Keshav Sharma's Blog

नमस्कार दोस्तों, आज मैं किसी विषय पे बात करने नहीं आया हूँ।

बस मेरे मन में जो कुछ दिनों से चल रहा है, वो आपसे बाटूंगा।
जैसा कि आप सभी जानते हैं, कि पूरा विश्व Coronavirus की महामारी से जूझ रहा है।
और भारत में भी कुछ हफ्तों का lockdown किया गया है और हम सब अपने अपने घरो में बंद हैं।
कोई सरकार को और कोई अपनी किस्मत को कोस रहा है।
और कोई इस समय का भी, आनंद ले रहा है।
तो यूँ ही कुछ दिनों से मेरे मैं में कुछ ख़याल घूम रहे थे, कुछ सवाल घूम रहे थे।
उन्हें एक कविता के रूप में मैंने लिखा है।
मैं कोई कवि तो नहीं, पर थोड़ी कोशिश ज़रूर की है।
इसे ध्यान से सुनियेगा, क्यूंकि कविता बोहोत सरल लग सकती है, पर उसके पीछे की बात बड़ी ही गहरी है।

बस एक गुज़ारिश है आपसे, अगर ये पंक्तियाँ आपके दिल को छू जाएं, अगर ये आपसे कुछ कह जाएँ, तो इन्हे सिर्फ अपने तक न रखियेगा।
जितना हो सके, दुसरो के साथ ज़रूर बाटियेगा।

तो ये पंक्तियाँ कुछ इस तरह हैं।

काल चक्र यह समय का, चलता रहा है, चलता रहेगा,
उस अनंत शक्ति के आगे, इंसान छोटा रहा है, छोटा रहेगा,

तुझे अगर है इस धरती पर रहना,
तुझे भी हर कष्ट को पड़ेगा सहना,

जब जब तूने खुद को, समझा है कुदरत से बड़ा,
जब जब तूने खुद को, माना है मालिक बड़ा,
तब तब कुदरत ने तुझे, एहसास कराया है तेरी औकात का,

तेरा हक़ तो है, पर तू हक़दार नहीं,
तेरी ज़मीन तो है, पर तू ज़मींदार नहीं,

तूने क्या सोचा?
तू रहेगा हमेशा?
कोई और तेरी हक़ीक़त का मोहताज नहीं।

अब तक तू दौड़ रहा था, ये कह कर, की वक़्त नहीं,
अब तक तू दौड़ रहा था, ये कह कर, की वक़्त नहीं,

और अब देख,
आज तू ठहरा भी है, थमा भी है,

आज तू ठहरा भी है, थमा भी है,
बचाने को अपनी ज़िन्दगी और अपना अस्तित्व।

और अब देख,
कुदरत का करिश्मा,
कहाँ ला खड़ा किया है ऐसे मोड़ पर,

न कोई धर्म है, न कोई जाती है,
न कोई अमीर है, न कोई गरीब है,

बस उस परमात्मा की दया के, सब मोहताज हैं।

देख, आज आसमान भी साफ़ है,
परिंदे भी उड़ने को तैयार हैं,
हर जीव इस धरती पर, खुश है आज़ाद है,

बस एक तू ही है,

बस एक तू ही है,
जो बेबसी में, है कैद खुद के ही घर के अंदर।

कमतर ये नहीं, तू है,
इनके हिस्से का हक़ मारने वाला भी, तू है,

इनसे नहीं, उस खुदा से तो डर,
क्या खुद को ही खुदा मान बैठा, तू है,

समझ जा, अब भी संभल जा,
के इतनी देर न हो जाये,

समझ जा, अब भी संभल जा,
के इतनी देर न हो जाये,

कहीं ऐसा न हो,

कहीं ऐसा न हो,
के तू इतिहास बन जाये,
और उसे पढ़ने को भी, कोई बाकी न रह पाए,

उसे पढ़ने को भी, कोई बाकी न रह पाए।

अगर आपको ये वीडियो पसंद आये तो शेयर करें अपने परिवार और मित्रों के साथ, ताकि उन्हें भी कुछ अच्छा सीखने को मिले । धन्यवाद ।

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Thanks

Whenever I meet someone and they come to know that I meditate, first they say, “Wow!”. And then the next question they ask is, “How do you meditate? I have tried it so many times but I couldn’t do. My mind gets filled with so many thoughts and I can’t focus. I don’t understand how to do meditation. Tell me some meditation techniques you use”.

I have come across such situations a lot of times, when somebody asks me this.

A couple of weeks back, I was just sitting and contemplating what to write next and these instances came to my mind.

I realised that there are a large number of people who enthusiastically try to meditate after listening to motivational talks or reading self-help books but fail to do it because of one or the other reason.

Everyone tells about the benefits of meditation and why you should do meditation but no one talks about what is meditation and how to do meditation.

I’m not a meditation Guru or someone like that but I’ll be more than glad to share my experience of what meditation is for me and how I do it.

 

What is Meditation?

First let me tell you, what meditation is absolutely NOT for me.

It is not a practice to concentrate or focus, at least for me. Because I don’t want to torture myself to continuously strain my mind to focus on one thing and then exhaust myself completely.

It takes a lot of effort if you try to concentrate deliberately and eventually it might make meditation extremely frustrating for you.

For me, meditation is

an opportunity to spend some quality time with my own self.
an opportunity when I can talk to myself and explore my inner being.
an opportunity when I can just relax, away from all the distractions and observe my inner thought process

I never try to focus on anything because it drains my energy. I just allow myself to observe, be a witness to my thoughts and what’s going on inside me. And gradually, that leads me to a state of complete silence and stillness.

