Tag: Philosophy

Categories
Enlightenment Philosophy Self Development

Perfect Moment

Perfect moments don’t come. The moment you act, know that that is the perfect moment in time for at that precise time you have taken yet another step to weave the beautiful tapestry of this thing you call Life.

Perfect moments don’t come, you bring it in by deciding to move forward and cut off all other possibilities, because ultimately no matter what, anything that happens in your Life is your decision.

Perfect moments don’t come, you keep hammering at it like it was a boulder again and again until you achieve a breakthrough.

Perfect moments don’t come, you keep chipping away slowly and relentlessly to create a masterpiece sculpture of this thing you call Life.

Perfect moments don’t come, not the way you imagine it would. Whatever that has happened is in itself a display of perfection for any event any other way would not make you you!

Categories
Philosophy Self Development

Hurdles

This morning I woke up with an epiphany. For quite some time I had been thinking about what makes the difference between doing what you love to do and doing something that you have to do. For some reason some things happen with such ease and with other things there always seem to be obstacles. The question as to why this happens had been bugging me for years, until today. It's my belief that any goal you have in life, whether it be as little as reaching on time for a date or for a meeting(I know this one usually makes it to the top of my list) or something big like making a million dollars in a year(note that no goal in truth is too big or too small, it's really dependent on how you perceive it and your decision makes it so, but that is a topic of discussion for another day), there are always hurdles of some form.

It's my belief that it's Life's way of testing whether what you are striving for is something that you really want. Today when I reflected at certain things that I achieved in my life, I realized that those things that I  really wanted were quite easy to get not because there were no hurdles. There always were hurdles but what made the difference was the intensity at which the desire to achieve that goal was burning inside of me. When you either really want something or you really enjoy doing something or are passionate about something, obstacles somehow simply weaken in intensity when coming face to face with this burning desire to achieve your goal.

 

Imagine running on a track and the finish line is your end goal. There are hurdles that you need to jump over. If you are not really compelled to achieving your goal then the hurdles can seem like mountains, but if you really want to achieve your goal these same hurdles seem like puny little puddles that you can simply jump over or even if they are like mountains you become this Super Mario with star power that simply blasts through those mountains(geeky gamer reference..haha.. come who doesn't love Super Mario?).

When we really want something, we jump over walls, go under, go around or just blast our way through them. So the next time you notice hurdles and they seem to tire you, ask yourself the question. Is the thing you're after something that you really want?

Categories
Business Philosophy

The 80/20 Rule

Today, I revisited the 80/20 rule. The first time I came across the concept of 80/20 was around 2 to 3 years ago. I was exiting a library when I noticed amongst a pile of other books, a blue book with 80/20 written on its cover with big white fonts. For some very odd reason it really caught my attention. I had not heard about the concept before. I could not take the book because it was still in the process of getting checked in, so I took a picture of it on my phone. Some days later I went and got the book. I skimmed through and it I was amazed at the simplicity of this rule. I don't know why it's there but it's there and I like simple things that work, even if it is an approximation.

At the time when I was first introduced to this principle I did notice things in my own business and in my life in general and I thought, "Oh this is pretty cool". I even remember talking about it with a few friends and business associates. After some time I forgot about it.

Today I downloaded The Philosopher's Notes Volume 1, which by the way is amazing I think. It is basically Cliff Notes or Coles Notes for the top 100 personal growth books. This in itself is 80/20 at it's best. I skimmed through a few books and all the big ideas are condensed into 6 pages, which is amazing! The first book or note I read was on The 80/20 principle.

The principle states, quite simply, that 20% of efforts lead to 80% of results. This is everywhere. Let me give you a few examples. According to the 80/20 principle, 80% of your income in business comes from 20% of your clients, 80% of your time gets spent on 20% of your tasks or the 20% of the people that you know. 20% of your products or services yields 80% of the profit. At the same time 80% of your cost also come from 20% of the total number of expenses, 80% of your time spent on debugging is spent on 20% of bugs, 80% of crimes are committed by 20% of the criminals, 20% of roads get 80% of the traffic and I could basically go on and on about this.

