Year 2018 is about to close its eyes, only to welcome a new novel Year 2019. So as a practice, I am posting my top 10 lessons of the year 2018.
Life teaches you its lessons every day. The year usually begins with at least a hundred resolutions which we make to ourselves to accomplish during the year, but fail to achieve most of them. So is it because they are hundreds of them and not a few of them or is it because we make such resolutions only to tell people around that we too have our resolutions for the year.
I too made a few of them in 2018, and achieved a few out of them. But without any doubt, I have learned a lot, this year too.
1. Follow your passion, come what may
Most of us around the world, earn our livelihood, either by working around for others on a salaried job or work for ourselves as a business owner. For a complete year we work to earn and live on that, and many of us often curse our life during the year for its lackluster treatment. We often question ourselves, for are we born only to earn, eat, sleep and feed our family. But we do nothing to change it, beyond thinking.
We don\’t make an effort to follow our interest, hobbies or passion or whatever we feel joyous about.
If we start, the only excuse we have when we stop following it, is that we don\’t have time. It\’s not the lack of time that is the reason. It is the lack of your love for it, your passion for it. Or maybe you find it difficult to be persistently consistent in it.
For that you have to psyche yourself to an extent that people around you genuinely feel, that the passion you are following is really important for you. It matters a lot to you. They, the people around you will start making a room for your interest, your hobby, but they have to be made to understand that it matters to you a lot. How do you do that? If you don’t follow your passion, and show your struggles following it, how will they understand?
2. Read like the world is about to end.
While I was attending one of the seminars in a literary event this year, the presenter revealed that about 98% of the world\’s literate population, pick up their first and the only book to read, and yet do not finish reading it in their entire lifetime. I am talking about one book, other than your school textbooks.
We, who we feel are an evolved species, are only keeping up the findings of the theory of evolution by Charles Darwin of being a species with the most evolved brains, true. That\’s it. We are not trying to evolve as souls. For our souls to evolve we need to read. Read like the world is about to end. You should at least read ten books in a year, if not fifty.
Your thought process transforms and your life changes, if you read extensively.
3. Engage yourself in a regular exercise, jogging or a game.
When your body is fit, your mind remains fit. When your mind is fit, your body will. With the kind of eccentric lifestyle we have put ourselves into, in this AI driven world, I completely understand it\’s difficult to keep ourselves engaged to a regular regime of exercise, a morning jog or follow any game. But if we realize it\’s important, we will take out time for it. Not when your lipid profile shows high cholesterol or triglycerides level but much before. The symptoms can best be realized, when you see yourself panting like a dog for a small physical labor like climbing to the second floor by steps. You have lost your fitness level somewhere, while trying to make a living for yourself.
Sooner or later, whenever you realize, start and consistently follow a routine.
I have been able to keep up to a routine of two kilometers to a five kilometers jog, in the morning or in the evening. It\’s not important to jog for all seven days in a week. A routine of five days, alternate days or even only on weekends are just fine, if you make sure you keep up to that routine.
4. Avoid people who sap away your positive energy
Learn how to gauge people. Observe their usage of words, movement of eyes, coordination with their hand gestures and their body posture. If you feel there is something missing, a gap, be careful. As soon as you realize that there is something fishy about a person, avoid him completely. These people are usually very sweet and to prove their credibility, they will talk a lot about themselves, give erratic ideas which they would present as if they are a million dollar worth and look for an opportunity to reach out to your pocket. If you want to test a person, think of ways where you can ask him to work for few hours a week for free to contribute to the society, you will get your answers. Trust me in 2018; I was fortunate to have met quite a few of them.
Negative people are not only those who are clearly apparent. More dangerous are those who are looking for opportunities to kill away your positive energy silently.
5. People closest to you would contribute the least to your success beyond a point.
Usually you must have felt and heard from people who are successful, that it\’s their family and friends who have helped them reach where they have.
