Repacking my Bag!

Repacking my Bag!

Story of a Life-Changing Decision

Let me share my own story of transformation. After dedicating 27 years to Indian Railways, I made a pivotal decision to step away from the organization. This wasn’t an easy choice, but I realized I wanted to take on new challenges and explore opportunities that aligned more closely with my evolving aspirations.

My transition wasn’t just about leaving a stable job; it was about "repacking my bag."

I asked myself critical questions:

  • What do I value most at this stage of my life?
  • What skills and experiences can I carry forward into new opportunities?
  • What am I holding on to that no longer serves my goals?

This introspection led me to lead a major project for Indian Railways, a role that allowed me to leverage my expertise while stepping into new realms of responsibility and growth. Today, I see this decision as a turning point that taught me the value of lightening my load and focusing on what truly matters.


Lessons from Repacking Your Bags by Richard Leider and David Shapiro

The book Repacking Your Bags is a powerful guide to finding purpose and living a "lighter" life. It encourages us to examine what we carry—physically, emotionally, and mentally—and make intentional choices to align our lives with our true values.

Key takeaways include:

  • The Fulfillment Triangle: True fulfillment lies at the intersection of doing work you love, living in a place you love, and nurturing meaningful relationships.
  • Letting Go: We often carry unnecessary burdens—expectations, obligations, and even outdated goals. Letting go of these frees us to embrace what truly matters.
  • Repacking Regularly: Life changes, and so do we. Regularly reassessing our "bag" ensures we’re not weighed down by things that no longer align with our evolving priorities.

Repack Your Bag

Many of us face these challenges:

  1. Feeling Overwhelmed: Carrying too many responsibilities without questioning their relevance to our current goals.
  2. Lack of Clarity: Being unsure about what truly matters and where to focus our energy.

These challenges often lead to burnout, dissatisfaction, and a sense of stagnation. Repacking can help us address these by creating clarity and space.

Take a moment this week to reflect on your own "bag."

  • What’s weighing you down? Identify one thing—an obligation, habit, or mindset—that no longer serves you.
  • What brings you joy and purpose? Think about one area of your life where you can create more space to thrive.
  • What’s your next step? Decide on one actionable change to start repacking your bag.

Share your thoughts with me! Let’s motivate each other to live lighter, more intentional lives, aligned with our true passions and values.






KL Kumar

Principal Consultant - The Tipping Point

1 个月

Wonderful Article Sridharan and a very relevant experience shared from your work at Railways. Even when we plan a journey don't we pack our bags with so many things wherein sometimes even 30-40% remains untouched. So what are our key learnings then. How do we travel light and also maximise what we have inside our bags. Maybe even a Minimalist Lifestyle for example. Also bein a Psychologist in addition to my background as a Finance Guy , I've see that as time progress thru the human life cycle we realise that Goals as a 30 year old make no sense whatsoever as a 55 year old. Our priorities change and so do our need to reskill. Maslow's Heirarchy of Needs is a classic study and the foundation and even in Hinduism didn't we follow a similar concept called the Ashrama system of living our life starting with Brahmacharya, Grihastha, Sanyasa and Vanaprastha. So at each stage of our life we will need to drop that extra baggage we carried all these years learn and unlearn new things and some of our baggages may have even impacted us psychologically and physiologically too. Great Article. There is so much depth and value too. Cheers.

Geetha Shankar

Passionate and Elevating L&D Professional, Learning Facilitator, Corporate Trainer

1 个月

Beautifully narrated, Mr. Sridharan. Repacking requires continuous reflection and reassessment. What should I add more of, and what should I throw away??It helps me to be mindful as life changes. Our lives can be more intentional leading to a more fulfilling existence. Congrats !!!

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