(This article appeared in the July issue of Student Plus, a magazine for MBA and CA aspirants)
Ever heard the story of the four-minute mile? For years people believed that it is impossible for a human being to run a mile in less than four minutes until Dr. Roger Banister proved it wrong in 1954. Within a year, 37 runners broke that ‘belief barrier’. And the year after that, 300 other runners did the same thing.
What do you think was different?
You have used a computer keyboard or a typewriter. Ever wondered why the letters of the alphabet are organized in a particular order in your keyboard?
You might have thought it is to increase the typing speed. Agreed that this also the most popular belief. Most people have never questioned it.
But the fact is that this system was developed to reduce the typing speed at a time when typewriter parts would jam if the operator typed too fast.
These are examples that showcase the immense power of beliefs. A belief is the most powerful force that drives us to do what we want to and be what we want to and that is the POWER OF BELIEF.
We can create or destroy anything just by believing that we can. A belief delivers a direct command to our nervous system and that is what drives us.
Have you heard about the placebo effect?
People are told a certain drug will have a certain effect and many a times people will experience that effect even when the given pill is without the said chemical properties.
Its funny but it works!
So what are beliefs?
You and I witness the world and experience it every moment. Beliefs are formed from our experiences. Our beliefs come from what we know and how we came to know about anything. Beliefs are opinions and convictions that are true or real to us. They are strings of thought that strengthen with time.
They’re both conscious and unconscious.
It is also our belief that determines how much of our potential we will be able to tap. Hence it is very important that we know our beliefs and evaluate whether our beliefs help us live the life that we desire or they limit us.
What are some of the sources of beliefs?
• Environment
• Parents
• Religion
• Teachers
• Events
• Past experiences
• Thoughts
Here are some beliefs you could possibly refer to…
Do you believe that you can excel in whatever you do?
Do you believe you cannot dance?
Do you believe that life is a struggle?
What are your religious beliefs?
What are your beliefs about people?
No belief is right or wrong. A belief is just a belief. It either empowers or limits us. The point is for us to choose our beliefs wisely. How do you know whether your beliefs are working for you?
The best way to know is looking at the way you do things. A way of doing things soon becomes ‘the’ way of doing things. But is that ‘the way’ the one that is empowering you?
If it is not helping or empowering, you need a shift.
And for the shift to happen, you need to identify a particular behavior pattern and the beliefs associated with it. And you can then create a new pattern and make those beliefs work for you.
Take this instance…
A Russian weight lifter was training and at one point he could not lift 500 pounds. He made umpteen number of attempts and every time he got the same result- no lift. The coach sat down with him and had a little chat. He asked him to take his position once again. The coach did a small thing; he put 501.5 pounds on the bar and told his pupil that he set it up at 499 pounds. The lifter took the weight and cleared it. The coach then revealed the truth to him.
Now you answer the question, “What was heavier the weight or the belief?”
“Life is not about having new things but about looking through new eyes”
Take a couple of minutes and do this exercise.
Take a belief that is limiting you; one which is not helping you live the way you want to. Now that you have identified that it is dis-empowering you, rephrase your limiting beliefs into empowering and positive beliefs.
Remember that your beliefs have to be pure and strong or else the old beliefs will take back its place.
Have you heard yourself saying, “I am not good enough”?
Rephrase it with, “I am intelligent, smart and have all the resources within me to make it big”. A belief is like the driver of the bus of our lives. The question: Is the driver belief a good one? And if it isn’t then you need to fire that driver and hire a new and empowering driver for a belief.
Cheers to a Positive life,
Thursday, November 12, 2009
Wednesday, October 7, 2009
Power of Feedback
Whether you read this article or not, whether you understand it or not you will see for yourself that there is feedback. This is my take on feedback at a personal level and I’m sure it makes sense. So what is this feedback that I am talking about, read on to discover it yourself.
“Irrespective of whether you do something about anything in your life or not you will get a result”.
Consider that you have exams coming up and you need to score a distinction, you put in all the hard work, study long hours, make notes, revise and write the exam. You get to know that you’ve scored a distinction and on the other hand one of your friends who studied along with you and put in the same hours of work managed to just scrape through. What happened? The point I’m driving home is irrespective of whether we do something or not in any area of our lives we have feedback. If we do not get the intended result you and I start blaming or cursing others and still be unaware that even this activity is giving feedback.
As you move on your path toward success—Every time you take a step, you’ll get back information about whether that was the right thing to do. You’ll get data, advice, help, suggestions, directions, even criticism that will help you constantly adjust and move forward, while continually enhancing your knowledge, abilities, attitudes and relationships. You’ll discover that every action you take or not take will inevitably produce a result. In fact, some actions will take you absolutely nowhere. Other actions will catapult you forward. Still others will actually divert you from your goal. But be assured that feedback is a necessary and welcome aide to achieving your goals and becoming a more confident, successful person.
