My father always told me that when you’re successful never be flashy in India. Be humble. This issue will talk about that. I’ll post such newsletters every Sunday morning at 8. To receive them subscribe:
Three things really intrigued me about his statement:
How well I imbibed this idea in myself and I’ve been following it properly, not because of someone else, but because I really want to be humble
I started thinking about people who are not humble genuinely and they really want to be flashy
And also about people who are not humble but are forced to be because the society demands it
The thing is humility isn’t law, but it’s perceived to be one.
You can’t be successful and above everyone else in someway, and not be humble about this.
This shouldn’t actually be this way.
Everybody has their own way of living life and we are no one to judge their way.
Remember the time Hardik Pandya was trolled for his choices in life, or the fact that Virat Kohli is expressive and married an actress.
Flashy dramatic lives, but who are we to judge?
As a society we miss this fact that whatever they have, and whatever they want to make out of it is their choice.
Now someone might come up and say “then judging them is my choice, why shouldn’t I?”.
Because it might not be hurting them, but it’s taking you down a wrong path. A very naive path.
Let me explain:
It’s great to be humble. Dhoni is humble and we love that about him. But the thought that anyone who isn’t like him is bad is really really sad.
If you respect people like Dhoni or Ratan Tata just for their humility and diss people who aren’t like them, then anyone can manipulate you using humility as a weapon.
Anyone can use it to trick you into believing he/she is good. Because in your mind the show of humility is the metric.
I know it’s difficult to change perception.
It’s the same for me.
Even I fall for humility, I like being humble and I like people who are humble, but that’s the thing…We have to start respecting other people’s choices.
Just start doing that and you will never feel resentful towards anyone who is doing better or worse than you.
Start respecting other people’s choices and you’ll understand it’s okay to let them be the way they are.
It’s okay to not question their credibility.
It’s okay if they love driving flashy cars, you don’t have to picture a crony blood thirsty capitalist whenever you see them.
And it’s really sad if you only feel something for a person when they are down and out.
Sympathy is the worst emotion to have.
Anyone living a good life and doing well for herself should bring a smile to your face.
Anyone facing bad times shouldn’t make you feel good about yourself.
Nobody should be made to scale down their desires just because the society wants it to be that way. As long as something doesn’t harm you, let it go.
And as a person who was biased towards humility earlier, I can confirm the other side is much more beautiful.
When you leave this bitterness against someone doing better than you are, you actually start appreciating whatever you have even more.
Aspire, be hungry for more, but don’t be resentful towards those who have it all before you.
FinFloww Zone
This week is a very special one for us. We are launching our new weekly email newsletter called “What the Floww?” which is like no newsletter you’ve ever experienced before. We’re not going to share news, it’s not going to help you be informed, it’s going to tell you amazing stories. Stories which will take you to places, you’ve never been before. Stories which will make you learn, smile, laugh and maybe cry a bit too. Finance is a complicated place. We didn’t want to remain another finance newsletter, we wanted it to be a part of the culture. A “culture patr” which changes your perspective about everything.
The pilot episode is coming this Thursday so subscribe here:
OMT Zone
After a long break, we’re back! The universes are colliding again, and this was the result: A conversation between two startup guys on content creation as a career, Tanmay Bhatt (and what’s special about him) and a ton of other stuff. Subscribe to receive the latest episode: