Mindful & Driven | Raj Mendhir
How Making Time To Do Good Can Help You Find Balance
Bad days happen to the best of us
Most people reading this article will live in a lucky world where all their thoughts aren’t consumed by how to survive.
It brings the higher-level question of how to make life meaningful.
This seemingly simple question invites others that can bug people for their entire lives.
Am I making an impact? Am I making the world a better place? What will be my legacy?
It’s not uncommon for people to worry about this but never take action. I know when I’ve asked myself in the past, my stomach has sunk at my honest answer. Objectively I may have been well off but the grind drained the soul from my body. It created a sense of dis-ease that bled into all areas of my life.
Raj Mendhir worked as a consultant before running several successful businesses. He’s now a startup coach and loves what he does but when the pandemic struck he knew he had an opportunity to do something good for the world.
He advises people to always make time to do good in this world.
This article is based on the Mindful & Driven episode with Raj. You can listen here or find the YouTube video at the bottom of this article.
Act fast and imperfectly
Raj’s idea was to make a soft skills EdTech platform for underprivileged people from all over the world.
He came up with the idea one day and within a week he had his team building a minimum viable product for EqWippd. He didn’t sit around and procrastinate.
Started is better than perfect as a raw platform can still help people whereas an idea stuck in someone’s head can’t. Raj appreciates EqWippd has areas to improve and is passionate about improving the experience for the users.
In one year over 800 lessons were created for not only skills for the job market but also day-to-day life.
If you want to do good, what’s stopping you? Choose something and start doing it. Even if you only dedicate a couple of hours a week, you are making a difference. Think small and grow it as you gain momentum. Don’t let overanalysis paralyze you.
Use your strengths
Raj is lucky because he enjoys all aspects of his life. Yet he appreciates the powerful set of skills through his profit-making work that has allowed him to make a splash in the non-profit space.
What skills could you impact the world with? EdTech is a particularly interesting space because we all have something to teach. You might find a new lease of enjoyment in what you do by explaining it to people who don’t have the same access to resources that you had.
You could choose to be behind the scenes. Raj doesn’t write the content for EqWippd himself but acts as the editor to ensure a high-quality standard. You might have exceptional organization and could act as a bridge between those with skills and those who need them.
Most of the way I try to make a difference is through donations. My strength in online business means my time is well spent earning money there to fund those who’ve chosen to dedicate themselves to others. In the future, I will move to more an active role but we can all do good in our own way.
Remember the domino effect
It’s so easy to underappreciate how much good you’re doing already. Let’s say you take some time out of your week to help a friend who is going through a tough time. By giving them emotional support, you make them stronger and this could lead them to lend this strength to someone else.
We never see the domino effect of good deeds. Research has proven smiles are contagious, I like to think acts of kindness are too. Whatever small thing you do could have a much bigger effect on the world than you might think.
Raj’s EdTech platform could help someone who was long-term unemployed to land a job. This empowers them to provide a better standard of living for their children. They’d perform better at school and have greater skills to impact the world themselves.
Never underestimate the power of educating one person.
I hope you found these tips useful and can see ways you can apply them to your own life. If you’d like to hear Raj talk about it with me in more detail, check out our conversation in the video below.