One of my favorite speakers and world renowned author Jack Canfield of the chicken soup series fame uses feedback in a very empowering manner. He illustrates in his seminars the power of feedback, all he does is selects a particular participant from the audience and asks him to guide him towards the participant and also instructs that every time he’s headed in the right direction the participant needs to keep saying on course and if in the wrong direction he would have to say off course. He shuts his eyes and starts his walk and gets to the participant.
He simply hears information that helps him re-direct himself toward the goal and arrive at his destination. Does Jack eventually get to his goal? Yes.
Is he on-course or off-course most of the time? Who knows, is the feedback helpful to him? Absolutely
So feedback is simply information.
Perhaps it’s easier to think of feedback as the guidance system on a ship. The ship’s computer constantly takes in information, analyses it and adjusts the controls and other systems. Have you ever tried riding a bicycle, you might have noticed that you were constantly trying to balance yourself, keeping the bike steady and pedaling it to go forward. You were instructing your mind to make the necessary adjustments to keep you going and not falling down. Feedback is what helped you, so that you could adjust yourself and move ahead.
So here’s what we do to understand how feedback works and how we can use it as a tool to move towards our goals faster.
• Consciously be aware of your thoughts, feelings, behaviors and actions.
• Notice what results you got (feedback)
• Are the results (feedback) what you got was what you actually wanted.
• If yes, then keep taking the same action to generate the same result.
• If no then try something different until you get what you want.
Whether you go on to use this system or not, you will get feedback
To your success,
“Irrespective of whether you do something about anything in your life or not you will get a result”.
Consider that you have exams coming up and you need to score a distinction, you put in all the hard work, study long hours, make notes, revise and write the exam. You get to know that you’ve scored a distinction and on the other hand one of your friends who studied along with you and put in the same hours of work managed to just scrape through. What happened? The point I’m driving home is irrespective of whether we do something or not in any area of our lives we have feedback. If we do not get the intended result you and I start blaming or cursing others and still be unaware that even this activity is giving feedback.
As you move on your path toward success—Every time you take a step, you’ll get back information about whether that was the right thing to do. You’ll get data, advice, help, suggestions, directions, even criticism that will help you constantly adjust and move forward, while continually enhancing your knowledge, abilities, attitudes and relationships. You’ll discover that every action you take or not take will inevitably produce a result. In fact, some actions will take you absolutely nowhere. Other actions will catapult you forward. Still others will actually divert you from your goal. But be assured that feedback is a necessary and welcome aide to achieving your goals and becoming a more confident, successful person.
One of my favorite speakers and world renowned author Jack Canfield of the chicken soup series fame uses feedback in a very empowering manner. He illustrates in his seminars the power of feedback, all he does is selects a particular participant from the audience and asks him to guide him towards the participant and also instructs that every time he’s headed in the right direction the participant needs to keep saying on course and if in the wrong direction he would have to say off course. He shuts his eyes and starts his walk and gets to the participant.
He simply hears information that helps him re-direct himself toward the goal and arrive at his destination. Does Jack eventually get to his goal? Yes.
Is he on-course or off-course most of the time? Who knows, is the feedback helpful to him? Absolutely
So feedback is simply information.
Perhaps it’s easier to think of feedback as the guidance system on a ship. The ship’s computer constantly takes in information, analyses it and adjusts the controls and other systems. Have you ever tried riding a bicycle, you might have noticed that you were constantly trying to balance yourself, keeping the bike steady and pedaling it to go forward. You were instructing your mind to make the necessary adjustments to keep you going and not falling down. Feedback is what helped you, so that you could adjust yourself and move ahead.
So here’s what we do to understand how feedback works and how we can use it as a tool to move towards our goals faster.
• Consciously be aware of your thoughts, feelings, behaviors and actions.
• Notice what results you got (feedback)
• Are the results (feedback) what you got was what you actually wanted.
• If yes, then keep taking the same action to generate the same result.
• If no then try something different until you get what you want.
Whether you go on to use this system or not, you will get feedback
To your success,
Wednesday, September 23, 2009
Access to Power
(This article appeared in the September issue of Student Plus, a magazine for MBA and CA aspirants)
Take a look at the following names…
Mahatma Gandhi, Thomas Alva Edison, Albert Einstein, Theodore Roosevelt, Nelson Mandela, Bill Gates, Steven Spielberg, Shahrukh Khan, Amitabh Bachhan, Michael Schumacher, Anthony Robbins, Lee Iacocca, Osho, Steve Jobs, Baba Ramdev, Malathy Holla, Nick Vujicic… this list is endless. You have heard of them, seen them and at times followed them. You might have wondered how did they do ‘it’?
