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https://karthis.blog/2020-a-reflection/

Life is happening and it is continuing to happen. This break from everything has allowed me to get more grounded and prepared.

Most lifetime decisions of my life were taken in this one year. One of those decisions is to have a permanent home to share ideas with the world. I have been overthinking on this aspect so long and now it is finally here.

https://Karthis.blog

Feel free to subscribe. I promise to share useful and valuable information everyday including my Weekly newsletter going forward.

Wishing you all a very happy new year 🎉 You all made this year totally worth it for me. If not for this space and subscribers like you, I would not have had an opportunity to express thoughts around all these topics. Thank you 🙏

As a species, psychologically we are made of narratives we tell ourselves. Our belief system has a strong say in who we are. We frame the stories in our minds and that becomes the foundation to who we are. We could change that frame by reframing.

Activity

Take the long list of items from Point A you have done yesterday and ask yourself why you are the way you are. If this is the first time you reading this, then go ahead and do the exercise below.

Take a fresh sheet of paper (you can bind these A4 sheets as your workbook if you like) and start putting down the staunch beliefs you have about each area (Health, Wealth, Growth, Career & People).

eg: I am fat because of my genes, my success is based on my bank balance, I should have a degree to have a career in <that> area etc.

🥂 to frames!

P.S: The idea shared every day is a nugget by itself. It is designed to be a complete idea however all nuggets before are connected in a sequence. For compounding effect read in a sequence. Nevertheless you will find value from everyday.

On high demand I am releasing DesignU 2021
Grab yours here: https://pages.razorpay.com/pl_GFDPcFrJdt1OD9/view

Today let us do it in a structured manner.

Here is a step by step guide to do this activity. Let’s go ahead and write about specific areas. Let the focus be on one one area at a time.

Activity

Take 5 sheets of paper and go in this order (just stick to it)

1. Your health and fitness (include physical, mental, emotional and energy fitness)

2. Your inner circle and intimate relationships (family, best friends, business partners and more)

3. Your career (your art, your vocation, your skills, your accomplishments and more)

4. Your finance (your investments, bank balances, debts and more)

5. Your community (where you belong, like minded tribes and more)

Finally take one last sheet of paper/page and write about YOU which is detached from your job titles, bank balances, your six packs/figurines, your knowledge/competence, your people but just YOU. This is the hardest one. Give it a shot.

If you are keen to try out my DesignUOS, you can ping me and I can help you with some templates that I used for myself.

🥂 to structure!

P.S: The idea shared every day is a nugget by itself. It is designed to be a complete idea however all nuggets before are connected in a sequence. For compounding effect read in a sequence. Nevertheless you will find value from everyday.

Share Timeless Ideas to Design U

So what gives the edge to jump into any domain, any problem, any stage and any aspect?

Let me share the secret sauce (our design process) with you so that we can start designing our lives the way we desire.

The first step of design process is Status Quo. We take stock of your “you are here”. In other words we start with your status quo from right where you are (Read this).

We don’t worry about the past (what we know and what we don’t know).

We don’t even worry about the future ( how the next min or next year will turn out to be). Instead we focus on the here & now and look deeply into where you are.

This anchor helps us to get started.

Activity:

Here is a simple exercise you could do to understand your Point A (your status quo ask you are here). Take a sheet of paper or open a notion document and just type away everything about your current status quo. Just pour it out on that blank sheet. You can type away or sketch away or map away. Whatever works for you.

If you are keen to try out my DesignUOS, you can ping me and I can help you with some templates that I used for myself.

🥂 to point A!

P.S: The idea shared every day is a nugget by itself. It is designed to be a complete idea however all nuggets before are connected in a sequence. For compounding effect read in a sequence. Nevertheless you will find value from everyday.

Share Timeless Ideas to Design U

Did the questions hit you hard?

Did your sleep get disturbed a little?

The intent is not to hit you hard but to awaken the life designer in each one of us.

The typical question we ask is, yes, a lot of things are broken but where do i start?

The answer is HERE & NOW.

In the upcoming days, I am going to share how a designer designs anything (life included) and you can follow along with me on the process. Let’s crush it in 2021 💥

Let’s get started here and now.

🥂 to now!

