Dr. Param Srikantia, a management professor at Baldwin Wallace University, contains multitudes. He is a keynote speaker, a spiritual guru, an author, and most recently an Instagram influencer.  

Srikantia is now the proud owner of the Instagram handle @whylifesucks.wisdom, where he provides insights on why he’s decided to take to social media to share his message. 

“Why Life Sucks is so much more than an Instagram page,” Srikantia said. “I want to share wisdom with students and faculty alike. It’s a philosophy, a mission, a call to something bigger.” 

Why Life Sucks is the name of Srikantia’s seminar, which started small in 2009 as a four-hour monologue presented to 25 people. Today, it has been presented to the Cleveland Clinic, the Federal Reserve, The Cleveland Cavaliers, and countless businesses. 

The seminar has been witnessed by over 300,000 people worldwide, and it’s still growing. Now, it’s available in bite-sized portions on Instagram, TikTok, and YouTube. 

“I want to share what I have found to be the antidote to the struggles we face in life, which is mindfulness,” Srikantia said. 

To those who have not taken a class with Srikantia, he is known for his blend of management expertise and philosophical musings. He covers several topics along with the standard curriculum, encouraging transformative leadership through humor and storytelling. 

“Life sucks, but it doesn’t have to,” Srikantia said. “We can tap into our unconscious mind and understand what truly drives us. It’s all within us, so we must lean into creativity, joy, and inspiration to make life suck a little less!” 

Srikantia wants to do more than just share his own message on social media, but to encourage others to do so as well. 

“I think that in this modern age, faculty should know how to engage with students in a way they are familiar with, like social media,” Srikantia said. “I want to encourage my colleagues to start social media accounts. Personally, it has improved my excellence as a teacher and made my message more accessible.” 

Srikantia intends to provide more than just management and leadership advice on his Instagram; he also seeks to share philosophical insights. 

“Many people are no longer human beings, but human doings. We are meant to be,” Srikantia said. “We must find our spirit, live life with joy, with levity, and with passion. My mission is to share these realizations with everyone.” 

One of Srikantia’s best known topics is the “Chattering Monkey,” the nickname given to ones self-critical inner voice. While it’s explained in his classes, featured on NBC news, and explored in keynote speeches, it’s now available on his Instagram. 

With a monkey prop in hand, Srikantia tells a story of how his chattering monkey went from Curious George to Furious George. 

“One day at work, my boss didn’t greet me as usual,” Srikantia said. “My chattering monkey started telling me that she was upset, that she was angry with me, and put all these negative ideas in my head. My chattering monkey created a miserable experience for me and pained a false image of my boss.” 

“By using mindfulness, we can dismantle the false construction the chattering monkey has made,” Srikantia said. “We can ground ourselves in the now, allowing the thoughts to pass like clouds instead of taking them as reality. This way, our experience goes from miserable to peaceful and calm.” 

Srikantia’s account is based on the core tenets of his approach: wisdom over knowledge, exploring the unconscious mind, and authenticity. 

“We live in a VUCA world… that is a world that is volatile, uncertain, complex, and ambiguous,” Srikantia said. “How do we deal with these uncertainties? The answer is not always linear.” 

By encouraging viewers to live with vitality and purpose, Srikantia seeks to encourage positive change, not only for organizations, but for the individual. 

“Although my message can be condensed into small portions, I hope that it is able to inspire all who see it,” Srikantia said. 

Srikantia would like to thank his former student, Emily Muench, owner of Sporked Media, for helping him produce content. 

To learn more about Why Life Sucks and how to live with joy despite it, Srikantia’s content and musings can be found at @whylifesucks.wisdom on Instagram.