Tag: #people

A strong government and a weak opposition.

~ Parimal Aluri ~ Leave a comment

Well if thought, what this title has to do with the world of business or even individual empowerment, think again! At the end of it all of us, each one of us come from the same social set, whether we choose a private job, run for government employment or wear uniforms or perhaps lead the nation as policy and public matters, end of it all, things will eventually come back to a singular truth, which is not about how strong the government has been, but rather how weak an opposition we have earned! Join me here, we we take a look to decipher this dynamic, see how it can empower and perhaps how things can go wrong and what is that you and I can do in our limited way to adopt and practise a way of life which enables us to create a dynamic equilibrium for all engagement points within the society that we live! So here we go!

Masters and specialists of the political world have always thrived and furthered one singular goal- the never ending desire to hold power to never relinquish it! The bygone age of Kingdoms and Empires- almost always ensured smooth transition within dynastic rulers always survived irrespective of the cost at what it came. This lunatic obsession of blood lines leading the future of empires and kingdoms coupled with the diminishing incompetence and rising impatience within the ruled areas- created a prudent environment either for bringing in a radical change of governance models- from a Crown led- autocracy to People led democracy- which again could have multiple variations based on what the thirst for power and control is! Needless to say you always have the element where the uniform too wants to be part of the hustle- simply because either they don’t really have something to defend and fight against or perhaps because their approach and orientation is in that way- because someone wants it that way!

Irrespective what the reason is and what the variation is, the fundamental goal of any government or governing body is always about control and power! There is nothing to complain about this, why would you, I mean who would want their nation’s government to be weak and submissive, end of the day every member of a given society thrives on a sense of national pride, no matter how big or small your nation is! This is what makes the pursuit for power and control so intoxicating and endless. This is the space where everything right or wrong begins to emerge and when it pertains to the matters of a government, it all depends on which side of an invisible social divide you are viewing it from! If you observe close and long enough more often then not, what unfolds- irrespective of who rules or governs is the debate and competition on whose approach to things (read ideologies) is better even as the end result that is always aspired remains the same- seeking national interest!

The only way to tackle, deal with and engage with a government is by having a potent opposition which can discuss, deliberate and audit the progress being made or not as promised by the government of the day! Sure enough, the government will do what it can and always will- deflect questions on what it has not done and seek attention only to what it has done, unless the opposition is not coherent, congruent and focussed enough, sieving through this maze of conflicting narratives shared by a ruling government can be simply overwhelming and many a times weakened opposition succumb to this, resulting in further weakening and erosion of meaningful presence to even engage with a government, let along debate or audit! You see the real problem with any nation is not that it has a strong government, but rather a fragmented and perhaps weakened opposition. This, is not only the cause of worry for the people but ironically enough enough a problem for the government! Let me explain!

For a government to stay strong is needs two basic things, one an intrinsic strength and sense of direction through policy and action and secondly- perhaps the most important one- a competitive, focussed and constructive opposition which has an adequate representation to ensure meaningful and directed debate and audit around what the government does or not! When this opposition is missing, the government ends up being lost under its own spot light, unable to see it’s own shadows, which a working and focussed opposition can do it with much ease and partner towards ironing out finer aspects of what’s not working and make better what’s working! When the opposition goes missing, with it the government ends up having to do double the work- first carry on the works that it needs to and then, because the opposition is nonfunctional- also get into the space of introspection and self-critique to find out yet better ways and means of working and serving the society! This is where the major problems begin to occur! The government not only ends up doing it’s bit but also begins to take up the responsibilities of the opposition- not because it wants to – but perhaps because there is no real meaningful choice left to engage and deal with in a constructive manner! This is why when a strong government faces a weakened or fragmented opposition, it ends up having to do two jobs, one that it does and the other which the opposition doesn’t!

But why is this bad, well simply put, as long as the purpose and chosen direction of a powerful government aligns to the greater good, fosters humanity and gives common-sense a chance- everything will be just fine, the moment experimentation begins to border on unwarranted risks and respect given is misread as a license to start bullying everyone and anyone around- chaos is slowly but surely unleashed! This also then, is a factor of how weak really the opposition has got, because beyond a point you and I as members of the society will not give a damn to an opposition which has lost it’s relevance political or otherwise! Once this stage is reached and if the government decides to behave like a run away train, you have only one option, either be on that train or get out of the way- nothing and no one will be able to stop it! An opposition that is considerably weakened, at the best is given some compensatory presence by government giving attention now and then, just to have the record maintained that there is an opposition (at least on paper if not in spirit).

A weakened opposition not only fails to hold the government of the day accountable but also fails to draw attention to things that are important and this fleeting loss of focus and action goes on to further compound the problem of an already diminishing opposition. It is not always about the opposition being right or the government being wrong, it is also about being able to deliberate and debate with intent focus and direction on things that matter, which is essentially all but lost. With a weak opposition any discussion just goes on to solicit academic value more then any meaningful political or social engagement or drive! So, by now you may want to ask, how does all of this matter you and me and why should you care for it? Well read on!

Just as a strong and functional government is vital for the progress of any society, equally importance is the presence of a thriving and active opposition. An opposition which has the requisite numbers and more importantly a plan to ensure that the government of the day adheres to what it must and conform to the broader outlines of what the society stands for, beyond these fundamental spaces everything else can be negotiated, constructed and build upon – for that is the real essence of democracy- the rule of the people! A collaborative space of engagement and debate with intent and purpose is critical and essential for any government to perform irrespective of how strong it is; a measured and calibrated opposition is also necessary and important!

If you thought this is limited only to the space of politics, well, think again! If you see what unfolds in the corporate offices you will perhaps know what I mean here. You see the social construct remains the same, irrespective of what vocation we choose and once you have succumbed to the concept of consolidation of power in a unipolar manner in any one segment of the society, sooner or later that will transpire and be witnessed the way society conducts itself across all the other facets that go one to make it! Observe the business leaders around, see the sector leaders around you will be then able to relate how unipolar consolidation of power is so infectious , dangerous and a matter of concern- especially when you have the problem of diminishing incompetence looming over the horizon!

Well there is nothing right and wrong as I said earlier, the important point here is that skewed consolidation of power any side of a line should have any progressive society worried and alarmed for sooner or later as the power intoxicated government begins to erode, most of the times it doesn’t make a pretty picture and when power is given away reluctantly, well we have seen enough examples across the world what unfolds and how the new chapters begin to get re-written!

I leave you with these thoughts for now, take your time off and do reflect! Life is beautiful when there is a dynamic equilibrium and a reversible equilibrium within the spaces of power and control, whether you want to lead a society, an organization or yourself- try too hard one or the other- sooner or later- failure alone will be your enduring legacy!

Ciao for now, will be back soon with another one! Until the stay safe sand stay wise!

We have opened up time slots for April 2022 for virtual coaching, for more details drop in a mail to us at simplify@simplifylives.com

Empowerment through Inaction.

~ Parimal Aluri ~ Leave a comment

Contrary to popular belief and what our minds are almost always trained to do- in one way or the other- not everything that comes your way- calls you to act and not everything that comes you way requires you to act! Join me here as we take a quick look around this intriguing space- where Inaction- Stillness and mere Presence can create more empowering pathways which build clarity and direction and how this can eventually help you stop the habit of unwanted and unwarranted pre-empting behaviour which at times can work potently to disempower you and short change you- in the short and long term! So here we go!

We live in an era where “hustle” is perhaps the key word- whether required or not- we see millions of people day in and day out racing to their work desks and places of work to accomplish something that will be life changing, only to realize by evening that they have to go on with it for another day, then another and then another…the endless tomorrow simply sticks like super glue and the never ending hustle seems to live on! It is certainly good to set measurements, metrics, achievable goals and so on and so forth, for that is how human progress is made and monitored, but when the hustle keeps on going on endlessly with no real rhyme or reasons- eventually the only person who gets hustled is the hustler! You see, you don’t call for an earthquake to shift the furniture in your house- that is not how it works and that is as simple and straight an explanation why endless and meaningless hustle is not good and in fact is very much counterproductive- a major reason for may burnt out minds, failed hearts and lost-in- travel-personalities! A lot of chaos and complexity that we end up giving to ourselves originates from these rushed spaces of hustle which often are accompanied by bouts of instinctive and impulsive decision making- while that may work well for a few most of the time, for the many, it almost always ends up into manifesting even more chaos and begins a chain reaction wherein the individual is left with no other choice, but visiting one problem after the other and this newly found hustle of their lives, soon enough becomes all consuming!

A lot of hustle that we witness around simply evaporates with time, in weeks, months or perhaps a few years, but it will and it does- the real area of concern here is the damage that we end up doing at an intrinsic level to be part of facilitate hustle which is agenda driven to get something in the now, with no real essence or application for the long run- well that is the real story in most of the cases! You see, you may be a hustler and hitting your business targets year after year, but the question is at what cost and at the expense of what! The day you walk out of that business or office, you are only left with scars which tend to damage you at an intrinsic level more then anything else and that is the real and lasting price that one ends up paying for being caught up in mindless hustle of the world! Whether you are a victor or a survivor really doesn’t matter, because by the time the mindless hustle ends, you would have lost perhaps the most valuable thing- Your Time! Which, no matter what you do will never be back! SO does this mean, that hustle is not relevant? Or does it mean that we become passive and take things as they are and stop the effort to usher in change and a better tomorrow? Well none of that, the problem is not about the hustle itself, the problem is with the hustle for things that don’t deserve it for one or the reason! This could be different for different people and it is within these specific contextual realities that one needs to find the real mindful hustle that one needs to pay attention to! This only become possible through Inaction! The primary step before you decide to do something! Empowerment through Inaction is perhaps the only meaningful way to harness and manage purposeful hustle that creates an impact the way you want it to!

Inaction is not about being lazy, neither is it about being passive, Inaction is rather the ability to make a deliberate choice – a choice of not doing anything – because there are many instances, when you allow things to untie themselves they do and it all becomes relatively painless and more importantly when you do decide to act, you actions are empowering and potent enough to bring in a change or shift as you want them to! Inaction is an effective tool and approach because it allows you to observe, monitor and record- patterns, behaviours, impacts and allows you to create a meaningful cause and effect association of things that are unfolding in front of you, if you were to rush in and try to solve something, chances are that even as you try to solve one aspect of a perceived problem, other things will seem cropping up and then the cycle goes on endlessly with no end in sight! When you apply the approach of Inaction, what you immediately end up doing is you stop feeding into perceptions, unfound fears, rushed conclusions and skewed observations that would have been shared with you. You are able to see the dynamics of things as they unfold, people, processes and everything that goes along with it. It is only when you have captured enough of the depth and width of this unfolding drama and you decide to finally act and take a stand- your actions will almost always be decisive, clinical and laser shape- which is normal parlance of the working world spell out effectiveness or productivity!

Inaction is not the inability to act, rather it is the choice made not to act- simply because more needs to be known and understood before taking steps and moving ahead! Like I have mentioned earlier in my other articles, the pause is perhaps the greatest enabler that we have- whether it is the chat that you need to have with yourself or whether you want to assimilate the learnings coming your way and make an impact outwardly to the world. The next time you want to do something, like that in a snap of your finger, hit the inaction brake and take a walk- spend the time that you must in proportion to that impact that your decision will have- it is only when this practise becomes natural that you will be able to shift and sieve through rapid decisions and choices as your mind develops an ability to be in the state of inaction over one area even as it is engaged and implementing action for some other area once that has passed the space of inaction! Meaningful Inaction is always proportional to the probable impact of the ensuing action!

Even as communicators’ we have always been told the value of silence- which conveys so much more- then the spoken words- what silence is to verbal communication, Inaction is to the world of Action and Implementation! It is the vital space within the noise and rhythm that goes along with any implementation and any action, but it is within this pocket that a great sense of clarity and purpose can be derived and many a times the predestined course of impeding actions goes through a radical and decisive change to serve a greater cause and for the greater good!

I leave you with these thoughts for now and urge you to seek your meaningful Inaction to create an even more empowering actionable presence!

Ciao for now, will be back soon with another one, until then stay safe and yes, embrace the silence in your action!

The many facets of poverty.

~ Parimal Aluri ~ Leave a comment

If you thought anything and everything to do with poverty is all about access to money, food, shelter and varying degrees of opulence, well think again! Sure enough, these are important indicators and perhaps the most visible signs and displays of abject poverty the world over, but the real essence of poverty resides in everything and anything that allows these sad and inhuman scenarios to manifest! Join me here as we try to decipher what poverty is all about and what is that we can do and perhaps not do to manage this, the way we can!

