Last responsible moment
We tend to jump four or five steps ahead to make a decision. This happens when we are already biased towards something or anxious to conclude it in our head. The hurry leads to poor decision-making when sufficient facts have not been gathered. Here is valuable advice that someone shared with me last week on deciding in such scenarios. There is always a last responsible moment for us to hold on to making a decision and letting others know. It is a strategy of waiting until the cost of not making a decision is greater than the cost of making it. Until then we stay curious, observant, and open about how things are shaping up.
“Have noticed that leaders who are right a lot are often effective at making irreversible decisions at the last responsible moment” – Amit Agarwal, SVP of Amazon Emerging Markets
Internal authority
Our relationship with authority has never been easy. From childhood, we have either accepted and obeyed them or rebelled against them. Nevertheless, we feel that authority figures are more powerful and knowledgeable than us. As a result, we face challenges in our adult interactions. We fail to question, assert our boundaries, comply with requests unwillingly, or feel unworthy and unfairly treated. Our struggle with this imbalance comes from not acknowledging our internal authority. It is from our internal authority that we get authentic answers and a sense of having a choice. One way to strengthen our internal authority is by acknowledging that the final choice lies with us. Nurturing our internal authority is essential for our well-being.
“We are the ones we decide how we feel, how we look at things, how we react.” – Catherine Pulsifer, Author of wings of wisdom
Infinite vision
I have a ritual of watching the documentary “Infinite Vision” on Oct 2nd every year. This is about an inspiring institution Aravind Eye Hospital and its founder Dr. Govindappa Venkataswamy (Dr. V). Dr. V’s life has been on a mission to remove unnecessary blindness on earth. He turned every kind of adversity into an opportunity and showed how to build a financially self-sufficient institution while still serving the needs of poor people. There are few people whose stories and work inspire us deeply. Staying in touch with them rekindles our aspiration of who we want to be and how we want to live. Dr. V is a reminder to use my intelligence and my capabilities to do something beautiful and seek professional excellence while being empathetic, compassionate, and leading a simple and integral life.
“Intelligence and capability are not enough. There must be the joy of doing something beautiful.” – Dr. V, Founder of Aravind Eye Hospital