“Be Yourself” is something I’ve heard as advice for success so many times over the years.. but nobody tells how..
I see young people so full of self doubt, from dancing impromptu to how they present ideas in office..
Here’s what helped me…
1. Your instincts lead you in life, your mind creates hurdles and doubts, listen to what your instinct tell you in any moment, write it down as often as you can.
2. Your job may not be about what you love or are passionate about, find time every week to pursue what you love.. where only you decide what you do and how you do, do more of that.
3. Comparing with others is natural, we’ve been conditioned that way growing up in competing school system.. it takes focus away from the magic you have inside to the stuff outside.. next time your compare with anyone.. notice how you compare on one thing and not overall life.. compare all.. beyond money.. fame success to love.. family.. friends.. freedom.. and you’ll begin to notice how what you have inside is enough for your happiness
4. Notice when you’re yourself 100%, could be singing alone in your car, or animatedly talking to a close friend.. the more you notice and practice being authentic, the more you’ll see magic happen.. when you flow spontaneously.. which will surprise you. Be okay with who you are, try operating in life as if there is ‘no lack’, experiment with it.
5. Being yourself is not about following your mind’s whims.. but being true to what your heart says in any moment, the more you practice.. the more it becomes your nature.. heart > mind
You’re a force of nature, just like a celebrity you love or a flower which blooms.. best way to stop dancing and reacting to everyone else.. is to listen to what you are inside, coz inside you’re awesome.. and enough.
Your best ideas, your best work will happen when you channel what’s inside to solve a problem outside, and that will become your legacy.
All the best ❤️🙌
Category: Happiness
This teachers’ day
Train mein hai ghar wali baat – 15M views in 5 days
For the love of India 🇮🇳
Crazy intensive research, multiple trips in the train to validate every truth, incredible team work from the beautiful writing, to shooting, editing , even featuring in the shots.. 100% in-house execution, except the celebrity voiceover 😊
A video about and for India.. grateful for incredible response – 15M views, over 100k shares in 5 days when last released – super proud of the team.. This remains my favourite, a true case study of our process.. 🙂
From a Hindi teacher to a cab driver to future content creator :)
Last month on my way to Delhi, I met Yakub, a cab driver. He had been here for 3 months and passionately talked about going back to Ranchi, to start his own Hindi tuition centre for classes 1-5. ‘Teen saal mein teen lakh’ was his goal, to save enough to return back and kickstart his little startup…
He spoke passionately about what he taught kids back in Ranchi. After a pause for few minutes, I asked him what if he could save that money in half the time? He looked back confused, until I pointed to keep eyes on the road..
‘Do you know how many people want their kids to learn Hindi, around the world?’ Confused still, he peeked into the rear view mirror at me. ‘How about you start teaching Hindi on YouTube, make videos for every little topic’ and focus on getting online tuition classes from people who find your video, and when you start getting parents from across India and abroad, you do online tuitions in your free time after the job, it can take sometime but you’ll do the work you love, and when you’ve hit your 3 lakh mark, with savings from the job and online classes.. you go start your centre…
His eyes lit up, still looking through the mirror. By this time I was at my destination, as I got out.. I gave him the book (always carry a copy in my bag), gave him Rs. 1000 to invest in a tripod/ring light to start creating videos from his phone and told him to learn everyday anytime he gets..
Learn about how YouTube works by watching YouTube tutorials, watch what others teachers have done to see it’s not difficult and learn ‘what’ and ‘how’ to make videos from the book and call me when he has attempted his first video. He kept staring at me as I patted his back and got out.
If you can find someone you can help, with skills you’ve learnt over the years.. don’t just give gyan.. but give an action plan and a little support.. once the extra wheels come off.. off they go empowered to thrive.. and that’s the India 🇮🇳 I love.. working hard with a twinkle in their eyes ♥️
Do share your stories, if you’ve had a similar experience 😊
The first video – Gurgaon Toll Surprise
This day eight years back, I released my first ever video. It was the happiest and the scariest moment of my life, happiest coz it was my first ‘viral’ experience and scariest coz if I did not build on that, if I did not figure out, learn, deep dive, obsess about why it worked.. then I’d be back to the rat race, nothing but a one hit wonder.
The journey and the obsession since then has resulted in 76 videos which went viral, 470M views and a best-selling book.. which for a college drop out, written off as a failure.. was beyond my wildest imagination. Results are never in our hands, but our action and performance is, and one brick at a time, compound effect works like magic. Life always gives you signs, shows you doors, but what matters is if you run through them.
And when that tiny door opened on Feb 18, eight years back.. I ran through it like my life depended on it.
AC
Super Grateful for everything that came after :)