Striving towards Excellence

-Karthik Gurumurthy

Rokuon-ji  commonly known as "Kinkaku-ji", is a Zen temple of Shokoku-ji school of Rinzai Buddhist denomination. This area used to be the Salonji family's villa. In 1397, "Yoshimitsu", the third Shogun of Ashikaga Shogunate, took it over and built the Kitayama palace  centering around the golden stupa, "Kinkaku". When the Kitayama palace was founded, it was the center of politics and culture and was used to welcome the Emperors of Japan and trading partners from China (Ming).

After he passed away, it became a temple according to his will. Rokuon-ji Temple garden, designated both a Special Historic site and a Special place of Scenic Beauty. They have retained the atmosphere of those days and maintained it really well. It was registered as World Cultural Heritage site in 1994.

-Karthik Gurumurthy

To protect your energy, it is okay to cancel a commitment.

It is okay not to answer a call.

It is okay to change your mind.

It is okay to want to be alone.

It is okay to take a day off.

It is okay to do nothing.

It is okay to speak up.

It is okay to let go.

-Karthik Gurumurthy

“Choose a day as your day of simplicity. Speak little, and listen with attention. Do something incognito and nice for a person you are close to. Eat simple and natural food. Create time periods for not doing anything – just walk, look around, live the  moment. Have your mind open to a more profound and silent sensitivity. Appreciate each scene and each person as they are.”

-Karthik Gurumurthy

-Karthik Gurumurthy

Christiansborg Palace was the main residence of Danish monarches until 1794,when the royal family moved to Amalienborg. However, even today the royal family still use large parts of Christiansborg Palace.

If you visit the Christiansborg Palace in Copenhagen, you will be given a tour of the kitchen beneath the palace where it gleams with one of the Europe's largest collection of copper kitchenware. You will experience a sensory bombardment of culinary artistry, pastry cakes and colorful flower arrangements from the 1930s.

You will also get to explore the 800 year old underground ruins. The oldest ruin is the curtain wall from Bishop Absalon's 12th  century castle.Another famous ruin is the Blue Tower, the fabled prison from Copenhagen Castle.

The Royal reception rooms provide the magnificient setting for the Queen to carry out her official duties. Her Majesty receives her guests in these rooms surrounded by the green marble plasters, golden silk wall coverings and tapestries. She also signs acts of parliament into law and holds New Year banquets in the palace just as her predecessors have done over the centuries.

At the heart of Christiansborg Palace lies  the Great Hall where the Queen holds the gala dinners when there are state visits and other festive occasions. Visitors can explore 1100 years of Danish History on the walls of the Great Hall which are decorated with colorful tapestries. The Great Hall can accommodate up to 400 guests for banquets, state visits and New Year receptions. The Danish artist Bjorn Norgaard's modern tapestries were a gift to Queen Margrethe II in 2000. They narrate 1000 years of Denmark's history, from Viking times to the present day.

There is room called Alexander Hall which depicts the entry of Alexander the Great into Babylon. This also holds Queen's library which is Queen Margrethe II's book collection where many of the books date from the 18th century.

-Karthik Gurumurthy

This is a must see in Copenhagen.

Grundtvig's Church was erected in commemoration of the great Danish priest, poet, and reformer N.F.S. Grundtvig (1783 - 1882). This monumental church is referred to in modern terms as a Gothic cathedral.

Master builder and architect Peder Vilhelm Jensen Klint (1853 - 1930) died before the church was finished. The task was entrusted to his son architect and designer Kaare Klint (1888-1954), who completed the building of the church in 1940. Kaare Klint has also designed the chairs for the Grundtvig's Church - a chair made of beech wood with a wickerwork seat - a Danish furniture design.

-Karthik Gurumurthy

-Karthik Gurumurthy

"The secret of health for both mind and body is not to mourn for the past, worry about the future, or anticipate troubles but to live in the present moment wisely and earnestly."

-Karthik Gurumurthy

-Karthik Gurumurthy

Traveling is more than sunsets and shopping–it’s a way to get your mind off things. It’s a way to allow you to develop yourself in a faraway land, and it’s a way for you to be who you want to be.

