Be the Purple Cow!

A friend had asked me, “If happiness was the national currency, what kind of work would make you rich?”

It made me think deeper than I expected. It’s actually a hard question.

Is happiness a result? Or is it the process to get to where you want?

Is happiness a phase, or is it a state of mind that we can choose to have always? 

It’s different for different people. But the sure shot of finding what’s your type is by asking yourself these hard questions. Normally, you’d think money brings you happiness. Not true. 

You can be happy without being rich if you identify what brings joy to you. 

It could be bringing new ideas to the world, building something no one has ever built, writing a novel, a painting, or making an exquisite dish for your loved one. 

Find our where your happiness coins are!

In any super hero flick, the basic premise is that a world is messed up with evil beyond control. And there will come an unstoppable force called ####MAN who will set everything right and solve all our problems, once and for all. 

Wow. What a great story. More importantly what a blatant lie. 

It can’t go any worse than all of the world waiting upon one chosen one to solve all the problems. It simply can never happen. Wake up!

Instead, what if all our problems, big and small can be solved by each of us? What if we all together become that unstoppable force?

History has told us that every single time a group of people have resolved with grit to unite and fight for a cause, it has been accomplished. Ofcourse, it’s not easy. And ofcouse, it won’t happen overnight.

That’s why we need you. The world needs people like you. The believers, the optimists, the unsung heroes, the mentors, the motivators,the doers, the sailors who don’t blame the sea for turbulence but instead can steer us into the shore. 

If all the youth of the world puts aside their egos and smartphones for 1 week, the world will be a whole new place altogether.  

I am in. If you are too, ping me and we can do something together.

Ernest Hemingway said it all. Perhaps the most valuable piece of advice to anyone striving to accomplish a task is to focus on the “doing” and not the end result. 

There is a mystical sense of humility in doing that. Consider your actions as merely your duty to perform, because apart from “your actions”, you can’t control pretty much anything. Be it the circumstances, the opportunities, the people’s opinions on you and mainly the end results. None of these can be controlled directly by you. So why worry about them? 

Instead, look for joy in what you build. If you ask me what matters, the death or the living, you now know my answer. The living.

When you ask how you can improve your art, business or a passion, most people advice you that you have to know your craft in and out.

While I absolutely agree on this divine advice. what’s also important is to know your field in and out.

How great legends did what they did? Who are your biggest competitors? What does the market want? What are the popular/successful examples existing already? What is the feedback from your target audience/user?And so on and so forth.

And then accordingly you should work on mastering your craft. The real beauty is in living, dreaming, breathing, and being your art every single moment and become more perfect.

In Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance, Robert Pirsig says:

You want to know how to paint a perfect painting? It’s easy. Make yourself perfect and then just paint naturally.

It explains it all!

No one seems to be happy when you say you want to be creative. 

Trust me, I’ve tried this with many people, including some of the closest and the nicest ones in my life.For some reason, they always think, I wanna end up on a road side shelter. 

Heck no! 

Being creative doesn’t equal being broke. Especially if you know your art well enough. And a few basics about what to charge for and how to charge for your art!

History has always painted a dark and gloomy picture for creative people. We’ve been brainwashed that your life will be full of misery, self-doubt and loneliness if you follow your passion. 

While I don’t care a dime about history but one thing I know that’s challenging in a creative field is if you attach yourself to your art too much. Sometimes, you just simply have to let it go, for a while. You can NOT always win. But that doesn’t mean you should listen to the naysayers and stop playing the game.

Risk, guts, failure and creativity are like a package. If you call seek one, you should be ready for the others too! 

For now, to let your creative juices flow, read this amazing booklet!

Imagine you are a professional photographer:

There are 2 billion people walking with a cell phone every day. And if all of them could take pictures as quick as in 10 seconds, how are you going to matter?

Imagine you are a fashion designer:

Everything that I need to learn about the newest design trends and the latest fashion updates are right here on my tablet screen.Now, why should I consider your opinion?

Imagine you are a film-maker:

Youtube shows me that anyone who can afford $200 can make HD videos and edit them to look like Hollywood movies, then why should I care about your work?

The answer really if you think about it is damn tough. Our generation has produced more photographers/designers/filmmakers than perhaps all of the previous generations combined. But most of them SUCK.

Ease of use has twisted our world in so many bad ways. Now, there’s enormous amount of noise and non-sense around us.

