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Words. Wisdom. Winners.
Visibly uncomfortable
Here is a sure shot way to make a group of people extremely uncomfortable
Ask them to close their eyes
And then don’t say anything
For 5 seconds
10, 15, 30, 60
Most likely it won’t last for 60 seconds – people would have already opened their eyes.
People find others difficult.
When the most difficult person to spend time with, is your own self.
Can you spend 5 mins with yourself, everyday?
If you could, would you have made friends with your own self?
Revenge
Revenge is the weakest of human emotions. It indicates one has reached such a point that their “happiness” is predisposed on someone’s misery.
Pause and think about it for a second.
Your happiness depends on someone else’s misery.
You know what else feels like revenge?
Our education system.
The same one that tells us that seats are limited, opportunities are limited, your chances are limited.
So the only way to win, is when someone else loses.
You succeed as much because you are good, as because your competition was bad.
Revenge shouldn’t be the way to make you feel good about yourself.
Here is why I think gyms should have mirror walls and ceiling
Because worse than no exercise
Is the illusion of exercise
The 25 mins neck warmup
The 1kg bicep curl
The push up that’s never quite one
The squats that never go down
The counting that jumps from 4 to 6 to 10, when no one is looking
The 4kmph “run”
The “checking your phone because you know, something important” moment
The mirrors serve a purpose
Of making you feel ridiculed and laughed at, by none other than your own self.
These are mirrors of embarrassment.
And I contest, that we need them everywhere
Not just in gyms
Doing the right thing
What’s the best question to determine moral courage in an individual, during a professional interview?
Tell me of a time you fired someone because that was the right thing to do for the company
It’s fancy to suggest that one should always do the right thing.
However, calling something right means that there is a “wrong” instantly created in the universe.
Firing an individual because it’s the right thing to do for the company, is possibly wrong for the person being fired.
And if you can show that you dealt well with it, I can show you the intersection of empathy and decisiveness.
Build vs buy
Build:
We should build the capability of doing this in house. It’s core to us and we have the expertise to build it.
Buy:
This is important to us but we either don’t have the expertise to build it or the time to invest in it. We will be faster or better getting it done from outside
There is a third, more frequently taken path as well
Attempt:
We should do this on our own. Because, you know, we could!
You have no choice. You either build the absolute expertise to do it in house or you get the expert to do it.
Attempts don’t win markets.
Here are your 4 choices to live life
Choice 1
Nothing that I do at an individual level makes any difference. I could save animals, nature, not lie or steal or kill or harm – and yet the world remain the same. So fuck it – I will live life the way I want to. My way! Nothing else matters.
Choice 2
Everything that I do at an individual level matters. If I say no to plastic, leather, non veg food – it matters. If I am a nice kind hearted person – it matters. It makes me feel happy about myself, it gives me a sense of pride. And hence, I will do it – even if it means discomfort at times.
Choice 3
Nothing that I do at an individual level matters, unless I get a lot of people to do the same thing. Make the same choices. And hence I will build a tribe, a community, that’s represents our choices. Because together we can make a difference.
Choice 4
It’s really really hard to change people’s behavior. It’s best to change the entire landscape. Design the new way. Not optimize the current way.
Choice 1: the observer
Choice 2: the doer
Choice 3: the leader
Choice 4: the inventor
Guess which of these choices does the world need more of?
Guess which ones are dominant right now?
the world has more doers than we need. And less inventor than we need.
Let myself down
You work really hard.
And at some point that work stops becoming a process, a way of life, an approach.
Instead, it attaches itself to a goal.
A goal in your head, created by your expectations.
And then you don’t hit the goal.
Suddenly, while you should have met that moment with the reality of it, you end up meeting the moment with the expectation of how you would have liked it to be.
And at that moment, you fail yourself.
You let yourself down.
Reality generates action. Expectations generates reaction.
It’s market practice
Had a late night discussion within the senior management, on the principles of annual bonus.
In question were people who join between Jan – Mar every year and are not eligible for the annual appraisal or bonus, in April.
When they do go through the process the following year, should they be compensated for 12 months, or for 15 months (assuming they joined in January).
Market practice apparently suggests paying on a 12month basis. The clock resets every April.
Logic tells me paying on a 15 month basis. The individual has worked for that period.
Finally we decided to go with 15 months – it seemed logical and fair.
Fuck the market practice.
Do what’s right!
The 2 virtues often confused to be the same
The other day, at an office party, a colleague asked me
“All through this fund raising process, when things were not going our way, how did you remain so patient?”
Inside of me, I was like, “patient? Me?”
I am nothing like patience.
Yes, I am calm on the outside. Tolerant.
But inside, I am fucking impatient.
Here is something that I am though
Perseverant
Determined to achieve my target and continue to sign up on the process.
Show up every day, irrespective of how bad it is.
And if i feel like quitting today, I tell myself, let’s it tomorrow! And I say that tomorrow as well.
Patience is a virtue. But it’s inaction. It’s enduring pain. It’s tolerance.
Perseverance is action. It’s determination. It’s continuing despite everything.
What would you much rather be, if you only be one?
Truth
Imagine you meet someone for the first time and get talking
“So where did you do your MBA from?”, you ask.
“Gujarat”
“Wtf! Who does their MBA from gujarat. This guy looked smart to me!”, you think to yourself.
“Oh ok. Where from in Gujarat?”, you ask.
“IIM Ahmedabad”
:)
While this scenario is fictitious, it represents our life in a weird way.
The guy stated a fact. IIM Ahmedabad is indeed in gujarat.
But the truth you established from that fact, was driven by your biases, your perception.
And until you clarified, that truth would reside in you, as a fact.
The truth is merely a reflection of your beliefs, values and experiences.
It is unique to you
It’s your view
And it’s not an absolute
The truth is not a fact
It’s a feeling
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