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“It’s raining today. Let me not work today and enjoy instead.”
“It’s a festival today. Let’s skip the workout.”
“It’s too cold today. I’d rather not get to the desk and write.”

These are words of an amateur. 

However, a professional shows up to work daily.
Consistently.
Relentlessly.
Even when they don’t feel like it.
They don’t do it for the accolades, they do it for who they become in the process of showing up daily.

The differences between an amateur and a pro aren’t on the basis of their skills or talents.
The pro is the amateur that simply showed up every day.

How often do we find ourselves saying that or thinking to ourselves, “I am rambling”.

Thoughts are coming, but they are unstructured, they are fast and don’t do justice to what I know about the subject. 

The solution is to write.
To speak in a manner that is coherent, writing is the solution.
Because writing is the slowest form of thought consumption.
When we write, we filter them. Pace them well.
And over time, our thoughts slow down too. At that point, there is a fine balance between what we are thinking and how we are communicating that. Write your thoughts.
They’ll get slower.
Your words will find their meaning. One word at a time.

You want a new job.
Or start your own business.
You want to get out of a relationship.
Or you want to lose weight.

But you’re unable to do any of these.
Not because you don’t want to.
Rather because you’re afraid.

Afraid of failure.
Maybe afraid of what people will say.
Afraid that they’ll make fun of you.

The question isn’t to avoid the unavoidable; the question is to ask yourself, “What is it that I’m afraid of?”

And when you do know what you’re afraid of, you can take the next step of getting comfortable with it. And taking action anyway.

Failure is discomforting.
Being comfortable with it makes the discomfort less scary.

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.

You want a college senior’s help.
Or you want to reach out to a founder to seek their input on your business idea.
Maybe you want to reach out to someone experienced for just guidance. 

And quite often, we think we do not have anything to offer in return.
But that’s not the truth.
You do have something to offer.

The only difference is, it isn’t in return.
It is in advance.

What you can offer them is clarity on how they can help you.
You may have to research them online.
See what piques their interest.
Think about what you could do to have their attention.

And then, pitch them with your offering and the ask.

If you want to be helped, the best way is to start by helping them understand how.