Bamboo In The Wind

PeerBricks Research enables you to "Collaborate for Visible Impact" - one brick at a time! It is an online platform aiming at creating a marketplace where pressing social challenges can be listed, discussed, debated and thoughtfully and compassionately addressed through innovative solutions.  PeerBricks Research is a space where the work among different players makes the hardworking and focused Social Ecosystem enhance the reach and collaboration for ground effect. It is also a place where a challenge receives support and it is transformed into a new opportunity for creating lasting impact. The PeerBricks platform is committed to the Social sector, NGOs, and Private Companies in defining and prioritizing social and environmental challenges and uploading them onto the platform to address them in a new collaborative manner. It encourages the participation of social volunteers, citizens, and innovators, to identify, fund, co-develop, and test concrete solutions to these needs. O...

"An idle mind is the devil’s workshop” is a widely used proverb. It plays the role of a hopeful catalyst to the one who has to hear about it.  However, thrusting oneself into a host of situations that would stimulate our brain into being busy can sometimes prove inefficient.  On a cold day, a car is often started up and left idle to regain itself from a shutdown, cold state to an active state of operation. The human mind is similar in that it is sometimes good to let the brain idle, gather our thoughts, and reflect upon our actions rather than surging forward by keeping it cluttered with work. Neuroscientists and brain imaging specialists have run various tests, and their findings were quite interesting. According to them, resting activity could be helping to better prime the brain to respond to future stimuli, or to maintain relationships between areas that often work together to perform tasks. It may even consolidate memories or information absorbed during normal activity....

Do tests  define who we are? They don't.  We think they make us. They don't. They are meant to open doors we are choosing to walk past to experience the world on the other side. There exist several such doors. We are at one such place.  There exist many qualities within us. Each door we encounter will test us for those and offer access to experiences that shape us. Not just this testing door alone. We must remember we can tested for many things in our journey. Resilience, focus, and delivery in the current. Hurdles and tests are vital. They make us introspect. But we must be mindful that they must serve our cause.  And choices represent a chance to make a difference.  In that sense, what we face is our choice.  We must watch if they bring out our potential and bring us to our best behavior.  If they don't, it is time to make a new choice.

  A human being is one of the most sophisticated and complex species to ever exist.  We have been blessed with the ability to think, analyze, and express our emotions. All this coupled with the fact that we can walk on two legs, surely every human, irrespective of their background, is smarter than all other species to walk this earth. In theory, yes.  In reality however, most humans are dissatisfied and unhappy because of them feeling inferior to another human being. The question that arises is - why so? To find the answer, let me walk you through a commonly used grading system in Indian higher education institutions.  Absolute grading and Relative grading. The biggest distinction among both is that the former awards merit for the individual’s effort and skill alone whereas the latter awards merit for the individual’s effort and skill in relation to that of their peers. We see the same concept being in subconscious use in the formation of an individual’s identity a...

It is impossible to not think about how to bridge the gap between where you are and where you would like to be. The gap often appears enormous. Unsurprisingly, you get attracted to tricks and treats to get you past it. However, shortcuts that should have helped don't work, leaving you stumped and with a much wider gap. The main issue is focusing on the result without control over it. While expecting results is a dreamy desire, it depends on the route we take to get results. The course involves a lot of background work with little recognition and reward. It consists of working in quiet, dark, dusty corners that get our hands in the mud. Some days feel like endless early mornings and late nights, all starting and ending with a streak of mistakes and false hopes that ensue. Learning by doing is a great way to provide real hope. The route appears marred with costly affairs. Learning is time-consuming, costs money, and failures are totally humbling. And yet, following a long-term path b...

When you think about "I should have...",  you throw yourself into the unfathomably deep swirl of thoughts that lead to a futile assessment of causes that led to the past. There is little you can do to change where you are.  What it does enable, however, is a deep understanding of where you need improvement. It is a quest to understand how to better your position. Thus, the thought - "I should have..."-  reflects a drive for self-improvement during the dance with fear. On the other hand, when you think about "What if I...", it directs us to thoughts that lead you to immediate next steps. It opens your minds to future opportunities.  That one step you take can visibly change your position. It shifts you into action. Composes your emotions, which opens the door to emerging tangible options. Thus, the thought - "What if I..." - reflects a drive for self-acceptance after the dance with fear.

