Murphy's Notes

Learn why being 'deaf' to negativity might be your superpower. Through the inspirational story of a deaf frog, we break down 5 crucial lessons about success, personal growth, and following unconventional paths. Essential listening for entrepreneurs, dreamers, and anyone challenging the status quo.

For centuries, people have asked the question “What is the essence of life?”. Why do we have to keep struggling to make ends meet even though they never meet until we leave this world? What’s the point? In today’s note, I share some thoughts on this.

If you’ve watched the movie “Back to the Future”, you’re familiar with the concept of how a tiny distortion in the space-time continuum can lead to a completely different chain of events that create a whole new universe. In today’s note, we explore the inches that define our lives. The seemingly little things that have far-reaching effects.

If you're seeing this, there’s a good chance you have over 20 to 50 tabs open on your browser. The question is why? You keep telling yourself that you’ll go back to those things and six months have passed. In today’s note, I share five things I do to stay sane and productive aside from closing browser tabs.

Last week, in the middle of my workday, I had a “friendly” conversation with a scammer over the phone. It was not the first time I received such a call but I picked up a few lessons from the encounter and that’s what I share on today’s note.

This title is not a parable; I mean it literally. Take pictures no matter where you are now or what is happening in your life. You’ll need them.

“If you have everything you need before you start, you started too late!” Our natural instinct is to be fully ready before we begin, but there’s a thrill that comes with tackling challenges as they surface. You may never start if you wait till you have all the loopholes covered, and focusing too much on the big picture can get overwhelming. Trust your gut, start, tackle what is right in front of y...

The best way to learn business is to be in business. Today, we wrap up our three-part series on the utopian school system as we talk about an educational paradigm that upholds the three pillars that we talked about in the last note - The Igbo Apprenticeship system. This is a a traditional economic model originating from the Igbo ethnic group in southeastern Nigeria and is globally recognised and t...

Which is more important? The school of books or the school of life? Formal or informal education? They may not be equally important but both worlds have strengths ans weaknesses. How about we take the strengths of each system and create a new one that works better for everyone? In today’s note, we talk about three key pillars of the utopian school system - individualised learning, practical projec...

Today, we begin a mini-series on the utopian school system. The first school that a child is exposed to is the home school. Unfortunately, many home schools are not effective, leading to a one-sided education for most children. In this note, I share a personal experience of how my childhood environment and family shaped my life. I also share some suggestions on decision adjustments that we can mak...

You’re never truly independent until you’re financially independent. This note is a sequel from last week. Most people do not realise that you can “lose your voice” if you’re dependent on someone outside of yourself for your basic needs. In today’s note, we talk about some steps you can take to retain your voice for the long term whether you’re young or old. Slight correction from the video "...

A lot of people are living their lives according to a script. The challenge is that there are some inherent flaws in the script that a lot of people do not realise until it’s too late. You won’t be working 9 to 5 your entire life. Do you have a solid retirement plan? If your pension or retirement benefits are your sole retirement plan, you might need to think again. Today’s note is food for though...

We've always been encouraged to work hard. Hardwork is good, but you may be working hard on the wrong things. Sometimes, you need to apply a few principles and optimise processes to get better results with greater efficiency, less time, and less work.

As a kid, I thought I’d bag all the degrees and then start life. What I did not realise was that things do not really follow a definite sequence that way; it's all a mix. In this episode, we emphasise that beyond degrees, it's important to commit to lifelong learning.

Have you ever thought deeply about the rationale behind employing people based on their years of experience? Well… Experience is not always a result of years. You can put in more years on paper but you’re less experienced in practice. In this note, we talk about the various factors that might make a student to outgrow their mentor or teacher. We also emphasise that it’s important for students and...

Evolution and Revolution are taking place and we can hardly control it. It’s usually small gradual changes over time that ultimately aggregate into a quantum leap when considered together. Many people do not notice the small gradual changes taking place and then they feel left behind when they look back and suddenly realise that things have evolved. To a large extent these changes may not be withi...

Welcome to Season 3 of Murphy's notes. On this note, we do a recap of some of the highlights from season two. Hope you enjoy this 10-minute summary.

Life is in phases and what works well in one phase may be your greatest undoing beyond a certain point. It's important to identify when a phase is over and adjust for the new phase. A safety belt today could be a trap tomorrow. Know when to unstrap!

While it is good to emulate people and draw inspiration from them, we must be wary of trying to be someone else. Oscar Wilde rightly said “Be yourself, everyone else is taken!”. You can never be the best version of anyone else but yourself. Embrace your uniqueness and ensure that you do not simply copy and paste someone else’s template blindly.

In the last few years, I have dabbled into a couple of investments primarily to make money and build wealth. They didn’t all go as planned but I did learn a few good lessons from them. I’ve summarised these into eight tips I think would be useful, particularly for young adults.

Sometimes your plans work and turn out beautiful. Other times, your plans fail… like fail completely, but your failed plans point you in a different direction and you realise that the failed plan was the best thing that ever happened to you because it just helped you to discover your true path and purpose. That’s the power of Serendipity.

Inspired by Don Williams’s song “Crying in the Rain”, this note is a reminder that we all need people in our lives with whom we can be our absolute selves. If you’ve got such people, you don’t have to cry in the rain and you’re truly blessed.

Beyond your skills and competencies, how connected are you? And no, by connection, I do not mean gaining undue advantage through corruption, I mean the people in your network that can speak for you in the places that matter. Stay connected!

It's Children's Day in Nigeria and today's episode is inspired by two children characters from my favourite shows - Dexter from "Dexter's Laboratory", and Sheldon from "Young Sheldon". The key lesson for today is that more often than not, mastery is a by-product of obsession.

In today's note, we share the story of how monkeys are captured with a special innovative trap created by some Indian hunters. We're faced with two choices: let go of the nuts or become monkey meat. What are your nuts? Let go and run free!