Direction over Destination

“Your first priority is to identify what you want and then make sure you take the path that’s going to give you that. There’s nothing sadder than to see someone get to be seventy-five or eighty years old and look back regrettably because they pursued the wrong target.”

One of the paragraph in the book Getting Everything You Can Out of All You’ve Got by Abraham Lincoln

Having a goal, having a purpose, having a destination, it’s all fine but what if you don’t know where to go, you are not that self-aware, you are very early in the process, you could be a college graduate or you’ve passed out but you don’t know where to go. It’s a problem for the majority of people because most of the people are not self-aware, they don’t know what they want from life. It’s very obvious why most of the people are not happy in their life.

So, if you don’t know the destination or a goal, how will you then start?

To answer you, You just start by finding something you like or you are passionate about, you could have knowledge of many things and maybe you are good at so many things, so Pick One. keep doing that and if you see some potential in that, add some more things to it. The trick here is to Start Something. You can always change your mind later.

“You cannot escape the responsibility of tomorrow by evading it today.”

-Abraham Lincoln

If you are a procrastinator, just try many things and start with one thing that you like. For you, the procrastinator, you can’t manage your time so manage your attention. It’s the game of attention. Give attention to those things that you find interesting. Work on that.

Here's the verse from the Bhagwat Gita (one of the book I read again and again) that says that work is the only thing that you can control because the outcome is not in your hands.

Bg. 2.47

कर्मण्येवाधिकारस्ते मा फलेषु कदाचन ।

मा कर्मफलहेतुर्भूर्मा ते सङ्गोऽस्त्वकर्मणि ॥ ४७ ॥

Translation;

You have a right to perform your prescribed duty, but you are not entitled to the fruits of action. Never consider yourself the cause of the results of your activities, and never be attached to not doing your duty.

So, if you are finding your goal, your prescribed duty is to know yourself by doing many things so that you can get a glimpse of what you like, what you are good at and where you must lead your life towards.

One thing that you can practice while doing these things is that embrace the uncertainty because you won’t know where are you going, just faith is what you have. The more you embrace the uncertainty, the more things will get easier for you.

That’s the thing about the process because the process will keep you alive. It’s the mystery on that path because only you are the one walking on it. Think of it like you are writing your life. You are the Life.

People will tell you the path but don’t believe it because they may not know what they are talking about. Even if they do know, Your interpretation of what they are saying could be different, so you can’t apply the exact thing they are saying. Here comes the role of listening. So the more you can listen clearly, the more you can understand things deeply. Listening in itself a deep topic that I'd cover later.

If you don’t know yourself, This is completely fine, Because you are on a journey of finding yourself. So find out what it means to live. Find out what it means to be completely self-aware. The voice that you hear early in the process is not the voice of yours. This is the outer voice. What you are going to do is find your voice by using your voice. YOU CAN’T FIND YOUR VOICE IF YOU DON’T USE IT. The best chapter in one of my all-time favourite book Show Your Work by Austin Kleon

If you don’t know where you are leading in life, people will make fun of you and that’s fine. Know that this is the process. Every person who is making fun of you is contributing to the part of the process. That’s the way of an artist. Be an artist. Survive every situation that is coming to you. Because every situation is making you every second. And you are making choices in that situation. So think and choose wisely.

Plato said, “The life which is not examined is not worth living.”

Examine every action of yours to get self-knowledge and self-awareness. If you are just living, day by day passing time, that means you are not living your fullest. Somewhere there would be some kind of emptiness that will pinch you from inside. If you don’t know who you are, things get very messy at the end. Don’t waste your time in wasting your time. TRY, don’t be afraid.

Figuring out is a lifetime task, if you are 18, you’ve to figure out, if you are 25, you’ve to figure out, if you are 45, you have to figure out, if you are 85, you’ve to figure out because… that Time is new for you, things have changed, you’ve evolved. Somebody who is just starting their career right now has a different mindset and is in a different position altogether than the person who is now 85 and has their grandchildren in front of them. Every second is a new one. You haven’t lived THIS TIME BEFORE. The time of the NOW.

