Newsflash: ‘If you have asked yourself this question, you are procrastinating.’
Stop.
It does not matter why the chicken crossed the road.
The only thing that matters is that it did.
Period.
Whether the chicken crossed the road to get to the other side, to get to a library to find the answer to the ‘chicken and egg’ riddle or to simply poke fun at us while we obsess over why it did for over a 150 years and counting is immaterial.
The fact is that our lives are surrounded by numerous situations similar to the chicken crossing the road. We dwell over these matters a little more than we perhaps should and we spend hours each day if not weeks focusing on problems akin to it.
Very few of us, if any sit and think, ‘So the chicken crossed the road. Great! What should it do next?’
If we think about the situation on a very personal level we find that it does not matter why the chicken decided to cross the road, whether it was a good decision or bad, right or wrong. The reality of the situation is the fact that due to whatever circumstance, favorable or not, whether it wanted to cross the road or not, the chicken is now on the other side of the road.
Also at this point, it does not matter now if it was forced to do it, whether it was a life’s dream being fulfilled, or whether it was due to reasons outsides the chicken’s hands (wings?).
The focus should be on, ‘Now what?’ What happens next?
In our lifetimes we find ourselves often staring back at ourselves.
We think about how we got to be where we presently are. Sometimes these are thoughts of triumph, at other times we are depressed as to how things have turned out so far and yet other times we find ourselves utterly lost and sometimes even staring at a stranger in the mirror.
We often stress ourselves over things that have been done and actions that have been taken. We talk about what could have been or what should have been. We constantly wonder why things are the way they are and how we came to be in situations that we are in and how we could have been in a different situation had things been done differently.
We talk and bitch about the chicken crossing the road by the water cooler or the lunch table, right through our lives - be in school, college or at work. What went wrong, who did what, wondering why we are in the situation we are in.
We procrastinate. And we do it very well.
The problem is we constantly ask the wrong question without being the wiser.
We keep asking, ‘Why did the chicken cross the road?’
So while the chicken is busy taking its revenge and laughing itself hoarse at our obsession of it crossing the road it has unwittingly opened the door to something much more that we can take away from here on a philosophical level. It has made us think about the right question to be asked,
‘The chicken is on the other side of the road. What next?’
Saturday, February 26, 2011
Sunday, February 13, 2011
Why the Rich get Richer
It is an oft talked about subject, and one has heard it a million times.
‘Money attracts more money.’
A saying that is pretty much believed by most people. But is it true?
While one may argue against it or for, the truth still is that a Warren Buffet or Bill Gates were not born rich. That argument should end there. But it does not.
How often have we seen the people who do well, do even better, the rich seem to get richer much quicker, the happiest of folk seem to be blessed as nothing ever seems to go wrong in their perfect lives and the beautiful or popular lot seem to continue to reign almost indefinitely. And no matter what you try you just cannot seem to catch up. You think and know you are working just as hard if not more, and yet nothing seems to improve.
That poor bloke who has lost a job has a life that seems to go from bad to worse, and tragedies seems to hit him at every turn, the poor stay poor.
Is it luck? Is it just destiny that seems to drive our lives? Is there a way out? Or are we destined to live out the fate we started with? How do you leave one fold of life and jump on to the bandwagon of the folk with better lives and pretty wives?
In 1957, at the John Hopkins, noted biologist and psycho-biologist, Curt Richter conducted an interesting spinoff to the Porsolt test. He took a few wild Norway rats and immersed them into a tall jar of water with the height of the jars walls such that the rats could not escape. Their only choice was to swim or drown. He noticed that a few of these rats drowned in a few minutes and some swam for close to 60 hours.
On these rats that drowned quickly, he conducted autopsies, checked the condition of their hearts and concluded that they had died submissive deaths. Not seeing an escape, they simply gave up.
