All posts filed under: Reflections

Depression: Just because you can’t see someone’s pain, doesn’t make it any less real

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The truth is, depression is not rooted in tangible reality, it is not logical or objective. How someone appears on the outside doesn’t adequately capture their internal reality and state. Depression is subjective and complex, but it is someone’s reality nonetheless. People are often fixated with the “why”. They try to understand the reasons behind someones depression, asking questions like “Why do you feel depressed?” and saying things like “A lot of people have it a lot worse!”. The thing is, depression is not rooted in logic. As Stephen Fry aptly put it “There’s no reason. If there were a reason for it, you could reason someone out of it, and you could tell them why they shouldn’t take their own life.” The way we talk about and treat people can have a significant impact on their well being. Invalidating someones feelings can actually make them feel worse so be kind and empathetic always, even though you may not understand their why.

How do you Fascinate Others?

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I have always been intrigued by personality tests so when I heard about Sally Hogshead’s Fascination Advantage test, I was instantly curious. The Fascination Advantage test is the first science-based personality brand assessment test. The test reveals how your personality adds distinct value and determines your fascination triggers. In the context of a flailing job market, a rapidly growing population, and a society that is more educated than ever before, our lives are becoming fiercely competitive. To compound this issue, the rapid dissemination of information and multitude of media channels in the digital age has ensued in another problem – diminishing attention spans. According to Sally Hogshead, our attention span now lasts a mere 9 seconds – equivalent to that of a gold fish. In a competitive and distracting world, it has become of particular importance for us to understand what it is about us that sets us apart from everyone else? What exactly is it about us that fascinates others? In the context of marketing, what is our unique value proposition? I took to Hogshead’s Fascination test to …

If you can Dream It, you can Do It.

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Effective storytelling touches hearts, fascinates and moves audiences. In the context of marketing, storytelling plays a critical role in the art of branding. A compelling brand story holds the power to emotionally engage consumers; creating a meaningful connection and resulting in unwavering brand loyalty. In my opinion, no discussion of storytelling and branding is complete without mention of the Walt Disney Company. The Walt Disney Company is the master of storytelling. The company was founded upon a story so powerful that it continues to drive what they do and underlies why they do it. As a child, Walt Disney loved sketching cartoons. When he returned from serving as a Red Cross volunteer in World War I, he decided to dedicate his life to making cartoon motion pictures. With his heart set on pursuing his dream, in 1920 at the age of 19, he started his own company drawing cartoons of the creatures from his childhood. However, his journey to pursue his dreams was fraught with challenges. Upon starting his own company, Disney never had quite enough to eat, struggled to …

TEN THINGS I LOVE ABOUT NYC.

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1. Everyone is equal. This is the first city I’ve lived in where I truly feel a sense of equality. It doesn’t matter what your skin color is, where you are from or what your sexual orientation is. In New York, everyone is treated with the same dignity and respect regardless of superficial differences. I have lived in societies where your skin color to a large degree, determines the potential and propensity for your success and achievement. In New York, your success is largely contingent upon hard work and perseverance, as opposed to factors that shouldn’t matter, like skin color. 2. Everyone is entitled to belong. In New York, one does not have to be of a particular race to feel more or less “American”, or to experience a sense of belonging. I have lived in countries which claim to be multicultural, yet do not have a truly inclusive national identity. In such countries, claims of multiculturalism obscure the underlying reality that certain racial groups are more readily embraced and accepted whilst other racial groups are …