Whatever your age is, doesn’t matter. One thing I can tell you is that you would be happiest if you were able to find a state of flow where you work as you play in games. Time, at that time, flies. That’s why I told you earlier that try as many things as possible, and have patience because life is long. You are not going to die tomorrow for sure. The probability of you dying tomorrow is very low, do not bother about that.

All I can say, is that It is never a bad time to start something new. It is never a bad time to start what you like. It is never a bad time to change something you are attached to, for example: your career. Start Anew!

Marcus Aurelius says in Meditations: “Think of yourself as dead. You have lived your life. Now take what’s left and live properly.

Comments

Creator versus Artist

A creator is someone who makes or produces something new and an Artist is the one who creates or produces art. In today’s era, everybody is concerned about how many followers one has acquired on social media platforms. This is most important for us to know the difference between Artist and Creator, I have already defined what a creator is and what an artist is. There were artists back then who were not creators. But in today’s era, artists become very good creators. But so many of us have forgotten the difference between the two. For Creators, the quantity of content defines them. For Artists, the quality of art defines them. Ajay Singh Talk | Podcast | Spotify Ajay Singh Talk | Podcast | Apple Follow me on Instagram Follow me on Twitter

How To Live In The Present | Forgiveness And Acceptance

There are many questions about ‘living in the present’. What it is? And how can we live in the present? Or there is really a thing like ‘living in the present? People have talked a lot about living in the present moment but now, let’s dive into some other aspects of it so that you can understand it from a different perspective. It’s not going to be linear thinking, you have to ‘not try’ to understand everything that I'm going to say but you need to just read and read carefully so that you could gain some insights about it. Don’t Catch the Present A linear kind of thinking sometimes could misguide you, when understanding the ‘present moment’, I’ll also focus on what it’s not. And I think that would be more beneficial for you because I or any other person can’t give you the ‘present moment’. It’s not a thing. Directly saying about ‘present moment’ could make a belief for you and that’s not where good things happen. The present moment is not something that you can understand intellec

Art of Book Reading | My Tips and Tricks

Writing and Reading are very important in our life. It has more depth than we can ever imagine. There are many questions about books. How one should pick a book? How to read fast? How to read effectively? And on and on. So today, I’m going to give you all I have related to book reading and its tips and tricks. How I use book reading in my life. Why is it important to read and many more things? Art of Book Reading How to Pick a Book? So the first and foremost question is how to pick a book? In this case, what I follow is Start Reading What You Like. When I was not a reader then I picked some books that I think could be interesting. You can always start with it. Pick some books that you think, are your area of interest. If you think you are not a reader but you’ve got an interest in book reading and you can read it easily then you can pick a book that comes in your area of learning. So what I want to learn, where is my interest, and what excites me, choose a book that aligns with these

A Story by ChatGPT

I've seen one incident when I was waiting for my train on a railway platform. Here is the story that I've derived from ChatGPT from that one seen for you guys! Story- Once upon a time, in the vibrant heart of a bustling railway station, teeming with life and energy, there existed a magnetic aura that captivated the senses. It was here, amidst the swirling chaos and hurried footsteps, that a destitute beggar named Ahmed sought solace. Ahmed, a diminutive figure with wild, curly hair, reminiscent of an untamed storm, adorned his frail frame. His pallid skin clung tightly to his skeletal structure, emphasizing his emaciated state. Tattered rags, barely clinging to his body, draped him like remnants of forgotten dreams. Every fiber of his being seemed to embody a tale of hardship etched in desperation and fear, reflected hauntingly in his bloodshot eyes. Ahmed's gaze, like an invisible lifeline, implored passersby for assistance without uttering a single word. Yet, the world s

A Way of Living Like a Child | Meditation and Happiness

A Life that is Worth Living- When I look at a child, I feel very happy. I feel that life is very good. Life is worth living. For a child this is different and for a so-called mature one, it is completely different. But what this maturity is when this mature person is not happy. Will you call that person a mature one? Happy in a sense where you are not doing any harm to others as well as to yourself. Listen full podcast here - Living in the Present- When you see a child playing, just look at the child and see with your whole being, you can understand so many things from a child but when I observe others, I also notice that we are so busy doing our things, complaining about so many things, talking about our problems only and what is going on bad in the world, that we don’t see the beauty in many things. A child is just one character from which I learn many things. A child is present in what he/she does. He/she does and then he/she doesn’t even bother to look at that event after some tim