You don’t have to try to become still, you have to just allow yourself to enter that state.

There is a huge difference between trying and allowing. Take a moment and think about it.

.

As per English grammar:

Try means: to attempt to do something

Allow means: to give permission for someone to do something, or to not prevent something from happening

.

Meditation is a natural state for which you don’t need to make an attempt. When you attempt, you prevent something natural from happening on its own.

Take an example of a vessel filled with water. Suppose, somebody has moved this vessel and the water is not still.

How do you make it still?

Do you hold the vessel and try to make it still by pushing it here and there?

No way! That’s so stupid to do. Right?

You’ll say, “Just keep the vessel on a table or the floor and leave it undisturbed for some time. Water will become still on its own. It’s common-sense, no rocket science”.

But when we meditate, where does this common-sense go?

It is just because somewhere somebody has told us that meditation is something to do, but rather meditation is a state to be in, doing nothing.

Meditation is not an act, it’s a state of doing nothing.

When you keep the vessel on the table without any external disturbance, you are just creating an environment and allowing water to be in a state of stillness. That’s completely natural.

So, when you sit for meditation, you create an environment for yourself to enter that state. Basically, meditation is doing nothing. We are so habitual of doing one thing or the other at each and every moment that it has become utterly difficult for us to sit doing nothing.

Now that at least, you have a basic understanding of what meditation is, let’s see how you can create an environment for yourself to be in the state of meditation.

How to do meditation How to be in meditation?

Sitting for meditation is just a practice to understand how to be in a state of meditation whenever you wish to.

Yes, you read it right. You can be in meditation when you are eating, when you are driving, even when you are talking to someone. That’s a very deep topic and we can talk about it later on. (Let me know in comment section if you want to know more about it)

Let me share, how I create that environment for myself so that I can meditate. I have also talked about it in my book “Rewire for Massive Success”

Select a time when you can take out at least 20-30 minutes, just for you. No interruptions, no phone calls, no messages. Just switch off your phone. Don’t tell me that it’s impossible to find out such time during the day. That’s just another excuse.

Here’s how I create an environment to be in a state of meditation:

Choose a place in your home which is clean and tidy. It should be away from disturbance. It should be a quiet and comfortable place.

Choose a comfortable posture to sit. You may choose to sit cross-legged on the floor or you may sit on a chair. No matter where you sit, just make sure that your spine is straight and well supported.

If you are sitting on the floor, you can sit by taking the support of a wall against your back. Keep a small pillow if you need behind your lower back and below your hips so that you can sit comfortably. Keep your hands gently resting in your lap with your palms open or keep them on your thighs with palms down.
If you are sitting on a chair, sit on the front half of the chair and keep your back straight. In case you feel the need of a support, then push backwards and use the chair’s backrest. Keep your hands on your thighs with palms down.

Close your eyes. Take a deep breath and exhale slowly. Repeat it 4-5 times. Each time, as you exhale, feel that your body is relaxing. Your shoulders are relaxed. Your neck is relaxed. Your face is relaxed. Your lips, cheeks and eyes are relaxed. Your chest and abdomen are relaxed. Your hands are relaxed. Your thighs, legs and feet are relaxed. Feel the relaxation in your entire body as you exhale.

Now breathe normally and just be aware of your breath as you inhale deep and exhale long. Witness your breath.

You might feel that a lot of thoughts are coming into your mind. Don’t fight with them. Don’t try to get rid of them. Just let them be there and witness them. Let them come and go, you keep yourself aware of your incoming and outgoing breath.

Keep doing it. If you lose awareness of your breath, bring it back. Initially it might take a little effort, but after a couple of days, it will become easier. Just be there and relax for as much time as possible.

.

While sitting for meditation, there could be a time when you might feel that you are surrounded by your thoughts and are not able to bring your awareness to your breath.

Here is a link to some audio tools for guided meditation. You can use them to practice. Especially the Visualization Activity 3 in these tools is a technique to help you reduce the impact of unnecessary thoughts in your mind.

(Although these tools come with my book, but I’m giving them to you for your practice: Click here)

Let’s move on to understand more about meditation…

Lot of us think, that stillness means no thoughts at all. And whenever we find ourselves thinking too much, we become restless.

Let me give you a situation to understand what exactly happens when you meditate.

Suppose, you are travelling in your car on a highway with other cars. Some are travelling faster and some slower. You sometimes notice them and sometimes not.

As you travel a bit, you see a beautiful landscape on one side of the road and you decide to stop by to take a look.

Now, there can be two scenarios:

Scenario 1:

You stop your car, but now you can notice other cars passing by you with high speed (Principle of relative speed, you know). Randomly, cars are coming and going.

You think that you have stopped to enjoy this landscape but these cars are disturbing you. (I know it might not be making any sense because we hardly get disturbed by passing cars, but just imagine this situation for a moment, it’ll help)

Scenario 2:

You stop your car. You are not bothered about passing cars. You just sit and enjoy the beauty of that landscape. You click amazing pictures. You sit there and get lost in the serenity of the place. You don’t even realise how much time has passed.

.

Now, let me ask you a question.

When you sit for meditation, what do you do? Which scenario do you follow, 1 or 2?

I’m sure, it must be making sense now.