Perhaps the most compelling and vivid memory or a nightmare to call it rightly about poverty is all the visually disturbing imagery, social struggle and strife that we come across through our daily lives. The whole concept of money linked poverty- in terms of ability to access or not access resources and opulence is perhaps just one way of deciphering and inferring about poverty based on broadly agreed social parameters. But this, if you ask me is no real meaningful measure to deal with poverty! The real and perhaps the only meaningful way of dealing with poverty, it’s definition, spread, control and mitigation is all about striking the very root of all that causes and allows this menace of poverty to manifest to begin with!

The whole idea and manifestation of poverty begins from impoverished thinking and acting! The never ending greed and desires to have more and more and all of it only for a few, is what hijacks and steers away any meaningful human essence for a social construct. Once societies agree to create rules that propagate variance and divide resources in a way that tends to serve a few and create dis-service to the many the stage is set for poverty to arrive! Sure enough, I am not promoting or advocating a social or a communist approach either, where- everything belongs to the state and there will be equality in distribution whether someone deserves that or not- no way- the point here is that we create rules and social markers in a way that people are simply left feeling and thinking uncomfortable about how and who they are- and this creates many a times unwanted and unwarranted self imposed pressure to race ahead and surge ahead- irrespective of whether anyone around really cares for it or not! No one is arguing over the ingenuity and the human spirit to progress and make their lives better and more comfortable- the whole issue is with the new age definitions of comfort and opulence and this is where the root of all modern day poverty resides!

If you closely observe, the commonality about being associated with varying levels or poverty or opulence the world over almost always is a conversation about, “where you study”, “where your parents works”, “where do you live”, and “how and where you spend”. This is all about it! All it takes is these few seemingly innocent enquiries and our socially conformed minds are more the happy to quickly start creating buckets and mental brackets to slot in the acquaintance and then either create a sense of happiness on how you are better then the other person in a few areas or start to sulk- because the other person has access to what you are yet to achieve and perhaps have always aspired for! So in a matter of few conversations- a connect with a fellow human- which could have been so many other things and facets of enrichment and exchange of ideas- almost ends up being a transactional encounter aimed at calibrating your own myopic approach and thinking on the world that you have given to yourself- due to the limitation of your perceptions! There are hundreds of examples around us and needless to say, no matter ho well we try, we too can succumb and we do, at some or the other point of time! Whether it is the chatter among growing kids, the grapevine and gossip in the offices or the monitoring of evolving opulence among the business and political class, each one of these instances are an example of impoverished mindset at play- which is the real radical and fundamental root and facilitator for all other visible manifestations of poverty!

No one is saying comparing is bad, no one is saying growing and making progress is bad- the challenge really is within the motive behind all the hustle that gets played out! You may have a great and long successful run- but if the fundamentals of your motive are pivoted over the mistaken understanding about poverty and an impoverished mind is at work- all that achievement and success will eventually all come apart- at some or the other time- simply because all that you build and do will have nothing to offer to the many and as long as that remains- you will be vulnerable and constantly working out of this insecurity to ensure you don’t have to “go back” which again is another fallacy of the over-thinking mind!

The vivid and repulsive play of poverty; really speaking is a measure and indicator of the impoverished thinking within a society and how myopic the leadership thought is as far as the approach to the subject and the chosen solution for it! These leaders could be the mass leaders from the political class or even the community leaders, but another grim and intriguing reality to this is, also about the space of “self drive” or the ability to lead oneself meaningfully by calibrating to the social confirmation, wisely and deliberately by choosing a trim level so that one does not get sucked into the endless and meaningless rat race to seek “socially conformed narratives for not being opulent or being one”!

The real issue around poverty is more to do about impoverished minds trying to create imagery and narratives that limit the many and liberate the few! Only once this is changed and thinking transcends form being impoverished to empowered thinking, will people be really able to see with impeccable clarity- their true value, worth and perhaps carve out a purpose which is more meaningful, enduring and sustaining, irrespective of where they stand- based on what social conformation narratives! The real problem around poverty the world over is not about varying resources and inequality of access- rather it is the minds who go on to create these and foster these to facilitate the agenda of a few while dis-serving the many! The only hope for humanity with regards to doing away with the menace of poverty of all kinds- intellectual, materialistic, social, psychological and spiritual is by allowing fellow humans to have enough time and space to experiment, fail learn and develop themselves on an ongoing basis, for that alone can provide empowered thinking and it is only empowered minds that can create empowered actions to bring about enduring and sustainable lives and livelihoods! Until this happens, each one of us is living an impoverished life in some or the other area and more often then not- the control dynamics will be with someone else!

I leave you with thoughts for now, urging you to take a pause and reflect upon the kind of approach that you would want to embark upon to at least end the pattern of impoverished thinking for yourself- it is only when you are empowered that you can share the spirit of empowerment with someone else!

Ciao for now, will be back soon with another one, until then stay safe, stay wise and stay empowered with empowering thoughts!

Your real priority.

~ Parimal Aluri ~ Leave a comment

Half way around the world, either you are planning to spend a calm Sunday or you are perhaps already preparing for the approaching Monday- well irrespective of that bit, no matter what you do or not, whether you are opulent or not and whether life has been fair or not, the game really is all about your real priority! Join me here as we take a quick paced walk down this route and decipher why most of us run the risk of running into and carrying further conversations which are more about “what could have been” rather then allowing it to be about “what can be”! So here we go!

Whether it is through the upbringing years at school, the formative years at college or the years spent through the corridors of the corporate world- we almost always end up leading a life – knowingly or unknowingly that is run and directed based on the priority listing methodology of someone else- who ever that could be and this is where the divergence commences!

If you are able to step back and embrace the pause, you will observe that many a things that “were high priority”, “so called defining moments” all tend to fade away and become meaningless or irrelevant with time as contexts change and things move ahead. Sure enough you may argue that, this is what hold true for almost everything and anything around us! Sure it is, but we don’t end up sabotaging ourselves the way we normally end up doing while we pursue the “so called priority” which almost allays is a case of someone else’s dream, requirement or necessity! It is this disconnect that ends up creating students graduating each year with ever more confusion about what they want to do next, with companies re-visiting their corporate strategies every now and then and wondering whether they should continue a product or service or not and governments who end up delivering what is not promised and never seem to deliver what has been promised. The whole social maze around strife and struggle is a whole lot because of this space of misplaced priorities and conformation narratives!

Through the student days, marks and grades are a priority – for that bit is sold to you- as the only assurance for an opulent life and only way to beat the race and stay ahead- well I am not saying this is not correct, the problem is this is not entirely true! You see if there are top 10 students across the thousands of universities then there are the next 20 from each one of them- so even for that visibly small variance of percentage or grades – as far as marking goes -which will never be beyond 10%, to believe that , this 10% difference can create such a wide and un-breakable barrier to earn and live an opulent life- simply doesn’t make sense and neither is that true! You have back benchers leading firms, business and doing exceptionally well, by the simple fact that they are able to hire the top performers at the price that they demand! So if the priority while being a student was only to get good grades or marks- why does this logic fail to deliver beyond an eclectic top 10-15% of the millions of students that exist at any given time?

If this was not enough, see what unfolds in the corporate world- you walk into that grand office each morning- or in today’s context, you hit your WFH desk to open up emails each morning only to find that “new priorities” have come in and as the week and month’s go by- if you ever reflect on what actually has happened- the corporate world end sup being a scene of accidental priorities and misplaced strategy- which often ends up achieving quite less when what could have been- simply by the latent power of the human potential that exists within each organization! You may want to say, that as organizations respond and react to market conditions things are bound to change- sure- but what is the meaningful variance- what’s the whole point of calling something “a priority” if the next market situation is going to ask you to throw all of that into a dustbin and sack half of your team? What does this speak about the whole approach to setting up and defining what a priority is, should be or can be? Think around this!

If you thought, this is limited to only the world of corporate and things that impact socially, think again, just see what has unfolded closer to you- your inner circle- your relations, ideals, mentors, coaches and what not! If you think that anyone or any of them were a priority for you- the essence of the word priority would imply that irrespective of what has unfolded or not- whether things have worked for you or not- you would still stand by them, their guidance and so would they too! But is that how it really gets played out? Well chances are they will not get played out that way and if they do, trust me and count yourself to be the luckiest among the lucky people to have some support system like that going around for you! So what is real priority then? Why is it vital and what makes it so encompassing and omnipresent? Read on!

Well, the real and perhaps the only meaningful and enduring priority that you will ever have in your life is “You”. Unless you make it a practise and a directed effort to place yourself and your core priorities first, no matter how successful you are or not, how rich you get to be or not, end of the day, all of that will be hollow and things will crumble at some or the other time sooner or later- simply because you have no control as you keep working and slogging for external priorities which are perhaps of core importance for someone else- a person or an organization and the trick in that space is, if you are not willing to stay enslaved for that, there will always be someone else to get that done and hence whether you like it, hate it or are good or bad,no one really cares a damn and irrespective of what you gain through that association, you will always end up loosing yourself from the context of failing to give priority to yourself!

Giving yourself priority is not about being self-centred, selfish or being disrespectful or disconnected or disengaged to working for others, with others or anything around that! On the contrary, once you are able to give priority to yourself, you know the value that you carry at an intrinsic level and that becomes a formidable push to achieve more in less time- especially when you are engaged to fulfil something for someone else- simply because you know that- only once that is done, will you be able to act upon what really matters to you at an intrinsic level – that is to work on your priorities! This is the real essence of moving ahead with a meaningful existence- being able to strike a balance between your real priorities- your intrinsic priorities and the external tasks and assignments that you race ahead to complete by virtue of your worldly engagements!

It is only when you begin to arrange the world around you by placing your priorities- which need to be aligned to your urge for expression, creativity and brilliance will you be able to contribute in any meaningful and uplifting manner to anyone else! You see, all of us want to be leaders and lead, but before we do that, what we must first and always do is lead ourselves! Unless you decide to lead yourself- why would anyone else even want to follow you, let alone being lead by you! No one likes to be lead by leaders who don’t have stories to share or who don’t have a compelling narrative and clarity- and for the leader in you to behold these aspects- you need to first put yourself at the highest priority. It is only when you act with clarity, decisiveness and meaningful directed purpose- will the others around you begin to trust and believe in your abilities and willingly surrender to follow you! Unless you don’t chart a course for your own life, you will not be able to make a great headway to lead a business, a nation or anyone else for that matter- simply because you too would be as lost as the person whom you are supposed to lead- only because you failed to recognise your real priority- which is no one else and nothing else but “You”!

I leave you with these thoughts for now, urging you to think around this and do take some time off and think around”what is your real priority?” Shouldn’t it always be you? The world is replete with examples where people keep racing ahead in a straight line along a circular track, to reach the same point where they started year after year, instance after instance- all simply because of missing the essence of who they really are!

Ciao for now, will be back soon with another one, until then stay safe and stay wise! Remember, it all begins and ends with “You”!

Touched by Inertia.

~ Parimal Aluri ~ Leave a comment

As ironical it may seem to be, the world keeps going the way it does, not only because of what we do or the way we act, but more because of what we do not do and what we don’t act upon! Join me here as we take a fleeting look at how this omnipresent problem and facet of Inertia- tends to serve us a world that we perhaps end up earning for ourselves- simply by deciding what not to do or by not acting when we ought to have acted! So here we go!

Our modern lives are nothing more then the play of Inertia, for a few of us it comes in as a blessing and yet for a few of us it comes in like an intertwined curse! Whether we like it or not, accept it or not, it persists and it very much pulls and pushes us- by simply through the nature of it’s existence around and within us! Whether it is the measure of success in the corporate world, the desire to create a new narrative for tomorrow or perhaps as simple as getting out of your bed and making it- each of these and many such day to day instances are replete with how Inertia influences what we are able to do, get done or not!

Whether it is the school kid that doesn’t seem to listen to you, or the grown up teen up or your boss at the workplace or the relationships that you deal with- each and every person that you connect and engage with, for whatever the reason there could be, is at all times either being what they seem to be working along their inertial construct- for some it could be about not doing anything and wanting to be the way they always have been and for yet others it could be about transforming on an ongoing basis based on what the surrounding developing contexts are simply to either consolidate their presence, grow it or at times just plain- survive!

There is nothing right or wrong about how you want to deploy your meaningful existence- whether you want to seem meaningful to a few or to the many- all depends on how compelling that drive is- something which is a story of your intrinsic love or hate for inertia. We have all known someone who got run over by change and then we almost always know someone who crated their lives because of change- so if you closely see what has actually transpired- in one instance it is the case of hugging inertia to stay where you are in the other instance it is about embracing it and partnering to take a leap of faith banking on what seems to be coming your way- hoping you will develop all that it takes to manage that bit on the journey to the new hazy destination!

