Category: Opportunities for Growth

  • Learning experience or mistake?

    This world has a way of trying to homogenize you. Trying to sanitize you. Trying to scrub you of your unique divine genius, this world wants to make you regular – Cory Booker

    When we take action, we always make mistakes… knowingly or unknowingly. They are bound to happen and it’s important to have a good attitude towards mistakes. Mistakes are an integral part of learning. They teach us what we need to learn. As Miles Davies once said, “Do not fear mistakes; there are none”. 

    Today when I look back, I know I have done ample of mistakes some of them have costed me huge losses. However, at that time I wasn’t sure if the learning I was getting out of so called “learning experience” would make me a better person. But I have realised now actually they did it was like a tiny drop of water in the ocean of experience called life.

    Second thing I learned about mistake was not to take them seriously, this helped me immensely to grow as a person and understand others point of view. people who think you should know how to do something perfectly almost immediately are making a fundamental error that can prevent learning in both themselves and others around them. There is no end to new things you can learn from your mistakes but you would only realise that once you have gone past it.

    So at times when I get understanding of the “learning experience aka mistakes” I just take one lesson at a time and keep moving.

    “Life is what happens to you when you are busy making other plans” – Lenin.

    Originally Posted On October 12, 2017

  • Make your work break count!

    Have you heard new adage “sitting is new smoking” …

    When I heard about it I thought hell yeah! better I had quit smoking already now I need to quit sitting too? Until I got diagnosed with chronic back pain a couple of years ago. I told my chiropractor “I am quite a fit bloke” How come I got back pain in spite of working out and leading an active lifestyle? He mentioned about the science of posture and how the human body is meant for hunting in the fields and not sitting in front of a damn computer the whole day long. 

    Now if this was 1860, I could have done something about the “hunting in the fields” part but in 2017 it is a pretty tough gig. Specially living in this civilization makes it even harder to imitate our ancestral modus operandi.

    We might have come from the planet of the apes but now since we are in the information age let’s see how we can still quench our postural thirst by staying in “well-being worker” limits. This is what I suggest as our plan of action to make our work breaks count.

    Breaks are good, but do we take them? Ask yourself, “What makes a good break for me?” Do you take yourself to the local park, call a friend, check into the gym, or laugh out loud with colleagues? Or it might be just eating your food mindfully—which one is your fit? Find it and use it.

    Ensure you drink more than 2 litres of water: Have you been asked this questions – Do you drink enough water? I am sure you would know the benefit but it has the added advantage of making you run to the toilet pretty often and also break the sitting posture cycle for the sake of your bladder.

    Get a fitness tracker: A little bit of technology to help you motivated and stay on track, most of the trackers can now start to beep (like mine) every 50th minute of an hour asking you to move your body (I said body…)

    Don’t press the send button:  At times you’ll catch yourself sending an email to a person sitting at the same floor. Have you done that? I know I have, why not try the alternate and walk to the person to have a chat.

    Catch that yawn:  Yawning is actually a signal from your brain craving for oxygen! That is body’s natural response to initiate a break in posture. Next time when you catch yourself yawning at work get up and stretch yourself.

    7 min refresher: It is scientifically proven 7 minutes is what it takes to break your postural pattern, experiment all the activities you could do in 7 minutes like brushing your teeth after lunch with an added advantage of dental hygiene.

    Power Naps: There is a misconception, you don’t have to actually sleep merely closing your eyes and listening to some relaxing music for 10-20 mins would do the job.

    In conclusion, it matters less what you do than why you’re doing it. Pay attention to three aspects of body, mind and spirit to tune into your own energy style and choose work break activities that will truly refresh you.

    Originally Published On September 18, 2017

  • Fail to plan is plan to fail

    In most of my recent conversations with budding entrepreneurs, this is the most important subject I harp upon. In today’s fast-paced business environment, and the Internet of Things age it is very easy to forget the basics and get swamped in the hurricane of information that is being thrown at us every day.