-Karthik Gurumurthy

Lovely, authentic, humorous, inspirational  and insightful commencement speech by star tennis player John McEnroe at Stanford. He talked about the epic Wimbledon Championship match in 1980. Though he gave everything he had, he lost to Borg in 5 sets, 1–6, 7–5, 6–3, 6–7(16–18), 8–6. He said: "I once had the privilege of meeting the great Nelson Mandela. He told me he listened to that match on a tiny radio from his prison cell on Robben Island, and that the whole prison hung on every point of that match. That we get, we gave Mandela a brief respite from the excruciating hell of 27 years of political imprisonment meant more to me than any award I've ever won."

So winning isn't everything. The journey and the effort were more important.

You can listen to the whole speech here.

-Karthik Gurumurthy

Pushing yourself out of your comfort zone, by exploring new places and things, can increase the level of dopamine in your brain. Travel opens your mind in a way that few other things can. Speaking to new people and getting new perspectives will change how you perceive the world. Engaging yourself in various topics of conversation will help you see the world from many different points of view.

-Karthik Gurumurthy

-Karthik Gurumurthy

Srividhya scored perfect score and Harsh's score improved by 270 points.Very happy about the same...Made my day!!Thank you God!

-Karthik Gurumurthy

Ghez was born in New York City in 1965 and grew up with a passion for science and math. After earning degrees in physics and astronomy at MIT and Caltech, she began studying the stars at the W. M. Keck Observatory in Hawaii.

It was there that Ghez made her most significant discovery: using a technique called adaptive optics, she was able to capture the first-ever images of the black hole at the center of our galaxy. This breakthrough helped confirm the existence of black holes and opened up new avenues of research into their properties and behavior.

Ghez has continued to push the boundaries of our understanding of the universe, using innovative techniques to study the motion of stars and other celestial bodies. She has received numerous awards and honors for her groundbreaking work, including the prestigious MacArthur "Genius" Fellowship and the Nobel Prize in Physics in 2020.

But perhaps most importantly, Ghez has served as a role model and mentor for countless young women and girls interested in pursuing careers in science and technology. Her dedication, intelligence, and passion for discovery are an inspiration to all of us.

Did you know that Astronomer Andrea Ghez is the 4th woman to ever receive a Nobel Prize in Physics for her work on the supermassive black hole at the center of the Milky Way? 

-Karthik Gurumurthy

You know the story about the elephant whose one leg used to be tied using a small rope since the time he was young and he used to experience a lack of freedom in moving around wherever he wished. At that age, the small rope was enough to tie the elephant. As the elephant grew bigger, he possessed the physical strength to break the rope and wander around freely but instead of making use of his strength to break the rope, he did not do so. He remained confined to the same small region where he used to be tied because his mind was conditioned that he cannot break the rope, which is an example of a mental limitation.

In a similar manner, the inner region of our mind is the place where we as children got used to being tied with the different types of ropes of a lack of optimism or positivity. E.g. I cannot do well or I am not good enough or I am not as successful as others or I am low on self-confidence or I am an under-achiever. These ropes in many people are so strong that a time comes when situations of success have arrived in their life in different forms as they have grown up and they have achieved reasonably in different spheres of life. At that time they can easily break these different ropes, but they still remain low on optimism.

-Karthik Gurumurthy

Rasika Sriram got admission with good scholarship at University of Florida and University of Miami. Yayyy! Made my day!!

-Karthik Gurumurthy

Spend time every day imagining your ideal self. Picture what you would look like, how you'd speak and your tone towards those that can do nothing for you. Think about how you'd act in uncomfortable situations, how you'd push through difficult scenarios or how you'd come up from being underwater. Picture what your wardrobe consists of, the environment you'd live in, and the places you'd explore. Visualize the memories you'd like to create with your closest friends and the success of the business your child you once dreamt of.  Envision how you'd act, think, believe, laugh, smile, move and speak. Visualize your ideal self and now, do everything in your power to become that person. Because if you were able to imagine and feel them- then they exist.

