Start early today

What is Better than Happiness? 19 ways to transform your day

Happy comes from the root word Hap which means chance or good fortune. Its first meaning was recorded in 14c which means “luck” except for the Welsh which means “wise”.

Being lucky and being wise are quite different.
Don’t we rather be “wise” and take charge of our own luck? Naval Ravikant’s 4 types of luck is worth looking into.

You create your own luck by putting yourself in a position where luck can find you.

In his podcast Naval discusses four kinds of luck.

  • 1-Blind Luck – This is pure dumb luck, fortune, or fate. Where were you born? Who are your parents? Stuff you have zero control over.
  • 2-Luck from Hustling – Luck that comes from hard work and persistence. Opportunities are created through sheer energy and activity. Things get “stirred up” from the high amount of activity. The more activity you generate, the more opportunities that arise.
  • 3-Luck From Preparation – Luck that comes from being prepared to act on an opportunity. Having the ability to spot an opportunity. Other people do not notice, but you are skilled and attuned to spotting an opportunity. You are sensitive to luck.
  • 4-Luck From Your Unique Character – Luck that is generated because you have built a unique mindset or brand. Opportunities arise because you are one of the most qualified people to assist. Somebody else spots an opportunity and turns to you to assist because you are uniquely qualified. Someone else’s blind luck becomes your opportunity.

Source: https://www.michaeldmcgill.com/2021/04/24/how-to-create-your-own-luck/

There is also Joy which is defined to be the source of pleasure and happiness. Joy being an inner feeling rather than an outward expression which is happiness. We can simplify this concept with the oldest aphorism “As within so without” The duty here is to cultivate inward unconditional Joy and its outward expression will flow out effortlessly as happiness.

Let’s dive into these insights.

1. Learn Something New

Make a daily habit of learning something new. Learning fires up new neural connections in your brain. Keeping your brain healthy, opening up doors to other ventures and increases your value. So entertain your curiosity, it might lead to new wonderful places. Question the normal, open yourself up to new combinations of interests to get to know yourself even deeper. You can always let go if it doesn’t resonate. But always keep on trying new things, there is a lot out there, from cuisines to musical instruments to language to arts and crafts. Get comfortable with something new and get ready for better worlds. Remember that you contain multitudes.

2. Let go

Unload the things that don’t serve you. Imagine letting go of a heavy backpack. Letting go is acceptance of things you cannot change. Much of our suffering comes from voluntary forcing to carry things that don’t need carrying. So lighten up by surrendering some of the load to a higher power.

“Some of us think holding on makes us strong, but sometimes it is letting go.”

– Herman Hesse

3. Pay Attention to Little Things

Doing small things in a great way is an opportunity open to everyone in the present moment. Small acts have big impact, tidying up sets you up for success. Trimming your nails is a simple act of renewal. The little things are the big things. What little thing are you going to engage in with a big heart?

Start where you are. Use what you have. Do what you can.”

– Arthur Ashe

4. Author Your Future

Take a moment to imagine what is possible for you within the next 6 months. What opportunities are you willing to take up on. Write down a strategic plan with specific actions. Set some SMART goals. Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Relevant and Time Bound. Designing your future will provide confidence that you are in charge of your life and joy will inevitably be found.

“I am the master of my fate, I am the captain of my soul”

– William Ernest Henley

5. Go To The Edge

The version of yourself that you are destined to be is on the other side of your comfort zone. Find the edge of your comfort, ask why you have set those boundaries and discover new worlds. On the edge you will feel truly alive, exhilarated and renewed. A constant rebuilding and polishing, a persistent joyful rebirth moment to moment. So meet that edge with gentle courage. Now isn’t that a joyful thing?

“The cave you fear to enter holds the treasure you seek”

– Joseph Campbell

6. Find Freedom

Too often we get too comfortable in limitations of our own making. Joy can be found in your freedom to discover yourself, your journey and your mission. Know your values, hold them close as you venture new worlds. Joy can be found in freedom.

“FREEDOM IS THE OPEN WINDOW THROUGH WHICH POURS THE SUNLIGHT OF THE HUMAN SPIRIT AND
HUMAN DIGNITY”

– Herbert Hoover

7. Live in the Moment

This is the heart of mindfulness. Bring yourself here. Listen to your breath. Scan sensations in the body. For each hour, spend 5 minutes to just be here. Nothing to change, nothing to do, just being. We are human beings after all, not human doings. You are here, just this. Just sitting. Practice this and notice the joy that is already in you. It has always been there we just need to intentionally live in the moment.

“Give yourself permission to allow this moment to be exactly as it is, and allow yourself to be exactly as you are.”

– Jon Kabat Zinn

8. Expand Your Awareness

Allow yourself to drop the story of “Me”, “mine” and “myself”. Your True self is beyond your persona and identity. When you let go of the story of “I need this to be such & such for happiness to happen”, You open up yourself to a majestic plane of consciousness where all is correct and dancing beautifully. Nature is one best tool for expanding the awareness. Try npr’s joy generator.

“We only know a tiny proportion about the complexity of the natural world. Wherever you look, there are still things we don’t know about and don’t understand. There are always new things to find out if you go looking for them.”

– David Attenborough

9. Envision The Best Outcome

Live in the positive expectancy of the best. Stay calm when things don’t go your way. Be not attached to the fruits of your labor. Just be consistent in acting as if the best has already happened. This is being pro active in creating inner joy first. There is also a concept called law of inverse transformation that I have learned from my favorite metaphysician Joseph Murphy.

“If a physical fact can produce a psychological state, a psychological state can produce a physical fact.”

– Joseph Murphy

10. Plan a Trip

It doesn’t need to be Paris or Tokyo. Just a change in environment to spice up your day to day. Take a long drive somewhere unusual. Maybe along the coastline or up in the mountains. Planning a trip creates something to look forward to. It is also a practice of designing your life. Plan ahead and be flexible to change. New places will bring forth dopamine and you will expand your domain of familiarity. Have a journal on hand because you might receive your aha moment as you cruise.

“Each day holds a surprise. But only if we expect it can we see, hear, or feel it when it comes to us. Let’s not be afraid to receive each day’s surprise, whether it comes to us as sorrow or as joy It will open a new place in our hearts, a place where we can welcome new friends and celebrate more fully our shared humanity.”

