Introduction
Life is simple. Or should I say ‘Life is as simple as you want it to be’. It starts uncomplicated when we are born, and then we twist and turn it so as to tangle it up in knots. It comes to a point where the very knots created by us begin to throttle us and we start gasping for air.
It is high time you uncomplicated your life. Each person is given software ‘mind’ which he/she uses in combination with hardware ‘brain’ to function and live life. Along the way, the software (our mind) develops bugs and starts complicating the hardware (our brain) and in effect, the entire computer (human being) breaks down leading to stress, anxiousness, feelings of inadequateness.
Your life should be – simple and uncomplicated. For that your software ‘MIND’ should function in the best condition so that you can achieve utmost excellence in all fields of life.
No matter how clichéd it may sound – your MIND is the single most important entity that determines your future. Everything begins in the intangible ‘Mind’. If you think it in your mind you can achieve it through your actions. However, this MIND or– M-Mystical I-Imp having a N-Naughty D-Disposition – is not as easy to tame as it may seem. Only the rare few who master the art of managing their mind and maintaining that status quo – are the ones who achieve peace, contentment, and ultimate fulfillment.
Ensuring that the Software Functions at Optimum Capacity
Yes! It is as easy as it sounds – Given below are 30 pointers in no particular order that will transform your life forever. They are things you already know. They are suggestions you’ve heard before. They are for you to read in whichever order you like. You can spend a minute on each point or a lifetime on each point – depends on you. However, when you read them, your purpose should be to absorb them by looking at yourself differently and making a conscious choice to change your life forever!
There are always two ways to look at anything. The way we use our Mind and pick our way of looking at things determines our path to triumph. Ensure success by picking the right way!
1. EMBRACE LIFE
TO A SCARCE MIND: Life is unfair. I work so hard but I never get my due. I’ve slogged all my life but my college junior is the one who landed the high profile government job I had my eyes on.
TO A MIND FUNCTIONING AT OPTIMUM CAPACITY: Stop complaining and grumbling about what is coming your way. When you stop criticizing, complaining and cribbing – you will start living: finding solutions and growth patterns
2. CHANGE YOUR SELF-PERCEPTION
TO A SCARCE MIND: I have many shortcomings. I don’t have a fair complexion and stand no chance at the upcoming model hunt. All the other contestants have some or the other special talent and will outperform me. To add to this I am not very tall either. Why did I join this contest? I will end up making a fool of myself.
TO A MIND FUNCTIONING AT OPTIMUM CAPACITY: Connect with who you are. Be comfortable with your identity which makes you what you are. Your beliefs, your likes, your dislikes, your perceptions, your character need not be similar to others. Do not imitate others to achieve success. Be aware of yourself and that will give you confidence to succeed as yourself.
3. DON’T INDULGE IN SELF-PITY
TO A SCARCE MIND: I have made a mistake, which means I am a mistake. I always make mistakes.
TO A MIND FUNCTIONING AT OPTIMUM CAPACITY: Stay away from comparison, self-pity, and victimization of yourself. You may have made a terrible mistake but it’s over and done. No amount of regret is going to undo the mistake so why should you waste time feeling sorry for yourself. You will start enjoying self-pity before you know it. Stay away from it. Re-evaluate yourself based on facts rather than the opinions of others.
4. BECOME YOUR OWN MASTER
TO A SCARCE MIND: I would have become an actor if it were not for my father. He kept pestering me for studies and failed to see the creative spark in me. I wanted to act whereas he wanted me to be an engineer. So that has left me as a mediocre engineer stuck in a boring desk job from nine to five. I hate my life because of my father as he never listened to me.
TO A MIND FUNCTIONING AT OPTIMUM CAPACITY:Don’t blame outward circumstances for your present conditions. Take responsibility for your actions and acknowledge you’re your future lies in your own hands. What circumstances come to you in life is your destiny; however how you deal with them or react is not destiny but entirely your own doing which in effect determines your future. So take charge of your life and accept full responsibility for your failures or shortcomings.
