Fear To Die

What I like most in the movie 'The Dark Knight Rises' is the part when the Batman was in a prison, at the bottom of a well where prisoners die waiting with hope of coming out of it.

I felt, that is how most of us die, waiting to play the song we always wanted to.

Each one of us fits into a type of the prisoner as shown in the movie. And who you are depends on how you react to the situation.

You can be the one who died, waiting in the hope to see light, without ever trying to come out of the well.

You can be the prisoner adjusting with the surroundings, accepting the situation and forgetting the outside world, preaching philosophy like "happiness doesn't depend upon what we do but it is a matter of inner peace".

You can be the one who tried to get out of the prison, but couldn't because you stopped trying after just one failed attempt.

Or

You can be the Batman, who tried again and again, to come out of the prison, to come out of the forced conditions and succeeded.

What matters most is the WILL to come out, the STRENGTH to climb up though important, is secondary.

The difference between you living the life of a prisoner of the external conditions and living the life like a Batman is the fear, Fear to die in a prison, without taking an action, without following your calling. 

The choice is always yours. 

The question is not about which way is right. The question is which way do you want to spend the short time that you have.

Will you adjust with the surroundings and lead a happy/unhappy prisoner life, without doing what you believe you are here for?

Or

Will you take an action to be the Batman in your life ?

Why does 'The Secret' sell ?

"Why does the book 'The Secret' sell ?", I saw this question in some forum.

I answered, "Because it gives us HOPE."

If you ask..

Why does Robin Sharma Sell ??

Why does the Seth Godin sell ??

Why do the books like Magic Of Thinking Big, You Can Do It, etc sell in huge volumes ??

The answer is same, they all give us a hope.

Robin sharma says in all of his books that everyone of us can achieve whatever we want, that each one of us is incredible.

The core of the book The Secret says that all our desires will be fulfilled if only we truly believe that they will happen. In short it is, "Think. Believe. Receive"

The Magic Of Thinking Big says not to focus on small goals but to talk and think big, and that you can achieve big.

Seth Godin repeatedly says everyone of us is a genius, everyone of us can be a leader.

None of these sources offer a blue print to success but by the end of each article, by the end of each example they show, by the end of each story they tell us, our deep buried desire to do what we always wanted to do, and a hope that we will be successful in doing it, will surface.

Not just these but in general only the optimism, smile, support, will Sell, will always attract others.

This reminds me of a great line..

"There is no market for your sorrows in this world, so never advertise them."

This is absolutely true, the market is already occupied with the optimistic ones, with those who smile, who don't groan about their lives, with those who pat on our shoulders inspiring us to achieve big, with those who give us a HOPE.

It is also about giving

What can we get from the companies we are working for?

What can we get from our jobs?

What can we get from our clients?

What can we get from our relationships?

What can we get from everyone around us?

We are always obsessed with this GETTING attitude that we often forget the other side of the coin...GIVING.

What are we giving to the jobs we are doing right now?

What are we giving back in our relationships?

What value are we adding to the people around us, and more importantly to ourselves.

When we focus on getting something from someone, we are dealing with something which is not under our control, which is out of our influence zone and which may not give us a sustainable happiness but when we focus on giving we are dealing with the only thing which is under our control in this world...OURSELVES.

It is not just about benefitting from the surroundings, it is not about running a never ending greedy race, it is also about giving, it is about leaving a legacy.

“Everyone must leave something behind when he dies, my grandfather said. A child or a book or a painting or a house or a wall built or a pair of shoes made. Or a garden planted. Something your hand touched some way so your soul has somewhere to go when you die, and when people look at that tree or that flower you planted, you're there." ~ Ray Bradbury


“If you would not be forgotten as soon as you are dead, either write something worth reading or do something worth writing.” ~ Benjamin Franklin

Thank you for reading.

How are you adding value to your life?

“How are you adding value to your life?”

I read this line somewhere.

Anything that we THINK will make us happier is a “value” to us. It is not the same for everyone.

It can be the savings in my bank account for me, the new places visited for you and the number of articles written for someone else.

How are you adding value to the days you are living?

Is it by ass-licking your boss for better promotion or for a better increment?

Is it by jumping from one job to another for a better pay?

Is it by adding latest gadgets to your shelf which will soon get outdated?

Is it by spending time with your loved ones?

Is it by visiting the places you dreamt of?

Is it by sharing your knowledge?

Is it by doing the things which you always wanted to do but couldn't because of the excuse not-enough-time?

