Bamboo In The Wind

Accommodation is an excellent trait. So long as we are gracious to the benefit of everyone, including us, accommodation generates a sense of giving, a feeling of contribution, supporting well-rounded growth. The problem with free-fall accommodation is that it can turn us into a false self-belief that things would only progress with our support feature. Constantly accommodating has a pitfall in that others quickly get used to the free availability of help. It sure has the cost attached. At first, it feels noble, fulfilling work to accommodate others and resolve confusion and challenges. And why not?  Who does not like seeing everyone in our surroundings, seeing what we  see, doing what we enjoy, and progressing with equal opportunity?  We think there is a dearth of such behavioral good, and we are the Messiah tasked to reduce chaos all around ! This might be the turning point for a good intention becoming a downhill battle of losing self-control.  Accommodation of pri...

Walking the talk means holding ourselves accountable to do precisely what we say. It is no meant feat to be doing what we say we will. It is driven by an honest desire to follow through on the commitment.  There are numerous ways we might push ourselves to stray on finding reasons to justify that fulfilling commitments can wait or are unimportant for present times. Sincerity is the force multiplier that provides the rationale for meeting our commitments. It gives an impetus for consistent behavior. It is the might behind the trust with which we are looked at. Sincerity is a master skill that makes us credible!

How ever delicate it may be. No matter how dependent it might feel in the moment, seeking help is the surest way to have good alternatives. When we seek help, we recognize the boundaries beyond which our efforts will not yield the desired outcomes. It indicates the acceptance of our limitations.  It is also a sign that we are open enough to recognize that others can hold better knowledge and thus are better people to partner with and steer us out of our situation. And so you embark on your search for the right person to seek help from. What if you encountered someone unempathetic?  Someone insensitive, wreckless, and uncaring can quickly destroy our confidence that we can rely on people and bail ourselves out of critical situations.  The bad news is this, too, can happen. The better one is we still stand a chance with anyone we encounter like this. Networking is a tool to reach those who fall within our reach, those from whom we get influenced, or those we do so ours...

Damned if you do it, damned if you don't!  Some circumstances require you to walk a delicate balance of right versus wrong. And why not? There are outcomes and impacts thereof to deal with.  Everything we do affects sentiments around us, people, and our surroundings. We must remain cognizant that walking past hurdles isn't the act that affects us. Others might be impacted by our actions. Crossing hurdles is rarely easy. It requires boldness, forethought, careful planning, and being there to cater to the aftermath of impact should there be one!

We tend to be self-forgiving. We are too eager to say we tried our best. What does trying our best really mean?  By saying we do our best, are we sure we are not taking a shortcut when things do not work? This question begs a bit of pondering over how we act. When we have low standards for achieving anything, it usually means our efforts do not match our expectations, and hence we are uncertain about the results that ensue.  When results are not what we expect, we find someone else, something else to blame for it. Clearly, under such circumstances, we do not own the mismatch between expectations and the efforts we undertake.  Under such circumstances, our best efforts usually mean we are copping out from responsibility and ownership of our efforts. However, when we have a high standard for achieving anything, it usually means our efforts are closer to our expectations.  Hence, we are reasonably clear about where our blind failure spots or our success achiever spots a...

There are two sides to our participation. One side acts as a mere spectator. Waits for others to accommodate you and carry you along.  This passive, waiting-to-be-accommodated persona makes everything we do a wee bit harder. We are passive when we expect to be noticed, valued, and respected. The other side is proactive. It volunteers and accommodates many things, people, suggestions, thoughts, etc. It helps us find our way into the world with a persona built with Genuinity, work, ethics, and conduct. Accommodating is a two-way act. It is the first step to comforting surroundings. It establishes a trusting environment conducive to constructive creation.

