Lighten Your Baggage

  Once upon a time a big monk and a little monk were traveling together. They came to the bank of a river and found the bridge was damaged. They had to wade across the river. There was a pretty lady who was stuck at the damaged bridge and couldn't cross the river. The big monk offered to carry her across the river on his back. The lady accepted.  The little monk was shocked by the move of the big monk. "How can big brother carry a lady when we are supposed to avoid all intimacy with females?" thought the little monk. But he kept quiet. The big monk carried the lady across the river and the small monk followed unhappily. When they crossed the river, the big monk let the lady down and they parted ways with her.                                                                  

All along the way for several miles, the little monk was very unhappy with the act of the big monk. He was making up all kinds of accusations about big monk in his head. This got him madder and madder. But he still kept quiet. And the big monk had no inclination to explain his situation. 

Give Time, Time

We all have heard this famous quote,”Time is the best healer.”

I want to emphasize on it’s importance.

It happens to all of us, when we are going through difficult and negative situations  in our lives, we want it to get over soon…really soon. But after it is over and done with, those memories still remain fresh in our minds to some extent and we are often reminded of those situations which only makes us feel terrible and we go into our negative zones again. Like I mentioned in the previous article,”Don’t dwell on your past”, it will only hold you back from pursuing any of your current or future events. Learn from it so you don’t make the same mistakes again and you keep moving forward.

It is only a matter of time that our (negative) past events fade away from our minds. For some, it may take a month, maybe longer,

Always Honor Your Past

Every second you dwell on your past, you steal from your future. Every minute you spend focusing on your problems, you take away from finding your solutions. And thinking about all those things that you wish never happened to you is actually blocking all the things you want to happen from entering into your life. It makes no sense to worry about past events or mistakes unless you want to experience them for a second time. Instead, use the lessons you have learned from your past to rise to a whole new level of awareness and enlightenment. In other words, your past experiences are one of your best teachers. Be Grateful that you went through those tough times as those event have made you the person you are today.

Finding Your Life's Purpose

 “Your time is limited; don’t waste it living someone else’s life. Don’t be trapped by dogma, which is living the result of other people’s thinking. Don’t let the noise of other’s opinion drown your own inner voice. And most important, have the courage to follow your heart and intuition, they somehow already know what you truly want to become. Everything else is secondary.” – Steve Jobs

In essence, nearly all people work towards an ultimate goal towards being happy in life. With such a simple and beautiful thought that can help you achieve your dreams and ambitions, why is it that being happy is still a farfetched idea for some of us?

Often we convince ourselves that life will be better after we have graduated from college, or sincerely dedicated ourselves to a job that we truly enjoy, or get married and so on – the cycle can be endless. In doing so, not only are you escaping from the beauty of the small moments life has to offer, but you are delaying your happiness – from experiencing blissful happiness right now AND even in the future!

Sit back. Close your eyes. Breathe. Think again.

Three Principles to Help You Achieve What You Want

 It so happens, many times we don’t stay committed to some things as we planned to, or rather we give up too soon. Why?

Either because we were not motivated enough or  it was not all that important to us.

Allow me to get straight to the point.

I want to share with you three principles that will help you achieve what you really want...only if your are serious about achieving them.

1.    VISION

This is where most dreams are born. I call it a blueprint in the mind. Without a Vision, you will go nowhere. It is important that you see what you can’t see and you will achieve the impossible. You want something so bad that you naturally keep thinking about it, you are so charged up initially and later give up. Don’t let that happen to you.  Do not let other's push you down. Stay grounded, stick to what you really want, believe in yourself no matter what. Write a list of what you really want to achieve, put it up on your wall or pictures of them. It will keep you focused at all times.

Opinions Don't matter

It doesn’t matter what other people think of you. All that matters is what you think of yourself. We waste so much energy worrying about the opinions of others, wanting to be liked and accepted and needing to please. Going by other’s opinions restricts us to being who we really are. We go into this world where we become slaves of others by letting their opinions control us. Real personal mastery is all about rising above social approval... to self-approval.

Respect Yourself.

Respect yourself for who you really are. Listen to your heart and mind. Live in your own world, not other’s. Make a promise to yourself to close doors to other’s opinions, of course not to all but to where it does not apply. Living by your values, being authentic, running your own race and doing your own dreams will help define your true character. You will not only feel confident but also be proud of yourself and gain more respect from others.

Why worry what anyone else thinks or feels or says anything about you or your dreams. Remember, Success isn’t a popularity contest. And at the end of each day, what matters most is whether you were true to yourself.

