Category: Life Trivia

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Magic Mantra

A leaf with little electric bulbs glowing in the dark background

There have been times when I felt very low on my confidence. At other times I felt very vulnerable. And then there were occasions when a certain fear grips me…that nothing is going right in my life. The future seems so bleak! Also, the same feeling does surface sometimes while going on for an important corporate presentation or an important client meeting or while having an appointment with the Doctor. How do I overcome such vulnerable moments?

How can one overcome such vulnerable moments?

Well, I have developed a ‘simple mantra’ which I chant in my mind during such times. Those of you who are wondering what does a mantra mean, well the dictionary meanings of a mantra are many:-

  • (Originally in Hinduism and Buddhism) Mantra is a word or sounds repeated to aid concentration in meditation.
  • Mantra comes from a Sanskrit word meaning a “sacred message or text, charm, spell, counsel.”
  • A Mantra is a sacred utterance, a numinous sound, a syllable, word or phonemes, or group of words in Sanskrit.
  • Mantra definition is – a mystical formula of invocation or incantation (as in Hinduism);
  • Mantra definition, a word or formula, as from the Veda, chanted or sung as an incantation or prayer.
  • A mantra is a sacred word, sound or phrase, usually in Sanskrit, which is believed to have spiritual and psychological power.

…..and so many more!

I chant this mantra for a few minutes and I start feeling better! I regain my confidence levels and things do not look bleak anymore. I get positive vibes and a positive outlook about me and about my life in general. This mantra can be a small prayer or just a word or just the sound ‘Oum’. Believe me, it works. I don’t know the science behind it but it does work.

The other day I was called in for an office meeting and as I entered the board room, I saw many bigwigs of the organization sitting across the round table. There was a projector that was on and it showed a slide with some data and graphs. I was asked to join them while they continued with their discussion. I was as nervous as hell! I thought ‘God! You could not find a better way to humiliate me?! What the hell am I going to speak here…in front of all these seniors across business verticals?’ Then I remembered my mantra and started chanting it in my mind while staring at the presentation….suddenly I realized that I am familiar with at least one graph and one set of data being there on the slide. I started chanting my mantra more religiously while still concentrating on the slide and the data. I could weave a story now around that familiar set of data….yup! I started feeling confident and began smiling now! Though when I was asked to speak it was about something else about which I had good knowledge. I spoke and spoke well.

Ah, the mantra did work for me. There was all possibility that I could have made a fool for myself had I been continued to be nervous! That is why I say there is a psychological aspect of the philosophy of mantra. There is science too!

Have you also gone through such situations and times in your life and do you have any mantra that helped you feel better? Does having a mantra help?

DISCOVER YOUR MANTRA!

Cheers!

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Simple Life Lessons for Big Impact- 3

A young woman sitting on a mountain cliff gazing the early morning sun rays

Journey

When you embark on a new journey towards a new destination, you may succeed or you may not succeed in reaching the destination but it will never be a failure as you will have so much of learning during the journey itself in terms of learning new things, meeting new people, developing new skills, some wonderful experiences and so on. Never be afraid of embarking on a new journey…

An un-even muddy road passing through the country side during early sun rise

Miracles

Miracles are nothing but the cumulative result of hard work, integrity, honesty, dedication and strong will. Your daily habits creates your future. Work on your daily routine and filter out the unproductive elements (including toxic people, howsoever close they may be to you) which consume your time and energy. You will see miracles happening in your Life. Miracles do happen…only You can make miracles happen!

Young woman sitting on hill top watching down the river flowing

People in Your Life

Long back I met a beautiful girl. I gave her a bunch of roses. She gave me the warmest smile and hugged me.

Many years later, I met a pretty woman. I gave her a diamond ring. She took it and made a face saying ’The diamond is too small’.

Moral of the story: Recognize genuine people in your life who care for you. Don’t waste your time on the wrong people!

Cheers!

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Don't be in a state of Indecisiveness!

Sign board depicting 'Right' and 'Wong' with two differently directed arrows.

