Sleeper cells and the power of caring conversations

A week of intense work meetings is like lifting weights that are nearly beyond one's limit. A lot of dopamine. A feeling of accomplishment. Muscles hurt for a few days. But most importantly, new ties are created, and new cells are borne. Some of those are sleeper cells. One day they would come to life and switch on to perform. 

THINK. My mind is overflown with a tsunami of thoughts and observations. I struggle to sift through the compounded noise of dozens of conversations with dozens of people. It reminds me of the orchestra warming up, each of the musicians playing their unique tune, at their own timing. Notes are asynchronous, tones misaligned. Then, a conductor steps to the stool. Suddenly, the music comes together.

As I am reflecting on these conversations, unwinding their threads, it strikes me how all of it is indeed the same melody. The melody of human connection. By being available to listen, by respectfully sharing our thoughts, by asking questions, we send signals that translate the language and create bonds.

Curiosity and ability to listen attentively builds firm foundation for discovery the new. Sometimes it is not the answer that unlocks it, it is the question itself.

I am spending some time thinking about the application of AI in the current intellectual work. Not obsessively, but I ponder how would it change what we do and how we work. While I do not see myself as an AI-accelerationist, I am also far from ignoring the transformation that we are increasingly more immersed in. Algorithms are there to stay. Robots will not take our jobs. But people, who would find ways to engage technology to amplify their outcomes, might.

Many conversations with the teams I works alongside revolve around the right balance of technological enhancement and authenticity. This is only partially chartered territory and as such, so reminds me of a map that a Dungeon Master creates as players advance in their quest for [insert the trophy name as you see fit]. They know where the entrance is and can only see short distance, in dim light of a few torches. Well, the only way to explore is to step in and confront whatever awaits around the bend.

On that note, the most intriguing question I stumbled upon last week was 'what does it mean to be human in 50 years?'. Love to hear your thoughts.

FEEL. Last week was all about reconnecting with people I have known for years and meeting new. Few of these conversations opened the floodgates of emotions that moved me deeply.

It does sound like a self-help meme but living in the present emerged to become this aspirational, ambitious goal, enabling a healthy soul. We all exist in the present so why is it so hard - and what gets in the way? Well, many of us live in the future, or the past, or alternate between both - but very rarely in the moment. There is sufficient research to prove that excessive focus on past failures or future uncertainties can affect mental health and cognitive processes, none of which I will be quoting. It is enough that I have suffered from rumination, excessive worry or self-worth perceptions shaped by things that happened to me.

What helps?

Ability to slow down, even stop, reflect, and explore such emotions. Self-awareness and paying attention to one's thoughts and feelings, exposed in unbiased spotlight of 'why do I feel like that?'. Very often, a caring, external voice. An out-of-body experience of looking at ourselves through somebody else's heart. Suddenly, past and future are not that scary. 

Be a Caring Geek to somebody that needs you. Karma comes back, always.

DO. Chartering a new territory in the life of my family begun 2 years ago, on 1st October. A little scared of what awaits, I got on a flight to Dublin. A couple of suitcases with the most essential things. A rented car I practiced a game of 'packing Tetris', leaving no inch of space unused. A rented, unfurnished house that I needed to make home.

Two years later, this has been a liberating adventure. Consciously closing a chapter in one's life is never easy. Removing the clutter of material things helped me discover how little it is that we really need. Important relationships were reshaped, but remained (and yes, it is always work on both sides). The discovery of new country is a continuous journey, but so far, we have been blessed to meet plenty of kind human beings. 

My own teenage human beings continue to bring sheer joy and pride. Sometimes it means listening to twelve opening notes of 'Smoke on the Water' on an electric guitar a hundred times in the row! Another time, it is getting in the car in the rain, bringing a cup of hot chocolate after hours of intense training. 