Is it by trying to win a rat race where you will be still a rat even if you win or is it by running your own race?

How are you adding value to your life?

Benchmarking

Benchmarking is comparing one thing with other.

In office, employees benchmark themselves with others and complain about their salaries.

Parents generally benchmark their children’s marksheet with that of the other kids and will say, “Next time perform better than them.”

Sportsmen will benchmark their present performance with their previous performance. It is benchmarking with oneself.

We cannot escape from this benchmarking.

Now the point is not whether to benchmark or not, it is inevitable, the focus is on the effect of your benchmarking on you.

We are surrounded by many people who spend their lives complaining about what they wanted to do but couldn’t or adjusting without working towards their goals.

We often hear the wise words, “Be happy with what you have. Compare with those who don’t. Feel lucky to have what you are having right now.”

This may soothe your ego but will it help you to grow ?

The benchmarking we do must help us in fuelling our passion. It should help us in going the extra mile. It should touch the deep desire which we have from a very long time. It should make you focus on what you want, leaving less important things.

It should give us a path, a goal, an enthusiasm.

I am not saying not be satisfied with your work, without satisfaction you cannot enjoy what you get, but that shouldn’t make you complacent not to move forward.

When you think someone is better at something than you and you want to reach that level, when you want to reach a height, there is no point in being satisfied with where you are now and what you are doing now. Because this is not what you want. Know what it takes to reach there. Know the skills you have to develop to make it. Learn them. Reach there.

You may benchmark with those above your level or below. But is your benchmarking sapping your energy level, is it weakening your desire, is it leading you to think, “This is enough. I cannot be better.” Is it stopping you from taking your next step towards your goal ? 

If yes, then think again and consciously change the effect.

Jump into the bowl you always wanted to. 

Just do it.

In anything we do, the motivation to do it and the desire to complete it are IMPORTANT for making it successful. We all know this. Right ??

If we are working on an innovative product or for a non-profit organizations or started teaching for the needy then you might have the kick on the butt always to make us feel that our work is WORTH spending your life on. And this motivates us to even go that extra mile.

Very few of us are involved in such activities, most of us are spending our lives in 9-5 jobs doing coding , trying to sell not-so-different products to the customers, preparing the sales reports to our managers, etc. These jobs may not give us a wow-I-am-making-a-difference kind of feeling. But if we don’t have that, how can continue to be consistent in giving our best ??

What will motivate us to go to our jobs daily(I don’t believe money is a true motivator) ?? How can we feel the work we do is important ?? How can you tune yourself ? How can we come out of this I-am-doing-stupid-stuff feeling.  

If you are expecting an answer these now then I am sorry. Even I am a victim of I-am-doing-stupid-stuff feeling.

Months back I decided to be consistent on my blog. From that time I regularly used to open word pad, write something, but they all ended up into my drafts as I felt they may not impress the readers. So my idea to be consistent on my blog ended into being consistently dumping things in my drafts folder.

Forget about what the reader will think after reading what I wrote. If I did not find my work worthy how can I even click the publish button ?? After all it is just a blog post. Even if I don’t get any good reviews it is not going to effect me in anyway. Right ?? But still I attached a more-than-needed attention on what the feedback can be.

If you are writing book and you find that your work is not worth writing..how can you even finish it?

If you have started a company and if you don’t believe in your product, how can you even think of making it successful.

In my company, we had a meeting few days back with our manager. He is a star in my company - as the youngest manager. So with the hype around him we are naturally interested to know more about him.

When we asked what motivated him to keep that extra effort in his work at the beginning of the journey. His reply was, “The fact we have to understand is that, there is no work that is perfect. Only some part of our work might be interesting and it is that on which we have to focus. The work which I did initially, years back, may not be an inspiring one but I did it with the same enthusiasm and alertness as how a CEO decides each of his decisions. I tuned myself to feel that what I did was IMPORTANT. That made my work interesting to me, because of which I excelled in it and that lead me now to this position. So finding your work interesting and motivating is the most important part of your career. If you do not find it interesting, you cannot excel at it. Use your own ways and make it interesting.”

This reminded me of what Robin Sharma always says about - “To Lead Without A Title.”

Do the work you wanted to do, from the place you are, with whatever available to you. 

Most of us do work hard just to get a better increment in the next appraisal or for a promotion. But not because we like what we are doing.

On one side I am trying hard to write on my blog at least once in a month but my friend Karthik Puvvada started a new blog and he is consistent on it ! 

