Starting out and Achieving our goals always start with the First Step

Achieving goals by this one great step

Way No.1: 90% Planning and the Rest is execution

It said that a lot of people have really great ideas and plans, but lack of action is what stops them from moving ahead. It's not still the end of the year, so there is always a chance for a new beginning. We must use this as an opportunity to start on our plans. As an IT student, I had learned that success to most projects is 90% planning and the rest is execution. But many of us are just stuck in the first phase and seldom thinking of moving to the next.

(Read here, how I started out blogging, Click Here) Blogging was something that I always wanted to do and now doing it is, of course, a learning experience and a journey by itself. I think more than writing skills, it is being vulnerable that can stop us. A small step to open ourselves to others can take us a long way.

Way No.2: Failing is okay

What is keeping us back? I am sure there are many good reasons. But I think one of them could be the fear of failing and looking bad. Failing is okay, but not trying to work on your goals can be a source of major regret. I once heard this from a motivational speaker and this idea really caught my imagination. He said that imagine you are on your death bed and you start thinking of all the things you could have done to achieve those goals and dreams. 

Imagine all the possibilities of how things could have been. Imagine all those possibilities haunting you and crying to you for concretizing or work on them. Now think that you are going to die with all these regrets someday. (Chriseducator.com)

Is it all worth it or is it worth it to work on those goals or dreams you aspire. I think one must sit down and think about it.

Way no.3: Determined Action

Powerful Quote from Tony Robbins

I would like to leave you with this quote from Tony Robbins. He is a great motivational speaker and he has changed many peoples lives. This is what he has to say about being successful.

Tony Robbins: Take Action

Concluding thoughts:

First steps are difficult and so is the beginning of any new project. But with proper planning and deliberation, we can find our way ahead. Our focus should be on excellence and not just perfection. A right attitude can be a real game-changer.

I think this mantra sums it all up for us.

"Audacious Goals + Massive ( Determined ) Action"

Further Reading:

The Overthinker’s Guide for Taking Action: A Complete Guide
https://startupbros.com/overthinkers-guide-taking-action-complete-guide/

How to Take Action: 12 Habits that Turn Dreams into Reality
https://www.positivityblog.com/how-to-take-action/

Why Is It Important To Take Action?
https://www.seeken.org/important-take-action/

Simple things in Life and the miracles they bring

 Being Pensive

When I get pensive and thinking about the good and bad times it's the simplest things that amaze me. Let me share, for example watching our children grow so fast and see them share their views on things can be so insightful. Life moves ahead so fast.



Today, I shall try to include share some ideas on Life's simplest things. How to cherish small things and how to create your small miracles of Happiness? But before I start speaking about it, Here is my favorite quote on the simple things in life. I believe it captures the beauty of simple living.

It is the simplest things in life that hold the most wonder; the color of the sea, the sand between your toes, the laughter of a child.- Goldie Hawn

Searching for the Extraordinary

I think sometimes we think doing extraordinary things can make us happy. Now I see the great wonder in simple things. All this started with the idea of choosing to be happy. When we are at our lowest we only recollect the negative and we get into a pithy party. But just shifting your attention to simple things can bring so much joy. I believe when we choose to be happy, we try to seek joy. Focusing on simple things can be a source of great joy. It's like God's hidden miracles that bring us back to our childlike wonder. It makes us smile or cry (whatever).


I once missed drowning while on a vacation. Post that experience, I realized the beauty in just being safe. The joy to interact with people and dream about possibilities. Being dead in that pool would take a lot of things away. So let's consider some ideas that can move us in that direction, towards more simple living.

3 Points can be quite an enabler to simple living:

• Being Intentional: Intentional would mean being deliberate. So can one spend a day intentionally, Start by planning your day. Have a script for your whole day. Keep a planner or a set of tasks to plan your day. I use Google Keep or Tasks for this. It's a really great tool. Start rethinking the effectiveness of your attitudes and workstyles. Take time to pause and reflect on what tasks have you completed during the day. Reflect on how your actions have helped you grow physically, spiritually and financially. Have you been effective to your immediate friend circle or community? These could be some questions to help you focus your actions and tasks.

Reflect on how your actions have helped you grow physically, spiritually and financially. 

• Start with Average and move ahead with excellence: Focus and perspective can really shape a lot of projects, sometimes our drive towards achieving perfection and perfect situations can cripple us. They can take away our control. To change that, Start with average, meaning average results. If you have not been able to change that habit or go on that diet 100%, no problem. Just start out and constantly improve your rate of success. Do not give up on your goals and yourself. This can be a great way to move towards achieving our goals. 