The world of corporate houses and the corridors of political leadership that influence public lives and alter the way people live or can live is no different! You have leaders who want to stick to the ways of the tried and tested not wanting to rock the boat or even take it to some place and yet you come across Captains’ who are driven by an intrinsic urge of wanting to challenge what there is and want to chart a new compelling course which hold the promise of a better tomorrow. It is not that one approach is better then the other, the reality is that a little both of both is required to make an meaningful progress at optimum costs, go a bit too long either-ways- the chances are you would end up doing more damage then progress to whatever you are setting out to achieve! So what really is Inertia all about?

To put it simply it is that mind game that your brain is constantly playing with you- a function of our primitive mind- which only cared about one thing- not getting you killed! So when it comes to complex thinking and challenges of the modern day world that we have come to be- no matter how great or superb the brain is as a thinking organ- it too tires and fatigue sets in- when you a tired thinking mind- chances are it will push the button to hold on to what there is and follow the one simple rule- if doing what is being done and what has been done has not as yet got you killed- chances are you will survive going ahead! This is how students say “yes” when they are asked “if they understood or not” – simply because their mind has read it- if the teacher has not been able to explain three times- the fourth time is likely going to be a waste of time and energy- the teacher may have- but your tired and hungry brain has lost its interest to infer, deduce and compute so that’s when you cling to what there is! Likewise when you grow up and start walking the office corridors- “the boss is always right” because why would you care- if shit does happen- it is at the bosses’ table! Well when you have politicians and administrator’s who are given the task to create, sustain and develop the social framework-bitten by the inertia effect- well you see societies either stalling and stagnating or getting stripped and layered all the time on different parameters- looking statistically vibrant but completely wrecked at the human level!

The real point here is that, whether we act as individuals or as a society or a group- it is our disposition and orientation towards inertia that either makes us surge ahead or compels us to keep on repeating the same cycle over and over again! There is no truth in seeking continual change, just as there is no truth about never changing! The reality and essence of meaningful change resides somewhere in between- that space is empowering meaningful change aligned to what is required in the now and the arriving tomorrow! Needless to say not all of us can go on to decipher that bit and lead the many- the irony of the issue is that followers often have the ability and quite a few leaders are stuck to the earlier stories of the good old days and this fundamental difference of having to work for a myopic leader or a myopic leadership is at the heart of people leaving organizations and people failing to relate to the countries and societies that they live in! So what can be done? Well read on!

To being with you, can do something, only if you are able to agree and concur to the reality that something needs to be done- it is only when this compelling intellectual thought has been verified and has been able to successfully over-ride the pressures of your intrinsic inertial state is that you will be able to act decisively – either as an individual or as a leader of a group! Unless this step is not completed- it will almost always be the a case of few steps ahead and a few steps back! It is only when you are able to make your Intrinsic Inertia your friend that you will be able to decipher exactly when it is time to act and when it is time to wait and that is the secret and essence of being successful or not in the view of the world as it measures success, from your stand point- acting on the pivot of known inertia will empower you to make choices which are an expression of your identity and help you stamp your authority on whatever you choose to do- irrespective how big to small that act is!

I leave you with these thoughts for now, guess my Inertial urge for a coffee to think the next idea, is calling me in a quite compelling way! Until then stay wise, stay connected and yes, do strike a connect with your Inertial connect and decipher what tick you and what ticks you off- for there resides the secret to your empowerment!

Ciao for now, will be back soon with another one! Until then stay safe, stay wise and stay connected! Yes, before I go, A Big Big Thank You for being a part of this journey of ours- this is our 250th Blog! Thank You and Keep sending in those mails and ideas on what you want to hear next!

Connected to disengagement.

~ Parimal Aluri ~ Leave a comment

Even before the fabled pandemic came visiting, human societies the world over have been and continue to grapple with an even more subtler and far more dangerous issue and health emergency and that is about, humans loosing the essence of what it is to be human! Join me here as we take a look around this space and try to understand what is unfolding and what is that we can do and not do about it, to preserve our limited sanity! So here we go!

Societies across the world are increasingly becoming a reflection of technological enslavement either by design or by default- this has further gone to result into loss of human engagement and the very essence of it! result? Well you have a family that sits together engaged and connected with their different world’s and not for a moment realizing what is amiss! We are increasing creating societies where short abbreviations and “yes”, “no” or “idk” are becoming the acceptable norm! Instead of protracted ideations, sharing of thoughts, debating over them, refining them or junking them which always created an uplifting and enriching space for the human mind and fueled the endeavor and enterprise that a human mind is known for. This sort of meaningless self imposed isolation and lack or urgency to connect and engage with fellow humans is making us more and more dangerously dumb and enslaved to structured protocols and ways of life- which almost always are designed to serve and profit the few who want to rule over the many! Sure enough there are many facets to this space and there is nothing about being morally right and to take up one point of view over the other, but as long as this evolving and sub-serving ecosystem of disconnected behavioral dispositions exists, meaningful pursuits which can cater to the greater good of humanity will always stand stalled and lost in unknown fogged corridors of the worldly ways!

The problem of disconnected humans and engaged gadgets is not new per say, sure enough technology has been a great tool and instrument for change, however the million dollar question is whether it has changed what it should have or what is shouldn’t have! At the end of the day, whether you call it Artificial Intelligence, Machine Learning or whatever the next thing you want to call technological advancement, behind each of those developments are potent human minds who have now deciphered the power and vulnerabilities of what has been unleashed and it is now a simple bidding game where the highest bidder gets access to unleash what one chooses to do- whether to influence and market a product or service or whether to change the social narrative. This is the danger- real and present which threatens to hijack all original and human centric essence of humanity to enquire, answer and progress and this is why whether it be family tables or office work stations, you will find more and more people who are glued to an electronic screen searching something or the other- either mandated or required- which often really does not make any long term impact in terms of value creation and enrichment to an individual’s presence!

I had written sometime back about our disconnected times, but the only reason I was compelled to take this up against, was not because I am technologically challenged or despise technical advancements, but rather to share the fact that humans are becoming more and more enslaved to the developing technological advancements rather then being liberated by them! This is what is perhaps will be the next biggest pandemic- a pandemic of enslaved societies and community spaces that drive and further the agenda of an eclectic few, even as the many stand the risk to suffer and be lost into the oblivion not only in the modern terms of definition of the word “success” but also in the context of the ability to behold the human spirit of questioning and progressing in a manner that nourishes the human soul. By now, you may wondering, what is this rant, all about and what is that I am trying to say? Well plain simple words, societies need to decipher the clear and present risk and danger that our modern day adapted “social hashtags” driven lives bring along with them! For now they are busy robbing away the concept of original thinking and meaningful innovation, the next stage will be where, humans will end up having to prove their worth to a machine, to get access to any service or social benefit that they may require! So what is the plan, what can be done to manage this space well and in a purpose driven way?

It’s pretty simple, as Individuals, as long as we give common-sense, rational thinking and clear headed prioritization a chance, we are most likely to harness the power of automation and artificial intelligence (or dumbness) to impact, influence and serve the intrinsic attributes that make us who as are as humans and that alone is the foundation to achieve any meaningful greatness in the times ahead! For this to happen, people need to practise deliberate, directed disconnect from meaningless engagements over the # world and circle back to the original way of people to people dialogue for it is only when this happens that any automation can be really developed and brought in to serve the people in a more engaging and meaningful way! No one is saying automation is bad, or meaningless, the whole point is as more and more people spend more and more time doing meaningless acts over the # world, they are robbing away valuable time either from their personal space or their professional settings, both of which promise to give in a lot more if nourishes and catered to- unlike the likes, hashtags and shares over the digital world arena!

The time has arrived to say “no” to undeserving digital presence, which does only one thing, pushes in your face a string of algorithm built menu, suggesting you every now and then what is that you should do, shop or consume! The real problems here is two fold; societies are rapidly getting templated to resemble a broader sense of similarity- no matter which part of the world you are in- as good as this seems to be- within that goodness resides the problem of possibly loosing out on the nascent flavour and originality of a social space and what it stands for- call cultural dilution or cultural alteration based on driven and directed agenda of a few! Well, to give you a case in point, good until three decades back, packaged drinking water was an option and today- well it has become almost the new normal! The world- over the menace of web searching experts and their expert solutions (derived from these protracted- unverified searches) are yet another league of chaos creators! Every second you take time to be online, you are doing that at the cost of not being available offline- and trust me, as yet, at least- we are all born offline and guess that’s the medium of communication that we are meant for- else we would have lived and died online like any other portal or web service!

The essence of human progress, both as Individuals and as a society, is not only about being technologically advanced but more importantly being able to stay fundamentally anchored to the core values that a society represents and embrace the identity of who you are and engage with other people around proactively in a progressive way! Sure enough sounds great to send an digital invite to your next door neighbor, but when you are traveling through the same elevator, makes more sense to share a warm smile rather then texting a smiley!

I leave you with these thoughts for now, take your time and do reflect on what is that you are connected with and what is that you are disengaged with and do check if the priorities are right the way they should be!

Ciao for now, will be back soon with another one, until then stay wise, stay safe and yes, speaking to another human being is completely legal and you don’t need to send an email or a digital text before you do that!

Limited by Thoughts and Liberated by Action.

~ Parimal Aluri ~ Leave a comment

We live in a world, where we are constantly bombarded with some data point- relevant or irrelevant, meaningful or meaningless, true or not, really doesn’t matter! We are in effect becoming what we are consuming, perhaps less about food and more about the data bits that are being served to us whether we willingly seek them or not! Join me here as we take a look into this space and try to understand what this is all about and what is that you and I can really do about it to create a meaningful and engaging outcome around our existence on an ongoing basis! So here we go!

Societies have always been known for their potency of ideation and original works, the more original and greater the contribution that societies have been able to offer, more have they developed, progressed and thrived. if you were to flip the books of history the period of 1700s onwards has been more or less a saga of success by virtue of individualistic and collective brilliance and this paved the way for what a wonderful place the world can be- science, arts, innovation all that we see and experience around us are nothing more but the seeds of yesteryears which are now bearing fruits! The only reason why the fruits that we harvest today are so uplifting, is solely because of the empowering thoughts that lead to their creation in the first place! The bygone area was of limitless ideation and a consistent strife and struggle about not wanting to accept status quo and keep moving ahead, sure enough, you may argue so what is so different about that, it is unfolding even now- well the only difference and the most impacting one is that- today’s pursuits are more and more a story of application of limiting thoughts to seek calibrated outcomes, rather then creating an open canvas that allows collaboration and a more lasting contribution!

The problem with these limited thoughts resulting into calibrated outcomes is not limited to the closed lab doors or political powerhouses, but rather every segment of a society ends up getting entrapped, the moment you limit your thinking to address issues or create new innovations to meet what is unfolding in the now or to alter the way what is being consumed in the now and this is perhaps one of the greatest fallacies of our modern age! If you have ever wondered why despite so much of breakthrough, very often a lot of it means so little, well this is the answer- the trap of limited thinking!

Needless to say, as thinking and ideation begins to get limited and narrowed down in its focus and purpose, the resulting actions too will end up manifesting half baked solutions and recurring problems which keep coming to haunt you with a predictable schedule! Well climate change, save nature, plant more tress, go green, recycle- all of these (important or not) keep coming every year, at a scheduled time, every year announcements are made for new breakthroughs, solutions and technologies to address the problems, but the problem simply continues to be where it is and what just goes on is more conferences, meetings and more solutions for a never ending problem! Think! This is why limited thinking ends up entrapping and societies keep finding solutions for problems that are not there and real problems remain as they are, going nowhere! This is what brings us to the critical importance of knowing what liberating action is all about!

The translation of ideas into action, execution, operations has been the core of all management education for a long time and perhaps the corporate world has been the best testimony to see first hand how limited thinking creates more problems rather then solving the existing ones’ let alone come up with something awesome for tomorrow! You see, the problem with limited thinking or that of, limited circulation of thoughts is that it ends up being a death spiral for any innovative and original thought for an existing challenge or any new challenge with each passing moment. This deadly entrapment of human intelligence by virtue of short sighted and myopic definition and deployment of intelligence and intellect through thought and corresponding flawed actions ends up short serving our future and screws up our today as well! We end up being a society nothing to celebrate today, nor having a party planned for tomorrow, just being survivors for today and the tomorrow which always seems to be a continuation of the bygone yesterday! So what must be done and can be possibly done?

Sure enough, this is not a public policy document, to come up with fine print strategies for arresting the problems related to myopic intelligence and the resulting feeble ideation and thoughts from that space, however one thing that can be done and must be done, is encourage and propagate original and unconventional thinking and ideation as much as any society can! For the real essence of the future and the ability of creating empowering and life changing narratives only will be upheld when space is made available to allow limitless yet directed thinking which is aimed at the greater good! So what’s the way ahead?

Well, as a first step, to come out of this endless spiral of self-consuming and self-centred construct of pursuits at individual and social levels is all about incentivizing thinking and ideation that is selfless and for the greater good and the next crucial step is allowing a platform to sustain and propagate that thought- not by force but by compelling choices that are able to narrate with clarity the benefits and promise of those ideas. It is only when this stage is achieved, that any meaningful action will emerge and that action will be empowering and liberating as it stands on the solid bed rock of empowering ideation which is meant for the many!

