There is a time in our life when we decide that this is the time. This is when you stop preparing and start living.

This is when you stop giving yourself excuses, fight procrastination and proceed with a certainty of [...]]]> Are you a pro?
Have you taken the plunge?

There is a time in our life when we decide that this is the time. This is when you stop preparing and start living.

This is when you stop giving yourself excuses, fight procrastination and proceed with a certainty of creating art.

Embracing the Fear

The professional risks putting herself out in the open. You know your work might be criticized and you accept it in the right spirit. No more hiding behind the shield of being a “novice”. No more getting off with the excuse of lack of knowledge or accountability.

A Pro is Accountable

The pro takes 100% responsibility for the work done. No less. If it goes wrong, you take charge of the situation and take action.

A Pro turns up

Turning up is the most crucial ingredient of success. Merely paying lip service to what needs to be done and shying away from the work is surely stupidity. A pro knows inspiration will follow, all you have to do is start.

A Pro Gives Freely

A Pro knows the most important piece is creating wealth – financial, aesthetic, social whatever. By wealth I don’t mean just money but anything that makes the earth a better place to live it.

A Pro Has High Standards

You are not satisfied by the status quo. Nor do you allow herself to slip into mediocrity. You learn to acknowledge fear and use it to your advantage. You push your limits to create what really matters.

A Pro Lives Every Moment with a smile

You do not worry unduly about the past. Nor do you get intimidated by the future. You dutifully does your work. It is in the present moment that great art is created.

A Pro Takes Herself Lightly

You take great care of your work sometimes even obsessively curate it. But you know that you are not the only one who has created it.

You acknowledge that a lot of people have been involved in the process. You have learned from a lot of events, things and people and stood on shoulders of giants who have tread the path before.

You realize you is only the last link in the chain whose touch brought life to the artistic endeavor which makes you incredibly humble.

Have you decided to be a Pro or are you still waiting for a miracle?

Related Posts:

• Moment of Truth

A realization that no one is going to help us.

It is the moment when we know it is time to take charge of our own destinies.

It is somewhat liberating or perhaps somewhat frightening.

Do you want to the best?

Do you absolutely want to be at the top of your trade?

The simple answer is becoming excellent in your chosen game. Become the best in whatever you want to do. Become one of the best artists in Do you want to be successful?

The simple answer is becoming excellent in your chosen game. Become the best in whatever you want to do. Become one of the best artists in your art.

And the answer to being excellent is “repetition”.

“Repetition is the mother of skill”

There is simply no way around. It might sound harsh and a bit blunt, but no there is no shortcut. There is no one who will bless you and everything will be fine. You will have to take complete responsibility and work your way through. Everyone of us has to walk step by step to reach our goals.

There is simply no way out. Stop looking for shortcuts and favours. Instead be someone who helps others and does favours. Contribute awesome value, work sincerely. You will have no time to crib, and will always find interesting work to do.

“Hard Work is the only shortcut to success.”

I will go into details about what constitutes hard work. No, laborious work does not constitute hard work.

Sure you know repetition is the answer. Hard work is the shortcut. But our hearts do not like to work. So, what is the missing ingredient?

In fact the toughest thing is doing one’s own work. Whenever we sit down to work, a million reasons pull us away from doing it. It is just the nature of our hearts.

Either you make it work, become its master or it will rule you forever.

What makes us do the same thing again and again?
Strong Reasons are the Missing Ingredient.

Reasons come first, answers come later. I have discussed this before. On how having rock solid positive excuses can get us working.

I do not believe in ‘Discipline’. It is our reasons that make us disciplined.

• If you want to be fit, you will wake up in the morning and workout.
• If you want to be a good programmer, you will code whenever you get a chance.
• If you want to help people, you will never lose a chance. It is really simple.

When we face danger in life, all negative excuses dissolve and we just do whatever needs to be done. But wisdom lies in separating important things.

If we focus on the important bits, no matter what happens we are okay. If you are passionate about your art, you will continuously stretch your limits to get better at it.

What is Important for You?

Is it your family? Your Art? Contributing Value to People?

Is it taking your business to the next level?

Are you in survival mode in the current scenario?

Be absolutely sure what your reasons are and what do you need to do.

Have a strong reason!! If you want to be awesome at anything go for it!!

I will cheer for you!! And help you in any capacity!! You can use the Contact Form!!

Now, we know ‘repetition’ leads to success and strong reasons make us start and continue on the path. Let’s dig deeper into the details.

Hard Work vs. Long Work

This has been very clearly described in the pithy post by Seth Godin – Hard Work vs. Long Work.