Stay open minded.

Vishal D

Commit to Reading

How often do you find yourself reading an interesting book that changes your way of thinking? Or rather motivates you to do something you have never done before? Doesn't it feel great when we get ourselves into that reading mode, our whole perspective changes and the speed at which thoughts run in our heads trying to get in sync with different authors trying to understand what they want to convey.

 Reading is something we all do on a daily basis, but what matters is what you read. Does it affect you in any way? If so, how?

Decide to Be Decisive

We make so many decisions in a given day, but what matters most is what influences us and how we make them. I am sure some of you are highly influenced by mutual decisions, ie: consulting others for our decisions.

Many of us struggle with the process of decision making at times. Whether at home, or at work, sometimes we become paralyzed by the fear of making the wrong decision and this fear will often leads us to avoid making decisions promptly and we end up making our decisions based on other people’s opinions or advice.

For example, when someone asks, “Where do you feel like going for lunch?”

You might reply:

“Wherever you like.”

“Your choice.”

“Anything is fine.”

We often give dismissive responses which  also doesn’t answer the question asked and this becomes a habit of “indecision”. This habit of indecision can become an  obstacle in achieving our most important goals in life. Think about it.

Shakespeare Said

I always feel happy, you know why?
Because I don't expect anything from anyone; expectations always hurt.. Life is short.. So love your life.. Be happy.. And Keep smiling.. Just Live for yourself and always remember: 

 Before you speak... Listen

 Before you write... Think

 Before you spend... Earn

 Before you pray... Forgive 

 Before you hurt... Feel

 Before you hate... Love

 Before you quit... Try

 Before you die... Live

Be Grateful

How often do we value what we are blessed with? Today in this busy world, do we even spare a few minutes to be thankful and grateful for what we are blessed with? I am sure for many of you the answer is a hesitant yes. It’s a fact that most of us remember God only when we are facing troubles or in need of something and not when we are happy with the way our lives are going. True?

Well, I just want to convey one message. What you value in your life increases in value. When you are grateful, you radiate feelings of happiness and you automatically feel happy from within. What you focus on , grows. Try implementing this small yet powerful exercise: Every morning when you open your eyes, say to yourself either in a soft whisper or aloud,” I am so grateful for another beautiful day in my life, Thank You God !” or either create  your own similar affirmations.  Trust me, you will feel a state of bliss and energy throughout the day.  Put this into a habit by doing it for 21 days and see how great you feel about yourself and your life. Your perception will begin to shift.

Maintain Your Perspective

When we come across difficult situations, we tend to over-react and that just makes things worse. The problem is never going to get any better, instead worse. We should stop for a minute and look at the situation from a different perspective, rather be solution-focused and not problem-focused.

I want to share a small story with you that best describes what I mean by maintaining your perspective.

One day, a man with a serious illness was wheeled into a hospital room where another patient was resting on a bed next to the window. As the two became friends, the one next to the window would look out of it and then spend the next few hours describing his roommate the beautiful view of the outside world. Some days he would describe the beauty of the trees in the park across the hospital and on the other days, he would describe to his friend the step-by-step replays of the things people were doing as they walked passed the hospital. However, as time went on, the bedridden man grew frustrated at his inability to see the wonderful things his friend described to him. Eventually, he started to hate him.

Thank You

Thank You are two words that have the power to change your Life as well as others too.  In today's busy World, we very rarely take the time to stop and say thank you which and that is unfortunate because as Mother Teresa simply puts it …

     "There is more hunger for love and appreciation in this world than for bread.”

                                                                                      -Mother Teresa

We are human beings, we all have emotions and we all have that deep desire to be recognized and appreciated for what we do.  Going a little out of the way to say these two precious words will cause no harm but will only make the other person feel recognized, appreciated and you also automatically put yourself in alignment with how grateful you are for the people and things around you. Here’s a small story one of  my close friends shared with me that changed my perspective. (in his very own words)

Take Action

It's an irony- we all want to achieve our goals but we don't want to take action. Instead we just keep procrastinating giving ourselves more time to doubt.

                                  "You want something, go get it period."

  Why make things complicated when we know how simple it is. We know what we have to do, but we don't act upon it.                            

                                                                  

                                                         Why?

 Consider this: While watching a movie, we get inspired by the actor's amazing six pack abs and body, we say to ourselves, "I am going on a diet from tomorrow and I will go to the gym regularly." Next day what happens, we either forget about it or we find some excuses.