A situational retorting reaction is a sign of alertness. We can rest assured that we have done or said something that caught others' attention. So much so that someone stepped forward with a quick response, often even unexpected to us. We must consider that is a good sign. We often self-doubt our actions and wonder whether it catches anyone's eye. But getting someone to react is a sign of getting attention and feedback. Rejoinders are a sign that we have an audience. Better still, we must know that the audience cares about us enough to let us know how they feel. And yet, sometimes, take rejoinder with a pinch of salt.

We like to do things a bit hazily. Ambiguity gives it the color of complex, involved, intriguing, or eye-catching. Does it have to be that way? Surely, No!  We go the route of haziness when we need to be more adequately prepared and equipped rather than clouding our minds with doing something we are remotely interested in!  And we do so with one eye on how we might be perceived. Most good things don't start with glamour as a goal! Glamour, fame, and accolades result from something done commendably well.  But more often, they are also an outcome of grandiose resulting from being in queue for page-three club eager to be in the limelight. Embark, we must. With care. With caution. While looking to cross just the one-foot-hurdle.  That gives specificity to what we are doing.  Out of the limelight and finding purpose because of the clarity of how we do it!

Do what is in your control. What you are prepared for.  Focus not on the special. Focus on the routine. Special is rare and mostly an anomaly.  Routine is usual. Usual is what allows stepping in an upward trajectory. Unscathed, unblocked.  Special can surprise us; the bruise is or look to be spectacular.  What looks special also occurs infrequently. It is dependent on so many factors to come together. And so it is miraculous. Routine is mundane, boring, and unnoticeable. Practice makes us progress effortlessly.

Being proactive and taking the initiative is not an option anymore; it is a requirement. In a world where we waited for our creation to go to the masses through the distributor, now easily do so by opening a storefront to showcase art as it is created. We don't need to wait for the perfect mentors to show up in our workplaces; we can use social networks for inspiration and connect with those who were once invisible and out of reach. We cannot rely on others to make us a perfect career. The onus of that is upon us! They say opportunity knocks on our door; what if it does not work for us? Then go create the door first! Where we liked spending our entire career at one company, we are creating opportunities that keep us satisfied by connecting and changing jobs that don't keep us happy. Where we used to turn to confidential sources of capital from small groups, more so now than ever, we can thrive on our ideas by going online and raising an emotional appeal for what we solve to exp...

We cling to fear and uncertainty seen because of it. It is not by choice. Fear is a way to hide behind inaction.  The thought behind inaction comes from a desire for the status quo. We know not much can get worse if we take no action. While that is comforting, it also stalls us from the progressive march. All good things in life are on the other side of our fears. And going on the other side of fear means we have to take calculated risks, act under uncertainty and be prepared to change our course as often as needed. The navigation of changing course shows our ability to perform in utmost discomfort, doubt, and loneliness. Building a resilient effort requires unprecedented internal push, courage, and navigation of fear. It is then that the most essential contribution starts and germinates.  Wind of enthusiasm cross-pollinates courage. Once we have the communal belief, anything we do thrives. First, we must find a way to act in tiny chunks and be on the other side of the fear!

I don't want to get into trouble. I don't want to get burdened. I want to work on something other than what I am given. I don't want to listen. I don't want to be lonely. I can't tolerate it. It doesn't matter to me. I can't make it happen. It can't be my problem. I don't care. I don't want the responsibility. I need to be heard.

I want to succeed. I want to progress. I want to grow. I want to make friends. I want to work for the best company. I want  the  best friends. I want to be recognized. I want to showcase my work. I want to be liked. I want to be famous. I want to change everything I touch.

With so much at stake on personal credibility, we find it necessary to refrain from indulging in taking measures to improve the outbound and inbound interfaces. Both have an essential role in contributing to the balance of trust. And yet, we overly emphasize institutional trust and embark on measures that keep the balance.  Regulatory forces, goodwill gestures, culture, and focus on compliance all contribute to the outbound and inbound impacts on group behavior and resulting confidence in those you interact with. In our case, though, the buck stops with us. When we ignore weakening interfaces, we get indicators that an imbalance of trust is rising. When we do, our response is to justify our actions. The goal of such justifications is the protection of self-interest and the pretense of righteous action. There must be more awareness of the impact our actions create around us. We are oblivious to it. Result - we are engulfed with misgivings, miscommunication, misunderstanding, and mor...