When you are not meditating, you are travelling with the speed of your thoughts, that’s why you don’t realise they are there. You are one of those thoughts. But when you sit for meditation, you have parked your car of thoughts and you start to notice other thoughts passing by, one after the other.

When you sit for meditation, it’s your time to spend it with yourself and enjoy it, rather than thinking about all those thoughts crossing your mind. They will keep on coming and going like those cars on the highway. Remember which scenario you wish to follow, 1 or 2?

Just allow yourself to be with your inner being and enjoy this moment of bliss.

That’s what meditation is and that’s how you can be in the state of meditation.

Choice is yours, whether you want to do meditation or want to be in meditation.

If you practice meditation and have your experience to share, please write it in the comment section for the benefit of other readers.

.

About Author

Image Credits: Pexels.com

The post Meditation: To Do or To Be? appeared first on Keshav Sharma.

Whenever I meet someone and they come to know that I meditate, first they say, “Wow!”. And then the next question they ask is, “How do you meditate? I have tried it so many times but I couldn’t do. My mind gets filled with so many thoughts and I can’t focus. I don’t understand how to do meditation. Tell me some meditation techniques you use”.

I have come across such situations a lot of times, when somebody asks me this.

A couple of weeks back, I was just sitting and contemplating what to write next and these instances came to my mind.

I realised that there are a large number of people who enthusiastically try to meditate after listening to motivational talks or reading self-help books but fail to do it because of one or the other reason.

Everyone tells about the benefits of meditation and why you should do meditation but no one talks about what is meditation and how to do meditation.

I’m not a meditation Guru or someone like that but I’ll be more than glad to share my experience of what meditation is for me and how I do it.

 

What is Meditation?

First let me tell you, what meditation is absolutely NOT for me.

It is not a practice to concentrate or focus, at least for me. Because I don’t want to torture myself to continuously strain my mind to focus on one thing and then exhaust myself completely.

It takes a lot of effort if you try to concentrate deliberately and eventually it might make meditation extremely frustrating for you.

For me, meditation is

an opportunity to spend some quality time with my own self.
an opportunity when I can talk to myself and explore my inner being.
an opportunity when I can just relax, away from all the distractions and observe my inner thought process

I never try to focus on anything because it drains my energy. I just allow myself to observe, be a witness to my thoughts and what’s going on inside me. And gradually, that leads me to a state of complete silence and stillness.

You don’t have to try to become still, you have to just allow yourself to enter that state.

There is a huge difference between trying and allowing. Take a moment and think about it.

.

As per English grammar:

Try means: to attempt to do something

Allow means: to give permission for someone to do something, or to not prevent something from happening

.

Meditation is a natural state for which you don’t need to make an attempt. When you attempt, you prevent something natural from happening on its own.

Take an example of a vessel filled with water. Suppose, somebody has moved this vessel and the water is not still.

How do you make it still?

Do you hold the vessel and try to make it still by pushing it here and there?

No way! That’s so stupid to do. Right?

You’ll say, “Just keep the vessel on a table or the floor and leave it undisturbed for some time. Water will become still on its own. It’s common-sense, no rocket science”.

But when we meditate, where does this common-sense go?

It is just because somewhere somebody has told us that meditation is something to do, but rather meditation is a state to be in, doing nothing.

Meditation is not an act, it’s a state of doing nothing.

When you keep the vessel on the table without any external disturbance, you are just creating an environment and allowing water to be in a state of stillness. That’s completely natural.

So, when you sit for meditation, you create an environment for yourself to enter that state. Basically, meditation is doing nothing. We are so habitual of doing one thing or the other at each and every moment that it has become utterly difficult for us to sit doing nothing.

Now that at least, you have a basic understanding of what meditation is, let’s see how you can create an environment for yourself to be in the state of meditation.

How to do meditation How to be in meditation?

Sitting for meditation is just a practice to understand how to be in a state of meditation whenever you wish to.

Yes, you read it right. You can be in meditation when you are eating, when you are driving, even when you are talking to someone. That’s a very deep topic and we can talk about it later on. (Let me know in comment section if you want to know more about it)

Let me share, how I create that environment for myself so that I can meditate. I have also talked about it in my book “Rewire for Massive Success”

Select a time when you can take out at least 20-30 minutes, just for you. No interruptions, no phone calls, no messages. Just switch off your phone. Don’t tell me that it’s impossible to find out such time during the day. That’s just another excuse.

Here’s how I create an environment to be in a state of meditation:

Choose a place in your home which is clean and tidy. It should be away from disturbance. It should be a quiet and comfortable place.

Choose a comfortable posture to sit. You may choose to sit cross-legged on the floor or you may sit on a chair. No matter where you sit, just make sure that your spine is straight and well supported.

If you are sitting on the floor, you can sit by taking the support of a wall against your back. Keep a small pillow if you need behind your lower back and below your hips so that you can sit comfortably. Keep your hands gently resting in your lap with your palms open or keep them on your thighs with palms down.
If you are sitting on a chair, sit on the front half of the chair and keep your back straight. In case you feel the need of a support, then push backwards and use the chair’s backrest. Keep your hands on your thighs with palms down.

Close your eyes. Take a deep breath and exhale slowly. Repeat it 4-5 times. Each time, as you exhale, feel that your body is relaxing. Your shoulders are relaxed. Your neck is relaxed. Your face is relaxed. Your lips, cheeks and eyes are relaxed. Your chest and abdomen are relaxed. Your hands are relaxed. Your thighs, legs and feet are relaxed. Feel the relaxation in your entire body as you exhale.

