Gear up, Take Charge!

In today’s world, we all strive for things that are elementary and basic in nature. We struggle for peace and happiness. We lack empathy and sympathy for others. Finding pleasure in doing small things is tough for us. We lack concentration and focus. All in all, in spite of belonging to the most technologically advanced era, we are internally indeed the most unpleasant and disturbed group of humans on this earth which is mostly because of our inability to be our best “selves” throughout the day from the moment we wake up.
Let us look at the most basic ways in which we can stop living life stressfully and can take over every single day as conscious, happy living beings

Breathe it in and out, consciously.
Or in other words, “Meditate”. Meditation does not mean dedicating an hour every morning, although nothing could benefit you more. It simply aims at improving the way you think, take decisions and act according to your consciousness. This could be done for half an hour or ten minutes. The importance lies in the way you implement it irrespective of the amount of time you dedicate. While mediating, your mind is sure to diverge into millions of thoughts. Do not try to stop that because that would be useless. Instead try to focus on any single positive aspect of your life which gives you happiness and makes you calm. Slowly all others thoughts would vanish and as a result you will be able to concentrate better throughout the day. Be lively through every breath you take in and leave out.

Sleep better if not more.
Your eight hours of sleep is perhaps the most important element that keeps you going good every single day. Without it, life would become hard and you would become miserable. In today fast paced world, getting eight hours of sleep might seem like a challenge at times but that number when deceases below 6 does start creating problems. Moreover, if those hours are filled with horrific and unrealistic dreams, you surely need to calm down and let your subconscious mind work less for a few hours at least. For the time being you sleep, your body is at complete rest and that is what prepares you for a better day at work or school or your respective places of interest. Without that, nothing will fall into place.

Sweat it out
Exercise for at least thirty minutes a day in order to get that sweat out of your body. It also helps decrease your cortisol level which is the primary stress hormone and helps in increase of testosterone. (Check out how exercising effects the release of other hormones in the body :- https://www.acefitness.org/blog/5593/8-hormones-involved-in-exercise ) Exercising helps to keep you fit and hence also prepares you for the day-long challenges you are to face. It not only works your body but you also challenge your mind to a great extent when you do so. Keep workout out dedicatedly and trust me, you won’t be able to stay a single day without going through the routine after a few months.

Healthy in-takes matter
When it comes to in-take of food for your body, always aim for healthy stuff. But the same thing applies for your mind. Your eyes are the window to your mind and whatever things you feed it, the same would be the impact. Hence always keep those in-takes healthy both for your body and mind in order to keep yourself in good health and to keep your mind strong, sharp and focused. Have faith, keep looking up to the successful ones, and keep motivating yourself towards your goals. Remember to not focus much on the unhealthy matters because too much of negativity leads to nothing in reality. Keep a balance between being an optimist and a realist.

Forget yourself
Sometimes, the best thing to do it to let go off all your stress and focus on the bigger picture. It is necessary at times to stop looking at the mirror that only reflects your image and instead to look out and provide support to the millions of people who are in need of help. You belong to this world, to the society and as a human being there is no bigger responsibility other than helping out your fellow beings. Hence, take a pause, let go off yourself, and dig deep into the service of the ones in utter need of humanity. Only then can you become yourself and can truly be termed as a ‘human being’.

I am sure we all are quite aware of the aforementioned points and maybe many of us do indeed live life with these incorporations significantly. But for the ones who don’t, try not to develop them as a habit, but to create a lifestyle with these basic and elementary doings for your betterment. Try to be your best self’ and try to keep living every day of your life peacefully and happily.

Stop being “Good”. Start being “Unstoppable”!

In life, everyone strives to achieve greatness. Everyone aims to be successful and in their own ways they keep on struggling for fulfillment of their desires and aims. There is no one step process that guarantees success. Neither is there any single mantra to achieve greatness. So how do the greats ultimately make it to the top? How did for instance Cristiano Ronaldo or Lionel Messi manage to breakthrough almost all records made in the history of football (soccer)? How did the Stanford goers Larry Page and Sergey Brin manage to create absolute history by finding the ultimate search engine for the world? The answer is simple. Whatever they did, they did it with such passion, dedication and hard-work which led them to become nothing short of ‘”unstoppable”. As Tim Grover, author of “Relentless” and founder of “Attack Athletics”, the agency that trained sports icons like Dwayne Wade and Michael Jordan says, “The drive to close the gap between near-perfect and perfect is the difference between great and unstoppable”, let us look at some necessary steps to take in order to become unstoppable in whatever we do in life.

