Writing an autobiography

I was thinking the other day about how much of our time we spend in learning. What if we could simply upload that information into our brains (something like Trinity learning to fly a helicopter in the Matrix movie) or like Johnny Mnemonic (plug in a hard disk), or real-time access to a network of libraries (like the Borg collective except each of us has an independent identity). Can you imagine the possibilities and how much less time we might have to spend learning basic stuff. As with any technology, there are the good and bad sides but we have to think positive and the possibilities that may lift humans to our next evolution phase.

Sadly the above is still fiction and though science promises to bring us closer each day, its a long way to go.  For now, the best we can do to capture our identity is to maintain an archive of our thoughts and beliefs, a diary about the things in our daily life and possibly have someone else write an independent summary of our lives. Starting a blog and writing a diary are the easy parts but getting someone else to write your own summary without influencing them might be difficult (especially if that person is being compensated by you).

Its fascinating when I read the letters from over 100 years back or look at photographs and portraits of people long gone. What must have been their life like? What if they had all the facilities we have today? … the list of questions goes on ..

So go ahead and share your thoughts with the world. Who know how we may influence the generations to come.

Fight Science

I recently caught an episode of “Fight Science” on the National Geographic channel and was awestruck by some of the techniques deployed out there for sport and performance. This particular episode was about the military special forces from around the world. Each of the three subjects were subjected to extreme conditions that would be close to fatal for an average Joe and their ability did not diminish and in some cases actually improved a little bit. How is this possible?

Being healthy and exceptionally built are one part of the answer but the main reason is sheer will power and determination combined with years of extensive training that pushes them to their mental and physical limits. Only then are they able to make split second moves without doubting their abilities.

I had a poster in my office room for a long time that said “Success is like a stream cutting through the ragged rocks”. In time, the rocks smoothen and bend to the will of the stream. In every aspect of our life, we need to keep pushing ourself a little bit outside our comfort zone. Only then will new opportunities present themselves. The willingness to take risk is often rewarded.

Some examples from real life:

1. Do you want to exercise regularly? Does your body reject the idea and the mind finds excuses to avoid the initial uncomfortable feeling? Then get off your butt, and take the first step. Start with a 5 minute workout and add a minute every few workout till you reach you target. If the target is 30 minutes on the treadmill, then it could take a month or so to achieve but you will get there. The satisfaction of achievement in itself is an adrenaline rush.

2. Do you want to take those extra courses to further your career? What is stopping you? If it is the thought of working weeknights or spending long hours on the weekends away from the family then just do it. Talk to your family that you want to take these courses but it will take your time away from them for a few weeks(months or years), and chances are you will get support from them. Take the first step by enrolling in the course.

3. Have you been dating a person for some time now and are ready to make a commitment but just delaying it? Talk to the other person about their thoughts on a commitment from you. This will either free you from the current dilemma or send you on a honeymoon. Either way, you will feel proud of yourself for doing this.

4. You have taken the first step of making a to-do list but are overwhelmed by the number of tasks? Take the most important task, start working on it now. Chances are you will have covered up a lot of ground within a short time. Keep at it and soon that list will start shrinking. Sit on the list and it will only get bigger and many times those small pesky tasks end up being bigger problems.

5. You feel your skills are not being appreciated in your current job? Talk to your manager and ask how your skills can be used in the organization. Ask how you would be compensated for taking on the additional work. Without you speaking up, it is very unlikely your manager will know of your skills and growth requirements. If your manager doesn’t appreciate your skills, ask what is lacking and what can be done about it. If you end up with a jerk as a manager it might even be time to look for another job within that organization or elsewhere.

The lesson to take away is “The best time is now” and “You need to constantly push yourself slightly out of your comfort zone in all aspects of life”.

Related Links: http://channel.nationalgeographic.com/channel/fightscience/

Reprogramming the brain

I read a very interesting article about fear. I was interested in the section about fear of things (Phobia) and how the brain can be de-programmed. Not considering extremities, this got me thinking about how many things in our life do we avoid for fear of either losing or gaining. An example is if you burned your finger as a child, how do you approach any hot object or fire? If you are now told to hold a torch and run, does the sight of a flame bring back the memories, or just knowing that it is hot causes you to withdraw or feeling the heat when holding the torch causes you a anxiety? If others (trusted family or experts) say that it is a cold flame and will not burn, what are the thoughts going on in your brain? What needs to be done to bring you to a level that you would without hesitation hold the torch and run?

Do you determine the symptoms and take steps to curb them (our typical modern medicine)?
Do you repeatedly take the torch trusting your family, friends and experts till you are completely desensitized?
Do you take psychiatric help?
Do you go to a hypnotist?

And after all this, someone now takes you closer to a large fire pit and asks you to pick up a piece of burning wood using some tongs? what would be your reaction?

In life, there are many examples where we are asked to face our fears.

