What Keeps You Motivated?

 

Abraham Maslow was one of the most famous psychologists of the twentieth century from the United States of America. He is well-known across the globe for his need hierarchy theory. This theory of motivation has guided innumerable leaders and people in the management field. 

According to this theory, every human being has needs that represent a hierarchical order, as depicted in the diagram below:

Initially, he stated that all these needs maintain a strict hierarchy, but later on, he made many modifications to this theory, stating that their order is not as rigid as he initially proposed. He further added that many times human behavior is multi-motivated and simultaneously aims to fulfill different needs. 

Thank God for those additions! Otherwise, our unidirectional brains would have interpreted it in a very wrong way. Not that the current way of its interpretation is 100% correct. Let’s explore different possibilities.

Is it because of this theory that today we look up to an accomplished person, someone with more freedom and confidence? And if a person who regularly practices meditation enters the room, all eyes will be set on him. He is self-actualized! The highest valued in the pyramid! 

The way I interpret it is that you cannot focus too much on Physiological and Safety needs. They are endlessly demanding. They can never satisfy you completely. On the other hand, Esteem or Achievement (as it is sometimes called) and Self-Actualization emphasize too much on the individual approach towards success. Rather, it’s the middle Social or the Affiliation needs that help you balance between the lower order and the higher order of your needs, by giving you a sense of purpose. 

The current system of education (even yoga education) breeds this hierarchy unconsciously. We value Achievement more than Affiliation. But we have to wake up to realize one day that only Achievement is not sustainable. It's a matter of the mind, which has to let go of its tendencies one day or another. But Affiliation is here to stay. Because it's a matter of the heart- the home of the ultimate reality. 

So, as we go up and down this pyramid, trying to set and reset our minds and actions, think about what can pull you longer? Your visible achievements or the silent forces behind them? You will get your way to sustain and master the competition. It all lies in your mind!

Work Life Balance and The Endless Debate

A lot is being discussed and argued about work life balance. From business tycoons, politicians, actors and actresses, employees- all have been giving continuous opinions about this important aspect of our lives. So, I am just one of them, sharing my viewpoint.

First, let's understand the meaning of work. You can consider work as primarily a source of income. That's what most of you do, right? If work is a means of earning money, that you are talking about, yes, it has to be timed. Because, if you work only for money you cannot spend hours on it. That work has to add more than the monetary value for it to be done continuously.

Again, by God’s Grace, if you earn money by doing the work you love, then the timing has no meaning. According to 3 Idiots, “Agar aapki girl friend aur biwi ek hi hai” then, it becomes enjoyment and not bondage. 

Bondage is the correct word. If work causes bondage, it cannot be done for long durations. If you are working for the self-created EMI’s or for the endless family needs, you are bound to break one day. 

But if work is liberating, it can definitely be continued. If you have some purpose, other than material desires, it automatically realigns your energies and saves you from collapsing- in life as well as on the treadmill!

But as your duty, you must carry on! The show must go on, right! Because giving up work due to lack of physical or mental ability to carry on is like the biggest defeat. So, the catch here is to surrender. As you age, you must learn to surrender, not the work but the results. 

Imagine Nitish Bharadwaj telling Feroz Khan to give up the results and fight on the battlefield, in a chariot!  Well, if it is told like a Gita Updesh, you might not want to hear. It might seem saffronization of one of the most quintessential lessons of life. But, the fact remains that the freedom of work can only be achieved through those magical words of Krishna. 

There is another very important factor about work that needs immediate attention today. Doing Swa-dharma. You can never get tired if you are doing your own work. That work is entirely done for the self. Even if it’s raising children, serving parents, or loving your spouse. You are fulfilling a part of your own desire through these relationships.

So, you have to ponder over a few things first. Are you working for yourself or fulfilling somebody else’s expectations- wife, children, parents, or the boss? Are you working because you need to save your face because of “log kya sochenge”? Or worse, are you working so that you can post it on LinkedIn and feel proud later on? 

You must consider all these things before trying to maintain a work-life balance. Because, as my beloved Nitish Bharadwaj once said: You cannot survive without action even for a moment. So, let’s first define our work and actions, and then define life; then we can discuss how to balance it!

