A complete dish, not an ingredient
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 do it
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?"
Conditional apologies
"We apologise for any inconvenience this may have caused." "If my comments struck anyone as offensive, I am sorry, as that certainly wasn't my intention." "I'm sorry I said that, but I have too much going on." Conditional apologies are pointless. They seek to avoid responsibility, make excuses, or downplay what was done. Owing your screw-ups requires some courage. But it's the only way to repair damage and rebuild trust. You can either sweep...
You’ll be disappointed
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...
The desire to achieve
The innate urge to achieve something can be attributed to two key drivers. The first driver is to get external validation. Others around you admire 'that thing', and make every effort to get it. The achievement feels even more delightful when you are one of the handful who've been successful. The other driver originates from a deeper desire to have something. Not because of any external reason but because 'you' really want it. For a specific...
It depends
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...
It’s not a zero-sum game
There are two ways you can go about "being the best in the game." You can either spend all your time and energy focusing on improving your game. Learning and working towards getting better day by day. Or, you can go around trying to bring everyone else down. Your success, happiness, and satisfaction don't come at someone else's expense. It's not a zero-sum game. There's plenty for all those who know what they want and are ready to put in...
Failure stories
Most startups fail. About 90%. 75%, if you are venture-backed. Close to 70% of organisational change initiatives fail to deliver the results. Approximately 92% of people who set up New year goals don't end up achieving them. Yet, we are only surrounded by stories of the elite minority. The ones who've managed to make it. Success stories are misleading. They create a false perception of a very specific road-map to success. Especially when there...
Comparisons
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...
No matter how you feel…
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...