AparnaChowdhry_BLP040_About Me_Oct’11

Oct 8, 2011 – Saturday turned out to be another action packed day with Anil Sir. We started with reviewing our learning so far. One conversation let to another and soon we were on a conference call with Prasad Kaipa, one of Steve jobs close associates (Ex Head of Marketing, Europe Apple). It was wonderful to know about the other side of Steve jobs from a person who had worked with him. Mr. Kaipa shared a number of stories about who Steve jobs was, how focused was he on innovation and how determined was he to get what he dreamt of.

We then dwelled upon the topic of grooming and presenting ourselves to the crowd. Each of us was given the task of highlighting our uniqueness and sharing our purpose and direction in life with the rest of the class.

It was difficult at the beginning to think through the questions Anil Sir had asked, but once I pondered on them a bit the answers flowed. I was pleasantly surprised at the cause and effect analysis I had done and the results I arrived at.

The one that took the maximum time to answer was, “Who am I?” My strengths lie in being self-reliant and independent – and that is precisely who I have grown to be with the conditioning I have had from family and environment. The next 2 questions were, “What am I here for?” and “Where am I going?” These were relatively easier to answer since they have been playing crossword in my mind for quite some time. I am here to leave a mark and be a leader who goes the way & shows the way. That is the path I am going to travel. And it is "important to travel that path" (4^th question) so as to fill my life and the lives of people around me with happiness. The last question about how my strengths can be leveraged to reach my goal got me thinking again about how my strengths have helped me so far. I concluded that the discipline, focus on quality and commitment to the task at hand along with the ability to see the best in people – the strengths I have gained, nourished and stuck by – will help me succeed further in achieving my goal as well.

The one answer I am yet to decipher is – How? How will I get to my goal? What’s the path? The dots are still unclear. But I am sure they will emerge as I move forward in the discovery of self-exploration.