Welcome to Anbusivam’s Blog Page.

One of my earlier articles in October 2007, was on “Doing What We Love Vs Loving What We Do”. Last evening I just remembered this post and was looking back at what I’ve written then, almost 3 years ago.

Indeed the same page I’ve mentioned is still present in my journal with dog’s ears now, I don’t know how many thousand times I have read this again and again and again….

It goes like this:

“Siva, you are here to do what you love to do, don’t ever settle for anything less than doing what you really love.”

These words kept me moving ahead in life all these years, towards what I love. At this juncture of my life, I am very happy that I’ve come close to what I love and very excited that I am going to start my journey in The Road Less Traveled.

I’ve heard motivational gurus saying “Come on, just go ahead and do what you love. If you do it the best, it will automatically pay you great results”. But unfortunately the reality to me was not that simple. I had my own commitments in life, need to build a house at my native town, my sister’s wedding, my aging parents to take care, my wife’s expectations, social compulsions and so on. It was not really easy to just jump out and start doing what I love simply because I love. It took very long and careful planning, considering all the problems and constraints around in life. I took one step at a time slowly and steadily towards my goal. Now I see, the present situation in my life is a one big step I am taking with all the learning’s I had from all the previous small steps I had come across in life.

Here are some tips from my own life experience on how to get towards what you love?

1. Find your passion:
Do a thorough self analysis to identify all about your great love in life. Just think about “what you are greatly passionate about?” , “what you are keenly interested in?” , “what you would love to do for the rest of your life with fullest potential and abundant happiness?”, “what you would think about, talk about and diligently do for hours together?”

2. Find your finances:
Ultimately your finances is what this world looks for to determine your success? If you have that big car, luxury home, big bank balance etc. then you are considered to be a very successful person in this society irrespective of how happy you are in life. Think about the real happiness that you are going to get from doing what you love to do. But also don’t forget that, this world runs on economics and money is an essential commodity to live here.

It’s really worth spending time to understand, how you are going to economically sustain doing what you love. Will people pay for what you are going to do…? What is the value you are going to add to yourself and the people around you…?

3. Find your core strengths:
Now you are 100% convinced with what you want to do and how it is going to add value. Next is, to look for your strengths that would naturally take you towards what you love. Look out for the unique strengths, qualities and abilities you have. Take a genuine feedback about yourself from your parents, siblings, teachers, friends and colleagues. Ask them what are the things those you are good at and naturally talented at. Identify, nurture and develop those strengths.

4. Find your weaknesses:
This is a very important and critical step. I am sure Ignorance is definitely not a bless in case of one’s weakness. Becoming aware of your own weakness and accepting your own limitations is the first step to conquer and overcome them effectively. Ask for very critical and frank opinions from people around, take the critical feedback very graciously, which will enable you to work on them. Identify, scrap them if not really useful and work on it to improve upon if it is going to be of use in life.

5. Have the commitment:
Not having that sincere commitment and dedication towards your own goal is a great recipe for failure in life. Have an uncompromising commitment towards what you want to achieve and keep working diligently towards your goal without any procrastination in life. Think about the words from Brian Tracy, “Do something each day about your goal such that you move an inch closer towards your goal at the end of the day”.

Ultimately “It’s not what you say, but what you do that counts.”

6. Don’t ignore the present:
Don’t forget the task at hand by just dreaming about the future. Remember that there will be no energy, enthusiasm and fun in pursuing the dreams when there is a sense of dissatisfaction about what you have at present. Yes, you may not love your work at present; irrespective of that learn to do the work at present with 100% diligence. Think about the saying “There is always a choice about the way we do our work, even if there is not much choice about the work itself.”

While accomplishing the tasks at present, look out for ways in which you can work towards your ultimate goal in life.

7. Get ready to give up:
If you are fully occupied and busy in life, then how are you going to spend time for what you love?. Make priorities accordingly and learn to give up certain comforts and explore new areas in life. Without touching that extra mile nothing is achieved in this world. Remember, “No Pain, No Gain”.

Don’t get stuck in your old patterns of thinking and ways of doing things. As we say in NLP, “If you are not getting the result you want, do something different.”

Take out your weekends, evenings and free time from your day job in learning, thinking and doing something about what you love to do. Pursue it like a very serious and sincere hobby. I am sure you would be able to turn your hobby into a full time profession one day in the future.

