by Meet a mum based in Sydney who shares her perspective on why perfection is a myth, and her opinion on why we as women, mums shouldn’t succumb to work-life balance cycle.
Shilpa Kulshreshtha, an author, coach, career strategist, mum shares with Mums and Stories her journey from moving away from the corporate world to a coach and why she thinks, Perfection is another name for mediocrity.
Recollecting her childhood memories Shilpa shares , “I am from a lower middle class family in Dehradun, India. My dad was a Professor and despite having limited means, my parents spent all their resources and energy in giving their kids the best education and environment.
My best childhood memories are of witnessing the beautiful partnership between my mom and dad- they laughed, they played, they took big and small decisions together. Their love and pride for each other was exemplary and together, they gave us a beautiful childhood.
As an author of several books, my dad taught us to live a life of passion and joy. My Mom always stood out as an epitome of focus, determination and grit.
During my corporate career, I worked with startups and companies like Deloitte and Tech Mahindra in India. 12 years back, my husband got a wonderful opportunity to work in Australia.
We decided to give it a go and landed up in Sydney with our two kids. I soon started working for Westpac, a great company. It was wonderful to start with- outstanding ratings, fantastic colleagues and a fat pay check landing into my account each month.
However few years down the journey, things changed and that fire in the belly started drying up. Systems, processes no longer gave me juices. My kids were growing up and as conflicting priorities started demanding my time, like most women, I started taking a step back.
Family became my first love and work settled for the second position.
As you would have guessed it, I soon landed myself in the average game. I stopped shining and somewhere inside, I started realizing that I had lost my Midas touch.
In 2018, with the way I was going, my position became redundant and that was a light bulb moment for me. How could I land myself in a place where someone else can decide my fate?
The thought was profound, shaking me inside out and I took the road less travelled- this time in pursuit of my true north.
I chose the part of my job that always excited me- enabling growth around me.
As I started creating outstanding growth for my clients as a coach, I further stepped up to a mission of enabling 1 million people beat mediocrity, to make their life a masterpiece.
If you ask me, work life balance was the worst monster in my life, who kept hovering around me demanding attention and in my utter stupidity, I became a voluntary victim.
Most of us get sucked into the work life balance, not realizing that like a slow poison, it gobbles up all our excellence.
It is easy to get caught up in it, especially in the current times, when we are working from home.
Rather than taking it easy, can why not leverage the additional time on hand to play it full in all areas- creating rocking achievements, nurturing beautiful families and be at the top of our health- in mind, body and spirit?
This is the concept I talk about in my book “Play It Full”, which I have authored with my partner, Kapil Kulshreshtha.
I urge women to let go of this balance and feel the heights. NOW is the time, we have been gifted with. Touch the skies because you can.
I am a Career Strategist and Game Changer Coach, helping people across the globe, fill the gap between where they are and where they would love to be in their career and business.
I work with my clients across 8 countries and that gives me the flexibility to work from wherever and whenever I want. I work to my heart’s content for 4.5 days and for the remaining days In a week, I spend a lot of quality time with my family. We go for long drives, camping, trekking, sometimes just sitting at home playing board games and cooking together. I love to spend time with my friends too as I am a people person and I love their proximity.
The best part about my job is that it creates an amazing bond with my clients and they too become part of my extended family.
I never hated my corporate job. But I was not enjoying it either as definitely I was not working to my potential.
I was caught up in mediocrity and that feeling dragged me down for years .
Because of that reason, saying goodbye to the Corporate was the best thing that happened to me.
Today, I am busier in my own business but busier for a cause, doing what my heart desires and it’s very fulfilling to be able to transform lives.
And the most amazing thing is that this business enabled me to take my partnership with my husband, a step further.
We both married our individual goals to create a common dream. We stepped up from a couple to a power couple and the feeling was amazing.
Entrepreneurship continues to help me break my own limits.
It is easy to get caught in our strive towards perfection and what does perfection mean anyway? There is no definition of perfection and what is perfect for you may not be perfect for others. Why bother then?
These are the agile times. Get a basic 20% product out, test it, get feedback and then keep building the remaining 80% in cycles. That’s where you marry the ideas in your head with the real world, in the most practical way.
Perfection is another name for mediocrity. So beware!
A break or the fact that you have never done it does not mean that you have become rusty or that you are less than others. It simply means that because you do not know much, you can be creative about things. There are no limits for you. Again it means that if you stand out, you can create a space for yourself in the market. Do not shy away from doing things differently.
Nurture relationships, in real life as well on the internet.
Linkedin is a goldmine, leverage it. That is the place where my clients get scooped up by companies at salaries as high as 100% plus. That is the battleground for you to stand out. Own up the ground and keep shining there.
To other mums and women, I would just say: Stand tall and have the courage to do what your heart desires. All that you need to be successful, is within YOU!!!”
