Developing a good picture of your life

On the face of it the quote seems misplaced in this world of digital cams for the digital cameras have made it  so easy and cheap to go click click click that one can shoot anything and then keep deleting what is not needed. Take a second look at the visual and you realize that even the accompanying visual when juxtaposed with the wordings seems so blatantly incongruent. Attempting to understand and interpret the quote seems a sheer waste of time. Yet, it is precisely the irony in the quote and visual that makes the quote so relevant and apt to each of us.

By nature we tend to lap in all the experiences that we encounter. We do also cherish the good times and fond memories. However far too often we let the unpleasant, the failures and the pain to guide our thoughts, actions and decisions leaving us circumspect and preferring to err on the side of caution rather than exposing our abilities and talents to grow wings and soar. This is also what we do with our random camera shots, always hoping to delete the bad shots, the irrelevant frames and the duplicate shots but never really executing it. As a result we end up cluttering our picture files, find it hard to retrieve the most relevant ones and often forget the excellent shots we have taken.

On the other hand, even the digital cam despite its ease of use design, does tend to throw up a lot of distorted images because the camera shook or there was very poor lighting. However the pictures that we find most useless are the ones which are excellently captured but very poorly composed because we didn’t pay attention to the background and setting. Look at each moment of our life as a digital picture taken 24by 7. We do have some days which hurt us, some that defeat us, a few that seems wasted and then there are those special moments filled with joy, happiness and exuberance. Rewind those memoires and perhaps one can find bitter experiences that have played a vital part in ensuring that we experience also many an exuberant moment. The strict parent or teacher who ensured that discipline was instilled. The first failure and the empathy of a caring sibling or parent or friend. Once we are able to frame the memories in the right way the emerging picture gets sharply composed in our mind.

To take a picture we have to ensure that there is a film roll properly loaded if the camera is the analogue type or if it is a digital camera we have to ensure that the battery is having sufficient charge. The equivalent of that roll or battery in our life is our ATTITUDE. By having the right attitude we can always ensure we capture the best no matter what the setting, the mood or the background. Failure would then seem to be an experience to learn from, a personal handicap just a special challenge and achievement would be our objective and not mere glory.  Faith and self belief would be our mantra that would spur us to dare, do and triumph.

Try this:

1. From your personal collection of photographs choose 5 favorite pictures and for each picture you chose write 3 reasons why that picture finds a special place in your estimation.
2.  Using a digital camera try to take 5 different shots of the following.

• Animals
• Nature
• Human emotions
• Quirky scenes

Was there a challenge that acted as an impetus to take those shots? Did you manage to click each of these pictures in just 1 shot? Did you give up because the challenge was overwhelming?

 This post is courtesy www.actspot.com

You are also invited to visit our Inspirational and Motivational Blog

www.poweract.blogspot.com

The power of thoughts

Man, alone, has the power to transform his thoughts into physical reality; man, alone, can dream and make his dreams come true.  Napoleon Hill

Each and every one who is reading this post is bombarded with a million thoughts every single day. We dismiss most thoughts as irrational, impossible, incongruent and impractical to deal with. The stray thoughts that remain after our initial filtration can be broadly classified as positive thoughts or negative thoughts. We sometimes proactively work on some of those thoughts or let circumstances force us into acting on a few other thoughts. What we fail to appreciate is that we as human beings have the rare privilege of being blessed with thoughts that act as stimulus to achieve extraordinary success if we simply engage more of these thoughts with self belief, purpose and positivity.

To reign in our thoughts so as to leverage its potent possibilities to our advantage we need to focus on the following

Listen proactively: Since we are deluged with innumerable thoughts, we are never short of possibilities. However, we are often inattentive, prone to be dismissive of many ideas and nip them in the bud or we fall in love with a thought only to forget it shortly thereafter. The trick is to listen to ideas proactively; believe that each thought has a valuable insight, juggle various thoughts consciously, look at problems as opportunities to exercise the grey cells and always carry pen and paper in the fond hope of getting a great idea. Do try to jot of some of the new thoughts so that when you read them again, they will trigger multiple ideas.

Explore creatively: All progress is the result of a ‘creative exploration’ done by individuals with the zeal, passion and self belief that they can leverage their ideas. The trick is to juggle various possibilities and select one that suits ones personal likings has a good fit with one’s personal, business or social objectives and surmount the obstacles that loom in front when the idea dice is rolled. Fear of failure is often the most common reason why people give up on ideas without much thought. To be creative one has to occasionally connect the dots, at other times fill in the gaps and far too often come up with out of the box solutions. The best of creativity comes when a person is passionate and he/ she is desperate. The urge to succeed must overcome the fear of failure if one has to become successful and creative.

