Category: Thoughts

I once worked with an attorney at a big law firm who was an amazing, fascinating person. We kept pushing him to share his insights and ideas on here. And he kept resisting, pushing away. Even in the safety of a group that was cheering him on.

We keep waiting for someone to give us permission to create.

We are living in an age of transformation. Jobs, degrees, careers, are all up in flux.

The social contract between employers and employees is breaking down. And yet, we keep clinging to these old markers of comfort.

That’s why I show up and make these posts. It is my small act of creativity.

Sure I am also working with clients, building projects, and doing other things. But showing up and writing this short post in a few minutes daily helps me asset my independence.

It helps me find my own voice. Articulate my thoughts. Clarify my head. All in the hopes that it helps someone else as well.

We think another degree, another certification will keep us “safe”.

But I am realizing that the safety zone and the comfort zone are going to be in two different arenas.

I’m starting to see that safety belongs to those who will give themselves permission to create.

Can you create something today? Even if it is small? And share it with someone?

Recently, I met a bunch of grads out of high school going into college. This was an Indian-American group of teens, so high expectations come part and parcel with this group.

I should know. Almost two decades ago, I was part of this group.

I saw almost every one being exceptional in exactly the same way.

I saw the honor roll society accolades. Principal’s awards. The high SAT and ACT scores. The plethora of the same extracurricular clubs. DECA, Model UN, etc.

The president of this-and-that.

All heading off into the same directions. Pre-med. Commerce programs. Engineering.

In other words, I saw this grads acting exactly like me and my peers from 2007.

But the world is so dramatically different today.

The industrial era is coming to an end. Our work no longer has linear paths. They didn’t even back then, but we didn’t know any better.

Doctors tell me about the lack of control they feel as private equity takes over their practices and clinics. When they feel like their “customer” is the insurance company they’re dealing with, not their actual patient.

Lawyers tell me how unceremoniously they are dumped from their big law jobs where they thought they were safe.

And engineers. Well, the tech world has upended almost every norm about how things should work.

What do I even say about those going into the business fields of white collar work?

Almost every group telling me that they wish they’d looked at more options. Expanded their vision a bit more. Before committing to a path that an 18 year old decided on (and more likely a 15 year old).

Despite this completely shifting world, these grads hold on. They hold on to the dream of becoming doctors, engineers, lawyers, accountants and management consultants.

Nothing wrong with any of these jobs. Except I wonder how their path will unfold for them.

I wish I could go back into the past and prepare myself differently.

I wish I could tell these grads to take some time off before going to college. I wish I could tell them to actually see what other things you can learn to do right now that can expand your worldview.

That what actually matters is creativity as much as left-brained logic, plans, and linear thinking.

That initiative and vision matters. And that mindless compliance won’t get you where you want to go.

After a lifetime of becoming excellent test-takers, they have become excellent at fitting the mold.

I wish I could tell them these things because I have been this person. And I wish I could tell them they can do things differently.

I hope and pray the best for them. They are all hardworking extraordinary people. They are honest and sincere. They are optimistic and starry eyed.

I want the world for them. I just hope they figure out the silent new rule book sooner rather than later.

I spent too much time bringing the wrong energy back home from work. And it affected the most important relationships in my life. Especially after I became a father.

There’s something broken at the core of our work culture that makes us this way.

In biology, if all the cells continue to die, it means the cell culture is contaminated and toxic. But in a work environment where 8/10 of us are overstressed, and 120,000 people die from this in the US alone…somehow this is okay?

We have to be our own leaders, because no one else is going to do this for us.

I am strongly started to believe we need to get out of the survival mode that modern work puts us in.

“What would self-actualization mean for me?”
“What is my dharma here?”

It’s time to brewing our own culture…and leave toxic cultures behind.

That’s the only way to remake work.

This video shows what I noticed and how I started to take charge…by doing something counterintuitive.

I’m taking the leap into something I care deeply about.

My lifelong spiritual practice has been at the heart of everything I’ve done.

When I work with my clients, whether they be attorneys with their own practices, startup founders, or social entrepreneurs, our discussions often take on a philosophical or spiritual dimension.

Sharing this dimension has added immensely to our work.

I’ve come to the conclusion that the world needs this urgently.

Our world has become ruled by outdated ideas and conceptions. And I’m convinced that if we are to get past this phase, we need a new way to look at ourselves and the world. Before we divide and separate ourselves any further.

