Terrorism: Why Is It Happening Now?

Bhaarat humko jaan se pyaara hai
Jabse nyaara gulistaan hamara hai
Bhaarat humko jaan se pyaara hai
Jabse nyaara gulistaan hamara hai




Sadiyon se bhaarat bhoomi duniya ki shaan hai
Bhaarat maa ki raksha mein jeewan kurbaan hai
Bhaarat humko jaan se pyaara hai
Jabse nyaara gulistaan hamara hai
Ujade nahin apna chamanToote nahin apna vatanMandir yahanMasjid yahanHindu yahanMuslim yahanMilke rahein hum pyaar seJaago



Hindustani naam hamara hai
Sabse pyaara desh hamara hai
janmbhoomi hai hamari shaan se kahenge hum
Sab hi to bhai bhai pyaar se rahenge hum
Hindustani naam hamara hai
Sabse pyaara desh hamara hai

Assam se gujarat tak
bengal se maharashtra tak
Jaati kai hum ek hain
Bhaasha kai sur ek hai
Kashmir se madras tak
Keh do sabhi hum ek hain
Aawaaz do hum ek hain Jaago

Would you talk on terrorism?
Everything is deeply related with everything else that happens. The event of terrorism is certainly related with what is happening in the society. The society is falling apart. Its old order, discipline, morality, religion, everything has been found to be wrongly based. It has lost its power over people's conscience. Terrorism simply symbolizes that to destroy human beings does not matter, that there is nothing in human beings which is indestructible, that it is all matter ― and you cannot kill matter, you can only change its form. Once man is taken to be only a combination of matter, and no place is given for a spiritual being inside him, then to kill becomes just play. The nations are irrelevant because of nuclear weapons. If the whole world can be destroyed together within minutes the alternative can only be that the whole world should be together. Now it cannot remain divided; its division is dangerous, because division can become war any moment. The division cannot be tolerated.

Only one war is enough to destroy everything, and there is not much time left for man to understand that we should create a world where the very possibility of war does not exist.

Terrorism has many undercurrents. One is that because of nuclear weapons, the nations are pouring their energy into that field, thinking that the old weapons are out of date. They are out of date, but individuals can start using them. And you cannot use nuclear weapons against individuals ― that would be simply stupid. One individual terrorist throws a bomb ― it does not justify that a nuclear missile should be sent.

What I want to emphasize is that the nuclear weapon has given individual people a certain freedom to use old weapons, a freedom which was not possible in the old days because the governments were also using the same weapons.

Now the governments are concentrated on destroying the old weapons, throwing them in the ocean, selling them to countries which are poor and cannot afford nuclear weapons. And all those terrorists are coming from these poor countries, with the same weapons that have been sold to their countries. And they have a strange protection: you cannot use nuclear weapons against them, you cannot throw atom bombs at them.

They can throw bombs at you and you are suddenly impotent. You have a vast amount of atomic bombs, nuclear bombs in your hands ― but sometimes where a needle is useful, a sword may not be of any use. You may have the sword; that does not mean that you are necessarily in a superior position to the man who has a needle, because there are purposes in which only the needle will work ― the sword will not be of any use.

Those small weapons from the old times were piling up, and the big powers had to dispose of them ― either drown them in the ocean.... That meant so much money, so much manpower, so much energy had gone to waste; economically it was disastrous. But just to go on piling them up was also economically impossible. How many weapons can you gather? There is a limit. And when you get a new way of killing people more efficiently, then the old simply has to be got rid of. It was thought that it would be better to sell them to poor countries. Poor countries cannot create nuclear weapons ― it costs too much. And these weapons were coming cheap ― as help; they accepted it, but these weapons cannot be used in a war. In a war these weapons are already useless. But nobody has seen the possibility that these weapons can be used individually, and a new phenomenon ― terrorism ― can come out of it.

Now, a terrorist has a strange power, even over the greatest powers.

