In ancient times, the rules of nature were easy. If you didn’t compete for food, shelter or women, you would die. We still compete for those things, but the competition actually makes us weaker.
When we compete, two negative things can happen.
We start imitating the competition
We focus too much on our competitor, instead of our business
In our personal lives, we often imitate our competitors. We all compete on some level with colleagues, friends, and family. This will make you lose your identity and dignity. True power comes from within. Don’t compete with others. You don’t have to have a better car.
You can also apply this to business. When Microsoft and Google were focussing on each other, Apple became one of the biggest tech companies in the world. Microsoft dropped the ball because they only focused on Apple. In the meantime, Apple focused on innovation and creating value.
In life and business, it’s not a case of “best” so and so. That’s only true in sports. But in life, most things are subjective. Being different is what matters more. And in business, the ones who are first win.
Competition itself is bad because it’s not the point. Focus on the value that you add, not on how much better you are compared to someone else.
“Your competition is not other people but the time you kill, the ill will you create, the knowledge you neglect to learn, the connections you fail to build, the health you sacrifice along the path, your inability to generate ideas, the people around you who don’t support and love your efforts, and whatever god you curse for your bad luck.” – James Altucher
One of my readers recently replied this to one of my weekly newsletter emails:
“How are you so positive?”
I thought to myself, “Haven’t I written about this before?” I went through all my articles and the answer is no. I have written about the importance of having a positive mindset a lot.
But after 6 years of blogging, this was the first time I got that question. And it’s so on point. Sometimes we take things for granted. Even though I’ve experienced many challenges in life (like almost every other human being), I never gave up my positive mindset.
Often, we look at the world and consider it negative. That’s not a surprise. Because taking one glance at a news website will make the steadiest person depressed. It happens to me too. But calling the world negative is a misjudgment.
That will only cause frustration. The Stoic philosopher Epictetus made that evident in his teachings, two thousand years ago (quote is from The Good Life Handbook):
“So when we are frustrated, angry or unhappy, let’s hold ourselves responsible for these emotions because they are the result of our judgments.”
The Stoic perspective is all about being objective in your perceptions. When your thoughts become negative “because” of something, you’re making misjudgments. Epictetus continues:
“No one else is responsible for them. When you blame others for your negative feelings, you are being ignorant. When you blame yourself for your negative feelings, you are making progress. You are being wise when you stop blaming yourself or others.”
Not blaming others nor yourself is one of the most important things if you want to stay positive. But there are also 4 other things I do to stay positive. Here they are.
1. Practice gratitude
Taking a few moments every day to write down a few things you’re grateful for changes your perspective. The funny thing about this practice is that when you read about it, you think, “It can’t be THAT effective!”
I was exactly the same. But once I started actively practicing gratitude, I felt more in control of my life. A while back, I stopped writing about the things that make me feel grateful. For the first few weeks, I didn’t feel any different.
But after a few months, I noticed that I complained more than usual. I was also more frustrated compared to before. When I started practicing gratitude again, I went back to being consistent. Consistently calm, that is.
A lot of our frustration comes from what other people do or say. “OMG! I can’t believe he said that! How does he dare?!”
Well, maybe it’s time to lighten up a bit. We overanalyze every single thing people say and do. Sometimes, people just do dumb things. Not everything people do is personal.
If you want to live a good life, you can’t take everything personally. Understand that there are more important things to life—things like your health, family, and career.
A partner that doesn’t listen to you, colleagues who piss you off, a landlord that doesn’t fix the drain, the loud neighbors, you name it. No one’s life is perfect and tranquil.
That’s something we really need to understand. But that took me many years. I always thought that you could achieve some kind of magic place in life where you would have no stress and annoying responsibilities.
But then I grew up. Life is basically one challenge after the other. We can’t let that get the best of us. That’s why we need to let it all out.
All your anger, frustration, anxiety, insecurity—it needs to get out of your system. Whether you do that by journaling, talking to a friend, or going to therapy is your choice. Just make sure you don’t keep all those things inside yourself.
4. Focus on improvement
Look, life’s not always pretty. And we tend to overemphasize the bad times. When we experience a setback or negativity, we blow it up in our minds. “This is the worst thing ever.”
Think about it. Is it really? Or is there a way you can improve your life situation? Because that’s how I like to look at it.
Where you are now is a temporary situation. No matter how good or bad it is—this very moment will pass. Do you realize that?
Because if you do, you know that you have a chance to improve your life. And to me, that’s the best use of your time and energy.
Don’t spend one second on feeling sorry for yourself and focus on what you can do NOW to improve something about your life. It doesn’t even matter what it is.
Go for a walk. Take a shower. Shave. Start a journal. Fix something in your house. Write down some ideas. Set a goal.
You can even do those things while you’re feeling bad. Because that’s not the point. As am I writing this article, I’m not feeling well. I ate something bad two days ago, and I have food poisoning symptoms since yesterday morning.
I feel weak. And yet, I feel better mentally after I wrote this article.
In the back of my mind, I know I will recover. I understand this is a small example and much worse things happen in life. But when you practice a positive attitude on the small stuff, you will be better at dealing with the big stuff.
I like how Napoleon Hill, the author of the famous self-help book, Think And Grow Rich, put it:
“If you cannot do great things, do small things in a great way.”
