Solitude

Are you at peace with yourself? Can you sit idle for a few hours doing nothing? Can you live with your thoughts?

Man is a social animal. We live in a community surrounding other humans. We are part of the system, and we call it society. It has norms that everyone has to abide by.

We are not trained since inception to live with ourselves and our thoughts, and few who tried became hermits or monks. They are not sane in the societal system.

As a result, solitude is not part of us, but running like a machine to earn, the breed is.

doer

Society loves doers. Most of the doers are happy staying away from the glitters and media. The new age world we are living in has become more about posturing than doing. It is like we have to make others imagine the possibilities. Most of the time, it remains just on paper.

What and where would you like to fall: a doer or a posturer? You can sail through initially preaching the possibilities. In the end, you will also need to do things. You will. have to be a doer.

All talk and no work will make you disliked in the long run.

grunt

Building a startup is a grunt work. It requires determination, grit, perseverance, and willingness to fail everyday. Whatever we do, the outcome is not in our control.

So what should we do? What else other than working hard and giving our best every day? How difficult can this be?

It is difficult and frustrating, but that is what entrepreneurship is all about.

We have to keep ourselves away from the noise and work in isolation. A lot of self-belief, loving customers, and a determined co-founder makes the journey easy.

mentor

We need mentors to make us fearless and question the status quo. We are all living a fearful life focused on the future than living now.

A mentor should act like a mirror and act as a guiding star. A mentor should accept you as you are and help you get over your insecurity.

We live in a world where everyone writes about being a coach or mentor on a social media platform. But is that enough? Should a mentor not be someone who makes you look inside yourself and question yourself?

No book or human can alone lead in your self-exploration journey unless you want it and have surrendered yourself. So stop seeking out: look within to find the mentor: your true guiding star is hidden deep inside you. You will find it when you start accepting yourself, your insecurity, and your vulnerability.

now

A lot many of us work towards a better future. For them, life is about the future. It results in making the best of their present. What the pandemic has taught us is how fragile we humans are. Still, most of us look towards a better future.

What is wrong with now? Why can we not live in it? Why do we have to build castles of the future when life is so fragile? If we live now: we know we are living in the moment. We will have less regret.

Many of us in old age realize what we could/should have done in our youth. What all we missed out from life? It is the result of not living in the present. Do you want to end up becoming like that? Why can you not live life to its fullest from moment to moment?

differentiation

Modern-day sales run on steroids: discounts, growth marketing, and deceptive advertisement. It takes the company’s revenue burning a chunk of cash in the short run.

The era of abundance and choice is a double-edged sword. It has made customers pampered. All companies are running after this limited number of customers.

The key to selling your product cannot just be the steroids. You have to differentiate yourself with a unique DNA.

A great customer support : something most enterprises forget after sales.
Sticking by the promise: something most enterprises limit just to an advertisement.

meetings

Most meetings are a waste of time. So the best way to avoid it is to say NO. But in the society, we are living in, we get judged or termed as assholes for being a straight shooter. So my mantra is simple, chat over WhatsApp or other IMs to gauge if the meeting is needed.

Our life on this planet is limited. We are not experts in everything. It is alright to express your limitation of knowledge and turn down a meeting. It will save time for both parties.

We don’t realize how much harm we do taking meetings and throwing out our bias or half-baked knowledge to the young entrepreneurs. They are the ones living in the journey of building, and we end up confusing them. We should be extra careful with our meetings, conversations, and discussions.

together

When anyone asks me for startup advice, I tell them about finding the right co-founder.

There can be many attributes associated with the right co-founder one that tops the list is being dependable.
In the early days of a startup founder has to multi-task, and there is the least time for back-and-forth communication, collaboration, and negotiations.
A co-founder getting shit done takes away that challenge.

Building a startup requires lots of luck, hard work, and patience.
While we can not create our luck, we can be aware of what will not screw up our journey, and one being a wrong co-founder.

Once we have a co-founder whose vision and expectations align with ours, we can sail in the journey easily with much lesser negotiation.

health

After 30 years of age, the importance of health came to me. I would request others to be aware early. 

The first wealth is health: Ralph Waldo Emerson wrote in 1860. It makes sense. 

How productive can you be with disease engulfing you? Will you be focused or creative?   

Our ultra marathon life leaves no space for personal well-being. Taking off or not doing anything haunts us: call it FOMO. On top of that, our lifestyle filled with coffee, highly processed food, and alcohol is causing many lifestyle diseases. 

Steve Jobs died. All his wealth could not cure him. 

community

We think about achieving something in life. Success depends on many factors apart from our hard work. Community is core. It’s the people around us in our lives who inspire us, open doors for us.

We need to be a giver and open doors for others too. That is how we grow the tribe.

It takes a village to raise a child. It takes a community to build a successful business.