He can throw bombs at the White House without any fear, because what you have is too big and you cannot throw it at him. And these are the weapons sold by you! But the phenomenon was not conceived of, because human psychology is not understood

My understanding is that the way he has lived, man needs every ten to twelve years ― a war. He accumulates so much anger, so much rage, so much violence, that nothing short of a war will give him release. So, war after war, there is a gap of only ten to fifteen years. That gap is a kind of relaxation. But again you start accumulating, because the same psychology is working ― the same jealousy, the same violence

And man is basically a hunter; he is not by nature vegetarian. First he became a hunter, and for thousands of years he was just a meat-eater, and cannibalism was prevalent everywhere. To eat human beings caught from the opposing tribe you were fighting with was perfectly ethical. All that is carried in the unconscious of humanity.
Religions have imposed things on man very superficially; his unconscious is not in agreement. Every man is living in a disagreement with himself. So whenever he can find a chance ― for a beautiful cause; freedom, democracy, socialism ― any beautiful word can become an umbrella to hide his ugly unconscious, which simply wants to destroy and enjoys destruction.

Now the world war has become almost impossible; otherwise there would have been no terrorism. Enough time has passed since the second world war; the third world war should have happened around 1960. It has not happened. This has been the routine for the whole of history, and man is programmed for it.

It has been observed by psychologists that in wartime people are more happy than in peacetime. In wartime their life has a thrill; in peacetime they look bored. In wartime, early in the morning they are searching for the newspaper, listening to the radio. Things may be happening far away, but they are excited. Something in them feels an affinity. A war that should have happened somewhere between 1955 and 1960 has not happened, and man is burdened with the desire to kill, with the desire to destroy. It is just that he wants good names for it. Terrorism is going to become bigger and bigger, because the third world war is almost impossible. And the stupid politicians have no other alternative. Terrorism simply means that what was being done on a social scale now has to be done individually. It will grow.

It can only be prevented if we change the very base of human understanding ― which is a Himalayan task; more so because these same people whom you want to change will fight you; they won't allow you to change them easily.

In fact they love bloodshed; they don't have the courage to say so. In one of the existentialist's novels, there is a beautiful incident which can almost be said to be true. A man is presented before the court because he has killed a stranger who was sitting on the beach. He had never seen the stranger. He did not kill him for money. He does not yet know how that man looked, because he killed him from the back, just with a big knife. They had never met ― there was no question of enmity. They were not even familiar; they had not even seen each other's faces.

The magistrate could not figure it out, and he asked the murderer, "Why did you do it?" He said, "When I stabbed that man with a knife, and a fountain of blood came out of his back, that was one of the most beautiful moments I have ever known. I know that the price will be my death, but I am ready to pay for it; it was worth it. My whole life I have lived in boredom ― no excitement, no adventure. Finally I had to decide to do something. And this act has made me world famous; my picture is in every newspaper. And I am perfectly happy that I did it."

There was no need for any evidence. The man was not denying ― on the contrary, he was glorifying it. But the court has its own routine way ― witnesses still have to be produced; just his word cannot be accepted. He may have been lying, he may not have killed the man. Nobody saw him ― there was not a single eyewitness ― so circumstantial evidences had to be presented by the police.

One of them was that possibly this man has killed according to his past life and his background. When he was young, his mother died. And when he heard that his mother had died, he said, "Shit! That woman will not leave me even while dying! It is Sunday, and I have booked tickets for the theater with my girlfriend. But I knew she would do something to destroy my whole day ― and she has destroyed it."

His mother has died and he is saying that she has destroyed his Sunday! He was going to the theater with his girlfriend, and now he has to go to the funeral. And the people who heard his reaction were shocked. They said, "This is not right, what are you saying?"

He said, "What? What is right and what is wrong? Couldn't she die on any other day? There are seven days in the week ― from Monday to Saturday, she could have died any day. But you don't know my mother ― I know her. She is a bitch! She did it on purpose."

The second evidence was that he attended the funeral, and in the evening he was found dancing with his girlfriend in a disco. And somebody asked, "What! What are you doing? Your mother has just died."

He said, "So what? Do you mean now I can never dance again? My mother is never going to be alive, she will remain dead; so what does it matter whether I dance after six hours, eight hours, eight months, eight years? What does it matter? ― she is dead. And I have to dance and I have to live and I have to love, in spite of her death. If everybody stopped living with the death of their mother, with the death of their father, then there would be no dance in the world, no song in the world."

is logic is very right. He is saying, "Where do you draw the demarcation line? After how many hours can I dance? ― twelve hours, fourteen hours, six weeks? Where will you draw the line? on what grounds? What is the criterion? So it doesn't matter. One thing is certain: whenever I dance I will be dancing after the death of my mother, so I decided to dance today. Why wait for tomorrow?"