Now breathe normally and just be aware of your breath as you inhale deep and exhale long. Witness your breath.

You might feel that a lot of thoughts are coming into your mind. Don’t fight with them. Don’t try to get rid of them. Just let them be there and witness them. Let them come and go, you keep yourself aware of your incoming and outgoing breath.

Keep doing it. If you lose awareness of your breath, bring it back. Initially it might take a little effort, but after a couple of days, it will become easier. Just be there and relax for as much time as possible.

.

While sitting for meditation, there could be a time when you might feel that you are surrounded by your thoughts and are not able to bring your awareness to your breath.

Here is a link to some audio tools for guided meditation. You can use them to practice. Especially the Visualization Activity 3 in these tools is a technique to help you reduce the impact of unnecessary thoughts in your mind.

(Although these tools come with my book, but I’m giving them to you for your practice: Click here)

Let’s move on to understand more about meditation…

Lot of us think, that stillness means no thoughts at all. And whenever we find ourselves thinking too much, we become restless.

Let me give you a situation to understand what exactly happens when you meditate.

Suppose, you are travelling in your car on a highway with other cars. Some are travelling faster and some slower. You sometimes notice them and sometimes not.

As you travel a bit, you see a beautiful landscape on one side of the road and you decide to stop by to take a look.

Now, there can be two scenarios:

Scenario 1:

You stop your car, but now you can notice other cars passing by you with high speed (Principle of relative speed, you know). Randomly, cars are coming and going.

You think that you have stopped to enjoy this landscape but these cars are disturbing you. (I know it might not be making any sense because we hardly get disturbed by passing cars, but just imagine this situation for a moment, it’ll help)

Scenario 2:

You stop your car. You are not bothered about passing cars. You just sit and enjoy the beauty of that landscape. You click amazing pictures. You sit there and get lost in the serenity of the place. You don’t even realise how much time has passed.

.

Now, let me ask you a question.

When you sit for meditation, what do you do? Which scenario do you follow, 1 or 2?

I’m sure, it must be making sense now.

When you are not meditating, you are travelling with the speed of your thoughts, that’s why you don’t realise they are there. You are one of those thoughts. But when you sit for meditation, you have parked your car of thoughts and you start to notice other thoughts passing by, one after the other.

When you sit for meditation, it’s your time to spend it with yourself and enjoy it, rather than thinking about all those thoughts crossing your mind. They will keep on coming and going like those cars on the highway. Remember which scenario you wish to follow, 1 or 2?

Just allow yourself to be with your inner being and enjoy this moment of bliss.

That’s what meditation is and that’s how you can be in the state of meditation.

Choice is yours, whether you want to do meditation or want to be in meditation.

If you practice meditation and have your experience to share, please write it in the comment section for the benefit of other readers.

.

About Author

Image Credits: Pexels.com

The post Meditation: To Do or To Be?? appeared first on Keshav Sharma.

Hello #CrazyWifey,

I can’t tell you how fortunate I feel to have you in my life. I don’t stop thanking God and our parents for this wonderful gift.

I remember those times when you had asked me why I love you and I became speechless.

It’s because I can never express it in words why and how much I love you. But as you have asked me, let me try my best and tell you the top 10 reasons why I love you (these are just 10, the list is never ending. I can write for my whole life and the list will go on and on…)

So, without much ado, here are the top 10 reasons why I love you like crazy:

 

#1. I can never imagine my life without you

No matter how stupid or silly things I do to make you go mad at me. But it’s quite scary to imagine a life without you. I’m clueless what I’ll be without you.

 

#2. Nothing can replace the true joy I feel when I’m with you

The joy I feel deep in my heart when I’m with you, is priceless. And there’s nothing in this world that can replace it. It soothes me. It keeps me warm in winters and chilled in summers.

 

#3. Your never-ending love

No matter how mad you are at me, you still keep sending your never ending love. Irrespective of your mood, your care and love for me stays as it is, unaffected. That makes me feel safe and care for you even more.

 

#4. Every day I find a new You

Everyday I find a new you which is more beautiful than before. That’s the reason I’m always excited to see you no matter whether you are near or far. I don’t know how you do it. But it’s amazing. It makes my life even more colorful.

 

#5. Your Smile, Wow!

It is the bestest in this world (ignore the grammatical mistake.. haha). There’s nothing better than your smile that make my day. If I see your smile in morning, Oh my God, that’s going to be an awesome day.

 

#6. The way you hold my arm

The way you hold my arm, when I’m with you, fills me with pride. Not even having a Ferrari can make me feel like this. Wow! I feel honored to be with you. It’s the best feeling. Nothing can make me feel richer than this.

 

 

#7. Your sparkling eyes

Your eyes? What to say about them. The first thing can anyone notice about you is your sparkling beautiful eyes. These are like secret windows through which I can peek into your heart. And whenever I get a chance to look through them, it makes me high. (It hits even better than a full bottle of wine or whiskey). I’m already feeling high, just by thinking about them.

 

#8. Your naughty and mischievous acts

When the child in you comes out, it drives me crazy. It’s so much fun to be with you. That’s another version of you which I love very much. You may do it more often..hahaha..

 

#9. You always look beautiful

No matter whether you have just woken up with messy hair and swollen eyes or got out of shower with wet hair and fresh fragrance, you always look stunning. Just one look and I’m flat. I always wonder, how do you do that.