8. Have a strong belief in yourself:
Have a very strong belief in yourself, what you love to do and what you want to become. You may want to become a great singer, excellent painter, wonderful photographer, awesome dancer, great teacher, inspiring public speaker. Just call yourself with that name/title, make your future visiting cards already, talk to people as if you are one already. Have keen interest about it and seek to learn from whatever ways you could and share your insights. Ultimately have a very great self confidence and belief in yourself such that, nothing in this world can change that.

There could be much more that the tips above based upon where you are now at present in life and what you love to do in life. Always remember the words of Robert Frost in his Stopping by Woods, “The woods are lovely, dark, and deep, But I have promises to keep, And miles to go before I sleep.”

If you have that irresistible passion within, I am sure no one or nothing can stop you from reaching what you want in life.

My heartfelt wishes to you in the wonderful journey of doing what you love to do in life. I assure you that, Anbusivam.com will always be there for your motivation and support.

Thanks for Visiting My Page.

With Love,
Anbusivam

Welcome to Anbusivam’s Blog Page.

As I am writing this article, I am standing at a crossroads between two major choices I have in front of me. The choice I am going to make is going to change my life for ever and that is going to be a very big decision in my life. One of my good friends asked me “Okay, tell me what is your gut feeling about this?” I gave him the answer and he said if you have that strong instinct, then you should go ahead with that.

How true he is? Then I realised this is nothing new for me, I have had stood at crossroads several times wondering what to choose in life, the right subject, right college, right job, right friends, right hobby, and most recently the right girl in my life.

I am sure we all have experienced this in life and certainly we are going see many more crossroads in future too. I strongly feel that some of my decisions were highly influenced by my gut feeling, instinct or intuition. Yes, if I look back now most of them were the best choices I could have made. I am sure we often have to rely upon our Intuition and that works the best.

Malcolm Gladwell, the author of “Blink” says this clearly with lots of anecdotes and arguments. According to his book “decisions made in an instant, almost without thinking stood up better than the decisions made after intellectual thinking and analytical considerations”

I would like differ from that to some extent. I believe not every thing in life could be decided just like that. There are certain decisions that should be be made based on our thinking and analysis. There are also certain decisions to be made right at that moment just with the limited information available in that point of time with no further delay.

The best decision I think is that decision which first appears right in front of your intuition which also have a clear take with all your logical analysis supporting that. I am sure at any point in time such decisions will stand much more better in long term than any other choices we make in life.

It’s not easy and simple to understand our gut instinct. It needs lots and lots of conscious and continuous efforts to develop the ability of understanding that inherent part of our powerful brain.

The only real valuable thing is intuition. – Albert Einstein

Thanks for Visiting My Page.

With Love,
Anbusivam

Welcome to Anbusivam’s Blog Page.

I always loved this wonderful quote from Lance Armstrong, the world’s great Cycling Champion.

It was still a theoretical knowledge for me, until I had my very own first hand experience of this quote, two weeks ago. I decided to go on a cycling trip to Nandi Hills which is 65kms from my home in Bangalore. It was all because of those enthusiastic bikers from Bangalore Bicycle Champions (BBCh) group. I’ve heard a lot about the tough steep 8kms climb of Nandi hills, but never had a chance to go there.

The moment I got an e-mail on this trip, I decided to join these folks to explore this ride to Nandi. I knew this is going to be my first long ride just after I started cycling again 2 months ago. Though I enrolled myself to this trip, once I got to know from Google Maps that, the distance is around 65kms from my home I was full of doubts and worries. It’s going to be 100k+ in a single day ride and that’s first time for me. I was not sure about myself, I had my own inhibitions if I will complete the full distance. I thought I could anyway stop and come back whenever I feel like not going further, but if I miss this opportunity then I’ll miss a wonderful experience and a great chance to experiment on my own endurance levels.

It was planned on a Sunday; we were supposed to assemble near Hebbal Fly Over at 6.30am. The previous evening I did clean up my cycle, checked tyre pressure, brakes and other basic things of my dear Hercules ACT 110. Though I tend to sleep little long on weekends, my biological clock came to my rescue as usual it does on important days in life. I woke up at 4.30am, got ready and started from my home at 5.30am. My wife insisted me to carry additional bottle with my regular one which, indeed helped me during the tough times of my ride – the last few kms of Nandhi Hills.

@6.00am:
I reached Hebbal Flyover and proceeded towards Esteem Mall where I had to wait for almost 45mins. I think I was little early due to the excitement about my first long ride. Then came all other bikers from Cubbon Park. After small introductions we all started together towards New Airport on the Devanahalli highway. It was a real fun riding all the way till we reached a small junction that turns towards right from the highway near Chikkaballapur. I was already tired riding 45kms in one stretch and I heard from Yogesh our coordinator for the trip that it’s just 12kms more to the foot of Nandhi. The next 12kms was exciting especially thanks to the quality of good roads without much of traffic. It was lots of fun riding that 12kms stretch.