5. BE HAPPY
TO A SCARCE MIND: I am sad. I don’t want to be sad, but my circumstances just don’t let me be happy. I have forgotten how to smile and be cheerful. I have to go through the same problems every day and what difference does it make whether I smile or cry.
TO A MIND FUNCTIONING AT OPTIMUM CAPACITY: Be happy and remain so. Happiness is a habit. There may be many types of calamities faced by people – unforeseen difficulties, unfortunate circumstances, unwanted remarks, disabilities, poverty etc – but very few remain victorious after going through them all. These few people have one common characteristic – they have learned to be happy in spite of their circumstances. It is definitely not easy, but it can be done. You have to make it a habit to be happy and keep a smile on your face no matter what, because even if you keep a gloomy face and keep sobbing for days it is not going to solve your problems. So you might as well smile and solve your problems.
6. LIVE IN THE NOW
TO A SCARCE MIND: I cannot do this. Mergers and acquisitions have always been my weak point since my college days when I was studying for my MBA exams. I cannot handle them. I will definitely make a mistake and the deal will fall through.
TO A MIND FUNCTIONING AT OPTIMUM CAPACITY: Don’t let past events and circumstances cloud your thoughts. What has passed doesn’t exist any longer. Don’t stress over what is yet to come. Consciously block your mind from darting back and forth. Live in the present and focus on it.
7. STOP OVERANALYSING
TO A SCARCE MIND: I am uncertain of what I should choose. Should I join Delhi University for my bachelor of commerce course or should I opt for the University of Mysore? No doubt the University of Mysore is closer to my current residence, but the course curriculum of Delhi University is better. There are so many points of comparison that I fear I may end up missing the last dates of both.
TO A MIND FUNCTIONING AT OPTIMUM CAPACITY: Over-analyzing a situation will paralyze the outcome. In today’s world, we are spoilt for choice – every decision has n+ 1 possible outcome. Fear of the outcome makes us anxious. Fear of being perfectly ready before making a decision makes us anxious. Once you make a decision, Get on with it. Take Action on what is in your hands. No point pondering over the outcome as that is not in your hands.
8. LET GO
TO A SCARCE MIND: I just cannot get over his nasty remark. It wasn’t necessary for him to pass such an insulting remark at my painting. He just doesn’t have any knowledge of artwork and doesn’t appreciate art. He has no business commenting on my work.
TO A MIND FUNCTIONING AT OPTIMUM CAPACITY: If you are full of anger & resentment towards anything, there is no place in you for a mindset required for striving for success. Letting go will unburden your mind and make you lighter. Just do yourself a favor and let go.
9. BE CALM
TO A SCARCE MIND: I have not slept peacefully for days. I am not feeling high spirited. I have so much work to do and so little time. I can’t count on anyone to help me. I don’t think I’ll be able to meet the deadline. I need to speed things up. Hurry up. Go faster.
TO A MIND FUNCTIONING AT OPTIMUM CAPACITY: Slow down. A calm mind is receptive to the world. An angry and disturbed mind cannot listen and assumes it’s own. When you throw a pebble into a lake, you will see how it creates ripples in the perfectly still and calm water. Don’t let problems create ripples in your life. They are just trivial situations that are meant to exist in some form or the other, whether big or small in everyone’s life. So treat them as such – trivial situations.
10. TOUGHEN UP
TO A SCARCE MIND: I lost my mother who was my support system at a very early age. I feel I have not been able to get a hold of myself or my life after my huge loss.
TO A MIND FUNCTIONING AT OPTIMUM CAPACITY: Always remember – You aren’t the only one; you aren’t the first and you surely won’t be the last. Many people may be in worse circumstances as compared to you. Life wasn’t meant to be easy. If it were, it would have been boring and monotonous. So enjoy the game of life while you’re still alive
11. FOCUS ON YOUR GOAL
TO A SCARCE MIND: My idea of establishing an online shoe dry cleaning startup seems to be too far-fetched for its time. The other day the washerman who washes our clothes told me he would wash my shoes, that too for free. I think there’s no point pursuing this. My college mate has just opened a fashion portal, and he’s earning great. I think I should speak to him and probably do something on similar lines.