It’s unquestionable: Doing small things will make you feel better. But you don’t need to believe me. Just go and do a small thing now and see it for yourself.
This article is in continuation to How to start coding part-1. So now you have decided which programming language to choose from to starting coding. But here comes the tricky part, learning. There are again tons of resources available to learn from. But it is not humanly possible to scrap through all of those. So in this article, I will show you how you choose from the pool of resources available.
Youtube
The pre-eminent of all the resources, Youtube has “python programming” playlists that are quite lucid. These playlists/courses are free to watch. Similar to classroom learning experience from the comfort of your home, Youtube provides content that is worth laudable.
If you are more into learning from reading rather than watching tutorials, then this site is the perfect place for avid readers like you. With laconic content, it will surely bolster your learning experience. The small bits of example try yourself will surely help you get your foundation laid.
This official documentation of python also provides with lucid explanation for beginners. Along with the explanation, this site also has all the python version released ready to install on your system. Documentation, community, news, events, jobs, everything related to python under one hood.
The list does not end here. There are also other popular resources available. It is not feasible for me to cover all these. Hope you find all these resources useful.
The Indian education system is quite an old education system that still exists. It has produced so many genius minds that are making India proud all over the world. However, while it is one of the oldest systems, it is still not that developed when compared to others, which are in fact newer. This is so as the other countries have gone through growth and advancement, but the Indian education system is still stuck in old age. It faces a lot of problems that need to be sorted to let it reach its full potential.
Problems with Indian Education System
Our Indian education system faces a lot of problems that do not let it prosper and help other children succeed in life. The biggest problem which it has to face is the poor grading system. It judges the intelligence of a student on the basis of academics which is in the form of exam papers. That is very unfair to students who are good in their overall performance but not that good at specific subjects.
Moreover, they only strive to get good marks not paying attention to understanding what is taught. In other words, this encourages getting good marks through mugging up and not actually grasping the concept efficiently.
Furthermore, we see how the Indian education system focuses on theory more. Only a little percentage is given for practical. This makes them run after the bookish knowledge and not actually applying it to the real world. This practice makes them perplexed when they go out in the real world due to lack of practical knowledge.
Most importantly, the Indian education system does not emphasize enough on the importance of sports and arts. Students are always asked to study all the time where they get no time for other activities like sports and arts.
How Can We Improve Indian Education System?
As the Indian Education System is facing so many problems, we need to come up with effective solutions so it improves and creates a brighter future for students. We can start by focusing on the skill development of the students. The schools and colleges must not only focus on the ranks and grades but on the analytical and creative skills of children.
In addition, subjects must not be merely taught theoretically but with practical. This will help in a better understanding of the subject without them having to mug up the whole thing due to lack of practical knowledge. Also, the syllabus must be updated with the changing times and not follow the old age pattern.
Other than that, the government and private colleges must now increase the payroll of teachers. As they clearly deserve more than what they offer. To save money, the schools hire teachers who are not qualified enough. This creates a very bad classroom environment and learning. They must be hired if they are fit for the job and not because they are working at a lesser salary.
In conclusion, the Indian education system must change for the better. It must give the students equal opportunities to shine better in the future. We need to let go of the old and traditional ways and enhance the teaching standards so our youth can get create a better world.
What problems does the Indian Education System face?
Indian education is very old and outdated. It judges students on the basis of marks and grades ignoring the overall performance of the student. It focuses on academics side-lining arts and sports.
How can we improve the Indian education system?
The colleges and schools must hire well and qualified teachers. They must help students to understand the concept instead of merely mugging up the whole subject.
Evidently the authenticity of literature, art and music is drifting as the world is moving towards the unrealistic world of social media. Those theories and principles of Plato’s, Socrates, Dryden and why Romeo and Juliet are the best tragic love story of all time is not among the list of gossips among the audience, rather the existence of literature, the enthralling poetry of shelly, of Allan Poe had fade up and became deadlier as the time lapse of the tech century is moving towards and giving their hands to social media.
It presents us how the contemporary world is engrossed in social media and how it has hollowed the interests of Literarian from the art and literature and made them addicted towards social media, whereas social media is just a platform of unrealistic, unartistry, counterfeited world of humans. This article will give a brief portrayal of degradation of classical literature in the 21st century due to ill effects of social media.
Avery auld yet one of the greatest sayings of literature which is deeply rooted within the minds of all the literarian: “Literature is a mirror of a society”.
By taking this quote into a consideration we can say that how culture, and social life is so much crucial in human society and how literature has been one of the prominent reasons, the people in the society realized the social causes and events held near them.
Profoundly, a person in the 21st century would never know how the condition of women were then in the time of the Victorian age. How women were a part of war and give their contribution to the society.
Yes, definitely! We can all get this information in any of the social media sites, but the emotional bondage which literature builds in the readers minds, prints in the mind forever! Any form of art helps to better understand the culture, social scenario and the society in which the particular art was crafted in the particular period.
But Consequently, literature is no longer as effective as it was in the past centuries, as social media has nearly overcome all other aspects of communications, substituted literature in many sites and situations.
Literature allows readers to analyze different views of the current realities critically, and to discuss them from social, cultural, ideological, and political perspectives. Thus, literature has promoted culture of harmony.
