By the time you read this on Sunday afternoon, I will be just getting back from spending a few days in Goa to celebrate my mom’s 70th birthday with our extended family.

But when I wrote this, it was only Thursday, and I was feeling like I had lost something that was a part of me. I’d just gotten back after dropping off Gabru, our five-year-old indie, at his regular boarding kennel. Trust me, I am not exaggerating one bit when I say that he’s our second son. 

This was him, en route.

I am not normally an anxious person and prefer to take life as it comes. And yet, my anxiety kept building up through the week as the final drive to the kennel drew closer.

Compared to purebreds, indies (and I am generalising a bit) don’t take to separation and boarding as easily. So, I know Gabru is going to be sulking at the kennel, surrounded by boisterous and eager Goldens and Labradors and Beagles, wondering why his parents left him all alone. (Someday we’ll discuss the annoying exuberance and happiness of purebreds).

Now this is going to sound like the most awkward of segues, but today I want to talk about why it is important for us to not just leave behind what we created every now and then, but perhaps even destroy it. Here’s this Sunday’s First Principles newsletter, also edition 21. 

I. Destroy your past
II. Upcoming FP Podcast guests
III. #FPBooks
IV. #SilentSunday
V. #FPHabits
VI. #MoodSongs
VII. Interesting Reads

Tip: If your default setting is to not show images within emails, please consider turning it off for this newsletter. Or else, you’ll miss many of the interesting images and photos we carry each Sunday.

I. Let go of your past

It starts in our early 30s, but we shrug it off and soldier on. By the time we’re hitting 40, it’s hard to ignore.

It’s the “mid-career crisis”.

Products of a system that (largely) emphasises cumulative and accretive career growth, we spend the first 10-15 years of our professional lives trying to build upon the foundations of our college education or first job.