It is probably easier to ask - "What do you want to be?" That brings us to think about work and the professional role we want. Thinking about being just a parent, citizen, or neighbor is socially unacceptable. That is not attractive enough. And why should it be! It is not glittery. It does not bring us any fame! All it means is being responsible. But then, the right question to ask would be, "What do you want to do?".  It makes us think about the enjoyable skill we want to be good at and exercise. And another critical question to ask would be, "Who do you want to be?".  It makes us think about the role model for who we want to be like.  It makes us automatically focus on the values. The values we want to embody in our daily life that provides fulfillment. And it extends the responsibility that comes with our choice and acceptance.  And that is at the base of a feeling of satisfaction.

It is not an easy thing to deal with a blow. It comes unexpectedly. And it hurts really bad. That surprise is the real problem. We are blindsided by which circumstances cause trouble and deal us a blow. The surprise stems from unpreparedness to face situations. Sometimes these situations can have binary outcomes. That makes the blow really hard because options are limited. Clearly favorable or absolutely unfavorable. We miss a step, and we have an impact of a significant loss of opportunity. We get one step right, and we are on the winning side. The surprise also stems from temperament. We must always know delicate situations depend on the last-minute composure as we enter the main frey. Composure massively weighs on the outcomes. Preparing with extra care and diligence is an excellent way to handle delicate situations. A better way is to work on temperament with sufficient exposure to the big-day environment. Organize practice that tests our nerves as it would in real life. It can sav...

I t is satisfying to have put up a great fight. Knowing fully well that we consciously chose not to quit and make a sincere effort makes it all worthwhile. All we can do is keep a sane mind. Be honest in preparation. Wait for the show-time to arrive and then enter the fray with all our might. It is daunting to think about what may transpire after the game. The worry is not what wins us the game; it is the act of playing the game that certainly will create a chance! Creating a chance in every situation, tactfully navigating hurdles one step at a time is all that matters.  The referees' job is to determine how our effort turned out. Our job is the stay in the game. Until the end! And that is a brave act. And fortune is often seen to side with daring!  But first, we must start by mastering our circumstances! And act on resistance to do so. Decisively!

It seems almost impossible to recover from defeat in our earlier games! And yet, how do some people revive from devastating defeats while others end up dropping the ball? Why do unfavorable situations strengthen some individuals or groups yet make others quit under pressure? There are routine examples of how people have scored solid recoveries from what looked like an untenable situation. Their success may lie in a critical thinking attribute when in a troublesome situation. That key attribute is - the willingness to develop a muscle of personal resilience! Resilience begins to develop from a simple step of a view problem situation as an opportunity to evolve personal self. It shapes personality and approach to positively engaging circumstances. What gives root to resilience is in being optimistic . It makes thinking about a way out of the situation plausible. It provides the necessary hope and possibility of taking action. Resilience grows further with decisive actions of engagi...

When we need help, it is better to ask one specific person than a group. Messages to a broad group of people receive few responses and even fewer valuable suggestions! And that should not be surprising! People tend to think others in the group will step up to help. Thus, diffusion of responsibility kicks in! It is our loss when we reach out to a group for support and, in reality, see none! The generosity of support is highest when there is an exclusive opportunity for making a direct positive impact on someone in need. A sense of unique contribution is the reason people volunteer!

Those who genuinely don't care what people think about them do so purposefully.  There is a deep-seated underlying fear that leads to insecurity to know more about themselves. They detest finding out that they might not be perfect and need improvement. That makes them antisocial by their own design! A more confident and social people know precisely where their progress lies. They care about what people they immensely respect think of them and act on it blindly. The difference between being successful and being satisfied lies between the two approaches.