When access to information becomes cheap, what becomes expensive is attention. Make sure you respect that.

Don’t look for a 100,000 fans or followers, instead focus on the 10 people who are paying you attention. Care for their needs. Write books for them. Give fashion advice for them. Take stunning pictures for them. Only they can become your customers, forget the 100,000 for now. [they are busy looking at other 100 things]

No one ever will value your work if you don’t value their attention on you. That’s not something most people are doing today and that’s exactly why you should do it. 

Nor is your fame and your success.

Everything depends on who you surround yourself with, physically or virtually. We, as human beings, are constant seekers of examples. 

Examples of people who have exactly traced the path you want to trace today. 

Everything begins with an inspiration. Someone will push you to do it, someone will motivate you to do it, Someone will influence you to do it.

But what if, no one’s coming into your bedroom and compelling to act. Unfortunately, they never will. 

You have to chase motivation and not the other way around. All the little things that you do in your day matters a lot. So, next time around, before blaming the world to NOT inspire you, check how you are spending your day. Or more precisely, who you are spending your day with. 

It’s trust.

Precisely what’s missing in our lives today.  

Every new person you meet has been tricked or cheated atleast once, and hence it’s hard for them to trust you. 

Your integrity and your character will be tested more than you can imagine before they count on you. And it is natural for them to do so.

Your job either as in personal life or in business is to demonstrate that you are trust worthy. It’s not an easy game and mind you there aren’t many cheap tricks here.

Play it clean. Say what you feel. Stand by your words. Act more talk less and genuinely care about people

There are umpteen number of people who are hesitating to make the push, to take the leap, thinking, rethinking, over-thinking if they can do it or NOT.

While the ones who actually do are the ones who jump in regardless. Not because they know better, but because they WANT to do it anyway. 

Leaders, motivators, role models, legends.

Find them, know them, study them, follow them for they fill in energy in your body and courage in your heart to live the life you imagined.

And you need that positive energy.

Because the hardest part about the challenge is not the challenge itself. It’s the willingness to take it up. 

And that is precisely why you need positive energy for.

The world isn’t as encouraging as you might imagine. 

A hell lot of people are struggling hard to realize their dreams and to find bliss in them. Some get a chance, the others are still working it out.

In my honest opinion, the world needs more believers. More enablers. More mentors. More patrons. More optimists. 

In business terms, the demand clearly outweighs the limited supply of positive energy around us. 

That’s why perhaps you will find for every 10 teenagers, only 1 is focused. For every 10 citizens, only 1 stands by the nation. For every 10 businesses, only 1 looks beyond profit margins. For every 10 adults, only 1 thinks about charity. 

Do the world a small favor. No, I’m not asking for your dollars. You can keep them with you.(and take them after your death if that’s possible)

But atleast, don’t kill people’s dreams. It could be your friend, your sibling, your co-worker, your employee or may be your child. But dreams are as delicate as water bubbles. For if your evil sarcasm crosses the limits, it hurts. It hurts the dreamer, and the world in the long run.

Like the iconic Irish poet W.B.Yeats pleads here: TREAD SOFTLY.

“I would spread the cloths under your feet: 

But I, being poor, have only my dreams;

I have spread my dreams under your feet;

Tread softly because you tread on my dreams.”

Entrepreneurs are incredible people with incredible skill sets.

They are dynamic, charming, inquisitive, disruptive, challenging and dedicated. While some work on technologies, and the others on services, but basically you would think every entrepreneur has almost the same amount of focus on growing his business.

Not true.

Some settle for a few million dollars, a few others go until a billion, a few others push for PR & media attention, and only perhaps a thin slice of them all are actually 24 X 7 working to change the world.

Amongst a huge list of qualities that needs to be mastered by entrepreneurs, there is one that is actually pretty innate to them. It can’t be taught.

It is the willingness to risk everything for an idea. The guts to chase the dream one has dreamt. And to go against every odd and literally challenge every system. I know a South African gentleman who’s doing something like that these days, 

“Forgot to say one thing at Tesla annual shareholders meeting: just as my money was the first in, it will be the last out.”

That’s what history remembers and celebrates. 

A hero who rose to the occasion, found his calling and pursued his quest. No excuses, no shortcuts, no give-ups. If you want to make history, you have to burn the flame till the end. 

But the trick is getting the order right when you begin. It’s never the order I wrote above.

