FOCUS

Focus & Imagination are the two important abilities that can change your life. Let us take a quick look at Focus.

Directing your focus: Your subconscious mind has a much stronger sense of awareness of your surroundings than your conscious mind. Some suggest it is where your sixth sense comes forth. Your subconscious mind is always switched on, even when asleep. Your sub-conscious mind does just obey orders from your conscious mind. If all you do is focus your conscious thoughts continually on negative things, then your subconscious will obediently deliver the feelings, emotions & memories that you have associated with that type of thinking. AND because those feelings will become your reality you can then be caught up in a never ending loop of negativity, fear and anxiety constantly looking for the bad in every situation. Take for example, when you are sleeping and hear something go "bang" in the night. If you let your thoughts and imagination wander to all the horrible things that might happen then your subconscious will throw up feelings, emotions & memories of past events that you have associated with those thoughts. It is your subconscious way of protecting you and preparing you for fight or flight in those situation. On the other hand if you tell consciously yourself and direct your focus to more rational, calming thoughts then the feeling will subside or disappear.

Some people find it quite easy and natural to direct their thoughts towards a more positive outlook on life and every situation. It really depends on the type of programming your sub-conscious mind and conscious mind has had since your birth. This ability of your conscious mind to direct your attention and awareness is one of the most important powers you have and to create change in your life you must learn to control what you consciously focus on.


Deciding what thoughts you will allow/entertain into your mind will determine your destiny.
What you choose to focus on is what you get. Well, the mind is a very interesting and powerful thing. It only sees/pays attention to what you instruct and blocks out everything else. Have you noticed that people who always complain about everything that is going wrong with their lives only to get more problems? That is because these people focus on problems! You attract into your life the predominant thoughts in your mind. If you choose to complain and focus on problems, that is what you get! More and more of them. You will miss out on all the wonderful opportunities out there. Similarly, if you choose and look out for opportunities, you will see them everywhere.

Go ahead, stop complaining. Focus on what you are grateful for everyday. You will notice a dramatic change in your life. You will start to attract all the good things you ever dreamt about. The Reticular Activating System in our brain does this function. Hence focus on what you want rather than what you do not want. Instead of saying," I do not want to be fat" say " I want to be trim". Instead of focusing on sickness focus on health. What you focus becomes your reality. Hence, take responsibility for your life as it depends on where you choose to focus. Good luck!!

GOAL SETTING

Happiness is the progressive realization of worthy goals.
4 reasons for not having goals:
1. Not realizing the importance of goals setting.
2. Do not know how to set goals.
3. Fear of rejection/ Fear of being ridiculed
4.Fear of failure.
Goals should be harmonious. Goals should not be very easy nor impossible to achieve. There should be 50% chances of success. Only challenging goals will bring the best in you. The goals should be out of reach but within sight.

BLUEPRINT FOR GOAL SETTING:
1.Decide clearly what you want  in the short, medium and long-term and write them down.
2.Make it specific, detailed. Feel your goals.
3.Goals should be measurable and objective.
4.Goals should be definite, ideal and exciting.
5.Determine why you want to achieve these goals?
6.Set a deadline & sub-deadlines.
7.Analyze the present situation, get facts and be honest to yourself.
8.Identify the obstacles between you and your goals. If you do not have obstacles they are not goals, they would be activities. For example, starting your computer is an activity, it is not a goal.
9.Identify skills required to achieve your goals. Identify 5 to 7 Critical Success Factors.
10.Learn from experts who have paid prices for learning. This is called modelling in NLP(Neuro Linguistic Programming).
11. Identify what core competencies will be needed to achieve the goals.
12. Know people & organizations whose help you need to achieve your goals and ASK for their help.
13. Make a detailed written plan with dates.
14. Take action.
15. Be persistent/determined.
16. Maintain forward motion and gain momentum.
17. Get regular feedback and revise the goals if need be.

NLP & GOAL SETTING:
The following 4 points mentioned in NLP are quite useful in goal setting.
1. OUTCOME: Be clear on the intended outcome first.
2. RELATION: Understand the importance of relationship with the people & the situation involved.
3. SENSORY ACUITY: Be alert & sharp. Observe clearly the happenings around you.
4. BEHAVIORAL FLEXIBILITY: Be flexible in your action taking the feedback and circumstances into consideration.

All successful people have good goal setting skills. Failing to plan means planning to fail. Hence fix your goals and follow them up. Have your sight on the goals, take appropriate action and achieve all your goals in the set time. GOOD LUCK!!

Reference(courtesy): speeches of Mr.Brian Tracy.

