The Life-Changing Effects of Taking Initiative!

Lessons from my polypathic journey...

Nov 15, 2024

A skill that gives outsized returns in my opinion is that of taking initiative. When you consciously drive things you are passionate about, it lights you up :) Do you remember the twinkle in your eyes when you booked flights for your awaited summer vacation, or when you reached out to that mentor you admire and scheduled a coffee chat, or when you gathered all the ingredients to make your favorite dessert? It was because you translated your dreams into action. Today I am going to share some of my personal stories on how actively taking small steps has propelled me on my polypathic journey 🙂

"It had long since come to my attention that people of accomplishment rarely sat back and let things happen to them. They went out and happened to things." - Da Vinci

Unexpected Connections

When I moved to the bay area, I didn’t have much of a musical network locally. My musical journey in the US until then mostly included performances on the east coast, and some musical productions as an IndianRaga fellow. One casual Sunday afternoon, I was visiting the Mountain View library with my son. There, I came across a poster for a musical performance. I inquired with the staff and learnt that the library features a select few musical concerts every now and then. It was a very different setting than I was used to for concerts, yet there was something compelling about performing at a sanctuary of learning!

I decided to apply soon enough. The application forced me to think about a unique concept that could present my music authentically, and be interesting for a diverse international audience. It was quite an energizing sprint from conception to research to scripting to curating to rehearsing the show, and finally debuting Rasa & Raga at the library. Through this single initiative, I made several interesting connections and got invited to perform at more places. But most importantly, I experienced the joy of bringing the artistic vision inside me out in the world, and seeing the audience emotionally connect with that! 🧡

Exponential Growth

When I was just a few months into my first job, I came across an intriguing technical problem in one of my meetings. As I thought about it more, I came up with a cryptographic solution for it. The very next day, I set up time with the product manager on the team to discuss the solution, and whether it would make sense for them. The product team really liked the idea and asked me to develop my design further. I then pitched the solution to my team to get resources to drive the project forward. It was quite the energizing ride driving the project forward with a fast-moving cross-functional team!

As the project progressed and grew, I kept thinking I am so new – what do I know? Shouldn’t a more senior person lead this? What if I mess up something? But my manager encouraged me to keep going, and in hindsight, I feel immensely grateful to have that support! My learning through this single project was phenomenal – I got to lead a huge project end-to-end from conception to launch, chimed in on technical conversations with our customers which helped our design, presented our solution to the executive leadership, and eventually worked on expanding to more use cases.

This experience really opened my eyes to how good tech companies foster a culture of innovation. If you have a good idea, you're empowered to run with it and make it a reality! It was so rewarding to see my ideas translate into a product offering for our customers and making a privacy-positive impact! While this entire experience had some nice career perks including promotions and patents, I believe the primary benefit was that of exponential growth in skills and confidence. And I was having an absolute blast throughout on my privacy tech life path :)

Feeling of Agency

In general, taking initiative is about cultivating a sense of agency, a feeling of ownership over your life's direction. It's about the mental shift from being a passive observer to an active participant. Psychologists call this an internal locus of control, and studies have shown that individuals with a strong internal locus of control experience greater well-being, higher motivation, and improved stress management. As we discussed in the last edition, a fulfilled life with well-being front and center, makes way for a more productive life.

Think about it – when you proactively choose to initiate projects or pursue your passions, you're essentially grabbing the steering wheel of your own life. This sense of agency fuels your intrinsic motivation and also keeps you accountable to your goals. You're no longer waiting for opportunities to magically appear; you're creating them. This proactive approach is especially crucial for us PolyPaths. Navigating diverse paths requires a high level of motivation and self-direction. By actively choosing initiatives that align with our values and contribute to our growth, we can directly energize our polypathic journeys..

Try this today:

Take that first step to get started on your passion path – Maybe it’s making a quick stop to enroll in that hip hop dance class, maybe it’s penning down the outline of that short story in your mind, or maybe it’s installing DuoLingo to start learning Japanese!
Raise your hand for a project at work that will let you learn something new of interest. You might have to pair it with cutting down on an existing commitment and/or contextualizing how the project of your interest helps your team.
Organize an event to infuse energy into a life path of yours – Maybe it’s a tennis tournament with your buddies, maybe it’s a webinar with your professional network interviewing an expert, or maybe it’s simply a dinner date with a relation you cherish :)

I can assure you, taking initiative will enhance your life. Don’t be shy to also take the initiative of saying no to a few things, to free up time for your new initiative. The point is to do more of what energizes you, and less of what doesn’t! If you'd like some friendly support in figuring out how and when to take initiative, I'm happy to be your sounding board. Book time with me here!