There are ways to see beyond the clouds. During these 2 years, I took several photos in Monkstown, overlooking the Dublin Bay towards Howth peninsula. On a day like today, it is covered in fog and clouds. But it does not mean it has vanished. A determine traveller will always get there. 

Temptation and grace

No matter how small, everyone goes through their versions of The One Ring temptation. Sometimes multiple times a week!

THINK. Do not worry if you are not familiar with Gandalf, Galadriel, or Frodo, taking their turn the face the temptation of the One Ring. I had multiple of these challenges this week, some of them were successful and some weren't. Such is life.

The one that made me think the most is how being put under pressure can lead us to actions we later regret, or ashamed of. Whether this is the performance of a fast-paced business, competitive sport rankings or social media following, many of us tend to prioritize the outcome. The path HOW to get to the outcome becomes of a secondary importance. 'No judgment on winners', right? Or...?

I had a moment of weakness of that sort, spotting an opportunity at work to not only take a higher moral ground, but also score some points individually, as opposed to a team outcome. Thankfully, I was careful enough to slow down and spot it.

Michael Jordan has been a hero of my basketball youth. Do I need to convince anyone that one of the best strategies for his team to win was just to let him do his thing? (Again, no shame if you are not familiar with Jordan's achievement... he is only a GOAT of basketball).

But the Jordan buzzer-beater, game winner moment was replaced with a conscious decision NOT to take this shot. It could have been successful; I could have stepped into limelight. Increase the balance of points on my tally. Instead, I made a pass.

FEEL. This section should have no words. As there are no words to describe the experience I had watching 'Grace' by Jody O'Neill, a Dublin Theatre Festival play on stage in Dun Laoghaire. Jody's son and my son are in the same school and class. Jody's son is autistic. So is Jody.

'Grace' is a deeply moving story of a girl whose ability to communicate with other does not meet common norms. Her perception of the world is unique, and so is her ability to process and express. Her father is the only person who understands her - but sometimes, one is enough.

Grace's multi-sensory world might be very different to what many of us experience. Her needs were reflected by the very frame that the play was organized - with audio description, subtitles, international sign language interpretation and limited sudden lightning or sound effects. The audience was given a greater freedom to self-regulate, encouraged to move around, and express themselves however they felt fit.

Jody, a renowned author, gave interview on public Irish radio. This is a 19-minute-long journey into her world, how she diagnosed her own neurodivergence in mid-thirties, and how it explained the life of feelings she had before. Given her ability to create and perform, it is hard not to see it as yet another superpower. In today's world, it is still less obvious, with a touch of stigma of being different. In our sons' generation, it is turning into acceptance that people simply need different things to have their needs met.

It was hard to hold down tears, and equally easy to burst with joy witnessing the newfound language between Grace and her Mum. Sometimes all we need is a bit of perspective.

DO. I have not been too kind to myself lately. Waking up before 6am to squeeze some training, crossing out things from multiple 'to-do' lists, recharging my battery on power boost and going again. It works, sometimes for months and years - and then it doesn't.

I am contemplating the concept of 'being enough' a lot. As organized and disciplined as I usually am, at times I feel I simply said 'yes' to too many things. Nearly all the time with the right intentions! Nobody is going to watch my back though if I don't.

The temptation of falling into an exciting new activity is thrilling ('I am sure I can learn to play electric guitar left-handed...'). But so is the grace of letting it go.

Superpowers, balance and loud music

There I am, wearing a custom-made bracelet to a live gig, in the company of two 14-year-olds. That’s a sentence I never thought I would say.

THINK. We live in a strange world. One must engineer balance and rest instead of just drifting into it. Make plans to experience something. Little spontaneity, loads of planning. But it is worth it, a hundred percent.

Whether one is in a corporate job or not, going to a live music show seems like a journey to another dimension. With time and place set well in advance, we count days and hours before joining fellow fans in a walk to the event venue. The closer we are, the more we realize we are part of a movement, overflowing streets and parking lots. Depending on the artist and genre, there can be some artifacts and dressing up, too! We immerse in a crowd, as if it was a collective organism. The show starts, bass sounds come through our chests, and gaze centres on a stage. For a couple of hours, nothing else exists.