Click on bethepurplecow to view his site and get inspired.

Influenced by Seth Godin’s works, he is contributing his 2 cents to inspire people to work better, be happier and achieve maximum in the short life span we have.

There is a clear Godin’s effect on his thoughts but he is presenting them in his own style.

When we say to write a new story or to give something new to the customer, it is not always about a whole new content, it is mostly about using the already existing resources in a new way. 

Do you have the skill to offer an old service in a new way ?? Do you have it in you to present an old story in an entirely new way giving a different impact to the reader ?? Can you offer an already existing product to an entirely new market ?? 

If yes. Start now. It is all about using the old resources in a new way.

When I asked Karthik on what is pushing him to write continuously, he said, “I believe that my thoughts will inspire the readers. Though I, sometimes, share things which many might be knowing already, I do it in my style with the motivation that I am the only person sharing it that at that particular point of time and that it will reach at least one who is not aware of it before reading my post..”

What a simple but great motivation !!

Sometimes it is not about how much difference you made but whether you made any.

Don’t wait to do the things which you want to do. There is not perfect time. There is nothing to loose. You are going to die in few years anyway. Don't attach a lot of value to others opinions.

If you want to share something share it. If you can add value to something, however small it might be, add it. Forget about what people will say. Do it for your satisfaction. 

Believe that your work will make a difference to someone, somewhere at sometime in some way. Nothing is a better motivator than this.

Good luck. 

Thank you for reading. 

Must Watch Videos

Framework of happiness

The ultimate reason why we do anything is 'to be happy'. 

In his book " Delivering Happiness" , Tony Hsieh - CEO of Zappos.com, stresses on the
'science of happiness'. He mentioned some of the frameworks of happiness and showed their
relation with business.

Tony suggests to build a business focusing on the 'Culture' or the 'Core values' of the company that leads to the happiness of everyone related to it (employees, customers, etc..) instead of just profits.

The framework I am discussing here is one of the things that he mentioned... 

This Framework says that there are three types of happiness 

1. Pleasure.
2. Passion.
3. Purpose.

Pleasure: 
This is the first type of happiness and we are very familiar with this one.

Here we constantly chase pleasures.

Generally we are in constant chase of money and material comforts thinking that they make us happy.

This happiness is about the momentary positive emotions we feel because of pleasures. We will be happy here only if we have a continuous inflow of stimuli...which is very difficult to maintain.


Once the source of stimuli goes away our happiness levels drop immediately. This type of happiness has the shortest life of all the three.


People do the jobs, even if they don't like, to enjoy the comforts/benefits that it offers. Once they

get them, their happiness graph goes to peak and declines gradually again to initial point as they get bored of it. Then, they want something else and after getting it, the same happiness graph follows.


This is like the horse running for the carrot in front of it. Once it gets the carrot there will be /should be another carrot to rise its energy levels. Many times we, like the horses, run for the things in front of us thinking that they would bring happiness but most of the time we are wrong.


Some people after realizing the importance of 'sustained happiness' go after their true 'passion'/ 'calling' instead of 'pleasure'.


But many spend their entire lives in pursuit of pleasures without realizing that this happiness  fades away quickly. They don't realize what brings them a 'sustained happiness.'


Passion:
This type of happiness is known as 'flow' or 'state of being in the zone'. Here you are engaged in

the work you do and time flies by without your notice.

Flow is different from pleasure. In pleasure you feel it...you know it... but in flow you cannot feel

anything...you become one with your passion. You get engaged in your passion.

Knowing your 'higher strengths' will help you in achieving this type of happiness.

You have a passion and you are happy pursuing it. But can you still go a higher stage of happiness?? 

Yes.

Passion leads to satisfaction but still it doesn't complete the picture.

That is why many successful people work for a greater cause/ purpose after sometime in their careers.

Purpose: 

This type of happiness is about being part of something bigger than yourself that has a meaning to you. It is using your higher strengths in the service of something or someone.

This gives a complete satisfaction.

It doesn't have to be something like philanthropy always. If the work you are doing touches the lives of many people/ have a positive impact on a large scale...it leads to complete happiness.

Unlike in 'pleasure'...in 'passion' and 'purpose' the happiness graph doesn't fall down but stays

there.

According to the research, pursuit of pleasure has almost no contribution to the satisfaction. Purpose has the strongest effect on satisfaction and then comes the passion. And pleasure matters only if you have both passion and purpose.

We tend to think about  'pleasures' first then passion and finally purpose.