At the heart of this transition lies a concept that is barely understood or talked about. Consciousness.

Exploring consciousness (or the atman) has been at the heart of my spiritual practice all of my life.

I’ve kept this part of my life hidden from most people. Because it can feel woo-woo, esoteric.

This isn’t about meditation, self-care apps, corporate wellness programs, or mindfulness. This is about completely changing the way we see ourselves, each other, and the work we do.

Understanding this can remake businesses, governments, and the world. More than anything, it can remake me and you.

But I’d now like to invite you to join me on a long journey as I unravel how concepts of consciousness and dharma can help you and I be better leaders, create better organizations, and ultimately begin a new chapter for our world.

What ideas from the old world do we need to put to an end? What role does consciousness play in your work and life? Let me know!

For 20+ years, I have known that there is an energy that has been waiting to be unleashed.

Society tells us to say “no” to this. Maybe the same has happened to you.

After a lifetime of saying no, I am finally choosing to say yes to the creative urge within me.

I have bargained with it, negotiated with it, and have supressed it. I have tried to manipulate it and convince myself of alternatives.

But, as I near my 35th birthday and look at my baby daughter, I realize I need to have the courage to be the person I am.

They say I need to be practical. But the practical reality is that I will be a lot more successful doing what I love. Because I can give myself fully to my work.

I am scared to do it. But it is scarier still to hold myself back and look back at a life that is half-lived.

They say leave work at the door and focus instead on what actually matters – family, spirituality, yoga, etc. But what if work itself can be a spiritual practice? What if being creative means to show up with an energy to engage more fully in my relationships?

Creativity is the natural order of life. Life itself is creative energy. Creativity is my gift from God. To use this creativity is my gift back to God.

What does creativity mean? Does it mean to write? To paint? To make music?

I am choosing to think of creativity as a way of letting the higher power create through me. Some days, it will be in the form of a written word. Other day, it will be in the form of videos. Or products, services, talks and more.

To create is to give myself fully. To feel into things. To trust. To leap into the empty void. To lead with my heart and then engage the head to stick the landing.

This is a scarier way to live. I am sometimes jealous of my friends who are doctors, lawyers, actuaries, engineers, and more. The small shop owners.

But as the world economy evolves, I realize that to live a creative life is the only real game left. It is a game that never ends. You play it because the game itself is endlessly interesting.

While with other jobs, people play will play until they win the Monopoly game. Their homes are made.

Not so with the creative. My game is endless and I wish to play it forever.

My inspiration to play this game in my own way comes from a man who gave himself to the world. Pramukh Swami Maharaj. He taught to live and give abundantly. To hold nothing back. To love freely and openly. To always inspire. To always give.

Why would I not want to live like that?

If you have been waiting for a sign to live creatively, take this to be it. And join me for the journey!

You might be drawn too much to one medium to miss out on ways to fast-track your growth if you just shift the medium.

I have been looking to learn more about tax fundamentals now that I’ve been living in the US for a few years. However, all my previous attempts at trying to understand it have been in the form of books. I would procrastinate with it and never read it. The numbers, concepts, and ideas were too difficult to digest for me.

Based on my search history, I soon started getting YouTube recommendations as well. However, YouTube optimizes for recommendations and watch times, and I soon started getting recommendations for highly polarizing videos.

I would see videos like “here’s why you’re poor,” or “what to avoid if you don’t want to get audited.” These are shocking videos that makes me less likely to engage with them (although I see why others would be drawn by the click bait titles).

What I needed was a calm way of being explained basic concepts, without the hype. I needed this knowledge to be transmitted visually with examples shown to me as I went through it.

I finally realized that I need to learn this from almost a university like lecture format. So I found a course online and I’m now learning about these concepts in a more constructive manner.

The same goes for other things. For some other business skills, I am finding that I do better looking for live communities where I can engage with others who are also trying to master the same new skills. So I’m looking for that.

For deeper ideas, I still find myself looking at books. For bite-sized digests of ideas, I go to podcasts.

If you’re struggling to acquire a certain skill, or grow on a certain path, it might just be that you’re using the wrong medium to learn it. You are perhaps using the medium you are most familiar with, not the medium that works best for you to learn it.

Find the right medium and accelerate your learning.

Caveat: it is just as important to avoid the wrong medium. Reading a book isn’t always the best idea for example, sometimes a TED talk is enough to grasp the big ideas. At the same time, a talk is not always the right idea and you can understand it better if you just read the book or original paper behind it.