Share Timeless Ideas to Design U

P.S: Every day article is a nugget by itself. It is designed to be a complete idea however all nuggets before are connected in a sequence. For compounding effect read in a sequence. Nevertheless you will find value from everyday.

Are you stuck in this lather, rinse, repeat mode of life?

If yes, time to ask critical questions about life to yourself.

• Are you happy going through this automatic mode?

• Are you energetic doing the same thing day after day?

• Are you looking forward for tomorrow?

• Are you crying silently every now and then?

• Are you stuck in this circle and not knowing what to do?

• Did everyone tell you this is life and you wonder what the hell is this?

• …

Everything starts with that question.

What questions are stuck in your head and heart?

🥂 to questions!

The probability of making any possibility work is in our hands.

The secret to make a possibility happen is by increasing the probability (odds). You could increase that probability of a possibility every single moment. So what possibility is 2021 holding for you?

For me, the possibility of 2021 is immense. For starters I am committing to share 365 big ideas to DesignU here. Yes, one idea every single day all through 2021.

What are you committing to?

🥂 to possibility!

Share Timeless Ideas to Design U

Atomic Accountability

Atomic Movement

Atomic Eating

Atomic Living

Atomic Awareness

Atomic Writing

Atomic Speaking

Atomic Videos

Atomic Publishing

Atomic Health

Atomic Wealth

Atomic Relationships

Atomic responsibility

Atomic Knowledge

Atomic Habits

Atomic Action

Atomic Runs

One atom at a time goes a long way.

🥂 to ATOM!

If there is only principle to live by, it is compounding

You can compound you as a person

You can compound your knowledge

You can compound your health

you can compound your career

you can compound your relationships

you can compound your wealth

Key to everything compounding is LONG TERM. Invest your time on things that are compoundable. Breaking compounding resets all the work done. It is not an intelligent act.

🥂to compounding!

I recognised that this ideology of:

be the candle, give light to others and it is ok to burn yourself up

is a flawed concept.

Even if we go by the analogy, when there is no candle left how will you give light to others? Do we even think in that direction? Doesn’t the idea of self sustainability go for a toss.

Instead, let us change the analogy for a second.

Be the candle. Build the candle. Burn only when there is absolute necessity. There are many forms of light. For example, sunlight, a torch, a bulb, a smart phone and so many ways people figure out their own light.

You don’t have to burn yourself in a bright sunlight thinking you are the light for others. That is stupidity. Wake up.

There is care and there is self care.

Self care first!

Take away: I stopped being so hard on me. I stopped doing things that needs to burn me.

🥂 to candles!

When all plans goes for a toss and nothing runs as expected or desired, what do you do?

There are a few choices. You give up, crib, eat pints of ice creams or try and see what can be done within your locus of control. I did the former first for almost 4 months and I just could not find any way to combat too many uncontrollable variables outside. The only thing I could control was my NOW and nothing else.

In my now, I decided how I want to deal with things. Yes there are a number of external forces, a number of things to be done, a number of things to be read, assimilated and synthesised, a number of deliverables to be cracked and above all a good life to be lived. In this anxiety of tomorrow, I was losing today.

I decided to plan the now, now. Not tomorrow, not day after tomorrow but NOW.

So i took one block of time: 30 mins and asked myself can i live the entire 30 mins, consciously, mindfully and filled with intent. Whether it is going for a walk, taking a nap, working on a deliverable or even writing this post, I try and do it with all of me by not wondering or worrying about anything else before and after.

I go into the block planning in a prescriptive way

• 0-2 mins: Plan what do you want to do that is worthy of you and your time?

• 2-27 mins: Do what you planned with all of you.

• 27-29 mins: Reflect on how did you do it. Any learnings and reflections, even gratitudes for that matter.

• 29-30 mins: Deep breathing.

I take my next block in a stride or give myself a long (15 mins) or short break (5 mins). Alternating with focus and diffusion, block after block kept me sane when everything in me and around me was failing.

Living one block at a time.

🥂 to NOW!

Knowing everyday that I’ll die one day has been the biggest anchor to live well. The limited time offer on this planet earth and the approaching expiry date has been the biggest agent for getting my act together, be grateful and do something significant.

Remembering mortality everyday in my morning pages has been the best possible routine I have had in the past few weeks which made my day more intense and more meaningful. There was a fear to think about death and the fear is real. But the more I realised and accepted the truth that death is coming and will happen, I am being my best version every single day.