Focus
Have your mind free from deviations and distractions when doing anything and I mean anything with a capital A! Every small thing you do in life contributes to ultimate success and if you put focus upon every single detail behind those tasks, nothing can stop you from becoming unstoppable. Sometimes it may take time to develop inevitable levels of focus and once you are able to reach that level with patience and perseverance, you are in for an absolute ride of fun, joy and magnificence!

Dedication
Have you ever wondered why your favorite team losing a match is many a times more of an issue of concern than your declining grades? (And the opposite for your parents) This is simply because you are dedicated with all your heart towards that club or team you support although in reality you are not affected practically in any ways. “Be dedicated” is perhaps the two words you have heard a million times in your life and in-fact by being dedicated truly and wholeheartedly, you surpass that line between someone who is ordinary and someone who is unstoppable.

Hard-Work
“Work your butt off!”, as asserted by the seven times Mr. Olympia, Arnold Schwarzenegger is a fact which you need to incorporate in life to be achieve greatness and make a name for yourself in the world. Nothing can replace hard-work. Shortcuts only lead to short term and impermanent success but if you do your job without leaving no stones unturned, you my friend are sure to reach the top!

Organization
We often are faced with challenges and difficult situations in life and some of the most common ones? Not finding your car keys when you have a meeting to attend to in 20 minutes or Not having a pen in your pocket when you desperately need to note down an important detail or Not having enough charge on your portable devices in order to get access to certain content instantly. All these issues may sound simple but indeed are what cause turnarounds in the lives of certain people. So, my simple two-word advice to you all? “Be organized”. Start with proper arrangement of stuff on your study table and develop this into a habit so that from the next time you need to wear your silver watch that you kept secondary to the golden one that suddenly stopped working, you can find it hassle-free. This would also in turn build your confidence and later in life, this habit is what will set you apart from others still trying to figure out life.

Will-power
The one and only thing that keeps people going during times of utter distress is one’s power of will. This applies for all fields and range of work and is an absolute necessity to reach great heights of success in life. Once you are on the field and are totally into the work you do, failures are bound to hit you as you keep on taking risks with various experiments and new ideas but if that stops you from going further, that’s the end. You are done and dusted and life seems to be curse. So, keep your head-strong and never let anything or anyone stop you from becoming the person you want to be.

As we heard Will saying in The Pursuit of Happiness, “You got a dream, you gotta protect it” and “Walk the walk and go forward all the time”, you have to be nothing less of a predator on the hunt. The qualities listed above will certainly help you becoming that and you are guaranteed to become what I call as the defining characteristic behind every icon to have lived in this planet and that is “UNSTOPPABLE“!

‘MOVE ON!’

 

Everyone in their lives, are always going through a time-table of exams and tests as everyone needs to prove their worth in whatever they do. You love something, and the next day you start working hard on it. You try to achieve things. And while trying to reach the ultimate goal or desire, we need to climb through certain steps. Let’s take the example of a set of exams for for school or college student. Or a few projects lined up for a professional engineer to prove his worth. Or a few research developments for a scientist. I want you to consider any such example as you may have in your mind which includes a chunk of steps to climb, in order to attain a goal that one preserves for. Let’s say that the scientist fails to bring the required outcome of a certain experiment. Let’s say the engineer couldn’t design a project in a beautiful way. Let’s say that college student couldn’t give an exam with the greatest of competency. And in all the cases, there is still hope. There are still things to be worked after in order to achieve that goal. And that desire, that dream goal can still be achieved. All he needs to do is gain control over his mind and not keep thinking about that single exam, or that single unsuccessful experiment or that “not so appreciable’ project. Instead, why not look forward and work hard for the upcoming tasks. Why not ‘give it your all’ in them! Why waste time regretting about that single failed task that you really worked hard for. Well, it didn’t work out or it did work out but not as you wanted it and maybe you really faltered a lot. Maybe you ignored a few valuable things which were needed to look after. Maybe you took things a bit casually. Maybe you didn’t keep it simple and complicated things to the greatest extent. Well whatever the reason it is, get on with it, throw that thought out of your head into the dustbin and move forward and try to do the things which you do next in a way that would guarantee success. Now let me depict the basic idea I am trying to portray with a simple example.

