There are a lot of things in our daily life that we forget in the chaos and rush of modern-day living. What we often forget in our rush ,in hurry of achieving dream goals within a time frame is the human touch and uncertain external situations.
When I started my venture, Sri Aurobindo Industries Private Limited, in 2022, I had certain goals and timelines in mind concerning all that I believed was possible to achieve. The mental goal was clear, but I underestimated the amount of time and energy required, the unexpected outer situations/circumstances in life, and the means of achieving goals. On 15th August 2025, it will be two years since I commenced manufacturing and marketing, yet the goals I had set in 2021 still seem far away.
One thing I realized is that in the Business plan, the process of goal and timeline setting does not take into account , many external factors over which I as a business owner, have little or no control. There is an ideal business strategy that’s formed as an idea expanded into a 3 or 5-year Business Growth Plan, with the mainstream attachments of Production goals, revenue goals,profit target, all driven by various factors ,consideration to fixed expenses, long term debt ,cash flow, liquidity and so on. But life is how it is , Unpredictable ,as much important as growth is for company,so is the need for predictability and control for me as a founder and business owner.
As an Entrepreneur , I try to bring my value in the venture by setting up systems and processes to streamline this unpredictability with a cushion of production management,marketing strategy, coherence within workforce,operational management, optimization of resources and expenses, and lastly quality delivery of products and services within a stipulated time.
Some days are awesome, some days are bad, some days are mediocre, and that’s how life is, but the need to control is super difficult to let go because the failure or success of the company directly affects me and my story and self-perception of my failure or success as an entrepreneur, how can it be different?
That is when it struck me, the Company is a living entity of its own, it is a being in its own right, it has a life of its own, I am merely facilitating the birth of the company along with its growth, like a baby which needs extra care, the company needs that extra effort and time. But in caring for the baby, the parents forget about their own health, their own life.
Fortunately or unfortunately Founder is in the same role as the mother and father to the baby, and it is not humanly possible to predict and control how the baby will grow. It is only possible to facilitate the natural growth of a baby by having a nurturing, healthy environment and culture.
That’s the crucial role of the Founder and his/her team in any venture, whether it's a small kirana shop or B2B trading business, freelancing, manufacturing, or anything else.
Along with it , is the need for the founder/entreprenuer/business owner to stay grounded and not get lost in the maze of Business/Entrepreneurship, because that’s what I experienced. In the need to steer and manage the growth of the company, I lost my peace and grounding, which slowly started developing into anxiety, building into fear, going even deeper into low confidence, and then depression hit full-time like a chronic disease. The degeneration of mental health and work imbalance eventually seeped into my emotional health and relationships and started affecting my physical health and body.
In this whole process, I forgot that after all the goals and timelines I have set for the growth of the company are merely what I have seen from businesses and people around me, read from books, but it need not be so.
I need to stop looking at past ventures and subconciously compare growth or anything for that matter, nor do I need to project something for the future looking at larger MNCs and corporates.
Every situation, every company, every individual, and life situation is unique and different. And that it is me following the template of outer growth borrowed from history,past succesful and unsuccesful companies and comparing myself knowingly and unkownigly,and forgetting that every situation and time is new and unique and that a more ,being in the present ,mindful gentle ,human touch is needed more than anything else for the company
That self-criticism is not anywhere helpful, but a outer judgement parameter and comparison which I have internalized after seeing, reading, and imagining growth at a certain pace, within a certain time ,which might be unrealistic for the company.
After all, I am a human being too, and I am prone to making mistakes, have errors in judgment, fall down, make corrections, learn from my mistakes, and stand up again.
That is how life is, and that is part of the outer life that I have with people and society as an entrepreneur.
As a Sadhaka and practioner of All Life is Yoga, I realized that in the process of caring only about the company and its growth, I failed to look after myself, didn’t value my inner space, didn't make time for grounding, and wasn't more aware of my mental, emotional, vital, and physical being.
My primary dharma as a human being is to stay rooted and happy in my being holistically, mentally, emotionally, physically, and spiritually.
Outer life and situations are secondary to the primary dharma of being joyful and happy as a human being, and that as a human being, I have limited control over outer life, only then did it come to me that surrender to the deity is not a mere word, but a natural outcome of giving up control.
Once I started giving up control and surrendering to my ishta devata and prakriti, life itself opened up in a whole different way.
In nurturing the roots of my mental, emotional, vital, and physical being and connecting with prakriti and ishta devata, there comes a slow coherence in life. Like the divine had planned everything for me, yet I, with my limited sense of perception unable to experience and feel the grace that has been holding me in all this chaos.
Amidst the chaos of life, the inner and outer churn, the pause which I gave to myself in grounding and connecting back to my ishta devata, with a simple mantra or just observing my breath and letting it relax the mind, vital(prana), and body.
After all, we are human beings with limitations in outer action.
In the outward comparison of success and play of numbers, the human touch and care that’s needed first for self and then outwardly with others is often missed in both business and life.
There are so many instances where I could bring the human touch, love, and care in day-to-day activities of life.
The 5 minute pauses which I have started to gift myself in midst of day to activities, to reconnect with my ishta devata, to reconnect with natural breath, to reconnect with prakriti, and eventually my own inner self(you might call it the inner guide, inner guru, or psychic being the word doesn’t matter so much) is my primary dharma and commitment to myself and human evolution.
Outer life, goals, and situations are secondary to the primary goal of holistic wellbeing.
Outer Life and situations will fall in place when the divine wills it, but my dharma, personal effort, and commitment is to make myself available to that divine grace ,love and action(karma).
To do my Sadhana ,work, to learn ,to be more patient and open up to desecent of divine grace ,love and karma. To fine-tune my own being and enhance my receptivity so that I don't get crushed under the weight of what seems like a big responsibility I have taken up, but to surrender to my Ishta Devata and Prakriti, for they are far more intelligent, loving, and powerful than I am as a human being.
“Pray like it’s all up to the Divine,
Work like it’s all up to you!
So can I just ask you to gift yourself that loving caring, pause before taking/making decisions in the field of life.
Whenever you are dealing with challenging emotions anxiety, fear, confusion, anger, jealousy,lust, or going through a difficult life situation, or struggling in a relationship or managing a company, can you just hold on?
Can you give yourself that 5-minute break?
Not too much to ask for.
And ask yourself this question
“ Is the thought or action I am doing or going to do truly serving my dharma, my purpose ,serving the divine”?
Center yourself, connect with your natural breath,calm down, reconnect with your mantra, ishta devata/devi and with prakriti. When you feel better and empowered, then resume whatever work you see as important, resume talking to your family/friends,resume attending that vendor meeting, or resume your any other dinacharya.
Sometimes, even if it means that the meeting you scheduled at 3:30 pm with your team gets delayed by 5 minutes and starts at 3:35 pm, or the plan you made with your friends/family is postponed to another day.
It is always, always better to give yourself that essential grounding time to reconnect with your center.
It's cool to be kind and loving, bring awareness to your natural breath, connect with your ishta devata, listen to your inner guide, and then resume.
Have a beautiful day!
Om Bhairavaya Namah
Om Dum Durgayai Namah
Jai aur Vijaya Ho✨
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https://linktr.ee/HarmonyWithHimanshu
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