Happiness is never one size fits all. It's never about winning the big things every once in a while and getting the joy of life. Instead, happiness lies in increasing the frequency of joy.  Happiness is collecting joy in little things, the most unassuming settings, and the most unexpected yet regular aspects of life! As often as we can. Chasing the roller coaster of big bang pleasures will bring many disappointments amid some joyous breaks. Learning to spot and pick daily, tiny moments of joy is the only way to sustained, long-lasting satisfaction. It starts with being open to recognizing that bad is mixed good, and we must learn to discern good and cherish that!

We are surrounded by upheaval. Uncertainties grip us. It may look like we are on an impossible, neverending climb! We all need to focus on the next step, following one action, the next minute, the next hour, the next day, next test. Once we focus on winning every session, we approach things with a narrow area focused on the next and the next thing alone! That is when we are steady, composed, and intent!

It is such a complex concept.  You work hard for something and have it, yet you do not feel good about the achievement. Why is this so? You are in the spotlight, and your enigma is gone to become public. You have a loss of privacy. Another reason is your success. Everyone around you thinks it is their success. Everyone expects a share in it. Whether you like it or not. And then guilt creeps in! You owe it to others! That is social debt. You repay the debt with nagging discomfort and spend part of the success.  And that is a depletion you cannot avoid!

Saying you are committed and being committed are two different things. We think about the level of commitment because we are after something. So how you feel about commitment is essential. More important is how to act on that commitment. Thoughts follow expectations. We expect how things may turn out. Without actions backing the thought, we will likely see a deviation in the expected results. Often the result is a surprise! It shouldn't be! It's just the culmination of thoughts followed by actions! Fix them both. Results ensue!

There is no such thing as a right track. We are always in a way that we are on. Why are we constantly searching for whether we are on the right track! Well,  there are a few reasons for it. We don't listen to our own inner self. We are eager to get swayed by what others think of us instead of what our inner self signals us. Learning to listen to our inner self might open us to what we really want and what we are missing that we would like to work on. For the track we are on the make sense, we have to build the right surrounding that allows our best inner self to express itself. Unless there is an opportunity for us to express our inner selves, we cannot see the influence of what matters to us. Another thing that matters for the track we are on is to trust ourselves. Trusting makes us feel like expressing, sharing, and giving.  We do so with much more confidence that we come from a place of positive contribution. Such confidence enhances the value of the track we embarked on. F...

Misunderstanding arises out of an incomplete understanding of the matter under exchange. It stems from the fact that we have received information that does not match the version of points in our minds. Moreover, it differs from the beliefs we have. Together they create situations contrary to what the sender wishes us to receive with complete clarity, and we understand. The problem arises mainly due to expecting the process of the sender and receiver expecting an offline concurrence.  This requires patience instead of relying on assumptions about what we receive and making those the final interpretations. Most clarifications result from debates, probing, questioning, distilling, and reclarifying until a common understanding exists. Trouble is when any commentary about the inadequacy of what is in our hands triggers the feeling of insufficiency; it gives rise to insecurity. Dialogue breaks then and there, and assumptions start to become truths. That gives birth to gross misinterpreta...

Raising-the-moderate results in iterative linear improvement over the exponential progress we like to go after with the technique of raising the bar.  It improves the average work to excel to become incrementally better.  It builds the culture to look for pitfalls of the present and work on improving them without the shame, comparison, and looking down upon those that can only produce the unreasonable at the start. Raising the moderate considers why someone struggles to produce enough and gives them the tools to create adequately. It then puts the next challenge out to beat that until we have something of substance. However, once we have learned that we can excel by raising the moderate, it has an unintended side effect! It reduces the demand for best-in-breed excellence as we know it.  We learn to settle for adequate!

Our understanding of progress relates to achieving something worthwhile. Our notion of excelling at something is exceeding the past achievement. Raising the bar often means jumping over the hurdle, starting with the lowest level first and gradually moving the bar up. The notion high jump in the Olympics teaches us that unless you hop over the raised bar to win unless you better the performance of someone who came before you! While raising the bar for personal excellence is exciting, it also creates isolation among those you are unwilling to participate for the starting hurdle for participation it lays out. In real life, however, the contrarian approach builds a winning culture for collective efforts. Raising the bar is only sometimes necessary for excelling. In workplaces and group settings, setting ways to excel the performance of the groups requires distributing the work to carefully avoid burn-outs. That raises the average performance and generates interest. Innovations set rolling ...

