Posted in Life Gyan

Change Your Attitude – to Change Your Life !

This post is slightly longer but it is immensely valuable and I assure you it is well worth you time. After reading the entire post you will thank yourself for taking the time to read it completely. 

Here is a summary of the book and key points “Attitude is Everything” by Jeff Keller.

The greatest discovery of my generation is that human beings can alter their lives by altering their attitudes of mind – William James.

Biography

Jeff was a lawyer who changed his profession to become a motivational speaker. The key was wanting to share the message of being able to transform one’s life through the power of thought.Never underestimate your power to change yourself (H. Jackson Brown Jr). It starts with a decision to have a better life – take a stand. 

The book is divided in 3 sections “Think….Speak….Act”.

“Think” – success starts in the mind. “Speak” – how your attitude is reflected and influenced by language, watch your words. “Act” – the need to act to create a new reality.

Part 1 : Success begins in the mind

Success is a state of mind. If you want success, start thinking of yourself as a success (Dr Joyce Brothers).

Lesson 1: Your attitude is your window on the world. 

Why at the same event, do some people see it as a disaster yet someone else at the same event sees it as great – different experiences as seeing the world through a different window (attitude). Attitude; difference of seeing the world as “I Can” versus “I Cannot”. Everyone starts with a clean mental window. As you grow, so the window gets splattered with dirt – smudged with criticism; soiled with disappointment; clouded by doubt. Dirt just keeps building up, the trouble is often the window is not cleaned – wash your window! It is your job to keep your window clean. It is a choice, look through a dirty window or through a clean window – and this choice has consequences. A happy person is not a person in a certain set of circumstances, but rather a person with a certain set of attitudes (Hugh Downs).

Success is applying various principles (which we look at later); however none of the principles can be activated without a clean window (positive attitude) – hence attitude is everything!

Lesson 2: You’re a human magnet

The secret is found in six words: We become what we think about Dominant thoughts rule the day. Nurture your mind with great thoughts (Benjamin Disraeli). The key is you are pulled in the direction of your DOMINANT thought pattern. Thought precedes action. Your beliefs have brought you to where you are and your circumstances reflect what you have been thinking about. If your thoughts don’t change, your results won’t change.

Repetition is the key. Everyday read something positive and uplifting. Everyday listen to a motivational cassette. Change your thinking and you change your life. Nobody succeeds beyond his or her wildest expectations unless he or she begins with some wild expectations (Ralph Charell).
It will not happen overnight, just keep moving in a constant direction with effort, commitment and patience.

Lesson 3: Picture your way to success

You must first clearly see a thing in your mind before you can do it (Alex Morrison). Imagination is more important than knowledge (Albert Einstein). Visualisation is simply mental movies. Take responsibility for your own movies. Change the meaning of old movies. Facts cannot change, but you can change the interpretation/meaning of old movies. Consciously choose to view previous situations that made you feel smaller than you are, differently.Create new pictures, your mind is too stupid to know the difference. Picture your success; repetition. You have control over the pictures that occupy your mind. Relax and involve your senses. Do this several minutes everyday. Write a cheque to yourself. If you can dream it, you can do it (Walt Disney).

It works both ways. Keep negative thoughts or prompts away – what does the sticker do to you if you see it on your car several times everyday “I owe, I owe, so off to work I go”. Change the meaning of old movies and develop empowering new movies.

Lesson 4: Make a commitment and you’ll move mountains

This is the willingness to do whatever it takes. Read this again. If it takes 5 steps, then I’ll do it. If it takes 55 steps, I’ll do it….
The key is that often you do not have to know exactly how you will achieve your goal; just that you will commit to getting there – doors somehow open; trust life and commit. With ordinary talent and extraordinary perseverance, all things are attainable (Sir Thomas Buxton). A champion is always prepared to go one more round. One person with commitment is worth more than 100 people who have only an interest (Mary Cowley). Always be prepared to do whatever it takes – if you are not, don’t start.

Lesson 5: Turn your problems into opportunities

Problems. Don’t complain and who said life is fair. Look for the opportunity in every problem. The road to success often travels through adversity. No pressure, no diamonds (Mary Case). Disappointments are often blessings in disguise. The things which hurt, instruct (Benjamin Franklin). Frustration creates energy, direct it.

How does adversity serve us? It gives us perspective on what is important in life; it teaches us to be grateful; it brings out hidden potential; teaches us valuable lessons; builds confidence and self-esteem when overcome; opens new doors. Most importantly it encourages us to make changes and take action!