Every once in a while, I consciously seek to change my routines. I enjoy random experiences. Occasional disruption to what is a rigid schedule. And I deeply care about my daughter. Which was why blocked the afternoon out, read my last email for the day and left to see an alternative pop star Melanie Martinez playing live in Dublin. That explains the bracelet!

That evening was just one of portals to another world. In a noisy world we live in, when not only music is loud, these seem harder and harder to find. But paying attention, and a little bit of planning, do miracles. 

FEEL. One of my recent conversations was about letting people in. This is most certainly a position of vulnerability. But just consider how often we have no idea what is going on in the lives of others. We are making assumptions, filling the void. We are projecting our own views, framing others in our narratives. We are increasingly afraid to ask - what if we are then confronted with an ugly reality? We tend to look away, as the shoes of others can be unsettling, discomforting, difficult. But what if it is the opposite?

As my son and I were walking our dogs one evening, another teenage topic came up: superpowers. After we debated undeniable benefits of shapeshifting, teleportation, and flight, we argued about mind reading.

Knowing what is going on in minds (and hearts) of others is both a blessing and a burden, same as the glass is both half-full and half-empty. I sometimes feel like the clutter of my own thoughts is too much, let alone absorbing those that belong to others. And this is way before one even gets to deep, intimate reflections! Trying to contain more than what our mind is producing is exhausting. Fact. 

At the same time, we live increasingly more in our own bubbles. Amplified by digital, there is a risk that we will be locked out in a mini universe that is unique yet ubiquitous, for us alone. And lonely, too. Being able to be vulnerable for a while lets people in. Chances are that some will only take a glance and leave. But others will stay and help.

So don't rely on mind- (and heart-) reading. Know thy neighbour! 

DO. I need to practice what I preach! I certainly feel thrown out of balance at work, facing demands of a double role. As Caring as I am, it is difficult to gather distance and say no. One of the toughest aspects of building relationships is knowing when to use a 'No' and create boundary. My boundaries are definitely being tested right now. 

Allowing balance into your life is an active act. This is why I decided to delay my Friday (oh well, sometimes weekend) reflection routine to Monday. Immediate benefits I am noticing are freshness of thought, but also a peculiar discomfort. Letting the imperfection in. Hurts a little, yes, but with some luck, it would create a pattern of reaction, nearly some muscle memory of things that should worry us and those that shouldn't.

Curious to hear how you are finding your balance - and what superpower you feel. Everyone has it.

Beeswax, trip into Hades and a permission to feel

I was surprised how heavy an Olympic gold medal is.

THINK. I am a lucky person. Because of my job, I have occasional access to both many outstanding people and some unique experiences. This week, I met a British slalom canoeist Joe Clarke, to hear about his journey from Olympic champion in Rio 2016, through not being selected for Tokio games, up until competing in Paris in the new format of kayak cross race and winning silver medal for Team Great Britain. A second place that meant so much more than gold 8 years before.

What struck my sensitive chords was the humbleness Joe reflected on the commitment to a sustained training effort. Losing the spot on the team could have been a blow to knock him out, diminish the will to keep trying. Instead, he just said to himself 'I did not put the hours and commitment I needed so I did not deserve the outcome'. This is where the journey begun again. 

A lifelong (wannabe) athlete myself, I often reflect on the aspects of athletic performance: incremental gains through insights, differentiated training schemes, as well as the role of mindset. To that end, the power of a team behind an individual has become a cliche statement, nearly used to dilute an apparent vanity of being at the top of the game without thinking. The opposite seemed true though. Elite performance is often accomplished by attention to miniscule details (bees wax layer at the bottom of a canoe?), accountability model that many corporates would love to see working so well in the boardrooms and amongst cross-functional teams, or execution of months, or even years-long conditioning plans. It takes more than one person to bring it to life.