Such circumstantial evidences are presented to the court ― that this man is strange, he can do such an act. But if you look closely at this poor man, you will not feel angry at him; you will feel very compassionate. Now, it is not his fault that his mother has died; and anyway, he has to dance some day, so it makes no difference. You cannot blame this man for saying ugly things: "She deliberately died on Sunday to spoil my joy," because his whole experience of life must have been that she was again and again spoiling any possibility of joy. This was the last conclusion: "Even in death she will not leave me."

And you cannot condemn the man for killing a stranger... because he is not a thief; he did not take anything from him. He is not an enemy; he did not even see who was the man he was killing. He was simply bored with life and he wanted to do something that made him feel significant, important. He is happy that all the newspapers have his photo. If they had published his photo before, he would not have killed; but they waited ― until he kills they will not publish his photo. And he wanted to be a celebrity... just ordinary human desires.

And he was ready to pay with his life to become, at least for one day, known to the whole world, recognized by everybody. Until we change the basic grounds of humanity, terrorism is going to become more and more a normal, everyday affair. It will happen in the airplanes, it will happen in the buses. It will start happening in the cars. It will start happening to strangers. Somebody will suddenly come and shoot you ― not that you have done anything to him, but just, the hunter is back.

The hunter was satisfied in the war. Now the war has stopped and perhaps there is no possibility for it. The hunter is back; now we cannot fight collectively. Each individual has to do something to release his own steam.

Things are interconnected. The first thing that has to be changed is that man should be made more rejoicing ― which all the religions have killed.
The real criminals are not caught. These are the victims, the terrorists and other criminals. It is all the religions who are the real criminals, because they have destroyed all possibilities of rejoicing. They have destroyed the possibility of enjoying small things of life; they have condemned everything that nature provides you to make you happy, to make you feel excited, feel pleasant.
They have taken everything away; and if they have not been able to take a few things away because they are so ingrained in your biology ― like sex ― they have at least been able to poison them. Friedrich Nietzsche, according to me, is one of the greatest seers of the Western world; his eyes really go penetrating to the very root of a problem. But because others could not see it ― their eyes were not so penetrating, nor was their intelligence so sharp ― the man lived alone, abandoned, isolated, unloved, unrespected.

He says in one of his statements that man has been taught by religions to condemn sex, to renounce sex. Religion has not been able to manage it; and man has tried hard but has failed, because it is so deeply rooted in his biology ― it constitutes his whole body. He is born out of sex ― how can he get rid of it except by committing suicide? So man has tried, and religions have helped him to get rid of it ― thousands of disciplines and strategies have been used. The total result is that sex is there, but poisoned. That word poisoned is a tremendous insight. Religions have not been able to take it away, but they have been certainly successful in poisoning it. And the same is the situation about other things: religions are condemning your living in comfort. Now, a man who is living in comfort and luxury cannot become a terrorist. Religions have condemned riches, praised poverty; now, a man who is rich cannot be a terrorist. Only the "blessed ones" who are poor can be terrorists ― because they have nothing to lose, and they are boiling up against the whole of society because others have things they don't have. Religions have been trying to console them. But then came communism ― a materialist religion ― which provoked people and said to them, "Your old religions are all opium to the people, and it is not because of your evil actions in this life or in past lives that you are suffering poverty. It is because of the evil exploitation of the bourgeois, the super-rich that you are suffering." The last sentence in Karl Marx's Communist Manifesto is: "Proletariats of the whole world unite; you have nothing to lose and you have the whole world to gain." You are already poor, hungry, naked ― so what can you lose? Your death will not make you more miserable than your life is making you. So why not take a chance and destroy those people who have taken everything away from you. And take those things back, distribute them.What religions have somehow been consoling people with ― although it was wrong and it was cunning and it was a lie, but it kept people in a state of being half asleep ― communism suddenly made them aware of.

