Sidhartha Mathur

Sidhartha Kumar Mathur is an entrepreneur, author, and counselor based out of West Friendship, Maryland. As the owner of Limbic Learning, Sid strives to provide a wide range of educational services to the public, including children with disabilities. Passionate about the education landscape, he works to offer catered solutions for individuals in need of extra support.

In addition to a highly rewarding career as an education facilitator, Sid also provides Ayurvedic counseling services and is currently working on publishing his first book.

Where did the idea for Limbic Learning come from?

Well, the Limbic system corresponds to the part of the brain that has to do with emotion and long-term learning. I think it naturally goes well better with the learning process instead of what we see in today’s traditional classroom models, especially those more rote methods focused on Frontal lobe learning such as memorization. That’s what my models for my clients focus on is more emotionally interactive learning. It actually came from my own personal experiences throughout my education, finding that I remembered things better when I used my different senses and different parts of my brains. I remember there was one night when I was bored of studying the concept of heat vs. temperature on a PowerPoint slide, and I couldn’t get the concept in my head. I ended up finding a cartoon on YouTube that explained the concept so much better than this traditional form and I finally got it. This turned into an ah-ha moment for me and resulted in me creating systems so that other people that are, for example, having a tough time getting something don’t have to feel discouraged.

What does your typical day look like and how do you make it productive?

My days depend on what client I am working with and what we are working on. I stay productive by writing down the goals for the day and following the list. I enjoy setting goals, first tackling the tasks that are the most difficult. It gives me the momentum to handle the easier items.

How do you bring ideas to life?

I love seeing ideas come to life by incorporating them into things I encounter on a daily basis, because this makes them practical for me. I like to dream big and really idealize so I realize when I first think of something, the ideas may not be practical, even if they come from practical problems. Throughout the day, as I go about my normal workday, I will kick it around in my head. As my day progresses, I allow the idea to develop and become more practical as I like to integrate the idea to the most mundane things. This allows me to really ground the idea into the world that we live in and allows me to better understand the way it can be developed further so that it can be useful.

What’s one trend that excites you?

I love the shift to individuation because people are beginning to really embrace their uniqueness and are appreciating using different parts of their brain in not only learning but other parts of their daily lifestyle. Let’s take the example of organized religion. Traditionally, most people will go to their place of worship, which is usually a public setting such as a church. More often these days, people are shifting to becoming more spiritual individually rather than following social customs as they are embracing their own unique way to commune with Divinity. This excites me because it means more opportunities for entrepreneurs like myself and my product models that are tailored for individuals who embrace their uniqueness in this expanding world.

What is one habit of yours that makes you more productive as an entrepreneur?

My intellectual curiosity has always guided me. I am always juggling different ideas in my head. It helps me stay fresh as opposed to being stubbornly fixed on one idea or one way of doing things. Challenging the status quo is something I like to do. I love thinking and learning new ways of doing things. Constantly working to improve yourself and your understanding of how the world works will increase productivity.

What advice would you give your younger self?

I would tell myself not to be so concerned with following the precedence and to cherish my uniqueness. I feel when I was younger, I worried too much about how I was doing things and following the line of how things had traditionally been done. That stifled my own creativity and hindered my growth. Once I learned that, a whole new world opened up for me.

Tell us something that’s true that almost nobody agrees with you on.

I have found the more people you network with outside your direct field, the more connections you will make that will lead to breakthrough ideas. Unfamiliarity forces the brain to break from its usual categories of perception and create new ones. People focus on conventional networking too much. I don’t think that really works when it comes to innovations in your own field.

As an entrepreneur, what is the one thing you do over and over and recommend everyone else do?

I force myself to seek out novel experiences. This exposure to diverse experiences kick-starts my creative process and allows me to connect seemingly unrelated things, which I believe is the heart of creativity. To see things differently than other people, the most effective way is to bombard the brain with ideas and experiences that it has never encountered before. I really feel that this novelty allows me to perceive things differently, not just see things differently. That is what allows me to have creative breakthroughs.

What is one strategy that has helped you grow your business?

The first run at building something can feel awkward. I have sat with that awkwardness and allowed it to teach me how to adapt my ideas to be more effective. I have learned that simplifying and focusing on
quality over quantity is a worthy focus. I have been able to develop things better because I have been able to focus more. Being more engaged with current clients as opposed to trying to bring in a higher number of clients has allowed me the opportunity to really fine-tune my expertise.

What is one failure you had as an entrepreneur, and how did you overcome it?

Early on, I tried to follow the tried and true, very methodical process. It wasn’t natural for me. I learned through that how to shape things on my own. It was a necessary failure. I overcame it by being more organic on how we do our models and the frameworks we use for our implementation.

What is one business idea that you’re willing to give away to our readers?

I think there are a lot of people who would rather not support Amazon, given that it is such a large company, but it can be difficult because they often offer one-day delivery. I think a good business idea would be a competitor for that delivery service, something smaller that more people would rather support.

What is the best $100 you recently spent? What and why?

I bought cryptocurrency that has increased in value pretty quickly. I’ve learned a lot about where the industry is going and how this is potentially the future.

What is one piece of software or a web service that helps you be productive?

I use software called To Doist. I’ve had it for a while and I’ve been able to tailor it more toward an incentive structure. I also use the notes app frequently, both written and voice. It helps me retain ideas I have throughout the day so I can come back to them later.

What is the one book that you recommend our community should read and why?

I would recommend Thick Face, Black Heart: The Warrior Philosophy for Conquering the Challenges of Business and Life by Chin-Ning Chu. It’s an intriguing look at Eastern philosophy and how it applies to the current business marketplace. With the rise of China over the past 20 years, it has been a gem in understanding specific shifts.

What is your favorite quote?

“We cannot solve our problems with the same thinking we used when we created them” by Albert Einstein. I also really like “Be the change you wish to see in the world”.

Key Learnings:

• Seek out novel experiences
• Challenge the status quo
• Make connections in different fields