But as Tony Hsieh says, the right strategy would be to first find the purpose and focus on our passion and then enjoy the pleasures that you meet on the way. This leads to 'sustained happiness'.

In other words focus on your passion with a purpose and pleasures follow.

Life Doesn't Give You A Second Chance Always

Like in the ‘road not taken’ even in our lives many times we face the dilemma of choosing the right path. Right now even I am in a similar situation. There are many who suggest to follow your heart but that is easier said than done.

I went to bangalore few days back for an interview. While I was going I had a conversation with a person sitting next to me in the bus. Though I forgot his name I cannot forget what he said..

I have already seen the movie which was being played in the bus. So that did not interest me. The person sitting next to me was doing something on his laptop which I did not observe initially. He was preparing slides for a presentation about an entrepreneur school and from the first slide of the presentation I came to know that the name of the initiative is ‘Samskruthi’. He was adding slides related to “skills required for an entrepreneur” “the plan to develop those skills in the individuals” etc…

The word ‘entrepreneur’ injected some interest in me to know who he was. So I initiated the conversation with “Sir..what is this samskruthi about?” He replied that it was a social organization and ‘entrepreneur school’ was an initiative to educate the youth who did not have the privilege for better education facilities and develop them into confident I-can-do-anything type.

Then when I asked him about how he is planning to do that exactly, he described the works that they will delegate to the students and how those works will boost their individuality and also he was expecting at least 50% of those who graduated from that place will establish similar schools and help in grooming more underprivileged youth. This way he thinks his idea will be expanded. He was going to Bangalore to present the idea for fund raising. He said he believes in transforming anyone into a better person under right conditions.

Though I did not understand completely how he was going to transform not-so-well educated guys into confident entrepreneurs. I liked his intention to make a difference in their lives without expecting anything in return.

He wanted to start something like this for 30 years and finally he thought it is now or never so raised funds and it will be starting in nxt year October. He was going to quit the job he was doing all these years just for the sake of living and which was not his real passion. 

I am done with all the questions in my basket. Now he started asking me. “Are you from Hyderabad” “Yeah I am from hyd.” “why are you going to bangalore? are you a software engineer there ?” “No.I got an offer from capgemini but did not get my joining date yet.” Then I told him why I was going to Bangalore.

He asked “Oh..why are you going to a business analytics company ?” “I am interested in that field” “are you from cse?” “no chemical engineering.”  “What do you do most of your time?” “I spend most of my time with books. I like reading. Any interesting read is fine.”

“As you read a lot are you interested in writing too??” “Yes. But I doubt whether I can come up with a commendable work.” “Then why don’t you develop your writing skills and enter into journalism/writing a book or something like that?” “Well I have some long term plans like that but currently I am looking for a 9-5 job in the field I like.” He smiled. I did not understand why.

“You are a chemical engineer into a software company looking for an opportunity to know about business management and you are also interested in writing. Right” I could sense what he means.Though I have not said anything he understood the dilemma I am in. I said “Sometimes fate takes you to some places you are not interested in”. “Then what are you doing to get out from those places and go to where you are interested in?” I did not answer. I was just looking at him. “What is that one thing you wanted to do or become?”

It is not easy to answer this question with a clarity.But I tried my best to explain him my goals.

Then he said “Generally people have many goals. Out of which one is what he really wanted to do or become before he dies. But instead of pursuing that goal they go after other because of various reasons like force from parents, for money etc. But I tell you. You can get enough money in all the ways. I don’t know anything about you so I am not deciding anything about you. But what I know is the thing I wanted to tell you will definitely be useful to you on your journey call life” I did not know what to answer. I just said “continue”

Yes I know people who joined in IIT for their parents. Wanted to join IIM to impress the parents of their girlfriends. But what they really wanted to do is totally different.

“Do not post pone that One thing you always wanted to do. Life doesn’t give second chance always. Dying with regrets is only a little bit better than not living at all. I have waited all these years for the right opportunity. But I did not get any. So I quitted my job. Pitched my idea to various people. I was rejected by many. But I found the interested ones and I raised funds. I am very near to start the One thing I always wanted to do. It may take years to see the fruits of this idea. But as many people say the happiness is not in the destination but in the journey to reach it. I will not get crores with my idea but surely I will make a difference. The kind of difference I wanted to make in the lives of many. You will never get the right opportunity. You have to create it. If you did not find the way…make it.”

