Amit Sharma 🇿🇦 🇮🇳

Need your help! Pls fill this short, fun survey for a project I am doing. It is about the 7 deadly sins. Will take less than 15 seconds. It is completely anonymous. RT for karma :) acesse.one/hb0d2ib

Since many have asked in DMs, here’s my story. It’s a story about shame, mistakes, and perhaps a few learnings. It's been 2 years since I quit a comfortable job to build a career in the creative industry. It was a lifelong dream. But I felt ashamed saying it out loud. You see, my career was shaping up in the diametrically opposite direction. IIT B > MBB Consulting > Investing. I was surrounded by people who were applying to b-schools or interviewing with PE/VC firms. I felt ashamed to tell them that I wanted to be a writer. I thought they wouldn't understand, they’d ridicule me, or even worse - pity me. Thankfully, my dream was bigger than my shame. Two years back, I quit my job. I had enough savings, no debt and prudent investments to last me a while. But the shame remained. I still could not own up to my dream that I just wanted to create. What moral right did I have? Or what qualifications? So I made the wrong decision. I started building a SaaS product for creators. Because why not combine what I am passionate about with what I am good at. I thought getting a VC investment would be fairly easy given my network, and I’d have something respectable to tell my friends. Of course, I was lying to myself. I had no interest in running the said product. I still dreamed about writing and movies. But the shame… Thankfully, before I went far on that path, better sense prevailed. I abandoned the product idea early. Now I was truly on my own with no choice but to become myself. As the shame started to fade, and I started owning my dream, miraculous things happened. Turned out that there were many people just like me. They began reaching out because they thought I’d understand them. I told them my story. It gave them solace, and hopefully some courage. Thankfully, at my last job, I had learned the chops of creative production. I knew how to produce podcasts, videos and long-form content. So I started helping others as I began to create myself. In the last two years, I got to work with some really fantastic people - from enthusiastic beginners, to brands and startups, to professionals like Masaba Gupta. On a personal front, I started writing, making films and creating things full time. It has been the most rewarding two years of my life, and I can’t wait to announce what’s coming next year. I want to share a few fundamental learnings from these two years, for whatever they are worth: First of all, become yourself. Intently, shamelessly, and unapologetically. It is the absolute starting point for everything. If you want to create, just start. Tweet, write, draw, podcast, record music, film, whatever. Just do it. And put it out. People are NOT laughing at you in private. Even if they are, is your dream smaller than your shame? Once you start, don’t stop. If you keep improving, and do it long enough, amazing things will happen. To a nearsighted beginner, a hockey-stick looks like a flat line. Have faith in yourself, and in something larger than yourself. All you need is courage. The world rewards courage more than intelligence or talent. This new year, I hope you find the courage to create, and put it out in the world. You, and the world will be better for it. Happy new year! 🎆