Can we transmute "Pain" to a "Purpose"?

How often have you said it loud that" I am in pain, this situation has created so much of pain and grief, it just pains me when I remember the past, I wish that I never went through the pain" etc. 

We all have gone through our share of pain, agony and grief. Interestingly, we often remember these situation(s), it's negative effect, the people who seem to be responsible or inflicted (most time this irks the most) the situation and so on. 

It becomes a never ending cycle and we keep remembering them/situation once in a while, sometimes very deeply and at times just a glimpse. This continues and burst of emotions in spurts distracts us until we want to put this to rest. The way out is - "Transmuting Pain in to a Purpose"

Situation 1

"I helped my good friend at his/her time of need, stood beside to ensure that he/she feel comfortable. Now that all is well, my friend does not even remember me."

Option 1 - Pain inflicting mode on

• Keep mourning about it, feel low, curse your friend, curse yourself as to why you did so blah blah and blah...

Option 2 - Purpose mode on

• You are a person who loves to stand by a loved one at times of distress. Give yourself kudos. Not many think that way.
• You learnt to tackle or understand the situation that your friend faced, you grew in terms of experience.
• You acted with empathy and integrity, just remove the expectation part from it
• Identify opportunities (people, organizations, teams) that need your time, value your knowledge, look for your support to step up and solve their problems

Key - "Delete" the "Expectation in Return" button

Situation 2

"I loved someone dearly. The love, affection and relationship is key to me. The person moves on and I feel dejected. I start to feel miserable and wonder why me?"

Tough one here - as your heart is broken

Option 1 - Pain inflicting mode on

• Keep thinking what might have gone wrong, what you might have said or done that could have irked them
• Self pity and dejected feeling
• Keep talking about why me and feel low

Option 2 - Purpose mode on

• You cherish the relationship that you had, you try and have tried to build the bridge and keep the relationship strong
• Accept that relationships cannot be unidirectional
• Accept that they are individuals, have a life and their priorities
• Invest your energy, love and affection on something that you truly love to do, which makes your soul happy
• Keep your doors open and heart welcoming if the "cows turn home"

Key - Always "love un-conditionally with healthy boundaries"

Situation 3

"I am smart, sincere, working hard and deserve the best. I see others are not doing a great job as I do, yet they are recognized. I don't have a way to move up and I am just not on anyone's radar" - professionals will reckon this

Option 1 - Pain inflicting mode on

• Keep getting upset about why you did not get what you thought
• Be sad about others who are getting recognized
• Keep comparing yourself with others and feel miserable
• Why your organization does not consider you

Many more such emotions will run through

Option 2 - Purpose mode on

• Acknowledge and give yourself kudos for the sincerity and hard work you do
• Appreciate your work ethics and commitment that you show
• Identify areas that you may want to improve and learn from your mistakes (as may be)
• Check on how you have progressed and improved, lessons you have learnt and experience gained during the journey
• Always remember there will be someone who will acknowledge your true value. This not your final destination
• Never let your attitude and ethics goes down - come what be. This is what you carry forward

Key - Your attitude, work ethics and integrity matters the most

There can be several such scenarios with curve balls. Before you choose a path/mode ask yourself

1. What has happened?

2. Can or could I have controlled this? If 'Yes', act

3. What lessons did the situation teach me?

4. How could I think or do things differently

These are just ways to think differently and ways to transmute pain into a purpose. 

“The person without a purpose is like a ship without a rudder.” ―Thomas Carlyle

Is poverty a factor of population? Are we digging a deep grave?

When you hear the word "Poverty", the first images that cross your eyes are possibly, people with limited to no food, no shelter or a broken/make shift so called home, wearing torn or battered clothes etc.

This picture is certainly painful to see and yet in this 21st century many parts of this world has people living in these extreme poor conditions. The disparity between ultra rich and poor has only increased.

Did we ever think what could be driving this? Is there a solution to bridge this gap?

Our world has been adding anywhere between 80 to 85 million individuals (check this interesting web-page - World Population Clock). This means every 10 - 12 odd years we shall be adding a billion mouths to this world.

An interesting view

Courtesy: -  https://www.worldometers.info/world-population/

A few things will still remain finite (from a total availability perspective) like land mass, natural resources (minerals, water, forest cover, etc.). Unfortunately many of these are depleting at a much faster rate than ever before.