That means this world is now never going to be peaceful if we don't withdraw all the rotten ideas that have been implanted in man.
The first are the religions ― their values should be removed so that man can smile again, can laugh again, can rejoice again, can be natural again. Second, what communism is saying has to be put clearly before the people ― that it is psychologically wrong. You are falling from one trap into another. No two men are equal; hence the idea of equality is nonsense. And if you decide to be equal then you have to accept a dictatorship of the proletariat. That means you have to lose your freedom. First the church took away your freedom, the God took away your freedom. Now communism replaces your church, and it will take away your freedom. And without freedom you cannot rejoice. You live in fear, not in joy. If we can clean the basement of the human mind's unconscious... and that's what my work is. It can be cleaned away.

The terrorism is not in the bombs, in your hands; the terrorism is in your unconscious.
Otherwise, this state of affairs is going to grow more bitter. And it seems all kinds of blind people have bombs in their hands and are throwing them at random. The third world war would have released people for ten or, fifteen years. But the third world war cannot happen because if it happens it won't relieve people, it will only destroy people.So individual violence will increase ― it is increasing. And all your governments and all your religions will go on perpetuating the old strategies without understanding the new situation. The new situation is that every human being needs to go through therapies, needs to understand his unconscious intentions, needs to go through meditations so that he can calm down, become cool ― and look towards the world with a new perspective, of silence.

How To Use Non Verbal Communication To Market Yourself

Everyone knows how important it is to speak confidently, say the right things and show interest when being interviewed or even at a meeting with clients. However, in addition to what you say, one must know that what you do also communicates volumes of information about who you really are.
Experts believe that a large part of communication occurs non-verbally. That means that even a smile on your face and the firmness of your handshake when you say, "Pleased to meet you," says more than your words alone.
It is to be remembered that once someone forms an impression, the tendency is to look for evidence confirming the original opinion and to ignore contradictory messages. That means if you have created a positive impression the first time around, people will focus on things that support that favorable impression. If, however, you have created a negative impression, you will have to work twice as hard to overcome that belief from the minds of those who have that negative impression.

Tips on How to Make a Positive Impression Non-Verbally
Remember that everything you do creates an impression:
your facial expressions
the "look in your eyes"
your eye contact (or lack of it)
your hand gestures
your posture
the way you comb your hair
the clothes (even the shoes) you wear

Making an Entrance
The most important thing to remember in creating a presence is to believe that you belong where you are and have something of value to offer. A characteristic of successful people is that they naturally expect others to respond positively to them.
When entering someone's office, do not poke your head in the door. Walk in confidently. (Knock first, if appropriate)
Anticipating a negative reaction sets the stage for an unsuccessful meeting. Therefore, enter with more confidence and have a positive mindset
A strong stride, a direct approach, an upright posture and a sense of energy are extremely important

Body Language
What you do with your body can support and enhance the message your words convey–or detract from it.
Whether talking with one person or an auditorium full of people, maintain eye contact. Otherwise the person or crowd you are addressing will definitely show no interest to what you have to say
Keep your facial expressions relaxed and friendly. The idea is to keep the listener interested and comfortable with you and what you have to say
When standing, maintain a balance to your stance. Do not slouch, or lean on things when talking to people. Always maintain an upright posture
Move purposefully; it shows confidence. Do not walk into a room for instance as though you are about to steal something or as though you do not belong there
Let your hands fall to your side after using them and avoid crossing your arms, or holding your own hands either in front of you or behind your back

Shaking Hands
Handshakes are an important physical means of communicating. An immediate, firm, confident and friendly handshake helps establish a positive tone for a meeting and provides a non-verbal opportunity to establish yourself.
Involve your entire hand in the handshake. Make eye contact; without it a handshake is half as effective
Women should shake hands with each other just as readily as men. Never allow an important meeting to begin without a handshake. To do otherwise is to non-verbally discount yourself
Some men think it is impolite to extend their hand to a woman for a handshake. A savvy businesswoman relaxes the uneasiness by extending her hand to a man right away

Taare Zameen Par

I have never written a movie review on my blog before and I'm not really writing a review for this one. But this is such a special movie that I cannot help but write about it - and also because I want to know reactions , if it touched others as much as it touched me!