‘Hard Work’ is doing something that stretches your limits. It is hard and it is uncomfortable. You can only do it if you have a very strong reason.

Working laboriously for long hours and doing the same thing again and again is not hard work. It may be tiring, difficult but does not make us more skilled. We add the same amount of value by doing it.

But the habit of working long hours helps us in doing hard work later. And certain skills learnt doing ‘long work’ help in learning more complicated skills while doing ‘hard work’.

Deliberate Practice

The people at the top of their trade are more relaxed and practice less but they practice hard. This concept really took time digest. I always thought slogging for long hours would be better.

I thank Calvin Newport for his incredible research and great blog. This is one of his posts describing How do Chess players become great?

Studying chess games is magnitudes of order harder than playing chess. Studying chess games makes you a better player.

So taking this into perspective :

• Long Work – Playing Chess
• Hard Work – Studying Chess Games

Similarly can you identify what are the tasks that would help you to become more skilled in your field?

Rise Up to The Challenge

The best in their field listen to their heart but are not ruled by it. If it is time to practice, they give their best. No mood swings, no excuses, just turning up for practice.

If you want to the best, practice.
If you want to be the best, turn up.
If you make a few mistakes, try again.
It does not matter if you are not in the mood, repeat just one more time.

(If you cannot watch this video inside your email : Click Here)

And to all you awesome people out there, lest you forget!!

Takeaways from this blog post :

• Repetition is the mother of skill.
• Reasons come first, answers come later.
• “Hard work” is the only shortcut to success.
• Deliberate practice is important for increasing our skills.

Please comment your thoughtful insights. Just remember, you are awesome.

Related Posts:

• Being Selfish
• Joy of Creation
• Top Ten Productivity Hacks
• Living In The Now
• Work Satisfaction is Irrelevant

What is it you are selfish about?

If you have to rate your selfishness on a scale of 1 to 10, what would be it?

Well, I come close to a 10. Maybe it is 9.9999 out of a 10, perhaps I am not perfectly selfish but incredibly so.

Being selfish is [...]]]> Are you selfish?

What is it you are selfish about?

If you have to rate your selfishness on a scale of 1 to 10, what would be it?

Well, I come close to a 10. Maybe it is 9.9999 out of a 10, perhaps I am not perfectly selfish but incredibly so.

Being selfish is a very good thing, only it depends what are you selfish about?

Greed and selfishness are often regarded as wrong. Selfishness is condemned, despised by a great majority of people.

But true joy and happiness lies in knowing what are the things worth being selfish about.

Paradox of Being Materially Selfish

We all want a better life. We all want more peace and happiness for ourselves. Or, a better standard of living, bigger toys and greater respect for ourselves. But do they guarantee a more joyful life?

What would you do in a world if you are the only one with everything?

If everyone around is poor, jobless or ill, would you be able to live happily?

Won’t every pursuit of yours be of any great meaning when a fraction of your wealth or time can alleviate someone’s suffering?

Is being materially selfish the answer?

Selfless Altruism – True Selfishness

If you have to be more protective about your actions, wealth, resources or property, what is it you should be accumulating and nurturing the most?

What if you invested in little of your assets to make someone’s life a little better?

What if you made a small difference to someone?

What if you put in your valuable time and energy into something that helps the future generations?

What if it removes a little disparity in the system?

“We make a living by what we get. We make a life by what we give.”
– Winston Churchill

Your actions in such a direction would be invaluable. If you are selfish about making a great institution such as Red Cross or Wikipedia stronger, it makes the social fabric stronger.

If you fund someone’s education or mentor someone to become capable, you are making a future leader.

If we don’t work to make a society better and sustainable, it would not be.

Working for material success of only oneself creates great anxiety in individual, business and societal levels. It is not a good sustainable model in the long term.

On the other hand, a system that creates strong leaders and relentlessly strikes at the conflicts and disparities is sustainable and workable in the long term. A world cannot be a happy place if there are lot of deprived people.

It All Starts With You

Even though we might crave for policy changes and cry for effective governance. But it all starts at an individual level.

Change is hard. And changing mindsets and attitudes of other people, a very difficult exercise.

The only person we can influence and change to some extent is ourselves. So if we try a little bit every time to contribute a little value to others. It would change the world to a little extent.

If we work at it relentlessly, it could create lasting changes.

Three Precious Resources

“If you can’t feed a hundred people, then just feed one.” – Mother Teresa

You have three precious resources  – time, money and energy.

If you have money, consider donating a small part of it to something you believe in. I believe in the work Wikipedia is doing. Please consider helping them in sharing knowledge for all of us.

