On the new year eve, I shared the following story and message with my organization. The message may resonate with many of you as well!

A man was once passing a herd of elephants. He suddenly stopped, confused by the fact that these huge creatures were being held by only a small rope tied to their front leg – no chains, no cages. It was obvious that the elephants could, at any time, break away from their bonds but for some reason, they did not. He saw a trainer nearby and asked why these animals just stood there and made no attempt to get away. “Well,” the trainer said, “when they are very young and much smaller we use the same size rope to tie them and, at that age, it’s enough to hold them. As they grow up, they are conditioned to believe they cannot break away. They believe the rope can still hold them, so they never try to break free.” The man was amazed. These animals could at any time break free from their bonds but because they believed they couldn’t, they were stuck right where they were.

Like the elephants, how many of us go through life – professional or personal – hanging onto a belief that we cannot do something, simply because we failed at it once before? How many of us truly believe that the shackles of the past have no bearing on the wonderful accomplishments we can achieve in our future? And how many of us keep holding onto the past too constrained by it, too afraid to break free from the metaphorical rope and surprise ourselves with the amazing potential each one of us has to innovate, excel and be far better than we ever had been before?

There couldn’t be a better time than the end of a decade to reflect, not only on the above, but also asking yourself the deep questions on your purpose in life and how your everyday work reflects your own values and aspirations. I will not summarize to you what we achieved as CL India in 2019 – we spoke about that at length during our team bonding and also in our regular town halls. Neither will I paint the vision of the tremendous potential our business and organization has in store for all of us next year and beyond, since I am sure you all are already well versed with that and are excited about the same.

So all I will do on this last day of the decade is say a simple and humble thank you – for the countless hours you have dedicated to this company for years at stretch…for the sacrifices you and your family have made to ensure the firm keeps succeeding…for the passion and zeal you have demonstrated every single day you come to work…for the respect and bond of brotherhood you share with your teams at work…and last but not the least, for the trust you have shown in me, as we hold hands together to march into the bright future that sparkles on all of us as one big family!