Five lessons for the new year
Another year has gone by... I don't really feel great at the thought of getting older by a year, yet again, and the only way I would probably be able to make myself feel a little better is by making 2019 a very productive year for myself, by achieving some of the things I desperately want to.
I hope all of you have set some goals for yourself for this year, and would let nothing, absolutely nothing, coming in your way to achieve them. If you set goals and work towards them, you may achieve them, you may not achieve them, but you will certainly become a better person in the process. If you don't set yourself any goals, you certainly aren't going to achieve much of significance.
There are five things I felt like telling you on the first day of 2019. Read them carefully, and think about them. They have got nothing to do with quant/reasoning, but will help you nevertheless...
1. Feel good about yourself, no matter where you are, no matter what has happened. Trust your ability, your intellect and your inner strength to help you deal with the circumstances. Changing how you feel about yourself is the first step to making yourself the person you always wanted to be. The answers to all your problems generally lie within, and you are smart enough to figure out the way forward. Trust yourself.
2. Learn to ignore the negative thoughts and the negative people. They will have the same effect on you as slow poisoning would have had. Do to them what you feel like doing to Kerry O'Keefe today. Learn to identify them quickly, and shoo them away at the first sight. Your life will be so much better without them. Do try.
3. Keep moving. Don't let unexpected events or unfavourable circumstances throw you out of gear. They are important to keep you alert, and on your toes all the time. Think of test cricket. Do Kohli or Pujara flinch after getting a nasty short one or a lethal yorker from Starc, Cummins or Hazlewood... They don't; they rather wait for the next loose delivery to put it away to the fence. Life is like that. You will get your chances if you are patient enough to weather the storm.
4. Accept that both failure and disappointment are integral, crucial parts of life. Everybody who is successful today has dealt with them, and must have used them to become a better person, and to get closer to his/her goals. Process your emotions well, channelize the thoughts, make a plan based on the learning, and then stick to it religiously. The first success will make all your failures look like medieval history.
5. Deal with your fears. Fix them now. Overcoming fear makes you tougher, much stronger than you ever have been. Take your fear head on, whether it is of a subject, a language or of facing the heartless, fastidious father of the girl you want to marry. It will be a great feeling to emerge victorious. You will feel like you are capable of winning the world if you can win these small, mostly psychological battles. Try with the first one tomorrow itself.
2019 presents another chance of making life very beautiful and truly delightful. Make a promise to yourself to fix all what you could not in 2018. Work hard. May this turn out to be the brightest and the most memorable year of your life.
Happy New Year :)