Part 2 : Watch your words

Repeat anything often enough and it will start to become you (Tom Hopkins).

Lesson 6: Your words blaze a trail

Your words have incredible power.
Thoughts > Words > Beliefs > Actions > Results and a destiny

In words are seen the state of mind, character and disposition of the speaker (Plutarch). Watch your words! Never discuss your goals with negative people. Stating and discussing goals creates commitment and accountability. The people who always talk about lack of money generally don’t accumulate much of it. Watch the emotion and impact on your body by the actual words used eg difference between “furious/livid” and peeved/annoyed” – lowers the emotional intensity. Choose words that will point you in the direction of your goals. Look at words you use in relationships, in finances, in your career, your health or what you believe you are capable of or your station in life. You have a choice, choose your words carefully.

Lesson 7: How are you?

Your day goes the way the corners of your mouth turns. When someone says “how are you” the responses are generally negative (“don’t ask”), mediocre (“okay”) or positive (“awesome”). A smile is an inexpensive way to improve your looks . Everyone lights up a room – some when they walk in, and some when they walk out! Just form a new habit and change the way others, and you, feel about you. What if I don’t feel great – if you are tired and I tell you that you have won a million rand, all of a sudden you feel fantastic – fix your mental state! How are you? Respond with enthusiasm. AWESOME.

Lesson 8: Stop complaining

Troubles, like babies, grow larger by nursing (Lady Holland). Nobody wants to hear about your aches and pains. Self-pity is an acid which eats holes in happiness (Earl Nightingale). Two complainers often start to outdo each other, the principle of escalation. Don’t let it rain on your parade. The secret of happiness is to count your blessings while others are adding up their troubles (William Penn). Put things in perspective. Create a mental list of all those things and relationships around you for which you have to be grateful. If you are all wrapped up in yourself, you are overdressed (Kate Halverson). Be a source of positive news, be a joy to be around.

Part 3 : Heaven helps those who act 

Nothing happens by itself. It all will come your way once you understand that you have to make it come your way, by your own exertions (Ben Stein).

Lesson 9: Associate with positive people
You will be known by, and your destiny influenced, by your friends. Avoid toxic people and keep the company of nourishing people. We become apart of what we are around. Your friends will stretch your vision…or choke your dreams. They impact your greatest asset, your mind. Tell me who you associate with and I will tell you who you are.

Lesson 10: Confront your fears and grow
Do the thing you fear and the death of fear is certain (Ralph Waldo Emerson). If you want to be successful, you must be willing to be uncomfortable. Don’t back away, confront. Nothing in life is to be feared. It is only to be understood (Marie Curie).

What is your “X” outside your comfort zone? Presentations or public speaking; your ideas or you being rejected; changing jobs; starting your own business; passing bad news up the line; talking to people at higher management levels; sales calls; fear of failure… When you do this you lower your self-esteem, reduce yourself inside, do not create breaks….He who loses wealth loses much; he who loses a friend loses more; but he who loses courage loses all (Miguel de Cervantes).

Armed with a great attitude, decide to become a participant in life and explore your potential, confront your fears. Reframe the situation. Consider yourself an immediate winner when you take the step to confront your fear. Move forward. The only way to escape from the prison of fear is action (Joe Tye). Don’t be one of those who lets his regrets take the place of his dreams.

Lesson 11: Get out there and fail

Failure is only the opportunity to more intelligently begin again (Henry Ford). Toddlers keep on trying until they walk, they just don’t stop until they do, yet somehow as adults we shy away from failure. Failure is often a necessary part of growth and ultimate success. Undaunted by failure, just as long as the mistakes are new ones. The greatest mistake a person can make is to be afraid of making one (Elbert Hubbard). No such thing as failures, just results. Never give up. True success often means you will fail along the way, accept it, get up and try again. You may be disappointed if you fail, but you will be doomed if you don’t try.

Lesson 12: Networking that gets results 

You can get everything in life you want if you’ll just help enough other people get what they want (Zig Ziglar). If you’re positive and enthusiastic, people will want to spend time with you. In business and in your personal life, network. Project a winning attitude, participate in projects and associations, serve others, be a good listener….call people from time to time just because you care. Meet new people, make them feel special, acknowledge good presentations, get them to talk about themselves and their interests. Think what you can do for others, life is round. Build you network and keep detailed notes and contact lists. Networking is a great help, yet you have to be good at what you do to succeed.