Patience is a virtue. It reflects our considerate reaction to something that happens differently from our plan.  When things go awry, they have massive potential to shake us. We might feel insensitivity under the situation. The unexpected breaks us so much that we may lose sight of the commitment we made to ourselves. That is the time when patience comes to the rescue. It is a harsh reminder that we are one factor in making things happen. Many factors are at play where the probability that the dice roll falls in our favor is entirely unpredictable. We should look at the factors contributing to our desired outcome. When we learn to find all pieces that make the final outcome, it is a lesser surprise that many are not in our control. It requires no reaction from us. When reactions cease, we open the room for performance against all odds.

It is common to waver from our goal. There are so many distractions that take away our minds off of our priorities.  Temporarily veering away is perfectly normal. As long as we are not dropping what is vital to us indefinitely, engaging in distractions for a bit is perfectly okay. P Priorities essential to us must stay on top of our minds. Distractions, though, are engaging. They have the power to become habits in no time. When priorities are a cornerstone of everything we do, our mind recognizes the overtures of distractions.  Prioritizing ruthlessly makes room for bringing the schedule back on track. Prioritizing is the way we remain focused on what is important to us.

In talking therapy, we seek to unravel who we are. We expect to peel through the layers until there are none.  The goal of therapy is to find the bare-bone self. We are reluctant yet intentional. However, we are in a world of hard knocks in real life. It makes us wonder how to traverse through it unscathed. Experiences shape our temporary behaviors. Some accidentally or some others after reflection.  That goes on until we gather new experiences that shatter our beliefs and build new ones. In real life, our experiences teach us to remove the layers just as the therapy!  One may be an intentional process driven by self-awareness. In a few instances, we recognize that things need to change. Consciously.  The other one, however, is a bit like walking blindfolded. We depend on experiences and decide to change because of how experiences turn out. Unconsciously.  Both of these are processes of finding the bare metal self. That is individuation! The one that frees us fr...

New projects, new books, new friends, and new jobs all attract you. You continuously embrace newness. You find the newness enjoyable. Nothing wrong about feeling the excitement of novelty.  The novelty is forgotten when confronting something new one more time. The critical question is, how does this newness sit with what you already have? Can you keep the priorities you already have? In the absence of probing this question, all things new are compelling.  Embracing new leaves you swimming on the surface. Who knows, you are overextending yourself for the fear of what lies at the depths!

The greatest gift you can give yourself is to take the initiative. It might look like you are taking on more work at first.  The initiative sets the tone for responsibility you take. It also helps set a boundary for where that responsibility ends. Clearly, the initiative has other benefits. It tells others where they can depend on you. Such proactiveness makes the experience for everyone transparent and pleasant. Taking the initiative is a bold step. It requires broad mind, courage to volunteer and willingness to know. It may appear that the stature of what you do may not match with your past. With initiative, you can break away from the past, contribute. Initiative is the way you string together vital experiences. More critically, the initiative opens the doors. Makes connections. Expands learning. It also pleasantly surprises those around you.  The initiative, is highly potent experience. The one that may turn out quite revealing!

We understand well that actions and inactions are a way to make decisions. We recognize that each action we take incurs a cost. Action may trigger an outcome that advances us, in which case the price we pay is negligible. It may also get us an outcome that retracts us backward, in which case the price we pay is high. Either way, action is expensive! What about inaction? Inaction means doing nothing. We often consider that inaction has no price associated with it. After all, we are not acting to maintain the status quo. The status quo puts us in a poor position. Inaction costs us dearly. We just don't see it until it hits us!

Staying in the past and judging circumstances or people is futile. Most people detest getting judged rather than judging others. When we judge others, we lose precious sharing we might enjoy with friends, family, and acquaintances who hate to hear how we think they are wrong. We may not realize it, but most people enjoy being in our company. They are delighted about  everything we offer except the undue worry or deceit they might face in our presence. What we experience is primarily up to us.