So what does this all imply? Assuming the 80/20 principle holds, to make more profit, be more effective and efficient and to be generally more happy in life, you should focus your energy on the top 20% of everything that yields 80% of the good stuff. Focus on the top 20% of your products, 20% of your clients, do the top 20% of the things that make you happy, spend more time with the top 20% of the people that give you more joy and happiness. Also you may want to fire the 20% of your clients that give you the 80% of the headaches, reduce or stop production on the 20% of the products and services that results in 80% of the waste, and etc…

Of course I'm not suggesting a mechanical trimming of the 20% of things and people that give you 80% of the trouble and solely focusing on the 20% that gives you the good stuff. I wish life was really that simple. You do need to study and make decisions on a case by case basis, but this 80/20 is a fast way to have a short cut analysis of business and life in general.

Take out your notebook(I mean the one with a screen and keyboard) and jot down 80/20s in your personal, business or work life.

Categories
Philosophy Self Development Uncategorized

I’m Never Retiring!

Today after dinner and watching a movie, I sat there on my sofa thinking what I should do. I was thinking what I should be doing. There are a couple of things I needed to get done, but didn't quite want to do it. I had this very uncomfortable feeling and I could not make out what it was until it suddenly hit me. I was BORED!

For the first time in a very long time, I was actually feeling bored, and I hated the feeling. Not being in a state where I was not doing something for a very long time had made me completely forget about what it was to be not doing something. Today I have decided that I will never be retiring. I never want to retire. Why should anyone want to retire?

I'll tell you why. Because there is so much in life that one can do. If anything, I think there isn't enough time to do everything that one really is capable of doing. Recently, everyday I see new possibilities of living life. There is simply so much to do. I think people grow into adults and they learn to limit their imagination. Kids are amazing; they are always doing something – playing with their toys, running around, well crying too, and eating, and maybe just sitting there, but even while sitting most of the time their playing imaginary and creative games.

I for one always want to be a kid and imagine the possibilities that life can bring. There is simply so much to do and words like boring, bored or boredom should just simply be removed from the dictionary.

Categories
Business Internet Philosophy Self Development Technology Web

Intuition and Instinct are the New Tools of the Excessive Information Age

It has been quite some time since we’ve been living in the information age. We have already quite matured in the web 2.0 and online social network age. I’m sure you’ve heard so many times that we are just bombarded with information from everywhere. I call it the “excessive information age”. All of us are now more than ever so easily influenced by everything and everyone around us from all sorts of social media, and at the same time we are getting confused by all this noise.

It is almost inevitable that we will have to evolve. We are pushing limits of our social and logical cognition. If you really think about it, the situation almost requires quick judgement and adaptation. Stability almost seems nowhere to be seen, and for thousands of years in our evolution, stability is the one thing that we have experienced and adapted to. Our environment(by this I mean our day-to-day activities, by which I mean interaction online and interaction with computers in general) is changing at such a rapid pace that our minds are getting pushed to this quick form of adaptation. Cultures all around the world seem to be blending too. So what we learned while growing up might not necessarily be very useful when interacting when we start encountering people from different races and cultures around the globe. But we are learning and evolving now more or less a single unit.

What does all this mean. Well if you go to the theory of evolution and natural selection, this is what I think is bound to happen. Success in this time and age depends on quick, rapid yet correct action. You can either make it or break it in a few actions, sometimes in a matter of weeks, and crazily sometimes even in a matter of days.