There are moments in the movie that I loved beyond expression. The titles were adorable! The gutter scene in the beginning, beautifully shot! The manner in which the street vendors were captured in the sequence where Ishaan is roaming on the streets. The animation - charming and evocative - perfectly integrated to show Ishaan's mind and ways of communicating. The shudder Ishaan gives when the car starts (at the hostel).
The way Ishaan’s character develops. Portrayal of how color is sucked out of Ishaan, a child whose only true love is colors. Ishaan's reaction when he takes the first glimpse of Nikumbh Sir's painting on Art Day. The documentary on children in the end with the title song playing in the background.

The songs too contribute majorly. The lyrics are sheer poetry. The music grows on steadily. “Main kabhi batlaata nahi” kept me speechless - literally tugged at my heartstrings!

There's a part in the movie where Aamir Khan's character talks about natives of Solomon Islands who don't cut trees when they need land for cultivation, instead they gather in front of the tree and curse it to their heart's content. And soon enough, the tree withers and dies. I dont know if that is actually true but such a good thing to keep in mind. How often do we weaken the roots of another person or otherwise add to the conditions in which they can wither and fall? What an important point to remember in how we treat other people.

Most importantly - not all "Ishaan Avasthi's" are lucky enough to find "Nikumbh Sir's" in their lives. I hope every parent realises that and takes something back to their lives from the theater. Every child is indeed special!

Taare Zameen Par for me was an experience. A realisation. An eye-opener. A lesson well taught. A step in the right direction. I hope everyone who sees it can act on its lessons.

How to Overcome Procrastination ?

Does this sound familiar?
Each and every day you go into your office prepared to take on the tasks you have been or will be assigned. As the day goes by you find yourself looking for every possible excuse to do something other than work on some of the tasks. You have made a considerable effort to remain focused during the day however you cannot seem to fight procrastination. Are you the only one with this problem? What can you do to break this bad habit?”You are certainly not alone in experiencing this; unfortunately for us all procrastination is something that everyone deals with. There is no way to completely eliminate it from our lives. If we build time into our schedules for procrastination we’ll be in a better position to handle it right off the bat.
Here are some tips to overcome procrastination:
1. Work on tasks promptlyComplete task as soon as practical, while you know you have enough time to do it correctly.
2. Change negative thoughtsDo not agonize over tasks. Instead, think of the enjoyment and the relief in getting the job done.
3. Break large tasks downMake tasks more manageable and work on “getting started”. Try just tackling five minutes of the project and you might find you’ve worked longer than planned.
4. Become EnthusiasticMuster up the motivation and enthusiasm about the job or task. Talk to the right people and get you reenergized.

Voice of Humanity

people who have not yet responded to the voice of humanity. Touching the feet of elders ,giving a share of your first earning to your elders ,informing your elders when you have migrated to a new place to ensure safe landing...where have all that culture gone? People have forgotten to say an 'excuse me' , a 'sorry' , leave alone a thank you.Infact in the mornings when I walk up to college with full of positive thoughts...I , most of the times, hear a lot from the watchman who speaks with peevish displeasure for not walking properly or for not getting the ID card. These are just mannerisms. The Kidney kingpin , Dr. Arun Kumar, it is shame to have such Indian professionals as a part of our country. The whole racket has been flashing in every news channel and newspaper and has provoked every mind to start pondering about where we are heading.There was another article about a few children who went browsing over the net for finding out ways to cut off oxygen supply so as in to get "high".Ofcourse one kid did die while trying out this which has appallingly destroyed his family and friends and those who are still worried about humanity. For many of you, the word humanity would sound alien and for many of you ..a very far off thing. People still manage to throw wrappers and other wastes in the open without any guilt.I don't see any stalwarts in the making . Nor in the present , nor in the future. Not unless we don't change our attitude. Shashi Tharoor had once spoken about an incident that took place when he was studying in Delhi.His mother had asked her 'sweeper woman' to wash the steps of the building they stayed in. The lady would have obviously benefitted by receiving an extra pay for the job offered. But instead she shot back saying ' why should I madam? The building doesn't belong to you .