Conclusion 

To change your circumstances, first start thinking differently (Norman Vincent Peale). Take control of your life. Act as if it were impossible to fail (Dorothea Brande). Play the one string you do have, your attitude, and with a final quote from Charles Swindoll:

The longer I live, the more I realise the impact of attitude on life. Attitude, to me, is more important than facts. It is more important than the past, than education, than money, than circumstances, than failures, than successes, than what people think or say or do. It is more important than appearance, giftedness or skill. It will make or break a company, a church, a home. The remarkable thing is we have a choice every day regarding the attitude we will embrace for that day. We cannot change our past…we cannot change the fact that people will act in a certain way. We cannot change the inevitable. The only thing we can do is play on the one string we have, and that is our attitude. I am convinced life is 10% what happens to me and 90% how I react to it. And so it is with you…we are in charge of our attitudes.

Posted in Life Gyan

Silence Speaks Volumes

Have you ever experienced a moment in your life when you just ran out of words and you go… silent… 

Let me assist you in recalling…

the moment when you left your home for the first time and you look back at your parents who are worried that their son/daughter are leaving them yet happy that their child took the first step towards independence.

the moment when the girl/boy you like most smiled back at you! You don’t say anything.. you just smile back..

the moment when you get better marks than you expected… those “numb” moments of ecstasy and surprise is that true?”

the moment when you are parting with your old friend(s) and the train has just started… and you are standing on the door of the wagon.. waving “bye-bye” with your heart beating fast…

the moment after the HR manager has just called you and told you,
“You are through! Congrats!”

the moment when you sit alone in your room after having told everyone that you cleared that exam you prepared for 6 months!!

You can go on remembering your “special” moments! I had always wondered why I never said anything to myself at those moments.. as if it was “understood”… happiness, joy, pain.. all feelings just flowed ceaselessly in the ‘years’ that passed in those flash moments!

They say.. the best way to communicate is through “silence”. Love. Joy. Grief. Surprise. Anger. Hope. Expectations. Support. Non-cooperation…

Can you imagine the importance of a silent moment in a song? – When Bryan Adams stops for a while along with music, before he goes on in his husky voice… Please forgive me. I cant stop loving you!

Ever had those moments when you thought you were tired enough that you reach for your bed after dinner.. but find yourself wide awake looking at the roof of your room silently…

But you sure are ‘thinking’… those moments of self-talk are the most important in our lives. Those moments when we listen to our own hearts! Those promises… those decisions… those are the moments when we make our destinies!

Next time you go silent… listen carefully to what your heart is saying.. listen to its joy…listen to its pain..listen to its fears.. listen to its desires..Dont make it shut up and go off to sleep… LISTEN TO THAT VOICE !

That voice alone can lead you to the abode of peace that your sleep lacks… peace that awaits you!

Be in touch with your true self… practice silence at least for a few minutes every day !

Posted in Tech Gyan

Google Local Guide 2018 – My Contributions

Received the below stats from Google for my contributions in 2018. I am very happy to be able to contribute towards the community in some way helping people with information enabling them to take the right decisions.

Thank You Google for providing thoughtful ways in which we all can contribute to help make the lives of each other easier.

Posted in Life Gyan

Put a Shark In Your Tank

The Japanese have always loved fresh fish. But the waters close to Japan have not held many fish for decades. So to feed the Japanese population, fishing boats got bigger and went farther than ever. The farther the fishermen went, the longer it took to bring in the fish. If the return trip took more than a few days, the fish were not fresh. The Japanese did not like the taste. 

To solve this problem, fishing companies installed freezers on their boats. They would catch the fish and freeze them at sea. Freezers allowed the boats to go farther and stay longer. However, the Japanese could taste the difference between fresh and frozen and they did not like frozen fish. The frozen fish brought a lower price. 

So fishing companies installed fish tanks. They would catch the fish and stuff them in the tanks, fin to fin. After a little thrashing around, the fish stopped moving. They were tired and dull, but alive. Unfortunately, the Japanese could still taste the difference. Because the fish did not move for days, they lost their fresh-fish taste. The Japanese preferred the lively taste of fresh fish, not sluggish fish. 

So how did Japanese fishing companies solve this problem? How do they get fresh-tasting fish to Japan? If you were consulting the fish industry, what would you recommend? 

Too Much Money 
As soon as you reach your goals, such as finding a wonderful mate, starting a successful company, paying off your debts or whatever, you might lose your passion. You don’t need to work so hard so you relax. 

You experience the same problem as lottery winners who waste their money, wealthy heirs who never grow up and bored homemakers who get addicted to prescription drugs. 