But it is only up to YOU and your power to become it. It is only up to you to match the energy that lays dormant within you and that ALIGNS with the world you envision living in.

-Karthik Gurumurthy

Everytime you think about a negative event from your past, your body produces the exact same chemicals in the body as when it happened. That means you relive the experience hundreds/thousands of times simply because you haven't let it go. Move on. It is not worth it.

-Karthik Gurumurthy

There is nothing like spending time with school friends.

-Karthik Gurumurthy

Do not spend time on people who aren't grateful. Those are the ones who take blessings for granted and live a life that lacks empathy. Your time once spent won't be gained back even by spending millions. So make sure you spend it wisely on those who respect your efforts and are grateful for the support they gained. As well, build this quality in your own life. Be grateful. Every interaction matters. Do not waste your energy and time on people who don't deserve it.

-Karthik Gurumurthy

-Karthik Gurumurthy

We just got back from a trip to Chandler, AZ. 

The older I get, the more convinced I am that there is something to positive and negative energy.  When I wake up every morning, before I get out of bed, I remind myself of what I'm grateful for. It starts my day off right  and makes me feel good about what's in front of me. I think about my son and our close family and all the love I have in my life. However hard we try to surround ourselves with people who are good and who care about us, though, there will always be those who, for some reason, have negative energy. They can be hurtful and cause you sadness or pain.

My grandmother  (Chitti Patti) used to say, " Immerse them with kindness".  Another strategy is: "Keep your friends close and your enemies closer." There is a lot of wisdom in these two old sayings. Instead of trying to get revenge, take the high road. Let it go. Instead of trying to get back at someone because he/  she has hurt you, think of one nice thing about that person and put that out into the universe instead. If you don't let it go, that person's negativity will stay inside you, and that is exactly where you don't want that energy to be. 

So the next time you're hurt by someone, wish that person well in your heart and tell your brain  to move on and think about something else that matters.  You will be amazed at how it releases your negative energy. People can't control you if you won't let them. 

-Karthik Gurumurthy

“People’s vibrations reveal who they truly are. Each person carries their vibrations, and we can feel them by paying a little attention. When we silence our mind and turn away attention from visible parameters, we sense invisible energies, their vibes. It helps us understand the other person’s nature and intentions. The next time you meet someone, feel their vibes. Words or behaviors may be deceptive but vibrations cannot lie. “

-Karthik Gurumurthy

"Great minds discuss ideas. Average minds discuss events. Small minds discuss people.”

To be specific, these small minds are fault-finders, which according to the Webster dictionary, are people who habitually find fault, complain, or object, especially in a petty way.

As a part of human nature we subconsciously search for faults in other people to feel better about ourselves, or just because their faults are annoying to us.

Put simply, fault-finders are people who obsessively find fault in others and criticize. They often complain and harshly judge others based on trivial issues. Fault-finders are constantly telling others what they are doing wrong and or what they should be doing. They rarely, if ever, let a fault slip by, regardless of how insignificant.

Once, A famous painter had thousands of fans who would never get tired of praising his work.
One day, he thought "Do people praise only in front of me & talk about mistakes behind my back?"
The next day, he put up his painting at a busy intersection of the city & wrote a note "If you find a mistake in my painting, please put a mark in that place."

In the evening, when he went to the square, there were hundreds of marks on his painting. Seeing this, he got very disappointed & stopped painting thereafter.

When one of the painter's friends heard this, he said, "Let's put a painting made by you at that intersection again but this time with a different note."

The next day, a new painting was put at the intersection. Now the note read, "If you find a mistake in my painting, please correct it."

In the evening when the painter went to check the painting, it was still the same & there were no corrections made.

His friend said, "Anyone can find mistakes but there are very few who help to correct those mistakes. There is no point in unnecessarily taking opinions of people who only find fault without suggesting improvements."

My guiding thought about fault finding has always been a quote from Marcus Aurelius,
" Whenever you are about to find fault with someone, ask yourself the following question : What fault of mine most nearly resembles the one I am about to criticize?"