 

#10. When you hug me

Last but the most important. When you hug me, it means the world to me. That’s the moment when I ask nothing more from God, I just ask Him to freeze the moment. I feel I don’t need anything else.

 

You are…

the biggest treasure,

the most wonderful gift,

the most beautiful blessing and

the most amazing life partner I could ever have.

Thanks for being there. Love you from the depths of my heart. You can get angry at me whenever you wish, you can shout at me whenever you need to and you can love me whenever you feel like, I’m always here for you. Because you are all I have got.

Only yours,

#CrazyHubby

The post Top 10 reasons why I love you my CrazyWifey appeared first on Keshav Sharma.

 

There I was, on a cliff so high,

From where, it seemed easy to touch the sky,

All I needed, just a pair of wings to fly,

But all I did, was cry, cry and cry.

 

My broken wings, hurting with pain,

Saying, there’s nothing to gain,

Your efforts always go in vain,

All there is, pain, pain and pain,

 

But my Heart, But my Heart, said,

Let’s give it a try,

Let’s give it a try,

Let’s fly, let’s fly…

 

You keep talking to yourself…

Whenever I try to wake up on time, I end up hitting the snooze button.

Whenever I try to speak-up my mind, I feel shy and stay calm.

Whenever I try to follow a healthy diet, my friends force me to eat out.

Whenever I try to do something new, I end up procrastinating.

Whenever, whenever, whenever…

Whenever I try to put some effort, I fail.

.

.

.

So what?

Who doesn’t fail???

But does that mean you should stop making attempts?

 

These excuses seem to be as real as much life YOU put into them.

You’ll have to decide whether you want all these “Whenever’s” to stay forever in your life or you want to stop them right away to become a better version of yourself.

Making these “Whenever” statements is the easiest way to escape from what you must do. It shifts the locus of responsibility from inside to outside. And you stop growing.

Take an example of a plant. Although it gets resources like water, nutrients and sunlight from outside but it grows from inside out, and not vice-versa.

You can use as much resources as possible but you will grow from inside and you’ll have to take the responsibility for that. If you really want to grow in life, always keep the locus of responsibility inward.

Whenever you try to resort to these “whenever’s”, you tend to demolish the building of your dreams, your vision.

Understand it with this analogy,

Whatever dream or vision you have, it is just like a structure, a building, a palace.

All of us dream about it in great details.

How does it look like,

How does it feel like,

In our dreams, we stay in this palace, we enjoy the feeling and we want it to turn into reality as soon as possible.

But most of the time, it crashes down before we even realize. Isn’t it?  

Take a moment and recall all those beautiful palaces you had built in your mind which never became reality.

With how much care and passion you thought about it at that moment but now you can only find its remains. And whenever you think about it, you feel sad because you know that you could do it but somehow, because of one or the other reason you couldn’t.

It happens with all of us at different points in life.

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When I published my first e-book a couple of years back, nobody came to know about it, nobody bought it. I had a dream of becoming a best-selling author. But it didn’t happen. My dream was shattered.

Building of my dreams crashed straight into the ground with no clue about what just happened.

Disappointment and frustration crept in, to make my life more difficult. Some of the friends would support me by saying “try again” and some would laugh it off behind my back.

I wanted to try again but how to make sure that my dream doesn’t fall apart once again.

I always kept wondering, why did it happen, why did it fall apart?

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Have you ever seen a building or a house?

I know it might be the lamest question to ask. But if you have noticed a building or a house carefully, no matter how tall or beautiful it is, there is one thing that makes it stand firmly on the ground.

What’s that?

Yes! Foundation. It’s the foundation.

Can you imagine a building to stand without its foundation, even for a second?

No, absolutely not!!

We all know this, the stronger the foundation is, the stronger the building will be. It’s the strong foundation that makes a building stand firmly on the ground even during storms and earthquakes.

People tell you to THINK BIG, DREAM BIG. Thanks to them.

But what they don’t tell you is how to give strength to that BIG DREAM, how to hold that dream firmly, so that it stays and doesn’t fall apart.

Think about it.

What is the foundation of every dream, every resolution, and every vision you have?

It is the purpose, my friend. It’s the purpose behind your dream.

 

The stronger your purpose is, easier it will be to complete your resolution.

The bigger your purpose is, more stable your dream will be.

The higher your purpose is, sooner your vision will turn into reality.

When I started working on my purpose of becoming a best-selling author, things became clearer.

My purpose is to reach out to people who struggle each and every day to grow in life and make their dreams a reality. My purpose is to be a part of their journey and help them move forward in whatever way I can.

When my purpose became bigger, my dream looked easier to achieve.

And when I published my next book, it became Amazon No 1 Best-Seller.

My purpose gave me real strength to hold my dream in my hands and make it a reality.

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After this experience, I learned a very important lesson of life.Read it very carefully,

Before your “whenever” or whatsoever excuses become a forever thing in your life and eat away the foundation of your dreams,

Take responsibility to make your purpose stronger, bigger and higher, so that it can hold the building of your dreams firmly.

Feed your excuses, get stopped.

Feed your purpose, become unstoppable.

 

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Click here to check out my Amazon #1 Best-Selling Book

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The post The Biggest Reason, Why I Failed… appeared first on Keshav Sharma.

What time management is in reality?

You must have wondered at least once. Isn’t it?

What do you think what time management is?

How many times have you tried managing your time by preparing time tables and detailed schedules?

