22 Lessons Learned From The Year 2022??

Hello everyone,

Hope you had a wonderful week and are having a fun weekend. The last few days, I saw many people doing a year wrap-up kind of thing. Where they share some lessons learned from the last year, reflecting on their journeys, and sharing them with the world. And I thought let me also do the same. And trust me when I started writing these 22 lessons from the 2022 list, I felt overwhelmed. 22 is a huge number, and I thought maybe this is not my thing, I can not complete 22 points and why do it when so many people have already done that? And then I thought of taking it up as a humble challenge, coz there would be many people who would drop it at this same point. So, throughout the week, whenever something popped up in my mind I kept adding to the list and finally I completed it! Woohoo, a small cheer for myself on that …??

So, let’s get started with my first yearly reflection list- 22 lessons from 2022?

1. If you don’t ask, the answer is always NO

Credit goes to Ankur Warikoo ! With this simple-looking advice, I was able to get free from a lot of overloaded work at my office. Your bosses and managers are not your enemies, if you try to ask politely with a genuine reason at heart, they are gonna help you out!

2. You gotta start investing in learning

Credit goes to Siddharth Rajsekar ! Initially, I was so skeptical about investing in online programs but once I did, I realized- If I had not taken that step, I would have simply lost this year! So much has changed in the last quarter of 2022, since I met this wonderful mentor of mine :)

3. You do not need to live in Poles

We often see people fighting on the internet over two poles of a situation, however, if you look close enough you will understand that both arguments are correct in their own aspects. For example- it is good to run fast for a race, but a slow walk with your loved ones is equally important… So instead of fighting for just one side of the coin, it is better to find the right balance and continue.

4. You always have a choice

Confession- I am a big-time binge-watcher and the credit goes to Arya - the series. When we are stuck in a situation of distress, it seems as if there’s only one way out, but there is more, always. All you need to do is take pause and calm your breath a bit (yes, it is not easy, but tried and tested). Within hours, if not minutes, you will see the other way around.

5. You need to zoom out

In tough times, it feels like being stuck in a big traffic jam. But, can you ever honk your way out of a traffic jam? No… By honking and screaming you are only gonna irritate other passengers on the road. At this moment, if you could just zoom out a bit and glance at the situation from a distance, you will see there’s a small diversion that you can take which leads to the clear road ahead :)

6. You are not what they say

I do not know how but somehow while growing up, we absorb a lot of insecurities, often unconsciously. Someone might have cracked a joke around something and we took it a little too seriously, oh you don’t dance well, oh you don’t look well, etc. But these all are just their perceptions, not the reality! And we need to understand that, very deeply.

7. You have to stop fighting the nature

A- You have to stop fighting with your true nature and accept who you are, however you are.

B- You have to stop fighting with mother nature. It is grander than either of us and we would cease to exist if one day nature decides to take an off-route!

8. Start loving yourself

You can not give something that you do not have! So, if you want to give love in your relationships, first start loving yourself. Start caring about your physical body, your mental health, and your emotions. Only then you will be able to direct this love and care to the outside world.

9. Only a few choose to stick with you

Once you start doing something off-route, most of the people you knew will start falling sideways. We don't lose friends only in times of struggle, but sometimes on the road to success also.

10. Detox your emotional space

We talk a lot about detoxing our body, but detoxing your emotional space is equally or I will say far more important. “A strong mind can carry a weak body, but a weak mind can not carry even a strong body”- Sri Sri Ravi Shankar.

11. Start cleaning your digital space

Credit again goes to Siddharth Rajsekar ! We are living in the 2020s - the most digitally powered time so far. How great it may seem, but the digital chaos is at an all-time high. You have to take out some time to declutter the junk in your mailbox, mobile phone, social media, and so on.

12. What you give, is what you gonna get

This is not a new concept, but I surely realized it more in the last year. I strongly believe everything inside us around us is all an 'energy game'. If you don’t like my point, then maybe you will like what Newton said- “Every action has an equal and opposite reaction”. It is applicable from the biggest actions to the smallest action of each one of us. Or if you don’t even like Newton, maybe you will understand it through the Vedas- Karma.

13. Take your eyes off the screen

Since this work-from-home scenario kicked in, I have found myself switching swiftly between screens throughout the day- hone>laptop>phone>television>laptop>phone>loop… And this is seriously damaging the way we treat our lives and it needs to change. So, as soon as I noticed this loop going on, I started taking short 5-minute gaps every other hour when I was not looking at any digital screen and it works like magic.

14. Doing nothing is a skill

When was the last time you were doing nothing? No, I don’t mean doing nothing productive, but just doing nothing. No phone, no book, no thought, no sleep, just sitting by yourself, maybe on an open roof, under the sky, or in your bed… Every week you should keep an hour where you religiously practice doing nothing, it might bore you at the start, but slowly you’ll notice a massive boost in your productivity.

15. Be careful while taking advice

In our country somehow it is a birthright to share bits of advice, that too without consent. It is understandable if the person sharing the advice has some genuine concern or care for you, but it is you who has to decide whether to take-up up that advice or brush it aside.

16. Only You can hurt yourself

There is no one on the planet who can hurt you unless you give them the power to. Read again.

17. Kaala or Time is the supreme force

People are not good or bad, they are simply reacting. It is the time that creates good or bad situations in life and everyone else responds to it as per their inner consciousness and sanskaras. So, always think twice before making perceptions about anyone, and analyze the time and situation they are going through.

18. Own your choices & decisions

After making a decision, it is super important that you stay in tune with all its good and bad consequences. If that choice works out, wonderful, but even it if doesn’t, it is still okay. It was your decision and you are completely aligned with it. The problem only occurs when you start blaming someone else for the not-so-good outcomes of your decisions.

19. Support yourself

If you have been reading my posts or watching my videos for some time, you will notice I am the first person who hits that like button on all of my posts. It may seem comic but I feel it empowering. If you don’t like your work, if you don’t stand with your thoughts, how can you expect the world to support it?

20. Stay open to newness

While growing up, we absorb a lot of different emotions, we pick up on multiple circumstances feelings, etc. And by those, we form certain perceptions in our minds. And whenever we encounter any new situation, our first instinct is to relate it with something from the past, match it with a preconceived notion and label it. But there is so much we have not yet seen and it is not justified to judge something or someone without actually knowing it.

21. Being wrong is not wrong

Just a few months back, I was so afraid to start this content creation journey. What if it does not work out, what if I could not produce videos every week, what if this what if that, and so on… But, eventually, I made peace with the ifs and buts. I am not sure right now, but I am fine with being wrong. Somewhere I read that fear is temporary and regret is forever.

22. Your “life” is bigger than any of this

The Universe exists for You. No, that’s not an exaggeration! Would this world mean anything if you did not exist? Would that salary hike mean anything if you are not around to cash it? Would that grudge you are holding even matter if you are gone? No, right? Your life, the fact that you are a living and breathing soul matters so so much more than any other thing.

And with that, I would like to wrap up today’s edition. Also, the last edition for 2022. The only thing I would urge each one of you, who’s reading or listening to me right now is that You are special and you matter. The world would cease to exist if you are not doing what you are doing.

“We are all connected; To each other, biologically. To the earth, chemically. To the rest of the universe atomically.”— Neil deGrasse Tyson

Thank?you for reading this far. Hope you have a powerful week ahead!

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