How much would you be willing to pay for a lifetime counselor - Someone who could listen to you every day or meet you every few days, and could give you all the answers of life? Maybe you want to talk simple stuff or maybe you want to sort out the most complex situation of a lifetime that you are faced with, and have no clue what to do.
What would you give to have the best guide of the world available for you all the time?
Read it again. Think.
What would you give to have the best guide of the world available for you all the time?
You don’t know the answer to that. Neither do I. But the truth is that if it was possible, we would do it happily because then we would have all our answers straightaway. Life would be simple, direct and productive because no time would be lost in the search for the right answers. So, what would it take to get a guide or counselor like that? Well, nothing really. Because you are the guide we are talking about.
For a minute, without any reason, without any logic, believe me when I say that the best guide you will ever have, the best counselor you will ever know, is no one else but you (I wasn’t humoring you when I said, you are awesome!). How? Let’s find out…
Getting to the answer of any question involves certain logical steps: Getting together all the data you have, the considerations you want to attach, processing data into information, and then assigning the weights for each consideration, following the elimination process and then to continue doing this repeatedly till the time you are down to the last option: the final answer. To do this mentally is possible but mostly a challenge because it requires you to hold all of these thoughts in your mind and do all the processing simultaneously. Also, in case of a disruption in your thoughts you may just lose your chain of thoughts and when you get back to it the next time, you may have to start from scratch.
To put it in one line: to get to a final answer, you should be able to think clearly, consistently and in a certain logical way. Then the answers to all your questions will start coming to you very quickly.
Unfortunately, if we were all able to think clearly, consistently and logically all the time, then we would never get confused, never dilly dally on decisions, never ever be uncertain in our lives. But that does happen, right? Possibly, often. So, what is the answer then?
Write.
Write it down. Take a piece of paper, a pen and just write down whatever comes to your mind in answer to the question you have. And keep writing. If your thoughts are disrupted (someone called on the phone, you had to go somewhere, …) stop where you are. Attend to the other things and when you have a moment to yourself, pull out that piece of paper and read what you wrote earlier. If you are done reading, and have some spare time, start writing again.
To make it more effective, write down your question at the top of the page and then write your thoughts below it.
Keep writing till whatever time you want. And don’t try to synthesize your thoughts. Write them as they come. But only write the thoughts relating to the question you are trying to answer. Write for a minute, an hour, a day, a week, a month, … till whenever you feel like, till whenever time permits, … just stop when you have to and get back to it when you can and keep writing about the same question until you get the final answer.
I can assure you that no matter how tough the question, how confusing the situation, you will find your answer. Without consulting anyone (you may talk to get information, but you wouldn’t need advice), without doing anything else, you will get the answer to your question. How? Here’s the deal: When we write what we do is we run through the exact process mentioned above to answer the question, but without the pressure of holding the thoughts or starting afresh every time.
And every time when you get back to writing, when you read what you wrote earlier, you start thinking from that point onwards, not from the beginning. As you keep doing this, the information organizes itself in your mind and then gradually comes down to the last option: the final answer.
And this is a final answer you will trust because all the thought process that went into it, the reasons you eliminated the other options, … it’s all there, today, tomorrow, day after, … if you ever doubt your final answer you can go back and check how and why you came to it. This, unfortunately, is a skill that our mind cannot master (initially).
You would probably ask, why can’t we do this mentally? I mean we all do ‘think’ about the issues we have, challenges we face, … then why this need to sit down and write. I agree with you. You can ‘think’. And many people are able to do it very effectively. But holding the thoughts together, starting from where we left off and not repeating ourselves is something that is difficult to master.
Also, writing is something that demands you as a physical resource. Your eyes, hands, mind, everything is tied in when you write. Hence, fantasy is a luxury that you can’t afford. If you are thinking about something then it doesn’t need any energy to imagine things. In your imagination you create an imaginary world where everyone else is also an imaginary character and you play out a story. So, effectively you started thinking about the question and thought about it for sometime but still walked away without an answer to your question because you got distracted by something that could not provide you the answer, or if it did, you are probably not sure about it. Have you thought of all possible options? Have all considerations been included?…
Writing does not let this happen. You would never write “I need to call X” in between a sentence but you would probably ‘think’ that when thinking of something.
As children we were encouraged to write down things but as adults, unfortunately, our peers place a premium on not writing things down. Making lists and writing journals is looked on as being ‘soft’ or being ‘sissy’. Get out of that mindset. Liberate yourself. Give your mind the space it needs and the tools it needs to help it get you answers quickly to all the questions that are troubling you.
Do the ‘soft’ things, break away from the accepted mould, identify your questions, find your answers and be awesome! (ok, you already are, but I just thought of reminding you about it!:)
PS: Write your thoughts and questions in the comments and we will come back to this idea in another post, soon :)
Monday, December 14, 2009
Monday, October 19, 2009
You are Awesome
You, as an individual, inhabit a world that you have created. Look around you. People you meet. Things you do. Places you visit. That is your ‘world’. You are the creator of that world. You are the source of energy that keeps that world going.
The very fact that you have the power to create your own world makes you awesome.
However, the fact that you have the ability to create your own world does not necessarily mean that you are able to create the best world that you would want. Take a moment to pause and think. The world you live in is your creation. But does your world as it is now, look absolutely as you would truly want it? If asked to express your evaluation in one word, which one would you use – average, good, excellent, awesome?
