1 00:00:00,000 --> 00:00:09,760 As a founder, your primary role is not to sign documents or to raise money or to make speeches 2 00:00:09,760 --> 00:00:13,040 at events or to have fireside chats. 3 00:00:13,040 --> 00:00:19,440 Your primary role is to contemplate, contemplate about your values and your vision. 4 00:00:19,440 --> 00:00:23,920 You are the chief contemplation officer of your startup. 5 00:00:23,920 --> 00:00:30,800 Your primary role is to become a thought leader in whatever you do and inspire others. 6 00:00:30,800 --> 00:00:35,800 In the rush of operations, you might come to believe that restless execution is the 7 00:00:35,800 --> 00:00:37,600 way to go. 8 00:00:37,600 --> 00:00:43,600 It can also make you feel very busy, very productive and very important. 9 00:00:43,600 --> 00:00:49,720 People across the startup ecosystem often confuse working hard and long hours with working 10 00:00:49,720 --> 00:00:52,160 in the right direction. 11 00:00:52,160 --> 00:00:55,440 You tend to differentiate between the two. 12 00:00:55,440 --> 00:01:00,600 Constantly being connected with the outside world might seem like an obvious trait to 13 00:01:00,600 --> 00:01:02,040 possess. 14 00:01:02,040 --> 00:01:04,600 But what you really need to do is the opposite. 15 00:01:04,600 --> 00:01:09,640 You need to cut off from the external and go inward. 16 00:01:09,640 --> 00:01:15,360 You need to spend hours and hours doing nothing but thinking deeply about your values and 17 00:01:15,360 --> 00:01:16,840 your vision. 18 00:01:16,840 --> 00:01:21,520 Assuming that you possess the energy, ability and perseverance. 19 00:01:21,520 --> 00:01:27,760 It is this act of contemplation that will provide you with the insights that are almost 20 00:01:27,760 --> 00:01:31,000 never visible on the surface. 21 00:01:31,000 --> 00:01:36,640 Those insights will polish your vision slowly and steadily. 22 00:01:36,640 --> 00:01:41,160 Contemplation allows you to master clarity of thought and communication. 23 00:01:41,160 --> 00:01:44,000 That is a must-have ability for a leader. 24 00:01:44,000 --> 00:01:50,360 You must be able to clearly lay out the path for others to follow. 25 00:01:50,360 --> 00:01:53,760 And you need to contemplate silently. 26 00:01:53,760 --> 00:01:58,120 Don't announce it to the world or discuss it on social media. 27 00:01:58,120 --> 00:02:04,680 If you merely change your designation to Chief Contemplation Officer and post it online or 28 00:02:04,680 --> 00:02:09,600 announce to the world, look, I went on my contemplation walk today. 29 00:02:09,600 --> 00:02:17,000 You are still thinking about outside rather than inside and that change will be superficial. 30 00:02:17,000 --> 00:02:19,240 It will not help you. 31 00:02:19,240 --> 00:02:26,840 You have to talk less, physically reduce your quantity of speech, online or offline. 32 00:02:26,840 --> 00:02:30,200 Talk less, think more. 33 00:02:30,200 --> 00:02:35,440 Talking and looking outside consumes a lot of energy. 34 00:02:35,440 --> 00:02:40,320 Spend less energy reading or replying to posts online. 35 00:02:40,320 --> 00:02:47,320 Ask yourself, is this reading helping me get better or is it just entertaining me? 36 00:02:47,320 --> 00:02:51,000 Use that energy instead to think deeply. 37 00:02:51,000 --> 00:02:56,240 And don't rush back to instantly announce your deep thinking to the world. 38 00:02:56,240 --> 00:02:58,040 Forget the external. 39 00:02:58,040 --> 00:02:59,440 Look inward. 40 00:02:59,440 --> 00:03:01,000 Stay inward. 41 00:03:01,000 --> 00:03:05,480 As a founder, contemplation is your core technology. 42 00:03:05,480 --> 00:03:06,880 Galileo used it. 43 00:03:06,880 --> 00:03:08,480 Mozart used it. 44 00:03:08,480 --> 00:03:10,120 Shakespeare used it. 45 00:03:10,120 --> 00:03:12,080 Alan Turing used it. 46 00:03:12,080 --> 00:03:14,440 You can use it too. 47 00:03:14,440 --> 00:03:19,000 If you need a systematic program to develop your contemplation skills, you can use the 48 00:03:19,000 --> 00:03:23,840 Core Level 1 program on adiosworld.com. 49 00:03:23,840 --> 00:03:30,360 Next, you must pursue a hobby regularly. 50 00:03:30,360 --> 00:03:33,480 Pursuing a hobby helps you do your work better. 51 00:03:33,480 --> 00:03:40,120 It helps create new neural connections that might help you see things in a different light. 52 00:03:40,120 --> 00:03:44,920 Apart from being a waste of time, it can actually help you become better at your work. 53 00:03:44,920 --> 00:03:49,920 You could add new flavors in your work by finding inspiration from other fields. 