Most of us choose to begin new journeys every now and then.
Sometimes it’s professional, sometimes it’s about habits, and other times it’s about maintaining balance and discipline in life.
And any such endeavour worth doing usually requires a long long time.
The best way, I opine to keep yourself committed to it is by starting small. Break that huge behemoth of a task into a bite-able chunk. And bite it every single day.
Another impactful way to make yourself working at it, is to start small but to start loud. Let a few people know what you are planning to achieve.
Declare a plan boldly. You might stick with it longer than you normally would. No one likes to be publicly shamed among his/her close companions, isn’t it?
But the key thing anyway, is to start. And the second key thing is to not stop.
Buddha had a say in this:
“There are two mistakes one can make along the road to truth… not going all the way, and not starting.”
The internet is a revolutionary platform to create and spread great ideas. But unfortunately, it isn’t used to its fullest potential always and by all people.
There are two kinds of people on the internet.
1) The producers of information
2) The consumers of information.
Please don’t be the third. The Trolls.
These are the bystanders destroying value out of this incredible system.
Instead build a tribe. A small network of people who believe in your ideas or ideology. You may or may not know them, but your work should benefit them atleast in the slightest possible way.
Given a chance, try to be a producer of content that is worth producing.
Not the never-ending-series of cat pictures and #fail videos. Thanks!
So much in life that the waiting time could be counted as another lifetime for most of us.
We always wait. For people to pick us, for our bosses to appreciate us, for our friends to respect us, for our parents to settle us, for our partners to love us.
And most importantly, we wait for the life to decide our future without we having to make the tough decisions in life.
We take fate as gospel. And succumb to it, giving it a fancy phrase, “My circumstances don’t allow me to do what I want to do.”
But how long shall we fool ourselves?
It probably isn’t that fun but take matters into your hands.Your life, your career and your daily routine. Take these things seriously.
Instead of just waiting for the right time and the right day, do what you think is right, RIGHT NOW.
The bus you are waiting to catch is perhaps never going to come.
Either wait there endlessly, or embark a journey fearlessly.
To an almost perfect relationship, to a favorite tv show, to a tempting long drive, to that incredible movie, or to a friend who’s asking to join him for a game of tennis.
Saying YES is the easiest thing. Ofcourse, it’s the most logical thing too right? Afterall, YOLO.
So, who would want to whole-heartedly give up on beautiful things like that?
Yet, at times, you should. Not because you are insensitive to pleasure, but because, sometimes, life demands more of you.
More than just an average person with average pleasures. Can’t you aim a bit higher?
if you walk down the street and eavesdrop on someone’s conversation, you will find most people are struggling so hard to get out of this bubble.
The bubble of comfort zone.
It’s so intangible and so ingrained into our mind that we can’t easily eliminate it. But you should. If you wish to make history.
Michael Phelps also loves to eat at Mcdonalds. Roger Federer also loves to watch viral videos. Chrisopher Nolan also loves to talk on phone for thousands of hours. Elon Musk also loves to keep playing angry birds.
But they say no. The hardest thing.
Think about your dreams whenever someone reminds you of merry-making. And then you already know what to say, no?.
Well, I honestly don’t know about it. Because now I wouldn’t give a damn.
As a kid, I remember, finding every pole I could and dangling on it hoping I would grow to be 6 ft tall. Eventually, my arms have perhaps become slacker, but I didn’t grow an inch.
I also remember putting a lot of emphasis on looking handsome, and to draw people’s attention with my smart-ass jokes. Oopsy, none of them worked.
The same goes with the so-called “IQ” and the ridiculous hype around it.
For me, winners are those who win by choice. And not by chance.
Those who slog out the late-nights over their dreams, and not those who rip open their shirts to show off their gifted bodies.
Genius is not trying to measure your IQ by stupid little internet tests, but by building something incredible, that millions of people love to use and feel enriched by.
Now, stop watching those telemarketing crap and focus on how you can be different with or without talent. The world’s got enough talent already, show us some attitude.
That pretty much sums up any great accomplishment in life too.
