Blog
Words. Wisdom. Winners.
Who designed the rules around you?
Show me a successful person who has been a conformist in his life
And I will show you an unsuccessful person who calls himself successful
Look around you
The rules have been laid out by people who are no smarter than you
Challenge then
Change them
Look in the mirror
They are not understanding what I want to say
I can’t get this done because the process sucks
Employees are leaving because competitors are throwing money at them
I came late to office because of traffic
I don’t earn much because I don’t have a good degree
I am not confident because my parents couldn’t afford a good school
I want this but the world is conspiring against me
Each time you feel you deserve something or you have worked hard for something
And it’s not working out because someone outside of you has the controls
Look in the mirror
The strength is you
The competition is you
The enemy is you
Buying respect
If you are a business or P&L owner, here is a piece of advice you will thank me for
When speaking to your vendors, employees, ex-employees, agencies and everyone else who you will owe money – you should be the worst negotiator on earth. Squeeze them off the last penny they can afford to give you
But once agreed upon, always pay an hour earlier than you promised.
When you pay people their money on time, every single time, you buy respect that this money can never buy.
Ready to die
The only thing that I see that is distinctly different about me is I’m not afraid to die on a treadmill. I will not be out-worked, period. You might have more talent than me, you might be smarter than me, you might be sexier than me, you might be all of those things you got it on me in nine categories. But if we get on the treadmill together, there’s two things: You’re getting off first, or I’m going to die. It’s really that simple, right?
– Will Smith, in an absolutely absorbing interview
Replace treadmill with working hard
Replace Will Smith with my name
I cannot be out-worked.
Honesty is not a choice you make
It doesn’t matter whether you are being honest or not in the conversation.
To be honest is not a choice you make
It’s the choice of the recipient.
Whether he wishes to listen
Whether he wishes to be honest.
With himself
What’s the promise you have made?
Nescafé has a beautiful new ad featuring a stand up comedian with a stutter (no – it’s not real, it’s acted out).
While there can be a post on how brands are becoming bold with their approach, the ad struck a different chord
Here is a comedian who is selling his stutter as a hook. His promise is “I am a comedian. But a lot others are. I am a comedian with a stutter. That’s me”
Tomorrow if he works on his stutter and overcomes it – will he be breaking his promise?
Adnan Sami didn’t promise to be the fattest guy playing a piano. He promised to be the fastest guy.
And that worked out just fine when he overcame his obesity.
Everyday we make promises.
To be the nicest manager.
To be the most aggressive salesperson.
To work long hours.
To always be there no matter what.
To work out from now on.
To eat right.
Will we always be able to deliver on the promise. Are we promising on our strengths or our weaknesses?
If you spend enough time
Watched The Dark Knight again. For the 7th time. Or maybe 8th. I don’t remember.
The trailer, when it first came out, blew me away. The movie matched every possible hype around. However, with more views I noticed flaws. In the story, the characters, the sequences.
Despite that, it remains one of my all time favorites. Because the experience delivered, even with the flaws, is way better than most other movies I see.
Movies are such. Only some of them are really good. Those awe you with their trailers. Make you fall in love with them when you see them. They are designed as an experience.
But over time you realize they are not all that perfect. They have their flaws. The story breaks down at places. The characters are weak at some instances.
And yet you chose to ignore these issues. Because they are better than most others.
There is something else that works like movies
People!
If you spend enough time – everything will have flaws.
But that may not be the best use of your time.
Nothing great
Nothing great was achieved without getting into the details
Nothing great was achieved by playing safe
Nothing great was achieved by postponing decisions
Nothing great was achieved by saying no just because that’s how it’s done
Nothing great was achieved by not willing to have a conversation
Nothing great was achieved without the courage to apologize
Nothing great was achieved by looking into the past
Nothing great was achieved without an irrational urge to win
The above are not options.
They are “if and only if” statements towards success.
Should we do this?
This isn’t an exciting question when you are starting up.
Instead,
How can we do this along with what we are doing?
Why shouldn’t we do this?
When starting new, it’s foolish to assume that the path you are on is the path to success. The DNA should be to
pick up multiple paths,
measure performance,
eliminate (or select) and
improve.
Repeat and never stop
Analysis
People spend a fair amount of time analyzing before they start something. Because of two reasons
1. They are preparing themselves for the execution.
2. They are procrastinating the execution
It’s amazing how many times people think they are doing the first when they are actually doing the second.
It’s even more amazing how many times it happens consciously!
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