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We work really hard.
Give up on all pleasures.
Sacrifice valuable family time.

All in order to get to our goals.

Unfortunately, sometimes we are not able to make it.
Our dreams are shattered.
So does our hope go for a toss.

And sometimes, we do achieve our goals.
Of all the things we had been struggling hard for, one day they become a reality.

And when they do, we find ourselves asking the questions:

Now what?
What’s next?
Is that all how success feels?

Not getting to life’s goals is tragic, however, getting there is equally tragic.

When the ink in the pen gets over, we keep the pen under the tap to clean it.

And that’s a messy process. Ink all over. More than you thought there is.

However, after that, the pen is absolutely clean.
Ready to write again with the newly-filled ink.

Any clean up process in life will be messy.

But as much as we would want to avoid that mess, it is only after that mess that we will see something more beautiful emerging at the end.

It is not the mess during a clean up that we should fear.
It is avoiding the mess that we should fear.

You see a video and feel inspired.
What if you hadn’t seen that video?

You read a book and feel inspired.
What if you hadn’t read the book?

You meet someone and feel inspired.
What if you hadn’t met that person?

When we leave inspiration to chance, it leaves all those things that depend on our inspiration to chance as well.

What if we made inspiration a discipline?
What if we showed up to it daily instead of serendipity to bring it to us?
What if that consistency made it impossible for inspiration to escape us?

Inspiration isn’t just a choice.
It’s a habit that shows up when practised daily.

Our energy gets drained.
Enthusiasm lowers each time.
There is no feeling of being cared for.

These are the experiences we have with some of our friends.

However, we were not born into those relationships. We chose them.
Since we chose them, we can also choose to get out of them.

This isn’t mean or narcissistic. This is to save yourself from misery forever. When we take energy-draining people out of our lives, we stand up to appreciate ourselves. And that’s an act of self-love.

It’s okay to fire your friends.
If we don’t, we are firing our energy, our optimism.

You are irritated by the behaviour of others.
It frustrates you..
And they don’t even realise it.

So to teach them a lesson, you do the same thing to them.
Only, that it does not change them.
They do not see their fault through your actions.
There now remains no difference between them and you.

“Now you know how it feels” is almost always the worst way to teach someone a lesson.

We are drawn towards people that have the same points of view as us.
They make us feel comfortable.
They make us feel safe.
Our worldviews, our belief systems, our values are held intact.

However, they don’t make us grow.
They simply validate our existing cocoon of beliefs.

If you truly want to grow, surround yourself with people who are totally unlike you.

The next time you see someone and your response is, “They’re not my type,” ask yourself, “What is it that they know that I don’t?”
And then spend your time knowing them.
You’ll know more about the world than you did before.

Someone spoke disrespectfully.
They were rude and mean.
More so, they didn’t even realise what they did.

And we felt hurt.
Not just when they said what they said.
But repeatedly after that, thinking of it.

However, they only said it once.
The playing of that audio and video on loop was done by us.

Hurt was not from outside in.
It was a repeated affirmation from inside.

One’s words have the power to hurt us once.
It is the repetition in our head that hurts us over and over again.

You’ve been trying too hard.
Days, weeks, and months – relentlessly.
Still you’re not getting the results you want.

Sounds familiar?
Is every repeated effort of yours a replica of the last effort?

What if you tried different things this time?

Not getting results doesn’t mean giving up on the goal.
It simply means giving up on the current path and choosing a different one.

“Doing the same thing and expecting a different result is insanity.” – Albert Einstein

There’s a group meeting. And you want to share your point.

However, no one really listens. It’s just an endless discussion.

In such times, it’s fun and intriguing how the habit of Hollywood actor, Keanu Reeves, comes to help.

Whenever someone else is speaking, he doesn’t speak a word. None.
He just listens intently.

And when he does speak finally, his words end up getting more respect and exuberance.

Because he really cares to listen to others, all he gets is the same thing multiplied.

When we listen and then say something that’s strong and thoughtful, our words end up having more power and respect.

Don’t laugh too hard.
Stop doing that.
Don’t behave like that.
Talk like that. Be this way.

We’re always telling our kids what they should and shouldn’t do. Their life becomes a rulebook instead of a blank slate with infinite possibilities.

What if we taught our kids how to think?
What if we allowed them to create another path, instead of wishing them to walk on a replica of where we went?

The best thing to teach our kids is teaching them how to think.
And then trust them to figure things out.