Cricket fans especially from India are having a joy ride like no other. Accepted that the team lost out in the WTC finals but the consistency of this team has been eye-catching. The season started on a sedate note though, with India being bowled out for 36 runs in the Adelaide Test. All experts including me wrote the team off!

But then the comeback started. India won Melbourne, then saved Sydney by the skin of the teeth, and then did the unthinkable of beating Australia at Gabba!

This Indian team doesn’t give up and if the Australian tour was the trailer another act was played out in India when after losing the first test against England in Chennai, India decimated England in the next 3 matches to win the series and thereby confirming their spot at the top of the WTC table.

In every way, this new cycle of WTC (2021-23) was expected to be tougher for India because they are lined up to play two tough series away from home – England and South Africa! 

India doesn’t have a great record in England, though it’s far better than in South Africa. On the other hand, England in red-ball cricket is completely opposite to their world-beating white-ball team.

Add to that the injury woes and Ben Stokes pulling out at the last moment made this English team extremely vulnerable!

By all counts, rain robbed India a fair chance to win in the first test match but no one could stop them at Lords where fortunes ebbed from one side to the other but the Indian team came good when mattered and eked out an amazing win.

But why am I  writing this? Lots of journalists have already penned their thoughts about the lord’s test match – then why? Well, cricket teaches us a lot especially when it comes to life and corporate management lessons. Other than giving us joy, this is another aspect which we keep learning from cricket.

So what did we learn from the Lord’s test match? I point out a few which caught my attention the most.

The ego is the enemy

Having ego stops us from thinking judiciously. We start believing that we are superior and we stop learning. When England batted and eked out a small lead there was this small passage of play when Jasprit Bumrah peppered the English number 11, James Anderson with short pitch balls. Anderson was left hopping around the crease and needless to say he was not thrilled one bit with that barrage of short balls directed towards his neck!

Fast forward, and that incident turned out to be the eventual turning point. At the end of day 4, India was 181/6 with a smallish lead of 154 runs. Realistically speaking it was Rishabh Pant who stood between England and victory. But early on the 5th day, Pant perished and the floodgates opened (or as it seemed). With tailenders to follow it looked game over for team India. 

BumrahBut quite unexpectedly England forgot the objective. In place of taking wickets in a normal way of pitching it up, they decided to target the Indian tailenders with short pitch bowling. Slips were removed and fielders were put on the leg side boundaries! It worked straight into India’s hands because feet movement was taken out of the equation. Overs after overs the tactic continued and India started building a healthy lead. The ego of Anderson influenced the captain Root and in place of trying to pick the wickets by bowling pitched up deliveries they resorted to short bowling and in the process handed India the decisive advantage.

When the history of this match will be written this aspect of bizarre captaincy would be written in golden words especially if the series is lost by England.

Never let your ego come in between your objective. Win matters – individual glory doesn’t matter.

Leadership matters

When Jim Collins wrote his famous book, Good to Great, he discussed his flywheel concept and one of the first clog in that wheel was Level 5 leadership. To build a great business what matters the most is great leadership. Leadership matters and that’s why you will never find a great company with weak or average leaders.

It was amply displayed at Lord’s on 16th August. On one hand, we found Joe Root who got influenced by his fast bowlers’ ego to completely go against the normal line of thinking by removing slips and bowling short balls to Bumrah and Shami. And on the other hand, we found Virat Kohli who gave a stellar speech to his bowling unit before the start of the 4th innings making sure that the team would be relentless in attacking the English. 

England went with the mindset of winning a minor battle which eventually led them to lose the war.

To be fair, Joe Root accepted his mistake because he did say at the end of the match that he did some mistakes which should have been avoided in hindsight. That’s a good hallmark of a leader though because when you accept your mistake you find a path to win. And that’s what Joe Root will be aiming for heading to Leeds next week.

Teamwork wins

Leading by example is an apt lesson taught in management. By that yardstick, Joe Root was far ahead of Virat Kohli.

In the first innings, he held the English innings together by scoring 180 runs remaining not out. Even in the second innings if India had to win the match it was Root’s wicket that was the key. Finally, when India did go past Root, that’s the point from where the win looked a possibility for India. 

But let’s delve into some numbers, first.

Number of runs scored by Joe Root this series: 386

That’s more than 40% of the total runs scored by the whole English team in two matches. 

Number of wickets by James Anderson and Ollie Robinson: 18

That’s about 65% of the total wickets taken by England across two tests. Both of them have a fifer too.

RahulNow compare this with India. There are no runaway winners other than KL Rahul in batting. In bowling, all bowlers have contributed more or less equally other than Jadeja who has been under-bowled. Only Bumrah has one fifer.

This was the same scenario in Australia earlier this year too. The man of the series, highest run-scorer, and highest wicket-takers were not from India but finally, it was team India who took the series.

The point I want to make here is that it’s the team that wins. Individual results are good for optics but if you are to be remembered in history, you as a team have to win in tough conditions. You have to win against adversities. In Australia, the Indian team came back from a disaster in Adelaide to win the series 2-1 with many of their frontline players being injured. Here, going into the 5th day England had a bigger chance to win but how spectacularly did team India bounce back?

This happens through sheer teamwork. Each and everyone puts their hand up and gives 100%. The pressure created when a team works in tandem is much much more than when a team is solely dependent on a couple of players.

The relentless attack of the 4 pronged pacers of India was a sight to behold. We have seen that with England in the 70s, West Indies in the 80s, Australia and Pakistan in the 90s but we have never seen that with India.

In that sense, it was a new India that was visible on 16th August who was not ready to give an inch to the opposition. The whole idea of intimidating Bumrah backfired because the expected protagonists were left vanquished.

If you compare Virat Kohli with Joe Root individually, particularly in this series, Root is far ahead but when you look at the final results, India is ahead.

England went to win the battle but ended up losing the war.

Let’s not forget the back-end team of India at this moment of glory. Bharat Arun and Vikram Rathore have been doing a stellar job at the back. That India could attack relentlessly with that 4 pronged pace attack has a lot to do with the work that Bharat Arun has been doing with the team over the past many months. Similarly, if Shami and Bumrah were going behind the line of the ball on the 5th morning we have to give some credit to the batting coach, Vikram Rathore. His efforts are bearing fruits.

As I said above, it’s the team that wins. For long, in the ’90s or later in the new millennium we used to see individual performances which helped India win but now it’s more about everyone in the team contributing. That’s what great teams are all about, be it cricket or in corporate life. It’s the team that wins. Backing each other and making sure that everyone’s contribution matters is what differentiates between a great team to an average team.

This current Indian team is a perfect example of that.

Let’s not get too overboard though. Three test matches are still to go and India should be ready for that. Lord’s win was great but winning the series would make this win sweeter in the final analysis.

Let’s take a breather for a week and come back stronger and hungrier on 25th August. Headingley is like an English fortress so India needs to be at their very best to keep the momentum with themselves.

Bring it on. Headingley here we come!

