The trouble is that if you let shame move in and make itself at home, it quickly becomes a terrible houseguest. It lowers your energy, pulls down your consciousness, and before you know it, you are in a spiral of negative thoughts and feelings. It is like putting on noise-cancelling headphones tuned only to self-doubt. Progress feels distant, and opportunities slip by because you are stuck replaying the same mental soundtrack.

But shame might not the strong villain it first appears to be. When you step back and see it as just one of many emotions we will feel in our lives, it loses its power. It may be unpleasant, but it can also be the medicine that pushes us in the right direction. Sometimes the bravest move is to be a little shameless, as long as your intentions are honest. That shift from hiding to owning your story can be the start of a completely new future.

And here is where resilience is built. If your intentions are right and you face shame but learn to stand tall through it, you become unshakable. Very little can throw you off balance after that. This resilience is what sets the stage for real Fame, not the shallow kind measured in likes, but the deeper kind where people respect your strength and authenticity.

Look at The Pursuit of Happyness. Chris Gardner, played by Will Smith, endured moments that would break most people. Sleeping in a subway restroom with his son would make anyone feel humiliated. Yet instead of letting shame define him, he used it as fuel. His story proves that resilience through shame can lead not only to personal success but also to inspiring millions.

By learning to manage shame, you protect and even strengthen your mental health. You stop spiraling downward and start expanding upward. You gain perspective, clarity, and a stronger sense of self. That is the real prize.

So yes, your relationship with Shame can be the foundation of Fame. Not because shame feels good, but because overcoming it makes you ready for the spotlight that life has in store for you.

And while it might still feel a little taboo to talk about topics like shame, it is exactly these conversations that matter. Addressing them openly is how we strengthen individual mental health and move society forward in a positive direction.

❤️ASB

This post is dedicated to all who might be looking at new options either because of recent job cuts or otherwise. There might be a few doubts creeping in, or you might be receiving undesired statements from the world. Nothing and no one can decide what your future looks like except YOU!

I came across a LinkedIn post from an individual some time ago where he listed down an array of demotivators thrown at him when he was trying to start a new life in a new Country, such as “You will not find a job in your field”, “You will not be able to have a senior position if you want to settle here”,” You will need to adjust your expectations downwards” etc. etc. He then proceeded to proudly share that “He was glad he only listened to himself” as he was now on the Board of Directors of a reputable organisation within that year.

I assume most of us have encountered such situations in our personal & professional lives where we are faced with similar statements/doubts expressed on capabilities. There can be one of three outcomes in such a situation:

1) Get demotivated/stop attempting

2) Not affected/carry on as planned

3) Challenge becomes a huge motivation/multiplies the effort.

In my personal experience, these have actually proved to be significant motivators to try to accomplish what has been stated as “can’t be done”. Granted that subject to the limits of science and the supernatural not everything will be possible but I hope you get my gist :-).

It was the year 1993; I had just given my year ten exams (sort of equivalent to GCSEs) and had about four months of holidays coming up. Although it has been quite common for 14+-year-olds to take up jobs in Europe, the Americas etc., in the Northern Indian town of Faridabad where I grew up, it was almost unheard of (the landscape has changed a bit over the last decade or so but still not common) due to multiple factors such as too young, family reputation, limited belief in capability etc.

However, in very simple terms, in my heart, I wanted to learn the value of money and expressed a desire to my family that I wanted to work. You guessed the response right…” You can’t do it”. So the third outcome, as above, “ Challenge becomes a huge motivation”, kicked in, and I tried to find a way. As luck would have it, I learned about a boy known to my family who had started going to Delhi as he had taken up a job there. I spoke to him and was told that he works for a toy company. Somehow convinced my father to accompany this boy called Happy for one day and see if it was something decent to be involved in.

