Give It All

If you get success easily in any of your venture, feel sorry for yourself. This only means that you underestimated your potential & talent. Take a goal that scares you & give it all you have got. You might fail initially but never give up. Again, give it all you have got & some more. You may hit some more roadblocks but don't give in. You might be just a hit away from the goldmine. One more time give it all that you could & the world would be yours. 

At Their Peril

One of the secrets of success is to be the best. And the another is to be so good that people can't ignore you. And if they do, they do so at their own peril. People may not like your face, but they are forced to like your talent so much that they have no choice but to tell on your face- "We love you". And then they actually start loving you. Strange but true !

Change The Process

Not making mistake is a sin; repeating the mistake is bigger sin. It is a bigger sin not only because you did not learn from this mistake the first time, but also because you lost the opportunity to learn from a new mistake that you might have made. If you are not hitting the target from process A, despite the best of your efforts, repeating the same process over & over again is also a mistake. Don't change your target; change the process & you will hit the bulls eye one day. This is what most of the successful scientists do.

Don't Be A Sponge

What you see happening in your life is not thrust upon you; it was offered to you as a choice. If you accepted it with a negative frame of mind, it became a negative incidence. And if you responded positively, it turned out to be a positive incidence. If you don't allow a negative remark or a negative incidence to be the part of your life, it will pass as the water flows over a well-oiled body. And if you become the sponge, it remains with you for whole of your life. It will continue to be a part of your life for long & then it will become the part of you & ultimately it will be you. So, in short, you become what you allow.

Stop That Noise

There are some obvious differences between music & noise. Music has a pattern,a soul, some logic & rhythm while noise is without any pattern or soul. Same is true for people.  Some people will come into your life like noise; without heart or soul, lacking understanding or giving you heartaches. While some other will be pure melody; adding a lot into your life, making your life beautiful & spreading love around you naturally. Your job is to make a distinction between the two & take action. What do you do when you are not able to stop the noise coming from some outside source? You shut the noise out by slamming the door on it or get an earphone & make good use of the same. Do the same to the people who are no more than a noise in your life. Don't let them spoil your life with their cacophony.Need I talk about the people who bring music into your life? Just enjoy them & be thankful to them.

Follow Your Dream

Follow your dreams as they know the right path. The problem occurs when after some initial hiccups we tend to start distrusting our dreams. The fact is our dreams need our trust more than ever in such testing time. We may be distracted by the opinions of some skeptics and they are the real spoil-sport. They are the people who gave in easily after initial failures. They are more of 'cant be done', 'next to impossible' or 'you must be crazy' kind of people. Don't try to argue with them or don't try to convince them. Simply ignore them. But make sure you meet them once you fulfill your dream. Now you will hear, 'I knew you would do it' or 'lucky chap' kind of remarks. Strange but true. Give it a try !

Seize The Moment

Most of the things don't go off the block because we are looking for the non-existent or ever-existent  'right moment'. Non-existent because there is no such concept of 'right moment'. Ever- existent because every moment is the right moment. Moment is not good or bad; your action or inaction is good or bad. Moment was already there; you made it good or bad. So, why to depend on the moment to begin something or to stop something. Seize this moment & make it the best. This is the moment; rest all is myth. 

Living in moment

Someone put it nicely- " We cant do much about the length of our life; but we can do a lot about its depth." In fact, life is as long or as short as you make it. We come to this world with a lot of potential but by the time we realize this, life slips away from our grasp. Enjoy it while it is yours. And life is yours when you accept it as it is; with all its beauty & coarseness. Take every moment as the most beautiful gift from God & live it to the fullest. Remember life is not lived in years; it is lived in moments. 

An Inspiring Message

We have been sent on this planet with a special purpose- to lead a life which inspires others positively. We don't need to speak lofty words or write tomes about it. The best way to inspire others is to lead a meaningful life which is to live with a purpose. Our mission should not be to teach others to be inspiring, but to be one. If we would make a soul happy, guide a person through our actions, inspire him to lead a meaningful life, and make the planet a better place, on a day to day basis, we would have lived an inspiring life.

Reasons Vs Excuses

We all have very funny REASONS for not doing something, starting with 'i had a struggling childhood' to 'i was not supported by my teachers'. And then, from out of the blue, comes an example that puts us to shame. We all know the story of Oscar Pistorius, the blade runner, who defied all odds to qualify for examples. He never cited the EXCUSE of not having legs to not perform in Olympics. His goal was- "Legs or no legs, I should qualify." We have Mary Kom, a tribal woman, a mother of two, becoming five-time World Boxing Champion & winning bronze medal for India. They learnt what they were determined to, despite all odds, without any help. They could learn because of their determination. So, next time you give any reason, think about it. Remember, we have one good REASON to do something or hundred EXCUSES for not doing it. Learn to make a distinction between the two. Happy Learning ! 