'Another problem is that the citizens of India have always behaved with a mindset of being a statesperson. A Bihari, a Keralite ,a Tamilian , a Maharashtrian ,an Assamese ,etc. They don't want to represent India or rather they are just comfortable representing their own state. I've never seen that co-operation , that spirit when each Indian proudly says 'Mera Bharat Mahan' on August 15th anywhere else. Yet there exists a competition among states on who has invested more on the celebrations.Even in reality shows , participants represent their states and in the final stages , it's more like which state can vote more. Even when the participants beg for votes, they particularly name the state they represent so as in to gain an extra vote! Has anyone in the history of reality show claimed to represent India ? The only time I've seen such a thing happening is when they win the competition and ofcourse are 'forced' to walk around saying 'I am the best' and 'Thanks to India for voting me'.We had a finalist who apparently started begging for votes outside a 'thattukada' saying that it's ONLY the votes than can make her win.Hope the viewers don't misjudge the true talent. Like Tagore has always said - Humanity is just like the sun, it can only be clouded , never extinguished. I am signing off with hopes of waking up to a beautiful morning which should be showing me that lil ray of hope to see India emerge as the one and only.

Get Off Your Butt: 16 Ways to Get Motivated When You’re in a Slump

Even the most motivated of us — you, me, Tony Robbins — can feel unmotivated at times. In fact, sometimes we get into such a slump that even thinking about making positive changes seems too difficult.
But it’s not hopeless: with some small steps, baby ones in fact, you can get started down the road to positive change.
Yes, I know, it seems impossible at times. You don’t feel like doing anything. I’ve been there, and in fact I still feel that way from time to time. You’re not alone. But I’ve learned a few ways to break out of a slump, and we’ll take a look at those today.
This post was inspired by reader Roy C. Carlson, who asked:
“I was wondering if you could do a piece on why it can be hard for someone to change direction and start taking control of their life. I have to say I’m in this boat and advice on getting out of my slump would be great.”
Roy is just one of many with a slump like that. Again, I feel that way sometimes myself, and in fact sometimes I struggle to motivate myself to exercise — and I’ll use that as an example of how to break out of the slump.
When I fall out of exercise, due to illness or injury or disruption from things going on in my life, it’s hard to get started again. I don’t even feel like thinking about it, sometimes. But I’ve always found a way to break out of that slump, and here are some things I’ve learned that have helped:
One Goal. Whenever I’ve been in a slump, I’ve discovered that it’s often because I have too much going on in my life. I’m trying to do too much. And it saps my energy and motivation. It’s probably the most common mistake that people make: they try to take on too much, try to accomplish too many goals at once. You cannot maintain energy and focus (the two most important things in accomplishing a goal) if you are trying to do two or more goals at once. It’s not possible — I’ve tried it many times. You have to choose one goal, for now, and focus on it completely. I know, that’s hard. Still, I speak from experience. You can always do your other goals when you’ve accomplished your One Goal.
Find inspiration. Inspiration, for me, comes from others who have achieved what I want to achieve, or who are currently doing it. I read other blogs, books, magazines. I Google my goal, and read success stories. Zen Habits is just one place for inspiration, not only from me but from many readers who have achieved amazing things.
Get excited. This sounds obvious, but most people don’t think about it much: if you want to break out of a slump, get yourself excited about a goal. But how can you do that when you don’t feel motivated? Well, it starts with inspiration from others (see above), but you have to take that excitement and build on it. For me, I’ve learned that by talking to my wife about it, and to others, and reading as much about it as possible, and visualizing what it would be like to be successful (seeing the benefits of the goal in my head), I get excited about a goal. Once I’ve done that, it’s just a matter of carrying that energy forward and keeping it going.
Build anticipation. This will sound hard, and many people will skip this tip. But it really works. It helped me quit smoking after many failed attempts. If you find inspiration and want to do a goal, don’t start right away. Many of us will get excited and want to start today. That’s a mistake. Set a date in the future — a week or two, or even a month — and make that your Start Date. Mark it on the calendar. Get excited about that date. Make it the most important date in your life. In the meantime, start writing out a plan. And do some of the steps below. Because by delaying your start, you are building anticipation, and increasing your focus and energy for your goal.
Post your goal. Print out your goal in big words. Make your goal just a few words long, like a mantra (”Exercise 15 mins. Daily”), and post it up on your wall or refrigerator. Post it at home and work. Put it on your computer desktop. You want to have big reminders about your goal, to keep your focus and keep your excitement going. A picture of your goal (like a model with sexy abs, for example) also helps.
