Do we not own our actions? Why do we have to blame others for our failures and success all through ourselves? Why can’t we accept our mistakes and learn from them? Is it more to do with our ego?
Think again
These are some simple thoughts added after reading: think again by Adam Grant.
- Establish your identity as you are.
- Get out of your limited bubble, see the world from every perspective.
- Know your circle of competence and avoid falling for Dunning-Kruger.
- Being wrong is not a vice, but not acknowledging and improving is.
- Seek out: the entire world has something or the other to teach you.
- Be a good listener.
- Negotiation happens on common ground.
- A best practice is a corporate wall.
- Spend time with yourself.
- See things as they are without attaching yourself or keeping a bias.
scar
I was with a few friends over dinner last night. We all were talking about subjects from work-life balance to managing a team. One thing was common: everyone has gone through the battle and has a scar.
Life is not easy for anyone: be it an employee, founder, or investor. We are all fighting our own battles. It is the beauty of Capitalism. Either you play hard or go home.
In the end, the choice is ours.
We can see the glass as half full or half empty. You have to pick your side.
checklist
Sometimes I wonder if we are living my own life. It is like enabling someone else checklist. It is like running fast and, it seems there is no end to it.
Is this how we humans live? Is consumerism or it is society? Or is it we who is responsible for this?
Are you living for fulfilling parents/wife/husband/kids or societal checklist or living your life?
Most of us die asking, thinking over these questions to ourselves:
What is the purpose of life?
Why am I here?
And then the ultimate question:
Who am I?
unlearn
I finished reading Adam Grant’s: Think Again. The book talks about the power of learning by unlearning, shedding our biases, and seeing people, the world around us more objectively.
We live in a society, spend time with people who agree with our view. It is like living in a walled garden with limited knowledge and groupthink.
Once we see the world as it is. When we question ourselves and our ideologies, we become more aware.
I have been unlearning, debunking some myth about my learning. I have also noticed, reading can be the best aid. It helps with unlearning, rethinking, and making us question more about everything in our life.
Are eating fruits healthy for us?
The modernization of Europe, building castles: who financed it?
Are financial bubbles bad for civilization in the long run?
Is nationalism has anything to do with religion?
These were some questions whose answers I thought I already knew. I got busted, as all my beliefs were wrong. 🙂
Our progress depends on how much we learn, progress, curiosity, and unlearning.
stereotype
We are living in a divided world. How we see our world, how we react differs from people to people. We all have our ideological alignments. It is like a bubble we have wrapped ourselves.
Why do treat humans differently on color, caste, religion, or sex? Is it because we are uneducated or educated irrational or because of our stereotype?
Ambition
Ambitions are what defines our journey. People around us have a role to play. It is like a fuel that keeps us going. There are no right or wrong options and, a lot depends on what is our true north.
Our world wants us to follow a destined template. It can jeopardize one’s ambition. So keep your eye, ear open apart continuous self-inquiry.
limited
We have our limited perspective and opinions, like a frog in a small well, assuming this is how the world is.
Seeing an opportunity and world with an opaque lens creates a bias. It makes us less rational.
The glass is half empty and half full at the same time. Why do we have to fight and hold our opinions on whatever we choose to see?
Life
I can write a 100-page book talking to a half dozen folks around me. Most of us are not satisfied with what we have. We seek something better. It seems we are not living our life but a fighter inside a video game.
It is like we have endless unmet desires we are chasing and living in misery.
How do we know when we have enough? Who decides the limit: self or society?
triggers
We all have our blind spots.
We all get triggered by some action, response. As a result, we get upset, angry, or form an opinion.
What are these triggers? Are these our egos, biases, or insecurity?