Saurabh Mithal

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

The magic of hard deadlines.

Soft deadlines can be ignored. They can be rationalised against and pushed back further indefinitely. Hard deadlines are different. You can't mess with them. They could be set either because there is a human being waiting for the work on the other end or a system that doesn&

Resistance is useless.

Resistance's pitch is to convince us to do the work later because then it will be better. That's a lie. The delay that resistance creates serves no value. There's no reason why later will be better.

Getting out of our own way.

“Basically, your fear is like a mall cop who thinks he’s a Navy SEAL: He hasn’t slept in days, he’s all hopped up on Red Bull, and he’s liable to shoot at his own shadow in an absurd effort to keep everyone “safe.” ~ Elizabeth Gilbert, Big

Out of the boat.

"Out of the boat" signifies more than being off track - it means you don't know where the track is anymore. When you are out of the boat, you cannot think your way back in; you have no point of reference. ~ The Art of Possibility, Ben

Energy game.

"You don't have a money problem. You have an energy problem." - Eva Forde [evaforde.com] Almost everything in our life could be brought down to how our energy is about it. Do we let the feeling of overwhelm and self-doubt take over and stop us

Specific is scary.

When we make things specific, we are on the hook. We either get it done or not. Hence, resistance pulls the trick out of its hat. It stops us from making things specific.

Shipping delays.

How frustrating it is to order something and not get it at the expected time. The feeling of being stuck, of waiting, of not being able to do anything about it. That's how it is when we delay shipping our work: sending the emails, making the changes, and

One day is enough.

One day is enough to get started. One day is enough to gain ground. One day is enough to start changing things. All changes happen one thing at a time, one day at a time.

Earning trust.

Whether it's about getting a new client, making a new friend or finding a romantic partner, it all comes down to earning trust. But, how do we do that? There are three things that lead to earning trust: deep, authentic, and emotionally resonant interactions, how frequent these interactions

Residual results.

Some changes can have a ripple effect on future actions. Make the change once and it makes things better going forward. These system-level changes are easier to put off for later. We can always adjust. Why change something that isn't broke? But, if we start making these changes

One thing at a time.

Focus on one thing. One thing only. Keep working on it until it starts taking shape and it's done. When we keep switching tasks without getting them done, we don't make progress in any. This is true for projects as well. Once we commit to a

Making time for fear.

If we believe that fear will not show up as we work on our project, we are not being serious about the work. Any project worth pursuing will have its component of fear accompanying it. And if don't make space for the fear, it will show up at

Too big a leap.

A leap takes courage and it changes the way things are. It's different from a step or even a jump. It creates leverage and can potentially shift us to a different trajectory. But, there is also the possibility that it might not work, that we might fall, and

Trust your self.

To do the right thing when you are in the arena. To be generous, compassionate, kind, honest, vulnerable with others and yourself. To make the decisions that you feel are right, even if they might not work. To allow yourself to make mistakes and take leaps. To get back up

People like us...

There is magic in surrounding ourselves with people like us. People who are generous, ambitious, creative, entrepreneurial, change-makers, and ruckus makers. People who are always there to listen, to help, to motivate, to push us forward, to connect, coordinate, lead and create possibility. I am so very grateful to be

Fear, change & generosity.

The key element of generosity is change. Without change, there's no generosity. And fear and change go hand in hand. Too much change, too soon can be too scary for many people. So, it makes sense to break it down into micro-steps and allow others to enrol in

Creating abundance.

Creating an abundance of knowledge and skills: Invest time & money in books, courses, podcasts, and workshops. Creating an abundance of people: Reach out, initiate, instigate. Have coffee chats. Be interested in other people. Figure out who you find interesting and find and connect with more people like them. Creating

Until it's done.

Don't leave the seat. Don't change the tab. Don't make an exception. Don't stop doing what you are doing. Until it's done.

Neutral zone.

During the day, any stimulus can trigger us into the negative zone, the zone where emotions are high, the zone where we doubt ourselves, the zone where we think more and do less, and the zone where we can't see anything good about us or the world. Sometimes,

Who's incharge?

Is the project not going the way it's supposed to? Why? Who's incharge? Are you? If not you, then who? If no one's incharge, is it a wonder that things are in a mess right now?

2 kinds of projects.

One is the predictable kind, the one with a set recipe which we simply need to follow. This kind of project can be drawn out on a Gantt chart. It's similar to driving from one city to another using a GPS system. You can tell exactly where you

The hard work.

Doing the job is not the hard work. The hard work is creating something out of nothing. The hard work is initiating. instigating, leading. making things imminent. The hard work is listening, empathising, building trust and connection. The hard work is getting the right people in the room. There are

The cliffs and the cul-de-sacs.

“If It Is Worth Doing, There’s Probably a Dip” - The Dip: A Little Book That Teaches You When to Quit (and When to Stick), Seth Godin The cliffs are the addictions. The activities that give a slight high every time we do them but have massive withdrawal symptoms

The illusion of rest.

Spending time on YouTube, Instagram, and Netflix is not taking rest. That's an illusion that we have created. Rest leaves you in a calmer, relaxed, more energised state. These activities don't. Mostly, they leave us drained.

Thank you, next.

When we start showing up with intent, there are chances that we do not get what we are seeking. The potential client we reach out to does not sign up. The girl/guy we ask out for a date does not agree to go out with us. The jobs we