It has emphasized the importance of coexistence and cooperation, and enriched the principles of multiculturalism and diversity and reconciliation of ethnic and religious conflicts. Over the past decade, social media has played an active role in various areas of life.
Much literature is written to reflect various controversies in many societies. It has also depicted certain social problems and crises experienced by various social groups.
Meanwhile, it criticises the hypocrisy and hegemony of the ruling class, revealing the sufferings of the working class, condemning the exploitation of natural resources by those who are in power, and calling for pacifism, liberty, social justice and equality.
It can be said that it was the social media of that time, used to conveying certain messages, tackling problems and issues.
Art and artist is immortal, so is the literature:
It’s very fascinating how the words “art” and “immortality” often stand close to each other. We speak of art that is immortal and the immortal fame of artists. And though this may sound like mere rhetoric, art and immortality actually are linked very closely. Because, in a way, art is suited for communication with people long dead.
As the literature is also the form the art, still in this era, the works of Dostoevsky, Shakespeare, Wordsworth’s alive! Though they are dead practically, but their works are keeping them alive in this world.
Movies are commercial purpose:
In this century, the advent of media is winning the race from literature as people are more into the best sellers. To make any book popular people prefer to make movies to more commercialise, so that people watch movies and then read the particular book.
But the harsh fact is that after watching movies, cent percent of the people actually don’t read books as they have already watched the movies and know the plot already, so the suspense to read books is lost.
So, in conclusion people are denial towards reading books and preferring more of social medias and other platforms.
Abandonment of Literature :
So, the question is: Is it important to just read, or to read classical literature? The best reply could be to each his own. For, language is a living entity; it evolves and adjusts to the requirements of its users. Those who feel classical literature is the only answer to the mankind’s problems should take into account that the present generation of English children may not like to read Shakespeare (they might not admit, as it would be outlandish ) but are crazy about Harry Potter series. Again, that would be in contrast to what their parents grew up reading: Hardy boys and Enid Blyton.
All the purpose of reading should not always be acquiring education. What’s wrong with reading just for fun? We live in a world which is very different from that inhabited by our forefathers. Their realities and ours may be same and totally different simultaneously; if that makes sense!
So, we can conclude that, social media is detreating our aesthetic literature it should be preserved so that next 100 of generations knows about it.
Festivals in India are celebrated in many parts of India, as India is subdivided into different Linguistic States. The local Government in each State also specifies certain festivals, in addition to Central Government festivals and holidays, depending on the local population which have elected them.
INDIA
INDIA Festivals of India
Festivals in India Festivals in India are celebrated in many parts of India, as India is subdivided into different Linguistic States. The local Government in each State also specifies certain festivals, in addition to Central Government festivals and holidays, depending on the local population which have elected them.
India is a multi-cultural country India is a multi-cultural country, and it is reflected in the Festivals of India: Festivals of India is about various social, religious, and national festivals celebrated in different parts of India. India has been rightly described as a sub-continent and of its major festivals, many are region-specific festivals too. There are many festivals which are celebrated as national festivals; while a number of them are celebrated by members of particular religious or social groups. India is a land of festivals. These Indian festivals bind all Indians together of different castes, religions, etc there is no discrimination while celebration. When there is no discrimination then it is called INDIA.
The major festivals are from religious groups as under:
Diwali or Deepawali Dussehra Raksha Bandhan Krishna Janmastami Ugadi Maha Shivaratri Ramanavami Makar Sankranti Holi Pongal Onam Bonalu Hanuman Jayanthi Vasant Panchami Thaipusam Chaitra Navratri Gangaur Festival Mahavir Jayanti Rath Yatra Mahavir Jayanti Guru Purnima Ganesh Chaturthi Maharishi Valmiki jayanti Karva Chauth Dhanteras Govardhan Puja Bhai Dooj Eid-ul-Fitr Muharram Ramzan Barawafat Milad-Un-Nabi Giaravahin Sharif Hazarat Ali’s Birthday Shab-e-Barat Jamat-Ul-Vida Id-ul-Zuha (Bakrid or Eid-Ul-Zuha) Good Friday Easter Christmas Losar Buddha Purnima Hemis Gompa Ullambana Guru Nanak’s Birthday Jayanti Guru Govind Singh’s Birthday Jayanti Guru Teg Bahadur’s Martyrdom Day BaisakhiMJNJ
And many more! But this is the power of our Indian culture we celebrate all of the festivals together and happily.
“What was the motive?” is one of first questions law enforcement authorities ask after a crime is committed. Crime scene investigators collaborate with detectives and law enforcement to put the pieces of the puzzle together, but comprehending the psychology of crime demands a different set of skills. Psychology encompasses the study of the mind, behavior, and attitudes, among other things. Individual traits including personality, reasoning, thought perceptions, intelligence, imagination, memory creativity, and so on are studied. Crime, according to psychologists, is a learned behavior that a criminal develops via his interactions with various individuals. And this even affects how the law is implemented on a certain crime. Psychology has been useful in the legal field since it helps in evaluating the mens rea of a criminal while committing the crime, the reliability of witnesses, and the appropriate punishment for a person committing an offense by taking into account the person’s psychological state of mind. With the help of psychology it is possible to obtain a better understanding of some of the most important explanations for criminal behavior, as well as establish crucial variables in determining what motivates people to commit specific sorts of crimes.
