The Roller Coaster Ride of a Purposeful Journey
My entrepreneurship journey and my life can be summed up in this one line — The Roller Coaster Ride of a Purposeful Journey.
I could not make sense of a series of events in my life when I started out on this journey. In the initial part of the journey. I was like that child who would get excited to get a new toy and would throw tantrums, when the toy would break. This was because I did not have a clear purpose. But, as I moved on and reflected on the ‘Why’ of my life, my purpose evolved. What changed thereafter was my response to the events happening around me and my attitude towards life.
The last five years of leadership landscape has seen a shift towards conversations around purpose-led leadership. We didn’t imagine that this shifting canvas would be so soon leading the entire world into deep reflection on existence and purposeful living.
Suddenly, with the pandemic Covid19, the world saw itself chained in the virus web. Each country, each company, each individual learning to fight the virus, to stay ahead of the virus to be able to survive.
A laser sharp focus of the Purpose of the world was and still is to defeat the virus and survive.
At a more individual level, conversations shifted from frivolous about the next vacation, next celebration, next party to more existential questions of life and humanity. It gave space and time for people to look inwards, to explore their Ikigai.
Ikigai is a Japanese concept which refers to having a direction or purpose in life. A purpose that provides a sense of fulfillment for which an individual feels inspired to take actions and gain a sense of happiness and satisfaction.
Hence, today, to make sense of the chaos and destruction around us, to navigate uncertainty and overcome the atmosphere of fear, it has become critical to realize what your purpose is. Purpose has the power to look beyond. With the cacophony and noise around us, however, you may not be able to hear to your inner voice and true purpose.
Purpose & Self Journey
Your Purpose is unique to you. It can be static. It can evolve. It can transform. It only gets defined the way you wish to define it. This can be viewed within the framework of psychology of purpose.
In psychological terms, a consensus definition for purpose has been defined as: “purpose is a stable and generalized intention to accomplish something that is at once personally meaningful and at the same time leads to productive engagement with some aspect of the world beyond the self.”
This also leads to the conclusion that everything you do, or all goals and meaningful experiences, might not necessarily be part of your purpose. The one which finds the common space between goals, personal meaningfulness and focus beyond self takes the shape of Purpose.
What is critical hence is self-awareness.
“Knowing Yourself is the beginning of All Wisdom” — Aristotle
It’s interesting that with the multiple hats I wear, many would think that I am confused and have no specific direction. A question would pop up everytime I met someone new, specially professionally — “You do too many things, how do you manage?”
But to my mind, I am doing one thing- Connecting people to help them collaborate and contribute consciously and enabling them to share their story which would further connect them with a larger audience.
My key purpose is CONNECTING the world, connecting to our own self and to our ecosystem. And I spent a lot of time reflecting, finding patterns in my behaviour, what gives me joy, what outcome do I look for, what inspires me to understand what my true purpose is.
With self-awareness comes the power to be able to listen to your inner voice.
Your inner voice will guide you. It will tell you what truly gives you joy. It will help you find an authentic way of living and leading self and others. It will help you explore your purpose and rhythm to dance to the tune of your purpose. Remember, your purpose is not your neigbour’s, colleague’s or your boss’s purpose. It is yours. If it’s slow and that’s the way you like, so be it.
People who have lived with their true purpose say that you must be patient to reach to a point in the future. And when you reach that point and you look behind, you know that the journey was meant to be like that because it was aligned to your purpose. To have that insight, all you need is confidence and belief in your inner voice.
Purpose and Focus
Living with Purpose for long term goes hand in hand with courage and focus.
The challenges I have faced in following my dream, living my purpose are no less or more than anyone else who treads this path. But, what is life without speed bumps? There will be big, small, expected and sometimes sudden bumps which would slow you down, question your belief and your purpose. Sometimes, you will be questioning yourself and there will be times when your ecosystem — friends, parents, colleagues, well- wishers will question your belief. The monkey mind will want to evaluate the risks more than the outcome and this could be the biggest bump.
What I learnt in life is that excessive focus on preventing risk slows you down, brings down your motivation level and drains your precious energy. And we are living in a world of connected energy.
Limit your frequency to those people and resources which can amplify your efforts and actions. To stay tuned into purpose, the only thing you need is to stay tuned in with yourself. Take a leap of faith. The story is not clear when you start the journey, but that’s the beauty. You get to write your own story, play your own drama, write your own climax.
Together with my partner, I started our entrepreneurial journey with a humble homestay on a forbidden road in dusty Gurgaon in times when homestays were yet not popular. We did not have a goal, but we had a vision which served our purpose. The homestay over the years took shape of a larger venture, The Unhotel Co where we now connect several boutique
stays to the discerning travellers.
When you are in sync with your inner voice, your focus is on something that you can control- Your Input. What you cannot control is the outcome. So, why not stay focused on something which comes under your circle of influence.
Purpose & Learning
Living life with purpose is living mindfully. With mindfulness come reflections, awareness, and learnings. All of these require stillness and patience. Purpose should be treated not like a packet of chips to be gobbled down but like a bowl of shelled peanuts. Peeling with patience, enjoying, and absorbing the goodness, one at a time. There is a beautiful Swahili
proverb — “Patience attracts happiness; it brings near that which is far.”
The most important outcome from a life driven by meaning is that it helps you transcend an immediate problem, fear, self-doubt because your focus is always driven by your larger purpose. It reinforces the most sought-after skill today — Resilience. The ability to adapt positively, learn and grow from experiences. It empowers you to keep moving forward and finding alternate solutions towards a desired goal.
As a travel entrepreneur, I could panic with the onset of the pandemic and with the second wave hindering the revival of travel in India. But my mind is now trained to look beyond obvious goals. To find new goals, new roads, new means to serve my purpose.
My biggest learning in this pandemic was how my purpose served as a strong anchor amidst the worst storm of our lifetime. I didn't have the cushion of fixed paycheck, company insurance and benefits of working in a big corporate house. My industry sits in the catastrophic zone of pandemic and yet, I am moving forward, creating avenues and serving my purpose.
There is a sense of loss but that does not stop me from building something new. This resilience has come from years of mindful living, being true to self because that creates an eternal space of joy and calmness.
What is beautiful is that I am in the driver’s seat enjoying the fun and thrill of the roller coaster ride — My Life.
So, don’t be the bystander wishing to buy the ticket for that roller coaster ride. Jump in! Believe in your Purpose and live joyously!
