PUNCTUALITY

 

Today we are in an era where we are exploring the possibility of life in another planet, advancement in technology, groundbreaking changes in the field of medicine, Artificial Intelligence, and many more. When the whole world is surging ahead, some of us are still struggling to get our fundamentals right. Even to reach a place on time is a Herculean task for us. When are we going to get beyond the ordinary challenges and set our sights on great achievements? When are we going to transcend? Why even waste our time arguing and giving excuses? Do we realize that small holes can sink a mighty ship?

Lack of discipline in life can cost us our future. There are certain things that we need to get right in life before we aim for anything big. Time Management is not clock management but life leadership. Habits are formed when we are very young. Children should be urged to dream Big. To get the larger picture right, every piece in the jig saw puzzle should be in the right place. This is true of our life too. To become extraordinary in life, every moment in life should be productively utilized. Success does not come that easily to anyone. It is a combination of so many qualities that we imbibe. Attitude, skill, knowledge, perseverance, time management, relentlessness, are just a few of those qualities. Success is, small efforts repeated.

Punctuality is nothing but being prompt. All those of us who are punctual are organized and systematic. Productive use of time happens only when we are prompt. How we plan the day makes all the difference.  Our actions are our circle of influence. Are we beginning the day on time or is there a delay? This will determine whether we keep running behind schedule or we complete our work on time. This helps us to believe in ourselves and builds our confidence. It helps us to win the trust of the world.

When I developed this quality of being punctual, I first grew in my own eyes. I realized that, if I say it, I will do it. It gave me great freedom. I felt liberated from my shortcomings. I no more had to give excuses to the world. I became the master of my life. My day was decided by me. Life became so disciplined and hence, very productive. I was able to motivate the world around me. Punctuality is only a decision. Decide today and turn your life around. Resolve to be “On time, all the time!”

 

#Thoughtfulthursdays #nsn #nsnschool #mentoring #parenting

THE IMPORTANCE OF INTROSPECTION

 

“Knowing others is intelligence. Knowing yourself is true wisdom.”

 The school had given an option to the students to write the exam in the Honesty Test room, where there wouldn’t be an invigilator.  A group of students grabbed the opportunity for the wrong reasons, as they felt that it was a short cut to success. To their disappointment, some of the students who wrote the exam with integrity, spilled the bean. They informed the teacher about it. The teacher summoned the students and conducted an enquiry. The students accepted that they indulged in malpractice. The teacher told them that they were not cheating her, but themselves. She added that, short cut to success will always cut short their success.

 

The rest of the students from class twelve were summoned. The teacher addressed all of them. Initially there was a lot of restlessness amongst them.  They were not in a mood to listen to her long sermon. The teacher was not ready to give up. She knew that this was the right time for her to din sense into them as they were in the final year of school and would leave in a few months’ time. She told them that she would like to share with them one thing that changed her life. The students were curious to know what it was. She said, “I was in the habit of blaming someone whenever I did something wrong. My father noticed this and told me that every day, before going to bed, I must run through my entire day from the time I woke up. This will help me to reflect on my actions. By practicing this every day, over a period of time, I began to develop self-awareness. Introspection has become part of my life now. It helps me become aware of my actions and to correct myself.”

 Introspection is the best tool for self-development. In introspection you become the subject of your own study. It leads to self-awareness. Self-awareness gives life to our inner voice and our inner voice guides us in our life. So, awareness is the key to progress. By introspecting we will realize where we went wrong, and a correction can be made. Progressively it will help us to grow in the right direction. When we don’t introspect, we keep committing mistakes over and over again. The teacher asked them to maintain a journal in which they would put a tick at the end of each day, if they were right, and a cross if they were wrong. She concluded on a note of triumph by saying,  ”This will help you get closer and closer to YOU.”

#Thoughtfulthursdays #nsn #nsnschool #mentoring #parenting

I AM A CHAMPION

 

“When you discipline yourselves to the best practices of life you become a benchmark to the world,”

While I was reading the book, “The Lives of Great Men,” in which the author traces the lives of the Movers & Shakers of the world, I found that they were all very ordinary people before they became extraordinary individuals. They had certain exceptional qualities in them that made them such achievers. They embraced the best practices of life and disciplined themselves, and hence became a champion in life. Not all can become a champion, whether it is championing a Cause or becoming a champion in a chosen field.  

There are so many entrepreneurs in the world, but only one Ratan Tata, one Mukesh Ambani, one Jeff Bezos or one Elon Musk. There are so many dancers, singers, sports persons, actors, musicians, etc. But only a few are world renowned. Only a few are considered as champions. Many run the race, but only one person wins the gold medal. He is called the champion and the others are called the also rans.  What sets the champions apart from the rest? What makes them an achiever? Is it capability, or luck? Or is there something more than all these?