As a 15 year old kid, I had the opportunity to read The 110% Solution by Mark H McCormack. This book talked about the difference between a sportsperson’s life as compared to a ‘normal’ life that other people live. A sportsperson’s life is measured in absolute numbers: runs scored, distances run, timing achieved, ... every micro second counts. They can never make do with even 99% of the effort. Everything has to be 100%, rather 110%. Every effort has to be wholehearted, or you might as well stay home.
In a normal life however, we are able to get by with 50% effort. 60% makes it good. 70% very good…. Life is often measured in generalizations like I am doing fine, or am getting along well.
What is the difference between the two lives? In a sportsperson’s life there is no room for second thoughts. You have to truly believe you are the world’s best in whatever you do only then will you be able to go the 110% route. You can’t be playing football and thinking that swimming could have been a good choice. As a sportsperson, success will be yours only if you start with a deep seated belief that you have it in you to be the best in your chosen sport. Now all you need to do is learn the finer techniques.
Notice the difference? You are not saying I will learn the techniques and then see if I am good. You are saying I can be very very good at this, I just need to learn the techniques, get my strokes right, build the stamina, …
A wholehearted belief in yourself that you are really going to be the best means that you will never give up on the effort. You will always persist against the odds. If you give up, you will be choosing a life less gifted. And this thought will never let you give up.
In an ordinary life, however, you will choose the safest option. Or what others think you should be doing. You are not necessarily thinking I am truly great at this. You are thinking ok in this one I can make it easily, or I can do fine in this.
Why these two different approaches?
Because you are willing to let go of the fact that you have it in you to be the world’s best in atleast one thing. Bury it deep within. At a place where it won’t come to back to remind you that you did have a chance to be the world’s best at something and you chose not to.
Even if you can’t think of something that you were really good at, the truth is that in each one of us, there is atleast one thing in which we can be the best in the world, we just need to master the technique.
Once you realize what you are truly good at, and you start making the effort to develop that side of you, the world that you have created will change. Apprehension will give way to calmness. Insecurity to security. Dissatisfaction to contentment. And who will bring that change? Without even knowing it, you will. Your own pursuit of that which you are awesome at will radiate an infectious positive energy to those around you. Your dedication to your own pursuit will raise the standard for others. It will inspire them to make their own changes. To pursue their own awesomeness.
Isn’t this something worth taking up then? Isn’t the pursuit of your own awesomeness then the best possible venture you will ever create, the best possible project you will ever handle?
This then is my message to you - You are awesome.
Find your inner self, your own calling to excellence and become aligned with who you truly are to live the greatness you are truly destined for.
The very fact that you have the power to create your own world makes you awesome.
However, the fact that you have the ability to create your own world does not necessarily mean that you are able to create the best world that you would want. Take a moment to pause and think. The world you live in is your creation. But does your world as it is now, look absolutely as you would truly want it? If asked to express your evaluation in one word, which one would you use – average, good, excellent, awesome?
As a 15 year old kid, I had the opportunity to read The 110% Solution by Mark H McCormack. This book talked about the difference between a sportsperson’s life as compared to a ‘normal’ life that other people live. A sportsperson’s life is measured in absolute numbers: runs scored, distances run, timing achieved, ... every micro second counts. They can never make do with even 99% of the effort. Everything has to be 100%, rather 110%. Every effort has to be wholehearted, or you might as well stay home.
In a normal life however, we are able to get by with 50% effort. 60% makes it good. 70% very good…. Life is often measured in generalizations like I am doing fine, or am getting along well.
What is the difference between the two lives? In a sportsperson’s life there is no room for second thoughts. You have to truly believe you are the world’s best in whatever you do only then will you be able to go the 110% route. You can’t be playing football and thinking that swimming could have been a good choice. As a sportsperson, success will be yours only if you start with a deep seated belief that you have it in you to be the best in your chosen sport. Now all you need to do is learn the finer techniques.
Notice the difference? You are not saying I will learn the techniques and then see if I am good. You are saying I can be very very good at this, I just need to learn the techniques, get my strokes right, build the stamina, …
A wholehearted belief in yourself that you are really going to be the best means that you will never give up on the effort. You will always persist against the odds. If you give up, you will be choosing a life less gifted. And this thought will never let you give up.
In an ordinary life, however, you will choose the safest option. Or what others think you should be doing. You are not necessarily thinking I am truly great at this. You are thinking ok in this one I can make it easily, or I can do fine in this.
Why these two different approaches?
Because you are willing to let go of the fact that you have it in you to be the world’s best in atleast one thing. Bury it deep within. At a place where it won’t come to back to remind you that you did have a chance to be the world’s best at something and you chose not to.
Even if you can’t think of something that you were really good at, the truth is that in each one of us, there is atleast one thing in which we can be the best in the world, we just need to master the technique.
Once you realize what you are truly good at, and you start making the effort to develop that side of you, the world that you have created will change. Apprehension will give way to calmness. Insecurity to security. Dissatisfaction to contentment. And who will bring that change? Without even knowing it, you will. Your own pursuit of that which you are awesome at will radiate an infectious positive energy to those around you. Your dedication to your own pursuit will raise the standard for others. It will inspire them to make their own changes. To pursue their own awesomeness.
Isn’t this something worth taking up then? Isn’t the pursuit of your own awesomeness then the best possible venture you will ever create, the best possible project you will ever handle?
This then is my message to you - You are awesome.
Find your inner self, your own calling to excellence and become aligned with who you truly are to live the greatness you are truly destined for.
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