The Art of Living your life on better terms
Attitudes shape a man is a well-known truth for all of us. But not many know that attitudes and thoughts have “magic” in them. Yes, you need not be a wizard nor need to have “Harry Potter’s Magical Wand” to effect magic in your life. Simple thought processes and minor changes in attitude can work wonders in life. We are communicating every moment of our life – the overt communication in the form of speech is one thing we all understand; but not many of us are aware that we in fact communicating with “Life” as a whole in subtle ways by our “thoughts” and “attitudes.” Effecting minor positive changes in the way we think and perceive can change a whole lot of things to our benefit.
SOW A THOUGHT, AND YOU REAP AN ACT; SOW AN ACT, AND YOU REAP A HABIT; SOW A HABIT, AND YOU REAP A CHARACTER; SOW A CHARACTER, AND YOU REAP A DESTINY. Charles Reade
“There are some minor thought processes and attitudes that can surround you with a “halo” of good luck and good will thereby making you a highly successful person. Let us see some of those in this write-up….
NEVER PLAY OUT ANYTHING NEGATIVE CONCERNING YOUR PROFESSION EVEN IN JEST
I think many of you will remember an advertisement in which our celebrated cricket icon Sachin Tendulkar grabs the pepsi from Mr. Sharukh khan who is disguised him ignoring the cricket bat (he even made a gesture of pushing away the bat gently and grabbing the Pepsi bottle instead if my memory serves me right!). The act of pushing away the bat was a definite “negative” signal to Fates – though he would have never thought about it like that, and he never fared well as long as that advertisement was doing the rounds. This may sound too far-fetched, but this is true. Just observe the passion that many successful persons have for their professions – the good luck factor and the continous winning streak will definitely be tied to their undying loyalty and fierce attachment bordering on worshipful attitude towards their profession.
Love your work with all your heart. Make a pact with your work that you will give it your best no matter what………Think that doing that work itself is your first reward and all those appraisals, increments, and performance-linked pays are only add-ons……Life will reward you back with a successful streak very soon if you keep doing your work well. This is a Universal Truth and no appraiser or boss can take this luck from you. The aura that you perceive around all successful persons is partly this aura of “devotion to what they are doing”.
A child loves its mother unconditionally (I am speaking of a child of say less than 5 years). It depends on the mother wholly for its survival, but that is not the only reason it loves the mother…..the love just happens at a gut level. Just ask a 3 year old if he/ she will swap his/ her mother for the most beautiful or most considerate woman in the word…..The child will never even consider the proposal but will feel desperate and insecure. Such should be our attachment to our work and duties. After all just as the child depends on the mother for its sustenance, we are dependant on our work for our survival. So, when the work nurtures and provides for us as a “loving mother” why can’t we love it just as we love our own mother? Love your career and you will see what an amount of good luck you will draw towards yourself.
NEVER OVERDO THINGS – EVEN IF IT CONCERNS YOUR PROFESSION
Now that I have said that you should be passionate about your work and love it unconditionally, you should also know where to draw the chalk-line. We work to earn our living, and we earn to lead our lives comfortably. Most of us get the priorities wrong. We look for a good job that “pays” heavily and in the process get hooked to it – not because of the love of it, but because of the lure of money surrounding it. Ultimately a situation develops where enough money is there, but we are rather busy earning “more” of it rather than “using” it for our enjoyment. We buy beds but lose sleep; we buy beautiful houses but rarely spend quality time there; we pamper relatives with gifts but rarely gift them with our personal warmth and time as we don’t have time for that! Professional life is just one part of your existence though it is of course vital; but there are other sectors of life that demand your emotional input. Relationships thrive on input of feelings. If you don’t have time to share feelings, share sentiments, and joys/ upsets with loved ones, you are in effect leading a mechanical existence.
KNOW YOUR LIMITS, RESPECT THEM, AND SEE TO IT OTHERS ALSO RESPECT YOUR BOUNDARIES!
Taking an occasional call or two in an emergency during off-hours is not bad but rather a healthy sign of professional commitment. But, if all your holidays and weekends are in the constant company of “emails” and “ringing monsters with fanciful tunes” (mobiles), you are probably not in a healthy work-environment. It means either you are working under an inconsiderate boss or you have given the wrong signal that you can be exploited at any time.
An employee who always delivers good work when on duty and puts his foot down boldly and says that he won’t be dealing with routine work that is not an emergency during off-hours will definitely be respected, though there will be initial reactions that might seem ominous. Do not worry….In the long run, you will win the game if you stick to your guns persistently and refuse to alter your stance. There are two subtle messages conveyed here when you do so….
1) Message I: “I am conscientious and will do my work properly. I also know my boundaries and I expect you to respect those.”
2) Message II: “I am not afraid. I do my work to the best of my abilities, but that is it!” (Yes, most persons do the bidding of their superiors and are on tenterhooks even during off-duty hours are actually afraid that their bosses may fire them if they don’t oblige. That you are afraid and pliable sends a wrong signal to the boss who gets used to bullying you around even on holidays, and then you start hating the situation….hating your boss for being inconsiderate, hating others in the family because they get upset with this, and ultimately hating yourself in a subtle way…..causing a vicious cycle of negative vibes.
Always remember the power of the “unspoken word” conveyed as impressions and gut feelings is more powerful than all the macho stuff that you might ever imagine!
Click here to read The Art of Living your life on better terms Part 2
Article by Pandit R Dakshinamoorthi
