Monthly Archives: August 2016

5 scientifically proven ways to achieve your long term goals and 5 ways that don’t work

Expunge the moles and holes in your goals #MondayMorningWakeUpCall

Richard Wiseman, a Professor of Public Understanding of Psychology, has been instrumental in debunking various misleading myths of self-help, by offering scientifically proven advice instead, through extensive behavioural research.

In a column in the magazine Scientific American, he has been described as “…the most interesting and innovative experimental psychologist in the world today”

Sharing a wise man’s, Richard Wiseman’s way of achieving your goals (and 5 techniques that are myths) in case you’re looking to score any.

5 techniques that work

  1. Break down a large goal into sub-goals by making a step-by-step plan (even better if the sub-goals are concrete, measurable and time-based)
  2. Tell other people about your goals
  3. Think about the good things that will happen if you achieve your goals and think about the obstacles that can come in the way with the solutions to overcome them
  4. Reward yourself for making progress towards your goals, celebrate small wins
  5. Record your progress

The greater the number of these techniques you use, the greater the likelihood of victory.

5 techniques that are but myths

  1. Motivate yourself by focusing on someone you admire for achieving so much (e.g. a celebrity role model or great leader)
  2. Think about the bad things that will happen if you don’t achieve your goals
  3. Try to suppress unhelpful thoughts (e.g. not thinking about eating unhealthy food or smoking)
  4. Rely on your willpower
  5. Fantasize about how great your life will be when you achieve your goal

Let’s score some goals that would amaze Messi and astonish Ronaldo

PV Sindhu’s birthday present to Lord Krishna

“You have the right to work only but never to its fruits.
Let not the fruits of action be your motive” – Lord Krishna #MondayMorningWakeUpCall

Monday_Morning_Wake_Up_Call

Give it your best…and leave it to the universe to do the rest

PV Sindhu lost the gold medal but won 1.3 billion hearts (and I suspect many many more world over). Not so much because she won a rare silver medal for India. That yes. But more so because of the way she fought tooth and nail right through the match. She fought relentlessly, every point, every shot.

You could feel her dogged determination. She just wouldn’t give up. She gave it her best. Nay, she gave it her all. As if her life depended on it.

Yet it seemed she did it in the most non-attached manner possible. It was as if she came to do a job. The job was simply to give it her absolute best and not bother about the fruits of the labour, which was not get blinded by the sight of gold and be happy irrespective of the outcome as long as she knew that she truly did give it her best. This was amply evident from her post match reaction and further validated from an interview excerpt I read on her post-match thoughts –

“No words to express my happiness. My aim was gold when I went in, but never mind. One person had to lose and I lost. It was her day. I played my best and I am satisfied.”

Lord Krishna would be happy that there’s at least someone listening to the timeless advice he imparted to Arjuna many many moons ago “You have the right to work only but never to its fruits.
Let not the fruits of action be your motive.” (Bhagavad Gita: Chapter #2, Verse #47)

#HappyJanmashtami

What’s your IQ (Independence Quotient)?

Free your mind #MondayMorningWakeUpCall #HappyIndependenceDay

Free_Your_Mind

Free your mind… from the demons that are so unkind                                        Image adapted from PharLap Cartoonist

Are you free…

  1. From anger?
  2. From desire?
  3. From greed?
  4. From hate?
  5. From jealousy?
  6. From lust?
  7. From luv?
  8. From pride?
  9. From society?
  10. From your addictions?
  11. From your fears?
  12. From your hopes?
  13. From your passions?
  14. From your possessions?
  15. From your prejudices?

You ain’t free if you’re still a slave to your ego and your emotions, which in essence, is a slave to your mind.

Hint: Free your mind!

#HappyIndependenceDay

Do you have a ‘Jai’ in your life?

Yeh dosti hum nahin todenge #MondayMorningWakeUpCall

Friendship_Day_Sholay

“Veeru.. tuune apne dosti ki kahaani zaroor sunana”

There are Facebook friends and then there are friends like Jai-Veeru

Do you have one friend who –

  1. You can be yourself with or better still, just be?
  2. Call at up 4am. Just.
  3. Is brutally honest with you (for your good, not with the objective of hurting you)?
  4. Who you can be brutally honest with (for your good, not with the objective of hurting your friend)?
  5. Who will sacrifice love, money, life for you?
  6. Who you will sacrifice love, money, life for?

I guess it’s worth trading all the friends on Facebook for one Jai

Hint: Only moments of truth bring out true colours and are tests of genuine friendship. Till then, thank you Facebook J

#HappyFriendshipYear

The secret to productivity

Be present #MondayMorningWakeUpCall

Productivity

 

Which in Zen language is referred to as ‘mindfulness’, in corporate language as ‘single-tasking’ instead of multi-tasking and in English language as ‘undivided attention’.

And productivity will ensue.

Stop measuring days by degree of productivity and start measuring them by degree of presence.

Well that was easy…till you practice it!