With constant notifications, disruptions, and connections how can we navigate through our technology-driven world? We can empower ourselves to understand our offline world with data and find a beautiful balance. In this series, we speak to changemakers on how they find that harmony and thrive in their best lives.
She’s tried it all, she’s been through so much transformation and dipped her toes in many different things. But all of these things revealed a common thread – Anita Kapoor is a communicator and an inspirer.
Singaporeans are no stranger to her work, having watched her host, emcee and felt her strength as an activist. You can’t miss her spirit, it shines brighter than the Sirius A. You may recognise her face or her voice from the many incredible platforms she has spoken at. As a two-time TEDx speaker, television host, speaker, ambassador for Habitat for Humanity Singapore and Pink Dot – Anita Kapoor is a force to be reckoned with.
Full of energy, Anita brought life and laughter to our set as we chatted with her about how she self-powers to empower so that she can give more to the world and how she uses technology to find balance and strength.
GREEN IS THE NEW BLACK: What are 3 things you’re most proud of?
ANITA KAPOOR: The first would be my hair – I’m just kidding. It would be my sense of resilience. Second, is the fact that I understand what daily meditation can do for you. Lastly, it is getting off my lazy ass to get some exercise done. In a fast-paced world, it is so easy to make excuses (and I have made so many), but times are a-changing!
What does your best life look like?
My best life’s view is overlooking the ocean. It can be a house that overlooks the ocean or I could be living on the rocks. But jokes aside, I’d say that my best life is a work in progress. It is really hard to say that there is an ultimate destination that I want to reach or how it might look. But I’m a work in progress, so is my best life.
What are your top 3 tips to designing your best life?
1. Get real with yourself
There is a lot of speak out there about self-actualisation and awareness, but you can’t do it if you are not willing to be honest with yourself. Once you can tap into your ego and be the success you know you want to be, you go through life much calmer and focused. If it doesn’t work out, it doesn’t end your life and that’s ok. There are plenty more things that you can do.
2. Only use technology that you need
With technology, little is as good as a feast. If we have too much information, we are really just going back to square one. Take what you need, as with everything in life and see if it works for you. If it doesn’t, leave it behind. Don’t get attached to it, or you are not really thinking for your own life. I’d rather be analog than digital. But my best life is a mix of both.
3. Be self-aware about your present state
Understand what your life is truly like. See where you’re at right now, now the projection or how you’d like it to be. Know yourself, and use technology to enhance it.
How have you used technology to enhance your life?
I’m a typical creative. My desk is a mess, but my head is not. My life is going in so many different directions at the same time, and I use technology to keep me in check. It’s like the mother you keep in your watch that says “get it together, girlfriend” and reminds you of where you need to be. For me, I love that Fitbit reminds me to breathe and take time out for myself. It’s good to have something (or somebody) to remind you to take it easy, drink water – simple, important things that get thrown out of the window in this big rush forward to achieve our goals.
I love that my Fitbit also reminds me and charts how much water I’ve drunk. We talk about the 8 glasses, but that doesn’t apply to everyone. We need so much more water. Over the last 6 months, I realized how little of water I was surviving on and how the simplest changes can have the most profound effect. I now have a device that reminds me to hit target for water, and I feel lighter and brighter having done that for a few months. If I happen to have a device that reminds me to breathe, workout and drink water – thank you I feel blessed.
What didn’t work for you when you were designing your best life?
(Laughs!) There’s so many but I have to say that my relationship with tech is healthy. I just need tech that works in accordance with the life I want to lead. I don’t turn to it constantly, I like to be able to use my brain too. There is so much FOMO (fear of missing out) when it comes to tech, but we don’t really need everything. You just need the smartest with the least amount of things to operate – we need it to be simple. How about we self-regulate? Decide on how much you need, give yourself a break from it. Use it in the most intuitive way such that your life is running as well.
What are some struggles that you’ve had to deal with and how did you overcome it?
Some of the struggles I dealt with has to do with self-worth. You’d think that’s surprising considering the job I do and putting myself out in the public eye. But I’m talking about the real self-worth, not the projected self-worth everyone sees. I needed to understand that without everything, it really didn’t matter, I still had me and I wanted to be in love with her again. So I spent the last 6 months figuring out who I was and how to fall in love with myself again.
How did you fall back in love with yourself?
I like the phrase “Calm Your Farm“. These phrases exist, but it doesn’t really mean anything until you get really deep with yourself. You have to get real and realize “Hey, this stuff isn’t working. Why?” and less of the “why are you such an idiot” brain-feed that we give ourselves. We need to have those realizations of “Ok, do you see why this is not working?“. A lot of the work I’m doing now and in future is about empowering other people. I felt that if I don’t feel that sense of empowerment myself, how can I go empower other people? It was about self-empowerment and coming to terms with the fact that I needed to relax my entire nervous system. How? Breathe better so that I can concentrate when I’m meditating, and turning ideas of yourself around. Once you’ve “calmed your farm“, you start to understand your thoughts and allow you to grow and change yourself to be ready for the next phases of life.
What is your favourite Wedge of Wisdom?
“Tame your ego“. Ego isn’t just about showing off, it’s about holding yourself back. You sometimes know where you’re going wrong, and you have to own your shit. Time is running out, and we have so much accessibility that it’s about getting real with yourself.
>>> Read about how Hanli Hoefer Uses Technology to Motivate here.
We’re thrilled to bring you this series on designing your best life with thanks to our friends at Fitbit.