    Recently I have been appointed acting VP on yet another board which will make the current mark to 3 start-up boards I am presiding on. All very different sectors one is the Food Industry, second training, and third technology company excluding my own brainchild Green Lab Films & Media. I can not reaffirm anymore the need to better plan upfront to save toil later. However, I also know for a fact no matter how much you plan things will still go wrong it will still rain during the parade.

    This is when having a plan B comes into action, you must have already heard about the buzzword “fail fast, fail forward” for people who haven’t heard this term earlier. It means don’t be afraid to fail “let fear not freeze your actions” which is another way of saying plan better my friend. I remember my maths teacher always use to say “Try and try again until you succeed” and I can’t deny for fact how true it is for Lean Entrepreneurship.

    In my 25 years of entrepreneurship experience (I started my first venture at fourteen, now don’t calculate my age ok!) I can’t tell how many times I have failed at one thing or another but still have kept going. From selling door-to-door instant dumplings mixture to selling pest control solutions to selling NB nature bonds to selling media technology and film distribution. One thing always led to another only what counted was not burying my head into failure but focusing on solution. In fact that’s what lean entrepreneurship and agile mindset talks about, which if succinctly to put in my words is nothing but planning enough to never run out of runway.

    “Give me six hours to chop down a tree and I will spend the first four sharpening the axe. – Abraham Lincoln”

    To read more about lean entrepreneurship or attend my upcoming seminar register here or put a comment below. Till then, Sayonara!

    Originally Posted ON November 27, 2017

  • Want to build momentum?

    Want to build momentum? the quickest way to do that is to get up and get going! If you just sit there you are going to be forced to move by the changing times, movement is part of the human experience. You are either going to move yourself in the direction of your dreams or you are going to be moved by the progress of society.

    Think about the universe it is in constant motion and we are part of it. To be static it to be out of the flow of the universe. If there is something between you ears stopping you for being in motion for goodness sake take care of it. Get moving, allow the flow of the universe to carry you to where you want to go. Think about it this way if you want to surf a wave on the ocean you have to do your part to get in motion and the wave will the rest. So what are you waiting for? I remember years ago I read this book by Justin Herald, in summary it said the same thing shortest way to reach your target is hard work.

    “Do you want to know who you are? Don’t ask. Act! Action will delineate and define you.”

    – Thomas Jefferson. 

    I remember the very first time I attended a meditation course 17 years ago, the very question that seeped through my mind was “who are you” we were meant to sit with a partner repeatedly posing this question. Pretty much like a Buddhist monk, years later I found out another way of doing it, but this time not by asking a probing question. This time (2007) I was on the road working crazy 24×7 to make my start up business success. I found the answer and I would like to quote another great man who agrees with me in this approach.

    “Deciding what not to do is as important as deciding what to do” – Steve Jobs.


    Find out more about building momentum @ my Authentic Leadership course.

    Inbox me if you want to receive more information on building momentum using Authentic Leadership or register your interest using link above.

    Copy of this article is also available on my Linkedin Page.

    Originally Posted On December 13, 2017

  • Dare to dream?

    “To dare is to lose one’s footing momentarily. Not to dare is to lose oneself ”  – Soren Kiekegaard.

    I’m sure you must have heard about living in a “comfort zone”, What exactly is comfort zone? Let me elaborate. Couch surfing on a Sunday afternoon vs. getting up and going to the Gym or mucking around at Facebook instead of giving time to your family.

    These are just trivial examples of mundane things that we could do when finding ourselves upset or frustrated on not having a growth opportunity. I got hang of this concept in one of my communication class during screen business course, A Stretch zone is what lies outside of our comfort zone. I call it the “growth zone” because you meet growth opportunity aka learning experience only when you are outside of your comfort zone.

    If you leave the moment to go back to comfort zone, you will lose opportunity to grow, in our example opportunity to be with our family or lose some extra fat at the gym. If you wish to take advantage of this moment you need to find the lesson or the learning ripe for the picking. Why not just live comfortably in our comfort zone? Because if you wish to live your dreams, you are going to have to grow. Growth only happens outside of your comfort zone, meaning when you push yourself and when you are uncomfortable.

