Ladies and gentlemen, good evening to all of you. Thank you so much for this great appreciation, this great award.
I cherish this because many times in life, as we go ahead doing what we believe is the right thing in the world, we often have no idea if we are on the right path. There’s no benchmark to measure it, and the world is in such a state that it needs a lot of attention and care. When we receive such appreciation, it confirms to us, “Yes, you are on the right track.” So, thank you for this opportunity, and thanks to the Conscious Leadership setup, the team behind it, and all of you who voted. A special thanks to Brenda and Mervyn King; I was honored to sit next to him today. I appreciate it greatly.
Now, being conscious—it’s not a right; it’s a responsibility. The first level of being conscious starts with acknowledging that we are alive. This is the most basic realization—that today, we are alive. The second level is understanding that life is temporary. If you live for 80 years, that’s only 80 birthdays, 80 Christmases—just 29,200 days. That’s not a lot of time. And so much of it is spent sleeping, gossiping, and doing things that may not add value.
Often, we wake up unhappy, comparing ourselves to others, competing with them, thinking we can outdo who we are. But that’s not true. We believe we all live in one world, this Earth, but is that really true? No, we are all living in our own worlds. We share the same space, but we are not the same. Our thumbprints are unique, and so are we. How foolish it is, then, to compare ourselves with others! The only comparison we should be making is between who we were yesterday and who we are today. We should focus on our own authenticity, as the world is looking for that—authenticity, not imitation.
I don’t want to make this a long speech, but sitting here, I was reminded of Socrates’ last moments. As the story goes, Socrates drank poison and was slipping into death when someone asked him, “Do you have any regrets?” He opened his eyes, tears rolling down, and said, “Yes, I regret not thanking all the people who helped me stay liberated.” He consumed food, water, and resources provided by others, but he didn’t know who they were and couldn’t thank them. His last message was about living consciously and being grateful.
Living with gratitude is key to being conscious. Today, our hearts are beating, and we have things to do, but tomorrow is uncertain. There’s no time to compete or fight. We must focus on what we can do for the world. Recently, I spent time with Craig Foster, the Oscar-winning filmmaker of My Octopus Teacher, and Dr. Samir Osmanagic in the Bosnian pyramids. These are people who give everything they have for causes connected to the Earth. And while we sit here, rainforests are burning, destroying the lungs of the world. We should feel this and act, shedding any hypocrisy that makes us pretend everything is okay.
I’m not being pessimistic or asking you to be, but asking you to feel—because when we start feeling, we start acting. I worked in corporate life, and at one point, I felt a deep lack of satisfaction. Money, position, and material success were all there, but there was no contentment. The best earning of a lifetime, I believe, is contentment. But for that, we need stability—stability of mind, clarity of purpose. That clarity makes our actions effective, and effective actions lead to contentment.
Life is short. As children, we are dependent and ineffective. In old age, we again become dependent. Our effective life is but a small part of the total, and we must use it wisely. Stability, clarity, and effectiveness lead to contentment, and a contented life is powerful.
I’m looking at a room full of leaders—each of you can make a big difference. Recently, I spoke to a group of multimillionaires in London, and their main question was, “How do we find contentment?” Contentment cannot come from activity alone; it comes from clarity of purpose.
Once again, thank you for this honor and for giving me the space to share these words. I wish you all great health, vitality, clarity, and effectiveness in your lives. I’m walking with you. I love you. Thank you so much.