I was always fascinated by the defense and police personnel. Seeing the men in their uniform was a delight for me during my growing up years. And it somehow remained in the back of my mind. But when an opportunity appeared to be one among them and done the uniform, I was not sure if I wanted to follow it as a career. The reason being I also wanted to pursue my higher studies from a US university. I was in a state of sheer indecisiveness whether to join the armed forces or to go for the higher studies?! It was really a stressful period for me. Imagine I was just twenty years old then!

In life, such a situation often arises where we have to make a decision and we are not sure as to what decision to take. In the example that I mentioned above, I had two choices. Many a time you just have to decide on something but still, you cannot make a decision as you are not sure of yourself. In the process, you start overthinking and it results in creating more stress in your mind. How can we avoid this state of indecisiveness? Can we really avoid it?

When you are in a state of indecisiveness, your mind oscillates between the positive aspects and the negative aspects of a decision that you intend to take. The mind does not let you decide on a particular options that you might have before you. It only cultivates multiple thoughts which keep your mind wastefully engaged in unnecessary overthinking. This overthinking restricts your decision-making capacity in the present time and creates a psychosis or rather a fear psychosis- the fear of the unknown. The state of indecisiveness does not serve any purpose other than to create a confused state of mind. So, what is the solution then? If it was so easy to make a decision on somebody or something, why the hell would be anyone like to be in a state of indecisiveness?

Is this state similar to the sate of ‘Dilemma’? No, because when you are in a state of dilemma, generally you have to make a decision from either of the two options available to you and you know that both the options are equally bad! I am not categorizing the dilemma under the various heading as ethical, moral, emotional etc. Here let’s restrict our definition of dilemma as an unsure state of mind on taking a decision when given a choice.

Let us now analyze why our mind is unsure of taking a decision. The probable reasons could be:-

  1. Decision could have a probability of a failure.
  2. Impacting larger audience in a negative manner.
  3. May create financial insecurity.
  4. Impact any of the existing relationships.
  5. May harm your reputation.
  6. May impact your business or profession.

So on and so forth…

If you do a deeper analysis of all the above reasons you will find one thing in common- the fear factor! This fear factor creates the state of indecisiveness or dilemma in your mind and makes you overthink resulting in further enhancing the fear factor and in the process, you continue to harness the notional fear in your mind and procrastinate your decision for long! In fact, that notional fear does not allow you to take any decision!

What to do then? My simple advice would be; when you are unable to take a decision which is important to your overall self, take a break ; take some time out. Sit in isolation and write down on a piece of paper what is bothering you. Then write down the probable solutions which will mitigate that botheration. Arrive at or pick one solution that would meet the maximum of your overall solution requirements. Of course, there would be some amount of risk involved but then every major decision that you took in life had a certain amount of risk involved. There is no escape from it!

How about sharing an example of this? Let’s take my example only which I mentioned in the beginning; choosing a career between armed forces and higher studies abroad. You know after going through a painful period of the indecisiveness for a few weeks, I sat down and decided what would be more beneficial and more suitable for me in the long run? And after some deliberations, I decided to choose higher studies abroad options. It’s another matter that despite getting I-20(Admission letter from a US university that allows you to apply for visa) from four good universities I ultimately could not go for my higher studies to the US! But at least I took a decision!

And the next important thing to remember once you take a decision; stick to it! No matter what! At no point of time, ever regret that decision! You see, in life, we normally take five to six decisions that overall shapes our destiny. Some of the decisions may go wrong or might not be that fruitful. But ensure you take corrective actions rather than regretting or cursing your decision. Just remember, life is a journey and on a journey, we have all kinds of experiences- some good and some bad! And we still continue with our journey…

Now, I hope you have understood the crux of the matter that no matter what:-

  1. Never be too long in the state of indecisiveness.
  2. Take a decision and stick to it.
  3. Don’t ever regret the decision that you have taken.
  4. Life is a journey, enjoy every milestone!

Cheers!

