Weekly Snapshot: Valuable Conversations

<span style="white-space: pre-wrap;">Photo by </span><a href="https://unsplash.com/@jurigianfra?utm_source=ghost&amp;utm_medium=referral&amp;utm_campaign=api-credit"><span style="white-space: pre-wrap;">Juri Gianfrancesco</span></a><span style="white-space: pre-wrap;"> / </span><a href="https://unsplash.com/?utm_source=ghost&amp;utm_medium=referral&amp;utm_campaign=api-credit"><span style="white-space: pre-wrap;">Unsplash</span></a>

Words are impactful. The words we speak or hear - alter our minds and affect how we perceive the outside world. Words have power. So much so that in history, words have shaped the course of humanity. From Martin Luther King's I Have a Dream speech to the nationalist propaganda by governments to the brainwashing of kids by extremists. All use words that raise emotions and alter our behaviors.

I've had deep and meaningful conversations with people I respect in the last few weeks. Each conversation was constructive and thought-provoking - backed by years of experience, data, and observation. I left each conversation with a valuable lesson about life, business, and the world.

The beauty of such conversations is the diversity of opinions and perspectives. You realize that multifaceted origins and pathways of a single concept ultimately converge to the same conclusion. The diverse experience was an eye-opener for me. It was also a signal that the multi-dimensionality of thoughts is critical to unlocking wisdom.

We shared ideas and lessons and discussed possible solutions to problems we discounted as unsolvable. We shared our experiences at various junctions of our lives and how we overcame the challenges life threw at us. All the conversations had growth at their core.

It is a core reason why good conversation gives us an aftertaste similar to what we get after eating a freshly baked chocolate fudge cake. Bad conversations do the opposite.

Since we have established that words impact our mood, way of thinking, and perspective on life, therefore they must be chosen and processed carefully. Using words with negative connotations or being mean can leave the listener hurt and us guilty. Negative self-talk can ruin our self-confidence and can push us into self-pity. Positive words of affirmation will boost your confidence and give you energy. A hopeful twist of words to describe a not-so-hopeful situation in a conversation will lighten the end of the tunnel.

It is all in the words. The words we speak and the words we hear shape our narrative of the world.

So, isn't it better to have positive, reaffirming, solution-oriented, and constructive conversations?

💪 Wins of the week

  1. Spent quality time with family during Eid!
  2. Completed the first basic FE version of the AI SDR app. It’s coming out quite nicely.

🧐 Challenges & Learnings

  1. I’m still figuring out my top priorities - cutting down is not easy as I thought.
  2. I feel I’m still in motion - need to be more action and results oriented.

🎯 Goals for Next Week

  1. Network with at least a 100 energy professionals at the Middle East Energy Conference 2024 in Dubai.
  2. Restructure my team at work and agree on operating principles for the next year.
  3. Complete FE of AI SDR and close at least one paid user!
  4. Stay focused and grateful.

📖 My Readings

Picked up where I left off - Elon Musk’s biography.

🎬 My YouTube Video

New video is out! In this latest video, I talk about the importance of doing hard things in life and argue that it’s critical for your success. Happy watching.

✍️ Quote of the Week

“One efficient way to compound is to document everyday how do people around you solve hard problems.

Autobiographies of successful people are effective as it gives a compressed understanding of problem solving abilities"

- Kunal Shah (CEO of CRED)