Author: Suresh Dinakaran

 

As dusk is settling in, a man walks into a fancy restaurant in Milan and promptly spills red wine on a pristine white table cloth. Rather than apologising, he shouted “MAGNIFICO!” with such genuine enthusiasm that the entire restaurant—waitstaff included—burst into applause. Onlookers watched in awe as this linguistic judo move transformed what should have been mortifying into something magical. That’s when you realise: it’s not the disasters that define us, but the words we attach to them.

 

Let’s get something straight: your words aren’t just describing your reality—they’re creating it. That’s not some woo-woo manifestation nonsense. It’s cognitive linguistics, baby. And it’s controlling more of your life than you realise. Words aren’t just floating through the air harmlessly like semantic confetti. They’re rewiring neural pathways, shifting cultural tectonic plates, and determining whether you’ll get that second date, that job offer, or that international peace treaty.

 

Now picture this( sorry, I know I am making you do this often): you are tuned into Bloomberg and watching two CEOs describe identical quarterly losses. The first said, “We experienced a temporary revenue adjustment during our strategic realignment.” His stock climbed 3%. The second said, “We lost money.” His stock plummeted 7%. Same financial reality, wildly different economic outcomes. It wasn’t accounting magic—it is linguistic alchemy. And it’s happening all around you, whether you’ve noticed or not.

 

Let’s cut the foreplay and get straight to the point: Words aren’t just words. They’re reality-bending, mind-hacking, money-making, culture-shaping psychological weapons. And most of us are walking around with fully loaded linguistic arsenals we barely know how to use. While you’re debating whether to call something “nice” or “pleasant” (yawn), master wordsmiths are out there turning cultural tides, launching billion-dollar brands, and rewiring our collective consciousness—one carefully chosen adjective at a time. And guess what? You’re being wordsmithed every single day, whether you know it or not.

 

Let’s get one thing straight: words are the ultimate weapon. They can start wars, end relationships, and make or break a brand faster than you can say “New Coke.” Yet, somehow, we’re still out here dropping verbal grenades like it’s open mic night at the apocalypse. From cringe-worthy ad campaigns to tone-deaf media headlines, the world is a minefield of linguistic landmines. So, let’s talk about why words matter—in culture, in advertising, and in media—and how getting them wrong can cost you everything. Buckle up, because this is going to be a wild ride.

 

The Linguistic Heist: How Words Steal Your Money– Remember when airlines stopped calling their cheapest seats “economy” and started calling them “basic economy“? That wasn’t a rebrand—it was daylight robbery via thesaurus. By adding that one little word—”basic”—they reframed their decades-old standard product as a stripped-down option. This linguistic sleight-of-hand made their regular “economy” seats (with the same legroom your grandfather complained about in 1987) suddenly seem like an upgrade worth paying extra for. Ka-ching. Millions extracted from your pocket through nothing more than linguistic repositioning. Or take the bottled water industry—a $300 billion global market built almost entirely on adjectives. “Artesian.” “Purified.” “Glacier-fed.” “Natural spring.” These aren’t just descriptors; they’re hypnotic incantations that convince you to pay 10,000% more for something that falls from the sky for free. If someone sold you a $3 handful of dirt by calling it “artisanal earth,” you’d laugh them out of the room. Yet here we are, collectively spending billions on what’s essentially well-dressed tap water.

 

Word Crimes That Changed History– Remember when BP had that little “oopsie” in the Gulf of Mexico? Their PR team immediately labeled it a “spill,” conjuring images of a tipped-over milk carton rather than the 210 million gallons of crude oil actually pumping into the ocean. The media obediently parroted this terminology, and public perception shifted accordingly. During the 2008 financial crisis, nobody was “gambling with mortgage-backed securities” or “committing fraud.” No, no. They were just “engaged in troubled assets” or experiencing “liquidity issues.” Those linguistic gymnastics helped ensure that exactly zero Wall Street executives went to prison. In 1993, the U.S. military didn’t “kill” anyone in foreign conflicts. They “serviced the target.” Civilians weren’t “killed”—they were “collateral damage.” These weren’t just euphemisms; they were psychological barriers between actions and consequences, constructed entirely of carefully chosen words.

 

The Cultural Vocabularies That Rewire Society- Every subculture develops its own language, and these vocabularies don’t just describe the culture—they create and maintain it. Silicon Valley runs on “disruption,” “pivoting,” and “failing forward.” These aren’t just buzzwords; they’re permission slips for behaviors that would get you fired anywhere else. Wall Street operates on “leveraging,” “arbitrage,” and “alpha.” These linguistic shields transform gambling into seeming science. Wellness culture thrives on “toxins,” “cleansing,” and “natural“—words that are scientifically meaningless but emotionally potent. These vocabularies aren’t just jargon—they’re complete operating systems for reality.

 

The Off-Beat Examples You Didn’t See Coming– The $125 Million Comma In 2006, Canadian company Rogers Communications found itself in a contract dispute with Bell Aliant. The issue? A single misplaced comma in a 14-page contract. That punctuation error cost Rogers $125 million. If that doesn’t convince you that words (and their arrangement) matter, nothing will.

 

The Prison That Renamed “Prisoners” -A maximum-security prison in Norway refers to its inhabitants as “students” rather than “inmates” or “prisoners.” The recidivism rate there? About 20%, compared to over 70% in countries using traditional prison terminology. When you call someone a student, they start behaving like one.

 

The Language of Pain– Studies show that how doctors describe pain significantly impacts patient experience. When a doctor says “This will feel like a bee sting” before an injection, patients report more pain than when they say “This might feel cold.” The words literally change the neurological experience.

 

The $250,000 Job Title Switch – Heard about this story of an executive recruitment firm about one of their clients who was stuck at a salary ceiling. His strategy? Change his LinkedIn title from “Head of Developer Relations” to “Chief Developer Experience Officer.” Same job, fancier words. Within three months, apparently he had offers $250K above his previous salary. The words created the value.

 

Advertising: Where Words Are Actually Magic Spells– Marketers have understood the reality-bending power of words since someone first tried to sell a second apple in Eden. When De Beers coined “A Diamond is Forever” in 1948, they weren’t just creating a catchy slogan. They were manufacturing an entirely new cultural expectation. Before this campaign, diamond engagement rings weren’t standard. Within a generation, they became mandatory. Those four words literally created billions in market value from thin air. Nike didn’t sell shoes with technical specifications. They sold “Just Do It“—three words that transformed athletic wear into identity statements. Insurance companies don’t sell “death and disaster financial protection”—they sell “peace of mind.” Pharmaceutical companies didn’t invent “erectile dysfunction“—they reframed what was once called “impotence,” with all its judgmental baggage, into a clinical condition deserving treatment rather than shame. These aren’t just marketing tricks. They’re evidence that the right words, properly deployed, can reshape cultural norms and personal identities faster than any legislation.

 

The Media: Professional Reality Constructors– Ever notice how news outlets choose wildly different words to describe the exact same events? One channel’s “freedom fighter” is another’s “terrorist.” One paper’s “tax relief” is another’s “tax cuts for the wealthy.” One blog’s “job creator” is another’s “exploitative billionaire.” These aren’t just stylistic choices—they’re installing entirely different operating systems in the minds of viewers. When COVID-19 hit, some outlets called it the “Wuhan virus” while others used the official designation. That linguistic choice correlated strongly with how their audiences perceived both the virus and Asian Americans during the pandemic. Words create worlds. Choose your news sources carefully—you’re not just consuming information; you’re selecting which reality you wish to inhabit.

 

The Corporate Word Crimes Hall of Fame –“Rightsizing“
Because “mass layoffs” sounded too much like what was actually happening.“Pre-owned“-Because “used” sounds like someone’s already done their best to break it. “Negative Growth” –Because “massive financial losses” might spook the shareholders. “Enhanced Interrogation Techniques“- Because “torture” is such an ugly word. “Conscious Uncoupling“
Because “divorce” sounds so… divorcy.

 

The Dating Profile Linguistic Analysis– Dating apps have analyzed millions of successful and unsuccessful profiles. The findings? Certain words dramatically impact your chances of finding love—or at least finding someone willing to swipe right. Men who use “physically fit” get 96% more interactions than those who use “in shape.” Women who use “passionate” get 64% more attention than those who use “driven.” These aren’t synonyms in the dating marketplace—they’re completely different products. On the flip side, men who use “unemployed” get 40% fewer matches than those who use “between jobs.” Women who use “divorced” get 52% fewer matches than those who use “single.” Modern romance isn’t dying—it’s just being aggressively A/B tested and linguistically optimized.