Today is 15th August 2021 and we celebrate our 75th Independence Day.

1947 Flag HoistingIndia has come a long way from 1947 when Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru hoisted the tricolour on the intervening midnight of 14th and 15th August. 

India has improved leaps and bounds over the years and with time our economic conditions have improved too. Today we are the 5th largest economy in the world and boast of having the youngest average population in the world.

We got political freedom from the colonial rule in 1947 but how many of us have gained financial freedom? To be fair we are far away from it.

India today has a thriving middle-class population but a big question that raises on my head is – are we financially free?

What is Freedom?

You are free only when you can decide what to do when to do and with whom to do it. Freedom also means you are the master of your time. Confused?

Let me explain.

But before that, let me ask you a few questions.

If the answers are no to the above then you are not free. Yes, you are politically free, you live in a democratic nation, you have freedom of speech (I guess we have) but you are not financially free. And till the time you are financially free, you will have to keep saying yes to a lot of things that your heart doesn’t agree to.

It’s all about choices. It’s all about decisions taken or the choices made that have put us in such a situation. I have been an equal culprit of such a situation in my life. So you are not alone, you have a partner. 

If you want to truly enjoy freedom, then what you should yearn for, is freedom of time and that’s only possible by making the right choices today. It won’t come easy. India’s freedom struggle was a long drawn affair but believe me, this freedom struggle won’t take that long.

Rich Vs Wealthy

There is a difference between being rich and being wealthy. Rich can be seen but wealth is not visible. Wealth is like an iceberg it’s 90% invisible! You can seem to be rich without being wealthy. One can have a big car, a big house, go on yearly vacations but if most of his major lifestyle expenses are serviced through debts then that’s not a wealthy lifestyle – it’s a rich lifestyle! 

So try to garner wealth. Don’t try to show, being rich. We are living in constant need of self-gratification and we are under pressure to prove ourselves to others! But this doesn’t get you happiness! It gets eyeballs and nothing else. 

Living within your means is the order of the day! Our needs and wants are controllable and that’s what is the first step towards getting wealthy. Restraining your “needs” and controlling your “wants” is what differentiates between living life under stress or gaining freedom!

50-30-20

In one of my earlier posts, I wrote about the 80-20 rule. Here I break this up further! It’s the 50-30-20 rule.

How we control our wants is what defines if we will gain freedom or not. Imagine a day when you get up and you can decide what to do, not what you “have” to do. You have a job you may love it too but does that give you a purpose and pleasure! If yes, great, if no, you need to gain freedom. But to gain your freedom you will need to sacrifice something. And that something is to control your wants. You can’t decide to purchase items that can be postponed.

Ideally, if you plan to buy something don’t buy it immediately. Wait for a month and see if your desire is still strong on that. Most of the time “wants” are changing and hence once you postpone after a few weeks, you won’t have the desire to buy. In that case, your money is saved. Even after a prolonged wait if your desire is still strong then go and buy it only if it’s within the above formula. 

Insurance

Insurance is not an investment tool or product. Two have completely separate reasons for existence. Insurance is bought to protect our future needs or for future unknown eventualities. 

If you have a child below 5 years, protect his future by buying a child education endowment plan. But how do you know what’s the amount that’s needed? Head to Funds India calculator. They have a marvelous calculator which can give you an idea of what amount you need to save for particular goals.

Insurance premiums are expenses that fall under the category of “needs”.

If endowment policies don’t cover within the 50% rule then opt for a term policy, only. 10-12 times of your net annual income should be covered under your term policy. This basically means you will have to relook at this every 5 years. Because every 5 years your expenses will increase due to rising inflation and you need to ensure that you are properly protected. 

Discuss with your spouse about all your insurance policies. People tend not to talk about “insurance” with their spouses because no one likes to talk about deaths but it’s a truth that all have to admit. There is no guarantee of how many years one may live so even if that happens it’s your duty to ensure that your family doesn’t struggle for basic needs after you are no longer there. 

Health insurance is a must due to rising medical expenses. Minimum policy coverage of Rs. 10 lakhs is required for a family of 4. Have a top-up policy every year in case you can’t afford the premium of Rs. 10 lakhs right now. So you may buy a basic floater policy of Rs. 5 lakhs and every year purchase a top-up which should be double the basic amount. The advantage is that a top-up policy can be purchased at 25% of your existing premium. This way you can keep yourself properly insured.

Debt

Our earlier generation used to buy cars and houses when they had enough money to cover that expense. Today we purchase cars and houses based on the down payment affordability and by EMI affordability. For a flat worth Rs. 40 lakhs most don’t have that money in their bank so they opt for loans based on the fact that they can give down payment of Rs. 10 lakhs and finance the balance Rs. 30 lakhs. Two things happen. One, your savings of Rs. 10 lakhs goes towards down payment (you lose your compounding power) and you end up paying EMI of more than Rs. 20k per month.

Now imagine if you are earning Rs. 40k per month. You end up paying more than 50% of your income in servicing the debt. This would eventually mean, “no savings”. You are young and free to think that your salary raise will take care of your future savings with time. But that’s a “big if”. “If” because our desires are always aspirational. Today you will buy a 2BHK house which will feel small after 5 years and you will then yearn for a bigger house.

Some get lucky and things fall into place but what’s the guarantee you are one of those lucky ones? Having a life of no debt is the first thumb rule for freedom. You gain freedom when you are not answerable to anyone.

But if you are living under a pile of debt then you have not gained freedom.

You might have a big car, you might have a big house but if they are financed by banks then these assets don’t belong to you. And till you pay them up, you are not mentally and financially free.

You might be in a job that pays well but has a toxic environment! Can you change your job at the drop of the hat if you have debts? You can’t. And you end up living a life which you are not happy about. Then what’s the use of having a house and a car if you are not happy?

These are hard questions, you need to ask yourself. If you need freedom, if you need total control of your time, first thing first, get rid of all your debts. 

If you are already under debt then it’s time to stop and have a look at your finances and see where can you reduce your expenses so that the extra cash can be given to your existing loan. 

If that means you will have to stop some investments – do it but first get rid of your debts.

Another thing to keep in your mind is that your term policy should be enough to finance that loan just in case something bad happens to you. I don’t mean to frighten you but you are responsible for your family. If something happens to you, God forbid, can your family pay up the pending loan via the insurance? If you have not done that, then do that today.

Emergency Fund

6-12 months of your needs should be available in liquid form at any point in time. So, for example, if you can take care of your needs within Rs. 15,000 per month then ideally Rs. 1.8 lakhs should be in your savings account or some liquid funds. If it’s not there then you are not close to gaining freedom.

If you are in a job which makes you unhappy, can you change it immediately? Most of the time, the answer is no. It takes time to get a proper job that will match your needs. But if you are not happy can you leave it immediately? You can take that decision, only if you are debt-free and when you have a 12-month emergency fund available with you.

