PRACTIPS

How to Make a Airtight Packing at Home

2010-10-30T08:28:00.001-07:00

I got this in email few days back and I think it is a great idea. We can make a airtight pack at home very easily with material which are readily available. You just need an empty bottle of water and a plastic bag which needs to be made airtight.
Please see the images and you will realize how simple this is.

Advantage of keeping food airtight is it prevents moisture loss and keeps the food fresh. Sometime it is difficult to have too many containers and this idea can come handy.

What is Master Cleanse?

2010-08-28T10:38:00.001-07:00

There's a lot of buzz surrounding the Master Cleanse. Lately it seems like every Hollywood actress or actor who needs to get in shape is turning to this decades old health system that involves drinking a mixture of lemon juice, maple syrup, and cayenne pepper.

With all the diets out there to choose from why would anyone bother with the Master Cleanse?

There's two main reasons people like the Master Cleanse. The first (and most obvious) is that it works. The results people are getting with the Master Cleanse border on miraculous, and they are backed by thousands of devoted users who are living testimonials to the effectiveness of the Master Cleanse.

The second reason people choose the Master Cleanse over other diets and wellness programs is that it's fast. The typical person only spends 10 days on the Master Cleanse, compared to other diets that can last months or even years you can see why they choose the Master Cleanse.

Another interesting thing about the Master Cleanse lasting just 10 days is that you only need a short term burst of will power to get through it. Having to sacrifice for months is what makes other diets so hard to stay on, but most people can will their way through 10 days.

What can you expect from 10 days on the Master Cleanse?

Even though most people are going on the Master Cleanse to lose weight quickly, there's many other health benefits to be gained by doing the Master Cleanse. Flushing out your system is what the Master Cleanse is really designed to do. Even back 60 years ago when the Master Cleanse was first invented people had health problems as a result of waste building up inside of them. Today with processed foods, pollution, and all around poor diets our bodies desperately need to be flushed out every once in a while.

When you flush out your body with the Master Cleanse the waste you eliminate will be abnormal. The smell, color, and texture of the waste that comes out of your body shocks some people, so you should be prepared.

If you want to try the Master Cleanse there's more you need to know then just drinking the lemonade mixture for 10 days. In fact most people who try the Master Cleanse without knowing all the steps fail. If you think the Master Cleanse is something you would like to try there's a good book at what is Master Cleanse that you should read before starting the Master Cleanse because it covers the common problems people face, and how to avoid them.

Cultivate Active Hobby For Faster Growth

2010-05-13T19:58:00.000-07:00

Photo Credit : digicla, Flickr

One of my major hobbies since my childhood have been reading. I was mainly into classics and fictions. Then took on Sherlock homes and finished all the novels. Later on during last few years it has been self help books and literature. Currently it is more on Yoga, meditation and alternative healing and blogging on these.

I am able to read pretty quickly in English, Hindi and Bengali languages and little bit of Gujarati language. When I was in college, I was a voracious reader and would read anything I found. I would even try to read a piece of newspaper which was wrapped around something I was carrying.

Gradually I realized that there are two types of activities or hobbies - Passive and Active. Reading is more of a passive hobby while hobbies which require physical activity can be called as active hobby.

I am practicing skating now a days. Learning skating is one of my 50 goals. Presently I am halfway through learning and able to take walk. I started off with just trying to stand still and gradually progressed to present stage.

At present I am for enjoying active hobbies. Active hobbies involve action. It can be anything you enjoy and helps you experience new things in life. This brings freshness in life and makes it more enjoyable.

Active hobby involves moving your body and coordination of mind with the body. If that involves your hobby it obviously means that you will enjoy the activity. The excitement which you will get from the activity is what will pull you towards the activity. That is why mountain climbers keep on climbing more and more challenging mountains although it is dangerous.

I recommend everyone around me to cultivate atleast one active hobby. Most people when you ask them will mention passive habits like reading, listening to songs, watching movies or cricket match. Reading something useful can still be a great thing to do while others are just good for entertaining yourself but they should not be your hobby. These activities will not contribute to your growth.

What if you do not know which hobby to pursue?
If you do not have any idea about which hobby to pursue, look around you and find any activity which excites you. It can be anything like biking long distances, hiking, trekking, rafting, skating, martial arts etc. Do something which will provide you a different kind of experience. Once you find that hobby give it sufficient time and you will find that your life has a new dimension. So go ahead and choose a new active hobby.

How to Sleep after waking up at Midnight

2010-05-02T21:08:00.000-07:00

Yesterday I had to get up at 3pm since my father in law was arriving by train. We had to pick him up from the station and me and wife got ready quickly and went to the station. At the station there was some confusion due to which we spent around half an hour in finding him and then we got him home after that.

Once we got home I decided to go back to sleep as it was too early to start the day and usually when I am sleep deprived the day does not go of well with me. On getting to the bed initially I found that it is difficult to sleep back once you have to get up earlier. After few tossing and turning I suddenly found an effective way to get to sleep. Let me share that simple process below.

First of all lie down flat on your back with the hands to the side and relaxed. If you try to sleep sideways you would find it difficult to get back to sleep. I usually sleep sideways and find it easy to get to sleep in this position but when I have to wake up at night and again go to sleep sideways method is lesser effective for me. Close your eyes and move your eyeballs little upward. Try to relax the breathing and soon you should be able to see some random moving patterns in front of the eyes. Just observe them and soon you would be sleeping soundly.

I have found another technique to be useful also. In this technique I decide to meditate on the name of the deity I worship. For this I decide that I will slowly repeat the name of the deity around 100 times mentally and with each breath I meditate the name once. Once I start this usually I find myself in sleepy and eyelids become heavy very shortly and most of the times I am asleep before I reach the count of 100.

Important thing here is you should be relaxed and be pleasantly confident that you will be able to sleep with the technique. You can try this and see the results.

Fear of Falling

2010-04-28T06:40:00.000-07:00

Learning to skate is one of my 50 Goals for me. At the beginning of the year I included this as one of my goals for this year. I already had a pair of skates at my place and started practicing. I only put the skates on one leg and used the other leg to to push. I was afraid that I would fall down if I put on the skates on both the legs therefore I felt that it would be safer to put on the skate on only one leg. Another reason for practicing on one leg was I felt that it would give me the feel of skating without the risk and later I could move on to skating on both legs smoothly. How wrong was I.