Do not give up on your goals and yourself. 

• Learn to use the Pause button: Responding and not reacting can be useful, a great way to start being responsive could be to learn to take time to stop and think. Just using the pause button can help us rethink our approaches and attitude to difficult situations or even to learn new ideas and rejuvenate ourselves. It can be used to create those small moments to generate great ideas or even just to relax.

Responding and not reacting can be useful

Now there is another way to enjoy life's small miracles. It could be by being grateful.

Here is my list of things I am grateful for:

10 Things I grateful for ( Increase list to 10 things )

What's your Gratefulness list?

Concluding Thoughts

It can be so empowering to have the ability to create happiness and enjoy the wonders of the life we have been gifted. Sometimes life situations can be challenging but by hard work and using our tact and intentional living we can improve our lives and our experiences.

Please do comment, share and give your valuable feedback. Thank you. Ciao!

Further Reading

Friends and Friendship

Understanding the 'Why' behind Gratefulness
Five Easy Ways To Facilitate Gratitude Journal Styles

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Opportunities & Difficulties

Being an Entrepreneur and working for self can be such a blessing. But Let me tell you, It has its own difficulties. Life is always filled with possibilities ( Check this article I wrote on Choices), like Napolean Hill would say that it is our lack of self-confidence that holds us back, but I would say that it is also not being prepared.

So how does one be prepared, I would say self preparedness starts with a healthy self-evaluation.

Finding your Strengths

One of the basic things that we learn in Management is a SWOT analysis. It is a topic taught under the subject of Strategic Management ( Quite an interesting topic). So basically, starts out with understanding their Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, and Threats. This is quite a good starting point, Understanding yourself or your organization. 

Spiritual Masters had their own version of it, but this happened for spiritual growth. They would evaluate their entire day and pray for people. The same can be applied or practiced, by taking a personal inventory of our entire day. Ultimately, Time is one of the greatest assets we have.

So then what next, 

How to decide your Mission? The Guy Kawasaki Way

Set a mission... and how Guy Kawasaki would do it. Set a mantra. 

Mantras are much more effective. Mantras summarise all that you want to do and achieve. It can be very effective as it would constantly remind us of our purpose.

Check this Youtube video, He shares with startups on the importance of having a mantra.

These techniques can also be used for our personal growth too.

Keeping a Plan B

What can be a Plan B? For an Entrepreneur, it can be another income source or leveraging a network. A Plan B can be also pursued as a hobby, It does not need to occupy all your time. 

It can be some that you love doing and are passionate about. And yes it should pay you something. Being resourceful and taking small steps can be really helpful.

So let us summarise some ideas on Being Prepared

1. Understand yourself
2. Have a Mantra
3. What's your Plan B

Here is an interesting quote on Preparedness:

Power Quote by Louis Pasteur

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Some interesting ideas and quotes that help understand Gratitude

Practicing Gratitude can really make a difference in Personal growth and here are some encouraging words to help you

Check my posts on Gratitude and reasons behind practicing gratefulness. Click here and here.

Be thankful for what you have; you'll end up having more. If you concentrate on what you don't have, you will never, ever have enough

     - Oprah Winfrey

Acknowledging the good that you already have in your life is the foundation for all abundance.

        -Eckhart Tolle

The Struggle ends when gratitude begins.

         -Neal Donald Walsh

The roots of all goodness lie in the soil of appreciation.

        - Dalai Lama

I would maintain that thanks are the highest form of thought, and that gratitude is happiness doubled by wonder.

         - G. K. Chesterton

When a person doesn't have gratitude, something is missing in his or her humanity. A person can almost be defined by his or her attitude toward gratitude.

          -Elie Weisel

Remember the past with gratitude, live the present with Enthusiasm, look forward to the future with Confidence.

          -St. John Paul II

Gratitude is the single most important ingredient to living a successful & fulfilled life.

          -Jack Canfield

Do let me know in the comment section if you find these quotes interesting.

More Quotes on Gratitude:

https://www.success.com/15-thoughtful-quotes-about-gratitude/

https://www.goodreads.com/quotes/tag/gratitude

https://www.inc.com/jeremy-goldman/17-inspiring-quotes-about-gratitude.html

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Master Guide to Resourcefulness: Learn Four Mantras to be Resourceful

What does it mean to be resourceful?

