The Cult of Appearances

Hello!

It’s Thursday, 30^th October 2025. Welcome back to Bold Efforts, where we explore the ideas shaping how we live and work. This week, I want to briefly talk about something that quietly defines most of us: the need to always look fine. To appear in control. To show the good side.

We’ve built lives around the illusion of perfection. Every scroll through Instagram, every LinkedIn announcement, every polished corporate statement reminds us how much effort goes into hiding the human side. We’ve turned our stories into packaging. What once was a reflection of who we are has become a performance of who we wish to be.

It’s easy to mistake visibility for worth. To believe that the louder or shinier we appear, the more real our success becomes. But behind every curated image is a quieter truth. People are tired. Companies are fragile. And no one really knows what they’re doing as much as they pretend to.

The phrase no man is a prophet in his own country has never felt more relevant. We admire from afar and doubt what’s close. A stranger’s post can inspire us, while a friend’s achievement feels too ordinary to notice. The internet magnifies this distance. It turns us into tourists of each other’s lives, wandering through highlights while missing the soil they grew from.

It wasn’t always like this. In Renaissance Florence, Leonardo da Vinci painted immaculate saints while secretly dissecting corpses to understand what lay beneath. The world wanted beauty; he wanted truth. The same contradiction runs through us today. We polish the surface and hide the struggle, even though the struggle is the only thing that ever made us real.

But here’s the paradox: the cracks are the connection. The more we hide, the more we lose the thread that ties us to one another. Vulnerability isn’t weakness; it’s the last form of honesty left. The sleepless nights, the rejections, the slow, and the unseen work are not things to erase. They’re the proof that we’re still trying.

The same goes for companies. The best ones are not those that look flawless but those that admit imperfection and keep learning anyway. The leaders who say “I don’t know” are the ones people trust. The brands that show the messy process behind their products earn loyalty that no marketing budget can buy.

Maybe that’s what this moment calls for: less polish, more presence. Less noise, more truth. To stop performing success and start defining it for ourselves.

Because life isn’t a highlight reel. It’s a series of unfinished takes that somehow add up to something beautiful when we stop pretending they have to be perfect. Thank you for reading.

Best,
Kartik

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Who am I?
I’m Kartik, founder of Polynomial Studio, a holding company and product studio building AI-driven businesses for the future of work. The way we work and live is being rewritten. AI, remote work, and shifting economic forces are reshaping careers, businesses, and entire industries. The big question is where it’s all heading.

For the past eight years, I’ve been at the forefront of these shifts, working across real estate, technology, startups, and corporate strategy. I’ve helped businesses navigate change and stay ahead of what’s next, always focused on understanding the forces shaping our future and how we can use them to build something better. Click here to know more about me.

Why Bold Efforts?
I started Bold Efforts because I believe work should fit into life, not the other way around. Too many people are stuck in outdated systems that don’t serve them. This newsletter is about challenging the status quo and making the effort to design work around life. It brings together bold ideas and actionable insights to help you build a healthier, more balanced relationship with work, leading to greater purpose and fulfillment. If you’re looking for fresh perspectives on how to work and live better, you’re in the right place.

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