Tag: life

Success

This is my best work to date!

A freelance company recently reached out to me and asked about my best work to date.

All artists have their best works.
Steve Jobs.
Seth Godin.
Leonardo da Vinci.
Robin Sharma.
Adam Grant.

However, the best thing about their best work is that they show up despite making a super hit.

I think the best piece about my work is “showing up”. Let’s say I have written a bestselling book and it breaks all records in all bestselling lists. Everything is great! But what if I stop writing altogether after that? Will my best work hold any relevance?

That is why, the best work any artist could do is to show up to produce their art every single day, irrespective of what mood, weather, or mindset they are in. If we just show up and show up and show up again, we build a brand of consistency which creates trust among the community as well as clients (current and prospective). That is the best work. 

The best part of this best work is: We ALL can do it, yet most give up in the first year itself.

You can read the full interview here.

Life

Five facts of fulfilled life

  1. All the success we see on the outside is achieved in isolation.
  2. The life today is just perfect, as it should be.
  3. Anger from people won’t change anything for you.
  4. Less words a person speaks, more successful they truly are. Period.
  5. It’s not that bad !

PS: This is What YOU Are Looking For!

Knowing Yourself, Life

It’s great that you’re not a laptop

My laptop turned ten this January. (Lol, looks like I’m talking about my kid. Haha, except that it is not my kid, I’ve just typed so much that it is just my therapist taking all the mental health issues outta me 😀 )

So, coming to the laptop.
It’s slow.
Can’t work on videos.
Since my work is primarily writing, we are still in a relationship.
But it takes time to download from and upload to the drive.
With too many tabs open, may even occassionally hang.
But it’s trying its best.

Here’s a fact: This laptop is a laptop. Which means it does not have a replaceable CPU. Which means it can only be replaced for a new one.

But here’s a bigger fact: You are not a laptop.
Your brain is not fixed.
You can change it.

Your body replaces itself almost every year.
You can change your body.

Your lifestyle isn’t fixed, no matter how trapped you are.
Your tiniest of changes can make the biggest of differences.

You are not a laptop.
Don’t live your life like one.

Knowing Yourself

Do you have any evidence to support this?

This was a random question by one of my smart school friends on one of my tweets.

It got me thinking.

Not to think of what to respond, rather to think of where we have landed ourselves.

We want evidences of thoughts we think intuitively.
We want to buy a car recommended by most people.
We want to wear the brand our boss wears because subconsciously it would make us look cool in front of him.
We want to send our kid to the school that promises best education, unmindful of the fact that the best schooling happens at home.
We want to…

All these are good wants. But that’s all they are. Wants.
They override the innate need that we all have: Needs.

One of our fundamental human needs is listening to our intuition. It will never have evidences. Nor does it want any. It is full by itself not having to want (or need) any validation.

Knowing Yourself, Process

Organ donation and our levels as humans

There’s a country where citizens become organ donors by default on attaining a certain age. It’s a law. They can choose to opt out if they want to, however, they will be in the last priority for consideration as organ recipients.

However, this is not possible in developing countries where there are fights on basic things like bank accounts or food and shelter.

There is nothing wrong or right. It is just the culture that pushes people to think certain way. It’s the reason why desis act like firangs in the countries of firangs. The culture gets it done from them.

This pretty much explains why we do what we do, and why is it impossible to change people without their prior choice or change of culture.

Someone who grew up in corporate culture does not know the nuances of starting up at all. Perhaps an eighteen year old knows more.
Someone who grew up in an Omkara apartment in Worli Mumbai won’t ever understand the nitty-gritties of arranging the basic things in most households.
Someone who meditates at dawn daily won’t love the culture of drinking till sunrise in Goa. They just aren’t that.

People aren’t wrong. They are just different. Simply due to changes in the people we are surrounded by.

While we cannot control whom we are surrounded by unless we make some drastic changes, we can always change whom we are surrounded by online.

Since humans spend a lot of time online, we have the choice to think like the people of the country where becoming an organ donor is mandatory.

We always have a choice.

Emotions

The silent anger

There’s a wonderful woman I know of, who is living her life for a great social cause. She’s been doing this for the last thirty years, started at the age of seventeen.

She doesn’t get angry.
Always works to uplift people.
Cooks great food for them.
Listens to their problems.
Offers solutions.