Donate to Wikipedia

I believe in Wikipedia and use it extensively. If you believe in something else, go ahead and make it better.

If you don’t have money, just consider contributing a few hours to a cause you believe in. Teach somebody, help someone, just anything.

Invest your invaluable energy in something that makes the world beautiful.

Become a part of already existing institutions which are doing great work and strengthen them.

If you don’t find any that are a close match for your thoughts, start your own. Be absolutely selfish and absolutely fearless.

Be Selfish

“Be Selfish” with your time, money and energy. Just know, what is the reason you are selfish about?

I am very selfish. And I want to be the most selfish person in the world. I have no qualms about that.

What about you?

Comment your thoughtful insights. And yes, if you have forgotten in the hiatus, you are awesome.

Related Posts:

• Power of Repetition
• Joy of Creation
• Top Ten Productivity Hacks
• Living In The Now
• Work Satisfaction is Irrelevant

Is could be a piece of writing, a verse of poetry.

It could be a painting or a beautiful tune of music.

It could be a piece of code to make life simpler.

It could be teaching students something that would change their lives forever.

It can even be just [...]]]> What have you created today?

Is could be a piece of writing, a verse of poetry.

It could be a painting or a beautiful tune of music.

It could be a piece of code to make life simpler.

It could be teaching students something that would change their lives forever.

It can even be just making someone smile.

Yes, it is that simple.

Again coming back to the question?

What have you created today?

You might ask, why bother about it.

Why Create at All?

Creating something aesthetic or useful is very important for the nourishment of our soul.

Creation in many cases unleashes our positive emotions of enthusiasm, love and compassion.

Some people are just compelled to create to make a difference.

How long can you Consume?

You can watch thousands of movies, but cannot watch them all. There will always be a next .

How many discographies you will complete in your lifetime?

There are millions of artists in the world. So many different genres of music that totally baffles me. Rock music has so many variants. You cannot possibly listen to all rock songs in your life time.

How many more blog posts you will read before you decide to do something?

How many more novels you will read before you decide to write yours?

How many hours you will spend on gaming?

Consumption is a habit. And it is a very difficult habit to break.

Having this habit for too long can push us into feelings of worthlessness, self doubt and despair. It is one of the worst states to be in.

You cannot push yourselves to do the simplest things but go on and on consuming stuff. I know it is hard.  I have personally gone through those stages many times.

But the good thing is the consumption habit can be replaced by the creation habit.

Creation is a Habit

“We are what we repeatedly do. Excellence, then, is not an act, but a habit.”

Yes like all good things, creation is not rocket science.

It is quite simple

1. You feel inspired.
2. You create something awesome.
3. You feel good and repeat the cycle.

The more times you do it. The easier it is to replace other habits like consumption and dangerous habits like self doubt.  (Yes, self doubt can kill you!)

Do you ever think what motivates Steven Spielberg to make great movies one after the other?

Or what calls Sachin Tendulkar to come out for yet great innings.

Or simply what is it that bugs me to share my thoughts and ideas on this blog.

It is a matter of habit. It is about making the “creation” muscle stronger.

Like any other skill, it takes practice to become good at creating value in your art.  As you go along it makes you more and more confident.

Creation gives you Confidence

Yes, doing is the ultimate medicine to all kinds of fear.

It is highly probable you will never get rid of your fear in your life.

“Courage is not the absence of fear, but rather the judgement that something else is more important than fear. – Ambrose Redmoon”

Doing small tasks and creating small projects give you the confidence to go for bigger and bigger goals.

If you don’t even start, you will never progress.

Don’t let fear stop you. Take the smallest possible bite.

Start ridiculously small. There is no hurry. Be mindful. Take one step at a time. Just focus on doing.

Creation -> Satisfaction

One day you look back at all the beautiful things you have created. You cannot help but feel a sense of satisfaction, a tinge of pride and a sense of accomplishment.

It can be helping someone push a cart above a small ascent, or making a small difference.

It could be making someone smile.

May be it stirs up memories of your last stage performance.

But creating is satisfying. You learn a little bit every time while creating something.

A Request

Please create something that you are passionate about. You will be happy.

Every small step matters.

Please create. Just remember, you are awesome.  :)

Please comment your thoughtful insights.

Related Posts:

• Work Satisfaction is Irrelevant
• Power of Questions
• Moment of Truth
• Power of Repetition
• Top Ten Productivity Hacks

If you believe in yourself, even when no one else does, keep on believing.
If you keep on going, even with no support, keep going.
You Are Awesome. Yes you are. You have the ability to do anything and be want you want to be. You have the power to make the impossible, possible.