It means being firm despite all odds. We know that not all will go as we want.  And yet, we are prepared to engage and give our best effort to be ready for the game. Storms come often. But they go only when we are resilient and tackle them with acceptance.  Acceptance beefs up confidence that we understand the lowest point if we don't deliver.  And once we know the bottom of any problem, our mind works magically to avoid the possible low point. That resurrects us and puts us solidly in what, until then, was a losing battle!

Speed is rarely a reflection of IQ. Faster reasoning can mean shallow reasoning. We can be faster on easier problems but slower on harder ones.  Our experience over time tells us that rush crushes and it is best to be thoughts until we get it right and after verification. It is best to decline trading accuracy for speed. That is undoubtedly a sign of intellect.  Striving for accuracy gives rise to rational decision-makers over time.

Why do some people perform at an ultra-performance level while others cannot? It appears as though sprint runners can be omnipresent. Can see over their shoulder where the co-runners are, measure their distance, maintain the correct posture while running, and maintain position in the running lane. In reality, they are not that omnipresent. They are ultra-focused on a special milestone in the sprint. Their run is concise, and the distance is well in their line of sight. So they are trained to focus on being at the finish line of their run in the quickest possible time. That is it. Creating an environment for quick experimentation and clear targets are possible. And we can use the technique to improve our performance in any field. The environment needs to be such that we can see progress or failure rapidly. This calls for periodic tests of our performance and frequent learning about what could have been improved. That is the best way to build solid foundational skills. Focusing on the go...

The role model is essential. It reflects the aspirational journey we want to pursue. It is our map of who we want to be like. It is always a good idea to think of where our experiences intersected with our consciousness and became believable to us and ingrained in who we are today. It is a rather personal journey. Posters on the wall usually represent various values dear to us and what we see in those around us. That is the guiding torch that keeps our march inspiring. If we think of asking them the most pressing problems on our mind - to those that admire and respect - we end up hearing their answers with certainty. And so we don't ask but still get from them what we need! 

Being associated with an organizational philosophy, ideology is always a function of beliefs and priorities at a specific time. While loyalty is about rallying behind those priorities, they are inferred as a permanent phenomenon.  Unless priorities are self-initiated, we are mainly inheriting those from others. When inherited priorities conflict with our value systems, they are suffocating. They constrain us from thinking freely. Acting becomes problematic when the conflicts are at their peak. Conflicts stem from the ideology we are associated with based on our earlier beliefs aligning with the cause. When they don't immediate reaction is a change in priorities. When priorities change, following a party line becomes unproductive.  The best thing to do is not sign up for following a party line but review beliefs and carefully correct them to match with real experiences from time to time. While following a party line makes us safe followers, being open to adjusting priorities to...

Uphill makes us breathless, tiresome, and impossible to climb. Our confidence, ambition, desire, and will is tested on an uphill battle. All these thoughts collectively make up our image of what we are capable of. And the uphill climb clears the fluff of our imagination of what we are capable of. We are still determining if we will make it to the top. That feeling of whether we will make it to the top clears all the inhibitions and fluff we have gathered for a while. We get grounded in reality. A sign of that is we begin to see things more clearly, are open to suggestions, and listen to our own signals better. With intent!

It is more scary to feel we are in an endless free fall than to face actual free fall. Free fall occurs u expectedly and ends with an impact. The feeling of free fall, on the other hand, is worse. The sentiment is self-generated and hugely distracting in every aspect. We live in a world where we are responsible for ourselves and those around us. Thus, when we feel that we are in free fall, it impacts us and others in unimaginable ways. They start to learn about our situation that concerns them. They make assessments and pass judgments, which elongates our feeling of a fall. So where does it end? The feeling of a free fall originates from an inadequate assessment of self. That follows with making judgments heavily influenced by our past and views. When our actions based on calls we made do not appear to work, the feeling that we are in free fall begins. The way to end it is by assessing self by stopping the noise of judgments of others about us. Avoiding self-inflating inputs that misle...

