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.