There once lived a man...
There once lived a man called Kanishka. And he had many strengths. He was smart, friendly, funny, helpful and confident. He could see the bigger picture and what was possible and explain very complex things in ways that were easy to understand. People liked and respected him.
But he was also afraid of many things. He was afraid that he wouldn't live up to his potential. He was afraid to take risks and afraid to fail because he was afraid that he would disappoint his parents. He was afraid that if he failed people would think he was nothing special. He was also afraid of taking on responsibility for the careers of his partners by leading them astray on quixotic quests. He was afraid that in pursuit of his idealistic ambitions he might let his son down by not building enough money for his education. He was afraid that he would leave his wife and son without enough money to live comfortably if he died suddenly.
And the impact of these fears on his life was that he sailed close to the shore even though he felt there were beautiful lands beyond the horizons that he had the skills to take people to. He lived with a feeling of not being quite fulfilled and the frustration of knowing that he was not living up to his potential or making the impact he could be making. The impact of his fears on his life was that he was just being ordinary.
But one day he realized that he only had one life to live. And that he was the author of the story and he wanted it to be a great story. He realized that great stories are the ones where great challenges are taken on and overcome. He realized that it is the journey that builds us and strengthens us and makes us come alive. It is in the pursuit of extraordinary goals that we live extraordinary lives and become extraordinary people.
And when he conquered his fears, he declared his goals for the next 25 years:
Stillwater Consulting
1. To make Stillwater the highest impact corporate training firm in India for the development of leadership effectiveness among high potential managers. We would do this through high impact workshops with built in sustainability through follow up coaching, videos, articles, online modules, e-learning and smart phone apps.
2. To make Stillwater a valued partner in the development of Creators in the area of government (IAS), politics (AAP), entrepreneurship (Your story), education (ISB and other MBAs) and non-profit (TFI).
3. To develop world class cutting edge programs in the areas of leadership, managing/coaching, teamwork & collaboration, influencing skills, critical thinking, creativity and innovation, strategic thinking, philosophy in Business, etc.
Clarient Academy
1. To make Clarient Academy a household name for Creatorship for any member of the public. A highly selective application process for our flagship program 'Praxeum' would pick students, train and mentor them and award them with a degree in Creatorship that would be valued all over India and even the world.
2. To publish the book 'Game of Life' that would encapsulate the humanistic principles according to which a great life can be lived.
3. To design a research based humanistic curriculum that would be taught in schools on the knowledge, skills and mindsets required to live a great life of meaning and contribution. This would involve working in close partnership with the government and policy makers. Also to make this curriculum freely available on the net so that anyone can access it.
4. To build a 'phone in coaching session' division where anybody who would like to have a conversation about something that's on their mind can just pay on the website and schedule a one off confidential coaching call with one of our coaches or trainers.
5. To have programs teaching young parents on how to raise confident, capable, happy and caring children and programs teaching couples how to have great relationships.
The Indian Enlightenment
1. To spread the philosophy of humanism in India through the Indian Enlightenment facebook page.
2. To publish the book 'The Indian Enlightenment' to talk about the philosophy of Humanism as it applies to national culture and policies.
3. To spread the philosophy of humanism and skepticism through public debates and events in top educational institutions on topics like conservatism vs. liberalism and growth vs. equitable distribution, etc.
4. To produce a high quality monthly youtube show called 'The Indian Enlightenment' on the lines of Jon Stewart's Daily show.
5. To be a source of original humanistic literature, research, documentaries and even popular TV shows/movies/songs on how to live a great life and contribute to the country and world that we live in.
6. To become a respected voice that shapes public opinion that in turn can influence government on policy decisions that affect the ability of its citizens to live a great life and to build a prosperous, fair, educated, healthy and happy society that lives in sustainable co-existence with nature.
While doing this he made sure that he would also:
1. Build a democratic partnership where all partners have an equal share of the profits and decision making and earn Rs 50 Lakhs per annum adjusted for inflation.
2. Do all this while devoting plenty of time to family, hobbies, health, holidays, laughing, learning and having fun with friends :-)
And when he declared the goals and committed to them, suddenly the confusion cleared up and the choices he had to make became simple.