– Henri Nouwen

11. Accentuate what is Working

What has been working in your life? Too often we ruminate on the things that don’t work or what’s lacking. Take a deep breath and find Joy in what is working. See the fullness instead of the emptiness. What have been your strengths? Maybe they were the values you’ve been carrying all along, resilience, forbearance, endurance, adaptability. Focus on what works and be glad that it does. What joy to know this.

Seeing everything just the way it is – that is the way to be within. If you see something other than what is there, it means you are contaminating the world with your opinions and prejudices.

– Sadhguru

12. There is Joy in Humility

The difference between an intelligent person and a foolish person is that the intelligent one knows that he is foolish. Know that you do not know a thing. What our conscious mind thinks it knows is minuscule compared to how truly things are. Do you know how water works? How your consciousness work? Fire? Rocks? The Octopus? Walking this life with humility and reverence opens us up to joyful wonder. Like a child easily pleased.

“The key to knowing joy is being easily pleased.”

– Mark Nepo

13. Hit the Pause Button

Literally stop everything and just be. Notice the beauty that surrounds you. Recognize the life you have created so far. In practicing this habit of pausing, you are training your subconscious mind to intentionally find joy in little things that are already around and within you.

He who can no longer pause to wonder and stand rapt in awe, is as good as dead; his eyes are closed.

– Albert Einstein

14. Befriend the Mind

Too often we let our thinking rob us of our joy. Befriending the mind is setting healthy boundaries between your awareness and the minds chatter. Know that you are not your thoughts and you can let the mind wander to different places and viewpoints without losing your centeredness. When something unloveable arises from the mind, you are a friend who understands the nature of the mind. You say “thank you mind for these thoughts but I choose to stay here in my center, my peace, in this space lies your joy.

Mindfulness is a way of befriending ourselves and our experience.

– Jon Kabat Zinn

15. Maintain Balance

When everything is in balance, all is well and at ease. Stop the endless cycling of the mind. It is a predicting machine. It predicts the future and lives in the familiar past. Find joy in what is. Everything is neither good nor bad but our judgment makes it so. Maintain a balanced diet, exercise, human connection and creativity. Balance of the mind and heart; joy will ensue.

Wisdom says we are nothing. Love says we are everything. Between these two our life flows”.

– Jack Kornfield

16. Be Solution Oriented & Trusting

Be the change you want to see, be part of the solution rather than the problem. Approach life and its complexities with courage and knowingness that all works out for the best. There is a solution to every problem and most of the time it is very simple and will get solved by leaving things be. Trust in the Dao. Try your best at helping the situation but know how to surrender to higher power as well. Knowing that you are not responsible for fixing everything is a joyful relief.

“There is a spiritual solution to every problem”

Dr. Wayne Dyer

17. Find Joy Being Alone

Whenever you are alone the easier it gets to connect to your higher self. To rejoice in all the life that is around you. This is the time where you can really just be yourself and observe what it’s like. Getting to know yourself without other people’s expectations. So find your favorite self care modality and feel free to indulge.

Loneliness is the poverty of self; solitude is the richness of self.

– May Sarton

18. Rejoice in the Success of Others

There is no limit to the pie. Other people’s success doesn’t mean shortage in yours. Play the game of collaboration instead of competition. Nobody needs to be beneath anybody. Status is a zero sum game, but wealth creation is a positive sum game according to Naval Ravikant. More information here. So celebrate other people’s success and think of how you can progress that success through your creative thinking.

See others as you see yourself. Salute the divinity of others as in yourself. Their success is your success. You are a player in this one big team of humanity.

An individual has not started living until he can rise above the narrow confines of his individualistic concerns to the broader concerns of all humanity.

– Martin Luther King Jr.

19. Experience the Sunrise

Not even the finest artist nor the most distinguished poet can paint and describe the beauty of a sunrise. A symbol of renewal, the dawning of consciousness, the beginning of life itself. Make an appointment to see the sunrise by yourself or with a loved one. It is the grandest of all art exhibits. It is free, it happens daily. All we gotta do is show up and tap into its indescribable joy.

“If you are in a beautiful place where you can enjoy sunrise and sunset, then you are living like a lord.

– Nathan Philips

Conclusion

There are many ways in which we can cultivate inner joy. Knowing them is only the tip of the iceberg. Putting them to practice is where the fun really is. Play the game of Joy in your daily life and observe how things around you change for the better.

Good Morning; How to Wake Up Ready For A Successful Day

The early morning has gold in its mouth.

Benjamin Franklin

Each day we are given an opportunity to start a new day. A new day means a new space where we can create something new. Lead us closer to who we aspire to become and achieve worthwhile goals.

A new day is a chance to renew, revitalize and act on our highest purpose. To make the most out of the gift of life. To harness the capabilities of your mind. The only freedom we have is the way we think which leads to how we feel and act moment to moment. Let’s take a look at some insights that will make each day optimized to its full.

1. Prepare the night before

“Finish each day and be done with it. You have done what you could. Some blunders and absurdities no doubt crept in; forget them as soon as you can. Tomorrow is a new day. You shall begin it serenely and with too high a spirit to be encumbered with your old nonsense.”

– Ralph Waldo Emerson

Your morning routine starts the night before. Decide what time you shall rise. Keep your phone away from your bed so when the alarm goes off you will be obliged to stand turn the alarm off. If heading out on a walk prepare the shoes right by the door. It is called lessening the friction of the habits you want to form.

2. Eliminate Decision Fatigue

Each evening before going to bed do a quick assessment of where you are in your life. Identify your long term goals and short term goals. Decide on how you are going to spend the precious moments of your morning. Be specific on what actions you are going to take say between 5:00am – 7:00am. These 2 hours utilized with accuracy and consistency will bring you exponential growth. Much time and energy is wasted on decision making with questions like how I’m I going to achieve my goal? Rather, decide the night before and all you need to think about is execution in the morning. Deep intense focused work with your mind uncluttered is a sure fire way to go about what ever you are planning to achieve.

3. Quality Sleep

Quality of sleep doesn’t necessarily mean many hours of sleep. It means you sleep in peace knowing exactly what you are going to do as soon as you wake up. Avoid watching the news, other media and thinking of your problems. Clear the mind before going to bed by asking your subconscious mind to answer all of your questions as you sleep. The thoughts you think right before going to bed is what your subconscious will accept as truth.

one should never go to sleep without requesting something to the subconscious mind.

– Thomas Edison

4. 2 Minute Breathing

This can be planned the night before. Upon waking up, sit with your spine erect and just breathe for two minutes. This establishes a good relationship between your awareness and your mind. You will notice the minds non stop chattering and in this two minutes, establish your distance from the mind and carry that space all throughout the day.

