Brave Souls

They ask me to say something about Guru Gobind Singh;

They ask what is He to me?

I tremble when they ask, "What is He to me?"

I think of history,

Wars, fierceness & days of victories; 

Warriorship that raised generations,

Courage, which had no limitations.

I learnt early,

When things get tough

Don't be girly

When up against trouble,

Meet it squarely, 

Burst the bubble;

Set the shoulders,

Plant your feet,

Take a brace,

And that's how & when,

I remember a Guru's face.

Happiness is a Decision

If you want to know how to be happy, I have here multiple 30-days happiness challenges for you. Try them. Each of them has been designed to increase happiness and take you on the path of self-improvement. The ideas are fairly simple. You don't have to do much to live your best life other than staying committed.

Read more: 

Never Give Up 

Be The Hope

Managing Distractions

The Superhero

         

26 Hacks for Self-Motivation – Motivate Yourself Everyday

Have you ever had a day when you had a lot of things to do, but didn't have the motivation?  I live plenty of those days.  Sometimes, I am so unmotivated that I allow my work to pile up like crazy.  And then the next few days are spent in the great agony of running to complete deadlines, with no time for fun or enjoyment of any kind.

Motivation means different things to different people. To some, it starts with getting up on time in the morning and running their day like a clock. While to others, it could just be that extra cup of coffee that keeps them going. Over the last year, I have observed people around me and have come up with a list of things that keeps them self-motivated.

26 Ways You Can Motivate Yourself

1. Start small: Big is dangerous. It needs preparation - both physically and mentally, whereas small can be done with only a minute change. You want to leave sugar, don't go from soda and ice creams to buying non-sugary fruits in one day. Give your body some time to adjust. Start small, but keep it consistent.

2. Remove distractions: It works big time. I, for example, like to read witty comments in my Twitter feed. So the moment I allow myself to switch it on for a moment, other things attract me and soon I find myself looking at latest shoes or cute buns for short hair that I know I am never going to be perfect at. Your distractions will  not be many if you can make a list and dedicate time towards them out of your work hours. 

3. Engage in small dares: Sometimes, a little adrenaline is what is needed to move us out of our comfort zone. You can dare yourself to face your fear, play like a kid, take a dance class, wave hello to random strangers, drink 5 glasses of water without stopping, try a sexier dress (even if you don’t want to buy, try it at least!) – do something that makes you live in the moment.

4. Try makeup: A new hairdo, eyeliner or a plain cherry color for lips – a change in how you look sometimes boosts mood and makes one feel happy. Focusing on self-care produces good feelings about the self and the nearby environment.

Read: 10 Commandments to Be Happy

5. Tell yourself why you are wonderful:  This was a creative writing exercise that my language teacher used to make us do in the class. We were given an hour to write wonderful things about ourselves in a poem and create a vision of the future.  It sort-of made us touch our motivational resources and invited us to express ourselves.

6. Declutter your life:  Simplify your surroundings, weed out the activities that do not add anything positive to your routine/life. In her book Brain Building in Just 12 Weeks, Marilyn vos Savant notes that effective living is simple living. To strengthen intelligence and expand positivity of mood to carry on with a task, go easy on what you do and focus on doing only one thing at a time.

7. Write a letter to self: Use the days when there is not much action around to go into a journey within. Word it around the strong set of core values that define you and allow it to cover your hopes and ambitions. Use it to cultivate a sense of identity,  re-evaluate your current friendships or how to take better care of yourself.

8. Write your contribution to the universe: Sometimes, you need to expand your point of view to see what value-addition you are doing to the universe. It can be something as small as sending vibrations of peace, praying for a friend or feeding a poor. 

9. Do a model runway walk: Put on some peppy music and get your modeling figure into action. Go nuts with your outfit, put on some bangles/jewelry/high heels and groove with the tone of music set by your system.

10. Try poetry: Poetry teaches us to live. Random words, verses, sentences bring in rhythm, shedding a sideways light on the world around us. 

11. Do it for 5 seconds: Sometimes, a moment lasting as short as 5 seconds is what you need to get up and go. If you have any thought or instinct to do something, do it within 5 seconds or your brain will cut it out.

