For entrepreneurs, empathy goes beyond just seeing things from other people’s perspective or understanding how they feel. It means doing something about it. It means developing a solution that remedies the situation. But it starts with empathy, understanding the problem from the customer's perspective. Entrepreneurs are problems solvers. Business is about solving problems. When everyone…

"Sorry" does not mean you caused the pain. It merely means that you see it, that you have felt pain before in your life as well, that you are open to a connection. Our ability to bring people along is critical because we are playing a long game, even an infinite one. Back and forth,…

From a Design Thinking principle, empathy is the first step to the problem solving process. This is with good reason, if we are going to design a solution for a client, it is important that we understand what the client wants first. Entrepreneurs often think that they know what customers want, without asking or putting…

A simple life is a life of both less and more. It is a life of less distraction, less consumption, and less of the inessential, to make room for more mindfulness, more intention, and more of what matters. If one’s life is simple, contentment has to come. Simplicity is extremely important for contentment. Having few…

Living a low-key life does not mean you are not ambitious. It does not mean you are aiming for an average life. Living a low-key life does not mean you have a low self-esteem about yourself. Living a low-key life means your measure of what is important in you is not the same as what…

When you paint a picture, perhaps no one will walk by, see your creation, and gaze upon it in awe. Perhaps no one will tell you that it is beautiful, that they see the painstaking detail you took in bringing paint to canvas, that you should keep painting. When you play a song, perhaps not…

Most people seek success and share the view that one of the things that makes you successful is when you are popular. In an endeavor to be popular, they befriend popular people, want to date popular people, because this somehow will make them feel either popular by association or successful by association. I have learned…

... And the going gets tough. You wish you could just give up and let the load off your shoulders. And then you look back how far you have come. You think to yourself, do I still go on or do I just let go and embrace the freedom of not having the load? I'm…

One of my favorite restaurant in town closed about two months ago. For weeks, there was a sign about renovations. Then a new sign, this one promising big things. Then, of course, the "for rent" sign from the broker. A software service I used for a while sent me a note today that read: Please…

One of the most important lessons I have learned from Professor Clayton Christensen, one of the most celebrated thought leaders on disruptive innovation from Harvard University is on humility. Prof Clay Christensen is of the view that: Humility is a fundamental byproduct of confidence, not modesty or self-deprecation. The people in my life whom I most…

"Tiger, one day you will come to a fork on the road," Boyd said to him. "And you are going to have to make a decision about which direction you want to go." Using his hands to illustrate, Boyd marked off these two directions. "If you go that way you can be somebody. You will…

Here is the thing about ego, you stop asking questions or seeking assistance because you tell yourself you know. You actually believe people should come to you for help or advice. As a result you don't seek mentorship, you don't ask questions, you don't register for any course. You don't seek feedback, so that you can…