TO A MIND FUNCTIONING AT OPTIMUM CAPACITY: We tend to get easily influenced by the achievements, success, and materialistic possessions of the people around us. Instead of focusing on our goal and making the most of what we have, we tend to speculate on problems and count our shortcomings instead. We need to put imaginary blinkers covering our eyes so that we condition ourselves to look only straight ahead and not get distracted. Believe in Yourself. ‘You and Only You’ can achieve your goal. Introspect, improve and innovate – challenge yourself and compete with yourself – to rise beyond your potential.
12. CHALK OUT YOUR PLAN
TO A SCARCE MIND: Once I complete my education, I will plan my future prospects. After I receive my degree I will chart out my further course of action, which companies to apply to, and my prospects in self-employment. But I think it’s too early to plan anything right away. Let me train a few years and then see where the tide takes me.
TO A MIND FUNCTIONING AT OPTIMUM CAPACITY: Organized planning is the only route to success. Success doesn’t happen overnight. Hard work, perseverance, and years of consistent implementation of plans eventually make you look like an overnight success. Plans crystallize desire into action which ultimately enables you to achieve your dreams. Your vision takes shape in the form of plans. To be effective a plan of action must have a definite deadline as the mind works on specific information. Planning without timing is futile.
13. DON’T SAY. WRITE
TO A SCARCE MIND: I was discussing with my dad how I will achieve success once I join my new job. I will work hard to get promoted to the managerial level in 5 years. Thereafter I will acquire the necessary skills and training to become get absorbed into the planning of a strategy division in another 5 years. I look forward to becoming my own boss when I am 40 years old. I have it all chalked out in my mind.
TO A MIND FUNCTIONING AT OPTIMUM CAPACITY: Identify your goal and write it down in clear terms. The timeframe for achievement of your goal, the detailed step-by-step action plan, and the investment required, the monetary returns you expect to achieve – everything must be clearly written down. Then revisit your goal every day and read what you have written every single day. This will motivate you to keep striving towards your aim. Otherwise when you are busy in the daily humdrum of your life, you may lose sight of your goal and falter and this will lead to repentance and remorse in later years.
14. TAKE ACTION
TO A SCARCE MIND: It’s my wish since childhood to become the best mountaineer in the world. I have always dreamt of climbing Mt. Everest and I can imagine myself atop this gigantic peak. I aspire to be like Bachendri Pal. I am thinking of enrolling myself at a mountaineering school to realize my dream.
TO A MIND FUNCTIONING AT OPTIMUM CAPACITY: The concept of karma (the law of Action) is the core idea of the Bhagavad Gita, the Holy Hindu Scripture. Action is imperative to achieve. Action is just the simple act of doing. It is common knowledge that no idea can be turned into reality without action on the idea. The creation of an idea and the desire to turn it into reality backed by all the monetary power available will still not guarantee riches unless there is an action performed towards that idea. Over-analyzing and over-thinking will kill the idea even before inception.
15. KEEP THE FAITH
TO A SCARCE MIND: I want to achieve the award for Best Entrepreneur by the end of 2022. I still have 4 years. My friend Mukesh says I can do it. I am skeptical but my friend Mukesh says that my organization is really good and if I persist with my line of action I will make it big. I don’t know whether he is just trying to please me or if I am really that good.
TO A MIND FUNCTIONING AT OPTIMUM CAPACITY: Believe in your idea, believe in your line of action, believe in the outcome, and believe in yourself. If you don’t truly believe in the innermost soul of your heart in whatever it is you set out to do, you most definitely will not succeed in it. However, if you believe in your thought, even though they may sound foolish to the world and unachievable at that point in time, they will most definitely bring you laurels sooner or later. When we truly and honestly from the depth of our soul believe that anything is possible then even the universe somehow works with us to create circumstances that end up making it possible. Faith removes constraints and turns adversity into opportunity and we can accomplish that which seemed impossible.