If you believe in yourself, even when no one else does, keep on believing.
If you keep on going, even with no support, keep going.
If you keep on pushing, even when you are alone, push some more.

It is only after success, you will see support, recognition and appreciation. Till that point all you have is your self belief and ability to push yourself.

Please don’t give any half baked excuses of being inadequate, being too old or too young, or too busy and so on.

“Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate. Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure. It is our light, not our darkness that most frightens us.” – Marianne Williamson

Last week a 100 year old man has ran a marathon. Can you do it? Of course you can.

Can you strum the guitar like Slash? If you play guitar for 15 long years, surely you will be awesome (dunno whether you will play like Slash or not ).

The question is…

What would you really like to do?

Please answer this question.

Imagine, if there are no limits, you can be whatever you want to be, What would you “choose” to be?

Don’t rationalise, don’t stall. Just answer it. Answer it to yourself. Would you like to be a top notch programmer, a best selling author or a movie superstar?

Don’t hold back. Just Answer.

Write it down. You can use a notebook, any scrap of paper, a text file on your desktop or email. I am waiting. Please write it down. Then we will proceed.

Negative Excuses vs Positive Excuses

Once you know what you want. Please, please don’t give yourself negative excuses. You might say I am too busy. I can’t do it. I am too lazy. For a comprehensive list of excuses watch the video below.

(If you cannot watch this video inside your email : Click Here)

Just relax. Anlayse yourself in the present moment. Now you know about the negative excuses.

Now it is time for the positive excuses. Yes I can do it. I am great. I am awesome. I can be the best in the world. If millions of others have done it. I can kill it.

Maybe no one else has done it, but I will be the greatest.

Let us look at an example of Muhammad Ali. At this point in his career, he had been written off. It was ten years since he had won his last title. Let us see how he gives positive excuses. He is the world champion in giving positive excuses too.

(If you cannot watch this video inside your email : Click Here)

Remarkable Power of Human Mind

Human mind is an awesome device. It gives you the answer to practically every question. All the answers are inside. Ask and you shall receive.

If you ask it how can you earn $ 5 it will answer it.
If you ask it how can you earn $ 50,000 it will answer it.

If you push yourself and run 500 m, it will oblige.
If you push yourself and run 10 k , it will oblige too.

If you want to write 1000 lines of code, it follows.
If you want to write a million lines of code, it follows.

Please don’t underestimate yourself. Maybe you call yourself lazy. That is a bit okay. But calling yourself stupid is not the way to go about.

We can’t do everything. We have to quit certain pursuits to chase others. That’s okay. Sometimes we have to make a choice. But always remember you can be anything you want to be.

Now you have chosen what you really want to be. (If not please go above. )

Now it is time to start.

Passion and Patience

Maybe when you start out, you stumble.

• For months you suck at it. That’s okay. It takes time to learn something and become better at it.
• Even after a few years, you are just adequate. Keep on pushing.
• Maybe after 10 years or earlier, you are among the best 1% in your field.
• Eventually you get there.

“Rome was not built in a day.”

It takes time and patience to build anything worthwhile and great. And passion just eases the pain. The love for your work makes the journey sweeter.

Follow your passion. Because no one. No one really cares as deeply about you. Only you know what you want. And always remember you are awesome. You are capable of achieving anything.

If I forget it sometimes in future, please remind me too.

And I cannot help but repeat it once again. You are awesome.

Please comment your thoughtful insights.

Related Posts:

• Living In The Now

Your own habits have repulsed you. You just want to end the vicious cycle of pain. You are totally and thoroughly disgusted with your own self.

We have all been there. At times, we [...]]]> Sometimes you hate yourself. You can no longer take it any more. You know you have to change something. Change anything.

Your own habits have repulsed you. You just want to end the vicious cycle of pain. You are totally and thoroughly disgusted with your own self.

We have all been there. At times, we breach our own rules. We don’t keep up to standards against which we measure ourselves. It is painful. When you don’t live up to your own expectations, it hurts. Something inside snaps. And then you resolve to never ever do that again. You just quit certain habits that pulled you down.

You promise yourself, make amends and select a better course of action. In the process you transform your life a little bit every time.

Everyone of us have certain set of standards. We try to achieve the standard every single time. Otherwise, we feel frustrated, angry and painful. This is not a bad thing.

In fact disgust is one of the primary emotions that lead to a good and successful life.

For Example – You are used to scoring 90% in every school exam you give. In one exam, you get 85%. You feel pain. You decide the next time you will definitely do better.