Emergency funds are not supposed to be used in your “wants”. They are only kept for extreme emergencies. If you don’t have one, create today. I have a separate savings account altogether where I put some portion of my money every month to finance my emergencies. It’s a habit that I started in 2013. In between, I have had medical emergencies and those were taken care of only due to the availability of that fund. Even today that’s the first activity I do on payday. By default, 5% of my net income goes into that fund every month. And frankly, I don’t look into that account other than once a year when I have to submit my IT returns. If you don’t have one – start today.

We want freedom, but you will only get freedom when you plan properly. You can’t expect to be free if you have debts and if you don’t have an emergency fund.

Savings Rate

People feel that they will get wealthy when they get better pay. But the fact is that you don’t get wealthy with that mindset. You may get rich but not wealthy. Because wealth is created over time. You become wealthy when money works for you, not the other way round.

With your pay raise, if you push the goalpost of lifestyle expenses then you can’t get wealthy. Your goalpost should be firm. Your lifestyle expenses should not increase with your pay raise. That’s the only way to get wealthy. Because once you do that, what will happen is that your extra cash will be put under the savings/ investments bracket.

The only way to increase your wealth is to let your money grow over time. And keep increasing that investment amount every year with your pay raise.

Top-up SIPs are a great way to begin that journey.

If you have EMIs to pay, then pay some portion of your extra EMI with your new pay raise. Debt reduction is equally important to gain freedom.

But if your pay raise is used to finance a new vacation or a new electronic gadget, then you are pushing your date of freedom.

Finally, it’s a choice. And the choice is yours. Do you sacrifice a bit today to have freedom for yourself and your family or do you want to have instant gratification! I leave it to you to decide.

Goals

Having goals is very important in life. So it’s vital to ask yourself what are the goals you have in life that you need to fulfill or wish to fulfill. You will need money to finance your goals and it’s best you do not be dependent on anyone other than yourself for those goals.

You can break up these goals into buckets (I put them in an excel sheet with each tab having one goal).

What could be your goals?

It’s absolutely personal but generally speaking, people have goals like Children’s education, a dream house, a foreign or domestic vacation every 6 months, etc. Now that you have defined your goals, give a deadline (time) against each goal. If your child is 5 years old then you would need to finance his or her education in another 12-13 years. So you have a time of 10-11 years to build that corpus.

How do you know how much is needed? Well, head to Funds India and they have some good calculators which can project the costs of your future goals. Once you know the amount that you need you to get into planning mode.

If yes, add these up and see what’s the expected amount after 10 years. You can calculate that too with the Funds India calculators.

Now, check if adding them is taking you to your goals or not. If not then you will need to arrange more funds which if not possible today, wait for your next raise and invest it in a mutual fund of your choice.

Investments

As I stated above, insurance products are not investments. You are investing for your freedom. If you are new to investments then you can start with Mutual Funds. But remember you have better choices in case you have a window of 12 years or more. Even with mutual funds make a plan to have a proper balance of funds.

This is not at all something which I am advising you. It’s a suggestion. Finally, it’s your choice.

If you ask me, I will suggest that you invest only 50% of your kitty in Mutual Funds. 30% in stocks. And 20% in cryptos.

I am not keeping Gold and Real Estate in this discussion but I do believe SGB is a good option in building assets in the medium term.

Century SIPs provided by a few mutual fund houses are a good option too. This is a product that can connect your investments with insurance. You get insured 100 times your SIP amount. This is good because you are forced not to stop or withdraw your investments for a fixed amount of time. Discipline is very important to get wealthy and this product forces you to remain displined.

For direct equities, once again you will need to do a lot of research on what to buy and when to sell. Most people don’t have so much time but that doesn’t mean you should pay these Mutual Fund companies the various expense charges that they keep charging you. You can get rid of these expenses by investing directly in equities via Smallcase and Zerodha. This allows you to have full control of your funds – you become your own fund manager.

Open an account in Smallcase.com which is directly integrated with your Demat account. Zerodha is very easy to use and is very user-friendly and you will have fewer charges to pay if you invest through Zerodha. Smallcase allows you to invest directly in equities in portfolio formats and you can buy it in SIP way too. The advantage is that you are the owner of the stocks and you will have full control of your investments. And if you are a man like me who loves to enjoy dividends then because you are investing directly in stocks you enjoy the dividends too not like in MFs where you do not get any dividends.

Over the past few months I have been reading and talking with people related to cryptocurrencies and I think 15-20 years down the line this will become the new normal on how people deal with money. It’s a big disruption in the money market and I think if you invest today, you can get multi-fold returns a couple of decades down the line. But do not invest too much yet, be very sure about your risk appetite because you can lose a lot of money in the short term. It’s highly volatile but the returns can be quite unimaginable in the long run.

I maintain a retirement fund. I used Funds India Calculator to understand the corpus I need to create for me to retire (Retirement means financial freedom – not retirement from work). These are the places where I have invested for my retirement goal.

Now, this is something I won’t advise you to copy. Because your way of thinking could be completely different from mine but I just wanted to give you an example of how I have diversified my retirement corpus. Every year, I update my excel sheet to understand how far away I am from my goal.

I am definitely not there yet but I am surely getting there.

If I can do it, I am very sure you will be able to do it too. I would really love all my friends to enjoy freedom. It’s important to live a life filled with happiness and that’s only possible when you do not have any burden. I advise you to plan your freedom today. 

Happy Independence Day everyone and I hope to see you financially free too.

PS. If you are young and you are yet to get going, I will advise reading a few time-tested books to further crystalise your thought process. 

When I previewed the Indian contingent for Tokyo Olympics 2020, a few weeks back, I had a distinct hope that it would be India’s best Olympics performance to date. I expected India to win 11 medals and though India fell 4 short of that, what we gained has been tremendous over the last couple of weeks.

Mirabai ChanuFrom being glued to TV sets, cheering Mirabai Chanu as she picked up Silver in weightlifting, to being tensed till the dying seconds of the bronze medal match in Hockey, it has been one heck of a ride. And let’s not forget that we had many glass ceilings broken with India doing particularly well in certain disciplines where India qualified for the first time or was not expected to do well – be it Equestrian or Golf.

In all 127 athletes qualified from India but some athletes left an indelible mark in our hearts. Some won (nothing bigger than what Neeraj Chopra achieved) and some lost by a whisker. But the bottom line is that we competed to win and not to participate and that for me is a big plus from this Olympics.

Some names that readily come to mind who punched their weight above others are given below:

Hockey Tokyo 2020There are so many Indian stories about this Olympics! The first day got us a medal. And we competed for medal rounds till the penultimate day – In fact we received 3 medals on the 14th day of the games. It shows that our process is bearing fruits. 

Rather than sulking on why we didn’t get more medals think of this:

I started watching the Olympics in 1984. My whole school life went through with India never winning a medal. During my college days in 1996, I finally saw an Indian on the podium (Leander Paes winning Bronze). India has been winning medals after that but it has always been more about individual brilliance – it was never about the system throwing up champions. Hence this Olympics is different! Across multiple disciplines, we have been highly competitive. And to be fair, if our boxers, shooters, and a couple of high-profile wrestlers didn’t have a meltdown on the important days, India might have had around 15 medals.