In today’s world, psychology has become a vital aspect of the legal system. Psychology is important in law because it encapsulates theories about human behavior. A combination of biological, psychological, and social factors often impact people who engage in criminal activity. There are mainly two important psychological theories that explore this possibility. Behavioral theory, which holds that committing a crime is a developed response to events, is an important psychological theory. Cognitive theory, which looks at how people solve problems through moral growth and information processing, is another important theory. When it comes to criminal behavior, psychological theories look at personality factors including extroversion, neuroticism, agreeableness, openness, and conscientiousness. They also look at the concept of the psychopathic personality, in which a person engages in illegal adrenaline rush activity to make up for low arousal levels. Hostility, narcissism, and impulsivity are personality qualities that have been linked to criminal and violent conduct. The hypothesis is that, like all other forms of behavior, criminality is learned through direct interaction with other criminals, rather than being invented by each criminal individually. Personal interactions with other people are used to teach behavioral skills. According to psychological studies on teenage aggression, there are two basic paths that violent careers take. Before they reach adolescence, some children begin to act violently. They have a higher chance of becoming repeat violent offenders. Children who turn to violence in adolescence are more likely to correct their ways sooner or later. Birth issues, poverty, anti-social parents, bad parenting, hostility, educational failure, psychiatric disorders, alienation from family, school, and other factors can all contribute to violence.
It is clear that the impact of psychology on crime is substantial. It is a step forward in refining the legal system; its position in the legal system contributes in the modification of our legal system as well as the maintenance of justice, equity, and good conscience. Psychology will play a vital role not only in assisting the criminal justice system and political systems, but also by helping the general public to understand the elements that lead to crime and influence criminal behavior.
We all thought this was a temporary thing. But here we are. People are already calling this the “COVID era” as if they are reading about it in a history book. But we’re still going through it.
For most of my friends and family, the social distancing and handwashing aren’t that bad. We got used to that stuff quickly. The tough part about this era is that life has changed permanently for many folks.
Rifts are created between people with different beliefs on wearing a mask. Complete industries are swept away and will probably never be the same. The world has truly changed.
In this article, I’m sharing 19 lessons I’ve learned from observing all these changes. Hopefully, these short reminders will make life during this era easier for you. These things surely have helped me a lot.
It’s hard on everybody I know your life is hard. But so is the life of your neighbor. That puts us all in the same boat. So go easy on yourself and others.
Nothing is forever It seems like this will last forever. But everything dies. And so will pandemics.
Accept it as if you chose this This is the only form of useful lying in the world. Trick yourself into believing you wanted a more tranquil and solitary life. This is a classic Stoic exercise. Simply accept everything that’s outside of your control as something you wanted. Life will be a lot rosier.
Take a breather Literally. Take a moment for yourself and breeeeath…. Aaaah. Yes, that’s the feeling.
Exercise every day Stay in shape. If you’re not injured or ill, it’s your duty to take care of your body. Never take this lightly.
Get off social media It’s a waste of your time. “Always?” Pretty much.
Read books This is a better use of your time. We all have reading lists with hundreds of books on them. And we’re not going to live 200 years. That means you need to make some tough choices. Which books will you read before you die?
Learn new skills Technology is improving and changing so fast that we’re not aware what’s going on. We just learn it after the fact. But that’s too late. So stay on top of your field and keep learning new skills you need to do good work.
Keep a daily journal This will probably be one of the weirdest times of our lives. Don’t you want to document this? Even if you never read it again, it’s still worth writing because it makes you a better thinker.
Inspiration comes from within “I need to go to Paris for inspiration.” Replace Paris with any city or place in the world. Why do we think inspiration comes from the outside? Look inside!
Good food improves your mood One of the few pleasures that you never get used to. Research new recipes, be creative, and cook food that makes you go, “Hmmmmnn.”
Objects will not make you happy STOP BUYING CRAP ONLINE! I had to tell myself that after a few too many useless purchases.
More money is not the answer Look, I’m not going to lie. Having a little bit of money will lighten the load. So start that online business or side-gig you’ve been thinking about. But don’t expect that money will make you happy. It just solves your money problems. Nothing else.
Do work you enjoy Just because you need to survive, don’t say yes to the first available job you encounter. And also don’t start some kind of soulless online business so you can make a few bucks. Find something you enjoy and pays the bills.
Appreciate what you have The grass is always greener. We tend to forget. So here’s a reminder: If you’re reading this on your smartphone in the comfort of your house, your life isn’t so bad.
Give back Do something altruistic. It’s fine to give money to charity. But I’m not talking about that. Talk to your elderly neighbors, hold the door for someone, share your hard-earned lessons with others. Small things that have a positive impact on people.
Change is good This is a difficult period if your industry got swept away. But remember, change is a part of life. And in the long-term, it’s good. We just don’t see the sunshine when we’re going through a storm.
Stop consuming—Start creating
The world never changed for the better by doing nothing. Right now, our biggest challenge is paralysis by consumption. We’re over-consuming everything: News, food, clothes, entertainment, you name it.
To get through this era, we need more action. So stop sitting there and go create something. Without creation, there’s no progress.