How could they enjoy such a high quality of life?
There is something common that enlists these people together.
And this has propelled me to know- why is it that some people make it really great in life and why others in the same area are still finding ways to get to the top?
What is it that separates them from the others?
Why is it that highly successful people are a minority?
What are the tools that they have access to which others are not probably aware of?
How do they see the world around them and how do they respond?
All these questions led me to one thing that they used the most of… POWER
These are people who have taken the invisible and made it visible.
They believed in themselves and in their dreams. They had the power to generate the results they wanted to. In their respective fields they are icons who symbolize power. They dreamed big, they were passionate and believed that the journey they were embarking was a road full of possibilities. These people had similar problems and challenges that we face and in some cases even worse yet went on to make the best out of all that was available to them. What separates them from the others is that they identified POWER.
What is POWER?
How much power do you want?
How much power do you think is sufficient for you to achieve what you want?
What does Power mean to you?
POWER is a very emotional word that means different to different people. For some power may symbolizes lust and jealousy, for some it may be a means to be able to sabotage people and make them do things according to their wishes. For many it means being independent and being able to make their own decisions.
Take my case for instance, Power is to fulfill all my dreams, it is to live life the way I intend to. When I say to myself that I choose to be the best that I can be, and I am responsible for whatever happens to me it gives me a sense of immense power. Power is to be able to adapt myself to achieve what I am destined for. Power is to be my own benevolent dictator where I have the ability to change my life, to make things work for me. The ability to stay focused and help people live life to the fullest and help them get to the next level means power to me.
Power has taken many forms through centuries. During the earliest ages the man with all the muscle power ruled over the others. When kings ruled, vested in the form of conquering people, controlling them and conquering lands and power was transferred to their children. In the 20th century the Industrial revolution brought a tremendous amount of power in terms of money. People got easy access to money so those who made more money could set up bigger factories and industries and those who couldn’t, suffered. In the past 2 decades information became power; information on anything can be made available within seconds. The Information Technology giants help almost all organized businesses to operate efficiently and effectively. The power of the future would be the mind. Gone are the thoughts when people claimed the space to be the last frontier. The Power of the future is the mind. It is by far the best gift to mankind and the one who can unlock the hidden potential of the mind will be the most powerful person on this planet. The mind controls the body; it gives signals to the body and it responds exactly the way it has been instructed to. Imagine if we could operate our minds to the fullest and use our body effectively, what can be created. From centuries man has been exploring and is still in search of the key to unlock the true potential of the mind.
And still I don’t get an answer for the following questions. What is the difference that makes the difference? I spoke about people who resorted to power and created an extraordinary life. What power am I referring to, what is the key ingredient that makes the recipe to live a life of power?
After a lot of pondering over I found out that all of these guys faced problems, they had their own set of issues to handle, they were criticized, booed, they had to face several obstacles, roadblocks, they had to deal with all the problems we normally face and here’s what these guys did different, what made the difference was the way they communicated to themselves. They saw an opportunity in a problem, if they felt stuck; they would search for different ways to get unstuck. If they were trapped, they would search for the door, if that didn’t work they would try the window and if even that didn’t work they would try something different until they got what they wanted. What worked was the way they communicated with themselves and others around.
This story appeared in a book that I once read, two women turn seventy years old, one says “I know my life is coming to an end, I have lived for seven decades and now my body is breaking down and I need to start preparing for the end”. The other says “What I am capable of at my age depends on how I represent it” She decides that mountain climbing can be fun and a good sport to keep her fit. Hulda Crooks is in her nineties and she is the oldest woman to ascend Mount Fiji.
As I leave you with the above example, ask yourself this question.
Am I living powerfully and if not then what can I do different to make it powerful?
Take a look at the following names…
Mahatma Gandhi, Thomas Alva Edison, Albert Einstein, Theodore Roosevelt, Nelson Mandela, Bill Gates, Steven Spielberg, Shahrukh Khan, Amitabh Bachhan, Michael Schumacher, Anthony Robbins, Lee Iacocca, Osho, Steve Jobs, Baba Ramdev, Malathy Holla, Nick Vujicic… this list is endless. You have heard of them, seen them and at times followed them. You might have wondered how did they do ‘it’?
How could they enjoy such a high quality of life?
There is something common that enlists these people together.
And this has propelled me to know- why is it that some people make it really great in life and why others in the same area are still finding ways to get to the top?
What is it that separates them from the others?
Why is it that highly successful people are a minority?
What are the tools that they have access to which others are not probably aware of?
How do they see the world around them and how do they respond?
All these questions led me to one thing that they used the most of… POWER
These are people who have taken the invisible and made it visible.