1. You get sued because someone tripped on your sidewalk and is now permanently disabled or scarred? Your home insurance will typically cover some of it but what are you going through which the case is being worked on?
2. You are walking and get bitten by a dog not on a lease? After the medical treatment and recovery, do you now fear all dogs? Will you have a dog as a pet?
3. You messed up a very critical project at work. Do you fess up and take the heat or do you go into a state of denial and avoidance?
4. A loved one or a close friend dies in a car accident at a local mall. Do you now avoid the mall? Do you stop driving the vehicle or vehicle type he was driving?
5. As an addict (Alcohol, gambling, smoking etc), how many times have you made an attempt at recovery and have you succeeded?
 6. You are asked to give a speech in front of the entire company including top directors, your manager and your peers. Do you go into a panic state and shy away? Or do you take this as a challenge and go for it?

 Can you name a few and how you may have overcome them? 

 For me, I learned early on in life that I need to face my fears. It started with me trying to learn swimming. No matter what I tried, I sank like a stone. One day, I saw all of my close friends were in the deep end of the pool and I was the only one in the shallow area. I decided that I wanted to be with them, so I spoke to the lifeguard and my friends. I told them that I do not know how to swim but I am going to jump from the diving board into the deep end. Fortunately for me the lifeguard knew me from my earlier sessions at the pool and my friends were also willing to help. I then climbed up to the 9 foot high diving board and just jumped. My heart was racing and I was out of breath and I had a chill go through my spine when I looked down into the deep water. But then I jumped and next thing I know, I am swimming to the shallow end. Call it a miracle or the result of sheer will power combined with the support of trusted friends, I had learned swimming.

From then on, I decided to make a list of my fears sorted by my level of anxiety. Then I decided to take on the most feared first. To come out of it successfully, I enlist the the support of a loving family and close friends and it has worked time and again. Also many time, just the act of accepting that we will face our fear starts off a chain of events that help us face our fears and overcome them.

So go out there and shine your brightest and do not be afraid of making mistakes. It’s not always the mistakes that hurt us but the fear of the repercussions.

Related Links:

http://people.howstuffworks.com/fear.htm

Aquariums

Growing up as a child I have always had numerous pets and aquariums are one of my favorites. There is some sense of pleasure to be derived by being the creator of an ecosystem and seeing it grow with time. If you setup and maintain it just right, watching the small fish swim around is like watching live reality TV without the stupidity. There are times when I sat in front of a fish tank pondering some of the stressful events of the day and have seen myself calm down.

But if you do not maintain the aquarium properly and in a timely manner then you will have all sorts of problems arise sooner or later. Algae, sick or dying fish, scaling on the glass walls, waste accumulating on the decoration and plants.. you get the idea. It’s better to do routine maintenance than have to deal with a large problem later.

That is also how life is. You have to nurture your dreams, fortify your goals, streamline your actions, make timely decisions and also deal with situations out of your control on a regular basis. If you slack off a bit here and there, it’s usually ok but if you walk away from your responsibilities for too long, you are in for a very unclean life. And it usually takes a lot to get back on track just like the fish tank. With the finite amount of time we all have in this world, making too many of these “get back on track mistakes” can be extremely costly in one too many ways.

So stop procrastinating and get moving!

Life Tuneup

For the last few years, I am finding myself slowing sinking into the sands of constant work. Not the 9 to 5 job but the small things like fixing the leaking faucet, cleaning the gutters, feeding the dog, patching up that small hole in the dry wall, putting up a new picture frame, printing the digital pictures, backing up important data on the hard drive, pay the insurance bill, watch out for sneaky terms in the credit card agreements etc.. As you can see, the list just keeps growing and the more I try to take them on the more I sink in deeper.

So I started to look for answers. Turns out I am not the only one being bogged down into the murky depths and there is a ton of help available out there on this. Some of the things that have helped me are

1. Defining Goals and Actions – Although I have heard many say “Life is about the journey and not the destination”, I have yet to meet somebody successful (in my view) who has not set goals. Goals help you focus and line up your actions to achieve your dreams. But like dreams, goals can change too and that is what the journey is all about.

2. Time Management – I started keeping an electronic diary of all the things I do everyday and the amount of time I spend on it. At the end of each month, I run a report and it shows me the time I spent on which activities. The report contains 2 sections, the first being regular things like meals, going to the bathroom, sleeping etc. and the second contains all other activities. I first make sure that I have not been spending more time than normal on the regular things and decide to take appropriate action if necessary. Then I scrutinize the other activities by determining if they are in line with my goals and if I am spending more time on any tasks than necessary. I also look at this list to determine if it would be better to outsource (or delegate) certain tasks when my time could be better spent on other activities.

 3. Exercise and Meditation – As youths we rarely have to worry about our health and at the prime of our life, a deteriorating body and mind are hardly of concern. But with time, like any machine we start wearing down. A regular tune up of the body and mind with proper exercise and meditation helps us lead a healthy life. Having good friends and doing charity work also helps

Hope you also take the next step in digging yourself out of this quicksand and enjoy the fruits of life.