    “if you do what you usually do, you’ll get results that you usually get” – Anonymous.

    I can harp on this concept a lot, however only thing that counts is getting the drive to get to your purpose. During the Xmas break take this opportunity to ponder on what actions you might need for next year that will make you uncomfortable and closer to your purpose. Wishing you very safe and happy holiday season and see you in 2018!

    “Efforts and courage are not enough without purpose and direction” – John F Kennedy.

    Copy of this blog is also at my LinkedIn profile

    Originally published on December 21, 2017

  • The Secret to Future

    The Secret to Future

    “The Secret of your future is hidden in your daily routine” – Mike Murdock

    There is so much to learn in our lifetimes through various instances, experiences & routines. Somebody once said to me “Success doesn’t happen in a day, it happens daily” Back then I wasn’t quite convinced by that statement. Primarily because I use to measure my success by monetary gain or fame. I use to feel that one day I would be successful but later on I realized, it was just a mirage.

    You can’t wait lifelong for a magic day to occur instead we need to create magic daily. All that time when you laugh out loud, celebrate, and mingle with friends/family and people you love are the times of success. All that time when you experience the emotions of love, care, joy, friendship, and togetherness are the times of success, these are the real magic moments we should cherish. These are the times we live our lives! it is not the destination but fulfilling journey we should use to measure our successes.

    It is not just someday, it happens every day… it is not something to achieve but it is something to pursue every day. As rightly put in one of my favorite Will Smith movies… “The Pursuit of Happyness”

    Christopher Gardner: It was right then that I started thinking about Thomas Jefferson on the Declaration of Independence and the part about our right to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. And I remember thinking how did he know to put the pursuit part in there? That maybe happiness is something that we can only pursue and maybe we can actually never have it. No matter what. How did he know that?

    Yours,

    Arvind J Baswan

    #GreenlabFilms

    Click here to contribute to our crowdfunding campaign.

    This content was originally published on September 2, 2016

  • The Power of Now

    The Power of Now

    “No body gets to live life backward. Look ahead, that is where your future lies” – Ann Landers.

    There is one great book I read called, “The Power of Now” by Eckert Tolle and it discusses the challenge of staying in the present moment and how much power you have when you do stay in the now. For me it was one of the biggest challenges during college days I had either stayed in past or looked towards the future anxiously.

    Although both models have their plus and minus, I was young and anxious but also quite naive about expecting things I never knew I would get. It was then one fine day I decided what I want. What are things I could do that are under my control? I still remember it was 17 November 2002, I wrote my list of 101 things to do before I die. You may call it a bucket list but I called it my “Wish List”, it had things like meeting big celebrities, traveling around the world, and experiencing things like bungee jumping and sky diving.

    Today looking back at it I have achieved a good amount of wishes I wrote for myself, it gives me pleasure and exhilaration. But most of all it gave me one thing that I felt lacked seriously back then “Purpose”. That list is the reason I am living in one of the finest cities in the world, driving a good car, living in a comfortable home. I’m not saying this to boast about my achievements but to remind myself and my blog readers about “Purpose”.

    Back then past was a painful place to be, to see all mistakes I did, all the fear of failure and sour memories of what could have been better. On the other hand, the perfect future I wished. I call it the “Yoyo moment” where you are stuck between the past and the future. I’m sure all of us have such moments, one tool I discovered was “Power of Now” I didn’t know it back then. It gives you immense power to move your life ahead. It is like the steering wheel of your car, which gives you direction. It doesn’t work when you are stationary in the “Yoyo moment” but works like a charm when you push the accelerator.

    However, it is immensely significant to look back in the rearview mirror (your past) but you can’t drive your car looking at it all the time. It is of no use, but still significant to know what mistakes to avoid, to judge the road. So to speak power of now is the steering wheel that will direct you toward your purpose. All you got to do is choose the right speed and set the course of action. All the best!

    “The starting point of all achievement is desire” – Napoleon Hill.

    Originally Posted On February 26, 2018

  • Emotional Roller Coaster

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