Do Epic Shit
Align your actions, values, and mindset to create lasting success
Book Edition Details
Summary
In a world where dreams pivot and ambition takes unforeseen turns, Ankur Warikoo crafts an exhilarating blueprint for life in his debut book, *Do Epic Shit*. As an icon of wit and candor, Warikoo distills his transformation from aspiring space engineer to a beacon of personal growth and entrepreneurial wisdom. With razor-sharp insights, he unravels the art of habit formation, the mastery of financial acumen, and the profound acceptance of failure as a stepping stone to success. This book is a treasure trove of lessons on empathy and the essence of meaningful relationships, inviting you to underline its truths and revisit its pages. Whether you’re seeking inspiration or a guide to living an impactful life, this is the book to share and cherish.
Introduction
Picture a young man standing in his professor's office, having just been asked a simple question about a physics theorem. Despite having memorized every proof perfectly, he finds himself unable to explain the underlying rationale. "Haven't seen anyone remember this so well," the professor remarks, "I wonder how much of it you truly understand?" In that moment of crushing realization, the student apologizes and walks out, eventually dropping out of his PhD program entirely. This scene captures the essence of a profound journey from academic achievement to authentic self-discovery. The author's path wasn't paved with conventional success stories, but rather built upon a foundation of spectacular failures, financial struggles, and moments of deep uncertainty. From failed IIT attempts to startup collapses, from borrowed money to maxed-out credit cards, these experiences became the unexpected curriculum for understanding what truly matters in life. Through raw honesty and hard-won wisdom, this exploration reveals how our relationship with failure shapes our capacity for genuine success. The pages ahead offer not polished theories, but lived truths about building habits that transform, developing money mindsets that liberate, and cultivating self-awareness that guides better decisions. Each insight emerges from real struggles with entrepreneurship, relationships, and the ongoing work of becoming who we're meant to be.
The Making of an Entrepreneur: Lessons from Multiple Failures
At twenty-nine, the author found himself in a familiar yet devastating position: jobless, broke, and directionless. This wasn't his first rodeo with rock bottom. Years earlier, he had witnessed his father cry for the first time after his IIT rejection, a moment that crystallized how failure ripples through families and dreams. The pattern continued through multiple rejections from prestigious institutions, a PhD abandonment, and eventually being fired by his own MBA classmate from their startup. What emerged from these experiences wasn't bitterness, but a revolutionary understanding of failure's true purpose. Each setback revealed crucial insights about persistence, authenticity, and the difference between working hard and working smart. The author discovered that luck isn't random fortune but the eventual outcome when preparation meets opportunity. His failure resume became his most valuable credential, teaching him that showing up consistently matters more than initial talent, and that being replaceable in tasks while irreplaceable in vision defines great leadership. The entrepreneurial journey demanded brutal self-honesty about capability versus intent. Building teams meant recognizing that people would rather work for a competent leader with rough edges than an incompetent one with perfect manners. Trust became the ultimate currency, earned not through promises but through consistent delivery on commitments. The hardest lesson proved to be that entrepreneurship isn't a profession but a state of mind, one that transforms how you approach problems regardless of your job title. These failures weren't detours from success but the very foundation upon which authentic achievement could be built. They taught that true entrepreneurship begins with understanding yourself deeply enough to lead others toward something meaningful, turning every setback into a stepping stone toward genuine freedom and fulfillment.
Building Habits That Transform: From Discipline to Financial Wisdom
The author's relationship with money began in childhood poverty, watching his parents fill ballpoint pen refills for income while ensuring their children never felt the weight of their financial struggles. This early exposure to scarcity created a complex dance with money that would take decades to untangle. The author made costly mistakes: taking loans for real estate assuming appreciation would cover interest, investing windfalls in high-risk startups instead of paying down debt, and maintaining an unsustainable lifestyle fueled by credit cards and irrational optimism about future earnings. The transformation came through recognizing that habits, not goals, create lasting change. Instead of chasing financial targets, he learned to build systems around money management. This meant tracking every expense, scheduling bill payments, and treating time as his most valuable asset. He discovered that waking up early isn't about the alarm clock but about sleeping on time, that reading becomes natural when books are placed where you can see them, and that productivity soars when you design your environment to support your intentions. His wife's gold purchases and mutual fund investments, which he had once mocked, became their financial lifeline during multiple crises. This humbling experience taught him that respecting different approaches to money often proves wiser than dismissing them. The author learned to calculate tax-adjusted and inflation-adjusted returns, understanding that apparent wealth means nothing without liquidity when emergencies strike. The deeper lesson transcended money management: habits become the compound interest of personal development. Small, consistent actions in financial discipline mirror the patience required for all meaningful growth. Building wealth requires the same mindset as building character - showing up daily, making slightly better choices, and trusting that time will reveal the power of consistency over intensity.
Relationships and Self-Awareness: The Foundation of True Success
During the early years of fatherhood, the author realized he had lost his partner to his son's mother. The woman who had been his confidante and closest friend seemed consumed by the demands of raising their child, leaving him feeling isolated within his own family. This crisis forced him to confront a painful truth: true partnership in parenting requires both parents to actively participate, not just financially provide. The revelation came when his son drew family pictures consistently showing daddy holding a phone, capturing six years of physical presence but emotional absence. The journey toward deeper relationship awareness began with examining the stories we tell ourselves about others' motivations. His mother's wisdom echoed through difficult moments: "What would they be thinking?" This simple question transformed conflicts into opportunities for understanding. He learned that holding grudges requires enormous energy, energy that could be redirected toward healing and growth. The author discovered that empathy cannot be taught - you either possess the innate ability to understand others' experiences or you don't - but respect can be cultivated and often proves more valuable than sympathy. Self-awareness emerged as the cornerstone of all healthy relationships, beginning with the relationship with oneself. The author learned to ask uncomfortable questions: Would you be friends with yourself? Would you marry yourself? The answers revealed patterns of self-betrayal that infected every other connection. True respect, he realized, comes not from titles or achievements but from how we treat others when no one is watching, especially those who have nothing to offer us in return. The most profound relationships became those where disagreement coexisted with understanding, where love meant accepting someone fully rather than trying to change them. This wisdom extended to parenting, where the author learned to see his children as complete individuals deserving of respect, not projects to be perfected. The path to authentic connection always led through the sometimes painful work of knowing and accepting yourself first.
Summary
The journey from repeated failures to authentic success reveals that our greatest setbacks often become our most valuable teachers, transforming us in ways that conventional achievement never could. Through the author's raw honesty about financial mistakes, relationship struggles, and entrepreneurial disasters, we discover that true freedom comes not from avoiding failure but from developing the self-awareness to learn from it deeply. The cultivation of daily habits that honor our values, the patience to let compound growth work its magic, and the courage to build genuine connections based on mutual respect create a foundation for success that transcends external validation. This exploration ultimately shows us that the path to meaningful achievement requires embracing our humanity fully - our mistakes, our vulnerabilities, and our capacity for growth. When we stop running from our failures and start mining them for wisdom, we unlock the freedom to make choices from awareness rather than fear. The greatest success lies not in perfection but in the ongoing courage to show up authentically, to treat our time and relationships as sacred, and to trust that our unique combination of scars and strengths can serve others on their own journeys toward freedom and fulfillment.
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By Ankur Warikoo
