Life is a Race! Well, Make it F-1!!

Part - II

This my friend who was supposed to meet me online yesterday, requested for rescheduling this discussion for today. I am telling you he is really crushed under the workload or rather he doesn't know how to manage his life. Anyways, I am going to give him some tips based on my experience. So I am connecting him....

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Mannu: Hi Mac, I hope you have sufficient time today for our call.

Mac: Hey Mannu, I promise, today I will not leave the discussion incomplete and really sorry I couldn’t make it yesterday as I had a late evening conference call with my overseas client. By the way, I read your other articles on LinkedIn.

Mannu: Good, so what’s your take?

Mac: Mannu, such articles are good reads but implementing them is not easy, you know it!

Mannu: Yah, if you say so. But for me nothing is impossible!

Mac: Okay, then tell me how do you do it.

Mannu: Actually, I agree with you that changing habits is not so easy, but it is not impossible too. You just need determination. But we will come to that later. Let us continue our yesterday’s discussion. You were saying that life is a race.

Mac: Yes, I said so!

Mannu: I too think your life has really become a race, a rat race! You are crushed under your office workload! If I consider my Life as a Race then I will better try to make it a Formula 1 Race!

Mac: What you mean?

Mannu: I believe in making things grand. Why to remain ordinary? So, if life is a race then let it be the Formula 1 race. I will not live average life and I will explain how you can even make it different. First, tell me your daily routine.

Mac: Nothing special; wake up by 7am, get ready for office, leave home by 7:45am, face crazy traffic and reach office by 8:30am, spend most of the day at office, sometimes late evenings, then go home, watch some TV, eat and sleep!

Mannu: That’s for weekdays. How about Weekends?

Mac: In recent times on most of the Saturdays I am at office, you know project completion targets!

Mannu: And Sundays?

Mac: Don’t you think I deserve a good rest after having worked so hard for a week? Usually I get up very late on Sundays, then go out with Family / Friends, catch up with social media friends and rest again.

Mannu: No wonder! Where is your own life in this routine my friend? 

Mac: Oh, you think I am a ghost! :-) :-)

Mannu: No … you are not a ghost, rather you are a rat, .... living your life like a rat race!

Mac: So, what exactly is your point?

Mannu: You are not living your life, you are just slogging to fulfill somebody else’s dreams! By the way, do you read any books? When did you read a book last time?

Mac: I already told you my routine, there is no time for such luxury of reading books. Actually, I bought a book 5 months ago but could not read more that 10-15 pages so far.

Mannu: What! That’s ………, I don’t even know what to say!

Mac: No but I read a lot on social media like facebook, whatsapp etc. :-) :-)

Mannu: Now you are joking! :-) …… Ok so, do you even have any agenda other than your office work and social media? What’s the purpose of your life? What do you want to do in your own personal life?

Mac: Oh, that’s simple. Work hard and earn lot of money while I am young. If I have enough money, I can do anything that I like.

Mannu: And when will you do all that?

Mac: I have weekends and even the 2nd half of my life for the enjoyment.

Mannu: What if you do not live for long?

Mac: Come on, what’s wrong with me?

Mannu: Nothing!! …….but I seriously think you need to plan and manage your life better.

Mac: Is it any project, that I should plan it? :-)

Mannu: Look, I am just trying to help you if you want to enjoy your life!

Mac: Ok, go ahead.

Mannu: Let us make some actionable points for you, following which you will have high chances of getting better in life. I am following these things for some time and already experiencing the better me in myself. Are you ready?

Mac: Yes, please tell me.

Mannu: Fine, you may note them.

1. Don’t be workaholic: You must not forget that you have a personal life as well; don’t be workaholic always! You should work hard and play hard. Do you think staying late at work is really considered as a virtue? It’s not. Instead of being busy be productive, be efficient and then you may not have to even work extra hours or on Weekends. The late evening overseas client meetings can be even attended from home; are you not using an online tool for such meetings?

2. Find the purpose of your life: Apart from the work targets you should also know what really you want to be in life, what you want to achieve. You must find out your purpose and your passion. In case your profession is not aligned with your passion as well as your life purpose then you should make conscious efforts to realign this. It will not happen overnight or in few days, but it can certainly happen over the period of time with right actions. You will notice that the people who followed their passion are very successful. Of course, you may have more than one passion, just follow them. Among your busy schedule you must find time to do at least two things a day that will improve your personal life. Like every organization has Mission, Vision and Goals you should also have the same for your personal life.

3. Integrate Professional and Personal Lives: We spend considerable time of our life in the office. At least one third of the day. Many people say that we should have “Work Life Balance”. But I have learnt that it is not possible to segregate Professional Life and Personal Life in the today’s digital world. As long as you are connected, you are online, which is the case most often, then the two facets of life cannot be separated. Your social media messages will keep popping up even during office hours and on the other hand the official emails will keep dropping even during non-office hours and you will keep receiving the alerts for all that. So how do you manage this situation? The solution is to integrate the two lives, don’t try to separate them from one another. Learn the art of managing the two simultaneously. After all we are in the age of multiprocessing and multitasking systems! So, let us be one! :-)

4. Control your day: Make plan for each day and follow it relentlessly; it is very important. Don’t face the things as they come up. Prepare a task list and ensure that the planned tasks are completed every day. In fact, have timeline for each task and try to remain within the timelines. You might find it difficult in the beginning, but you will master it with some practice. Of course, have some time buffered for the unplanned activities. Also follow the tips on ‘Being Proactive’ and ‘Time Management’ from my other articles. If you want to control your life, start controlling each day! As you might get busy in later part of the day, start devoting some time for yourself in the morning hours and likewise reserve some time for yourself before retiring for the day.