When life is foggy, path is unclear and mind is dull, remember your breath. It has the power to give you the peace. It has the power to resolve the unsolved equations of life.

– Amit Ray

5. Hydrate & Change Environment

“If there is Magic on this planet, it is contained in water.”

– Lorn Eiseley

Your body uses up a lot of water while you sleep so hydrate immediately or after your moment of silence. Changing your environment like walking outside immediately gets you out of your head and into the body. Tuning yourself to the earth and provides clarity on your next moves.

The first step toward success is taken when you refuse to be a captive of the environment in which you first find yourself.”

Mark Caine

Remember the last time you went to somewhere new? Your brain was induced with dopamine and you were excited like a child. Changing environment will give you freshness when you get back to deep focused work. So including a little walk to your morning routine will be beneficial.

6. Start with a Smile

The first couple of moments after you wake will set the tone of your whole day. Be intentional in smiling. Smiling provides relaxation and relieves tension. Don’t wait for something extraordinary to happen before you smile. Just start your day with positive expectancy, hope for the best, gently navigating your way as best as you can. Smile first, then the universe will provide more of what to smile about.

“A smile is happiness you’ll find right under your nose.” 

7. Cultivate Gratitude

This can be done anytime of day. Close your eyes and think of three things you are grateful for. Gratitude celebrates what we already have and sets our minds to receive more. If we are thankful and tuned in to humility we tap into a power greater than us. So if you got your needs met, get happy now and don’t worry about the things you don’t have.

Be thankful for what you have; you’ll end up having more. If you concentrate on what you don’t have, you will never, ever have enough.

– Oprah

Try having a little notebook and make it your gratitude journal. Write on it whenever you feel grateful. It’s nice to look at it from time to time to remind us of the fullness of life.

“The more grateful I am, the more beauty I see.”

8. Tidy up

“Only by taking care of your immediate environment can you then move onto bigger challenges.”

– Jordan Peterson

Tidy up as you go. Cleaning and organizing your surroundings will get you more inspired and clear on what you set out to do. Clearing a small part of your room let’s say your desk has a tremendous impact on your overall mood and happiness. So as you go about your day, make it a habit of leaving things better than you find them.

9. Play Relaxing Music

You know that feeling when you enter a nice spa? There are certain tones and vibrations that shifts your mood instantaneously. Look into Solfeggio tones.

“Music brings a warm glow to my vision, thawing mind and muscle from their endless wintering.”

Haruki Murakami

10. Minimize your to do

Narrow down your activities to the bare essentials. Pick 3 things that must be done within the day. Narrowing it down to three increases the likelihood of it getting finished. The trick here is choosing what 3 key actions to dedicate your time on that helps your higher purpose. Maybe writing an article? Practicing an instrument? A exercise regimen? Set some bright lines and make it non negotiable. Put Important tasks first before the urgent.

  • Important activities have an outcome that leads to us achieving our goals, whether these are professional or personal.
  • Urgent activities demand immediate attention, and are usually associated with achieving someone else’s goals. They are often the ones we concentrate on and they demand attention because the consequences of not dealing with them are immediate.

Make it a point to prioritize the important before being too busy with urgent.

Hope these tips help you in achieving your perfect mornings!

4 Easy Simple Ways To Change The Trajectory of your life

“Life is C (Choice) between B (Birth) and D (Death).”

– Jean Paul Sarte

You design your life through the daily choices you make. Where you put your attention most of the time is what your mind gets molded into and is then transformed into who you are. Knowing this, we have the power to look at where we a lot our energy adjust accordingly, learn what works and let go of things that aren’t essential.

Your present condition is the sum total of all of your choices. Your choices are votes to what you are committed to. Also choosing not to choose is a choice, so maybe you’ll start to look at things that you used to ignore or take for granted with more attention.

I find this four way approach to be really helpful because it can be applied to your daily routine immediately. Let’s get to it.

1. Do More of Something

Take a look at the past couple of days. What activities have helped you in achieving your full potential? Have you been meditating, exercising, eating healthy with intention? Maybe try to do more of that. The secret here is making Simple Small Steps. For your meditation maybe increasing the time to another 5 minutes. With lifting weights, adding a couple of reps. For your health maybe adding more health foods into your diet like grabbing more blueberries and avocados while in the grocery. There is power in incremental increase and with consistency, you will benefit from its compounding effect. There is great power in 1 more no matter how small in the right direction.

Action step: What activity are you already doing daily that you will do more of?

Increasing the duration, frequency and intensity.

2. Do Less of Something

Ask your self what activities have you been doing that aren’t serving your highest purpose. It might be making you happy on the surface level but isn’t pushing the needle towards your highest good. An example would be time spent consuming media. Maybe you lessen your Netflix and chill time by 30 mins. You do not need to take it away totally for it is your way of decompressing and recovery which is vital too. The trick here is to asses what’s really important and prioritizing them. Less time allotted to what serves your lower end desires and more time allotted to your higher end desires.

“Easy choices = Hard Life, Hard Choices = Easy Life”

Jerzy Gregorek

So make those seemingly hard choice of doing the right thing; (more exercises, be more positive, healthier diet, more creativity, more meditation) to improve your life in the long run. It is in the choices where you dedicate your time which dictates your outcome and direction in life. It is how you create and live your life after all.

Action step: What thing do you do daily that you will do less of?

Decrease its duration, frequency and intensity.

3. Stop Doing Something

As you start looking meticulously at your day to day, logging in your habits and watching yourself. What activities that aren’t for your highest good that you are ready to let go of? Maybe throughout your life some habits or frames of mind have proven themselves of no use to the person you are intending to become? Try letting go of them gradually leading up to totally. Doing less and less as we have discussed in Number 2. Then in this step you totally let go of them. Imagine them as your old garment that don’t suit your style anymore. Say “Bad habit of such and such, I no longer need you, thank you and goodbye”.

Action step: What bad habit that you are lessening and now completely letting go?

Acknowledge it, honor it and say goodbye to it!

Don’t be afraid to give up the good to go for the great.

– John D Rockefeller

4. Start Doing Something

In studying these mental models, habits and self help articles, you now know that anything and everything can be started and it is up to you to head on out and do it. 100 push ups a day? Start with one. Writing a book? Start with 1 page. Learn an instrument? Book some lessons. One trick to starting is booking and investing time and money for it. Starting a blog? Invest in a domain and hosting. If you invest time and money, you are more likely to take it seriously. So ask your inner self through silent pondering and act on it.