 

Let’s say you are trying to climb up a ladder in order to reach some place that’s very high. Let’s assume you are on the 50^th step of the ladder and you need to climb 50 more. And on stepping your foot on the 51^st step, you slip because of a few drops of water that were spilled on the left of that very step of the ladder. So you were unconscious, unmindful, and maybe overconfident of your ability to climb the ladder and you went too fast without even looking at the next step. Or on the contrary let’s say you were damn scared and fear overpowered you in such an extent that you couldn’t even notice a few drops of water, spilled right in front of your eyes. Or maybe you felt that you wouldn’t slip because of your shoes that maybe, were specially designed to protect you from such unwanted consequences. But whatever the fact or logic may lie behind your ‘slipping’, the fact of the matter is you did! (Now, let’s proceed with our assumed Example)

So, you placed your feet on the water spilled on the ladder and you slipped. Both of your legs are hanging on the air but you are still holding onto the ladder with the help of your hands. And if you are able to exert enough push, you can easily place your feet firmly on the steps of ladder once again. But this time, you need to rectify the mistakes you made and not, for once again place your feet on that water particle(s). Otherwise you will fall, again. But instead if you lose all hope and are ‘scared to hell’ because of a simple slip of legs and are afraid of the fact that you may even die if you fall down , then you may keep on hanging like that for a while and ultimately fa(i)ll. You are then afraid of the fact that you would not be able to exert the push required to pull yourself back. You are worried, unconfident and broken. And you know how you could deal with these? Just believe. Yes, it’s as simple as it sounds. All you’ve gotta do is believe in yourself and not let a single negative thought let your mind affect your path towards success. And then if you just exert the right amount of push and with your confidence can overcome the fear within yourself, then you can easily start over from where you slipped. And this time, it’s going to be a lot more fun and the journey would be ‘one to remember’, as you did not give up and instead you decided to learn from your mistakes and took up the challenge for a second time. And no matter how many times you need to take the same challenge again, remember that there is no limit to doing a task in order to achieve success.

 

Now let’s equate this example with a few real-life/practical one’s stated earlier. Let’s say a scientist fails in a single experiment, but has nine more to prove. Then he can easily prove all of them right with the hard work, perseverance and confidence required. The same can be applied in that case of an engineer who fails a single project but has many others still to come. And also a student who is not able to score good marks in a single exam which might be in the middle of a long term of exams, can do well in the next ones and not do the same mistakes yet again by keeping in mind the littlest of things required to be perfect.

 

Hence, as you can see, nothing is impossible nor hard to achieve. It’s all about the mind-set of yours and once you believe in what you can do, you will be able to do it without a doubt. But what needs to be remembered here is that, whatever happens, it’s you who is responsible for it. Not ‘him’, not ‘her’ not ‘they’. It’s you, and only you!

 

So go on, stop regretting about things you could not complete as you have wanted to and instead take lessons from them and move forward with even greater confidence, competence and perseverance!

Cheers! 🙂

‘Passion’ – ‘The Key to Happiness’

‘Passion’ – ‘The Key to Happiness’

The title mentioned above could have been somewhat different. All I mean to say, is that instead of the word ‘Happiness’, I could have used the word success, right?. No. I disagree. The difference between ‘success’ and ‘happiness’ is unmeasurable and there have been lots of debates over the issue. The biggest debates over this issue takes place in the house of a teenager, who is often compelled to follow the path, which would make him rich, and clearly not satisfied or happy. Right now, let me present my version of the much ‘sought-after’ debate. So, sit back, take out a few minutes from your busy schedules, and I guarantee that you will emerge a changed person after having completed reading this article, if you were not so already.

We all are pretty much familiar with the saying from the famous Amir Khan starred Bollywood movie ‘3 Idiots’, which stated that ‘One must not work for success. Rather he must work towards attaining intelligence, which would automatically result in guaranteed success. I know many of us were quite motivated after hearing those above-mentioned lines. But a few minutes after, we are like, :- “ Words like this can sound like reality only in movies..!”…. (No sir, not at all…..I can guarantee that to you! -_-) And, well,… grow up people, because we really need to!. Today in India, irrespective of one’s ability, intelligence and passion, nine out of ten students are compelled to study ‘engineering’, which by the way has become a basic degree in order to sustain life!. People are often seen taking decisions on what they really wanna do, after initially completing their engineering.  Could you have ever imagined this, like, ten or fifteen years ago?  I am not against the ones who really desire to be ‘techies’ and carry on their dreams and aspirations. But my question is to the ones, who are never even allowed to pronounce the name of the field they would love to work in! Trust me, there are thousands, or lacks of boys and girls out there, who weep and moan in the darkness, as their passions are never given any priority. Now, how can someone be successful if the he/she is not happy?!! As quoted by Dada Vaswani, “True success, true happiness lies in freedom and fulfilment.” The freedom to do what you love, and the happiness and joy you get on fulfilment of the job is real success. It’s not just about the car you own, or the Bungalow you live in. It’s not about the weight of your wallet or the brand of wine you drink. It’s all about how happy you are from within. And to be able to achieve that happiness, you need to have dreams, which you need to fulfil! We are often asked not to dream of unachievable things. I say, then why must we dream?!. Having passion for ones profession.(( I, am not reffering to one, who might see his/her passion as ‘drinking wine while looking at pinterest’, as reffered to in a somewhat famous meme out there)) is a must in order to lead a happy life, and in order to do so, just listen to yourself. And if you are really passionate about the job you wanna carry out, a great amount perseverance and determination will follow. And motivation? , that’s only a one percent of the equation. Rest of depends on you! The more you’ll work, the more you be able to get closer to that dream. And when you are following you passion, then every day is a success. Every step you take is a success. And every mistake I a real lesson learnt!