However much ever I practiced on single leg, the feel is never the same as practicing with skates on both legs. Also it did not help me overcome the fear of falling down because I never fell down practicing on single leg. It happened for two weeks and then I lost interest. That was until last week.

Last week guests came over to our house to stay for couple of weeks. They also have small children and as is usual with most children they want to try out new things. They do not have the fear of failure or falling down as we elders have. Usually that fear is instilled by grown ups in the children. Some of the fears like teaching them to be safe from fire or electricity may be good for them but lot of others are not good for their growth.

Anyway to continue with the story, they started trying out the skates and on the second day I noticed that their nine year old daughter decided to try to skate on both legs. She took baby steps and was successful in covering a small distance without falling down. I was impressed with how quickly she was able to do that and main reason was she did not have the fear of falling. What I was reluctant to try even after two weeks, she decided to try on the second day itself. That is what innocence of a child can achieve.

This gave me hope and I immediately decided to give it a try. I put on the skates on both the legs and was able to cover a distance safely. I was thrilled. I tried again and decided to call my son to show this. My son came saw me trying to skate on both the legs. He was not impressed with the speed with which I was moving and gave me a good push on my back. I fell down on my back. Though it did not hurt much physically, my ego was hurt and got angry on him.

After I calmed down I realized that falling down was not that painful as I had assumed it to be. In fact it was good that I was pushed and I fell down. That incident removed my fear of falling. Now I am practicing skating and hope to gain sufficient skills in near future.

My Lessons
1. Likelihood of falling or failing is lesser that we assume.
2. Falling down is not as painful or disgraceful as we imagine it to be. Falling removes the fear and it is good for us in the learning process.

Go ahead and pursue your dreams. Falling down is part of the process to succeed after all stepping stone to success are the failures. Falling or failing helps us to lose our fears which stop us from growing.

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How to make Yogurt or Curd like Shop

2010-04-23T06:30:00.000-07:00

Day before yesterday I went to buy curd (yogurt) at a shop near my house. Somehow the yogurt at the shops is very well made and thickly set while when we make the curd at our home it is sour and more contains more fluid.

I asked the shopkeeper the secret and he gladly revealed the secret to me. I tried it at home and I was very successful in making superb yogurt as you can see in the picture. Here is the recipe.

1. Use a glass container instead of steel or aluminum container. Earthen containers are also excellent option.
2. Use a flat bottom container instead of deep bottomed container. Baking tray is a good option.
3. Pour the milk in the container. In the summers use lukewarm milk and in the winters use hot milk.
4. Add four to five drops of curd from existing collection in the milk. Usually we make the mistake of adding too much of curd which make it too sour.
5. Keep the container aside and do not disturb for 10 hours or so. If you disturb the container too much yogurt will not be solid in nature.

Usually start the process in the night and keep it in refrigerator in the morning till you consume this home made yogurt. Try it and enjoy the fresh home made yogurt.

Idolizing Others Will Take You Nowhere

2010-03-11T01:58:00.000-08:00

Recently Sachin Tendulkar became the first batsman in the world to score 200 runs in a one day international match. Next day media went gaga over it. Most Indians are fans of Sachin Tendulkar and they were extremely happy. Lot of them must have spent hours reading and discussing the achievement though they might have see it live on TV earlier. What a waste of time and energy. Do not get me wrong. I am not against Sachin, I am against wasting time eulogizing our heroes. Wouldn't it be better to use that time to do something constructive?

It is good to appreciate an achiever but we should not be emotionally attached to the success or failure of that person. If that hero succeeds we are happy and if the hero is unsuccessful we are sad. For example some people will be happy if Sachin succeeds while India loses a match. Similarly most peoples' sentiments are attached to cricket team in India. If the Indian cricket team wins they are happy whereas if it loses they are sad and may skip their meals. At the same time very few people are upset that India is competing for the last position in the hockey world cup. The reason is they are not sentimentally attached to the Hockey Team.

Another example is obsession with film stars. Fans of a film star may become violent if you criticize their hero. Some fans have committed suicide on the death of their hero. Such a waste of life.

It is better to focus on your strength and work on it. No one deserves that kind of adulation and idolizing. If you admire the qualities then learn from them and use them for your betterment. For example we should learn from the power of concentration and amount of hard work Sachin puts in to produce the great performances instead of just watching him on TV and celebrating his success as if they are your own. It would be greater tribute to your hero if you put your efforts in developing yourself using the qualities which you may admire in him.

So go for some workout today or a yoga session or take some decision to invest wisely. Let us produce more great people and leaders instead of bunch of emotional fools.

Stop being a Doormat

2010-03-03T05:27:00.000-08:00

Do you feel that no one listens to you? Do you feel that people take you for granted by your friends and relatives? Do you feel that you are exploited at the work? Are you tired of people treating as their doormat?
There are people out there who mistake your sincerity and decency to meekness and try to take advantage. If you give in to them they become bolder and next time they are back to exploit you. These people are present everywhere as colleagues, bosses, relatives. Standing upto these situations is very important because, you can lose your self esteem very fast with these kind of people. There is no point in sulking privately. Stand up and face them. You are responsible for your situation and if you allow them to dictate you are giving the control of your destiny in the hands of others.

Here are few suggestions to follow if you want to come out of that situation.

Start Saying No
Learn to say no to the task which you feel is not justified. Even if you are afraid, still say no. No one should be allowed to take you for granted. The people who are unreasonable while dealing with you are also aware of that, only thing is they are confident that they can bully you into doing it since you always allow that. Once you start saying No, and then say than whenever there is some unreasonable demand gradually you will earn respect and able to bring the situation into your favor.

Do Not Be Afraid of Loosing
Many times we are afraid that if we say no, we will lose these friends or relatives and therefore cannot say no or continue to tolerate their nonsense. Remember that true friends or well wishing relatives will not like to hurt you. If they do that then tell them so and in case there is no improvement, it is better to separate with them. Life is too precious and short to tolerate wrong kind of people in your life.

Improve your Self Esteem
Usually people who are treated as doormat are those who lack self esteem and it gets eroded further whenever bad things happen again and again. Start saying no which is mentioned in the point number 1. That is the first step. There are other steps which can be useful and mainly they are related so removing the fears related to social interactions. You can take baby steps to success. Here is an article on removing your fears.

