Success hogs the limelight.
And failure must permanently remain backstage. Spoken about in whispers to a very small set of people.
That's not how life plays out.
The 100% result that pervades everything from school to social media is a sham.
We need the myths around success to stay alive. Otherwise it would not be worth the effort.
The trophies and wins are flaunted on social media.
But the insecurities are buried in private.
When did failure become a burden?
Of course we have to give everything we're working on our best shot.
But that is not going to result in immediate success.
Failure is where ambition and desperation collide
It is not rare or unusual but the default setting.
And we succeed because we go through those multiple stages of failure.
Failure allows us to reflect on our internal motivations.
It shows us what did not work. And reflecting on it tells us why.
The entrepreneur's failures are footnotes in the cover stories.
Glossed over like the potholes on roads. And that distorts reality.
One business book that tells it like it is - The Hard Thing about Hard Things by Ben Horowitz.
Success is the mirage. Failure is real.
You can read more about the book here
Changing your mind is not a weakness
If everyone thought the same way, the world would be a different place.
We wouldn't have conversations or debates at all.
We wouldn't need more than one brand of soap. We would all be happy driving the same car.
See how strange that sounds? As if the events leading to today's world were a straight line.
Nothing could be further from the truth.
We got here by changing our minds about everything.
Our beliefs. Our clothes. Our gods.
Whether we wanted to stay in one place all our life.
Or wander the earth.
We do different things at every stage of our lives.
We meet people who change the way we think.
We work with people who change our minds in unique ways.
They set us on paths to new destinations.
But we have a love-hate relationship with change.
We want things to change in specific ways.
We don't want to grow old. Or frail. Or weak.
As children, we want to change into adults.
As adults we want to be successful. Even when we don't really know what that means.
Changing your mind is no big deal. It's happening right now.
Even without your knowing it.
Does that sound impossible?
A shampoo made just for you
There are no large billboards advertising its presence. And even in the US, the concept is fairly new.
A shampoo created just for you. With your name on the pack in stylised cursive - you are the brand.
To start with, you tick off a set of questions on the mobile.
Age, whether your hair is smooth, curly or wavy, length of hair, treatments you do, hair colouring, water used to wash, etc.
Multiple choice questions with illustrations. All you do is pick the right answers.
Women are gladly making the time. And the data, naturally goes right back to the company.
What you get is a shampoo custom created for your hair.
Home delivered. Shampoo, conditioner and serum packed separately.
The difference is apparent after a couple of washes. And the satisfaction way higher than the mass market brands.
There's personal involvement. And why would you ever change the shampoo brand that has your name?
The base is small to begin with. But this will set off waves of change that ripple right through the market.
It costs less than a single treatment at a salon. And lasts for more than a month.
How should regular shampoo brands respond?
The brand has already launched in India
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