Episode 4
Datta Korde
Tech executive and author of Being Boundless on ego, career ethics, failure, and a long, intimate conversation on prayer, death, and faith.
In their words
Pull quotes
"Arrogance is about, I know it, I have it, and I am the best. The moment the ego takes control of my life, that's where arrogance comes in. While the ego is in control and I use the skills that I have, that is what I'll call confidence."
"A person who has this knowledge does not say that I am angry. They will say, I am experiencing anger. And when you say that, you create a gap between the true you and the emotion. In that gap, you can use the anger to do the right thing."
Watch the episode
What this one is about
What this episode is about
Tech executive and author Datta Korde walks the full World, Self, God arc across the longest episode in the catalog: modern warriorship and doomscrolling, ego versus arrogance, the attention economy, career ethics when a job conflicts with your values, failure and how to actually recover from it, and family and cultural expectations around relationships and caste.
It closes with a long, intimate second segment on prayer, death, and his own relationship with God. Grounded throughout in the Bhagavad Gita, the Upanishads, and his own immigrant-to-New-Jersey story, he keeps returning to a few practical anchors: you control your actions, not the results; emotions are things you experience, not things you are; and detachment is a practiced skill, not numbness.
Best for a listener who feels like they're succeeding on paper but still asking "is this it," anyone caught between two cultures or two sets of family expectations, and anyone who wants concrete language for anxiety, ego, and grief without it being framed as illness.
Key moments
Listen for the part where…
- you're doing fine on paper but keep wondering if there's more to life▸ 1:33
- you were raised between two cultures and don't know which identity is really you▸ 5:41
- you hit every goal and the finish line just keeps moving▸ 7:48
- you want a happiness that doesn't run out or depend on your circumstances▸ 10:22
- you're not sure it's okay to feel angry▸ 11:59
- your emotions take over and you lose control in the moment▸ 12:30
- you can't tell if you're being confident or just arrogant▸ 13:33
- you feel like you should have gotten rid of your ego by now▸ 14:34
- you feel too flawed or messy to start any kind of self-work▸ 16:08
- doomscrolling negative news leaves you feeling like the world is falling apart▸ 16:40
Show all 36 moments
- you feel like your real battles happen entirely inside your own head▸ 18:45
- you suspect your phone is running you, not the other way around▸ 19:47
- you're worried about what constant scrolling is doing to you or your kids▸ 22:22
- you feel stuck inside the 9-to-5, commute, repeat script▸ 23:54
- you're in a bad situation and don't see a way out▸ 24:58
- detachment sounds like it might just be numbness or depression▸ 31:14
- you're anxious about outcomes you can't actually control▸ 32:23
- you prayed for something specific once and it didn't "work," so now you doubt prayer▸ 35:27
- anxiety before something big undermines all the preparation you actually did▸ 36:58
- you're scared that success or power will turn you into someone you don't like▸ 39:02
- you're stuck at a job whose ethics you don't fully believe in but you need to pay the bills▸ 41:08
- you don't have the flexibility to just quit and walk away from a bad job or situation▸ 42:10
- you keep staying in something that's bad for you because it's familiar▸ 42:42
- you've only ever failed small (a bad grade) and you're scared of what real failure feels like▸ 46:19
- you don't know how to move on after a real setback▸ 47:20
- you keep repeating the same mistakes instead of learning from them▸ 48:52
- you're torn between who you love and what your family or culture expects of you▸ 49:54
- you're afraid to be vulnerable or show weakness in front of your own family▸ 51:27
- you've tried everything to make a relationship or family conflict work and it's still not landing▸ 51:58
- you're questioning whether caste or religious tradition still matters or has just become division▸ 53:31
- conflicting advice and too many frameworks have left you unsure what's actually true▸ 56:07
- you moved somewhere with no faith community and your practice is slipping▸ 1:05:53
- you're afraid of dying▸ 1:11:33
- your comfortable life has left you feeling bored, soft, or unchallenged▸ 1:19:51
- you're not religious or spiritual at all but still feel overwhelmed by your emotions▸ 1:26:05
- you're struggling to make sense of war, poverty, and suffering in the world▸ 1:28:39