"Refuse Manipulation. Take Responsibility".

Dearest Darling Friends, 

In my life, it all started with the fear of the dark.

Then came the fear of being left alone. And then it was the fear of getting physically hurt. 

That was followed by the fear of being taken away by "Budha Baba". Budha Baba was the bearded, unkempt, dangerous looking watchman of our housing society. 

Were you also scared into discipline by the threat of a "Budha Baba" taking you away if you did not comply? Ha ha. When I look back, it makes me laugh. 

In my childhood, I even had the fear of being hungry and ended up over eating every time. Ha ha. 

By the way, what were your growing up fears? 

Fear of parents, fear of teachers, fear of exams, fear of failure, fear of having no friends, fear of being misunderstood, fear of animals, fear of snakes, fear of heights, fear of drowning, fear of public speaking or was it something else? 

More than 95% people succumb to their fears. Their potential dies or gets paralysed. They live seeking safety, security, and comforts. 

They do known things. 
They eat known things. 
They visit known people. 
They read known subjects. 
They always play known games. 
They read known authors and so on... 

Are you one of them?

Less than 5% people learn to deal with their fears and perform despite their fears. They add value wherever they are. They IMPACT the world around them. They CHANGE lives. They are COURAGEOUS.

Very simply described, COURAGE is my capacity to overcome my primary and deep rooted fears, and let nothing limit me. It helps me to live my worth.

I have seen people who refuse to get manipulated by fear. They take responsibility over their life with courage. They wake up with energy. They stride through the day with purpose. *They live free*. 

They have come out of the horde of 95%. They lead the 5%. Looking at them I say to myself, "Naren, that's what you are born for". 

Do you know of such people? Do they strike a chord within you too? What do you do then? 

Would love to know your thoughts... 

With love, prayers and exceptional wishes, 

naren 

Imagine, when we wake up, we are given only what we had thanked for. 

www.lifeschool.co.in 

9 major benefits of getting mentored?

Dearest Darling Friends, 

The other day, I read a very interesting statement. It seems Eric Schimdt, the enigmatic Chairman of GOOGLE was once asked, "What is the best advice your parents ever gave you?" 

 

His answer, "Go and get a mentor". 

 

I did my research and here is what I found. 

 

Elite Athletes, Top-Notch Businessmen, High Class Professionals, routinely attribute their success to Mentors. Ambitious business leaders and ambitious professionals leverage mentoring processes for developing, engaging and retaining talent. Mentoring delivers great results in unleashing dormant potential in individuals. 

 

From an individual’s perspective, 9 major benefits of getting mentored are…

1 Puts life on fast track

2 Enhances career development

3 Clears up emotional cobwebs

4 Speeds up leadership development

5 Improves management skills

6 Fulfilment and self-belief

7 Frees you for more important work

8 Recognition and appreciation

9 Breaks mental barriers

When I scan my life I can see the huge impact my mentors had on me. If not for them, I wouldn't be where I am today.

• A mentor Sri B L Mohatta taught me how to think BIG

• A mentor Sri Ram Mohta taught me how to handle setbacks and never give up on yourself.

• A mentor Rajan taught me how to have passion and excellence in work.

• A mentor Sri Bagdi Uncle taught me whatever I do in life, I must do out of strength.

• A mentor Sri Rathiji taught me how important it is to have family as a priority.

…so on and so forth. 

 

The thing that makes mentors very powerful and impactful is that they LIVE by their suggestions. They practice what they preach. Hence, the suggestions go DEEP and initiates ACTION. 

 

Having one mentor for 'everything' is OK. Having a few mentors for different aspects of life is also OK. Both work equally well. 

 

Now, do a few things. 

Identify areas in life where you want to develop big time and you wish to develop fast.

Find a role model.

Ensure they agree to mentor you.

Surrender your ego.

Get ready for MASSIVE action.

Get ready to reap the fruits. 

 

What are you waiting for?

Go on. Start now! 

 

If you have any questions on this topic, do write in. You will find me on this side. 

 

With love, prayers and exceptional wishes, 

 

naren 

 

Imagine, when we wake up, we are given 'only what we had thanked for'. 

