Sadhguru's tea stall story cuts to the heart of a universal habit: we know exactly how everyone else should do their job, while neglecting our own.
We are remarkably talented at running other people's lives. We know exactly what the Prime Minister should do, how the Finance Minister is bungling the economy, and precisely which adjustments a world-class cricketer like Virat Kohli needs to make to his batting technique. We have opinions on team selection, foreign policy, and the general direction of civilization. The only thing we seem less certain about is the work directly in front of us.
Sadhguru captured this habit with a vivid, everyday image: the Indian tea stall. Walk into one of the thousands of tea shops across the country, and while you wait, the man behind the counter will confidently lay out everything wrong with the government, the economy, and the national cricket squad. He has answers for all of it. There is just one small problem. He doesn't know how to make good tea.
We are experts in everyone else's job except our own.
Sadhguru's observation cuts deeper than a joke about armchair critics. It points to a structural problem in how we allocate our attention and energy. When we spend ourselves on commentary and criticism, we are neglecting the one domain where our effort actually produces results: our own work.
The argument is straightforward. A healthy society, a strong economy, even a successful family business all begin with personal excellence. If each person did their own job with sincerity, quality, and genuine pride, the collective outcome would shift on its own. No grand intervention required. The transformation happens as a natural consequence of individuals taking their immediate responsibilities seriously.
A healthy society and a strong economy begin with personal excellence, not finger-pointing.
The inverse is equally true. When people neglect their own responsibilities and redirect that energy toward judging and criticizing others, something corrosive sets in. Sadhguru calls it a feudal mindset: the expectation that someone else will fix the problems while you stand on the sidelines and point fingers. It is a posture that feels engaged but produces nothing.
Before directing criticism outward, the more useful practice is to turn inward. Three questions matter here: Am I doing my job well? Am I improving myself? Am I contributing something through my own actions, however small?
"Real change in life, in society, and yes, even in money begins with personal critique and accountability."
These are not comfortable questions, which is probably why we prefer the alternative. Evaluating the Prime Minister's decisions costs us nothing and risks nothing. Evaluating our own performance is harder, and the answers carry consequences.
The tea stall is everywhere. It shows up in offices, in family dinners, in comment sections. The specific subject of the criticism changes; the underlying pattern does not. Mastery of your own craft, whatever it is, is the only leverage point you actually control. That is where the effort belongs.