It is your life and do not allow anyone to treat you shabbily. Once you take the first brave step, you will find that people will treat you more respectfully. Continue to take braver steps and you will find that other aspects of your life also starts improving magically and no one will treat you as a doormat again.

Seek out Negative Response to Become Braver

2010-03-01T07:29:00.000-08:00

There are various techniques to become brave. One of them is to seek out negative results. When you expect negative response in advance you loose the fear of rejection. When you loose the fear of rejection you start approaching a challenge in a braver manner without nervousness and as a paradox your chances of success increases.

When you start this, treat this as an experiment and try to observe the outcome instead of attaching yourself to the result. Detaching yourself from the results is what will increase the courage. Try out the following three experiments.

Ask for Lift
Ask for lift from 10 motorists. If they stop then it is great but do not go with them. Tell them a destination 500 km away so that you can avoid them. Your aim is not to go but ask for lift. Keep asking for the lift from at least 10 persons.

Give Interviews
Make a aim and attempt to give 10 interviews. Again your aim should not be selection rather the interaction with the interviewer. This will help you to face rejection and will be very helpful when you are really looking for a job.

Try selling to 10 People
Get a new T-Shirt which should be nicely packed and approach 10 people in a crowded place and ask if they would buy the T-Shirt.

You can similarly think of other things to try out and then go out and do those. You will end up more courageous and enriched with newer experiences.

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How to Strategize for Success

2010-01-22T21:44:00.000-08:00

In my last post I mentioned the importance for strategising for success. In this post focuses on how to strategize. As mentioned earlier, purpose of strategeizing is two fold. First it helps us to solve a problem and more importantly it helps us to get to the solution in a cheapest manner compared to the resources we use. When strategizing we aim to be effective instead of striving for perfection. We are then ready to compromise with achieving around 80% of the expected full value with the least investment.

Doing this in the long run, helps us have enough free time for fun while achieving more than average success rate in all the spheres where we work.

3 Good Ways to Strategize

Decide How much is important
It is easier to focus on less. Do not commit the mistake of trying 100 percent of the area. Then you would not able to strategize. For these you need to take the following approach.
First identify which part is absolutely essential to the task and without which essence of the task will be lost. Do not let it be more than 60% of the total task. Make sure that this portion is done perfectly. Then identify the tasks which are not as important as the first part but can give boost to the output with least amount of efforts. Do not let these to be more than 20% of the total task. Concentrate on this 80% of the task and finish it as fast as possible without losing focus.

Look For Help
If you are going to start a task on which you have little knowledge, identifying the important portions mentioned in the point 1 may also be difficult. Also you may know what you need to do but do not know how to do that. For this best is to look for a person who has knowledge on the subject or google it. This will help you to eliminate the mistakes and wastage of time by avoiding the wrong paths. While you do that be aware that it is not guaranteed that the path suggested may be the best path. Think over the solution before you start. It is possible that once you have the insight you may be able to come up with a better solution.

Start working on the Work
Once you cross the first two steps start to work on the work as soon as possible. You determination and energy is at their peak at the beginning and you should use that energy to quickly get over large portion of the task. This will give a boost to your chances of finishing the task. Most of the tasks which we do not ever start working on is due to the delay in starting it. If you eliminate this obstacle then chances of succeeding increases many folds.

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Optimum Path Strategy For Success

Optimum Path Strategy For Success

2010-01-22T04:46:00.000-08:00

One of the key difference which sets the successful people apart from the others is once they decide to achieve a particular challenging goal is that they strategize and maximize their chances of success with minimum efforts. They strategize on how to attack the problem or grab the opportunity and then go for it with all their energy. They choose a optimum path to achieve a goal.

An example could be that if a giant corporation is launching a product they can spend millions of dollars in marketing and launch to ensure success. The resources which the giant corporations have are not available to every individual. Now if an individual wants to launch a product he would need to strategize so that using his limited resources optimally chances of success are improved significantly. By resource I mean money, individuals at disposal, raw material or time. “Resource” here is basically any thing which can be used for productivity.

Another example is, if your exams are coming nearby or you are about to face an interview then you tend to put your full energy into the relevant studies. I have talked to many students and lots of them say that they study the most during the last two days of the exams. What they do is grab the question papers of last few years, mark out the sections from which questions are most likely to be asked and then prepare those sections. Most of them are successful in doing this and get good grades. Though I am not in favor of this approach because for me knowledge more important, but in the current education system this somehow fits nicely. The point I want to make here is that when these students put whole hearted efforts for only a few days the results are good. So they have strategized on how to use their time effectively by intelligent guessing and decreasing the preparation time.

These students do not plan to get 100% marks but use the time in other activities. Therefore they are sacrificing some marks but then their goal is not full marks but to get “Good” enough marks without spending too much time.

Other examples of Using Optimum path strategy

Similarly for success in other fields, for example a small business which you want to start this approach will serve you quite well. This strategy can also be used to test market your ideas before you go full fledged with more money and resources.

Optimizing Test Marketing For Success

Let us say you want to start a business of supplying handicraft articles which are quite beautiful and unique. Now you want to start mass production but you are unsure of the market. You can use this approach only for finding out the market demand and to decide the pricing before you start the business to maximize your chances of success with least investment.

First you will need some samples. That will help you to find out how much cost will be incurred in the production process. The cost may reduce when the articles are manufactured in mass.

Now you decide to approach 5 retailers every day for next 30 days come what may. If you feel afraid in approaching the retailers think his way “At present I do not have this retailer as my customer so I have nothing to lose. Best possible outcome will be that I will be able to add him as my customer and worst thing is the status will remain as it is so I am not going to lose anything from here.” You can refer to “How to increase your comfort zone” which will help you to increase the comfort levels.

Above approach will solve two positive purposes. Either you will have a new retailer in you bag to whom you may supply your goods and if the retailer refuses to become your customer then ask his honest opinion on why. You will gain good insight on the market and any existing competition if any. Another benefit will be that if so are able to create a good rapport with the retailer you may approach him in the future also with any new products which you may come out with during that time. To make this approach even better ask him if he can refer someone who can be

With the above strategy you will be able to talk to around 150 prospective customers. The chances are very high that you will be able to get some customer if you approach right type of retailers. If you are not able to sell the idea to these retailers then it should give you an idea that that product which you want to come out may not have much demand.

