and then fail, it is completely okay; only then you will realize what failure feels like. Only if you fail multiple times, you will get the urge to get better and realize that it was a very small thing compared to what you thought it would be”.
Upon finding out what Anirudh Dharmagadi does to react to failure, he says “I take the smallest step possible, work on it through action, and if I succeed, then good and if I don’t, I will try to get better at it.”
He urges people to see and realize that failure is not life-ending. Actual confidence in life will only appear from failure because people have the tendency to bounce back after failing, is his belief.
Anirudh Dharmagadi also highlights the importance of having a family, trusted friends, or someone to talk to, during times of failure. He recognizes such people as those who are like the light and can guide others during bad times. “You are outsourcing your brain to some trusted people, and it will feel great!”, he says.
The content creator also recalls a piece of advice given to him by a mill owner; that he follows very well even today. “He said that people don’t have much adversity in their lives. He stated that he doesn’t like it when life goes smoothly and when life is going well, he creates a situation and puts himself in adversity so that he can deal better with life”
Although it seems like out-of-the-box advice, but he believes in it and strongly vouches for it.
“If you are coursing smoothly in life, there is a problem. Put yourself in a situation and trust me, coming out of it will help you level up and get better. This was one of the primary reasons I quit many of my jobs, although everything was going on so well; I just wanted to bring out the best in me. Some level of nervousness is always good because you’re doing something you thought would be very hard to do”.
Anirudh Dharmagadi aims to encourage people to work on themselves by finding out the real meaning of their lives. He continues to post content on Instagram while beautifully balancing his professional life as well, eventually helping many people across the globe.
Check out the insightful conversation with Anirudh Dharmagadi on our YouTube Channel.
Last Updated on by Himani Rawat
