Shilpa K

You have been running from pillar to post
You have made rash decisions
You have been swallowing emotions
You are surrounded by judgment.

Hold on
Take a step back
Do not fight any longer
Slow down for 2 days.

Cook something that you like
Eat really well
Sleep properly- maybe a little extra
Listen to good music
Take a long walk in nature
Spend time with family
Laugh with them
Love openly

And then come back
Trust yourself
And start once again
This time to understand the gaps
Start with filling just one
Then the next..
And the next

One thing at a time
One person at a time
One win at a time
And see yourself walk…
to the winning line.

I wrote this list for myself at 42 when I had just $563 left in bank, with a whole family dependent on me.

It takes only 3 months to turn life around
Your time starts now 👊

If things look too difficult and if you need help, DM me. Follow Shilpa K for more insights on how to turnaround life!

Most mid-career professionals try to prove they can still keep up with 25-year-olds.
That is like owning a library and panicking because someone else has learnt to read faster.

You have 20–25 years of experience.
And now you want to compete on speed? On the latest tools? On the newest AI platforms?

Pause that fear for a second and think about it with clarity.

The 25-year-olds may know what is new,
But you know what matters.

They may resolve a problem faster,
But you know which problem is worth resolving.

They may walk into rooms with more knowledge,
But you walk in with unparalleled wisdom.

They may build visibility quickly,
But you already sit strong on a wealth of credibility, relationships and trust- consistently built over the years.

They may bring speed,
You bring pattern recognition.

That difference is huge.
And yet I see experienced professionals trying desperately to sound younger, move faster, use latest jargon, learn every new tool…
constantly fighting the fear of becoming irrelevant.

Stop competing with freshers on speed

Know your edge!
Your advantage is sense of direction
You know what people don’t say in meetings
You know which decisions look brilliant today and become disasters 2 years later.

And that is leadership capital, commercial judgement, reading between the lines.
They may not have time for it as they are playing a game of speed.

So relax,
Create a space to co-exist,
Embrace them, leverage their skills and
Play strengths that give you a clear- cut edge.

Picture abhi baaki hai doston….
Make your career 25YearOld-proof 🙂

If you need any help to shake off that rust and dust, DM me. Follow Shilpa K for more insights on inviting a power-packed decade in your career🔥

A smiling picture can lie
Because it shows only one frame of a much bigger life.

Last few months have been intense highs and lows- emotional, physical and mental.

Indeed there were some outstanding wins.
But let me also show you what a picture-perfect frame doesn’t capture….

Some old beliefs have been shattered
Some illusions have fallen away
I have realised that I am not flawless
I am not always sorted
I don’t always have the answer
And I can get pulled into intense emotions too.

But I have also discovered something powerful about me.
I know how to come home, again and again.

It is the faith that I am Divine’s child,
that somehow I will always be taken care of.
that I am blessed with the power to turnaround the sail.

And that belief brings me back every time, to my home emotion- JOY
That is the music I have chosen for my life.

There will be surprises, curveballs, disappointments, fear, loss, confusion.
Life will at times throw you off rhythm
No one is immune to that.

The question is
What belief do you hang on to?
What have you chosen as your home emotion?
Who do you repeatedly choose to come back to?

Cameras don’t create picture-perfect frames
Get addicted to the belief that everything will always work out for you
You will end up creating picture-perfect reality!

Happy Raksha Bandhan ❤️😊

At 16, I always claimed the front row.
Good at studies, teacher’s favourite- serious, sincere.

At the back, sat the noisemakers
I could hear laughs, jokes, fun happening in the back benches.

And a part of me always wanted to join them.
But somewhere, I had already decided that it wasn’t for me
Toppers are supposed to be focused
I knew that they were good- smart, intelligent, happy, living. But they were the noisemakers.

So I masked my ego behind a serious face and,
kept away from fun people at the back.
Allowing herself to be labeled as an outsider.

