---
title: "Introduction - Empathy is all you need"
description: "Read the introduction to 'Empathy is all you need'. A personal confession and an invitation to explore the path to happier, more productive lives through empathy."
keywords: "introduction, empathy, confessions, Jatin Khosla, self-reflection, personal growth, philosophy of life"
url: "https://empathyisallyouneed.com/introduction"
language: "en"
---

# Introduction

Start Listening

0:00

Here’s a confession, I never thought I would write a book, let alone one on philosophy of life. 

But it's not what we do; it's why and how we do it that matters. 

From Stoicism to Hedonism, there are many philosophies of life, and all are perfect ways to lead one's life. So why write a book about another approach to life? 

It all starts with a **moment of truth** , which then triggers a transformative experience. At Konigle, my co-founders and I faced that moment of truth 2 years ago when one of our key hires did not work out. It sucked. 

I would consider myself a balanced person; I don't overreact to things in life. But I could not contain the angst I felt. We did everything by the book: pedigree, background checks, a thorough interview. We even knew the person from before Konigle came to being. But the person quit abruptly right after committing themself to us, and the cause. 

Whenever something goes wrong at Konigle, we look inward and see what we could have done better. We do what we call a root cause analysis, but this time we couldn't find anything we could have done better. 

Hence I started a journey to seek the truth. In my reflection, I relived my entire life over and over, contemplating on both the good and bad experiences I had with people. I sought opinions from my co-founders, family, and anyone willing to listen. And finally, I figured out a simple way to approach any situation in life. 

This not only made me feel more at peace. Together with my co-founders, we began applying this approach to how we run Konigle, and the results have been great. I have also used this approach in my personal life and now I don't find myself disappointed in others. This has made me happier. 

_Empathy is all you need._

### Confession \#2: I hate self-help books.

I find they’re often written to feed on human anxiety and serve no useful purpose in life. In fact, I find these books harmful. Harmful for the soul, harmful for the environment, and a royal waste of wood and electricity. 

Although some may label this book as a self-help book, I prefer to call it a storybook. A collection of stories of people transcending time, highlighting human values. As a bonus, we also learn about how the world looked during the time period of each story. 

### Confession \#3: I immediately stop reading a book if I don't find it useful

I have learned to not feel guilty about it. If you don’t enjoy reading this book, please feel free to stop. Your time is valuable, and I don't want you to waste it. 

But I hope this book will not waste your time. 

### Confession \#4: Writing a book is damn hard.

For months, I've shared insights from these tales, speaking to people one-on-one. Time and again, I thought I should write down these stories in a book. But never got to it. 

And then one day a close friend I thought to be rational, suddenly acted out of character in front of me. This broke the proverbial camel's back, and I decided on that day to put thoughts into actions and publish this book. I was determined to bring this book together: turn my insights into stories that sat waiting in my mind, and finally get them inked on paper.. 

And well, it's damn hard to write a book while running a company. Even a short book like this one took up much more time than I'd thought to budget, in order to get it completed well. But every serious hobby/side project eventually becomes a job. And doing a job well is hard work. 

### Confession \#5: Empathy is misunderstood and I believe even weaponized.

Most people find someone else empathetic only when they agree to their own sensibilities or if that other person does not question their ethos. This is fundamentally wrong. 

With this book I sincerely hope to help people understand true empathy more intuitively, so that it's not misunderstood or weaponized. 

Let's start. 

Once upon a time... 

### Further Exploration

  * [Andy Hwang's LinkedIn Profile](https://sg.linkedin.com/in/andyhwang) \- General Partner at Wavemaker Partners \(Profile\). 

[← Foreword](/foreword) [Happiness is a choice →](/happiness-is-a-choice)