Maximise Potential

I have realized that life is truly a numbers game. It is wonderful to look at all the numbers of your life and see where you stand versus where you want to be. As they say the numbers tell the whole truth. Here are the areas where I like to review the numbers in my life. See if this applies to you Sleep - This is so important that I want to put it at the top of the heap. Measure the number of hours you sleep. 7 hours at a minimum is a must so if you are not getting enough sleep see which activities you must stop to get the extra sleep. You may have to forego some activities to get this sleep in. However, this is an absolute must if you want to get the most out of yourself. Exercise – Barring any health conditions you need to see how much exercise you are getting on a weekly basis. Again, if this means sleeping a little earlier so that you can exercise first thing in the morning then you can do that. Or if this means taking 30 min during lunch to get that exercise routine in y

Jim Rohn said work harder on yourself than on your job. He also said formal education will make you a living while self-education will make you a fortune. So, personal development can serve as a spring board to your greater success. Here is my A - Z of personal development. A for Acceptance : Personal development doesn’t mean there is anything wrong with who we are. So, the first step is to unconditionally accept ourselves just the way we are. Accept everything about you and that will serve as the spring board to further success. B for Blueprinting: It is like the carpenter’s motto “Measure twice cut once.” The basic point is visualizing in minute detail the person you want to become and take daily steps to be the person you visualized. The first image is the mental creation and then follow it up with action. C for Continuous learning : There are two types of learning maintenance learning and shock learning. Shock learning is when something happens in your industry that disrupt

As Earl Nightingale said "Happiness is the progressive realization of a worthy ideal." In other words, you feel happy when you are progressing towards something important to you. This is very important because happiness is a journey not a destination. If you will be happy only when you achieve something it is going to be tough most of the time. Most of our life is invested in the process and if we wait for the result to be happy we will be striving for the elusive pot all the time. Happiness is a state of mind and you can be happy just to be alive. While setting lofty standards for our work and life is always a good sign, it is not good if we are never happy with what we achieve. Therefore, happiness requires a balance between striving for more and enjoying the current success. I believe the recipe of happiness can be baked with the following ingredients. Here is my A - Z of Happiness. A for Attitude : Your attitude is the true barometer of your happiness. If you ha

Enthusiasm is one of the keys to a happy charged life. When you are enthusiastic the whole day seems to brighten up. Ralph Waldo Emerson said every great achievement is due to the triumph of enthusiasm. So, having a vision is great but you need to have the enthusiasm burning to achieve it. Here I have expanded on each letter of the word to bring the enthusiasm to you. Energy: When you have high energy you are naturally more enthusiastic. By sleeping well, eating well, reducing your stress levels and exercising you will have higher energy. You can bring passion to your days with more energy which leads to greater enthusiasm. Never give up:  In order to maintain your enthusiasm going with high energy you need to make the decision to never give up. No matter what happens make the decision to bounce back. If we think back to the tough situations in our lives, we have always handled it. It is the fear or anticipation of the negative event that is more paralyzing. So, make the decisio

Journaling is one of the best practices for personal development. Right from Stephen Covey to Jim Rohn everyone has spoken about the need to maintain a journal for personal growth and reflection. I have found this to be valuable advice. Over the last seven years I have maintained a journal and now I am into my eighth journal. Here are the benefits of having a journal. I have expanded every letter of the word journal. Journey –  It reminds us that the journey of life is worth recording. When we look back at our lives a lot of the days have just gone by without us remembering a lot of the things that would have made it memorable. So, taking the time to jot down your closely held thoughts relieves stress as well. In the Artist’s Way by Julia Cameron she suggests readers to write morning pages. It is just three pages of your thoughts to start of your day. It also helps you be more creative. Optimism   –  When you feel down at any time just start writing in your journal. Recording the

Reading is one of my favorite hobbies and it offers a great opportunity to relax and learn at the same time. Here are 4 great books to read this fall which I liked. Hit Refresh by Satya Nadella –  This was a good read. The thing that I liked was his authenticity. He also talks about the lessons he learned from cricket which were to be passionate, being a true team player and leading by example. He also talks about having a growth mindset for example which helped in the acquisition for Minecraft. He is certainly his own man and leads his own way which is the great takeaway for me. Principles by Ray Dalio   –  I especially liked the second and third parts of the book. For your life set goals, identify problems, diagnose them, take action and keep on going towards your goals. Be totally open-minded and accept others viewpoint. He also says you should take full responsibility for your life. Life doesn’t care what you like so it is up to you to go after what you want. Also for organ