New-year resolutions and the rule of 21
by KR Ravi Filed under Are you ready for the new year?, Breaking bad habits, Decision Making, Effectiveness, Life Skills, Personal Growth
“A life unexamined is not worth living,” said a great thinker. The eve of a new year is the time to introspect. What were our dreams when we were younger and are we heading there? If the answer is ‘no’ then what prevented us from going in that direction? Do we have to revise our goals in the light of our new realities?
These are issues over which we have to ponder and then launch a plan of action keeping in mind some significant lessons of life.
What many people may not know is that to lead a rich and satisfying life we ought to devote about 70% of our time and effort on our long-term developmental goals. We are so caught up in day-to-day issues which in the final analysis turn out to be of small significance to our lives. We lose sight of our main and meaningful goals.
I once did such an introspection and imagined that I was in an ICU. I heard my doctor telling my family in a whisper, “‘I am sorry the end is not far. You can call your relatives.”
I saw myself looking back at my life – a sort of final audit – and was filled with remorse at having wasted my life without any overarching goals, which go beyond making money and acquiring material stuff. It was then that I woke up with a start and reminded myself that “an unexamined life is not worth living.”
I set myself short-term (one-year horizon) medium-term (1 to 3 years) and long-term goals (beyond 3 years). Once the goals were clear I wrote down a concrete plan of action that would take me in direction that I desired.
These goals should not be laid down in money terms but in terms of the level of excellence in your chosen area of activity. As you move in the direction of excellence you will perhaps get the kind of money you deserve and more importantly you will reset your criteria to measure success. At some stage you will opt out of the rat race with the understanding that in a rat race even if you come first you are still a rat!
In moving in the desired direction you will realize that you will have to acquire new habits of thinking and doing. At this stage the rule of 21 comes to your assistance. Let us suppose that you need to create/find time to read up the latest research in your area of interest. You decide that you will cut short your sleeping hours and get up at 5 am. The rule of 21 says that beginning tomorrow you should get up at 5 am and read books for the next 21 days no matter how late you slept at night, no matter how tired or sick you are. If you are unable to do it for any reason then begin the 21-day cycle all over again till you compete one cycle without a break. At the end of a successful 21-day cycle, you will have a new habit.
Do I guarantee success? No one can guarantee success. Do not believe anyone who gives you such assurances. Success is a result of many factors and you have no control over many factors. Hence I advise you to do your best and gracefully accept whatever comes your way. However, when you may lie in an ICU you will have the satisfaction of having gone in the right direction and having done your best.
I can attest to the effectiveness of this strategy. I am ready to write my final audit report if called by my maker to do so. The summary shall read:
“I set out in the right direction, did not necessarily reach the planned destination but totally enjoyed the journey. No regrets.”
K.R. Ravi is South Asia’s first Dr.Edward De Bono certified public trainer in lateral thinking, and a pioneer in spreading lateral thinking in the Indian corporate sector. For more details, visit http://www.krravi.com or contact him at createravi@hotmail.com.
Are you ready for 2009? The editor recommends the following articles.
You will like these as well!
|
Featured Tickles  Heal Your Relationships to Heal YourselfIt has been rightly said that this world is a mirror. It reflects back our inner/true reality to us. As within, so without. Everything in our life; our job, our economic condition, our dwellings, and the people in our life reflect one or the other aspect of our reality. Isn’t this a beautiful arra The Power of UnlearningAs I picked up the vacuum machine and started vacuuming the carpet in my living room, a sense of dissatisfaction loomed over me. It had been just about a year since I bought this vacuum cleaner and it was already low in its efficiency. The buzzing sound of the motor from that machine sounded healthy 15 elephant tethers that stop you from being creative!The problem is never how to get new, innovative thoughts into your mind, but how to get old ones out. Every mind is a building filled with archaic furniture. Clean out a corner of your mind and creativity will instantly fill it. - Dee Hock When still a baby, the elephant is tethered by a very thick Smoking a cigarette is like talking to your mother-in-law because...Once upon a time, many years ago, in prehistoric times, at a time when there were no cities, no buildings and perhaps even no villages, there was a hunter. He had had a successful day and was walking through a forest back to his tribe. He had slung a deer across his shoulder with some homemade rope Here Is Your D-I-Y Kit For A Leading Edge LifeManagement gurus and their disciples, thinkers, strategists and business process re-engineers have been busy propelling the modern world into not only coping with, but also keeping in step with the rapid changes of an ever shrinking, increasingly competitive and exhaustingly demanding global market. I Wish I Were A GoldfishI am told that a goldfish cannot remember anything beyond a 3 minute time frame. One of my favorite pastimes is to sit and watch our goldfish swim around lazily and rising up only to gobble at the food before going back to their contented existence. Their swimming around actually reminds me of chil The Fine Art of Persuasive Communication!There are many areas to look at in communication: a message is communicated through visual, vocal and verbal means. From that, comes the importance of body language, how we present ourselves, and so on. The visual and vocal elements are indeed very important to effective communication, but we will Teaching the teacherThe arbiter of knowledge and skills, the teacher, is a revered figure around the world. In India, the teacher is known as the guru, the wise one who can be trusted to lead the knowledge-blind and shine the light of competence and skills in the darkness of ignorance and incompetence. Over time it ha How To Nurture A Successful RelationshipHave you ever wondered how certain couples were able to stay together for many years? What are they doing right? What are the factors that contribute to the success of healthy, long term relationships? There are a few fundamental components that will improve your chances of having a successful relat Waves Of InspirationI stay in the coastal city of Chennai and one of my favorite pastimes is to explore the coastline that borders one side of the city. Starting from the crowded marina and Eliot’s Beach to the less crowded and secluded ones that dot the East Coast Road (or ECR as it is called), I have always found How To Be Depressed"Depression was, indeed, the hand of a friend trying to press me down to the ground on which it was safe to stand--the ground of my own truth, my own nature with its complex mix of limits and gifts, liabilities and assets, darkness and light." Parker Palmer I've never been through pregnancy depress Make an ass of yourself but do not let the world know...Many a time we are swept by that overwhelming feeling to bare all. Not to be mistaken with confession which is done after ensuring that there is nothing further to lose on account of reputation. I am referring to pure tear jerker stuff. Born out of righteous indignation. Or plain stupidity. The form Time management with the monksOne mile south of Georgia O'Keefe's beloved Ghost Ranch in New Mexico, thirteen miles down a cliff-hugging dirt road in the heart of Chama Canyon, you will find Christ In The Desert. The Benedictine Monastery is cloister to about twenty monks. I'd fantasized about retreating to the remote monastery Forcing yourself to get up early in the morning is pointless!A google search on early rising gives 1,500,000 results. Amazon has 6699 books on getting up early. Countless self-development ‘gurus’ have written books and articles that extol the benefits of getting up before your friendly neighbourhood rooster does. They have together compiled a list of 10 5 Reasons Why I Got Off My Tail And Found A New Passion!I've taken some time this month to clean out my Gmail inbox, the main goal being to have a completely empty inbox. I went through each email one by one, until I got to the very last entry. It was labeled "journal" and dated 12/14/06. I knew it was there for me to print and tape into my actual jour If Excellence Is Your Ideal Everything Else Will Fall Into PlaceA young man went to Gautama Buddha and sought the Master’s guidance on how to achieve Enlightenment. The conversation, which in my opinion must be required reading for anyone, went roughly as follows: Young Man (YM): Master, how long will it take for me to achieve enlightenment? Gautama Buddha ( |
Loading ...
Twitter 
Facebook
Subscribe