 4.1 Start your day with Morning Rituals: Do some positive things while your mind and body are refreshed after a good rest in the night. This is the best time of the day. I used to do some Yoga and Prayers in the morning. Now I have started SAVERS, it’s quite interesting and it goes like this:

S: Silence – Make your mind calm, meditate for some time. You must have heard many advantages of meditation.

A: Affirmations – Listen / read / tell yourself positive things. This has great impact on our subconscious mind. Especially if you want to motivate yourself and build positive attitude then do the affirmations. Just declare to yourself that you are going to achieve everything that you are planning to do. Even to overcome some of your shortcomings, while you will practically do the things to remove those shortcomings if you tell your mind every morning that you want to overcome those shortcomings then the Affirmations help. Try it.  

V: Visualize – Imagine that you have already achieved your goals and enjoying the life. Portray a picture in your mind how your life will be after achieving your goals. The visualization always helps you in boosting our own confidence. But let me give you a word of caution; if you just visualize but do not take appropriate actions then it will just remain as a “Daydreaming”. I hope you remember a TV serial “Mungerilal ke Hasin Sapane”; so, don’t be that Mungerilal. Actions are very important along with Visualization.   

E: Exercise – Extremely important! Suppose, you have achieved everything that you have desired in life and you have everything to live a happy life, but your health is not supporting you, then what’s the use of everything you have achieved? It certainly does not make any sense to me. So, from now on Health should be your First Priority. No matter what, you must exercise in the morning. Even if do not want to be a body builder, at least do some minimum exercises that will keep you fit and fine. You can choose any exercise that suits you well but try to do somethings that will sweat you out, that helps in throwing out the toxins from the body.

R: Read – Read something good in the morning. That book you purchased 5 months ago, start reading it again and read at least 2-3 pages if not a chapter every morning. It is a good habit. It opens up your mind and lets you think in 360 degrees.

S: Scribble – Pen down your thoughts. It helps in expressing yourself which will help you in many ways in your life. If you have very good knowledge of a subject but you can not explain it to anyone in simple words, then what’s the use of that knowledge? Scribbling helps you explaining your ideas and thoughts.

These Morning Rituals will boost your energy levels throughout the day, you won’t feel tired.

4.2 Call it a day with relaxed mind. It is equally important to end your day with the activities that will relax your mind so that you can sleep well and recharge your body with good rest. Finish your dinner at least 1.5 hours before you go to bed. Avoid using Smart Devices 1 hour prior to sleeping and do not even watch TV. Rather, do some prayers and read some pages of a book before sleeping.

5. Follow Discipline: This is the most difficult thing but nothing else is more important than this! If you want to get better in life then “Discipline” is the keyword. You must have strong determination to follow discipline. Motivation gets you going but Discipline keeps you growing.

Mannu: So Mac, I hope you will be able to do all this!

Mac: Wow, this is a lot! I have a doubt, are you even doing all these things? Or just a lecture for me? :-)

Mannu: :-) Yes, I do most of these things every day, of course once in a while I miss 1 or 2 things but that’s Ok; at least I am trying. You know what, the things seem to be difficult only until you try them. Actually, the SAVERS term itself sounded bit funny to me in the beginning, but I tried everything and later I was amazed with the results I got, now I am following it seriously.

Mac: Nice! I believe most of the points you have shared will work for me as well. If I start my day in a good mood, my entire day will be good; if I start the day with positive vibes, my entire day will be positive.

Mannu: Certainly! Now, let me tell you another simple experience I have. You know I like music. Sometimes I keep singing a particular song many times in a day. When I tried to find out how that happens, I noticed something very interesting. On the way to office in the morning I used to hear some songs on FM radio. If I like any song among those ones, then the same song remains in my memory throughout the day. Similarly, any good thing that I will do in the morning while my mind is very fresh, it will keep resonating throughout the day. Isn’t it?

Mac: Yah, I get your point. And I think I should follow your footsteps.

Mannu: Please do! We will catch up after a month to take a follow up. What say?

Mac: Yah, sure. I hope I will be able to follow all these things with discipline.

Mannu: Well, the choice is yours, decide whether you want to bear the pain of discipline or the pain of regret! Commit yourself, if you are serious about transforming your life.

Mac: Fine man. I will do it! Probably I will hit the bed bit earlier in the night and get up about an hour earlier than usual so that I will be able to have some time for myself.

Mannu: Great, all the best! I know you can do it.

Mac: But I may need your assistance in finding my passion and to be sure that I am capturing my life Goals, Mission and Vision correctly. May be another session.

Mannu: Sure, any time. I am happy that I am able to help you.

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That’s it.

I am glad that I was able to give some good tips to my friend. And I am quite certain that even before completing a month he is going to call me back to share his positive experience!

I have shared with my friend what worked for me, I am sure it will work for him. Why don’t you all try it as well?

I have found my purpose; I want to give back to the society and contribute my own share to make a better world!

Hope to share more life experiences through next articles.

Do leave your feedback in the comments. Don’t even hesitate to contact me privately if you need any friendly advice, I will try my best to help you.