Opportunities arise when we volunteer our time. Often it’s not always up to us to choosing what to contribute to. Not everything may be of our liking. But that is fine.  As long as we are giving a hand to making things a little easier or better or brings a smile on someone’s face or makes them stand on their own, we utilize our time well. Volunteering is an act of generosity where internally we feel we need to offer. Offering is in the form of sparing time, effort and most importantly our attention to something or someone else. It represents that we have sensibilities and store of an inner care that can extend to the world around us. Being able to see thing beyond and us and even more critically involving ourselves to improving them is gracious act.  An uncommon one. And hence, a special one!

We are taught to win and go after something until we encounter victory. Aimless chases can mistake ego trips we are on for ambitious pursuits. Eventually, such hunts falter and run into trouble.  The root of the problem lies in the blind belief in what we want over what we can have. There is a gap between the expectations and the reality of our readiness to make it happen. When that gap is wide enough, we cannot see the care, attention, and effort required to get what we want. That leads to positioning ourselves in a poor position, which places us at a problematic point of return. It is not impossible to improve the situation.  It precedes improving our belief that what we want is backed by our attention. Once our view is back to being realistic, floating in the waters until we can is an inevitable survival strategy.  Make great pursuits we see around us a result of surviving as long as possible rather than a frantic attempt to win at any cost. 

Jeff Bezos took a lot of ideas from Sam Walton of Walmart. Jobs and Bezos took many ideas from Akio Morita of Sony Corp. Steve Jobs learned a great deal from his conversations with Edwin Land, who was Polaroid Founder.  Jobs was even quoted as saying that Apple's journey was at the intersection of science and technology. The quote was Edwin Lands'! Could we have predicted that Jobs, who learned from Land and Morito, would have gone to build fascinating technology and the most innovative phone devices we have ever seen? Every person at the top of their game is always keen to absorb the vitals from their surroundings. They study people who came before them and try to learn the purest form of practice tips on building excellence.  Jobs and Bezos were no different. It is hard to know in advance what a philosophy, an invention, or an idea can influence. It is even harder to understand what a person affected by the influence will go on to create! Books are authors' ideas. Some re...

There is a strange thing about doing things on schedule. Schedules make us plan for things ahead of time.  Every slot in it is immaculately planned. And, when the time for action arrives, we simply want to walk away from the very thing the next time slot is meant to be for. Why do we work so hard to plan but find excuses to strike off what we intended for? One reason is that schedules are done with someone else's priorities for us. Someone else tells us what they need from us, or they tell us what is good for us. If we are accommodating these external inputs in vastly self-prepared internally thought schedules, we are usually comfortable with it. But what if our schedule is vastly driven by external triggers? That is when we tend to drop the ball. We don't have the emotional stake or the commitment required to complete every external trigger. Belief in the task assigned is a crucial aspect that drives motivation.  Motivation is the highest when we create a structure for action...

The sudden emergence of fog can be daunting to deal with! It is scary. And it hits us at a time when we are already on a turning uncertain terrain. The only truth about fog is that it's transient; while it's there, it masks reality. It makes us believe, albeit temporarily, that nothing beyond the line of sight it has pitched to us. While our beliefs are susceptible to illusions like these, we have vast experiences beyond the very moment that tricks us into believing the present. If we draw upon our vast past at various stages, we will know the terrain can be tackled based on our experience. Fogginess may narrow our line of sight, but the fact that we do have a line of sight is a big boost. All we need to do is to plan tiny steps to traverse only what is in a line of sight. And do so every time we execute the plan because we have an immediate benefit of adjoining line of sight, which became plausible through our willingness to march ahead! Tiny steps at a time, fog is bound to e...

We seldom realize that we are acting in self-interest to a level that practices self-preservation at any cost. But we often do. And it's dangerously detrimental.  We get fooled into self-defending prophecy to the extent that we harm ourselves in plain sight.  The reason is we refuse to see the truth. Instead, we create a basis for the circumstances to protect our self-image in our own eyes. That is blindsiding ourselves. This one is hard to fix. Unless there is the realization that what we are seeing and experiencing and what we are telling ourselves has a gap.  The gap reflects a need for more understanding. Our ego adds a flavor of distorted reality that is not a lie but a version of reality that we can stand behind as though we are doing the right thing even when we are not. Clearly, the path that earns a badge of trust, reliability, and dependability focuses on shedding the signs of self-preservation.  Open reception of feedback and believable productivity ensues...