What is better? A self-proclamation of what you do, prefer, will, and see freedom? Maintaining silence about everything you are and want to be? Or learn about how you are from the difference between your own observation of yourself and that of others about you? Well, there may not be a straight answer. It depends on the situation, and that drives the emotive responses.  You are a self-defending self when your existence is under question or taken for granted. Setting boundaries or letting people know about your individuality may be significant. Unreasonable situations tend to create confrontations that erode listening. Maintaining silence when someone tries to outdo you with their point of view conveys as much about your individuality as being explicit. A better way to express individuality is to be observant of yourself intently, analyzing overbearing biases you possess and comparing that with the feedback you get from those in situations with you.  While you never want others...

When faced with complex problems, we never ask what is perfect, best, or care to find the most appropriate answer. Instead, we find a way to answer the question that will require less effort, isn't the most efficient, and yet less discomforting! Taking the path of least resistance is definitely in fashion. We try to solve the problem, which is usually suitable for optics. But the intended effect of our problem may not solve the problem. But by then, the onlookers have moved away, making an opinion of our good intentions and patting our back for our efforts! If we intended to solve the problem, why fall prey to playing to the gallery? There are a few reasons: It's hard to grapple with uncertainty. Elimination of doubt requires taking action or having some opinions. It gives us a sense of having done something to solve the problem. It's easy, convenient, and eliminates discomfort, but the problem persists. Many times causes are complex and intertwined. Giving simple reasons g...

There is a constant battle of thoughts about how you can make progress from the place where you are. And also how to feel happy about it. And despite making progress, the feeling of happiness is most elusive! Practically all decision-making advice focuses on following a forced routine. You call it a schedule, discipline. It is a plan of how to spend the most precious entity everyone grapples with - time! It offers a way to make you do pre-planned things when you cannot bootstrap yourself. If you follow this mechanism for an extended period, the hope is that it becomes a good habit that your mind-body clock will keep up with for an extended period.  Your desire to progress and do planned things gives you a sense of accomplishment and self-belief. Practicing a planned schedule is good for getting there. But why do you get bored once you reach a place of accomplishment? If Practice makes you perfect and disciplined and helps you achieve, shouldn't that suffice for your happiness? Why ...

All our work can be recognized if it has substance and meaning for someone around us. Without users for our work, it's a hobby project. It is meant to be for our own use and satisfaction. All good projects create impact. They solve nagging problems that many expect someone else to solve. Such projects offer convenience and ease and usually allow the feeling of being unblocked. We can focus on something we want. That is so relieving. This kind of project gets recognition for doing the work that matters. You are patted for providing relief. It offers you your status, pride, and satisfaction that someone thought you were affected. You know they touched you by creating ease around you. You recognize them as brands you love! Personal brands persist.

With the advent of technology came the need to aggregate experiences. How do you shop, whom do you shop from, who are the customers, and what creates an online marketplace? How do you know what your digital assets and holdings are? All of the tech evolution has come from the architecture and monetization practices of private and early entrants spotting the digital space as an opportunity and exploiting green fields of no man's land. The side effect was those who embarked on adopting technology found very few alternatives and adopted the ones that resonated with offerings of your preference. What early adopters sacrificed was personal data, preferences, and privacy. In return, that offered huge convenience in daily lives and professions and an opportunity to connect to those you would not find on your remote network. As compelling as it was, the downside was that the varying number of identities you carried across many technology platforms made you feel fragmented in dealing with di...