Or,

Let us assume you run a mile in 5 minutes. After a gap of few months, you go running again and find yourself covering the same distance in 6 minutes. You will surely feel a bit sad. And your will to achieve the old standard will kick in. Then you do whatever it takes to reach that level.

Use Disgust to Your Advantage

Whenever you find yourself slipping at some part of your life. Look at yourself in the mirror. Ask yourself? What is disgusting at this point of time?

Get Real. Get Truthful. There is no one else but you. Answer yourself, what is totally non acceptable in your life, right now?

Once you get the answer, simply replace that habit with a better habit. I said “replace”. If you don’t do it, the old habit will not go away. But if you are sure that the current state is not what you want, changing habits is a lot easier.

Many of us are miserable. We want to change. We are disgusted but not to a sufficient level. At a certain stage, you decide “Enough is Enough”. You take a fresh decision and change your focus.

Let us take some examples of great persons whose disgust about certain aspects made them change their decisions and made them legends.

Michael Jordan

He is regarded as one of the greatest basketball players of all time. In his prime he was playing for the Bulls. Chicago Bulls won the NBA title three times in a row during 1991-93 . Mike was the prime architect in those wins. He took a break from basketball for two years. But made an awesome comeback to win the NBA title again three years in a row from 1996-1998.

On being asked in an interview, what pushed him or gave him fuel for continuously making himself and the team better?

He replied it was the defeat to Pistons suffered in 1990 NBA final. He said he was crying the whole way back in the team bus. He just could not bear it any longer. At that moment he resolved he will bring back the title next time, no matter what it takes. What happened is history.

Sachin Tendulkar

One of the greatest batting legends in Cricket. Sometimes called God, sometimes maestro. He is a wizard. He has 99 international centuries to his credit. How can a person score so many runs? What keeps him going at this age? How does he react when he gets out?

A fellow Indian cricketer shed light on this fact. Every new Indian cricketer in the dressing room is advised not to talk to him after he gets out and comes to the dressing room. No one disturbs him in the dressing room for a while. Maybe he is angry or frustrated or disgusted. I don’t know. But I know for sure, he is shaken and disgusted. He wants to learn from the setback so that it never happens again.

Mahatma Gandhi

It all started in South Africa. He was thrown out of a first class railway carriage despite having a valid ticket. He was hurt, disgusted. He knew deep inside this was not tolerable. Something stirred inside him. A lawyer transformed into a social activist. It was 1893.

He was the catalyst of a change that brought independence to India in 1947. He spearheaded the movement of Independence. He was also a part of other social initiatives to make a better society. Whether it was Swadeshi movement or welfare of Harijans, he powered the movements.

It was his vision of change. Not accepting the things the old way. A constant quest for the better that made the difference.

Societies in Disgust –> Revolution

What happens when whole societies are disgusted? When nations states cannot take it anymore?

It results in a revolution. Existing governments are toppled. Big policy changes happen. It did not happen overnight. But the breaking point was reached. The point where people realised “Enough is Enough”. Let us take some recent examples.

Jasmine Revolution

First Tunisia, then Egypt, now Libya. A string of governments has fallen is succession.

The voice of the people has roared. What was a murmur, became a debate, cried through the world and registered it’s impact on the world. One example spawned countless movements across the globe. We as humans have once again realized the power of unity.

Social media specially Facebook and Twitter made it easier for people to come together. The media of message transmission were fast and cheap. And the message was of deep pain. A sense of hurt and injustice bonded millions together to unite and topple the administrative powers. In all the above the stacks were heavily against the common man. Yet the unity and will prevailed.

Change is never easy. Wars are difficult. And civil wars are deadly. You know you are standing against a brother or sister of your own. The call for change is because you no longer settle for the present status quo. You find it repulsive. You do not want to a mute spectator any longer. Your passivity and inactivity is the cause. And you take responsibility to change it yourself. And that makes it happen. A revolution is sparked. What was inconceivable becomes a reality.

India Against Corruption

India became independent in 1947. The country is a democracy for the last 60 years. The administrative machinery has progressively embraced corruption as a way of life. So much so, it is social psyche to think all bureaucrats as corrupt. Corruption invaded all levels of legislation and administration. For a long time, Indians just accepted the status quo and adjusted their lives around it. Corruption thrived and partied.

There were small uprisings here and there. A few rebels raising their voice. But the majority was passive. The evil of corruption affected everyone. It made everyone miserable. This disgust was buried continuously. And it was time for it to raise itself and bring change.