“If you talk about it, it’s a dream. If you envision it, it’s possible. If you schedule it, it’s real.

– Tony Robins

“A year from now you may wish you had started today.”

– Karen Lamb

Conclusion

  • What are you doing more of?
  • What are you doing less of?
  • What are you gonna stop doing?
  • What are you gonna start doing?

Reference: Jim Kwik

thanks for being here, Namaste 🙏

An Early Morning System to Practice Daily

Early mornings are the best for priming your mindset towards the day ahead. Making each day a success will get you closer faster to your desired outcome. It is the moment where your mind is at its most creative and not yet filled with urgent to dos.

The early mornings are the best time to accomplish your important tasks that lead to your higher purpose before the demand of the day takes your time and attention away from your dreams. It is best to have a habit of practicing this routine known as S.A.V.E.R.S. by Hal Elrod.

1. Silence

Upon waking, your brain is running on a lower cycle per second (alpha/theta). It is a state akin to sleep, where you are still hazy and just getting out of a dream. Do not rush to wake up and do not fall back asleep, find that sweet spot. Sit with the spine straight and just sit with silence, with the mind not yet bombarded with distractions, listen to the sound of silence. Just you breathing, maybe the sound of the wind outside and the birds. Observe profound insights that you may discover through silence. Make it deliberate, just three minutes of this will have a profound effect. Your mind is a receptor if tuned in to the divine will receive signals from the Akasha (Divine Intelligence or God). Imagine the mind like still water with the sediments settling at the bottom as you keep it undisturbed.


Then you will know that you are nothing. It is only when you realize your nothingness, your emptiness, that God can fill you with Himself”.

-Mother Teresa

“Sit in silence and there is nothing you will not know”

– ancient proverb

2. Affirmations

Affirmations are repeated positive statements that affirm your power. They are suggestions to the subconscious mind. We use positive affirmations to immediately reframe the situation and how we look at a certain situation. After silence, recite your chosen affirmations. Here is a quick formula on creating your personal affirmation.

1.         Affirm your goal/commitment

2.         Ask yourself why it’s necessary that you achieve this and what it means for you

3.         Focus on the actions it will take to fulfill your affirmation

4.         When are you going to commit to obtaining it?


You can start with something simple such as

“Out of this situation only good can come, all is well and I am safe”

“I am Happy and Grateful Now that I am in the right place at the right time”

“I’m eternal, immortal, universal and infinite, the universe is abundant, therefore I feel abundant”

“God’s River of peace flows through me, enfolds me and enwraps me, I know God is love and I give thanks for my freedom”

3. Visualization

This step requires you to create a mental picture in your mind of the specific situation where you your desire is leading you. See in your minds eye doing the presentation, closing a deal, creating a performance, finishing a big project, as you visualize and imagine also capture the feeling that comes with it. The key here is feeling and believing. You believe and feel what you create in your mind first before it really gets imprinted in the subconscious. Everything starts within you. You are the director of your movie, the master weaver, the creator. So be disciplined in imagining the life you want. Imagine how your day will be. Do this consistently and observe the changes in your day to day.

4. Exercise

It doesn’t need to be intense or drastic. Do a standing jog, bang out some pushups, do some spine twists, walk around the block. Movement activates your proprioceptor, your awareness of the body in space. Through movement you induce natural happy chemicals from the brain. When you move you gain confidence that you move your life in the direction you wanted instead of you being moved by it. It is good for blood circulation, your nervous system, your muscles and overall positive outlook on life. So make movement a part of your morning routine. Do some zen swings, they are pretty fun.

5. Read

Now that you have primed and tuned your mind and body, it’s time to expand your knowledge. Play an inspiring audio book or read some inspirational quotes. Your input is your output so make sure to watch what you consume. You are doing a very good job being here reading this so keep up the good work.

You can also read an article or two about industries that surround your goal. Look into biographies of people who inspire you.

6. Scribing

Have a journal wherein you write down your insights, inspirations and specific actions. If you put it on paper, it is immediately out of your head and it is permanently etched in the physical realm. Putting what is in your head to paper is the next step in manifesting your desires. From hazy wave state of thought to solid statement on paper.

Conclusion

Feel free to apply these techniques in your day to day, you can a lot 5 minutes for each of them or whatever works for you. Remember Systems work! If you do things daily with consistency and persistence you will be on your way to the best self that you dream of. That Future self is the real you. It is a version of you you have not met yet. With a little discipline, curiosity and courage, you will be unstoppable.

Thanks for being here!

Namaste. 🙏

Best Mindfulness Practices To Maintain Balance Daily

Mindfulness is a great practice to learn. It is the act of paying attention on purpose with no judgment. I have been fascinated with this modality for years now and here are some concepts that have greatly increased my peace, creativity and understanding.

Pick one thing that resonates and put it to practice. Reading and knowing is not enough, doing does the trick. So let’s get to it.

1. Have a set time for meditation.

Don’t get intimidated by the concept of meditation. Just like most things, it is really simple once you do it. Start small and easy, pick a time let’s say every 8:00am; sit with the spine erect and just breathe for 5 minutes. Observing the breath as it enters and exits the body. Notice sounds, feel the sensations of the hands, mind will wander but your awareness will bring it back to the breath.

Start with 5 minutes and increase that time in increments, like a muscle, your brain will develop and learn.

Track your improvements in the coming days.

“What you measure and record grows exponentially”

– Dr. Benjamin Hardy

Wherever you are, be there totally.” – Eckhart Tolle

2. Watch Your Inner Speech

Become more aware of the quality of your presence. Kill the ANT as they say (automatic negative self talk). Negative self talk has been the default for the most of us but it doesn’t have to stay that way. Our subconscious might have been programmed when we were younger but with mindfulness we can easily discern what is good and what is bad, chucking the bad in the F$&* it bucket.

Become a selective sifter, only choosing what’s good and blessed.

Guard your inner speech, your self talk is limited to only what it experienced and therefore protective of its correctness. Listen to the deeper part of you, the Self, the Dao, your inner wisdom. Inner wisdom don’t chatter, it comes in whispers of acceptance, love and compassion. With deliberate practice, you will have a better relationship with the mind and inner voice.

