Ralph W Emerson Quotes

Our greatest glory is not in never failing, but in rising up every time we fail.
A friend may well be reckoned the masterpiece of Nature.
A hero is no braver than an ordinary man, but he is braver five minutes longer.
All life is an experiment. The more experiments you make the better.
Always do what you are afraid to do.
As long as a man stands in his own way, everything seems to be in his way.
Character is higher than intellect... A great soul will be strong to live, as well as to think.
Do not go where the path may lead, go instead where there is no path and leave a trail.
Don't waste yourself in rejection, nor bark against the bad, but chant the beauty of the good. Every man has his own courage, and is betrayed because he seeks in himself the courage of other persons.
Finish each day and be done with it. You have done what you could. Some blunders and absurdities no doubt crept in; forget them as soon as you can. Tomorrow is a new day; begin it well and serenely and with too high a spirit to be cumbered with your old nonsense.
For every minute you are angry, you lose sixty seconds of happiness.
For everything you have missed, you have gained something else, and for everything you gain, you lose something else.
Give all to love; obey thy heart.
Happiness is a perfume you cannot pour on others without getting a few drops on yourself. Health is the condition of wisdom, and the sign is cheerfulness, - an open and noble temper. Health is the first muse, and sleep is the condition to produce it.
If a man write a better book, preach a better sermon, or make a better mouse-trap than his neighbor, tho' he build his house in the woods, the world will make a beaten path to his door. Insist on yourself; never imitate... Every great man is unique.
It is not length of life, but depth of life.
It was a high counsel that I once heard given to a young person, "Always do what you are afraid to do."
Knowledge is an antidote to fear.
Make the most of yourself, for that is all there is of you.
Make yourself necessary to somebody. Do not make life hard to any.
Nature magically suits a man to his fortunes, by making them the fruit of his character.
No great man ever complains of want of opportunity.
Nothing can bring you peace but yourself.
Nothing great was ever achieved without enthusiasm.
Once you make a decision, the universe conspires to
make it happen.
Our knowledge is the amassed thought and experience of innumerable minds.
Peace cannot be achieved through violence, it can only be attained through understanding. People do not seem to realize that their opinion of the world is also a confession of character.
Progress is the activity of today and the assurance of tomorrow
Self-trust is the essence of heroism.
Self-trust is the first secret of success.
Shallow men believe in luck. Strong men believe in cause and effect.
The best effect of fine persons is felt after we have left their presence.

The condition which high friendship demands is ability to do without it. The first wealth is health.
The hero is no braver than the ordinary man, but he is brave five minutes longer
The only way to have a friend is to be one.
There is no way to success in our art but to take off your coat, grind paint, and work like a digger on the railroad, all day and every day.
This time, like all times, is a very good one, if we but know what to do with it.
To be yourself in a world that is constantly trying to make you something else is the greatest accomplishment.
To believe your own thought, to believe that what is true for you in our private heart is for all men - that is genius.
To different minds, the same world is a hell, and a heaven.
Trust men and they will be true to you; treat them greatly, and they will show themselves great.
Truth is beautiful, without doubt; but so are lies.
Unless you try to do something beyond what you have already mastered, you will never grow. We must be our own before we can be another's.
What I need is someone who will make me do what I can.
What lies behind us and what lies before us are small matters compared to what lies within us. What we seek we shall find; what we flee from flees from us.
Whatever course you decide upon, there is always someone to tell you that you are wrong. There are always difficulties arising which tempt you to believe that your critics are right. To map out a course of action and follow it to an end requires courage.
Work and acquire, and thou hast chained the wheel of Chance.
Your own mind is a sacred enclosure into which nothing harmful can enter except by your permission.

Singapore- Brain Child of Lee Kuan Yew

Ever wondered if a fishing village be the world's affluent city-state with world's best infrastructure and low crime rates? The very place with no resources where the immigrants to malaya were forced to stay now pulls huge crowds from all over the world who come to seek their betterment in life. A small island standing so proud and tall that the world nations listen to its words and look up to it for lessons.
All this sprangup from one man's dream- Lee Kuan Yew, He saw to it that his dream came true right within his life time.Lee Kuan Yew was born in Singapore on September 16, 1923. He came from a middle class Chinese Hakka family which had been established in Singapore since his great grandfather migrated to the island in the mid-19th century. In 1931 he attended the Telok Kurau English School. Four years later, he moved to Raffles Institution, where he excelled in his studies and was always at the top of his class. Even at that early age, Lee demonstrated his potential and one of his teachers in Raffles Institution correctly predicted that he would "do well, unusually well" and attain "a high place in life." In 1939 Lee sat for the Senior Cambridge Examination and emerged as the top student for the whole of Malaya.Lee Kuan Yew was educated in England to be a lawyer.

