How to Accidentally Stumble Into Getting What You Want
What getting out of your own way actually looks like...
Hi, I’m Saachi!
If life has started to feel like a chore, you’re in the right place.
It turns out the forcing is the very thing blocking the magic. The way out isn’t more hustle, it’s doing what lights you up and letting the outcomes organize around that.
Every week, I write about the science, stories, and experiments you can run to prove it to yourself. ✨
A few years ago, I did everything “right” to get into my dream job.
I still got rejected.
Years later, I got in anyway.
Almost by accident, through a door that made zero sense on paper.
I know how backwards that sounds.
But this story is going to show you exactly how getting your mind out of the way can bring a goal to life in ways trying harder never could.
The dramatic (but true) story I promised you
It was 1am on a Saturday night. Recruitment season was about to start.
I was scrolling the list of companies coming to campus when I saw it: Bain & Co.
My dream company!
I’d wanted it since I ditched pre-med back in university.
A year earlier, at USC, I did everything you’re supposed to do to get in. I got the top grades.
VP of the consulting club. Mock cases night and day. I networked forcefully and relentlessly.
I also had a massive case of imposter syndrome.
And so I second-guessing every email I wrote and overthinking every word I spoke.
I was convinced everyone around me was smarter. And constantly thinking…how can I sound less dumb?
I was working hard. But I was thinking even harder.
I applied to Bain. I didn’t get an interview.
It felt like a big blow at the time… but I mustered the courage to not give up and try again.
So I cut the “5 years plus MBA” route short and pivoted into a Masters in Engineering Management degree, hoping it would still get me there.
Which brings me back to that 1am scroll. I found Bain on the list again.
But when I looked closer…it said: Undergrad only. No master’s students.
My heart sank.
All that work, to come to this. I felt like I lost the opportunity forever.
I ended up at Deloitte instead (which turned out to be amazing), but Bain had always been the one, and I figured that door was closed for good.
Here’s where things took a turn…
Three years in, I decided to marry my college sweetheart and move to India.
The decision was intuitive, almost whimsical, which is very unlike me.
I didn’t overthink the career part. I just said this is what I want, and we’ll figure the rest out.
The funny thing about not thinking much and just taking action is that possibilities open up.
A few days before my wedding, mid-move, I job hunted late one night. Just to see what existed in India.
Bain’s website was a clear no, unless you came through the traditional IIT/IIM pipeline (Indian premier institutions).
I was neither.
But I stumbled onto a vague site meant for IIM students, which looked like spam. I registered anyway and pretended to be one of them.
Scrolling, playfully, one listing stood out. It was minimal, vague, and all it said was top-tier consulting, contact this person.
Every rational part of me said skip it… “this is a waste of time”.
But there was this small flicker of curiosity that said just do it.
I applied.
It led to an interview with Bain & Co, my actual dream company.
I got through the rounds.
It was the very first year Bain India accepted anyone laterally, from outside their traditional pipeline.
That’s how I got in.
What this actually taught me
Like I said, this might sound like a strange way to land a job.
But here’s the point.
Thinking blocks possibilities.
It’s the noise that gets in between what we already know to do and actually doing it.
When we clear the unnecessary thinking out of the way, the friction between idea and action, getting to our goals stops feeling like a fight.
It starts to feel inevitable.
Even though the path may look irrational (as you saw from my Bain story), if you follow the idea to action without friction, it can lead you there in miraculous ways.
This is simple, but it’s not easy, because realizing it’s the mind that’s the problem might be the hardest thing we ever learn.
At the same time, we can drop it in an instant!
We can set the baggage down and become open to possibilities the mind, on its own, would never have offered us.
What’s really going on here
This is what it looks like to get out of your own way.
Notice where you’re currently stuck on a goal…
You’re probably overthinking it.
Trying to control the outcome.
Micro-assessing daily whether progress is happening.
Second-guessing every move.
Constantly thinking about how you’re not cut out for it…
Then convincing yourself you are cut out of it and you’ll prove it…
All this thinking isn’t just exhausting. It’s also completely blocking the path to your goal!
Now notice a goal where you’ve actually made progress lately…
It’s probably not your big, serious goal.
It’s the thing you let yourself enjoy without thinking. Maybe it’s a hobby?
Padel. Dance class. Art?
For me, it’s my gym training!
That’s not a coincidence.
In the areas where we show up playfully, without judging every move, we error-correct naturally.
There’s no friction between the idea and the action, so we just... flow.
So here’s what I want you to try
Pick one goal you’re stuck on.
Then notice how much thinking you’re doing around it.
Are you trying to control the outcome?
Doubting or second-guessing every action?
Shutting down your most creative, whimsical ideas because they’re stupid?
That’s your mind, standing in the doorway.
I’ve also been experimenting with ways of testing this on smaller goals and it’s fascinating!
When we build proof it works for our smaller goals, we can then apply it to our bigger goals.
If you want to learn more, comment CURIOUS below so I can keep that in mind when writing my future posts.
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As always, thank you for reading. If this landed for you, send it to a friend who might need to hear it too.
Have a great day!