3. Switch “I got to, to I get to”

If we approach our obligations and responsibilities with gratitude rather than complaining. You will have avoided lots of secondary suffering. The mind tends to inflate and exaggerate what really is and this habit of the mind causes the task at hand to be harder. But with a slight shift in perception like “I’m thankful that I’m bestowed this task of such and such that will help me in my growth” instead of “Oh geez, why do I have to do such and such I’d rather do this and that”.

“Wrapped in our nearest duty is the key
Which shall unlock for us the Heavenly Gate:
Unveiled, the Heavenly Vision he shall see,
Who cometh not too early nor too late.”

– GOETHE

So muster up the courage to wash the dishes and clean your room with no war in the heart.

4. See With Fresh Eyes

We tend to get overstimulated with our phones leaving desensitized. Use the tools but don’t let it use you. Taking things for granted, running on autopilot and constantly craving for low quality dopamine will leave you imbalanced and internally yearning for something real. Disconnect, practice silence and observe how you will see things anew. Maybe discover and rekindle those parts of you that were dormant until now that you looked at them with fresh new eyes.

5. Connect With People

We have learned how human connection is vital to our wellbeing. It increases Oxytocin in the body which is responsible for the dial action of blood vessels and lowering blood pressure. Make a habit of juggling your loved ones, hi fiving co leagues and maybe smiling and talking to your barista.

We all are so deeply interconnected; we have no option but to love all. Be kind and do good for any one and that will be reflected. The ripples of the kind heart are the highest blessings of the Universe.

Amit Ray

6. Don’t Jump To Conclusions

Your mind is a time traveler and a constant predictor. It predicts what is going to happen next, it is a super creative imaginator, it imagines and conjures up mental pictures that aren’t real. It is a great gift to have this capability but we must know how to use it. Rather than training the mind you train your reactions to the mind’s nature to predict scenarios. Make it a habit to pause and let the moment just be what it is. Jumping to conclusions blocks new pathways for you to grow. Remember, you conclude and assume only from your past programming. Let go of the past and make way for the new.

In the space of a mindful pause, crucial information might rise up that will direct us in a more balanced direction. So take into account new information, cultivate a supportive growth mindset.

7. Smile Throughout The Body

It requires more muscles for us to frown rather than smile but some of us are more used to. Smile relaxes the face, brings forth relaxation all over the body and raises up the vibe of yourself and others. Practice intentional smiling, make it your default mode of being.

A genuine smile distributes the cosmic current, Prana to every body cell.The happy man is less subject to disease, for happiness actually attracts into the body a greater supply of the Universal life energy.

Paramahansa Yogananda

Hope these simple steps help you in creating a more mindful day. May you be open to new things, ready for happy surprises carrying a bright smile along the way.

Thanks for being here! Namaste. 🙏

Some links to look into ❤️❤️‍🔥🙏😊

Meditation with healing sound: Click here

Featured recipe: Chickpea Curry

Featured Song: Come Along With Me

Stay Strong and Resilient even through the Toughest of Days 

It is almost mid January and a time for a check in. Have you been committed to the things you promised yourself last New Year’s Eve? Here are some insights to keep you on track.

1. Commit to being Positive

Go beyond the common expression of “just be positive”, rather take a deeper commitment and be willing to see the “how this situation is helping me?”. The really good one I use is “How is this situation the best thing that ever happened”. Looking back at a hardship that you have overcome in the past, isn’t that the best thing that ever happened? Even though at that time it seemed unreasonable and unfortunate? Learn from the old Chinese proverb that said, it is northern a fortune nor a misfortune, it just is. Go to a neutral, non opinionated place then from there move up to the positive side. Being habitually positive, you will build resilience.

2. Seek the Challenge

Do you always play the game on easy mode? Well if you do you are missing out a lot. Getting used to being challenged increases your resilience. It creates new connections in your brain that creates new possibilities for you. A new skill, new creativity, new product, a version of you that you always dreamed of. Find that sweet spot of being challenged in the areas of your life you want to improve, fitness, family, social, financial or in the arts. Find flow, and as you do, you stack up resilience points that will bring you to the next level of your game.

3. Know your Moral Center

Companies and organizations have core principles and so do you. You need to manage and organize your self before participating in your external world. Identify what you are about, what is your mission? Macro and micro, from here you can easily design how you will show up to the world. In your silent meditation, asses who you are? A loving mother? A household owner? A ceo? A creator? A janitor? Wherever you are in your life right now is caused by your inner moral beliefs. Be the captain of your soul and chart your way to the life of your dreams. Staying true to your center also provides you with direction on where to go next.

”You don’t need to see the whole ladder, all you gotta do is take the next steps”

“ You can’t go wrong by doing the right thing,”

“Find your why, and the how will appear”

4. Remember your Lessons

Lessons are repeated until learned fully. Make time to be thankful for past mistakes and put them to use. Do not waste a good mistake, they are blessings and guide to your gradual becoming. Keep an open mind and be always ready to learn. Always remind yourself to be more bewildered than clever. The things you do not know yet holds the key to the world of your dreams. So be a diligent student and learn from past mistakes.

5. Be Flexible

You are not the person you were yesterday. Deepak Chopra said life is more of a verb. You are constantly changing at a cellular level with every food you eat, thought you think and feelings you feel. Nothing is solid, all is made of tiny balls bouncing off of each other. Nothing of your problems are solid. So be flexible with tools and skills to apply in overcoming a challenge. Be flexible in seeing ways to approach a certain problem. A good trick is to reframe a situation as “how is this problem the best thing that ever happened?”. Being physically flexible can help a lot too.

6. Nurture your self

Putting yourself first positions you in a place of centeredness, groundedness and stability. Enough sleep, healthy diet and exercise sets you up to be able to handle challenges and with your brain in tip top shape, you will be calm and be seeing things from the bird’s eye view, carefully planning and deploying your moves.

7. Keep moving

Be persistent and consistent with developing problem solving skills. Keep moving physically, mentally, stacking up your strengths and course correcting along the way.

Hope these things gave you a boost of confidence knowing that you can be resilient. Have a growth mindset and an attitude of gratitude. Here’s a good one; Switch your “I got to” to “I get to”, this immediately switches your perception of a situation.

Some things to share

MAKE YOUR OWN BREAD

NEW MUSIC VIDEO

Deep breaths! Stay centered! You are always bigger and above this kerfuffle.. Namaste…

8 Inspirational Quotes to Start & Win the Day

“Aim above the mark to hit the mark”

Ralph Waldo Emerson

Set audacious goals and workout a plan on achieving it. But as you take steps be not attached to the fruits of your labor. Stay flexible on ways on getting to your destination and be open when plans change. Your goals may change too, so be attentive modifying your goal and ways to get there daily.