They believed in themselves and in their dreams. They had the power to generate the results they wanted to. In their respective fields they are icons who symbolize power. They dreamed big, they were passionate and believed that the journey they were embarking was a road full of possibilities. These people had similar problems and challenges that we face and in some cases even worse yet went on to make the best out of all that was available to them. What separates them from the others is that they identified POWER.
What is POWER?
How much power do you want?
How much power do you think is sufficient for you to achieve what you want?
What does Power mean to you?
POWER is a very emotional word that means different to different people. For some power may symbolizes lust and jealousy, for some it may be a means to be able to sabotage people and make them do things according to their wishes. For many it means being independent and being able to make their own decisions.
Take my case for instance, Power is to fulfill all my dreams, it is to live life the way I intend to. When I say to myself that I choose to be the best that I can be, and I am responsible for whatever happens to me it gives me a sense of immense power. Power is to be able to adapt myself to achieve what I am destined for. Power is to be my own benevolent dictator where I have the ability to change my life, to make things work for me. The ability to stay focused and help people live life to the fullest and help them get to the next level means power to me.
Power has taken many forms through centuries. During the earliest ages the man with all the muscle power ruled over the others. When kings ruled, vested in the form of conquering people, controlling them and conquering lands and power was transferred to their children. In the 20th century the Industrial revolution brought a tremendous amount of power in terms of money. People got easy access to money so those who made more money could set up bigger factories and industries and those who couldn’t, suffered. In the past 2 decades information became power; information on anything can be made available within seconds. The Information Technology giants help almost all organized businesses to operate efficiently and effectively. The power of the future would be the mind. Gone are the thoughts when people claimed the space to be the last frontier. The Power of the future is the mind. It is by far the best gift to mankind and the one who can unlock the hidden potential of the mind will be the most powerful person on this planet. The mind controls the body; it gives signals to the body and it responds exactly the way it has been instructed to. Imagine if we could operate our minds to the fullest and use our body effectively, what can be created. From centuries man has been exploring and is still in search of the key to unlock the true potential of the mind.
And still I don’t get an answer for the following questions. What is the difference that makes the difference? I spoke about people who resorted to power and created an extraordinary life. What power am I referring to, what is the key ingredient that makes the recipe to live a life of power?
After a lot of pondering over I found out that all of these guys faced problems, they had their own set of issues to handle, they were criticized, booed, they had to face several obstacles, roadblocks, they had to deal with all the problems we normally face and here’s what these guys did different, what made the difference was the way they communicated to themselves. They saw an opportunity in a problem, if they felt stuck; they would search for different ways to get unstuck. If they were trapped, they would search for the door, if that didn’t work they would try the window and if even that didn’t work they would try something different until they got what they wanted. What worked was the way they communicated with themselves and others around.
This story appeared in a book that I once read, two women turn seventy years old, one says “I know my life is coming to an end, I have lived for seven decades and now my body is breaking down and I need to start preparing for the end”. The other says “What I am capable of at my age depends on how I represent it” She decides that mountain climbing can be fun and a good sport to keep her fit. Hulda Crooks is in her nineties and she is the oldest woman to ascend Mount Fiji.
As I leave you with the above example, ask yourself this question.
Am I living powerfully and if not then what can I do different to make it powerful?
Saturday, May 16, 2009
Access to FEAR
As we move from where we are to where we want to be, we have to take new steps to get new results. This also involves confronting your fears, for most of us our worst fears.
Fear is natural. Fear is an indicator that we our out of balance, out of our comfort zones. Fear can be of commitment, anger, approval, rejection and it exists in many more forms.
We as humans have the uncanny knack of turning FEAR into POWER. What we need to know about fear is that it is manifested and created by our brain. Our brain does not understand the difference between REAL and IMAGINATION, hence whatever fears you had or have are created by the brain. It can therefore be said that FEAR is False Evidence Appearing Real and Fantasized Experiences Appearing Real.
Fear by nature is not negative; it’s whether you control fear or allow fear to control you.
Fear lies and Manipulates. It inhibits us from facing challenges and taking risk. It creates mental blocks, increases worry, creates muscle tension and runs the mind out of control. Fear feeds on and grows bigger as we focus on unreal and imagined obstacles.
As Robert Anton Wilson puts it “What the Thinker thinks, the Prover proves”. If fear feels real to the thinker than the prover in him will back it up with all the evidence available.
Here’s an invitation to access fear and I invite you to challenge it:-
- What are your fears?
- Where do you feel the fear? (in the head, chest, stomach etc)
- What does it feel like, smell like, sound like?
- What does fear mean to you? (it means different to different people)
- Are you willing to take on you fears?
Ways to overcome fear:
Be AWARE of your thoughts and feelings.
Be AWARE of your breathing, muscle tension
Get FOCUS, get CERTAIN, get CLARITY
Take ACTION, feel the fear and DO IT anyway.
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