DESIRE

Notice that any self generated action is largely the result of compulsion or desire. While compulsion by its very meaning suggests that there is no alternative and is forceful, desire evokes in our mind a pleasant, willing and positive emotion within us suggesting that the action is something we eagerly look forward to. This is because DESIRE emits from our own ability to Develop Enthusiasm Sustained Interest Renewed Energy. Going to a movie, a party, a picnic gets us excited, enthusiastic and eager whereas attending a lecture or a routine office meeting triggers thoughts of an unpleasant, boring and disagreeable waste of time. Hence it is essential that one needs to generate DESIRE within to make life interesting, to enable you to be proactive and enjoy every moment.

You can generate DESIRE if you see life as an interesting GAME and make a conscious effort to play that game well.

Goal in mind - There must be an objective, a result, a goal that helps one focus. Without a goal we merely meander through life like sheep grazing in the pastures, merely going through the act of eating and sustaining. As human beings we are blessed with greater intellect, imagination and initiative that we need to make use of. This can be done by outlining our goals, visioning the big picture and purposefully striving to attain the goal using all the resources at our command. The goal is the beginning and the focus of any desire.

Attitude is positive – Without a positive attitude we cannot generate self belief. A positive attitude can be generated when one is able to align ones goal, thoughts and actions. The starting point of this is identifying and focusing on the right goal. Focus on what needs to be done and not on what should be avoided. The latter has a negative connotation to begin with and more importantly does not help us focus on one single objective. Then we need to outline the roadmap to reach the goal, the wherewithal required to sustain us in our quest and take a decisive steps to reach out goal. With the right attitude, we begin to subconsciously fill spirit with the desire to succeed.

Motivation is envisioned – Even if know our goal and start with the right attitude, the energy to continue our quest comes from the amount of motivation we can generate within us. The motivation is not merely attaining the goal but must be apportioned into smaller slices of achievements, must include a large dose of self satisfaction, tons of encouragement from the progress made and must include the pioneering path breaking success you have personally enjoyed along the way. Motivation is the oxygen that keeps the desire alive.

Excellence is targeted- Reaching a goal maybe relatively simple. The real achievement is doing it in style. Excellence is the outcome of careful detailing, planning and execution. Excellence is attained when one can improve the existing benchmarks; improvise the current methods and pioneer new techniques along the way. Rarely can one go about achieving a goal all alone. Excellence therefore also includes one’s ability to be a good team player, a dependable team member and a welcome team participant. Excellence make the desire even more personal and appealing.

Once you begin the GAME in dead earnest your will discover your DESIRE and your own ability to Develop Enthusiasm Sustained Interest Renewed Energy

Action Points

1. Think of the latent desires that you had during your school days. The numerous alternative professions you hoped to take upto. The various hobbies and passions that you wished you could indulge in. Do you still retain the DESIRE for it? If yes, what is stopping you from exploring those avenues? Once you have the desire time and money are no impediments; go for gold!
2. Choose from among the following art forms and determine your desire to explore one or more of it

• Painting
• Photography
• Cartooning
• Sculpting
• Dancing
• Classical music
• Doing card tricks
• Magic
• Haiku
• Exotic cooking

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FLASH

Be it a camera flash light, the lightening that flashes in the sky, a flash in the pan or a flash of inspiration, a FLASH is the Fleeting Light Appearing Suddenly & Highlights. The camera flash light captures the most vivid image of what flash means but a flash mob or a flash back would paint vivid images of joy whereas a flash flood or a flash of pain would trigger images that are more diabolic. A key quality of a flash is the fleeting moment that it appears. That moment is what is critical, important and relevant to make the happening significant.

The light appears both literally and figuratively depending on the context of the flash. In case of a camera flash or lightening or a flash flood, the flash is clearly visible. In most other cases the flash is felt, be it in terms of pain, an image or a brainwave. Since flashes especially positive flashes appear momentarily it is essential that we capture the moment or it may be lost forever. This is particularly true in the case of new ideas, fresh perspectives, creative visualization or radical thoughts. Similarly flashes with a negative connotation appear momentarily but can leave behind a trail of destruction and / or trouble. Anticipation and precaution are the antidotes to negative flashes like lightning strikes and flash floods.

While all flashes appear suddenly, it is important to realize that it can be anticipated. This offers immense possibilities to harness the power of a flash as we can clearly see in how a flash is used in a camera. More importantly, to get new ideas and flashes of inspiration we must not passively wait but aggressively seek them out. A problem for example cannot be solved until one works towards a solution and most inspired answers come in a flash because one is working on finding a solution.

Remember a FLASH is a Fleeting Light Appearing Suddenly & Highlights options, possibilities and solutions while also making you realize that it has another side that can be dangerous and painful but which can be anticipated and prepared for.

Action Points

Think about the following:

You are accidentally locked in on the terrace of an empty building. Unfortunately it also happens to be a  long weekend. You also realize that your voice won’t carry to anyone and it is just impossible to attempt to climb down. The you look around and except for  the national flag fluttering in the wind from the flagpole on the terrace, the terrace is absolutely bare. You want to desperately get help and get out. What can you do?

Your boat has capsized and by sheer providence you manage to stay afloat on some debris. You notice that the debris is actually a broken dressing table floating on the water. You can see a lady’s vanity bag complete with combs, lipsticks, powder, a small mirror, nail polish, sprays and perfumes that has somehow got entangled in the debris. Fortunately for you in the distance you can see some vessels and boats. However they are too far from you for them to notice you. What will you do to survive and ensure you can be rescued at the earliest.

Did you get  a FLASH of inspiration and get some solutions?

