Most of us set goals, and work towards them. We also come across people saying, “Enjoy the journey”, or “the road to destination is an experience to live”, or even a Bollywood song that goes by the words “manzil se behtar lagne lage hain ye raaste”.
So wait, let me think, what is the reason for such statements? I feel that there is great significance in these because the actual excitement, energy, time, effort, thinking – all go in the “journey” itself, which builds our experiences. Once the goal is reached, it is just that – end of the story.
Coming to the reason that prompted me to write this post – I believe that creating experiences can generate a lot of opportunities. For example, we go on a roadtrip not just to reach the destination but to live the “experience” of the journey. Imagine there were no hotels, dhabas, or fuel stations on the way; would you think of taking the trip? No, unless you plan to stock everything and move, but nobody does that. With this roadtrip experience, we can probably relate many opportunities that get generated – hotels, dhabas, garages, utility vehicles, and so on. This is a man-made or created experience. Is there anything to draw inspiration from a naturally existing experience? Yes, there is – the experience of eating and enjoying the food. Food is a necessity for the body to keep working. It could have been fulfilled by a simple mechanism of just opening the stomach, filling it with food, and closing the lid. Result – no experience. But, think about it, the entire process of picking the food, smelling it right before putting it into the mouth, chewing it, feeling the taste and texture – what a wonderful process it is and an experience in itself. And look at the vast opportunity it has generated – billions spent and earned across the globe – retail chains, restaurants, food manufacturers, chefs, cooking courses, master chef competitions, and whatnot.
In a nutshell, little experiences have the potential to generate ample opportunities.
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