The Dictionary defines resourcefulness as the ability to find quick and clever ways to overcome difficulties. I am sure we all have experienced situations that make us feel the same, All our dreams, plans and work on whether on a pet project or something major, things turn out differently. We all have been there. I think this is the most common thing to our human experience, things turning out different than we expected. This is where being resourceful becomes the only resort and sometimes can be a gamechanger.

Issues or Problem...doing it the donkey's way

Issue or problems can come to us in different forms and can smack us, bring us down. I read this interesting story in an article in the Des Moines Register by Harvey Mackay. It's on the story of a donkey who is narrating to his grandson an incident when he was stuck in a ditch. The donkey mentions a moment when he had fallen into a ditch. After a long wait, a farmer notices the donkey. He later waits until the next morning to tell other villagers. Instead of saving the donkey, they decide to bury the donkey. They start throwing mud at the donkey. The donkey had a choice to panic and die or use what he had. So the donkey decided to use the mud thrown at him. He would climb up the pile of mud and at last, the donkey saved itself. Sometimes life can be like this, it can take such twists that land us in difficult situations. (Read the entire story at the link mentioned above) Imagine if that donkey had not been resourceful, he would have been dead. Sometimes making a difference requires us to use whatever we have, but also to persevere and see the opportunity in difficult circumstances.

Fighting a painful situation

This next story will tell you how. This is the experience of a close friend. He had been through a painful breakup, he had two choices whine about it or just move on. So he moved on, it was quite difficult for him. He concentrated his energy on his studies. It made a huge difference and got him into a good college with a scholarship. He had used his painful situation to help him change his life and help him achieve his goals. He had been resilient and resourceful too.

Resourcefulness can work wonders. But the question is how does one be resourceful. Is there any way or method to help us. I believe there are ideas that help us be resourceful. These ideas I can say have been tested and tried from my experience, I can say it works.

Here are some of them, Check it out:

Stick to your goals

I think the most important thing to be resourceful is not to forget your goals. But sticking to goals would mean also sticking to them when there doesn't seem any way forward. I think this would be really productive in finding healthy solutions. Although going off tangents can sometimes be good, it could lead to good ideas and also great discoveries. But sticking to your goals gives you a focus and helps you to deal with the 'why' behind what we want to achieve.

Think alternatives

Yes, thinking alternatives is important to be resourceful. This could mean start with understanding the position of our current situation and what are some solutions. One could start with brainstorming ideas and then jotting them down. The feasibility of each idea should be considered.

Lose the war, Win the battle

It's okay to fail at the beginning, cause ultimately lack of resources and bad ideas should not stop us from trying and pursuing our quest to achieve our goals ( but the feasibility should help you decide that. Small failures are fine and they give feedback ( It's like healthy to course correct). Ultimately, It's about the vision and goals that one has in minded.

Attitude Matters

 Being open-minded and confident I think is important to be resourceful. I think these two qualities are important. Being open-minded can help you be creative and Confidence can bring in the faith and hardworking required to achieve success. Lack of confidence brings in scrupulousness (that is good), but also self-doubt that can make people not give their best and ultimately force people to give up.

Bonus One

What to do when there are no alternatives

1) Delay
2) Don't choose when you are in difficult situations
3) Confidence doesn't mean being stupid: Learn when to quit

The first one can seem counter-intuitive (I know), but sometimes it's important to not make bad choices thinking they are good and then repenting about it. It is important to have some space to make choices. (That's my take, do let me know in the comment section if you disagree). Being confident is important and learning when to quit is even more important. But this is for another article.:)

Additional Ideas

I think an important key to being resourceful is to build a person's emotional and spiritual quotient. This helps a person to succeed and effective.

Some Interesting Ideas

https://www.edutopia.org/blog/8-pathways-why-resourcefulness-matters-marilyn-price-mitchell

https://in.pinterest.com/erin_wing/teaching-resourcefulness/

For Teams

https://www.resourcefulmanager.com/team-building/

NLP Exercise to be Resourceful

http://www.oakdust.com/Resourceful_states.htm

Summary

Further Read

Choosing better over Best

Here is a quote from Nelson Mandela on Choices to guide us on the same...

Hopes vs Fears

Wish you all the best and May you make good choices with your hopes as a guide.

5 Reasons to Blog and why I started blogging

Communication is exciting and fun, although it can be challenging for a lot of people. I used to be quite shy as a person, but after a long effort, it helped me deal with this challenge in a more structured way. I faced a similar challenge while trying to start with a blog.

Why Chris Educator?

Purpose & Prose

Learning Curves

Starting your Blog...

