Welcome to the Deploy Yourself Newsletter. Every two weeks I share about what impactful coaching and leadership look like. I also share the most insightful lessons and stories I encountered in the last two weeks. You can also read this issue online.
Why Are You Doing What You Are Doing?
“I got so busy doing that I forgot why I was doing it in the first place. It took me 13 years to realize that I was doing the wrong thing,” said my friend recently to me.
I was surprised as I have always considered this friend very successful and someone who always knew what he wanted, and then went for it. He got good grades in school, went to a top engineering college, and later went on to work in some big companies like Amazon and Google. Then, he did his MBA from a top school, which was like a cherry on the cake (his resume).
To me, and to everyone else, his life and career looked like the perfect career. Yet this is what he has to say about his choices :
“I got so busy in chasing the new promotion, the new job, the new project that I forgot why I was doing what I was doing. I got so busy doing what I (or others around me) thought was the right thing to do; that I never stopped to think what was it that I was trying to create or achieve in the world. As I chased and won over challenges, I lost connection with my purpose, and that sucked all energy, joy, and fun from my life.
It was only later I realized what really makes me happy, and what I have been putting on hold. When I connected with that (he left his job to practice farming and solving farmer’s problems in his village), I found a power that is grounded in values and purpose and is not superficial and arrogant.
I realized that asking myself this question – Why are you doing what you are doing? – helped me let go of the attachment to the life others have chosen for me. The answer to this question helped me get reconnected to what I really wanted to do, and what gives me joy and satisfaction, even if that is hard and painful at times. “
Everyone wants to be successful. But few people take the time and energy to define the success they want. We owe it to ourselves to break this cycle and ask ourselves “Why am I doing what I am doing?” Success is about stepping back and asking yourself What do I really want? What, if I didn’t do, I will regret forever?
If what you read above made you realize something deep, hit reply, and share the insight that you had? .
Articles and Stories Which Have Fascinated Me
One
“Make Your Bed” – A Speech By Admiral William H. McRaven
“If you make your bed every morning you will have accomplished the first task of the day. It will give you a small sense of pride, and it will encourage you to do another task and another and another. By the end of the day, that one task completed will have turned into many tasks completed. Making your bed will also reinforce the fact that little things in life matter. If you can’t do the little things right, you will never do the big things right.
And, if by chance you have a miserable day, you will come home to a bed that is made — that you made — and a made bed gives you encouragement that tomorrow will be better.
If you want to change the world, start off by making your bed.”
From Make Your Bed – a speech that was delivered as the commencement address to the graduates of The University of Texas at Austin on May 17, 2014.
Two
The 7 Most Powerful Investments You Can Make. They Are Not What You Think
Most of the time when we talk or think about investing, we limit our thoughts to financial investing and to maximize our monetary returns. We believe doing so will maximize the quality of our lives in the long term.
All that is good thinking, but I have discovered that there are some simple investments we can make in ourselves which we tend to miss or neglect. And for most of these are not even financial. You don’t need to have money to do this kind of investing.
Below are the 7 most powerful investments you can make:-
- Reading Books
- Foundational Knowledge of How The World Works
- Nurturing Positive Habits
- Communication Skills
- Writing Skills
- Trusting People First
- Knowing What You Stand For
From an article from my desk titled The 7 Most Powerful Investments You Can Make. They Are Not What You Think
That’s it for now. If you have any questions, just hit reply. All the best,
Sumit
(Twitter) @SumitGupta
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