Modern Wisdom, Ancient Roots- 5 Takeaways
5 key insights from the book, Modern Wisdom, Ancient Roots: The Movers and Shakers’ Guide to Unstoppable Success by Srikumar S. Rao.
“You cannot teach old dog new tricks.” But you can.?
Most of us say it’s my nature and it’s impossible to change. We believe, once we reach adulthood we have been fundamentally shaped and will not change much for the rest of our lives.
But you can change.?
This change can happen in a moment and can be lasting. The nineteenth-century Indian sage, Sri Ramakrishna asked, “Imagine a cave sealed in a mountain for thousands of years. Then you remove the rocks that have blocked its entrance. Does the darkness dissipate little by little? Or does it vanish instantly?”
The trick is to learn how to engineer this change- by changing the mental models you use to view the world.?
Recognizing these mental models you hold requires hard work but as you make changes in them, everything changes.
The most important thing is “location, location, location”. We live in messy space.
Where you live determines how happy you are and yet, most of us choose to live in a place that is surrounded by chaos. We don’t live in a house, we live in our minds.?
Our mind is our permanent residence.
It’s a vast space and we have the power to draw and redraw our boundaries. No matter how grand our houses are, our life is only good when things are sorted in our mind. Yet that is where everything is messy.?
Regrets, expectations, secrets, worries, comparisons, complexes, anxieties.
Be aware. Observe your mental chatter and note how it takes you to places and then triggers you.?
Where do we direct the flashlight of our awareness? Shine it on the problems in our life.?
Direct the flashlight of your awareness to the chair in which you are sitting. You become aware of the pressure on the seat, feel the fabric, the comfort it gives. Thirty seconds ago you were not aware of any of this.
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What does a flashlight do? Illuminates whatever you shine it on.?
What about the things that are actually pretty good about our life? We never direct our flashlight of awareness on them, so they pass by in the background.?
You are incredibly privileged. You are breathing, have a job, a roof over your head, loved ones. All of this is a big deal but you feel put upon because of where you shine the flashlight of your awareness.
Do not dwell on your negatives, dwell on the many ways in which you are better than that of most of the world.
Consciously, shine the flashlight of your awareness on the several things in which you are blessed.
Resilience is your ability to bounce back from adversity. Good thing, bad thing or who knows?
Go back in your past. Can you recall anything that happened that, at that time you thought “This is terrible?” But now, with time and wisdom, you can look back upon it and say, “That happened for the best”.?
What you once labeled as”bad” can turn out to be “good”.
Is it possible that what you’re today about to label “bad” could eventually turn out to be a good thing?”
Just asking yourself certain questions can take you to a different domain. “What can I proactively do to actually make it a good thing?”?
You move seamlessly from the realm of despair to the realm of possibility.
Feces will drop from the sky. It always does. That is the nature of life.
Most live with this thinking that what you want to happen should happen and it makes your day terrific and if that doesn’t happen, the day is not going well. You confuse having a terrific day with things that have nothing to do with having a terrific day.
When unwanted stuff happens, ask yourself, “Am I going to let this steal my day?”?
When unwanted stuff happens it means there is some unexpected cleanup you need to put into your terrific day. It’s simple.
Get into the habit of not allowing anything steal your fantastic day from you and you will be pleasantly surprised at how many of your days become marvelous.
Make a conscious, mindful decision everyday that you are going to have a fantastic day.?