What is needed in this age is not a 1000 hours of research to make a decision, as some people do when chosing a product, a service, a house, or a job. What is required in this age of excessive information is intuition and instinct to make a correct judgement and to be able to do it quick AND TAKE ACTION, at the same time being aware of  the risk of burning out too quickly. We are seeing instant successes – it no longer takes decades to reach a level that most people dream about, it takes a few years and sometimes just a few months, or in some extreme cases just a day, or well… just a single video of less than 5 minutes on this thing called ‘YouTube'(I’m sure you’ve heard of it)

I don’t see all of this as luck. I see all of this as evolution. People who might seem like they don’t have the slightest clue about what they are doing are becoming instant success. It is my belief (and please don’t sue me for this) that these people are instinctively driven to behave in a certain way, or to act a certain way.These individuals who posses this instincts to act in a quick and correct way will become successful, and to some ‘intelligent’ hard working people this may seem very scarey, because you no longer need to get a degree, or a Phd to get ahead in life(actually who am I kidding, that never was the case anyway).

What am I saying here? I’m saying, natural selection will take place because conditions have changed and the rules that applied in the past for success (and ultimately survival) don’t apply now. With these changes in the conditions in our ‘environment’ natural selection will pick out the new winners, who are instinctively driven by and towards quick correct actions.

 

Categories
Philosophy Self Development

“Do it Anyway!”

The Paradoxical Commandments” by Kent Keith(Mother Teresa Version)

People are often unreasonable, illogical, and self-centered;
Forgive them anyway.
If you are kind, people may accuse you of selfish, ulterior motives;
Be kind anyway.
If you are successful, you will win some false friends and some true enemies;
Succeed anyway.
If you are honest and frank, people may cheat you;
Be honest and frank anyway.
What you spend years building, someone could destroy overnight;
Build anyway.
If you find serenity and happiness, they may be jealous;
Be happy anyway.
The good you do today, people will often forget tomorrow;
Do good anyway.
Give the world the best you have,
and it may never be enough;
Give the world the best you’ve got anyway.
You see, in the final analysis,
it is between you and God;
It was never between you and them anyway.

Categories
Entertainment Philosophy Self Development

‘3 Idiots’ and its lesson

‘3 Idiots’ is a movie about the education system. It was a very enlightening experience as it brought back some memories of the past. Some good ones, and some not so good ones. It made me realize that through this whole process of ‘growing up’, maturing and building my career, I had forgotten the true nature of life and the things that we do in life. It made me realize that my perception of reality had drastically altered from the time I was in high school to now, and that I needed to fuse my experiences of my past and present to have true growth by re-realizing purpose.

The movie is about a brilliant young lad and the journey of him and his friends through engineering college. The main character is fun loving, brilliant and a person who is passionate about learning. The movie teaches us that the whole purpose of a school system is to teach and nurture young minds. But schools and students have fallen into this tangle of results, grades and achievement and a popularity contest among friends which ultimately has become a meaningless phase of our lives which instead of enlightening us has become a burden of requirements. Requirement to achieve grades, requirements to be agreeable to professors, requirements of future expectations from employers, from parents, from friends and from the individual students themselves.

No one really thinks about true purpose. What drives me, what empowers me, what is my true passion in life, what can I learn and experience to have a greater value of life? These are quality questions, but instead our lives are ruled by ‘Which university is more popular? What are my friends doing? Which degree is marketable? Will I get a job? What do I need to do to get these grades? How much money will I earn with this degree?

When you truly come to think about this, you will realize that it’s not just the education system. Even after graduating and going out in the field we are always trying to answer these meaningless questions. How many people are doing what they truly love doing, what they are truly passionate about and what in their gut feels to them like their true nature? I would guess not many – whether it be art, business or their profession.

Realizing true purpose gives meaning to our lives and everything that we do. Purpose is really the life force of our existence, and without it we might as well all be dead.

Categories
Entertainment Philosophy

World Obsession with Apocalypse

So, yet another apocalypse movie, yet another end of days. Is it just me or does everyone think that everyone is obsessed about the impending doom, the end of the existence of the human species etc…
I’ll just mention few of the recent ones: “Deep Impact‚” ‚ÄúArmageddon‚Äù, ‚ÄúThe Core‚Äù, ‚ÄúDay After Tomorrow‚Äù. There are so many more, old and new that if I were to write them all I’d be listing at least 50 movies. Then there are those movies that have elements of the apocalypse, even though the whole movie maybe really based on something else.