Recently I started living in 30 min blocks. I am not planning and living for eternity. I live 30 mins at a time. I plan, schedule, do, track, reflect and rest, all in 30 mins. This has been the best tool I have had in managing self in a long time. My monkey mind jumps and asks, how about next week, how about 2021 etc. I do listen in and put down all my thoughts for 2021 in that 30 mins and call it a block.

Atomic Accountability is the most enlightening productivity tool I have ever created and used so far. 30 mins at a time. The awareness is constantly on and that helps.

🥂 to limited time!

As a system designer, I work with attributes and relationships day in and day out. If I extend the same understanding to the human system, there are a few attributes and relationships to understand. Most issues comes because we work against the system and not with the system. A little deeper peak into being human made me humble and grounded.

We want to pour kerosene into a petrol car and want it to work. The system is not built for this. Just because we expect it to work, doesn’t mean that it will work. Similarly the human system works a certain way. Knowing the system allows us to follow the right things.

🥂 to understanding systems!

A few physiological and psychological intricacies to understand before we conclude:

• Our human system by default is built for energy conservation. Our brains are energy guzzlers. All thinking activity takes energy. So by default our brains don’t want to think. Ironical but true. This makes it hard to develop a reflective mindset. It is hard for us to think deeply, introspect and tweak our actions based on reflection. No wonder we don’t sit and think deeply.

• Our brains have a hierarchical structure and we refer to it as TRIUNE. In the triune structure our limbic system has more power and authority over the cortex (executive thinking and decision making). No wonder we are consumed by instincts more than rationality and logic.

• We are social animals. We care about people around us. We want to fit in. We want to be a part of the tribe. Their opinion about us matters more than our own opinion about us. We de-prioritize self care over other’s opinions.

• Above all we are highly dynamic beings and we keep shifting based on our context. It is hard to stay static for a long time.

• We don’t like pain. We love pleasure. No wonder we run away from pain and on the other hand we chase pleasure.

These aspects makes it hard to manage oneself. No wonder we fall prey to irrationality and biases compared to being logical and rational. This makes it hard for us to manage ourself.

As a result, our inner compass is weak compared to the external forces. It takes so much strength to strengthen the inner compass. Once we do that everything falls in place.

To face truth we need a lot of strength. Get your strength by strengthening your inner compass. Use your veto power against your default human system. You can do it.

🥂 to inner compass!

The problem is facing the truth is hard. Truth is hard to digest. It shows the good, bad and ugly without any discrimination. It makes us uncomfortable. It is on our face so we shy away from truth and escape into something that gives us comfort and pleasure.

By default nature, pain is hard for us. Truth is very painful sometimes but this pain is very healing like a surgical pain.

Know thyself is the beginning of all wisdom.

🥂 to thyself!

Just the word leader brings a number of associations in our mind. It is typically related to strength, focus, decisions, prioritisation, keep going, move past the crises and goodness. A leader typically is seen as a hero who can bash on regardless in our minds. In other words, we look up to the leaders. Generally leaders lead and there is always someone or many to follow. It is all about others.

I want to turn this idea and point the fingers to ourselves and ask, why can’t we lead ourselves? why should leadership be only about leading others?

I am calling this idea as self-leadership.

There is a leader in each one of us who will lead us with strength, focus, grit, perseverance, intent and will. Can we awaken this leader in us? Can we take the path of self-leadership when everything seems to be falling apart? This month, let us explore this idea deeply in 30 posts (every day). I want to share with you how crisis has shaped me as a better human than before and share all the tips, techniques, methods and frameworks so that you can use it when needed.

🥂 to self-leadership!

Here is a program (Atomic Accountability, a different form of AA) which is filled with action and the now.

More details: https://www.linkedin.com/feed/update/urn:li:activity:6738299376243937280/

We are starting on Dec 1, 2020. Join us.

Register here: https://lnkd.in/eSHRCbA

I would like to do a series on self leadership and share my nuggets on how we could harness leadership and accountability. It is more around working with self and managing everything outside us. Will that be interesting to you?

30 days of Self leadership as a series in Dec. What a lovely segway to get into new year.

🥂 to learnings!