 

 

Recall a time when you prepared a sheet with time-bound activities nicely written, like “I’ll wake up at 6am, then I’ll do this, I’ll do that, da da da ……”

Wow! How did it feel? Wonderful! Right?

Then, what next?

How many times have you utterly butterly deliciously failed in it?

 

 

Honestly speaking, I have failed almost every time until I tried something different which I’ll share later in this article. Sometimes, I was able to follow it for a week or two. If I pushed harder then may be a month or two maximum.

What about you?

Please be honest, while you introspect about it.

I myself have struggled with this kind of time management. And all of us struggle with this. Don’t we? It rarely works though.

When I was studying, my parents and elders would tell me to make a schedule to utilize my time well. They were right from their perspective because all they wanted was my growth in all spheres of life. And I would meticulously craft a detailed schedule with hours of hard-work and hang it on the wall of my room like all of us usually do.

I would feel great for a couple of days, filled with enthusiasm like I’m going to take on this entire world. But after some days, phew!. Back to square one.

“My timetable would stare at me no less than like an arrest warrant instead of being a productivity tool”

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All of us face this challenge day in day out but most of us don’t know what to do about it. That’s why I say, “Time management is bullshit…”

You might be thinking why am I making such a strong statement. But the statement is not yet complete. You’ll discover as we go forward.

All of us want to be productive. A lot of productivity tips and techniques are available out there. By trying to manage your time, you might become productive. But if you really want to become SUPER-PRODUCTIVE, what else do you need to do?

“You have to manage yourself”

Because once you are able to manage yourself, your thoughts, your beliefs and your entire mindset, you can easily manage your time. But that’s easier said than done. Then…

“What’s that single thing that can align all this process of time management without much of an effort?”

Let me share an idea which has supported me as well as people with whom I have shared this. Please read to it very carefully.

“Find the Biggest WHY”

 

 

I repeat, “Find the Biggest WHY”

“Time management is bullshit…without knowing your Biggest WHY”

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Is it making sense now?

Take a couple of moments and let this idea sink in deep inside you. Before you start managing your time, think about WHY do you really need to manage your time. Please note, Why do you NEED to manage your time, not why do you WANT to.

Because there is a huge difference between NEED and WANT.

It might sound like a very simple idea and generally, we overlook such simple things. As a result, we make our lives super-complex. But if followed, it can have a profound impact on our overall productivity throughout the day.

Dig deeper and deeper to find your biggest WHY. Make your reason as big as possible and  as rock solid as possible.

A reason which you cannot ignore even in your dreams.

A reason which can give you a sense of purpose

A reason which can drive you every single time.

 

 

Contemplate about it, make it as strong as possible and write it down somewhere so that you can see it frequently till it is etched into your mind.

When you put your energy on your WHY, you’ll find something extraordinary happening. Your mind will raise an alarm as soon as you indulge in an activity which doesn’t resonate or align with your Biggest WHY. And at that point, you just have to show a little courage.

“Show courage, listen to your inner voice and act accordingly”

Exhibit courage to move yourself away from that activity and do something better in that time. The stronger your WHY will be, the stronger you’ll feel to move yourself away from such activities.

You can also help yourself by preparing a list of activities with three columns. In first column write down activities which align with your Biggest WHY, in second column, write down activities which no matter what you have to do and in third column, write down your present activities which don’t resonate with your Biggest WHY.

Below is a sample list which I used:

 

 

This list will help you to make conscious decision whenever your mind raises an alarm. This way, your days will be filled with meaningful activities which will contribute to your overall growth.

“Manage your WHY to manage your time”

When I personally started doing this, my days became super-productive. I couldn’t believe that I was capable of doing so many things in a day like jogging, meditation, 9 to 5 job, conducting sessions, writing an Amazon Best-Selling Book, creating marketing plans for the book, designing my own website and many more.

I can assure you, if you can write down the Biggest WHY for managing your time and seed it deep inside you, time-management will start to happen on its own. It will become effortless, it will become your own nature.

Remember a time, when you had to submit your college assignment, you had to prepare for your dream job interview, you had a deadline to meet at office, or your loved one was in need. Weren’t you super-productive at that time? Why was it so? Why were you able to do so much in a very short span of time? Think about it.

 

 

The only reason is, you had a clear purpose in your mind, a Big WHY!

But we rarely create such Big WHYs for our daily routine and that’s what makes the whole difference. If you can give the same sense of purpose to your daily life, believe me, you are set to do wonders no matter where you are.

The key thing is to find the Biggest WHY if you really need to manage your time. Until you do that, please don’t even attempt to manage your time. Once you are clear with your purpose, time-management will become a lot easier.

“Once you manage your WHY, your WHY will manage your TIME and your entire LIFE”

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The post Time Management is Bullshit Until You Know This… appeared first on Keshav Sharma.

Originally posted on YourStory.com 

In this race to grow and enhance brand equity, sometimes, organisations tend to overlook the fact that an organisation is nothing but a group of people and individuals. Its Organisational Success depends on its people.

“51% of workers are looking to leave their current jobs”

“Only 13% of employees are  engaged worldwide ”

“42% of employees feel that their leadership does not contribute to a positive company culture”

These are some alarming Employee Engagement Statistics for 2017 as per the article written by OfficeVibe based on various reports from reputed sources like Gallup, BusinessSolver.com, BenefitNews.com and others.

In this age of the highly competitive world, organisations constantly compete to get a share of valuable customers and prove their strength by booking higher profits year after year.

Goals and targets set by the leadership eventually become goals for individuals to work on. Contribution on an individual level determines the true growth of any successful organisation.