This obsession is not only recent. Stories and prophecies of the end of days are in every region, every ancient civilization and almost every ancient scriptures. Do I believe in any of them? Well, we’re overdue for an ice age, and the reversal of the magnetic poles, the earth could be hit by a giant astroid, or we could just blow each other up, and if none of this happens then our star, the sun will eventually explode and die out consuming every planet in the solar system. But not to worry, we still have a few billions years left for that.

As far 2012 being the end of the world as we know it ‚Äì I highly doubt it, but that is not to say that something major won’t be happening.
Check out what will be happening in 2012.

Categories
Philosophy Self Development

Time is not money

Benjamin Franklin once said, “Time is money”, and for the longest time we have lived with it. I guess that is the easiest way to describe what time is, because there is no real thing that we can relate time to. Money in our world is very important, and so is time and perhaps that is the best metaphor to create- “Time is Money”. Today I read something that I think will change my life profoundly. I will never be the same ever again.

Time is actually more important and more precious than money. Money is something you can make, earn, win in a lottery or borrow. But what about time? No one can manufacture time, no one can earn time or borrow time; time is the most precious thing in the world.



Categories
Philosophy Self Development

Great things happen when you’re ready for a change

Its October 1, 2008 and I am feeling great. What’s so special about this day? Most will say, ‘There’s nothing special about this day’, but a few will say, ‘This day is special, just like every single day of your life!”.

And yes I will also say that every single day of your life is special. I’ve been going for my early morning power walk consistently for almost a week now, and BAM! I’m feeling great. I started this almost more than two weeks ago, but I was not consistent. Now I just make it happen; I do whatever it take for me to get up in the morning and go for my jog/walk.

Never try to do something. Just do it! The reason I like Nike shoes or shirts or whatever is because it says ‘Just do it’. Now I’m not trying to promote Nike wear, nor am I getting paid for it..haha… I wish I was. But just think about it. If you’re telling yourself, ‘Comon you can do it’ or ‘I’ll try to do this’ or something like that, how many times have you notice yourself actually doing it?

More often then not you might not end up doing that thing you wanted to do. So just go out there and do it!

I am so excited with my morning walk routine that I’m spreading that energy to others. Today while I was walking(I usually jog, walk stretch, throw punches in the air – whateverit takes to keep me moving), I saw this guy who was maybe in high school walking with his bike. That’s right he was WALKING with his bike.

I asked him as he was passing me by since we were walking in opposite directions, ‘Is there something wrong with the bike?’.

He said,’No’.

I said, ‘Then you should be riding your bike, not walking with it”.

He said, “Ya I know, but I’m just lazy”.

So I got all hyped up. By this time we had already passed each other, I turned and said, ‘Ride the bike’. He smiled a little, acknowledging that he should.

Than I said,”Ride that bike, Ride your bike. Comon you can do it. Righ that bike. You can do it!”. And I got all excited and told him that.

This guy, got all so hyped up, he turned and looked at me and I saw him smiling . I could see the excitement on his face. He got all hyped up, as if to tell himself, ‘He’s right. I should ride my bike.’ Then he paddled his way up hill.

So now I’m thinking to myself, “Wow, it actually worked”. There were few other interesting encounters with a few people today. But this was the highlight of this morning.

Among other things – what can I say about net beans. Its so much better than eclipse! I was even using cssedit by Macrabbit on mac, and I thought it was a wonderful tool – something worth paying for. But Netbeans does an even better job at it (I think) AND ITS FREE!!

And there are other things that have happened, but this blog will just turn into a recording of my life if I talk about all that. SO coming to my conclusion. GREAT THINGS HAPPEN WHEN YOU’RE READY FOR A CHANGE!!It all started from me finally making the move to upgrade my site and do an extreme make over.

Who knows what great things are waiting to happen for me :). All I can say is, I’m ready for a change and ready for great things to happen!