Most of those successful people hide the most basic truth of life. The truth is that people who are closest to you would help you in your strides only till the time they know, you are not going to cross beyond their status, position and popularity. Till the time you are even a notch lesser than them and they know that you know that fact, they would still help you in your journey. But the moment you start moving out of their radar and reach a level up, their willingness to contribute in your growth would substantially reduce.
It’s because most of us grow up with a lack mindset and not growth mindset. We cannot happily accept people growing before us. Only a few can. That doesn\’t mean you should leave them. Just be simply cordial to them and not expect much from them and go on building newer, bolder, stronger and valuable relationships.
6. Don\’t talk loose but do not allow people to take you for a ride.
It’s absolutely good to be nice, honest, helpful and positive in your dealings with people. But that does not mean, people should take you for an unnecessary ride, just because they feel, you are a nice guy.
Wherever necessary put your strong foot forward and make people understand your expectations with them in your relationships. It\’s always good to clarify your way of looking at things, understanding and perceiving things, to people who you feel, are not capable enough to know your real character. May be, they do not have enough time at their bay to do so. Let not people assume that every nice guy is submissive and can easily be taken for granted.
7. Love your job forever but love your company only till the total weightage of what you receive in value is what you deserve.
You should not stay back in an organization forever. Not that you will not succeed. But hardly 1% of the total population of the people working in the same organization for their complete career reaches in the top management.
Does that mean, you should continue to stick back, only to prove that one has to stay the longest to reach the farthest? No, I don\’t think so.
There is a research published by a globally recognized research company, according to which, the best ageing for an employee in a company, if he wants to grow is usually five years. It is because five years are good enough for any individual to prove his value, talent and worth. Similarly, five years are enough for an organization to appraise both, his potential and performance. Staying beyond five years means, you would reduce your chances of getting hired on challenging progressive roles in other competitive companies.
Five years reference that I have taken is, if one works for five years in a company without any change in his role, position or promotion.
8. Stop wasting time with people who don\’t add value of any kind.
You will get to interact with different kinds of people as you work along in your job or business. Time is that dimension, whose power is insurmountably high. You cannot play around with it and waste it. During the day while at your office job or dealing with your business relationships, you will have to meet people for various reasons.
You should not waste your time, at places, for incidents, with people who you feel do not deserve that. Instead invest that time in knowing your own weaknesses, strengths or in improving your own self.
9. Plan and dedicate yourself to a schedule.
People who are successful are always great planners. They plan their entire year, right to the last hour, leaving a room for emergencies. They hate mess in their life and do not like finishing up things in haste. They ensure to execute their schedule with complete dedication. That\’s how they are able to accomplish multiple things in the world, and all with finesse.
I am an author who writes for three hours for at least five days in a week, a behavioural trainer for eight hours for at least fifteen days in a month, go for a jog in the morning or evening for about thirty minutes every alternate days, ensure three hours of family time every day on the week days and much more on the weekends, read every day for at least thirty minutes, listen to music while driving or jogging, socialize with people I work during the day, take out time to try my antics at my voice over acting and narration to recite a story for about two hours in a week.
How do I manage to accomplish so many things? I hope you must have got your answer. You can see the duration allotted to each of the activities. I just love scheduling to the last hour.
10. Don\’t wait for the right time to arrive, it will never. Just begin.
Most of us for the entire course of our life just wait for the right time to arrive. It never does. Have you ever heard, anyone being able to improve his life for better, just by sitting behind waiting for the D-day? No one can, because there\’s no such thing as the right time or the best time.
If a thought has entered your mind to work upon something, it is the biggest indication that you have to decide. Think louder about the idea that has cropped inside. Explore it more. Talk to a lot of people to understand the nuances of it. Look for people who have done that before or something similar. Take guidance and plan out everything, before you venture out.
Then just do it. Make a plan, follow it and see your plan coming true.
Happy Reading and learning ! I wish you all a Happy New Year 2019 !!