Every one of us out there, are passionate about specific things. But not all are courageous enough to follow the heart. I say, be that courageous man! Be that dreamer who can show people that there’s more to life than just being a normal (frustrated) office worker! Be the change! And trust me, life won’t be the same. You will find happiness in the true sense of the word, and you will be able to live life the way it should be! And competition?…, its in every field out there. But if you find that respective field in relation to your passion, and if it is what you live for, then you won’t just be better than the others, you will be ‘different’. And there you have it, the equation towards leading a successful life, happily!

Cheers! 🙂

‘THE ROAD AHEAD’

So, in my last blog, my writing was centralized basically on the importance of determining, what you really want to do in your life. I hope it did motivate or inspire some, and did help everyone in one way or the other. Now let’s say, you have had enough self-analysis and finally have been able to bring out your true aspiration and your ultimate aim in life. Let’s say, you have had enough of this thinking stuff, and it’s the time to proceed towards your dream, through your actions. But wait, if you are among those, who have the misconception that “carrying out the job they love from within, isn’t difficult at all”, then you are simply wrong and you need to clear out this misconception as soon as possible. And therefore, in this blog, I will be breaking up the various procedures you need to follow, while you are out there driving, on “The Road Ahead. Well, life is indeed simple, as my title suggested the last time. But there’s no denying to the fact that Life, is also indeed, ‘A Beautiful War’.

First of all, do take a bit of time to feel proud of yourself, and do congratulate yourself, as you have been successful in determining what you were born to do in life. But make sure you do utilize only a ‘bit’ of time in doing so, and save as much as time as you can, as you will be needing a ‘lot’ of it, while chasing that dream of yours. And once you are proud and confident enough and are ready to do whatever it takes to turn that dream into reality, buckle up my friend, you are ready to hit the road!.

Now, roads aren’t that easy to drive on if you aren’t an expert driver. Especially when they are the busiest and dangerous roads, like ‘The Highways’, and when you have a lot of other cars chasing you in trying to reach that desired spot, whose access is limited to a certain amount or number of people. And beware of shortcuts, as they may reduce the time it takes to reach the desired destination, but they sometimes pose serious threats, and who knows, you may even end up in the wrong destination. But hey, you know where the fun or rather cherishing and enjoying part is? It’s you who gets to choose the road! It’s you who gets to decide whether to take the shortcuts! And it’s you who gets to accelerate and decelerate your vehicle depending on the situations! Because it’s you, who is in the driving seat, and it’s you who owns the vehicle and if you are really aiming to achieve what your heart wants, then it’s you literally who owns the road! So drive safe, and make sure you are never out of fuel, while you’re on your way to reaching your holy grail. And by the littlest of chance, if you ever  feel like you ‘are’ running out of fuel, then make sure to have your car refueled, and most importantly make sure your eyes are never off the road.  There will be hurdles, there will be storms, and rains and, snowfalls compelling you to undo your seat-belt and get off that seat. But that is the time when your passion and love for your profession should provide you with the determination and will to go on, as during times of utter disgust, it is one’s self confidence and power of will that holds oneself up and gives or provides them with that extra bit of push, required to move forward.  Nothing in this life can be achieved with ease, but it can be achieved with a lot of patience, confidence and perseverance. And it is ‘these’ traits that make it easy enough to achieve the dreams and aspirations of one’s life.

So, first of all, have your heart to say what it wants you to be in this life. Spend some time deeply analyzing your thoughts and aspirations, until you come up with the picture of that one single thing, for achieving which you can totally dedicate life without a second thought. And then, lies ahead the most important task of going out there and achieving that dream, which must not be that hard, if the dream you’re after is really your thing.

So put an end to ‘self-analysis’(once its done and dusted) , be confident in what you decide to do , and as said by ‘The 7x Mr. Olympia’, Arnold Schwarzenegger, “…work your butt-off!” (One of the rules of his ever inspiring and motivating speech on his “6 Rules Of Success”.)  And no matter what it takes, make sure you do not waste all of your valuable time in trying to determine your aims and objectives, as ultimately you may end up being ‘nothing’ in life, and thus, be coined with the term, or be called, as an “Armchair Philosopher”.

Good Luck! 🙂 (Y) !  .