Welcome to Radhika’s Newsletter “INTENT”. This is your bi-weekly guide to building systems that grow your career, build systems, and creating a life on your own terms.
Happy Wednesday! It’s been a while since I’ve talked about my latest tea obsession so here it is for this month: black sesame lattes. Before you roast me, yes technicallyyyyy it’s not tea but it’s sooo good for your hair and has a super nutty aroma and taste that I’ve been loving in the mornings. If you end up trying it, let me know what you think!
Ordinary vs. Extraordinary
I used to play things super safe (most times today I still do) but during 2020 I realized something super uncomfortable to admit.
My life looked great on paper with a stable job, predictable path, doing what I was ‘supposed’ to. There was something deep inside me that didn’t feel right. Who was I really doing this for? And why?
After a LOT of meditation and sitting with myself asking deep questions, I realized I was doing it for approval - from society.
Then a few more courageous moments later, I asked myself:
If I keep making safe decisions, will I end up with a life I actually want?
That’s when I noticed a pattern amongst people around me. Most of them hadn’t chosen the life they wanted to live either. They inherited it. The most common path looked like this:
school → job → promotion → repeat
And an average day looked like:
wake up → work → TV → dinner → scroll social media → sleep → repeat
Then I decided something huge for myself: I did not want this life and it’s paramount that I meet others who aren’t living the typical/average lifestyle.
Over years, I continued to meet extraordinary people (more on how I did this in a Part 2) and I came to a conclusion: Outliers don’t necessarily have more talent, they just take the bold, seemingly different action.
My Theory On Why People Stay Ordinary
Please don’t be offended, just my raw thoughts - let me know if I missed anything.
You’ve never actually thought big enough.
Someone somewhere at some point told you that you’re never going to good enough at ___.
You’re scared of failure.
You’re perfectly comfortable where you’re at. Change is uncomfortable and even the thought of it is too much
You haven’t been exposed to cool people doing cool things (that’s what I’m trying to help with INTENT. Keep reading to join other cool humans)
Your routine isn’t allowing for action towards your dreams
You don’t want to break old/comfortable friendships that are holding you back
You’re simply just making excuses. You know exactly what you need to do.
Examples of Extraordinary Actions
I felt like the best way to talk about different steps or actions other extraordinary people I know have taken is just so share them:
Sav is a part-time travel advisor. She printed off business cards and started hanging them and leaving them in every coffee shop she entered.
Chintan created an entire business plan and webpage on how to grow an account for an interview and got his dream role.
I walked into every school in my area to pitch myself as a speaker and help high school students with their career, personal development, and finances.
Natalie created a podcast for women in tech to build her personal brand and grow as a thought leader in the space
Ryanne became an assistant for a low-pay to a VP to learn the craft of sales and managed to become a Director a year after
Kevin offered his social media services for free to build his brand and launched his own agency
How you can be Extraordinary
Know what you want
Do everything in your power to get there
Be unique, be weird, and be helpful
Get out of your comfort zone
Creating an INTENT Accountability Group
I shared an idea on LinkedIn yesterday about starting a small accountability group to help each other take consistent steps toward our goals and the response has been incredible!
If you’re serious about making progress and want to be part of it, reply here and I’ll add you in. Let’s actually move the needle!
A Challenge For You
What’s an uncomfortable and out of the ordinary thing you can do this week to get one step closer to your goal? Let me know what you end up doing - I’m here to support!!!
Support My Work
Enjoying this newsletter? If you’d like to support my work, you can buy me tea. Your support means so much! Every cup helps fuel the ideas, research, and energy I put into each newsletter.
👉 Buy me tea
Thank you so much for being a part of the INTENT community. I rely on word-of-mouth for growth. If you enjoyed this newsletter, I’d love for you to share it with a friend.
Your commitment to living with purpose is exactly why this space exists. Can’t wait to share more in the next edition!
Until next time,
Radhika
Creating a life of purpose, wealth, and growth