On the other hand if you still have strong conviction in your product then you may want to approach a different market like trying to sell on the ebay on the internet. This way you will save a lot of money and increase the chances of your success.

Similarly you can strategize the way you will try to crack a problem. For example if you face a technically challenging task during your work, your approach may involve looking for the probable causes of the problem, talking to colleagues or searching the internet for probable solution and then picking the solution which best fits the current environment. Usually talking to you colleagues who have faced a similar problem in the past if the fastest way to solve any problem so you strategy should be to go for that option first.

Strategizing and finding a optimum path helps you to achieve success faster and at a lesser cost of time and money. Initially this may be difficult to do when you are not habituated to this. But when you keep on applying this approach repeatedly you will be able to innovate and strategize more easily which will take you to your designated goals sooner than ever before.

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How to Relax and Rejuvenate Yourself

2010-01-17T08:16:00.000-08:00

Every once in a while I go and get some myself face and head massage. It is rejuvenating and I feel nice and energetic after that. I usually do it on Sundays and really feel good about it. I frequently look forward to it. Indulging ourselves heals the body and the mind alike. Relaxation is an important component in anybody's life,

Most of us worry too much about the future too much and it forget to take care of ourselves today. When our today is full of worry and anxiety there is no point in trying to make the future bright. Even if there are lot of problems and difficulties, point is you should still be able to steal good moments for yourself.

Things You Can Do to Relax
Basically any actions which makes you feel better is usually relaxing. Breaking the routine taking breaks is a nice way to feel relaxed. Each one of us have different ways to relax. Some of us want to laze around while some others want to get away to some distant place away from the familiar environment.

What better way to feel good than pampering self with some good massage. It is important that we learn to relax ourselves to avoid stress and burnout.

Spending time on yourself is a good way to heal yourself both physically and emotionally. That gives you time to introspect and is a wonderful way to grow. Pampering also helps you in rejuvenating and getting back renewed energy and enthusiasm and ready to face the day to day challenges.

Vacations are great stress busters. Make sure that from time to time you go for major pampering like holidays and more frequently you should go for minor pampering.

Here are few ways to relax yourself

Get a Ayurvedic Herbal Massage for the entire body. This will rejuvenate your entire body and helps remove stress and detoxifies you.

Go for a holiday to a hill station or to a sea side and become unreachable to your work location. Make sure you do not travel too much and enjoy that place. Take walks in the evenings or morning and enjoy.

Do some light exercises or practice yoga.

Practice Meditation and Pranayama

Watch a comedy show on TV.

Go for a light movie.

Take a candle light dinner with your partner.

Take a facial and head massage massage. Makes your face shining and you feel good.

Buy some new clothes or shoes.

Eat something you enjoy even if not too much. For example chocolate.

Talk about your problems to someone close

Participate or arrange for a potluck with friends

How to Expand Your Comfort Zone for Success

2010-01-14T23:37:00.000-08:00

Comfort zone can be defined as the situations or the actions in which you can work without any inhibitions or most confidently. You are not conscious of your surroundings and even if you know that people disapprove your action are not as much bothered as to stop the activity. Your productivity in any work is related to the comfort zone in which you are present. Your productivity can be at its maximum when when you are in your comfort zone and decreases substantially when you are outside your comfort zone. It is a sort of psychological safety zone in which you can work with minimum stress. Basically any environment in which we feel physically and emotionally safe can be described as out comfort zone.

Here are few examples.
When you join a new organization your comfort level is quite less and as the days and weeks pass you grow used to the new environment and start performing better. Usually companies provide some buffer time to anybody who are new joiners so that they can develop their comfort zones. Similarly if your boss is very short tempered you will feel threatened all the time and not be comfortable. This can also affect the performance.

Another example can be any newly married lady who moves to the in laws place. For initial few months she may not be comfortable as she does not knows anyone in the new house. Gradually as she become comfortable with the new new home and the family her comfort zone increases and she can stay and behave more confidently.

These were examples of social comfort zone. There can be skill related comfort zones like learning a new Software or operating a new gadget. In my opinion social comfort zones are more important as most of the time we deal with people.

Comfort Zone and its Role in Your Success
More comfortable you are in difficult situations, more successful you are in doing them confidently. People who can do tasks which most others cannot are the ones who are the highest paid and the most rewarded persons. If your comfort zone is much bigger than others than it you will be able to take actions more easily where people with smaller comfort zones may not be able take actions and that will keep you ahead of others and make you look stand out.

People who take risks are able to take those because there have face many uncomfortable situations and expanded their area of security so much that they will that they can handle new uncomfortable situations also although they may also be unfamiliar and uncomfortable in the new tasks.

Basic principle is to do small acts of bravery which can instill more confidence and make you familiar to the experience so much that you are able to develop the comfort zone in that situation. Once you reach that level then you can increase your comfort zone by selecting some tasks which are difficult. This way you can increase the volume of your comfort zone till it becomes a big dome.

Here are few tasks which will increase your comfort zone

I am mentioning all the tasks which will increase the comfort zone at social level since most of us face challenge more at the social level compared to any other situation.

Look into the eyes of 3 people
Try to look into the eyes of 3 people each day till they back out. This will be quite uncomfortable for both of you but you aim is to increase your comfort level. In case some one takes offense then tell them that he/she reminds you of some old friend. If you do this regularly will end up more comfortable with people.

Talk to Strangers
While in a mall or on a traffic signal ask what time it is or ask how to reach a particular place. You may also ask silly question like what time it is, or when will the sun set today and say that it is really important for you to know that it can be a life saving decision. Just make up any story and talk to someone.

Sing in the public place
Try singing in a public place like road or mall. Do it when you have quite a few people in the audible distance. If you have really bad voice that should be more the reason to do this :) Initially you can hum loudly till you gather enough courage though.

Change your hair style or facial hair
Take a completely different hair cut compared to your usual style. If you are male then try our different things with your facial hair like beard and moustache. I used to be real conscious of this and for year stuck to one hair style. First time I shaved my moustache I was ashamed to go to office and kept on think what the people will think. Now I am more adventurous and keep on changing style every few months. Now I look forward to people's comments and if they are negative I brush them aside.

Wear clothes the wrong way
Wear two socks of two colors or wear the dress inside out. Make sure that people notice that and then observe their comments. Say that you were in a hurry so did that and refuse to make it correct the entire day.