12. Let go of the waste: Waste thoughts, emotions, habits make it overwhelmingly hard to move on. Create a list of actions and chunk out the stuff that is not needed, including memories of previous hurts. Let them go.

13. Get your groove going: Play funky music, get into the beats, let the rhythm of it take you over. Listen to the lyrics, allow them to speak to you as if the song was made especially for you. 

14. Visualise your goals: This is one of the oldest tricks in the sack. Write down your short-term and long term goals, visualize the satisfaction that you will feel after achieving them and use that feeling to get past your fears and doubts.

15. Reward yourself: Every kind of motivation works well then there is a reward attached to it. The reward can be something as small as a cookie or something big like buying a new car. Regardless of whether you are at the half-line or have already finished the marathon, reward yourself with something that motivates you to carry on.

16. By psyched up about yourself: You are unique. You can search the entire universe, but will not find anyone else exactly like you. God gave you life for a reason,  and it is your duty to find it, live it and be psyched about it.

17. Do an inner dialogue: Inner dialogues and positive self-talk can have surprising benefits. When you say things like "I am the best", "I like myself", "I can do it" or "I deserve this", you tend to reinforce the positivity around you which matters better by creating an aura of hopefulness. 

18. Call someone: Your mom, buddy or neighbor next door – speaking to someone who makes you feel better about yourself is an instant motivator. Sometimes somebody else, a different person, can see what you are good at rather than you yourself. When you get such kind of positive people, even if it is for 2-minutes, their positivity tends to impact you too. 

19. Read: A seemingly unrelated article/book/note can push you to do something that you have been trying to do. To make it better, develop a daily reading habit. It is going to put a long-lasting impact on your personality as well as how you perceive yourself. 

20. Positive quotes go a long way: Sometimes reading the right kind of quote is just the motivation that you need to get up and get going. Read it on your phone, laptop or get a book. Read. 

21. Find a visual motivator: It can be a photograph of self when you didn’t have that much weight around your waist, a stack of books that you want to read along your study table or a list of new healthy recipes that you want to try on. When you walk by your visual motivator every morning and night at least 10-20 times a day, the thought of it starts to get reinforced in your mind unconsciously. Find one thing, one big impact that you should focus on, and get a visual motivator to put it by your study table or near the place you sleep at. 

22. Investigate: Why to keep a clear outlook right, why you should do that work or why you should lose the weight or why it is important for you to close the credit card debt? This physical activity builds in motivation for long term behavior.

23. Make a list of what makes you smile: Those little moments in your day that really brought you joy or made you feel excited. It sometimes makes it better to write them down so that you can instantly feel that rush of being happy. 

24. Practice gratitude: From the moment we open eyes in the morning, we run towards what is important in the day. In the process, we sometimes forget to be thankful. Practice gratitude, say thanks to God, to nature, to your higher energy and use that gratitude to build up the motivation to get along with the day. 

25. Face your fears: Think of the last moment when you decided to procrastinate something and how it made you feel. Use that guilt to get up now and get moving. 

26: 20 seconds rule: Get just 20 seconds of insane courage to do something. Be bold about it, get ahead and do it. Be it about sending an email to a prospective client or going out for a jog, just use those 20 seconds to focus on one idea. Have the courage to go about it, and keep on doing it again and again and again. 

How to Let Go

Have you ever had the feeling that you missed someone so much, you didn't want to get up from bed. When thoughts of someone meet you smile and cry. When you wanted to go back in time and spend more days with that special person. When someone broke your heart, but you still find it difficult let them go. Letting go is the final stage of grieving over someone, weather dead or alive. Letting go allows you to give up the pain that you have held for long. In some cases, it means accepting the truth that a person or the things that you have been so compassionate about is no longer there. It means confronting your unpleasant emotions about the past and becoming comfortable with them. If you find it difficult to let go, here are 10 tips to help you. How to let go:

