Puneet Sachdev worked for years in the hotel industry and with General Electric as a management consultant. He now uses that knowledge in his work as a consultant, creative philanthropist, and coach.
He is also the author of Deepa Wishes Daddy Happy Birthday, a book based on the time he’s spent with his daughter. He uses 100% of the proceeds from the book to support the education of underprivileged children. The book also began his work as a creative philanthropist.
In this episode, learn how Puneet turned his idea into reality, why you need to put yourself out there, and the importance of being present.
Here are three things you can learn from Puneet:
Many of us believe we aren’t destined for greatness, but we never take the first step. The first thing we must all do, if we want to find success, is accept the fact that we are all on a journey.
Puneet believes we all have a choice to make. We can choose to continue on the path we’ve been on, or we can choose the unbeaten path. “When you have that call to adventure. You have the choice of taking it or not.”
And once we’ve answered that call to adventure, things will begin to come together in unexpected ways. “I just feel like you step out of that path and put yourself out there, and … the clearer you get and the more you put yourself out there, serendipity is what shows you the way.”
But we can’t do it on our own. Luckily, life has a way of providing the help we need. “I feel that what happens is when you start off on your journey, when you start off saying ‘This is really important to me and I’m going to set sail on this path,’… I think somehow the teachers show up and that support network emerges at different points.”
One of the great things about creative projects is, they start off as just an idea in our heads. They are nothing more than a thought that sprouted and evolved into a something beautiful.
That’s exactly what happened to Puneet. He never considered himself a creative person. He believed only artists had the ability to be creative, but what he discovered was, everyone has the capacity to be creative. We just need the right people around us to make our ideas come to life.
So, while he is not a gifted writer or illustrator, he was still able to bring his idea to life. “I know I’m not a great, gifted, writer. I’m not taking any courses on creative writing. Nothing. It was just a desire and a passion behind it. I did that, and I used the people who have got those gifts.”
All it takes is combing that desire with action and the ability to bring the right people together. Just don’t expect it to be a quick process. “Desire, taking the action, using the people that will help me put it together. It’s a very long process, It’s much longer than I would have liked it to be.”
Puneet is a huge advocate of having a mindfulness practice. There are so many things around us that distract us from our goals. Sometimes we need to disconnect from everything and focus on ourselves. “The world that we live in is just in so much of a frenzy all the time and with technology it is very easy to get disconnected. It’s very easy to get just swayed away by whatever the most prevalent wind is… so I think practice (mindfulness) is what really helps in grounding you.”
One problem is, many people want to practice mindfulness, but they have the wrong ideas about what it is. They believe their minds have to be empty of thoughts, but that simply isn’t the case. “That’s really not the goal of it. The goal is for you to be present with yourself in this moment and time. So please get away from the notion that you should empty your mind of thoughts.”
Instead, we must aim for stillness. We must be in touch with ourselves. “[In] day to day life, the goal is stillness, being with yourself, [and] getting in touch with what your body is saying”
Sally Safadi was working at an after school program for kids between medical school and graduating . While there, she found it was difficult for children to learn in the traditional school environment after already spending eight hours in school. So she came up with different games for the kids to play to get them involved in learning.
This began her shift from studying science to studying and exploring creativity. Sally’s site, Neurons Away, is the hub for all her work including her book and card game. Each of her projects help people explore and exercise their imaginations.
In this episode learn about her various projects, the power of constraints, the benefits of trial and error, and much more.
Here are three things you can learn from Sally:
Most of us are taught to find a single answer to problems. We haven’t been give the proper tools to tackle problems with more than one possibility, which is why we struggle with empty spaces. “The way we are taught, especially through school, is to write in the lines and in the box. Color in the space.”
Instead of looking for the single answer, we need to develop the mindset to play in the empty spaces. “You have to have that specific mindset that develops to be able to do that. But most individuals haven’t really been given that opportunity.”
Sally believes the blank canvas can be used as an educational tool. She believes, that once you learn that form of expression, you can use it many aspects of your life. “Giving empty space in different areas of life, especially education, empowers an individual to be more creative in their own choices in life.”
