Bamboo In The Wind

We naturally desire change when we want to see a difference. When there is a desire, we have a start. But that is just a beginning. Now we need to get others along on a path toward change. Getting others along the path we have in mind is a daunting task. We must develop an influence system to build understanding, opinions, and interests from those we want in our journey. It's rarely easy. Creating a reward system is necessary for following the steps we lay out. We need to walk a double-edged sword. The influence system needs to convey the benefits unambiguously. Avoiding the trap of serving personal goals and priorities is vital. A reward system needs to be set up to benefit a broader set of people. Without that, the influence system is not be trusted.  Consensus building is an arduous process! Integrity plays a pivotal role!

There is an intellectual you, and there is an emotional you. Both represent the real you. A combined version of you is facing the world. Rational thinking comes from the intellectual side, which expects evidence before acting. It makes cautious moves and analyses the impact of actions. Irrational thinking comes from the emotional side that makes you work as you feel right. Autocratic decision-making and democratic decision-making, too, are indicative of two You's! One is authoritarian; the other one more inclusive.  But best decision-making is often just a reflection of the combined version of two you's and is represented in meritocratic decision-making. It's more evidence-based behavior and represents the most balanced version of intellectual and emotional you. Two You's are unavoidable. They are what you have. You just need to see them and learn to combine them into a version that gives you the best chance!

It sounds dreading to be in a place where no one understands where you are coming from. Everyone views you to be in a good place. They don't realize you have your struggles and don't have all the answers. The perception is that you manage yourself alright and have everything going your way. That is a suffocating place to be in! You are dealt a blow that you are fine and need no help! Besides, they can surround you all they want and flood you with their needs. They expect graciousness from you. One way! That is grossly unfair. But that is how real life plays out! You are lonely only until you reach out! Go for the swing! You are sure to find someone willing to give ear to what you have been longing to say!

The most pernicious thing about resistance is it pops up its head everywhere. It dissuades you from doing your work. As you embark on your art, finish your research paper, do your daily chores, or start out on an entrepreneurial journey, resistance shows up.  Before you know it, your voice goes against doing what you set out to do. You might show the courage to get past it. But just as you hit the rough middle patch, resistance reemerges! You start to find all silly reasons to give way to it. Abandoning the vital work you have progressed but have a temporary hurdle on. You might circumnavigate this phase too. The persistent resistance notoriously shows up just when you are at the finish line. It dances in your mind with reels of all that can go wrong at a precarious prevailing moment. Close to your goal post; it might get you to second guess yourself. That's the last blow to negotiate when you least expect it! The resistance does not rest. It is persistent but transient;  Star...

How often have you been drawn into thinking about stories of how those around us feel about us? That's a trap. You are more worried about others' views of you than your own. Just as you do, you begin to lose agency with yourself. Understandably, you are trying to fit in with the peer circle. You want to be acceptable and amenable to others' points of view. That is fair. But know that you are buckling under the urge to fit in. You lose your originality as you adapt to others' views. It's a syndrome we all suffer. Even those who work with us! The excellent trick to cure this is to learn to see who should have the agency. And then place it back where it belongs!

A bunch organized in a specific way always creates an impression. Take an example of a bunch of flowers. If someone nicely sets them in a pot, it has the power to change the mood in the room. Until they need replacement. A bunch of people, on the hand, when they are pulled together, might be uncertain about their roles in the absence of a well-defined organization. Yet they can quickly bring discipline and order to the group by volunteering and distributing responsibility to one another. Self-organizing groups rely on initiative, skills, and ownership. Gone are the days for someone to form rigid organizational structures that are static and monotonously boring. Evolutionary formations are the future. Purposeful and worth being around!

To focus on actual results, the best approach is to focus on the nearest work. Just next to you.  Operating in the vicinity is fraught with focusing on the micro instead of the macro canvas. And,  micro canvas makes you uncomfortable.  In microenvironments, everything appears just here, within reach. You are called out to begin painting. You have to get started unguarded. It gives a feeling of a constraining environment that requires you here and now. To be in the present and flow with your imagination. You feel kind of exposed.  Your worries are justified. What if you leave the micro canvas over or under-utilized? What if you made irreversible mistakes? What if you disappoint yourself. What if you let anyone else down? Justified. But often stalling. Fear grips you. Stay there until it doesn't. The sky clears, and thinking prevails! That opens the door of possibility. It is an imaginary door that unlocks only with a key of fearlessness. You begin to believe that the ...

Encountering uncertainty is startling. You go off balance as a reaction. You are awestruck by the reality of the unexpected. That is a normal reaction. You are not alone! What matters is what you do next. Even when you are in unknown territory. Feel fearful, shed the fear, and become intent. Regaining your focus is the only way out of the uncertainty. No matter what you face, the process of gaining back the agency is the same. Trust the process! Embrace the rendezvous!

Many things in life are attractive at the start and get boring over time. There are frameworks such as schooling, jobs, marriages, research, explorations, or start-ups. There is glamor in them when they are new. Filled with excitement about the potential of being in it for the greater good. There is a show of partnership, going out of the way to help, accommodation for mistakes, or reciprocation with generous acts. And then there come circumstances that take their sheen away. The excitement begins to fade away. Most interesting forms of frameworks that looked promising now look hopeless mid-way through the experience of being in the framework! This is true for most things we do. That is the time to stick around and honor the frameworks. Getting through this period of what looks boring is the period to stick the neck out and do the grunt work despite all the noise telling us to quit. It's time to back ourselves. Most often, the magic happens when we do just that. Persisting with the...

Half the battle in accomplishing anything lies in overcoming the mental hurdles faced. They come from narratives we tell ourselves. The narratives, hugely influenced by our biases, originate all the times. But still, they have two main places of occurrence and therefore generate two distinct responses that impact what we do as a result.  When the narrative surfaces after we embark on a journey - our pursuit of meaningful work - it usually indicates that we lacked preparedness and are now experiencing second thoughts about our goal.  The narrative manifests with few reflective thoughts that raise doubts about what we really wanted to pursue. It sets in, albeit late, because of what we discover after having embarked on the pursuit. We have a surprise, contrary to our expectations of the journey.  Most of us fall prey to poor thinking and ensuing inadequate preparation. Poor preparation turns into hurdles and yields pressure situations. Our response then tends to be reconcil...