• How To Let Go 1: Deal with people, one day at a time. Because when things don't go according to you, you have got to learn to deal with everything – one person a time.
• How To Let Go 2: Give space to your loved ones in relationships. Most relationships fail because we expect too much in return. When you lower your expectations and give space to others, they will love you more.
• How To Let Go 3: Do not limit yourself. Some people like to keep the situations hanging. Their belief system that they can’t do anything or it is not right to interfere keeps them miserable. Challenge yourself. The only thing that limits you is your imagination.
• How To Let Go 4: Do not worry too much. Whatever will be will be. Excessive thinking about something doesn't make it easy to let go.
• How To Let Go 5: Accept people for what they are and not how you want them to be. Keep room for mistakes. We are human beings. The being part in us lifelong learner. Allow it to learn.
• How To Let Go 6: Learn to forgive: unless you forgive yourself and the situation, you cannot move forward. Letting go is all about learning. Forget the hurt, but take a lesson from it. If you dream of flying high, you have got to learn how to leave the earth.
• How To Let Go 7: Be strong: Some of us think that holding grudges makes us stronger, it gives us some kind of power. Whether it is guilt, anger, frustration, betrayal letting go is never easy. Never fight to hold on, fight to let it go.
• How To Let Go 8: Give up unneeded stress: You have to understand that people come and people go. This is life. It becomes easy when you let go of the unwanted stress. Stop   holding  those  who have let you go a long time back.
• How To Let Go 9: Value yourself: Sometimes  we  have spent time with someone for so long  that we do not even realise  that is stopped valuing us time back.  The person  who doesn't value you blocks you from the one who  might.  Let them go.
• How To Let Go 10: Be Happy: When you  let go,  you put your trust in  God,  allowing Him to  heal your wounds  and something magical happen.  God works in mysterious ways,  give him room.                                                     

Fail. Learn. Move On. My Life…Heck My Rules!

I’ve wasted time and I’ve failed. Repeatedly I’ve failed to get new work. I had my lowest percentage in XI. XII was tough. I couldn’t understand in physics. It just floated above my head. Result in board exam was poor. I had to take the physics paper twice to clear. Gave competitive exams after XII. Dad wanted me to try, but I was afraid. Didn’t study well, wasted money on multiple exams. Shifted to Delhi and had to stay with various people for a month before we could take our place here. It was embarrassing. The turning point came when I secured admission in Jesus & Mary, that too in the first cutoff.

But going to college wasn’t fun. I was a geek. Couldn’t make many friends, spend much on clothes or pursue my favorite hobby of dramatics. Felt left out for such a long time. Began my first job at 21 and shifted quickly in succession twice. Got placed in a corporate year later with a decent salary. It was good to begin with, but things changed slowly. I was young. Couldn't mould myself to the dynamics of office politics. Foolishly left it three years later, without anything further in hand. I was confident I will find another one quickly. Unfortunately, no one found me suitable. Took me more than 600 days to discover my true calling – “writing”. Made 20 cents on the first assignment, and even though the money was with PayPal for a long time (could withdraw only after reaching the minimum level), it was liberating. I began exploring. Got some odd jobs, took everything that was offered.

It’s been six years in writing now. I work as a freelancer. I haven't taken any formal training, but the results have been satisfactory. On good days, I get offers to do entire corporate websites for biggies like the British Council, Shri Ram School, Times Internet, BenQ, Sansung, Marc, etc. (Who knew they hired freelancers!!) or get great new ideas to work on. On bad ones, I lose inspiration to write or to do anything else. I waste time. Currently, I’ve no work. It’s been two months, not a single project. Hadn’t happened till now, but hey – this is life. Nothing moves smoothly. May be I’m not trying hard enough. I just don’t have the continuous will to try. I give up too soon. But cursing myself doesn’t help.

For the last few years, I’ve made a consistent effort to improve myself. I’m learning to get rid of hollow emotions. I sometimes fail, but the attempt is continuously on. For me, happiness has become a daily decision. I think less, feel more. Talk less, listen more. Judge less, accept more. Complain less, appreciate more.

I get up early and meditate daily. It’s such a power booster and has helped me to increase my concentration power. I do Surya Namaskar followed by 10 minute exercise routine. I go out for walk every morning. If for any reason I miss, I carry sneakers in my backpack and walk back home from work meetings. I don’t eat outside food. It gives me a control over my taste buds. I don't go out for parties, they are time wasters. I like quietness of where we live. It motivates me to read. I also like music and have attended some great live performances - the  sufi ones are mind blowing.