We spend too much time worrying about whether our plans will fail or succeed instead of actually testing them out. One thing is for certain, if you don’t test your ideas, you will never know if they are going to work.
Sally likens testing ideas to planting seeds. Some will grow, and others won’t. “It’s just like these little things of trying, and trying, and trying til something catches or grows, or planting a bunch of seeds and hoping some of them take.” It is only by trying a bunch of ideas that you will be able to get one to bloom.
She also believes in listening to the feedback of your audience. That’s how she ended up with the cover for her book. Her first cover didn’t convey the message that was in book, so she tested a new one that worked much better.
She was able to leverage the opinions of her audience to create a cover that her audience liked. But you can’t listen to everything people say. You have to find the right balance.
“Seeking the opinions and constructive criticisms is really good, but people also need to create their bubble with that. I could ask a thousand people what they think about the cover, and each person… is telling me something different. So at some point, you just have to also just make your own decision and stick to it because you’re always going to find someone who has something different to say.”
Many people believe imaginations are stronger in children than they are in adults. But this is only partially true. Children may use their imaginations a lot more, but they mostly use them for play. Adults, on the other hand, use their imaginations to shape the world around us.
“Our realities are basically a moment’s expression of our collective imagination. Everything that is around us was once an idea or a thought that was applied, and directed, and grew into a tangible reality… which a lot of us fail to realize in this journey that we call life.”
Everything from our phones, to our cars, to our computers was the result of a creation from someone’s imagination. Before these things existed, someone had to dream them up. That is the power of imagination.
The problem is, many of us stop using our imaginations once we hit adulthood. If we all harnessed that power a little bit more, who knows what the world would be like.
Stop thinking play is for children. Leverage the power of your imagination to help change the world.
Catherine Orer was an award winning communications and PR expert for multinational corporations for years, but that job never felt fulfilling to her. So, when the opportunity to study at Christies in Paris opened up, she jumped on it.
While in Paris she gained hands on experience working in contemporary art galleries. After her studies, she brought this knowledge and experience back to Canada. While working at an art gallery in Montreal, many artists approached her for help. This began Catherine’s journey as The Artist Entrepreneur.
In this episode, find out why gratitude is so important, why there isn’t just one path to success, and why artists should find support.
Here are three things you can learn from Catherine:
Most people falsely believe there is only one path to success. They believe there’s a secret formula they can learn to become successful. They believe the people who’ve made it are all part of a secret club.
Catherine’s path is neither traditional or conventional. She went to school for public relations and communications and got management positions in corporations before even considering the art world. It was only when she noticed she wasn’t having fun at work that she decided to dip her toes back into the art world.
She went to Christies in Paris for training and worked at an art gallery when she got back. It was only then that she found how much help she could provide to artists. Artists came up to her hoping they could work together, and finally she relented.
Now she is working with thousands of artists in her Facebook group. She is doing one on one coaching, group coaching, and providing immense value to artists with her experience in PR and in the arts.
Catherine’s path to helping artists was not the traditional one and she believes artists should look for their own path too. “There’s not just one path to being a successful artist. Not every artist will get their retrospective at the MoMA at fifty and it’s fine. It’s not everybody’s path and it shouldn’t be. You just need to find yours, what makes you happy, and also where you can grow as an artist.”
One thing that I’ve found by speaking to many successful people is, gratitude is an essential part of their daily lives. Catherine is no exception. Leaving her corporate job was the turning point in her gratitude practice.
What she has found is, we aren’t always at our best. So the best thing to do at those times is be grateful for what you have. “We can’t always be on high, so life is what it is. You have your ups and your downs and that’s when I really started being more thankful with everything that was going on my life.”
She goes on to talk about why she has to practice gratitude every day. “If I don’t take some time to be grateful and thankful,for everything in my life, I would go crazy… At some point you just need to be like, okay, what I’m doing is enough and I’m just really thankful that I’m doing what I love, and that I have these people around me who support me.”