Like the Japanese fish problem, the best solution is simple. It was observed by L. Ron Hubbard in the early 1950’s. 

Man thrives, oddly enough, only in the presence of a challenging environment.“- L. Ron Hubbard 

The Benefits of a Challenge 
The more intelligent, persistent and competent you are, the more you enjoy a good problem. If your challenges are the correct size, and if you are steadily conquering those challenges, you are happy. You think of your challenges and get energized. You are excited to try new solutions. You have fun.
You are alive! 

How Japanese Fish Stay Fresh 
To keep the fish tasting fresh, the Japanese fishing companies still put the fish in the tanks. But now they add a small shark to each tank. The shark eats a few fish, but most of the fish arrive in a very lively state. The fish are challenged. 

Recommendations 
Instead of avoiding challenges, jump into them. Beat the heck out of them. Enjoy the game. If your challenges are too large or too numerous, do not give up. Failing makes you tired. Instead, reorganize. Find more determination, more knowledge, more help. 

If you have met your goals, set some bigger goals. Once you meet your personal or family needs, move onto goals for your group, the society, even mankind. 

Don’t create success and lie in it. You have resources, skills and abilities to make a difference. 

Put a shark in your tank and see how far you can really go!

Posted in Art & Craft

Zentangle – What Is It?

I recently came across this form of meditative drawing which is called Zentangle. It is a fun way of creating beautiful images by drawing structured repetitive patterns. These patterns are called tangles. The “Zen” was added to it because the act of drawing zentangles is deliberate, pleasurable, meditative and you feel lighter after finishing one just like meditation. 

Rick Roberts and Maria Thomas are the founders of this form of art. As they describe on their website, www.zentangles.com, Maria would draw patterns on top of a manuscript that she was working on. In speaking to Rick, she described feelings of selflessness, timelessness, effortlessness and a rich immersion in what she was doing – all classic aspects of a flow state. Rick who had earlier practiced meditation for many years identified this as meditation, and the two then created a system so that others could experience the same bliss. The Zentangle Method was born.

When I first came across it I felt a connection almost immediately as like many others I too had this habit of doodling on the sides of my notepad during a boring college lecture or a rather dull and uninteresting meeting at the workplace and sometime even during phone calls. I often felt that the patterns I drew were appealing (at least to me) but I never tried to pursue them as art or give them a larger space or structured form. However I do remember that when discarding old notebooks or diaries I used to fondly turn the pages and revisit the patterns I had drawn on those pages and take one more look at them.

Difference between a Zentangle and a Doodle
My first thought was that it is an extension of doodling but in a little organised manner. However once I started to explore this I realised that there are subtle differences between doodling and zentangling. Doodles are usually created during times when the person making them is having trouble paying attention to something else that’s going on, like a lecture or a phone call. However the creation of a Zentangle drawing is deliberate.

Unlike doodling, the person creating a Zentangle is giving it his or her full, undivided attention. A Zentangle cannot be created while on the phone or a boring meeting/lecture, because attention is an inherent part of this art form.The Zentangle Method helps you create a feeling of relaxed focus.

Creating a zentangle is a very liberating process and you will realise that once you start it it is so engrossing and soothing that it is hard to stop. Since this was my first attempt at it I used a reference drawing to create the drawing.

The reference drawing I used.

However zentangle in its original form is meant to be a form of expression of your thoughts and feelings and to me it a very good way of calming down your mind if your mind is distracted. Hence the act of creating the Zentangle is just as important as the final outcome. I think it helps the mind to sift thru information and organise it and provide the much needed mental peace.

So go-ahead explore it – there are hundreds of patterns available on the internet and Pinterest is a good place to look for them apart from Google search. Please do share your experiences of how you felt after creating your zentangle drawing. 

Posted in Books

If You Love Your Books, Set Them Free…

Once you have read a book, what do you do with it? 

In most cases, it gather’s dust in your bookshelf. There are very few which we re-read or refer to over and over again. But the majority of them just lie there on the shelf waiting to be picked up again. Ron Hornbaker of Idaho came up with the idea of this site for the book-lovers. He urges them not be “shelf”ish with their books and invites them to share their books with other book lovers. How? Now that’s the interesting bit. 

Users can log in to this site called bookcrossing.com and create a unique ID for their books, label it and then “release” it. By “release” it he means give the book to a friend, relative, colleague or just leave the book at some place like a coffee shop, park or any other place where it is likely to be picked by another book-lover. 