Liberated action when unleashed has the power to embrace all those who believe in it and even those who are skeptical about it! Just as the Sun doesn’t make any discrimination as it spreads its’ light, the ability to progress on the power of liberated action too rests on what is being perceived, how well and whats is being done with what has been imbibed! The essence of empowering lives doesn’t reside in the self-help books or motivational workshops or leade4rship games, those things perhaps do help for that fleeting moment, but for enduring and sustaining shift in an approach for being able to receive and share something empowering all the time, we all need to be surrounded by limitless thoughts and liberating actions, all the time or should I say, as much as possible! The progress and growth of societies and individuals will be directly proportional to the exposure and acceptance that they display to adapt these new age, relevant ways of empowering ideas and allowing them to breathe and live through equally accommodate execution and deployment spaces in the social construct!

I leave you with these thoughts for now, urging you to take a moment from your life and strive to make a habit of creating limitless thoughts and liberating actions- whether that is a seed that you plant or a corporation that you lead!

Ciao for now, will be back soon with another one, until then stay safe, stay wise and stay empowered!

Making sense of the “climate change” nonsense.

~ Parimal Aluri ~ Leave a comment

Well, don’t even bother to write me off here, thinking this article is for or against the issue of climate change. Like all our other engaging write up’s this one too is about what the topic is and what is being made out of it! Join me here as we re-discover this space of the fabled “climate change” and trust me by the time you end up reading this piece you will also perhaps begin to think what is the real emergency here, is it the climate or is it the ability and need of dealing and managing human greed and dumbness! So here we go!

If you study the documented modern history of humanity, lets stay focussed to the period post 1700, what it has ended up doing is creating automation (increased production and loss of livelihoods then, altering the livelihood space), connectivity and accessibility. All of this made sense as long as there was a balanced calibration for the local manufacturing, produce and what came in from neighboring states or towns. But as the dynamic shift began and towns and cities began to get flooded with products and services (read people migration) from different states, towns and cities, soon enough the struggle became rampant and that level of mass market size capture called for ever expanding thirst for machinery, process, industries, fuel and as this initial burst somewhere in the mid 1800’s began unchecked with “give a damn” to polluted stream , land or farm, or that reckless clearing of forest and shrub land for growing crops- all of this began to set the foundation to what what going to follow! This is how ecological and environmental began- the nascent stage of human greed and dominance.

Come 19th century, rapid modernization and ever increasing connectivity have ended up creating a global foot print like never before, land has been reclaimed from seas, dry areas turned into oasis, marshes disappeared to provide grounds and mountains cleared to create eclectic properties, industries becoming innovatively destructive and reckless at the least!

Sure enough the last century saw all hell break loose when it came to the planet to make a point, natural calamities have increased and will go on to do so, not because only of what we have done to the planet, by what we do and what we continue to do and will do, but also because the planet is alive! It is not merely a piece of land or body of water that is there like you find in playground where you can create a mess, and leave it for someone else to correct it- the planet is as alive as you and I are and I am not too sure about whether it has a discerning mind, but when it comes to sustaining a dynamic equilibrium about the physical process and the chemistry of life- it does do what it must to safeguard what all it can!

No one is questioning whether human activities have impacted or not,the real problem is that, the whole global melodrama around “climate change” is riddled with self-serving agendas and political tug of war that suits to address the few at the cost of many- it has become a cliche term of choice for everyone and anyone to blame it on “climate change” whether it is about going for the latest electronic gadget or whether they want to donate to some charity simply to lessen the guilt of contribution that they may have! Whether humanity chooses to or not, doesn’t matter the earth is alive and it knows it’s shelf-life. This third rock form the Sun, ash been there for around 4.5 billion years and will remain for another equal amount of time, the million dollar question is how long will humanity be able to do what it can to outpace and survive as the planet begins to come alive more vividly over the next three to four hundred years from now!

Whether you discourage plastic, use cloth bags, reduce “carbon foot print” (another iconic jargon, this one is!) all your contribution pales in front of what the earth is capable of doing and undoing! Consider this, you ensure and actually bring down pollution and people also adhere, and you have no more grey skies at twilight, and now mother Earth decides to have fireworks and spews tons and tons of volcanic ash laces smoke high up into the stratosphere which lingers on and ushers in what it can and will- so what happens to all that years or perhaps decades of work gone into bringing in controls, standards and ways of life? Up in the smoke right? Sure enough this can’t be an argument for not acting or doing anything, and that’s what the whole point is- create and encourage common sense based meaningful efforts to add value to the planet, but the whole corporatized and politicized campaign of “climate changes” is the last thing you really need!

Well, to cut the long story short, this fallacy of human thinking that “we know all” and this is the only way” is perhaps the greatest unscientific approaches that scientists have ever taken! This is also perhaps a reflection of the depleting human competence, intelligence and wisdom among the societies that exists today! Unless the meaningless consumerism with a fabled global supply chain is not brought down and scaled back to serve and work for local integrated communities- nothing meaningful will ever come out! This circus called “climate change” with agenda driven actors and artists disguised as corporate CSR, political stalwarts and the much hyped activists will go on doing what their limited wisdom and intelligence allows them to – for at times many of them too, never understand what they part they are playing and what really is unfolding and who is getting benefited by what they are doing! A classic case of one person’s poison another’s cure! So you may now be tempted, to ask , then what is the real way- what is a simple way ahead?

Well, to tell you, it is all about going local, fresh produce for the local communities and calibrated consumerism, where you don’t need 40 pairs of footwear or 80 pieces of cloths through a year! There is nothing fundamentally wrong with the thought of being globally connected- it helps and empowers communities, but when you want to export cabbages and apples across half the world- especially when they are grown there too- well you have a problem and this is not about climate change- it is about human intelligence and the lack of it!

I leave you with these thoughts for now, urging you to make an attempt to know more then what meets the eye and yes, the earth is alive and knows more then what all the 7 billion of us would know- for the Earth has been here and will be here long after human race ceases to be!

Ciao for now, will be back soon with another one, stay wise and stay sane! yes, Climate is changing but the story sold to you is incomplete, no matter who is selling it to you!

The essence of timing.

~ Parimal Aluri ~ Leave a comment

We have all come across instances when our trains have arrived early or late and that flight we have boarded has either come in early or late! Although as these seem to the routine realities of our busy connected lives, but in a way if you see, that is what is also the story of our lives! A story that is all about trying to be in-step with the times, most of the times, like that train which comes in early or late, we tend to fall back or race ahead and needless to say, that is what reflects in all that manifests in and around our lives! Join me here as we decipher this space and decode what “timing” is all about and how this one element goes on to create a reality which either uplifts or limits us! So here we go!

Whether you want to be successful or want to embrace failure as your first stepping stone or many to lead you to that enduring definition of what you call and know as success is all about this magical, mystical and elusive space around “timing your time” well! So what is timing really all about? Well if you have ever gone through what is mentioned about people who have touched success and also about those who have just missed it, you will know that all of it is a story of either being there or not being there, “in that moment of space and time”! So how do we decipher this right time and space?

The story of human development, progress and innovative excellence has always been about being able to decode compelling problems and find solutions when it mattered the most! This is in fact the very essence of how potent products and services come alive and stick around with us for a long time! When the manifestation of the solutions through a breakthrough gets altered- either bringing it in too early or realizing it too late- the whole concept/ idea tends to loose its relevance and ability to influence, engage and weave in within the social construct- this is what makes products and services fail (irrespective of how relevant they are or not!). If you have been lucky enough or happen to belong to the generation which saw and knew what a pager was- well then you will know exactly what I am trying to tell you! You see, the pager was a great breakthrough and a hallmark of human thinking brilliance, but when the next great idea emerged almost simultaneous, the pager ended up having its future curtailed by an unceremonious and premature death sentence not because as a product it was bad or a failure, but simply because the next great idea- was coming in fast- and too early- which simply wiped off the remaining relevance of the pager and ushered in the mobile era that we live in as of today!

The essence of timing is not only limited to what human mind can achieve or not, but also influences and alters the very nature and core of human values and human engagement! You would have worked long enough with organizations, irrespective of your experience or the size of the organization, the one thing that you will almost always notice is the fact that you almost always happen to be where you are simply either you timed your arrival well or mistimed your arrival that further goes on to put you either on the escalator of success or the never ending upward ascent through the staircase and depending on what comes your way- you sure enough reach the destination that you are out to reach- albeit with a differing ability to enjoy once you reach there. So what is the that you can do to ensure that you arrive well in time at the place where you want to be?

To begin with, it could be as simple and as defining as where is that you really want to be! You see, the whole hustle of your life, is almost always of wanting to be there, when the moment is right! For that to manifest, what one needs is utmost clarity and focus so that a pre-defined destination or goal is locked on and once you have done that bit, you will know pretty sure why, how and when you want to reach there! Sure enough, things are certainly more complex and easier said then actually done, not because there is an element of doubt about the competence of the individual, but simply because enduring and sustainable success is always a factor of many things and people conspiring for you to succeed, even if one element of that vital cohort were to fail, for whatever reason, that will be more then enough to stall your success story and the slight slip of time will ensure that you are going back to the drawing board to re-start all over again either for the same thing or something new altogether, depending on how bad the damage has been!

When you read all the success stories of people, organizations and nations, more often then not what is hidden away as the fairy told is shared is the fact that there are always many more than who you see on the stage and unless those invisible actors and contextual settings would not have aligned to the people on the stage, life would be just a saga of more or less of mistimed adventures! Human progress is all a story of timed interventions that align to create a new pathway which promises advancement in the field under consideration! So what’s the key here?

Pretty simple! Timing is everything! People who make their mark are case studies of converging timed interventions of people, processes, technology and contexts, unless that happens, no matter what you want to usher in and how brilliant that idea is- it will stay confined to the realms of who and what you are and more often then not end up with you in your grave! If anyone has ever told you that “Success is Individualistic” , it is a blatant lie! Sure enough, Success is Intrinsic, Original and Reflective of who you are as an Individual, but for that to come to life and create any meaningful impact for you and others around you, there have to be collaborative and converging interventions coming in and accelerating the spread and growth of that fledgling idea, unless this occurs in an orchestrated manner- success will either be elusive or will be erratic with turbulent pockets hitting it every now and then!

The whole essence of timing is about being able to deploy and sustain the seeds of success through timing them well and for that timing to be flawless and effective you do need a great lot of experimentation, failure and what is normally called as “luck”! This is the only reason why even though we may have millions and millions of people who are good or great at what they choose to do, when the scales of relative success are measured, the handful few who tend to lead the pack are almost always those who have been able to time their timing well enough, perhaps in a more superior way then the others!

I leave you with these thoughts for now; as the definition of success is specific and aligned to what an individual idea is all about, needless to say the finer aspects around the wise way to time ones’ time will also be very very niche, thereby doing away the fallacy of requiring to compare and calibrate against someone else; that really never works, simply because each one of us at any given time is dealing with a challenge that is as unique as who we are simply because the way we choose to deal with it!

Ciao for now, will be back soon with another one, until then, whatever you choose to do, just remember to check if what you plan to do is being timed well!

Defining your essence!

~ Parimal Aluri ~ Leave a comment

As deceptively simple it may seem, but this seemingly unimportant task of knowing and connecting within and knowing what your essence is perhaps the most valuable “one thing” that anyone could ever do! For this is the bedrock from where you can align your pursuits, ambitions and virtually anything and everything that is around you and once aligned, engage in a meaningful manner that ushers in empowerment for yourself and everything and everyone around you! Join me here, we take a look into this space and understand why our lives are much more than we think it is and why you are never what your business card says or your last name signifies! So here we go!

We often end up living our lives and perhaps even defining who we are, only based on a singular fact- “what is that we do”, “what our business card say about us” or at times, “defining ourselves in the context of the societal opulence that has come our way”. The fact remains that even as these aspects may have their own merit, their whole context is relative and calibrated to things and people around! You see, working as what you do, does not anyway help to understand how you teat your family , friends, your pets or let alone anyone else, even yourself! You may have more opulence compared to then remainder of the other 80%, but that neither guarantees that you have the taste to enjoy it or the class to display it! The greatest fallacy of our times is that people often end up living a life- based on what they have got “sold into ” understanding what their life is!