Invite Challenges

Never pray for an easy life for it will only make you weaker. Pray for a challenging life and then pray to God to make you strong enough to face these challenges. People who are successful are not so because they didn't have a challenging life: on the contrary they faced some of the toughest challenges one could think of. And that tough life made them tougher than average others. The more challenging life they had, the tougher & more successful they became. So, next time when your life is all hunky-dory, its time to introspect. Check your goals again. Don't you deserve some tougher goals? If all is well in a job, break the monotony & choose some other profession or start following your inner voice. Believe me, life will be a hugely rewarding adventure.  

Mind Matters

This is a hard fact that the mind of almost same caliber can produce diagonally opposite results, depending upon the way it is used. Circumstances play a very limited role in deciding the quality of the mind. It is the use of mind that decides whether it will become a small mind, an average mind or a great one. It has also been observed that the quality of  a mind can be changed at any given stage of life. Though it can not be done overnight, but consistent use of mind for a positive cause not only produces positive results, but also changes its quality dramatically. So, decide today the quality of your mind. 

Let Go

Learning is easy. Even a fool can learn. But letting go is very difficult. It is difficult because you have to shed your ego, & be in sync with other person. All great souls had this trait engraved in their persona. They could rise above because they were much lighter than the average person. They let go all that would pull them down. We as common men have this habit of travelling with a lot of luggage. Thus we tend to drag our life instead of floating. But once you let go anything which is pulling you back, not only you will feel at peace with others but also with yourself. So why to trudge when you can float !

Die An Original

You are the masterpiece of a great sculptor called God. You are different from rest of others in every possible way. So, why to copy. Be the original, remain an original & die an original. Your individuality is the most sacred possession of your being. Treasure it. Once it is lost, it is very difficult to retrieve. There is difference between copying someone & getting inspired by someone. Copying is trying to be someone. Getting inspired is trying to be like someone with your individuality still intact. Walk the way a successful person has walked but don't forget to leave your own footprints. 

Touch The Bottom

Most of  the successful people have one thing common in them. All touch rock bottom one time or the other in their lives. Or they start from the scratch. One  benefit of touching the bottom is that you can fall no further. So, celebrate!  Success will make you haughty & big-headed while failure will make you humble & modest. In fact, the bigger the failure, the better your chances of rising again from the ashes like a phoenix. One reason that many averagely successful people don't fail again is that they don't go for the bigger challenges in life. They remain contented with their average success & feel they can do no wrong. This very fact doesn't allow them to be hugely successful. If an averagely successful person touches the bottom, his next success will be much bigger than the first one, for sure.

Open Your Eyes

We get into argument quite easily. And the reason for this alacrity in proving our point right is that we see only our point. Our narrow vision blinds us to the other's point of view. When we criticize others, we don't make a statement about them ; we make a statement about ourselves, about our point of view. Where is his point of view? We don't see it doesn't mean that it doesn't exist; it only means that we don't want to see it. Once we open our eyes to the other side of story, we understand the other person. As Stephen Covey has rightly said that your first endeavor should be to understand & then, to be understood.    

Spread Happiness

Being successful is to be happy. Period. Keeping yourself happy in any set of circumstances is to have succeeded. The whole purpose of this life is to be contented, to share, to add something to someone's life, to spread happiness & subsequently to be happy. You will notice that your happiness is directly proportional to the joy of others around you. If they are in good mood, you also seem to enjoy life. If they are cross at something, you too are affected by it. So, the formula of leading a happy life is not to make others happy, but to spread the joy around you. More than the others, this will make YOU happy. So, be selfish. Spread happiness & leave the world a better place.

Talk To The Soul

People are important for two reasons. One, they teach you lesson; secondly, they make you. Not that they are responsible for your life, but, it is because of them that you learn what to do or what to avoid. You will meet all kinds of people in your life- good, bad & ugly. But, inside every body there is a beautiful soul. Your job is to talk to the soul of person, per se; not to the person. And the way to talk to the soul of person is to make him feel good. Once you do it, you will make a connection to cherish. 

Make Mistakes More Often

Ironically, most of the creations of the world have come through mistakes. The problem is that we are not taught how to make mistakes; on the contrary, we are always taught how not to. And that is the reason that we become intelligent but lack creativity. Making mistake makes one creative, as well as, confident.  Think of a child who is appreciated whenever he makes mistake. He may not become the most intelligent, but he will surely gain more wisdom in the given circumstances. And if he knows the art of selecting which ones to keep, he will go on to become more successful than the person who happens to be the most intelligent.

Accept The Day

Today is the best day of your life. Live it as if it were the only day left. Feel the joy in the air, caress the air passing by, enjoy the sound in silence & live every moment of it. Even if things are not going your way, love it. Because God's plan is not always supposed to be to your liking but His plan is the only one that matters. So accept it. Accept the change. Accept the opposition. Accept the small faults in self & other human beings. Accepting today is accepting God's plan. And that is the one that matters !

