2014: An Year of Extreme Possibilities!

Tuesday, February 18, 2014; 9:15pm
Dublin, Ohio

   "If we don’t start, its certain we can’t arrive"       …........Zig Ziglar

My sweetest and heartiest Greetings to each one of you reading me today. I hope you along with all your loved ones are in the best of health, living life with zeal, zest and utmost enthusiasm, following your passion and chasing your dreams. 

It’s been a while since I wrote last; in fact my previous blog was posted more than quarter of a year ago.  I have so much to share with you today. I always say and mean Life is Good, Adventurous and a lot of fun. It’s an opportunity to express our absolute best and leave a print on this world with all good and impacting deeds; by the lives we influence to live better, by the souls we heal and so on.  Why not make this beautiful gift by God called LIFE legendary?

2013 left many sweet memories when I accomplished most of my Goals, was humbled on few, received minor setbacks, struggled with health in the humid and drastic Kolkata weather and many more hardships, importantly bounced back surpassing all obstacles. I will pen down an account of my memories in 2013 in a week or two. Well, today I have a different agenda for writing.

My not so positive attitude:

“It's not what we do once in a while that shapes our lives. It's what we do consistently.” ...Anthony Robins

I started ‘Mai Narendra…..’, my personal blog about 15 months ago with the intent to share my learning from books through book reviews and summary, to express my gratitude for all the good things I have and to all those who have influenced me to live a much better life through my Daily Gratitude pages, share my small and big accomplishments, major milestones achieved in life, and journey through my ongoing fitness program(s).  More importantly, I wanted to make writing my habit and in the process strengthen my writing skills which will take me one step closer to realizing my dream of writing a world’s best-selling book.

I had been yearning to write my comeback article. It took me 3 long months to do so. Each day I was thinking, will write some masterpiece and then publish. Once again, that master piece didn’t happen. I was confused and in a state of anxiety as to what I should write. I am a man of commitment and when I was not able to fulfill this commitment made with self, I was feeling real bad. Every single day I was feeling guilty that I did not write. The worst part was although I felt anxious, although I felt guilty; I was doing nothing about it. Extreme procrastination!

Purpose of today’s writing: 

And then I thought, Let me start. Let me begin by sharing my thoughts. Some of the toxins I had been carrying for long are procrastination, distractions, lack of consistency in things I do. Sometime I do lack motivation. Last year I failed on the phase 2 of my fitness program, Mission 70 (my goal to attain a weight of 70 Kg), I made all excuses not to go to Gym. I was neither consistent on reading, writing nor other endeavors of my Life. 

I later realized such an attitude will not take me to my dreams. I must do something about it. Last week, I took time out for self-talk, for an introspection. I came to the conclusion that three critical ingredients which prepare the recipe of SUCCESS are Motivation, Habit and Consistency. Today, through my writing I encourage you to count for these 3 words in 2014 and beyond. 

Motivation, Habit and Consistency are three key ingredients required to prepare the recipe of SUCCESS .…Narendra Gupta                                                                                                                                            

Through my Blog, I wanted to inspire myself and others with pearls of wisdom from some of the all-time Greats (Writers, Leaders, Philanthropists), to motivate my-self through small public commitments and sticking to my fitness program when I just feel that I will give up, when I just feel I cannot put restraint anymore… and in the entire process make motivation my habit. I deeply believe in the fact (yes, a fact) Motivation is an essential fuel to keep the human engine running. Zig Ziglar has placed the chemistry between motivation and habit in his words: “Motivation gets you going and habit gets you there. Make Motivation a habit and you will get there more quickly and have more fun on the trip.”

 

Like we need food, water and air to remain energized to work and live, I would go on to say we need ‘motivation’ to stay focused and positive towards a Goal. In the words of one of my favorite Author and Leader, John C Maxwell:

Motivation helps people who know what they should do …to do it!

Motivation helps people what commitment they should make...to make it!

Motivation helps people who know what habits they should break…to break it!

Motivation helps people what path they should take …to take it!       

Motivation makes it possible to accomplish what you should accomplish.