If you feel afraid to try these then there is even more reason to go for these as these actions will definitely increase you comfort zone. One thing is for sure, at the end of these exercise you will have some interesting stories to tell. So try these and see how interesting your life becomes.

My Ebook on Back Pain Cure with Yoga

2010-01-13T23:12:00.001-08:00

I have published a ebook on Back Pain Cure with Yoga. It is titled "Lower Back Pain Cure With Yoga"

Lower Back Pain Cure With Yoga -

How To Overcome Fear

2010-01-06T09:15:00.000-08:00

Most of us afraid of something and when we need to face that moment we freeze. We feel trapped and feel how we can escape. Fear stops us from enjoying various things which life has to offer us and it can lead a feeling of deprivation when you observer that you are not able to enjoy things like others.

Usually reasons of fear are not totally know and could be related to some past experiences. Those could be some childhood experience which could have impression in the mind. So whenever you face a similar situation, brain brings back that stored impression and the body reacts in the defined manner for that impression. For example when you meet a friend after a long time you automatically smile or laugh and this is due to the impression in the brain for this event. It could also be due to some experiences of past life. Although some of people you find this hard to believe I personally feel that experiences from your past life plays an important role in how you behave and feel in a certain situation. I may write more on this in some later posts.

My Personal Fear
Let me admit, I have a huge fear of heights. I shiver at the prospect of riding any rides in the theme parks. I remember several instances where I have not been able to enjoy the rides due to this fear. Somehow my body tightens up and I feel that entire thing is out of control for me.

I start sweating profusely and my blood pressure and heart rate goes up. I remember that one I went to Six Flags in Wisconsin Dells in USA and was able to ride very few rides and even in those felt very unsafe. I have faced similar situations lot of times and wondered why I become so much afraid. I have tried to ride some easier rides but then also the fear remains the dominant feeling.

How to Reduce Fear?
Key factor in reducing fear is to accept it that you are afraid but still tell yourself that you will attempt the task which makes you afraid, though it may be a small step. Taking small but brave steps reduce the fear atleast to some extent. When we keep on taking them it may gradually eliminate the fear. You need to keep in mind two things here. Firstly the fear will not go away quickly, and it will take time. Second and more important is the person involved should be willing to take that baby step.

Take Baby Steps
Be supportive to the person and if you are the victim then seek support. People may have ideas to help you. Most people have fear of public speech and if they need to make some speech it is really difficult and some people dread any social occasions where they may need to speak. If you suffer from this fear you can try to speak in front of close family members first and then when confidence increases then try to speak in front of extended family and friends. Tell them in advance that you will speak to them for only 5 minutes. When you do that your confidence will surely increase. Keep on taking further baby steps till the day you are able to give a talk to a large group of people.

Develop a Superiority Complex
Before starting think that if others can do it I can also do it, after all they are no way superior to you. If you have this feeling it will give you courage. For example, when I was starting to learn driving a bike or car I was afraid. Then I thought that if most of the people whom I know and who are in no way superior to me can learn then why not me. That provided me the required courage to learn.

Think of you past fears and use them
When you are afraid to try or fail after first few attempts here is how you can have more courage. Think of lot of things which you tried in the past and were not able to do initially and now able to do them easily. Which means that as we keep on attempting a task it surprisingly becomes easier to do. Then apply this knowledge to your situation.

Think of the Good Things
Imagine the good things which you can enjoy when you are able to overcome the fear. Use that imagination to provide you the courage. For example imagine how you will feel when you come down from the stage and people congratulate you after a great speech.

Now continuing my story of fear of heights. I was afraid to ride a horse also, but in a recent trip I had to ride a horse in the mountains and I thought that if old ladies can do that why not me. That gave me confidence. I relaxed my self and decided to enjoy. It was a 12 KM ride and it made me really comfortable riding a horse. Now I look forward to riding horses, camels and elephants.

Recently I decided to take on my fear and rode a Giant wheel. Initially I was really afraid and just as I rode it I thought I had take a wrong decision. Then I noticed that my body was really tense which was making me more miserable. I opened up and relaxed my arms, stomach and the legs and started looking at the things. I saw that things look different from the top. This has increased my courage and once it was completed I was really glad with what I did. Though it is easy stuff for lot of people for me it is a baby step in the right direction. I plan to ride more rides in near future to reduce my fear. Now one of my aim is para jumping which involves jumping from a plane.

Remember everyone is afraid, it is just that they are able to control the fear and in fact use that fear to have thrill. I have talked to lot of people who like to take rides and they all say they are afraid but that is the source of the thrill. I was an introvert and never talked to girls. I was extremely self conscious but now I have given a lot of public speeches many times. Initially during a speech I am also nervous, but I have learned to control that nervousness. The secret is every great speaker is afraid initially.

If you try the above steps you will not only be able to reduce the fears but start enjoying more. May you conquer your fear.

How to Achieve More Goals This Year

2010-01-01T19:43:00.000-08:00

Every year lot of us make new year resolutions and start with a bang. Then after a week or so the enthusiasm level starts falling and by the end of January the resolutions are lost and forgotten somewhere. Then at the end of the year we again dig up the ghosts of the past year's resolutions and put them in new clothes and they are again ready for the next year. Usually the cycle repeats each year.

When this happens for a few successive years, people stop making any resolutions at the beginning of the year. They stop feeling guilty or sorry at the end of the year. All the guilt free years come back to you with interest though later. As years pass by and when we look back we start feeling what we have lost by not taking any actions and wonder what we may have achieved if we had worked to achieve even 50% of those goals. This has happened with me as well as and when I am more focused I can see what an time waster I have been.

If you do not act on your goals then they are just your wish list and unfortunately we do not have a genie who can fulfill our wishes.

Here is how we can do to achieve our Goals?

Write Down Your Goals
I have found it myself after implementing it. I have been reading this for a long time but once I wrote it down it somehow becomes easier to focus and achieve the goals. Here is a post on importance of writing down your goals. If you really serious about your goal write it in paper and stick it either in front of your computer or mirror or anywhere where it will be visible everyday.