Don’t limit yourself. Every success story we hear has a grueling past. Understand that you can do more only if you are healthy. Squeeze active working out routines in your daytime, even if it’s for five minutes. Sleep early. Get up earlier than your neighbors. Don’t keep television near to where you sleep. Switch off your phone and laptop by 9 pm. Talk less. Observe more.  Make the day count.

Do something that makes you happy. Learn craft, one small creative act at a time. Question your values, your routine and make changes to it. Do not check your Facebook every day – the lives people show on it aren't that upbeat. There’s a lot of difference between showing photographs and maintaining that smile forever! Most of us are neck deep in similar conditions. Accept it, judge what you stand for, make one small change a day and move on. You'll feel blessed!

Waking Up the Inner Child

When I was a child

I listened to my mother

She taught me how to walk and talk

Above all, how to create a good thought.

I believed in nature

Made it my best friend

I played with my dog

Which I thought to be godsend

Now that I am grown

The innocence has flown

The mind has developed

It’s easy to make it corrupt

From pure to defensive

It forgets to be festive

I was taught the dream of compassion

Somehow it became weaken

Not anymore, I tell myself

I am going to lead by example

The world is hard and cold

But then I have good friends to hold

It’s time to wake up the purity inside

That’ll help me when things go wild

This moment I am not going to subside

‘Coz now I know, I am God’s most beautiful child

This just came to my mind this morning. If a writing professional is what you seek, please visit Writing Routes. Chao. Nitima

Being Humble

The more you are humble, the more will be your success.

Contemplation:

Humility gives you the wings to fly. It gives you enthusiasm based on your inner truth and you can easily move forward. When there is no humility you will find yourself being pulled back again and again.

Application:

When you do something, remind yourself of how much you are enjoying it. Let there be no desire for recognition or praise. Then you will find yourself succeeding in the task that you undertake and you will be appreciated too.

Making Your Thoughts Count

We are shaped by our thoughts; we become what we think. When the mind is pure, joy follows like a shadow that never leaves.

“A human is a product of the thoughts he keeps.” – We know that and yet we choose to think rubbish. Take a moment to visualize your thoughts and you’ll see more than 98% of your thoughts would be either of the days that has gone by or of the future. Yesterday & Tomorrow.

And here we forget one of the most venerable teachings of life “Present is a PRESENT.” Why must we choose to endure pain long after the incident has happened? Why we worry about what is yet to come? Why must we give tit for tat? Why can’t we practice patience?

Let’s not be ordinary. Let’s do something special and make our good thoughts count. Let’s spread peace by being at peace with ourselves because with our thoughts, we make the world.  

Keeping the focus...

Why do some people fail while others succeed? Why students from a same class may find themselves at complete opposite ends years after they have left the school? Why businesses fail to pick up or go through a dry run after a successful period?

Because the focus is lost.



Focus is the key to suceed. Masters are good only in one thing because they foucs hard on it. Sometimes we meet people who like to do everything and that is why they are good at nothing. Businesses/freelancers like to be busy and that's why they pick up everything that comes across their path, without giving it a thought whether the opportunity is in sync with their core philosphy or not and they fail not because they didn't have opportunities but because they had too many of them.

So, what's the solution?

Build your work around selective things and say "no"to the rest. Ditto for the personal life. Pick 4 values and stict to them. At work, build your team around 4 key result areas and say no to rest. If you try to do everything all the time, you wouldn't stand anywhere.

So, the thought of the day is - Stay Focused. If you want to succeed, it is the only way to go.

The A, B, C & D of life

Image: www.tigerbreath.com  

When hardship hits, our instinctive reaction is “what will happen to me? My home? My family? My work?”

It has become natural to start pulling in. Some people, you must have noticed, immediately get into protective mode. They try to pull in and preserve their domains. It has become human nature today.
Is this living the life as it comes? How about not acting on fears and narrowing our vision but standing for what we believe is right and getting rid of our own limitations? The simplest way to do it is by learning the basics again. So, let’s begin

A: is for accuracy. We must try and deliver everything with unmatched accuracy not only when we are working professionally but at home, with people as well. Remember, if no one’s ever going to see, it doesn’t make leaving the table messy after you’ve had food is alright. No – it isn’t. Just imagine – if someone would pay you to do it, would you then also leave it like that? No, isn’t it? Yes! I know money is a great driving force but is it ethical to be lazy?


