(The Collector’s Podcast — Episode 12)

Shivendra Misra is a yogi, writer, marketer, and entrepreneur. We discussed his spiritual journey, writing process on Medium, his advice to someone who is disheartened, and his book recommendations.

My spiritual journey began when I was working on my startup and things were not going the way I desired. I started exploring the spiritual journey of great entrepreneurs and came across Steve Jobs who visited India to learn meditation techniques. But I got serious in 2019 when I started practicing Kriya Yoga which was taught by Yogananda. And his book Autobiography of a Yogi became a turning point in my life.

It’s ironic to say but my most famous articles on Medium are the least researched. I ideate regularly to never run out of ideas and form a basic outline of my article using the mind-map technique. Sometimes it works but sometimes it doesn't. I write my first draft using this amazing app called Cold Turkey that converts your laptop into a typewriter and gives you a set target to write say 800 words without getting diverted. Then I do multiple rounds of editing, get feedback from my peers, and cite the references.

I felt hopeless when my startups weren’t working and I could see my future crashing down. My advice to the person who feels disheartened and motiveless is to get out of the hustle-bustle of life and tune in with yourself. From a yogic perspective, I feel it’s important to have a free flow of energy to channelize yourself in the right direction.

If there is only one book I could read, I’d choose The Essence of Bhagwada Gita by Paramahansa Yogananda and Swami Kriyananda. This book has a word of God and that’s all you need. If you would read it again and again, this book has all the right tools and techniques to excel in life.

I don’t form long term goals rather go with my intuition. In the future, I don’t necessarily see myself as a great entrepreneur but I’d definitely see myself growing spiritually and using writing as a medium to share my experiences.

Anangsha Alammyan is a published author, top writer on Quora and Medium. We discussed her published novels, incredible journey on medium, and the book recommendations.

How I used the quarantine to the best of my abilities. Work from home has given me more time and flexibility to concentrate on my writing. Though I keep juggling between my full-time job and my passion, I try to make as much time as possible for my writing.

The aim of my novel What Did Tashi Do was to make people aware especially women about cybercrime and the sensitive personal information we share online. Although my novel is fictional, it is based on the real event that happened to me when my Facebook account was hacked and the hacker got access to all my personal images and messages.

One of my Medium articles crossed $100 in a week. I started writing on Medium in early 2020 and did not pay much attention to my work. But when one of the articles got published in a big publication and earned a good amount of $$$, I realized the potential on Medium and wrote every day for almost 4 months consistently. Now, I earn passively through articles I already wrote and concentrate on writing premium pieces.

The Book Sapiens have made me more forgiving by applying cold logic. Another book that stood out for me is The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy which is a science fiction and narrated in a funny tone. This book deals with the constant dilemma of the human race to think about what would life would be if we would have chosen another road.

And whenever you try to do something different, people around you will try to pull you down and project their own insecurities. But believe in yourself and keep learning.

Dr. Rebecca Ruth Gould is a writer, translator, and Professor of Islamic Studies and Comparative literature at the University of Birmingham. Her poetry and translations have been nominated twice for the Pushcart Prize. You can check out her almanac of reading log too.

I have done a wide variety of work but my most lasting experience was my stay in Tbilisi from 2004 to 2006. I was a Russian literature undergraduate and did research that very few people had seen. Other than this, I love writing about fiction and poetry. The fact that I’m free to explore different genres in writing helps me to love what I do.

Each time I visit Iran, I’m blown away by the vibrancy of the culture. Although people in Iran are very well-read, there is a scarcity of intellectual jobs in Iran. While I was in Iran, I saw a theatrical play that resonated with Iran; the protagonist was highly educated but felt superfluous in the society. I recorded the play and it inspired me to write Watching Chekhov in Tehran.

I went to Chechnya in 2003 on my own to know more about the Chechen. It was a war zone and I had to stay in the refugee camp with the Chechen family. As an American, I grew up in a homogenous society and could not study different languages or cultures of different parts of the world. When I went to Berkeley, it was a transformative moment in my life. Literature was already my first love and I loved reading novels from Dostoevsky which aroused my interest to know more about Russian culture and history.

Reading poetry is therapeutic and I love to do that in my free time.

