Little Deep Thoughts

Most of us think our lives accumulate. We think they are adding up to something. We think of our lives as being strung together like a long smoky train, so that we can add new freight cards when we're feeling right, and dump the others when we're not. But when basketball legend John Wooden's father said to him, "Make each day your masterpiece," Wooden knew something profound: Life is now. Life is not later on. And the more we hypnotise ourselves into thinking we have all the time in the world to do what we want to do, the more we sleepwalk past life's finest opportunities. Self-motivation flows from the importance we attach to today. Most of us, however, don't want it to be this way. If someone asks us if today can be used as a model to judge our entire life by, we would shriek, "Oh no! It isn't one of my better days. Give me a year or two and I'll live a day, I'm certain of it, that you can use to represent my life." The key t...

So, why do I claim we have no willpower? Is it a misguided desire to protect myself? Is there a secret payoff in saying I have no willpower? Maybe if I absolutely deny the existence of willpower, I am no longer responsible for developing it. It’s out of my life! What a relief! But, here’s the final tragedy: The development and use of willpower is the most direct access to happiness and motivation that I’ll ever have. In short, by denying its existence, I’m shutting my spirit down. Many people think of willpower and self-discipline as something akin to self-punishment. By giving it that negative connotation, they never get enthused about developing it. But author William Bennett gives us a different way to think of it. Self-discipline, he notes in The Book Of Virtues , comes from the word disciple. When you are self-disciplined, you have simply decided-in matters of the will-to become your own disciple. Once you make that decision, your life’s adventure gets more interesting. ...

Our society encourages us to seek comfort. Most products and services advertised day and night are designed to make us more comfortable and less challenged. But, only challenge causes growth. Only challenge will test our skills and make us better. Only challenge and the self-motivation to engage the challenge will transform us. Every challenge we face is an opportunity to create a more skillful self. It is up to you to constantly look for challenges that motivate you. It’s up to you to notice when you’re buried alive in a comfort zone. It’s up to you to notice when you are spending your life, in the image of the poet William Olsen, like a flower “living under the wind.” Use your comfort zones to rest in, not to live in. Use them consciously to relax and restore your energy as you mentally prepare for your next challenge. But if you use comfort zones to live in forever, they become what rock singer Sting calls your “soul cages.” Break free. Fly away. 

What causes management stress ? It is caused by the gap between when a thing should have been done and when it was eventually done. What is Technology gap ? It is a better way of doing things that has already come into the industry, but you are yet to implement. If what has to be done has to anyhow be done eventually, then why not do it today and save the stress ? If there is a better way of doing things, then why not get to it before someone else does and enjoy that edge... rather than being an also-ran ? When we know that something is bad, then why not drop it now ?  Why wait for New Year ? Why wait for another day ? Do you want to deliver "world-class" quality ? From this very moment, stop doing anything that is less than "world-class" quality. Do you want to apologise for a mistake you committed earlier but have just become aware of... seek forgiveness immediately; else, you'll reel with guilt. Had a flash of brilliance.. execute the idea immediately, e...