Let's stop finding faults and make a serious attempt towards becoming an example of one who focuses less on the bad, and more on the good & stay blessed forever.

-Karthik Gurumurthy

“Each of us has grown up with values, and taught to be kind to everyone around us. But we often exhibit a behavior of dependency – we are nice to people only when they are nice to us. If they behave wrongly with us in small or big ways, we feel an impulse to strike back in the name of tit for tat or an eye for an eye. We copy people’s wrong behaviors and give up our inherent goodness.

People behave with us differently on different days, depending on their mood, nature, circumstance, perspective or environment. They may argue, betray, scold or ignore me. There is always a chance of them being rude or disrespectful. We have three options:

1/To reflect their behavior and deplete our virtues,

2/To absorb their behavior and go into pain, and

3/To transform their energy by radiating our inherent goodness. If we keep copying people’s behaviors, we lose our own identity and virtues. It’s their life, their energy, their karma and their destiny. We need not respond the same way as they behave. We have the power to be nice to everyone, including with those who are not right to us.

Understand people and don’t hurt them back. Let them be their way, you be yours. Let your behavior be a reflection of your personality. Don’t copy their behaviors and don’t reflect their personality.”

-Karthik Gurumurthy

I am fortunate to work with young adults in helping them in Prep for SAT/ACT / MCAT tests.  I am also work with organizations in their Agile transformation efforts as an Enterprise Agile Coach. Even though the work involved is totally different, I see a parallel in both the roles.

Sometimes when the results are different from what's expected, we pause and find out what is the root cause of the issue?

Why don’t people perform? It is almost always for one of these reasons:

1. They don’t know what to do.

2. They don’t know how to do it.

3. They don’t want to do it.

4. They can’t do it.

Expectation without proper education equals frustration. Good leaders have the ability to assess abilities. An effective leader knows both what a person is capable of and what training and the education they need to succeed.

But training and development aren’t a panacea. If you’ve got the right person in the wrong role they won’t succeed.

Specifically, it is a matter of fit. The person fits the role. It isn’t an exact science, an either/or. However, when someone who is conscientious struggles performing even after they’ve receive the necessary training, it is likely a fit problem.

Are the right students in the right classrooms and even in the right seats? Are you assuming a student is a poor performer when in reality, her or she is just in the wrong classroom?

Willingness and ability aren’t the same thing. Understanding the nuances of people and performance are an important skill for leaders.

-Karthik Gurumurthy

Before the game of life is over,  I want to know I have done someting truly great, that I have made a positive impact of people who worked with me. I do not aspire to become as wealthy as Jeff Bezos, as famous as Napoleon and conquer many nations, but I do want above all else, to feel that I have been an addition to this world of ours. I should like the world, or at least my native land, to be proud of me and to sit up and take notice when my name is pronounced and say, "There is a man who had done a great thing." I do not want to have passed through life as just another speck of humanity, just another cog in this amazing world. I want to be something greater, far greater, than that. My desire is not so much for immortality as for distinction while I am alive. When I I leave this world, I want to know that my life has not been in vain, but that I have, in the course of my existence, done something of which I am rightfully proud. Success to me is how many people are better off because I lived (quoting Bill Britt).

Before the game is over, I want to know that during my life I have brought great happiness to others. Friendship is one of the best things to the world, and I want to have many friends. But I could never die fully contented unless I knew that those with whom I had been intimate had gained real happiness from their friendship with me.  We all want much happiness in our lives, and giving it to others is one of the surest ways to achieve it for ourselves.

Before the game is over I want to have visited a large portion of the globe and to have actually lived with several foreign races in their own environment. By traveling in countries other than my own I hope to broaden and improve my outlook on life so that I can get a deeper and more complete satisfaction from living. 

Before the game is over, I would like to live life to the fullest giving my best everyday.

-Karthik Gurumurthy

Whenever we meet friends or family, we make it a point to meet one family at a time. We try our best not to meet many families at the same time.Sometimes due to time constraints we might have done it but we try not to do that anymore. We seldom invite anyone for the sake of meeting them but we always wanted to give them undivided attention.