He led Singapore to independence and served as its first prime minister. He was regularly re-elected from 1959 until he stepped down in 1990. Under his guidance Singapore became a financial and industrial powerhouse despite a lack of abundant natural resources.

Lee ruled with ultimate authority, and his zeal for law and order was legendary. All these are the rosy pictures of his sucess- ever wondered what he overcame,what he sacrified? Initially when he started a polititian he couldnt rouse the general public as his chinese oratory skills were limited. He used other great orators to talk for in his party. He surrounded himself with the best of the men by education and by virtue and used their knowledge to decide singapore's course. He had to make some tough decisions like getting rid of the communist and joining the malaya region and then again seperating from it.He did pay heavy price with his mistakes and learned quickly. It was blessing in disguise- singapore was left to float or sink and singapore rose, rose so high that the whole region look at it in awe.Its a testimony for confidence, believing in dreams and working persistently towards it.Even now Lee Kuan Yew serves as minister mentor urging singapore to continously work on ways to staying ahead. Be it any field singapore government would have planned way ahead of other countires. A lesson that sucess is not a destination but a journey.Attention to detail is given in every decision taken. Vision and planning ahead of times all its own. All these virtues being the gift this man- Lee Kuan Yew.He is a very good example to everyone of us to demonstrate that the world is full of hope and abundance, its in us to envision and dream big and consistently work towards it with organized planning. Let the power of ur dreams and ur beliefs influence some of the best brains and together make it come true.
Lee Kuan Yew was the Singapore Prime Minister (1959-1990) and Senior Minister (1990-2004). Since 2004 he has been in the role of Minister Mentor.

Rich Dad Poor Dad

As a kid i had always wondered some money questions- My parents were academics, they always stressed the importance of studies and always told me studying well alone leads one to betterment in life. But we lived in a place where we were mostly sorrounded by uneducated petty bussiness men. I did see my dad who was well educated and holding a high position in a multi national firm struggle sometimes to afford few luxuries while those uneducated families could easily afford it. I did ask my dad how come less educated can do all that- Dad simply used to say they are different from us, but finally we will be in a good position than them. I believed him.I did sense as i grew up there were many circumstances where those guys cannot even afford good education and there were days where they spent a fortune on dressing up buying goods. But we were going steady- a budgetted life. There were limits on what we can afford but always had enough for food and education.Finally when i was an adult, Those school drop out neighbour kids were earning more than me and their families still can afford all luxuries they wanted while i like my dad had a job with a decent steady income, same budgetted life.Ofcourse there were few other such families who were doing great during my childhood now very much in poverty. Nothing made sense to me ever-

Until finally i chanced upon this book "Rich Dad Poor Dad".

Here the Author Robert Kiyosaki explains what the rich teach their children that the poor[and the middle class likeus] do not. How the rich's attitude and world view make them and their children richer while the poor because of their thinking continue to remain poor.

Kiyosaki uses the metaphor of two dads, one is his highly educated dad and the other his friend's dad who is a school drop out. The former is a professor while the latter a business man.

He states how each of them go through lives and finally his dad whom he calls poor dad dies with unpaid bills while his friend's dad whom he calls rich dad died a millionaire. He also states how rich dad demonstrated the art of making money to him.

He says the Rich do not work for money, but let their money work for them.

They teach their children how to make money and grow it while talking money is taboo in many poor and middle class households. Its true. We as children were discouraged from talking about money.Loving money was a sin. In this book Kiyosaki stresses the importance of what a horrible dredge life becomes when we slave our lives for money, getting up everyday doing things we dont like to do otherwise. He paints a sorrow picture of the working class and encourages one to mind their own business.i.e start and run their own businesses. He teaches how to build assets to increase your income. He clearly explains how the poor families earn and spend on liabilities while the rich convert their income into assests that furthur increase their income. He does explain in simple words and diagrams what is a an asset and what is a liability.

He states how the businesses have this tax advantage as they are taxed on the after expenses profit. While salaried income is taxed at the source. How the salaried have to live with the fact that as their salaries go up, so are their expenses.

He classifies businesses,real estate, stocks and bonds and precious metals as assets.He also stresses how the rich have the tremendous potential of increasing their income manyfold as their precious time is all theirs, while the poor's income gets limited by the number of hours he can put in. He pictures how the rich use other people's expertise and money to invent their own money while the poor depend solely on their skills alone to generate income.

Throughout the book he again stresses not to work for money and let your money work for you.

He wants people to know how to increase the passive income[income generated from the assets] to cover one's expenses. This he calls "exiting the rat race", once this stage is reached we nolonger have to slog our hours for money instead we will be in a position as all our time is ours.

Its quiet an encouraging read.Inspirational , yet there are few loopholes. I do not agree with people dropping out of school to start businesses- unless they are intelligent beings who can use the educated experts to run their businesses, they sure have a very high chances of failing.

I agree whole heartedly that the curse of the poor is that they do not build assets.Their ambition gets killed as they slog through long hours to earn a living. While the rich have all their time to find creative ways of making more and more money.

