Butter chicken is a complete dish, butter is just an ingredient. There's so much more that goes into the recipe. In life, we often end up identifying ourselves as a gender, a professional, a spouse, a parent, a child, a friend, a citizen. We all are much more than that. A blend of all these and more. A complete dish, not an ingredient. It's important to remember that you have the freedom to decide the recipe. To choose the blends and...

Someone will overpay for that purchase, give into the peer pressure, make excuses, decide to be rude, or deliver substandard work. Someone will take the ownership, challenge the status quo, bring new ideas to life, and will not give in to all the negativity. The underlying question in both the scenarios is, "Would that be you?"

Sooner or later, you'll ask for something or observe something or expect something, and won't like what you get.  You'll be disappointed. Everything will feel like a complete waste of time and resources.  Likewise, you too will disappoint someone, someday. A colleague. A client. A close friend. Or a family member.  Disappointment is part of the expectation-promise game. Higher expectations and more promises, also mean more disappointment.  The...

Is it ok for you to swear at work? What is the single most important measure of success? Will working from home be the new normal going forward? Should you be starting a business? A simple and apt response to such generic questions is, 'it depends.' It depends on the realities around you. Your culture, limitations, circumstances, priorities and the level of self-awareness. The actual answers differ from person to person, and from one moment to...

We all do it or have done it at some point in our lives. School grades. Job titles. Salaries. House. Social media followers. The number of categories of comparison are infinite. In fact, these comparisons are the biggest source of insecurity and unhappiness. The entire exercise, however, is both flawed and worthless. Flawed as it's never a like for like comparison. You rarely take into account the difference in personalities, origins and...

Good, bad, or anywhere in between. Whether you like it or not. You still need to show up. As a leader. As a performer. As an employee. As a spouse. As a parent. As yourself. It's easy to show up when everything is hunky-dory. But being there when you feel like hiding, or running away, that requires some courage. However, these are exactly the moments that define you. They show your character and commitment towards something bigger than...

It's the same storyline, same screenplay, and almost the same ending. Just the characters differ. We all start university with the hope of using education to fulfil our dreams. The time at the university is financed through big loans or our parents' savings. After all, we consider education as an important investment. You know exactly how much debt you'll have the minute you graduate. Depending on your cultural backgrounds and/or family...

To conform. Meet expectations. Get successful. Look good. Take the right decisions. And to be happy all the time.  It's a long journey and the pressure is unending. With every new start, comes in the pressure to prove yourself. Be it a new job, a new relationship or a new initiative. This is followed by the pressure for validation. By your colleagues, manager, family and society. And finally, once you are there and everyone looks up to you,...