January 1st has passed, but that doesn’t mean the chance has passed for you to achieve the goals you want to realize for this year.
But–before you pull out those notes on your resolutions, take a moment for yourself, and get encouragement from Viome CEO Naveen Jain to find and achieve your moonshot goals for better health, wellness and success. Watch the full “Find Your Moonshot” webinar here:
Community “Moonshot” Inspiration
Our year-end webinar with Naveen was attended by hundreds, and all were inspired to get things done in the new year, including Viome community member Akshay Rajsheakaran, who posted his “Top 10 Takeaways” on our Viome community page. We love all of his 12 takeaways (2 bonus ones!), and wanted to feature and expand on each:
Non-experts are the people who will change the world
Those who are not experts in a field naturally ask more questions.
From Naveen: “Once you become an expert at anything, you become an incrementalist. That means you can be 10% better than someone else. But if you really want to disrupt an industry, being an expert limits you to what is known, what is the foundation that every expert has taken for granted. Coming from outside the industry allows you to ask different questions, and allows you to challenge the foundation of what every expert has taken for granted.”
Live a life of purpose, and you can live 10-15 years longer
Finding and living for your purpose means you can rocket out of bed with excitement, every single day.
From Naveen: “This is what keeps you going every day. Ask yourself what are you willing to die for? And then live for it.”
Solve the problem: if we help, a billion people will have a better life
Solving problems for people can not only be helpful for your community, but it can also make your company successful.
From Naveen: “Every time I start any company, anything that's worthwhile doing, I ask myself three questions. Why this? Why now? Why me? And each one of them has a purpose to it. Would it help a billion people live a better life? I ask myself that question not because I am just a philanthropic person. Of course, all human beings want to do good in the world, but to me, it also is an extremely capitalistic thing to do, which is very simple. If you can find or build any product, any service that helps a billion people live a better life, you can create a hundred billion company.”
Find and get active in your community
Word of mouth is a strong influence on other people who have not tried a product or service yet. If you give your customers that one solution they’re looking for, they will tell all their friends and family about it! With personal goals, being part of a community with a mutual network of support is helpful. If you’re known for being an expert in a specific area, everyone in the community knows that you can always assist someone when that need arises.
From Naveen: “So, you have to sell something because you're trying to convince someone to buy something. But if you can actually make your customers your salespeople, which essentially is simple, you take care of them, and they will spread the word for you. And that, to me, is the best sales and marketing you can ever have.”
What questions are you asking? Those are the problems you are trying to solve.
When you ask yourself the questions that are not being asked by anyone else, that is when you find real solutions.
From Naveen: “What questions are you asking that are different from what everyone else in the industry has been asking? Asking a slightly different question allows you to solve the problem in a way that was never solved before. And this is really the beauty of all these things–how do you do that? And that's literally how we started to think about Viome. The question we asked differently at Viome that no one has before was very simple.”
It’s not about just being big, or number one
The best and brightest out there want to join forces with a group that has a mission that fires them up and creates solutions for their community and the world.
From Naveen: “When you have a big idea, guess what happens? The best and the brightest from the industry want to work on helping you solve that problem. The best and the brightest want to work on the toughest problem. They need to work on something that's legacy-making, that becomes their legacy of solving that problem.”
Dream big–so people think you’re crazy
The big, crazy dreams get the attention of others, and the interest in contributing to making them come true.
From Naveen: “And that's the thing, dream so big that people think you are crazy and never be afraid to fail. Your idea that you start with may or may not work, but every idea that does not work is simply a stepping stone to a different idea and a bigger idea. So, remember, the only time you fail in life is when you give up. Everything else is just a pivot.”
Never give up your integrity
Even if there’s no one to witness your actions, always keep your integrity intact and act accordingly.
From Naveen: “The number one thing I live by is never, ever compromise who you are as a person for no amount of success. You should never give up your integrity. There is no amount of money that should allow you to ever do things that your mother will not be proud of.”
The company that aligns with your values is the right company
If a goal of yours is a new job, getting the highest salary possible within the job market may be important. But more important than that is working with the right company or group that shares your values and core mission.
From Naveen: “Work for someone that actually is doing things that you could do if you could do it on your own. Find things to learn from and be part of a bigger mission. And when you find that company with the right mission, not only you will succeed, you will contribute to the company being successful.”
Are you jumping out of bed every day, doing what you love?
Ask yourself every day: spiritually, emotionally, intellectually, are you improving yourself? Are you able to get up every day and do the things you are obsessed with the most?
From Naveen: “So, to me, my moonshot is still the same as it was last year. I want every single year, every single day I ask myself, am I better today than I was yesterday? And really making myself better every day is really my moonshot.”
Every day, move your body
You don’t need to belong to a gym to get in some exercise every day.
From Naveen: “Exercising is not about spending an hour or two pumping iron or really being in the gym. Exercise is very simple. Even if you can get 45 minutes of a fast walk, that's all you really need. Get your heart rate up and leave it there for 10, 15 minutes, that's all it is. To get 30 or 45 minutes of fast walking and you actually can get 80 to 90% of all the benefits you would get from exercise.”
Quality of sleep is important
Even if you don’t get a full 8 hours, make sure what you do get is good quality sleep, with REM, deep and light sleep periods.
From Naveen: “And that is a key, getting a quality of sleep. Remember, you can't improve something unless you measure it, and find the device that allows you to track your sleep. I'm an information junkie, and you can probably figure this out. I have multiple things. I keep my Oura ring, I have my Apple watch, and I have a pad under my mattress, so I know everything that's happening with that.”
We’ll pitch in here with an added bonus takeaway:
Always make sure to feed your body, mind, and soul with the right nutrition
From Naveen: “Think of yourself as a racehorse. That racehorse needs proper nutrition. So, you are that billion-dollar racehorse who's going to win every championship. You are that Ferrari that's going to win the race. Now, what fuel are you putting in, that is what's going to determine whether you succeed or not. So, to me, that's the bottommost part. And this is where a lot of people go wrong because they fall for the fad diet and say, oh, my neighbor is on a keto diet. I need to go on a keto diet. I was reading this magazine, and it states to lose weight and remove the brain fog, you need to take this supplement, so I buy that. And what we learned over the years is that there is no such thing as universal healthy food. There is no such thing as a universal healthy supplement. Just because something worked for your friend or it worked for your spouse doesn't mean it's going to work for you. Always remember one man's food is another man's poison.”
Thanks to Akshay for taking notes and getting inspired!