As agreed with Happy, I reached his home the next day at 7:30 AM to go to Delhi with him. Not sure why, but surprise, surprise, he had left without me. Now definitely couldn’t just go back home and miss this golden chance, and in those days, there were no cell phones, so I couldn’t contact Happy either. I remembered Happy had told me that the company he works for is based in Delhi’s “East of Kailash “area and had shared the company name. Armed with these two pieces of information, without ever having travelled alone to Delhi and that too on Public transport, I headed for the old Faridabad train station(Google hadn’t graced our lives yet:-)). At the station enquired about the train stop I should get off at in Delhi to reach East of Kailash and learned about Okhla, my destination station for the day. Once I reached East of Kailash ( it was not a couple of blocks, more like a small town), I started enquiring about this Toy company, and after about an hour, luck smiled, and a phone shop( called STD/ISD booths in India) which this toy company used to route their long distance calls gave me their address.

Late morning, I arrived at A3-East of Kailash, which was originally a house but now had offices in the basement & ground floor and someone’s residence on the upper floors. The toy company’s office was in the basement. When I entered the office, my friend Happy was there and was suitably surprised. Anyway, I spoke to the boss and found out that this particular office employed people for door-to-door selling of their Soft toys and board games. They said they would give me a trial for a week, and I jumped on the chance.

So that day in April 1993, armed with around 20kgs of toys and games on my shoulder, with a desire to learn and motivated further by “You can’t do it”, at the grand age of 15, on the streets of South Delhi was my first day at work! The journey of a salesman had begun.

That day defined my life. I ended up working there for the remaining three months, and that is where my love for Sales was born. There are many other memories of knocking on doors, my first sale etc., which I might share in future posts. Since then, there had to be a component of work along with my studies, and I ended up working part-time all through my graduation in Sales roles.

Most of the time “You Can’t do it” challenge has worked positively for me as a motivator and as a catalyst to help push boundaries, get out of my comfort zone, etc., on multiple occasions. It is not surprising that the same must have played a considerable role in the lives of many people we have come to respect, such as Muhammad Ali, Nelson Mandela, Richard Branson etc., and must be a key ingredient in their success.

So next time someone says to you,” You can’t do it,”.. just say and feel “, That’s Wonderful!” Enjoy all the hairpins and bends the road of life presents and push on.

Bon Voyage

Ankur Shiv Bhandari

This compass gets corrupted when one tries to do things by the definitions imposed by others of what is right. Some examples being influences of religion, customs, peer pressure, society perceptions etc. In our hearts we all know what is the right thing to do but still do what others tell us is right. In many such situations in the end neither we are happy nor are the people whose direction we have followed as what is done is never enough. This can lead to a feeling of despair.

Follow your heart and feel the strength that provides you. Notice the burden of not doing what you really wanted to slowing drifting away!

I assume most of us have come across such situations in our personal & professional lives where we are faced with similar statements/doubts expressed on capabilities. There can be one of three outcomes in such a situation:

1) Get demotivated/stop attempting

2) Not affected/carry on as planned

3) Challenge becomes a huge motivation/multiply the effort.

In my personal experience these have actually proved to be huge motivators to try to accomplish what has been stated as “can’t be done”. Granted that subject to limits of science and supernatural not everything will be possible but hope you get my gist:-).

It was the year 1993, I had just given my year 10 exams ( sort of equivalent to GCSEs) and had about 4 months of holidays coming up. Although it has been quite common for 14+ year olds taking up jobs in Europe, Americas etc., in the Northern Indian town of Faridabad where I grew up it was almost unheard of ( landscape has changed a bit over the last decade or so but still not common) due to multiple factors such as too young, family reputation, limited belief in capability etc.

However, in very simple terms, in my heart I wanted to learn the value of money and expressed a desire to my family that I wanted to work . You guessed the response right…”You can’t do it”. The third outcome as above kicked in and I stepped up efforts to find a way. As luck would have it, found out about a boy known to my family who I learned had starting going to Delhi as he had taken up a job there. Spoke to him and was told that he works for a toy company. Somehow convinced my father to accompany this boy called Happy for one day and see if it was something decent to be involved in.