When people play their positions and are content with their contribution as such, great things are suddenly within reach.

FEEL. Joe Clarke's motto 'Tough times don’t last, tough people do' became like a splinter in my palm. I could not have ignored it, but it made me uncomfortable. Why toughness? Why did I feel that the resilience & strive for elite performance described by an Olympic athlete were synonymous with the ability to endure pain, restlessness and unstoppable, almost hypnotic drive forward? What may we be losing when we become 'tough'?

Not a fan of destiny and interventions from a higher power, I got my answer the following morning. A conversation I was listening to while finding my way through runner's footpaths of London's Southbank revealed the missing element. Permission to feel.

Emotional intelligence has been on my mind for many years now. As opposed to IQ, emotional intelligence is fluid over time and can be radically enhanced. As a matter of fact, I must have been very low on EQ when I was graduating university in early 2000's. Rational, factual, trained to rather contain than express emotions, I was a perfect robotic achiever in my profession. Until I got to my early leadership roles and discovered that most of protocols that work on me, simply does not apply to others. Letting emotions in, stopping to reflect on what was happening to me and others, and why this might be the case, was the bees wax on the bottom of my boat. It helped me slide into the rapid water and find my rhythm.

Kudos to my wife who understood that far sooner than I ever could and encouraged me to seek some professional support!

DO. Walking the talk of bringing novel experiences to one's life, when one of the evenings suddenly freed up, I decided to see one of the West End musicals. As a parent of 'theatre kid', it felt both like paying tribute to her passions, and consuming an important element of contemporary culture. I chose to delve into a story of Orpheus and Eurydice in 'Hadestown'.

A tale of love and loss, the myth unveils the delicate balance between both. It speaks volumes about the power of commitment and sacrifice. Orpheus' walk into Hades is uplifting and heartbreaking at the same time, and as the emotional tension builds up during the play, at that moment I could not hold down tears. While we all know how it ends, I chose to believe otherwise, even just for a bit.

One of the reasons I started Caring Geek was the need to pay forward and share my own journey. I am still unsure where is this path taking me. Stepping into the stage is scary. I believe though, that if it is helping people slow down, reflect, and explore uncharted territories of their feelings, it was worth the time, effort and vulnerability.

Experimenting, fear of failure and morning sunrise

THINK. On a morning run, I stumbled upon ideas on experimentation. Interestingly enough, just last week I brought Malcolm Gladwell and his position on a 10,000-Hour Rule ('Outliers') to my reflections. For clarity, the original research conducted by Anders Ericsson and his colleagues, was later revised to mention the presence of standard deviation, which is nothing more than some people excel at 3,000 hours while others need 20,000. The main premise of the study was to unpeel the power of deliberate practice, as opposed to innate talent.

So, there is hope, I guess, for all of us?

As much as 'fail fast' agenda has nearly become a meme, overused to explain all sorts of erratic behaviours, it carries some wisdom. There is no novelty without trying. There is no improvement if one follows the same pattern, rinse and repeat. There is no room for observation it the outcomes are almost fully predictable. It is only when things go south, a perfect moment presents itself to stop and reflect.

The other piece of research quoted by David Epstein (and originated by Robin Hogarth & team) is 'kind' vs. 'wicked' learning environments. Intuitively, we should all know that. Learning to address rule-based situations, memorizing a response protocol to a particular problem, practicing by repetition, it all helps us deal with that problem in a predictable fashion. If this happens, this is what you do, and that's the outcome you can expect. Works in a lot of places, most of the time, and candidly is a best strategy for many things humans deal with every day (and if you are not convinced, just imagine a public bus driver experimenting with the use of pedals, speed, directions, and signals on your commute to work!).

