MyLifeYoga

Socrates

Socrates once said, “To be is to do!” However doing is not just about action but also about transformation. When we act we want to be effective and successful. The journey to success is built one step at a time by actions you take. But it is not just about actions only. It is also about transformation.

The person who starts the journey to success is not the same one who finishes it. This is because during the course of the journey a transformative process takes place and changes us. These changes happen because along the way we are forced to face our shortcomings and our failures. Either we find the transformative process too painful to bear and give up, or we accept the pain and emerge transformed. This transformation brings about our growth and opens new frontiers. As Gail Sheehy said, “If we don’t change, we don’t grow. If we don’t grow, we aren’t really living.”

Our transformation happens along many fronts but the most important one is the reduction in the size of our ego. Our success happens not because of the ego but inspite of it. Letting go of the ego is a painful process but the faster we are able to sideline the ego, the quicker we hasten along on the road to success. Without a super-ego we are able to build alliances and collaborators, and we become eager listeners and learners. As we do, we learn, and as we learn, we become. The journey to success becomes Karma Yoga, a journey out of the ego. So let us not be stilled into non-action by the fear of failure or change. Instead let us step forth into action and allow the forces of change to shape us. After all we got nothing to lose but our ego!

Related: A Butcher’s Yoga

Credits:This has been written by Raj Shah and edited by Ketna Shah.

Another year whistles by and a new year looms ahead. But do we want the coming year to just whiz past? For as Nalini Singh said, “A life is not a waste of time” and there is much to be grateful for. Let this video inspire us to put “Being Grateful” on the top of our list of resolutions for 2014. For isn’t the most important thing about the coming year to live it and appreciate it fully?

“When you are grateful – when you can see what you have – you unlock blessings to flow in your life.”- Suze Orman

Related: 365 Grateful Web site

Credit: Grateful to Karma Tube to point us to this video.

A new year looms like a blank slate in front of us. We seek to fill the slate up with a wish list of new resolutions. But how to make these resolutions stick? These 10 simple ideas should help:

1. Keep the benefit in mind

Wishing to lose 20 pounds is a noble idea but what is the benefit? Express your resolution in terms of its benefits. Looking fitter may be a better way to express your resolution.

2. Where is the fun?

Where is your resolution to visit Hawaii? Why should resolutions be dull and boring? Spice up your life with a handful of fun resolutions for the coming year!

3. Hang pictures as reminders

Pictures are powerful motivators. If your resolution is to lose 20 pounds hang a picture where you can see it everyday, of yourself when you were 20 pounds lighter. If your resolution is to take a vacation to Hawaii, surround yourself with pictures of Hawaii. Express the benefit of each of your resolution in a picture and keep these around where you can see them everyday.

4. Go easy on yourself

Do not try to conquer the world in one year. Go easy. Build on success. Let your resolutions be practical, achievable and something you can build on. If losing 20 pounds seems far fetched, how about 5 pounds? If you get 5 pounds done this year, a 10-pound goal the following year may be within grasp.
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