You see, if the case had to be that each one of us was to be defined by the mere space around calibrated success and failure and the materialistic enjoyment that comes our way- we would have been a different personality construct altogether by birth! But that is not how it is, Isn’t it? Irrespective of what we work we do, how we are known and perhaps not known (normally referred to as misunderstood) there is yet another layer to our own self and that layer is about getting connected to who you are and what is that your soul’s urge! Perhaps sounds too preachy, spiritual or even condescending, but that is the very important and subtle aspect of our lives and believe it or not, every one of us, stands on this foundation of what our innermost desires and essence is all about- whether you like it or not- you will always gravitate towards that- perhaps it may help you or at times it may not- but all our life stories are a collection of moments when we we are aligned to this space and when we had deviated away from our won essence! Nothing more, nothing less! So how do we stay connected to our essence and how can we encash that space to put this foundation to good use? Read on!

The real magic to work along the pivot of your essence is by first being able to define it- and define it well! Your essence has to be something that you behold uniquely as your own- could be as unique as your innovative thinking or your fertile research oriented mind or could be the innate ability to see uncommon realities i the everyday common things around! One easy way of knowing your essence is that while you are engaged with an activity or a thought- it comes in natural, makes you feel empowered even as it seems comfortable, irrespective of the fact how complicated or easy it may seem to the others viewing that space! You know you are in your elements (your essence) when you act with confidence, direction and purpose on issues with even the most limited insights or details and come out enriched with a new dimension for the whole topic- something that ushers in a new pathway for the existing challenges or opens up a new challenge for humanity to tests their competency against- simply through your power of innovative thinking- which perhaps is then your essence!

Sure enough, you may want to ask, but if that is true for one, it will be for everyone so how does it work? Well, say your essence is around culinary skills, sure enough there would be many with similar skills, perhaps even for the same segment of cuisine, but if you are really connected by the pivot of your essence in what you do, you will be able to add a twist to all that you do,like no one else, even as others continue to do the same- what we then have is a world around us of empowered individuals working and deploying their expression of life through their essence that they have connected with! paradoxically enough, this is also the reason that limits people from connecting with their true essence and more often than not majority of us are happy with that job, that business or simply by doing what we have got into doing and even happy to repeat the same thing year after year- with nothing really changing for us or for the others in a meaningful or empowering way!

When you continue moving through your life disconnected with your essence, sure enough you will live well, thrive and perhaps even surge ahead earning and enjoying all that you desire- but all of that will always keep you very malnourished and deprived at your soul level- and well if you think – that’s alright- that too is fair- because the world that we get to experience and see around is a factor of majority of humankind working themselves for the heck of it- not being connected to their essence- hence mediocre solutions are ok and “just enough” principles take precedence over “what is right” or “the right way to do it”! There is no right way to experience life and share that with others or even with yourself- else all of us would have been born with a manual or handbook to live our lives- driven down to the last detail! It is a deliberate choice that one must make to pivot around their essence even as social compulsions and echoes of insecurity tend to tempt and push us away from what we should be to who we end up becoming! So what next?

Well, the meaningful way and perhaps the only way as I see it, is to stay connected with your essence- the very essence of who you are, what drives you and what is that you want to contribute further to- that has to be something to do with the urge of your soul- it is something purely intrinsic and essentially which define who and what you are and will be- irrespective of the socially accepted and prevailing definitions of success and failures! Your essence does not have to be certified by anyone else but yourself and your essence does not have to be about limiting yourself to be working with “XYZ firm” or “ABC designation” or making $$$ of money, it is beyond and above all of this, sure enough, I am not suggesting the other aspects are irrelevant- but to connect them to be your essence and wanting those things around you to be your definition- is a fatal fallacy- simply because business will rise and fall, jobs will come and go and so will your fortune- but the only thing that will ever remain is what your essence is- unless you realize this bit and learn to pivot on the foundation of your essence you will almost always find yourselves as crossroads- every time any one external variable that you use to define you is taken away from you!

It may be possible that your essence may not serve a materialistic goal that you have given to yourself- nothing wrong with it- but if you are able to reach that goal tapping through the pivot of your essence- which by it’s very nature- defines your value construct- all the journeys in life that you undertake to achieve some or the other goals- you will find them to be more easy and welcoming and the struggle quotient will greatly be reduced! Each one of us, are on this planet- not to only learn- unlearn- relearn-pay the bills- travel and die- for as long as you limit yourself to these aspects of the routine- you will end up creating a life as common as the next stranger you walk past by! It is only when you begin to script the story of your life through the power of who you are and what your soul’s urge is to express that is when real magic will happen- that urge could be a creative expression through arts, science, technology or could be as simple as being a humanist- who strives to empower others around- you may have a philosophical or a cut throat business like approach- doesn’t matter- as long as you pivot your journey of life on the real essence of who you are and what your soul’s urge is- rest assured you will behold peace within and share warmth around even as you lead an empowering presence for yourself and others around you! This is the essence of leading a meaningful life and by being rooted to who you really are and deciphering that secret!

I leave you with these thoughts here, take that break, grab a coffee and do reflect and try to fathom, what your essence really is and what is that you are doing now- which further or stalls the same! Magic and miracles are rare because they only manifest through the urge from within and for that you need to be anchored pretty well intrinsically!

Ciao for now, will be back soon with another one, until then stay safe and stay wise!

Decoding money.

~ Parimal Aluri ~ Leave a comment

This is the time of the year, when nations are racing ahead and so are corporations for their favorite annual activity- the matters of the budget! No matter what your take about money is, whether you have a lot of it or struggling to arrive at your desired lucky numbers, the fact remains that irrespective of the varying facets and lenses that you may want to apply for deciphering what comes your way, the universal truth of societies has been that; ever since the modern concept of “government controlled money” has come into existence, social disparity has only widened and will continue to do so! Join me here as we explore this space and try to understand what really is unfolding and what is that you and I can do around it to make sure we have enough to survive and some to spare! So here we go!

To begin with the whole extreme concept of money being either useful or useless is a complete illusion! The truth about money and all money matters resides somewhere in between mapped to your contextual realities and the truth that beholds sanity for you! Let me explain, at some or the other point all of us have signed up for that awesome looking monetary incentive plan! If you sell “x”, you get “y”+1,2,3 so on and so forth, but what that actually translates in reality is almost always no where close to what your mind was tempted with to begin with for you to sign up! Call it the smartness of the others who ensured you fall for that trap or your own acquired level of incompetence for being able to see something hidden in plain sight- either-ways one of that would have done the trick! The same goes for the awesome offers on buying properties, schemes that are supposed to save your taxes and so on and so forth- from a chocolate to the coffin you end up buying for yourself, everything eventually is discounted and offered at a price tagged to some different factor! So why is that money is so tempting and seducing, why do people continue to fall into the trap pursuing it (no one is questioning whether they should or not), especially by discounting the realities and the truth which almost always sets up trim levels!

If you observe carefully and patiently enough the whole drama around the modern day concept of “government controlled money” and policies that go on with it are simply a tool to benefit one segment of a society over the other from time to time, well nothing yet to be prejudiced about this, perhaps a 100 years ago this thought was perhaps the only way, to ensure people who can empower others should be provided more resources over others so that through their iconic ways they can create new pathways for a new future! It surely worked and worked well, that is what the story of success through the industrial age has been, however that did not answer one question then and even now for that matter and that question is, “What happens when you have multiple potent icons who have formidable and lofty dreams and aspirations and all seem to be true, rational and perhaps intersect each other, what do you do then? Add to that a layer of equally dis-enchanted people who want to keep shifting allegiance from one dream to anther at a drop of a hat, what do you think the outcome will be? Well that outcome is what all of us get to see across societies around the world! The societies of today are a compelling narrative of handshakes and bruised association among the polity and business class which endlessly alter the ongoing narratives of their societies and compel people living in those spaces either to pursue utopian dreams or become too shy to even bite their realities!

Much of the modern day challenge with money is not about its availability but rather the timing and the method of its availability. This is what makes the pursuit of money never ending- irrespective whether you have enough of it or less of it! Unlike the modes of commodity exchange before the advent of the modern day concept of money, barter and medieval coin systems which were often made of precious metals and their alloys made it possible for a fair chance for people to rise and progress as long as they had individual ingenuity or ideas and action. You may argue, that this aspect still exists, it sure does, but unlike the earlier times when an individual had control to slow down or pace up, today; you and I don’t have that choice left to ourselves, those aspects are almost always controlled by the external factors that are so wrapped around us in varying disguises of government bodies, agencies and regulatory offices, what they end up doing is altering the course of our journey either by urging us to accelerate or slow down- when we ourselves may be thinking otherwise! This is where the whole modern day chaos commences- whether you employ a 100 people or you are one of the 100 people employed, everything that is wrapped around you is a maze of empowering and dis-empowering disguises and narratives, all that you need to do is, end up being in the wrong time at the wrong place and years of your hard work and ingenuity will evaporate right in front of you!

We live in times of complex narratives, where everyone is trying to gain an access to more and more of “government controlled currencies” the world over and their supplies are needless to say controlled and driven to help a few, not help a few and help everyone from time to time and place to place, for some strange reason you happen to be in the wrong timezone, rest assured you will be written off beyond repair and if your arrival coincides with the sweet spot at a right time, you will race ahead to your own surprise- never to realize what the hell happened and how you managed to do what you did! The question is never about whether money is good or bad, how much is enough or not- for all of these are different truths for different people, a billionaire may still cry for the next billion even as a struggling life may be more then grateful for the first 1000 dollars!

The real problem with the money collective in todays’ era is the superimposed script which is run by governments and a close circle of companies who want to drive a narrative- a compelling one which tends to alter the social behaviour, norms and ways of life to embrace what products and solutions they propose to usher in as part of that new social conformation bias story! Think about it, perhaps 30 years ago showing up at your friends or cousins house was “surprising”, the new age of communication arrived and defined that space to be rude and soon we have a whole new world seeking and waiting for permissions through communication channels to meet our friends and family and now this seems courteous! If you thought it is only this space, think again, whether it is the food that you eat, the fabric that you wear, the travel you undertake, all spaces around you always are nothing but a intrusive dialogue by select capitalists directing you to live and lead a life which suits and serves their purposes of business and more importantly helps your government know that the extent of oddity within the social structures is limited and manageable!

The whole modern day concept around money is to make you feel miserable- whether you have it or not- when you have it- by making you think and feel you deserve more- and when you don’t have enough- make you feel and think that you are entitled for more! Either-ways it’s a never ending trap, with no end line and no meaningful conclusion! It is on these sensitive spaces that governments of the day latch upon and drive societies to the pockets of managed chaos to keep the struggle on- a struggle with no end in sight and no meaning within! This is how millions the world over end up spending their entire lives pursuing what is simply utopian, not necessarily because they were incompetent, but perhaps they landed up in a place and time, where that is all what was going to be! You see, you may land up on a gold mine of an opportunity, but if that areas is already marked to be blown up by dynamites- the first thing you want to do is move out and watch from a safe distance and then revalidate your thinking based on what remains after the mayhem of the destruction!

I leave you with these thoughts for now, before I go, I urge you to rethink and calibrate your association with money- whether you have a lot, or are struggling to reach those magical numbers, take a pause and do think, is it really worth all of what you are going to undergo to achieve what you aspire- for money is simply a tool to achieve something else and even if money can buy you a thousand things, there are a few things that it will never be able to buy for you, among them is your peace of mind and your ability to cheat death! All of us have an opening balance of limited seconds, the moment we arrive, perhaps that is the most precious of all the things that you and I behold and it is this invaluable commodity of Time, which alone has the power to tame money and create an iconic life with or without it! Think around this and pursue a life that is enriched in the real essence of the word and not by the show “controlled money” which is almost always as fickle as its’ masters!

Ciao for now, will be back soon with another one, until then stay wise, stay safe and yes, pursue an enriched life in the real essence of it! Money may be important, but it is not the only thing, it never was!

The future of jobs.

~ Parimal Aluri ~ Leave a comment

Gone are the days when there was relevance to the question, “Where do you see yourself in “x” years, simply because in that time frame, the question itself will most probably end up being pointless! As the world embraces a more potent mix of automation and human intelligence (and latent dumbness), we are racing ahead to throw out a big majority of “jobs” which seem to be so cherished and meaningful in the context of today! Join me here as we decipher what really is unfolding and what is that you and I can do about ensuring that we develop meaningful relevance to our existence by associating with something that is timeless and ever relevant! So here we go!

The history of human progress in the last 300 odd years has been a complete circle of sorts! Starting with the promotion and encouragement of individual genius, greatness and spark of being a master- to moving ahead and encouraging social cohesion through promotion of similarity of thought and action (the great dawn of the MBA era- where rules were given to follow and break alike!) to an age that we have been witnessing through the last two decades- a confluence of ingenuity, cohesive effort through focussed asymmetric collective thinking! Going ahead what we are about to witness will be an age where if there is any one thing that will be held up with high regard and requirement- it will be your UQ – your Uniqueness Quotient! In the decades to follow through this century and beyond, before the reset to collective and cohesive collaboration again begins, there will be an oasis of calm that will reward humanity and humans who display a higher UQ!