 

“Oops, Wrong Word” – The Most Expensive Mistakes Ever Made– Gerald Ratner wiped out his company overnight by calling his own jewelry “total crap” in a speech. Customers believed him. $500 million gone. McDonald’s tried “I’m Lovin’ It” in China. The literal translation? “I Like It Dead.” Appetite? Lost. Braniff Airlines boasted their first-class seats were “Fly in Leather.” In Mexico, that translated to “Fly Naked.” Sales went… down. HSBC had to spend $10 million on rebranding after their tagline “Assume Nothing” was misinterpreted worldwide as “Do Nothing.“ Customers took the advice.

 

If you’re still reading this, congratulations—you’re already one step closer to mastering the art of words. Now go forth and communicate like your life depends on it. Because, let’s be real, it kinda does.

 

Better unsafe than be sorry…

 

Picture this for a moment: a 12-year-old girl in rural Vietnam navigates a mountain pass on a rickety scooter, balancing what appeared to be her family’s entire worldly possessions behind her. Meanwhile, in California, parents are being investigated by child services for letting their 10-year-olds walk to school alone. Something isn’t adding up, and it’s not just cultural differences—it’s our entire relationship with risk.

 

One more to stretch your imagination please- visualise that you are standing at the edge of a 50-foot cliff in Acapulco( off the Pacific coast of Mexico), watching local divers plunge into a narrow inlet where the timing of waves meant the difference between exhilaration and catastrophe. A weathered diver notices your wide eyes and said something you’ll never forget: “In Mexico, we have a saying—if you wait for perfect conditions, you’ll never swim in the ocean.”

 

We’ve all heard the adage “better safe than sorry.” It’s whispered by well-meaning parents, reinforced by cautious teachers, and emblazoned across corporate compliance manuals. It’s the anthem of the risk-averse, the rallying cry of the comfortable-but-unfulfilled. But what if this cherished wisdom is actually holding us hostage?

 

What if—hear me out—we should instead embrace “better unsafe than be sorry“? Before you dismiss this as reckless nonsense, let’s be clear: I’m not advocating for jumping blindfolded into traffic or investing your life savings in cryptocurrency based on a dream you had. I’m talking about calculated risk-taking—the kind that propels humanity forward while everyone else is busy constructing elaborate safety nets that ultimately become cages.

 

The Mathematics of Regret– Let’s talk about the mathematics of regret, which surprisingly few people calculate correctly. Most of us overestimate the cost of action and underestimate the cost of inaction. We obsess over what might go wrong if we take a risk, while barely acknowledging what we sacrifice by standing still. Jeff Bezos frames this perfectly with his “regret minimization framework.” When deciding whether to leave his comfortable job to start Amazon, he imagined himself at age 80, looking back. Would he regret trying and failing? Perhaps. But would he regret never trying at all? Absolutely.

 

Better safe than sorry. Bullshit. That mind-numbing mantra has created generations of professionally cautious, expertly hesitant humans who’ve mastered the art of avoiding failure while simultaneously avoiding anything resembling an extraordinary life.

 

Global Risk-Takers Who Are Eating Your Lunch– While you’re triple-checking that spreadsheet, here’s what’s happening elsewhere:

Kenya: M-Pesa revolutionized mobile banking years before Western banks even considered it possible. Why? Because Kenyan entrepreneurs couldn’t afford to wait for “ideal conditions.” They built a financial revolution using the tools they had while Western counterparts were still forming committees to discuss feasibility studies.

 

China: In Shenzhen, hardware prototypes go from concept to production in days, not months. Their mantra: ship first, optimize later. By the time Western companies finish their risk assessments, Chinese manufacturers have already released three product iterations.

 

Iceland: After the 2008 financial collapse, they threw bank executives in prison and essentially rebooted their economy. When was the last time your country tried turning it off and on again?

 

The Privilege Paradox– Here’s the twisted irony: The more security you have, the less likely you are to take risks. People with multiple safety nets often take fewer chances than those with none. In Silicon Valley, it’s not the Stanford graduates from wealthy families starting the most disruptive companies—it’s often immigrants who’ve already risked everything just to get there. When you’ve fled political instability or crossed borders with nothing but hope, launching a business doesn’t seem so daunting. The people with the most to lose often risk the least, ensuring they’ll never gain much either.

 

The Graveyard of “Someday”– Someday is where dreams go to die comfortable, unmemorable deaths. Someday I’ll start that business. Someday I’ll write that book. Someday I’ll have that difficult conversation. Spoiler alert: Someday isn’t on the calendar. It’s a fantasy construct designed to help you feel better about not taking action today. We live in the comfortably myth that we will always have our tomorrow. But, without being a wizard at math, we know that our tomorrows are finite. The graveyard is the richest place on earth. So, get ready to Die Empty.

 

The Silent Epidemic of Regret– We have met people in their 80s and 90s and talked about their regrets. Not one—not a single one—said they regretted taking too many chances. The universal regret was playing it too safe, caring too much about what others thought, and postponing joy and adventure in favor of security. They didn’t regret the risks that failed; they regretted the risks untaken. As palliative care nurse Bronnie Ware documented after years working with the dying, the most common regret was “I wish I’d had the courage to live a life true to myself, not the life others expected of me.” Nobody lies on their deathbed thinking, “Thank God I always played it safe.”

 

Life’s Too Short for Seatbelts – Let’s get real: life is a blink. You can spend it tiptoeing around, terrified of making a wrong move, or you can throw caution to the wind and live out loud. Travel to that remote village. Start that business. Quit that soul-sucking job. Ask that person out. As Hunter S. Thompson famously said, “Life should not be a journey to the grave with the intention of arriving safely in a pretty and well-preserved body, but rather to skid in broadside in a cloud of smoke, thoroughly used up, totally worn out, and loudly proclaiming, ‘Wow! What a ride!’”

 

Safety First – The Official Tagline of the Comfort Zone– The Titanic was “unsinkable.” Nokia was “invincible.” Blockbuster was “unstoppable.”
All played it safe. All are now cautionary tales.

 

“Safe” Is Just Another Word for “Stagnant”- Everyone said the Sistine Chapel ceiling would collapse if Michelangelo painted it the way he did. He ignored them. Today, it’s still up there, mocking caution. Elon Musk sank $100 million into SpaceX, and his first three launches exploded. The “experts” called him a delusional billionaire.” Now NASA rents rockets from him.
Sarah Blakely, founder of Spanx, was told shape wear was a niche, silly idea. She didn’t listen. Today, she’s a billionaire, and her critics are still wearing bad underwear. Had they played it safe, we’d still be riding horses, wearing corsets, and getting mail via pigeon.

 

Risk Is the Price of Admission to Greatness– Think about this: The first person to eat an oyster was either brilliant or completely unhinged. Either way, we owe them. Shigeru Miyamoto created Mario, Donkey Kong, and Zelda—AFTER his boss at Nintendo told him his ideas were “too weird.” Madonna, Lady Gaga, and Prince built entire careers by being too much while others played it safe in polyester suits. Trevor Noah took over The Daily Show despite critics saying a South African couldn’t replace Jon Stewart. Today? He made it his own. If you want to matter, you have to risk looking stupid. 

 

Discomfort is a proxy for progress.

 

The Joy of Regret Minimization– When we look back on our lives, what do we regret more: the risks we took or the chances we didn’t? A study by Cornell University found that people tend to regret actions they didn’t take more than those they did—like that time you hesitated to ask someone out and then spent years wondering what could have been. It’s like ordering a dish at a restaurant and thinking about how good the other options might have been while you chew on your bland choice.

 

The Fear Factor– Fear is a powerful motivator, but it can also be a crippling barrier. We often hear the phrase “better safe than sorry,” but what does that really mean? It means staying in jobs we hate, relationships that drain us, or cities that stifle our creativity—all because we’re afraid to take a leap of faith. Look at Bollywood’s own Priyanka Chopra; she left her comfort zone and ventured into Hollywood. Now she’s not just an actress but a global icon! If she had played it safe, we’d still be watching her in “Bajirao Mastani” instead of “Quantico.”

 

The Final Reckoning- We’re not taught to calculate the cost of safety, but we should be. It’s often catastrophically higher than the cost of calculated risk. The cost of safety is paid in: Unexplored paths, Unlived experiences,Uncreated art, Unlaunched businesses,Unexpressed truths,Unloved people.  These aren’t just poetic concepts. They’re the actual currency of a life well-lived, and no amount of security can compensate for their absence.

