LIFE 3H by Alok Gotam

↳ Stories on Life, Intelligence, and Everything In Between!

Author: Alok Gotam

  • A Decade of Discovery: From IIM-A to AI

    Reflections on the last decade 10 years back, it was Jun-end 2009 when I joined IIM-Ahmedabad. For the last 4 years, I was in the Himalayas … It was a world complete in itself, everybody around me was aspiring to become the God … Here at IIM-A, I was a misfit. IIM-A was a different…

  • The Life 3H Framework: A Blueprint for Lasting Happiness, Success, and Inner Peace

    Life is a journey of personal growth, success, and spiritual balance. To help navigate this journey, the Life 3H Framework emphasizes three essential dimensions: Happiness, Highness, and Holiness. Together, these three dimensions offer a holistic approach to living a fulfilling life, where emotional well-being, professional achievement, and inner peace coexist harmoniously. Each of these dimensions…

  • A Modern Approach to Eudaimonia – Living a Good Life

    Comparing Life 3H Framework and Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs The quest for a good life has captivated psychologists, philosophers, and thinkers throughout history. Two significant models—Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs, introduced in 1943, and the Life 3H Framework, which I introduced in 2009—offer distinct perspectives on human progression from basic survival to higher-order fulfillment. While Maslow’s…

  • F-Value, F-Ratio and Our Fulfilment Need

    Each of us carries within us core drives that shape our pursuit of Happiness (social connects), Highness (success), and Holiness (inner peace). These drives exist in unique ratios (F-Ratio) that define our motivations and satisfaction in life.  Imagine plotting these drives on a graph: the distribution of our happiness drive among the global population would…

  • Mind Over Matter: Meditation, Mastery, and the CAT Exam

    I was in the Himalayas, I didn’t open a book for 4 years. I decided to do my MBA. Planned to join some coaching institute. Called few friends to find out who’s living alone and has a spare room. Zeroed in on Sachin, he was living alone in a 2BHK in Kanpur. I shifted to…

  • The Quest for a Good Life: Uncovering the LIFE 3H Framework

    I enrolled at IIT Kanpur, a well-known engineering college in Northern India, for my Bachelor of Technology program. Like many others, I believed this accomplishment had secured my future, setting me on a clear path to success and fulfilment. But during my first year, a reunion of the 25-year alumni batch altered that belief. As…

  • Encountering Infinity: A Diwali Spent with Escher, Poincaré, and Penrose

    I so love this pot on my desk, it feels like Escher’s Circle Limit. A world complete in itself, with its own laws of mathematics, having its own time-space … It reminds me of the first time I had encountered the idea of circle limit. It was 2004, I was in JNU … planned to…

  • Challenging Conventions: A Tale of Academic Integrity and Intellectual Independence @JNU

    The author recounts their experience with Professor Bakshi, discussing Plato’s Theory of Justice, and their choice to pursue their own theories instead of traditional academics.

  • In Search of Enlightenment: A Journey into the Spiritual Heart of the Himalayas

    In summer 2003, the narrator and his friend Sandeep journeyed to the Himalayas in search of spiritual enlightenment. Their experiences in various ashrams led to disillusionment with traditional practices. After dialogues with multiple teachers, they ultimately returned to Delhi, with the narrator enrolling at JNU for his Master’s degree, planning another Himalayan trip later.

  • Embracing Equanimity: My Journey into Vipassana Meditation

    It was the year 1999, I was in BA 1st Year. I happened to meet a Vipassana Teacher … got indulged in argument … he was not very good with reasoning but he gave me the hard copy of a 4–5 page Newsletter on “What happens at Death?” published by Vipassana Research Institute, and highly…