Curt then proceeded to try the same experiment, but with a twist. This time he dropped the rats into the water jars and but just for a few minutes. He would then then pluck them out and ‘save’ them. After a while he would dip the rats into water again, then after a few more minutes he would rescue them again. After repeating this a few times, he put the rats in the jars and did not try to rescue the rats. He noted that all the rats then paddled for between two and three days in hope of escape before drowning and dying of exhaustion.
Running the risk of turning a psychoanalyst this little experiment does make one thing clear. Consciously or not, our minds are conditioned based on past events. We have a mind map that follows the most obvious pattern. And while we pride ourselves with our lives being the sea of choice that it is, we are often unknowingly prisoners to ourselves. Our sub conscious choices lead our lives.
We all subconsciously decide how to go about a certain task based on previous mental baggage, be the result good or bad.
Knowing this fact is key to jumping ship to the ‘happy lives and pretty wives’ bandwagon. It is a very important step to taking what little control you have over your life.
The second experiment rats believed there was possibility for survival. They endured. After surviving multiple times they believed they had a chance. And so they paddled on till it was physically possible. Active thoughts of giving up were easily surpassed by the subconscious desire and drive to live.
The rich get richer.
People who have certain experiences get conditioned to it. Their self confidence (good or bad) grows based on how results have taken place in the past. And they push toward similar experiences.
Like the rich getting richer as they have had similar earlier experiences, the contrary is just as true too. We start to believe in our patterns, and the truth is our brain starts mapping patters even when sometimes there is nothing to be mapped. In a positive situation ofcourse it works wonders but more often than not we need to take a second look into it. Take a look at the figure. What do you think could be the next shape?
With just something repeating twice, it was enough for you to conclude what the third shape might be.
The idea is to make a conscious choice by cheating the unconscious.
The understanding is simple, a winner continues to win because he believes there is a strong possibility that he will. There was a pattern which made his mind believe it. The rich get used to making more money, trusting themselves and their choices a little more, their confidence and commitment growing and after a while even if they make mistakes they believe they can bounce back because they have before. The pattern is set. To summarize the phenomenon in a word (or two): ‘Donald Trump’.
It is about building confidence in a certain aspect of yourself and your life about the possibilities and not reading into shallow patterns that might really not be patterns at all. If you seem to be doing bad in an aspect of life, it is perhaps time to make your mind unlearn and cheat a little on it.
Of course confidence can often turn to overconfidence, but over a course of time, if there is the winning bent of mind in the subconscious, there is the ‘yes, there is a definite possibility’ bent of mind and the pursuit to beat the fallacy in false patterns. There is indeed a shot at redemption for each of us.
Our life is sea of choices and knowing that fact, it is up to us to make them, to meet us half way toward our goals in it.
With a little help from ourselves, the tide can change in our favors. All we have to do is to aid it and form that positive habit of thought.
‘Money attracts more money.’
A saying that is pretty much believed by most people. But is it true?
While one may argue against it or for, the truth still is that a Warren Buffet or Bill Gates were not born rich. That argument should end there. But it does not.
How often have we seen the people who do well, do even better, the rich seem to get richer much quicker, the happiest of folk seem to be blessed as nothing ever seems to go wrong in their perfect lives and the beautiful or popular lot seem to continue to reign almost indefinitely. And no matter what you try you just cannot seem to catch up. You think and know you are working just as hard if not more, and yet nothing seems to improve.
That poor bloke who has lost a job has a life that seems to go from bad to worse, and tragedies seems to hit him at every turn, the poor stay poor.
Is it luck? Is it just destiny that seems to drive our lives? Is there a way out? Or are we destined to live out the fate we started with? How do you leave one fold of life and jump on to the bandwagon of the folk with better lives and pretty wives?
In 1957, at the John Hopkins, noted biologist and psycho-biologist, Curt Richter conducted an interesting spinoff to the Porsolt test. He took a few wild Norway rats and immersed them into a tall jar of water with the height of the jars walls such that the rats could not escape. Their only choice was to swim or drown. He noticed that a few of these rats drowned in a few minutes and some swam for close to 60 hours.