 

 

 

ACRONYM: Absurdly Confusing Reducer Of Normal Yielding Meanings

 

I was tempted to give an acronym for the first part of this blog caption; something like ASS..but quickly realised it was not fitting into the exacting standards that the present day mileu has set as benchmarks.

 

Visualise this for a moment: Last week, you watched as a new employee nodded confidently while our CEO discussed the need for better KPIs on our SaaS platform’s UI to improve UX for our B2B clients before our next QBR, so we could optimize our CAC and improve ROI before the EOQ. His expression remained engaged until our CMO asked him if he had any questions about our GTM strategy, at which point he panicked and responded, “Sorry, I need to BRB. Gotta drop my kids at the YMCA.” He has no children. And it was 3:30 PM. This, my friends, is the modern professional nightmare: death by acronym asphyxiation, where careers silently suffocate under an avalanche of capitalized letters that everyone pretends to understand.

 

Acronyms are the modern-day hieroglyphics. They’re designed to make you feel smart if you know them and stupid if you don’t.

 

The Great Acronym Overload– There was a time when LOL simply meant “laugh out loud” and not “Lord of Lameness” when someone sends a joke drier than a Rajasthan summer. But today, acronyms are breeding faster than Bangalore potholes in the monsoon. Ever sat in a meeting where a consultant casually dropped “We need a strong USP for our GTM with an agile OKR framework, aligned to ESG goals for better ROI”… and you just nodded, pretending to understand? Welcome to the WTF Age (World of Terrifying Fluff). We’re drowning in a TSUNAMI (Totally Stupid, Unnecessary Naming And Misleading Initials).

 

The Great Acronym Apocalypse– Today, the world is so stuffed with acronyms that conversations sound like scrambled passwords. You’re in a meeting, and some corporate samurai casually drops: “Our GTM needs a robust AI-ML integration to optimize CX, but let’s first check the FY QoQ EBITDA aligned with OKRs.” Translation? “We have no clue what we’re doing, but it sounds expensive.”

 

ACRONYM itself is an acronym, standing for “A Clever Reduction Of Nomenclature Yielding Meaning.” But in reality, it often ends up being “A Confusing Reduction Of Nomenclature Yielding Misunderstanding “.

 

Turning Normal Words into Wi-Fi Passwords – Gen Z doesn’t just speak in acronyms. They weaponize them. GOAT (Greatest Of All Time) – Used so often, even Kacha Badam singers think they qualify. And we all thought it was the animal. FOMO (Fear Of Missing Out) – What happens when you hear your friends got free Cold Play tickets. RN (Right Now) – The speed at which Bangalore traffic allows you to move. Then there’s the terrifying Gen Z breakup text: “Hey, no shade but this is low key toxic. IYKYK. LMAO. TTYL.” Translation: “I’m dumping you, but I want to sound cool while doing it.”

 

The Jargon Jungle – Where Words Go to Die– Corporate warriors, government officials, and Gen Z have turned simple conversations into a secret code you need a CIA decryption manual for. Here’s some Corporate Speak Gone Wild: HR tells you, “Our EVP is aligned with the DEI framework and ESG initiatives.” Translation: “We don’t pay well, but we have bean bags and pizza Fridays.” “This quarter’s OKRs will drive our CX and EX for optimal LTV.” Translation: “We have no clue what we’re doing, but it sounds cool.”

 

Government Lingo – Making Confusion Official– GST, IT, TDS, PAN, UIDAI, RBI, SEBI, NCB, ED. Wait… Are we running a country or an alphabet soup factory? In India, we say “My Aadhaar is linked to my PAN” the way Americans say, “My FBI agent is watching my search history.”

 

Gen Z’s Secret Code: TBH, ICYMI, IMHO—Are they texting or typing out their WiFi password? “That new movie is fire AF, no cap!” Translation: It’s good. Just say it’s good.

 

Medical Acronyms – The doctor tells you “You have a mild URTI.” Translation: “You have a cold.” Someone at the gym tells you they’re on HRT and TRT. Are they working out or launching a space shuttle? The medical profession uses acronyms with such abandon that patients might as well be hearing Klingon. “Your CBC shows elevated WBCs, so we’ll order a CMP and maybe an EKG to rule out CHF or COPD exacerbation.” Translation: “I went to school for 12 years and I’ll be damned if you understand a word I say.”

 

Even better, medical acronyms often have multiple meanings. DNR can mean “Do Not Resuscitate” or “Department of Natural Resources.” Choose the wrong one, and either your heart stops permanently or you get a fishing license.

 

The Dating App Hellscape- Modern dating has evolved its own acronym ecosystem. Profiles now read like military operation codes: “NSA FWB ISO SBF for LTR, no ONS.” Translation: “I want all the benefits of a relationship without calling it one until I find someone better, but I’m disguising this fact behind acronyms so I seem sophisticated rather than emotionally unavailable.” GHOSTED isn’t an acronym, but it might as well stand for “Gradually Hoped Our Special Thing Existed Deeper.”

 

The Generational Acronym Gap– For millennials and Gen Z, text acronyms have evolved from simple time-savers (LOL, BRB) to emotional crutches. Ending a message with “/srs” because tone doesn’t translate in text, or using “/gen” to indicate you’re asking a genuine question, makes all of us look like we’re appending legal disclaimers to casual conversations.Meanwhile, Boomers have decided that LOL means “Lots of Love,” leading to messages like “Your grandmother passed away last night. LOL, Dad.”

 

Tech’s Acronym Addiction– Silicon Valley‘s entire personality is just acronyms in hoodies. Their business model: create a problem, build a SaaS MVP with an API that needs SDK integration to improve UI/UX, then exit via IPO or M&A before anyone realizes your TAM isn’t actually that big. I recently heard a tech bro explain to a potential investor: “We’re a B2B2C XaaS platform utilizing ML and NLP for our core IP with an emphasis on API-first architecture.” The investor gave him $10 million. The startup sold AI–generated horoscopes. The rest, as you would have guessed by now, was destiny.

 

Corporate Alphabet Terrorism– Corporate world hasn’t just embraced acronyms; it’s weaponized them. McKinsey consultants don’t solve problems — they implement ERP systems with proper KPI tracking to improve NPS scores by utilizing CRM data for better ROI on CAC. Translation: “We’ll install expensive software, make you track numbers nobody looks at, so customers hate you less when you use their data to spend money acquiring more customers who will also eventually hate you.”

Ever sat through an MBA presentation? It’s basically human ChatGPT generating business Mad Libs with acronyms. “We’ll leverage AI to optimize our CX strategy, focusing on high-LTV segments while maintaining competitive CAC:LTV ratios.” This sentence contains zero actual information but will get you hired at any Fortune 500 company.

 

India’s Special Acronym Relationship– India deserves a special mention in the Acronym Hall of Fame. The current administration has turned government initiatives into an acronym factory. NITI Aayog (National Institution for Transforming India) replaced the Planning Commission, apparently because “Planning Commission” was too straightforward. Then there’s JAM Trinity (Jan Dhan-Aadhaar-Mobile), PRAGATI (Pro-Active Governance And Timely Implementation), and AMRUT (Atal Mission for Rejuvenation and Urban Transformation). At this point, I’m convinced there’s a secret government department whose sole job is backronyming — coming up with words first, then torturing the English language until an acronym emerges.

 

My personal favorite is UDAN (Ude Desh ka Aam Nagrik), which means “let the common citizen fly.” Nothing says “accessible air travel” like an acronym that most common citizens can’t decode.

 

So the next time someone asks if you’ve considered how the EBITDA affects your CAGR or whether your OKRs align with company KPIs, just smile and respond, “Sorry, I operate under the KISS principle – Keep It Simple, Stupid.” Because at the EOD (end of day), the most powerful TLA (three-letter acronym) might just be WTF.

 

In conclusion, PMFJI (pardon me for jumping in), but IMHO, we need to KISS our acronym addiction goodbye before we’re all FUBAR. TTYL!

 

PS: FUBAR( Fouled Up Beyond All Recognition)!