All epic. Super-commendable.

But I can often sense hidden anger within her. Because the people she serves don’t live up to her standards.

That’s sad.

Because no one is going to live their lives as we suggest them to be, no matter how much good that suggestion holds.
As a matter of fact, if we force them, they might grow even more resistant.

The key is acceptance. And that is the entire journey all about. Acceptance that we can only guide them and bless them, everyone takes their own sweet time to get to a place of change.

Till then, they need our blessings.

The silent anger causes greater resistance.
And loss of trust.

Documenting the Day, Life

Weekend lessons

Some quick lessons I learnt this week:

  1. Change is the only law of life. Don’t go by what someone said a month or six months ago. If they are positive, they’ll encourage you evolving. If they aren’t, then you don’t need to bother 🙂
  2. You will be judged, even when you have your finest intentions. The best thing you could do is still have those finest intentions because that is who you are!
  3. Being the bigger person and not taking credit for that is superpower!
  4. Just because everyone else in the team is submitting work late, don’t lower your standards and be the latecomer. Always be a day in advance. Your brand is built by what you do every day.
  5. Everyone is trying their best. Just because their best doesn’t match with your standards of worst, they need support. Not internal trolling from you.
  6. Twitter is the best way to improvise on your writing.
  7. Spending less time on WhatsApp and Instagram is the secret sauce to eternal happiness.
  8. Evening walks in the sun are therapeutic.
  9. People want the best for you, trust them! If they don’t, trust yourself!
  10. People will behave kiddish. Most don’t want to see that. So smile at them for who they are. And move on.
  11. Most of the times what we are crying for is NOT even happening! The best way to solve problems is through communication.
  12. Learning is the licence to happiness.
  13. You matter!
Jokwa, Life

I have finally arrived 😂

I have been creating content for more than five years now.

It was only yesterday that I realised that I have finally arrived. I wrote a post on LinkedIn that said:

“Changing WhatsApp DPs often is a sign of an unstable mind.”

Lo and behold, what trolling comments I got yesterday! My first troll series 🙂

And the best part is, there were bigger number of likes for that post. That is the nature of goodness. It is always in bigger numbers, just that it doesn’t need any evidence to back itself off.

On that note, if you don’t feel offended, let me ask you: How often do you change your WhatsApp DPS?

Family

Ladkiwaale aur ladkewaale

This week, my health insurance premium is due.

I had started receiving calls and emails from Policy Bazaar for long, to pay the premium. But I had decided to pay it just before the end date.

Yesterday they called up my father for the reminder, after understanding the fact that I never receive my calls. (His number was my secondary number.)

So in order for them to stop troubling him, I finally renewed the policy. Policy Bazaar website wasn’t able to facilitate the transaction, so I went directly to Max Bupa’s site and paid it.

However, today my father got a call again from Policy Bazaar, despite the fact that my documents from Max have already arrived.

I told my father that the premium had already been paid, he was receiving calls from the mediator while I had directly paid it to the insurance service provider. He seemed to quite not get it. To which I responded: “Think of it like ladkiwaale and ladkewaale having their conversations by themselves, and they decided to put the mediator aunty out of it.” Papa finally understood! 🙂

Simplicity has power, relatability and magic in it!

Career, Emotions, Family, Happiness, Knowing Yourself, Life, Success, Thoughts, Truth be told, Uncategorized

To those who have failed in CA exams…

19th January 2015.
The day I became a Chartered Accountant.
I still vividly remember the day.

We had just returned to Kota (my hometown) after an overnight train trip from Mumbai, after attending a family function there for three days. So the winter was a harsh reality from the pleasant zero winter of Mumbai to being back to Kota. Because of this train journey, I had taken a shower quite late, around 10-11 am.

The moment I came out, I saw a miss call from a fellow article at the firm I did my articleship from.

Oops, my heart started pounding.

As I called him back, he picked up the call and asked: “Kya hua?”

“Result aa gaya?” was my surprised response, to which he said yes.

My mom had gone to take shower and I was virtually alone at home. So I opened up the laptop, connected it to the slow BSNL router we had and checked the result.

452 out of 800, result: PASS. (*Top 100 scorers in India then)

Wow!

The day I will never forget!