You find your inner calling, you turn that into a quest, and that’s what turns you into a hero.

A calling- > A quest -> A hero.

Every time I go for a walk in the park, I am instantly amused by what I see. Not the beautiful trees and the green grass, it’s the playful kids.

Have a word with them and within a few seconds they will start asking questions. Questions.

Not the ones you come across in your interview, or exam sheets, the real big wildly imaginative questions.

Imagination is what most of us loose after our puberty. They say as we grow up that life is a big puzzle and we have to apply logic to solve. 

Logic, sure, but that’s not everything.

Life isn’t one huge math problem that you can only solve using geometry.

Life can be much more than that. From every little experience, we can garner some amazing insights and beautiful memories. But only if we allow ourselves to try. To go out there and try the new things.

Logic, like Einstein says, will perhaps help you answer the question.

But imagination is what will make you question the answer. And sometimes, that’s exactly what you are missing. 

…you got nothing to lose, said Bob Dylan in his soul-punching song “Like a Rolling Stone”.

How deeply true that is! 

Ask yourself hard, what is that one thing you can claim yours?

Nothing. Not even your breath. It’s not in your hands. 

We are all born naked, and clearly, that’s how we will end up eventually. 

The over-hyped words like money, luxuries, reputations, page-3 parties, celebrity crushes, bragging rights, bank savings, tech gagdets, and even our most beloved ones. None of these things are going to stay the eternity of time. 

But what could stay is the difference you make in someone else’s life, the energy you bring to every place you go, the history you create doing something remarkable, and the legacy you leave after you are gone.

Now, can we just start working on these crucial things. ONLY?

Less polluted. 

Less corrupted.

Less dangerous.

Less lonely.

Less hated.

More interesting. 

More loving.

More friendly.

More connected.

More remarkable.

Let’s make the world more of our home and less of a mere habitat.

This is my invitation to all of you to join me as I celebrate the incredible spirit of will power. Today marks the 400th blog post of my every day blogging spree since I began last year on April 25th. 

And I dedicate this 400th post to every wonderful person that’s making the world a better place in his/her own little way.

Ha, yes its YOU!

[And ofcourse, Seth Godin]

Sometimes an idea, or a quality, or a promise or a product. 

It could be anything but we are all constantly selling even without knowing. 

However, some of us are good at it. And some really mediocre.

In a career fair, you are selling your achievements and academics to your potential employer.

In a tech conference, you are selling your products and the benefits to the large audience there.

In your weekly meeting with your colleagues, you are selling confidence and trust that the project will be delivered on time.

In a get-together party, you are selling true friendship and the joy of getting along to your friends.

On a dinner table, you are selling the promise of love and emotion to your fiancee.

We are all selling things. All the time. If you want to get better at it, listen to Dan Pink below who was the man behind those incredible Al Gore speeches. He’s concise and clever.

That’s the story running in my mind.

Ofcourse, you won’t understand it. Exactly, like how I won’t ever understand yours. 

Each of us is narrating a story, a very unique story in our minds. We have our own success metrics, failure fears, peer pressures, taste of things and list of wishes. 

Sometimes we get bogged down too much by the weight we carry in our heads. Remember, there isn’t enough room for doubt but there’s always a door open for hope. Keep that door intact and open.

Welcome change like you welcome fresh air. 

Don’t be worried about controlling too many things in your own hands. You simply can’t. Just let them go. Detach yourself from the drab things. 

Yes, you are the voice-over for your movie running between your ears. Just make sure your story is of positivity and optimism. 

Not just metaphorically, even factually speaking, the most complex computer that could ever be found on the planet is YOU.

The video below merely demystifies the same fact. 

Starting with the simple eye-sight to the most amazing human memory, we are made up of billions of neurons. Each of them represents a node of  energy. A point of power. A dot of decision-making. 

Then it just becomes entirely our OWN choice to decide whether we are going to transfer that energy positively to make OUR presence worthwhile on this planet. Or succumb to our temporary temptations of greed, envy and lust.

It is a completely self-chosen, self-willing and self-aware decision that will impact our destiny. 

The greatest computer is undoubtedly YOU. But only a few are willing to execute the right programs. Make sure you are in.

I recently read somewhere that the only things that keep you up at night are loneliness, cold, heat, hunger, late night texting, memories, over thinking, worries, hyper-internet.