 

Last Tuesday, while standing in my kitchen wearing three-day-old sweatpants and eating cold pizza directly from the fridge at 3 AM, I had an existential revelation: I should be sleeping. I should eat healthier. I should have finished my taxes, called my mother, and probably should stop using my gym membership exclusively as an expensive way to feel guilty every time I drive past the building. And in that moment, surrounded by the wreckage of all my shoulds, I realized I’d discovered the single most toxic word in the human language – the verbal cyanide we willingly swallow every day while wondering why we feel paralyzed.

 

Ok, all the above is imagined but I do reckon we have crossed these paths.

 

Some more imagination- this time see this as the opening sequence of a Hollywood flick- in quick inter cuts you watch a 43-year-old executive in a $3,000 suit nearly burst into tears because he “should” have made partner by now. Two tables over, a woman downed her third martini while texting excuses to the dating app match she “should” be meeting. Meanwhile, the bartender—with $120,000 in student debt for a philosophy degree—muttered about how he “should” be using his education. Three strangers, same prison, identical jailer: a single tyrannical word that’s quietly orchestrating the mass paralysis of human potential. Welcome to the Should Pandemic, where dreams go to die in real time.

 

Should is the most seductive, deceptive, and useless word in the English language. It’s corporate jargon for let’s pretend we’ll do something. It’s personal denial dressed as intention. And it’s why most people spend their lives waiting for permission to exist. Let’s burn this word to the ground.

 

The Relationship Should-Spiral Nothing kills romance faster than should. You should text back immediately. Should remember their mother’s birthday. Should express emotions exactly like they do. When Prince Harry and Meghan were busy thinking about what they should do as royals versus what they actually wanted to do, they ended up in a Netflix documentary explaining why they’re now selling scented candles instead.

 

The Instagram Should-Festival Social media isn’t just a platform; it’s a should-generating machine. That influencer’s immaculate kitchen suggests you should redecorate. Their vacation photos imply you should travel more. Their relationship posts indicate you should be more romantic. Their workout videos confirm you should exercise harder. Meanwhile, actual influencers are taking 47 shots to get one “candid” photo, filtering relentlessly, and still feeling they should look better. The should factory runs 24/7.

 

The Parental Should-Tsunami No human experiences more shoulds per second than a new parent. You should breastfeed exclusively (but not too long). Should sleep train (but not too early). Should stimulate brain development (but not over schedule). Should return to work (but not too soon). Should introduce diverse foods (but avoid allergens). The result is a generation of parents paralyzed in Target and Carrefour aisles, staring blankly at organic baby food options while questioning every life decision. Meanwhile, our grandparents raised children on cigarette smoke and lawn darts, and somehow civilization continued.

 

The ‘Should’ Trap: A Masterclass in Procrastination– Should is the linguistic equivalent of a participation trophy. It makes you feel like you’ve accomplished something just by acknowledging it exists. “I should exercise” feels like a step toward fitness, even if you’re lying on the couch eating chips. “I should save money” feels financially responsible, even as you click “Buy Now” on that third pair of sneakers you don’t need.  But here’s the kicker: should doesn’t just nudge you toward inaction—it thrives on it. It’s the guilt-tripping parent, the passive-aggressive friend, and the overbearing boss all rolled into one. And the worst part? It’s so damn sneaky.

 

Should is the ultimate con artist. It masquerades as responsibility, but it’s really just guilt in a three-piece suit. Every time you say “I should,” you’re not committing to action—you’re confessing to failure. The Should Epidemic in effect is A Pandemic of Procrastination.

 

Welcome to the ‘Church of Should.’ – Where sermons are delivered in boardrooms, where dreams die in meeting minutes, and where ambition rots in the graveyard of hesitation. Should is the universal language of self-sabotage. It’s the voice in your head that says, “You’re not good enough,” and then pats itself on the back for being “honest.”

 

The Should vs. Could Smackdown– Here’s where it gets interesting. Replace should with could, and suddenly, the world opens up. Should is a judgment; could is an option. Should is a scolding; could is an invitation.  Should is the assisted suicide of human potential.

 

Should is that slick-talking, suit-wearing corporate imposter that sounds ambitious but gets nothing done. It masquerades as intent, but all it really does is create a waiting room for action. And the worst part? We buy into it, letting it shape our choices, paralyze our decisions, and keep us stuck in an endless loop of “maybe later.” So, let’s call should out for what it really is—an elegant excuse for inaction.

 

The Silicon Valley Should Slaughterhouse Tech bros have elevated should to an art form. You should hustle 24/7. Should disrupt industries. Should network constantly. Should practice radical candor. Should optimize sleep. Should take cold plunges. Should micro dose psychedelics. The result? The highest burnout, divorce, and suicide ideation rates of any industry, all while preaching work-life balance in company mission statements. Y Combinator’s Paul Graham famously advised start with something embarrassingly small, but modern founders think they should start with something impressively massive—which is why most startups fail before they begin.

 

The Wellness Should Slaughter The modern wellness industry isn’t selling health; it’s trafficking in industrial-grade shoulds. You should intermittent fast. Should avoid gluten. Should take 47 supplements. Should track sleep. Should meditate. Should Journal. Should dry brush. Should infrared sauna. The human body survived millennia of famine, predators, and plagues, but apparently now needs a 17-step morning routine to function. Meanwhile, the people selling these wellness shoulds are often one nervous breakdown away from hospitalization. The cruel paradox: nothing undermines wellness like obsessing about wellness.

 

The Creative Should Annihilation- Nothing kills creativity faster than shoulding all over it. You should find your passion. Should monetize your hobby. Should build your personal brand. Should grow your platform. Should post consistently. Should collaborate strategically. The result? People who loved creating now hate the thing they once loved. Mozart never worried about his Instagram strategy. Picasso didn’t fret about his personal brand. Van Gogh sold exactly one painting while alive but kept painting anyway. True creativity exists in the absence of should.

 

The Existential Should Carnage – The deadliest shoulds are the existential ones. You should know your purpose. Should make an impact. Should leave a legacy. Should find meaning. Should be happy. These cosmic shoulds create the ultimate paralysis—the inability to simply exist without justification. Ancient philosophers spent lifetimes contemplating these questions without answers, but modern humans think they should solve existence between Zoom calls. The brutal truth? The universe doesn’t care what you should do. The planet will eventually be consumed by the sun. All human achievement will be forgotten. And that’s not depressing—it’s liberating. Nothing matters, which means you get to decide what matters to you.

 

Let’s cut the bullshit: should isn’t a word; it’s a socially acceptable form of self-flagellation. It’s expectation dipped in shame, marinated in comparison, and garnished with regret. Every time you say “I should,” you’re essentially saying, “I’m currently inadequate and failing at yet another thing.” And that, dear reader, is a steaming pile of psychological excrement. The most successful people aren’t those who do everything they should—they’re the ones who ruthlessly eliminate “should” from their vocabulary and replace it with “will,” “won’t,” or “who gives a flying fuck what anyone thinks I should do.”

 

So the next time someone tells you what you should do—including that dictator in your head—try responding with the only appropriate answer: “Should? Should is dead. And I killed it.” Then go do whatever you damn well please.

 

 

 

Assumptions are like invisible ink—they seem harmless until they’re exposed to light. And when your strategy is built on them, it’s not a matter of if it will collapse, but when. From corporate disasters to personal missteps, assumptions are the silent saboteurs of success. So, let’s pull back the curtain and see why betting on assumptions is like playing Jenga with your future.

 

Ever tried boarding a flight without checking the departure time? Or walking into a boardroom and assuming everyone already agrees with you? Sounds reckless, right? Yet, companies do this all the time—crafting multi-million-dollar strategies based on gut feelings, outdated “truths,” and wishful thinking. Spoiler alert: Reality doesn’t care about your assumptions. From billion-dollar failures to historic corporate face plants, the world is littered with the wreckage of leaders who assumed instead of verified.

 

The graveyard of certainty is where brilliant strategies go to die. Kodak‘s senior executives held the first digital camera in their hands—their own engineers invented it in 1975—and promptly buried it like a murder weapon. Their assumption? “No one will ever abandon film.” That $100 billion company now trades as a penny stock. Meanwhile, Blockbuster‘s CEO laughed Netflix‘s founders out of his office when they proposed a partnership. His assumption? “Americans will always want the experience of browsing video stores.” Which is why your children think “Blockbuster” is a vintage clothing brand. Welcome to the corporate slaughterhouse, where the murder weapon is always the same: unexamined assumptions.

