Top 5 life lessons learnt after reading 2000 inspiring short stories

The reason stories can teach us a lot is - The escape factor of stories makes it highly entertaining. They pass the time. They’re fun. The fun factor enables stories to fulfill their other functions. One of the most basic functions of the story is to teach. We use stories to quickly and easily learn facts; research shows that we retain facts more readily (read more about it- https://goo.gl/4j39no)

That is the reason that a year back, I decided to read a lot of stories to improve myself. Stories not just about success but also about how to be a better person, better at relationships, better at controlling emotions – a holistic approach towards life.

I started reading positive short stories on the internet and books, but I could not find a source where I could get more than 50 quality (not quantity) short stories. Therefore, I decided to create one, by collecting stories from different sources. Then I thought- anyway I am collecting these stories, why not share with others via WhatsApp. I was sure there would be people like me who would love to read stories.

Initially, the response was low, some 250 people were on the list. Slowly the list started to grow. In fact, this initiative got such a good response that moment you type Rupak Shah on google, it auto predicts stories.

Right now, about 3000 people receive stories via WhatsApp and more than 227 stories are shared via WhatsApp (You can get access to earlier 170 stories via our blog - rupakshah.com/stories).

To find one good story I at least have to read 10 stories. Therefore in all, I have read more than 2000 positive short stories and here at the top 5 things that I have learnt from it.

1- Success comes to humans and not to animals 

To be permanently successful, you have to deserve it. For deserving success, you need to get over your animal instincts. By animal instincts I mean, taking decisions based only on your emotions only.

It’s because of humanity we have achieved so much more as compared to other species. Therefore - you can’t leave humanity behind. Your focus should not be to just better at work but also to be better human being - Caring for others, helping others, solving the needs of customers, giving them more value, being in good relationship with your loved ones etc. In short being control of your emotions rather than another way around.

Therefore don’t focus on just earning money but also on being a better individual.

2- Nature will help you provided you help nature 

Nature doesn’t care about you or me but it definitely cares about the survival of our human species. It wants the better species to survive. Therefore if you are making a positive impact on people and making the society’s lives better, then humanity will surely help you.

Make sure that your service/product makes the life’s of others simpler, easier and happier in a positive way. Play a key role in making humanity better and nature will, in turn, help you.

Never get in the mind set of people should serve you because you are successful but it’s the other way around. The higher you want to reach, more people you should help. As Zig Ziglar said – "You will get all you want in life if you help enough other people get what they want,"

This is also what religion call as karma, good karma will surely return to you in form of some person or some opportunity. It will take time – days/months/years or sometimes decades but it will be worth it. Therefore be patient. That brings me to our next learning point.

3- Do the most difficult thing - having patience 

Stories of all the successful people have one thing common - these people had an enormous amount of patience. As in the book “8 to be great,” author Richard St. John calls this to be impatiently patient. Impatient on the day to day basis but patience when it comes to yearly basis. To be great, successful people are definitely pushing in day to day work but on the long term basis, they have a lot of patience. When you have patience, you have the ability to think for and long term basis.

When you are playing for the long term, you don’t get stressed by some failures because you know that within a year or two, you will overcome it. Having patience also gives you the strength to say no to quick but wrong paths – no misleading adds, no to false promises, fake testimonials etc. As Gary V says in his videos, don’t play for 2020, play for 2040.

4- Happiness and success is directly linked but to a certain limit

1- Money can’t bring you happiness

2- Only money can bring you happiness

These are the two wrong extreme mindsets. The reality is – money does bring you happiness but to a certain limit. What is that certain limit – it’s the money you will require to never worry about your day to day needs – food, house rent and other rentals. If you are struggling to meet basic needs then don’t get in the mindset of that money can’t bring you happiness.

Once you are past that, the relationship between money and happiness becomes independent. If you are financially independent and still not happy but you will feel more money will bring you happiness then – you are completely wrong. You need to focus on other things - relationship with your friend’s, family or any other hobby which you needed to do or any other profession or place you wish to explore.

You can be successful and happy but you don’t need to be successful to be happy.

5- Question things

One day as Edwin Land was walking on the beach, he took a picture with his camera, and his daughter asked a simple question: “Why can’t I see the picture right now?” this is how George got the idea for instant pictures and invented polaroid process.

Our educational system never encourages us to ask good questions. But if you don’t ask good questions you will end up losing the ability of free will and creative thinking. Therefore always get in the habit of questioning things. If something works, find out why it works if something does not then why it does not. It’s the questioning ability gives you the skill set to see an object with 360 degrees.

Questioning is not just to others but to yourself. Regularly get in the habit of questioning yourself. What is the reason for what you are doing? As Steve jobs in his 2005, Stanford Commencement Address said -

"When I was 17, I read a quote that went something like: “If you live each day as if it was your last, someday you’ll most certainly be right.” It made an impression on me, and since then, for the past 33 years, I have looked in the mirror every morning and asked myself: “If today were the last day of my life, would I want to do what I am about to do today?” And whenever the answer has been “No” for too many days in a row, I know I need to change something."

Therefore get in the habit of asking one good question every day.

These are the top 5 things I learnt by reading more than 2000 stories.

1. Success comes to humans and not to animals 
2. Nature will help you provided you help nature 
3. Do the most difficult thing - having patience 
4. Happiness and success is directly limited but to a certain limit
5. Question things

Please do let me know with which learning you could conncet with the most.

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WhatsApp story initiative is something about which I am getting day by day more passionate about. It has helped me a lot and now helping thousands of people. Be a part of that list, by messaging your name and “stories” to 91-8286-211-823 (Rupak) and save that number.”

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