Tag: success

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We All Believe We Know Ourselves Very Well!

Do I know myself well?

I was walking around with blind spots, fully convinced that I was driving with perfect vision!

This was when I was in the corporate world.

I believed I knew myself very well.

And how wrong I was…

We all believe we know ourselves very well!

But we hardly do!

Only 10-15% of people are truly self-aware, despite 95% of people believing they possess this quality.

And this is according to organisational psychologist Tasha Eurich, who studied over 5,000 professionals.

Surprising…but this is the uncomfortable truth.

We do not know ourselves as well as we think we do.

Self-awareness is very critical!

I did little study on this. I aligned it with my corporate experience. I discovered that self-awareness and some emotional intelligence involve understanding the four critical dimensions. These dimensions greatly impact our professional journey, especially for leaders.

And these four dimensions are: –

  1. Your Triggers– what affects you and, in the process, derails your performance. This could be due to the spoken words of others, such as your colleagues or boss. It could also be their behavior or even when you are questioned or challenged. Let not these triggers hijack your ‘rational thinking’ and turn you into a reactive version of yourself!  

The objective is not to eliminate triggers as they are part of being human. The goal should be to recognise them quickly. This allows you to choose your response instead of being hijacked by it.

  • Your Patterns– The behaviour that you repeat without being conscious about it. These patterns are the behavioural loops that you used many times and have now become comfortable with. But these patterns might not serve you anymore…like slogging (overworking), being a perfectionist, being an individual operator (no delegation etc.).

Remember, what got you here will not get you there! – Marshal Goldsmith. Your patterns got you here, but now they might be the biggest obstacles to your future growth.

  1. Your blind spots – The gaps between how you see yourself and how others experience you. Blind spots are the aspects of your professional presence that are obvious to everyone except you! One example I can think of myself is when I thought I was adequately confident. However, my colleagues, and for that matter, my Bosses, perceived me as arrogant! You may believe you have strong relationships with your colleagues. They, however, might consider you an acquaintance at best!
  1. Your feedback loops – How you process information about your impact. Create a system for yourself to receive continuous feedback and ensure timely action on it. And when you receive feedback, do not become defensive by explaining, justifying, or rationalising every piece of critical feedback. And also, do not cherry-pick (only accepting feedback that confirms your existing self-image while dismissing anything that challenges it!).

Self-awareness is uncomfortable as it requires looking at parts of yourself that you would rather ignore.

Don’t ignore!

Cheers!

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Revitalize Your Career: Tips for Success

How are you doing on your career’s treadmill?

You started on a high speed. You were chasing targets and deadlines. You initiated new projects and realigned people and processes. Then it so happened that the treadmill seemed to slow down. Your enthusiasm started slowly fading away. Your routine became monotonous and your chase appeared futile! And then complacency slowly crept in…

Are you experiencing this in your daily routine?

If you are, then it is time to get your momentum back and rekindle your motivation once again!

How do you do that?

First and foremost, realize the rut that you have got into! Take a break, reflect on your feelings towards your work, and identify the signs of disinterest, procrastination, and maybe fatigue.

Revisit the purpose and the passion that you began with. I am sure you will find your sense of direction again! Break the monotony by setting new goals that will ignite your sense of accomplishment and purpose.

Invest in upskilling and learning new things. Encourage yourself to explore new ideas. Adapt to the changes that are taking place around you.

Rebuild your relationships with your peers, seniors, and mentors. Get involved with your subordinates to explore new challenges.

Take stock of your wellness. Mental health is as important as physical health. Incorporate changes in your lifestyle that you think are necessary for your overall well-being.

And lastly, challenge your comfort zones. Embrace discomfort by accepting challenges that will stimulate you and make your routine much more exciting!

Remember, complacency will lead you to stagnation. Recognize and address it proactively. This way, you can steer your ship back on course. You will be cruising towards a fulfilling and rewarding career.

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Life is Not All About Achievements… It is About Surviving the Odds!

We live in a fast-paced world, one that is obsessed with metrics, checklists, and milestones. Every day, we are bombarded with stories of success—tales of those who have scaled summits, shattered records, and surpassed their peers. But in the race to be the best, we often forget the importance of the journey itself and the challenges that come with it. Life, after all, is not just about achievements; it is about surviving the odds.

Success is not a linear progression!

Set a goal, work hard, achieve, and repeat!

No!!

Ask anyone who has faced the real life world and they will tell you it is rarely the case. Life throws unexpected challenges…all the time! It is not the achievements but the resilience to continue despite the challenges that define your character.

And by the way, surviving the odds does not mean merely living through tough times; it means emerging stronger, wiser, and more compassionate.

The ‘last mile’ in any journey is often the hardest. When you’re close to your goal, but the energy is running out, and the finish line seems just out of reach, that’s when the survival attitude kicks in!