There is no doubt that automation is here to stay and perhaps even out do humans when it comes to the space of managing the routine and in certain areas even the creative engagement with or without human assistance, but what will empower and enable people to ride this automation wave to build their fortunes will be their intrinsic opportunity to develop ingenious solutions and services by ensuring that the human element supersedes and rides over the whole stack of automation. So how do we go about it and what is that you and I can do to survive and excel at what is destined to come our way? Read on!

It all starts by tapping within and staying connected to your intrinsic competencies. For this to happen what is important is, being abe to develop an impeccable ability to behold awareness- about self and everything and everyone around you- minute to minute! It is only when you are engaged and connected from this pivot of unflinching endurance that you can measure what matters and see what is perhaps cloaked– both so vital as far as deciphering and decoding the future is concerned!

As the world races ahead to embrace automation, it will only become more and more vital to have intellect and innate wisdom to lead the way to ensure that the automation that humanity is signing up for is safe and sane! The world is replete with examples where automation has ended up throwing up unwanted and unnecessary glitches and aberrations which have then further gone to add more problems rather then provide solutions to the ones’ on hand! The way to decode this compelling paradox is to understand why did we agree to embrace automation to begin with!

Through the advancement in science and technology and the appetite for consumerism, the world moved ahead and began to experience the first wave of automation wherein goods could be mass produced through an engaging blend of human and machine dexterity, as time progressed more and more of mundane and routine, repetitive functions began to get handed down to the automated spaces under the garb of allowing enough free time for humans to further excel at their creative pursuits and come up with further and higher innovations and inventions- whether that worked or not is a different story to agree and disagree- but what that certainly ended up doing is that in no time humanity ended u being enslaved to the curse of automation! Today we have ended up in a zone wherein automation not only projects the overview or identifies the problem or suggests alternatives, but rather does all of this and even more importantly executes further instructions to alter and manage further scenarios of dynamic nature that geos on to impact production and supply chains not only at one location but across multiple locations all over the globe! This is the space where human intellect is being tested and challenged to stay relevant and deliver meaningful options overriding the mind boggling crunch game that powerful computers and nimble machines are able to do all by themselves!

It is only the application of intrinsic and directed intelligence and wit that can ensure that automation stays relevant and in command of human wisdom- that alone ensures that we have defined family of jobs and vocations in the future too which are able to walk side by side of prevailing automation. The singular fact however will be that all jobs of the future that have a human engagement will thrive and stand on the foundation of the UQ of an individual- whether organizations would want to further promote and propagate a collective UQ to deal with a compelling large problem at hand- is a different matter, but as long as Individuals are able to apply themselves to the tasks at hand on the pivot of their UQ, they will remain relevant and valuable, irrespective of the extent of the automation blended around what they do!

In a sense, the future of jobs is more to do with services and solutions that Individuals can offer- because of who they are and what they are- both as Individuals and as a part of some collective group or team and how well this is realized and deployed is what will go to define how and where automation will be check-mated and where it will go on to advance! There is no reason to fear or shun automation, as long as it is meaningful and relevant and in the real sense is able to liberate human intellect to pursue something higher and compelling, but when automation threatens to mimic and over ride human engagement and value based assessment of situations and processes, be assured it will fail and falter and the consequences of that melt down is something perhaps societies are not yet ready to pay up for!

What I see coming our way in the future is the excellence of automation and human intelligence going hand in hand aligned to their own respective core value ethos and needs! Professions and Vocations that elevate the human spirit, soul and the provide directed guidance, innovative thinking and accelerate deployment of wit and human ingenuity will thrive and progress. Jobs that empower people and create an impact and ring in continuing hope and promise for humanity will linger on and perhaps even get better with time! Likewise automation that helps take away the mundane, repetitive, low engagement and high risk job functions will get more advanced and better at getting things done with every new generation of research and firmware upgrades! For everything else that humanity chooses to do, it will almost always be the case of fleeting dynamism between varying degree of automation and human control! Sure enough a lot of it will get standardised with time and through trial and error!

Like the cycles of the bygone era, we are moving ahead to experience the finesse of human wit, intelligence and wisdom in the coming few decades and for the remainder of this century, even as automation races ahead to liberate and empower us, it is only the discerning human mind that will be able to behold any meaningful essence to achieve a dynamic balance between human efforts and automation!

I leave you with these thoughts for now, urging you to tweak your mind and set it up in an automated mode to empower you so that you may deploy your UQ and devise your own personal niche to embrace automation through the wisdom, wit and intelligence of your mind!

Ciao for now, will be back soon with another one, until then stay safe, stay wise and take that journey to tap into your UQ to embrace the automated future coming your way!

When numbers don’t add up!

~ Parimal Aluri ~ Leave a comment

As we come close to end of January, many nations around the world and organizations are busy diving deep into the number game! For some or the other reasons these numbers communicate and convey what their masters want them to say and no matter what you think, they never really add up! Join me for a short walk through this space and decode why the world embraces this number and data driven craze and what is that you and I must guard against and be wise enough to see beyond what the numbers portray!

To begin with let me share some statements with you, I got a 100% increase on reader engagement, I have a strike rate of 99% to finish articles and I write them; now let me add two additional information, first I have only 10 readers and I write only one article per year! Now what happens to your understanding and appreciation about me- am I effective or ineffective? Struggling or Great? Well, this is what the reality and truth of the world of numbers and data sets is, all the time, everywhere people are almost always presented with what will empower decisions to be driven in a particular way to conform to some needed outcome and as long as that happens, governments stay, CEOs can relax on their chairs and societies can keep doing what they do, but when the numbers and facts begin to stand out on the basis of what they are without any shadows around them, reality ushers in and people begin to get a taste of an oncoming reset and realignment of priorities! But why does this happen? Why do people get discreet and secretive with numbers and data? Why is it almost always shared on a need to know basis and never- rarely- in a comprehensive and holistic way? Well read on!

Part of the answer to the trickery involved in sharing numbers and data resides in the core values, strife, struggle of the bygone and the promise of the future and what path has been embraced to achieve the same! Say, you are a nation sure enough you may never want to- you will not and should never have to- share intricate details pertaining to your armed forces and preparedness as a nation- thats perfectly sane and when it comes to elements and sensitive data points like these, nations, societies, organizations guard them with all that they have! But when the guarding and distorting commences for all that is available in public domain, it sets the tone for competing analysis, conflicting inferences and a more confused decision making- courtesy- the conflicting data points and numbers which seem to have a mind of their own!

This happens all the time, sales targets are revised upwards with no or limited rationale, under the garb of operational efficiency and optimization, resources and people are driven to work and perform right upto their breaking point! Business have one number for the government ( to ensure their tax optimization is achieved) and one for the workers and yet another one for the investors! It is this space of conflicting objectives done simultaneously that creates a mirage of information which seems true all the time- depending upon who you are and what you are searching in that number maze! The reality, sure enough resides hidden away somewhere around and within that universe of staged appearances and narratives and this is what becomes the foundation for entities to either rise high (when their compelling cause is wise and just and sink deep when they are on a trajectory of self-destruction, already passed the stage of repair! So what’s the sane way to deal with this space and is there anything that you and I can do around this?

Well, the only real and meaningful way to deal with the number and data maze that keeps coming your way endlessly is by being pragmatic and being able to apply what is coming your way to the contexts that mean to you, even as you appreciate the contexts in which they were recorded! You see, like my first example a 100% increase in readership will have meaning and efficacy only when the numbers that go on to reflect that percentage are sizable and meaningful in the ocean of readership data! Sure enough nations, companies and agencies have their pressing compulsions to do what they do with the numbers that the have access to, but the ability to gauge and see what is not been shared, is where your intelligence and prudence comes to play and the more better you get at that bit, the higher are your chances to excel and surge ahead!

When governments, experts and organizations play with numbers to avoid chaos in the society, that is understandable, but when these data points are selectively played out and represented in a manner to benefit a few sometimes and yet few others all the time, things start to get undone and this is where mistrust and gross disregard for any sort of metric begins to manifest! Once this stage is arrived at, even the most well managed aspects of a society can come crashing down. What’s more worrying is the fact that when the big corporate world steps in to create compelling narratives on the bed rock of staged data sets by the governments, it takes the whole society on a joy ride to no real destination and this is what manifests as companies go bust and as markets crash every now and then!

Even as all this is unfolding, it is always worthwhile to remember that, there may or may note be a compelling need to cheat to trick per say, but when an intent to trick is set, things really begin to get awkward and chaotic, eventually the only way that they are controlled is by allowing them to run their race, fizzle out and diminish! No data set or number story has ever been complete or whole and there are good reasons for that to be that way, there are reasons too for stories to go the other way; what really matters is your ability to decipher this fluid nature of numbers and data points and appreciate that no matter how well you control or manage what you do, given the interconnected world that we all are a part of, there is very little real and meaningful control that you can exercise to be sure that numbers will always stand by you or your aspirations!

No matter what you do, and how much power you wield the numbers and data sets that wrap up around you, are the only ones’ that you get to play with and as long as you are alert, prudent and wise with regards to dealing with them, you will be covered! The moment you stretch or flex beyond what is manageable, things will begin to unravel and all the data and numbers that the world need not see, will end up getting spread to create even more challenges even for your tomorrow, than the ones’ you probably face in your now! Every segment of a society will have a contextually valid reason to assert and vouch for the data that drives their narrative and no matter what anyone else says or not, nothing will ever be accepted or paid heed to! The only way to work with numbers and data to ensure they at least seem to be agreeing upon something, is by creating pathways and mid-ways for converging divergent observations and summarize narratives withing permissible and meaningful margins of variance!

Individuals and businesses that are successful and resilient often are so because they have also been able to decode this crucial number game alongside building up and exceling at their competence in what they choose to do! Numbers and data, by themselves are never inaccurate, it is how they are actioned upon and inferred upon that either goes on to make them more potent or a piece of crap!

I leave you with these thoughts here, urging you to practise the pause as and when you immerse into the numbers and the data that comes your way, so that you are able to not only see what is shown but also what is hidden within and not visible at first sight!

Ciao for now, will be back soon with another one soon! Until then stay safe and yes, keep crunching those numbers and data set, but ensure that all what you do stays, relevant, meaningful and directed in the contexts that come wrapped along with them!

As protests become entertainment…

~ Parimal Aluri ~ Leave a comment

As I go in to write this piece the world is in a fluid state, across nations we have segments of the social fabric expressing anguish, disagreement, discord and negation of what has been sent their way! Irrespective of who you are, what you believe or stand for and whichever side you want to take, there is always a limit to what unfolds and as that threshold is crossed the very essence of the reason is lost and every struggle, strife or expression for a cause, ends up being nothing more then pure entertainment! Join me here as we take a trip down this route to understand why and how compelling expressions of humanity end up as entertainment! So here we go!

Through the progress of humanity or should I say as human societies evolved, every step and every chapter has been sprinkled with a generous amount of compelling narrative, thought or an ideological pursuit , either non-aligned, conflicting or competing with the main narrative of the prevailing social construct of the time, this is the essence of the genesis of protests, strife and struggle of humans within the societies that they give unto themselves, it sounds paradoxical and strange, but that is true and is what goes on to make who we are, as we are and wherever we are! The whole concept of protest, non conformity and taking a route to either compete or embrace conflict is all about creating an etched document in the space of time to record a simple fact that- not all were fine with what was unfolding and they did do what they could, the way they did! All seems fine until this space, but then if protests are all about competing o conflicting ideologies or thoughts, why do they get disregarded and brushed away as aberrations and end up being a source of entertainment rather being something meaningful and purpose driven? Read on!

As humanity advanced, alongside it, the way history was documented altered and as more multipronged societies came to exist, the confluence of influences coming into societies soon began to move away from a traditionally rooted way of documenting structured for- against views to multiple, competing and conflicting narratives. Needless to say, the truth has always been and will always continue to be embedded somewhere within and around this ambiguous cloud of human narratives! Based on what the majority of a given social construct happens to be in a context of time, that particular thought, idea will be taken up as being the high moral stand and the gold standard for all that gets done and undone! As times flows by, soon enough the public memory fades, hardships are accepted and dealt with and opulence is celebrated in a never ending party as societies simply shift their view away form what has transpired to what is unfolding and probably will in the times ahead! When protests and compelling narratives are seen through this space of human development and progress, is when you begin to realize that, these incidents are not mere aberrations or something to do with the “now” of a society but rather are a part of a long term attribute displayed and held within the very soul of the society! But then why and how did protests loose their potency?

