Let things fall into place

hurdles, originally uploaded by Bee Photographee.

As I’ve previously mentioned, one needs to overcome a lot of self-resistance to ‘start’ something. Human beings like it easy and comfortable; its not intuitive to go out of one’s comfort zone. That is why once you’ve entered a niche, it is tortuous to switch to another; once you have learned something, its very very difficult to unlearn and relearn. It is why many of my friends are still doing something that they do not adore but are comfortable doing. It keeps many of us from seeking our real interests.

I am still in process of transitioning and lose sight of the goals more so often. One thing that has helped me is to keep myself abreast of what’s happening around. Read and follow people who are in your target industry. Use blogs, twitter, LinkedIn, google reader or anything where you keep track of ‘people’. Twitter, that I once considered pointless, gives an excellent bird-eye view of things. It’s like looking down through an airplane and seeing the lights below. Lights are just lights as you take off but at some altitude, they become a city: you can see a shape. From that height, twitter gives you a quick walkthrough of what has happened. It is only possible to read so many news articles and blogs at once but not so with one-liners. Apart from that, it also helps you see who is following what. Soon, the disparate news pieces and opinions start making sense. Following things also keeps you motivated.

Anyways, I didn’t share it here but Techstars proposal didn’t take off as our plan was merely an idea. Executing ideas is the real challenge and I haven’t crossed the initial hurdle yet. Plus I am having more ideas and I need to find out more about the startup dynamics – which is what I am doing currently. Also, I am sampling different sectors and it is nice and interesting – helps me understand if I am cut out for something or not. On related topics -

• Startup Visa Act was introduced in Washington and things look good so far. I mentioned the visa imbroglio for aspiring international entrepreneurs in an earlier post and strongly support this startup visa idea. If you concur, please show your support.
• There’s a fantastic resource for fostering entrepreneurial skills and success – its called The Indus Entrepreneurs or TIE and was founded by successful Indian executives in Silicon Valley.

Final lesson: Never enter a room filled with finance professionals in anything but black. They are still in mourning. Kidding, I love black.