Need of the Hour Innovations

 

I have been pondering over these things for a long time. In this big world of ours, some small changes will make a big difference in somebody’s life, to the natural resources, and to the general good of our existence. These innovations are:

• Digital Literacy in Schools

Urgent introduction of digital literacy in schools. Technology is here to stay, and so are we! So why not embrace it the right way? During the lockdown, kids were locked at home, almost literally. After that, there was an instant increase in media usage across the age groups, for multiple reasons. 

Not all media is bad. I learnt so many things myself from the net! But there are many things that are negatively affecting the children. The right usage of technology has to be formally taught through the education system. Because you are not raising only one child. Your child is a part of society, and as a society, we MUST take this step to save the future of our country. 

• Plumbing Innovations

As the entire nation faces water scarcity in one way or the other, we ought to find out some smart plumbing solutions. Taps, showers, jets, sprinklers, flushes, etc, etc, which use less water and more force. We HAVE to do this today or tomorrow. We cannot change the way people use water. But the supply itself can be restricted and regulated. If required, water closure for fixed hours or days at multiple places like housing societies, malls, hotels, etc. (This might create a huge revolt, but if required, we should adopt that step for the betterment of the future generations).

• Feeding the Needy with Leftover Food

This is URGENT. The way we celebrate and conduct our social gatherings has changed over a period of time. Food has been a major game-changer, socially, since the beginning. But there is so much food that goes wasted after a function. It is a pity. 

We must use platforms like Swiggy and Zomato to also deliver the leftover food to the needy. If required, altogether new platform should be built for this purpose. If this is practiced, there will be fewer hungry people and humbler rich people. People might take advantage of this one. But just because 5 in 100 will take advantage, we cannot keep 95 people hungry and throw away the food. This is sinful. Think about it.

• Better Town Planning

The Indian workforce across the urban cities is frustrated majorly about one thing- traffic. We have to modify the way we plan our towns. There can be areas with offices, schools, and homes nearby. 

There will be major infrastructure shifts required, including cycle tracks and footpaths along every major road. Limitations on the number of vehicles on the road can also be practiced. But with our population, this is difficult. But definitely not impossible.  Some may lose, some may gain in the short term. But in the long term, we get a healthier and happier workforce. Nothing matches this! You don't have to make compulsive work hours. When a person is healthy and happy, he/she can give their best performance. 

• Recycling

Recycling water. Recycling wet waste from homes, restaurants, and hotels. Recycling plastic wherever possible. The recycling itself has to be so neat that it doesn’t look and feel like it's recycled. Manure, which is food for the plants, can be easily made from all the wet waste from our homes. That will reduce the waste we throw and also give food to our fellow beings: plants.

• Indianization of the Toilets and the Way We Eat

I know you are going to hate me for this one! But please don't be blind. 

Using western toilets and then practicing Malasana for constipation is the blindness of our society. That position is good for your entire digestive, reproductive, muscular system, urinary system, and every other system you can think of. You cannot avoid working in front of a computer for long hours. But you can definitely think of helping your back and knees in the long term. Older people can be helped with a commode.  

Similarly, why not remove the luxury of dining tables and sit on the floor to eat? The husband who eats will keep his lower body in better shape and will also love his toned wife who serves him by bending down! Children will learn to sit on the floor, and their joints and digestion will be fine for a longer time. Older people will have to take fewer medicines. People with complications can be helped with a table and chair.

• Two People Cycle

This is very weird, and I don’t know if it's possible or not. But can we make a cycle that can be paddled by two people? The direction HAS to be handled by one. But both people have to make efforts for its movement. Whenever I am dropping off kids to classes, husband to the bus stop, I think that time can be utilized as a small exercise time. It will be fun! I am lazy. If this works out, I don’t have to take out extra time to work out!

Enough for now! This is an urgent call for the young innovators. This needs out-of-the-box ideas, major shifts, and changes across multiple levels. Baki toh ho jayega. You just have to work on changing your stubborn mindset! Thank you for reading!

Defense Academy Education

 Our younger one recently joined the Prabhav Defense Military Academy training at their school. The training is held every Sunday from 9 am to 1 pm. They make kids run, move, and exercise hard. Children have to bring three chapatis and sabji, and finish the tiffin compulsorily. Do you think your kid also needs this kind of discipline?

