Progress over perfection

More often than not, we fall short of achieving what we want. Not because, we may lack the skill, capabilities or the time. As a matter of fact, in spite of. A deep rooted conditioning in many of us, starting with myself, is the want for perfection coupled with the fear of rejection or unacceptance.

Time and again, from our childhood through education, sports and professional engagements to adulthood, the one emphatic message that reverberates through the time is, perfection. Things we are told like, being the best, flawless or impeccable create an imagery where we associate the perfect portrait of an outcome even before we begin. And this, is a major roadblock. 

For instance, I could have written this post 3 days back had I not obsessed about how to make it look perfect, the time I will need to make it look perfect, the audience it should be intended for etc. These are important but not if they block you from taking your first step. 

I was at a training on The Coaching Habit and an important reminder stuck with me and encouraged me to get going with this post. Progress, not perfection! So important to nudge ourselves to remind that Progress is more important than perfection. You cant even fathom reaching perfection if you cant fathom starting off. 

Maybe, it is high time that we retire the term perfection from our daily routine. One, it doesn't serve a purpose, second, it is vague at best and third, it is an abstract term the meaning of which will vary from one person to another. I hope this stays with me every time I resolve to do something. Progress over perfection!

Stop decking your idea with all the bells and whistles of an imaginary state of perfection. Rather, take the first step and let that lead the way.

Thailand travel - 2022

10 days to the date of departure and I am already checked out, my friend observed yesterday. Travel has been a raging passion awaiting a wake up call from a long slumber. I pray this is the beginning. As excited as I am, keeping my fingers crossed and will remain that way to the date of departure. 

Thailand beckons! More than the place, the opportunity to wander and experience outside of the mundane is a stimulating prospect. Checked out for the last month, I have been reading, researching, visualizing and planning. Getting the travel muscle fired back up, I guess.

Looking ahead, it is not the best time to visit Thailand. Monsoon rains at its peak, I do expect to be poncho clad or basking in the umbrella for a good part of my time. But then, one learns that when an opportunity knocks on the door, you don't go aligning all the stars. A bit of randomness and surprise is a good thing.

Having said that, I hope to keep posting now through the trip sharing tidbits that fellow travelers and aspirants may find useful. I have been prepping and updating my Pre-travel todo list for a couple weeks now and ordering things that are necessary. Travel is going to be pretty light with a carry on and a backpack to minimize the possibility and pain of lost checked in luggage.

Total number of days from departure to arrival: 15 (Sept/Oct, 2022)

Keep checking back for more updates as I prepare to head out. Leave your thoughts, comments and any travel advise you may find relevant. I expect to put out a post a week, on Wednesday.

Have a great weekend and a week ahead!

The method to madness - identifying a career pursuit

Blogging has been a struggle for me. Not so much because I cant keep up, be consistent or have challenges penning things down. Writing is something I love. The struggle has been to arrive at a theme, a style, a context and deciding little but vital aspects - whether to write in first person or second, let it be personal or otherwise, active or passive.

All journeys start with a step, albeit small. Hence, here I begin. Let us see if this survives and thrives. 

Any bloggers out there, please feel free to share your advice, thoughts and feedback. Readers, your are as much welcome to share your feedback and insights. For now, I plan to take it one day at a time, one post at a time. Overthinking may have been the culprit so bear with me as I find balance. 

During a recent 1-1, I was asked to enumerate the attributes and potential functions of how my career journey would look like. For those of you interested, below is the list I came up with. I must say that it was an introspective exercise. Just listing out a quick and dirty list is truly empowering. As they say, knowing what you know and you don't can be a pretty phenomenal start to progress. So, here goes my list:

What do the attributes/functions of my career journey look like? 

My attributes/traits/soft skills (in no particular order):  

• Individual contributor 
• Creative, thought provoking, mentally stimulating 
• Process, Strategy and Planning 
• Involves continuous learning with growth potential, scalable - Involve writing, documentation 
• Human Change Management 
• Risk assessment, planning and management 
• Involves travel 
• Coaching (?) - not 100% sure yet as I need to understand more about how Coaching differs from Training Teaching, Training 
• Interviewing, surveying - assimilating information (peeling the onion) 
• Articulation of ideas, prepping presentation outlines 
• Kinesthetic learning - long meetings without movement are a downer

Here's to the first step of a journey. Feel free to leverage the exercise if you find it useful. And do share your thoughts and comments.

Happy Thursday!

Breathe!

Random writing is not writing. Or is it? Who knows? Stop asking questions including, why do we ask questions? Chuckle. 

Thinking and thought are two different things. While a thought or an external stimuli may provoke thinking, when a person thinks all the time he loses the ability to observe, assimilate, appreciate. Similarly when a person keeps doing something, he loses the ability to think, observe, assimilate and appreciate.

We are instincts and more. We create and so do many other species. But we have creativity. They have  instincts. We have variety in creativity to a profound degree. We make choices but not all of our choices are based on instincts. 

It is very difficult to leave the cage of instinct, routine and stop being that hamster running on the wheel, however glorified that wheel is or the hamster :).

New mantra - there is no guide to living life. If there was and followed, that would sap the life out of life. It would turn life into a conditioned routine. Life, our essence on earth has to wake up everyday and do its thing. And there is no saying what it will be. It is as it chooses - if that means following a routine, so be it, if that means doing nothing, so be it. But one thing it cannot be - defined - defined for the x billion  lives on earth waking up to breathe their essence every moment.

Mwaaah!

Strategy Lab: Three years later, one investing style is victorious - The Globe and Mail

Strategy Lab: Three years later, one investing style is victorious - The Globe and Mail

Each of our investors represented a different approach to the market. Former Bay Street analyst Chris Umiastowski focused on growth stocks, while newsletter guru Norm Rothery beat the drum for value investing. Andrew Hallam, a Singapore-based financial author, preached the merits of an indexing strategy, and The Globe and Mail’s own John Heinzl carried the banner for dividend lovers.

So how have they done?