Passion and Career

Do your heartfelt articles fail to connect soulfully with readers?  I developed a habitual loser-feeling when my passion for writing struggled to find engaging eyes. Why? I did not know.  I fulfilled the article's demand for sufficient time and fulsome dedication. But the result?It did not grab my readers' attention. It never fell under the category of viral content. Ahh. Pains like a dagger in the heart. And the dreaded fear evolves — Am I capable of living my dream life? Loosen up if you ever come across this fear.  This piece must encourage your typing fingers to slap any thought of quitting, and help you produce the long-due viral content. But before that, let me tell you:There are plenty of sources offering generic (yet important) pieces of advice. They are good! But are these suggestions enough to create your much-awaited viral content?Well, I am not sure!  Let me list the cosmopolitan suggestions readily available, and then step into the five pieces of advice I didn't find anywhere. Generic( but compulsory) pieces of advice already available: Heading: Write a keyword-enriched, emotion-provoking headline'How to' and 'Number' headlines are more clicks-proneNot composite, but address a niche-specific audience  Intro: Draft a tight opening, maybe starting with a questionKeep the intro short and crisp, but intriguing enough Hint at the solution by the end of the intro (Do not offer a direct solution) Body: Break the post into easily digestible chunks — use sub-headingsSprinkle keywords wisely all over the content Illustrations connect well with the readers, use them Closing: A call-to-action offering useful solutions Offer something extra as a respect to the reader. (After all, he read your entire article)Easy social sharing option just after the end of your article Although these suggestions are important, I'm unsure these are enough to create a viral post you have been longing for. Let us jump straight into: 5 suggestions to write viral content (unfulfilled wish of every struggling blogger) Scribble every thought kissing your mind — Wherever whenever You cannot write a valuable viral post at one go; it's a tedious process. It's impractical to start and complete your article in a single sitting. You might observe your mind perceives and generates content-related information in broken bits. Do you ignore any of them?If yes,  you are losing some vital elements needed to wire a viral post. What I feel one good thing about pursuing your blogging passion is you cannot allocate a fixed place to follow it. Even if you do it, not necessarily your mind is receptive enough then to think about what you want it to. Here's the best part: Be it for anything, your passion is an integral part of you. It's never away but always ongoing with you. So make sure you neglect none of your content-related thought any moment.  How do you do that? Scribble that thought — on a piece of paper, a diary, or your favorite phone writing applications. Whenever I come across such thoughts, I note it on my cellphone and Watsapp it to my other number. It's useful! Never forget: Those raw thoughts are the basis of a beautiful piece of viral content. So don't ignore it. You are not a...

What defines your monotonous life? My boredom? Our generation’s boring monotony? A haunting tradition following since the X generation! It’s a pre-defined conventional journey — starts with a super-active child at home, an exuberant kid in school, an adventurous youth in college, and then? As soon as you enter the late twenties and early thirties, don’t you feel:We are puppets dancing off-beat to the tune of a monotonous life? You won’t disagree more or less we share a common story. We’ll talk a little about every phase starting teenage. The time before that does not qualify for scrutiny. We were happy souls then. The tender teenage is the age when most of us are on an exploring spree. It’s the most exciting phase when most of us are introduced to new experiences. The thrills of hormonal attraction, the adventure of bunking classes, the excitement of a new cellphone, fear of failures, sadness inflicting loss, and whatnot… Life events are not customary and that’s the best part of this time. Every moment awaits to capture a new experience. Moving to the next phase is the dawn of adulthood (the twenty-one's) when most of us go through a full range of overwhelming emotions, and gradually we prioritize and move forward with our choices and responses. But what next? Don’t you realize life stagnates thereafter? Yes… the majority of us stand at the doorstep of a monotonous life. ‘That’s because we turn into:spouses and parents in personal livesan employee or an employer in a professional careera mere reputation in the social environmentTill over and out.’ Please keep reading even if you haven’t reached this state, you are closer than you think! That’s because soon a customary routine takes over to define our life’s monotonous process until we final gasp. Most have compromised with it. But you don’t belong there, the reason you are here. Allow me to offer: 4 super effective ways to break the monotony of everyday life: Twist the thought process When you program your mind into a routine existence; your mind becomes a jailor and your soul a prisoner. Your life isn’t a beautiful exploration journey anymore. I may sound silly if I ask you: Do you wait for the holidays? Everyone does! Most of us work our asses off the entire week to enjoy on weekends. But does that mean you are eligible for happiness only on weekends? I don’t know much but I am sure about this: We cannot assign a particular date, time, and place for happiness. My friend; even happiness seems monotonous this way. What I feel we need this break every day. Any small conscious mind break is capable to break your routine existence. Listening to music, exercising, or maybe a long drive — any such monotony breaker not involving your mind is capable to rejuvenate your soul. And when you do that, you realize happiness does not involve the mind, it’s an essence of the soul. Did you know? Not only feeling happiness, but a mind rest daily can also raise its potency drastically. Here is a summary of recent research and thinking on the value of taking breaks. Start it now or else your holiday break remains a random...