Since, this pandemic known as Covid 19 commenced, it made a huge impact to the whole world and everything went digital. And the necessity for using windows and its best features became more important. We’ll talk about Windows 10 and some of its best apps to ease up your work from home or many other experiences. There’s a wide range of apps available and it might be difficult to choose. So, whether you’re in need for a better work from home experience or beneficial productivity or some entertainment, we got you covered with some of the best apps for Windows 10 for 2021.
Spotify Music
Microsoft store on Windows 10 makes it easier for you to download this app. All the music and podcasts lovers can discover a lot here. The sync feature of this app is amazing as it can easily switch from your mobile to desktop and vice versa. Moreover, it provides a clean user interface and it has a “made for you“ playlist for your every mood. A little mood enlightenment from work requiressome good music and Spotify got it all covered.
2. Netflix
Who refuses to Netflix and chill? A break from work is necessary. And Netflix brings all your favorite shows and movies in one place. It got a huge range of your favorites with the genre of your choice. Moreover, you can choose from 3 subscription plans, skip the intros and all the videos are streaming. So, what’ s stopping you?
3. Audible Love reading books but can’t make out time to read? This app solves it all.
Audio book app is accessible anytime, anywhere. Just plug-in your earphones and explore the world of your favorite books. It’ll also improve your fluency, vocabulary, attention span and memory. And the biggest benefit, time management. So from now, listen your books.
4. Duolingo If you love languages, then this is the best place for you.
You can download this app from Microsoft store easily. Moreover, this app asks for no fee and is ad-free. It’s small lessons will help you to achieve your goals smoothly as it picks up the course from the basic level. Learn languages from the highest rated platform from the comfort of your home.
5. Google Meet Whether it’s a business meeting or online schooling, Google meet became one of the most important educational tool for workspace. More than 100 million users access this app and it’s easily available on Microsoft store. This app is secure and virus free. Moreover, it’s features like live captioning, speech to text, easy messaging, layout and screen setting and compatibility makes it beneficial and easy to use.
6. WhatsApp Desktop
Messaging has become an important feature and WhatsApp became a huge success during this pandemic.
WhatsApp desktop is easily available on Microsoft store. If you have less disc space then WhatsApp web is best for you. This app brings keyboard shortcuts for a better productivity. You can use a type in keyboard, drag, drop, copy or paste files from the sites and ease your work load. Bigger screen experience without any problem is good, isn’t it?
7. Pinterest
Need some inspiration or ideas for life? Don’t worry! This platform is for everyone- your hobbies, interests, etcetera, everything is available here. It has a five star rating on the store for a good reason, you get to the source directly and moreover it’s free of cost, you just need to sign in. So, pinning your interests or pinning interests of your choice is up to you.
Everybody was stuck in shock when we all heard about CORONAVIRUS. But we didn’t think that it would have such a worst impact on our lives. In fact, we didn’t realize its seriousness at first. When the coronavirus slowly started to spread all over our country, we started to realize the seriousness. As we all know, due to the pandemic, the whole of India was kept shut for many days. Every company went through its worst phase. Gradually, we accepted the scenario and started doing the unthinkable. Schools started taking classes online, IT and other companies functioned through work from home and many others remained pathetic not knowing what to do. Many families couldn’t get enough money for daily necessities. Moreover, they had to spend more than normal for the pandemic made us spend more on medicines and sanitation. With all these, on one hand, we got to learn a lot of new things.
First, we learned to spend time with our family. Before the pandemic, we would live in our own way. We don’t spend time without family. We had our own reasons like returning home after tight schedules either from school, college, or work, and even after that, we had certain tasks to be accomplished. We would spend most of our time in the outside world and only had time to freshen up and relax ourselves to start off the next day. Due to this lockdown, we were not allowed to step out of our houses which made us spend quality time with our family. Also, by this, we realized the value of family and relationships. Not only this, we learned to value life. We realized that life is the biggest gift one has been bestowed with. After losing our loved ones, and seeing our near and dear losing their loved ones, we started being grateful for being alive at least. These were the biggest lessons life taught us through this pandemic.
Lockdown restricted us from using vehicles and this paved the way to reduce air pollution. Now, we see and hear that our EARTH is healing. Holes in the Ozone layer are disappearing. As a result, the environment changed in a good way. We are now released from breathing the poisoned air and the quality of the air has increased.
Another one, we started believing in our natural Indian medicine. Although we have many allopathy medicines for boosting immunity, we all made decoctions using Tulsi leaves, turmeric, pepper, ginger, lemon, honey, and so on. These were the traditional medicines prescribed by our ancestors to prevent our bodies from a virus attack. Literally, every good thing which was ignored before was given place and priorities. As time went by, we started to know how to maintain a healthy lifestyle and good hygiene. We started eating healthy food to sustain this pandemic. We all realized the importance of regular exercises and yoga. They create such a beautiful impact on our bodies. We learned one main lifesaving thing which is very much essential no matter whatever the situation may be, positivity. Positivity plays a crucial role in our life behind the scenes. Researches show that positivity helps in increasing the chances of recovery from any disease. It makes us feel good, boosts our energy and confidence. It is said to enhance mental productivity and inner strength.
We explored the new side of ours. We got to know more about ourselves and self-love and care. Last but not the least, we all understood the pain and struggles of spending our whole life inside the house as faced by all the housewives and mothers only when we were forced to confine ourselves inside the four walls of the house. We started sharing household chores and other work equally with our family. This definitely gave our mothers some relaxation for which they earned for many days.