 

The cost of comfortable certainty– Nokia‘s engineers assumed hardware would always trump software. BlackBerry believed business users would always prioritize security over apps. Meta bet $10 billion that people actually want to attend virtual work meetings as cartoon avatars. The more certain the assumption, the more catastrophic its failure. When Microsoft assumed the smartphone was a passing fad, it cost them an entire technological generation.

 

The demographic delusion – “Millennials don’t buy diamonds.” “Gen Z won’t pay for subscriptions.” “Boomers don’t shop online.” These age-based assumptions have all proven catastrophically wrong. When De Beers assumed younger generations wouldn’t want diamonds, lab-grown startups captured billions in market share by understanding the actual objection was ethical sourcing, not the product itself. Demographics predict far less than values and behaviors. RIP Demographics!

 

Assumptions vs. Data: The Battle for Clarity– Data is the antidote to assumptions. But too often, we ignore the numbers and go with our gut—because, well, it’s easier.  Google’s success is built on data-driven decisions. They test everything—from button colors to algorithms—because they know assumptions are the enemy of innovation.  Data doesn’t lie, but it does have a terrible sense of humor. Assumptions, on the other hand, are hilarious—until they’re not.

McDonald’s assumed it could sell burgers in Bolivia—Bolivia disagreed– The fast-food giant assumed that Bolivians would love a Big Mac just like everyone else. Turns out, Bolivian food culture values home-cooked meals, not fast food. After years of losses, McDonald‘s shut down all stores in Bolivia. Global strategies fail when they ignore local realities.

 

The Expertise Guillotine–  The more you know about your industry, the closer you are to getting your head chopped off by it. Taxi companies had a century of transportation expertise when they dismissed Uber as “illegal and irrelevant.” Newspaper executives had Pulitzer Prizes when they declared “people will always want their news on paper.” The same knowledge that built your empire blinds you to the barbarians at the gate. Expertise isn’t wisdom; it’s just sophisticated bias wearing a Brooks Brothers suit.

 

What do Titanic, Nokia, and New Coke have in common? They all sank—because someone, somewhere in a fancy boardroom, made a really dumb assumption. “This ship is unsinkable!” till iceberg says hello. “People will never give up physical keypads!” till Hello, iPhone.“Sweeter Coke? What could go wrong?” Well, everything.

 

Corporate history is littered with train wrecks disguised as strategic decisions. Why? Because instead of checking the facts, executives play business on “gut feeling” mode. The result? Strategy built on assumptions is like a parachute made of toilet paper. It might work—but you really don’t want to find out.

 

WeWork assumed it was a Tech Company—turns out, it was just fancy real estate- Adam Neumann told investors that WeWork was a tech revolution—not a real estate company with WiFi. Investors drank the Kool-Aid, and the company was valued at $47 billion. Reality check: The IPO prospectus revealed a dumpster fire of bad finances, and WeWork crashed harder than a cheap office chair. The lesson here is- Branding can’t fix a broken business model.

 

The Focus Group fallacy – No one in a focus group ever asked for an iPhone, Netflix, or Red Bull. People don’t know what they want until you show it to them. When Sony asked customers what they wanted in portable music, they described a better Walkman—not the iPod that would destroy Sony’s music business. If Henry Ford had asked people what they wanted, they would have said “faster horses.” Your customers can tell you what they hate, not what they’ll love. We over-index on the ” Customer is always right narrative. At best, they are mostly late “. Lesson: “Don’t find customers for your products; find products for your customers ” . 

 

The disruption myth– Disruption isn’t what you think it is(though we have been sold that lie for ages). It’s not about technology; it’s about business models. Netflix didn’t kill Blockbuster with streaming technology; it killed it with a subscription model. Amazon didn’t kill retail with websites; it killed it with ruthless logistics and razor-thin margins. Uber didn’t kill taxis with an app; it killed them with a labor model that didn’t require medallions. The most dangerous assumption is that innovation is about products when it’s actually about economics.

 

The competitive blindspot – Borders was watching Barnes & Noble while Amazon was watching Borders. Hotels were obsessing over each other’s loyalty programs while Airbnb was eating their business. Your competitor isn’t who you think it is—it’s who your customers think it is. While you’re perfecting your horse-drawn carriage, someone else is inventing the car. And they’re not even thinking about you.

 

Assumptions are like GPS directions from your uncle who hasn’t left his neighborhood since 1998. Sure, he sounds confident, but you’re probably going to end up in a ditch.

 

The difference between strategy and gambling isn’t the absence of assumptions—it’s the recognition that they exist. The most dangerous assumptions aren’t the ones that prove wrong; they’re the ones you never acknowledged making in the first place. Perhaps the most valuable strategic exercise isn’t creating the perfect plan, but ruthlessly hunting down the hidden assumptions that your beautiful strategy depends upon. After all, gravity doesn’t care if you believe in it before you jump off the cliff. Your assumptions are invisible until they fail—and then suddenly, they’re the only thing you can see.

 

The Assumption Tax is what your strategic certainty really costs! Assumptions don’t build businesses. They bury them. So, the next time you’re about to say, “I think customers will love this,” stop. Ask yourself: “Do I think it, or do I know it?”

 

Because in business, the difference between assumption and reality is often the difference between success and bankruptcy.

 

The most expensive words in business aren’t “we’re disrupting the industry” or even “blockchain-enabled sustainability” – they’re “good enough.” When Toyota‘s engineers settled for “good enough” airbag inflators from Takata, the compromise cost lives, billions in recalls, and shattered consumer trust. Our fractional efforts don’t just yield diminished returns – they compound into spectacular failures.

 

Ever tried baking a cake with half the ingredients? Or running a marathon on one leg? No? Then why do we go through life operating at a fraction of our potential? The truth is, when we give only a part of ourselves to anything—our work, relationships, or passions—the result is never the sum of its parts. It’s a compromise. And compromises are like decaf coffee: disappointing and pointless.

 

The Over-Indexed Illusion called Multi-Tasking– the equivalent of Juggling with One hand. We pride ourselves on multi-tasking, but let’s be real: you’re not doing five things at once; you’re doing five things poorly.  Studies show that multitasking reduces productivity by up to 40%. It’s like trying to cook dinner, write a novel, and learn Spanish simultaneously. Spoiler: you’ll burn the pasta, write gibberish, and end up saying “hola” to your cat.
Multi-tasking is the art of distracting yourself from doing anything well.

 

To continue on this halo called the The Multi-Task Mirage -Research from Stanford proves multitasking reduces productivity by 40%, yet meetings still feature the symphony of typing as participants “listen.” When Boeing engineers split focus between multiple aircraft projects to save costs, the 737 MAX disaster was the fractional output that cost 346 lives.

 

The distracted genius phenomenon – Silicon Valley‘s obsession with “work-life integration” has created an army of brilliant minds checking Slack during their children’s recitals. When Apple engineers divided attention between product innovation and office politics during their return-to-office mandate, we got the notoriously buggy iOS 16 instead of something revolutionary. Half-present brilliance is just mediocrity wearing an expensive hoodie.

 

The burnout paradox–  The modern worker is simultaneously doing too much and too little. A McKinsey study found 80% of employees report feeling overworked but underutilized – burning out while contributing a fraction of their potential. Tesla employees working 80-hour weeks produced cars with panel gaps you could fit a sandwich through. Exhaustion isn’t excellence.

 

The passion percentage– Cristiano Ronaldo doesn’t show up to 60% of practice and expect championship results. Yet in workplaces globally, the accepted standard is “adequate” rather than exceptional. When Netflix allowed cultural focus to split between creative excellence and algorithmic content production, we got “365 Days” instead of “The Crown.”

 

The Domino effect of half-hearted efforts– When you operate at a fraction, it doesn’t just affect you—it ripples out. Your half-baked effort becomes someone else’s full-blown problem.   In 1986, the Space Shuttle Challenger disaster occurred because of a single O-ring operating at a fraction of its capability. The result? A catastrophic failure that cost lives.   Half-hearted efforts are like bad Wi-Fi—they keep buffering everyone else’s progress.  

 

The Power of Whole-Hearted Living: Going all in– When you give 100%, the output isn’t just the sum of your efforts—it’s exponential. It’s the difference between a spark and a wildfire.  Serena Williams didn’t become a tennis legend by practicing half-heartedly. She gave every match, every swing, every moment her all. That’s why she’s not just a player; she’s a phenomenon.  Wholehearted living is like turning up the volume on life. Why settle for a whisper when you can roar?