 This happens because we were inspired but not motivated. There is quite a difference between the two. Inspiration is a feeling usually gained from external sources, it's a feeling of excitement and a let’s do it now attitude. Inspiration leads to motivation. Where as Motivation is a push from within to take action after being inspired.

Our Deepest Fear

Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate.

Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure. It is our light, not our darkness, that most frightens us.

We ask ourselves, who am I to be brilliant, gorgeous, talented and fabulous?

Actually, who are you not to be? You are a child of God. Your playing small doesn’t serve the world. There’s nothing enlightened about shrinking so that other people won’t feel insecure around you. We were born to make manifest the glory of God that is within us. It’s not just in some of us - it’s in everyone. And as we let our own light shine, we unconsciously give others permission to do the same.

As we are liberated from our own fear, our presence automatically liberates others.

Marianne Williamson - Used by Nelson Mandela in his inaugural speech, 1994.

Talking to Yourself

Do you ever find yourself talking to yourself? Either out loud or quietly in your mind? A lot of people associate talking to yourself as a little strange. Some even say that if you talk to yourself, you’re just a lonely person with no real friends and that you may need to seek a psychiatrist. But I don’t agree with that. I don’t even agree with anyone who has anything negative to say about talking to yourself. The reason being that anyone who has a healthy mind will find themselves talking to themselves more often than not. But how does it affect us?

It’s been discovered that talking to yourself is not only normal, but may in act, help a person to become a better problem solver as well as have a more enjoyable life.

When you are talking about yourself, Are your thoughts negative ones or positive one? Many people talk negatively about themselves and have negative thoughts about themselves. Have you ever heard someone say something like, "I just cannot get that right. I am a complete idiot." You have said or you have heard someone say something like, "How could I be so stupid ?" This is a common thing to hear, especially if someone is feeling down about themselves at a particular point. The unfortunate thing is that these people probably don't know what a huge impact that negative self talk and those negative thoughts are having on their lives.

Just Be Nice

How often do you notice random people being nice to you? A waiter at a coffee shop or a shop attendant going out of their way to serve you? Not so often right? But wouldn’t it be great if they did so? And if they did, you would definitely visit that place again and again, right? That is because they made you feel great!

We all have our own busy Worlds in which we are engaged in and never care to do something different. That is because we are on autopilot, doing the same things everyday. Change is all about growing and it starts by creating a new habit in our life. "If we want to grow, we gotta step out of our box." How?

The Power of Acceptance

Very often we find people around us complaining about various things in theirlives. Health challenges, financial difficulties, relationship problems and the list goes on. The only reason they do so is because they do not accept those particular problems or situations and all they do is just complain. Complaining is not going to do any good to the problem but, is only going to make things worse. The law here is simple, "like attracts like", if you are complaining, you are only going to get more of it.

Take a while and think hard. "Problems are only perceived in the mind", if you focus on the problem, you will just aggregate it, but if you focus on a solution to solve it, that is where you choose to be a fighter. Be a solution oriented-person.

But it all starts with one thing, Acceptance. You must first accept a particular situation or problem in your life, this will help you stay calm and get focused on what needs to be done next.

Increase your Value

   In today's world, you will find yourself being compensated not by how hard you work but by how much value you add to the World around you. True?

Think about it. Let's say if you are currently being paid $20 an hour, this money is being given to you not because you showed up at your desk for those sixty minutes but because you have added that much worth of monetary value during those sixty minutes. It is the monetary reward you receive that is determined by not how much you work but by how much value you add.

This is why a brain surgeon is paid so much more than a Mc Donald's employee. Is the brain surgeon a better person? or a harder worker? or a smarter person? Not necessary. But one thing is certain is that the brain surgeon has accumulated more specialized knowledge and specific know-hows than the Mc Donald's employee. 

Learn to Say No

    Ever noticed yourself saying "yes" to others just because you care about your self-image/reputation going down?? 

 This is where we make our biggest mistakes!

I too have said yes to many and regretted it and still do at times. It is indeed easy to yes to every request on our time and that is because our priorities are not clear to us. When your days are not guided by an inspiring vision for your future, a clear image of an end result will help you act more intentionally and it is not hard for the agendas of those around you to dictate your actions. 

"If your priorities don't get scheduled into your planner, other people's priorities will get put into your planner." 

The solution here is to get yourself clear about your life's highest objectives and then to learn to say No gracefully. I know this seems a bit tough, but trust me this will not only help you become the person you've always desired to be but the feeling of that fulfillment will advance you.