16. BE BRAVE
TO A SCARCE MIND: I am scared. I don’t know if I’m making the right decision. What if this backfires? I’ll lose all my money. I’ve analyzed the market intently and done all my homework, but what if something unfortunate happens and this stock plummets, I’ll lose a lot of money and will go into debt.
TO A MIND FUNCTIONING AT OPTIMUM CAPACITY: Fear is generally of the unknown. We mostly fear that which is unfamiliar to us. So, the first time we go up on stage in an auditorium full of people – we are fearful; when we are investing in new stock – we are fearful; when we are about to undergo an operation – we are fearful. It is only when we transcend that fear; we set the wheels in motion for what is to come next. We would miss out on a whole new world if we are stuck in our fear. Instead of focusing on the end result, just concentrate on the present act. Remember you are capable of more than you think. You just need to make a beginning and one single act of courage will set into motion a chain of acts of courage.
17. FUEL THE PASSION
TO A SCARCE MIND: I have to go to work to earn a living. I have to go to work so that I can support my family. I have to go to work so that I can pay all the bills. I have to go to work because I don’t have inherited wealth and there is no other option.
TO A MIND FUNCTIONING AT OPTIMUM CAPACITY: You have to find what you are truly passionate about. If today were the last day of your life, would you want to do what you are going to do today? If the answer is ‘No’, it is certain that something is wrong and needs to be changed. No doubt you have to work but seek work which you are passionate about for you will attract riches and fame only if you are doing something you are passionate about. Fuel the passion. Infuse enthusiasm into your work – then only you will achieve success.
18. CHANNELISE YOUR ENERGY
TO A SCARCE MIND: I can’t control the situations around me and neither can I control myself. I don’t have the energy to restart and do this all over again. I’ve just retired as a bank manager and now it’s time for me to relax. My son wants me to start a new business from scratch at this juncture of life. I won’t be able to take the stress of restarting my life all over again.
TO A MIND FUNCTIONING AT OPTIMUM CAPACITY: Be a livewire: always full of life. Take life as a challenging game and participate in it with full enthusiasm. Have a goal and channelize your passion towards your goal. Be consciously aware of the energies around you. Assimilate these energies and then merge them to create a power source in yourself which can be consciously controlled by your mind so as to guide your body towards dynamic action to achieve the impossible. The most important gift of nature to a human being and what differentiates him from other organisms is his ‘ability to reason and analyze’ and ‘control over his own mind’. So, apply your thought process and abilities of the mind to harness your energies and accumulate them to a point that you exercise full control over them.
19. ATTRACT YOUR DESIRES
TO A SCARCE MIND: I hope I am able to achieve my dream of becoming a chartered accountant. I have studied hard and I expect to clear the exam this time.
TO A MIND FUNCTIONING AT OPTIMUM CAPACITY: My dream is not based on hope or expectation; it is a passionate desire and I will dedicate my whole life to it. I will not rest until I achieve what I desire. Whatever comes in my way in my journey towards the attainment of my desire are not obstacles but situations that I will mold in my favor. The universe will work with me for me to achieve what I desire.
20. DON’T QUIT
TO A SCARCE MIND: I quit. I give up. I cannot do this. I will not be able to do this. I surrender. If I continue with this, what will people say? Everyone must be laughing at me behind my back.
TO A MIND FUNCTIONING AT OPTIMUM CAPACITY: Quitting means it’s over. A significant reason why people quit and give up on their dreams is the fear of criticism. It is so unnerving to imagine how other people may perceive you that it may lead one to abandon his goal of life. You may be just around the corner to hit the jackpot, but you will never find out because you quit. Be 100% present in the current moment and visualize only your goal and nothing else. Give yourself a pep-talk. Think of something positive which will liven you up. Then repeat the thought to yourself till you are no longer feeling miserable.
21. POWER OF PERSEVERANCE
TO A SCARCE MIND: I have been waiting for years and years for my business to become a success. No matter what I do and how much I do, I’m just not able to achieve my goal. Every single day I leave for work at sharp 9:00 am, work hard and return at 9:00 pm. I never take a day off. But to no avail.