 

The “Good Enough” Trap: Settling for Scraps– When we operate at a fraction, we settle for “good enough.” But “good enough” is the enemy of greatness.  Kodak invented the digital camera but didn’t fully commit to it, fearing it would cannibalize their film business. They operated at a fraction of their potential, and guess what? They went bankrupt.  “Good enough” is like eating plain toast when you could’ve had avocado toast. Don’t sell yourself short.  

 

Hollywood Blockbusters Don’t Run on Half a Script– Imagine if Christopher Nolan made Inception but gave up halfway. Or if Spielberg decided Jaws was scary enough without the shark. The audience (or life) only rewards full execution, not half-baked ideas.

 

Half a Bridge is as Useless as No Bridge– Engineering has no room for “almost finished.” A 99% completed bridge is just a more expensive way to fall into the river. Near success is just expensive failure.

 

The truth is simple: If you only give 50%, you won’t even get 50% back. You’ll get far less. Because success isn’t linear—it’s exponential. Every compromise multiplies, and what you’re left with is a life that’s a fraction of what it could have been.

 

A Dim Bulb Can’t Light Up a Room– When Thomas Edison was perfecting the light bulb, he didn’t stop at a version that worked for 10 minutes. He kept iterating until it lasted 1,200+ hours. A half-hearted effort won’t light up your world. Go all in, or stay in the dark.

 

The Leaning Tower of Pisa is a Perfect Metaphor for Half-Commitment– It leans because engineers cut corners on the foundation. A weak start always comes back to haunt you.

 

F1 Racers Know There’s No Prize for Driving at 60%– Lewis Hamilton doesn’t slow down on straightaways to “save energy“—he goes full throttle until the checkered flag. If you hold back, someone else will take the win.

 

The Fractional Workforce– In today’s gig economy, many people juggle multiple jobs or projects simultaneously. While this can be liberating, it often means that no single endeavor gets the full attention it deserves. It’s like trying to cook multiple meals at once; each dish might be edible, but none will be exceptional.

 

The Fractional Self- Perhaps the most significant compromise is the one we make with ourselves. When we operate at a fraction, we’re not just diminishing our output; we’re also diminishing our sense of fulfillment. It’s like living in a house with many rooms, but only inhabiting a few. The rest remain empty, a reminder of what could have been.

 

Most of us don’t even realize when we’re operating at a fraction. We get comfortable, we tell ourselves “this is good enough,” and we adjust to underperformance disguised as contentment.

 

The difference between ordinary and extraordinary isn’t talent—it’s the refusal to operate at a fraction.

 

The mathematics of human potential doesn’t follow standard arithmetic. When we operate at fractions, we don’t get fractions back – we get exponentially diminished returns. The most dangerous lie we tell ourselves isn’t that we can have it all, but that we can have most of it while giving just some of ourselves. The modern tragedy isn’t lack of opportunity but the willingness to compromise on commitment. Perhaps wholeness isn’t about having everything, but about doing one thing completely.

 

After all, history remembers those who gave themselves fully to something, not those who gave something of themselves to everything.

 

The first time I walked into an important meeting in Dubai wearing mismatched socks( purely by accident and certainly not by design) and carrying coffee in a paper cup ( yes, suffering the wannabe hangover), I realized something profound: we’re all just professional pretenders in a global theater of competence. From the CEO furtively Googling acronyms under the table to the new hire reciting memorized industry jargon—humanity’s greatest collective achievement isn’t civilization, it’s our worldwide conspiracy of confidence.

 

Confidence is a Ponzi Scheme, and you’re the founder.   Confidence isn’t something you’re born with—it’s something you fabricate until it becomes real. Think of it as a mental Ponzi scheme where you’re both the scammer and the beneficiary.  Richard Branson started Virgin Records with zero experience in the music industry. He just acted like he knew what he was doing until he actually did. Now he’s launching rockets. Go figure.
Fake confidence is like wearing a superhero cape. Sure, it’s just fabric, but damn, does it make you feel invincible.

 

Fake it till you make it: The world’s most profitable bluff.  If life had an instruction manual, the first chapter would be titled: “No One Knows What They’re Doing. Act Like You Do.” Think about it. The most successful people didn’t wait for permission, degrees, or divine intervention. They showed up, talked a big game, and then figured it out on the fly. The world isn’t run by geniuses—it’s run by confident amateurs who dared to fake it until they made it.

 

Faking it works, but only if you keep making it. Elizabeth Holmes( of Theranos) faked it and didn’t make it (oops).  Sam Altman faked it, then built OpenAI into the real deal. The lesson: The difference between a visionary and a fraud is whether they deliver.

 

The universal human bluff – From Tokyo to Toronto, every corporate newbie has nodded confidently while thinking “What the hell is EBITDA?” The global economy runs on people pretending they understand spreadsheets.

 

Academic impostors unite – From Delhi to Dublin, PhD students worldwide bond over one shared truth: nobody actually reads the papers they cite. The greatest scholarly tradition isn’t research—it’s bibliographic theater.

 

The parental confidence trick – No first-time parent from Mumbai to Melbourne has any idea what they’re doing. We’re all just reading ahead one chapter in the manual while pretending we’ve finished the book.

 

Corporate jargon: Linguistic fakery – “Let’s circle back” means “I have no idea what to do” in every language where business is conducted. Corporate jargon is just ‘ faking it‘ in a well tailored suit. Ever sat through a meeting where people say “synergize cross-functional bandwidth“ and still have no idea what’s happening? Exactly. If you sound like you know what you’re doing, 90% of people won’t question it.

 

Do you know what is Silicon Valley’s greatest export? Not technology, but audacity. How else do you explain 22-year-olds securing millions in funding with PowerPoint slides and vibes? When Sam Bankman-Fried( of the FTX Crypto Currency scam fame, now serving a 25 year prison sentence) showed up to pitch sessions in cargo shorts, he wasn’t breaking dress code—he was establishing dominance.

 

The evolutionary advantage – From Johannesburg to Jakarta, those who can project capability before mastering it get opportunities to develop actual skills. Faking it isn’t just survival—it’s how we evolve.

 

The world is a stage, and we’re all terrible actors (But that’s okay).
Let’s face it: nobody really knows what they’re doing. The CEO? Faking it. The influencer with 2 million followers? Faking it. Your neighbor who acts like they have their life together? Definitely faking it. Steve Jobs famously “faked it” when he launched the first iPhone. The demo was a carefully orchestrated illusion—the phone barely worked. But he sold the vision, and the rest is history.  Life is like improv comedy. If you act like you belong, no one will question you. Just don’t trip over the furniture.  

 

The Global Playbook for faking It – In Silicon Valley:“Move fast and break things.” Translation: Fake it till you make it, and if you break it, call it a “pivot.” In Bollywood:Ever seen a 40-year-old play a college student? That’s the art of faking it in its purest form.  Politics: Need I say more?  The world runs on people who dared to fake it. The only difference between a scam and a success story is the ending.  

 

Confidence is just arrogance that got lucky.  Howard Schultz wasn’t a coffee expert when he started Starbucks. He just pretended to be one until the world believed him. You don’t need permission to be great. Just start acting like you are.

 

If you act like a big deal, the world plays along. Kim Kardashian became a billionaire by selling an image before a product. Now she sells everything from makeup to private equity funds. If you can convince the world you’re valuable, you will be.

 

Even Picasso faked it. When he was broke, he’d pay for meals with a doodle on a napkin. Why? Because he told the world his art was worth millions. Price isn’t real. Perception is.

 

Most people whom you admire were clueless at first. No bigger examples than Jeff Bezos( who had no clue about E-Commerce), Elon Musk( rockets were really rocket science to him). They figured it out on the job—which, funnily enough, is what most people do. Start before you’re ready. No one is ever truly ready.

 

At the end of the day, “Fake It Till You Make It” isn’t about lying—it’s about believing in yourself before the world does. So stop waiting for validation, approval, or “the right time.” Put on the suit. Speak like you know the answer. Walk like you own the damn place. Because the truth is—everyone else is just faking it too.

 

In the end, “fake it till you make it” can be a double-edged sword. While it might offer temporary confidence boosts, it can also lead to long-term feelings of inauthenticity. Perhaps the real secret to success lies not in faking it, but in embracing who you are and letting your true strengths shine through. So, go ahead and “fake it” if you must, but remember, the most powerful version of you is the authentic one.

 

Now go out there and wing it like the gloriously imperfect human you are. The world doesn’t need perfection; it needs people brave enough to pretend they’ve got it all together until they actually do.