Throughout the day I did not feel cold at all despite returning from Mumbai back to shivering winters of Kota. It was in the evening that I finally realised I should be feeling cold 🙂

My mom came out of shower and started crying a lot. A lot. She basically missed my Nanaji for whom I was a source of pride and who had passed away eleven months back. The day was something me and my parents had been waiting for, for years!

But this is the success story. That I cleared CA Final (both groups together) in the first attempt that too with very good marks.

Here is the back story: I failed in IPCC twice. As on date, given the number of failures we get to face, this doesn’t seem huge.
Back then it was. Especially for a class topper like me since childhood, who ended up with this major jolt for the first time in my life.

You know what, my Mom cried then as well, for how could such a thing happen to me? (Yes now I know that I was responsible, but I just couldn’t convince her to see that part. Maybe I didn’t want to see that either!)

But I did clear the IPCC exam eventually. One group at a time.

That is the word you need to remember my fellow CA students: eventually.

The world isn’t going to be smooth even if you clear all three stages in the first attempt with AIR 1. It’s true that social media is not going to have your pictures when you fail.
It’s true that your neighbours will probably stare at you when you’ll leave home for coaching classes.
It’s perhaps true that a friend who was not expected to clear is a CA today and you aren’t!

All this is real pain.
And it hurts, especially if you worked hard.

But there is one more thing that is real: Your grit. Your persistence. Your belief in your capability that no matter what, you will end up with the prefix CA before your name eventually.

Feel sad as hard as you want to. Clean your nose with your sweater that your friend likes who is a CA now. Look at yourself in the mirror and just be, it’s okay!

But when you are done, don’t waste a minute pondering about what was and what could be. Just focus on what you are going to do next.

Winning in life is less about numbers and more about your attitude.

For example, I’m not a cunning person and because of that I sometimes get walked over (sometimes by my hashtag friends), and that feels very bad. But then I tell myself that my systems and ethics are powerful, so I needn’t be scared. NEVER ever has been a place in my life that because of not being cunning, rather being a simple human being, I hadn’t won eventually. Things always turn out to be in the favour of the person who works hard with the rights systems and the right mindsets.

And if you are worried about number of attempts, yes I did get a bonus of 1L INR extra back in 2015-16 because of being a first attempt passout. But today, 5-6 years down the line, almost everyone is earning in the same income range. Time is a great leveller and a wonderful thing to forget.

So keep up your spirits high my fellow CA students, it is only a matter of time that you will become a member of the reputed ICAI. Till then, focus on building systems and attitudes that eventually and undoubtedly lead to success, instead of letting things happen.

PS: In case you are wondering if I used some systems while preparing for CA Final exams after failing in IPCC twice, of course I did! I won’t blabber them here because the purpose of this blog is not to show you how, the purpose is to show you what. If you need help with systems and processes while preparing for CA exams, drop me a note at ngehija454@gmail.com and I’d be happy to help you out.

PPS: It will happen, eventually!

Life

Categorically not right!

Some things are NEVER right, no matter what. Here’s some of them:

  1. Being cunning, instead of being truthful.
  2. Applying your sales skills to relationships instead of being vulnerable.
  3. Changing your word.
  4. Doing something which your kids/parents won’t be proud of.
  5. Not treating yourself with the same respect as we treat others.
People, Self Love

Ladies, we could do better!

One of my closest friend in school brought up this topic once. We were just seated in our bus after school, and were waiting for everyone else to come.

“Nishtha,” she said, “you know what, I am ashamed to admit it, however it’s true a woman is another woman’s biggest enemy.”

Years later, her words are making me reflect deeply these days.

We talk about gender inequality, equal rights for women at home, sharing of responsibilities at home, etc., and yes men do need to wake and shake themselves up, however a lot of women don’t feel they deserve the good that men are entitled to.

So, if you are someone (man or a woman) who believes in equality, start with not saying these five things to any woman you respect or would want to be respected.

It’ll make the world better for your daughters and sisters.

Happiness, Knowing Yourself

Immunity against relatives

My mom informed me this afternoon, that she will be going to visit a relative’s place in the evening.

I was like, sure.

In a moment I added, “You love yourself, right?”

“What’s up with you all of a sudden,” she quipped.