Have a Goal which will excite you.
Selecting an exciting goal is very important. It should be challenging and at the same time should be something which will make you proud when you achieve that. There should be some attraction from the goal itself which draw you to the goal. For example if you want to lose weight choose a bigger picture. if you are in middle age think you will look when you shed all those flab. If you want to get a better paying job then think you will feel when you get that job everyday. You can add some excitement by making it bit difficult to achieve.

Here is an example. For example if you want walk for 1 mile every day for a month, then you can have a goal like "Start walking every day for 30 days. Start with 1 mile and at end of 30 days I should be able to walk the XYZ trek which is 5 miles long and at a altitude." Here I have presented very simple way, but you can manipulate this to suite your situation.

Take Actions Every Day or Frequently
Taking Action(s) Frequently.
Work on your goals to reach close very frequently. Take actions frequently like daily or every two or three days is very important. This keeps you on track and does not let you lose focus. The frequency can depend on the goal. For example, if you want to quit smoking, read anti smoking literature every day. Create a check list of the items which will help you to avoid smoking and read that every day.

If you are planning a dream vacation as your goal then daily action may not be required. But you may set a checklist like checking a cheaper hotel booking, planning and booking the flights at the right time to get discount, saving money and see if you not spending the money on the items which you plan to avoid to fund this vacation.

Start with a Short Term Goal
If you have failed to achieve most of your goals previously then go for a shorter term goal first. Start with a goal which can be achieved in a week or so. Then move on to month long duration goal. Making sure that you are achieving these goals will give you confidence to achieve long and bigger goals. Make the shorter goals stepping stone to bigger goals in your life.

Thing to remember is do not make the short term goals easy. They should be equally important for you to achieve and make you feel excited as mentioned in point 2.

Having goals are important for us to reach near our potentials and having a richer life and with the above steps you can achieve many of your dreams this year and in the years to follow.

Related Posts

50 Things I Want To Do or Achieve Before I Die

How to get higher rate of Interest from a Bank FD or CD

2010-01-01T00:30:00.000-08:00

We all know that fixed deposits(FD) in bank are a safe bet and provide better returns than savings accounts. Usually FDs have 3 to 4 percentage more returns than the savings accounts. Another advantage of FD is that usually they are safe and you almost have guaranteed returns. Many people who do not understand stock markets put their money in FDs.

Till few years back FDs used to return more than 12% in India and people put all their money in the FDs. Due to economic policies it is not longer possible for the banks to provide such high interest rates. Now currently in India the rates are around 7.5% for FDs which is quite less if you put all your money here.

Simple way to have more interest rates for your FDs

Instead of bank FD go for company FDs. They will provide you more interest rates. Usually companies raise money through public issues, but certain times they go directly to public and offer them Fixed Deposits. Since people trust the banks more than the companies, therefore the FDs from companies offer more interest rates.

It is quite easy to get around 3 to 4 percent more than the bank rates. Last year I had some spare cash and did the same. You should be careful while choosing the company. Just make sure that they have good track record to ensure the safety of your investment. For example TATA is is trustworthy company in India and going for FDs offered by them is a safe bet.

You need to keep in mind that some of the FDs may have a lock in period and you may not be able to withdraw before that period.

Some companies offer FDs to only their shareholders or offer them slightly higher rates. If you want to go for those companies but do not want to purchase too many share then go for only one share of the company and then purchase the FDs.

Investing the money in FDs over longer period have superior returns and managing our money wisely will ensure financial freedom to us and our family.

Related Posts
How to Make Money with Minimum Risk

How to Make Money with Minimum Risk

2009-12-29T06:35:00.000-08:00

You might have heard from lot of financial planners that those who cannot understand stock markets should go for mutual funds and best way to invest in mutual funds is through Systematic Investment Plan (SIP). In Systematic Investment Plan you need to invest every month in a mutual fund on a fixed date for a period of time say one year or two year etc. As per the financial consultants, this will give good returns. In case there are periods where markets are high for certain time and then it goes down for certain time then the average investment will even out and you will get positive returns.

This is totally misleading statement especially if you start out at when the stock markets are on a high. I have done that and found how misleading it is. The moment you stop the SIP the fund stops getting evened out and if you stop when the markets are at a low for last few months, then you chances of making any profits are quite less. Financial planner and mutual fund companies are the only gainers.

SIPs are for lazy investors. Most people want to earn money from stock markets automatically and they do not want to take much risk and in the bargain do not earn what they could have earned potentially.

How to Profit from Stock Markets?
If you want to make money in stock markets I will suggest a simple solution. Invest in index funds. In case you are unaware, index funds are mutual funds which are not actively managed. They invest money in all the funds which represents a index. For example, Nifty is collection of top 50 companies in India. Similarly Sensex consists of top 30 companies. If the index fund you choose is based in Senxexm the index fund you choose will have proportionate investment in all the stocks which are included in Sensex. Whenever Sensex increase by 5% that index fund will also increase by 5% and if the Sensex fall by 10% that index fund's value will also reduce by 10%.

As per the history of Sensex and any other index in the world, the indexes increase over time. So investing in them is a almost certain way to have profits.

Another advantage of index funds is, since it is not actively managed, they have very less fund management charges as compared to other actively managed mutual funds.

Although for a short period of time like one or two or three year a fund may give more returns than the index for over a longer period of time they are not able to beat the returns of index funds consistently. So go for index funds.

How to Invest in Index Funds
Making profits is easy. Invest when markets are down and sell when markets are high. So next question is how. It is simple. First fix some money say for example 5000 or 10000 rupees or dollars whichever is your currency. Decide that whenever markets fall by 5% then you will invest that money and whenever market rises by 7% you will sell units worth that money. Usually fall like 5% and rise of 7% will not happen more than 5 to 7 times a year.

Based on the averages you will definitely make money. If you want to increase the returns than you can increase the money you invest or sell in a transaction. So with each fall you buy more units are cheaper price and when it rises you book your profit. Whenever you buy or sell, mark when you will buy or sell next. For example if you sell today when the market is at 100 points then your would sell next time when market is at 107 and buy at 95. You would now mark these two as the new transaction points.

I have observed the pattern for last few years and have seen that it can make money. Another advantage is you do not need to watch the markets every day very closely. You only need to observer if it is gaining and moving towards the new markers. When it is close then you need to make sure that you do the transaction.

If you follow the above steps you can make money without much risks.

Twelve ways to sharpen your brain

2009-12-25T08:28:00.000-08:00

It is a fact the our brain, like the other body muscles sharpens more as we use it more. More neurons are created to store newer experiences. More the number of these neurons, sharper it will be.