“Yesterday’s home runs, don’t win today’s game”

Babe Ruth

Most people self sabotage during their peak. Notice if you are getting complacent. Today, you do your best and you might achieve such great heights, but know that tomorrow is another day.

“We Can Complain Because Rose Bushes Have Thorns, or Rejoice Because Thorn Bushes Have Roses”

Abraham Lincoln

It is not the thing itself but how we perceive the thing. Make a commitment to see the good side of things. Beauty is always there for those who have the eyes willing to see. As you think so you become. So think good thoughts so more of it comes.

“The only place where success comes before work is the dictionary”

Vidal Sassoon

Vidal Sassoon revolutionalized women’s hairstyles in the post-war years and created an international hair-products empire which proclaimed “If you don’t look good, we don’t look good.”

Get clear on what you want to achieve within a timeframe. Alot a certain amount of hours each day dedicated to achieving that specific goal. Be open to plans changing and the goals changing. Success is the progressive pursuit of a worthy ideal. Be careful in obsessing and feeling that success is outside of you. It is not the achievement of the goal that makes you successful but the person you are becoming as you are in pursuit of something worthwhile. So get to it, the moment you put in the work you are already successing!

“If you start to think the problem is “out there”, Stop yourself, That thought is the problem”.

Stephen Covey

As within so without, never blame situations that are outside of you. Take responsibility and be accountable for where you are right now. Nobody else put you there but you. Quit stinking thing and always affirm the good and observe positive change.

“Be like the duck, calm on the surface but paddling hard underwater”

ancient proverb

Work in secret, let the results of what you do tell the story. Bragging about working hard is unnecessary. Results are what matter. We can take inspiration from nature, it always does a good job without bragging, complaining or opinions.

“A calm sea doesn’t make a skilled sailor”

Franklin Roosevelt

Are you getting too comfortable? Start the day with hydration and immediately changing your environment. If you are seeking to being a high performer you must deliberately get out of your comfort zone. You need not to go out in a stormy ocean. A nice brisk walk will do the trick.

“Do what you love, it is the best way to relax”

Christian Loubotin

Make time to create and design the life that you want, design your environment, neglecting to do this you’ll end up with the environment designing you. Find that noble thing that stirs you up, nurture your curiosity and once you find that thing, go all in.

Hope these quotes got you inspired and fired up to make the most of everything that you got right here, right now.

This playlist gets me in flow. Give it a try. Peace and love ❤️

7 Benefits of Stress You Need to Know

 The term “stress” was coined by Hans Selye in 1936, and his definition is “the non-specific response of the body to any demand for change”. “Stress” is also defined as literally a function of every adaptation to change. Since its rise in popularity in the 50’s, it has been perceived negatively as something to avoid and totally prevent. But let us pause and take a look at this word with a new pair of lens. This article was inspired by Kelly Mc Gonigal. Let’s get to it!

1. Improves Cognitive Function

 You are stressed out when you are about to encounter an event wherein something important to you is at stake, your brain fires up new neural connections, your heart pumps more blood to the brain, your options get clearer, you become a version of yourself who is capable of overcoming this unavoidable event. When faced with a stressful situation, your values get exposed, you untap hidden cognitive functions of the brain, you enter a state called “Pause and Plan” and you immediately get creative on ways of solving the problem. This biological instinct called “Pause & Plan” decelerates your heart rate, increases focus, and helps you remember your goals and values. So moderate amounts of stress gets your cognitive function in tip top shape.

2. Boosts your Immune System

Moderate stress stimulates the production of a chemical called interleukins and provides the immune system a quick boost to protect against illnesses.

3. You Become Resilient

Exposing yourself to moderate stress stretches out your capability to adapt. And adapting to new and always changing things is a very good skill to acquire. Upon resolving a stressful situation, you have then become a newer version of yourself. Your domain of familiarity expanded and now open to more worlds that offer more opportunities and ready to venture new worlds.

4. Increases Focus and Learning

In the pursuit of your goals, you will be facing stressful situations, uncertain things, different personalities and inevitable chaos. This will call you to become more focused and be quick on your feet on learning what works and what is needed to be let go. So if there is a stressful thing you need to do, just muster up the courage to face it, get focused and learn as soon as possible. So make a commitment to daily rise up to moderate stresses and soon enough you’ll increase yourself beyond that stress if you deliberately face it. Use stress to your advantage to get more focused and be a better learner.

5. Oxytocin is increased

When stress becomes overwhelming, we are left with no choice but to reach out for support. Friends, family and social contact enhances oxytocin. Oxytocin a.k.a the love hormone dilates blood vessels and decreases blood pressure.

6. Better Memory

Mild and short lived stressors cause new stem cells in the part of the brain called the hippocampus. This is the part of the brain responsible for stress response and memory. If you’re going to a certain place and you encounter something stressful, it’s important to remember exactly what caused the situation in order to avoid that situation in the future. Moderate stress increases your brain’s capability to remember.

7. Use Stress to Increase Confidence

Going through something overwhelming and accomplishing it creates a new person in you that is now more confident and capable. Use visualization getting through a stressful situation and it will be likely that the expected stress won’t be enough to overwhelm you. Try preparing yourself through visualization and turn overwhelming stress to manageable stress.

Conclusion and tips

According to Kelly Mcgonigal, Stress is neither good or bad. It is how we perceive them. Running away and avoiding turns stress to chronic stress and will cause damage to the body, meanwhile perceiving stress as a tool to get you focused, a better learner, more confident, alert and courageous. One very inspiring thought that closed Kelly’s Ted talk was. “It is better to chase meaning than to avoid discomfort, and trust yourself that you can overcome”

Hope you have a slight shift in the way you see stress and use it to enhance your life.

Always remember to start early!

Link to the talk here: https://youtube.com/watch?v=RcGyVTAoXEU&feature=shares

13 Principles You Must Know & Practice To Succeed

These Principles are from Napoleon Hill’s “Think & Grow Rich”. If you are in your personal and success journey, this is a perfect book to start with. We will be going through these principles very simply and clearly. Let’s get to it.

