From a 63-year-old to a 30-year-old

Here are a few things from my experience of starting over.

Never be afraid to start over. It’s a chance to rebuild your life the way you wanted all along. - Unknown

We all have an idea or a dream that we're too afraid to try. Don't let you keep you from reaching your potential.

1. Don’t undervalue what you’re already good at

I have reinvented myself many times in my life but success has always come from what I was already good at.

Don’t ignore what you are already good at just try and get better at it.

2. Re-invention takes time

You can start something in a second. You could start it right this minute, but the trick is to keep going and that’s hard when the going gets tough (and it will).

3. Don’t believe everything you think

The moment you doubt whether you can do something is the moment it becomes impossible for you to do.

4. Don’t let indecision dictate your decision :)

5. Don’t let what you can’t control distract you from what you can

Don't be distracted or frustrated by what you can't change. Instead, look at what you can. Only then can you move forward.

6. Embrace uncertainty

We live in uncertain times and uncertainty is unsettling.

We prefer the familiar, the safe, the predictable and that is perfectly understandable, but that’s not easy (or even possible) in a fast-changing world.

Perhaps the safest route to take is to embrace uncertainty. Step into the unknown on your own terms. Don’t be a hostage to the actions of others especially complete strangers.

Don't be scared.

Get out there, do what it is 'you' want to do and see what happens.

7. You’ve got time

We rush at everything. We do too many things at once. We try to multi-task multi-tasking and it’s a fool's game.

We exhaust ourselves and this turns enthusiasm into self-doubt and self-doubt into self-sabotage.

We think everyone else is doing everything better, quicker and more successfully than we are.

Be patient. Take it one step at a time.

You have more time than you think.

8. ‘0’ is ok

It’s where everything starts. It’s the beginning of it all.

Don’t be afraid of it. Don’t worry about. It’s not the end it’s only the start.

Zero is the risk you have to take to get where you want to go.

It’s a good place to be at the beginning because the only way from there is up.

I’ve been there many times and you never stay there for long.

9. Success is not somewhere else

It's not around the next corner, it's not over the next hill. it's not the next business idea.

Stop waiting for the next opportunity to come along, the next idea to appear, the next relationship, the next dream, the next bit of guru advice.

Most of the time we give up just when we are about to succeed.

It took me too many years to learn the lesson. Don't make the same mistake.

Finally here is a verse from a wonderful song by First Aid Kit

‘… gotta keep on going,

looking straight out on the road

Can’t worry about what’s behind you

Or what’s coming for you

Further down the road.

Try not to hold onto what is gone,

Try to do right what is wrong

Try to keep on keeping on…’

…………….

As always thanks for taking the time to read this.

   

  -Arthur Luke

Hopeless?

It would seem impossible for a "normal" person to become a millionaire if they did not know the story of Chris Gardner.

Gardner was born in Milwaukee, but never knew his father.

He was raised by his mother in poverty and an alcoholic stepfather who abused him.

His mother left him for a period of time in a foster home, in a moment of desperation, when he tried to kill his stepfather.

Eventually, in the early 1980s, Gardner was a 27-year-old employee with minimum wage and did not have enough money to pay the rent for an apartment.

So Gardner (He was separated from his wife) and his son slept where they could. In parks, in church shelters and even in train station toilets.

They only ate through soup kitchens and the little money he had was used to pay for a nursery that took care of his son while he worked.

One day he met a man who was driving a Ferrari, and Gardner asked him what he did.

The man told him that he was a stockbroker and Gardner expressed his interest in entering that sector.

Since the man had liked Gardner, he helped him get an interview for an internship.

However, in the days before the interview, again fate had played a trick on him. Gardner was jailed for failing to pay his parking tickets.

Finally, he was able to get to the interview, but dressed in the clothes from when he was arrested (In tennis and vest).

Despite his sloppiness, his drive and enthusiasm earned him the position.

Suddenly life changed

His instinct to sell assets gave him the full-time job.

He rose at his firm Dean Witter Reynolds, continued to grow in his professional career to unsuspected heights.

Already with money to rent a house, he decided to open his own investment firm, Gardner Rich.

Currently, Gardner is 62 years old and has an estimated fortune of $ 60 million. He spends his life traveling the world giving motivational talks.

In addition, it sponsors various charities for the homeless and against violence against women.

His fascinating life caught the attention of Hollywood, turning his life story into a blockbuster movie.

Your inspiration

Despite all the obstacles in his life, Gardner claims that his mother was always an inspiration to him.

"I have one of those old-fashioned mothers who said to me every day, 'Son, you can be or do anything you want,'" he said.

"And I believed him and I was 100% convinced"

One day he was watching a college basketball game and he commented that one of those players would win $ 1 million.

"My mother declared, 'Son, one day you'll be the one to make a million dollars.' Until she said those words, the idea had never crossed my mind."

He added "One can fall and lie down, but only as low as one allows."

"I chose the light, on behalf of my mother and others with whom I do not share a single drop of blood, and I welcomed it with open arms."

Gardner's story shows that no matter what difficult, initial conditions you grew up in, you always have the ability to redirect your life. Fate is in your hands and it is up to you to change it or continue as you are.

I hope this story has inspired you. Don't let fatalism drive you. We all have skills that can help us grow.