Traditional goal setting might be capable of setting goals along with timelines. But most of time, it lacks the very basic ingredient of success for an organisation as well as an individual. And that’s the individual him/herself.

As an individual, mere setting of goals might not produce desired results until he/she is prepared for those goals. A goal is nothing but a change which an organisation or an individual wants to embrace in order to reach a new level of excellence.

Let’s understand this with an example. Growing a tree is a wonderful thing, but just having the right seed is not enough. The soil needs preparation even before you put the seed into it.

This preparation makes the soil receptive and favorable for the upcoming seed. This seed is nothing but your goal or change. Better the preparation, higher the probability of a seed growing into a fruitful tree.

When we talk about an organisation, what could be the soil?

The individuals, who are working for that organisation day in day out, are the soil. They are the ones who carry the seeds of success.

The quantum of investment an organisation makes into the preparation of its soil will determine how fast and effectively it is going to achieve and sustain success.

Call them Human Assets, not Human Resources because Assets are valued but Resources are always exploited.

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As mentioned in one of the articles by Harvard Business Review: “The Top Complaints from Employees About Their Leaders”, employees pointed out how business leaders lack emotional intelligence and the practices they follow like micromanaging, bullying, narcissism, indecisiveness, and more.

It clearly shows that leadership needs to change its view towards employees. The term “Human Resources” is itself misleading. Employees should be considered as assets rather than resources. Call them “Human Assets”.

Because assets are valued and give returns but resources are always exploited and deplete with time. This small shift in perspective can prove to be a huge paradigm shift in the approach of people management.

What happens to Resources?

They deplete and get exhausted after a period of time.

Similarly, if you treat your employees as just resources, they get mentally and emotionally exhausted. They feel betrayed as if they are not treated the way they deserve and ultimately they leave. Such organisations might achieve amazing numbers in a short run but they lose brand value in a long term.

High-growth companies have a clear purpose behind their strategy for engaging employees, Gallup research shows. Such organisations simply invest time, money and energy on preparing their employees for organisational success. Because they consider them as their valuable assets and turn them into someone who can produce high value for the organisation in a long run.

And organisations which ignore this basic fundamental face consequences such as higher turnover, steeper absenteeism, lower customer satisfaction, and ultimately, poor financial performance.

For example, if you have to run a marathon, you don’t just wear your shoes and start running. Winning a race is not just about running as fast as possible. It is about preparing yourself so that you can run at your best pace.

Preparation includes physical fitness as well as mental fitness. Physical fitness is a combination of nutrition and training whereas mental fitness requires strengthening your belief system. Only then the goal of winning a marathon seems achievable.

For an organisation, leadership is the mental being and its employees are its physical being.

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Whatever belief system the leadership has, will be reflected in the actions of each and every employee.

If the leadership is highly motivated and determined, same attitude will be seen throughout the company.

And if the leadership is pessimistic and just wants to make easy profits, then employees will also behave in a same way.

Some organisations feel that compensating their employees is more than enough. But that’s the basic thing every organisation has to do. 

“Beyond salary, psychological and social fulfillment can determine which employees are motivated to stay, perform, and contribute to organisation success”, says an article published on Forbes.com

By providing compensation you are just hiring the person, like you get a land on lease. Higher pay for a more fertile one and lower for a less fertile one.

However, irrespective of the fact how fertile is your soil, it needs preparation before putting the seed and maintenance to sustain the growth of plant. That’s the fundamental fact. You may ask any farmer.

For many organisations, employee engagement, recognition and rewards, fair compensation, training and development, advancement opportunities, work-life balance and wellness initiatives, community involvement, employee events have just become fancy words to put in presentations and annual reports to show that they are doing a great favor to their employees.

Employee Engagement is not a Favor, it is the Need of an Organisation

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As an individual, if you take care of your body, does that mean you are doing a favor to yourself or are you just preparing yourself to be more efficient and to perform on top of your capabilities? Is it your need or favor?

Similarly, employee engagement is not a favor. It is the need of an organisation so that it can keep its physical being (employees) always prepared for the upcoming challenges.

It’s about preparing them so well that they can carry and grow the seeds of your success with sustenance. It not only helps to achieve the most ambitious goals but also outperform the industry standards.

“Engagement is about investing in everyday working moments and incorporating engagement concepts into the workflow, even as businesses change and adopt new initiatives”,� says Gallup Research.

Do you know why some organisations rank higher for “Great Place To Work” list and others not?

You must have heard about Google being one of the best places to work globally.

Do you know why its employees love their company?

Why Google is one of the dream companies for people around the globe?

Inc.com gives “An Inside Look at Google’s Best Employee Perks” which you can get if you work at Google.

Some of the perks are as follows:

The never-ending free gourmet food and snacks

You get to work with amazing people and great thinkers

Get to use the company’s products to get your work done and beta-test products that haven’t been released to the public yet

Free to bring your pets to work

24-7 tech support from some of the best and brightest IT specialists available to support employees.

Employees can give each other “massage credits” as an appreciation of getting job well done on projects. The massage credits can be redeemed for a free one-hour massage on campus

Free fitness classes and gyms, and sports facilities

In addition to vacations, you get more opportunities to explore life outside of the workplace, your passion

Google has some of the best death benefits. If a Googler passes away while working there, all their stock vests immediately.  In addition to the life insurance payout, their surviving spouse continues to get half of the Googler’s salary for the next 10 years. Also, an additional $1,000/month benefit for any of the Googler’s children is provided.