TO A MIND FUNCTIONING AT OPTIMUM CAPACITY: Patiently persist. Don’t lose your enthusiasm when you suffer setbacks on your road to success. They are merely stumbling blocks. Gather your determination and tenaciousness and with single-minded strength of purpose forge ahead. The harder you work, the closer your goal will seem. Remember: Giving Up is NOT an option. Let things happen slowly but steadily and motivate yourself every day so that you don’t lose patience.
Success doesn’t happen overnight for ‘Rome was not built in a day
22. CHANGE YOUR OUTLOOK
TO A SCARCE MIND: It’s a bad day. I woke up late, missed the bus, and reached late for work. The boss has been scolding me since and I’m sure the day will end on an equally horrible note.
TO A MIND FUNCTIONING AT OPTIMUM CAPACITY: You are the master of your own attitude. Remember that ‘You’ alone are responsible for your outlook and ‘You alone can change it. So your attitude and the perspective with which you look at the situation when you suffer adversity – is entirely in your hands. Change your attitude and you can change the moment.
23. BE SURROUNDED WITH POSITIVITY
TO A SCARCE MIND: There are so many problems at the office, which I have realized after talking to Mr. Zee, my colleague. All the time he keeps complaining about the incessant workload at the office and the unhygienic working conditions. He grumbles so much that now even my energy has started depleting and I am losing all my enthusiasm for working.
TO A MIND FUNCTIONING AT OPTIMUM CAPACITY: Consciously be around optimistic people: Those people who bring out the best in you. Stay as far away as you can from people who drain your energy and have a pessimistic outlook towards life. When you surround yourself with negativity and stressful people you weaken your attitude. Negative energy saps your vitality whereas positive energy rejuvenates you. Surround yourself with optimists and achievers.
24. LIVE EFFICIENT
TO A SCARCE MIND: I will do one activity each day. I think there is no point finishing everything in one go. I will take my time and complete one task a day so that I may get some good ideas. I can multitask or even delegate some jobs to my assistants, but I prefer to do it all by myself so that I can check the work while I’m doing it.
TO A MIND FUNCTIONING AT OPTIMUM CAPACITY: It is relatively easy to list what you don’t have and what you may have accomplished if you had it. However, it is very tough to make do with what you have and deliver magical results out of them. We generally blame ‘lack of time’ as the reason for our inefficiency. Efficiency has got nothing to do with the ‘lack of time’ and everything to do with the ‘lack of planning your time. Efficient people achieve more and move faster to their goal.
25. ACCEPT CHANGE
TO A SCARCE MIND: I don’t like changes. It took me 5 hours to prepare my presentation and now the organizers want me to alter a few points to include some aspects of the ongoing happenings in the Parliament session. I sent it to them for approval long back but they did not raise any objections at that time. There may be three days left for the seminar but I think it’s too much trouble to change my presentation again.
TO A MIND FUNCTIONING AT OPTIMUM CAPACITY:‘Change’ is the only constant. Sometimes we refuse to accept ‘Change’ in our lives. We are too settled in our comfort zones and feel uneasy about experiencing something different from the usual. What we forget is that the only permanent thing in this word is ‘change’ and one who does not change with the times gets left far behind. The ability to modify our actions instantly, change directions easily when required and compromise when appropriate, is a quality which people with the strength of character possess.
26. ACQUIRE KNOWLEDGE
TO A SCARCE MIND: I’m not participating in the quiz show because my general knowledge is not good. I have studied till post-graduation level but I am lacking in areas of sports and history, so I don’t think I’ll be able to tackle the genre-specific questions in the quiz show. I wonder how a housewife from a remote and rural part of Uttar Pradesh aced the quiz show and walked away with the super bumper cash prize of rupees one crore. These shows must be rigged and there must be some cheating going on behind the scenes.