Loss: The conduit to your best win. And mind you, every failure comes with a hilarious aftertaste.

 

Loss. The ultimate party crasher. It shows up uninvited, overstays its welcome, and leaves you wondering if you’ll ever find the joy again. But, history proves that loss is often the secret sauce to winning big. So, let’s flip the narrative, laugh at our misfortunes, and see how some of the greatest losses in history paved the way for epic wins.

 

When we’re face-down in the dirt of defeat, the last thing anyone wants to hear is “this is actually great news!” Yet history’s highlight reel suggests that our most spectacular face-plants often serve as springboards to our greatest victories. Perhaps we should start sending “congratulations” cards for major setbacks instead of sympathy notes. And actually host a ” loss party ‘ because you are pre-empting the celebration of your upcoming epic win.

 

Getting fired can be a magnificent blessing. Ask J K Rowling. Before she created the wizarding empire that would make her richer than the Queen of England, she was a broke, divorced, single mom on welfare who had just been fired. She describes herself then as “the biggest failure I knew.” Turns out, hitting rock bottom gave her the freedom to focus on the only project that mattered to her – a little story about a boy wizard. So, the next time your boss calls you into his room with that inescapable grim, end of the world expression, go arms swinging with a bottle of champagne. You might be on the verge of creating a billion-dollar franchise. At minimum, you’ll create an awkward memory that will haunt both of you forever.

 

We have heard of cheque bounce. But, here is history’s biggest Bankruptcy Bounce. Walt Disney was forced to declare bankruptcy after his first animation company failed. Henry Ford‘s first two automobile companies went bust. Both men later created empires that changed the world. Perhaps we should rebrand bankruptcy as “financial exfoliation” – just scrubbing away the dead cells of bad decisions to reveal the glowing entrepreneurial skin beneath. “I’m not broke; I’m pre-wealthy!”

 

The rejection injection. Stephen King‘s first novel “Carrie” was rejected 30 times. He was so discouraged that he threw the manuscript in the trash. His wife fished it out, encouraged him to resubmit it, and the rest is horror history. Today he has sold over 350 million books. King keeps his rejection letters impaled on a spike in his bedroom. Consider creating your own “Wall of No” – a monument to all the people who thought you weren’t good enough. Nothing says “I’ve made it” quite like decorating your home with artifacts of your past humiliations.

 

The global collapse as a catalyst. Nintendo started as a playing card company in 1889. When that business began to fail, they pivoted to… instant rice. And taxi services. And love hotels. Eventually, they found their way to video games, but only after a series of spectacular flops. Imagine the Nintendo board meetings. “Playing cards are dying… how about we sell rice? No? Hotel rooms for romantic encounters? Driving people around town?” Sometimes finding your purpose looks like a drunk person trying to unlock their front door with every key on the ring.

 

Public humiliation as the springboard. Conan O’ Brien lost “The Tonight Show” in a very public and messy network battle. Instead of disappearing, he embarked on a comedy tour called “The Legally Prohibited from Being Funny on Television Tour,” turned his failure into content, and eventually reinvented his career. There’s something liberating about having your worst professional moments broadcast to millions. After that, bombing a presentation to 12 people feels like a private whisper. “You’re worried about tripping on the stairs? I lost a job so publicly they made HBO documentaries about it!”

 

The accidental re-direction. There is a vast tribe of people who love playing the game called power dynamics. Oprah Winfrey was also at the receiving end of this full time occupation. Oprah was demoted from her job as news anchor because she “wasn’t fit for television.” She was reassigned to a daytime talk show slot as a consolation… which became the launching pad for her media empire. Next time someone says you’re not right for something, remember they might be accidentally redirecting you to your destiny. “Thank you for noticing I’m terrible at this! Your rejection is the GPS rerouting me to greatness.”

 

You think you’re being rejected. You’re actually being rerouted. You think you’re losing something. You’re actually making space for something better.

 

Let’s take a moment to laugh at some of the things we mourn: That one sock that mysteriously disappears in the wash. Seriously, where does it go? Is there a secret sock dimension? Mourning it won’t bring it back, but buying funky mismatched socks might just make you a fashion icon. How about that for a socker punch?

 

When you lose something, it’s like life hits you with a cosmic Marie Kondo moment: “Does this spark joy?” If not, thank it for its service and let it go. Losing your hair might feel like a tragedy, but bald is beautiful (just ask Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson). Plus, think of all the money you’ll save on shampoo.

Have you heard of a medical misfire? One that created a world humbling to die for product? Dr. Spencer Silver at 3M was attempting to develop a super-strong adhesive. Instead, he accidentally created an unusually weak one. This “failure” eventually became the Post-it Note, one of the most successful office products ever made. Sometimes your greatest contribution to humanity will be the exact opposite of what you were trying to achieve. This is why I’ve stopped having goals altogether ( not just because I sucked at football!).

 

See what can emerge from the greatest olympic stumble– Michael Jordan was cut from his high school basketball team. “I have failed over and over again in my life. And that is why I succeed,” he later said. Imagine if social media existed when teenage Jordan got cut. The hashtags! #BasketballFailure, #CutFromTheTeam, #FutureMcDonaldsEmployee. Sometimes the universe’s greatest prank is making you look like a loser right before making you a legend.

 

So,the next time you experience a crushing defeat, remember you’re in excellent company. History’s highlight reel is filled with people who looked like complete disasters right before they changed the world. So go ahead and fail spectacularly – you might be just one catastrophe away from your greatest triumph.

 

And if all else fails, at least you’ll have an excellent story to tell at parties. Nothing livens up small talk like a well-crafted tale of magnificent disaster.

 

The Silicon Valley gospel of “follow your passion” has become our modern religion. “When Mark Cuban told a stadium of graduates to ‘follow your passion,’ 10,000 parents simultaneously calculated the ROI on four years of tuition while their children dreamed of becoming professional dog whisperers on Instagram. Meanwhile, the most successful graduate was the one who’d fallen asleep during the speech and missed the passion memo entirely.”

 

Perhaps it’s time we admit that ‘following your passion‘ is the professional equivalent of believing your horoscope—it sounds profound, gives you a temporary dopamine hit, and almost never leads to anything except purchasing crystals you don’t need. The real winners? They’re too busy counting actual results to worry about how passionate they felt while achieving them.

 

Passion is overrated? Oh, absolutely. Passion is the seductive lie we’ve all been sold. “Follow your passion,” they say, as if passion alone pays the bills, builds empires, or changes the world. In reality, the real movers and shakers? They aren’t wide-eyed romantics chasing passion—they’re cold-blooded executors, driven by discipline, detachment, and doing the damn work.

 

Passion is like alcohol—it feels great, but too much of it clouds your judgment, inflates your ego, and makes you think you’re invincible. Besides helping you speak fluent English ex-tempore. Meanwhile, reality is waiting around the corner with a sledgehammer.

 

So, passion or pragmatism? Passion is like a sugar rush—exciting but temporary. Pragmatism aka systems, strategy, and execution? That’s the boring, unsexy stuff that actually works.

 

Passion is overrated. So, get over yourself. Passion is that clingy ex who promises the world but leaves you broke, bitter, and questioning your life choices. “Follow your passion,” they said. Yeah? Tell that to your landlord when you can’t pay rent because your handmade vegan candles didn’t exactly disrupt the wellness industry.

 

Passion is a narcissist. Execution is a hitman. Passion convinces you that your brilliant idea is a gift to humanity. Execution reminds you that nobody gives a damn until you prove it works. Steve Jobs didn’t build Apple because he loved computers. He built it because he hated mediocrity and wanted control over everything, including your wallet. In the Indian context,  Dhirubhai Ambani didn’t wake up passionate about oil refineries. He woke up thinking, How do I make this entire system my playground? Spoiler alert: He did.

 

Passion wants validation. Dispassion just wins. Passionate people want applause. Dispassionate winners don’t even hear the noise. The Wright Brothers didn’t invent airplanes because they were passionate about aerodynamics. They were glorified bicycle mechanics who refused to die ordinary and kept failing till they got it right. Ratan Tata didn’t launch the Nano because of a deep emotional connection with tiny cars. He saw a market opportunity, built it, and moved on while others were still debating passion projects.

 

If you want to see passion as psychological self-sabotage, look no further than Elizabeth Holmes’ , whose passionate belief in Theranos was so strong that she forgot one tiny detail: the laws of physics and biology. Oops. Think closer home in India, remember the passionate founders of Housing.com? Their dramatic boardroom theatrics made for great popcorn entertainment but terrible business. Think less ‘Shark Tank‘ and more ‘Bigg Boss: Startup Edition‘.