A is also for alertness. The more alert a person would get, the better will be accuracy and of course – the end product. It doesn’t matter what you do, as long as you are doing it with accuracy and alertness, you are bound to make it perfect.

Maintaining Balance Between Head & Heart

Its a delicate balance that most of us fail to maintain.


In our interactions with others, we sometimes only use the head, i.e., my logic.  Yes, that does bring us to a logical level and enables us to understand the facts very clearly.  But if you keep myself limited only to the facts, you tend to forget to use your heart.  Then we are not available to the other person and fail to understand them.


So, what's the solution?

In order to be successful in all our interactions with others,  have the right balance between your head and my heart. See beyond the facts, say and try to listen and understand the other person too.  When you do this you will not hurt people with your attitude but will be able to maintain harmonious relationships.

The Change Management of Life

How often you feel angry on others? If something unpleasant happens, are you able to control your mind at the right time or do you keep on thinking about it the whole day?


Generally, our thoughts drive us. It is our perception about other people; situations etc. that make us react. We are so used to keeping thoughts running on our mind that we don’t even realise how much wasteful things is happening inside us. Have you ever noticed how easily we get affected by outside scenario? When we meet an irritating person, we get irritated too.

Have you ever noticed why?

Because we have become takers of negativity, ego, anger, frustration and waste. This needs to be changed. The thinking has to become positive. With the power of positivity, we refuse to give up. Remember, though situations don’t last but tough people do.

Let us try to be a better person. It will change everything around you, because change always begins from inside. If I’ll change, the WORLD will change with me.

What is Leadership?

On my way back from office today, I pulled over a cafe to have a cup of coffee. Read a quote in The Economic Times where an elf mentions to a Hobbit: "Even the smallest person can change the course of the future." Wonderful advice, simple enough to be remembered by all of us.

Leadership Poster

Sometimes we tend to postpone taking initiative and drive a change until we officially receive more responsibility and get a bigger title against our names. But isn’t today the best time to enact like a leader?

No matter what you do in the organization you're in: Lead Where You Are Planted. Start from where you are. Your bold act of leadership just might transform your organization. And if you get super lucky, the course of the future will change to fit you in.

Feeling stronger Everyday...

Had a chance to meet few ladies from a nearby village today. Man, I was amazed by their quest for life. Their life stories are unbelievably true. They believe in taking care of not only their family but 10 other homes in addition to that. There's something called "pure love" that perhaps God has gifted them.

Why we educate ourselves? To gain knowledge, right? And what do we do with it? We become rational. We start analysing everything from our tiny brain and forget what that 'inner voice' is saying.

Having met this group, I feel I rather unlearn everything and spend some time in knowing humanity. There is so much suffering around and if we take a step in curing it through our thoughts, positivity and liveliness, what can we not achieve?

Not Letting The Motivation Disappear...

Motivation disappears when we start seeing ourselves as ‘ordinary’. We begin to see every day as a routine, cooking, laundry, cleaning, working – everything starts looking monotonous after a while. Yes, variety is the spice of life and who says we should not live a spicy life? Get inspired to get motivated. Think of ways you can sketch you day in a more colourful way, take a break from what you do continuously and Thank God for not giving you what you never wanted, be a giver rather than taker and if you can’t give anything else, give people motivation, love and peace.


My leadership is giving my best when no one is watching because I know that I want to excel not because people appreciate it but because I am made to do things in the best way.

Lessons That I Learnt From Indian Army

One of my childhood wishes was to join the Army. Unfortunately, my eyesight did not support me and I had to drop the idea at the age of 13. But Indian Army still inspires me to the core and not a single day passes when I don’t think about the men (and the women!!) in green.

There is so much for which I adore it – first being the team spirit. I don’t think anyone can display better selflessness than the brave soldiers, who I don't know how get the guts to put their lives at risk every single day.