Deepika KumariIn boxing, Amit Panghal was world number 1. In archery, Deepika Kumari was world number 1. In shooting three of our shooters were top-ranked coming into the Olympics. In wrestling, Vinesh Poghat was world number 1. All of these players failed to deliver on the big stage. It happens. We saw in tennis both Naomi Osaka and Novak Djokovic losing and didn’t win a medal. But my point is, if our top-ranked players would have performed to the expectations then we would have had the nation rejoicing like no other.

Nothing is lost though because Olympic sports are now firmly in our imaginations. The thrill that our hockey team gave over the last week is difficult to describe! It shows that if we provide better infrastructure and better systems and more sponsorships, things can look up for India!

If Mr. Naveen Patnaik can sponsor the hockey team, what’s stopping the other state governments to pick up one sport and sponsor? What’s stopping some of the corporate honchos to sponsor some of these players and teams? Things can only look up when you take care of the economic struggles of many of these players! At the grassroots level we have serious talent but most fizzle out because after a while what’s important is to get the physiological needs to be taken care of!

LovlinaThe lead-up to Lovlina’s house in Assam didn’t have a motorable road till she confirmed a medal! Suddenly the government woke up and got the road done in less than a week! So if you want, you can do it. What’s required is the intention. The process of TOPS (Target Olympics Podium Scheme) started by Rajvardhan Singh Rathore in 2014, can be seen to bear fruits now but all will be lost if we do not build on it from here. It’s not the destination that matters – it’s the journey that counts.

India’s performance in Asiad 2022 and CWG 2022 will be closely watched! If in the next 15 months we come back home with a big haul of medals, you can rest assured that Paris 2024 will be the year when India crosses the 10 medal count in Olympics. Of course, what we need to see is from where we are getting the medals in Asiad and Commonwealth Games! In CWG we are traditionally strong in shooting, archery, wrestling, weightlifting, and boxing. But many of these disciplines are not happening in 2022. Can India do well in traditional events, like athletics? Can India get a bagful of medals in Asiad other than athletics, kabaddi, and hockey? These will be closely watched!

One thing that I surely suggest is to have mental conditioning coaches to be sent with these teams! We need to invest in this department. Because you need to be cool under pressure! To win gold you need to control your brain and not make mistakes at important junctures! Few of our losses this year have been due to the barest of margins! These can be overcome when you have mental conditioning coaches travelling with you! 

We truly become a global superpower when we start performing excellently in the Olympics! The economic performance of India should be reflected in the medals tally too! And frankly, when you invest in the system you will get results! Talent was always there but our politicians never thought beyond votes! It’s the right time that we understand, to be highly respected all over, we need to be respected and taken seriously across all domains, be it start-up culture or sports culture! We truly become a developed and economically top nation when we excel in business and Olympics sports!

So much money has been spent by corporates in football and cricket! What’s stopping them from investing some of those funds in Olympics sports too? We should start the HPL (Hockey premier league) and keep working on creating professional leagues across most of these Olympic sports be it basketball, volleyball, athletics, etc. Only when sponsors come in, we will have these events televised. And when they get televised, you will get more eyeballs. And when you get more eyeballs these players will learn to thrive under pressure!

I think our process is working. I am not disappointed with these results (individually I am with shooting) but we should build on this!

Vandana KatariyaAnd to sign off, we should get rid of this mindset of casteism and focus on equality. More ladies have won medals in the last couple of Olympics than men hence we should believe that our girls are no way less than men. Start treating both your kids equally at home. When the kids from a small age see that there is no difference between the brother and sister, you will find them growing up into individuals who are independent and self-reliant who are ready to take on the world alone!

Create more Ranis (my daughter’s name is Rani too), and Bhawanis and Sindhus in your homes! Don’t buy them only dollhouses and doctor kits; buy them volleyballs, cricket bats, badminton racquets, hockey sticks, etc. I personally watched most of the games with my daughter and son in tow! Quite expectedly both enjoyed the fortnight with the defining moment being all of us watching together when India beat Australia to reach the semifinal in women’s hockey. Nothing was more pleasurable though than seeing my daughter jumping with joy when she saw Rani Rampal scoring India’s first goal in Tokyo 2020.

Didn’t think we will have another high after hockey but Neeraj Chopra made it happen as Saturday evening became a golden evening as all three of us jumped in joy as Neeraj Chopra won the Gold medal in javelin.

We can make this happen friends. We can truly become a sports superpower by 2032. Let’s believe. Let’s back them. Let’s create a great future for our nation, together!

What have been your top 3 moments for India in Tokyo 2020?

“I have so many expenses. I can’t save money with the salary I get currently.” – one of my colleagues told me this.

Believe me, if you are having such a mentality you won’t be able to save even after your next raise. Human psychology is such that you will do what you want to do. Your will is what matters. 

Here is a simple hack that you can follow.

Garnering wealth is not something that can be done by earning more through hard work.

Wealth is garnered by saving more and investing more.

I was speaking with a colleague recently and we were discussing financial management.

I asked him why are you not able to save?

His answer was in expected lines. “Too many expenses so I don’t have excess cash to save or invest.”

This is where most people make mistakes. Paycheque to paycheque is how most people run their lives. What a big mistake!

I asked him how much was his traveling expenses per month (home to office travels) before March 2020!

He took a while and then told me it was about Rs. 2000.

I asked him next: “Did you get any appraisal in the last 12 months?”

He said, “yes”.

I asked, “how much?”

His answer, “Rs. 5000”

I told him it means in the last 12 months your extra savings should have been Rs. 7000 per month. Then why can’t you save a part of that?

He didn’t answer. This is the mistake most people make. We do the expenses first and think of savings later. That’s a cardinal mistake.

My simple idea on this matter is given below.

It’s a pain to start initially but soon you will be habituated. Good habits are the first step towards success. Start with Rs. 500 and then keep increasing that amount. 

Ordinary Habits: Extraordinary Results 

Last year towards the end of the year as the lockdown was eased and things were getting back to normal, I saw people who have been advocating that we should normalise work from home since going to the office was risky – making a beeline to vacation spots. Some went to Darjeeling. Some went to Sikkim. Some went to Goa. Some went to various other places across India. Good on them and I am happy for them because that’s their inner calling. But did they think how much of their decision was related to the extra savings that they made due to work from home? Actually, most of the people saved a lot, in time and money during the lockdown (Especially in the IT industry). But in place of thinking about investing part of these additional savings, they decided to increase their expenses. These are lifestyle expenses. Finally, after one year if you ask them what’s the net worth after adding all savings and investment accounts- the answer is “no difference”. 

So saying that I will invest after earning more, is a fad. You will only save and invest more when you believe you want to be wealthy – desire is the first step towards success – you will get wealthier only when you change your mindset. And tweaking your lifestyle habits and giving more importance to “save first and spend later “ is the very first step towards financial freedom.