My 10 Days Vipassana Meditation Experience

Early Thoughts Before registering for the Vipassana, I was going through many ups and downs in my life. I wanted a break. I wanted a time where I could live a different life. A life that is different from the so-called normal life. Heard about Vipassana many years ago but that didn't catch my attention. But I was planning to go there. I think everything has its time and for me, when my time came, I was there doing Sadhana ( Meditation ). My parents got no clue where I was planning to go but when the time came, I told them that I’m going to Lucknow for meditation for ten days and I can’t talk to you on phone. They didn’t understand what I was doing with my life. And I told these things when the time was very near. It’s like if I am going after two or three days then I am telling all this to them. I told them that it’s important for me and they understood that. They trust me!!! That’s awesome. Reaching There When I reached there, they allotted me a room. I met two friends, at that

The Book that Changed Me Four Years Ago

People learn from people. Years ago, I found a person named Gary Vaynerchuk . He changed the course of my life professionally and what I was doing. I read his book that changed me four years ago and that book is Crush It ! In his book, he has talked about various things like passion, building a personal brand, content creation, authenticity, marketing and so on. I’d suggest that one must read this book if one is starting just out. This book is very simple in language and can potentially change you as well. Whatever I do, I’d say that the sharing of the content part is inspired by this person. There’s a judgment part of it involved in thinking about what to share and what not to share. What is it to keep for oneself and what is it to share with the world? but after reading and listening to Gary Vee, things changed. We must share things because we don’t know what it is that could inspire others. We really don’t know. Sometimes a story and a post or a podcast, various things could i

Boredom is Necessary | Self-Awareness

We often feel bored and I think it’s a good thing. If you are feeling bored then at least you know that you’ve got nothing at this time from which you are passionate about. It’s a time to be self-aware. It’s a time to know yourself better. It’s a time to find out the thing that you were enjoying earlier or to find new things that you could enjoy. I’ve list of things that I plan to do. I’ve list of things that I need to learn this or that. I’ve list of books that I know I need to buy and read. So I’ve never been out of work. And I enjoy doing my things. I am very passionate about my work. Like right now, I’m writing this blog post and I’m excited about it because I love writing. I love suggesting new things to others. I love sharing new things with others. What I do I share. How I do that I share that too. We lack a spark for action. We don’t want to act. This is because you didn’t find out what is that thing that ignites you. It’s very simple but you need to get up and TRY as many thi

Why I’m Afraid of the Future

For a couple of months, I haven't been producing any type of content. I took a break so that I could understand what is happening and what is going to happen. For me, AI is very scary. I have used AI tools like ChatGPT and MidJourney, which can replace many people working as writers, photographers, and graphic designers. Here is the Wikipedia definition of ChatGPT and MidJourney- ChatGPT is an artificial intelligence (AI) chatbot developed by OpenAI and released in November 2022. It is built on top of OpenAI's GPT-3.5 and GPT-4 foundational large language models (LLMs) and has been fine-tuned using both supervised and reinforcement learning techniques. Midjourney is a generative artificial intelligence program and service created and hosted by a San Francisco-based independent research lab Midjourney, Inc. Midjourney generates images from natural language descriptions, called "prompts," similar to OpenAI's DALL-E and Stable Diffusion. Here is a simple definition

What's the End | Means and Goals

Why are you doing certain things? To gain something, to prove somebody, to find peace and happiness, to be free from worries and bondage, etc. Your answers may vary, but you have an end goal in mind. If you don't have any end goal, people will say that you are lost. You can also ponder this later, whether you are lost or not. But let's assume you have an end goal, and you also have some means to achieve it. You follow those means to reach that end. It's a simple process, nothing rocket science about it. I hope you are still following me. Now, regardless of your age, think about other kinds of goals you've set in life, and reflect on the whole process, as well as what life was like after achieving those goals. Did you get what you wanted? Whatever your 'Why' was, did you attain it? Things will get better, not just on paper, but in reality. (Your thought) Not the growth from one room to three rooms, though you can consider that as well to m

Ajay Singh Talk

Search This Blog