1. Desire

The starting point of all that is is desire. Desire is to long for. Have looked into your deepest desires? What brings you fulfillment? Notice if you have been passive and content with just getting by or being comfortable. Try looking deeper into what would really be amazing to you! You could be that, it is best to lay them out on paper. Loving relationships? creative projects? physical feat? What kind? Get specific down to the last detail. This is called designing your life, taking responsibility in building the life of your dreams. It is also a must that you be specific in asking / desiring. Write that desire down on paper and imagine that you already are that you desire. Be not attached to the gap between now and your achievement. The now is always changing and it is best to not be attached. Become watchful of your thoughts and always keep in mind that you only think that of desirable things. It is said in the Bible that “What so ever things that are pure noble and Godlike; Think on these things”.

2. Faith

Florence Scovel Shinn said “Faith knows it has already received and acts accordingly”. This is where most people get stuck. The common man puts so much faith in things that he sees therefore he always ends up where he is. Have faith in things hoped for, believe in things unseen. Once again we are quoting the Bible “Calleth the things that are not as if they were and the unseen will become seen”. Try to look back 5 years from now, don’t you have some achievements now that you only dreamed of then? Knowing this law you can practice the act of faith. That you work with great power and everything can be brought upon you, but first you gotta believe. So keep faith in mind and heart.

3. Auto Suggestion

Napoleon touched upon the concept of the Subconscious mind. If this is the first time you are encountering this concept it is simply this. The conscious mind is what you know and think, the subconscious mind receives commands or information with no judgment whatsoever so it brings what ever you think to you. If you think you are having a great day and seeing the good in everything, the sub conscious mind brings it to you through illogical and unreasonable situations in your life. So train the Subconscious mind with repeated affirmations of good such as “I am now happy and grateful now that I am receiving such and such from the universe”. Make a habit of maintaining a positive inner dialogue.

4. Specialized Knowledge

You have written what you want, how and when you are getting it. Specialized knowledge is how you will achieve your desire. Dig deep on what stirs you up. Discover your innate talents and passions, engage in learning the industry that surrounds that craft and alot a daily schedule in practicing. Master a craft, specialize in a skill, the one unique skill that will compensate you in leveling up towards the manifestation of your full potential. Take a moment, close your eyes, imagine yourself engaging in your ideal craft. Be free here, it can be anything, imagine yourself being skillful in crafts like, speaking, cooking, painting, singing. You are creating a blueprint for your destiny and when you see yourself in your head doing something, the subconscious mind already works on how to bring it to your reality. Plan out your next steps. Take a course, read books and schedule deliberate practice. In doing this you are on your way to mastery, and we all know masters rule.

5. Imagination

“As within so without”. You ended up right here right now because of all of your accumulated habitual thinking, feeling and acting. Develop the skill of imagining. Visualize the thing that you desire, visualize how you are getting there, visualize the process. Notice the feeing as you imagine. Remember that the subconscious doesn’t know the difference between something really happening and imagining. As long as you are firing up the emotions of what is longed for the subconscious grants it as real and done. So imagine your ideal day, imagine your ideal partner, imagine your ideal business, feel it, feel the texture of the paper as you receive the check. Vision boards help a lot. So practice imagining, imagine the meeting going well. Imagine the best possible good. Be consistent and see changes.

6. Organized Planning

You have designed the best possible outcome of your life and how to get there, now time to put it on paper and act upon this time space reality. Remember that in your mind things are already built as intended but in the real world there might be some obstacles, use them, stay flexible with your plan but consistent with the goal. Learn from others and know that we are all here to progress and bring each other up. Time to put a date and time on your power move, if you want to write a book, start the first page. Engage and connect with people in the industry you are in ask questions, move forward and course correct as you move along. Remember, have an organized plan of action towards your ideal. Imagination without action leads nowhere, you might levitate but what long term good does that do in this lifetime?

7. Decision

Be decisive. When you decide, you say no to all distractions, you cut out all pathways that leads you farther from your goal. Once you decide, there is no looking back. This is the time where you decide on what you want to become and not what others want for you. Decide fully and adjust as you go along. Do not get stuck in paralysis by analysis, you know what happened to the donkey who couldn’t decide whether to eat some hay or drink water… yes that donkey went to heaven. So don’t be afraid to decide, usually your first gut is the right one, choose what’s right, choose what feels right. Here’s another thought, all of your decisions in your pursuit will be wrong, but it will be wrong in the right direction. So muster up that courage to become more decisive.

8. Persistence

I know and believe that I can achieve what I set out for myself so I demand of myself persistent consistent effort towards its attainment. Make deliberate practice a lifestyle, stay persistent, observe what happens if you persist on a certain practice for a certain amount of hours and days. Little by little, a little becomes a lot. Every effort compounds, 1% towards a goal each day adds up to a lot. If you haven’t figured out what to be persistent in, try simple things like taking a walk every after lunch. Observe your resistance, observe how you handle them, think of how you can be persistent, starting is always the hard part so it is best to start simple and easy.

9. The Power Of The Master Mind

No matter how awesome you think you are, you will become exponentially more if you use the capabilities and skills of others. Join a mastermind, find a mentor, study a person you look up to, biographies are great. So harness the power of the collective mind. Keep an open mind on what your mastermind has to say and figure out practices that would be mutually beneficial.

10. Sex Transmutation

This is harnessing your sexual energy and channeling it towards the attainment of your goal. Notice when you are having these urges and choose to divert your attention into activities that will help you grow instead of squandering your energy. If you resist giving into these urges, your energy will be released through creativity and productivity

11. The Subconscious Mind

We have mentioned the Sun conscious mind in the desiring and imagining principles. Joseph Murphy specializes in this topic and he does a good explanation of this. Your subconscious mind is where your true beliefs are contained, therefore it is the gate keeper of your comfort zone. What does this mean? It means that you are only going as far as your subconscious pre programmed limit is. But here is the truth, there are no limits. We have discussed earlier that the subconscious mind takes command from the conscious mind, so be intentional and identify your resistance in some areas. Speak, feel and believe your success as a present fact, not a future plan, affirm this persistently and consistently to imprint the subconscious mind sometimes also called the subjective mind. Know that the subconscious mind is open to suggestions from the conscious mind so suggest only life affirming facts. Expand your limits, go to new places and create new experiences. Having a beginner’s mind and an attitude of gratitude imprints the subconscious mind that you are open to receive and already have so it will bring forth instances in your life that are alike to what you are thankful for and expecting. To that which is like unto itself is drawn, life makes more life, money makes more money, good creates more good.