Going by the quote, “Every evil has its good and every ill an antidote”, we also had many good things that happened in this pandemic. All I would say is be happy with all the goodness around us and stop complaining about the problems.
We believe that we always have to say yes to opportunities. We fear that saying no leads us to miss out on money, fun, and other experiences. But by always saying yes, we don’t value our time.
Blindly we say yes to everything that comes our way. We often don’t look at saying “no” as a skill. If we are at work and our manager asks you to hand in a report before the end of the day, we say, “sure thing.” It interrupts our work, and we often have to push other things aside.
There was never any fear for me, no fear of failure. If I miss a shot, so what? – Michael Jordan
We say yes in our personal lives all the time. When friends ask us to go out while we have other things to do, we say yes. We friends or acquaintances a favor, without thinking about it. We even say yes to bigger things that we don’t want. We take jobs we don’t like. We start relationships with people who we are not in love with.
Why do we do this? We are afraid to say no, to let people down, to avoid confrontation. The stress of saying no often makes us say yes automatically. And then we complain or blame ourselves, “why couldn’t I just say no.” And with relationships, we are afraid that if we turn down an opportunity to settle down, another one maybe won’t show up.
I see this often with relationships at work. You spend time with a person at work so often and if you feel physically attracted to each other it easy to start a relationship. If you start a relationship, you cannot ‘kind of’ want it. No, you should be in love. Saying yes doesn’t always make you happy.
Other People’s Expectations
Learning to say no can save us a lot of time and stress. While we are afraid that we have to let people down, the opposite is true. People will start respecting you more when you start saying no. People perceive that as a strong character trait.
It’s time to stop doing things to live up to other people’s expectations. You don’t have to do things you don’t like. If you don’t start saying no, and keep doing things you don’t want to do, you begin to dislike the person you are trying to please. Saying no is not only for your benefit but actually by saying no, you are thinking about other people as well.
If you say yes to a night out with your spouse and you don’t feel like it, you probably won’t be in a great mood. It’s not fair for your spouse if you are not present mentally. If you rather go out the next day because you are tired tonight, say so. Your partner will respect you for that. If she doesn’t, we have to explain why we say no. And encourage them to say no when they don’t want to do something as well.
Conforming to other people expectations can impact your life’s outcome. When you say yes to one night out, when you don’t feel like it, doesn’t have huge life consequences. But sometimes it is about choices that will influence our life outcome. When parents expect their children to go to university, the children often give into that.
We are all unique and have things we want from life, asking people to do something they don’t like is not fair. If you don’t wish to go to university because of a good reason, then don’t. We have to follow our passion and make our own path.
Say No To Noise
We should say no to everything that is noise. Greg Mckeown, writes in his book Essentialism about how the ‘disciplined pursuit of less’ allows us to regain control over our choices. Mckeown says that many successful people in history were ‘essentialist’, people who can separate the essential from the non-essential in life. Saying no is a way of showing what you consider ‘essential’ by saying no to everything that is noise.
About the importance of saying no, Mckeown says, “ yet as hard as it can be to say no to someone, failing to do so can cause us to miss out on something far more important.” When we have a purpose in life, everything that doesn’t contribute to our purpose, becomes noise.
When we want to live a stress-free life, we have to choose “no”. Saying blindly yes to invitations from our colleagues, friends or family causes us stress. We often regret saying yes for days. We worry about damaging our relationships. We worry that we burn bridges. We worry about what people would think if we say no. We live in an abundant world. By saying no you don’t miss anything. The world is filled with opportunity and beauty.
We think we are not good friends or colleagues when we say no. You’re not a bad person when you say no. Once we start saying no, we lose the fear of disappointing people and find out that it wasn’t that hard. We find that we replace the noise with silence and clarity. We enjoy the things we do say yes to more. We become more present and happy.
Have you ever met an idiot and thought “What an idiot?” Well, don’t be so quick to judge — idiots can teach you a lot about life.
A few years ago I went to Shangai. When I boarded the plane in Amsterdam, I met a first class idiot as soon as I stepped foot on the aircraft.
When I got to my seat, the overhead bin was already full, so I had to store my bag on the other side. But when I tried to do that, an idiot came from nowhere and started screaming at me. I didn’t understand him, but I got his message: “That’s my seat, and I want to store my bag there.”
I grabbed my bag, walked two rows down, asked the person who was sitting there if it was ok I placed my bag in his overhead bin; he said yes, I stored my bag, walked down to my seat, and sat down.
Was that difficult? No. Could the idiot have done that? Yes. He didn’t have to make a scene.
“People are surprised to find out that an awful lot of people think that they’re idiots.” – Eric Schmidt
In my life, I’ve had many other encounters with people that had bad behavior — let’s call them idiots.
You know what I’m talking about, right? Idiot bosses, coworkers, strangers, friends. Idiots do things that are not cool. It’s not bad to be an idiot — I sometimes do idiotic things, everyone does.
Dealing With Idiots
Is it cool to call people idiots? Yes, I call myself an idiot sometimes. People think they should only learn from successful people — billionaires, entrepreneurs, athletes.
But that’s not the only way to learn. How many billionaires and athletes do you know? We all know idiots. From them, we can learn how we should not behave.