These are just a few things that are visible and might interest you. But the main things lie in what they teach, and how they conduct the classes. 

She told me a few things that are really very impressive and probably required to be taught to our kids. Two of them being:

• No man left behind:

In an excessively competitive world, it’s usually taught to go AHEAD of your peers. It’s ingrained in them so much, that it kind of becomes addictive. To go ahead of everyone around, to always win. This is an awesome way to teach children how to go WITH your peers. No marks oriented team-building exercise can have this kind of effect. 

• Ek ki galti sabki galti:

In cut throat competitive world with extremely inflated egoes, going ahead is usually at the cost of other’s mistakes. One becomes habitual to this kind of behavior of fault finding. When you make the whole team responsible for a mistake committed by one person, there is no other punishment more severe than this one. 

• Love for the country:

You cannot train your children in serving your country and your people till you yourself are not doing it. The main aim of Defense academies is to serve country only by building a stronger future generation. Today, their Kargil Diwas performance was not very professional, but it did invoke feelings for the country and people who serve it. 

Many countries have already made Military education compulsory for a few years in their countries. You can Google to check which countries! Do you think it’s required in our nation? 

A nation full of cultural and philosophical diversity needs to accept the changes of digital world and make children and systems stronger to incorporate the same. Why should Defense education be limited to only those who join the academy? What do you think? Do share your opinion!

Achievement vs Affiliation

This article was long overdue. Have you ever thought, what do you value more, achievement or affiliation? Do not consider this as a matrimony ad, giving you clarity for what you are looking for in your future spouse. 

Think of the very thought process that drives your actions, day in and day out. You may also consider it the famous dualities of all time: masculine vs. feminine, head vs. heart, visible vs. invisible. They are not all the same, but similar.

It’s very important to think, from the moment you get up till you sleep, what motivates your actions, speech, and thoughts. We all have some aspirations that keep us going. But there are some whose aspirations are to see others flourish. Like our mothers, mothers-in-law, grandmothers! The invisible force behind all our visible achievements. Who would you call greater? 

To get a clearer picture, let us first understand that everything you achieve is a part of the physical world, which is not permanent (as per most of the schools of Indian philosophy). When we talk about achievement, it is purely a part of the physical world. The physical world and existence have their limitations. You cannot experience them beyond a certain limit. (Read about the concept of Karma: Sanchita and Prarabhdha Karma.).

But affiliation is the invisible heart and desires behind your thoughts and actions. You can always raise it to experience life in a complete way. The more you fulfill each desire, the more complete you will feel, and the higher you will go for fulfilling deeper and subtle desires. 

We might carry our affiliations to the next life, but achievements are all to be left on this earth for the people of this earth. So, why not aim for affiliated achievement? At least, the intention of such an achievement will not be only to grow your “me and mine”, but to go a step ahead of it. 

Why not let the mighty head bow down to the pure heart to cleanse it of intentions and thoughts? Why not let the invisible true self shine brightly through the visible body? 

Think about it, everything that conducts your day-to-day life, relationships, parenthood, and even your achievements might reach their peak, if you give a chance to your affiliations.

For those who are wondering why I chose the words “achievement and affiliation”, wait till you read about Abraham Maslow soon. Till then, you'd rather clear this mess of achievement vs affiliation!

The Power of The Bhagvad Gita

 

After reading the Bhagavad Gita for the first time, I told my husband, “I have fallen in love with Krishna”. Lord’s combination of words, depth of explanation, and love for His devotees are unmatched! After that, I generally tried reading many self-help books, but could not finish any. The Gita is a true winner!

In today’s overloaded (with information and unnecessary knowledge) and impermanent (because everything changes and evolves continuously) world, it’s easy to feel lost or overwhelmed. 

That’s where the Bhagavad Gita comes in—it’s like a steady light that helps us find our way, even when everything feels uncertain. Let’s take a quick recap on what makes this scripture great.

• It changes the entire way of our thinking, because it shifts our focus from the effect of achievement to the cause of action. In the world of excessive competition, people are obsessed with worldly achievements. But is achievement not a natural by-product? Is it not an effect? Please do not make it a cause and ruin your near and dear ones!

