I let go of the Nuts...

It has been a long tme since I have penned something the primary reason for this being the Nuts that I was holding and then I came across this little story about "How they catch Monkeys in India". So, I finally decided to open my hand and let go off the Nuts and set myself free.

The Nuts that I was holding were:

1. Lack of Conviction: I was not too convinced that my thoughts were well formulated for public consumption. The style of writing was mediocre at the best. This is what I am going to term Fear - False Evidence Appearing Real. Now, I am convinced that writing is a form of outlet of feelings and thought processes. Every piece that I write does not need to have a meaning hidden and a moral to be drawn at the end of the story.

2. Lack of Persistence: I took the easy way out and almost quit writing. But this is not something that I practise in real life. I am very persistent about my job and relationships. I try to see the brighter side of life 95% of the time.So why I cant apply the same rule when it came to expressing myself. We all have setbacks in our lives and having failed a couple of times does not mean that I am a failure in this thing.

3. Instant Gratification: Perhaps I was looking for every article that I write to be appreciated by all and sundry. Forgetting that not all people have equal tastes. I have stumbled before in doing things but have always picked mysef up and redone it so untill I made a success or some sort of a success out of it. I rationalized that I dont like every book that I read by a particular author. Similarly, it is not necesasry that every article of mine should be appreciated. I am a success if I can convey my fealings and thought processes in a coherent manner.

4. Unwilling to take risks: People sometimes mistake irresponsible and rash behaviour as risk taking. I beg to differ from this viewpoint because more often than not these kinds of irresponsible risk taking brings us negative results and ultimately leads to failure. When I write something then I cant make irresponsible statements becuase what I write may effect the thought processes of another person. Responsible risk-taking is based on knowledge, training, careful study, confidence and competence. Right now I am trying to get there and be a an informed risk taker instead of an irresponsible risk taker. This is a process of a lifetime.

5. Lack of Ambition: Being content does not mean lack of ambition. This fact dawned to me gradually. Generally, I am a very contented person taking life as it comes but am sure of what I want and figure out ways to acheieve them. I can apply this same rule to my writing when I apply this rule to the other things in my life in general. That does not mean that I dont want to improve my style of writing and be content with whatever that I dish out but I am willing to modify my errors in writing along the way.

6. Lack of taking a Stand - Stand for something instead of stand against something: When I express my viewpoints then I am being vocal about the stand that I need to take for or against something. I feel that taking a stand for something is more important because this very fact has again made me pick up my pen again. I required the expression of my thought processes. I like the feeling of hope that this might actually benefit the reader of this article. Making a clear stand is very important and defines us as people. Simply not supporting the wrong is not enough; you need to do something against the wrong and stand for something.

7. Lack of Purpose: Its all in our head: Henry Ford said, "If you think you can or if you think you cant, you are right". I accept this and I think that I can.

8. Lack of Priorities: Definig ones priorities takes discipline and stop looking for substitutions. I have a very strong desire to give back to life the good things that life has given me. And there are many ways that I can do this in. I figured out that writing is also one of the ways in which I can do this and share my views and experiences with others. I realise that I have wated time and for me time wasted is a life wasted. I am learning not to do things that are based on my whims and fancies and I am being largely successful in doing that. Success does not come by reading or memorizing the priciples of sucess but by understanding them and setting up priorities to apply them.

9. No Free Lunches: For everything gained you need to give up something. Nothing comes free. But in order to achieve all that I want to achieve then if I have to give up some of my "bad habits" then I will consider that I have made a good deal.

10. Lack of Analysis: Well...I think I dont need to say much on this. The above points are enough to proove that I have analysed my way out of this and have penned down my first article in a long time. Shiv Khera states that rationalising is for loosers and analysing is for winners. Rationalising means that we are pacifying ourselves why a particular thing did not happen or we dont want it to happen and is a negative stand in my viewpoint. Analysing is more positive as we think about the situation and figure out how to elevate oursleves from the situations.

I hope that these points can be successfuly utilized by the reader of the article. I was guided a lot by the books by Shiv Khera and the above aricle is based on the points that he expresses on "Failure - 20 reasons why we cannot achieve success". Also, my motivating factor has been my sister who has been persistent that I should write and above all myself that I was driven by the will to write.