None, exactly none of these things add any value to your life. Nor they can change your status quo. 

If your life sucks & you wanna change it, please DO. SOMETHING. ABOUT. IT.

And not just waste and whine away the precious time complaining, or over-thinking. I am not a saint in this matter as well, as I too expend countless nights doing nothing.

If you have to stay up late night, make sure it’s for only the positive things.

Like finishing your important work, learning a new skill, reading a book, or meditating. Anything else is utterly useless. 

SLEEP. That’s better because atleast you can wake up early and begin the next day on a positive note.

Sometimes there’s a leash that’s stopping your energy and enthusiasm to do more in life.

By creating more doubts in your mind, and more fears in your heart.

Sometimes, there’s a leash that’s pulling you backwards even though you are trying hard to push ahead.

By limiting your reach by too much anxiety about the future and regret of your past.

But sometimes, you should remember, the leash is you.  

Unleash yourself. Go free. Fly high. And don’t ever give up.

As many as you can imagine. 

You can be a writer, rock-climber, para-glider, sushi chef, bartender, DJ. violinist, cartoonist, teacher, activist, photographer and a fashion designer.

Or you could be the best at giving excuses.

“I can’t do things that I love because I am too old.”

“I can’t do things that I love because I am too young.”

“I can’t do it because I don’t have enough money.”

“I can’t do it because no one in my family has done it.”

“I can’t do it because I have another day job.”

There is too much time wasted on over-thinking, searching for a comfortable excuse and hiding behind it. What’s better is finding your true passions and chasing them. 

No matter the size. 

Each of us is capable of being special. Perhaps, not by birth, but by our choice of actions. 

Irrespective of our ages, regions, and skin-color, we are all equipped with an incredible force called ” Will Power”. But most of us don’t use it well. 

In your work place, in your school or your neighborhood, if you want to make a difference, you simply can. May not be today, but keep your efforts on, and very soon one day you’ll bring the change.

Do things that matter. Not the ones that merely keep you busy.

Do things that spark an idea in someone’s mind.

Do things that empower people to be at their best selves.

Do things that raise you above the negative whiners.

Don’t just count your money. Make yourself count. 

Infact, it is usually the opposite.

Unless you work in a library or are performing a laser surgery, for the major part of the day, we HAVE to speak a lot. Either with our mates, colleagues, friends or family, we constantly blabber about every damn thing under the sun.

But doing so, sometimes, we get carried away too much and lose our focus and lose our control on what we are doing. 

On the other hand, having a few moments of silence every day will help you re-focus your thinking on what’s really important. Not many people I know do this. They are in an incredible hurry to rush through the day chasing people or money, both of which they are not here on the planet for.

We are all here for a purpose. I refuse to believe anything you claim otherwise. 

So, gossip is at best a sheer waste of energy, intellect and time. No remarkable achievement was ever accomplished by anyone via gossip.

Put a check on how much you talk. Especially if it’s non-sense. 

Mahatma Gandhi, realizing how crucial it is, always maintained a remarkable ritual. Like fasting, he would practice ” a day of silence” once a week. That day he would not communicate much and only perform minimal societal activities. It was largely for self-thinking and introspection.

Wow. The next time you meet a quiet person, don’t cut him off thinking he’s not thinking. Perhaps, he’s the only one who actually is.

That’s what matters. And nothing else.

Whatever is your age, you could be old soon enough in life if you don’t eye something you love and pursue that.

Some are hungry for food, some for money, some for change and some for a passion. There’s nothing more distressing than being satisfied with your status-quo and hanging up the boots. Most people give up before getting to the last bit.

The Terminator-Man, Arnold once said a glorious thing:

For me life is continuously being hungry. The meaning of life is not simply to exist, to survive, but to move ahead, to go up, to achieve, to conquer.

is by training your mind. That’s the most important thing.

Your mind makes you see differently, talk differently and work differently. It can transport you into another new place without actually moving you an inch. Likewise, it can transform you into an entirely new person.

Train your mind and you can command your senses. Acquire new habits, tread new paths and attempt new principles.

Give the excuses a kick on the butt. Your reasons suck. Get over them.

Glory is not in giving up your goal, it is in giving your mind a new mindset.

I say again, train your mind. 

Because you are not. 

No one, infact including the highly adored Einstein or the Tesla are any superior to the little farmer producing corn in his fields. Or to anyone working hard to make a difference in this world.

