Buffet spread for a meaningful life style- 

*Starters: (pick any 2)*

1.  Get up early (you can accomplish 20% more during 5 am to 8 am)

2.   Exercise at least for 30 minutes  daily (you have no choice on this)

3. Meditate /pray/ visualize positive things/do yoga for 30 minutes every day.

*Main course (pick any 4)*

1)  Invest in best clothes you can afford-along with good shoes (It has been proved, that better dressed people appeal 15 % more-all things being equal)

2)  Outsource everything, which is not your core competence. 

3)  Reduce your mobile time by 30 % (Mobile phones are the biggest time waster)

4) At least take one bold decision, which you were always scared to take. (No one want to die with regrets- do you?)

5)  Train your brain to think creatively every day. Try to do different things to exercise your brain muscles- play some sport,  go to new restaurants, visit zoo, listen to different music, watch kids playing, spend time with senior citizens. 

*Desserts (pick all)*

1.   Take atleast 2 vacations in a year.

2.    Devote atleast one day a week for family n friends. 

3.     Learn a new hobby.

4.    Smile at all possible times. 

5.     Watch one movie in a cinema hall/ play in auditorium every month (it is therapy for the soul)

6.    Read at least 12 books in a year. ( 1 every month )

7.  Start picking n completing things undone. Discard unwanted & unused stuff from your house and your mind.

8.    Get in touch with one old friend whom you have not spoken for years.

9.   Laugh often.

(Writer- Unknown)

Ghanshyam Das Birla’s Letter to his son Bansant Kumar Birla

घनश्यामदास जी बिड़ला का अपने पुत्र बसंत कुमार जी बिड़ला के नाम 1934 में लिखित एक अत्यंत प्रेरक पत्र. 
चि. बसंत…..
यह जो लिखता हूँ उसे बड़े होकर और बूढ़े होकर भी पढ़ना, अपने अनुभव की बात कहता हूँ।संसार में मनुष्य जन्म दुर्लभ है और मनुष्य जन्म पाकर जिसने शरीर का दुरुपयोग किया, वह पशु है।तुम्हारे पास धन है, तन्दुरुस्ती है, अच्छे साधन हैं, उनको सेवा के लिए उपयोग किया, तब तो साधन सफल है अन्यथा वे शैतान के औजार हैं। तुम इन बातों को ध्यान में रखना।धन का मौज-शौक में कभी उपयोग न करना, ऐसा नहीं की धन सदा रहेगा ही, इसलिए जितने दिन पास में है उसका उपयोग सेवा के लिए करो, अपने ऊपर कम से कम खर्च करो, बाकी जनकल्याण और दुखियों का दुख दूर करने में व्यय करो।
धन शक्ति है, इस शक्ति के नशे में किसी के साथ अन्याय हो जाना संभव है, इसका ध्यान रखो की अपने धन के उपयोग से किसी पर अन्याय ना हो।अपनी संतान के लिए भी यही उपदेश छोड़कर जाओ। यदि बच्चे मौज-शौक, ऐश-आराम वाले होंगे तो पाप करेंगे और हमारे व्यापार को चौपट करेंगे।ऐसे नालायकों को धन कभी न देना, उनके हाथ में जाये उससे पहले ही जनकल्याण के किसी काम में लगा देना या गरीबों में बाँट देना।तुम उसे अपने मन के अंधेपन से संतान के मोह में स्वार्थ के लिए उपयोग नहीं कर सकते।हम भाइयों ने अपार मेहनत से व्यापार को बढ़ाया है तो यह समझकर कि वे लोग धन का सदुपयोग करेंगे। 
भगवान को कभी न भूलना,वह अच्छी बुद्धि देता है,इन्द्रियों पर काबू रखना, वरना यह तुम्हें डुबो देगी।
नित्य नियम से व्यायाम-योग करना। स्वास्थ्य ही सबसे बड़ी सम्पदा है। स्वास्थ्य से कार्य में कुशलता आती है, कुशलता से कार्यसिद्धिऔर कार्यसिद्धि से समृद्धि आती है lसुख-समृद्धि के लिए स्वास्थ्य ही पहली शर्त है l मैंने देखा है की स्वास्थ्य सम्पदा से रहित होनेपर करोड़ों-अरबों के स्वामी भी कैसे दीन-हीन बनकर रह जाते हैं स्वास्थ्य के अभाव में सुख-साधनों का कोई मूल्य नहीं। इस सम्पदा की रक्षा हर उपाय से करना।भोजन को दवा समझकर खाना। स्वाद के वश होकर खाते मत रहना। जीने के लिए खाना हैं, न कि खाने के लिए जीना ।
घनश्यामदास बिड़ला

Dip vs Cul-De-Sac

Dip or a Cul-De-Sac. A dip is a temporary setback, one that can be overcome if you keep pushing. But maybe it’s really a cul-de-sac (the French term for a dead end), which will never get better, no matter how hard you try. What sets lucky people apart from others? They have developed the ability to distinguish between a dip and a cul-de-sac and to escape dead ends quickly, while staying focused and motivated when it really counts.

Inner Wizard vs Inner Critic

All of us seem to have two voices inside us. The first is intuition, our ‘inner wizard’, which never shouts; it whispers. It tries to tell us what we should be doing and what will be good for us. The second voice inside us is the ‘inner critic’, which shouts rather than whispers. Sending a steady stream of destructive thoughts directed towards us and others, it discourages us from acting in our own best interests. Unfortunately, we usually end up listening to our inner critic rather than our inner wizard.

Fosbury Flop

The 1968 Mexico City Olympics marked the international debut of Dick Fosbury and his celebrated “Fosbury flop,” which would soon revolutionize high-jumping. At the time, jumpers … swung their outside foot up and over the bar [called the “straddle,” much like a hurdle jump, it allowed you to land on your feet]. Fosbury’s technique began by racing up to the bar at great speed and taking off from his right (or outside) foot. Then he twisted his body so that he went over the bar head-first with his back to the bar. While the coaches of the world shook their heads in disbelief, the Mexico City audience was absolutely captivated by Fosbury and shouted, “Olé!” as he cleared the bar. Fosbury cleared every height through 2.22 metres without a miss and then achieved a personal record of 2.24 metres to win the gold medal. By 1980, 13 of the 16 Olympic finalists were using the Fosbury flop.
Sports evolve when sacred cows are killed, when basic assumptions are tested. The same is true in life.
- From a book titled- The 4 Hour Work Week- 

Most dangerous trap...

Many of us have heard the story of Johnny and his moaning dog. When a friend asked why the dog was moaning, Johnny said, ‘Because he is sitting on a nail!’ ‘Then why doesn’t he get up?’ ‘Because it does not hurt bad enough!’

How to avoid failure

“When I was young, I observed that nine out of ten things I did were failures. So I did ten times more work.”- George Bernard Shaw