1. Champions are highly “Passionate” about what they are doing. They want to be the best.  Hence, there is a lot of sincerity in their action. They will not compromise whatsoever. There is a burning passion for what they want to achieve. Hence, they never feel tired.

2. Champions have very high “Energy Levels.”  Enthusiasm is a part of anything they do. That gives them the energy they need. The Cause they represent or the goal they wish to achieve, gives them high energy.

#Thoughtfulthursdays #nsn #nsnschool #mentoring #parenting

MASTERY OVER TIME AND LIFE

 “TIME MANAGEMENT IS NOT CLOCK MANAGEMENT BUT LIFE LEADERSHIP.”

 As a child I used to be excited about the New Year. It was not only an occasion for me to send greeting cards to my near and dear ones, but also to make some new year resolutions. With great excitement I used to resolve to do something that I had never done before. But my memory was only short-lived. It was only a matter of a few days, and I would go back to my normal self. No resolution has gone beyond a few weeks or months. It is only as an adult that I realized the futility of even waiting for a new year. Resolutions are now instantly made and become my way of life, as I realize that Time is the greatest Resource we have.

 A time for everything and everything in its time, is disciplined living. What we get out of the time at our disposal, how we create ourselves, is what matters. When we are young, we live as if we have all the time. We waste our days indulging in time wasters that are not urgent or important. We tend to procrastinate what is important . We are guided by pain and pleasure. We resort to instant gratification. We indulge in what is pleasurable, even if it is wrong, and avoid doing things which seem painful to us, even if it is right. Playing is pleasurable and studying is painful for some. Delayed gratification is, to prioritize.

 Playing online games, hanging around street corners, chatting with friends, spending time on social media, are all things we indulge in as students, and studies take a backseat. Do we have the maturity to know that our time must be invested much more in activities from which our future comes? Playing a sport, working on our habits, values, discipline, learning a new skill, a new language, listening to podcasts, and many more such activities will create a great platform to launch us, and we will be future ready. All these are important, but not urgent. This is from where our future comes. Find out where your time goes. Into something constructive and progressive, or for your pastime. Create your own time table at home and tick it if you have done it. Else cross it. You are accountable only to yourself.

 Everybody has twenty-four hours. ‘’That on which you invest time grows That which is starved of your time shrinks.” We need to take ownership of our life. Our life is our responsibility. The precious time that we have at our disposal in the present is invaluable and priceless. Value every moment of your life. It will just pass away. You can either use it or lose it. “Mastery over time and life begins with mastery over the clock.”  Beat it!!!

#Thoughtfulthursdays #nsn #nsnschool #mentoring #parenting

 

ARE WE BEING SINCERE TO OURSELVES?

As I was watching a forward in WhatsApp, where a girl was performing acrobatics on a man’s shoulder, standing on her toes and swirling and lifting her legs in all directions with so much ease and dexterity, I was astonished. But I also had an instant realization. Life is all about being sincere in what you do. The state of effortlessness itself is achieved through effort. The more and more people are able to inspire the world, it is undoubtedly true that they have put in that much effort into what they are doing. To be a better version of ourselves calls for a lot of discipline.

 

Waking up before sunrise and meditating is the best thing we can do to connect with divinity. How many of us are able to wake up so early and that too consistently? Are we having our daily appointment with God? All that we do is, admire a person who is able to do that. This is because we are giving a choice to ourselves, and they are living in a choiceless state.  If the quality of our life has to improve, the quality of our actions must improve. Sitting in non-doing alone can bring dynamism to our doing. We can achieve emotional equanimity, peace and happiness by sitting in non-doing. We will be  enveloped by the Energy, which will carry us through in life.

 

Exercising and Eating the right food helps us to live a healthy life. Can we exercise at least five days a week? Can we develop the will power to say “no” to what is not healthy? How much we struggle to exercise regularly and to avoid tongue conscious food. It is a discipline that we grow into. There is so much of conflict in our mind. Should I exercise today? Just one day can I not eat what is tasty to the tongue? When these questions are asked frequently, we develop wrong habits We lose our health in course of time. All our money and time is spent at the hospital, when we should be enjoying life and living life on our terms.

 

 Who other than us will ensure our health, growth and prosperity? We have to be sincere to ourselves to discover our capabilities, our innate goodness, the divinity within us, the humane qualities in us, the healthy individual that we can be, the success that we can achieve, in short, the holistic life that we can live. Another name for discipline is, sincerity!

#Thoughtfulthursdays #nsn #nsnschool #mentoring #parenting