@8.30am:
We were at the foot of Nandhi. I understand that, there is just 8kms more to reach the peak our finish point. After a little while I realised that this 8kms is much more difficult and challenging than all the 58mks we’ve covered till now. It was too steep and my thighs started paining severely. I thought this is no way all possible for me, it’s better to stop here and wait down the hill for others to come back. Let’s be honest, in some situations quitting feels great as it instantly removes all the pain and all difficulties seems to be over just like that. Simple, Just Quit and it will be Over. Quitting gives us one guarantee for sure; all the pain and agony are over. But I realized that it’s highly impossible for me to go back with that guilt of not completing the ride without climbing the hill top after riding more than 60kms to reach here. It’s really a great injustice to me and my own commitment, if I don’t complete this.

@9.15am:
Sun was already scorching through my helmet. Halfway through the steep hairpin bends of Nandhi hills, I decided to take on the challenge, fight through the pain and try all possible to reach the hill top and be a winner. It became way too difficult for me to push the pedals through last few kms. It was really really steep, looked like almost 90deg angle for me. I did stopped very often to take a quick 1min break and I know if I wait for too long, all my muscles will start relaxing and going ahead will become tough. So, I decided to take some quick breaks in between small distances and keep on going. I repeatedly said this wonderful quote “Pain is Temporary, Quitting is Forever”. Yes, I wanted to taste the victory over that mighty Nandhi hill by conquering it’s peak.

@9.50am:
I tweeted like this “Six more kms to hill top. I must do it. Come on Siva you can.

@11.15am:
My tweet said: “Standing on top of Nandi Hills. Feeling like on top of the world. Good job Siva. Kudos”.

Imagine if I had gone down half way, I would never have this wonderful feeling of standing on top of the world. Only because I decided to overcome that temporary pain, I could cherish the permanent pleasure of reaching the hill top. That’s a life time experience, I could ever forget. It’ll remain for ever.

@4.30pm:
It became too difficult to come back, as most of us were at our own pace and I had to cycle all the way alone from New Airport to home. Yes, it was a real test for my endurance. I was thinking of hiring an auto or hopping on to any of those volovo buses. But, I had a strong thought that if I could climb Nandhi hills, then this is nothing in front of me. So, I did cycle home as I know my loving wife is waiting with delicious Lunch prepared for me.

End of the day it was satisfying and full filling achievement in my life.

Now, with all my first hand experience I can really say,

Pain is Temporary, Quitting is Forever and Winning is Everlasting.

Thanks for Visiting my Blog.

With Love,
Anbusivam ]]> http://www.anbusivam.com/2010/06/pain-is-temporary-quitting-is-forever/feed/ 1 http://www.anbusivam.com/2010/02/opportunity-knocks-only-once/ http://www.anbusivam.com/2010/02/opportunity-knocks-only-once/#comments Sun, 21 Feb 2010 13:04:00 +0000 anbusivam http://www.anbusivam.com/2010/02/opportunity-knocks-only-once/ Dear Friends,

Opportunities are always plenty in this vast world, but how many of us are ready to grab that in our life…? At least how many of us are aware of the opportunities we come across in our lives…?

Family and society in which we are born are a chance given to us by creation, but what we become in life is a choice left for us. Chance is something decided upon us, which is beyond our control. Choice is something that we can decide for us, which is completely in our hands to choose. Many of us think that our life is predestined and nothing can be done beyond that.

We have all said at some point of time in our life or often hear people saying:

“It’s all fate”, “Luck is not in my side”, “According to my horoscope”, “It’s bad time for me”

Yes, it is going to be really bad time until we wake up and look for opportunities in life.

Opportunity knocks our door only once. That single moment in our life comes only once and never returns. We may end up getting similar opportunities later on in time, but the one that came will never come again.

A young man wished to marry the farmer’s beautiful daughter. He went to the farmer to ask his permission. The farmer looked at him and said, “Son, go stand out in that field. I’m going to release three bulls, one at a time. If you can catch the tail of any one of the three bulls, you can marry my daughter.”

The young man stood in the field awaiting the first bull. The barn door opened and out came the biggest, meanest looking bull he had ever seen. He decided that one of the next bulls had to be a better choice than this one, so he ran over to the side and let the bull pass through.

