HOW TO AVOID NEGATIVITY

Hello,


Negativity have a unique way of creeping into your life.


It can start with a single word.


Take care of the words you use. Every word gives rise to thoughts.


It can start with the smallest thought.


Take care of your thoughts. A thought gives rise to action.


It can start with the most innocuous action.

Take care of your action. Every action goes to become a habit.

It can start with a small habit

Take care of your habits. Habits become lifestyles.

It can be a result of your lifestyle.

Take care of your lifestyle. Your lifestyle defines your destiny.

Once Negativity becomes your destiny it is very difficult to cut it off.

Do not sow a seed that can grow into a thorny bush.

Best regards,

Manoj

POSITIVE THINKING - SQUASHING THE ANTs

Hello,

Many of us might have struggled with ANTs in our daily lives.

So what are ANTs and how do we get rid of them?

In his book "Change Your Brain, Change Your Life," Dr. Daniel Amen talks about "ANTs" - Automatic Negative Thoughts.

These are the bad thoughts that are usually reactionary, like "Those people are laughing, they must be talking about me," or "The boss wants to see me? It must be bad!"

I had this ANT bothering me whenever I used to get a telephone call. I always used to think of the worst when the bell would start ringing.

My heart would beat furiously if the boss or a customer was on the other end of the line. I was always the dreading the worst; always concluding before picking up the phone that it was going to be a reprimand for a mistake I have made or a complain for not doing the assigned task properly.

When I started analyzing the cause of my anxiety I realized that it was my own creation.

I started keeping track of the calls and noticed that a majority of the phone calls were either enquiries or requests.

Even when I had concluded so, I could not help my heart from feeling the anxiety.

I had no one to coach me on how to handle these anxiety pangs and I learnt it the hard way.

I did not know that I was squashing the ANTs but this is what I exactly did.

If it was my boss calling I did not pick up the phone. Luckily my boss was always seated a couple of cabins away and so whenever I saw his/her number in the caller identity I just rushed across to their cabin.

The boss generally calls you when they need some clarification/ suggestion and this face to face interaction helped me gauge the mood in a better way. This helped in killing my anxiety and thereby improving my responses.

In the case of customers I adopted the simple technique of starting with a greeting. By the time we have finished the greetings formalities in the typical long drawn arabic style the complain, if any got whittled down to a friendly suggestion.

After practising it for some time I realized that I no longer panic when I get the phone calls.

I managed to squash the ANT and realized that it was only an artificial creation, a mirage that showed itself to quench my thirst for anxiety and worry.

Once the thrist was conquered the mirage disappeared.

Negative thoughts are nothing more than ANTs.

Squash them!

Best wishes,

Manoj

POSITIVE THINKING - SOME EXAMPLES

Hello,

Some of the important events in history of mankind started with just one person's imagination.

Just imagine the power of Imagination that lead Newton to the path breaking law of Gravity.

It is imagination that lead to the creation of the wheel, discovery of fire, electricity, the alphabet, numbers, language, printing press, etc.

If it can do such great things can it not accomplish our small tasks.

Yes, imagination backed by belief can help us achieve our dreams.

Our desires and dreams are very puny when we compare it with what Newton, Stevenson, Braille, Wright brothers, etc have thought of and achieved.

Our belief in self plays an important role in achieving any kind of success and goal.
As stated in my previous post we achieve minor goals on a day-to-day basis, because we know what we want.

This is the basic requirement of success - we must know what we really want.

A vague need does not bring your thoughts into focus. Being famous is a vague need but being a famous writer/player/actor/dancer is a focussed need.

We can get to our aim in life with focused and clear thinking. This ability can be improved and strengthened by practice.

The next step is to put the thought into action through a plan.

If the goal is well defined we can very easily find a way to reach it. This is well explained in my post on 'EKLAVYA'. Our imagination, our power of the mind can make us all 'Eklavya'.

As with Eklavya we have to have a clear mental image of our aim, and then regular training of this imagination can do wonders.

Always keep your focus on what you want to achieve, and then let your imagination take control. This will enhance our ability to succeed.

But success is not easy. Patience, self-discipline and the power to persist in the effort to succeed will once again require the utmost of positive thinking.

Affirmation is a very essential mental tool. Affirmation allows the idea to sink into the subconscious mind and consequently affects our behavior and actions. If our affirmations are positive, they lead you to success.

If we pour our positive thoughts into our subconscious every day they become strong and affect our attitude, expectations, behavior and actions. Our positive thoughts not only work magic on us but also affect other people, who go out of the way to offer help or opportunities.

Positive thoughts create coincidences and opportunities.

