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Return Of Investment (ROI) can't always be measured in money. We think that our return is directly proportional to the investment we make. But a lot of time profit is smaller than the investment. This negative ROI is killing many small startups.

What if instead of measuring return in money we start to measure its return on improvement? What if we measure ourselves based on what we and our organization were/was before?

We actually can...

But to go that way, we must invest on those things that can bring that return. We must sell our quality than the quantity. We must add value than adding new stores and franchise. We must sell our mission than our products. This will be the strategy for greatest ROI of all time.

We are in the long-term game and so we should focus on the rules of long term game.

The rules of the long term game are simple but to be efficient it should be followed consistently. These are the footsteps for the long term game:

The game has to make sense: An illogical game will die before it ever exists. It should be logical followed by emotional commitment.
Change the tactics of the game from time to time: Strategy should remain the same but the tactics must be updated time and again. The goal here is to anticipate the end before anyone else does.
Never create a game for others that you’re unwilling to play : People do what we do. They just follow others. If you are the responsible person then your action is admired. Also, if we don’t follow our own rules of the game how can we expect other to follow ours?
Never expect the game to be self sustaining: Nothing is sustainable. And in business dictionary, there is no word called- self-sustainable. Our business and organization keeps growing till we put tremendous amount of work.
The game need to be fun from time to time: Even though, the game I’m talking about is a serious thing, there won’t be same amount of enthusiasm if the game has no fun.

There three are completely different person with a different mindset and character.

Visionaries are the one who sees and shapes the future with innovative ideas. They are the one who drive the organization to success with innovation. They are the one who serve and make entrepreneur and businessman success.

Entrepreneurs are the one who solves the problem existing in the world with their new ideas.

Businessman are those, who drive economic growth in an organization, who always seek profit with high return on investment.

These days most of us confuse these three: Visionaries with Entrepreneur, Entrepreneurs with Businessman. The word "Entrepreneur" has become a fad these days as we see everyone with this bio on their social media profile. I'm deeply in passionate with the word "visionaries", which is also one of the reason why "i-mind club" was founded.

I defined these three with a simple analogy. Entrepreneurs are the one who design and build a vehicle. Businessman are the who drives the vehicle. But visionaries are the one who make roads ahead for the vehicle to serve its purpose. This is a reason I believe every organization should have all these three character but it should be led by the visionaries for the long-term success. But there should be complete blend of these three for every organization. And indeed, we are in search of those person in our "i-mind" team.

"Cherish your visions. Cherish your ideals. Cherish the music that stirs in your heart, the beauty that follows your mind, the loveliness that drapes your purest thoughts. For out of them will grow all delightful conditions, all heavenly environment, of these, if you but remain true to them, your world will at last be built. ”

Your wishes and dreams are only gratified and answered only when they harmonize with your thoughts and actions.

Creativity is thinking of getting things done while innovation is getting things done.

Creativity brings up new ideas while innovation make it happen.

It’s not enough to be creative. We have to be innovative.

An unexamined life is not worth living

-Socrates

This above quote by Socrates is one of the most powerful quote for living a happy life.

Striving to know ourselves and understanding ourselves is only the way that gives our life meaning and value. The only way to pursue a good life is to pursue wisdom and self-knowledge.

And yes, indeed, goodness is associated to wisdom...

The great invention that happened during the era of Aristotle, Socrates and Plato is that they made the people of Athens "think" as Socrates once said, "I cannot teach anybody anything, I can only make them think"

How can we relate this to today's world?

We don't live our life; we just pretend to. Waking up everyday, going to work and returning from work and watching TVs and waiting for weekends to have fun. Living in this rat race is not worth living a life as it has no value and gives no meaning to our life.

So to make life worth living, you must be open to think of it with wider perspective because the unexamined life is not worth living.

We all need a foundation.

We all need a habit that creates us and it exists. But we face a logical hurdle: how can a habit create us if we do not first create the habit? This is the essential work of our early years. We must be the architects of our own repetition. We must first intentionally build the "code" that will eventually run our lives on autopilot.

This is about seeking your Cornerstone Habit: the one fundamental practice that makes you the "real you." Whether a person becomes a figure of integrity or one of malice, the outcome isn't decided by a single grand gesture; it is decided by the accumulation of daily choices. At the end of the day, we are the byproduct of our repetitions.

Stop looking for shortcuts and start seeking that fundamental habit. Once you build the habit, the habit will build the person you are destined to become.

They say the journey of thousand miles start with a single step. A flywheel concept come into play when it comes to humble beginning.

I started to write the journals and blogs with the same way. I pushed myself forward by posting each day. And this is the 500th post of imind 

Sharing my opinions and the things I've learned about life, business, entrepreneurship, leadership, management, engineering, spiritual stuffs have not only made me more but I've become more. This journey has never been simple but always challenging.

This has also taught me the power of habit as everything starts by making proper habit. There is a saying in Hindu religion that- "For the first 25 years of life you create your habit and then for the rest of the life your habit will create you." And this is so powerful...

PS: 500th post for imind club

Perfection is not a realistic human condition. Systems fail, people make mistakes, and every process contains limitations. The pursuit of perfection often creates paralysis because fear of imperfection prevents action. I

n engineering, reliable systems are rarely built perfectly on the first attempt. They improve through iteration, testing, debugging, calibration, and refinement. Each revision reduces error and improves performance over time.

The same principle applies to life. Better habits, clearer thinking, and stronger discipline are built gradually through correction and repetition. Small improvements compound. Growth does not come from perfection. It comes from continuously getting better.

According to the dictionary "stoicism" is the endurance of pain or hardship without the display of feelings and without complaint. I'm in love with the stoicism. Following are my favorites stoic quotes by Epictetus:

“Man is not worried by real problems so much as by his imagined anxieties about real problems”

“If you want to improve, be content to be thought foolish and stupid.”

“He who laughs at himself never runs out of things to laugh at.”

“Freedom is the only worthy goal in life. It is won by disregarding things that lie beyond our control.”

“Circumstances don't make the man, they only reveal him to himself.”

“It is impossible for a man to learn what he thinks he already knows.”

“People are not disturbed by things, but by the views they take of them.”

“You are a little soul carrying around a corpse”

“To accuse others for one's own misfortune is a sign of want of education. To accuse oneself shows that one's education has begun. To accuse neither oneself nor others shows that one's education is complete.”

“I laugh at those who think they can damage me. They do not know who I am, they do not know what I think, they cannot even touch the things which are really mine and with which I live.”

“He is a wise man who does not grieve for the things which he has not, but rejoices for those which he has. ”

“Don't just say you have read books. Show that through them you have learned to think better, to be a more discriminating and reflective person. Books are the training weights of the mind. They are very helpful, but it would be a bad mistake to suppose that one has made progress simply by having internalized their contents.”