A Moment To Reflect- 2020 Memories

For most of us 2020 has been challenging and we have come through personal sacrifice, tragedy and created boundaries around our self. For sure, 2020 taught us a lesson…

FOR ME…

I stood on the right side of the history- Socially, Humanely & Ideologically…. I did not give in to falsehood and didn’t follow the crowd… I knew, I have a strong voice and I have used it to serve the weaker ones… I stood with them… I stood next to them… And I found many of you, doing the same…That was an inspiration….and many of you kept appreciating me and that kept me going…. I have learnt to be humble, wherever and whatever it is, irrespective of who stands against me at that moment… I had a debate with many of you, with my family, with my friends- on corona, on volunteering and what not…. but I kept doing what was necessary for the society at that moment… I learnt to be social… I took some of the impulsive decision, but I was always true to my heart and soul. I was true to community and learnt to be a better man in 2020.

 

Eight moments from 2020, I will remember for entire life:

1.     Volunteering: This I would consider as one of the finest experiences of my life, I got opportunity to serve the community and society for 7 months during demanding period “Pandemic”. Thanks to Government of Karnataka, Department of information & Public Relations, Indian Red Cross, Karnataka State Labor Institute & BBMP for the opportunity. I met 100+ selfless volunteers, and proud to say few of them are now good friends.

2.   #LetsMaskIndia- This was an initiative by “Miles To Trek” to distribute free masks from Karnataka to Kashmir (to whatever extent it is possible), we have reached out to several states of India and distributed masks, enlighten awareness about Covid crisis in un-privileged villages. Thanks to all the volunteers, friends, family members and our trekkers who donated for the cause.

3.    Career- whatever I do in my life, it is always backed by my passion to become corporate classy. I am always thankful to my company and fulltime job that gives me bread and butter. I have moved or promoted to new role recently which keeps me going and learn more about project management.

4.   Travelling- Most of us like travelling, same goes with me- but 2020 was not a year for travel- I was able to travel to Uttarakhand, New Delhi, Kedar Nath and few places in Bihar and Karnataka.

5.    Fitness- Less outdoors and Most of us gained weight. I tried sticking to the basics and adopted a culture of workout from home to maintain flat tummy. Lead some of the workout events for few corporate companies and conducted morning fitness sessions @Agara lake, Bangalore (limited to ppl I know, *for friends*).

6.    Trained young brains- I was fortunate enough to train/coach 8 young kids almost for 3 months. The idea was to make them understand about the process and kindness rather than giving priority to any sports. The process is getting up early morning and doing what you can do in best possible way, if you want to see a big day in your life, you must believe in the everyday process.

7.    They say, “Love can happen at any age but go for romance when you are young”- I don’t like maintaining my status to Single or complicated, hence kept it SECRET. Dated one and travelled with her.

8.    Served as a President for vanguard toastmasters club, the 6 months experience has been of a roller coaster but helped me to emerge as a better leader. Thanks to all the VTM club members for being an amazing toastmaster.

Thanks to all of you for being a part of my life either directly or remotely, this year…Thanks 2020. Thanks Corona. Welcome, 2021.

Keep reading, Keep inspiring and keep moving 😊

Different Perspective

Everyone has their own way of experiencing things and managing situations!! Most people wish to have work from home options where as I have never liked the idea of working from home, until few weeks ago, when it became the need of the hour!!

I spend 5 days in a week, working in an office environment, with a lot of conversations with my colleague and leaders, followed by either a run/swim or workouts on daily basis out in the open. During weekends I either lead hikers/trekkers on mountains or participate in marathons/running events. I like it and hence never really desired for work from home. But now it's a different situation......

First day of work from home, was a lot of disturbance- lack of motivation, less concentration and what not.

Second day of work from home, I did not want it to be like the first day. It had to be a better day and hence, I gave a thought about the past. I wanted to learn from the past- the good things which I have learnt and experienced.

I thought a bit more about it…and the result was different…

> Week days- (Monday to Friday)- Office work - In last couple of years wherever I have worked, I have tried to be punctual and always reported on time and ensured the required hours were spent in office (login/logout). The discipline that I picked from my 5 day’s work is helping me now to strive on.

> Week-ends (Saturday and Sunday)- Outdoors- Mountains and marathons: leading trekkers on mountains requires micro management. It’s very tough. Things will be never be in your favour. There are situations that will happen, that no one can predict and when you think of doing something big, you feel like you are surrounded by the odds. To convert those odds into your favour you need leadership, decision making ability, fitness and lots of courage. Mountain and marathons create mental stability and that's a skill I have conditioned into.

How does discipline and mental stability help me to keep delivering whatever I do?

Discipline one of the finest skills helps us to grow in life, I am born to a father who is serving in the military from decades and grew up in a disciplined environment and now working in a company that follows the six sigma techniques and tools. The background moulded me into an individual who values punctuality, is on time and is able to deal with difficult situations.

I would give preference to being neatly turned up at work instead of choosing my pajamas, shorts or sports tee and try to maintain it now too. A corner of my house is my office space, a simple chair, table with proper WIFI connection. I have learnt it from my father, no matter what, no matter which place he is - as a soldier he is prepared to wear his uniform most of the time and always ready to deliver. Same goes for business – we all are warriors and we are expected to be ready for deliverables/client calls/ supplier calls/ manager call (sometime video too) during working hours.

Mental stability teaches us that situations can be tough sometime toughest, though the Covid19 breakdown came with a lot of losses, it may be financial or human, it gave us tears , a global challenge that humans are trying to control and when the cure is still far away, we humans can choose to be kind, kind to each other ,to the environment, respect nature, prepare ourselves for a future, aim to build top class healthcare system or may be just choose to live simple and may be that's the solution. Lockdown requires a lot of mental stability, keep the ball rolling and doing all the possible things from home. Maybe it's a good time to ponder and get to know more about yourself.

Believe me, after leading 1000+ of trekkers on mountains I have realized mental stability is the important skill that can help us convert negative energies into positive vibes.

In such time of pandemic, hats off to all the doctors, nurses, sanitization workers, police, airports authorities and everyone who are putting their lives at risk working tirelessly day and night doing their best to keep us all safe.

During this tough situation- Lets keep respecting: - the company we work for and the colleagues who support us. The family and friends who are there with you in person or over the virtual world. Every one fear matters. Let’s Be Warriors.

Thanks for reading, keep smiling, stay in home and ensure that you and your loved ones are safe and sanitized.