Here is the complete transcript of the podcast
Happy Monday morning to you. Welcome back to Success with Srini. On the podcast today, I’m answering a question that has been in my inbox for a long time. I did not answer the question, because I thought it was a little bit sarcastic. But as I was debating, I was thinking about it. I kept on reading and kept on opening the email, I realized maybe there is some depth to this question. So I’m giving my full absolute trust to whoever is asking this question. I think they’re asking it from a good place. So the question is really why I keep on listening, keep on listening to a podcast, and all that. If success is not guaranteed, why work so hard for it? Oh, my God, it’s interesting, you know, now you know why I was not kind of talking about it on the podcast, or at least I’ve waited for this long.
Here is the truth. You will never get everything that you desire. In fact, you most of the things that you’re working towards today, you’ll not get them. Nobody does. That’s the truth. It’s a hard truth to swallow. But that is the truth. But the question is very legitimate at least I’m that’s how I’m looking at it. You know, why work this hard? If there are no guarantees, this is so hard. And if you are a listener of this podcast, you might have heard this, me saying multiple times here, people, you know, the system our mind works on, there is a reward mechanism like there isn’t a precision seeking reward. All that is inbuilt into our brain. So when we see that you’re putting more effort into something, and we’re not getting a result, we tend to give up. And I talked about this concept in the context of weight loss multiple times on the podcast. So anything for that matter, you’re taking up a new job, you’re starting a new business, you’re not getting the returns, or returns are not higher than the effort that you’re putting in, then obviously, people quit. So there is truth to this question, you know, why put in effort when there’s nothing is guaranteed? Well, you can’t get everything that you’re working for. And whatever you’re desiring, we get things that we deserve, to a large extent, but we cannot get that which we desire. And that’s the graph. That’s the architecture of life. But there’s also one other element to this, which is the fun in life, or the excitement in life is only when you pursue things, knowing that you may not get them, or thinking that will get them. That’s the right way to put it. Eventually, what will happen, you do not know but you pursue it as if you’re going to get them. So the discussion is, you should be deriving pleasure in the pursuit, not in the possession of whatever that you are seeking. So today, whatever I possess, I don’t have any pleasure in that.
Seriously, I’ll tell you this laptop, I’m recording the podcast. Five years ago, I waited for a month to get this podcast, this was in 2017 I believe. And I was like, three days into getting this laptop, I had absolutely no pleasure anymore. It was just like a laptop. But before while I was waiting for 30 days, I was telling everyone or you know waiting for this top of the line, laptop, the screen, detaches, it can turn into a tablet, I mean, all kinds of stuff, the minute I had it in my hands 24 hours later, 72 hours later, it just something that is there around me that said it’s not I have no pride in possessing it, I have no other any big emotion attached to it. None. It’s doing its job. That’s all there is to this. But the duration, the pursuit of like three months waiting for this laptop, while thinking about it. And then after placing the order waiting for a month back in 2017. That was incredible. That feeling was incredible. So the case in point is you got to pursue you take pleasure in that pursuit, whatever that is. So whatever the goals you have set for yourself, whatever outcomes you’re seeking from anything and everything that you’re doing, you take pleasure from it. And I have given multiple examples here, including one of the big pursuits I had which was to go climb Everest. I’ll tell you, no success with that.
In terms of nothing seriously talk about the pardon. The journey was amazing and a year and a half completely out of doing anything and totally giving my time at Fordham soulfully willfully and completely engaged in trying to accomplish the goal but the journey was amazing. There is no nothing on the SATCOM that took place that that journey, the pursuit was amazing. So the privilege that we humans are given is the ability to pursue something. And the awareness also, to pursue that thing with pleasure. That’s the awareness sport. So yeah, no, nothing is guaranteed. Honestly, you know, I can’t even guarantee the next minute. I can’t even guarantee I’m recording this podcast. By the time this goes live, I’ll be around. Can’t guarantee anything. But how boring life is if you know exactly what’s going to happen tomorrow or the next moment is gonna be boring. And that’s the beauty of this universe is you will never know what’s going to happen tomorrow. And you will not know the sad part is even after we are gone from here, we do not know we left. Oh, that’s even hard. I don’t know how to even comprehend that.
Okay, so find your own leisure, and pursue whatever you want. What if you get them? What if you like them after you get them? Whatever you don’t treat whatever you get, like the way I treat this laptop these days. In fact, I treat everything like that around these days, like okay, I have no nothing, no emotion for any of these material possessions as the standard right now. But what if, you get whatever you are after? How will that change your life? Think about it. Take pleasure in the pursuit. Okay, that’s all. Have a wonderful Monday. Now you start your week in a great way. I will stop here and I’ll catch up with you as early as tomorrow. Stay tuned.