It doesn't have to stop us

Read on my website​

Dear reader,

Once upon a time, when I was about to start my undergrad in NYC, there was an initiative I wanted to take. I wanted to start a university podcast.

So even before I came to campus, I reached out to the marketing department, the student life office, and a few other people, but it didn’t really work out. I was disappointed for a while and then just forgot about it. Just today, I was talking to a coworker about things we wanted to do but couldn’t, and the podcast came up.

I told her how I wanted to do the podcast, but the university bureaucracy didn’t let me, and that I was disappointed. Then she suggested that I could just do it on my own.

Why had I not thought of that?

That would make it so much simpler. I wouldn’t have to try to convince the university to let me do it; I wouldn’t need their approvals or anything at all. It wouldn’t have to be associated with the university at all. It could just be something that I do, and I could, for sure, invite people that I’d like to have on and interview them. I already know how to run a podcast (cheesy archive).

Although it is now so clear, I hadn’t even thought of it. I had just settled with “university administration is stopping me from doing the podcast.” But they weren’t really; this can be something I do on my own terms.

I wonder how many things there are where I’ve settled with “barriers” that don’t really exist. That is something I’m going to have to sit with.

Are there things that you think you can’t do just because one specific way of doing it is not working? Are there other ways (maybe even better) you could do it?

I’d love to hear from you. I’ll see you next week.

Warmly,
Suraj

If you'd like to hear more from me, here's my YouTube channel where I share lessons, experiments, tools, and resources to make life just a little better.