Saurabh Mithal

Writer, Teacher, Career Coach, Mentor. Work website: passionatelycurious.in I write a daily blog at https://blog.passionatelycurious.in

Uphill battle.

Trying to get back on track is different than trying to stay on track. When we are working out regularly, it doesn't take much effort to work out more. But when we are getting back to the gym after a month-long break, it's important to remember

Finding our agency again.

Without our agency, without being in charge, the victim mindset can take over. Resistance can use its tools, procrastination, self-doubt, and rationalisation to keep us limited and delay our ambition. Sometimes, we can find our agency back again through books, podcasts or similar resources. Many times, it's a

The magic of masterminds.

Find 2-3 people who are on a similar journey as you are. Ask them if they'd like to meet weekly for 30-60 minutes at a set time. Set up a recurring calendar invite with these 2-3 guests. Share with each other what you are working on, and what

Rewarding the habit.

Eliminate the cue and your habit will never start. Reduce the craving and you won’t experience enough motivation to act. Make the behaviour difficult and you won’t be able to do it. And if the reward fails to satisfy your desire, then you’ll have no reason to

Small habits to bring your energy back up.

Talk to someone who perks you up. Do a small workout or breathing exercise. Write down everything on your mind in a doc or paper. Put on music that makes you feel better. Listen to a podcast or an audiobook that brings positivity. Go offline for a while. Drink more

The peace (not war) of art.

“Most of us have two lives. The life we live, and the unlived life within us. Between the two stands Resistance.” ~ Steven Pressfield, The War of Art When we work on our art alone, it may feel like a war. A war against a part of ourselves that wants to

Cost is different from price.

The price of the computer you like may be high. The cost of buying a cheaper one could be that it crashes right when you are working on a critical project. The price of the car you like may be high. The cost of buying a cheaper one could be

The generous act of creating tension.

Change leads to growth. And change isn't comfortable. A key component of that discomfort is the act of creating tension for others as well as ourselves. When we create tension, we put the other person on the hook, enabling them to take action and move forward.

Create. Edit. Ship.

When we create, abundance is the key. As professionals, we create around 5-10x more content than we might need at the end. A 400 page book generally has an initial manuscript of more than 1500-2000 pages. When we are in the create phase, we do not engage our editing mindset.

Books.

If you are feeling overwhelmed with fear and self-doubt, unable to take action: War of Art by Steven Pressfield. If you are feeling that you are not consistent enough, that you could do more: The Practice by Seth Godin. If you'd like to be more creative and create

The dance of creating opportunities and delivering on them.

If we focus only on delivering on what's on our plate right now, soon we will run out of work to do. On the other hand, if we focus only on growth and generating new opportunities but do not deliver on our existing commitments, we will end up

The double-edged sword of fear.

On the one hand, it beats you up by constantly telling that you are not doing enough to grow your business. On the other, it stops you from taking any action that can actually help you grow your business. It's tough to break through when we are caught

Taking back charge.

Little by little, resistance creeps up. It asks us to make exceptions. It convinces us that we're still in charge. But slowly, but surely, we start losing our agency. Slowly, but surely, resistance starts dictating our day. And when it does that, it may sometimes feel like it&

You can't see what you can't see.

Unless someone else helps you see it. And once they help you see your blind spots, it's very difficult to unsee them. That's where friends, peers, coaches and mastermind groups help. The hard work is to create a safe space where like-minded people can share their

Putting on a show.

As professionals, we put on a show with intent. We may not necessarily feel our best in the moment, but we do not let the audience or the clients notice. We keep our personal feelings aside and deliver on what's expected of us. This is the hard part,

Humans serving humans.

When we look at our work, including our marketing, as a human being being serving other human beings, we take our decisions with empathy, compassion and respect. We don't seek to manipulate the other person, we don't seek to cajole. We create a path for them

It doesn't need to be hard.

The journey is tough; no doubt about that. But it doesn't need to be hard. We can find friends who can accompany us on the journey. We can have people who care and understand and can keep us on the hook. Trying to do it all alone may

Empathy.

The client doesn't know what you know. She doesn't believe what you believe. She doesn't care about what you care about. ~ Seth Godin, The Marketing Seminar What does she know? What does she believe? What does she care about? We can guess. Or we

Perfect or on time?

Being a professional doesn't mean that things will be perfect. It means that things will be on time. We have to choose between the two as both is not an option.

Anti-fragility and the learning curve.

Antifragility is beyond resilience or robustness. The resilient resists shocks and stays the same; the antifragile gets better. ~ Nassim Nicholas Taleb, Antifragile The growth mindset leads to antifragility. The focus is not on maintaining the system as it is. It is to keep breaking it to make it better.

The source of fear

It is the inadequate response to a challenge that breeds fear. ~ J. Krishnamurthi, Public Talk 3, Saanen, 14 July 1966

Superpowers.

Imagine if you wake up one day and you have the powers of a superhero. Surprisingly, you don't have to imagine that any more. With AI tools like GPT-4, you have similar powers in the digital world (where most of our professional life is). Yes, you can delay

Shipping momentum.

It's easier to write a blog daily than it is to write it weekly. Initially, it isn't. Initially, it seems like a monumental task. But as we keep going, it keeps becoming easier. On the other hand, when the frequency is smaller, we have to restart

The professional freelancer.

The professional freelancer is strategic. She knows that although she is the owner, the CEO, the talent and the back end of her business, she respects each of these roles. She doesn't mix them when she shows up to work. As an owner, she allows the CEO to

Customers are humans.

They can be your coaching clients, course students, community members, online shoppers, or mailing list subscribers. But each and every one of them is a human being. Not a number. Many times, businesses and entrepreneurs forget this fact. Many times, they are driven by the desire of getting a number