Catalyzed by Anna Hazare and other social activists, the masses came together. Millions across the country staged movements and rallies. The rabid media coverage made sure everybody knew what it was all about. For two long months it was all over the place.

It is difficult to predict what would happen in future. But it is quite sure, the direction is set. And every small step taken will ensure a more transparent governance. A better society awaits us.

In conclusion, I would again stress upon the point. It is a must to be disgusted by certain things you cannot tolerate. This drives you and powers you to get better and better. Remember all your enemies are within. Your disempowering habits pull you down. Take charge of your life. Just remember, you are awesome. You are capable of everything you put your mind to.  :)

Please, comment your thoughtful insights.

Related Posts:

• No Related Posts

At every step analyse “Why” are you doing the task, “How” [...]]]> Everyone has just 24 hours. We want to do more things, but are pressed for time. Here are top ten productivity hacks that will help you to maximise your potential.

One – Ask Why? Get the Maximum Leverage

At every step analyse “Why” are you doing the task, “How” to get the maximum leverage and “What” to get maximum results.

The above line holds the key. Reread it and give it a deep thought.

Let us take two cases.

If you are a programmer,

• Why? - Why does your project exist at all? Reason it out. Does it demand speed of execution or a great user experience.
• How? - Which activity is most crucial to the projects success? Is it designing? Or is it a distributed database system?
• What? – What to focus on the present moment? Once you have the answer. just go ahead and do it.

If you are in marketing,

• Why? – Why are you on the current assignment? Are you promoting a brand? Or working to increasing footfalls? Or getting more traffic to a website?
• How? – Which activity is most crucial. How do you reach your target customers? Where do they spend their time? What means of communication they prefer?
• What? – Finally what are the action steps. Is calling them up the best way? Will TV advertising do it? Or a short time offer will kill it?

Take your time. The sharper your focus. The more productive you are.

Two – What not to do is very important?

Be absolutely razor sharp in your focus. What not to do is crucial. You only have so much time. Outsource, delegate or refuse.
Differentiation is important. Focus on yourself on the absolutely important. It takes courage to do what matters.

“20% of the total efforts lead to 80% of the results.” – Pareto Principle

Depending on the scenario the breakup maybe 10/90 or 30/70. What matters is focusing on the high leverage tasks.

Three – Be Passionate

Work with full energy!! Go, go, go!! Fire on all cylinders.

If you are really passionate, you are more productive. All you want to do is getting better and better at what you do.

A word of caution. Even while following your passion, focus is important. It is very easy to succumb to distractions.

Four – Limit Your Working Hours

Force yourself to complete the given task in less time. If you do X of a task in 6 hours, force yourself to do it in 4 hours. All tasks cannot be done this way. But for most of the tasks, this is a great way to increase productivity.

“Work expands to fill the time available for its completion. ” – Parkinson’s Law

How many of us have done the most work just before a deadline?

Well that severely limits our time and increases productivity.

Five – Time boxing

Time boxing is for serial procrastinators. People who will put off everything. Time boxing involves devoting small chunks of time. It can be 3 minutes or 30 minutes to a task and do it. This forms a habit pattern of doing productive work. It has resulted in many procrastinators become very efficient and productive.

It has seriously worked for me. And still does.

Six – Practice, Practice and Practice

“Practice makes a Man(or Woman) perfect.”

Sometimes there is no other way but to upgrade your skills. The more you practice, the better you get. The better you get, faster you can accomplish your work. Wisdom comes from experience. The more ways you know a particular thing will not work, the better is your decision.

Seven – Exercise

Having a fit and healthy body is very important. All productivity tips can go out of the door, if you are down and out. Take time to exercise.
It is a bit counter intuitive. But the more you exercise, the more energy you have.

Eight – Sleep

Sleep deep. Sleep well. And wake up refreshed.

I am no one to advice you on this front. I am a bit irregular with sleep myself. But seriously, sound sleep makes me totally refreshed.

Nine – Meditate

Meditation has great benefits. One practices to experience the now. Living in the now is extremely powerful. It leads to better decision making, greater inner peace and improves creativity.

Ten – Do It Now

Now you have read this article. Go back to point 1. Find your task with the highest leverage. Go ahead and do it. Right now. Even if for 5 minutes. Do the task.

I will wait for you. Reading tons of productivity material would be worthless, if you don’t act.

Just remember you are awesome. You can be whatever you want to be. Just you need to give your best, very best in whatever you choose to do. Just Do It Now.

Please share this article if you find it useful. Please comment your thoughtful insights.

Related Posts:

• Power of Repetition
• Living In The Now
• Work Satisfaction is Irrelevant
• The One Reason You are Not Successful
• Power of Questions

Is it uncomfortable.