If the above is the reality,

1. Will we have enough for everyone to eat?
2. Will we have enough space for everyone to stay?
3. What is that year or period in time, when we will have nothing more to consume (natural resources)?

Tough questions and may haunt us just thinking about that day

Population boom and increase has been a way to create more demand for goods and services, leading to economic growth. However the same population is also creating a grave situation (has already created) in the future.

I will try and share my views via this representative ultra simplified example

Let's assume there are three four bands in the population based on wealth. Numbers are all just a representation to elaborate

Let's also assume an average family size at each of these bands (as illustrated in the table below). One can clearly see the gap in what an average family member has got to spend.

Assuming a population growth of 2% a year across the band (which typically is not the case). The reality is bottom bands growth rate is higher. I am also assuming an income growth of 5% a year across the bands.

What we observe from the above at a high level are:

1. The growth in resources available for individuals in the higher bands is significantly higher

2. Population will grow faster (growth rate) in the lower bands

3. Disparity will only grow bigger with time

The interesting dichotomy of this situation is Poverty will drive Population and then the same will increase poverty. Typically the thought is that more earning members will mean more income (hoping to alleviate poverty) , but then the million dollar question is what will be that income like? 

Without resources like nutritious food, medicines, education to support, etc. the vision to earn and live better becomes a mirage.

The above is only a simplified illustration but the real problem is looming and is waiting to explode.

We may like it or not, but some serious thought and soul searching needs to be done. It is a sensitive topic but it can be a ticking time bomb waiting to explode.

Would love to hear what my friends think.

A new world in many ways - transformations post COVID pandemic

COVID-19 is not the first pandemic that the world has witnessed in the recent times. What makes this different and possibly the first ever are:

1. The spread of this infection has gripped more than 150 countries, rich or poor

2. Economies of all countries coming to a near grinding halt or severely getting impacted

3. Billions of people around the globe being locked up in their homes to reduce the spread and break the chain. India a country of 1.3 billion being locked for more than 40 days now

4. Exposed the healthcare system of many advanced economies which were not prepared for this invisible enemy

5. Aviation, railways, road transportation of all major countries were operating at around 10-15% of their capacity (movement of essential goods). Rest all were grounded.

There are many more. 

What will change beyond this? What can be it's impact (if any)? How will industries, companies and economies cope up?

I have been thinking, observing some of the "New Normal" over the last 40 plus days and wanted to share my thoughts with all.

Manufacturing and logistics sector:

A large part of global manufacturing was moved to China during last 2 decades in order to cut cost and achieve economies of scale. This created a huge dependence on this country. Any disruption like this pandemic has exposed the whole supply chain.

JIT and lean manufacturing has also exposed stock out situations of even essential goods and many critical items.

With interstate or inter-continental transportation hit hard, strategies on last mile logistics has become an absolute must. How to supply goods and service to the millions of citizen and keep the lifeline going will be a question to ask?

1. Alternate sources will now be scouted and there will certainly be some focus on this

2. Near shore manufacturing will be encouraged and being self reliant may become the need for future

3. Local manufacturing and distribution will be another area which may make a comeback

4. More emphasis will be given to app based/on-demand delivery/logistics which is more predictable delivery timelines with possibly being near sourced

5. Last mile delivery and logistics solution will be in demand and employment opportunities will grow

Will this happen overnight? No. Will some of this happen in some countries? Absolutely.

Banking and Information Technology sector:

The banking sector for a while has been going digital and need for cash, meeting a banker, visiting a branch are slowly getting diminished.

The lockdown just reinforced this more and we will see this trend continuing and becoming more virtual. Just think, when did many of us visit a bank to get something done?

Information technology sector has had a mix of working from home and working from office for a while now. In India, this was more skewed (working from office was the norm). 

