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