Ask any legendary figure and the first thing they’ll tell you is how incredibly ordinary they are. Perhaps their vision and their actions could be big but they act small. Because they are.

No one is bigger than anyone else. We all have the same energy, the same molecules and the same breath. So, stop comparing yourself with those people around you, negative or positive, and move ahead.

If you have to battle against someone, be it you yourself. Fight with your complacency, your laziness, your inaction, your fears and your prejudice. Be more open, more welcoming, more forgiving, and more loving. It isn’t easy, and that is exactly why you aren’t any superior.

We all are humans and that’s exactly what we will all be.

As kids, we all dreamt big and wanted to become astronauts, teachers, football players, actors or a musicians. 

Well, somehow two things screwed us. a) Our Education b) Our family

I am not against either of them. What I’m trying to say is our education,instead of empowering our decision making ability, has only impaired it.

We learnt to think more logically and analytically but have become more afraid.

No, knowledge should never be an excuse for not doing anything. Infact, that very knowledge if possible should aid you. Use the power of research, analysis, psychology and science in the field where your heart is and you will perform miracles. But how you use your education, towards your dream or against your dream is a choice. A choice.

The same goes with family. I love my family and I hope you love yours too. But they can’t be a barrier to your growth in anyway. Infact, the greatest moms and dads in the world are the ones who have let their sons go to space, to war-fields or to Olympics. Not the ones who have always hand-cuffed them with the inappropriate dosage of we-are-afraid-you-might-get-hurt drama. I am being harsh here, yes, but don’t miss the point. Every family freaks out when their kid is trying to be something new. Something unique. But again, it’s a choice. Of how you will convince them to accept who you are. And not fake it.

The world is already full of so many second rate people, and you will just be added to the list. The only anti-dote is being yourself. 

Don’t be the second of someone else, be the first of yourself.

There’s no better bliss than the one you have when YOU control your day.

And not the other way around.

Discipline is a popular topic among all of my blogposts, partly because I like to remind myself to get disciplined a lot, and generally because, discipline is the key to getting things done.

Especially, getting the RIGHT things done. But what are these right things?

Well, we’re talking about the things that fill your heart with fulfillment, satisfaction and inspiration. Don’t tell me, you can’t do a single thing a day that will bring bliss. I won’t buy that lame excuse.

We all are capable to organizing our daily routines in such a way that we do atleast a few IMPORTANT and HEART-WARMING things.

“If only you could have used your last month to achieve something more productive…”

You see the point. Yes, it’s painful initially to be disciplined. But this pain is no match to the pain regret can bring.

Every now and then, you should rattle your comfort zone. 

For mountaineers, or deep sea divers, this isn’t a big deal. Because, naturally their life is always risky and on-the-line.

But what about others? What about us?

The software programmers, the bankers, the managers at malls, the lawyers, the doctors, the plumbers, the real-estate brokers.

We get so used to doing our “limited” stuff that we don’t realize we are not innovating anymore. Innovation comes from thinking outside the boundaries and breaking some rules.

Which in turn creates some disruption and pushes you out of your comfort zone. So, next time you are doing something new, and you are feeling kind of strange, it means it is good. 

Not all people will like you though, but the ones that do will really stand by you. Because you cared. To try something different.

That’s what most stuff  today is. 

Either on the internet, or in the world outside, majority of the stuff we come across are just average.

Be it a website, or a grocery store or a customer-care representative, or the income tax filing system, they are all messed up.

Not because, they didn’t focus enough. They had plenty of money, and plenty of time too, but they focused on working things according to what they thought was important. And forgot the audience.

If you don’t put your customer/audience in your mind, giving the top priority, then what you are doing is merely useless.

Deliver a speech that engages people, start an initiative that unites people, make an invention that helps people, play an instrument that touches people. Only then, you can claim you are good at your craft.

Else, go back to your desk and start over again.

We love being picked. We love being chosen. We love getting promotions and cushy chairs in the corner office.

It’s not really a problem if your heart is in making money. And only money. But some of us want to make a difference instead. Some of us want to make history rather. Some of us want to make a lifetime worth living. And not just earning the dollar bills.

Then, it’s a problem. A real serious big intense problem if you are still clinging onto the glory and fame the cushy chairs bring. Most of us are brainwashed into believing that’s normal. It’s not.

