week 110: feeling empty at the end of the day

when you give it all

thank you to over 11,000 of you who read this weekly and share with your friends and family for behind the scenes on building a million a 5 million dollar business from scratch and beyond.

i also include a personal note in the end so i am grateful that you let me do that without judgement.

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i have been praying hard for last few weeks.

praying… to find a breakthrough.

praying… to find new ways to grow the business.

praying… for giving me strength to carry on and be faithful.

many a times, it has been a bit hard and it felt empty at the end of the day.

empty, not from not giving it all but rather doing the exact opposite.

i have been giving it too much that i had no time left for myself.

as a leader, it felt it’s my duty to give it all and work for all and do whatever it takes to keep things going.

in reality, what i need to do is find ways to grow out of it.

but for that, a leader needs space and time.

so i finally got back to what i used to do long time ago, blocking days.

i started to block my Monday and Friday to do things i want and need to do to drive the business forward.

those are my days, when i will schedule long term brainstorming meetings.

or i will simply call a few folks or set customer meetings to get their feedback on the business.

talk to my peers (other CEOs) i deeply respect and learn about their business challenges and how they are solving it.

work on new partnership that can have outsized impact in the long term.

take long walks talking about the business with my business partner.

all these things need space and time.

i am starting to feel energized again.

the team is now launching new products in the market as we spent time together and gained more clarity on our north star.

and the only way that was possible was when i was not too busy selling by myself, but building with the team.

here’s what i have learned about being empty or being filled:

being empty as a leader, will dry the company at some point.

being filled as as leader, will keep the company on purpose.

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on a personal note, peace, is the word for me.

we call the last school year, as the crazy year.

new business. new school. just turned teenager. and technology.

the world has been upside down and there was no peace.

we entered this school year a lot more cautious and literally in prayers.

to our surprise, very positively, this first week of the school has been different.

we have peace.

peace that surpasses all understanding.

that’s what the author of the book of Philippians stresses on that’s only possible with God.

our kids have shown overwhelming commitment to studies than ever before in the first week (and we pray that moving forward)

Manmeet and my relationship has more peace even though nothing seems very certain in the business world, extended family, or the world at large today.

if there is peace, we can run thru walls.

if there is fight, even success feels like failure.

that’s me… last evening at a friends lake. i don’t know how to swim so floats are a requirement for me :)

even if i can’t swim, the float is secure enough to keep me on it and i can trust it without a life jacket.

the same way, as a leader, i want to feel secure in what we are doing as a business and in life, to not needing a life jacket all the time.

leader point: the call for leadership is not to empty yourself all the time. the call for leadership is stay on purpose.