Moral: Work towards your financial freedom. Dont depend on job to save your life.Build your own businesses and be in control of your time. Always think in terms of "How can i afford it" instead of saying "i cant afford it".

Quotes from Brian Tracy

All successful people men and women are big dreamers. They imagine what their future could be, ideal in every respect, and then they work every day toward their distant vision, that goal or purpose.
An average person with average talent, ambition and education, can outstrip the most brilliant genius in our society if that person has clear focused goals.
Approach each customer with the idea of helping him or her solve a problem or achieve a goal, not of selling a product or service.
Be a lifelong student. The more you learn, the more you earn and more self confidence you will have.
Be absolutely clear about who you are and what you stand for. Refuse to compromise.

Become the kind of leader that people would follow voluntarily; even if you had no title or position.
Character is the ability to follow through on a resolution long after the emotion with which it was made has passed.
Commiting your goals to paper increases the likelihood of your achieving them by one thousand percent!
Deal honestly and objectively with yourself; intellectual honesty and personal courage are the hallmarks of great character.
Decisiveness is a characteristic of high-performing men and women. Almost any decision is better than no decision at all.
Develop an attitude of gratitude and give thanks for everything that happens to you, knowing that every step forward is a step toward achieving something bigger and better than your current situation.
Develop the winning edge; small differences in your performance can lead to large differences in your results.
Disciplining yourself to do what you know is right and important, although difficult, is the high road to pride, self-esteem, and personal satisfaction.
Every minute you spend in planning saves 10 minutes in execution; this gives you a 1,000 percent return on energy!
Every study of high achieving men and women proves that greatness in life is only possible when you become outstanding at your chosen field.
Failure is a prerequisite for great success. If you want to succeed faster, double your rate of failure.
Goals allow you to control the direction of change in your favor.
Goals in writting are dreams with deadlines.
If what you are doing is not moving you towards your goals, then it's moving you away from your goals.
If you raise your children to feel that they can accomplish any goal or task they decide upon, you will have succeeded as a parent and you will have given your children the greatest of all blessings.
If you wish to achieve worthwhile things in your personal and career life, you must become a worthwhile person in your own self-development.
Incorrect assumptionslie at the root of every failure. Have the courage to test your assumption.

Integrity is the foundation upon which all other values are built.
Intellectual capital is the most valuable of all factors of production.
Invest three percent of your income in yourself (self-development) in order to guarantee your future.
It doesn't matter where you are coming from. All that matters is where you are going.
It is not failure itself that holds you back; it is the fear of failure that paralyzes you.
I've found that luck is quite predictable. If you want more luck, take more chances. Be more active. Show up more often.
Just as your car runs more smoothly and requires less energy to go faster and farther when the wheels are in perfect alignment, you perform better when your thoughts, feelings, emotions, goals, and values are in balance.
Leaders think and talk about the solutions. Followers think and talk about the problems. Leadership is the ability to get extraordinary achievement from ordinary people.
Learn something new. Try something different. Convince yourself that you have no limits.
Make a game of finding something positive in every situation. 95% of your emotions are determined by how you interpret events to yourself.
Make a habit of dominating the listening and let the customer dominate the talking.
Money is hard to earn and easy to lose. Guard yours with care.
Move out of your comfort zone. You can only grow if you are willing to feel awkward and uncomfortable when you try something new.
Never consider the possibility of failure; as long as you persist, you will be succesful.
Never say anything about yourself you do not want to come true.
No one lives long enough to learn everything they need to learn starting from scratch. To be successful, we absolutely, positively have to find people who have already paid the price to learn the things that we need to learn to achieve our goals.
One of the best uses of your time is to increase your competence in your key result areas.
Only undertake what you can do in an excellent fashion. There are no prizes for average performance.
Optimism is the one quality more associated with success and happiness than any other.
People create their own success by learning what they need to learn and then by practicing it until they become proficient at it.
People with clear, written goals, accomplish far more in a shorter period of time than people without them could ever imagine.
Personal development is your springboard to personal excellence. Ongoing, continuous, non-stop personal development literally assures you that there is no limit to what you can accomplish.

Read an hour every day in your chosen field. This works out to about one book per week, 50 books per year, and will guarantee your success.
Remember, you only have to succeed the last time.
Resolve to be a master of change rather than a victim of change.
Respect is the key determinant of high performance leadership. How much people respect you determines how well they perform. Satisfy the deep subconsious needs of your customer-to feel omportant,to feel valued,respected and worthwhile.
Success equals goals; all else is commentary.

Successful people are always looking for opportunities to help others. Unsuccessful people are always asking, "What's in it for me?"

Successful people are simply those with successful habits.

Telling is not selling; never make a statement if you can phrase it in the form of a question.

The establishment of a clear, central purpose or goal in life is the starting point of all success.