How are you doing it?

I have seen most people not coming up with counter-views in meetings.

Now, why does that happen?

Let’s delve into the details:

1. Speaker is the boss

If the boss is intimidating then you will hardly find a person raising their hands to ask a question. And when people are not comfortable asking a question then forget about any counterargument. This is not a good omen for a company because a single person can’t be right all the time. You must create an environment where people get the confidence to speak up. If your culture doesn’t allow a junior employee to counter the views of the CEO then something is wrong.

Are you too demanding? Is your perception of being a tough taskmaster gone down in the negative sense? Are you reactive to criticisms? 

These could be some of the reasons why your team is not putting up counterarguments. Being surrounded by YES men is the worst thing that can happen to a leader. Because when hubris sets in, there will be no one around to point out where things are going wrong. When things go wrong it falls in a spiral and before you get to the root cause, much damage is done.

So, as a first step, create an environment where all views are given a patient hearing. Allow people to criticise you without crossing the line of decency. Take open questions in town hall set up. When people realise that you are open to criticism, they will get the confidence to counter your views. You need people in your team who would openly talk when they find things are wrong. The boss can’t be right always and this needs to be instilled in your team for them to understand that when you criticise or give feedback, it’s for the betterment of the company. 

2. The people don’t feel engaged

When you are speaking to a group of team members, are you only talking or are you engaging? Recently I was speaking with a group of my team members and I found one of my colleagues, a bit off. A generally jovial person was hardly involved in the meeting. I suddenly stopped talking and asked him what’s wrong or what’s bothering him. As I found out he was having a bad time with a few of his clients and he was not getting desired results. I told him, you can’t do anything about what happened yesterday, so why are you ruining the present? We are here together now making some plans for the future and without your involvement in the meeting, it will be a wastage of time. This small pep talk of 30 seconds, got him back to his feet and the jovial colleague was back amongst us in the true sense.

So when you are talking, do not follow the monologue template. Ask questions, try to engage with your audience, throw in the humour sometimes and you will see most of your team members having a good laugh. You would need an energetic team to get success and one of the best ways to get people out of slumber is a dose of humour. Today all are working from home. Every family I know of has had some tragedy to tell. In such a scenario mental health is something you should be really concerned about. Work, work, and work-related discussions can get boring after a while, so release the pressure by talking something nice or some jokes which makes people laugh a little. When you are happy, dopamine gets released and that brings about positivity in you. 

When you are happy and jovial, you will engage more with the speaker because you get confidence when you see your boss as a peer. Too much seriousness and your team members will settle inside a cocoon and your meeting will become a monologue that nobody loves or feels connected to.

3. The speaker doesn’t ask questions

The art of interactive speaking is about stopping after 5-6 minutes and ask questions. Rather than telling your audience to take notes and asking questions at the end, the better option is to allow people to ask questions at any point in time or when there is no question after 5-6 minutes, take a breather and ask questions.

As a team when they know that the speaker will ask questions in between, they will be extra attentive because the question might be thrown to anyone at any time. This keeps the audience on their toes. Of course, you as the speaker need to plan this well because if you ask too many questions then your speech itself might get diluted.

4. Meeting goes on for too long 

Any meeting if it goes on for more than 50 minutes will ensure that some or most members losing focus. Ideally, 45 minutes is what general human beings can focus on continuously. Anything more than that and some people will wane off. I have seen that whenever my meetings stretch beyond an hour, I see a few yawning faces. A few yawns openly and a few try to hide but the fact is that you can’t have the same energy and focus for more than 45 minutes. 

Ideally, you should plan the meeting in such a way that the meeting can get over within 35 minutes with 15 minutes buffer. If you plan out the 3-4 important points in advance, you will be able to cover them in 35 minutes. If you have too many topics to discuss then divide the meetings into 2 days. Do not discuss everything in one shot and lose the entire intention of the meeting. If your team doesn’t digest what has been discussed then it was a complete wastage of time.

Time is more valuable than money. Money can be recovered but time can’t. So value everyone’s time. Do not have this attitude that just because you are the boss you can hold a 90 minutes meeting. I have been guilty myself of the same sometimes but consciously I try to avoid any meetings beyond 50 minutes. If it stretches to one hour, I ensure that we have enough humour breaks in between to keep everyone energised.

5. Introvert 

People who are introverts find it difficult to speak. And some who are not introverts also have difficulty speaking in front of 1-15 people. Do not despise them because most of the time these people are good listeners. If you check properly you will find that the ideas that you shared in your meetings will be followed properly by these introverts. Though it’s OK to let them be in their comfort zone once in a while, it’s good to nudge them. Good listeners are good collaborators so you can ask some insightful questions to them and ask them for their suggestions. Introverts need to be nudged and as a leader, you need to do that so that they can share some important insights with everyone. When you listen deeply, you can grasp a few things better than others and sometimes they give inputs that the speaker himself might have missed or not thought of.

But, never ignore them and neither should you pester them in all meetings asking them to speak up. They are different and it’s good to give them that space. Finally, if you can accomplish your goals there is no need to push hard on something in which the other person is not very comfortable.

6. Inferiority Complex

People who are having an inferiority complex are people who are not confident about themselves. As a leader, you should ask yourself why so? Is it the background of the individual which has made him such? Or is it some recent happenings that have left a scar in his mind? Or was it a completely bad hire? 

You can’t grow as a team if you have people with low self-confidence. I am in the sales team and if I find any person who lacks self-confidence which in turn has turned into an inferiority complex then it’s high time for me to look deep into the issue. People lacking self-confidence is detrimental for the organisation especially in client service roles because they are the face of the company. When they lack confidence, no way your client will gain confidence in your company. When you spot that, it’s time for you to get into a one-to-one conversation with that member. If you have built a team where conversations (at least the one to ones) are candid then you will be able to reach the root of the problem.

If a person is afraid to take part in group meetings because others might feel awkward about the questions or he feels that his questions will be deemed stupid then you as a leader have failed because it means he has faced humiliation in the past and you have not taken action. It’s high time you change yourself – first of all, if anyone is laughing at the question asked should be told to stop doing that and secondly answer his question in a simple manner to make him understand. Later on, get into a one-to-one conversation and try and listen to all his problems. When you listen to his problems and provide some solution to some of the problems, you will see a different person in your meetings in the future.

Your team will reflect what you are as a person. So try and be positive at all points of time. Do not work, make it a fun place to work. People gain confidence and interact more when they are in a transparent environment. And of course, an environment where everyone is treated equally.

Have you faced such issues in your meetings? How do you tackle the non-responsive team members?

I was speaking to a colleague recently and he said that after he speaks with me he gets motivated and charged up! But after a couple of days, he loses the momentum!

This made me thinking why does that happen?

Inspiration comes from outside. Motivation comes from inside.

After talking with your mentor if you are feeling motivated it means you are inspired but then how does that wane off in 72 hours?

Well, this is what I think is happening and holds true for many others!

What you do as a profession is not something you really love to do! – Sounding cliche?