TO A MIND FUNCTIONING AT OPTIMUM CAPACITY: Knowledge is free. You can acquire it if you want. It is everywhere around you. To acquire the education you may need money, but to acquire knowledge all you need is desire and intense focus. With the presence of mind, common sense, observation, and an intense passionate desire to learn – you can learn from anywhere. You may need expert knowledge for the goal you want to achieve and specialized knowledge may come at a price but it may be a small price to pay for the achievement of your goal. Acquiring knowledge and training is an investment; it should not be an afterthought.
27. CREATE YOUR LUCK
TO A SCARCE MIND: She’s lucky I’m not. I’m not destiny’s favorite child. In fact with the number of setbacks I keep encountering, I think I’m destiny’s most hated child. I don’t know when will my stars change and I too will be lucky.
TO A MIND FUNCTIONING AT OPTIMUM CAPACITY: Create your Luck. You determine your destiny when you react to situations you are confronted with in life. Your reactions determine your future and the life you create for yourself. Don’t ponder over whether luck has favored you or ignored you, go out there and make your luck. Be alert to opportunities so that when they present themselves they are grabbed at the first go. When you have the right attitude and are persistent in your efforts you are bound to taste success. The adulation may come late but it will surely come. At times it may take months, years, a decade – but success will come your way.
28. STRENGTHEN YOUR RESILIENCE
TO A SCARCE MIND: All that wealth I accumulated has been reduced to rubble by the earthquake. My house is in ruins and along with it all my years of hard painstaking work have been demolished in a matter of minutes.
TO A MIND FUNCTIONING AT OPTIMUM CAPACITY: Stand up, dust yourself and get back to work. Tough times don’t last forever. Obstacles are as powerful as you imagine them to be. When you don’t pay heed to them, they magically fizzle out. Have the ability to spring back into shape. Even though you have been punched and knocked down by lifetime and again, bounce back stronger each time. Instead of letting miserable situations break your determination, face your demons head-on. Deal with your problems – that’s the only way they will go away. Failures are not an end in themselves. They are just new beginnings of something new. Get back up on your feet – you just have to transform, change perspective, and work from a different angle.
29. REASON FOR EXISTENCE
TO A SCARCE MIND: I’m clueless as to why I have joined the science stream in my 11th My mom said that it would open up many career opportunities for me in the future whereas my dad wanted me to go for science since he reasons that I could go for a degree in medicine whereby I can join him in his clinic. I don’t know, I guess I’ll just go ahead with it and see what comes my way in the future.
TO A MIND FUNCTIONING AT OPTIMUM CAPACITY: Identify the reason for your existence – the reason for your action, the reason why you go to work, the reason why you sacrifice, the reason for your smile and joy, the reason for your being alive. Generate a positive reason and it will give you the required push towards your goal. When the going gets tough and you are feeling down and out, motivate yourself by thinking about your ‘reason for existence. This will recharge your batteries and get you back on the path with renewed determination to achieve your goal. Give yourself the necessary inspirational talk to create a positive stimulus for energized action. Importantly when you have a purpose or reason – you keep your eyes focused on that and distractions around you fade into oblivion as you single-mindedly set out to achieve your goal.
30. I CAN. I WILL
TO A SCARCE MIND: I cannot do it. I’ve tried before and failed. I wake up every morning before sunrise and go for my cricket practice. I eat, sleep and breathe cricket but I don’t think I’ll ever get to play for India.
TO A MIND FUNCTIONING AT OPTIMUM CAPACITY: If you think you can – you will. If you think you can’t – you won’t. Your ‘WILL’ can change everything. It can pull you out from the depths of misery. It can give you hope. It can make you millions. It can change your fortunes and your future. The ‘will’ comes from ‘within’. You are unstoppable once you have willed it.
Conclusion
The way you think of the world is the way the world will look to you.
Get up every morning with good thoughts. All events, dreams, achievements created in this world, are first created in our thoughts. If your thoughts are positive and you have a good reason, then your thoughts/dreams will come true.
We all have our tools –health; intuition; memory; perception; optimism; will; reasoning power; mental strength; resilience; perseverance – whether inborn or cultivated. Use these tools along with your software ‘Mind’ and Hardware ‘Brain’ and prepare the roadmap to achieve utmost excellence.
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