Confession time. When my wife-to-be and I first moved in together many years ago, there came a moment when it was clear that we would need to combine books and music collections. I had sheepishly avoided the subject for weeks and kept putting it off until I could do so no longer.
"We need to combine our books but --" I said.
"Yes?"
"Well, you can't put your Deepak Chopra books with mine, in our large bookcases. People will see them and think I read that stuff. They need to stay in the bedroom."
After some back and forth, my wife eventually conceded and the Deepak Chopra books were banished to a side table in our bedroom. But even in the midst of my triumph, I felt small and closed-minded (though I didn't change my position). I didn't know anything about Deepak Chopra and had never read any of his books. I just had an instinctive reaction against anything that felt New Age.
I was thinking of this story when Mallika Chopra presented at BIF-7, and, if I'm being honest, I was more than a little anxious when she mounted the stage to present. What was she going to talk about? Would it be New Age? What if I agreed with what she said -- would I have to tell my wife Deepak Chopra's books were okay?
But then Mallika told a personal story about growing up with a father who happened to be Deepak Chopra and how her professional journey led her to five star success working for MTV in India until ... she couldn't do it any more and gave it up, to commit herself to work that promoted meaning and wellness. At this point, I realized I was relating to Mallika one person to another and I had forgotten all about my concerns with Deepak Chopra and his books.
Mallika then directly engaged the BIF audience and asked everyone to close their eyes and answer the following questions:
Additional information:
http://www.intent.com/
Maillika Chopra on Twitter:
@mallikachopra
BIF Profile Page
http://businessinnovationfactory.com/iss/innovators/mallika-chopra
This is part of my 31 (More) Days of #BIF7 blog series.
"We need to combine our books but --" I said.
"Yes?"
"Well, you can't put your Deepak Chopra books with mine, in our large bookcases. People will see them and think I read that stuff. They need to stay in the bedroom."
After some back and forth, my wife eventually conceded and the Deepak Chopra books were banished to a side table in our bedroom. But even in the midst of my triumph, I felt small and closed-minded (though I didn't change my position). I didn't know anything about Deepak Chopra and had never read any of his books. I just had an instinctive reaction against anything that felt New Age.
But then Mallika told a personal story about growing up with a father who happened to be Deepak Chopra and how her professional journey led her to five star success working for MTV in India until ... she couldn't do it any more and gave it up, to commit herself to work that promoted meaning and wellness. At this point, I realized I was relating to Mallika one person to another and I had forgotten all about my concerns with Deepak Chopra and his books.
Mallika then directly engaged the BIF audience and asked everyone to close their eyes and answer the following questions:
- Who am I?
- What do I want?
- How can I serve?
- Answer the question. My intent is ...?
Additional information:
http://www.intent.com/
Maillika Chopra on Twitter:
@mallikachopra
BIF Profile Page
http://businessinnovationfactory.com/iss/innovators/mallika-chopra
This is part of my 31 (More) Days of #BIF7 blog series.
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