For heaven’s sake it’s not. Don’t you give a damn to the societal pressure and give up your dream. No matter how silly it might look in your current position/status, give it a try. An honest and hearty try.

It’s not where you are in life’s journey that’s important and crucial, it’s who you are and how true you are to that person.

Some of us hear about the big ideas, and some of us don’t.

But what most of us miss is the experience of having conceived big ideas. The ideas that look simple on the surface but that can travel across the world and impact millions of people.

Like the blue box, that Steve Jobs is explaining here.

Generally, our tendency is to feel small, ordinary and unimportant. We are often scared to ideate beyond our limits. Expectedly, we can achieve nothing this way. 

Give ‘that one idea’ that’s lurking in your mind a shot.

The fact of the matter is we may or may not be big or famous. But if only we worked on something so passionately and made it more important than us, it could be big. And it could change the course of our life entirely.

It’s the fear of the enemy which is the problem.

In most cases in life, unless you are in North Korea DMZ, you won’t meet die-hard enemies that can put your life to peril.But still ask anyone around you if they are courageous about anything, they’d call you nuts. 

The problem is, right from our childhood, though for our own little good, we have been brainwashed into keeping a separate box in our mind of “FEAR”.

And kept filling with reasons available.

At 4 it is about burning fingers in fire, at 9 it is about bullies in school, at 16 it is about cracking SAT, at 21 it is about finding a job, and at 35 it is about settling down, and at 59 it is about health insurance and at 88 it is about open heart surgery. And perhaps later it is about death.

The reality is if you had to be dead, you could have been dead before 4. Or somewhere midway which none of us can control. Yet we fear everything. Yet we fret for everything.

The only real fear I believe is of regret. Of not living the life you imagined. Of giving your dreams too early. Of wasting a wonderful miracle called LIFE because of being locked up in a bottle jar called FEAR.

Roughly that’s about the time you will need to master any art.

That’s 10 years of a life time if you work 3 hours seriously a day.

Meanwhile, there’s debating, discussing, professing, loitering, ruminating and what-not-ing about the decision to learn that art or not.

Painting, Writing, Public Speaking, Film-making, Fashion Designing, Interior Architecture or Parenting.

No one gets it right within the first 1 hour. Not even in the first 100 hours. But should you go any further than that?

Depends on how obsessive you are and how ballsy your grit is. 

10000 hours, thanks to Malcolm Gladwell.

A few folks close to me and I are ardent believers in the concept of “doing”.

And also the concept of “miracles” in life.

To shed some light, by “doing”, I mean action. The verb. The progress. The act of getting things done. 

Why is this important?

Because nothing else is. Not the results, the triumphs and defeats can be controlled by you. But the only thing in your hand is the gun. Not the bird. And remember you won’t hit the bird if you contemplate too much and not pull the trigger.

What is a miracle, then?

A miracle works in a mysterious way. It’s the extra-boost someone gives you that dramatically changes your course of life is a positive way. It could be the almighty god, your mom, that-once-angry-boss, a repeat customer or your girlfriend. But someone out there will weave a magic and change your life. 

Why is this important?

Because, that someone could be YOU. By picking yourself, by doing the work that adds value to the lives of people around you, by following your passion devotedly, that magical someone could very well be you.

No, you can’t ofcourse award yourself with the success. But you can make the success come to you. By “doing”.

Thus doing = miracle. No two ways about it.

It’s almost an obligation if you know what I mean.

Gift someone you care, an idea, or some warmth, or some love, or some money or atleast a smile.

The best way to build trust with a person is not by “expecting him/her” to make a move. No one likes to make the first move, and that’s why you should.

Because you like. 

Because you care.

Because you can! 

Can’t imagine how we all would have been if it was not for our Moms.

Right from letting us in to this planet, to raising us into decent individuals, to teaching us the morals, to feeding us the courage, a mom’s life is a tale of toil.

Our ambitions, our goals and missions take us places where have to be alone, the only company being “passion”, yet if you want to feel lighter, roll your lips and say the magical word- “MOM”.

In all of human adventures, the greatest of the great begins with being born. Coming into existence. Taking birth. 

And no matter how surprised you could be, the reality is you were a decision she made. You were a hardship she chose. You were a pain she loved to bore. 

Saluting every such Mom. Who for me is a synonym for sacrifice.

Happy Mother’s Day! 

