States of consciousness. At times, we experience a version of the self which is content and secure. It is not afraid. It wants to be generous, to take risks and to be on the hook. It seeks to ask, “How can I be a contribution here?” Then, we also experience a version which
Let go. Letting go is an adult game. Toddlers can't play it. For the toddler, it's a matter of life or death. Even or especially if it's a story it's telling itself. And the toddler part of ourselves is no different. It attaches itself
Time travel backpack. If you pack a bag to travel across time, maybe to give it to a past self or a future version of yourself, what would you take? If I had to pack the bag it would mostly consist of books. The minimum version would have at least these: 1. This
The one you don't want to choose. When making decisions, we are biased towards certain choices and against others. This bias interferes with making a strategic decision. Many times, it's the choice you don't want to make that makes the most sense. And it might require courage and patience to make the right
An employee in the myth of “you” In an interview with David Letterman, actor Shahrukh Khan (SRK) said, “I am an employee in the myth of Shahrukh Khan” Your best self might be an employee in the myth of you. What is the story (myth) you are working on? How can you build it like a professional
When do you decide? Do you make decisions when you are low on energy, low on self-esteem, tired or stressed? Or when you are feeling like your best self, engaging with abundance and possibility? Our future is a reflection of our decision making. It matters when and where we make them.
Where to? Can we answer the "where to" without the "where from" and the "how would we"? Are we able to express our desires and intentions irrespective of our circumstances? The logistics matter, but they come later. First, we need to figure out where are we
Project mindset. Life gets better when we approach things with a project mindset. We define what the project is for, we identify what needs to happen so that it might work, we become aware of the constraints and the unknowns, and we show up with intent. On the contrary, the job mindset
The way things are. An excerpt from The Art of Possibility by Rosamund Stone Zander & Ben Zander: The practice... is to be present to the way things are, including our feelings about the way things are. This practice can help us clarify the next step that will take us in the direction we
"It takes that long?" A baby takes 9 months to take birth. A book takes at least an year or two to come out. A movie might take longer. When we seek advice, validation, consolation from others, consider whether they have done something similar themselves. Anyone who doesn’t understand the process might question
Creating the conditions for lightness. Lightness allows us to play, to experiment, to test, to move forward. Lightness requires letting go of outcomes, expectations and shoulds. We can create the conditions for lightness with intent.
Driving in the wrong direction... ...is better than not even leaving the house because you are waiting for the right direction.
The comfort trap. The driving force for many profit seeking businesses is comfort. Not resting, which is satiable, but comfort, which is insatiable. It creeps up on us as we start making exceptions. One more episode, one more reel, one more drink. Sooner or later, we get stuck in the trap. We start
Beyond "not enough" "Not enough" is a story. Even though we may not see it that way. The story plays like this: if this happens, I will be enough. If I earn this much, if I weigh this much, if I start dating this person, if I get this job, and
You did well. Three words that can change everything. When the critical voice is taking over, someone you trust telling you, “you did well” is enough to help you start coming back to being your best self. And sometimes we can choose to tell this to our self too.
In the face of no. We can have the agency of reframing it as "not yet". We can learn and change and grow. We can earn enrollment by engaging with possibility. Or we can choose to move on. An excerpt from The Art of Possibility: A “no” can so often dampen our fire
Active letting go. Letting go is perceived to be a passive activity. It is not. It has to be done with intent and it’s an active process.
Past or future? Decisions can lead to forward motion, but only if, we gather the courage to focus on where we seek to go. We can choose to travel light and carry what we need to become what we seek to become. Is your decision making based on where you are coming from
Leaving stuff behind. While shifting homes, we can choose to leave behind the stuff we don't use. Not only would we avoid paying the carrying cost for moving, but also the cost (emotional, physical, mental) of keeping them in the new place. A similar decision is on offer for us every
It costs too much. Mostly we say these words in terms of money. Sometimes we say that for time. Rarely do we say them for energy and emotional labour. It's the last one that almost always ends up being the constraint.
I'll figure it out. Seth shared a profound four-word advice in his blog today. Four-word adviceWhen there’s a complex situation that feels foreboding, you might need a manual, a coach and even a system to move forward. Or, it’s possible you simply need someone to tell you, “…Seth's
The trap of "killing two birds with one stone" First, we might need a better, kinder idiom. But, more importantly, this rarely works. Trying to achieve two objectives at once means that we are going to compromise on both. When a project, activity or interaction has a clear "what's it for?", we can make it
A strategic reframe. The strategy we’ve defaulted into might not be the strategy that would take us where we seek to go. To find a better strategy, we need to be prepared to walk away from the one we’ve defaulted into. ~ Seth Godin, This Is Strategy