 

www.lifeschool.co.in

I learnt how to fail.

Dearest Darling Friends,

I crashed my car against a bike a few weeks ago. He was riding in front of me. He stopped.  Unfortunately I didn’t.  The good news is that I emerged totally functional. Great news is, so did they. They were two of them.They were very decent people. There was no fracas, no chaos, no fight.

I apologised. I offered to pay for the bike's repairs. They agreed. We exchanged contact details and I drove on. Here is the interesting part. During this accident,I observed myself responding in 4 stages. I am sure you will mirror yourself with these 4 stages.

1)  My first response: “You are an ass” – As the accident happened,my first response was to search for someone to blame. (Has this ever happened with you too?) In this case, it was the rider of the Bullet bike who decided to stop while making the turn. In my self defense, I reasoned, they were supposed to glide through. Not my fault. The driver had absolutely no concern for whether it would be convenient for me to make the stop. Clearly not a good driver. Irresponsible too. Now, he has me late for my meeting.

2)  My second response: “I am an ass” – My second response came soon after the first.  I sheepishly remembered that I am actually supposed to keep a safe distance. My inner critic showed up in full flow. “What an ass I am! I drive rash. I am always in a hurry. It’s a miracle that I don't have more accidents. I am not fit to drive. There are always too many things buzzing to glory in my head.” It’s a good thing that I was in this mode when I came out of the car. That probably saved me. I apologized profusely which seemed to calm down the brother who was driving the bike. I was saved again his pillion (his sister) was unhurt. he said it so. We examined the damage, exchanged contact information and went our way.

3)  My third response: “It’s okay” – As I drove onward bravely, a little shaken, something in me finally relaxed. I decided to be kind to myself. I reasoned with me. The critic in me was asked to keep quiet. The 'nice guy' in me was convinced, I didn’t need to blame me. I didn’t need to blame anyone else.  I just needed to get over the disappointment of the failure by being compassionate to myself. I let myself smile. I gave myself a hug. I felt a lot better.

4) My fourth response: “What is the lesson here?” – The lessons for me were two-fold.  First, I need to slow down. I need to be more mindful and relaxed. On the surface I was. Deep within there were too many chaoses. There were too many things I was running behind. Second learning: things do go wrong. If we get stuck in the rut of blaming others or ourselves, it makes things worse.

In short, I learnt how to fail well. I gave myself permission to fail, without seeing myself as a failure.  I promised myself I will extend the same compassion to others.

If this resonated with you, please do comment, and share with others. Who knows who needs this article today?

With love, prayers and exceptional wishes,

naren

Imagine, when we wake up, we are given only what we had thanked for.

www.lifeschool.co.in

Our DESTINY begins the moment we ACT.

Dearest Darling Friends,

Jog.

If you can't jog, do 100 pushups.

If you can't do 100 pushups, do 100 sit-ups.

If you can't do 100 sit-ups, do 100 squats.

If you can't do 100 squats, do 100 lunges.

If you can't do 100 lunges…

Write 100 words.

If you can't write 100 words, read 100 pages of any great book.

If you can't read 100 pages of any great book, listen to 100 minutes of an audio book.

If you can't listen to 100 minutes on an audio book...

Make a healthy breakfast like a sprout salad.

If you can't make a healthy breakfast like a sprout salad, make a green smoothie.

If you can't make a green smoothie, eat two fruits.

This list could go on and on...

Follow two steps now.

Step 1: You may substitute "run," "write”, “listen”, “read” or “make” with any action…it does not matter

Step 2: You may substitute "100" with any number that works for you. 75, 50, 25... it does not matter.

What does matter is that YOU taking action. What matters is you doing that CONSISTENTLY.

The momentum will keep you going.

Make the choice to get up every day, to look at life with a smile and take massive action.

Our DESTINY begins the moment we ACT.

Start. I started. This summer, I traveled to Everest Base Camp. Enhanced my life and I am back.

Do let me know, what did you start!

What are you waiting for?