It has a 'young force', the people from gen Y and their motivation is worth noticing. They are the ones who don’t have worldly longings like us, those who never complain of aching, who can sacrifice the comfort of home beds for sub zero temperatures of Siyachin , leaders who fight against all odds and those who know that to achieve something, you have to give up a lot.

Love them for what they are, for without them India is a broken country.

Learning From the Courage & Compassion of Indian Army

Whenever I am down, I read stories of Indian Army. Knowing that people can sacrifice so much, live in sub zero temperature, leave their newly born kids to a single whistle of duty, guide expeditions to places where no one has gone so far – all for the love of country – is amazing.

India was born rich but unfortunately our neighbours weren’t. Being surrounded by countries like China, Pakistan & Bangladesh there is not much scope to rest for these brave men. When we talk of stress, we fail to consider those who eat, sleep & work in stress, the stress of life, not knowing what would tomorrow bring and still they manage to spread the good cheer around– there is so much to be learnt from life, literally.

In management, we offer talk about ‘mindset’ of doing things & of getting them done. But what about ‘heartset’? Heartset is not even a word in English – isn’t it necessary for leaders to have heartset as well? A high performing individual operates with articulated strategy and displays mental excellence in every step.

Courage always goes hand in hand with compassion. This is what Indian Army has – unlimited courage and undying compassion for country. This is what I strive to achieve

‘Miracles do happen’

Do you believe in miracles? Have you seen hostile situations completely taking a 'U' turn in your favour? I have - not because my work never gets struck but because I believe in 'happy go lucky' attitude.

Being lucky is not like a divine interference in all your works so that your life moves smoothly; it is a feeling that I can do anything. How would you feel if somebody does a forecast for you that 7 years down the life you will be a much successful person in personal and professional life, you'll have more comforts, healthier relationships, better equipped to handle tough days – you’ll instantly feel relaxed knowing that your future is secure.

My point is: ‘forget about tomorrow’ – enjoy your today, do every chore with responsibility and spread the positivity around. If your today is good, tomorrow will definitely be better. Let go of your stress and feel free.

People worry so much about the future that they forget to enjoy the present. Whatever you desire, you will get it - simply focus on what you are doing now. See every setback as a stepping stone and every problem as a blessing in disguise. Contrary to what critics might say, these are NOT corny aphorisms. They are timeless truths of humanity. (And critics are just people too scared to grow their dreams anyway - pay no attention to them. Our world today needs people lifting each other up rather than those who put others down).

Start Something New Now

Last night I watched a program on Discovery channel. It was on U2 (Early days of their career). Do you know that they drew only 9 people to a gig? 9 people. U2.

We often refrain from living our dreams thinking that Those Great Ones are different from us. This is not at all true. The people we admire - whether in entertainment or professional lives, or society - started from a dream and nothing else. But what counted is that - they started. And each day – without a break - they promoted their vision, worked towards making it move ahead. From few audience to hundreds, to thousands - to become one of the major rock band in the world.

So start attempting to move your closely cherished ideals forward. Start somewhere. And start now. Do that please - The world needs you being at your best. Can’t think of anything better right now than R Kelly’s popular song ‘I Believe I Can Fly’.

Gaining Life out of Lost Moments!!

A philosopher once said: “Most people take the limits of their vision to be the limits of the world. A few don’t – join them.”

This is surely a superb point. The life that you see this very moment isn’t necessary the life of your future. May be right now you are viewing situations with the eyes of fear, rejections, limitations and false assumptions and you would be able to see a clearer picture once you wash off the stain from the glass window.

One of my good friends lost her life partner last month. Though she is a strong person and has her family supporting her completely in this moment of grief, she sometimes feels lonely and depressed. I don’t know what to say except – “this too shall pass”. I know it is difficult to face a situation like this but we all have to see some tough days, may be these are hers...

As Robert Frost says “one thing that is learnt about life through experience is that it goes on.”

No one is born with a guarantee of having a wonderful life – our attitude makes all the difference and this girl is certainly trying to cope up with the loss. I have seen many people who are filled with uncertainty and negativity; however there are still so very many great human beings out there – those who carry deep wisdom, who have big hearts and do not give up easily. We need to salute them and learn from their spirit as they gain life even out of lost moments.