Maybe someone at work stabs you in the back. Maybe your girlfriend cheats on you with your best friend. Maybe someone wants to start a fight with you. Maybe someone bullies you.
Without a doubt, people in your life have, or will, let you down. There’s no escaping that. What’s more important is your response. Do you become bitter about people? Do you think that all people are bad?
If someone does something bad to you, don’t see it as a reason to justify that behavior. For example, when I first started working for a major corporation, I noticed quickly that people accept backstabbing. You screw someone over on one day, and get promoted the next day.
Is that good? Is that bad? It’s neither, as Shakespeare put it: “There is nothing either good or bad but thinking makes it so.”
However, it’s also not a ‘get out of jail free card’. We have to watch ourselves that we do not become what we despise. No one on this planet is born an idiot — we become one. So choose not to.
When people behave like idiots, don’t be offended, don’t take it personally, study them instead.
“Life is tough, but it’s tougher when you’re stupid.” – John Wayne
I observe idiots doing bad stuff like cheat, lie, be aggressive, rude or anything else that is not ok to me. Then, I consciously decide to not be like them.
By observing behavior that you don’t want to associate yourself with, you will become clear on the type of person you do want to be.
Just answer to yourself: What is ok, and what isn’t? For example, stabbing people in the back for a promotion — not ok.
In the end, do whatever you think is right. Always make sure you do the right thing — but please, don’t be an idiot.
Many people have a job they don’t like. Many take jobs they don’t like. The reason we take jobs we don’t like is because we need money. I can’t think of any other reason people would waste their time doing something that is not passionate about. I challenge you to find your dream job—a job that you love doing 7 days a week. Work that doesn’t feel like work. In that way, you are not only living for the weekend.
Many of us only live on the weekend and after 5 pm on weekdays. ‘The American Time Use Survey’ shows that we spend almost 40% of our time at work. Would you waste 40% of your money? I’ve never heard an average person saying, “I have $10.000 in savings, I’ll just throw $4.000 away.”
Time is more valuable than money. So why would you give away your time? By doing what you love to do, you are doing something of meaning. Stop the busy work and find your dream job! Here are 9 steps that you can use as a guideline.
Decide exactly what kind of job you want. If the job doesn’t exist, create it.
Choose the company or person you want to work for.
Study your potential future employer
Find out what kind of competencies you need to be successful
Do a strengths/weaknesses analysis of yourself. You have to be clear about what kind of value you can offer.
Create a plan of how you’re going to develop your competencies you need further.
Now, apply. Forget about job openings or vacancies. If you can add value to a company, they would be idiots not hiring you.
Once you know what job you want, what the company needs, what competencies you have, and what value you can add, put it on paper. Hire a copywriter or who can help you with his. Or have someone who is in sales look at it. You have to be persuasive.
Find out who has the ‘power’ to hire you. Browse LinkedIn for the senior manager of the department you want to work for. If it is a smaller company, contact the CEO.
This method may take you longer and more analysis of your skills. But it’s worth it to find your dream job. Financially and mentally. By doing something you love you will save yourself many headaches in the long run. You’ll probably earn more money as well. If you follow the standard hierarchy and climb the ladder like everybody else, you will earn exactly the same as everybody else.
Learn More About Finding Your Dream Job
If you’re interested in learning more about finding your dream job, feel free to check out my course.
We live in a uniquely safe, risk-free, and good time.
Mortality rate is at an all-time low. Poverty is decreasing year over year. Diseases are treatable. You get to live longer. And technology makes life easier and safer.
Evolution is a beautiful thing (if you only look at the facts).
However, that’s not the full story. People are still miserable. Suicide rates increase. People have more depressions and burnouts. More and more people are on meds. I’m not going to flush you with all the hard statistics. It’s not pretty.
Because to me, that’s what I think everybody is doing: Dancing around all the time and saying, “I’m alive! I’m alive.” I can’t be more wrong than that.
The reality is that we, humans, are ungrateful idiots. Always have been.
The Greek Stoic philosopher Epictetus, who lived between AD 50–135, put it best:
“Do not spoil what you have by desiring what you have not; remember that what you now have was once among the things you only hoped for.”
Why do we always desire what we don’t have? Desiring things you don’t have is not necessarily a bad thing. That same trait is also the reason the world developed the way it did. If we didn’t desire unattainable stuff, the world probably wouldn’t advance one bit.
But when I read about historical figures such as Christopher Columbus, the Wright Brothers, or Nikola Tesla, they used that desire for good things. They didn’t complain and had an innate desire to achieve things.
Can you image Columbus saying: “Fuck this stupid boat. Let’s sail back home, I want to chill out.”
And that the Wright Brothers said to each other: “Man, screw this flying thing. Let’s play checkers and drink beer.”
Or that Tesla would say: “Who cares about current? Let Edison and his stupid DC current win. I’m going for a swim in the lake.”
Of course not.
Just Be Thankful For Goodness Sake.
Two words. That’s all.
Say it. Believe it.
Thank you.
Easy.
Or you can go with a casual “thanks.” You can say it to people, but more importantly, you can also say it to random things.
When I wake up, I just say: “Thanks.”