Civil Servants of India Don’t Enjoy Their Life

It is a wrong assumption that IAS/IPS/IRS officers don’t enjoy their life.

They are rather envied by the media, intellectuals and professionals of other fields because they are enjoying their life too much.

I am an engineer from IIT and most of my batch mates are working in corporates, MNCs in India and abroad. Many of them are also entrepreneurs who are running their own companies and earning huge money. Many of them further graduated from IIM and working as CEO of top companies.

However, they have little time to enjoy their wealth because either they are the employees where they are sharing a huge responsibility or heading a company and concerned about the business and competition.

Most of them feel insecure in whichever position they are.

Civil services in India gives you a lifetime security simply by cracking one single examination.

• Your pay, perks and promotions are assured for life.
• You live your life on your own terms and conditions.
• You have all the powers given by the law to run your organization.
• You get opportunity to serve millions of people directly.
• You collect revenue, maintain law and order and contribute to development of your country.
• You make policies for the Government and the country.

A civil servant in India is still the steel frame of India.

Government structure would collapse without them.

The importance of a civil servant far exceeds the importance of the professionals of any other career for the country and for the common man.

  

 -Awdhesh Singh

Party is Over. It’s Time To Get Serious

My answer will hurt… but this is the truth.

Party is over. It’s time to get serious!

Why?

• You’re facing a world of unimaginable change because of accelerating technological innovation.
• A world with a global population reaching 8 Billion people — each one of us demanding extensive needs.
• The monetary policies that have supported the global growth for decades is not working anymore because of irresponsible and ambitious leaders that have abused it — today our economy depends on debt to grow. Not sustainable!
• You’re facing a world where the current educational system is NOT teaching and training you to face these tough realities.
• You’re the most distracted generation in history. Your distraction is your biggest enemy because without focused actions you won’t stand a chance to make a good living.
• You’re facing a world that is full of painful surprises that school has been hiding from you — like the fact that Baby Boomers are about to retire and they don’t have enough financial support to make a living.
• Only 22% of Baby Boomers believe they are doing a good job of preparing financially for retirement. [1]
• Only 27% of Baby Boomers believe they will have enough money for healthcare expenses.
• Do you know who will pay for this liability? Correct, you guessed it…

To answer your question; this is my best advice:

1. Eliminate your social media apps on your smartphone and everything else that is hacking your attention.
2. Start planning your future with full focused intention and strategy.
3. Become an expert on any area that you enjoy and are good at.
4. Develop the habits and discipline of hard work and constant learning.
5. Develop your mindset to become a leader and NOT a follower. Don’t trust what everyone is doing! Don’t follow the crowd!
6. Have fun :)

Footnotes

[1] 10 Statistics That Prove Baby Boomers Are in Big Trouble When It Comes to Retiremen

 

-Hector Quintanilla

Algebra, Trigonometry, Calculus, Mechanics, Thermodynamics, Cell, Geometry, Coding Why they are Taught to Children & Teenagers ?

There is actually no reason to study those if you wish to work at manual labor for the rest of your life. You probably don't need them if you are going to be a sales clerk, or a waiter, or a truck driver. Those are all honorable jobs, so if that is your goal, there is no need.

On the other hand, if you want to be an engineer, a data analyst, a scientist, or an architect, then those skills will be part of your everyday life.

If you want to go into business or computers, then you need the ability to think analytically, and to become a problem solver. Very few subjects studied in high school teach those skills; the predominant one is mathematics. If you find math difficult, it is likely for precisely that reason: it is the only course you are taking in which you are asked to solve problems that are not absolutely identical to problems you have previously seen. The key to learning math is recognizing that you are learning approaches, not facts, and think of those approaches as tools towards addressing new ideas.

The skill to "problem solve" is one of the most highly valued skills in all careers.

 -Richard Muller

5000 to 500 Crore

Every Moment I Just Want to Change My Past

There is an anecdote on this.

A young man was going to meet his lady love and to her parents. On the mid way he took little rest and he put his horse in a grassland for a while.

As soon as he woke up he found the horse to be missing. It was one of his favourite horse. He searched the horse like a mad man. At times he regretted that why he took rest and all. Days passed by. He wondered for the horse for days. Later he found out there is a wicked landlord who has captured the horse. He tried to pursue the landlord to give him back his horse. But it did not result anything. Later in the mid night he hatched a plan to steal his horse, but caught by the guards of the landlord and he was badly beaten.

In the mean time he totally forgot that he had promised his lady love and her parents to come. He promised his own mom to come back as early as possible. And here he is with broken legs and hands lying under a tree.

Often our life is like that. We are working to achieve a goal. Then a distraction or external agent comes. We get swayed away. When we get beaten there, we forget the first goal even. When we start regretting we often lose the things that are with us or that could have come in our way. Whether it comes to your love or career or anything else remember life is much bigger than this. Love may happen many times in life. Career can be resurrected from dust. Everything in this world is not worth in front of life itself. Stop regretting.

  

-Abinash Mishra, IAS | IIT-KGP

                     { Bloggers's Note : Try to learn from your past and also from past of others. Read and teach yourself Psychology & Sociology. Start to make your life better. Read the book " As a Man Thinketh by James Allen " & also the book   " You Can Heal Your Life by Louise Hall  "  

Make yourself better & work smart & hard }