4CHUNE

If I'm not already up, then I'm getting up - Rich DeVos

Life has a very good sense of humor. It has its own way of being entertained. I often feel that entertainment comes at some cost -
This amusement is a way of testing me. Every time I think everything is going soooooo smoothly.... its scary. Well, it really is scary, because a bend or a twist & a turn is usually just around the corner. But here is what I found out - a lesson learnt hard way - more stupid I'm, harder it is for me to get myself back up on my feet. More stupid I'm, life throws the same challenge again and again, until i learn from it and learn NOT to do same stupid mistake. Once I learn from it and move on, life is getting ready to test me with a new challenge. Hard part of it is, its hard to appreciate the valuable lesson life is teaching me when I'm in a pit. I can laugh a bit in hindsight once I'm out of it. But how can I laugh at myself being in a dumpster?
I'm in a period of life right now where I'm testing to see what I'm made of. Can I get myself back on my two little feet? I bet I can. How do I know? I have done it a few dozen times. Here is an interesting way to counter ANY challenge. More I moan, more time I'm wasting in the pit. That's the time i rather spend in getting back on the ground. If life gave me this challenge, i'll give a small challenge within that challenge - to see if I got what it takes to see glory!

Like Rich DeVos said, you will not see me falling. You will only see me getting up. but how many times? Does it matter?

"To aquire knowledge, one must study; but to acquire wisdom, one must observe".
- Marilyn Savant.


All my non-Indian friends: please forgive me as I am referencing some Indian iconic figures in this post. But I hope you get the point made anyway.

As any (read most) teenage kid growing up in India, I was a cricket fanatic (I still am, as some things just don't change). My cricket hero was Sachin Tendulkar. For those who have never heard of him, he is considered one of the all-time greatest cricketers. True genius on cricket field. He still amazes me. I will always be a big fan of Sachin.

I was reading an article on Sachin yesterday, in which he was quoted as saying "I draw inspiration from Amitabh (A very successful actor), Mangeshkar Sisters (Most renowned Singers). I have always been their fans. I wonder what keeps them performing even at this age. I get strength when I look at them..."

I thought for a minute: Sachin has all the wealth one could ever dream of having. He has the glory to his name, many many many fans around the globe. He just needs to look back at his own past performances to get inspired, yet, he knows the fact that he needs a source of inspiration. Above all, he knows that one can always learn a thing or two by observing others.

Why am I writing this? Until now, I have always looked at successful actors, sportsmen or businessmen and just admired them without asking a very valuable question: "What can I learn from this person? How can I implement his or her success in my own life? Can I be a better person by observing something in him/her?". I guess so.
If only had I drawn inspiration from success or learnt from failure of every human being I ever came in contact with, where would I be today? Hmmmmm... But we can definitely change that.

Just a couple of days ago, this was a point of discussion between me and Ramya, my lovely wife. She said God being so perfect in all aspects, and being the Creator of ALL things is truly well above All worldly things, and hence above sorrows, above sickness and above emotions. Well, a point that one needs to respect. But I have been thinking since our discussions - Is He truly free of emotions?

I was forced to think of all those days my parents cried over me when I was completely going astray. Specially my mom. Those were some of my horrible years, and everyone around me, including my parents thought I was a complete "gone case". I was surely not a blessing in anyone's lives. I clearly remember my mom shedding tears almost every day. My dad was disappointed, but was often successful in hiding his emotions.

Now why am I saying these things? What has it got to do with God being free of emotions? If you ask me, it has everything to do with my example. If mom and dad, who gave me birth were so depressed, and often cried out why am I not being who I am supposed to be, do you think God wont have the same thoughts when I am being a stupid kid? If anyone who truly understands my true potential, it has to be God, since He says He knew me when I was in my mom's womb. He said He had plans for me. He gave me dreams along with abilities to go achieve them. He also says he is not a teaser. Now if I didn't use any of them, or use them in a wrong way, do you think He was a bit disappointed in me? I surely think so. There were days, I am ashamed to admit, I did everything so wrong, that I was a disgrace. I wonder if God ever cried. He must have thought "I made Srini in my image. But look what he is doing". I have had a lot of conversations with God, mostly one way (or I felt they were). but strangely I never asked Him that question. One of these days, I am planning on asking.

Now one might argue, why am I comparing humanly attachments my parents had with me are being compared to my relation to God. I guess I know why I am doing. Its simple - we call Him "Father". In Hinduism, we call that devine power as Holy Mother. Either way, if my worldly parents can feel the sadness because of my mischief, I am sure the Ultimate Creator would feel the same way - just my sincere opinion.

The opposite can be true as well. If I do anything worthwile, I am sure, just like my own parents, He would be so proud of me. I recently heard a talk by one of the most successful men I have had a privilege of seeing say "God has smiled on me". There you go, in this case, the speaker was refering to God being happy of him, another state of emotion. So I know I am not completely off base here. If you have had the privilege of knowing the answer this question directly from the Source, let me know. I might just change my opinion. But for now, my life long challenge would be "how can I make God smile on me atleast once a day". After all, during this pursuit, I might just turn out to be a great citizen after all!

Cheers.

Success requires first expending ten units of effort to produce one unit of results. Your momentum will then produce ten units of results with each unit of effort. - Charles J. Givens

Above statement sums it all up. In fact, it sums up my entire article. I am particularly thrilled to write this piece because I truly believe that I am writing this blog for myself. I'll be happy if it helps others along the way.