There’s nothing quite like it to unburden yourself. To know that you are being listened to. To feel that you are special. Many a memory is made up of meaningful conversations with significant others.Everyone has a special story to tell and I have learned a lot from the 1:1 conversations as opposed to having many extroverts completely take over the conversation and you never get to hear from the quieter people who wanted to share a useful nugget or a funny situation.

It is at these times that we learn to still ourselves to listen to the other. To give him/ her the gift of our undivided attention. It is when we learn how our lives can make a difference to other lives.

If we pay more attention to others, someday, in the future, someone will tell us how our attention and words made a difference.

-Karthik Gurumurthy

A book on quitting may seem like a downer to end my list of recommendations, but if that is what you think, you’ve got quitting all wrong.

Quitting is not about endings, but about clearing the page so there is space to write the next story. In this thought-jostling book, Duke brings the reader into the lives of notable characters who stayed in the game too long and the high price they paid for not walking away.

Throughout her engaging narratives, she infuses research on why we hang on too long and offers reflective questions to get us out of the muck. Threaded amongst the chapters are life lessons disguised on quips like when we quit on time, it likely feels like we are giving up too early, and when it looks like a tie between sticking it out and cutting our losses, we are almost always better walking away.

Each week people email me stories of their toxic work environments, asking for advice on how to make it better. My got to answer, backed by research,  is  - “If possible, quit!.” Quitting just may be the new winning. 

-Karthik Gurumurthy

I love this picture not just they are tennis fiercest rivals of all time. To see your greatest rival cry tears of sadness is the ultimate respect. There will never be another rivalry like this duo.Two men demonstrating the strength to be authentic. To be truly as you are, where you are. It's so obvious what this moment means to these two. Their powerful emotions clearly, courageously on display for all to see. How often do we hold ourselves back from being our authentic selves because we feel "it's not allowed." When was the last time you felt strong enough to be authentic?  It disrupts and destroys all myths about masculinity, competition and vulnerability.Being vulnerable in front of others always shows one's inner strength and character. 

Men are expected not to cry.
Men are expected to be tough.
Men are expected to destroy the competition.

Nothing about the raw emotion of Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal follows any of those outdated, damaging and dangerous rules of toxic masculinity.

They are openly crying.
They are holding hands.
They are competitors on the court and compassionate comrades who respect and revere one another.

Possessing both masculine and feminine traits is the sign of an evolved person. This really warms my heart.

And I hope that we are continuing to move towards a world that evolves beyond the gender binary "masculine" and "feminine"; one that isn't so desperately set on putting people into boxes and telling them that who they are, what they feel, who they love and how they live is "wrong" or "right" based on how the world has gendered them.

Until then, I implore more and more leaders to show up fully in all of their *human* traits — regardless of gender — so we can embrace, learn from and love them wholly.  Bow and respect to both Federer and Nadal..

-Karthik Gurumurthy

This new book from Amy Gallo is real guide to understanding yourself, understanding others, and how to improve workplace relationships through better communication.

If you’ve been in the workplace for any length of time, you know that collaboration is a must for career success and that there’s usually at least one challenging person that can destroy trust and tank your productivity. In this book, you’ll learn strategies for identifying the eight types of difficult co-workers and gain insights into their motivations.

She also provides actionable advice for how to step into these difficult conversations, so you can build better relationships. 

-Karthik Gurumurthy

-Karthik Gurumurthy

-Karthik Gurumurthy

Integrity is the most attractive aspect of a human being. When you truly display integrity in all your relationship, you are undisputable. Never manipulate people for any reason. True leadership and integrity go hand in hand.

-Karthik Gurumurthy

When you focus on the "Problems", your "Goal" will stop appearing, and

when you focus on the "Goal", your "problems" will stop appearing.

The Sun is shining on the day so brightly so your day is  also going to shine the same way. Let us focus on the right stuff.

-Karthik Gurumurthy

Continuing where I left off yesterday, I feel so many of us spend countless hours or weeks, in some sad cases, years, trying to make someone who want  them to be or to do what we think  is in their own best interests, only to repeatedly fail in our attempts. This is a tragedy as well as misspent life. It's time to let go.