“Life is an adventure. Explore it. Know what you wanted to do. When you don’t know about something all you have to do is to learn about it.”

I don’t know why. But I wanted to end the discussion. But he is determined to shower his wisdom so that it will help me somewhere in my life. So I did not disturb him.

“Your destiny is shaped by your decisions and actions. Don’t let environment decide what you will be. Sometimes however hard you try you may not get what you wanted. But never turn back. Try harder. Stay committed. Perseverance is the secret behind any successful person. Life is like a roller coaster ride. Even if you think you are in the most fucked up situation of your life. Do not panic. Because things can only get better from that point!!”

 “You don’t have to take the road not taken always. Take the path which you wanted to. That will make a difference. You will spend most of your time on the career you choose. If you compromise in that your life will be a torture.”

He was silent after for sometime. It was already around 2 am so he said "Good Night" and disappeared under his blanket. He was about to begin the journey which he was dreaming for 30 years. It was not just what he said, what is more contagious was his strong will to make a difference.

The same words when you hear in different situations will have a different impact on you. I already know whatever he said but at that moment they had an impact on me. I was thinking about the one thing I wanted to do. And am I really working hard on it ?? Are you working on your most important thing ??

Be Eco Friendly

Almost everyone says that they are concerned about environment but you know how many of us do things that are really eco friendly !!.

Today when I met my friend Vishwanadh I came to know that he started an e-commerce business. I asked him the details and he explained that it was about selling eco-friendly-crackers and right now people from Hyderabad and Bangalore can buy on his site.

I thought he was selling crackers with a great theme ‘eco friendly’ so that he can earn lots of profits. He showed his site http://www.ecofriendlydiwali.com/index.php. He was offering high discounts and it was also mentioned on the site that 50% profits will be given to Project Green Hands for planting trees. I couldn’t guess how much profit he will make after offering such discounts and the 50% charity. This made me curious to know whether he was hiding anything.

“So vissu are you really donating the money?” I asked

“Ofcourse I am.” he replied.

Then I thought he was doing some gimmick in the discounts tpart. So I asked “Are you really offering the high discounts like mentioned on your site? “

“If you find any of the items I am selling at a lower price than mine I will give them to u for free. I am offering the discounts as I said.”

“Man then this business will leave u nothing. Almost negligible profits right ? ”

“How can u expect high profits when I am also donating 50% to planting trees.”

“Then why are you into this business and can you explain how do want to do something ecofriendly by selling crackers ?”

“Finally some sensible question. I did not start this business for profits. I wanted to control the pollution during the Diwali time. I am against the use of crackers. I tried asking many people to stop using crackers and tried to explain the pollution because of them. But that did not yield good result. I thought about the next best thing I could do to curb the pollution if I cannot stop people from using crackers. So I came up with this idea to promote the use of ecofriendly crackers. Doing something ecofriendly was my main intention so I decided to donate 50% of the profits to project green hands. It is an organization which is active in many countries and has thousands of volunteers. This way I can contribute to them as well as promote it. If you don’t want to buy crackers but only want to make contribution to project green hands, you can always do it directly on their site. http://www.projectgreenhands.org/ I would be more than happy if you stop using crackers and donate money to planting trees directly.”


Now I understood the reason for operating on low profit margin.

I asked him “How ecofriendly crackers are different from normal ones? ” 

“Ecofriendly crackers emit more light and less sound. They are below decibel limit. Overall pollution from these is very less compared to the crackers which we generally buy” he said.

“So what you are saying is to buy crackers from your site which are eco friendly by which we can also contribute to planting trees as well as reduce pollution during Diwali.“

“To be specific..I suggest you not to buy crackers at all. But in case you think crackers are compulsory then please go for eco friendly crackers. If you buy ecofriendly crackers from my site I can guaranty you that you will get maximum discount and high quality and you can in a way contribute to planting trees. I will contribute the money to project green hands in your name not mine.”

I thought about the advantages of buying from his site...  

• Firstly I can buy something which is of high quality at a very low price and it will be delivered to my home. Thus I can avoid going to the market and buying something which may not be of good quality but is surely priced high.
•  By using eco-friendly-crackers I can reduce my contribution to the pollution.
•  I am also contributing to project green hands this way.

Well I think it would be foolishness not to use eco-friendly-crackers after knowing about it, if at all you HAVE to use crackers during Diwali.  

When one wanted to make a difference, small contributions should be made by other people who think what he is doing is right.

The best time to plant a tree was 20 years ago, the second best time is now !!