Life Wasted or Life Lived

Being oneself is the most difficult job to do in this world & it is because you have to go through many difficult processes. To be self you have to first recognize your calling; why were you sent in this world.  This itself is a big challenge & if you recognize the purpose of your life, you will have to move towards it with all your force. Once you start moving, you have to deal with a lot of issues like people laughing at you, criticizing you & even rejecting you. But if you decided to be yourself, you will keep moving & ultimately will meet the purpose of your life. Then & then only it may be said that you lived a life otherwise it would be another life wasted on this planet. 

Keep Smiling

Life has a strange way of choosing people for worries, struggle & pain; it prays on easy targets. It attacks people who are always grumbling, whining & short selling themselves. One way to give back to life in such situation is to smile back. If you keep smiling in such situations, life will be tired of playing pranks with you. And who knows it starts loving you !  

Hunger For More

Greed is the cardinal sin of present generation. We don't love people so much as we love things. Things have become the be-all and end-all of all actions of present generation. We want a palatial house ; who cares if we are not at peace with ourselves. We want a luxury car ; doesn't matter if it is bought with ill-gotten wealth. We want the best education that money can buy, so that our kids do the same & collect more money. We forget that at the end of the day we will not need that house,car or all the toys we collected but someone who whispers in ear- " I would have loved you the same way even without these toys." 

Experiment With Life

Life is what you make of it & the best way to make most of it is to keep experimenting with your life. When you succeed you will be knowledgeable & when you fail you will gain wisdom. We love to get settled in the humdrum of life & feel secured. But security is not getting settled or living a set routine. Security is making oneself adequate for the life ahead. And the best way to get ready for life ahead is to invite challenges. And the only way to invite challenges is to experiment with life. 

Today Is The Day

We cant live in yesterdays. Can we? The biggest problem with living in yesterday is that you can only rue missed changes, tasks which were not performed, friendships which could never be. Neither can we live in tomorrows. Today is the most important day of your life. Make the most of it. Live in now. It will also become yesterday tomorrow. So before it becomes history, get the best out of it. This is the only real day you have got. Rest all is imaginary. 

Be a Child Again

We often come across people complaining about struggling childhood. We grudge as if we cannot experience our childhood again. Your childhood starts the moment you become a child & that moment can be now. Childhood is not age-related; it is state-related. To be a child you have to get into his state. Period. We don't miss our childhood; we get mature a little too fast. If you want to enjoy life, be a child again. And you have an added advantage this time; you can choose the kind of childhood you want to have- a struggling one or a happy one.     

Accept Your Friend

Someone said it nicely- " We are sum total of the people we have met in our life." We meet people, spend time with them, learn from them & move on. But some people leave an indelible impression on us. They may be away from us, but remain very close at heart. Occasionally we fight with them but find them by our side in trouble. They are called our friends. If you want to know about the quality of your friends, have a close look at your character. You are what your friends made you or are in the process of making you. So, when you choose your friends, you choose your character, your destiny. But, once you have chosen your friend, it is your duty to accept him as he is not as you wanted him to be. Nevertheless, you should make all efforts to guide him to the right direction.  Only then you would have played your role as a true friend.

Forgive & Forget

People do bad things to you. True. But the bigger truth is that you do even worse by not forgiving these people. When people ditch you, two-time you, it hurts- after all we are all human. And it is more human to nurse a bad feeling for the person. The problem lies in the fact that by nursing a bitter feeling for that person you are making yourself a victim & a culprit at the same time. You are haunted by the bitter incident or by foul words that he spoke against you. And you carry these monkeys on your chest, day in & day out. The only way to get rid of this anathema is to forgive. Many a times, even after forgiving it will haunt you. That is because you have not forgiven him in letter & spirit. Not only forgive but also forget that such incident ever took place. I know it sounds impractical, but believe me this is the only way to get that monkey off your chest.

Choose Happiness

People do strange things to be happy. They buy expensive cars, go to exotic locations or try to get good marks to be happy. But, happiness slips away as fast as it comes. It is because we look outwards for happiness. Happiness gained through external sources is ephemeral. It is eternal if it is sourced from within. It is a choice to be made rather than an object to be acquired. The fact is that a child is the happiest person in any home despite least possessions. An ordinary farmer can be happier than a very rich man. The difference lies not in their fortune but in their understanding of happiness. You are as happy as you choose to be. So, make the right choice ! 

Life Is A Reality

God has chosen us to come in human form for a purpose. Our job is to recognize this purpose & work towards it. Life is not about avoiding the challenges or waiting for the storm to pass. Neither it is about being in comfort zone all the time. Life is not about a plush job, a fixed income, collecting toys or a big house. It is also not about passing years or maintaining relationships. 
Life is about enjoying challenges & coming out of the comfort zone. It is about challenging your limits & defying boundaries. Life is about enjoying the moment & living in 'now'. It is about meeting your purpose & leaving a legacy. It is about living the relationships. Life is about dancing in the rain.      

Blaze a Trail

Whom would you like to meet first every morning & why? What are the qualities that you like most in him? What if you have the same qualities? Choose your role model today if you don't have one. And follow him to the hilt. One way to be successful is to follow the path of a successful person & then add your own special effects. If you repeat this pattern you will blaze a trail in your field.