While it is important to listen to and learn from other people and be aware of what they may  think of us, we should not live in other peoples minds.

Worrying about how we will be perceived or how we compare and measure up to others is like handing over the remote control of our life to someone else.

The more we ask what will they think, how will we look, and let every driver of our success and decision making come from external perception and extrinsic measures rather than internal introspection and intrinsic measures , the more likely we end up not achieving our true potential or peace of mind.

Many of the people we admire go against the way they should behave and question the status quo.

Galileo questioned whether the earth was at the center of the Universe.

Picasso invented new forms like Cubism that collapsed and re-expressed the rules.

Steve Jobs asked us to “Think Different”.

The key with these rule breakers is not that they broke rules and were fixated on just being different or not caring what others thought but that they were builders creating things that transformed and positively impacted the world of science, art, business and technology.

They did not tear down society or other people but rather got the world to see, think and feel differently. 

They were about breaking rules in ways that empower, that open new horizons and drive growth.

They became themselves.

But while few can be like these giants we can all self-empower, set off toward new horizons and transform and grow ourselves by not letting external rulers drive our lives.

We can learn to compete with our elves and get better every day, versus competing with others or aligning with the changing fashions and expectations of others.

Let’s not be born as originals and die as copies.

It’s important to become who we are.

One way of doing so is to architect, sculpt and hone.

Architect.

“The way we spend our time defines who we are.”Jonathan Estrin.

One way to gain control is to architect one’s week in ways that time and its vagaries do not toss us around.

Consider setting aside an hour a day or seven hours a week to feed each of one’s physical, mental, emotional systems.

Physical operating system: A long walk or exercise.

Mental operating system: Learn or read or watch or do.

Emotional operating system:  Connecting with friends and family. Helping others.

Sculpt.

“Every block of stone has a statue inside it, and it is the sculptor’s job to release it” Michelangelo.

Every individual has one or more talents, and it is our job to find, feed and sculpt these talents.

Today we are increasingly in a world of builders, makers, creators, inventors and in sculpting something special out of raw materials is a way to find flow and make and leave one’s mark.

It may be writing or photography or video or writing code, cooking a meal, investing in a relationship, building a company or many other things but transforming and building is both an anti-dote and a homage to a transforming world.

We transform and are not just transformed.

Build things. Make stuff. Create something .Unleash potential.

We can release the statue within us or help others find the statue within them.

Hone.

“To hone my voice, I read everything, from books to cereal boxes, three times: once for fun, the second time to learn something new about the writing craft, and the third time was to improve that piece.”  Amanda Gorman
In a world of change we must hone ourselves to align with change since change does not care to adjust to us.

Honing through iteration, learning, re-inventing, and many other ways of enhancing excellence of craft.

For many of us in the coming years it will be how to incorporate, build on, extend, and leverage AI as a tool, enabler, extender, and idea generator for our work.

Rishad Tobaccowala has spent four decades rethinking and reinventing and now works across the globe helping leaders, teams and companies thrive in transformational times. More here: https://rishadtobaccowala.com/