The foundation of lasting self-confidence and self esteem is excellence, mastery of your work.

The future belongs to the competent. It belongs to those who are very, very good at what they do. It does not belong to the well meaning.

The greatest gift that you can give to others is the gift of unconditional love and acceptance.

The key to success is to focus our conscious mind on things we desire not things we fear.

The kindest thing you can do for the people you care about is to become a happy joyous person.

The more credit you give away, the more will come back to you. The more you help others, the more they will want to help you.

The only pressure that you use in a professional selling presentation is the presence of silence after the closing question.

The three C's of leadership are Consideration,Caring,and Courtesy.

Think of yourself as a resource to your clients; an advisor, counselor, mentor and friend.

Those people who develop the ability to continuously acquire new and better forms of knowledge that they can apply to their work and to their lives will be the movers and shakers in our society for the indefinite future.

Throughout the developed world,we have moved from "man power" to "mind power". We have moved from the use of physical muscle to the use of mental muscle.
Treat objections as request for further information.
Truthfulness is the main element of character.
Whatever is expressed is impressed. Whatever you say to yourself, with emotion, generates thoughts, ideas and behaviors consistent with those words.
Whatever we expect with confidence becomes our own self-fulfilling prophecy.
Whatever you believe with feeling becomes your reality.
Whatever you dwell on in the conscious grows in your experience.
Winners make a habit of
manufacturing their own positive expectations in advance of the event. You can become an even more excellent person by constantly setting higher and higher standards for yourself and then by doing everything possible to live up to those standards.
You cannot control what happens to you, but you can control your attitude toward what happens to you, and in that, you will be mastering change rather than allowing it to master you.
You have to put in many, many, many tiny efforts that nobody sees or appreciates before you achieve anything worthwhile.
Your attitude is an expression of your values, beliefs and expectations.
Your company's most valuable asset is how it is known to its customers.
Your greatest asset is your earning ability. Your greatest resource is your time.
Your true success in life begins only when you make the commitment to become excellent at what you do.

The Inspiring life of Prophet Muhammed(s)

Prophet Muhammed(s) was born in 570CE in Makkah.His father died months before he was born and his mother died when he was 6years old.Raised by his
grandfather and after his death by his paternal uncle Muhammed(s) never even had any formal education. Living in makkah which was a traders hotspot at
that time Muhammed(s) grewup to be a trader. He was known as 'Al-Ameen' for his trustworthy and honest dealings. It was his character that prompted
Khadhija a rich merchant widow to propose and marry him. Thereafter for the next twelve years he lived peacefully as rich trader.Then oneday when he was
around Forty years of age he received messages from the divine to cleanse the kabah[Arab's house of worship] and the Quarish[The strong arab tribe].
Muhammed(s) started to preach and lead the people to the one true god durning a time when idolatory was at its peak. He was ridiculed and labeled a lunatic.
People threw filth on him and even tripped him. People who followed him were tortured and trade or contact with prophet and his family banned. With no
miracles in his kitty and only his words as his armour Muhammed(s) survived, infact flourished because of Muhammed(s) and his followers belief and
persistance. He patiently endured all the hardships but unwavering from his mission to restore the worship of one true god. The Arabs implied all means to
stop him, luring,threatening and banning him. Nothing can stand between him and his desire to fulfill his mission.Muhammed(s) had to flee his birth place of Mecca into the shelters of Medinah. Following which the battles of Badr, Uhud and Trench were fought where as
always the muslims were a very small group fighting against the large forces of the non-believers and everytime the muslims won because of there sheer will-
power and belief in Allah. In another ten years Muhammed(s) had succeded in his mission and in uniting the entire arab world into one great muslim nation.
Kabah was cleansed and Islam subsequently became the second largest religion of the world. There can never be a better example of belief and persistence
that captured the world then this story of the rise of Islam.

Why improve ourselves?

