-| Wanting |- 

People don’t change - unless they want to.

Humans are unique in their ability to willingly change. We can change our attitude, our appearance and our skillset.

But only when we want to.

The hard part, then, isn’t the changing it.

It’s the wanting it.

-| Priorities |-


It’s comforting to use someone else’s priorities to guide our work. It lets us off the hook.

But the only way to do our best work is to realize that part of what it means to do our work is to own the priorities as well.

My boat, my compass. 

My Priorities. 

-| Connection economy |- 


The connection economy is built on ecosystems, and they depend on partnerships.
1. Don't change the rules.
2. If you have to change the rules, tell your partners in advance.
3. And even if you can't do #2, at least tell them the new rules.

Trust is precious and easily wasted, and guessing is a lousy foundation for future progress.

-| Words that matter |- 


Discipline, rigor, patience, self-control, dignity, respect, knowledge, curiosity, wisdom, ethics, honor, empathy, resilience, honesty, long-term, possibility, bravery, kindness and awareness.

All of these are real skills, soft skills, learnable skills.

But if they’re skills, that means that they are decisions. A choice we get to make. Even if it’s not easy or satisfying in the short term.

These skills are in short supply sometimes, which makes them even more valuable.

-| Rainbow |-

Late July. Onset of rains.

The blackest cloud I have ever seen squatted over Ooty and then it hailed pebbles for half an hour. Nothing like a good rainshower to clear the sky. Even as I type, I see a rainbow forming! 

-| Only Connect |-

With sudden unexpected showers in Melbourne, I decided to wait it out by ducking in a bookstore. I was engrossed in watching the world pass by when I read the line of two words 'Only Connect - EM Forster' 

As in life, so in art - only connect. The heart of the matter is often uncomplicated. Nor do we need so many words to get to it or share it. My theory of sketching and design is that the conception should be as clear as possible and that details should flow as a clear stream of water. You will of course encounter boulders but you will learn to go over them, around them so as not to impede the flow. If your stream gets too muddy or sluggish, it is better to put aside that piece of sketch / detail. Go to the source, go to the spring where the water is purest, your thoughts as clear as the mountain air; where there is no struggle. 

-| People |-

Quarreled with N and later felt foolish and made up. When will I learn that life is not a novel? Life does not have an organization of the novel. People are not characters in a play, they refuse to conform to the boundaries of the plot or our desires or our needs. 

We have to accept people as they are if we want to live with them or have them in our lives. We cant really change people. Only a chameleon can change a colour as per his environment, and that too only to deceive.