Another powerful and revolutionary word to count for is ‘Consistency’ for this is the word which demarcates between Mediocre and the Great. And when I say ‘consistency’; it doesn’t just mean a week, a month, or a year but many, yes many years of continued practice to become a master at something.  Today as a blogger, Narendra may not be read by many, he may be average in his writing skills, he may be making mistakes here and there, but what will happen if he continues writing for say next 20 years or so, he will definitely improve exponentially as a Writer. Yes, consistency yields result eventually. The words of Eddie Cantor “It takes twenty years to become an overnight success” says it all. I would add here that along with consistency, we must keep raising our bars every single day. World renowned Billionaire Business Leader, Bill Britt has said always do what it takes plus little bit more, plus little bit more. So I would say, let us all make consistency a habit (along with other good habits) this new year (more on this later). Samuel Johnson highlighting the power of habits has said “the chains of habit are too weak to be felt until they are too strong to be broken”.

New things happening in Life:  

A lot has happened since my Day 194 post. I said a heart-felt Goodbye to my family who came to see me off at the Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose International Airport in the first week of December. A 15-hour non-stop flight and all in darkness (it started at 2 am and kept away from Sun all those hours) brought me to one of the most developed nations of the world, USA in the ‘dawn’ time, thankfully. Ever since I landed in the land of opportunities, I have met some of the incredible people hugely successful in their professions, celebrated New Year Party for the first time on a big forum and along with hundreds of people, attended one of the Business Seminars I had been longing to attend since childhood days. 

And that’s not all. I successfully paid back my Education Loan I had taken some 4 years back. I am well on track to another Career Progression. I am so thankful to God for all Grace and blessings he has showered. Legendary Zig Ziglar says, the more you express gratitude for what you have, the more things you will have to express gratitude for.

M70 Phase 2 was a big time failure last year. Overcoming my procrastination and for a change this year I have named my Fitness Program ‘Mission 72’, my endeavor to attain 72 Kgs (instead of 70) from 81 Kgs in 6 months (yes my laziness has brought me back to square one :P). Latest status on M72 is M1W3D9 (Please read as Month 1, Week 3, Day 9). Let me tell you one thing here, working-out is just not about losing that extra flab from your body, it’s more about maintaining your fitness levels. I urge each one of you reading me today to devote at-least 30 minutes, five days a week to exercising. Apart from fitness benefits, it will give you a sound sleep, increased focus, peace of mind and enhanced level of productivity. 

My Final Words: 

Although 2014 is over a month and a half older, this being my first blog in the New Year, I wish you a very happy and happening 2014. 2014 is the year to say NO to Procrastination, NO to Laziness, NO to Giving-up, NO to Worries, NO to staying in our comfort zone, NO to bad habits we have been carrying for long, NO to saying negative words, NO to distractions, NO to time wasting activities, NO to ‘React’, NO to Fear of Success, NO to Fear to Failure, NO to Self-doubt, NO to Negative thinking, NO to all the Negative Energy, NO to all the people who put you down, who bust your dreams and YES to all our DREAMS, YES to all our GOALS, YES to Creativity, YES to Innovation, YES to Action, YES to EXERCISE, YES to HAPPINESS, YES to Reading, YES to ‘RESPOND’, YES to Positivity, YES to the pursuit of the best, YES to Self Belief, Yes, Yes, Yes and a still big YES to LIFE.

 

Live life enthusiastically. World famous photographer, Gordon Parks has said: “Enthusiasm is the electricity of life. And how do you get it? You act enthusiastic until you make it a habit.”  I wish you the very best in 2014. I wish each one of you accomplish your goals set for 2014 and surge one step closer to achieving your Life time goals, your Life time dreams. One thing I urge you is set your standards HIGH, please do justice with yourself, you are worth way more than you think you are, set your GOALs HIGH. No dream is too big. I have achieved all my dreams set so far, I am on track to achieving others and there is no reason why you cannot. Obstacles will come your way, there will be times when you will feel like giving up, when you will feel like you have lost the way, these are the times when you need to be keep moving steady and have faith in yourself and almighty. Remember, as author, Art Williams has put in his words, “I am not telling you it’s going to be easy – I am telling you it’s going to be worth it.”

 

The point Narendra urges each one of you reading him today is to make 2014 an year of your absolute best chasing all your dreams and goals with 3 words ‘Consistency’, ‘habit’ and ‘motivation’ deep inside your soul. I am going to follow it religiously, Are You? 

Wishing you all the successes and happiness you crave for..

Narendra Gupta

10:45pm