12. The Brain

There are more connections in your brain than there are subatomic particles in the universe?! This is what Gerald Edelman, the Nobel prize winner, claims. That’s the magical thing you have in between your ears. It has been said that we only use 10% of our brains so there’s more to explore and become! Look into Neuroplasticity and Growth Mindset. There is no limit to what you can be, do or have. You have a brain right?

13. The 6th Sense

It is the sense through which Infinite Intelligence communicates voluntarily without any effort from the individual. Learn to listen to this intelligence. Make time for silence and meditation and listen to messages from the source. This is where you will get insights that will help you get closer in achieving your goal. So have a daily practice of tapping into your 6th sense, early in the morning and upon retiring at night. There is infinite knowledge and ways of achieving that is out there and you can tap into it. All you gotta do is be persistent in practicing.

Hope these principles help you set up framework that works within your day to day. With definiteness of purpose, a plan and consistency. Nothing is impossible.

Ditch Resolutions; Set Up Habits Instead

Resolutions don’t work. This year will be different, you are now equipped with experiences and knowledge from the past couple of years that brought forth resilience in you. This year you have a clearer sense of what you want in your life and practicing these habits will be of great help in your growth if commitment is applied.

1. Get Specific

The starting point of your transformation is definiteness of purpose. “Without purpose, people perish”. Start the habit of writing down specific things you want accomplished this 2023. If you want to get in shape be specific on how much weight you wanna lose, if you want to be an early riser, set a time, if you wanna accumulate money, write down the specific amount. What you measure and record grows exponentially. So practice writing things down and committing to it. Here is a good framework for you. 1 goal = 90 days, 2-3 actions = 1day, 10 minutes each action. You are the designer of your life so we are free to set our own goals. Just make sure that these are intrinsically motivated rather than extrinsic, meaning you are you are motivated in accomplishing such goals from the inside and not on the outside. This is the year you put your blinders on and get focused on yourself and will not be affected by people around you.

2. Delay Intake Of Caffeine

Upon waking, rehydrate and sit still for 5 minutes. Wait at least 90 mins before consuming caffeine. When you wake up Cortisol spikes up and peaks for about 2 hours and gradually declines. Cortisol is important because it is responsible for blood sugar regulation, metabolism and alertness. Caffeine works by blocking Adenosine which causes drowsiness. When we increase caffeine while cortisol is peaking it dilutes its potency, we end up being more dependent on caffeine rather than our naturally produced hormone cortisol. Delaying consumption of caffeine will be effective in managing your energy, preventing sooner crashes within the day. Find out more. Here: https://hubermanlab.com/using-caffeine-to-optimize-mental-and-physical-performance/

3. Practice A Morning Routine

Pick a framework that works for you. Here are some helpful tips. Your morning routine starts the night before. So before going to bed, get clear on what time you wanna wake up. This imprints the Sub conscious mind and you will be surprised on how you will naturally wake up at the time you decided the night before. Pray or connect to higher power for 3 minutes. Do what suits you, it can be just silence noticing the breath, or praying to Lord God, what have you, this is the time you connect to a higher power, just knowing that there is a higher order going on and you are just a part of it helps all through out the day. This doesn’t need to be a whole mass, it can just be 1-3 minutes of sincere connection. If you give 5 minutes of your time in the morning for that higher power, the rest of your day will be guided. Next is hydrate, maybe instead of coffee, drink an electric of water, apple cider vinegar, pink salt, ginger, turmeric, lemon pepper. Change environment, get vitamin D from the sun, get sun in your system. Walk around the block, ground to the earth, look up to the sky and become one with its vastness. Plan your key actions within the day and a lot time in finishing them. Block your time and make sure you insert some movement snacks instead of junk food.

4. Memorize Affirmation

Affirmations are statements of Truths. Repeatedly internalized and felt will have a tremendous effect on your external world. The sub conscious mind doesn’t choose, it just accepts what the conscious mind believes to be true. And we all know the Subconscious mind brings forth in your life things that can’t be explained logically. Learn more of this through the Power of the Subconscious Mind by Joseph Murphy. So affirm only the good. One of my favorites and most simplistic ones are. “I am grateful and happy now that I am healthy in mind body and spirit”. “This is my day, I accept complete responsibility for my life for I know that I am power”. “Out of this situation only good can come, everything works out for the best and I’am safe”. Feel free to write what works for you. Make sure that you affirm life, abundance, strength and the well being of all. Memorize one that you can recite while in line at the grocery or stuck in traffic or anytime you get impatient.

5. Learn The Skill of Savoring

One of my favorite books is titled “Where ever you go, There you are”. Savoring the moment is being completely here in the present moment. Step back from your mind’s chattering and just sit. Notice how immense the energy around you is. Notice how you are connected and at one with this energy. Notice and appreciate where you are in your life and the completeness of just this.

6. Commit To Seeing The Beauty

It is not the thing that we are looking at, it is how we look at that thing. How you look at things becomes your reality. There is always a positive side to everything. Make this commitment and always remind yourself that whenever I catch my habit of criticizing, immediately switch to the thought there is something beautiful here that I am missing. What is this situation trying to teach me? Maybe this time I am willing to learn. Look into the law of Polarity.

7. Learn To Cook

One of the greatest joys in life is to cook up a nourishing meal. Learn how to cook here https://www.makepurethyheart.com. Your kitchen can be a place of mindfulness and creativity. Keep your kitchen in order and practice cooking simple tasty meals and provide joy to yourself and people around you.

8. Stretch

A mind that has been stretched to a certain extent cannot turn back to its original form. Stretch not only your body but the mind. There is a thing called neuro plasticity where in you expand your capabilities and turn into a person that you are ought to be. Your full potential, your future self now. Keep an open mind on what you can be. Have a plan and stretch out your being. You will be surprised if you stay consistent.

9. Learn to Deliberately Calm Down

Easily access joy. Learning how the mind works and how to react to its nature is the key. Find the tool that works for you, it can be deep breaths, practicing mindfulness, exercise. If you approach complexities in your mind and surroundings with an intention of groundedness and harmony, you will get to know Joy, peace love and acceptance with what is. Become more intentional in the quality of your presence, welcome every thought with no judgement. You are more bewildered than clever.

10. Listen Better

When in a social gathering, meet someone new and be genuinely interested in the person rather than being clever. In listening you enter a new world of information that opens up creativity and collaboration. Let the other person shine and be ready to be surprised that this particular meeting has a rippling effect. Incorporating ideas make a powerful force. Try to get used to focusing your attention to what you do not know yet. Paradoxi right? But that’s how new things come to be. So get used to the unknown and listen more and better.