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Simple Life Lessons for Big Impact- 2

A wild Rhino staring with his ears straight in the backdrop of blue sky

Don’t Complain Find Solutions

If you accept the things the way they are- your health, job, life, freedom, relationships, partners…it simply implies that you have CHOSEN these yourself. So, be happy! If not, then CHANGE it! Why just complain?

We are in the habit of cribbing and complaining all the time! Rather, our time and energy should be utilized in finding means and ways to make our Life better.

Remember, only the Weak complains all the time for all their inabilities…the Strong ones just works on the solutions!

A runner on track with both limbs amputated knee down and running using prosthetic legs.

ACTIONS

Don’t let the circumstances around you drive your thoughts and actions. Let your thoughts and actions drive (create) the circumstances.

The people who get on in life are the people who get up and look for the circumstances they want and if they can’t find, they make them!

A person tightening the knot of his tie.

Doing Your Thing

Many times the Fear of what people will Say or Think stops us from doing or creating many Wonderful things. If you believe in your thought and have Confidence in yourself…then just do it!

Always remember, people will create doubt and fear in your mind for anything and everything that you intend to do which is not routine. If you have the Conviction then just go ahead and do it!.

Cheers!

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Simple Life Lessons for Big Impact- 1

Great Boxer Muhammad Ali hitting a mighty punch on his opponent

PERSEVERANCE

Stamina is very important both in sports and in life. When life repeatedly knocks you with its punches, your stamina will help you to sustain the pain and continue your fight. And at the right time, you hit back with a mighty punch, topping it with another one and win with a knockout!

Just remember, perseverance is your stamina in life. Ensure you have it in abundance!

A young woman walking alone at the crossroad.

Trust

They say SILENCE speaks a thousand words. True. When there is trust, even your silence is understood. And when there is no trust, every single word you speak is misunderstood.

Building and creating Trust in others is very important in life!

Picture of an eye of a young girl.

Simple Actions > Big Changes

When nothing is working for you- either at home or at work,

When you see no hope from anywhere,

When the mind feels so heavy with despair,

Just say these three lines in your heart;

Only I can change my life

I have to change my life

I’ll change my life.

Repeat these lines again and again.

Take the simplest of the actions to make one simple change. Keep taking these small actions and you will see over a period of time Your Life has Changed!

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Wish I Could Have Known It Earlier in Life…

Mama elephant helping baby elephant to cross the river stream

The following are the life facts that I realized very late in my life and wish I could have known them earlier in my life:-

Never stop learning:- Once you have completed your formal education and got into your first job, most of us say goodbye to education. This is not correct. The education should continue side by side till your last day of life! Keep updating yourself. Learn something new always.

Be more Granular:- Avoid superficiality. Get into the specifics and into more details. This implies every aspect of your life, especially to your work/expertise. Remember, the more knowledgeable you are the more valuable you become to others. Your objective should be to achieve the ultimate mastery in your craft!

Keep the time frame of your life in mind:- We have limited time in our life but we all live as if we would be living till eternity! So, ensure you achieve your goals in a proper time frame. If you are not happy in your life then find out the reasons and fix the problem then and there. Don’t just wait that a miracle would happen some fine day and then you will achieve happiness. Time is precious so use it wisely! Also, learn not to regret. What has gone , let it go! You will have another day, another opportunity and another partner! Why sulk then?

Nurture your relationships:- This is very important. Often when young we give a damn to this. But we need people all the time – both in our personal lives and in our professional life. And every relationship needs time and effort. Be genuine when dealing with others. People understand what is fake and what is REAL. Also, be careful about your reputation especially if you want to climb the corporate ladder at a faster pace. Keep in mind- your reputation reaches faster than you!

Taking care of your Parents in real sense:- They have less time. Do whatever you ever wanted to do for them. Do it now. Don’t wait for a suitable time. They will seldom ask for what they want. You have to understand them and provide it to them.

Be mindful of what and how you speak:- Words are very powerful- both spoken and written. Ensure you use them wisely while interacting with others. At least be mindful that you don’t hurt people knowingly or intentionally. You don’t have to be diplomatic all the time but when criticizing some one , take care that your criticism is in the right spirit and not an insult or abuse to the other person.