10 posts tagged “dream”

Along with the tens of millions, I was very fortunate to see Susan Boyle perform on 'Britains Got Talent'. I cant stop myself watching it again and again.

Through Susan, I learnt about Paul Potts - the winner of the same contest in 2007.

Viewers worldwide cant stop taking about their phenomenal singing talent but here is what made me stop:

• Humility - during or after their popularity, does anything tell you that they are going to seek more fame with a million followers anytime? In a world obsessed with celebrities and people who 'know-it-all', this is extremely refreshing. To quote Socrates "True knowledge exists in knowing that u know nothing"
  
• Self-knowledge - they both knew very clearly what they wanted - professional singers from their tweens. As Socrates said "The unexamined life is not worth living"
• Persistence - against all odds of their age, their jobs (or lack thereof, as in the case of Susan) and their own 'confessed' lack of confidence, they never stopped. They never gave up.  
  

Imagine: the size of the fight in the dog

A quote from Goethe sent to me by my wife who got it from her colleague - there are very few who say a lot with a very few.

"Until one is committed, there is hesitancy, the chance to draw back, always ineffectiveness.  Concerning all acts of initiative (and creation) there is one elementary truth, the ignorance of which kills countless ideas and splendid plans: that the moment one definitely commits oneself, then Providence moves too.  All sorts of things occur to help one that would never otherwise have occurred.  A whole stream of events issues from the decision, raising in one's favor all manner of unforeseen incidents and meetings and material assistance, which no man could have dreamed would have come his way.

Whatever you can do, Or dream you can, begin it. Boldness has genius, power and magic in it.

Imagine: You Have a Dream

In my last post I imagined an Olympics with no countries, only people.

Today, of course, the Wall Street Journal came very close to underlining that with the opinion piece "How Freedom Turned Talent Into Olympic Gold". Here are lines from the article:

"Gymnast Nastia Liukin, who won a gold and three silver medals for the U.S., was born in Moscow. Her parents were champion Soviet gymnasts, but immigrated to the U.S. when Nastia was two. U.S. gold-medalist wrestler Henry Cejudo was raised by a mother who was an illegal immigrant from Mexico. All three members of the U.S. women's table tennis team are from China.

There are many other examples of athletes immigrating to improve their opportunities. Milorad Cavic, who lost to Michael Phelps by 1/100th of a second in the dramatic 100 meter butterfly, won his silver medal as a Serbian. Mr. Cavic was born in Anaheim, Calif., (to former Yugoslavian immigrants) and swam in college for Berkeley. U.S.-born Becky Hammon was granted Russian citizenship to play for the Russian women's basketball team.

More obviously taking advantage of global market opportunities are athletes from one country who train in another country possessing superior athletic facilities and coaching. Zimbabwe's four medals -- one gold and three silvers -- were won by Kirsty Coventry, who swam at Auburn University and currently trains in Austin, Texas. Sara Nordenstam, bronze medalist for Norway in the 200 meter breaststroke, was born in Sweden, and was a collegiate swimmer at Southern Methodist University. Irving Saladino, gold-medalist in the long jump for Panama, lives and trains in São Paulo, Brazil.

Globalization affects the market for Olympic coaches. In men's basketball, Iran's coach is from Serbia; Russia's from the U.S.; and China's from Lithuania. The coach of the U.S. women's volleyball team is Lang Ping, a gold medalist for China in the 1984 Olympics."

Then there is also Matthias Steiner who won the gold on behalf of Germany for winning weightlifting's heaviest division, is a native of Austria who had a fall out with the Austrian Weightlifting Federation.

I was personal born in India, lived and grew up there my whole life and got 'off the boat' about 8 years ago having never left India before. Now I am an American citizen [nope no gold medals yet :(]

Imagine: One Dream

 

My professional life started as a Field Sales Executive in the enterprise space back in India - fresh out of college.

Here is what I learnt that helps me every moment of life:

1. I had to deliver to survive and if possible, do well
   
2. I had to always be creative to deliver beyond expectations
   
3. I had to understand people and their motivations, not to mention their body language really well
4. There was no room for ego
5. I became comfortable with commitment and delivering against it
6. I learnt the relentless pursuit and perseverance
   
7. I learnt how to never give up
   
8. I became extremely comfortable with accosting strangers
9. I learnt how to engage CEOs to the security guard who signed me in into the company and realized that business was all about people
   
10. Finally and most importantly,I had no one to blame - economy, politics, "the leads are weak" etc. - but myself for not meeting my quota. As Woody Allen said "The only thing standing between me and greatness is me”

Imagine: 1) The Dream (2) Working hard towards it (3) and Living it

Sometime ago, I had referred to managing happiness and then the movie The Pursuit of Happyness.

Finally - I did see the movie and I loved it.

I also realized that Chris Gardner's pursuit in itself was the happiness - not the job and not the many millions of dollars he went on to make eventually.

Millions have jobs and millions have many millions of dollars but not all those millions are happy. Gardner achieved happyness due to his:

• ability to dream to be a stock broker
• determination to realize that dream with hard work
  
• perseverance to pursue it through all hardships - extreme hardships
• drive to be there and provide for his son
• courage to face all odds stacked against him - from $21.33 in his account to having to show up at his most sought-after interview without a shirt
• sense of humor in adverse situations
  

Consequently, on taking a peek into my own life (Needless to say I have not had to overcome challenges even close to what Chris Gardner did), I do feel that every time I had to pursue something hard and overcome obstacles/challenges - I valued my achievements more and I was happier. But then I like it rough - coming to America is still my 'personal best' at that.

