What did I learn from my NY trip?
Haven’t really reflected on it yet. I think I have more energy than others. It’s almost like a series of plateaus.
I actually don’t think I have more energy than others inherently. It’s how I view the time to my advantage. Driving tires out folks. I view it as a way to learn or if I’m with people, a chance to connect in a safe space. If it’s hot and I’m walking in the city, it’s a way to explore the city and burn some calories while I’m at it instead of complaining about the temperature. If I have this mindset as the default, it actually takes less energy.
Hmm, so the friction reduction framework actually applies here also. I don’t have more energy than others. I just prioritize doing things that keep that energy high. And it’s more of a mindset. If I have that mentality that everything is unfolding for my benefit, then that just maintains that energy at a high enough level where it seems like I have more energy than others.
Negative energy is just friction. Positive energy isn’t necessarily value. It’s the absence of friction.
Masters of energy management haven’t necessarily transcended anything, per se. They’ve simply eliminated as much friction in their lives as they can. They live with ease. With flow. With harmony.
Another thing is role; deep connections quickly; “talent.”
In the bhajans, knowing your role is vitally important. Lead singer vs chorus singer is vastly different. Tabla vs khanjira. Tabla’s main job is to keep them on beat. Khanjira is to support tabla. Talent + awareness are what it takes to be a key instrumentalist.
No one wants to clap either when no one is clapping. It’s easy to clap when everyone is clapping and it’s 3rd and 4th speed. But who wants to when the bhajan needs it?
I do need more awareness myself when I’m playing harmonium to set the taal before the tabla starts playing. I’m a good 1B, how good of a 1A am i? When there are 1A’s around me, I default and feel comfortable as a 1B. However, I do feel comfortable in the 1A role if there aren’t any 1A’s around me.
That’s in the bhajan setting. The thing is at work, it’s a lot of 1A’s who are in leadership positions. I would guess it’s like that at the majority of workplaces. I need to be better and have more theoretical and experiential knowledge to have the confidence of a 1A in a setting of other 1A’s. When I’m with 1B’s or 2’s or lower, I can act like a 1. And that suffices. But 1A’s just outright know more than 1B’s. More knowledge.
When it comes to harmonium players, Sid, Shivram, Adhirath, Rahul, & Vidya are a cut above everyone else. It’s not the talent that separates us. It’s the sheer focused practice. That has lead to muscle memory. People who can’t operate at that level mistake that work, practice, studying, theory, experience as talent.
I have a superficial knowledge of raags. Just knowing the common ones for bhajans and filtering out the rest. But those 4-5 people have world-class knowledge and expertise on all the topics related to harmonium.
Reflecting, I don’t think I’m actually world-class in anything right now. I’m a 1B or 2 or lower in many areas. And that’s sufficient. But I really don’t know what it takes to be world-class in anything.
So then the question is what do I want to be world-class in that will have the most leverage in my lie? I’d say that, at this point in my life, being world-class in laundromat marketing will have the greatest leverage. 1A at work among other 1A’s. Massive success of brands, success of franchisees and their communities, professional growth for me, better communicator, and who knows all the avenues that will open up for me from there.
Efficiency-wise, it also makes the most sense because there’s not that many others in this game. Or if they are, the impact they can have is not as large as the impact I can have. Everyone in the laundry industry should be wanting to talk to me to get some insight. Everyone in the franchising space should be reaching out to me to pass along my wisdom. I then leverage that into a springboard for the rest of my life.
Hmm, a job is basically what someone wants to be world-class in. If they work 40-hour work weeks, then it’ll take ~5 years to theoretically be world-class given they have that intention and the 10,000 hour theory. It also depends on the saturation of that particular field. It may take a quicker amount of time for me because there aren’t as many laundromat marketers compared to coaches or harmonium players. I can use that to my advantage.
Okay, I’ve found a big purpose of why I joined 2U / LL: to be world-class in laundromat marketing.
Other aspect of NY / NJ tip was the deep, quick connections. People who actually want to connect meaningfully, like Vishnu, Vidya, and Goutham. Had a solid 15-20 min convo with Goutham, and he’s actually interested in knowing me. There were several people who said I inspire them, which is affirmation I’m going in the right direction.
I also spent the most amount of time on a trip with 1 person than I ever had before with Tejas (sorry Jaspreet). And we had some really deep convos about God, infinity and finity, self-realization and self-actualization and much more. Road trip test passed with Tejas lol. They’re great ways to get to know somebody.
Hmm, that could be a potential revenue stream in the future. I fly somewhere in the world and then we have at least a few hour road trip. They cover all my expenses, we both connect deeply, explore somewhere new all in 1 thing.
Bookmark this for the future - I think there’s something here.
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