An Invitation to Explore Living a Productive & Fulfilling Life

P.O.W.E.R UP News Letter Edition 1 (3 min)

Going through a downward spiral

It was about five years ago. It was a phase when I had just faced the terrible setback of resigning from a job and losing a confirmed job opportunity simultaneously.

The reason why I lost the new job was the most challenging part for me to handle. I was deeply affected, lost trust in people and the system, and significantly lost the confidence to move on.

I recall struggling to sleep, having no energy and enthusiasm to move on and being full of anger and bitterness. I was going through a downward spiral.

As time went by my situation only got worse. My job was my identity. Without it, I felt insignificant. I noticed a drop in my self-confidence and felt like an imposter when I was invited to give talks to girls and women in STEM during that time.

The fact is this was not the first time I felt this way. The first time was when I consciously left my job in pursuit of motherhood. I recall feeling lost and terrible when I couldn't be that scientist I aspired to be. I carried this feeling of inadequacy within me for a very long time in my life.

Is this how I want to live my life?

Then one day, it dawned on me that I could not live in resentment as it took the best out of me. I was not present for the people who mattered and to whom it didn't matter whether I had a job identity.

I decided to pull myself out of that downward spiral. That's when I signed up for courses to upskill myself, including Keynote speaking.

Within a short span of 6 months, I gave two speeches that gave me immense fulfilment in life, as I could get in touch with my true inner potential to create an impact.

In one of the speeches, I spoke about 'Living a Productive Life' and presented a different and balanced approach to productivity. By then, I had realised that being productive doesn't always mean getting things done, and can be redefined as a measure of fulfilment. I felt this urge to propagate this idea to help people overcome challenges and embrace a productive life where they live up to their fullest potential.

This is a logo that I drew in my notebook back then in 2018. A designer friend of mine even gave it life.

I thought perhaps I will establish myself as a Keynote speaker and coach enabling people to live a productive life.

Nature's Fury- the biggest challenge of all

But then, things changed drastically in my life. Our family experienced the 2018 Floods in Kerala and I lost that spark I had for life. I felt so humbled by the power of nature that I wondered and pondered about the meaning of aspiration, achievement and success when it can all be washed away in an instant.

I had clearly lost the energy and motivation to drive a venture. So I decided to go with the flow and accepted a full time job.

But somewhere deep within I continued to explore the meaning of life, why we are here, and how we can relish life despite it's transient nature and challenges.

The turning point - coming face to face with the self

Through tough inner exploration as part of my Coach training, I came face to face with my true self and recognised my yearning to make a difference, leading by example and contributing to a better world through people who become their best versions.

This led me to explore different paths and I ventured into a space of career, professional and leadership development in 2021, something which I had never imagined when I embarked on a journey to do a PhD in Cell and Molecular biology in 2001.

Today, I am in a full time job that aligns with the new direction that I am heading to. I immensely value the opportunity I have, to mould and support the current generation especially the chance to help them see their own potential.

Whilst I am trained as a scientist, have worked extensively to promote women in STEM, and provide career and professional development advice to students and early career professional, I believe that my calling is bigger than that:

To enable humanity to live a fulfilling life, to live up to their fullest potential and relish the flavours of life.

I invite you to join me in this exploration and together let us POWER up our human self and humanity even more in today's digital era. Together we will explore how to achieve work-life balance, overcome challenges in life, get in touch with ourselves, put our best selves forward, experience fulfilment and enjoy this journey.

Subscribe to my NewsLetter and follow me to become part of this exploration

Fun Fact: The day I thought of P.O.W.E.R UP in 2022 November, I had an experience of Synchronicity- I walked into a building and spotted a signage that said "Power Up from Within". It was a Subway Advertisement. I have written about this in a LinkedIN post: shorturl.at/prL36. It was also featured by Trish MacGregor in her blog.

#drlakshmispeaks