Everything you want is just out of your comfort zone. When you keep doing what you’ve always been doing, you’ll keep getting what you’ve always been getting.

Getting out of your comfort zone involves being uncomfortable. Bearing pain. Stumbling on obstacles, yet persisting through them. Learning [...]]]> Can you read this? 7BKDMMSX3CH5 BBRTYSFVAGF

Is it uncomfortable.

Everything you want is just out of your comfort zone. When you keep doing what you’ve always been doing, you’ll keep getting what you’ve always been getting.

Getting out of your comfort zone involves being uncomfortable. Bearing pain. Stumbling on obstacles, yet persisting through them. Learning new things that enrich our life is tough.

Same actions –> Same results

We are all slaves of our habits. Once formed, the habit is difficult to change. We feel uncomfortable every single time we do something against our habits. It is very easy to get comfortable in any kind of habit patterns. Sometimes they lead to peace and happiness. Sometimes our own habits destroy our physical and mental health.

Different Actions –> Different Results

As we embrace new thoughts, new ideas our life changes a little bit. A whole new habit and our life changes a lot.

We are all super intelligent creatures. We all know what is right for our own selves. Each one of us knows this answer deep within. This question has to be asked from our own selves. Yet we cannot take action on what is clearly right for us.

Our own inertia pulls us back. The cobwebs of inaction and the fear of change make us immobile. All our best intentions are washed away.

Change is the Only Constant

Getting too comfortable in any pattern for a long period of time is dangerous. The only thing certain is change. As in life or in business, change is the only constant. Being prepared of change is not a luxury but a necessity.

The world is changing fast. Computing has changed the world completely. The way we communicate and share our lives has changed forever. If you are under 25 and still uncomfortable with the digital age, well it is time to stretch yourself because you will be living in it. There is no escaping this phenomenon. Maybe your bodies will be all wired by the time you grow old.

Try to understand the new world. It is changing very very fast.

Do you remember your childhood?

As a kid, we find it difficult to write complete sentences. It is a big challenge for him. As we grow we find it easy to write bigger pieces. But all that was not easy. After intense study throughout school, strange and difficult subjects. We stretch ourselves, push ourselves and continue to grow.

We find some subjects very strange and complicated. I know that from first hand experience.

Sometimes we don’t even understand what they are about. Yet we persist. We try to study. Finally after a lot of stress and anxiety, the subject starts making sense. We try a little bit more and somehow reach the last barrier “exams”.

Exams

Exams are difficult. Some of them are more so.

• Sometimes the subject is killing. You attended all classes(almost), tried your best and still manage a C after the whole hustle.
• Sometimes the competition is killing. Well, the IITJEE exam in India for getting into top engineering colleges. Only top 1% get in out of 600k (or is it a million next year?)
• Sometimes the exam paper kills. Anybody who has given the Maths Olympiad, tried to make sense of the 7 questions for 3 hours and fought off sleep, knows it
• Sometimes you kill yourself. You haven’t attended classes, did no preparation, disregarded the advice of your friends and sitting in the exam hall you wonder is this topic in the syllabus? (In the meantime you subconsciously cry out the LP number, What I’ve Done)

We dread exams. We feel frightened and anxious. Yet there is an eerie feeling of satisfaction after the ordeal is complete.

As if a frontier has been conquered. Something has changed within. We are a little changed after the experience. All that taught us something. A few concepts maybe! But nevertheless, those few concepts compounded each month for a period of many years transform us.

We change from the scribbling little kid to the newsletter publishing adult. All that labour is not wasted. Maybe it was strange, uncomfortable, frightening, out of our comfort zone but the every storm weathered was worth it. Every single experience made us stronger.

Stepping out

It is really our mind that holds us back. It is all in the head. Sometimes it makes perfect sense to cut the sense(i.e. the brain) out of the picture.

Did you fear a stage performance?

You shake, shiver and fight off demons. You crawl on stage and finally deliver it.

After that you are amazed!! Hey that was real easy. Just give me more of them. Bring the river.

Then you ask, Why was it so difficult the first time?

It is the emotional build up that makes simple things complicated.

“Fear comes from the unknown.” Every single thing you have not done will feel frightening the first time. Maybe a lot uncomfortable the first few times. Later they become easy and routine.

As we try new things, the fear goes away. We are ready to take more risks and grow ourselves in more dimensions.

So step out of your comfort zone. To all of you awesome people reading this, thanks a lot.

A very big thanks to Naman. His criticism of the post Work Satisfaction is Irrelevant forced me to question myself.