Commit publicly. None of us likes to look bad in front of others. We will go the extra mile to do something we’ve said publicly. For example, when I wanted to run my first marathon, I started writing a column about it in my local daily newspaper. The entire island of Guam (pop. 160K) knew about my goal. I couldn’t back down, and even though my motivation came and went, I stuck with it and completed it. Now, you don’t have to commit to your goal in your daily newspaper, but you can do it with friends and family and co-workers, and you can do it on your blog if you have one. And hold yourself accountable — don’t just commit once, but commit to giving progress updates to everyone every week or so.
Think about it daily. If you think about your goal every day, it is much more likely to become true. To this end, posting the goal on your wall or computer desktop (as mentioned above) helps a lot. Sending yourself daily reminders also helps. And if you can commit to doing one small thing to further your goal (even just 5 minutes) every single day, your goal will almost certainly come true.
Get support. It’s hard to accomplish something alone. When I decided to run my marathon, I had the help of friends and family, and I had a great running community on Guam who encouraged me at 5K races and did long runs with me. When I decided to quit smoking, I joined an online forum and that helped tremendously. And of course, my wife Eva helped every step of the way. I couldn’t have done these goals without her, or without the others who supported me. Find your support network, either in the real world or online, or both.
Realize that there’s an ebb and flow. Motivation is not a constant thing that is always there for you. It comes and goes, and comes and goes again, like the tide. But realize that while it may go away, it doesn’t do so permanently. It will come back. Just stick it out and wait for that motivation to come back. In the meantime, read about your goal (see below), ask for help (see below), and do some of the other things listed here until your motivation comes back.
Stick with it. Whatever you do, don’t give up. Even if you aren’t feeling any motivation today, or this week, don’t give up. Again, that motivation will come back. Think of your goal as a long journey, and your slump is just a little bump in the road. You can’t give up with every little bump. Stay with it for the long term, ride out the ebbs and surf on the flows, and you’ll get there.
Start small. Really small. If you are having a hard time getting started, it may be because you’re thinking too big. If you want to exercise, for example, you may be thinking that you have to do these intense workouts 5 days a week. No — instead, do small, tiny, baby steps. Just do 2 minutes of exercise. I know, that sounds wimpy. But it works. Commit to 2 minutes of exercise for one week. You may want to do more, but just stick to 2 minutes. It’s so easy, you can’t fail. Do it at the same time, every day. Just some crunches, 2 pushups, and some jogging in place. Once you’ve done 2 minutes a day for a week, increase it to 5, and stick with that for a week. In a month, you’ll be doing 15-20. Want to wake up early? Don’t think about waking at 5 a.m. Instead, think about waking 10 minutes earlier for a week. That’s all. Once you’ve done that, wake 10 minutes earlier than that. Baby steps.
Build on small successes. Again, if you start small for a week, you’re going to be successful. You can’t fail if you start with something ridiculously easy. Who can’t exercise for 2 minutes? (If that’s you, I apologize.) And you’ll feel successful, and good about yourself. Take that successful feeling and build on it, with another baby step. Add 2-3 minutes to your exercise routine, for example. With each step (and each step should last about a week), you will feel even more successful. Make each step really, really small, and you won’t fail. After a couple of months, your tiny steps will add up to a lot of progress and a lot of success.
Read about it daily. When I lose motivation, I just read a book or blog about my goal. It inspires me and reinvigorates me. For some reason, reading helps motivate and focus you on whatever you’re reading about. So read about your goal every day, if you can, especially when you’re not feeling motivated.
Call for help when your motivation ebbs. Having trouble? Ask for help. Email me. Join an online forum. Get a partner to join you. Call your mom. It doesn’t matter who, just tell them your problems, and talking about it will help. Ask them for advice. Ask them to help you overcome your slump. It works.
Think about the benefits, not the difficulties. One common problem is that we think about how hard something is. Exercise sounds so hard! Just thinking about it makes you tired. But instead of thinking about how hard something is, think about what you will get out of it. For example, instead of thinking about how tiring exercise can be, focus on how good you’ll feel when you’re done, and how you’ll be healthier and slimmer over the long run. The benefits of something will help energize you.
Squash negative thoughts; replace them with positive ones. Along those lines, it’s important to start monitoring your thoughts. Recognize negative self-talk, which is really what’s causing your slump. Just spend a few days becoming aware of every negative thought. Then, after a few days, try squashing those negative thoughts like a bug, and then replacing them with a corresponding positive thought. Squash, “This is too hard!” and replace it with, “I can do this! If that wimp Leo can do it, so can I!” It sounds corny, but it works. Really.