Philosophies. Ideologies. Beliefs. Creeds. Visions. Plans. Thoughts. 

“Useless”.

Without action, all of the above things won’t take you where.

Some people are good on paper, some on the ground, but what makes one tick is if you can be equally good at both. 

Vision and Execution. 

They have to go hand-in-hand. Nothing can/should delay the other. Else the whole magic is lost. 

The thought of wanting to make a difference in this world is so much different than actually making a difference. 

It’s not easy, it’s not comfortable, yes, but tell me what revolutionary thing was ever so easy in the beginning? 

No matter what happens in life, be it joy or be it sorrow, you will need to pull yourself together soon.

Some people do that by meditation, some by yoga, some by long lonely walks down the park, some by listening to inspirational music.

You can do one or all of them. But what’s vital is figuring out your “reset” button. The button that can magically transform you into your best spiritual and productive form. It’s the only savior you will have out here in this ridiculous world of distraction and mediocrity.

Take any skill.
Archery, oil painting, skiing, tight rope walking, public speaking or engineering.
You will have known a lot of masters who mastered the craft to the pinnacle.
What’s remarkably striking about them is that they are not anything like “remarkable” or “striking”. They look like and act like most of us. Heck, some are more modest than a guy selling pizzas.
Then what’s the miracle you think that makes them so damn good at their art/skill?
The answer actually is in something that you can’t touch or feel. Their Mind.
Focus, passion, dedication, perseverance and fearlessness. These are what made them what they are today.

Not the skill, it’s the mind that they learnt to master effectively.

So, you have made the plans, you have thought things through, you have decided you’ll have a go at it, you are pumped up, you are almost living it.

Yes, it’s about your passion.

Then suddenly, you hit a bump. A minor one of course  Yet you feel as if all hell broke loose on you. 

Your excitement, your exuberance, your elation got replaced by a sense of confusion and chaos. 

You want some magic to happen and transform you into a genius.

Like a professional athlete, a successful artist, an Oscar awarded actor, a sensational film-maker, an incredible speaker, a powerful CEO, a technology maven.

The reality is it wont happen that easy. I hate to break it to you but you should perhaps stop expecting the magic wand.

Hell, the only magic wand I know is action. Even when you get stuck, act. Continue your thought-process. Strive through your pain. Push ahead along the invisible fences that are stopping you. 

ACT, ACT, ACT, ACT, ACT, ACT, ACT, ACT…………ACT.

Somewhere hidden in the above line is your so-called magic wand.

Ofcourse, by the time you get there you will realize the magic is actually called “will power”.

Most of us have a popular disease called “self-pity”. 

It sprouts from believing that we are doing our best by just sleeping, bathing, eating and excreting. And anything else is actually quite burdensome and unnecessary. 

This disease acts as a fantastic excuse for laziness, inaction and negativity. We crib, we laze, we booze, we yawn and we sulk.

We expect the world to be at our feet, if not atleast money and success at our reach. 

Out there, the reality is something different. There are incredible people with impeccable fire in the belly fighting hard to live their dreams.

One such example is a guy who can’t see (legally blind), and yet managed to self-teach web design and digital strategy. After 3 years of struggle, he knows more about web than any average IT employee in India. A huge shout out to Raghava. [Catch this webisode from Chai with Lakshmi]

It’s a feeling beyond shame if we can’t live a meaningful life. A life without a goal. A life without a value. 

Raghava’s eyes failed only his eye-sight. Not one bit of his vision.

In my 4th grade, I met a shy kid on our school ground. I really liked him because he was exactly like me. Shy, confused, reluctant and ugly.

He was so shy that he didn’t wanna participate in sports; not for the fear of failure, but for the fear of mingling with the big shouldered folks who were considered “SPECIAL” or the so-called-stars.

Yet he loved running. So, he would come early to the ground and practice running like crazy. Evening too, he did his runs after the sessions. I never understood what he was doing. 

Yet he miraculously would come first every year in the 100-meter sprint.

When he ran, he told me, all that he cared was to have a good view of the finish line. And the best way to have that is to have no one ahead of him. So he ran. Faster. Than. Anyone.

He was actually an ordinary kid. But what was special was what he did.

Sometimes you don’t have to be special if what you are doing is.

Sometimes, it’s all about the facts. 

While other times, it’s all about the faith.