Iam reminded of the story of a wood cutter who used to cut certain amount of wood everyday.As days went on he had to work harder and harder to cut the
same amount of wood.He went on sweting it out harder and harder everyday without stopping to analyse his situation. Until finally oneday when he couldnt do
it any furthur he stopped and found that his axe had become blunt. That was why he couldnt cut as he used to initially. Its the same story with us, We keep on doing what-so-ever without checking how our skills fare. When somebody else with the updated skills comes in and
can do our jobs in a much better fashion we are at loss. Why put ourselves into such bad situations? why be our own enemy?We do not deserve it. Everyone of us is blessed with abundance of abilities why not wake them up.
If a man write a better book, preach a better sermon, or make a better mouse-trap than his neighbor, tho' he build his house in the woods, the world will make
a beaten path to his door says Ralph Waldo Emerson.
Visualize this situation, when companies queue up with offers for you. People take pains to be ur aquitance.Everybody respects you because you are better
than many of them in doing certain things- Is it not cool! Its great! And it is 100% achievable. Just stick this dream tightly to ur heart and work to improve
yourself. We all love to have excellent circumstances, sincere friends,lots of love and respect- If its true just think when can we have such things in life?Only when we are worthy of it.Nothing comes for free in life- give n u'll receive. So if u dream all the rosy dreams then u should make urself ready to enter ur
dreamland. All u need is a little extra effort - sharpening of ur axe.
We deserve better lives, world is full of abundance then why restrict ourselves. Bigger dreams need bigger determination and noteworthy action.Lets start with an improved attitude, our capability grows with our attitude. When we can just be one of the celebrities why restrict ourselves to a mere
onlooker? Its what we decide about us that we become. Dont surrender to laziness.
People many years before us have achieved some unimaginable stuff like aeroplane, mass communication, the internet etc, Who knows we can be the
gateway to some unknown source to save the earth from say climate change or find an alternative food source eradiacting hunger forever? the possibility is
infinite. We are a very unique resource in this world, let that light within u spark to lead way to betterment of life. It is not urself u r are helping, but in the
process helping humanity- the returns- all ur happy dreams of nice circumstance, great friends,love and respect is all ours- forever!Thats why we should improve, we will be surprised to find our unlimited capacity.
Lets do it, no more worries, frustrations or stress. We deserve all the good things life has to offer.Lets make ourselves ready for it.Being average never helps- strech a little more to strike gold.

Quotes from Henry Ford

Don't find fault, find a remedy.

When everything seems to be going against you, remember that the airplane takes off against the wind, not with it.

Even a mistake may turn out to be the one thing necessary to a worthwhile achievement.

I am looking for a lot of men who have an infinite capacity to not know what can't be done.

It is not the employer who pays the wages. Employers only handle the money. It is the customer who pays the wages.

Wealth, like happiness, is never attained when sought after directly. It comes as a by-product of providing a useful service.

One of the greatest discoveries a man makes, one of his great surprises, is to find he can do what he was afraid he couldn't do.

Time and money spent in helping men to do more for themselves is far better than mere giving. The man who will use his skill and constructive imagination to see how much he can give for a dollar, instead of how little he can give for a dollar, is bound to succeed.

Whether you think you can or whether you think you can't, you're right

As A Man Thinketh

This is a timeless classic by James Allen. In this book he speaks clearly on how thoughts make or break lives of everyone of us. For whose of us who are whining and complaining about what life has been and how unfortunate we are- this book is an eye opener.Stating clearly that we are what we are by our own thoughts and actions that followed which we may not be aware

"By the right choice and true application of thought, man ascends to the Divine Perfection; by the abuse and wrong application of thought, he descends below the level of the beast." is the point he tries to drive into our minds.A man's character,circumstances,health,achievements are all created by his own thoughts in his own mind. He defines mind as a garden which can grow fruit or weed based on the seeds of thoughts that one plants.

In his own words "A man is literally what he thinks, his character being the complete sum of all his thoughts." He furthur explains how our thoughts can create weapons to destroy us or can build tools for constructing our dreams. Truly man is made or unmadeby himself. If our character is what that draws our destiny, thoughts are architects that shape it.

Allen also states that our circumstances are truly what we intended for secretly- listing thoughts become habits and habits solidify into our circumstances.
Below are few- Thoughts - habits -circumstances

1. Impure thoughts -enervating and confusing habits -distracting and adverse circumstances


2. Fear, doubt and indecision -weak, unmanly and irresolute habits -failure, indigence and slavish dependence circumstances


3. Lazy thoughts- uncleanliness and dishonesty- Foulness and beggary


4. Pure thoughts- temperence andselfcontrol -repose and peace


5. Courage ,self-relianceand decision -manly habits -sucess,plenty and freedom


6. Energetic thgts -cleanliness and industry -pleasantness

a man cannot directly choose his circumstances, but he can choose his thoughts and so indirectly, yet surely, shape his circumstances.

We need to subdue and replace the negative thoughts with positive thoughts. Continue to replace our negative thinking, then we will create a better way of thinking consciously, which will then also become a subconscious habit. We can now realize our world changing.

Our thoughts have a profound effect on our health too.The Body is the servant of the mind.Disease and health, like circumstances are rooted in thought.Thoughts of illhealth and fear attract their kind. Thoughts of fear have been known to kill a man as speedily as a bullet. We could have seen ourselves some so called 'Medical Miracles' where a patient pronounced to death by doctors survived and lived through by their own wills.That explains what Allen tries to explain here.

All that said, Allen proceeds to emphasis the importance of a purpose in life.Great thgts with no purpose accomplish nothing.They who have no central purpose in life fall an easy prey to petty worries,fears,troubles and self-pityings
which lead to failure,unhappiness and loss for weakness cannot persist in a power-evolving universe.Having conceived his purpose,man should mentally mark out a straight pathway to its achievement,looking neither to the right nor left.Doubts n fears should b rigourously excluded.