I asked myself “What the hell I was talking about?” and “Where was I not direct and clear in that piece?” This article came from my reflections on the two questions.

Please comment your awesome insights.

Related Posts:

• No Related Posts

Are you afraid of the future?

Do you spend your time whining and cribbing about the past?

Or,
Are you always painting daydreams about the future?

Do you think the future will bring happiness?

Are you living in the past by always [...]]]> Do you feel anxious all the time about what will happen next?

Are you afraid of the future?

Do you spend your time whining and cribbing about the past?

Or,
Are you always painting daydreams about the future?

Do you think the future will bring happiness?

Are you living in the past by always remembering the good old days?

Well, sorry to say my dear friend, you are losing the time you have now. Every time we go back on a great memory and chuckle(or cry) how great it was. We are living in the past. It is something you have done. Maybe it is worth remembering but not important enough to eat away your present.

If you find yourself daydreaming all the time, your wishes will remain just wishes. They will never come true. You have to leverage the present moment to take action. There is no other way.

All your lofty daydreams won’t make you the next trillionaire or the next Batman. You will not make Brad Pitt or Megan Fox your partner(according to your preference. )

Those dreams will eat your life away, drain your energy and make you guilty of not doing anything.

Dreams have a place. They can inspire us, uplift us and transform us but only if accompanied with action. Now is the time to take action.

“Living in the moment means letting go of the past and not waiting for the future. It means living your life consciously, aware that each moment you breathe is a gift.” - Oprah Winfrey

A Beautiful Experience

I live in New Delhi. As of October 2011, it has the highest number of cars in India. It is one of the most polluted cities in India.

There are a few pockets of greenery still left in the city. Every time I encounter such a small forest, I stop and breathe in the fresh air. If I am cycling, I take a few moments and just enjoy being at those places.

Those green havens provide a welcome change than the usual dusty roads. And suddenly the realisation kicks in that I am more aware of myself and the nature that surrounds me. The nature has ways of reminding us of the present moment.

There are No Problems in The Now

Take a note of all your problems. Look at them closely. Whether it is paying a mortgage or meeting a deadline, they are in the future. Every moment you spend making yourself anxious about such problems is a moment lost. You have not done anything and you are reinforcing the habit of anxiety.

If you focus resolutely on the now, you will discover you have no problems. There are no limitations but your choice on how to use the available moment.

(A small caveat, if you are really hungry or face a life threatening situation, you do have a problem in the now. Please ignore the above paragraph. )

Fresh Ideas are Revealed in the Now

How often you stumbled on an awesome idea or insight when you were in the toilet, taking a bath or taking a walk. The great ideas come to us when we are in our most relaxed and receptive state.

If you have a mind that is anxious and frustrated, it is actually unable to reach a good decision or get a great idea. A quiet and reflective mind acts as a receiver of knowledge whether it is in the classroom or in life. An alert and present mind is the most receptive.

As it is for literary or factual knowledge, the same is true for sports as well. While playing any sport, being in the present moment sharpens your decisions and improves your performance. Repeating my Karate instructor, “Karate comes in a relaxed mind and body.”

Your Best is in The Now

“What we are today comes from our thoughts of yesterday, and our present thoughts build our life of tomorrow: Our life is the creation of our mind.” - Buddha

You can do awesome things and rock the world. You can only do that in the present moment. So whatever your dream is, no matter what you want to be. Just start. Use the present moment to the fullest. Let go of future. It is not in your control. Future results are nothing but the cumulative feedback of the actions you take along the way.

If you give your very best this present moment, be assured of great results. The key is giving your best, every single time. Future will eventually take care of itself.

Just One Step At a Time

We all have a million things to do, a thousand goals to kill and earn a trillion dollars. But wait!! You will achieve nothing by running around. Deliberate and rock solid focus on one thing till it is finished is important. Taking up one thing and giving it all is the key.

The realisation that we have only this moment makes me feel the importance of doing only great things at a great quality. It is the time we have that is limited.

Now is the All We Have

“Yesterday is a cancelled check. Tomorrow is a Promissory note. Today is ready cash. Spend it wisely.”  - Kay Lyons

Live in the Now. All the problems just melt away. It is difficult. But worth it. Using the present moment is brave, wise and awesome. And when in doubt, please remind yourself that you are awesome.

Please comment your thoughtful insights.

Related Posts:

• Being 100% Responsible For Your Life
• Power of Repetition
• Top Ten Productivity Hacks
• Work Satisfaction is Irrelevant
• The One Reason You are Not Successful