Gotta Do This.

Not much to say for something like this but just putting it out there.

Close Enough Isn't Good Enough.

Today our work was nominated in an awards show. The only problem - we didn't win. Although even getting nominated is an honour I felt somewhat underwhelmed. I knew the entry we sent in had a fair shot, but I guess what we all, including yours truly knew that it wasn't a sure winner.

Now, that's a little strange because most good ad agencies won't sell an idea that wouldn't work. And we do that just fine. I guess it's time for me and my team to do work that would both work for the client and the awards shows. The budget, the deadlines, the feedback are excuses. It's time to pull up the socks and win some awards. God knows I have to win some more to compensate for today.

Gotta Remember to Smell Those Roses.

Our office offers some breathtaking views. Think a vast panorama of the Mumbai skyline and if you crane your neck hard enough, you will notice the sea over the horizon. Strangely so, I don’t pay that much attention to the view anymore. Maybe it’s just me getting acclimatized. Maybe it’s the hectic work routine.

Yesterday, I watched the sun turning the skies amber around dusk. Words can’t possibly do justice to the view. I looked at it for a moment, smiled at myself or possibly the view and then buried my head back in my laptop. After a few moments as I looked at the spectacular sun set, now in its last legs, I saw a colleague of mine hunched over the glass, taking in the glorious sight.

I guess, the colleague must have been as busy as me but he knew one thing for sure. Gotta make it a point to smell the roses. So, yes, here’s me agreeing to do more of that. And also using my camera phone more often, never mind that the output can be as lackluster as seen here. 

Gotta respect the man who takes the time to smell the roses and smell the flowers. #office #sunset #summers

A photo posted by Uddhav (@udicious) on Jun 10, 2015 at 6:14am PDT

It's Not a Disaster. It's an Opportunity.

Our perception colours everything we go through in life. Nothing is good or bad. Everything is absolutely relative to how you choose to perceive it. So that glitch in the payment gateway system that takes months and money to fix? That could be an opportunity to deliver a better customer experience. Those nice suede shoes your colleague spilled bear on? That could be an opportunity to invest in real leather shoes that last a lifetime.

So, the next time you find yourself facing what seems like a complete disaster, remember you can fret and founder and look the easy way out. Or you can take a deep breath and see the disaster as the opportunity to make things better. 

Fix Your To-Do List.

Okay, I'm a workaholic. I thought I wouldn't be one of those but it's actually not that surprising. I've always been single-minded about things. And it serves me in good stead. At work. I scored some major brownie points at work today. I also decided that it was about time I learnt how to edit videos. Get a hang of either Sony Vegas or Adobe AfterEffects. And then I noticed it. I wanted to learn something that would let me be more efficient at work. I didn't want to learn it for the sheer joy of it. I didn't want to learn something that would help me grow as a person and not as a professional. Never mind the fact that more videos would make this blog more enjoyable for you, dear reader.

We all have this To-Do List. The job we want at a particular age. The package we want after serving a particular tenure. But none of us have this list for our personal goals. The number of marathons you want to run by 25. The number of continents you want to visit by 27. The number of languages you want to speak. It's time I added these life goals to my to-do list. It sounds like a minor thing but things are looking really intense right about now. I mean I wanted to learn Mandarin because I wanted to work in China and that took precedence over the fact that I wanted to learn French because, well, who doesn't love French?

Anyway, must work on that. Also, stick to the other resolution I made of sleeping on time. Night.