Urgencies never end.

We tend to believe that we can get back to the important work once we have put out all the fires.  That never happens.  If we put all our energy in putting out fires, we will see that more fires keep popping up for us to put out. It makes

Focus on growth, not problems.

When we focus on problems, they drain all our energy and attention and leave little to give for growth tasks. The thing with problems is that the best case scenario is the restoration of the status quo. But that doesn’t help. Without growth, maintaining the status quo is redundant.

A little bit of positivity.

Can we add a little bit of positivity to start our day with?  Read or listen to a book or a lesson that teaches us something? Listen to positive motivational songs to counter the negativity? Listen to a podcast or conversation that takes us away from the stresses of the

Movement

Movement makes you feel alive. Dead people can’t move. The less you move, the less alive you become.  Through movement you can explore and breathe.  HT to Ragini Bhajanka for helping me experience movement through her Raga program.  — If you liked reading this, consider subscribing. If you are already

Money mindset.

The predominant view growing up in a middle class household is that money is scarce. And when we do not take initiative, when we do not put ourselves on the hook, that is true. But when we start looking around for opportunities, for problems that we can solve for other

What no one can take away.

Victor Frankl writes in his book “Man’s Search for Meaning” about what no one can take away from you. Every day we have a choice. To do the work or not. No one can take the choice away from you. Today, you can sit and do the work. Everything

Negativity kills creativity.

It can go from making you feel miserable about yourself to making you feel self-righteous.  There is no middle ground with negativity.  And there is no forward motion either.  You can either build something with your creativity or destroy something by listening to negativity.  You can choose.  — If you liked

What time does your office start?

It’s one of the most important questions for an independent creative.  If the answer is vague, it becomes difficult during the day to start the work.  And when we don’t know when we start the work, it also becomes difficult to stop work and end the day.  Putting

When hell is breaking loose.

As a creative, there would be days when hell is breaking loose. It is very difficult on those days to sit down and do your work, especially the work that no one cares for right now. It is important on those days to do the work, to show up, to

Dehumanise.

When we think in extremes, we tend to dehumanise the other person. We do not give them a space to speak, to present their point of view. It is tough to empathise with the other person in such situations, but not treating them like human beings doesn’t make much

The skill of deadlines.

For most of our life, we have been trained to follow other people’s deadlines. You have a test on Friday, so you sit down and study on Thursday night. But what happens when there is no test on Friday? As a creative, a lot of times we work solo

What are you running away from?

What is the one thing that you need to do that you aren’t doing? All our misery, our anxiety are signs that we are not working on that one thing. Remove all the clutter and find that one thing. Focus solely on getting it done, on shipping it. The

Shallow to deep mind.

The shallow mind is very good at sticking. It’s an uphill battle. It takes focus and effort to access the deep mind again. — If you liked reading this, consider subscribing. If you are already a subscriber, do share with your friends.

Breaking the pattern.

When you feel stuck, it’s good to break the pattern. To go for a walk, or to work out of a new setting, or to meet someone new. As a creative professional, we need to recharge our creative energy on a consistent basis. Tim Ferriss recommends scheduling your mindfulness

Exhale slowly.

When we face a danger, our body switches to a fight/flight/freeze mode by default. Our brains have not evolved to distinguish between physical and psychological dangers. Staying for too long in the fight/flight/freeze mode is not healthy. One of the ways to counter the anxiety is

Minimum, not maximum.

As creatives, we have a tendency to go for maximum. We make an idea so big in our thoughts and in our talks, that when we sit down to work at it, we feel paralysed. What makes sense is to have a minimum mindset. What can you not take away

Zoning in.

It’s tough when we are zoned out. It becomes tougher as we remain zoned out for a long time. To zone in, we need to pass through the membrane of focus. It is not going to feel good initially. Resistance will be at its peak. But when you sit

Gaining back control.

You don’t gain back control by thinking or talking or by discussing your situation with anyone but your coach. You gain back control by sitting down and ploughing your way through the clutter. The brain is not equipped to zone in by thinking about it, we can only do

Closing time.

It’s important as creatives to have a closing time. To create a clear demarcation between work and non-work. To be able to sustain our work in the long run, we cannot compromise on life in the short run. It’s a question we should be able to answer: What

If not now, then when?

We keep putting things off for later, the things that we really want to do, the things that would make our life better, the things that matter. Later becomes a habit and decades pass without us doing those things. The busyness of the status quo takes over. In our minds,

Empathise, instead.

It’s easy to shout, to be angry, to be frustrated. It’s easy to consider the other person as stubborn, as not so intelligent, as someone who doesn’t listen. What’s hard is empathy. To actually put yourself in the shoes of the other person and see the

Shipping is the cure.

When in doubt, ship. Send that email. Reply to that message. Post that photograph. Publish that podcast. Say ‘hello’ to that cute girl. Don’t keep things in your mind. Don’t analyse. Ship. — If you liked reading this, consider subscribing. If you are already a subscriber, do share with

Assumptions.

We assume we don’t have stress. We assume we have everything in control. We assume we don’t need rest. It makes sense to challenge your assumptions every now and then. — If you liked reading this, consider subscribing. If you are already a subscriber, do share with your friends.

Working on self-image

Self-image is something that needs conscious, mindful effort. For most of our lives, our self-image is formed by default by the behaviours of those around us. In most cases, it is distorted and not true to ourselves. To rebuild your self-image, with intent, under the guidance of a coach creates

Fear has many faces.

Self-doubt, rationalisation, hiding, criticism, procrastination, perfectionism and whatnot. What’s worse, the voice of fear speaks in our heads as if it is on our side. It makes us believe that we have it in control. The role of a coach is to help someone face their fear and take