Why Blogger

Wordpress is awesome and the Benefits of Blogger

Blog Identity: The difference it makes

The Basics

Naming your Blog

Why People Blog? Hobby, Money and much more

Perks of  Blogging

Categories & Types of Blogs

The Price to pay: Is it Expensive or Cheap

Pain areas of Blogging

Resources for your blog and related costs

Enhancing your Blog: How to spice it up

Marketing your Blog: Getting Heard

Purposeful Blogging: Intent, Intentions...

How to Be on Target...Bob Proctor tells us how

Bob Proctor is a Canadian Motivational Speaker. He is a motivational speaker and best selling author. He is one of America's Premier prosperity Authors.

You might have seen him in the movie The Secret. Here is a link to know more about him. Click Here  It has a detailed story about him.

I like this particular quote which I want us to reflect on.


It is apt and logical, the smartest way to succeeding is to stick with our goals and vision.  Don't let Lack of resources, knowledge or motivation let you down or come in the way of Pursuing your Happiness.

*Image:https://www.maxpixel.net/Focus-S-Dartboard-Aiming-Aim-Target-Arrow-Goal-1551522

Gratitude Journal Styles *

In my previous article, I have covered a lot of ground on Gratitude. Please click here to check it and please do subscribe to my emails for future articles and announcements. Practicing gratitude has really helped me see things differently and it has helped get a more positive outlook.

To me, it seems like the most obvious thing, but sometime back it was not. A lot of times good ideas just tickle our imaginations and senses. It is very seldom implemented. Either because we feel that it is impractical or we don't have a plan to guide us. In this app driven world where everything is an app. It can be difficult to do things without a plan or framework. Today I shall be sharing a beautiful concept related to gratitude called a Gratitude journal.

So let us first understand the idea before actually making one. I believe that recording our feelings and reactions while finding a grateful attitude to filter out our emotions can be quite helpful. Primarily on not so good days, it would help us understand the reasons to find some cheer. It would also remind us that our selective thinking focuses our attention only on pitiful memories when we are down or on brighter moments when we are upbeat. Which I think it doesn't seem like any kind of objectivity. So in life, I think adding a dash of hopefulness to seeing situations can be very useful. It helps us understand our situations and also guides us to strategize ahead. This is where gratefulness plays a key role.

So, Here are 5 ways to a Gratitude Journal:

'The Weekly Gratitude' Journal:

A Weekly Gratitude Journal is a weekly record of the events, moments and things that make you feel grateful. Choose just a small list of say five things that make you feel grateful. I believe this could very simple and normal things. The idea is developing an attitude of gratitude and not filling up a book. So reflect intently and fill the list.

'End of the Day Gratitude' Journal:

This is a daily record of encountering gratitude. So choose a quiet and peaceful time of the day. Calm your mind and reflect on the events during the day. Now record it on paper or if you are using a software or an app key it in. Keep the sentences short. So when you get back to your journal, its a like a summary of all the grateful moments during your day.

'Anytime Gratitude' Journal:

This style of journaling would involve recording your gratitude moments on the go. You feel it, you know it, you write it. It's quite simple. So one just needs to use some tact and to stop and think. Then after reflecting at the situation, person or challenge, we need to record it in the journal. But in this style, there is no real time or place. It's on the go.

'Monthly Gratitude' Journal:

This style of journaling should be done once a month. But to keep it meaningful and factual. It should be more of a ritual. A day of the month should be chosen to record the reasons to be grateful. This could be done in a quiet place or after some prayer or meditation. This helps you focus and engage with the process of journaling our gratitude moments.

'Hybrid Gratitude' Journal:

In this style, we pick and choose some of the above styles to our convenience. We can combine anytime journaling with Monthly journaling ( or formats of your choice). So the first one becomes like a daily tracker and the second one to record the highlights for the month. Creatively bespoke it to your convenience and good health.

Ending Thoughts

In short, I would say there is no one particular style I would recommend. 'Anytime Gratitude' Journaling is an approach that helped me.

I prefer writing paragraphs then just lists. It helps me recap the emotion and situation. I don't use any particular template. But there are many useful templates to use. Check this article by PositivePsychologyProgram, It covers some interesting templates and apps that can be used for creating a Gratitude journal.

Your views

In the comments section, please do mention what approach has helped you. In a future article, I shall cover some templates and technologies like apps and platforms that have personally helped me. God bless! See you in the next article...