 

All the unbridled rallying cry around passion is thanks to what we can term the PIC(Passion Industrial Complex)– which made passion a highly marketable commodity while common sense( like the Rhinoceros) was being endangered.  There is an entire masterclass | coaching economy built on the foundation of passion peddling.  Mukesh Ambani didn’t launch Reliance because of his burning passion for petrochemicals. He wasn’t up at 3 AM journaling about his deep emotional connection to polyester. He saw opportunity, applied discipline, and built an empire while passion-seekers were still finding themselves at Goa retreats, passionately spending their parents’ money.

 

If you look at the dispassionate super achievers like Warren Buffet, who approaches investing with the emotional fervor of someone selecting bathroom tile and compare that to the ‘passionate‘ crypto bros who are tattooing defunct coins on their bodies before moving back into their childhood bedrooms. No different in the case of Azim Premji who was quietly building Wipro with calculated precision, while his contemporaries were experiencing passionate burnout faster than how Delhi street food works through a tourist’s digestive system.You get the drift.

 

Follow your passion is the unspoken code for ” if your father owns commercial property on 5th Avenue, Manhattan or BKC in Bombay “. Thousands of immigrants around the world build successful businesses because they’re passionately opposed to the idea of starving. Dharavi‘s entrepreneurs aren’t pursuing leather-working passions with artisanal enthusiasm—they’re too busy building actual businesses while passionate MBA graduates debate their ‘purpose‘ over ₹500 coffee(Cold Pressed).

 

There is a misunderstood middle path when it comes to passion. Effective achievers cultivate interested detachment, not blind passion. Ray Dalio made billions with all the emotional investment of someone choosing between identical paper clips.

 

Jeff Bezos wasn’t passionate about books. He was passionate about world domination, next-day delivery, and making sure you never leave your couch again. That’s why Amazon is where it is today. That is why they say Passion writes poetry. Dispassion writes paychecks.

 

The unsexy truth: discipline outperforms passion. The next time a LinkedIn influencer tells you to ‘hustle with passion,’ remember that the person making the real money is the dispassionate algorithm designer who created the platform where that passion-preacher is performing.

 

Now go cancel your “Find Your Passion” workshop and do something that actually pays.

 

 

 

 

The irony is that how we have turned ‘ finding balance ‘ into another stressful obligation.

 

Before we get on with it, a quick look at the multiple coinages of capitalism that we have(or not have) been privy to over the years. Of course these are beyond the standard “crony capitalism” and “compassionate capitalism“:

 

1. State Capitalism – Government plays a strong directing role while maintaining market economics (e.g., China, Singapore)
2. Stakeholder Capitalism – Corporations serve interests of all stakeholders (employees, community, environment) not just shareholders
3. Surveillance Capitalism – Economic system based on commodification of personal data for profit (coined by Shoshana Zuboff)
4. Conscious Capitalism – Business should operate ethically while pursuing profits (popularized by Whole Foods’ John Mackey)
5. Platform Capitalism – Economic dominance of digital platforms that mediate between service providers and users
6. Disaster Capitalism – Exploiting crisis situations to implement free-market policies (coined by Naomi Klein)
7. Casino Capitalism – Speculative financial practices with little connection to productive economy
8. Welfare Capitalism – Strong social safety nets coexisting with market economies (Nordic countries’ models)
9. Inclusive Capitalism – Attempting to address inequality while preserving market structures
10. Turbo-capitalism – Extremely accelerated, deregulated form of capitalism
11. Laissez-faire Capitalism – Minimal government intervention in markets
12. Green Capitalism – Market-based approaches to environmental issues
13. Digital Capitalism – Economic model centered on digital technologies and networks
14. Venture Capitalism – Economy driven by high-risk investments in potential high-growth startups
15. Monopoly Capitalism – Economy dominated by large monopolistic corporations
16. Patrimonial Capitalism – System where inherited wealth plays dominant role (highlighted by Thomas Piketty)
17. Philanthrocapitalism – Using business methods to solve social problems through charitable giving
18. Zombie Capitalism – Focused on failing businesses kept artificially alive through various supports

 

I am sure there are a few more that I certainly would have missed out on but what I didn’t want to miss out on is the New Kid On The Block: Equilibrium Capitalism.

 

A friend of mine gives me the hibby jibbies: watching her schedule her ‘spontaneous me-time‘ between Zoom calls while simultaneously ordering groceries and listening to a mindfulness podcast felt like watching someone perform surgery while riding a unicycle.

 

Our obsession with balance has become totally unbalanced. The metrics madness has taken over Planet Earth from the looks of it- screen time, steps, gratitude moments, sleep, meditation minutes, calorie intake, hydration etc etc. Life’s dashboard has about 17 pie charts and soon we would need another pie-chart to measure our obsession with pie-charts.

 

Balance: The fastest route to forgettable -Nobody remembers the guy who played it safe. Nobody celebrates the brand that kind of took a risk. The world worships those who went all in, flipped the table, and broke the game.Would you rather be the Steve Jobs who obsessed over fonts, fired his own team, and came back from the dead to make Apple a trillion-dollar monster… or the “balanced” CEO of Nokia? (Wait, what was his name again?).

 

This is not a lie! The best stuff in life is 100% unbalanced. Great food? It’s 90% fat, salt, and sin. Great art? Made by sleep-deprived maniacs ignoring the real world. Great love? Messy, intense, and absolutely not balanced. You think Elon Musk is getting 8 hours of sleep, meditating, and sipping green tea? Nah, he’s sleeping in a factory, launching rockets, and breaking Twitter for fun.

 

Balance is for yoga. Boldness is for game-changers. Listen, if you’re a gymnast, by all means, balance away. But if you’re trying to build something legendary—a career, a business, a legacy—moderation will bury you. The world isn’t changed by the well-balanced. It’s shaped by the unapologetically obsessed.

 

Welcome to the social media balance illusion– TIE: The Instagram Effect. The pressure to go public with our balance achievements. Because in the vast ocean of social media real estate, there is just no room for vulnerability and anything even remotely less than super perfect. ” Sarah’s(fictional character) Instagram feed is is a masterclass in balance theater—morning yoga by the window, perfectly arranged desk salad, evening book with artisanal tea. What you don’t see is the 47 takes, the deadline panic, and the UberEats wrapper hidden just out of frame.”

 

Balance is overrated. Period. Here’s the thing:Life isn’t a tightrope; it’s a rollercoaster. Some days you’ll be on top of the world, and other days you’ll be hanging upside down, wondering how you got there. And that’s the beauty of it. Richard Branson once said, “Entrepreneurs don’t retire; they just find new ways to stay busy.” Balance? Nah. Passion, purpose, and a little bit of chaos? Absolutely.

 

Guilt is the silent killer of balance. You feel guilty for working too much, then guilty for not working enough. You feel guilty for taking time for yourself, then guilty for neglecting others. Newsflash: guilt doesn’t help. It just makes you bad at everything. You take a day off to relax, but instead of enjoying it, you’re haunted by the ghost of unfinished tasks. Spoiler alert: the world won’t end if you take a break. In fact, you’ll probably come back more productive.

The balancing act is a lie. The idea of balance implies that everything gets equal attention. But let’s get real: life is not a perfectly measured recipe. It’s more like a chaotic potluck where someone brought a questionable casserole, and you’re just trying to avoid it. For eg you decide to hit the gym after work, but then your boss schedules a last-minute meeting. Your “balance” just got tipped faster than a Jenga tower in an earthquake.

 

Balance is like a unicorn—everyone talks about it, but no one has actually seen it. We chase it, we Instagram it, we even pretend to have it. But let’s be honest, balance is less of a state of being and more of a circus act where you’re juggling flaming swords while riding a unicycle on a tightrope. And just when you think you’ve nailed it, life throws a banana peel on your tightrope. Splat!

 

So, what’s it gonna be? You still trying to find your work-life balance—or are you finally ready to tilt the damn world in your favor? Balance is a myth, but chaos is a masterpiece. Let’s paint outside the lines.

Balancing Act aka The art of appearing balanced while quietly drowning !Because at the end of the day, the most interesting lives, brands, and ideas weren’t sculpted by balance. They were sculpted by audacity.

So, are you still playing it safe—or ready to make your own rules?