'Wicked' learning helps train problem solving skills and adaptability. Our brain, reinforced by emotional reactions, helps assess the situation we are confronted with, recognize patterns, and apply a measure that could be best suited to a problem we might have never come across before. Wicked, isn't it?

By no means, one model is better than the other!

What it all signifies to me is that while we should put in an effort (proverbial thousands of hours) to overcome innate talent deficiencies, it is the openness to embark on a new journey, amplified by the lust for learning, that help us becoming a different person tomorrow.

FEEL. Why is this so hard to experiment? Fear of failure might be a more impeding factor than we would have ever wanted to admit. That, combined with the need for external validation, is often driving us to commitments and decisions that we otherwise would not have taken. Think about the last time you said ‘yes’ to an ask that you did not really want to comply with - in a professional or personal setting. Chances are that social pressure, drive for approval, fear of relational rejection or conflict avoidance led you to biting your tongue and going along with it. Feels horrible, doesn't it.

The true confidence comes from within. Yes, it is normally amplified by an external validation. Yes, a lot of it is built in our early lives, through the ways we were brought up. Narratives engraved in us, that we wallpaper over with other experiences, are still there, beneath the surface. But the more layers one consistently puts on top of the patterns we want to keep hidden, the more chances that the conscious, preferred choice will prevail. This is both 'kind' practice, sometimes flavoured 'fake it 'till you make it', and 'wicked' - how does one train to recognize when to stop, reflect, explore. And then act. 

In my life, same as in many others, moments of joy are sometimes washed over with everyday stress. Gratitude journaling has never been my strong suite, neither have I really tried. But at times, it feels so good to slow down, force yourself to stop. Take a photo of a glorious new day starting over Seapoint and the Dublin Bay. An emotion captured in pixels.

DO. I am going to throw a few punches at my fear of failure and need for positive validation - my Caring Geek website premiers TODAY. Still at a temporary location, and just a thin skeleton of what it could become, it forms a beginning of a thoughtful routine, a communication platform, and a place that one can slow down, reflect and explore.

I will be delighted to engage in conversations that change lives, one step at a time.

Where A Variable Man, Cú Chulainn and Roxie Hart meet

Back in Dublin, my 'chronotype' led me to my desk early in the morning. Smell of silence and herbal tea kickstarted the stream of reflections.

THINK. I often find myself pondering questions of creative work, authenticity, imagination and leaving a legacy. Legacy is a funny one. Possibly a mild manifestation of a midlife crisis, in my view it brings the concept of opportunity cost to a zone where basic economic terms rarely apply. Choosing what to keep one's mind busy with is always equally saying 'no' to many other options. The time is finite and the world is full of stories never made.  

I was thrilled to find a podcast series capturing that exactly. Authored by Malcolm Gladwell, whose early books 'The Tipping Point', 'Blink' or 'Outliers' made a lasting impression on me, the series explores stories of movies that... never got made. 'Development Hell' is a journey through challenges of creation, and, often painful, lessons learnt underway.

An episode that resonated with me the most was the one about 'The Variable Man'. Not only has it been based on the 1953' novel from one of the most intriguing science-fiction writers, Philip K. Dick, but also it delved into themes of possible futures, reliance on technology and... being different. The novel tells a story of a world where computers are proficient at making all decisions on behalf of humans, essentially knowing their thoughts and feelings better than humans themselves. No mistakes, nothing is hidden from their calculus. And on one day, machines become aware of a seemingly unavoidable humanity self-destruction event. The is no scenario where it can be prevented.

The solution is to confront the AI with a human being for whom machines have no datapoints... a man from the past before their existence. Unpredictable, unseen, out of radius. A variable yearning to be solved. This all does feel so familiar, doesn't it? Existential questions posed 70 years ago in the novel, now resonate more than ever. Algorithms dictate what we scroll on our screens, what we might intend to buy, what political messaging would trigger emotional reaction, which movie show would we binge watch on our sofas. Not a catastrophic event yet or...?