He who has conquered doubt n fear has conquered failure.Those who dont want to have a great purpose atleast need to fix their thgts upon faultless performance of their duties.A man can only rise,conquer n achieve by lifting his thgts. After completing the book i felt this strange realization that i had such enourmous powers and never knew its existence. Now my test would be how i persist to condition my mind with good thoughts and virtue all the time to see the proof of this great philosophy and unleash my hidden powers.

Meditate,Stay focussed!

Most failures in life are attributed to the lose of focus from our goal. After deciding our goal our best shot at it is keep it in our focus. Practising our mind to keep the concentration comes only as a habit.Meditation is one tool which has a proven track record in increasing our concentration or focus levels.There is no doubt that increased levels of focus and concentration can do wonders to our lives. Being able to focus on current task without distractions, without interrupting thoughts would make our productivity levels jump. I found an article on the net which has a simple but great technique which i would like to share.

Focussed Meditation Technique:

Choose a locationChoose a place where you can meditate without distractions - no phones, no people, less noise etc. The idea is to avoid as many distractions as possible. Over a period of time however, with enough practice you will be able to meditate whenever and wherever you want.
Choose your sitting positionWhile crossed legged position is the most commonly used sitting position, it is not compulsory. Sit in a position you are comfortable in. In which you can relax and not fidget too much.
You can also try standing and sleeping positions if you want to. Standing for long period of time is very uncomfortable. And in sleeping position, the risk is of actually falling asleep.
Choose any objectChoose any object you would like to focus upon. A candle flame, a rose, an idol are commonly used. But you need not be limited to these. A pen, a ball, a tree, a plant, a book, a bottle, a picture … anything that catches your fancy will do. Only conditions are:
a. The object should be at eye level - now you don’t want to strain your neck, do you?
b. The object should be of adequate size - not so small that you have to squint and not as large as a cupboard or wall. The idea is to focus on something specific.
Using eyes - visual sense is very common. Feel free to try out auditory, tactile and olfactory senses as well. I find focussing with eyes on a concrete object easier. It is very difficult to focus with help of other senses on scent of incense, touch of wind, music etc.
Focus the objectFocus the object. Observe it. And keep observing it. Concentrate on it with everything that you have got. Concentrate with your entire mind. Don’t think about anything. Let your mind be thought free. Just see the object.
Keep focussingIt is all right to lose focus. If you find getting lost in thoughts or getting distracted, don’t beat yourself up. Simply acknowledge you lost focus and re-focus. Thinking about how you lost focus or can’t focus is also not focussing and is getting distracted.
That’s it. This might sound easy but it’s not. If you would like to see how much have you progressed, focus for same amount of time everyday. Everytime you lose focus, make a mark on a piece of paper. Your goal is to be mark free.

Prescribing cartoons for adults

Will you believe me if i say cartoons helped me build self-confidence?
Sitting in front of TV with my son means watching cartoons and cartoons alone.
Here in singapore there is this channel called OKTO which my son [hardly 11 months old] is hooked on all day to. The absolutely colourful characters and catchy music attract him a lot.
Being thus hooked on to cartoons i started watching them too. Strangely enough my life was getting enriched everyday.
Most of the characters are on earth saving missions. They display courage, hope and faith as they fight the evil forces of the universe. Except for super heros most of them work as teams and there are none of the negative traits as bickering, name calling, cold war, open war, envy or jelousy that are usually associated to adults working as a team. Instead i can see they potray support and encouragement, helping eachother and fighting it together. All the more making me love these imaginary creatures.
These characters are portrayed as professional and selfless and focussed on just their mission.Even if it warrants them to tradeup their most loved possesion to attain power to keepon fighting- such is the decisiveness and confidence.Nor or they the grim faced protectors as in normal movies, they are just as happy and hearty creatures when not fighting evil. That makes their characters so lovely that they leave me with the longing that if only people can pickup these traits. How lovely will our world be if we had our protectors learn duty and courage from them. Its heartwarming that our children are watching something that helps them pick love over hatred, hope,faith,courage,confidence and friendship over all the negative traits that dominate us adults. Even though imaginary, i respect the characters for filling young minds with positive traits.

A miracle called life!

Life to me just like any average person was just another day of mundane activities, just another timetable to be fulfilled. Days passed in my life just as every other day, waking, working, eatting sleeping. So engrossed was i with my routine that it became my life, it enveloped my being and made me totally indifferent. Not that it was absolutely as gray as it seems, there were the occasional entertainment, a little reading, a little chitchat all that makes up a normal usuallife.

I went on and on with it until one day there arrived a wonderful little angel into my life.

The Angel suddenly opened my eyes to a totally different world. Showed me the wonderful world i live in and most of all cleared my thoughts to see clearly that the world is no longer gray but colourful and wonderful. Planted hope, shattered my indifference and wanted me to give life a 100 percent. I call this little angel 'Rayhaan', my wee little boy.

