Business Lessons - 2019

“Wherever you go, you take yourself with you,” says Robin Sharma.

Since we all are going into 2020, it would be a great idea to share great peels and parts of 2019 that you may also want to take with you, because, we grow when others grow.

So here’s sharing some of the wonderful lessons 2019 taught me:

1. Connect with people: Even if you are an introvert who won’t get bored sitting alone with their thoughts (like I do), get out of your comfort zone even for 10 minutes a day. It’s not only for your business / career growth. It’s also for the human connection we crave and grow by, that makes all of us come alive.
2. Fall in love with the process of creating. The one who makes gets made in the process of making.
3. The more you are inclined towards adding value (with no ulterior motive), the more people will be inclined towards giving their attention to you.
4. Marketing yourself is good. Positioning yourself as the undisputed leader in your niche is ego silently shouting out loud.
5. Your success is measured by the promises you keep. It’s okay if you get a request and don’t find it worth your time and effort. It’s not okay to say yes on the face of it and have a different answer at the back of your head.
6. Your career is a dramatic reflection of your personal life. Treat it like royalty.
7. In a world of cuss words and twitter trends, it’s easy to bring anyone (big or small) down. Being someone who has a brand image of never speaking anything that isn’t uplifting, is the underrated Superpower.
8. Trolls are present everywhere, online as well as offline. To not to respond to them is not only wise, it’s also you deciding not to put your hand in a pond of mud. Because you respect yourself.
9. If you feel lost, just ask yourself, “Whom am I comparing myself to?” The path is narrow; we all know it. The real reason path is narrow, is because you were supposed to travel there alone, sans judgement or opinions of others.
10. Your best business ideas come to you when you are away from screen – driving, in the metro, while taking a shower, dealing with that grudgy person in your head while doing a deadlift in the gym, etc. What if we all purposefully took some downtime for our business ideas like this?
11. Even the richest and most influential person needs your help, if you’re not too clingy and asking around for a referral. Give and give, and find true meaning in giving. If the purpose of your career / business / job is taking and taking, maybe the intention needs to change before anything else.
12. Do the work. You may go to 100 networking events and share your visiting card and connect with people. Yet the ones who actually stand out, are the ones who do the work in private. Without waiting for the networking events to happen. Letting their deeds outshine their virtuous name. When you do this, remember the virtuoso Tony Robbins quote, “You get rewarded in public for what you do in private.”
13. LinkedIn is the best place for your career in 2020. You already know it. Not only because of the real reasons like organic reach, all decision makers using it, etc., rather also for the great amount of meaningful posts here versus other platforms. (And of course, not to miss out on the fact that most people whose opinions affect you the most - parents, extended family, bff, etc., are not hanging around on LinkedIn, therefore, making it safer for you to be yourself and be creative.)
14. This one’s my favourite – sharing your knowledge for free is the best thing for your brand. In the short term, it may seem like giving away your best ideas for free. However, the smart consumer in this multiple choice market won’t come to you for the ideas you hoarded. They’d rather come to you for your generosity and the possibility of being wowed upon turning into a paid customer.
15. Appreciate others for what they do: Don’t just like and comment on something if you really adore it. Take a step further and go to their DMs to tell people specifically why you liked a particular post. The more we take off the shields of armory we have unconsciously put on, the more we realize we business connections are connected at a human level, and that’s a graceful place to be!

These were few business lessons that 2019 taught me. It was a great year in many aspects, such as

• I took control over my finances and invested money in paid courses I wanted to,
• got my first (and subsequent) clients,
• wrote the second book,
• started a podcast,
• took IG posting bit more creatively, and above all,
• got to be here in this LinkedIn family where I was treated professionally and respectfully, by like-minded people like you – which is one of the reasons to keep me going.

Two questions to you and a further binge-read for you:

A.     Which one of these lessons resonated with you the most?

B.     What were some of the business / career lessons 2019 taught you?

C.     There are some life lessons as well, that 2019 was generous enough to teach me, sharing them in the comments section. Enjoy!

Here’s to a rocking 2020 to you all! And a rocking life as well:)