My position on the AI revolution is balanced. Not an existential threat, but not a panacea for all of humanity's issues. Blindly falling for its promises shifts power to those who draft the backbone of these algorithms. With business models, dressed as benign, hyper-helpful assistants in our ears, one might need a counter-balance of a never-seen variable. A force from another dimension.

FEEL. Reconnecting with my son after being away for a couple of weeks, I had a proud parent moment. It all started from me noticing a new book on his nightstand. An hour later, we were both lying on the carpet with a few other publications, tracing similarities and seeking connections between Irish mythical character(such as Cú Chulainn) and that of other cultures - Nordic, Greek or Slavic. I was blown away by the amount of detail Adam was able to memorize from all these stories, but also how we could talk about seemingly universal archetypes and trails, weaved into regional narratives. Supernatural, godly and sometimes creepy, they were also utterly humane.

My other, 'theatre kid', that I travelled with was open to share her experiences from a Live Action Role Playing summer camp in the mountains of Southern Poland. Immersed in imaginary settings and scenarios, she practiced thinking on her feet, expressing emotions and reaching within to draw from depths of self-confidence, creativity and joy. I could not recommend it more. One of the scenarios Nina played was a 1920's prohibition America, which brought us to watching "Chicago", a musical I took my wife to see on Broadway a few summers ago. Vibrant and coherent, it led us to explore a theme of femme fatale, as well as dangers of ruthless desire for fame, both elegantly embraced by the character of Roxie Hart.  

The thrill of exploring various patches of culture alongside one's children feels next to none!

DO. I am fascinated by the pace of content generation in the last two decades. Use of technology and democratic access to media platforms enabled people to broadcast their thoughts and ideas. While one might argue the world needs better governance and moderation, and human brains are not ready to be absorb the ever-present stimulation, it is also giving people like me a better chance of reaching an audience that would otherwise be inaccessible.

I recently found a short story I wrote during pandemic lockdown, based on the very Role Playing Game we played with a couple of my friends. Since we have just continued with the same characters last weekend, I am tempted to use it as a trigger to continue... the weeks are very busy already though! The AI technology helped me create some images of places, characters and moods to illustrate the adventure and help with immersion, but I feel truly 'old school' about scripting. Well, the worst thing that can happen is meeting a few unseen variables, lively personas and altered versions of old legends... all in my imagination.

…unless you can be Batman

While in our home city of Łódź, Poland, my daughter and I went to explore The Centre for Graphic Novels and Interactive Narratives. A place where one can delve into the world of comic books and video games.

THINK. My earliest experience with comics dates back to 1980s. Even in these grim, grey years of communism, artists created a number of characters and series that endured up until this day. For a primary school boy like me, it was a vehicle to explore new form of telling stories. Masterfully crafted scenarios, fascinating brave new worlds, and compelling characters such as Thorgal or Tytus, Romek & A’Tomek. A transition from plain text to a narrative structure that integrated drawings, colors, composition of panels, dialogue and everything else unsaid, expressed by mood and pace of the story.  It was love at first sight.

In early 1990s, along with MTV, NBA games on the national TV, soap operas and chocolate that tasted so much better than its ‘cardboard’, chemical equivalent we used to get, came Marvel and DC superheroes. An uncompromised power of entertainment, it also showed me how mainstream messages can stimulate deeper thoughts. Emotional struggles, taking responsibilities for one’s actions, unfolding consequences of choices made or the eternal thin line between good and evil - all of it added depth and breadth to my discoveries.