If that’s true, it’s important for you to find out what’s your passion! And also find out that in your current profession is it the process that excites you or are you only looking for the final result?

If you are too anxious about the final result then you won’t focus on the process. You need to enjoy the process because without that your final result will never be consistent. 

Coming from a sales background I generally give examples of the sales process. The atomic structure of a diamond forms a hexagonal shape and just like a hexagon has 6 angles, the Sales process has 6 dimensions. 

What are they?

As a salesperson, you need to focus on these 6 major activities!

At any point of the day, you must be doing one or more than one of the activities listed above. Pick up an activity and try to do it better than yesterday.

For example, While qualifying a lead you need to try and understand the person through some research. Social media is the best place to do that. 

What to like about social media? 

It’s a fantastic place to meet new people, learn new things and connect with like-minded professionals (especially LinkedIn). Ask yourself: Do you like what people are talking about? How do you connect with them? Can you start a conversation? If this process of meeting new people, learning from them, and connecting with them excites you then do that daily. And you will find that your anxiousness about what will happen with your target will vanish.

Life is all about giving it forward. When you learn something new are you excited to share it with your colleagues? If you don’t, then change that habit and start sharing. There is no use of your knowledge if you don’t share it with others. 

Your net worth is not the amount you have in your bank but the number of thank yous you collect in a day! Your dopamine levels will increase when you feel happy. And you will feel happy when you see another person feeling benefited by your teachings.

This is how you keep yourself motivated. You need to pick up one activity which you like and try and get the best at it. If you are good at customer elicitation calls then try to be the best in your team. Leadership comes from anywhere and when you share your experience about a certain elicitation meeting (which went well) with your colleagues then they will get motivated and they might ask you to join in their elicitation calls. Then you, as a colleague help them with that activity. Help them to win and suddenly you will find your niche. Suddenly you will be considered a leader in a particular niche area of a business process.

There is no use being average in 6 activities if you can be the best in one or two activities! By the way, you can’t remain the best if you stop learning. Markets are evolving. Human beings are evolving! The way people buy is changing so you also need to keep on learning to remain the best. Then, what will happen, is that you will always try to learn something new and keep your level above anybody else. 

Too much time is lost by thinking of the future – By being anxious for events not in your control. Control the controlables. 

When you stop regretting past events and stop being anxious about future events, you will start living in the present. For living in the present you won’t need motivation. Just think, that I will do this for the next 8 hours and try something new. Then tell yourself to do that again the next day. Keep repeating! Do the boring activities every day and one day you will become an expert. People will look up to you! And then you won’t look for external motivation to keep yourself energised.

Talk to your mentor

It could be your friend, it could be your boss, it could be your parents, it could be your spouse or it could be someone else. Discuss your problems and follow the thought process. Most of the things can be solved if you have an open mind. It’s all about mindset. If you are rigid, you won’t be able to change. But if you are flexible and have control over your emotions like ego etc. then you will be able to grasp the models better. I mean the mental models. Write down the important points and go through them every day till you make it a habit. 

When I read ” Think and Grow Rich”, I wrote down all the 13 most important points that the author tries to teach and I make sure to read those notes once in a while whenever I feel mentally bogged down! It gets me back to my feet. 

Your success is totally dependent on you. And your success also depends on the decisions you make. If you take some wrong decisions don’t try to overcome them through shortcuts, accept your mistakes, learn from those mistakes and try to get better!

It’s your life – don’t try to lead another person’s life! 

Read some self-help books which will help you to grow in your mind. Some of my personal favourites are given below:

1. Focusing

2. Think and grow rich

3. The greatest salesman in the world

4. Power of your subconscious mind

5. The magic of thinking big

6. How to win friends and influence people

7. Influence

8. The almanack of Naval Ravikant 

9. Tools of titans

10. Man’s search for meaning

Take notes when you read them. And then go through those notes once in a while. 

Your life is about to change! You are born to do something great in this world! Your time is about to come! 

Do you believe in yourself? How do you motivate yourself? 

Can you share your stories? Let’s try and grow together! 

I learn from your stories and you learn from mine? Deal?

Everyone is born with their own destiny. You can’t change it. But you can’t cry over it too. You just need to accept the facts, give your best shot and move on.

If you think of India’s World Cup wins in 2007 and 2011, quite understandably, it was Mahendra Singh Dhoni who got the maximum accolades. 

When we think of the 2011 world cup, what is the first thing that comes to your mind? For me, it’s the final sixer and Ravi Shastri’s booming voice announcing that the world cup comes back to India after 28 years.

When we think of the 2007 T20 world cup, what comes to your mind? It’s Misbah’s wicket, isn’t it?

But amongst all this, there was a man who was the highest scorer in both those finals but still didn’t win the Man of the Match award and remained in the background. It’s none other than Gautam Gambhir. His contribution in both those victories can never be ignored but did he get the due accolades that he so richly deserved? – Probably No.

Now, let’s look back at India’s first World Cup win, the 1983 Prudential World Cup.

What comes to your mind when you think of that world cup?

It’s Kapil Dev, isn’t it? That great catch of Viv Richards, that great innings of 175 runs in the group match against Zimbabwe – quite naturally he got the maximum eyeballs along with the fact that he was the captain, and all the media glare was spotlighted towards him. He richly deserves those accolades – don’t take me wrong. But who is the next man whose name comes to mind with regards to the 1983 world cup? It’s mostly Mohinder Amarnath – after all, he won the man-of-the-match awards in both the semifinals and finals. Next? Probably Roger Binny – the highest wicket-taker in the tournament.

But amongst all this, there was one player who didn’t get his due accolades as much as he deserved. And that was Yashpal Sharma.

Yashpal Sharma was the second-highest scorer for India in the 1983 world cup and if you take out that one innings of Kapil Dev (175 against Zimbabwe) then Yashpal Sharma was the highest. I don’t think we ever gave him the kind of mileage the way we should have.

Let me give you some examples. I will specifically point out 3 matches here.

1. India vs West Indies (First Group Match)

Till that day (9th June 1983), West Indies were yet to lose a World Cup match. On the other hand, India was yet to win a World Cup match against a test-playing nation. It was a mismatch of the highest order and the result was a foregone conclusion!

But everything changed and the World Cup saw one of its biggest upsets ever when India against all odds defeated West Indies by 34 runs. 

India scored 262 runs and the highest score was 89 by Yashpal Sharma. He won the man of the match too. 

2. India Vs. Australia (Final Group Match)

If India defeating West Indies was a big upset then Zimbabwe defeating Australia was an even bigger upset. What that meant was that the group was thrown wide open. Kapil’s heroics saved India the blushes against Zimbabwe and India’s final group match against Australia turned into a virtual knockout. 

India won that match comprehensively beating Australia by 118 runs and though the architect of that victory was India’s bowling led by Roger Binny, the top scorer for India was Yashpal Sharma with 40 runs.

3. India vs. England (Semifinals)

The win against Australia took India to the semi-finals and it was a great moment for Indian cricket. Here was a team who no one gave a chance, entered the knockout phase.