One of the close family members was not taking time to take care of their parents.  They were so much obsessed  with their own life and health and didn't see that it is their duty to take care of them. My wife and I tried our best to convey this  message last year to take this as priority and act on it.  What happened? One of their parents unfortunately passed away few months back. 

Wasn't it my job to guide a close family 's decisions and actions? I always thought not doing so was so selfish and uncaring. 

Thankfully what I finally learning slowly is, be it a close family member, be it your own spouse or strangers crossing our paths, must be who they are, not who we they think they should be. 

They must make their own mistakes and through what they learn, have reason to celebrate their own successes.

There are many reasons for letting go of this futile behavior, but the most important ones are they we will never succeed in controlling others and never experience peace in our own lives if we are always focussed on how other people are living or how we think they should be living. If we want to be peaceful, we must let go of how others choose to live and take care of business in one life only: our own.

Just as no one else can productively be the total focus of our lives, we cannot waste precious time thinking we are or should be the center of someone else's life either. This may come as a blow to our ego, but it is time to learn this important truth. 

This does not mean we should quit interacting with people or shut them out in order to preempt being shut out. Nor does it mean we should ignore how other people are thinking and behaving for fear we will seeek an unhealthy dependency on them.

I find observing others can be edifying and enlightening. It simply means getting perspective on our role  in all interactions and understanding  where our responsibility ends and the other person's begins. Becoming entangled in other people's actions, dreams, or dramas binds us to them in emotionally unhealthy ways and prevents the growth we deserve. 

We want people around us who will pay us constant attention, who will make no plans that don't include us, have no thoughts that aren't shared. But that's not relationship, that's dependence; it is unholy connection. Relationships that truly bring us to peace are interdependent.  As we are celebrating the independence day of USA, it is time to let go of the dependence of our happiness with other entities. Happy July 4th, USA

-Karthik Gurumurthy

Lot of us have acquired the habit of interfering in other's people affairs.  When I observe close family members not taking care of parents, spouses, and going totally in the wrong direction, I feel tempted to call and give them advice as if they are going to listen to me and make changes.  Obsessively watching the behavior of friends, siblings, family members or even complete strangers and longing to change or control their behavior, is a great catalyst for inner turmoil. This goes hand in hand with the misguided idea that we can change anyone but ourselves. One can spend years trying to change a spouse or some other friend, but what a relief to finally learn that the affairs of others are not ours to control or even to judge. 

I am realizing that the child we parent have their own journey to make, and our so-called  control over them is, in fact, an illusion. We can set  an example  for them, we can suggest a set of behaviors , we can demonstrate a code of ethics, we can even require that they live by a certain "house rules" while under our roof, but finally  it is they who will decide who they want to be and what they want to do, regardless of our efforts.  And for that we will become grateful in time. 

I say: Let's celebrate the fact that we are in charge of noone but ourselves. It relieves us of a heavy burden, and a thankless job, one that never blesses us. Taking control of every thought we have and every action we take, and being willing to relinquish the past while savoring the present, will assuredly keep us as busy as we need to be. Doing these things, and only these things is why we are here. It's only when we live our own lives and manage our own business, freeing others to do the same, that we will find the peace we seek and so deserve.

-Karthik Gurumurthy

In my twenty plus work experience, I have had the opportunity to work with amazing organizations and great leaders. What I have observed with the top leaders is they focus primarily on the growth and well being of the team and the communities to which they belong.  They always put the needs of others first and help their people develop and perform at a very high level. 

I have also witnessed  so called  average positional leaders sharing lofty big dreams but doesn't necessarily back it up with the action/ strategy to make that happen. To develop leaders, one needs to start from the ground-up.  What separates average companies from the great ones is their ability to build a leadership culture through out their organization that cultivates great leaders.

"a true leader is not the one with the most followers but the one who creates the most leaders."

-Neale Donald Walsch

-Karthik Gurumurthy

CFO asks CEO:  "What happens if  we invest in developing our people and then they leave us?"

CEO: "What happens if we don't and they stay?"

