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Why are we teaching our kids 2+2=4?
Why do we spend our time making them mug up that Delhi is the capital of India?
What is the outcome of this?

What if we taught them the uniqueness they possess?

That there is sheer joy in being themselves without any pressure.
That there is a brilliant opportunity of creating anything we want.
That there is power in letting ourselves evolve into whatever we want.

We want to be accepted for who we are.
To be loved despite our flaws.
To be loved unconditionally by everyone – partners, friends, family.

But do we offer them unconditional love?
Or does our love come with a bag full of conditions?

How will we ever receive anything good if we don’t offer it wholeheartedly ourselves?

The best way to be unconditionally loved is to love unconditionally.

Thoughts occur at rattling speed.
We can’t speak clearly.
We fumble, stammer or ramble. 

Is this what happens when you start presenting your point of view?
Could be an interview. An office presentation. A family gathering.

Here is what helps to speak effectively.
Writing.
Because writing is slow.
We cannot write as fast as we think.
So when we write, we find a way to pace our thoughts.
We find a way to get into a rhythm.

The best way to express your thoughts clearly, is to write your thoughts before you speak. 

Here’s a small yet effective three-step formula to learn anything: 

Observe. When we see others doing something, our brain creates a picture of it.

Do: Execution is the mother of motivation.

Teach: The teacher never forgets. Sharing what you have is the best way to keep it with yourself forever.

We want to build that product.
Create a community of like-minded people.
Change the way things work.

But there is a lack of time.
Or we are not sure if the idea will succeed.
What will people say if we fail? 

How will we ever know the result until we do the work?

Intentions hold power only when they’re backed by actions.
Otherwise, they’re the lies we are hypnotising ourselves with.

When something doesn’t go the way we wanted it to, our brain goes into default mode of imagining the worst case scenario.

They’re not acting the way they should.
They don’t like me.
They must think I am useless. 

But what if this imagined world is just that – imagined?
How would we ever see it differently from reality? 

Before you assume, try this crazy thing: Ask! 

Your colleagues are doing better than you.
The classmate who flunked in school is doing better.
Everyone’s life seems sorted, other than your own.

And all this makes you worried.
Perhaps jealous of their success.

But why are we jealous of it?
Because we are not focused on our own success.
We are not busy and lost working hard for ourselves.
We haven’t found that calm while enjoying our own journey. 

If we are truly focused on our success, we can never be offended by someone else’s.

An alcoholic father had two sons.

One grew up to be an alcoholic.
When asked why, he responded, “I watched my father.”

The other grew up hating alcohol.
When asked how he chose to be sober, he responded, “I watched my father.”

So it wasn’t about what happened to them.
It wasn’t about the circumstance.
It wasn’t about the situation. 

It was about what they took from it.
It was about the stories they told themselves of what they went through. 

We are the stories we tell ourselves. 

Whom should you trust?
Who deserves to have it?
Who doesn’t?

It’s a big thing, because maybe you’ve been betrayed.
Maybe your heart’s been broken.
You trusted someone and they let you down.

However, is trust only about the other person?
Isn’t it a measure of how much we are willing to invest in a relationship?

Whenever I ask myself this question, the answer I get is: I should trust people. I should trust them not because they are trustworthy, but instead so that they become trustworthy. 

Trusting is not only about who they are. It’s also about who they could become when they have your trust.

I recall during my first job, unable to understand why things functioned in a certain way, I asked my boss:

“How is it that some people have so much work and some hardly have any work?”

She said, “Good people pay a far higher price for being good, than bad people pay for being bad.”

That has stayed with me forever.

If you are good with your work, you will get more work. You will get more responsibilities. There is a lot more than will be expected from you.
And that is going to be hard.

Being good isn’t easy, however it’s worth striving for.
Because being the opposite isn’t worth it.