My lovely wife and I just got back from the 10 day Vipassana meditation course. If you haven’t done it I recommend that you get yourself to one as soon as you can humanly manage.
Now, my experiences from the course would require a separate post altogether, but I want to share one thing first. I got it very clearly that I am gonna be an entrepreneur through my life. Be sure to see my definition of an entrepreneur before continuing (also included at the end of this post).
On the day 9 of the course, I saw a quote on the message board in the food hall that had me bring together the entire meaning of my life. Participants aren’t allowed to write anything down or take notes during the course, but I decided to break this rule once and wrote it down on the only thing that I had with me, a paper napkin. 
Manav ka jivan mila, Dharm mila anmol |
Ab Shraddha se yatn se, man ki gaanthein khol ||
Translation:
Got the human life, got the priceless dharma |
Now with faith and effort, untie the bonds of mind ||
As I had my food, I realized this is it! My reason for being an entrepreneur and my whole philosophy of life just unraveled in front of me. In the following hours, I thought more and more about this and decided to concisely sum up my whole philosophy in one quote.
Manav ka jivan mila, waqt mila anmol |
Ab shraddha, yatn aur gyan se, sansaar main ras ghol ||
Translation:
Got the human life, Got the priceless time |
Now with faith, effort and knowledge, add value to the world ||
Manav ka Jivan mila: Many Hindus believe in the reincarnation and that a soul can take any life form. Being born as a human is considered extremely rare and an immense honor & opportunity. Now even if you don’t believe in reincarnation, we can agree that being human gives us an edge over all other forms of life on earth. I realized this is the only life I got and the only opportunity to make my mark on the world. Just being born as a human being is a great privilege and it would be a damn shame if I don’t make the best use of it.
Waqt mila anmol: Those who know me well have heard this before. Human race has never seen the time like we are seeing now. The level of prosperity, technology and peace we have around us (at least most of us don’t live under a constant threat of war and famine) has never been seen in the human history before. For a decent proportion of humanity opportunities for gaining education, skill development, climbing the socio-economic ladder and making a huge impact on the world are unlike the human race has ever seen in the past. Of course, there is a lot that still needs to be done, but I am clear that I am among the most fortunate people in the world who have all of this is available for taking. So, the only limiting factor in what I can achieve is me and my mindset. Who knows what may or may not happen in the future, the situation may get even better or may start to deteriorate. But we can always work towards building a better one.
Through the ages different sets of activities have been the path to glory. For a majority of the time the humans have existed, being a great warrior was that path and many walked on it. I love this clip from the movie Troy where Achilles, already a great warrior, is deciding whether to go to war or not. He hates the king on whose behalf he would need to fight. So, he goes to his mother for advice. She said:
“If you stay in Larissa, you will find peace. You will find a wonderful woman, and you will have sons and daughters, who will have children. And they’ll all love you and remember your name. But when your children are dead, and their children after them, your name will be forgotten… If you go to Troy, glory will be yours. They will write stories about your victories in thousands of years! And the world will remember your name. But if you go to Troy, you will never come back… for your glory walks hand-in-hand with your doom. And I shall never see you again.”
Thankfully, we don’t live in those times. One of the major ways to glory, making a mark in the world now is entrepreneurship and unlike the warriors of the past, what brings glory now also opens the door to creating an awesome life.
If I stay in my comfort zone, I will have the regular salary, a set of tasks that will be within my regular skillset, a predictable career path, little stress as I am not regularly trying to do stuff way outside my area of expertise and do not have much at stake except that salary at the end of every pay period. But, that’s not for me. Being a regular corporate drone with a straight forward path towards mediocrity is not me. I may work at a large company or be at my own business. Regardless of what I do and where I am I will take ownership, make waves, be resourceful and go after Big Hairy Audacious Goals every time, time after time. I will not stay in my comfort zone. Will push, try, may be fail, get up, try again and continue till I have given my best.
I am not looking for a thousand year glory, but I am looking to make my mark on the world. Now for me going for glory doesn’t mean that I am after fame. It may come or may not come and I do not care either ways. In any case it is almost always a byproduct of doing the right things and achieving success. What I am talking about is walking on the path of success and creating value for the society.
I wanted to say that fame is always a byproduct of doing the right things and achieving success. But then remembered about the Kardashians, the cast of the Jersey shore and other folks like that and decided to revise my statement and add a little uncertainty 🙂
Ab shraddha, yatn aur gyan se: This further clarifies for me what I need to do. Enduring success never comes easy. Shradda: faith in myself, my values, coaches and mentors is critical to me to stay on my chosen path. Failures and obstacles are inevitable. So, faith is a critical piece in the equation.
Yatn or effort is a given, no explanation necessary.
Now faith and efforts are critical. But just by themselves, they are not enough to achieve success and glory. Gyan or knowledge including the formal education as well as experience and wisdom I pick up from my own experiences and from my coaches and mentors forms a critical third leg of the platform on which I can work towards success.
Sansaar main ras ghol: For me, the allure of money is now gone. All I care about is the value that I can add to the world. Right now, I am focused on for-profit entrepreneurship where I will serve the needs for my customers and stakeholders to the best of my ability. I have worked in the non-profit world before and at some point of time, I am gonna get back to it full time to serve my fellow human beings.
Wherever I work and whatever I do, I am now clear about where I stand. Adding value in the world is the only thing that matters. I don’t care about who gets the credit, all I want is to win. And a win for me is always measured on the level of value I create for others in society.
There was a time when I used to care about money and usual status symbols like car, clothes, house and appearances. But all of that has lost its pull on me. Money is still important but only for two basic reasons: first, to take care of me and my family’s basic needs and living at a decent lifestyle. Second, for keeping score. After all, in the game of entrepreneurship, money is one of the major ways to keep score.
I still like my toys. I am a car, bike and gadgets guy. But it is clear to me that those are just toys. I enjoy when I have them, but don’t miss them when I don’t. So, my next Ducati will have to wait a bit.
I really enjoyed while I had one
And finally, it is now clear to me that never gonna retire. I plan on being an entrepreneur to my last breath!!!
My definition of an entrepreneur:
Let me start with what an entrepreneur is not: An entrepreneur is not someone who necessarily owns a business. According to me someone who owns a business and does not display an entrepreneurial spirit is simply a business owner. One the other hand, an employee at a company who displays the entrepreneurial spirit, is according to me, an entrepreneur.
So, here are some traits of those who display the entrepreneurial spirit:
The list below is gender neutral. I am simply using he/his to stand for both men and women. Many of the points I mention below are from what I have learnt directly from my mother.
- Takes ownership of whatever he is working on regardless of the official designation and role
- Loves to solve problems
- Is immensely resourceful
- Learns and expands his skillset continuously
- Is extremely customer focused
- Goes after stretch goals
- Not worried or concerned about taking on responsibilities in an area with no prior exposure and does everything in his power to learn and perform his best
- Is extremely hands on. Willing to roll up sleeves and do whatever is necessary to get things done
- Willing to take calculated risks
- Has a strong desire to succeed
- Is willing to take a stand
- Has lots of patience for the results to show up, but never accept delays in taking appropriate actions
- Has little regard for the status quo
- Believes that his destiny is in his own hands
I will continue to expand upon this and add more details as they come to me.