I said then since those relatives squeeze the energy out of you, can you watch one video of BK Shivani on YouTube before going and one after returning? Please?

She agreed to do so, however, I don’t know what would her mindset look like.

I feel sad for her. Just like a Mom would feel sad for her kid going into bad company yet finding it difficult for her to convince him not to go.

Good wisdom is like immunity. We don’t realise its importance unless a pandemic arrives and doesn’t touch us despite hanging around Covid patients, because we had inner immunity. To make it last forever, we need to keep building it daily.

Life

Comma, Full stop or question mark?

When we use a comma, the latter part of the sentence elaborates the former.

In case of an exclamation, there is surprise.

In case of question mark, there is dissatisfaction.

A full stop is the fullest way of expression. Whatever has happened, has happened. Be easy and bring a full stop to it. (Because other ways of comma, exclamation and question mark never generated a response anyway.)

Why not try a full stop now?

Try a full stop.

Knowing Yourself

The search bar

The search bar is good. It helps us find what we are looking for.

Except when its disastrous. Like in case of Instagram.

If you are someone who sees their time go by, simply track how much of your time was spent navigating the search bar on Instagram.

Don’t say it was for entertainment. The real entertainment is in getting bored. If you are getting to a place of getting bored and not going to the Instagram search bar, you are going to the search bar of your life.

That’s cracking the best code ever!

Truth be told

Apple is a statement

I was once in a conversation where an app developer for an android phone was listening to customer concerns. The app was a skill-development learning app.

One of the customers asked for the app being released in Apple App store, as they had an iPhone, while the app was available only on the Google Play Store.

The app developer remarked, “You own the iPhone man, you don’t need this skill development app.”

This statement made me think.
The app developer was right.

Not because I’m an iPhone user for almost six years now.
Not because I have something against the Android users.

Rather because Apple is indeed a statement.

It is not just a brand, it is a brand for those who have the money to afford it AND the personality to match to it.

It’s almost you can catch a rich non-Apple user and not-so-rich Apple user by the values they stand for. Yes there are exceptions to the rule where status game kicks in, however, most of Android users and Apple users have a lifestyle that defines their choice of brand.

For example, people with super expensive Android phones are the ones that despise iPhone the most. Whereas, iPhone users earning a mediocre income have nothing against Android users, because they know what they want is what their phone has.

Why are we talking about it right now?
Well, you know if you know!

Family

Our old home

Today in the evening as I was riding on the Activa towards the park, I passed through our old home.

Just like every other day.

However, we had sold off our home in March 2020. So it wasn’t officially ours now.

Today was special, though.

A crane was demolishing the entire structure.
It was bought by our grandparents at the time of partition.
My uncles left their respective parts in 2000.
We left in 2015.
Sold in 2020.

73 years, in five lines. This is how quick life is.

Think of life this way: The girl who lives in an 8,000 sqft home with Anushka and Virat in Worli, Mumbai may have come from slums or may have come from a kingdom in her past birth.

But we all have to leave our homes. Sometimes being alive, always after death.

Nothing to feel sad or empty about, we all are there for each other – isn’t that epic?

The only home is the home humans take less time to think about 🙂

Anyway, here’s some pics from our old home.

Nothing awesome, just a few bundles of memories. Enjoy!

That’s it folks!

I went deep down the memory lane. Without a tear. Just a beautiful smile, to show that life is too small. Enjoy it while it lasts 🙂

Life

Everything will be alright

The days I workout the best, meditate the best, am working as per schedule, eating less, walking more are the days when there are challenges.

On the days things are going okay, life also gets average.

So don’t pray for more “settled” or okay days.

Wish for more strength and you will see yourself impersonating calm in every situation of life.

Try to karke dekho 🙂

Success

One truth of life no one will tell you

You want to know the most important truth of life?

Don’t tell anyone about your progress. Just keep working hard and adding feathers to your cap.

But don’t pronounce it out loud. Even the ones who love you the most secretly start questioning you.

You may believe this. Or taste this yourself.

Wish you a secretly successful life 🙂

Life

Lessss

Speak less.
And when you do, let your two words make the mark of a lifetime.

Work more on yourself.
It would make the work of working on others easier.

Sleep early.
The next day would be brighter.

Have a great week.
Your life matters.