Win 2024 With My Top 24 Hacks For New Year, Relationship, Money & Health | FO 153 | Raj Shamani
with Raj Shamani
Executive Summary
Raj Shamani closes the year with his top 24 hacks, learned from observation and from people wiser than him, across influence, relationships, mental fitness, health and money. He covers why being interesting and being a listener shape a career, how the Ben Franklin effect builds closeness by asking for favors, why partners should make each other important instead of only complaining about priorities, the never-cry-alone rule and sitting with people in their lowest moments, a 1-minute anti-procrastination rule, fiber-before-junk for blood sugar, and why finding your own red flags beats hunting for everyone else's.
Key Takeaways
24 habits, not resolutions
Raj frames the episode as hacks he actually implemented in his own life, gathered from observing people with more wisdom, and says they made his life much better.
Influence starts with being interesting and being a listener
He credits listening as the skill his entire career is built on, and treats depth in one subject as what makes a person worth knowing.
Compliment the thought process, not just the result
Praising how someone thinks lands deeper than praising what they achieved.
The Ben Franklin effect
Asking someone for a small favor can bring you closer than doing one for them, because people grow fonder of those they help.
Say 'tell me more' instead of arguing
In hyper-emotional moments he asks his partner to explain her feelings, which defuses the fight before it starts.
Relationships fail on unspoken priorities
Instead of only complaining that a partner does not prioritize you, make the other person feel important first.
Never cry alone, and sit with people in the mud
He argues the weakest moments are exactly when you need company, and real support means being present at someone's lowest point rather than only celebrating their wins.
The Conversation Breakdown
Why this episode: 24 hacks, not resolutions
⏱ Untimed topicRaj opens with his year-end solo format: 24 points he has learned or observed from people with more wisdom around him, all implemented in his own life. His first influence hack: be interesting - go deep enough in something that you can hold a real conversation about it.
Influence hack 2: be a listener, the skill behind his career
⏱ Untimed topicHe says his entire career got built on being a listener, and listening well is what turns contacts into relationships.
Compliment the thought process and ask for favors (Ben Franklin effect)
⏱ Untimed topicCompliment how people think rather than only their outcomes, and ask for small favors: people grow closer to those they help.
'Tell me more': defusing hyper-emotional arguments
⏱ Untimed topicWhen his partner gets hyper-emotional, he stops counter-arguing and asks her to explain what she feels; the emotion drops and the real point surfaces.
Relationships: make your partner important, stop the priority complaints
⏱ Untimed topicCouples keep complaining about not being prioritized; his fix is to make the other person feel important first and to stop tracking meaningless small talk as a proxy for love.
Mental fitness goals and the never-cry-alone rule
⏱ Untimed topicHe sets mental-fitness goals like physical ones, starts mornings with a 1-minute plank, and lays out the never-cry-alone rule: at your weakest you need company, and supporting someone means sitting with them in the mud at their lowest.
Health, money and the closing question: fiber before junk, 1-minute rule, your own red flags
⏱ Untimed topicHe shares eating fiber before junk food to blunt blood-sugar spikes, the 1-minute rule that kills procrastination on tiny tasks, the annual habit of listing his own red flags, and closes with: where do you need to reach, and what will it take?
Core Frameworks & Ideas
Ben Franklin favor effect
Ask a person for a small favor; people grow fonder of those they help, so borrowing help builds closeness better than offering it.
Tell me more defuse
When a conversation turns hyper-emotional, stop counter-arguing and ask the other person to explain what they feel; the emotion drops and the real point surfaces.
1-minute anti-procrastination rule
Anything that takes under a minute gets done immediately, because each deferred tiny task compounds into big problems and invisible inconvenience for others.
Own red-flag audit
Instead of listing other people's red flags every year, list your own; self-audit turns blame into a fixable growth loop.
Actionable Next Steps
- ✓Build your interesting-person practice: pick one subject you can get genuinely good at talking about and go deep, so conversations with new people have substance.
- ✓Test the Ben Franklin effect this week: ask one small favor from someone you want to know better.
- ✓Use 'tell me more' in your next argument: when someone close gets heated, ask them to explain their feelings instead of responding point by point.
- ✓Make your own red-flag list: write down the patterns in yourself that hurt your relationships or work, and pick one to work on this year.
- ✓Start the 1-minute morning plank: add a 1-minute plank or equivalent micro-habit to your morning as a mental-fitness anchor.
Notable Quotes
“never cry alone.”
“Tum stuck nahi ho, tum galat nahi ho, tum selfish nahi ho, ye feeling growth ki hai.”
“When we are crying, we are at our weakest. (translated from Hindi)”
“If something takes less than one minute to do, do it right then. (translated from Hindi)”
“My entire career got built on it. (translated from Hindi)”
“Every year, we keep trying to find red flags in other people. (translated from Hindi)”
“You just have to sit with them in that mud. (translated from Hindi)”
The One Thing to Remember
One thing to remember: Every year we hunt for red flags in other people, so make your own red-flag list instead, because self-awareness compounds faster than judgment of others.