In order to enhance creativity at work, Googlers follow the 80/20 rule.

As per this rule, Googlers devote 80% of their time to the primary job and 20% of time  to working on passion projects that they believe will help the company.

Just strive to make their lives easier, and you will see greater returns

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It’s just because Google considers its employees as assets and not resources. It values their employees and strive to make their lives easier and comfortable.

When the leadership feels that as an organisation they owe it to their employees, then, in return, employees strive to find the most creative and innovative solutions which can make millions and billions of dollars for the company.

That’s the reason Google has some of the best employee friendly policies which encourage employees to be their most productive and creative self at work.

If employees are empowered and prepared well, they enjoy their work and have the highest job satisfaction which leads to better services to customers. Better services mean enhanced brand value leading to higher profits and increased sales.

Don’t call them workforce or resources, call them assets. Just like financial assets, the more you invest in them carefully, the more returns you will get as an organisation. The more value you add into their lives, the more value they will add to your organisation.

It’s as simple as that. Not a rocket science.

 

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The post Organisation’s success is not a rocket science!! appeared first on Keshav Sharma.

Originally posted on YourStory.com In this race to grow and enhance brand equity, sometimes, organisations tend to overlook the fact that an organisation is nothing but a group of people and individuals. “51% of workers are looking to leave their current jobs”

The post Organisation’s success is not a rocket science! appeared first on Keshav Sharma.

  Originally posted on YourStory.com     What seems to be an overnight success is actually a result of many sleepless nights. I realised it when I started chasing my dreams and took deliberate actions to turn them into reality.

The post From No one to Amazon #1 appeared first on Keshav Sharma.

Have you ever struggled to work consistently on your goals?

How many times have you got distracted, confused or lost faith?

Isn’t that what happens with most of us every single day?

We fight with ourselves. We question our beliefs.

We do our best to convince ourselves that we are in the right direction. But one single negative thought takes us back to square one.

We feel as if we have just fallen from a sky scraper.

So, how do you make sure that no matter what happens you stay as firm as a rock?

What does it take to keep moving despite of unending challenges?

Here are 7 ways which can help you stay on track if practiced on regular basis. You may choose to try any one or more or all of them. Choice is yours, but it is worth doing. This is what I have learnt through my own challenges in life.

 

TAKE A PAUSE

Take a pause on regular basis and reflect. Self-introspect your journey.

Analyze your strengths and points for improvements.

There are several ways to take this pause.

Meditation: Start or end your day with a session of meditation. Be with yourself.
Walk: Take a quick walk on the terrace or in the park. Be with nature and observe silence.
Read: Spend some time reading good books. Read books which inspire you. Read books about people who have done something different to create huge impact.
Family/Friends: Spend time with your loved ones and people who motivate you. Connect with them regularly.
Interests: Pursue your hobbies and interests. Spend some time doing what you love. Become better at it.

These are just some examples. You can find many more. Such pauses will refresh you and recharge you for the next challenge. When you take a pause, you kill your fatigue and frustration.

 

REMIND YOURSELF 

Remind yourself about your goals or whatever you want to do on regular basis. Keep yourself in touch with inspiring quotes. Some of the ways could be:

Write it down in your personal diary/journal and look at it regularly.
Make a note and keep it on your study table or work desk.
Write it down on a sticky note and paste it in your room so that you can see it frequently.
Create a wall paper in your cell phone, laptop or computer.
Set up a reminder in your phone.
Share your goals with your family and trustworthy friends so that they keep reminding you whenever you meet them. 


3. EXPRESS GRATITUDE

Take out time to thank the almighty for all His blessings and gifts in your life. Being grateful for all the good things in your life.

Thank Him for not so good things as well because they make us stronger and a better person.

Everything happens for a reason. You should have faith in His plan and keep learning as you move forward. 

 

BE HONEST

Be honest and truthful not just towards others but to yourself as well.

It’ll give you strength and determination. The more you hide, the more clutter you gather in your mind. That baggage will become a burden.

You’ll be able to think with clarity when your foundation is based on truth. 

If you are true to yourself, you will be able to define right set of goals for you and work on them successfully.

 

FORGIVE EASILY

Forgiving people easily makes you feel lighter.

Often we hold grudges and resentment towards several people in our life. But we forget that, unknowingly, we are carrying a huge burden on our head.

The faster we forgive people, the faster we move on our path towards our goals.

But the longer we hold on to this bitterness, the weaker we become from inside.

People who forgive easily are far stronger than those of who don’t.

Always remember, forgiveness is a strength, not weakness. It needs courage.

 

SHARE, LOVE AND RESPECT

Share what you have.

Sharing is not always about giving away money.

You can share your good thoughts, knowledge, emotions and love.

You can make people feel good about themselves. You make them believe in themselves and move forward on a path to success.

Sharing your love and respecting others is one of the most beautiful gifts which one can offer.

 

BELIEVE IN YOU

Last but the most important of all. Believe in what you want to do. 

Until unless you are convinced, nobody else will and when you are convinced then you don’t need to bother whether anybody else is convinced or not. 

 

You may find some of the ways too simple or you may have read them somewhere else as well.

This is something which I experienced myself and sharing with you. These enable you to work for your goals and successfully achieve them. There are times when you fail, but those failures don’t define you. A failure is nothing but just another milestone on your journey to success.

Use them as your learning and move forward. They are just to Rewire you for Massive Success.

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