Uncertainty is unnerving. It unsettles the balance. The tension it creates can be problematic in institutions, workplaces, or individuals. Take the example of the  Silicon Valley Bank  fiasco unfolding right now.  Simplistically speaking - SVB bank, a leading start-up and VC fund bank, collected massive deposits post covid. Deposits went up from USD 60B in 2020 to over USD 200B by the end of 2022. SVB Financials - a child arm of SVB Bank, invested a portion of deposits in Govt Bonds before Fed intervention with a series of base interest rates revision. Since Covid, Savings interest rates steadily rose to make Govt Bond's market value less attractive if they were to be sold for short-term needs. To SVB bank's surprise, Bonds market values declined during the same period when Interest rates were rising. The vast cash deposits eroded as loads of start-ups that depended on doing well faced recessionary pressure and a slow-down, impacting product adoption and revenue uptick. T...

Spot the pot-holes. They have the potential to derail us. Finding a way to get around them requires vigilance. Rectify what does not go our way. There is a reason why things don't work.  They must be in tune with the process that brings them to the state of equilibrium; makes them of use.  Debug what is wrong and fix it. That requires an unbiased understanding of the root cause. Marching means making a move in the desired direction. Which takes us towards satisfactory experience and concrete achievements.  That requires clarity of thought and a clear conscience to make incremental decisions that bring experience and results in a tiny manner. And so, when you embark somewhere, spot, rectify, and carefully march ahead.

We go by what we can see or touch. We are happy to physically experience the proof of the benefits we get.  Often, most of the things that benefit us are really invisible.  We cannot see or touch them clearly, so no physical evidence of effect or benefit exists.  But we can feel that certain things bring changes.  Over time those changes aggregate into a wave of irreversible changes that bring an astounding amount of benefit. Intangibles are invisible. Intangibles are the yields of diligent, careful, responsible actions.  Intangibles add up to significant advantages over time. What is left to us is to focus on the steps that place us in a position of advantage.

They say the grass is all green as you go past a stumbling block.  And they say troubles are everywhere past it.  That is sweeping, all-encompassing! After getting past a stumbling block, you have an experience of how to get past it. You precisely know where you were close to giving up.  You also know when the hopelessness ceased, fear was overcome, and formidable action began to surface.  They were unnoticeable, tiny events one after another, but you did not abandon just being in there as all unfavorable events and thoughts passed you by. That is what you experienced. Next time you will be familiar with approaching a stumbling block.  Each time getting better at dealing with it, getting past it feeling more confident. That is all you need to know.

We must recognize - the biggest stumbling block in our progress is us. We derail our thinking; falter in the actions we take. We are unwilling to understand that our insecurity, fear, and uncertainty grip us. When it does, we question our own ability and willingness. The final outcome is freezing in action.  It takes guts to escape the spiraling fear and haze it creates around us. The way to escape it is to overcome the instinct of imagining how worse off we can be. It leads us to us thinking the imaginary worst as the reality.  If we delve into understanding how worse off we are, we might find that truth is not nearly as bad. In the most challenging moment of thinking, we are drowning hopelessly, seeing the possibility of floating on our own just for a bit when the fear gripping us at its peak. It helps to know that fear stays momentarily. It is an emotion that makes us fragile and helpless. Like all other emotions, we must be conscious that fear dissipates with time. All we ...

Let's admit it. Much of what we do, act, and project about ourselves is for an external image we need. We want to be seen as ideal individuals with intellect, skills, and capability.  We get bound by the expectations of a circle of influence we possess or at least think we have. Those in our circle of influence are keen to see us or expect us to be in a certain way. That drives the focus on demonstrating authentic behavior. In reality, it is a mask of expected behavior. The authentic self has lost its presence. The following actions surround the norms of fitting in and pleasing someone else. Authentic behavior stems from accepting that we may not fit into a circle of influence in many ways. And that is perfectly fine. It's best to decline doing what does not resonate with us than to feel forced to fit in and do unpleasant things. Authenticity comes at the expense of losing borrowed influence, relevance, and support. But it is what allows you magnetically earns you a genuine sph...