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EMOTIONS

Life is made of moments and for human beings every moment has fleeting glimpses of varied EMOTIONS which is nothing but Each moment of transitional inner omnipresent natural sensation. From being gregarious to being weepy or fearful we experience stress and thrill in varied measure each moment of our life. A simple phone call can change our emotions around and surprises can turn to shock in a jiffy. Sports, especially close contests in which you are an interested party, offers the perfect setting for an array of emotions that you experience.

Very broadly, the most common emotions that each individual continually experiences include the following, Love, Joy, Surprise, Anger, Sadness and Fear. The challenge for human beings is to be able to control their emotions lest the emotions overwhelm and lead to undesirable consequences. Control of emotions does not necessarily mean not expressing the emotion but implies that we should be able to quickly become aware of the intensity of the emotion and keep that in check from consuming us. Infatuation for example could be the emotion of love gone awry. Revenge on the other hand is a mix of anger and hurt creating a potent mix to trick the mind into being subverted by the emotion. Then there are fears masquerading in various guises; nothing beats superstitions for sheer variety of fears.

Every emotion has a role to play in shaping our personality. Anger for example is an emotion that spurns us to action. The anti incumbency factor that votes out an existing government is an example of collective anger being constructively channelized for positive results. Fear is an emotion that prevents us from being foolhardy and taking stupid risks. Sadness especially when we experience failures is an emotion that alerts us to the complexities of life and the challenges we are likely to confront despite the best of preparations. Happiness acts as a great motivator to pursue success, become daring and aim higher; for as they say greater the obstacle greater the glory. Love is an all pervading emotion. It is an emotion that can engulf all other emotions; a soldier sacrifices his/ her life  for love of the country while a spurned lover can turn into a revengeful person for he / she cannot overcome the overwhelming power of the emotion of love in their being.

None can brush aside emotions though many would pretend to be indifferent to it. Emotions are part of the core of our life and being. What we need to be aware of is the numerous emotions that keep tugging at our hearts and minds constantly for they consist of Each moment of transitional inner omnipresent natural sensation. 

Harness the power of the emotions within you, to spur you to positive thoughts, decisive action and desired results.

Action Points

1. Click on the following link to become aware of the various shades of emotions that you experience in daily life. http://changingminds.org/explanations/emotions/basic%20emotions.htm
2. What emotions are involved / will you experience in the following situations?

• You are reluctant to be a blood donor although you are healthy person who can regularly donate blood. ( If you are not some one who can donate blood how will you ensure that you can motivate someone to donate blood?)
• You catch a pickpocket red handed.
• You are unable to locate your passport.
• You are deliberately framed by your colleagues for a serious lapse.
• You have committed a serious blunder and could lose your job. Yet you have the option to deflect the root cause elsewhere and escape punishment but in the process may put the careers of others in jeopardy.
• You are aware of a serious breach / misconduct of higher ups but find yourself hapless due to the influential positions the higher-ups are in.

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Acronyms to kick start the New Year

Just thought that this set of acronyms would provide each one of us the perfect inspiration for the New Year and hence I have chosen to share the same here. It would be a very person or a very dumb person who would not accept the fact that he/ she did not face failure in the past and particularly in the year just gone by. Most times the failures could be attributed to incompetence, inefficiency, tardiness or carelessness. However often when we attempt something new we are not successful in the first attempt and we are dejected. Many times we refrain from attempting something new purely because we are afraid to fail. Yet when we reflect on all the progress we have made right from the time we clumsily held  a pencil in the hand and attempted to write the alphabets to the numerous times we feared drowning in the pool while learning to swim or the numerous bruises that  testified to the difficulty we had in learning to cycle we realize that failure did not hinder our resolve. This is because to FAIL was just an acronym for First Attempt In Learning.  Resolve to attempt something new each month and master it or make significant progress in it by the end of the month.

For sure, you would have committed blunders and felt that it is the end of the road as far as your future was concerned. Yet, despite the admonishments and embarrassment you faced you still got another chance to redeem yourself. Perhaps you failed an exam or did not honor a commitment. Possibly you did not clear a number of job interviews or worse still never got a call for a job interview despite applying in numerous places. Some of you may be stuck with a boss who is often critical and unappreciative of your work and threatens you with dismissal. The fact is that despite these very daunting circumstances you still live with hope, possibly you have even managed to be successful in your academics or career and you have expectations to a even better future. All this, despite you often feeling that it is the end of your dreams. This clearly demonstrates that the END is merely an acronym that reminds you the Effort Never Dies.

One word that hurts us most is the word No which to put it mildly is a point blank refusal our plea. As children we may have craved for the best toys and clothes only to be stonewalled with a firm NO. Maybe as teenager you were forbidden from attending late night parties or perhaps even encountered the pain of being rejected with a firm no by a person whom you had a crush on. It is equally possible that as a professional your subtle and not so subtle requests for a pay hike has been dismissed with a curt no. For sure every NO hurts but once we come to terms with it, we rationalize that there is always a Next Opportunity.  

So, as the poet Longfellow says in his poem ‘ The Psalm of Life’

Let us, then, be up and doing,

   With a heart for any fate;

Still achieving, still pursuing,

   Learn to labor and to wait

The First Attempt In Learning may not be successful but you must remember that Effort

Never Dies and  that life always gives us the Next Opportunity to be successful.

Action Points:

• During this week walk up to complete strangers and wish them for the New Year. ( it is not as difficult as it first seems). Also observe their reactions for it give you clues as to what you did right or wrong.
• Ask your best friend/ sibling/ parent/ colleague to tell you honestly about the one habit / aspect of your personality that they would like you to change / improve/ work on. Ensure that you make a fervent attempt to try to work on it during the year.

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