Other Articles

Turn Pain to Joy: 11 Tips for a Powerful Gratitude Journal
https://tinybuddha.com/blog/turn-pain-to-joy-11-tips-for-a-powerful-gratitude-journal/

How To Start A Gratitude Journal You’ll Actually Keep
https://www.shutterfly.com/ideas/how-to-start-a-gratitude-journal/

Image

*https://www.maxpixel.net/Journal-Blank-Notebook-Writing-Paper-Book-Diary-3193808

Life Coach... A Mentor and guide

Helping people and hearing their problems have always been something I enjoyed. 

But I never wanted to become a psychologist. So what are the options I always wondered? I came across the concept of a Life Coach.

So I wondered how different could a Life Coach be from a Psychologist. I have been to a Psychologist and even had some psychologist friends. I always wondered if there were any difference between two, a Psychologist and a Life Coach. 

They both look the same. So are they different? Let's see. So today we shall look at the similarities and differences between a Life Coach and a Psychologist.

According to Tony Robbins, the difference between Life Coaching and Psychologist lies in their goals. He says Life Coaching is about helping people with their goals, whereas therapy is about the diagnosis of 'illnesses and pathologies.

So if you are working on Personal Projects, work-related issues and/or major life changes a Life Coach could be someone who could help. 

Generally, a Life Coach is certified by an Institute or International Body, unlike a Psychologist who is licensed and possesses a degree in Psychology. One can be a Psychologist and a Life Coach too.

So though a Life Coach and a Psychologist may have some similarities. Their essential differences define them. A Life coach is more suitable to help guide and motivate people to succeed.  

A good Life coach besides being certified should have relevant experience in coaching.

To become a Life coach one does not need to leave their existing jobs. It can be done part-time. According to Payscale.com, Life coaches can make around $ 27000 to $ 40000 a year. There are a lot of Institutes that offer certifications and training to be a good Life Coach. 

I believe passion and right training can make a huge difference in becoming a successful Life Coach.

Source:*1 https://www.tonyrobbins.com/coaching/life-coach-vs-therapist/

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A Good Start*

It is said that every Successful journey starts with a first step. The 'Not so successful' or the 'Unsuccessful' begins with that first step too.  We tend to spend a lot of time on planning, reflecting before actually starting our journeys, projects etc. So this mantra may seem meaningless to some. 'Just start' or 'Just do it'  may seem meaningless. But is it really without any effectiveness?

Creating Dreams

Finding Gaps

Being Aplomb

Failing to Plan

By Christopher Dias

Hello World!    Credit: Photo by Ink Drop from Pexels  Yay! My first Post... I have always loved sharing ideas and discussing them with people. So getting into Training and Lecturing was quite exciting for me. A really nice extension of post-MBA college life. People always asked me to write a blog, and hereafter much deliberation here is my first blog post. Goodness! It was quite easy. Communication & Being Shy Oh yes, you heard it right shyness had really plagued me for quite some time. I really don't know how it got into me in the first place. I had failed an exam in communication skills in my First Year of Degree college. This shook me. I decided to overcome my fears. Especially shyness, which was the real reason for my supposedly poor communication. I followed a few steps that helped me in this journey. Before I share them I would like to say, It helped to see the world differently. Overcoming this difficulty taught a lot. Self Reflection Sometimes when we are caught in our own problems, we tend to overlook other issues that people face. Coming back to me failing in Communication skills. So, I immediately decided a church group. I had been in church throughout my life, so joining a church group was quite easy. The community life and fellowship helped me open up. First, I was volunteering and then later I had also started teaching at Sunday School.  I think it is important to join a club or a community. It offers a platform for helping people. This can be quite a driver to explore oneself and help in understanding others. I believe it is the first step towards being a better communicator. In the process, the build-up of ideas and formation of good friendships can help in breaking the ice within. Mentor and a friend Close friends can also help you in the process. They are much more than sounding boards. They are honest with their opinions and feedback.  Better communicator also needs good feedback. A trusted friend can help in sifting for constructive feedback. All feedback is not constructive. A close friend who was also an Excellent Copywriter was like a Mentor friend. We would meet often and discuss advertisements. As an IT graduate then, it helped me learn something about Marketing and Advertising, and also enhance my communication skills. Learning to start with being Average Over the years, I have learned that what keeps us back is not our difficulties in opening up, but also the need to be great or excellent. New tasks cannot be mastered in a day or a few months. Excellence is a journey. It is stupid to expect that in a day. It's ok to start with average. So whether it is blogging, communicating or any new skill I think healthy self-reflection, effective mentors and a start can be a Great Begining. Hello World! Wow, I have just written my first post. I hope these insights have helped. Please tune in and watch this space. You can connect with me by signing on my email list or just connecting on social media. Ciao! Happy Learning to you.