There is another similarity between the exercise of the muscles and the brain. If you continue to exercise the same set of muscles, they will grow stronger till some point and then the muscles becomes used to that exercise and does not grow after that. Similarly when we keep on feeding the brain same experiences time after time it stops recording them at a deeper level and stronger neurons networks are not developed.

On the other hand, if you exercise different set of muscles, then body will respond to that exercise better and body will have more muscle mass and same is the case with brain cells. When it fed with newer experience it becomes sharper. Newer experiences are recorded at a deeper level and for that you need to feed it with different experience which are not recorded previously.

The question is how to feed the brain with newer experiences. The answer is to do some activity to which you are not used to. Doing that requires more concentration and brain is feed with different impulses from the muscles or the sense organs which are being used. This leads the brain to record that experiences which add new neurons making the brain stronger.

Here are twelve simple activities which can sharpen your brain.

Drive to a place through a new route.

Ride a bike facing backwards while someone else is driving. Be careful it may be dangerous

Go for trekking to a new place.

Solve some puzzle.

Write or draw with left hand if you are right handed or vice versa.

Play carom board with your weaker hand

Play Chess especially with a player with who you do not normally play with.

Learn a new skill like Skating or Skiing or Salsa.

Paint.

Try something adventurous like rock climbing or scuba diving.

Meditate

Try some new Yoga Postures. You can visit my blog www.headfirstyoga.com for Yoga articles.

Write Down Your Goals To Achieve Them

2009-12-20T19:18:00.000-08:00

Yesterday I finished one of my goals in 50 Things I Want To Do or Achieve Before I Die. It was really good to complete one of my stated goals. Now that I am able to write Done in front of the goal I can now move on to next goal with more confidence than ever that I can achieve them also.

Benefits of Writing Down your Goals
It proved to me what I have read for a long time. If you want to achieve something, then write it down. Writing down your goals in a way compels and more than that encourages you to at least have a go at them and once you do that you are in a better position to achieve them.

Writing down your goals also good because writing means more of a commitment and less of a wish. Only you have the power to achieve your goals and the satisfaction which you will get from achieving can not described in words.

Writing down your goals and making the list public will also put some positive pressure on you to accomplish the goals. That is why I have published the list on my blog. If you do not want to publish it on blog then you can share it with your friends and family and also tell them to remind you after that.

Another benefit of writing down your goals is you will only write the goals which are quite meaningful to You. Lot of time we try to accomplish goals which are set by others for us. That is not good. Once you write down your goals, you take charge of your life. You will then be able to decide the destiny and journey of your life and not others.

Action Item
Take a pen and a paper and write down following three list.
a. Your Goal for next three months. include various things which you would love to do in life and not just health and money, for example learning something new skill or visiting some place. (For example my personal aim is to learn Skating.)
b. Similar list for next six month.
c. Similar list for next one year (2010).

Now paste the list on your wall where you do most of your work. I think after six month you will have a lot to shout about. Go and get a pen NOW.

50 Things I Want To Do or Achieve Before I Die

2009-11-14T07:56:00.000-08:00

Every one has dreams. I have read this kind of list where people list out places they want to visit before they die. I think this is a powerful way to achieve your dreams. Instead of just being passive and hoping that some dreams will come true, wh not create a list and go after them. At least once you know what you want how will you ever achieve your dreams? This kind of list empowers you and fills you with motivation to go ahead and achieve your dreams.

I have also decided to create a list. I want to achieve at least 50 things which are important to me. At present the list is quite short, and I intend to fill it up as and when I meet some interesting goal. Some of the goals below may be expanded to create few more interesting goals.

As and when I complete a goal I will update that here.

So here goes my list.

Finish the 32 Week Basic Course of Iyengar Yoga

Retire at 45

Practice Surya Namsakar for 21 rounds for 30 days. (Done)

Practice Surya Namsakar for 108 rounds for a week.

Create a poster with self performed 108 Yoga Poses.

Reach more than 10000 daily visitors on my Blogs.

Travel to Darjeeling and Sikkim and explore the great Himalayas

Visit Switzerland and Paris. Travel through the alps

Learn Skating

See Tiger in a Wild Life Sanctuary.

Visit Andamans.

Do Snorkeling.

Build a Wind Power generator.

Buy a Farm and grow crops.

Take my parents abroad once

Go on a cruise for at least 2 days

Be Total Vegetarian

Learn Sanskrit good enough to understand Bhagwad Geeta

Have a pet cow.

Para Sailing

Do Para jumping atleast once in my life

Attend a 10 day Vipassana Course

Live on boiled and raw food without any spices for a week

Release own Software Products

Write 5 Books (1 Done)

Developing Self Reliant Communities

2009-06-25T04:28:00.002-07:00

In these days of World economy I came across a presentation from a organization called Swadeshi Jagran Manch which tells the Indians to buy Indian goods. Its motto is "Buy Local". Swadeshi means produce belonging to ones' native country and "Jagran Manch" means platform to raise awareness. This organization aims to raise the awareness amongst Indians to buy local goods and reject the multinational companies. I think there are similar kind of organizations all over the world in different countries.

As per this philosophy, every consumer should try to buy goods which are produced and manufacture locally and if they are not produced locally then go for imported goods if they are absolutely must. For example, if a person wants to buy grain he should buy that from a merchant or farmer from his own village. If it is not available then try to buy merchandise from his district, then from state and then from other states. If not produced in the country then go for imported goods. If at all we need to import then see if that is absolutely essential or has technical benefits for the country.

In my view it does makes sense. There are several benefits I can see.

Following are the benefits of Buying Local.
1. Firstly, it will develop micro economy.
2. Money will reach the small farmers and producers.
3. It will generate more employment locally and in turn it will stop migration of people to cities where they stay in improper conditions, as they will find employment there.
4. The wastage and expenses incurred during the transportation will reduce.
5. Big multinational firms spend more money in advertising there by increasing the price of the goods. Their involvement in selling these goods also means they lesser number of people are employable for selling the same amount of the goods. They hardly bring any value to the good and charge exorbitant amount for the shopping service they provide.
6. By going local you are providing money for a local family instead of filling the coffers of a cash rich company.