Hello Everybody,

This is the final episode of The Collector's Podcast Season 1. We invite writers from all over the world to write for our writing publication on Medium. Check out the guidelines here- https://medium.com/the-collector/how-to-contribute-to-the-collector-d93a03be1302?source=friends_link&sk=350190fea0abe5d6b1fb244c8834bda1

For any further questions, please email to [email protected]

This time we invited Kate Lee 'Emerald'. She is based out of Seoul, South Korea, and is the founder and CEO of Life of Emerald. A mental health advocate, a visionary, and a humanitarian. 

The mission statement of Life of Emerald-

Kate's company (Life of Emerald) runs some exciting courses on cultivating happiness within you- https://30dayhappiness.com/.

We talked about the vision of her company, the taboos around mental health, and her recommendations on the best online courses one can look out for if you're interested in entrepreneurship.

Hello Everybody. Welcome to episode eight of The Collector's Podcast.

This time we had a conversation with Ajita Mahajan. Ajita is a content creator who writes fun, inspirational, and travel stories from her personal experiences. Before switching into this profile, she worked with Amazon and chose her passion over a paycheck.

We discussed how she pitches for freelance work and markets her personal brand, her traveling experiences, and what is her short term goals.

Ajita is a writer on Medium. https://aj91.medium.com/

Hello Everybody, Welcome to episode 7 of The Collector's Podcast.

In this episode, we had a conversation with Sonali Saxena. Sonali is a Mum of a precocious 12-year-old boy who passionately believes that the world can be made a better place by investing in our kids. She is a qualified teacher and facilitator with over 15 years of experience in the corporate world managing customer operations. An avid blogger and writer, she loves sharing her personal experiences through her writing. 

We talked about how millennials and Gen Z who have lost the art of concentration can develop the habit of reading books. How amateur writers can initiate their writing journey and what's her next goal in life.

Do check it out.

Welcome to another episode of The Collector's Podcast with Dr. Michael Austin.

Dr. Austin is a provost for academic affairs at the University of Evansville. He is a published author for a couple of books and a former English professor.

We talked about -

1. His latest book 'We must not be enemies- Restoring America's Civic Tradition'. https://www.amazon.com/Must-Not-Enemies-Restoring-Tradition/dp/1538121255

2. How American democracy will be impacted if Trump will not concede.  

3. His opinion on partisan media and how to reduce political polarization.

4. And lastly discussion on his upcoming book on 'Education and Democracy'

Hey Guys, Welcome to Episode 5 of The Collector's Podcast.

In this episode, I had a crisp conversation with Mehek Kapoor. She is a product designer by profession and is based out of the Netherlands.

Mehek started her writing journey in 2010 and published a handful of books. She writes for quora and has more than 33k followers. She diversified her writing profile and writes on Medium.

Mehek shared some interesting insights about how a new writer can start their writing journey on the Medium platform, grow followers organically, and how to avoid writer's block.

Hey Guys,

Welcome to episode 4 of The Collector's Podcast. Another week and another special guest on our show Jhemmylrut (JE-MIL-ROOT) Teng. She is a Senior PR and ex-reporter for TV5 and Bloomberg.

We had a candid conversation on partisan media, the explosion of social media and everyone being a citizen journalist, how we as ordinary people can be sane in this digital world, and last but not least,  how media channels are playing dirty tactics and showcasing sensationalism for TRPs and breaking news.

She shared her wisdom on how we as common people can question the news that is being telecasted and validate it too!

All this is available in our episode. Do check it out. 

Jhemmylrut writes on Medium and recently she won the October writing challenge of The Collector's publication. Here is the free link to check out her article.

https://medium.com/the-collector/the-lady-school-teacher-who-silently-slayed-200-japanese-forces-in-wwii-3965d6ce9d6a?source=friends_link&sk=0915dc27a8e9d99327be058af676e0a4

Hi Guys, Welcome to Episode 3 of The Collector's Podcast.

In this episode, I had an insightful conversation with Maya about racial literacy, her views on how equipped the US schools are to teach the future generation about race, the dramatic polarization that has occurred due to the exponential growth of social media platforms, and how we as citizens can come out the shackles of race, religion, and color.

She is a lover of academia and has recommended some excellent books on African-American history. She wants to educate the audience about race in an entertaining way while not using jargon.

Maya hosts 'The Renegade Professor Podcast' and that is available on all major platforms. Do check it out too.