Choosing one way out of many is a matter of your personality

“To every man there openeth
A way, and ways, and a way.
And the high soul climbs the high way,
And the low soul gropes the low:
And in between, on the misty flats,The rest drift to and fro.
But to every man there openeth
A high way and a low,
And every man decideth The
way his soul shall go.”
—JOHN OXENHAM.

Isnt is so true ? Every day is a day of decision. We are constantly at crossroads, in ourbusiness dealings, our social relations, in our homes; there is always the necessity of a choice. In this ever-changing material age, with seemingly complex forces all about us, we sometimes cry out that we are driven by force of circumstances. Yet the fact remains that we do those things, which we choose to do. Depending on our personality (and sometimes circumstances) we choose our path for some of us choose the path that offers the least resistance and others go for the one that looks most promising irrespective of the hurdles they will be facing.

Design Your Life: What Would You Do If You Had Nothing To Do?

What would you be doing tomorrow if you retired today?
Let’s say you had a blank day staring at you. You didn’t have to work. You could do anything at all (although money is still a limiting factor). What would your perfect day be like?
These questions are more than just hypothetical questions to ask for fun or idleness. It’s an exercise meant to get you thinking about designing your life.
How do you design your life? Well, let’s assume that your life is under your control. Sure, not everything is under your control, but let’s assume that much of your life is yours to do with as you please. Even if that’s so, many of us go through life doing what we do because a series of events have made our life what it is today. We continue to do what we do without giving it much thought, because it’s easier that way.
Designing your life isn’t easy. You first have to dare to ask yourself these questions. You then have to dare to imagine that it can come true. And then comes the difficult task of changing your life so that it is what you want it to be.
Perhaps your life is already just how you like it — if that’s the case, you are to be congratulated. But I submit that many of us, while generally happy, have a life not of our own design — at least not a conscious design.
So today let’s take a look at one way to consciously design your life. It’s not the only way, but it’s a path to happiness that I’d recommend.
Here’s the process:
1. What’s important? Ask yourself what is most important to you. Regular Zen Habits readers know that I ask this question in many articles, but that’s because any process should start with this, whether it’s a process of simplifying, of productivity, of frugality, or of becoming happier. What do you love doing? Who do you love spending time with? Make a short list of 4-5 things.
2. What is your passion? What do you love doing the most? Can it be a way you make your living? If you can make a career out of doing something you love, you will love your day. Dare to imagine that this could come true.
3. Design your day. Start with a blank slate, and design your perfect day. Incorporate the short list of 4-5 most important things above, to ensure that you are spending your day doing what’s most important to you. Also include time spent working at your passion (from item #2). Include an ideal routine, including a morning and evening routine, and everything in between. What time would you wake up and go to bed?
4. Figure out how to get there. What changes would you need to make in your life to make that perfect day a reality? Be willing to consider drastic changes if necessary. Come up with a plan to get there. It might be a plan that will take 6 months, a year, two years or 5, but you can get there eventually, if you want it enough. Dare to make it a reality.
5. Start making some changes immediately. Some of the changes can be done right away, especially if the changes are under your direct control. The time you wake up and go to bed, for example, are probably under your control. Your morning and evening routines are another example of things you can probably change immediately. Spending time doing the 4-5 important things on your list might also be an immediate possibility. Notice the things you normally do that aren’t on the list of 4-5 important things — consider eliminating or minimizing the time you spend on the non-important things to make room for the important things.
6. Start making long-term changes now. Longer-term changes might include things like doing your passion for a living, or where you live, or getting out of big commitments that don’t contribute to your happiness or are not on your short list of 4-5 things. But while these kinds of changes might take longer, they can still be done. Start on them today, set them in motion, and dare to believe that you can change these things. Make a plan, and set it in motion.
7. Keep the end in mind. Print out your perfect day, and keep that in mind as you begin to make changes. This is the life you designed, rather than the one you’ve fallen into. You are in control of your life, and you can have that life, if you want it enough.