On these rats that drowned quickly, he conducted autopsies, checked the condition of their hearts and concluded that they had died submissive deaths. Not seeing an escape, they simply gave up.
Curt then proceeded to try the same experiment, but with a twist. This time he dropped the rats into the water jars and but just for a few minutes. He would then then pluck them out and ‘save’ them. After a while he would dip the rats into water again, then after a few more minutes he would rescue them again. After repeating this a few times, he put the rats in the jars and did not try to rescue the rats. He noted that all the rats then paddled for between two and three days in hope of escape before drowning and dying of exhaustion.
Running the risk of turning a psychoanalyst this little experiment does make one thing clear. Consciously or not, our minds are conditioned based on past events. We have a mind map that follows the most obvious pattern. And while we pride ourselves with our lives being the sea of choice that it is, we are often unknowingly prisoners to ourselves. Our sub conscious choices lead our lives.
We all subconsciously decide how to go about a certain task based on previous mental baggage, be the result good or bad.
Knowing this fact is key to jumping ship to the ‘happy lives and pretty wives’ bandwagon. It is a very important step to taking what little control you have over your life.
The second experiment rats believed there was possibility for survival. They endured. After surviving multiple times they believed they had a chance. And so they paddled on till it was physically possible. Active thoughts of giving up were easily surpassed by the subconscious desire and drive to live.
The rich get richer.
People who have certain experiences get conditioned to it. Their self confidence (good or bad) grows based on how results have taken place in the past. And they push toward similar experiences.
Like the rich getting richer as they have had similar earlier experiences, the contrary is just as true too. We start to believe in our patterns, and the truth is our brain starts mapping patters even when sometimes there is nothing to be mapped. In a positive situation ofcourse it works wonders but more often than not we need to take a second look into it. Take a look at the figure. What do you think could be the next shape?
With just something repeating twice, it was enough for you to conclude what the third shape might be.
The idea is to make a conscious choice by cheating the unconscious.
The understanding is simple, a winner continues to win because he believes there is a strong possibility that he will. There was a pattern which made his mind believe it. The rich get used to making more money, trusting themselves and their choices a little more, their confidence and commitment growing and after a while even if they make mistakes they believe they can bounce back because they have before. The pattern is set. To summarize the phenomenon in a word (or two): ‘Donald Trump’.
It is about building confidence in a certain aspect of yourself and your life about the possibilities and not reading into shallow patterns that might really not be patterns at all. If you seem to be doing bad in an aspect of life, it is perhaps time to make your mind unlearn and cheat a little on it.
Of course confidence can often turn to overconfidence, but over a course of time, if there is the winning bent of mind in the subconscious, there is the ‘yes, there is a definite possibility’ bent of mind and the pursuit to beat the fallacy in false patterns. There is indeed a shot at redemption for each of us.
Our life is sea of choices and knowing that fact, it is up to us to make them, to meet us half way toward our goals in it.
With a little help from ourselves, the tide can change in our favors. All we have to do is to aid it and form that positive habit of thought.
Friday, February 4, 2011
Write that Obituary
Face it. Until they figure out a way to immortalize us physically and mentally, you are going to die. Today, Cryonics has only developed so much as to preserve our body after death for a hopeful future of uncertainty. But having said that, for all practical purposes today- you will die. And that day really is not as far off as you would like to believe it is. I have enough friends today who wish they die young, others who wish they die before they turn into a burden to people around, and some, apparently very few, like me, who still wish they never do.
Fact. All of us are going to die. And very few of us prepared for it.
How do we deal with it?
Be prepared.
Bite the bullet. Write your obituary today. Whether you agree with it or not, it will give you an insight to where you have led your life so far, and better still, it will give you a direction for future actions and goals, making it all just a little bit clearer, and challenging.