I don’t even know who I’m thanking. God? The universe? Life? I’m just happy to be alive. And that mindset changes everything in your life. When you say thank you, and you truly believe it, you become a grateful person.
Gratitude changes the way you:
Think
Behave
Talk
Walk
Eat
Love
You can also say it to people. When your mother, father, brother, sister, spouse, boyfriend, girlfriend, friend, colleague, manager, does something for you (no matter how small), say: “Thank you.”
What you will find is that people appreciate you too. Gratitude goes both ways.
“Thank you.”
“No. Thank you.”
Saying thank you is a habit. It shows that you appreciate everything. Big things and little things. And appreciation is an important aspect of a happy life.
The French philosopher Voltaire put it well:
“Appreciation is a wonderful thing. It makes what is excellent in others belong to us as well.”
If you want to enjoy life, start by appreciating it.
Do you ever get upset about the nasty behavior of your co-workers, friends, or even family? Well, if you let others upset you, it’s not their fault.
“It’s not me, it’s him!” is what most of us say. We’re always quick to blame others for how we feel.
We say that others make us feel that way. But that’s false. You decide how you feel about the things that happen in your life.
Events can’t harm us. Our perception of an event harms us. That’s one of the most important ideas of Stoic philosophy.
In other words, you decide what meaning you give to the things that happen in your life. If your friend tells lies about you behind your back, and you get upset, that’s because you decided to get upset.
After all, you don’t control others. That’s why who you spend your time with is a matter of life and death.
The great Stoic philosopher, Epictetus, said this in his Manual For Living:
“Avoid fraternizing with people who don’t share your values. Prolonged association with those with false ideas can only tarnish your thinking.”
It’s something I truly live by. I’ve seen others destroy people’s lives too often to take this idea carelessly.
And I bet that you’ve had your share of, for lack of a better term, “toxic” people in your life.
There Are Two Kinds Of People
People with values
People without values
I think that less than 1% of the population has values. Values entail nothing more than answers to questions like:
How do you treat people?
How do you treat yourself?
What’s right and what’s wrong?
Here’s an easy way to detect people without values: When you see that someone becomes an entirely different person in a heartbeat — that’s when you know someone has no values.
For example, at our company, we recently hired a toxic intern. The intern turned out to be a different person from the person we thought we hired.
Of course, that’s our mistake. Even though we talked extensively about values during the interview process, we didn’t detect any warning signals.
And everything was fine during the first week. But as soon as the intern found a partner in one of our other interns, things started to change.
All of a sudden, with this new-found support, the intern started gossiping, trying to manipulate others, and causing mayhem. Fortunately, we identified it quickly and communicated that we have a zero-tolerance policy for toxic behavior.
When you lack values, you automatically gravitate towards natural human behavior. And that’s very dark. I recently read 12 Rules For Life by Dr. Jordan Peterson, a clinical psychologist, and a professor at the University of Toronto.
His fundamental proposition is that people are malevolent and that life is suffering. To prove that statement, Peterson shares compelling examples of human history with us.
He’s right. People have always lied, killed, and deceived their way through life.
But There’s An Alternative
Look, you can easily go down the rabbit hole of nasty behavior. Just spend enough time with bad people — eventually, you will become one of them.
You can also fill your days with gossiping, lying, and manipulating others. And you’ll probably also feel good when you do it. A sense of power, no matter how it’s achieved, gives people satisfaction. That’s how our minds work.
So when you recognize someone who doesn’t have principles, shows nasty behavior, and has multiple personalities — step away.
Instead, surround yourself with people who want the best for you.
Not with people who are jealous, can’t see your success, and thrive off negativity. I think this is important to realize for anyone who wants to live a good life.
A few years ago, when I started to live a conscious life, I had to say goodbye to people who only wanted to live a life of pleasure.
And I’ve also seen other friends that started to change their life for the better but were dragged back into the bottomless pit of darkness by others.
But as you and I both know, life is also full of warm and caring people. It’s not all bad.
Be Stingy With Your Time
“You’re the average of the five people you spend your time with.” It has become such a cliché. But I don’t think that we truly understand the impact that other people can have on us.
Like Epictetus said, others can tarnish your thinking. Is that worth it?
Look at it this way. Would you give $1000 to the people in your life if they asked for it? If the answer is no, stop giving the people who don’t share the same values as you, your time.
I’ve narrowed down the list of people I spend 90% of my time with to my direct family and my two best friends. Other than that, I spend my time working and exercising. That’s what I mostly do. And I’ve never enjoyed my life this much.
So if you have a job you love, and a few people in your life who you love, you don’t even have more time to spend.
Nothing else gives more satisfaction than having a meaningful career and a strong family.
“But what if my family is toxic?”
Inspire them to change for the better. I don’t give up on my family. Even if it takes 10 years, I will still try to help them.
Create Your Values, And Stick To Them
To live a virtuous life, you need principles. Without principles (or values), we have no character. And without character, we’re nothing.
“Who cares!”
Well, you should care. You’re the one who looks in the mirror every day. Are you happy with what you see?
That’s the only measure I have for my life. I must like the person I see in the mirror. If I don’t like that guy, I’ll change. That’s what I’ve always done. And that’s what I still do every day.
Improve Yourself
What’s the alternative? Like Peterson concludes in his 12 Rules For Life, there’s no other viable option for life.
Eduindex 
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