Welcome to the Deploy Yourself Newsletter. Every two weeks I share about what impactful leadership looks like. I also share the most insightful lessons and stories I encountered in the last two weeks. You can also read this issue online.

Hey,

Usually, we go through our days at 100 miles per hour in the pursuit of “success” and “achievement”. Yet, when we continue moving at such a fast pace for a long period of time, we can lose track of our purpose and other human needs that we all have.

We all have needs of community, friendships, love, joy, happiness, and wonder besides success and achievement. As 2020 comes to an end, it is an apt time to slow down, reflect, and create space to meet more of our needs. This doesn’t mean achievement isn’t important. It just means that slowing down can allow us to breathe deeply and wander around, marvel at the gift of life, and wonder at the beautiful world around us.

Stop moving towards achievement and allow your mind and body to wander. And as you go sideways instead of moving forward, notice the flowers on the roadside, and the blue sky and white clouds above. Notice the various smells you can sense, and the numerous sounds you can hear. Just wonder (don’t think, evaluate or judge) what you sense all around you.

This will help release all the tension you have been carrying in your body all this time. It will allow for more of your important human needs to be fulfilled. After doing this “Wander and Wonder” exercise, you can come back to moving forward towards achievement again, but now you will do so in a more spacious and wholesome way.

Reply to this email right now and tell me one thing where you can slow down and just “wander and wonder”?

Articles and Stories Which Have Fascinated Me

One

How To See The World Differently – To Create New Possibilities, New Actions, and New Results

Have you ever stopped yourself to ask the below questions :-

  1. Why do I observe the world that I observe?
  2. Is the way I am interpreting this event grounded in facts and proper reasoning, or am I choosing this interpretation only because it is convenient to my identity?
  3. Is there another way of observing the same event? Is there a different perspective that would serve my needs and goals, instead of just serving my ego and primitive identity which is constantly seeking safety and comfort?

What will happen if you are wearing dark glasses but forget that you are wearing them? The whole world would appear darker, wouldn’t it?

What if you are wearing pink glasses instead? The whole world would appear pink, right?

I and you (all of us) are wearing our own versions of colored glasses, and we have no idea that we are wearing them.

I believe changing the way we look at things is a superpower that can produce transformational results. This ability to shift the way we see things is all the more important in the ever-changing and chaotic world we live in today.

From How To See The World Differently – To Create New Possibilities, New Actions, and New Results – An Article From My Desk

Two

Send A Gratitude Postcard From Beautiful Amsterdam

As I shared in my last newsletter, I am still sending Thank You Postcards with one of my beautiful Amsterdam photographs to anyone you want me to. If you have a friend, colleague, or family member you want to express gratitude to, just send me their name, the message you want to send, and their address to me.

I will print up one of my Amsterdam photos on a postcard, write down your message, and mail it to them, no matter where in the world they are. You can see my favorite photos from Amsterdam here. If you want to choose which photo should I send for you, just let me know and I will do the rest.

This year has been a year of reflection for me. I have written a lot about my thoughts at DeployYourself this year, and this is my way of Deploying Myself.

If anyone comes to mind after reading this, send me their name, address, and your message for them. They will have a beautiful Amsterdam postcard coming their way soon.

That’s it for now. If you have any questions, just hit reply. All the best,

Sumit

(Twitter) @SumitGupta
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