The weekend dose of motivation to do what is difficult....

A few days back, I came across the acclaimed series, 'Kota Factory' on Netflix. Had heard a lot about this show but somehow missed watching it. I was hooked to the reality of the show and the honest depiction of 16-18 year old students studying in Kota coaching centres to crack IIT's.

That's not what stayed with me though. What stayed with me was the pragmatic yet inspirational teacher/ self proclaimed agony aunt, Jeetu Bhaiyya. And his iconic 21 days dialogue. Probably more motivating than SRK's 'Sattar Minute' speech.

When the lead character Vaibhav ( a student in class 11 and new to Kota) struggles with adjusting to the harsh realities of living and studying outside home, the physics teacher and prodigy, Jeetu Sir gives him a reality check of his own and a strategy to do what is difficult.

Short transcript - He tells the class and Vaibhav that he is not a special kid, nor is anyone else who comes to Kota with ambitions of cracking IIT. That every year, hundreds of students struggle with this new routine - bad hostel food, a tough schedule, long classes, health issues. So what is the solution?

He tells Vaibhav to just hunker down and take it up as a challenge. But just for 21 days..... the time it takes to forget an old habit or cement a new one.

He asks Vaibhav to make it an ego tussle - that he should do just the things he hates doing now - the things that are difficult for him now. If he hates the hostel food, he should only eat that, unthinkingly. If he finds sitting for long hours difficult, he should do just that. If he can't solve a problem, he should stick with it and try to solve it every possible way. Or learn how to solve it from others/ resources. Also, to make sure he sticks to his schedule, he should make it public - tell his peers and friends so they hold him accountable.

Jeetu Bhaiyya gives his own example of quitting smoking by making it public and also offering a monetary incentive to people around him to stop him from smoking.

Essentially, he is talking about the simplest and best productivity habit:

Build Knowledge With Grit+ Make It Into A Habit + Trick Your Brain With An Ego Challenge/Game

What does this mean for us?

This weekend, let's take some time out to understand what is difficult for us and what are we trying to avoid? Let's create the same strategy around it for 21 days and see if it works for us too. If you hate budgeting, force yourself to track your expenses. If you hate exercising, take a 21 day challenge. If you are finding a new aspect of your job intimidating, learn how to master it. Do whatever it takes, but just for 21 days.

My personal challenges are:

• Exercising for 30 minutes everyday.
• Writing atleast 500 words everyday.

Let's get going and master our weaknesses! :)

Btw, if you want me to create a separate article on all the things we can learn from Jeetu Bhaiyya's character, then please drop a line in comments. Happy Weekend!