As agreed with Happy, I reached his home the next day at 7:30 AM to go to Delhi with him. Not sure why, but surprise surprise, he had left without me. Now definitely couldn’t just go back home and miss this golden chance and in those days there were no cell phones so couldn’t contact Happy either. I remembered Happy had told me that the company he works for is based in “East of Kailash”area in Delhi and had shared the company name. Armed with these 2 pieces of information, without ever having travelled alone to Delhi and that too on Public transport, I headed for the old Faridabad train station( Google hadn’t graced our lives yet:-)). At the station enquired about the train stop I should get off at in Delhi to reach East of Kailash and learned about Okhla, my destination station for the day. Once I reached East of Kailash ( it was not a couple of blocks, more like a small town), I started enquiring about this Toy company and after about an hour, luck smiled and a phone shop( called STD/ISD booths in India) which this toy company used to route their long distance calls gave me their address. Late morning, I arrived at A3-East of Kailash, which was originally a house but now had offices in the basement & ground floor and someone’s residence on the upper floors. The toy company’s office was in the basement. When I entered the office, my friend Happy was there and was suitably surprised. Anyway, spoke to the boss and found out that this particular office employed people for door to door selling of their Soft toys and board games. They said they would give me a trial for a week and I jumped on the chance.

So that day in April 1993, armed with around 20kgs of toys and games on my shoulder, with a desire to learn and motivated further by “You can’t do it”, at a grand age of 15, on the streets of South Delhi was my first day at work! The journey of a salesman had begun.

That day defined my life. I ended up working there for the remaining 3 months and that is where my love for Sales was born. There are many other memories of knocking on doors, my first sale etc. which I might share in future posts. Since then, there had to be a component of work along with my studies and I ended up working part-time all through my graduation in Sales roles. Most of the times “You Can’t do it” challenge has worked positively for me as a motivator and also as a catalyst to help push boundaries, get out of comfort zone etc on multiple occasions. It is not surprising that the same must have played a huge role in the lives of many people we have come to respect such as Muhammad Ali, Nelson Mandela, Richard Branson etc. and must be a key ingredient in their success.

So next time, someone says to you” You can’t do it”.. just say and feel “That’s Wonderful!” 

Ankur Shiv Bhandari

The onus is on you to articulate that in a simple way for your customers to help them understand the benefit of what you are proposing and help them believe why they really need it. But before that you yourself need to believe, what you have can make that difference. Steve Jobs believed Apple can change the world and it did, Colonel Sanders of the KFC fame believed that he had a winning recipe and it did win and I can quote many others but I guess you get the gist. For any of these,success did not come overnight but they persevered and it did come. Many of you might have seen the Steve Jobs movie where he said “People don’t know what they want until you bring it to them” is so true.

A similar scenario plays out from my chosen clip today from the movie ”The Hundred Foot Journey”. Have a look and would be good to know what you think?

Regards,

Ankur Shiv Bhandari

#capability #ankurshivbhandari #thepositivecharge #beingpositive #happiness #positivemind #powerofpositivity #holisticcapability #beinghappy #positivity #motivation #inspiration #personaldevelopment #resilience #leadership

#capability #ankurshivbhandari #thepositivecharge #beingpositive #happiness #positivemind #powerofpositivity #holisticcapability #beinghappy #positivity #motivation #inspiration #personaldevelopment #resilience #leadership

#capability #ankurshivbhandari #thepositivecharge #beingpositive #happiness #positivemind #powerofpositivity #holisticcapability #beinghappy #positivity #motivation #inspiration #personaldevelopment #resilience #leadership

#capability #ankurshivbhandari #thepositivecharge #beingpositive #happiness #positivemind #powerofpositivity #holisticcapability #beinghappy #positivity #motivation #inspiration #personaldevelopment #resilience #leadership

#capability #ankurshivbhandari #thepositivecharge #beingpositive #happiness #positivemind #powerofpositivity #holisticcapability #beinghappy #positivity #motivation #inspiration #personaldevelopment #resilience #leadership