Often times I have had days I had no energy, no inspiration to go out and do what I was supposed to do, be it at work, or getting in front my client or running an errand. Looking back (with the benefit of my hindsight, which is always 20-20, I can pinpoint what exactly went wrong in each case - I didn't have momentum. It takes a LOT of effort to get something going. Our tendency is to take rest as soon as we reach a milestone or a significant portion of the milestone. We think we deserve some rest. Nothing wrong with it. But unfortunately, we lose momentum. I have seen that it takes a lot to overcome inertia. First few calls made to prospects or clients really feels like a herculean task. but what happens after you make 2, 3 4...10 calls? Doesn't matter what the results were of first 10 calls, 11th call almost always seems like a cakewalk. your attitude is a bit different, which shows up in your tone of voice, your body language, choice of words you use... list goes on.

First, I was of the opinion that momentum only applies to sales. But momentum applies to all aspects of life. Recently I was reading a book by Donald Trump. He is a Billionaire, and obviously I want to know what he knows. He attributed major part of his success to "Momentum". He says in his book Think Big, when he was young and no one knew him, and he was yet to prove himself, every action he took contributed to his personal momentum. Soon, he formed a small group, but they didn't completely believe in him. But soon he started striking deals, people around him started to think "hmmm.. this guy is not another fly by.. he is going to stick around...". When he developed momentum, everyone wanted to be a part of it. They didn't want to miss out. That's what momentum does. He goes on to say Momentum is a strange thing...It stops when you stop. but it wont just stop there like you do. It starts sliding down. He gives examples of how great businessmen who once were at the top of their fields lost their momentum, and hence lost it all.

I like to give an example of what Deepak, my mentor and coach always says about success. He says, Success is like you moving a heavy rock up the mountain. You stop, it wont stop with you, it slides down the hill. You cant have the luxury of taking a break and having success at the same time.

Often times, I cant help but notice on the road. I am standing at red light waiting impatiently for it to turn green. Soon it turn green. Just then, a small car, much less powerful than mine reaches the intersection , and continues to drive at the same speed. No matter how much I accelerate, no matter how powerful my car is, I cant go past that weaker car. Why? that small car was in motion as it approached green light. He didn't have to stop. He proceeded at the same speed. That's momentum! My bigger car, superior horse power can not equate to the car that is already in motion. In reality, my talents, my ability, my posture, my good looks, my smoothness can never compensate for lack of momentum. I am not saying other things aren't important. But when you add to your talents and abilities, and keep up the momentum, you will be a Ferrari at the intersection that didn't have to stop at the red light.

I cant finish this article without quoting what Ganesh, one of my role models in life had to say about momentum. He says physical momentum what we see in the outer world always follows the mental momentum. We need to develop momentum in our mind, plan everything to be done today, this week, and this year. Form the picture of what will it be like to accomplish everything. That will sure fire us up!

While its the most grueling and uninspiring thing to do, momentum always sets us apart. Now, my friends, I can't wait for the the day others want to not miss out on being part of my journey. It has just begun!

Many of life's failures are people who did not realize how close they were to success when they gave up. - Thomas Edison.

I can come up with at least a hundred nice quotes like the one above about persistence. But why in the world didn't I remember any of them when I quit my last task half way? That tells me - Persistence is not something that you can "remember" from a book. Its part of your character. Molding one's character requires a LOT of effort, discipline, and dedication. We are who we are because of the way we have programmed ourselves for decades. We cant change ourselves overnight.

How do we change this? How do we learn persistence? By changing the attitude. What do we think of our own words? I mean our attitude needs a major surgery if we can't respect our own words. For example, If I promised my wife i would do something, I am bound by my own words. She may forgive me if I didn't do it because i had a problem finishing the task or something else came up. But its my duty to not get derailed. A friend of mine, who is an extremely successful, and a very rich individual once said - Never give up, go around it, go below it, go above it, or go through it..... but don't let something stop you there".




This is a very inspirational video. Obviously, John had a great attitude. He didn't pity himself. Instead, he was thinking of his "Purpose" of being at the Olympics. One definition of character is Remembering your own words long after the spirit in whih you gave those words has left you. When that is right, we will never have the problem in completing the task.

It is said that time is money. But this is vastly understated. Time is not money. Its MORE than money.
Lot of people when they don't have money, borrow money. they beg for money or some even go as far to steal it. But can the same person beg, borrow or steal time? When you have money, you can invest it. You can multiply money to get more money. But once you have time on hand, you can not multiply it. the best investment of time is - you invest it more wisely than you would invest money.
Its so magical that you wake up everyday and there you go - a box shows up in your hands that reads 24 hours.... spend it/invest it/waste it the way you want. yet, some of us kill hour after hour after hour as if it had no value. Someone said, like a magic, everyday, nature gifts you a precious thing called day, which is studded with 24 stunning diamonds.
how many days at work we have said.. "my gosh, i cant wait for 5 'o clock. day is so long. i am getting tired". i have done it for years. what i didnt realise, i have lost many many many many precious diamonds in each hour i lost. why not handle each one of those diamonds so carefully and wisely that it makes most sense?
Steven Covey said - "time management is a myth. You can't manage time. how can you manage it? it wont wait for you. You cant manipulate it. only thing you can manage is "yourself". Manage your activities and your priorities such that you get the most accomplished in the limited time you have.

My own thoughts: No one has ever wasted a lifetime all at once. They have all wasted one day at a time. No one has wasted a day at once. they have all wasted one hour at a time.