Some of us were asked to write our obituaries when we were young and in school. We were then full of hope, all of us wrote down that we would be the president of the country, would win multiple Oscars, be compared to a Mother Teresa, and perhaps invent time travel or be the first person to land on Mars.
Today, revisit your thoughts with a renewed clarity of mind.
Put down the values you want to stand for and accomplishments that you wish to achieve. Try not to be held back by today’s ground realities of where you are and what you do. Sounds easy but even five points with corroborative actions will be difficult to come by. Put those five points down and reflect where you come from and where you wish to go to. You might even be on a completely perpendicular track at the moment.
Don’t think too much. Let those values just roll off the tip of the pen. We already know that if you do not believe in yourself and your actions, no one else is going to. Its that simple.
If penning down your obituary sounds morbid, then go ahead and write a brief biography page as someone would when they cover you for your fiftieth or seventy fifth birthdays. What would you as a third person journalist write about the real you for ‘Time’ or ‘People’ magazine on our fiftieth or seventy fifth birthday. Presently what are the chances they even will? Interesting thought? Most definitely.
Note that goals and values change with time, and this is something each of us knows as we develop over each year. Most of us are most certainly not going to get to Mars or become the next Prime Minister or President. But this should not stop you from come real close to what you wish to accomplish in your lifetime.
Take ten minutes off at the start of each year to rewrite that article or obituary. Take another ten minutes off each June to browse through that list again to refresh your mind. Keep the past articles to reflect. Realize the latest one to the best of your abilities.
This is pretty much all you need to be prepared for death.
If you die tomorrow, understanding and knowing that up until today, you have lived the best you could in line with your values, goals and ideals in life up to this point of your death will keep you happily prepared for it. A life lived, understood and fulfilled till it gave you company.
Take ten minutes. Write that obituary.
Fact. All of us are going to die. And very few of us prepared for it.
How do we deal with it?
Be prepared.
Bite the bullet. Write your obituary today. Whether you agree with it or not, it will give you an insight to where you have led your life so far, and better still, it will give you a direction for future actions and goals, making it all just a little bit clearer, and challenging.
Some of us were asked to write our obituaries when we were young and in school. We were then full of hope, all of us wrote down that we would be the president of the country, would win multiple Oscars, be compared to a Mother Teresa, and perhaps invent time travel or be the first person to land on Mars.
Today, revisit your thoughts with a renewed clarity of mind.
Put down the values you want to stand for and accomplishments that you wish to achieve. Try not to be held back by today’s ground realities of where you are and what you do. Sounds easy but even five points with corroborative actions will be difficult to come by. Put those five points down and reflect where you come from and where you wish to go to. You might even be on a completely perpendicular track at the moment.
Don’t think too much. Let those values just roll off the tip of the pen. We already know that if you do not believe in yourself and your actions, no one else is going to. Its that simple.
If penning down your obituary sounds morbid, then go ahead and write a brief biography page as someone would when they cover you for your fiftieth or seventy fifth birthdays. What would you as a third person journalist write about the real you for ‘Time’ or ‘People’ magazine on our fiftieth or seventy fifth birthday. Presently what are the chances they even will? Interesting thought? Most definitely.
Note that goals and values change with time, and this is something each of us knows as we develop over each year. Most of us are most certainly not going to get to Mars or become the next Prime Minister or President. But this should not stop you from come real close to what you wish to accomplish in your lifetime.
Take ten minutes off at the start of each year to rewrite that article or obituary. Take another ten minutes off each June to browse through that list again to refresh your mind. Keep the past articles to reflect. Realize the latest one to the best of your abilities.
This is pretty much all you need to be prepared for death.
If you die tomorrow, understanding and knowing that up until today, you have lived the best you could in line with your values, goals and ideals in life up to this point of your death will keep you happily prepared for it. A life lived, understood and fulfilled till it gave you company.
Take ten minutes. Write that obituary.
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