One thing that has no place is doubt. If we are clear about of aim, have the concentration, control over thoughts, willpower, self-discipline and patience there will be no place for doubt. Doubt, fear arising out of doubt and worries related to failure is the biggest reason for failure.

So, Positive thinking with no place for doubt is the road to success.

Best regards,

Manoj

TRUST YOUR THOUGHTS OR PERISH

Hello,

Perils of not relying on your thoughts

Going back to the Mahabharata I wish to bring into focus the powers of trusting your thoughts and the perils of allowing any other idea to dominate it.

The story of Dronacharya best exemplifies this peril:

When the war of Mahabharata started Bhishma Pitamaha led the warriors fighting for the Kauravas. After ten days of intense fighting, Shikhandi and Arjun plotted to make him incapable of any further participation in the war.

The next leader was Dronacharya, who was the Guru of the Kauravas and the Pandavas. As Dronacharya had a weakness for Arjuna and the Pandavas, he did not fight to his full potential in the beginning. Then on being accused by Duryodhana of the same, he started attacking the Pandavas with ferocity that had the Pandava camp worried.

On the fifteenth day of the war, Dronacharya was using the Brahmadanda, a weapon nobody else had any knowledge about and was single handedly winning the war for the Kauravas. His plan was to capture the Yudhisthira, the leader of the Pandavas and he was almost at the verge of doing so when he made a fatal mistake.

He made the mistake of not having faith on his thoughts and relying on something else.

If Dronachrya had a weakness it was his son, Ashwathama. Ashwathama was immortal and a very brave warrior. There was never any question of his dying.

Krishna, who knew about Dronacharya's love for Ashwathama, conspired with the Pandavas to play a trick and get rid of Dronacharya.

Bhima, the Pandava mace warrior, killed an elephant by the named Ashwathama. He then loudly proclaimed in the presence of Dronacharya that Ashwathama was dead.

Drona did not believe Bhima's words.

However instead of relying on his knowledge and trusting his thoughts about the invincibility and immortality of Ashwathama, he decided to rely on the words of Yudhisthira, who had taken a vow of firm adherence to the truth.

This was a fatal mistake

When Drona approached Yudhisthira and asked him the question, Yudhisthira said "Ashwathama hathaha kunjaraha" (In Sanskrit "Ashwathama hathaha" means 'ashwathama is dead' and "kunjaraha" means 'elephant').

But on krishna's instructions, Yudhisthira deliberately spoke the word 'kunjaraha' in a low voice which is drowned by the sound of trumpets and conchshells that started at that moment.

Believing that his son is dead, Drona gets disheartened and laid down his weapons. He was then killed by Dhristadyumna.

Ashwathama was only the third person on the Kauravas who survived the Mahabharata in which approximately 2 million warriors and other people were killed.

His father, who was aware of his invincibility, did not have faith in his own thoughts and paid for it with his life.

TRUST YOUR THOUGHTS.

Best regards,

Manoj

POSITIVE THINKING - TRUST YOUR THOUGHTS

Hello,

I have been reading about how important it is to trust our own thoughts.
The books say that it is the first weapon we have to use for climbing the ladder of success.
But they do not talk about any other options. They do not tell us whether we can take help of some other weapon for success.
Is it the first weapon or the only weapon we actually use to start our campaign?
How do we start on this path?

Trusting your thoughts is innate:
Take a look at our daily life. We trust our thoughts on so many simple things for achieving success - Like leaving home at a particular time to reach our office before time, carrying small change so that we are able to pay for the parking ticket and get out of the gate without delay, knowing that you will be served food when you reach home.
These actions do illustrate that we do trust our thoughts and we do meet with success when we trust them. It comes naturally to us.
So if it is already proved that we succeed when we trust our thoughts why not use it always. Why let clouds of doubt cover the bright rays that our thoughts generate.
You are already on the path, let there be no diversion.

Are there any alternates:
Yes, we have alternates. Have you noticed how you have outperformed when your confidence is boosted by kind words from someone? How an increment, a bonus has spurred you to put up an exceptional performance. So building up confidence and gratitude are the alternates. But what do they do – they make you trust your thoughts – back to square one.
Is this a viable alternative? No it is not.
While people may be ready and available to boost your confidence on some occasions, they will not be available all the time. (Sometimes even your parents, spouse and children doubt your abilities) While your organisation may reward you with a bonus or increment they may also refuse to do so. So the alternate weapons are not reliable. They are supplements to your strength not your strength.
Why not use the weapon that is totally under your command.

TRUST YOUR THOUGHTS.
Write down your thoughts and repeat it to yourself every night and morning till it registers into your subconscious. Let your inherent skills take over, do not let this weapon be shadowed by doubts and let it lead you to success.
Best regards,
Manoj