"Train people well enough so they can leave. Treat them well enough so they don't want to."- Sir Richard Branson

-Karthik Gurumurthy

Marshall Goldsmith imparts a powerful guide for anyone seeking a higher purpose in their personal and professional life.

Goldsmith draws on his experience as a world-renowned executive coach to provide practical advice and exercises aimed at helping readers live a life aligned with their overarching purpose, regardless of the eventual outcome.

Taking inspiration from Buddhism, Goldsmith reveals that the key to living an earned life, unbound by regret, requires committing to a habit of earning and connecting that habit to something greater than the isolated achievements of careerism.

With illuminating stories from Goldsmith's legendary career, this book provides a roadmap for ambitious people seeking to close the gap between what they plan to achieve and what they actually get done, and to avoid the trap of existential regret that reroutes destinies and persecutes memories.

-Karthik Gurumurthy

“The biggest disease of the mind is over-thinking, especially too much thinking about others: What they did, what they should do, what they should have done, what they said, what you wished they had said, why they spoke at all. All of these rob the mind of its inherent serenity.

Thinking too much is like eating too much. The heaviness makes it impossible to remain light and flexible. We get stuck on little things and gradually the little things become huge things which we cannot shake off. Often when we think too much we fantasise and overreact. Thus we create negative feelings.”

-Karthik Gurumurthy

"Often in life, we forget the things we should remember,

and remember the things we should forget."

-Karthik Gurumurthy

Marshall Goldsmith provides a powerful guide for anyone seeking a higher purpose in their personal and professional life.

Goldsmith draws on his experience as a world-renowned executive coach to provide practical advice and exercises aimed at helping readers live a life aligned with their overarching purpose, regardless of the eventual outcome.

Taking inspiration from Buddhism, Goldsmith reveals that the key to living an earned life, unbound by regret, requires committing to a habit of earning and connecting that habit to something greater than the isolated achievements of careerism.

With illuminating stories from Goldsmith's legendary career,  this book provides a roadmap for ambitious people seeking to close the gap between what they plan to achieve and what they actually get done, and to avoid the trap of existential regret that reroutes destinies and persecutes memories.

-Karthik Gurumurthy

Current generation job market is better than what it used to be a decade ago.

If you are ready to learn and present yourself truly, you will get a job. No one questions your gap, or relevant experience. All people see is the attitude towards work and people. Most companies evaluate people at mindset level than skill set.

Upskill, build network, truly learn and stay humble. You will end up being relevant your whole life.

-Karthik Gurumurthy

Understand that every person who has shown up in your life arrived to help you become the person you are currently now.

-Karthik Gurumurthy

“The fool wonders, the wise man asks”

The above quote is from former British Prime Minister, Benjamin Disraeli. For me, its closest modern equivalent is, “The only stupid question is an unasked question.”

While I prefer the more elegant phrasing of Mr. Disraeli, I applaud the sentiment behind both. Even though at times it can be brutally difficult to admit you don’t know who someone is, what something is, how to pronounce something, how to do something, etc, you stand a far better chance of being well thought of—and, more importantly, learning something new—if you’re willing to ask the question.

Given this, what are some things you can do to feel more comfortable asking questions?

• First: Don’t confuse ignorance with stupidity. Just because you don’t know how to conjugate French verbs or tie a half hitch slipknot doesn’t mean you don’t have mastery of numerous other skill sets and bodies of information.

• Second: Point two flows naturally from point one: don’t apologize for your ignorance. We all tend to do this and it doesn’t serve us, or our listener. Instead, it diverts attention from getting the question answered into massaging one another’s egos. Stay on task; just ask the question. If your listener expresses surprise at your not knowing, don’t feed into it. Agree and add, “Yes, I don’t know. Can you tell me?”

• Third: Remember that everyone loves being an authority. While your boss or your colleague or your date may be surprised by your not knowing something in the moment, this will quickly be superseded by the satisfaction of getting to be the authority.

-Karthik Gurumurthy

"Success has no sympathy for the validity of the excuses. Excuses are the nails used to build the house of failure."