The label was of being different
- capable but boring
- committed but lack-lustre
- intelligent but worldly incompetent

And when you spend enough years feeling like you don’t belong,
It becomes a habit. That follows you into college, friendships, meetings, board rooms…
You start carrying a permanent burden of not belonging anywhere.

Until one day you realise,
That you were different- but in a good way
That you never had to be like others
That you can take more space
And build a completely unique sunlit life

The day you realise it,
You stop wanting to belong
You start owning your grounds
And that’s when your second life begins 👊

From,
The diary of a nerd who never belonged
Until one day…

If you need help owning your grounds, DM me. Follow for more such insights on building a powerhouse life!

You’re sitting with people and your child walks into the room. And almost instinctively you want to fix things. Straighten their hair, tuck the shirt in, make them a little more presentable.

But what if you didn’t?
What if, instead, you simply match the spark in their eyes, pull them into a warm hug and enjoy them being there? No fixing, no correcting.

Now here is the real ask
Will you be able to do the same for yourself?

Look at yourself without immediately thinking about another improvement area- weight, look, communication, knowledge, capability, finances…

I love growth and I absolutely love ambition.
But I also know that too much focus on them can sometimes turn into a permanent dissatisfaction with who you are.

And that can become very exhausting.

Sometimes hair can stay uncombed, shirt can be messy, picture not as perfect. Sometimes you don’t need another goal, another project or dopamine hit from becoming “better.”

Sometimes, you can simply enjoy being you ❤️

Be kind to yourself and to the people around.
Let them be THEM
Let you be YOU
Every moment of your life need not become your report card!

She enters the meeting room before I do.
By the time I walk in, she is already seated in the corner of the table.

Our eyes meet. She casually gestures toward the empty chair next to her, “Come. Sit here.”
And somehow, I always do.

The meeting begins!
I start speaking, and immediately notice a scorn on her face, for the “umm”, I couldn’t avoid.
She taps a finger. I know I am confused.
She looks sideways. Looks like now I am beginning to sound dumb.

I speak fast, she raises an eyebrow.
I sound unsure, she sees.
I don't sit confidently, she knows.
My voice shakes, she hears it.
I make a point and nobody responds, she notices that too.

By now, I am no longer fully in the meeting.
Half of me is listening to others and the other half is watching her.

The more I watch her...the smaller I become.
I almost raise my hand for an idea.
Then I see her face. And I swallow it.
Someone else says exactly the same thing 5 minutes later. Everyone nods “Great point.”

The meeting ends- laptops close, chairs move back, everyone leaves.

But she comes out with me- into the lift, in the car, back home.
“You should have used a different word”
“You sounded nervous”
“Why didn't you answer immediately?”
“You should have known more”….
My unending review starts in my mind….

Until one day I realise…
She wasn’t another woman sitting in the corner.
Not my manager, not a colleague, nor a senior executive.

I was the one bringing her with me.
She was the fearful ME.

She stayed with me for decades
Until I gathered courage to finally fire her.

And with her gone, the noise in my mind has gone,
Now party has started in real life 🎉

If you need help, firing your fearful self, DM me for help. Follow me for more insights on stepping into your most confident self!

The interviewer will forgot your answers by lunchtime, but

they will remember how the room felt with you in it.

When you knew the answer, they felt it
When you did not, they felt that too
When you tried to cover up, they sensed it
When you used commonsense with intuition running in the background, they sensed that too.

16 years of education trained you to chase the right answers
So you walk in guarded, rehearsed, tight, ready to answer,
And the exact skill that gives you brownie points, you left outside the door.

Interviews are never about the perfect answers.
They are a pursuit to find the person who brings in hope

Hope that the problem they are looking to resolve, will be easily resolved with you by their side. Hope that you will be a delight to work with at that level.

That’s exactly what got Susheela 3 job offers with $60k hike
And Shubh attract the much-awaited promotion in a single discussion

Your answers get you considered.
Your energy gets you chosen.

Leverage it for them to become your raving fan. Let it flow!

If you need help cracking interviews with ease, DM me. Follow me for more insights on becoming an opportunity magnet!