Often what we have on our hands are conclusions. They are the results of what we do, our understanding of what we learn, or the destinations we reach.  We like to think that is the thing we aimed for. At least, that is the story we tell ourselves and others! However, we must remember the narrow path leading us to our conclusions. It is the process we follow that brings us those conclusions.  There are invisible twists and turns, ups and downs, moments of revealing findings, and those when we feel lost! And yet, we conveniently forget that we stuck to our guns. Following our gut feeling. Doing simple things that made us get unstuck and move. Day in and day out. Week after week.  The conclusions come from doing things we have yet to think through. By arriving at actions with little intent! The conclusions also come from doing things we thoughts of. By arriving at actions with intent! Which conclusions turn out better? We will know when we look at the path and process we fol...

Constrained access is often a sign of unease and discomfort. Open access defines the model of inviting engagement. And yet, these can be frightening. While they offer a chance to interact and learn from it, there is a strong chance that we may succumb to an undesired commitment.  Occasionally, our willingness to open up access can be taken advantage of. It can put us in acts that are not natural to us. We do not feel proud for having been part of those, nor do we feel good that we found no way to stay away from them. The emotive sensory system - the one we develop from experiences - permits us to build a defense mechanism to understand the nature of engagements.  At first, such a system is preliminary, influenced by insecurities.  This is when we respond by constraining our access to defend our well-being. Constrained access can be an overreaction from fear of being disadvantaged. Because  as our experience and understanding from engagements grow, the emotive sensory...

There are a few ways connections make progress. There are enabling bids, tentative, or blocking ones. Depending on the one you encounter, you get a different outcome. Enabling bid helps open the door. They are warm. Welcoming your point of view and encouraging you to engage. You feel secure enough to develop a connection. The tentative bid is unsure and circumspect in nature. It has the potential to slow you down and creates doubt. It gives you a feeling of dislike and lack of interest. You will need a broad mindset and walk through initial tentativeness to engage by providing an enabling bid from your end. With some effort, you can establish a connection. Blocking bids, however, shoots down the very necessity of need of engagement. It works on the premise that there is no value in engaging with you. The appreciation of the point of view you might have, needs to be included.  And, there is no opportunity for you to make a comeback and make an attempt for an enabling bid. The enrich...

We can learn many things by simply forming a community of something we are interested in or by being part of an existing one that we feel interested in. The tendency to interact, debate and uncover is a valuable one. And yet, we find that it is an elusively rare tendency.  Often, we take pride in knowing things for our own reasons.  The behavior that follows from us is a big turn-off, though. We quickly decide that what we know now will provide us an edge and must be protected as a secret treasure. It is good to be in the know of things but rarely suitable to be unwilling to relay or share that with those who might benefit from the knowledge. Develop the need for care to see the impeccable use of our knowledge. First, develop a community to get a reason to care!

Have you ever tried to ignore the reality of what you are seeing? You have done that way too often than you think!  Noticing to see what you witness is refusing the reality contained in it. That is why you detest looking at anything closely. You fear that it might uncover something you loathe to find out. If you understand what you see, it will make you look in a bad light. In your own eyes! So the game is all about making us look better in our own eyes before others do so! We pretend to have not noticed our necessary actions and all that is wrong with our activities! We know we were not thinking about those that act will affect. Every attempt to dodge the signs of what we see will add to the list of all that we need to introspect and improve with us. And that is a daunting responsibility. We would rather close our eyes and act as if all is good. And hope and pray that it yields larger good.  The sooner we know good things are not accidental. They come on the heels of introspe...

Being connected is such a good thing. You get the benefit of flowing information, which is often bidirectional.  You can consume, and you can share.  These are rather fulfilling expressions that enhance your observation, action and learning from the feedback of action.  Are there situations where connections do not produce a fulfilling flow and experience that comes from it?  It is possible.  There is exciting information exchange when connected to sources where curiosity, care, and attention are at play at one or both ends of the connection spectrum.  But when curiosity and attention are missing, it culminates into a lack of care, and thus the needs of those around you are secondary. The exchange in such places is, at best procedural. The connection is mechanical. The transitional nature of exchange is one reason you feel like going off the grid!