We all need to be thankful for what we have and embrace where we are in our journeys. “Being thankful is just being in the present. It’s just looking at what’s happening right now, and just embracing it all and opening up yourself to more abundance too.”
One of the things that artists get wrong is trying to do everything by themselves. They believe they don’t need to find support when they are struggling. They believe they have to do all the work themselves. They believe if they don’t do all the work, people look down on them.
Catherine believes you won’t find success unless you find people to support you. “My experience is that at some point, you’re going to hit a roadblock, and you’re going to want to get support.”
She even advocates finding help if it isn’t with her. “I don’t really mind if you don’t work with me. For me it’s not about working with me. It’s about finding support. So, if you find support… that’s fine, but doing it all by yourself is usually not the right way to go about it. You need to surround yourself with people who are going to support you.'”
She goes and talks about our need to connect with society. “If you want to grow, you need to be in contact with other people. We live in society, and if you want to sell your work to people, then you have to surround yourself with people. You need to network. You need to build a network around you, a support network, but also a network and following of people who are going to want to know more about you, and what you do, and how you can be of service to them, and how you can support them, and how you can communicate who you are and what you stand for.”
Jacob Sokol was climbing the corporate ladder at his job as a computer technician when he he realized there was a deep void in his life. His life was filled with the highest of highs, but also the lowest of lows. He didn’t trust his own happiness. He knew something had to change. So he took a 5 week trip to Europe. That is when he decided to embark on a quest to create his ideal life. In this episode, find out about Jacob’s beginnings, his quest to help people create their ideal lives, and also see what makes him tick.
Here are three things you can learn from Jacob:
We like to listen to the thoughts in our head. After all, they are all we know. The problem is, these thoughts often lead us astray. We let them control what we do, and how we think.
One of the biggest lessons Jacob learned on his trip to Europe was, he was not his thoughts. Although we all inherently know this, there’s a difference between hearing it and experiencing it. Jacob’s trip showed him the difference between the two.
What he discovered was, we are creatures of pattern, habit, and ritual. Since our thoughts are just patterns. if we can change our patterns, we can change ourselves.
“Suddenly I realized my thoughts are just patterns. If I can change my thoughts, that means I can change my life. And if I can change my life then I can create a life that is amazing.”
By changing his thought patterns, Jacob was able to build the life he wanted to live. He no longer had to live the role society told him to live. He was no longer trapped in the consumer cycle. He realized there was a life he could create for himself.
Too many of us believe we must be confident in order to take action. Jacob believes the opposite is true. He believes clarity comes from confidence. “It’s when we take action, then we become clear and confident. So clarity and confidence are not prerequisites, they’re actually results of action.”
The problem most of us have is, we wait for that moment when we are confident enough to take action, so we never take it. We wait and wait, and that confidence never comes.
Jacob believes confidence only comes as a result of taking action. “Confidence comes as a result of knowing you can handle something. You gotta try something a couple of times until you get better at it and competence leads to confidence… You don’t get competent unless you actually go do something and try it.”
Instead of waiting for confidence to come to us, we must be proactive and seize it for ourselves. We must be willing to fail and suck. We must do things for ourselves, and gain confidence by doing them.
One of the more interesting responses from Jacob came when I asked him how people can change the environment and people in their lives. His response surprised me with its beauty and simplicity.
“Any time someone asks how to, it’s because they don’t really understand the principle. So the principle here is… if you want it enough, you’ll figure out how to do it.”
I think he’s right. Although how-to’s can be helpful. They are just one person’s take on solving a problem. If you really want to solve a problem, you have to do it for yourself.
Jacob believes this comes from a place of instant gratification. “That’s kind of what people often times want. It’s the instant gratification of them wanting to be told what to do, instead of owning within themselves that they are a creator of life and can go out there and do and create based on what’s within them versus looking for the external to tell them.”
We need to stop looking for someone else to give us all the answers. We need to understand the principle first, and so we can figure it out for ourselves.
“If you understand the principle of something, then there’s a thousand ways you can go out there and do it.”