A sense of accomplishment? - maybe; A sense of purpose? - maybe; Discovery and/or retention of the right people? - Sure; Continuous discovery of oneself? - Yes....... Probably all these ingredients in different proportions.

I do understand that it is easy for me to say so since I have never known poverty - leave alone with my baby. Nevertheless, I do strongly believe its that journey that can bring out the best of us.

Imagine: the destination, live the journey
 

From the time I envisioned coming to the US in 1991 to my first startup that I am working on currently, I have become addicted to challenges. I dislike it when it comes too easy and here is why:

• The value and appreciation is directly proportionate to the effort to achieve it
• Your personal growth is directly proportional to the effort as well
• One has to think differently and be creative
• One will tend to meet people who help you selflessly
• One will develop long term relationships
• One learns a lot about themselves and people around them
• One develops a better sense of purpose
  
• It is a great opportunity to bond better with people who are regularly around you
• You learn to leverage existing resources - what you have
  
• You learn "whether you think you can or can not, you are right" [Henry Ford}

• One is encouraged to dream
  
• One learns that conventional wisdom is limiting
  
• One will never get the opportunity to fail and if you don't, you will probably never learn
• It is a humbling experience
  
• You learn that you will not go anywhere by blaming circumstances - it is you who has to deliver and face the consequences eventually
• You learn that attitude is probably your biggest trump card
• Finally, the adrenalin rush of achieving the 'impossible' is addictive

What do you think? Did I miss out anything?

Imagine: "The size of the fight in the dog, not the size of the dog in the fight" [Mark Twain]

.....as an Indian and the realization of a dream that took root in 1991!

A few thoughts as I count my hours:

• Deep within we are all the same
  
• People across the world are the same but for a few habits that influence perception or what we call culture.
• There is no right or wrong (excluding most of law and order) - just a different perspective that fits better in different environments (think arranged marriage in India vs dating and living together before marriage in the US)
• Immigrating or traveling is one of the best opportunities to unlearn and learn
• There is a huge adrenalin rush in starting anything from scratch (a company or one's life in a new country)
• As my wife says, one's initial experiences in a new country molds one's perspective and prejudices for a long time just like that of a new born baby. For me, every one of them in the US was terrific and continues to be so.
  

  My View Before Citizenship
• Good people are the core of all warm and exciting initial and ongoing experiences - surround yourself with them
  
• The only limitation in this country is one themselves - America truly is a land of opportunities
• You must dream and persevere hard to make it real - Stay Hungry, Stay Foolish
• Mentors - older and much younger than you - gets you in the "carpool lane of learning"
• Never fear failure - if you do, you are bound to fail
• If you don't know, ask questions. One of my first in the US, FOB (fresh off the boat) - "What is everyone drinking in those brown paper cups?" [Answer: Coffee]
  
• Never forget all the people in your journey, including those who put you on that runway. My parents and my brother put me on it and pushed and pushed until I took speed to take off. The landing in San Francisco on August 29th, 1999 couldn't have been sweeter - everything had changed and nothing had changed
  
• Spend time being interested, rather than interesting
• Indian labor is cheap is not a myth - ask my wife
  
• Diversity in all aspects of life is a powerful approach to enriching your life [Disclaimer: I am moving towards homogeneity with this citizenship to join my American wife and daughter]

Imagine: Bleach my skin and hair blonde

Maybe an explanation is due :)

This blog is all about people, their significance and how at the end of the day everything involves people - You, I or collectively, We.

The second part is my belief in the power of our minds and ability to make things real by visualizing, dreaming, imagining or seeing it. It starts there. Eventually making it happen, occurs through various means. I have a post on this before here that brings science in play. Its applicable everywhere - in personal life, with family, in business or in sports.

Buddha said it well - "All that we are is the result of what we have thought. The mind is everything. What we think we become."

Since seeing, visualizing, imagining all are images in our head, you start becoming a citizen of a nation I call Imagee. It is meant to go with the word nation and suddenly it sounds right :) Put together with a play of words, one gets to live in "imagination". Lets call the role model citizen - Imagine. It is agnostic to country, sex, color or race. [I had a prior post with the title here on my previous blog - The Imagi-nation. I like this better]

Imagine: Your dreams

I have always been a big believer in the power of one's mind in life - whether it is sheer enthusiasm, positive attitude or pure belief in the moment. One of the reasons why I titled this blog (and my prior one) - Imagine!

I believe there are wonderful aspects of our mind and Einstein says it well: "Imagination is more powerful than knowledge". It is a wide spectrum for me and it is "always on". From living life to the fullest with fun individually to powerful and long term relationships with family, friends and professionals to driving creativity and innovation in business.

So when I saw this article in The Wall Street Journal today - Why Thinking You Got A Workout May Make Your Body Healthier, I was delighted! I believed in mind before reality and it has always worked for me - but I really had no science ever to back it up. One of the big books that proposes this philosophy is Illusions, The Adventures of a Reluctant Messiah by Richard Bach. It is a quick read and I would highly recommend it. Haven't read it but Jonathan Livingston Seagull is a classic by him.

Imagine - that elusive six-pack when you bend over for those shoe laces!