MONEY

•    We need to balance all aspects(wealth, health, relation & spirituality) of our life situation. We should not maximize one aspect at the cost of other aspects. Let us optimize and enjoy the journey!

•    To make money we lose our health and to restore our health we lose money….We live as if we never going to die and die as if we never lived.

•    A quote is worth mentioning here:

"First, I was dying to finish my high school & start my college And then I was dying to finish my college and start working. Then I was dying to marry and have children And I was dying for my children to grow old enough so I could go back to work peacefully. Then I was dying to retire and now I am dying…And suddenly I realized I forgot to live".

•    Money is supposed to make our life journey fun & joyful. Let us learn something about Money!!It is our birth-right to be rich and prosperous. It is our birth-right to lead a first class life. Money is man’s greatest tool hence appreciate and respect this. There is nothing wrong with money but wrong with perceptions. If things go wrong they go wrong because of mishandling, never pass on blames to money.

•    Both scarcity and abundance will be a part of this world we can always choose one of them. Whatever we choose we will get it as a reality in our life. Things are created twice first in the mind then in reality.

•                   What are your money rules. List them down.  Consciously we all want to be rich but  unconsciously we are afraid because of our money messages/rules.We have a money blue print. We have a money-thermostat. We have set our upper limit and lower limit based on our experiences, understanding & conditioning.
     MONEY RULES:    

                  

- ve rules	+ve rules
Save for the rainy days	Save for the shiny days
Money does not grow on trees	Money grows on ideas, I have brilliant ideas.
Money is not everything.	Money is in everything.
Money spoils people.	Good money can be generated with good values. I have good values.
Money makes money	Creative ideas make money. I have plenty of them.
We don’t take a single paise              when we die.	This applies to your dress also why wear any dress. It is our duty to be rich.  It is a sin to be poor.

      MONEY FORMULA:

        Money = Energy.

•                        Self esteem is directly proportional to money.

•                        Money = Emotions

•                        Prosperity = (time + physical money + emotional money).

•                        Money is directly proportional to action.

•                        Freedom = letting go of past or negative emotions

•                       Increase in money is directly proportional to gratitude/love

•                       Good money decision = balance of head & heart.

•                       Life is not one single transaction.

•                     Time is here & now.

•                   Clean up! Not just your home or office but your relationships both personal and   professional.  You can't work at your best if your life is full of clutter.

•     It may sound harsh but let go of those people who suck the energy right out of you, leaving you feeling like a wet dish rag. Throw out anything in your home or office that you haven't used for over a year.  You'll be amazed at how light and creative you feel once you've cleaned up your life! 

      I HOPE THESE RULES & FORMULA WILL HELP YOU MANAGE MONEY FOR LASTING HAPPINESS. GOOD LUCK.

WHO ARE YOU?!!

Master: Who are you?
Disciple: I am Raj.
M: It is your name. I did not ask what is your name.
D: I am the son of Shekar, husband of Laxmi etc.,
M: That is how you are related to them. That is your relationship with others.
D: I am a Doctor or an Engineer or an Accountant.
M: That is your profession-what you do. Even before you become a doctor you were there.
D: I am a male. I am tall. I am black.
M: You are describing about your body.
D: I am sad. I am restless.
M: That is your feelings. You are not your feelings. You have those feelings. Mind is only a tool with which you feel. If you are sad your mind is not sad. To think & feel, mind is the instrument. To see, eyes are the instruments. To hear, ears the instruments. To smell, nose is the instrument. To taste, tongue is the instrument. To feel, skin is the instrument. When you are eating with a spoon, the spoon is not eating. The spoon does not enjoy the taste but you do. Similarly the mind being an inner instrument does not feel sad but you do.
D: I am confused.
M: You aware that you are confused. Confusion is a  temporary state and not permanent state.
D: I am the Body.
M: Seer of any object is not the object. If you see a fan you are not the fan. if you see the world you are not the world. you can see your body and hence you are not the body.
D: I am the puncha pranas- Prana, Apana, Vyana, Samana &  Udana.
M: Prana is responsible for respiratory system. Apana for excretory system, Vyana for circulatory system, Samana for digestive system and Udana is responsible for taking the breath out of the body when you die. You are aware of this puncha pranas hence you are not them.
D: I am my memory. Based on memory I am Successful or I am a failure.
M: are you the memory or you have your memory?
D: I am ignorant.
M: Who told you that you ignorant? You know that you are ignorant. Where from this knowledge has come? You are aware of your ignorance. Hence you are awareness. Not only that, He is awareness, She is awareness, They are awareness and it is awareness. ONLY AWARENESS IS.

Reference(Courtesy): Speeches of Shri.Dayananta Saraswathi.