1. Digital payments and online/app based banking will be promoted and will only become more prevalent

2. Cashless and contact less transactions will be more acceptable

3. Working remotely for IT professional will become a new way of life. Companies will not invest in office spaces and employees may visit office on a need basis or by rotation

4. Telecom and communication businesses and enablers will find new way to foster collaboration, find innovation to help users work and perform even at lower bandwidth

5. Higher internet bandwidth and need for this will grow

 

Transportation, Hospitality, Automotive and Aviation sector:

This sector has taken a big beating and is wiping out jobs across the globe. There may be some significant changes to these sectors and business models may change

1. Business travel will sharply decrease as remote/virtual meetings have been working fairly well. This is also able to save a lot of cost

2. Passenger volume of airlines which banked on business travelers will now see lower numbers

3. There may be a need to innovate and think of how passengers can safely travel in the skies compacted in a vessel

4. Hospitality industry will see a lull for a while and will see growth once people feel safe to travel and want to spend on vacations. Job losses across the sectors will only make it worse

5. Rental and app based transportation will see a slowdown as people may feel uncomfortable to use them for obvious reasons. This model will stay as new normal in terms of person conduct is defined. Some changes will certainly need to be enforced from a safety perspective

6. There may be an increase in operations of personal vehicles, but this will be countered based on less number of people needing to travel and go to work

Healthcare sector:

This sector has witnessed different challenges with growing and aging population, increasing cost of service,  lack of 'Qualified' professionals etc. This pandemic has brought in a different challenge for them

1. How to save more lives with limited resources

2. How to protect oneself while serving others

3. What protocols need to be altered in case of more deadly contagious diseases surface in the future (if that happens)

and many more

What this sector may see are

1. Balancing between telemedicine and out patient services

2. Advanced diagnostics and testing mechanism that a patient can do from home instead of coming to a clinic

3. Management of sick and potentially sick patients when they visit a hospital or clinic

4. How to quickly change the configuration of a fixed capacity hospital based on the need for certain services e.g. creating ICUs, isolation rooms, operation theaters etc.

5. How to ensure consistent supply of essential equipment, protective kits, etc. in case of any disruptions

6. Ability to scale man-power and staff in case of a disaster

Education sector:

This sector will innovate and transform the most

1. Schools and colleges will possibly promote remote/video conferencing to teach students

2. Self learning sessions will be given a boost

3. Students now can choose the school from their home and not need to be in that city anymore

4. Cost of education may also go down as infrastructure in large cities where schools and colleges spend a lot of money building large campuses

Whether the above will hold good or all will be back to how it was in 2019, only time and the length of this pandemic will tell.

What this crisis has certainly taught all of us is 

1. Being more compassionate to each other

2. Being able to live within limited resources and movement for a longer period of time

3. Acknowledging the need to put more thrust in healthcare systems and personal hygiene

Would like to hear comments and thoughts from all who took the time to read through this long post.

Lets create a better and healthier tomorrow

It is all about - FOCUS

Everyone around talks about the need to 'FOCUS' in what one does, be it your boss, be it your subordinates, parents to their kids etc. All we hear is to focus, focus and focus.

The key here is to understand what does it actually mean when someone tells to 'Focus'? Why is it important to focus?

I am sure it is a simple 5 letter words and most of us know the literal meaning of the same. One of the meaning that Merriam-Webster explains is 'directed attention'. Here is my attempt to expand these 5 letters and see if this can make it simpler to interpret or complicate it

F - Firm Determination/Mind

When you want to achieve or get something done, the key is to make your mind up. Determination to get to the goal is an absolute must. Without this, your pursuit to get into the known or unknown starts with a weak foot.

O - Operate with Obstacles

Roadblocks or challenges will be there. They are a part of learning and trying to get to one's objective.
The key is to ensure that one does not give up with upcoming challenges and be prepared to handle them. You can only do things well when you have accepted the challenge and only work towards the final goal.

C - Creativity

There are 'n' ways to reach a goal. Everyone follows their own instinct and known paths to meet the objective. As work becomes mundane and one still needs to complete the same, the best way to keep going is to bring in one's creativity and find an optimal / efficient way to achieve it.


U - Unleashing your past

We all have done work in one way or the other. However every organization, group, project, stakeholder can be a bit different. Their expectations can differ. Sometimes our past experiences and way we perceive things become our biggest challenge in getting things done effectively.

S - Sense of time

You can get things done within a finite or an infinite time frame. The key for someone to be successful and be effective is to align with a sense of time/urgency. Time is of the essence when something was supposed to be completed yesterday.
This does not mean that you compromise with quality.


Why is it important to FOCUS on any activity assigned? 

It is one thing to do your work and a completely other thing to get things done right. 
When you focus, your work speaks for itself, you learn more and your quality is impeccable.

“Concentrate all your thoughts upon the work at hand. The sun’s rays do not burn until brought to a focus.” - Alexander Graham Bell