My first book Far From Fine published by Hay House India was officially released in June 2024 and it feels surreal, to say the least. The shift from avid reader to author is a bibliophile’s dream and this is one moment I’ll savour for a long time to come. But more on my author journey later. Today I wanted to share why I wrote this book.
TL;DR: I wrote it so we stop settling for fine and dare to dream of living bolder, fulfilling lives beyond our wildest imagination.
Picture This
Maya has a life that looks glamorous on the outside. She has a great job, brilliant pay, amazing friends, and a supportive family. But her inner world tells a different story.
She’s deeply unhappy. Dissatisfied. She constantly feels like she’s not doing enough. Nothing feels challenging. She’s busy 24*7 but fulfilment was fleeting at best. She senses something is off but keeps rationalising to herself things will be better. Once I get that promotion or after this project gets over or as soon as I can switch jobs when my kids go out to college or once I retire.
Either she notices the dissatisfaction but feels it’s not that bad yet. Things are alright, they are not completely satisfying but because they’re not outright bad, so there’s no impetus to change.
Or she notices it is bad but doesn’t know what to do about it, so she continues living life on Autopilot. If I’ve been a banker all my professional life, my entire identity is entangled with that, ‘I don’t know who else I can be or what else I could do, if not this.
Maya goes about her life, achieving reasonable success but never quite
❌ Discovering her mettle or her true potential
❌ Recognising who she is or what she values and what matters most to her
❌ Finding deep levels of satisfaction and fulfilment through her days and actions
❌ Unlocking joy, bliss and the aliveness that comes from living a life of intention
Nothing bad happens, but nothing great either. We go on autopilot from one day to the next, simply getting by without ever truly living.
Until, crisis hits
Most of us keep living life on autopilot even when it’s moderately dissatisfying until a crisis shakes our very foundational core.
- Identity Crisis – Where we lose a job, break up from a significant relationship, or lose somebody we love we find ourselves lost. We no longer know who we are because the identity we hold so close to us doesn’t exist anymore. Then we ask the big questions of who am I and what do I value that help us realign.
- Health Crisis – We’ve all heard of those stories where people turn their lives around after receiving a diagnosis of a terminal illness or cancer. What seemed insurmountable before illness suddenly seems possible now. We open up the pandora’s box to explore who we are and what matters most to us and rebuild ourselves in light of this crisis.
- Financial Crisis – Money gives us status and status offers us a sense of belonging to the world around us. Without money that entire equation crumbles which makes us question who we are and what collective society we are a part of or want to be a part of. Financial crisis often causes high levels of distress that make us question the fundamentals of who we are and what success means to us.
What if we could?
Time and again, I’ve seen stories of people reinventing themselves after hitting rock bottom. It’s not an easy journey but something about hitting rock bottom propels us with newfound willpower and discipline to make change happen.
The question I found myself asking was, is change possible before hitting rock bottom? Can we recalibrate before life forces us to make change happen?
Why recalibration matters more than reinvention, you might ask. Here’s the thing: reinvention is overwhelming. We hear success stories of turnarounds but that’s 1% of the people who hit rock bottom. Others fail because the climb is too high and the idea of starting from scratch often paralyses us into inaction. Recalibration, on the other hand, is actionable. It’s about making incremental shifts that lead to lasting transformation without dismantling the foundation you’ve already built.
Recalibration is not about abandoning who you are. Often people think recalibrating is about walking away from everything familiar and comfortable. That’s not true. It’s about rediscovering who you are underneath the layers of societal conditioning, fear, and routine. It’s about fine-tuning your internal compass so you can navigate life with greater clarity and confidence.
My intention in writing Far From Fine is to offer a roadmap to recalibrate intentionally before life forces us.
The intention was two-fold
💭To serve as a wake-up call to recognise when we keep going on autopilot despite the dissatisfaction
💭To offer a roadmap to begin that journey of discovering what next, if not this
What you’ll find in Far From Fine
This isn’t just a book; it’s a journey. Every chapter is designed to meet you where you are and guide you to where you want to be. It’s not about following a rigid framework; it’s about creating your path.
Inside, you’ll find:
- Deep Dives into our psyche to understand why we remain stuck on autopilot despite feeling friction in our daily lives
- Practical exercises to help identify what’s holding us back and how to move forward.
- Stories from my journey, including the missteps and failures taught me my greatest lessons.
- 4 C’s to transition from Autopilot to Intentional Living: Calmness, Clarity, Confidence, and Consistency
- Actionable strategies for building resilience, cultivating self-compassion, and embracing uncertainty.
Life is what you make of it.
One of the most powerful realisations I had while writing this book is that many of us live on autopilot. We’re so consumed by the daily grind that we forget to ask ourselves whether the life we’re living aligns with the life we desire. Writing Far From Fine was as much an act of self-discovery for me as a tool for readers.
If there’s one thing I’d like you to take away from this book, it’s this: Life can offer you so much more joy and fulfilment if you have the courage to ask for it. The potential to thrive consciously is a choice we must make each day. Unlocking it requires intentional action, consistent effort, and a willingness to sit with discomfort. Growth isn’t always glamorous, but it is always worth it.
Life isn’t meant to be a straight line. It’s a series of curves, detours, and discoveries. And sometimes, the most profound transformations begin with the smallest shifts in perspective.
Writing Far From Fine was my way of extending a hand to anyone who’s ever felt like there’s more to life than what they’re currently experiencing. It’s a reminder that no matter where you are today, you have the power to recalibrate and move toward a more meaningful and fulfilling future.
So here’s my invitation to you: take the next right step. You don’t have to have it all figured out. You just have to begin. Do anything but settle for mere existence.