When the book gets picked, the reader can report on this site that the book has been “caught” by entering the unique ID. 

Sometimes this cycle can be repeated many times before the trail is lost. And the journal entries created in the process allow you to track where your book has travelled – and it can be quite interesting. 

The top 10 BookCrossing countries
1. USA …………………….29% 
2. Germany ……………16% 
3. United Kingdom ..13% 
4. Netherlands ……….11% 
5. Finland ………………10% 
6. Canada …………………8% 
7. Australia ………………5% 
8. France ………………….4% 
9. Portugal ……………….3% 
10. Spain ………………….1% 

So far this concept is popular mostly in the Western part of the globe. With reading emerging as a popular hobby in India and with a young population which is ready to experiment with new concepts and ideas, this idea of book sharing has a lot of potential in Indian context too. I know a lot of book sharing happens in smaller groups of known people but this can take book sharing to a whole new level.

Posted in Life Gyan

“ME” Time

Our lives have become so hectic that by the time we are done dealing with the routine stuff of life, our day job, daily chores, social commitments and not to forget the endless notifications on the ubiquitous “smartphone”,  we realize that one more day has passed by. And the next day it is the same grind all over again. In all this madness we all need some “ME” time daily.

So what is this “ME” time?

Simply put, it is the time you spend talking with yourself, sifting through your thoughts, looking back on the events of the day and planning for the future. This is the time where you have an honest conversation with yourself, debate about issues, fine tune your perception and sometimes make resolutions. 

You sift and churn your thoughts and un-clutter your mind in the process. The “ME” time is important because it helps us to recalibrate our focus on the most important goals and reconnect with ourselves and our purpose in life. In this age of information overload, the “ME” time is required to maintain sanity.

Swami Vivekanand once said, ” Talk to yourself once in a day otherwise you may miss meeting an Excellent person in this world.” 

Sometimes people fail to recognize the importance of this time spent with the self. Most of the great stuff, your Eureka moments happen during this time. This is the time when your sub-conscious presents the solutions to the problems it has been working in the background. Your personal growth happens during this time.

The famous motivational speaker Robin Sharma states that “The science behind the rewards of solitude are pretty phenomenal… making time to be alone actually shuts down the part of the brain responsible for self-criticism, firing up the part of your brain that contains your natural state of genius. “

He states that when you spend time with self – whether it is during your morning walk or in the quite room of your home your brain waves slow down from beta to alpha. When this happens–amid solitude–the part of your brain responsible for self-criticism, mental chatter and constant worry shuts down. With your monkey mind on a little vacation, you enter the Flow State. Elite athletes know this as “the zone” and it’s the place where all great performance begins. It is in this state that you get your best ideas. Your creativity makes explosive gains. You begin to see around corners.

And guess what – this is your natural state that God has given to everyone. Available to you daily. Most people don’t know they have it. And not many create the conditions to experience it. You too can experience it… by going into solitude. Consistently.

Posted in Life Gyan

The New 10 Commandments of Life

How we lead our lives depends a lot on perspective. Two people looking at the same situation interpret it differently depending on their outlook for life. Read the below 10 Commandments and reflect back on your life and you outlook. These may give you a different perspective.

1) Heavy rains remind us of challenges in life. Never ask for a lighter rain. Just pray for a better umbrella. That is attitude.

2) When flood comes, fish eat ants & when flood recedes, ants eat fish. Only time matters. Just hold on, God gives opportunity to everyone!

3) Life is not about finding the right person, but creating the right relationship, it’s not how we care in the beginning, but how much we care till ending.

4) Some people always throw stones in your path. It depends on you what you make with them, Wall or Bridge?  Remember you are the architect of your life.

5) Every problem has (n+1) solutions, where n is the number of solutions that you have tried and 1 is that you have not tried. That’s life.

6) It is not important to hold all the good cards in life. But it’s important how well you play with the cards which you hold.

7) Often when we lose all hope & think this is the end, God smiles from above and says, `Relax dear it’s just a bend. Not the end’. Have Faith and have a successful life.

8) When you are sad, try to cheer up – just go to the mirror and say, `Damn I am really so cute` and you will overcome your sadness. But don’t make this a habit b’coz liars go to hell.

9) One of the basic  differences between God and human is, God gives, gives and forgives. But human gets, gets, gets and forgets. Be thankful in life!

10) Only two types of persons are happy in this world. First is Mad and second is Child. Be Mad to achieve what you desire and be a Child to enjoy what you have achieved.