54 00:03:49,920 --> 00:03:54,280 Say music, art, poetry, theatre, sports. 55 00:03:54,280 --> 00:03:57,800 Your hobby might also help you look at something differently. 56 00:03:57,800 --> 00:04:02,960 For instance, if you're learning to paint or playing a sport, drawing analogies between 57 00:04:02,960 --> 00:04:08,520 your hobby and your work can open completely fresh perspectives from which to look at your 58 00:04:08,520 --> 00:04:10,480 work. 59 00:04:10,480 --> 00:04:15,640 Reading more about those art forms and especially about the people who have been masters of those 60 00:04:15,640 --> 00:04:22,160 fields, their approaches can open new doors of thinking altogether. 61 00:04:22,160 --> 00:04:25,320 Pursue a hobby regularly. 62 00:04:25,320 --> 00:04:32,640 Find a teacher in your town or online that usually helps maintain consistency. 63 00:04:32,640 --> 00:04:34,240 This isn't about your startup. 64 00:04:34,240 --> 00:04:40,160 This is about you, how you would like to live your next few years as you work on your 65 00:04:40,160 --> 00:04:42,080 startup. 66 00:04:42,080 --> 00:04:47,800 Would you prefer restless execution or contemplative execution? 67 00:04:47,800 --> 00:04:53,160 What you prefer to do will also determine how you feel on a regular basis and in life 68 00:04:53,160 --> 00:04:55,600 in general. 69 00:04:55,600 --> 00:05:01,800 If you're destined to succeed using restless execution, imagine what you could do with 70 00:05:01,840 --> 00:05:04,400 contemplative execution. 71 00:05:04,400 --> 00:05:10,320 If you're destined to fail using restless execution, your chances of success increase 72 00:05:10,320 --> 00:05:15,000 dramatically with contemplative execution. 73 00:05:15,000 --> 00:05:21,400 If say 90% of the startups fail, that may just sound like 90 out of 100 fail, but that 74 00:05:21,400 --> 00:05:25,920 also means that you have a 90% chance of failing. 75 00:05:25,920 --> 00:05:28,580 Think about that for a second. 76 00:05:28,580 --> 00:05:34,940 What should you do differently that others haven't done so you succeed? 77 00:05:34,940 --> 00:05:42,460 If you just continue to do what those 90% of the startups have done, aren't you ensuring 78 00:05:42,460 --> 00:05:46,020 that you would also be one of them? 79 00:05:46,020 --> 00:05:49,420 And don't think this startup is the one, that's it. 80 00:05:49,420 --> 00:05:50,980 It might not be. 81 00:05:50,980 --> 00:05:53,900 And for all you know, it shouldn't be. 82 00:05:53,900 --> 00:05:58,060 You will see it is a small component and you will eventually build something much more 83 00:05:58,060 --> 00:06:00,420 important. 84 00:06:00,420 --> 00:06:02,820 Focus on the process of improving yourself. 85 00:06:02,820 --> 00:06:04,020 Trust the process. 86 00:06:04,020 --> 00:06:06,100 It works. 87 00:06:06,100 --> 00:06:12,500 There are many, many ways to create something large, but there is only one way to create 88 00:06:12,500 --> 00:06:15,020 something truly inspiring. 89 00:06:15,020 --> 00:06:17,940 And that is contemplation. 90 00:06:17,940 --> 00:06:24,140 Think about someone in the startup world who did something truly inspiring. 91 00:06:24,140 --> 00:06:29,980 Do you think they spent a lot of time contemplating or a lot of time trying to connect with as 92 00:06:29,980 --> 00:06:37,060 many people online and attending as many startup events as possible? 93 00:06:37,060 --> 00:06:39,900 Contemplation on the right values. 94 00:06:39,900 --> 00:06:42,180 Contemplation on a non-financial vision. 95 00:06:42,180 --> 00:06:45,460 That is your primary role as a founder. 96 00:06:45,460 --> 00:06:50,780 Your justice to that role and you shall receive psychological and financial insurance 97 00:06:50,780 --> 00:06:53,500 for the rest of your life. 98 00:06:53,500 --> 00:07:01,820 The words values, vision and contemplation occur about 180 times in this course, while 99 00:07:01,820 --> 00:07:06,180 the word valuation occurs about 25 times. 100 00:07:06,180 --> 00:07:12,140 If you can follow the same proportion while running your startup, no one in this world 101 00:07:12,140 --> 00:07:15,260 can stop you from succeeding. 102 00:07:15,260 --> 00:07:19,100 So dissolve everything that is around you. 103 00:07:19,100 --> 00:07:23,820 Forget about others and how they view you and what they think of you. 104 00:07:23,820 --> 00:07:28,060 Focus only on yourself and do the right thing. 105 00:07:28,060 --> 00:07:29,540 So go for it. 106 00:07:29,540 --> 00:07:36,420 Use contemplation on your values and your vision as your neutrons and split that atom. 107 00:07:36,420 --> 00:07:36,980 All the best.