Plan purposefully: Many an idea never sees the light of day simply because one is lazy, indifferent, casual, fearful, lacks self belief etc. but most of the time it is because one does not plan with a purpose. A plan starts with a clear goal and road map chalked out. This is not the result of a sudden flash in the pan event but the outcome of study, research, analysis and determination. A good plan must incorporate time frames, have inbuilt flexibility, have a proper resource allocation strategy and must be capable of being revised smoothly should the need arise.

Act decisively: A plan on paper is simply a redundant document. The plan comes alive when one begins by committing to the plan and decisively acting on the course of action outlined. Being bold and being committed are the two pillars on which decisive action rests. Acting decisively should not be mistaken to mean that one has to prod on even if the writing on the wall is clearly not in favor of it. There are times when being decisive means cutting one’s losses and quitting. Being decisive is like driving a car, merely sitting on the driver’s seat and turning the steering is not enough; one has to start the engine, engage the gears and move ahead balancing the accelerator and the brake pedal.

Remember: First comes thought; then organization of that thought, into ideas and plans; then transformation of those plans into reality. The beginning, as you will observe, is in your imagination. Napoleon Hill

Action Points:

1. Assume you want to start your own business venture. What are the three possible options you would consider and why. List out three impediments to your business plan.
2. If you win a lottery of US1,000 what would you do with it?
3. What are the possible themes you will explore for your next birthday party?

This post is courtesy www.actspot.com

You are also invited to visit our Inspirational and Motivational Blog

www.poweract.blogspot.com

Change your thoughts and…

Change your thoughts and you change your world.  Norman Vincent Peale

We are all reconciled to the fact that change is the one permanent thing that we are going to face daily. So it is in our interest to make friends with change so that change becomes an allay and a motivator in our lives. The easiest way to do that is to begin changing our own rigid thoughts, becoming more liberal in interpreting events around us and accepting with grace the reality that we are faced with. Unfortunately, we are creatures of habits and worse still is our unquestioning dogmatic adherence to customs, traditions and rituals and that is capped by our obstinate refusal to see events unfold in the correct perspective. Perhaps some of us also have the additional handicap of myopic foresight and redundant ideas of progress.

Take the case of a middle class individual. He/ she is conditioned to believe that we must have modest aspirations, set ‘rational goals’ and be risk averse and safe guard ones income. When these are drilled by family, society and circumstances, making a mental change and thinking big becomes a near superhuman effort, for the mind will not let the heart follow its path. Logic will supersede emotions and safety will override risk taking. Fortunately there are ample examples of success stories of people who have dared to dream differently and who have achieved their dreams. So making that mental adjustment is much easier than it was in the past. However a mindset change is the sole prerogative of the individual concerned and he/ she alone can attempt it.

History is resplendent with examples of men and women who changed their thoughts and changed their world. Helen Keller stands out as a beacon both metaphorically and figuratively when one lists out the torch bearers of change. The exploits of Douglas Bader during world war are immortalized, while Arthur Ashe and George Washington Carver showed the world the lofty heights that the black man could scale. Closer home, the triumph of Mahatma Gandhi’s non violence policy, the staunch belief of the social reformers like Raja Ram Mohan Roy and  Maharishi Karve  and the social reformer Dr.B.R Ambedkar  are testimony to how self belief ignited a change that translated into footnotes in history. If the names of these towering personalities overwhelm you, perhaps it is time you changed and started believing that you can be as influential as them if you set your mind to the right cause and persist with tenacity.

If you really want to change yourself, your circumstances, your life style, your world begin by having a goal. Yes each of us can pinpoint our goals provided you believe in yourself and are prepared to realistically and rationally outline what you want in life. This cannot be done by merely reading so far, but by stopping to get a pen and paper and actually writing down in tangible terms all that you want in life.  I bet you have never done this before, and if you have started it and have written down at least one page of your wish list you have already begun to change your world.

Remember: “Life can either be accepted or changed. If it is not accepted, it must be changed. If it cannot be changed, then it must be accepted

Try this:

1. If CHANGE is an acronym, how will you expand it meaningfully? Don’t give up; you can give it a try. If you don’t know how, visit www.poweract.blogspot.com and see how some of the other acronyms have been expanded and get inspired. Now attempt it once again before you go to the next activity.
2. For the next one week, try to bring about at least one change in you physically. Eg. Don’t shave for a day, wear clothes that you would never attempt to wear in terms of style or color, change your hairstyle, change your behavior and or style of communication. Reflect on how you felt, the comments of others, the learning from the exercise.

This post is courtesy www.actspot.com

You are also invited to visit our WEEKLY Inspirational and Motivational Blog www.poweract.blogspot.com