And you can do that by embracing uncertainty, celebrating small wins, seeking support, and practicing self-compassion (be kind to yourself!).

Behind every success, there is a story of struggle! The best example that comes to mind is J.K. Rowling! After numerous rejections, Harry Potter happened!

It’s time to redefine success. Don’t measure it by the trophies on your shelf but measure it by the number of times you have picked up yourself and moved on!

Remember, it’s your survival attitude that will take you through the last mile!

Cheers!

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What’s in a Name?

“What is the meaning of your name?”

He asked me in front of the whole class.

“I don’t know”.

“When you go home today, ask your father and let me know tomorrow.”

This was the conversation I had with my Hindi teacher, Mr. Cyril Sunny when I was in seventh standard at St. Paul’s, Udaipur.

I asked my father the meaning of my name when he returned home in the evening after work. He told me the meaning in short and enquired why am I asking this question. I told him about what happened in the school that day. He smiled and then said ‘Wait, let me explain you in a better way then.’

He reached out to the bookshelf and pulled out a huge thick hard-cover book with brown coloured pages. He told me it was a ‘Sanskrit-to-English’ dictionary. And then, reading from it, he explained the meaning in detail. He told me the word is ‘Nirvana’ which in Noun means ‘enlightenment’. And in the adjective, it means ‘not glowing’. So, Anirvan means in noun ‘one who doesn’t need enlightenment, say someone like ‘Gautam Buddha’. And in the adjective, Anirvan would mean ‘Glowing’.

I went to school the next day and Sunny sir asked me the meaning again during the Hindi period. I explained to him what my father taught me. He smiled and wrote the word ‘Nirvana’ on the blackboard. He then addressed the whole class for the next fifteen minutes explaining the meaning on similar lines as what my father explained to me.

To this day, I remember this incident!

I was fortunate to have teachers like Sunny sir who had such passion for their subject and students alike.

On this teacher’s day, I bow to all my teachers and convey my gratitude for not only teaching us what was required as per the textbooks but for also teaching us about life and how to lead it meaningfully.  

Cheers!

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Should I….?

Does ‘What if…’ bothers you?

‘What if….”

Does this thought often bother you? Are you the one who spends a lot of time thinking on “What if….” before starting anything new? Do you often think of the negative aspects even if there are no valid reasons to do so?

You will notice that all your ‘What if…” have one common element- the fear factor!

 The ‘fear of the unknown’.

What is Fear of Unknown?

Most of this fear is based out of your assumptions and not on facts. You need to make yourself free from this ‘unknown fear’. Unless and until you do that, it will be difficult for you to accomplish anything important in your life- both at personal and at professional level.

How does one achieve that state of mind? I will share something from my own life. I too had many fears in my mind as I was growing up. Moving from adolescence state to a young man and then to crossing my midlife, I was continuously faced with so many fears that many times I wondered if at all will I be leading a free and happy life devoid of all my fears? Then as I gained experience in life, I slowly started taking risks; risks of giving an attempt to all the things/activities that I had some kind of fear attached to. And I was pleasantly surprised to find that most of the fears that I associated with these things/activities were mere fears only!

In practical life, they (the fears) just don’t exist!

What is the solution?

Here is the Key; to begin with, attempt very small or not very significant fears of yours and keep repeating the action (your attempt) accumulating the small victories. After a point, you will have the confidence and the mental strength to attack your bigger fears. And slowly you will achieve bigger victories. You will be ready to take calculated risks in your life and will make significant progress.

And you know what? The biggest lesson for me in all this was:

People give a damn about you!

So, the biggest worry that we have in our mind ‘what will people say’ is so irrelevant and exasperating.

And remember: On the other side of your FEAR…. lies your SUCCESS!

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Your Direction is more important than your Speed!

Am I moving in the right direction? Pic Credit: Pixbay

Moving slower in the right direction is far better than moving faster in the wrong direction!

Most productivity gurus insist on ‘how quick’ rather than on ‘how efficient’. A slight tilt in the wrong direction will have drastic results over the period of time.

Many of us believe that being busy is being productive which is absolutely wrong in the first place. Being busy with a purpose and a goal in mind is actually what it should be to achieve success.

Have you heard of the herd mentality? It is when everyone follows what someone else is doing! Whether it suits them or not, whether it will do any good to them or not, or least, whether it is required for them, people blindly copy because everyone seems to be doing or following the same. Do you believe this will give them beneficial results? Absolutely NOT!

Always, try to find your own path. Carve your unique niche. Take your time to build that pace, but be consistent in your efforts. Don’t just rush without applying your mind. Small gains each day will have a compounding effect over a period of time. So, ensure that you are progressing in the right direction and that your progress is steady.

“Don’t confuse motion with progress. A lot of people are just like spinning in circles really, really fast. They’re not going anywhere.” — Polina Marinova

Cheers!