Achieving Your Goals

We set Goals we want to achieve with that strong burning desire and initially we get all excited and say things like “I will not give up till I don’t achieve it”, “I will do whatever it takes” and so on. We actually put in our blood and sweat into it, do what is required with full dedication for the first few days or weeks, etc. But what happens as time goes by?
  

We tend to get de-motivated and try to compromise on what we can do with what we are capable of. This eventually shifts our mindset and we tend to give-up and forget the goal we once desired for. Honestly, ask yourself, how many times has this happened to you? If the answer is Yes then you should be willing to follow what I will be discussing henceforth, if your answer is NO, then simply close this page.
   

So, your answer is YES!!! Awesome!! This is where you identify yourself as a Winner!!!
   

Let us understand some basics first. Firstly, you need to answer a few questions –

- What do you really want?
- Why do you want it?
- How is it going to affect you?

Without understanding what and why you really want something in your Life, you cannot move forward. You should want it so bad...so bad that you are genuinely willing to Do Whatever it Takes!!!

How to Stay Motivated all the Time

Often we come across many Inspiring Quotes in different forms and we get Inspired, feel good and do something about it.....but different Philosophers or Successful people have their own experiences on which they inspire us and sometimes we wonder which are the right ones to keep us Motivated.

  Well I do not like complications and I am sure no one does. It's Simple, When you come across an Inspiring Quote or Saying and it appeals to you or Clicks in your mind with some incident in your life, make a note of it for your future reference. That is what I do while I am reading books or surfing the internet or having a chat or discussion with someone, I make a note of it on my phone or my notepad file. You never know while you are one day just browsing through your phone or files on your computer or notebook and you come across your collection of quotes and sayings and it brings you memories of how you acted upon them or the change it brought to you and your Life, etc.


   I always Beleive in one thing "DO IT": You have something in mind, stop cotemplating the pros and cons or the Buts and Whys, just ACT.
  
So here are 15 Empowering Motivations that will get you off your butt and moving forward...

Dealing with Distractions

In today's busy world, We each have many distractions that keep us from getting things done. At times I notice Myself getting Distracted when I have to get something Important done. I know that I am capable of getting things done and achieving things but I’ve noticed that distractions can make it tough.
What I have realized is that Concentration is being split into three different levels.

The first level is acknowledging that I have work to do. I can sit down and make a start, but I’m vulnerable to distractions and they can easily get the better of me. At this stage it sometimes feels like I’m looking for an excuse not to work. My mind can easily wander onto other things.

The second stage is a little deeper, as I’m starting to understand the task and my mind starts to figure out what is going on. At this point some distractions die down as I start to get more involved with the task at hand, but there are a few that can still break my concentration. If I got a phone call at this point, I would probably find my way onto the Internet after that, and blame the person who called for distracting me! This happened many times!

The Real Reason Apple is so Innovative

For decades, competitors and consumers have pondered how Apple has reached (and continues to reach) such heightened levels of success and innovation. But it only took Simon Sinek eighteen minutes to explain it at a TED event. And, according to him, it’s all about the why, not the how. Most computer companies start with claims that they make great products. Apple, on the other hand, tells you why they build computers. Watch Sinek in action below. He’s got a smart theory that’s worth a listen.
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Music- Notes of Inspiration

Over the years, I have come to realize that Music has had a tremendous impact on my Life, I am actually addicted to the right kind of Music that keeps me in sync with my Life! And the feeling is amazing!

Music can have a big Impact on a person, it has the ability to trigger so many different emotions in us.The words in a song combined with a collaboration of different instruments playing, all work together to create a certain kind of feeling. I am sure some of you have experienced this and the feeling is crazy! The best part is that the artist want their listeners to understand and relate to the song and that is what I call music that triggers emotions. I actually feel that listening to songs with positive lyrics and meaningful content has alot of impact on our life.

How Inspiration Should Work

The other day I was pondering over something that made me think so much and this is what I figured out -

Some people will be inspired to start of with but may not be motivated to do anything and others will be inspred, they will be motivated but they take no action. This in itself is an ineffective kind of inspiration, one that we feel for a small amount of time but it materialises into nothing. The best type of inspiration is one that consists of all three of these factors- 


Inspiration...Motivation...Action, You are Inspired by something or someone,which Motivates you to do something, you decide to take Action and that action turns the ideas from your inspiration into reality.

We should mould our mindset into taking action after being Inspired & not just procrastinate.


Until next time
Vishal D