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Bal's Friday Thought

Bal’s Friday Thought…

It’s not the mountain…

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How many sacrifices have you made?

I was talking to a start-up, last week… whom shared with me, that one of the core team members was giving up his job at Ikea to concentrate on the start-up.

That’s great news! – I said.

Then we had a discussion about… what is needed, to be successful.

There’s various elements – but it comes down to a few things. Which i’m not going to discuss here, but we did establish – being totally honest, there’s a minimum cost of living that’s required. A minimum amount of money they’ll need to make to survive. And they’ll make the necessary changes to their lifestyle to reflect that…

And, you know what… I believe them.

Now, not everything is going to be easy. I’ve known these guys for a year or two… and it’s not been easy. There’s been some ups… and some downs.

Bit like sport… some you win, some you don’t.

But the key thing is you learn.

People can teach you – but until it happens to you, until you actually experience it… then you’ll really appreciate it.

Now, i’m going to be honest. A little sad he’s leaving Ikea, was hoping to get a discount on a new home office desk I was looking at for some time.

But anyhow… it’s great that they’re focussing. And that’s the key thing here. Focus.

If you know what you want…. then you’ll most probably do anything, you can… to achieve it.

Take Elon Musk…. and this infographic… (did you know, he showered at YMCA and slept in his office!)

Sacrifices. That’s what it comes down to. What are you willing to give up… what are you willing to do… to achieve that dream of yours.

Now, i’m not suggesting you all start sleeping in the office… and showering at the local YMCA. But what I am suggesting is, look at the luxuries in your life… or look at the things in your life, that you’re willing to give up or do without for a short period of time, just so you can focus.

Focus and sacrifice. That’s what it comes down to. Ambition and passion.

I know this start-up will make it. Make it big. Because they’re a) very intelligent, b) have a great work ethic and c) have some really good ideas.

It’s to that point c… they’ll really achieve success. Because when you have an idea… you need time. You need time to develop, work and build on it.

If you’ve got various commitments, you can’t spend the time required. You can’t focus. You can’t win.

I’ve had a number of great ideas in the past. Some really good ideas. Some of them I put into action… and did really well. Some I put into action and… didn’t do so well. Some, I’ve written down… and waiting for the right time.

The right time for me? – well, when I can focus and spend quality time on the idea. Don’t want to rush it, don’t want to waste the opportunity. Will make a few sacrifices to work on them… but when i’m ready.

And that’s the last point I wanted to make. This start-up, have made all their decisions themselves. Amongst them, they’ve decided to reduce the numbers of the core team. They themselves have decided what they want to do… and how they want to do it.

So, do you have an idea? Want to work on it? – look around and think, what are you willing to sacrifice, in order to have time & money to spend on it.

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Bal's Friday Thought

Bal’s Friday Thought…

Just sometimes…

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Monday Motivation

Monday Motivation

Today’s motivational quote comes from Alina, who for some reason… is always making me spend my money!

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Bal's Friday Thought

Bal’s Friday Thought…

Spend time on yourself. Make yourself bettter. Because it’s you… versus you.

 

 

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Monday Motivation

Monday Motivation…

Recently, I tweeted – I may hold a workshop, around idea generation… creating ideas… collaboration… and how you can succeed on those ideas.

The key thing here is… imagination.

 

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Monday Motivation

Monday Motivation…

A lot of the times, I hear a lot of excuses – and 99% of the time, those excuses are limits. Limits that have been placed upon us. And it us up to us, to understand those limits. As you are your only limit.

Anything is Possible.

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Throwback Thursday

Throwback Thursday… with my friend from Formula 1

So I’ve decided to start throwing back to some good old times… on Thursday’s. Not every Thursday, I’ll throwback once a Thursday a month.

Last month, we had my good old days at Kodak… and this moth, I wanted to share with you a throwback, to a time when my good friend, Karun Chandhok and I met up at Silverstone for a little beverage and a conversation.

Now, Karun is an accomplished racing driver. He’s raced in Formula 1, he’s raced in Le Mans, he’s raced in many races around the world… I could keep going on about his races, but easier if I share a link to his bio – http://www.karunchandhok.com/KC/

But why I am sharing this information with you? – well, when we met up, he shared some real good insights into his daily life that are applicable to all of us…

For example,

Karun has, as I mentioned, raced a lot. He’s done speeds, which I can only dream about… but when we met up, he pulled up in a VW Passat. Now, no offence, they’re extremely good, solid, family cars… but for a Formula 1 Racing driver to pull up in a Passat, you’d ask the question… where’s the sports car?

Now his answer… “Well, Bal… you see, i’m doing 350km per hour, in some of the best racing circuits in the world… don’t need anything fancy on the roads where you’re limited”.

Damn! – that put me in my place!! – So true… when you’re following your passion, and you’re doing what you love – you’ll be near the top of your game, with that in mind… who cares what you do (or drive – in this case) when you’re limited with restrictions.

Karun never wanted to be a doctor or an accountant… he didn’t want a professional job like that… he knew, he wanted to be a racing driver. He followed his passion… he worked hard… even though he was limited to resources when in India, he moved to Northampton, out of his comfort zone (away from the hot weather) and kept on pushing himself to achieve his dreams.

That’s another lesson we can all learn. Move away from your comfort zone. We talk about it… but how many of you are willing to give up on home comforts?

The one thing, I really wanted to share about Karun is how humble he is.

Honestly, this guy… is so nice… for example, when we’d finished chatting at Silverstone, I asked him… is it the private jet to the next race venue? – his answer… no, it’s a normal flight. In fact… came over on Easyjet, because it was the quickest and easiest.

Easyjet?! – now… once again, nothing wrong with Easyjet, in fact, I use them a lot… but it goes down to the thinking. Yes, from time to time, the private jet or chartered planes are there to take him around the world, but for Karun, it’s the quickest and easiest method of transportation to get him from A to B. And you couldn’t get any more ‘Lean Thinking’ than that.

And there you have it… a couple of lessons from Karun. Who left the lovely hot weather of India, to come to Northampton to follow his dreams….

I feel I need to put a number of disclaimers in this blog post – The VW Passat, as mentioned, is a lovely car… Easyjet are a great low cost airline (Value for money indeed)… and Northampton does have hot weather (for a few days in August).

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Uncategorized

Tuesday Thoughts…

A thought… for today. What are you spending your time and energy on…

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Monday Motivation

Just the first step…

Some Monday Motivation for you… Big Plans, Small Steps.