England probably took India too lightly and was already looking forward to the repeat of the 1979 finals. But 1983 was destined to be India’s year and the Indian bowlers once again came to the party to bowl out England for 213 runs.

Yes, it was a relatively small score to chase but England had a terrific bowling attack led by Bob Willis and it was never expected to be easy.

Yashpal-WillisIt was quite a hard-fought victory for India and they won with 32 balls to spare and once again the top scorer for India was Yashpal Sharma with 61 runs. The audacity of flicking Willis over the long leg boundary for a six would remain etched in memory forever.

3 major victories against 3 different test-playing nations and in all those occasions the common factor was that Yashpal Sharma was the top scorer for India.

As I said above some people never get their due and Yashpal Sharma is an apt example of that. Yes, it’s a team sport but individual brilliance matters.

Overall, Yashpal Sharma scored 240 runs in the 1983 World Cup coming second to Kapil Dev in the highest runscorers list for India but closer scrutiny will tell you that 190 of them were scored in winning causes against 3 top test nations. As the saying goes, “Devil is in the details”.

Recently during the 38th anniversary of India’s World Cup victory, we saw Yashpal Sharma in all glory with his former teammates but little did we know that it would be the last time we will see him alive. The news of him passing away on 13th July left everyone in shock.

One of the big architects of India’s World Cup glory left us suddenly and it just tells you that life can come to an end suddenly and so live the moment and celebrate the small wins. Yashpal Sharma didn’t win small because he helped India win the World Cup and probably everyone will now realise in hindsight what a big contributor he was during that campaign 38 years earlier.

As noted journalist Vijay Lokapally pointed out that Yashpal Sharma was one of the fittest of the lot and spoke enthusiastically about cricket even today. Not an age to go but life takes unpredictable turns and leaves you in shock.

When his teammate of 1983, Kirti Azad came back from Yashpal Sharma’s funeral, he tweeted that they will leave a front-row seat vacant for him during the screening of the movie ‘83 which is expected to release later this year. The WhatsApp group of the 1983 Indian team won’t be the same again.

All goodbyes are difficult but Yashpal Sharma will forever be remembered by all Indian cricket fans for his contribution to India’s biggest glory in sports history. 

To be fair, I didn’t watch him play live because I started watching cricket after 1983 but the highlights of the 1983 World Cup is something I keep watching on a loop once in a while and whenever we see those matches we will remember Yashpal Sharma!

Thank you for the memories, Sir! Rest in Peace!

The 12th man bids adieu!

Do you know your target market?

Do you know your target customer base?

Many companies does this cardinal mistake of doing everything for someone or something for everyone! You don’t build a sustainable business if you have such a thought process. It would show that you don’t have values because as a company everyone can’t be your customer. 

How do you target?

If you are in business for a couple of years, check the list of customers who turned out to be most profitable. Now being profitable doesn’t mean only your monetary profit but also value to the customer. How many of those customers have given you repeat business or referred you to new customers? Only satisfied customers will give references or repeat business. As a first step, make a list of all these customers. 

Once you create that list, sit with your team and try to find out why you were able to satisfy these customers. Sales managers, account managers, project managers, and delivery managers need to sit together and should have a comprehensive meeting to understand the common factors which led to customer satisfaction.

Also, arrange one-to-one meetings with these customers and take feedback on why they chose you and why they preferred to refer you to others.

When you get the answers you will know what service offerings of yours are gaining the most traction.

Now expand your marketing efforts in that key segment. 

Say for example if you are a digital transformation company that helps their customers in their digital transformation journey, find out the category of customers who are most satisfied with your services. If you find that start-up owners are very happy with you, find out what’s the top 2-3 reasons are for their happiness with you. 

For startups, other than the economical offering what they need most is timeliness. They need their product to go out in the market in the shortest possible time. Is your team highly successful in certain types of product deliveries within a deadline? If that’s true it means that’s your niche and it’s time for you to expand that team and focus your marketing efforts in that segment.

People make this cardinal mistake of using costs as a negotiating tool. This never works because someone will come along the way and price it cheaper and you will be soon out of business. So rather than focusing on the price points, focus on the deliverables and the timelines. You can also focus on a consultative approach helping the customer, plan in such a way that he can go and launch his product in phases. 

As founders, many think that they need to get their product pixel perfect before launching. It’s a gross mistake because however clever you are in your ideation, it’s wrong to believe that someone somewhere is also not having a similar idea and if he launches earlier with an MVP (Minimum Viable Product) then you will be called a copycat. 

So as a business consultant you should counsel the customer and tell him that he can do multiple iterations on his product and keep adding features throughout the life cycle but getting on to the market gives him a big advantage over his potential competitors. This type of approach needs a lot of persuasion because many clients don’t understand it and they will only listen to you when they are 100% sure that you care for their growth.

To find your niche you can do the following:

Another mistake that many sellers tend to make is that they brag about the good things that their company can do for the client. Believe me, customers do their research well and when you brag about these elements it makes them think that there are some problems that you are hiding.

You should only focus on how your service or solution can help the client win! If you have a reference of customers in a similar domain or country give that proactively! Show him your work if your portfolio is not directly available on your website. When you do these things proactively your customer gets the confidence to take the discussion to the next level. The old way of pushing doesn’t work anymore because there is too much competition. The new way is to put the customer first and to show him how you are going to make him win!

To improve a relationship you need to “give” first and in fact, give more. Do more than expected. There are questions in your customer’s mind and he misses to ask some important questions, sometimes during the initial phase. But as a seller, you know the pain points because you are the expert and you should proactively answer them. Don’t wait for your customer to ask. 

Some important points to take note of

A Business becomes a great business when people start talking good things about you behind your back. Till that happens your continued focus should only be on improving your niche service areas. Don’t spend your time and energy on stuff where you are continually losing money. By default, you will see that where you are losing money, your customer satisfaction is also low. So for two to tango focus on your strengths and connect with your customers’ goals. Focus on your niche and keep working on those strengths.

Are you aware of your niche?

How are you aligned with your employees’ and customers’ goals?

 Do write in with your insightful comments. Till then, take care and God Bless!

Being a sports enthusiast, I must admit that I have written very little about Indian sports other than cricket. Being a cricket fanatic that’s quite expected but I do regret that I do not write more often about other sports especially when I do follow some of them. 

Many years back, 2012 to be exact, I wrote one of my earliest pieces in this blog and that was about the London Olympics. It was written one day before the opening ceremony and I am quite proud to say that I predicted correctly the number of medals that India could win that year. I predicted that we will win 6 medals and that’s exactly the number of medals we won eventually.

The high of the 2012 London Olympics couldn’t be sustained unfortunately by India at the Rio Olympics of 2016. We won only 2 medals, one by PV Sindhu (Silver) in Badminton and the other by Sakshi Malik (Bronze) in wrestling.