What are the steps you can take.
1. Buy local material. For example if you can see grains, cereal or spices manufacture by local company buy that instead of local brands. Just make sure they are of good quality.
2. There are certain items which may not be produced locally, there go for the companies which have manufacturing facilities in your state or district.
3. Try to avoid buying items such as toys which are made in China for example even if they are cheaper.

This can be done by people in all countries of the world. This will strengthen the local communities and not restrict the wealth in the hands of few individuals and corporations. Less babies will suffer from malnutrition and hunger and world will be a happier place.

Dress Restriction for Girls in Colleges

2009-06-25T04:27:00.000-07:00

Recently there was a news in the media regarding the dress code for girls in colleges in Kanpur city which is in northern India. The girls did not like the ban and reacted by protesting it. Similar bans have been called for recently in Karachi and various other colleges. The target is always the girls and they are told that wearing jeans would invite eve teasing. Some places the plea is that jeans is a western dress and we should stick to our culture.

I think the reasoning is absurd. The sickness is in the loafers and idiots roaming around in the streets and we are treating it by telling the girls to wear traditional dresses. As if you have a pain in the legs and instead of treating it we say amputating the leg will relieve the pain in the leg. Can the college authorities assure the girls that the eve teasing will stop if they start wearing traditional dresses? Another reason I don't like such bans is it is giving in to the rowdies.

I am not against the traditional dresses, and in fact I think girls look beautiful in them, but again choice should be with the person as to what they want to wear. If sticking to the culture is the main point then the boys should also not be allowed to wear T-Shirts or jeans and instead should come to college in Kurta and Dhoti which are traditional dresses for male in India.

Some people would argue that the crime against the women will rise if they are in Jeans and T-Shirt. That is also not very true. In fact if a girl is confident in these dresses then there are less chances of eve teasing compared to a weak body language in traditional dress. There are scores of rapes and crimes happening against girls and there is no statistics to suggest that most were in western dresses. I feel if the dress is dignified and not revealing it should be allowed. If compared to Tops, sarees, the traditional dress shows more skin. Some ladies wear Sarees in a very dignified manner while some can make it look vulgar.

The major solution in my opinion would be to run a public campaign to educate people on how to handle eve teasing, encouraging people to help girls live a dignified life and at the same time give police more power to tackle the culprits. Recently in Kanpur, police caught few eve teasers and invoked the strict national security act on them. Such kind of actions can be deterrents to crimes against the women and not the knee jerk reactions being shown by the weak college administrators.

How to maintain you cool in Traffic

2009-06-22T21:42:00.000-07:00

Driving in congested traffic is one of the major causes of stress in day to day life. I have asked many people and they agree that they get angry regularly while Driving. While in America, I saw that most of the traffic was well disciplined and respecting other drivers. It is not to say that everybody is disciplined but most of the people obey traffic laws. Here in India and rest of South Asia people somehow want to move ahead and beat you. Everyone seems in too much hurry and some how want to reach their destinations earlier. People take too much time to save 5 to 10 minutes of their time, while putting at risk their own and others' lives. Most of my friends who come back from America after a long time are afraid to drive here for first few days even if they have been born and brought up here.

When do most people get irritated?
I was thinking about this problem for a long time and trying to analyze what caused me most irritation. I came across three major reasons which creates anger.

Slow traffic in front
When you are in a hurry to reach your office or rush home after a day at the office, one thing that irritates the most is another motorist who is moving too slowly on a single lane road and blocking your path. It gets more annoying when you want to overtake but unable to do so because of lack of space. You start cursing that person.

Honking
Sometime you might be traveling at a proper speed but the person behind you may be in too much hurry and keeps on honking on you. I have also see people who keep on honking on everybody else on the road expecting that everyone else will clear the road for him. This habit creates a lot of stress to others. Quite a few people think of taking revenge and start honking on that person. This creates more stress on the road.

Rash Driving
Few people think it is their birth right to move into every little space on the road and do not care about the lanes or any other rules. Some others turn suddenly without any indicators. When you see such driving you become aware of the danger to you and become apprehensive and cautious.

Steps to remain cool in Traffic

Start Early
Starting early is one of the key to remain calm in traffic. If a destination requires 15 minutes, then start 20 minutes early. Similarly for a destination of 1 hour start 15 minutes early. If you want to hurry, use it to make an early start. For example, try to finish the daily routine like bath, or breakfast earlier so that you can make an early start. Once you start with sufficient time in hand, the traffic jams will not cause stress as you already accounted for them.

Drive Slowly
This is an extension of the earlier point. Apart from starting earlier, try to drive within the speed limit and as per the road condition. I have observed that driving slowly ensures that the driving anxiety is not there. Even if you are in a real hurry, try to drive as much slowly as possible. Remember it is better to reach late than ending up in hospital with few broken bone or disability for life.

Keep Distance
Keep a safe distance from the vehicle in front of you. If there is sudden braking from the vehicle in front you would still be safe. Another benefit of maintaining safe distance is you can anticipate any danger and take evasive action. If you are too close you may not get a chance to save yourself from the danger.

Forgive
This is a technique which I find extremely effective and useful. Even if someone manages to irritate you and makes you feel angry, lets say by continuous honking, suppress the urge to honk him. Think that may be this person is in real hurry let me forgive him. You will immediately find peacefulness returning and stress getting released.

Observe Your Stress
I also use this technique quite a lot. When ever you feel angry, try to divert the attention and observe and feel the stress your face. Observe how the forehead is tighter. You will immediately be able to relax and de-stress.

Try out the above techniques and let me know about them. I would also love to hear from you, any other techniques which you find useful. Happy Driving, Bon Voyage.

Starting Practical Self Improvement Tips & Information Blog

2009-06-22T10:46:00.000-07:00

I am currently running a blog called headfirstyoga.com. That blog is dedicated to Yoga, Acupressure and Ayurveda articles and tips. I am starting this blog in the hope of sharing other information and tips which I collect and which I want to share. Like everybody else, I have my own perspective of everything around us which I want to bring to you.

I feel that everyone of us have lot of potential and we can keep on improving each day. Even if we move one inch a day ahead we will move 365 inches forward in a year. That is my philosophy. One year from now you would wish you had started today. Start the improvement today and even if we move slowly we will be better off next year this time.

Have a great day and I look forward to bringing you my views on various topics.

Thanks
--Nilendu Bhattacharya