Factually speaking, you could be utterly unqualified to follow your dream.

For example, fate could have landed you in engineering school while you are interested in fashion design. Your finances could have compelled you to take accounting classes while your heart is in writing poems. Or making cartoons. Or building games. Or playing flute. Or any such thing. 

Now, the task of switching eventually to your dream career seems seemingly impossible. It’s insane to think about career changes after a while, they say. 

But remember, it’s NOT impossible. It could merely be hard, but I refuse to believe it’s impossible. 

If you have the faith to trust your inner voice, to keep pushing while most people give up, to keep remembering that you are NOT alone. You can do it. There is the joy of living your dreams, fulfillment of doing what you love, bliss of making your life count. And that joy will bring incredible power.

And remember, the task ahead of us is never as great as the power behind us.

No one gives you directions on how to become a successful person. They can give you suggestions, perhaps, but not directions,

No one gives you the formula that’ll put you in the NOBEL society, you’ve gotta grok that out.

No one gives you leadership advice, smart thinking, creative problem solving skills, contacts and networks of people you want to meet, the degree you are desiring, the money that’ll keep you going, and more importantly NO ONE EVER GIVES YOU POWER.

People hate giving other people power. You’ve gotto take the power. 

Opportunities are, like I always believe, right in front of your eyes.

If you have the balls to not let your fears and prejudice shut down your eyelids.

Opportunities are a few finger tips away.  Ask you heart, it knows clearly you could have been more awesome than you are right now.

If yes, which green flag are you waiting for? 

Often we find ourselves in the crossroads of life. Taking the big decisions is always scary. But knowing the end goal is the most important step. 

The end goal of what you want to become can’t be whispered to you by someone else. You should decide. You should make the call. 

Because if you don’t know where to go, watch what happens below:

“Would you tell me, please, which way I ought to go from here?”

“That depends a good deal on where you want to get to.”

“I don’t much care where…”

“Then it doesn’t matter which way you go.”

-Lewis Carroll, Alice in Wonderland

In literature, arts and science, over the hundreds of years, there has been the interesting concept of a muse.

“A Muse” is the fundamental source of inspiration that keeps the artists, poets and wizards obsess over their work to create masterpieces.

That sounds great if you are an artist, or if you have the liberty to do what you love. Unfortunately, some of us, are doing work to accomplish a goal, be it financial, or career-wise.

And thus, sometimes, you won’t be able to work on stuff that you love. 

Then, what do you do? When you are surrounded by naysayers, when you are mobbed by petty thinkers, when your 9-5 jobs involves a series of trivial and art-less ramblings, what do you do?

Instead of hating your job to the core, try and find a muse. Sounds ridiculous, yes, but it’s far better than destroying yourself with negative energy called “Despair”.

Immunize your precious mind with a temporary muse. Something in your work field that slightly is interesting, and partly is challenging. Call this your new muse. And fall in love with that. 

Sometimes you should  love survive what you are doing, before you could do what you would love. And to survive, you need a muse.

Go find it!

A few people in the business or creative community ruminate for an hour or a day and scream “eureka”.

That’s it. They’ve gotten the biggest idea of their life yet.

It’s alright so far except that now they start pestering people into buying their idea. No offence, it could really be your biggest idea yet, but honestly, thousands of people get thousands of ideas like that.

It sounds harsh, and especially when I tell myself the same thing.

“The entire world will never surrender for one big idea of yours”.

You’ve got to produce a thousand ideas a day. Or even more sometimes.

What I am saying is, coming up with one idea and expecting people to really notice you and give you credit rarely happens. [or almost never happens]

Consistency. That’s what matters in the real world. 

You could be a brilliant thinker, hey, but can you do that again?

There is a repeated pattern that you’ll notice among all great entrepreneurs. They are fairly simple.

Not in their attires or attributes, but clearly in their thoughts about what they want to do.Some use different vocabulary at different times but what will take you down by surprise is how narrowly focused they are in getting what they want.

They will tell you that there are simply no ifs and buts. There are only risks and guts.

Edison wanted to electrify the world.
Larry Page wanted to organize the world’s information.
Zuckerberg wants to connect every single person on the planet.
Elon Musk wants to make space travel affordable.

In action however, the complexity part kicks in. Their approach and style of solving the problem could be complex and painstaking depending on the situation. But the true beauty isin having the courage to dream that big. And believing in those dreams!