Unexpected Motivation

Sometimes, you gain motivation from where you least expect it.

Just came back from a group cycling session at the gym. The workout comprised of a variety of (imaginary) flat terrains and hill climbs coupled with some anaerobic intervals driven by music (some typical hit songs that can be heard in any gym). Heard the instructor utter some sentences that I translated into some important life lessons..

"Music is going to slow down. Maintain your rythm. Test your limits; don't be fooled by the music."
--> There will be a time in your life wherein everything would seem to have slowed down (read "stability"). This isn't the time to relax. It's the time to work harder.

"This is for you, Guys! I hope we remain friends at the end of this session"
--> In life, you'll meet people who would appear to have come in your life to hurt you. Actually, they come in your life for some reason. It's for your own good.

"Don't stop if the music stops. The songs will end, but the steep slope of the imaginary hill you're riding your bike on, wouldn't suddenly disappear. Keep going !.."
-->  Need I say more? :)

The Road Ahead or The Road Behind

The Road Ahead or The Road Behind
by George Joseph Moriarty

Sometimes I think the Fates must
Grin as we denounce and insist
The only reason we can’t win
Is the Fates themselves that miss

Yet there lives on an ancient claim
We win or lose within ourselves
The shining trophies on our shelves
Can never win tomorrow’s game
You and I know deeper down
There’s always a chance to win the crown

But when we fail to give our best
We simply haven’t met the test
Of giving all, and saving none
Until the game is really won

Of showing what is meant by grit
Of fighting on when others quit
Of playing through, not letting up
It’s bearing down that wins the cup
Of taking it and taking more
Until we gain the winning score

Of dreaming there’s a goal ahead
Of hoping when our dreams are dead
Of praying when our hopes have fled
Yet losing, not afraid to fall
If bravely, we have given all

For who can ask more of a man
Than giving all within his span
Giving all, it seems to me
Is not so far from victory

And so the Fates are seldom wrong
No matter how they twist and wind
It is you and I who make our fates
We open up or close the gates
On the road ahead or the road behind.

Source: The Road Ahead or The Road Behind
             Erik Proulx's Blog

Life

Photo Credits: Google Images.

Deadline for personal goals

Back in 2004, Dad bought a new home and we decided to have some custom furniture built on-site for it. The work completed a little late, and the carpenters gave us a bill, which was well above the market quotes we had received. In India, it is very common to haggle on prices of almost all the commodities and services a consumer may use. Dad, having lived in a metropolitan city for more than 25 years, was very well aware of the fair price to pay for the work done by the carpenters. He made a payment, and the carpenters accepted it after negotiating for a bit.

Here's where the story starts...

Source: Google Images

At ~ 10pm, we received a call from one of the carpenters. The person on the other side of the call was quite (obviously) drunk, and sounded very dejected. All I could hear was that he was sad because he had not met his goal. When I think of that incident, I phase out in a completely different level of thoughts.

The carpenter had a family in his village with 4 kids, whom he visited once every 6-8 months. He worked hard in the city, saved some money, and went back to his village with all the wealth he had amassed, including gifts for the wife and kids. A couple days spent with family, and he is back to business.

The part I want to highlight here is -- He had set a goal with a deadline. The goal of saving some amount of money and buying gifts.. all within 6 months. Unfortunately, this time around, he couldn't make it. This had led to disappointment.

I tried comparing his situation with the case of more than 90% people having jobs in this modern world. There are far too many similarities in the set-up than you can imagine. The only thing that is different in the two cases, is the "deadline" for personal goals and ambitions.

Forget the aspect of money for a while. Lets talk about goals.

Can the carpenter afford to not return to his village after 6 months? Could he `take it easy' for a couple months? Can he afford to loose track of his goal even for a single day? Will he be happy living in the city without honoring his responsibilities towards his family in the village? I keep going back to Chetan Bhagat's speech, where he said :

"Life is one of those races in nursery school. Where you have to run with a marble in a spoon kept in your mouth. If the marble falls, there is no point coming first. Same with life, where health and relationships are the marble.."

More info. here.

In some ways, although the carpenter's race was long, he was lucky. He had a deadline to meet; Every 6 months! In the case of most people working from 9-5 daily, however, there are no strict deadlines (not for daily tasks, but for personal goals). "Stable income" is what people coin the term as.

Are people fooled to believe that they have ample time to do what they want to do? Do we, at some point along the way, forget what we are here for and loose track of our goals? Do we let the comforts of day-to-day life in the modern world lure us into believing that we have all the time in the world to realize our personal goals? 

Finding motivation ...

I've been in this mode several times in the past. This article, however, has made me re-think what to do if I land in that mode again in the future. Some of the views expressed in this article are contradictory to what most people (including me) believe in.

Start small. Really small. If you are having a hard time getting started, it may be because you’re thinking too big.

If you find inspiration and want to do a goal, don’t start right away. Many of us will get excited and want to start today. That’s a mistake. Set a date in the future — a week or two, or even a month — and make that your Start Date. Mark it on the calendar. Get excited about that date. Make it the most important date in your life. In the meantime, start writing out a plan. And do some of the steps below. Because by delaying your start, you are building anticipation, and increasing your focus and energy for your goal.

It’s probably the most common mistake that people make: they try to take on too much, try to accomplish too many goals at once. You cannot maintain energy and focus (the two most important things in accomplishing a goal) if you are trying to do two or more goals at once. It’s not possible — I’ve tried it many times. You have to choose one goal, for now, and focus on it completely. I know, that’s hard. Still, I speak from experience. You can always do your other goals when you’ve accomplished your One Goal.

Commit publicly: Now, you don’t have to commit to your goal in your daily newspaper, but you can do it with friends and family and co-workers, and you can do it on your blog if you have one. And hold yourself accountable — don’t just commit once, but commit to giving progress updates to everyone every week or so.

Get support. It’s hard to accomplish something alone.

Sounds interesting? Read it here.

The day you realize...

...that you treat others better than yourself, is a very good day in your life. Firstly, it indicates that you are on the right track, and that you respect others. Secondly, this realization fosters better understanding of one's self and the way you live.

We need to respect ourselves just as we respect others. Respect -- here means understanding the limits of your capabilities, taking rest when needed, eating good food, doing regular exercise, and so on.

Sounds like a rant, doesn't it? As a matter of fact, it is one!

All I wanted to say to whoever reads this is:

"As you run the race in this increasingly competitive world, don't forget to take care of yourself." :)

(As you may have guessed by now -- this is kind'a "Note-To-Self" ;)

The Least You Could Do..

Birthdays are always special. All the more so when a family member has one. On one such recent occasion, I decided to send some gifts back home (thanks floraindia.com). I was then talking on the phone and heard the following ..."Gifts are very good, but hey, you didn't come! (?)".

It was a perfectly valid comment. It really got me thinking. I had a realization about how all things we do are relative. In other words, the definition of "the least you could do" changes based on many external factors. People wish their loved ones by personally visiting them on their birthday. It is probably the least, one can hope, you can do for them. Today, however, I am thousands of miles away from my loved ones. The expectation of the "least I can do" to have a smile on their face -- has changed. What's bad is that instead of rising, expectations generally go down over time. Not meeting your family on such special occasions has become the norm of the 21st century.

I've always heard the funny jokes about how NRIs regularly send gifts/flowers, but come home just once an year, in the best case. It is only now that I realize what this means. It takes time for such things to sink in. And when they do sink in, you start questioning yourself; Why are you doing this?; About the career goals you have, versus the things you have been, and will be missing out on. All you can say at that moment is "Never mind" and move on, with the hope that one day you'll know the answers to all these questions.