Only you have to do the hard work. Not the church priest, not the fellow devotees, and even God cannot help you finish your task.
Anything worthwhile will take your energy, effort, and focus. It won’t happen in a rush nor will it be so wonderfully exciting all the time.
But it has to be done. God can perhaps give you the faith and self-confidence but you’ve gotta move your butt.
In his amazing little book, The Dip, Seth Godin writes how we need to overcome the obstacles called procrastination and despair to keep doing what we love often.
For some, life is just a merry ride. For the rest of us folks who want to build/create/make/paint/shoot/draw/design/film/write, life is a little bit of hard work too. And hey, don’t complain that your dog ate your homework or that God didn’t do it for you either.
If you try to hustle though your life in a quick rush, you will end up bumping onto something ugly.
It isn’t done that way.
Yes, there is your career. Yes, there are your passions. Yes, there is your marriage, and yes there are your kids and more stressfully, a lot of your friends are ahead of you.
But everything has a time mark on it. And you can’t pre-empt it today, all at once. Then why do you fret about those things and worry a lot?
Instead, go simple. Go with a slower approach and relish the today you have in your hands.
Break your BIG BODACIOUS dream into a tiny piece and bite that today. Just a little bit. Need not be productive or successful as per the external world’s metrics, but atleast you will be satisfied that you have accomplished something worthwhile.
I’ve done my bit by writing this blog. My heart is filled with joy. What do you plan to do today?
Inauguration speeches, group discussions, extempore contests, debating clubs, creative essays, impressive PowerPoint presentations and short-films.
That was pretty much everything I did in my undergrad. Ofcourse, in the free time, I also took some engineering courses. Haha.
Well, my point is, you can look at your college as an engineering only, geeky-nerdy-IIT-like college that resembles a factory. Or you are welcome to look at it differently.
Like a wonderful launchpad. For all of your creative talents.
I wasn’t a Shakespeare when I joined the college, but I realized I had an urge in me to write. I loved creativity and being artistic. It was, I thought, the only way the world could know how unique I was. Hence, I pushed myself every time at every opportunity that came my way. And boy, my college gave me plenty of them.
Yes, there was resistance from all sides. Including my inside. I didn’t know why I was loving something that doesn’t belong in engineering: CREATIVITY.
But, here’s the thing. I was wrong. I thought engineering was all about geeky-math equations and differential amplifiers. That’s true though, however, as my life progressed I realized how big of an impact my creativity had in everything I did.
All you aspiring writers, dancers, singers, musicians, photographers and film-makers, don’t wait for the best time to start something. Infact, in my view, the best time was yesterday. The second best time is today. Start working on your dream. And please for heaven’s sake, stop sulking.
Where’s that big opportunity then?
It’s right in front of you. In a smaller version. Open your eyes!
How well have we been brainwashed right from our childhood into sticking to the safe path, the well-worn way, the secured direction!
If your passions happen to fall in the same line, good for you. But if they don’t, you have to make a call. Somehow. With great grit and follow your heart.
Perhaps you might feel nervous, you might feel unpredictable but you will eventually be satisfied and content.
Richard Armstrong once said,
“A boat that stays in the harbor never encounters dangers—but it also never gets anywhere.”
that’s when life gets tougher. And you need to get stronger too.
The rising tide is a metaphor to any great challenge in life.
At work, in your education, in a relationship or in your family, life can give you lemons. I’m not joking, it always does. Some small, some big.
That new programming language you are struggling to learn, that new dance form you are trying to master, that new presentation you are waiting to prepare, that new issue you should discuss with your partner, that new frugal practice you want to take up, that new diet change you want to make.
Any or all of the above could be challenging depending on what you are going through in life.
But like they say, when the going gets tough, only the tough get going.
Be a tough person. Remember your best times where you’ve clung onto something and it worked. Giving up is usually the open door always. Look at the unopened yet beautiful satisfying and enriching door.
It’s called success. It’s hard to open and wait, there’s no master key to that. But I guess we know the passcode: Sheer discipline and hard work.