Like with everything else, as and when there is an excess of something, that technique soon tends to loose its potency either because the execution and deployment begins to get sloppy or the way of tackling them gets better and better- owing to the previous incidents! Either-ways a once proven formula soon ends up being reduced to virtual nothingness and with that the social disposition towards the very essence and concept of a protest begins to fade away and as that happens- the society reaches a state where- what is served becomes the new standard , with no or little room to debate of what else could have been possible- simply because there is no other way around and no people available to show the pathway to that route! There is really no need to jump to a conclusion that, this may not be good for a society or be bad, that all depends on multiple other aspects- which is a totally different matter together! As far as protests loosing their credibility and potency is concerned the reasons are almost always, what I already discussed above and the next important aspect being the contextual relevance of what is being fought for! Unless there is a holistic consensus for an approach and view with a formidable echo, even the best attempts and well laid protests will eventually fade away and tire out as governments begin to play the protesting leaders against themselves and thereby end up creating other more competing and compelling narratives, ending up everyone confused wondering what the whole noise was really about! So how do we ensure that protests don’t loose their potency and remain relevant?

The only real and meaningful way to ensure that protests, strife and expression of competing or conflicting narratives stays relevant is by ensuring that the effort is backed up by a solid contextual understanding of what the matter is and more importantly is deployed and executed only when it really matters and when something can be done about what is being debated! Many a protests and strife take up high moral and utopian stand points which are neither practical nor rational and very often they end up evaporated in their own fog of confusion and day dreaming! Protests need to be timed, executed and deployed in a space where, there is a good enough probability for the counter narrative to be accepted, imbibed and adopted over a current prevailing approach and it is only when this fertile spaces is available that any protests will be able to move towards realizing its objectives and stay aligned to what it has set out to achieve!

Protests that don’t resonate with the thought and expression of the majority will fail and falter and even a whisper that echoes the concern of the many will rumble on to become a deafening roar- this is what the truth of history has been – this is what the rise and fall of empires across civilizations has always been all about- and that continues to be the case with rise and fall of nations across the world in the modern context of our times and lives! As societies get fragmented and torn within and around on different parameters of opportunism, opulence and quality of life- at any given time- some or the other segment will feel the compelling need to raise its expression and make itself felt, heard and healed, but if this is done with an unfocused and ambiguous mind- even the most well planned protest/ strife will end up being only a spectacle which comes up once in a while for one or the other reason and soon enough will end up loosing all its credibility and potency-thereby going to prove all that they were against- to be true- by just one move of retreat and failure!

In our current modern age, when we have so much to consume and ponder about, every meaningless act that arrives in the space of strife or protest, end up becoming the most entertaining space for the whole society- people on either side are kept engaged and glue to the topic, even as the nation, businesses and the people who make the difference and shape the future move on and stay aligned to their true purpose and objectives! Protests become entertaining acts, not because their content, orientation, competing narrative is wrong or misleading (which at times could be the case too!), but also because when the counter attack and new narratives come in to play- already a lot of energy has been lost in creating the chatter and as the space of negotiations and discussions begin to arrive- the twist of modern day media management drives in the final nail in the coffin of a protest to rob it away from it’s very soul- of trust, credibility and unity of purpose! This is how even the most potent and meaningful protests are failed and more often than not when that does happen, it leaves societies even more disillusioned and confused then ever before with the person-to-person trust issues hitting an all time low, like never before!

I leave you with these thoughts for now, just remember, you may be on any side, of an ideological competition or conflict, but only when you are able to decipher the nuances of the ability of the protests being managed or stalled is clear, will you ever know whether you chose the right side or not! Else you too will feel only entertained like the vast majority does and nothing comprehensively new, worth learning will ever get added to your repository of wisdom and intellectual finesse!

Ciao for now, will be back soon with another one, until then stay wise, speak up and stay safe, and yes, always remember, too much of anything will always act as the fatal foundation to conspire your failure! No one built a one storey house with a 100 feet foundation! Think it over!

The real miracle.

~ Parimal Aluri ~ Leave a comment

If you have been wondering what the world has ended up becoming and if you have been wondering if miracles do exist and how does one embrace them; join me here we we take a quick trip down this space and decipher the real essence of miracles and what is that we can do, to harness them and have them within and around us! So here we go!

Each one of us wake up every morning seeking, hoping or praying for a miracle, whether the definition of that miracle is wining that odd lottery, that lucky hand at poker or just being able to survive a day at a crazy workplace or perhaps even plain simple staying alive- whatever that means to you, the fact remains that human lives are an expression of this mad obsession to seek and hold the miracle that one pursues!

Humanity has always been a story of hope and within that space resides the compelling belief for a miracle to break free and manifest to address some pressing challenges, whether they are for an individual or for a collective society. But what are thee miracles really? Why are they so rare and infrequent? Why do they seem to favour a few and disregard the many? Why do they manifest when they do and why do they stay elusive at some other times? Well if you too have been plagued by these questions and others as well, read on as we take a step to understand these “miracles” more aptly!

Based on what it means to you or a society, the miracle could be a factor of either of the two fundamental blocks- they can either be intrinsic or extrinsic and each one of these will almost always have a rational and scientific explanation- which more often than not is either hidden in plain sight or for some reasons (best known to the people who do so)- is just overlooked! Whether it is about that sudden spell of rain (or should I say rain when you were not expecting it – for your lack of knowledge of the weather around you!) or that winning of lottery or game of chance (as you came closer and higher in the probability space) everything that the human mind has attributed to being a “miracle” almost always has been a story of manifestation of efforts whose count has been lost! This is the space where so much of labour has gone in and for so long that when the seed begins to finally emerge from the shadows as a tree laden with fruits- very often in the daily hustle of life we have lost track of that seed and all the fruits coming our way seem to be simply magical and a miracle- the real essence here is that the seed may not have been planted by you- but by someone else- either intentionally or unwittingly- you just end up being there to enjoy the fruits of labour (perhaps connected or not to you!)

When it comes to the bounties of nature and the miracles that happen as we engage with nature- they follow the rule of nature! We expect pleasant weather- where none is possible and end up creating a template around what to expect and not- this even as we know that the whole of modern science of appreciating and deciphering nature has evolved only in the last 300 years and the planet has been here longer than that and as humans we too have evolved through the eons! So when storms dissipate, we are thankful, when we sense that earthquake – we are on the edge and as we get to tame the waves, note the rain and decipher the snow around us- we begin to read the cryptic messages of nature and in no time- miracles seem to dwindle away as regular occurrences and it is then left to only a handful rarest of the rare weather manifestations which are left to qualify for being a miracle and more often then not these are a direct impact of a localized geographical phenomenon which binds the elements of nature in a strange manner!

Miracles are nothing more or nothing less, but the last remaining frontiers of time and space for which the rational thought and explanation is yet to arrive! However when it comes to the intrinsic space, the real miracle has been very accurately identified and deciphered- that space of the miracle is really who you are! The real miracle is you! Each one of us are a living example and an unfailing citation of being a miracle- by simply being who we are and what we are- whether that helps us to pursue what we strive for is a different story- but the fact remains that each one of us is a miracle unto ourselves and that is the real essence of humanity! This is what makes the world what it is- a diverse, complex and yet unifying mix of pursuits and passion which help us propel human societies a step ahead from where they were earlier! Then why is it that there is so much strife and struggle?

Well, the strife and struggle emerges as we begin to pursue and seek what is not meant for us – not because we can’t or we shouldn’t, simply because that is not what is meant for us to seek! Ships look grand in the harbour and aeroplanes look beautiful by the hangars, but that is not where they are meant to be! This is what is applicable to us as well, we may be good perhaps, too good being what we are, doing what we do, but the million dollar question is, whether that is what we are supposed to be doing? If you have ever wondered, why nothing miraculous has ever come your way, perhaps the answer resides in this space, your pursuits are in the wrong direction and perhaps for the wrong intent! Miracles will emerge only once you align yourself, your life and pursuits to do what you are meant to do and for you or me to understand and decipher that code- could be a day’s job or at times a lifelong pursuit that comes calling only when we have perhaps few extra months or hours to spare! This is the essence of relation that humanity has with miracles and perhaps that is what makes them seemingly so rare and elusive- as a large chunk of humanity keeps pursuing what is not meant for them, they simply keep moving farther and farther away from realizing their true potential to touch and experience the miracle that they are entitled to and this is what makes miracles seem so unrealistic and elusive!

The miracles are as real as your efforts, intent and pursuits are in the right direction and if there is any real meaningful miracle- that is about being able to find that right direction, at the right time and in a right way- for unless this happens- everything that is about to manifest- gets either vibrant and enduring or tends to get complicated and ambiguous- however in either of those scenarios- there will be a strong prevailing case for the onset of the miracle with a different timeline as far as the enduring value that it will bring along with it!

Miracles are only as real as your ability to decipher and behold them, timing is of essential value and alongside that unless the miracle doesn’t serve the greater good- rest assured it will lie buried or at it’s very best manifest as some half-done job by a great master!

Do take some time off and do ponder around the miracle that has come your way- if nothing has ever come your way- chances are- you- yourself perhaps are the miracle manifesting in the lives of the people around you- simply by doing what you do!

Ciao for now, will be back soon, until then stay safe and stay wise- yes miracles are real- as real as your ability to dream, behold and manifest them!

STOP THE STEAL.

~ Parimal Aluri ~ Leave a comment

Every moment of your life, you are being robbed off something and at times unwittingly you are the one stealing away something from someone, even as the same courtesy is being extended to you! Join me on this short journey, to understand why it is so important to “STOP THE STEAL” and what really is at stake for all of us, individually and collectively as a society or a nation! So here we go!

Perhaps the most recent example of a collective voice urging to “Stop the Steal” was witnessed during the US elections! The question is not about whether did something really happen or not, but the very element that, questions were raised and there were fleeting shadows ( I say so, because nothing ever got meaningfully converted to evidence- at least in front of the beholders of law!) is an uncomfortable place to be in to begin with! The very thought that the voice of people and the expression of a choice of people can be suppressed or manipulated- proven or not- is enough to create a strong divisive line which even time finds difficult to heal- simply because with the slightest wind of tough times, the coverings and overalls that tend to cover these divisions get blown away and society remains exposed and vulnerable to fare more grave intrinsic dangers which can be manipulated and worked upon by people who want to see it align to one side ort the other! The grave danger here is that as the voice of the people and the ability of the people to make choices and see them manifest gets stolen, people are pushed to the wall only to further intensify their disbelief and mistrust and societies continue to struggle to arrive at workable mid-way and with the slightest nudge often always end up rushing to the either walls of extreme ideas- thereby manifesting everything that is simply undesirable- all of this for one simple reason- Stolen voices, stolen choices and stolen expression- whether true or not- even if that remains a matter of debate- the manifestation irrespective of the fact- is something real and there to be dealt with!

If you are starting to think, this “steal” happens only in the political theatre, think again! The big world of glass-clad corporate houses are no different, the only real difference being, the steal here takes place is hushed voices, quiet whispers and subtle nudges which more often then not get overlooked, misread, lost in the chaos of the daily work and at times missed altogether as they are superbly camouflaged to manifest as something which they never are! The result;- Furthering of Incompetence at all levels that you can imagine! I am sure you would have heard stories of good people leaving great companies to start something of their own- take a pause and reflect upon this- what does it say- sure enough, they would have had an entrepreneurial opportunity- but what does this say of the big firm that they had to move out of- a case whether ideas were being stolen- either by suppression or by hijack!? If you were to argue that people need to be wise, smart and on their toes as they wander into the corporate world- I would readily agree to your point, but how does that justify the whole concept of allowing the “steal” to go on? It is like saying, you follow the traffic rules and yet I will crash into you- just to check you driving skills!

The process of steal also goes on even on the very intrinsic or should I say personal levels that you can imagine! Those lost opportunities with regards to your business or work, because your family would not allow you to take it up, that saying “no” to a firm simply because you had a ideological difference high enough to be scaled, every aspect of our lives- is about trying to save ourselves from being stolen off something and ensuring we don’t end up stealing something- that deprives someone else of something that is so relevant and contextually important for the other person! So what does all this really signify and what is that we can do about it? What’s the way ahead?

Whether it is a nation that you want to save from a pertinent steal, or your own life- it all begins by pivoting on a strong foundation of empowering thoughts ramped up by equally empowering action! The key word here in “empowering”! When people begin to think and act (whether as individuals or collectively as a society) with an empowered mindset- they are free from acquired and perceived prejudice and dispositions, there by ensuring that whatever they think or want to act upon is almost always based, not on what is sold to them or what they “perceive”, but rather is more aligned to what their intellectual assessment is and what common-sense and rational thinking denotes! Seems, simple but is a tall order, as we live in n age of deception and in an age of competing and conflicting narratives! We live in times, when all that we see, can be an elaborate hoax and what we experience can be a continuing hallucination! So how do we really make a wise judgement to stay empowered through our thoughts and action to stop the steal?