• Though it was written over 5,000 years ago as part of the Mahabharata, the Gita is like a timeless book. It's words have withstood the test of time- they were valid yesterday, are valid today, and will be valid even tomorrow!

• It’s a powerful conversation as if the Lord is speaking directly to you, and the entire Gita has been told only for you.

• The book invokes tremendous faith in the reader and listener- faith in himself, the Lord, the people around, and in life in general. This faith blesses you with immeasurable patience. Isn’t it the need of the hour? Faith and Patience, Shraddha and Saburi! Do you know which saint used these two words always?

• Do you know the real magic of this book? It rightly amuses children. It rightly empowers the youth. It rightly removes the aggressiveness of elders. It rightly detaches the oldies. Why break them into different compartments? They are all His children and need the same knowledge!

• It’s truly said that “Gita padhane wale ki kabhi haar nahi hoti!” The reader of the Bhagvad Gita can never be defeated! Don't you want to win? Or experience bliss even if you loose?

• Every yoga ultimately boils down to Abhyasa (Study) and Vairagya (Detachment). This detachment from every minute issue is impossible till you attach yourself to something bigger and permanent. 

• In the times of aggressive and active media role in society, when people are constantly blaming each other, the Gita shows you the real doer of it all! The blame game, which is creating havoc in the world, from families to countries, can be minimized only through the wisdom of His words. 

• Compassion and respect for every living being, starting from your family members to the entire stage of the world, is the need of the hour. You cannot get this until you understand that everything is beautifully interwoven on the Supreme Personality of the Lord Himself!

• Everybody wants to OWN everything possible! But in reality, you cannot own anything and everything! The only thing that you can own is the devotion to the Lord and actions surrendered to Him, who owns the entire universe. 

• This scripture does not promote or mention any religion or religious practices. In fact, it neatly discriminates between religious practices performed as a duty or performed for the selfish purposes. It is beyond the religion you follow. The Gita is for the upliftment of the entire human race!

Are you ready for this timeless wisdom from Lord Krishna? If you are searching for love, peace of mind, knowledge, and everything that restores balance in your life, just read the Bhagvad Gita. You will never look at the things in the same way again. Don’t forget to share your experiences here!

A ChatGPT Lesson for the Social Media

Whoever has used ChatGPT knows, its amazing, and more than that its addictive and makes you extremely lazy! Whatever its pros and cons, am loving it for some reason you never thought of!

When you use this great content writing tool, you have to send appropriate “prompts” to get the right kind of content you desire. The clearer and better the prompts, the better the result. As you use the tool more often, you simply learn to refine your prompts to get the desired content.

Awesome right! Seems really very easy!

Even if you use ChatGPT some people may deliver better content than you. Do you know why? Because they have clarity about what they want. Their vision and intention about the final result is clear.

Isn’t this something worth pondering about? Posting meaningless messages, irrelevant comments, and constantly giving opinions about what you think on the social media could be dangerous. It is valid only if your intention, vision, or the effects of your communication are clear.

Every word you say, write, and read has energy and emotions attached to it. So why not utilize it properly. Why not have better intentions before posting anything?

So, next time you have an urge to post or comment, first be sure about your intention. Is the communication your urge to vent out feelings or does it really have some social purpose? It’s a social media, so its better if its purposeful rather that wishful and profiteering.

You are the kings and queens of social media, so why not rule it well. For everybody who needs better understanding of how to rule, I suggest one beautiful dialogue from the movie “Jodha Akhbar” “Raj karne aur fateh karne mein farak hota hai”. There is a difference between ruling and winning over.

If you think you are the owner of whatever you post, you will always want to win over. But if you think you are just a pawn, a medium to post something, the intention and the message itself would change.

So, with AI tools and technology gaining over fast in every sphere of life, what matters is simply the intention with which you use it.

Ultimately, you have to work on your desires, intentions, and emotions more than what people think and like. Nothing works better at cleaning your intentions than the word of the Lord. Read Bhagvad Gita, Namaz, Bible, Guru Granth Sahib, or whatever religious scripture possible!

Whatever your age or stage of life, the power of Lord’s words in cleaning or brainwashing to improve your thoughts cannot be replaced.

Media is stronger than ever. Our emotions are also stronger than ever. Especially in the troubled times, lets stick together with clear intentions of simply being together!