It is hard to say we don't know when we don't know something. We respond with what we do know. Our approach could reflect two ways to think:  1) An attempt to demonstrate that we are superior in what we know, and  2) It could also mean that we want to convey that we are interested in what is being asked and are prodding for the conversation to progress.  The latter is an excellent attitude when done with care so as not to be seen as the former. It is common to say we don't know, even when we know something. It could reflect a few things as well:  1) We are vehemently protecting self-interest and are protective of preferences over what someone needs from us, and  2) We say so to make others psychologically safe that we do not know everything and there are things to learn. The latter is again an excellent attitude when it does not embed the quality brought in by the former of the two. Expressing a desire to improve ourselves can be magical for others who want to i...

There is a first-mover advantage. That is true in every aspect of our lives. The biggest staller in being the first mover is missing belief. Belief comes from within, the pre-authorized internal nod of reassurance that we have a proper thought. Belief is the root of aligning thoughts into a string of actions. Just saying it is one thing; generating an internal push to get to action is another. And a string of actions defines those who are movers. They build trust in themselves. Connect internal and external dots. And a small subset of them turns out to be the first movers!  It is not the passion, a subject or knowledge, or the area of our work; it is overcoming thoughts and moving into actions that matter.

They are unanticipated, cornering events. Yet, they always turn out bold.  Unorthodox experiments are courageous methods to put yourself out there. You must be prepared to face the risk of failing from the unexpected. But that is the whole purpose. To experience the unexpected. The thrill of being in such a situation gets you sharply focused. Just as the sharpness of mind triggered by the frigid body of waters in the snowy mountains! The goal of an unorthodox experiment is meant to regain composure and bring the focus on what matters.  Do the essential. Remove the fluff. Set your eyes on the finish line.

Freelancing gives us a chance to be on our own. Working, teaching, creating arts. The freedom that comes with it has consequences but perhaps limited.  Freelancing by nature is done with a huge self interest. So if work we do, the rejection we receive, the pat we get is quite personal. Stakes are high for the individual. Ownership on the other hand is taking responsibility. Not just for self but for those affected by what we do, those who work with us and the crafty mission it has potential to build out.  The effect of taking ownership is rarely clear but steadily it becomes clear that it is much larger that us alone and we must act in broader interest. Ownership originates from a rather personal act - from having agency.

Struggling in the area beyond your comfort zone crushes your confidence. In fact, so you think. In reality, it awakens the excellence instinct in you. It motivates you to listen and learn! Failing beyond your expertise can be a lethal blow to enthusiasm. That is only as long as you are bound by the age-old norms that define competence, hard work, and what constitutes success. Usually, failing beyond your experience uncovers success within your experience. You could ensure your position is adjusted such that failing is inconsequential and learning is immense! Here is an example from the world of Baseball!

Understanding the message, the reasons for our emotions, causes of our situations results in internalizing what self faces and why the surrounding affects us. Realizing the explainable facts establishes an internal calm and gives the composure required to make sound decisions. When the realization is absent, we can be sure that uncertain unease prevails. We are bound to doubt how we will be perceived and whether our decisions will be believed. Lack of realization is the shaky start towards incoherent thoughts; even on the most straightforward matters you hope to get tight. Inconsistent actions are mere consequences! Working on improving our realization and learning to refine it with facts is a vital step before the required outcomes are seen!

It is scary to ask anyone for feedback. And why not? After all, it might expose our inadequacies, poor thinking, and everyday work. If asking for feedback shows us our fears, why do so? It turns out that asking for feedback is being open to inputs and ideas contrary to our thoughts! The concept that someone without knowledge of us, our thoughts, and our work can review our work is terrifying at best.  Volunteering to get feedback is a great way to assert that you are willing to change minds and improve. Feedback comes at the cost of sharing. Sharing comes at the expense of leakage of trust. Trust develops with acceptance of input as is. Feedback is heard through sincere, patient listening. And that is the difficulty in seeking feedback in the first place.