As i nourish and protect this fragile being, i get to learn more and more about myself. I fully understand what a miracle life is and how little we appreciate it. He showed me the path to happiness in every small thing that he plays with. He inspires me to appreciate life with all its different shades. He reminds me that i too would have brought in this happiness into my parents life just as he does to me. He reminds me that it is no easy joke giving birth and bringing up a new life. He reminds me of the innumerable sacrifices, the tiring days and sleepless nights every parent spends to bringup their off spring. Yet irrespective of all this how we as adults belittle life. How indifferent we tend to be. News of loses of innumerable lives everyday pricks me more deeply now then ever before. Being destructive is very easy, man can do that in no time. But it takes lots of effort and ofcourse the hand of the divine to bring life and to cherish it. These thoughts that never occured tobe before turned my life around. As i aspire to provide the best of everything and dream of the best possible life for my little angel, i constantly am reminded of my parents. Have i been fair to the miracle of life that they gave me? If life is as precious as it seems now to me why did i waste these many years drifting along not making anything out of it? Every human being has to answer this question- lots of effort and sacrifice has gone into ur making- have u done it fair? have u tried to be something worthwhile? Its our duty to our parents and to the divine parent who breathed life into us. We should make our life worth remembering.

Create Chances, dont wait for them.

The Best men are not those who have waited for chances, but who have taken them, beseiged the chance, conquered the chance and made chance their servitor-
Dont know where i read them but they hit me straight and i wanted to share my thoughts.

God sent every human being to this world not with empty hands but very rich. Yes, he blessed his children with bountiful resource called time.And also an elusive power house called will-power. But we children deprive ourselves of all our inheritance and go about all our lives looking for some elusive chances to make the most of ourselves.
Many people in life wait for the right time to do what they want to do. Although its true that being at the right place at the right time helps one quickly attain sucess, There are many who give up their precious resource called time waiting for the right time. There are still worser specimens who do not even know what is that chance that they are waiting for- i too was one among them. People compromise with their miserable lives living through it with a distant dream that some day through someway a fairy god mother will wave her magic wand and present them with a golden chance for which they had been wasting their precious resource called time.Nay! that great day comes extremely rare.
Whatever that we want to do, whatever that we want to be can be done anytime if we use the resources that we are born with wisely- namely TIME and WILL-POWER. Time is our investment, its our basic bank account. What we trade it for is all that makes the difference.
First decide what is that u are waiting for, can u identify it in whatever forms it comes disguised in? because chances dont come straight to ur door step and dressed as u want it to be.
Thats why people are left all their lives waiting for the right chances and never getting one.
If great achievers had been waiting for the right chance, this world of ours would never had witnessed any worthwhile achievements. I say only losers wait for the chance, winners CREATE it. As they forge through the toughest terrain in fulfilling their quest for sucess they carve their own paths, create their own ways or chances to be the best they want to be. Just as a river somehow carves through mountains to achieve its destiny of reaching the ocean, the winners find their own ways. They dont wait for the iron to get hot to strike, they heat the iron first, make it hot and strike to bend it. Use ur time towards planning what u want to be, use ur will-power to stay there tight and find ways to reach ur destiny. Create ur own chances, and when u arrive finally as who u want to be the world will be left wondering how they never saw the chance that gave u that favourable break.

Learn from the great leaders of the world

No one lives long enough to learn everything they need to learn starting from scratch. To be successful, we absolutely, positively have to find people who have already paid the price to learn the things that we need to learn to achieve our goals. says Brian Tracy.

We learn from our mistakes even as a child.Nature sure has this way of imparting knowledge on us. But as we progress into adulthood we start running out of time, we cannot afford to learn everything from analysing our own mistakes. It takes ages that way and sometimes somemistakes take ages to recover.

This age in which we live is moving in an absolutely fast pace. As the saying goes, to survive the tiger has to run faster than the slowest gazalle and the slowest gazalle cannot afford to survive if it cannot run faster than the tiger.Its run or perish.Keeping up with the best has become the order of the day.We just cannot afford to make costly mistakes.

But learning from the mistakes,or knowing about the pitfalls and how to avoid them goes a long way in determining one's sucess in life. From what Brian tracy says we can clearly understand we have a tresure trove of knowledge from learning the lives of the great achievers. It is the easiest and the fastest way to achieve sucess. Whatever u decide to become seek out the pioneers in that field who have outlived everybodyelse and follow their life carefully. It would be appropriate to stress here that i dont mean duplicating their lives, what i mean here is take in the essence of their sucess and make it ur own. God makes every human being unique. Inside everyone there is unique greatness, it sparkles out when we just be ourselves.
As Ralph.w.emerson says "Insist on yourself; never imitate... Every great man is unique."
So be true to urselves but never hesitate to learn from great achievers.

