The anxiety you choose. You can choose whether you want to put yourself in places that take you where you seek to go or where nothing happens. The thing is that both will bring anxiety. What we can do is to choose which anxiety we can become comfortable with. Only one moves us forward.
5 questions to ask... If you thinking of an idea, a startup or even a passion project, the following 5 questions can help you get clarity and move forward: 1. Who's this for? Who will your idea interact with? 2. When does it start? When does it end? 3. What's
Get in Tune. Here's Rosamund Stone Zander from Pathways to Possibility: ...to embark on the exploration “Get in Tune,” open yourself to the idea of a complex universe, pulsing and vibrating, that is striving to attune with you. Imagine that everyone you meet desires to be in tune with you, as
Unexpected happiness. Some people bring happiness to our life with their mere presence. They take initiative & make us feel belonged. Conversations with them help us feel seen and heard. They help us trust ourselves to be our best selves. Such people and relationships are few and they are worth cherishing. Who
Bad truths. Bad truths are still truths. You can try convincing yourself about alternate versions or hide from seeing the facts. And you can do this for as long as you can pull it off. But the useful thing to do is to see the truth. To accept the way things are
Asset mindset. "What assets are you building this week?" If you are like most people, you hardly ever ask this question. Instead you ask, "What tasks can I get done today?" Tasks are linear. You can get them done and sometimes you get paid for them. But once
What can you teach us? Yes, you can say that you don't know enough to teach. That you are still learning. That there are others who are better at it. Yes, we can wait for you to be ready, for the stars to align, for the ducks to be in order. Or you
Seeking certainty. Possibility starts where certainty ends. Possibility says: "It's possible". We don't know for certain. And that's okay. That's where fear and anxiety also show up. If we don't know for sure, how can we be certain (read "
Weekend troubles. Each weekend, I have to figure out what to do. Should I go out with friends, finish pending chores, get some work done, catch up on Netflix... and the most challenging of them all, get some rest? I'm sure you have a similar list as well. If I
Intentional rest. A lot has been said about the importance of taking rest. But not much about how we do it. We might know what is "not rest" but that doesn't tell us much about what it is. What brings us physical rest, mental rest, emotional rest? Social
What time is it? When was the last time you forgot what time it is? What were you doing? Who were you with? When we are engaged in things that energise us, we forget about everything else, including time. These are the things our essential self wants to do. And these are worth finding
Getting back to basics. If you feel stuck in your ways of thinking and can’t see options beyond what’s in front of you, read The Art of Possibility by Rosamund Stone Zander & Ben Zander. Beyond Anxiety by Martha Beck will help you in breaking the grip of anxiety. If you feel
Decoding forward motion. Figuring out where you are seeking to go. Once you do that, figuring out what you need to do in order to get there. And then, doing that. One step at a time. It's easier said than done. But this is what we can keep coming back to.
Without a practice. Things remain the way they are unless we choose to change them with intention. Rather, they get worse over time. A practice requires persistent and deliberate effort. It gets better over time. It requires us to prioritise the long haul over the short term. A practice compounds. Without a practice,
Kinder or more effective? It's a rhetorical question. It's always more effective to be kinder. To others. And to ourselves.
Service mode. When things are in service mode, they are expected to not work. You don't drive your car while it's getting serviced. When your house is getting renovated, you find another place to live. That's how the process of fixing something works. It involves opening
Agency requires trust. If you are going to fly, you need to trust the pilot. It won't work if the pilot doesn't have the agency to make decisions. When we doubt ourselves and the people we work with, we take away their agency. And without agency, we can'
A battle too many. It’s easier to add one more thing, one more project, one more battle to your plate. Especially when you don’t need permission from someone else. A battle too many is how wars are lost. No matter how powerful you are or how much resources you have. Some projects
With more resources? What would you do if you had more resources at your disposal? Would it change the way you look at your work? Would it enable you do more? Or less? What would you do if you could hire others to do everything else? What would you be doing? The cost
Compass calibration. Your compass won't work if there is distortion from other magnetic fields. As Martha Beck says, for a compass to work, it needs to be able to move. Too much stimuli, whether in person or through technology, can distort our compass. It can take us away from where
The calculating self & the central self. From The Art of Possibility by Rosamund Stone Zander & Ben Zander: The calculating self is concerned for its survival in a world of scarcity. Its voice is a version of the one that announced our arrival here on earth with wails and cries, and then learned to smile coyly
Listen or tell? It's easier to tell. You feel like you have done your job. You have sent the memo. But it doesn't change anything. Listening takes hard work. It involves facing things you might not want to face. It requires you to hold back and not say the
Aligning the team. The first thing to understand and realise is that everyone wants what's best for the whole. If that's not true, we are doomed to begin with. As Richard Schwartz teaches us in his book, there are "No bad parts". But even if it'
The pet-machine spectrum. You expect your MacBook to work a certain way. If it doesn't, it's a crisis. Until you can get it to work again. If your cat behaved the way you expected, you would be surprised. You expect it to do things its own way. You learn
There's all the love in the world. Imagine a new born surrounded by the people who love her. They are all looking at her with all the love in the world. And she is receiving it without any hesitation. Now, imagine yourself in her place. Imagine receiving all the love in the world, and more. If you