We point out inactions. We ponder what needs to be done and resort to creating goals, targets, or mechanisms that push for action. And that is great.  Because push results in the impetus to move forward and think. It certainly generates thinking about how to get ourselves out of inaction. And that is a must before progressively bringing the work toward the intended results. But overemphasis on mere action is no good! That is no guarantee that we will progress.  What in the world is blocking constructive thinking that leads to action? We need to play a much bigger emphasis on that. Get all those fears, displeasures, and knocks weighing our minds out of the way. It's easier said than done. Who would support, who would listen, who really cares? Fair enough. But that is precisely the test of our connections.  Keep traversing connections until we can express ourselves freely with someone willing to listen with intent and without fear of safety. It is a skill to build and prese...

Two types of decision-makers end up making decisions of consequence. These types define how we feel about what we decide and do. Some do a quick research and make gut feel-based, good-enough decisions and live with the result of making those. Such decision-makers usually have no surprise about what outcomes they get.  And so they are generally happy about their choices. They live with what they have, get, and consistently work to improve their odds by continually making the next decision.  Often this makes them average achievers, but they benefit from gaining confidence with the experience they garner. These are Satisficers. Then, there are those who infinitely research, review, rate, debate, and discuss their choices. They tend to procrastinate over the costs and benefits of those decisions and weigh the effect of options.  Supposedly these decision-makers make well-informed decisions but quickly resort to second-guessing themselves on whether they could have made even b...

Whether it is exercise, relationships, or a business battleground, we must know to handle pain.  Pain induces the emotion of unending hopelessness, which teaches us how to decipher stumbling blocks and figure our way out of them! Endurance is a test of time. Lasting longer than the problem. One that lasts longer has been baked in the difficulty of varying circumstances.  If it has lasted long enough, it will likely survive even longer and become robust and resilient.  Endurance helps us become or create something of lasting value that we come to depend on. Endurance is why we learn to survive and further - thrive!

Trust compounds when honesty is present. But there is something more required. Trust grows when there is integrity on display.  It is easy to be truthful about what you say today. It's more work to keep your commitment to truth tomorrow and the day after. Consistently. Clearly, honesty is about being boldly truthful, as you express. However, integrity is respecting spoken words every day and making sure they remain truthful day after day, every day! Trust is an outcome of honesty and integrity. Trust is mainly up to us!

It is easy to brush aside any feedback you get. In fact, what do others know of you and your circumstances for them to pass judgment about you or your actions? That is a fair view. You know yourself the best and must hold your own self in the face of feedback. But brushing aside what others say about you? Perhaps you must be careful about ignoring input and being deaf to developmental information. Most people react the way you might think of responding with a sense of ignorance. However, the loss is only yours. First, you must note no one is interested in you. They are interested in their own experience with you. Your reflections, sharing, accommodation, care - your behavior in their presence, all of it.  They are also affected by your actions - which either encourage or discourage their own actions. The type of impetus your presence provides them is vital to them. And they will provide feedback, whether you expect it or not. You must be open to listening to the feedback, think har...

To see the moment of truth, we must be open to missing the goalpost rather than just expecting to make it.  Running the race fully to see us falling short in our preparation.  Or we must be open to being watchful along our journey and making continuous adjustments that improve our position - relentlessly. Being open makes us see. And, then, we have a chance to make it.  The flip side is to see what we expect or what is desirable. Then, we are unlikely to make it! Either way moment of truth is show-up. It is outside our control!

Wait is excruciating! Never-ending. Nail biting. Worrisome. Wait is hardly of any use. We might wait to start on something, wait to stop something, or wait to continue something. It is rarely apparent to us why we must wait. Turns out we are waiting for reassurance. Reassurance about something from someone. When that reassurance does not show up, all hail breaks lose! We become hopeless. We eventually get stumped. We have a vast pileup to climb over to get to the other side and become hopeful again! However, what we turned waiting into exploratory actions? Actions might change our perspective, our understanding, and our connections. And eventually, we update our beliefs. That might be a handy thing to do. Because that will pave the way for a lot of possibilities to pursue. Importantly, it positions us with options that just go created because the wait was turned into a splendidly productive spell!