With love, prayers and exceptional wishes,

naren

Imagine, when we wake up, we are given only what we had thanked for.

www.lifeschool.co.in

'Trial' and 'Error'! The crazy difference!!!

Dearest Darling Friends,

Errors are mistakes we make. They are poor decisions that we would change if given a second chance. For example, let's say, I drink and drive. Because of my inebriated state, I meet with an accident. It was an error to drive when I was drunk. Period! My mind should process it as simple as that. However, this is rarely done. Normally, what happens?

I will want to escape the blame by pinning the blame on to the roads, the diversions, the traffic or the other drivers on the road. If am a 'khiladi', I will find people who would agree with me. They will sympathize with me too. 

They might convince someone to write a book on my sad, heart breaking, soul tearing, experience. Someone might do a research on how these roads are so dangerous for 'poor drunk drivers' and get a PhD too!

Oh hell! Some of my dearest friends (?) may take a rally to make their points public about how 'anyaya' is happening to drunk drivers. I will be the POSTER boy for them. 

Funny part is, I will actually start believing others are at fault and there was NOTHING, at all, wrong with me! Responding like this will have greater harm than I realize. Ironically, I will never accept this fact. 

On the other hand, trials are more nuanced. They are poor results from good decisions that I have made that still feel like errors, but given a second chance, I will make the same choice again and again. 

For example, as they mention in the book 'I Done It', if I see an open Michael Jordan under the hoop, then I should pass it to him, because 99.9% of the time, he’s going to basket when he’s that close. But, if for some reason, he misses the dunk, that doesn’t invalidate the original correct decision to pass it to him. 

It wasn’t an error; it was just a bad result. 

The thing is, emotionally, it still feels like a mistake which can lead me to be hesitant to make the same RIGHT decision again. 

Decisions born out of ego, self-righteousness, incorrect information, over zealousness, follow the mob, are errors of understanding and errors of judgment.

Decisions made with peace in the heart, humility in thoughts, larger good as the intention, thinking about all possible perspectives, can sometimes end still, with a bad result. These are trials.

Understanding the difference between the two (trial and error) will make me a much better decision maker in life.

If it was an error, I will change. If it was just a bad result, I will repeat. Simplicity and clarity on the life game with trials and errors helps me a lot in every aspect of life.

What are your thoughts on this my dearest darling reader? What are your experiences saying about this?

With love, prayers and exceptional wishes,

naren

Imagine, when we wake up, we are given only what we had thanked for.

www.lifeschool.co.in

I'm scared when you say you love me.

You say you love the rain but you use an umbrella to walk under it.

You say you love the sun but you seek shade when it is shining.

You say you love the wind but when it comes you close the window.

So that’s why, I am scared when you say you love me.

BOB MARLEY 

Dearest Darling Friends,

Certain lines take your breath away. When you read them, time stands still. When you read them again, the impact is the same. 

The above lines from Bob Marley always have that kind of an effect on me. It makes me smile. It makes reminiscence happen. It makes me nostalgic. Strangely, it makes me deepen the desire to love and love more. It kind of makes me ready to love and be prepared if I get hurt. 

It makes my heart say, "So what if I get hurt. I want to just go ahead and love and feel the completeness that loving gives. I want to feel the self-worth that loving someone gives. I want to feel the strength within, that loving someone, gives."

What if I am hurt or disappointed? Well, I see it this way. Disappointments are a part of life. That should NEVER stop me from loving, right? 

There is only one exception to the rule. If the intention of the other person is to exploit me, then walking away will be considered. However, that just means we were not right for 'each other'. It does not mean, there is anything faulty about love. 

I love the rains and I am going to dance in the rains to glory.

I love the sun and watch it rise every time I can. As I watch it rise, I think my dear darling Sun is talking to me. It is putting up this spectacle for me to 'understand' something. I love these moments where we play mental games with each other.

I love the wind and even today, I love to put my head just that little bit out of the window as we drive somewhere.

If Bob Marley would have met me, he would have said, I believe it when you say, "I love you".

With love, prayers and exceptional wishes,

naren

Imagine, when we wake up, we are given only what we had thanked for.

www.lifeschool.co.in