India had sent a strong contingent of 117 athletes (which was the highest ever from India) but came back with only 2 medals. It was a disappointment. But, India as a nation is obsessed with cricket so I don’t think we should be highly critical of these athletes because they do not get the kind of support that our cricketers get from the public as well as the sponsors. So hats off to each of them for fighting hard and trying their best for bringing glory to the nation.

Covid-19 led to an unprecedented situation with the Tokyo Games being postponed in 2020. Finally, it’s scheduled to start on 24th July 2021 – a good one year later. But, Covid-19 is still a reality, and hence for the first time, ever Olympics will be held behind closed doors with no spectators around. That straightaway takes the thrill out of the games. A buzzing stadium not only gets the athletes pumped up but also makes the TV viewers feel that they are inside the complex. But these are tough times and we should consider ourselves lucky that we will be able to see the Olympics be it, sans spectators.

So what are India’s chances this year? Will India be able to break her own record of 6 medals this time around? Let’s get into the details followed by my predictions.

India is sending around 126 athletes to Tokyo this year making it the largest contingent ever.

The disciplines along with the number of participants (in brackets) are given below along with my prediction on medals that India might win:

Athletics (26) – 1

Archery (4)

Badminton (4) – 1

Boxing (9) – 1

Equestrian (1)

Fencing (1)

Golf (3)

Gymnastics (1)

Hockey (Men’s) (16)

Hockey (Women’s) (16)

Judo (1)

Rowing (2)

Sailing (4)

Shooting (15) – 5

Swimming (3)

Table Tennis (4)

Tennis (2)

Weightlifting (1) – 1

Wrestling (7) – 2

As you can see from the above, I am expecting 11 medals this year with Shooting being our brightest hope. Many of our shooters are at the top of their game over the last couple of years and their performance would finally decide how many medals India end up with.

For the first time, India is participating in 19 different disciplines in the Olympics which shows that we are improving but to get Medals consistently one needs to have a bit more patience. 

Anything less than 10 would be a slight disappointment and I hope we meet up to the expectations this year. With the crowd not being there, it can work in India’s favour because that external pressure won’t be there which gets built up during the medal rounds.

The games begin in 12 days. I will be doing some detailed analysis over the next few days on some of the disciplines where India is expected to do well. Do join in the conversation with your views and opinions.

Will you be watching the Tokyo Olympics? How many medals will India win this time? What do you think?

I was shy in my school days!

I was an introvert during my college days!

I was an average student throughout my life!

I was defined as “good for nothing” by many of my friends, relatives, and my father’s colleagues who called me lazy and also used to laugh at me due to my weight. 

I got myself depressed thinking all the above was true. Accepted what the people said and a severe inferiority complex gathered inside me.

Such negative comments can get you to curse yourself and what I lacked most was a mentor! A mentor who could understand me and show me the path to overcome these mental issues.

I had no one to talk to about the mental depression I was going through. Day by day I went into a cocoon. There were friends around me, and nobody understood that I am having a problem with depression. It’s been 24 years and many friends who might read this blog would find this phase of my life unbelievable! But as the saying goes facts are stranger than fiction!

I was all alone and just going through the motion. For the next few years that is what I went through – just on the motion. I didn’t lose it in my mind probably only because of Cricket. 

Then life took a turn when I joined ADDR.com. I got a job in inside sales and the work was only about writing. Writing emails to be precise. I had this habit of writing a diary during my school days but I stopped doing it. When I joined ADDR suddenly I felt the enthusiasm to go to work every day. I used to look forward to Mondays with a lot of energy. Still, I didn’t understand the inner calling. Once again I missed a mentor. Missing a mentor is something I realise today – if only I realised that 24-25 years back, things could have been very different. But I don’t have regrets of those depressing years because today I look back and think that was part of my journey and I feel happy that I overcame those bumps. 

What was my inner calling?

Writing!

I didn’t realise that I can weave magic around the words. I didn’t realise that simple English is loved by readers. I felt vocabulary is more important than free-flowing English. Didn’t realise that writing just like the way you are saying or talking is appreciated by many people. It was only in the year 2020 when a few unknown and unconnected people talked to me after reading my blogs and LinkedIn posts, I realised that it’s a talent. 

The pandemic of Covid-19 which led to months of lockdown in 2020 made me read and write more. I had a lot of time in hand which meant I could spend time reading those books which were lying on my shelf for many years. As I started reading more, I started taking notes and as I started taking notes, I started writing small snippets of my learnings, and then I got habituated to writing daily. I started my personal journal. Then I added the gratitude journal and finally a decision journal. 

Amidst all this, I wrote a book and wrote the plot of 3 other books (2nd book was released in August 2021) and it’s been less than a year of this writing habit. 

What do you need to do?

Your mind knows what your real calling is! What’s required is to listen deeply to that calling. It’s only possible when you spend time in solitude. And when you get the answer, stop thinking & start doing! Never procrastinate! 

Writing is bliss. Many don’t understand it. I see marketers who need content writers for their marketing initiatives! It will never give you great results! Writing is emotion. The brand is also an emotion. So as a marketer you need to write because you know your audience. You can employ an editor to fine-tune the writing, but you need to write your own copies if you are a marketer.

Writing comes from the soul. The words keep pouring out. This leads to decluttering of your mind. When that happens you get clarity of thoughts. You start living in the moment!

Too much time is spent in regrets of the past and anxiousness of the future. By writing, you can overcome these negative thoughts. Initially write for yourself. Better still, write it publicly because someone somewhere will get connected to your thoughts. Don’t spend time thinking about what others will think about you. Believe me, no one has the time to think about you, it’s just a wrong notion that people have, which stops them from writing publicly. This is the same reason why people don’t ask questions in group meetings. 

Always think like a child. Children never think twice before asking a question because for them if they don’t know something, they ask. If they don’t get something, they cry. If they like something, they smile. As we grow up we send signals to our brain that we should know everything because others show that they know everything. But that’s not true because everyone can’t know everything. So google for answers or ask someone and of course, read.

As I started writing more and more, I felt happy. Some people connected or aligned with my thoughts, many didn’t but that didn’t stop me because I was writing for myself. 

When you read a book or watch a movie or listen to a song do you do it for other’s pleasure or is it for your personal pleasure? It’s personal, isn’t it? Writing is also similar – you write for your pleasure – don’t think of others! Then some people will connect with your story and if you can inspire even one person in this world – remember you have done a great job. 

I love cricket and when I decided to document my journey as a cricket fan I never thought if anyone would really like to read that story but when I got feedback from unknown people who read my book I realised that I was able to hit the right chord. 

I built my career on writing. I am a sales professional and my emails connected with my clients who believed me and did business with me. It’s a different matter that I realised quite late that writing is my calling. Writing gave me happiness.

It’s important for you too, to understand your inner calling. You need to listen to your soul to understand your inner calling. Don’t compromise your happiness for anything. You are the hero and so it’s your right to be happy. But you need to take control of your life. Don’t lead a life based on peer pressure. Do what you love to do and I am sure you will be happy.

What’s your calling?

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