Great quotes to read

overcoming difficulties:


It is not work that kills men, it is worry. Work is healthy; you can hardly put more on a man than he can bear. But worry is rust upon the blade. It is not movement that destroys the machinery, but friction.Henry Ward Beecher

Never let life's hardships disturb you ... no one can avoid problems, not even saints or sages.
Nichiren Daishonen

Ask yourself this question:"Will this matter a year from now?"
Richard Carlson

"You can destroy your now by worrying about tomorrow." Janis Joplin

"Let what is past flow away downstream." Japanese Proverb

Don't waste your life in doubts and fears: spend yourself on the work before you, well assured that the right performance of this hour's duties will be the best preparation for the hours or ages that follow it.
Ralph Waldo Emerson

No longer forward nor behindI look in hope and fear;But grateful take the good I find,The best of now and here.John G. Whittier

In adversity those talents are called forth which are concealed by prosperity. Horace
Nothing is predestined: The obstacles of your past can become the gateways that lead to new beginnings.Ralph Blum

It has been my philosophy of life that difficulties vanish when faced boldly.Isaac Asimov

All misfortune is but a stepping stone to fortune.Henry David Thoreau

A gentleman can withstand hardships; it is only the small man who, when submitted to them, is swept off his feet.
Confucius

Little minds are tamed and subdued by misfortune, but great minds rise above them.
Washington Irving

Dreams:
Trust the dreams for hidden in them is the gate to eternity.
Kahlil Gibran

Go confidently in the direction of your dreams. Live the life you have imagined.
Henry David Thoreau

I like the dreams of the future better than the history of the past.
Patrick Henry

The future belongs to those who believe in the beauty of their dreams.
Eleanor Roosevelt

Hold fast to dreams, for if dreams die, life is a broken winged bird that cannot fly.
Lanston Hughes

You cannot dream yourself into a character: you must hammer and forge yourself into one.
Henry D. Thoreau

Words of wisdom:
It was a high counsel that I once heard given to a young person, "Always do what you are afraid to do."
Ralph Waldo Emerson

Take calculated risks. That is quite different from being rash.
George S. Patton

If you do not hope, you will not find what is beyond your hopes.
St. Clement of Alexandra

The only way of finding the limits of the possible is by going beyond them into the impossible.
Arthur C. Clarke

Without inspiration the best powers of the mind remain dormant, they fuel in us which needs to be ignited with sparks.
Johann Gottfried Von Herder

We are what we repeatedly do. Excellence, therefore, is not an act but a habit.
Aristotle

Do not wait to strike till the iron is hot; but make it hot by striking.
William B. Sprague

Nothing will ever be attempted if all possible objections must first be overcome.
Samuel Johnson

Fortune favors the brave.
Publius Terence

He who hesitates is lost.
Proverb

Our greatest glory is not in never falling but in rising every time we fall.
Confucius

Great spirits have always encountered violent opposition from mediocre minds.
Albert Einstein

Knowing is not enough; we must apply.Willing is not enough; we must do.
Johann Wolfgang von Goethe

We are still masters of our fate.We are still captains of our souls.
Winston Churchill

Nothing great was ever achieved without enthusiasm.
Ralph Waldo Emerson

For hope is but the dreamof those that wake.
Matthew Prior

Constant dripping hollows out a stone.
Lucretius

No worries!

Recession is glooming hard over the world and people are losing their jobs, houses and money invested in stock markets. Worst still we hear reports like parents killing themselves and their children after a lose of job.Media is so full of this negative stuff that i just dont want to take it anymore. I love people and cant see them go through all these pains. All i can do is atleast spread a word of hope, offer a comforting word and keep the spirits up. Thats what i want to do through this blog.

I honestly believe no one is ever defeated until defeat has been accepted as a reality. That is we always can find ways until we giveup. All we have to do is push aside our worries and think what needs to be done next. This mental maturity comes only when the mind has been filled with positive thoughts. Tough times dont lost forever. We need to plant this thought deep into our minds. The toughest time comes just before a reward- Just need to sit tight and let it pass. Life is too precious to be giveup so easily. Agreed that at times life becomes empty and meaningless draining away every ounce of our mental strength. Failure has the ability to do that. Loss of something we care the most may drive us insane but we need to remember every adversity brings with it the seed of an equivalent advantage. When god closes one door on us, he opens four more. All we have to do is keep our eyes and mind open and crushing the evil called worry.

Worries never do good by any means, they just cloud our thinking process and blind us to any opportunities available. So please dont be worried of the past or the future. Just concentrate on the present and make it worth remembering.

This is what the great achievers of the past have told us- given in their own words

It has been my philosophy of life that difficulties vanish when faced boldly. -Isaac Asimov

Little minds are tamed and subdued by misfortune, but great minds rise above them.

-Washington Irving