The barn door opened again. He had never seen anything so big and fierce in his life. It stood pawing the ground, it eyed him. Whatever the next bull was like, it had to be a better choice than this one he thought. He ran to the fence and let the bull pass through.

The door opened a third time. A smile came across his face. This was the weakest bull he had ever seen. This one was his bull, he said to himself. As the bull came running by, he positioned himself just right and jumped at just the exact moment. He threw his hands to grab…..But alas…. The bull had no tail.

There are three kinds of people in this world: First, the ones who make things happen. Second, the ones who see things happen. Third, the ones who wonder what happened?

If we are a kind of person who is attentive to things around us, I am sure we could readily recognize that. If we are a kind of person who is keen on achieving great things in life, I am sure we would definitely make the best used of opportunities given.

An individual may possibly have number of abilities and talents, yet he or she could be a miserable failure. Unless the person is aware of her abilities and has the courage to act upon it, she is going to be a failure. Great people knew their abilities and make the best use of at least one of their talents, excel in that, reach greater heights.

Great men and women don’t wait for the right opportunity to come at their door steps; instead they act upon to create the opportunity in order to move ahead in their path of great achievements. These are the people those who make things happen. They don’t sit and wait for the opportunities to come to them; instead they desperately go in search of opportunities and put in all their efforts to make things happen.

Michael Dell says, “Don’t spend so much time trying to choose the perfect opportunity, that you miss the right opportunity. Whether you’ve found your calling, or if you’re still searching, passion should be the fire that drives your life’s work.”

Unless you are planning suicide, there is no better time then right now to start doing what you have been thinking about doing for far too long. The key is to listen to your heart and let it carry you in the direction of your dreams. Just open your mind to different possibilities, different ways of examining an object, a problem or a challenge, and it can provide you with many inspirations and fresh ideas.

Another key point is to act diligently upon the opportunity grabbed. Many of us though get right opportunity; fail to make the best use of it. We end up doing mundane activities those are useful neither for ourselves nor for others. This is because our mind is tied up with petty little things that will give quick gratification. Basic tendency of human mind is to look for quick results at present and immediate pleasure now rather than long term satisfaction at later stage. We should constantly tame our mind to seek permanent happiness in life and not look for instant pleasure. We should constantly focus our thoughts and efforts towards vital and precious activities that will take us forward in our path of success.

With the ability to identify right opportunity, attitude to honestly work on it and sincerity to make the best use of it; making great things happen is an absolute possibility in this world.

Let’s make great things happen.

Thanks for visiting my page.

With Love,
Anbusivam

Welcome to Anbusivam’s Blog Page.

Yes, it’s all about “You”.

What you can do for YOU:

– Take quality time off from your daily chores to give yourself.

– Enjoy your own company.

– Be happy and feel good about you.

– Treat yourself with great love and utmost respect.

– Feel you are more worthy and most deserving.

– Look for the positive and good qualities in yourself.

– Focus on these great qualities you love about yourself.

– Have a great belief in your own abilities.

– Have a positive regard and respect for yourself.

– Even kiss yourself often to appreciate yourself.

You are the designer of your destiny. You are the director of your own movie called life. You are the one and only authority having complete control over your life’s choices. So, better take good care of yourself.

Ultimately it’s all about “You”. i.e YOU, YOU and YOU

Thanks for visiting my page.

With Love,
Anbusivam

Welcome to Anbusivam’s Blog Page.

Hurray……I could complete today’s Bangalore Sunfeast Marathon open 10K in 68mins.

With Love,
Anbusivam

Welcome to Anbusivam’s Blog Page.

1. First and foremost, accept and acknowledge that you are angry, when ever you are.
2. Learn the truth that, anger is a most common human emotion and indeed its good to get angry being a normal human being.
3. Introspect to identify you own anger spots (identifying everything that can trigger anger in you, by looking back into your own past when ever you were angry)
4. Think from an objective point of view, what are the ways you’ve been expressing anger in all these years from your childhood till now.
5. Evaluate them, are those ways of expressing anger is really useful or do you really feel sorry and regret for what you have done…?
6. Think of what could be the alternate ways and means that your anger could be expressed with out any harm to you or others around…?
7. Think of how can be the energy outburst diverted into a positive, more useful purpose of getting things done in a diplomatic way…?
8. Learn to express your anger in a very calm, yet aggressive manner without loosing your temper, while holding the ability to stay with your rationale thinking.

Welcome to Anbusivam’s Blog Page

I am sharing the presentation slides from my talk at IgniteBangalore2008.

What is Ignite?

(Hope the video will be up soon too)

Thanks for visiting my page.

With Love,
Anbusivam