Month: August 2010

There is a time for everything…

I find it amazing as to how things fall into place (or don’t for that matter) when their time comes. This is of course bordering on being philosophical about these ‘things’ but I am very positive that everything does work out in the end as long as we pay our dues.

To me, this means 3 things –

1) Accepting our circumstances. Denial is regressive.

2) Dealing with our circumstances proactively by finding joy at every possible instance.

3) And being willing to work REALLY hard. I’ve never fully bought into the concept of cutting down on work by ‘working smart’. Maybe it’s because I believe we can innovate only after our basics are in place or maybe it’s just because I’m just not smart enough to innovate quickly enough. Either way, that’s a big part of my happiness mantra. Find ways to inject excitement into what you do and work super hard at it.

Starting the day with 30 mins of reading..

has been very positive. This, however, has only happened once every two days over the past 3 weeks. And every time I think about its impact in terms of brightening the day, I wonder why I don’t just do it every day!

The best about reading a book, especially the motivational kind is that it completely takes away the ‘blues’ while also giving multiple ideas to execute and try during the day.

New ideas keep up our enthusiasm and give us fresh energy..

As a friend put it, the goal is –

‘To be child-like, while not being childish’

When I scream at someone..

it generally means that I’ve had a bad day..

I think that’s a nice reminder myself. I had a guy screaming at me the other day for no apparent reason and one half of me was tempted to go out and snap back. ..

Anyway, I resisted the temptation and moved on. ‘He must have had a bad day’ – I thought. And didn’t lose twice… :)

(Here’s more on losing twice from ‘Both sides of the table‘

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It reminds me of when somebody cuts you off in their car on a highway. Sure, he (and let’s face it – it’s always a “he”) is a jerk. But you can’t change it. Aside from being dangerous to chase him and wag your finger at him, you’ve suddenly gotten your heart rate up 20 points. You lose twice.

There are many times in life where taking the wrong path causes you to lose twice. Know the difference between fighting (and enjoying it) or giving in, letting go of the angst and choosing to be zen. So in business when it’s time to fight – fight. When it’s time to concede or compromise – do so graciously. Don’t lose twice.

Read more on ‘when to fight and when to give in on’: Both sides of the Table

Blogs and ‘What Perfect Is’

I have just updated my ‘Blogs I read’ list with some of the best blogs I could find related to topics I found interesting (i.e. positivity, growth, self-improvement etc).

And I can see that they’re already having a super positive impact on my life!

Take, for example, the post below from ‘Marc and Angel’s Hack Life’

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Do perfect men have big muscles? Do perfect women have big breasts? Do perfect couples have lots of children? Do perfect husbands earn upwards of $100K a year? Do perfect wives cook delicious meals?

Do perfect people have lots of friends? Do perfect people have loads of life experience? Do perfect people ever fail?

Yeah! You bet they do! All of this and soooooo much more…

Perfect men are scrawny. Perfect men struggle with obesity. Perfect men can barely do one pull-up. Perfect men have bad backs that prevent them from lifting heavy objects. Perfect men were only born with one arm.

Perfect women have tiny breasts. Perfect women have fake breasts. Perfect women have breast reductions. Perfect women haven’t finished growing their breasts yet. Perfect women have lost both breasts to cancer.

Perfect couples have one child. Perfect couples have ten children. Perfect couples adopt because, medically, they can’t have their own children. Perfect couples adopt even when they can have their own. Perfect couples never have children because they don’t want them.

Perfect husbands are stay-at-home dads. Perfect husbands own multi-million dollar businesses. Perfect husbands are migrant farmers. Perfect husbands switch careers in their mid-50’s. Perfect husbands have no idea what they want to do for a living.

Perfect wives don’t cook because they’re too tired when they get home from work. Perfect wives only know how to cook Italian food. Perfect wives hate cooking even though they’re good at it. Perfect wives are chefs at fancy restaurants. Perfect wives make Ramen Noodles.

Perfect people are introverts with two close friends. Perfect people are extroverts with five hundred Facebook friends they communicate with regularly. Perfect people hangout with their marching band friends. Perfect people have famous friends. Perfect people have a best friend with four legs.

Perfect people have traveled and lived all over the world. Perfect people have yet to explore beyond their hometown in rural Montana. Perfect people still live at home with their parents. Perfect people are happy where they are. Perfect people haven’t figured out how to get to where they want to go.

Perfect people fail a hundred times and lose hope. Perfect people succeed on their very first attempt. Perfect people don’t like to admit when they fail. Perfect people see failure as an opportunity for growth. Perfect people never fail because they never stretch themselves beyond their comfort zones.

Perfect people have scars on their faces and perfect complexions. Perfect people have long brown hair at 60 and short grey hair at 35. Perfect people wear wigs. Perfect people have sex with men, women, both or none at all. Perfect people can barely see over the grocery store counter and sometimes bump their heads at the top of doorways. Perfect people have waistlines that are infinite in size and geometry. Perfect people have skin tones as light as vanilla ice-cream and as rich dark chocolate.

Perfect people come from every corner of this beautiful planet and can be seen everywhere – even in the mirror.

Yeah! That’s right!

Perfect is the way we are born. Perfect is the way we are now. Perfect is exclusively unique.

We are what perfect is.

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In Hindi, we’d say ‘Wah! Kya baat hai‘ .. or Wow! Well said! :)

One bad apple ruins the bunch..

As a kid, I understood this better when it was paraphrased as one drop of poison in a litre of milk means the milk itself loses its purity. That’s the power of that one drop..

How can we make sure we keep negativity out of our lives? One bit can ruin an experience..

As with many great pieces of wisdom, simple in theory – VERY hard to do in practice1