Alongside empowerment, what you also need is an innate ability to decipher and slice through the fog of what comes your way- minute to minute- sure enough can be very tiring and that is what it is! A fatigued mind often ends up allowing the trojans to flow in and that’s why the next time when you really see some meaningful stuff coming your way, instead of trusting and gong ahead with it, you end up perhaps stalling it and thereby ending up creating more challenges then solving the ones that are already present! The real trick here is not to mistrust everything that comes your way or to trust all that comes your way- but take a incident by incident approach to all that comes your way and practise the pause before you hit that button so that you know- in that extra second that you earned for yourself- your mind was applied as it should have been- to discern based on what was presented and not owing to some prejudice or pre-meditated disposition!

The real way to “STOP THE STEAL” is to stay ever vigilant and guard what you cherish and value- as an individual, as a society or a nation on an ongoing basis- it is only when your alert mind becomes natural and stays untiring and formidable- even as it sieves rapidly through one scenario to the next on an ongoing basis. Seems, a tall order, a challenge, sure it is- but what is the price that you are ready to pay- for allowing a teal to happen? This is the million dollar question! What good is all your empowerment and intellect if you have your opportunities stolen away and what good is your ability to unravel complexities and challenges if you can’t guard your own intrinsic fort of cherished values and non-negotiable attributes which go on to define who you are as an individual and a society or a nation!

The practical truth though remains, that human mind- being fragile as it is- will fail and falter and the steal will occur now or later- big or small- irrespective of how vigilant you are or not- the real metric here to validate is not about if and when you got stolen- it is about what got stolen and how soon or well can you get it back- unless that is nit done- you will keep getting ripped off from time to time, by politicians, co-workers and people around you! Unless you don’t learn what you hold valuable around and within you- you are an open vault, waiting to be stolen! Guard what you cherish and value and if it’s that important- it must be valuable!

I leave you with these thoughts for now, take some time and do make a plan to ensure you can stall the steal coming your way and ensuring you don’t end up being a part of some orchestrated outfit that is unwittingly stealing away the future by conspiring with the low-lives today!

Ciao for now, will be back soon with another one! Until then stay safe, stay guarded and if it’s that valuable and cherish-able- do what you must to “STOP THE STEAL”!

Transformation through Change.

~ Parimal Aluri ~ Leave a comment

Change becomes empowering when you agree to transform as it ushers in and each time you try to hold on to a status quo- whatever that may be- you will almost always struggle with change and subsequently with the compelled transformation! Join me as we take a look through this space and understand what really is unfolding here!

Even as we know for sure that change is the only certainty and it is an ongoing basis, the mind tricks us enough to view it from a point of disbelief, insecurity or fear- which at times is nothing more than the hallucinatory powerplay played upon you by your overthinking mind! Sure enough, there are times and episodes when these fears and anxieties may turn out to be true, but going about your life fearing what is perceived and exhibiting disregard to what really persists, is a grave miscalculation! Most of us end up living a life that we behold simply because we see the process of transformation induced by change as two separate things and that is where the real essence of our pivot to success resides!

Leaders, Humanists and masters of the science of human behaviour have written, spoken, discussed and debated about the aspect of change and its ramifications on humans- both as Individuals and collectively as societies many a times. They have done so by applying different contexts and viewing lenses- if you may say so- but a singular fact across all studies and all scientific and value based deciphering of the concept of change is the fact that change is inevitable! It will happen- sooner or later- whether you like it or not- it will and the path too is pre-determines- the only thing that you and I can control or determine is the intensity with which it embraces us or we embrace it- whatever way you want to take that and this only is possible when you are ready to be transformed and ride the crest of the wave that change ushers in!

You would have heard the phrase very often, “Being in the right time, at the right place and with the right people”, now think around this sentence as the crest of the wave of the oncoming change! Makes sense? Well, this is why leaders who lead and set course for societies- either as politicians or the business tycoons- are almost always ready and prepared for what’s heading their way- at times it seems too real to believe- but we have seen and observed that all around us all the time! Remember- how property rates alongside a forgotten country side suddenly began to rise and by the time you woke up to make a decision all was sold out and some “known firms” have already captured all the golden assets!, do you recall people investing in a particular way, simply to be benefitted by a federal policy a few months down the line! Likewise there could be hundreds of examples around you, which seem stranger then fiction, but are present in front of you in the form of great successful business or public icons! This is how transformation manifests when it aligns it to change in the real world in real time- whether that is about businesses, political dexterity or about Individual smartness- all of these fall in this same confined space of being alert, agile and prepared for what’s heading their way!

You see, unless you aren’t ready to transform as a response to the change coming your way- you will be a furniture! Whether you transform to benefit and propel yourself ahead pivoting on the changing contexts and truths around you or whether you decide to take up an endless battle with what’s coming your way, only to defeat yourself and tire yourself fighting nothing, is a choice that every Individual and every society has to make. there is nothing right and wrong about change, simply because it depends on what the contexts mean to whom- a boom in financial markets may be a great asset to the white collared community, but what happens on the Wall street, may mean nothing to someone managing a ranch in Texas! Contextual reality is equally important and hence even for the transformation to begin- whatever way you plan to deal with change- you first need to have a fundamental and basic understanding and awareness of what is that you stand for, what your story is and will be al about and what is that you are going to do about it!

It all begins from the space of Intrinsic and Unique attributes, values and dreams that an Individual has and when empowered Individuals come together, you have a society which is fluid and empowered to embrace whatever change comes it’s way and take it in its stride- Observe around and you will notice, societies which have had a stronger and higher record of resilience to hardships, strife and struggle have faced the pandemic of the bygone year with more relative success then those who have almost always believed to be organized, clinical and measured! Well sure enough, there could be more reasons too, but, humanity through evolution has had one trick up its sleeve all the time, that trick is about- being able to stay in a state of alert especially when life has not been an easy one and this is why societies which have been edgy, have shown more promptness and did what they weer told, simply following the need for human survival! In this space of stressed and fragile societies, there is no space for television debates and intellectual arguments for or against any development of oncoming change- there is only one response to do what it takes to survive!

Change becomes unforgiving and punishing once you decide not to transform! It doesn’t matter whether you want to align along it or against it or take some other position, but you will need to take a call, you simply can’t not do anything and stay inert or passive! You simply don’t have the choice to freeze in time and rescue yourself- you will have to do something and that something whatever you choose is almost always a process of transformation- simply because you are doing it as a response to the stimulus and triggers being sent to you by the oncoming change!

However an important aspect about transforming through change remains to be the intrinsic foundations on which you stand as an Individual or collectively as a society. More often than not, how you will respond to change is encoded in your genetic fingerprint! You will either have a natural affinity for it or a natural dislike and based on this attribute, each time you will either be eagerly waiting for it or praying for it not to occur- the real magic happens somewhere between those extremes, because only when change takes you by surprise is that it will put your intellectual competence to test and thereby based on your approach to change, either you will scale high and fast or retreat and defend with a proportional intensity and the reason for the first case will be to transform and make good of an opportunity and the second case will be about surviving for now and living another day to make the right amends! Our lives are actually a mix of these two in different proportions, the more enabling and empowering change we get to live through, our lives are enriched that better, the more stalling change that we come across, our lives end up becoming that much more challenging and inspiring should I say!

The only real and meaningful way to embrace change is to have a fundamental willingness to transform and transform through change in a way aligned to your Intrinsic ethos of who you are, what you stand for, what your journey is and where you want to reach! Whether you are a society or an Individual, as long as you embrace change as an instrument to transform, you will be rewarded with or without strife and struggle- depending on what the other elements of your story are!

Always remember, change is the only real currency for your future, and it all depends on how well you spend it by starting your transformation journey today!

Ciao for now, stay safe, stay wise, will be back soon with another one!

Are you lost in your wonderland?

~ Parimal Aluri ~ Leave a comment

As you go about your busy lives, what is that you are actually engaged in? Are you by any chance a victim of being lost in your own wonderland? Join me here as we take a short walk in this interesting space and try to understand why a major part of humanity almost always ends up living a life entrapped in their own perceptions and hallucinations and what is that we can do about this to break free of these limiting shackles and propel ahead! So here we go!

No matter where you have grown up, all of us have some or the other time read about, “Alice in Wonderland”- that sublime story of adventures of a young girl – something that even to this day brings a smile to any face- just by thinking about it- perhaps one of the most potent examples of great writing and story telling! Coming back to the real world, each one of us too, are entrapped into this “wonderland concept”. You see, you and I included all of us end up living our lives in our small or big wonderland- ever checking into something new, getting excited with something that goes as we plan and getting sad when things don’t measure up as we expect them to- well nothing to complaint about this, because this how human life is supposed to be- the regular journey between achievements and near misses! But the important aspect that we tend to miss is that, we almost always end up limiting our lives within our own found wonderlands!

Now if you have started to wonder about, what kind of wonderlands I am speaking about here, well yes, these are made up of all the perceptions, hallucinations and unfound realities that you tend to stay engaged with on an ongoing basis! What’s more funny is that, often people end up living their full lives running after their limited pursuits confined within their wonderland. So what is really happening here? Well, people are more often then not tricked by their minds and sold into believing what they think with regards to their view and approach is just fine and this is where the “wonderland effect” commences! You see, unless the mind has a ceaseless ability to question, enquire and re-validate whats around and what is being observed on an ongoing basis, people end up calibrating themselves to some metric or standard, which may or may not be relevant and thereby begin to set all their pursuits against this flawed calibration of their own abilities and competencies!

The wonderland effect is operational all around us, all the time, it goes by how we define our life, our approach and what we set out to achieve, the only problem here is that as we succumb to this effect and we tend to forego what we can be really capable of and end up short serving ourselves and others around! You see when you begin to get comfortable with all that is around you- whether it be that job or business you are engaged in, that apartment that you stay in or any other facet for the matter- you are actually ending up short serving yourself- if you tend to say quite often , “I would do this, if only…” for all that is around you! You see the wonderland effect, is all about getting lost into the maze that you have created around you by accumulating unwarranted clutter of people and things- which don’t serve you in any manner and on the contrary tend to drain you to the last drop of sanity that you are left with!

Your wonderland, rather each of our’s wonderland is a reflection of the horizon of our minds where it limits ourselves! This is the zone wherein we become comfortable about who we are, what we can achieve and how we are set on the path of our journey, the reality, sure enough is something altogether different, the reality is all about, going beyond and further then what is apparent and this is exactly why the wonderful effect is so dangerous and damaging- it holds your mind captive to its own imagination! Human minds, are almost always limited by their ability to think and that thinking is limited by the wonderland that we end up gifting ourselves, which, of course again is a product of our thinking, with a touch of our life’s learnings and experiences! If you have observed, I have not said, what is the right way, or the wrong way around this space, simply because there is none and that is what is so wonderful about humanity! It is only when people begin to accept the realities of their wonderland over the truth of their existence and ability, is that problems begin to manifest!

These wonderlands can be a thousand different things to a thousand people and more often then not the hallmark of the wonderlands stems from the foundation of insecurity, missed opportunities and mediocre acceptance before giving a worthy enough fight and attempt! You see, if you take a step back and try to rethink just around who you are, what you could have or can be and what you are currently doing, you will know the essence of what I am saying here! Sure enough there is nothing to sulk, complain or stay pessimistic about whatever life you have chosen or what has come your way- in the case where life ends up choosing you; the million dollar question is, whether you have the realization of the fact that, the life that you have given unto yourself is a sliver of what it actually could be and can be, simply because you are entrapped within your wonderland! So what’s the real story?

Well, as you stay locked into your own self-propagated wonderland, you will run a risk of not achieving what your true potential is, because that always will reside beyond the confines of your wonderland! This is the reason why you find so many people lost and confused each time whether they don’t get that promotion that they desired or when their business does not proceed the way they thought it would! People often end up living a confused life confined by their wonderland, never ever realizing what their real potential is or could have been and only if, they would have taken that one step to move beyond that comfort and predictable zones of their lives- which gives them an enduring sense of surety and safety- both of which are an enduring illusion which melt away as soon as the first major crisis emerges!

How big or small that entrapping wonderland is well largely depends on who and what you are, but more often than not it is proportional to the fears, anxiety and self-doubt and inversely proportional to the intrinsic wisdom and courage that a person may hold! So what’s the ahead?

Well, the only and perhaps the only meaningful way ahead is all about being able to know your wonderland, live through it and while doing so, stay ever aware about the greater world that resides beyond it’s entrapment! It is about developing enough intrinsic courage and leading yourself when the time is apt to move beyond and away form your wonderland to create a new reality for yourself and those around you! Enduring success becomes a lifestyle when you begin to make your wonderland a place of recreation and ensure that you come to visit it once in a while and don’t get trapped within it’s convenient and appealing comforts! The real essence of creating a meaningful life almost always resides beyond your wonderland , unless you are Alice!

I leave you with these thoughts for now, will be back soon with another one, until then stay safe, stay wise and get going for your real life beyond your wonderland!

Ciao, take care!