Tag: Promise

Hope. Chimera. Action !

 

We know that ideas are aplenty but ideas without action are regrets.

 

Actually I quite like some of the vocabulary that permeates social media communication. Often times you come across someone responding to your WhatsApp or DM with just one word ‘ Done ‘. This four letter word would surely be going along with the grain of crossing the bridge before coming to it. That said, notably, it is also a promise made in advance for action to follow.

 

So practice or principle? Practice, any time. Promise or performance ? It’s a no-brainer, ain’t it? Performance. Knowing, willing or doing? Doing wins hands down.

 

Author and screenwriter Ray Bradbury had this to say on the power of cumulative action:

“Action is hope. At the end of each day, when you’ve done your work, you lie there and think, Well, I’ll be damned, I did this today. It doesn’t matter how good it is, or how bad—you did it. At the end of the week you’ll have a certain amount of accumulation. At the end of a year, you look back and say, I’ll be damned, it’s been a good year.”

 

Attitude precedes outcome. You need to show up before inspiration knocks at your door. 

 

There is no better domicile to be in than at the intersection of thinking, feeling and doing. That is where the biggest contributions stem from. The people that really create the things that change this world in their own little or big ways are both the thinker and doer in one person. As they say, it takes two to tango.

When we think about trying out a new restaurant or an outfit that you normally wouldn’t have or wave a flag against a policy that you are not in alignment with, it is easy to fall into the trap of expecting everyone to notice your action. But, alas, at most times, no one does. That’s because no one cares about the noise in our head (or the actions we take) nearly as much as we do. You might think it’s going to cause a big commotion when you do something that’s inconsistent, but if it’s generous and useful, it’ll simply happen. So stay the course.

 

We are enveloped by a system that resists the hustle, the action for the short-term. Because status quo is a comforting territory to be in. But patient, persistent and focused action can pay off.

 

The world is tumultuous. Urgency defeats emergency. The world needs your leadership. The journey of a thousand miles remember, begins with a single step.

 

Action precedes change. And as the as the seminal philosopher Marcus Aurelius quoted “ Universe is change. Life is just an opinion “.

 

ENDS

Ring out the wring, bring in the ring !

Rings a bell?

 

 

Ringing relays, delivers, fulfils. Keeps up on a promise.
Ringing strikes a chord( no pun intended), builds momentum and resonates.
Ringing potentially signifies care and empathy. Ringing sets the stage for the next, the future. 
Ringing is a promise to continue. It leaves you with a lure to engage more, later. It keeps a bridge to help you go back, re-connect.
The very act of bell ringing is symbolic of all proselytizing religions.
Wringing marches to a different beat. It has different ambitions.  And makes no bones about it.
You can’t prepare for everything life’s going to throw at you.
And you can’t avoid danger. It’s there. The world is a dangerous place, and if you sit around wringing your hands about it, you’ll be out on all the adventure.
Wringing gets terminal. Extracting the last bit there is. There is no scope for continuity or further engagement.
When you seek to wring every dollar out of a transaction, you’ve probably and unfortunately, engaged for the last time.
The desire to wring out a few more drips of happiness almost always destroyed the happiness you were so lucky to have, and so foolish never to acknowledge. – Jonathan Safran Foer
So, what’s your view? Ringside or Wringside?
ENDS

A Sorry Tale!

Sorry comes in two variants. Choice architecture anyone?

 

And often times, we ‘ miss the wood for the trees ‘.

 

” I am sorry your dog died ” does not mean that you killed the dog. Not at all.

 

” I am sorry I tripped you ” does mean that you tripped some one.

 

In creating connection and trying to make amends, we often get confused by the two kinds of sorry, and hence don’t apologize because we think that the problem wasn’t our fault.

 

” The homepage of our relationship cannot be currently displayed because of a server error. Can we please click on the refresh button and start all over again? I am sorry “.

 

Sorry doesn’t take things back, but it pushes things forward. It bridges the gap. Sorry is a sacrament. It’s an offering. A gift.

 

One of the hardest things you may ever have to do in life is to deliver an apology. A true and sincere apology offers real regret and remorse for our actions, and carries a promise that we won’t do it again. It means acknowledging our faults, taking responsibility for the things we have done wrong, and opens a dialogue between two people. An apology, when correctly given and sincerely meant, can create deeper and more trusting relationships.

 

An apology is a good way to have the last word. And the first to move things forward. And make a relationship last.

 

The most important trip you may take in life is meeting people halfway–Henry Boye

 

ENDS

‘FIED ‘ and Tested

‘FIED ‘ and Tested
If judging others constitutes full time employment, then most of the world is a very well employed space.
As beautifully articulated by Stanford professor Mark Gerzon, “The world today has an advocacy surplus and an inquiry deficit “.
‘ FIED ‘ can fall into three buckets:
QualiFIED means that you have done the work, earned the trust and have been invited to join us. You get a seat at the table. More than ever, the current technology and the lack of gatekeepers mean that your body of work could earn you the benefit of the doubt and give you a chance to speak up.
DisqualiFIED is what happens when you over promise and under deliver or you expose intent that’s not in alignment with what the rest of us expect or need.
UnqualiFIED is rare. It’s at a premium. Like in “ you have our unqualified support “. Getting the benefit of the doubt long after most people would have lost our trust is a hard won privilege. It’s very hard to earn unqualified support, so if you earn it, be careful to not waste it.
The worrying trend though is far too often even well before we begin looking at skill, we are judging people for other reasons. It is definitely not done and highly wasteful.
Being confused about what makes one qualiFIED or not, perpetuates injustice.
It is a rapid race to the bottom.
And if your quest is for the True North, then south is not the direction to head in.