Health

Consistency

Affirmative action, Habits, Health, Human Brain

I have been crying hoarse over so many blog posts on the fact that if you invest even very small amounts on a consistent basis, the law of compounding will play its role and you will end up with very large sums of money over a long period of time. For compounding to work you need to things – a long runway and high frequency / rate of interest.

I have heard a lot of speakers talk about massive action, lots of action to move ahead in life, to change behaviors. Frankly for me to change my habits has been tough.

I have written earlier about this book by B. J. Fogg called Tiny Habits where he has this formula B=MAP for creating major behavioral changes.

If you are like me who cannot keep being motivated 36 hours after hearing a Motivational speaker, and you would like to bring about changes in your life, then this book is a must read for you.

I have used ideas in this book and after 3 + months of using the methods in the book, I have definitely been able to make a lot of changes in my behavior.

But the bigger thing I realised that this method which B.J.Fogg has devised actually works on the law of compounding with small changes being done over a period of time resulting in massive changes over a long period. And unlike the resistance your brain gives to doing one massive change, small changes fall below the radar of the resistance of your brain.

The key is consistency – every day trying to get the ball into the basket – one basket at a time

Read this book. Try out his ideas and let me know your views.

Till next time

Carpe Diem!!!

Unfinished tasks – source of stress

Health, Human Brain, Yoga

When I used to do Yoga earlier I had one major problem. Not sure if you have tried concentrating on something and you kept having thoughts continuously take you in a different direction.

I had thought Yoga would help me improve my concentration but my brain would keep hijacking me and I was never able to understand how people see so many benefits of doing Yoga and meditation.

And then I was reading Hyperfocus and Deep Work – two books with an agenda to improve productivity – that’s when the Zeigarnik effect came back into focus. I have written about this effect in a couple of posts earlier also. Due to this the brain keeps coming back and reminds you that a task needs to be closed.

Now when I would do Yoga, all the pending tasks would come right in front.

So a simple solution – instead of trying hard to concentrate and suppress the thoughts, I have started carrying my phone or a sticky note pad with me. The moment a thought starts flashing I write it down on paper or on my to do list on the phone.

So now since my brain knows that I have written it somewhere to take action, it stops trying to remind me for that period of time. Then I do my Yoga peacefully.

Next I make it a practice to strike of the items which I have completed. This action of physically striking of the item tells my brain that it does not need to anymore do the job of reminding me. This also has helped me feel less stressed overall.

There’s one habit which Tony Robbins speaks about bunching tasks after you have made lists and Dan Sullivan talks about eliminating all the irritating tasks. I have still not been able to master them.

As I do, I will let you know of the results.

If you find this method worthwhile do let me know in the comments section

Till next time….

Carpe Diem!!!

Breathing – core to your health Part -II

Affirmative action, Breathing, Health, Human Brain

Yesterday I wrote about how John Nester’s book Breath and Baba Ramdev’s Pranayam exercises have helped me realise the importance of proper breathing.

Today I will just talk about some of the experiments which John Nester speaks about and how I felt after that.

One of the breathing exercises he talks about is 5-6 second inhale and similarly 5-6 second exhale. He’s given various examples of how different religious hymns have a cycle which corresponds to this breathing pattern. I have tried doing this in two ways.

One while moving from one concentrated task to another, I try to keep a gap of about 10 minutes during which I try to break away from my computer screen. During this time I try to focus on this breathing cycle. It helps me in feeling less exhausted from tasks, though I am not sure if this is the only reason but I do think breathing this way helps.

The other time I have experimented with this breathing pattern is just before sleeping. I lie on the bed and for the next few minutes I keep breathing in this manner. Slowly all the thoughts of the day start disappearing as I concentrate on the breathing. I think that is a major benefit. As long as you keep thinking about the events of the day, the brain keeps in hyper drive.

I will add one thing over here though. While doing this breathing pattern, I have in parallel also started writing down all the thoughts which come to me on a piece of paper or on my cell phone for taking action. This could also be helping get my brain to wind down.

If you have trouble getting to sleep in the night, try this and let me know your comments below.

Till next time…..

Changing the narrative

compounding, Financial Independence, Health, Marketing

Hello Everyone. Its been quite a few months since I wrote on my blog. I hope all of you, your families and near and dear ones are safe during these tough times.

I have been contemplating a lot about what should constitute my next items on the blog and the structure. While I have been writing over the last few years on “The Magic of Compounding” and its ability to create “Financial Freedom” I was wondering what would be the outcome for someone to achieve financial freedom. Is that outcome really worth the effort.

So that’s what’s been keeping my mind occupied. I have been reading a lot of books in the meantime, which I will analyse in the coming weeks. The biggest benefit which I could think for getting “Financial Freedom” is to have a life well lived. So compounding becomes a tool to get financial freedom and the freedom you get helps you live your life to a full potential or at least with less regrets of “What Could have Been”.

To be able to “Live Life Well” then you need to have other things also.

  1. You need to be in good health – if you don’t have health then all you will think of is your ailments – but if you have good health then you can dream about other things
  2. You need to be able to dream and change contexts from your present scenario – which means you need to gain more knowledge, visit new places and gain more varied experiences
  3. You need to excel on your own Unique Abilities ( a term Dan Sullivan of Strategic Coach uses very often)

Let me know your comments below on what else you think is needed to “live life well”

So I will be changing the narrative of my blog as we go forward – I will not only talk about “Compounding” and “Financial Freedom” which I am very passionate about, but also look at other areas like Marketing and Health.

Marketing and being able to present things and interact with people has been one of my areas which I think I am very good at. So I would like to share those ideas as I come across them.

In addition I have been very fascinated with how improving my daily health habits has helped me improve myself. A lot of you could be in a similar boat so I would love to share those aspects as well.

When I started blogging my emphasis was to help people especially youngsters to avoid the mistakes that I had made as I reached middle age in my financial abilities.

Now while I will keep on that, the narrative would change to also include how a better health and better marketing could help write on our tombstone – This Person Lived Her/His Life Well

So till next time ….

Carpe Diem!!!