authentic greatness

The island without sandals

Posted on May 7, 2023May 7, 2023 by Nirmal Thapa

There was an island called Without Sandals.

A budding salesperson from a nearby Town A visited the island and saw that no one at this island was wearing sandals. The salesperson went back to the town and concluded that there are no opportunities to sell any sandals because no one would wear them.

Another budding salesperson from a nearby Town B visits the island and makes the same initial observation that no one in the island was wearing sandals. The salesperson goes back to town and concludes that there is an abundance of opportunity to sell sandals in this island because everyone can wear them.

Delivering exceptional value to clients

Posted on April 4, 2023April 4, 2023 by Nirmal Thapa

In service focused businesses, meeting and exceeding clients’ expectations is everything.

Providing excellent client service is both an art and a science.

You can learn a lot from others’ experiences, read book(s) and blogs and watch relevant content to understand what client servicing is.

Then there’s the exciting part of actually managing clients yourselves. That’s where the fun, excitement, and value comes in.

I believe if you deeply care about helping clients become successful in whatever they do, they will sincerely feel it. You can’t fake caring!

The beauty of providing exceptional value to clients is to putting your clients’ needs above yours, being empathetic, and making sure they’re successful.

The rest will take care of themselves.

Why pay for it?

Posted on March 16, 2023March 16, 2023 by Nirmal Thapa

There’s a big difference of results between doing it on your own (for something you’re not so good at) compared to hiring a professional to do it.

For tasks that you could kind of do it, have an idea about it or know a little bit, it’s better to go with a professional most times. There might be some exceptions here and there.

Recently we hired some professional movers for a few hours to load our belongings in a Pod.

Could we, ourselves have moved the belongings to a Pod? Perhaps yes.

Yet the time saved for the few hours, no physical or mental tiredness from moving, having the belongings efficiently put in a Pod and a general peace of mind made hiring professional help for moving totally worth it.

You actually don’t know the overall benefits of getting professional help until you get one.

What work/tasks can you do best and what can be outsourced to someone who can do it much better than you?

Working those muscles

Posted on January 19, 2023January 19, 2023 by Nirmal Thapa

Being more creative, more inquisitive, more evolved requires working with intention on those creative/curious/reflection muscles.

If you want to be more creative, keep challenging yourself to think outside the box, look for different ways to solve the same problem or spend time around “creative people.”

If you want to be more inquisitive, keep asking questions, look for follow up questions and learn from others who have the knack for asking good questions.

If you want to be more evolved as a person, invest in yourself and reflect on your emotions, feelings, and behaviors.

When you keeping working on the “muscle/craft” you want to become better at, you will be skilled in it overtime!

Beyond the Comfort Zone

Posted on November 13, 2022November 13, 2022 by Nirmal Thapa

In our comfort zones, we tend to feel at ease, almost no anxiety, stress free, and safe.

In the boundaries of our comfort zones, we tend to feel some or a lot of anxiety, stress, and get defensive.

Do we all have comfort zones? If so, do we stay in those zones or go beyond them?

Of course, we all have our comfort zones in different areas of our lives and activities that we do. As humans, we operate from a place where we make decisions from what we know, feel comfortable doing, and go about our personal and professional lives.

However, if those same comfort zones are limiting our own growth or from allowing us to reach our full potential, wouldn’t we want to go beyond them?

Imagine you have been selected as a member of your varsity basketball team. Your basketball coach sees a lot of potential in you and provides regular feedback. There are parts of your game that are already good and you capitalize on them. Then there are other parts of your game that you are not mostly aware of but your coach sees where and how you can improve on them. After each varsity practice, the coach comes up to you and gives you constructive feedback on your improvement areas. You listen to the coach but you are not REALLY LISTENING to your coach. You have a feeling that you are already good in certain areas and that’s the part the coach should praise you on. Yet here you are listening to the coach just talking about where you can be in the future and keeps going on and on the improvement areas, not so much your strength areas. After a few of these feedback sessions, you finally get the urge to just tell the coach that you are doing everything you can and get defensive because you don’t feel appreciated or valued by the coach. You have excuses and don’t take any responsibility or ownership.

Now what can happen next?

As a player, you can reframe the conversation with the coach as a way to see that the feedback is for your own growth and if you have want to reach the next level, you should do the activities the coach recommends you to do. Or you can stay defensive and feel entitled to think that you have already reached your potential and the coach doesn’t see that? Or just quit the varsity basketball team?

Comfort zones are there and will continue to be an integral part of each of us. Yet, if you want to live out your AUTHENTIC GREATNESS, how often will you push yourself out of your comfort?

A recommended read related to this topic “How to Leave Your Comfort Zone and Enter Your ‘Growth Zone“

the “perfect” work

Posted on August 30, 2022August 30, 2022 by Nirmal Thapa

Seth Godin’s blog today was Unbeatable vs Perfect. In it, he states that Google has killed more than 200 projects over the last few decades. They fail all the time. MORE THAN 200 PROJECTS!!!

Over the years, I knew Google discontinued a few products/services here and there but did not expect more than 200. Often we see a company, professional, or industry expert present an almost “flawless” or “perfect” product/service out in the world. We expect our work to be like theirs or close to it as possible. We forget that we are on our own journey to greatness. There is no need to compare, contrast, or feel deflated. What you can do from the work you see out there is to draw inspiration, motivation and keep going at your pace. There is “never” a perfect version of something and there is “always” room for improvement.

If Google waited for the “perfect” project/product/service to ship, we won’t be talking about them in 2022. They launched in 1998 and are still relevant to us more than ever before!

Also if I waited for the “perfect” blog to post, this post would be in my Drafts and you won’t be reading it at this moment. Thanks for reading my “not-so-perfect” blog.

What will your Ted Talk be about?

Posted on August 1, 2022August 1, 2022 by Nirmal Thapa

Imagine receiving an invitation to give a Ted Talk. What will your Ted Talk be about?

Each of us have unique experiences in the world and these experiences shape our perspectives, thoughts, and behaviors. Each of us has an authentic story and it deserves to be heard. There are many platforms out there to share your story and Ted is one of them.

In your Ted Talk, what will you focus on? what stories will you share? what experiences have shaped who you are today? If you had only 15 minutes stage time, how will you use that time effectively? What is your gift to the world?

Rooting for Jonathan

Posted on May 20, 2022May 20, 2022 by Nirmal Thapa

Jonathan Livingston Seagull loved to fly, loved it so much that he went against its own flock to reach for the sky.

Yet we find fewer Jonathans soaring in the skies above because society wants conformity, has its beliefs and expectations. Many buddingJonathans face the harsh reality soon as they start going to school, around their neighborhood, and even at their homes. In lieu of protecting the ones whom we care about, we put our own insecurities and biases onto them and increase their self doubt and hold their independence. Rather than giving them freedom and choice to fly, we ground them onto the reality of the situation and make them have realistic expectations.

To groom the next Jonathan, realize first that each of us are unique and talented in our own ways. At times, its best to just let individuals to follow their intuition, learn from their experiences, and let them achieve their authentic greatness.

Your Authentic Greatness

Posted on April 20, 2022April 20, 2022 by Nirmal Thapa

Each individual has internal superpowers. These superpowers are unique and developed through our personal experiences, environment, and evolution. Storytelling is one of our authentic superpowers.

Each individual can define “success” in their own terms and go towards reaching their authentic greatness.

If each of us realize and tap into our internal superpowers, live our authentic greatness, then collectively we will create a better and evolved world.

Tag: authentic greatness