"When John said that he wanted me to play with him on piano, I told him that there were many others who were qualified. He said: 'I want you there because you can do it." Quote by Alice Coltrane, a remarkable and amazing pianist and adoring wife of Jazz legend John Coltrane. She later said:…
Several years ago, my Uncle Nick went to see the great American author Richard Ford give a talk at a bookstore. After the reading, a middle-aged man in the audience stood up during Q&A, and said this: "Mr. Ford, you and I have something in common. Just like you, I have been writing short stories…
We choose to focus on things that divides us and we choose to focus on things that brings us closer. If we choose to see things that divides us, we will see things that divides us. If we choose to see things that brings us closer, we will see things that brings us closer. Either…
I started writing here because I wanted to find a way to look at past failures and stumbles and see learning instead. I was sharing this motivation from the early days with someone recently and he shared that he associated this motivation with Nassim Taleb’s “Antifragile” concept and Ray Dalio’s equation – “Pain + Reflection…
Think of a person you love to be around, someone you have rich and satisfying conversations with. It is likely your conversations are a two-way exchange including acknowledgement, pauses and even moments of silence. Those conversations that makes you think even hours after they have ended. Compare that to how we communicate with our customers.…
The turning point in the Kung Fu Panda movie is when Po [the panda] and Master Shifu realize that there is no point expecting him to be like all of the other fighters. Po was fat and perennially thinking about food. And, it turned out that all they needed to do is create a training…
Traditional marketing in essence has been about doing something today in the hope that your business will reap the rewards in sales tomorrow. The marketer then has her eye firmly fixed on the future. Put this ad and hope that it will result in future sales. Asking the question: ‘what do I need to do…
When a flight is delayed why are the passengers who quietly accept their fate are never the ones who get priority on the next available flight? Our instinct is to acknowledge and take care of the customer who complains the loudest. Those who make noise tend to be the ones who get the special attention.…
We are seduced by the idea that followings and fortunes are made by hastily increasing our visibility on the platform of the day. The truth is the people and brands who earn our attention patiently built their following over time. It is the work we quietly get on with when no one is watching that…
I have become close to brutally organised over time and I believe that has greatly helped me get more done in a day. Choose being organised over being disorganised has been a deliberate, learned, and logical choice for me. Here is why? Day-to-day living is tough. When you are not organised, you always loose things, your…
When I buy something [car, bread, blanket, medication], I buy the promise made by the seller. When you buy something, you are buying the trust that whatever you are buying will meet your expectation. You are buying trust that the car will transport you peacefully, the bread will be delicious, the blanket will make you…
You keep checking the window to see if granny is pulling into the driveway yet. Whenever she comes she brings treats and gifts and good surprises. So you keep checking the window. Nothing. And then all at once, there she is! For all the times you were checking she was always on her way. She…
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