#14: Shades of My Self
Writing a series of posts between June-August that will dive deeper into various aspects of my personality through anecdotes, funny experiences, and more.
I love passion projects or side hustles. Always have.
Passion projects can begin in many ways. Through a conversation with a friend. Meeting someone at a networking event. Or even by reading/watching the work of another creator. I promise to dive deeper into the world of passion projects in future editions of Being Curious.
This newsletter was born because I love newsletters. I have discovered the work of so many writers, leaders, and creative souls through Substack. It sparked something in me. It made me want to start something of my own.
And so I did.
I have lots of ideas brimming in my head at any given point in time. There’s so much I want to tell you. Share with you. Every piece I write uncovers one more layer of my personality.
This weekend, after a series of conversations, I realized I needed to uncover all facets of my personality—because the truth is I am multidimensional, like most of us are.
Over time, however, we tend to hide certain shades of our personalities because we think we’re quirky or uncool or boring or misfits.
The past 32 years of my life have taught me a ton of stuff, and yes, I have reached a stage where it’s time to start peeling the layers off. To inspire you, my friend, to uncover shades of your self. You have a colorful personality. So, showcase it. Don’t hide it. The quirks, the silliness, everything.
It’s a silly pose thousands of people before me have tried. But I wanted to. Just because I could.
Every word I pick to describe my personality is a word others have chosen for me. Last month, I did this personal branding exercise where I asked a few close people in my circle to pick words to describe me.
Many of the words they chose are words I thought of for myself. It convinced me that my perception of myself and their perception of me is in alignment. Yay! That’s one hurdle I’ve crossed in my personal branding journey.
So, No. 1 on my list is curiosity. Wow, what a revelation Kritika! This newsletter is called Being Curious for a reason, right?
Yes, I’m extremely curious. I love to know about everything that’s happening in the world. From inclusion and diversity to data science to SaaS to products to travel to alcohol to food to TV shows to film festivals, I like to keep myself updated.
There’s so much to learn and so much to do in this short life of ours. Label it FOMO or label it curiosity. The point is there IS a lot to learn and experience IF your mind is open to it. And if you keep your mind open, you will never run out of things to experience.
The whole time I was afraid that baby crocodile would poop in my hands!
But growing up and even now, we always hear things like:
Focus on your niche.
What’s your forte?
What’s that ONE thing you love to do?
Oh! You’re thinking of making a career move? What do you want to do next?
It’s crazy how our brains are wired to think linear. We’ve been conditioned since we were born to pick one hobby. Pick one passion. Pick one job. Pick one subject we want to major in. I don’t know who made these rules, but trust me, most people like me are not built to pick one area we like.
If I wish to pick more than one major, I’m forced to choose. I’m forced to make a decision. Really? I might like writing and I might like building a product.
For people like me, decision-making is harder because there are so many things we’re passionate about and curious about. The choices we have today are mind-numbing.
True story: I used to spend hours standing in the grocery aisles of HEB, a supermarket chain based in Texas, because I wanted to buy everything, and yet, I had a budget to stick to as a student. I could spend only $100-$150 a month on groceries. Some months, I exceeded that budget because I’m a big foodie. So, when I was forced to choose, I did. I wasn’t happy about it, but I had to. I can think of the number of times I wanted to buy that pecan pie, but didn’t.
And in a world that gives you so many options, how can you be expected to pick one thing you like and move on? Sorry, that’s not happening.
You and I both know that we’re meant to be explorers—trying our hand at different things. We like experimentation, we like taking risks, we like figuring out our next career move without someone breathing down our necks telling us what to do.
It amazes me when people have so much clarity since childhood—they know EXACTLY which job they’re going to pursue and they do everything they can to follow that ONE path. Now don’t get me wrong. You can pick one path or one thing you’re passionate about if that’s how you’re wired. But it’s really, really hard for people like me who can’t pick that one thing.
If you ask me which industries or topics I’m most curious about today, I’ll say I’m keen to learn about fintech, venture capital, angel investing, SaaS, crypto, AND the wide, wide world of marketing. I can’t narrow down the one thing I want to do. And why is that so wrong? This is the crazy, unexpected side effect of curiosity: the confusion, the excitement, the impatience, the extra energy, and the 20,000 ideas creating a mess in your head.
When you live in a world that keeps forcing you to choose one thing, you end up getting frustrated or you find a way. With time, I’m starting to find my own path.
I love multiple things.
Yes, there are side effects. But I’m willing to embrace those side effects.
As a multipassionate, curious person, I love working on multiple projects at the same time. I love listening to different kinds of music. I love trying out different cuisines and narrowing them down to my favorites. Sure, I might get stressed and frustrated and even need a break. But I love the energy and enthusiasm within me. I’m excited to wake up to a new day and try something new.
Everything I reject or don’t like brings me closer to the person that I am. I uncover more and more facets of my personality I didn’t know I had.
That’s a big win for me.
So, go be curious, my friend. The world is your oyster. Go try flying and fall hard. Go try coding and fail. Go try cooking and (don’t burn down the kitchen). You have one life; make the most of it.
Uncover the 100 shades of your self.
And I’ll see you next Sunday!
One last thing!
I hope that you enjoyed this post and are staying safe and healthy out there. Use the comments section below to share your thoughts. And don’t forget to provide your feedback.
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Cheers,
Kritika
YOU AND ME BOTH! 🤩
I was reading this post and I'm like, Krits you have touched a nerve in me that I battle with daily. Why do I have to choose? Why can't I have everything? Right?
Especially in the Supermarket 😅
One of the biggest changes I made to satisfy my thirst for variety is becoming a VA. I work with different people, different industries and on different tasks. And everyday is a learning adventure for me and yes I am super loving it.
And you and me both know my multiple facets as a pet parent, circle leader, unconventional wife, doting daughter (I think), etc.
What I have learnt is, YES, I am not one to be bound to ONE thing. I need variety, I need spice, I need elegance in a mess.
Love this series! The grocery store anecdote is so relatable. My husband is guilty of this too! We generally do end up with the best stuff because of it though. Despite it being super annoying to watch in the moment :p