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Most of us relish the goodtimes and detest the tough…so much so that we burn ourselves out to ensure we are ‘over protected’. It is always a good thing to take caution and prepare, however, we must come to terms with the fact that regardless of our efforts, we will be subject to tough times. The good news is that tough times make us tough.

tolerance, perseverance, determination, patience, humility are some virtues that grow and get strengthened in these times, resulting in making us complete.

If it was not for the tough times, I would never have used these virtues and hence be an ‘underdeveloped’ midget.

Understand the benefits of the tough times and you will learn to accept them with a smile and take charge of your stress and anxiety.

Every musical instrument in an orchestra is crucial in creating a symphony that the composer had envisaged, regardless of how faint or little its contribution. Without that particular instrument, the music would be incomplete and lacking. When google studied outstanding teams globally to understand what makes them great, the last thing that they would have expected is that it all boiled down to making every individual member of the team feel safe.

Safe to be themselves…
Safe to contribute freely…
and
Safe to experience a sense of ownership and worth…

In practice, as leaders of teams, we need to take care of two behaviours during meetings:

1. Give every member a chance to speak without judging them Some may speak too soon, some too late, some may speak too little and some may speak too much. Nurture members with patience; over time, everyone will be open and open up.
2. Be sensitive to their emotions The beauty of dealing with humans versus machines is that they can discern where to invest their energy and where not to. For a leader to tap into this discretionary effort, they need to care, share and inspire. There is enough research done in positive psychology and several business case studies to second this.

Knowledge is a process of piling up facts; wisdom lies in their simplification.
Simplifying things garners clarity and guarantees success.
If I were to attribute ‘Stress’ to a single word, that that word would be ‘Control’.

We could all, consciously or unconsciously, be control freaks, however we must be on the right side of the control continuum.
Perfectly okay to control your thoughts, responses, emotions and actions however NOT perfectly okay to control other people, their behavours, their opinions about you, their feelings. NOT perfectly okay to peg your joy and peace on specific outcomes.
You have maximum influence of your energy and spirit at this moment. perform at your peak, execute relentlessly, engage actively right NOW. Nevertheless, you must relinquish your need for control and you will relieve yourself instantly from stress. It would feel like a huge burden getting off your shoulders (back or chest), leaving your light and energised. Want evidence? Experiment with it today, over the next few interactions, open ourself to acceptance, let go of the illusion of control and experience the magic it carries.
Deeply contemplate on these words – Lord, grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change, courage to change the things I can and wisdom to know the difference.

It is interesting how I get many requests from corporates and MBA students to incorporate ‘yoga’ in my sessions. They find it relaxing, relieving, and it helps them concentrate with clarity. Since I help them experience ‘yogaofthemind” which does not necessarily include any physical postures, I help them see that yoga truly means ‘union’ or ‘connection’, versus ‘viyoga’ which means ‘disconnection’. To illustrate, if I am currently thirsty and am thinking about water, then, technically speaking, I am in yoga with water. Since we are always in yoga with something or another, each of us are ‘constantyogis’. Yoga is indeed powerful. If I hold a few elevated thoughts about the self, such as: ‘I am worthy’ or ‘I can do it’, then I am in yoga with that state, and as a result, I feel and become that. If I am constantly creating thoughts of doubt, misfortune, and regret then I cause a great deal of damage. This yoga is not very helpful; in fact, it is detrimental. Hence my fellow yogis, let us not wait for June 21, International Day of Yoga to do what is fashionably right, but begin from this very moment. Forge the right connections with your thoughts and be at your best right now!”

USD 125 billion was the estimated health and wellness food market size in 2023, reflecting a substantial investment in sustaining a healthy body. Wonder if we are paying equal attention to healthy food for the mind? An alert, active, and energetic mind that is calm and stable is an asset and must be fed appropriately. It is a no-brainer that thoughts make up the diet of the mind. I am reminded of a fable where the old Cherokee teaches his grandson about life. “Inside all of us are two wolves constantly fighting with each other,” he told the boy. “One is evil, full of lust, anger, greed, attachment, and arrogance.” He continued, “The other is good, filled with peace, love, positivity, truth, and happiness.” The grandson thought about it for a minute and then asked curiously, “Grandpa, which wolf will win?” The old Cherokee simply replied, “The one you feed.” We are served a variety of diets through our phones every moment. Firstly, we must avoid overeating and tame ourselves to consume information only when needed; additionally, we must refrain from junk, i.e. information that may seem exciting but takes away valuable time from performing important activities. The cost of losing valuable opportunities is immense, besides, there are plenty of dis-eases of the mind that creep in due to the consumption of information that is negative. A takeaway – to the extent that we look after our physical diet, let us pay equal attention to our mental diet and enjoy a healthy mind. The key word here is ‘attention’, and that will take care of the rest; where attention goes, energy flows, where energy flows, and life grows.