To be someone that sets us apart from others and to be an outlier we need to do things no one else does. Few years back, someone told me - "Role is not what is given to you, but Role is something you make of it". That has been one of my mantras in life. To unpack this further, I always ask myself and my mentees these questions -
- What's that 10% - 15% in your career portfolio, that the organization hasn't given you, but will actually benefit the organization?
- What is the problem the organization is grappling with? What is the innovative solution you can provide which no one else has thought?
- What is it that differentiator that makes you unique? How are you leveraging that to create value?
- What is your life mission/purpose and how are you achieving that?
On Saturday, I saw Rocketry. The movie is awesome and I am sharing my top 3 lessons from it:
- Dream Big - Nambi Narayanan dreamt big w.r.t. India's space missions, some of which seemed impossible. Right from his initial days, from being the 1st ISRO Scientist to go to an Ivy League institution for higher studies, TO Doing thesis under a Professor who never took any students under him for last few years TO Getting a NASA offer - Nambi Sir was always an Outlier who did things no one thought of.
- Solve Big Problems - Despite getting the NASA offer, he still returned back to India to solve problems for India. His purpose in life was very strong - for India to take a lead in space missions. Through his sharpness, intelligence, vision and courage, he got impossible deals with other nations executed
- Resilience - Due to a false accusation and scandal, he and his family went through a lot of pain, hardships for 24 years. Due to his grit and resilience, he faced all this with composure. Even during this hard time, in 2013, he ensured Mars Mission in 1 attempt which no other country could achieve in 1 attempt.
His purpose in life was so strong, nothing could keep him away from it. Nambi Sir is such an inspiration. If you haven't watched the movie, you should watch it
Outliers by Malcolm Gladwell - 3 Key Lessons
- 10,000 Hour Rule?- It Takes 10,000 hours of deliberate practice to become world-class. Talent is over-rated. Its not how good you are, its how good you want to be. : To do this in 10 years, it takes 2-3 hours / days for all days. Success takes time. Identify 1 area where you want to become World Class & Do deliberate Practice everyday even if you don’t like it or it is hard. Obsess & Focus over 1 thing rather than diversify
- Do Meaningful Work - Do you find your work meaningful? Does it give you joy? Are you passionate about it or does it give you stress? Hardwork is a prison sentence only if it doesn’t have meaning. Find meaning in your work so that you truly enjoy it
- Success is a Gift - Its not the brightest who succeed. Success?is not a sum of decisions & effort we make. No one does it by themselves. It’s a product of history, community, opportunity & legacy