The journey continues up until this day. I am exploring the nearly limitless spectrum of graphic novels. The underlying engine remains the same: write a script, draw, ink, possibly color, add dialogues - and that’s it. But the wealth of worlds my imagination can inhabit is overwhelming. Some of my favorite single issues include Joe O’Barr’s ‘The Crow’ or Masamune Shirow’s ‘Ghost in the Shell’, giving birth to culture phenomena, acclaimed movies and a fan movement. I dive deep into the ‘worlds that could be’: political and moral dilemmas of transhuman, cyberpunk future (‘Transmetropolitan’), a vision of New York City, a colossus I am drawn to, torn by civil war (‘DMZ’), dreams, nightmares and spiritual powers that reflect truths about human condition (‘Hellblazer’ and ‘Sandman’) or deconstructing what it even means to be a superhero (‘The Watchmen’).

Isn’t that wonderful that we can express our thoughts and emotions in so many diverse ways? Telling stories rocks!

FEEL. We thoroughly enjoyed the visit. As a matter of fact, 4 hours in, we were asked to leave as the Centre was already closing for the day! We came back the next morning to explore more.

The most rewarding part though was the connection with my daughter, Nina. Being a parent is core to who I am. Ever since she started to walk, talk and read, we have been going places together. Sometimes in person - movies, theatre shows, comic cons - and sometimes we simply travelled the imaginary worlds of Harry Potter, ‘The Avatar’ or the Hobbit. But as it seems, there is a time for the guide to step aside and just watch things unfold.

I am fascinated by Nina’s journey to becoming her own person. At the age of fourteen, she is hungry and free to explore the world she and her friends inhabit. Increasingly more digital, indeed, but still centered around stories, fascinations and expression of emotions. Everyone’s identity is forged over time, also by changing, and sometimes even denying, their family blueprints. The best thing a parent can do is to empower, build confidence, self-awareness, optimism and resilience. Start them on a lifelong learning path. Help them be curious and fearless. And fearlessness is not the absence of fear; it is recognizing the fear but taking action regardless.

I feel blessed to experience it. Just being close, watching and rooting for her.

DO. I have a busy day ahead of me. Reconnecting with my long-time friends in Poland, we decided to take a trip down memory lane so tonight, a role-playing game campaign awaits. Well, it would, as soon as I polish all the elements of the adventure. Preparing an outline of the scenario, inventing non-player characters, the setting, maps, artifacts, possible plot twists - it brings my imagination to work at high intensity. But there is only so much I can prepare and plan for - the rest is a real-time interaction,  creating the outcomes as we go, in a collective way. Everyone has a role to play - even if they don’t know it yet!

Changing routines, stepping away from the inertia of one’s weekly schedule, works miracles. As in sports training, improving performance often means changing exercise patterns. Be it flexing another muscle group, intensity change, or simply taking another route in one’s morning run, diversity stimulates growth. I witnessed myself making that mistake far too often in my years of long-distance running not to notice. This is also why I am pursuing ways for my days to take another route.

I am sitting in my study at home, looking at a poster wall with my dearest ‘imagination nutrients’ . One of these is a birthday present from my wife. ‘Always be yourself. Unless you can be Batman, Then, be Batman’. Well… so reminds me of one of the best days at my corporate job!

Where do I begin?

I am on this very journey seven years and counting. Arguably, most of my life ever since I started my journal as a teenager. A wannabe writer. A culture eater. A finance professional turned empathetic leader. An introvert trained to be extraverted. Obsessed with how words shape reality. Hungry to leave a legacy and make a positive impact to lives of others.

I believe in small, incremental progress. One step at a time. This journal started as a weekly email update to my team during a time of substantial business and organizational transformation. Technical, dry, overloaded with too many process descriptions and financial metrics. It felt awkward. It served its main purpose. But this was not a purpose I wanted.

It evolved into a platform to also include my reflections and anecdotes. Sneak-peek into my private side. An invitation to connect. An important moment of my week, when I slow down, reflect and explore. A ‘me’ time, but also a time of positive contribution to my readers. A joke, a photo, a story. Thoughts on the book I read. Emotions I felt and delved into in a given moment. Plans, activities, things I was setting in motion.

This is the format of this journal today. What I think about, feel and do.

Please join me on this journey. Who knows where is this path leading to?