Can you put your phone away and sit with yourself for more than 10 minutes, doing nothing? No talking, no music, no reading, no scrolling the social media feed just you and your thoughts. You don’t have to meditate but just sit with yourself without any agenda and just be in the moment. We all can but we hardly spend time with ourselves.
Last year in the month of December I decided to go on a solo trip to Leh. The agenda was to breathe, roam around and do nothing or do things that made me happy. First 10 days I attended a Vipassana camp and then for the next 5 days I roamed around in Leh with no agenda. Thereafter I travelled to Manikaran, Tosh, Amritsar and New Delhi. No social media, no work, kept my phone off but kept on writing in my diary. This was my way of doing nothing for 20 days and being happy.
For the first 10 days, I had myself and the above view for my company. For the next 10 days, it was me and my thoughts. That’s when I realised what an asshole I have been in my life. The emptiness made me look into myself deeper and eventually accept things like how I have taken people for granted, screw up relationships and kept hiding from responsibilities.
Today I spend more time doing nothing and I still have a lot of time to do things. I am not busy because I know what I don’t want to do in life. I am no more important, peace is important than proving a point and I try to keep a balanced head. I fail almost every day but I keep pursuing.
Now we also have “Niksen”, the Dutch concept of doing nothing. “With niksen, which most closely translates as ‘nothing-ing’ in Dutch, you have to be intentional about doing nothing,” Olga Mecking told NBC News BETTER. “You’re taking the time to sit there and not do anything on purpose. You could be gazing out a window, but you’re not observing your thoughts or letting them go or doing anything like that. You’re just being.”
“We’ve been trained to feel that if we’re letting go of doing that we’re being lazy or unproductive but it’s always the opposite, so we have to retrain the belief that doing nothing implies laziness or deficiency. We need to push through the initial discomfort. You’re not risking binging on doing nothing, and so what if you are? So what if you do nothing for an hour? We all deserve more niksen.”
In the movie Parasite which recently won four awards at the 92nd Academy Awards there is a scene when the son asks his father about his plan.
Ki-woo: Dad?
Ki-taek: Yeah?
Ki-woo: What was your plan?
Ki-taek: What are you talking about?
Ki-woo: Before you said you had a plan. What will you do about the basement?
Ki-taek: Ki-woo, you know what kind of plan never fails? No plan at all. No plan. You know why? If you make a plan, life never works out that way. Look around us, did these people think 'Let's all spend the night in a gym?' But look now, everyone's sleeping on the floor, us included. That's why people shouldn't make plans. With no plan, nothing can go wrong and if something spins out of control, it doesn't matter. Whether you kill someone or betray your country. None of it f*cking matters. Got it?
Ki-woo: Dad, I'm sorry.
Ki-taek: For what?
Ki-woo: Everything.
I am not saying that you shouldn’t live a life or have a plan. Please do, give priority to your loved ones and then give importance to work. All I say is that don’t always be in a hurry. Take a step back, see things, give time to yourself and then go conquer your responsibilities. Don’t worry the world will be the same and you won’t miss out much.
In a recent candid conversation, Bollywood actress Taapsee Pannu shared an interesting thought - “I don’t take myself seriously, but I take my work seriously.”
Thankfully my mother isn’t reading all this. She already thinks that as I am getting older I am getting lazy and crazy.
Now time for a quick recap of my the stories from the week.
How has Artificial Intelligence evolved in the last two years, what it means for organisations and is it adding value to customer experience? I analyse IBM AI report, McKinsey Global AI survey, and Adobe's 2020 Digital Trends and share my thoughts on how AI has evolved and the implementation barriers.
(P.S. Would you like to read more such data stories or insights on-brand campaigns? As you might know, I can only write about brand campaigns, data stories and platform play. But I also want to know what you would like to read in the space of Advertising and Marketing. I can give it a try if I can add value?
If you have any thoughts just reply back to this mail. I am happy to listen and eventually do what I want to do. I told you I am a work in progress ;) )
Oreo India is asking parents to ditch their work or switch off from digital to spend more time with their kids. Much required but is it a new communication strategy? In my last article, I share my thoughts on the new campaign, Mondelez’s push into snacking business and how brands have already tested this communication route.
That’s all for this week and don’t be lazy like me :) Read when you have time. But before that enjoy your weekend, spend time with yourself and give time to your loved ones.
Peace and happiness.