Do you know most of us are sharing a common problem? consciousness: In today’s materialistic world of cynical realism, a sensitive mind often loses awareness in the present moment. It surrenders to people and situations by dancing to the tune of subconsciousness. As a result, not only what to think but your mind also loses control over how much to think. The problem does not end here: (Consciousness) Soul-driven feelings become less responsive. Ultimately, you defeat the sole purpose of life- “To feel happy”. Don’t worry! You are not the only one suffering. You might be wondering: How to uncover a state where feeling positive emotions, and denying feelings to negative emotions, becomes a choice? Fortunately, this isn’t as hard as it sounds. Time to get familiar with consciousness: Consciousness refers to your individual awareness of your unique thoughts, memories, feelings, sensations, and environment. In fact, many intellectuals have defined it. Do you want to know how I perceive it?  Here’s my definition of consciousness: It’s an experience in which mind rejuvenates the thoughts and soul revives the feelings; the resultant thoughts and feelings are faithful to each other. Consciousness is the state where not only you do whatever you feel but also feel whatever you do. Let’s jump right into the reasons to activate consciousness... 13 reasons to evoke consciousness: 1. Conscious people live a monotonous life happily  As it’s a bread-butter fight, most of us follow a fixed routine. While you struggle to find happiness in the monotony, conscious people always feel blissful. They cherish every moment regardless of the skeptical nature from the outside world. 2. Consciousness provokes fearlessness People-Situations-Death; most of us fear any of three. You are fearful unaware fear relates to the future. Consciousness is a gateway to happiness as every moment is a spontaneous bliss. Conscious people do nothing different to create a beautiful future. They just live the present moment gracefully.  3. Consciousness liberalizes to choose between thinking and feeling While sub-consciousness is a gateway to negative thinking and sadness, consciousness is the key to positive thinking and happiness. It is a double-edged sword which enables you to activate either thinking or feeling one at a time.  Want to know how? While working, it keeps the thinking mode on. During a holiday, it allows your feeling component to dominate your thoughts; the reason you crave for holiday breaks or should I say mind brakes? 4. A conscious person is hungry and hopeful at the same time I consider it the biggest outcome. You might have undue expectations from people. But it’s untrue for conscious people. They don’t have unrealistic expectations which hurt. They are content but not complacent; they endure but are happy; they fight but never fear to lose. Even if conscious people don’t get appreciation from people, their self-motivation speaks loud. 5. Conscious people speak on people’s face, never behind their back Are you courageous enough to speak your soul out? It’s only possible when you are conscious! Conscious people are true to oneself and everyone. It’s because not only they see the ideal path but also have the guts to stride on it. They express whatever they feel including negativity. Maybe their friend list is small but worthy of a lifelong friendship. 6. Conscious people enjoy solitude, others...

I am dying at 35 but this is not what is hurting me. What’s painful is that when I look back, I don’t recall 35 memories to cherish!!! The journey has not been worth remembering. I am not saying I was sad throughout my life, but yes, I always struggled to feel happy. Never had I felt what I realize now, which is the difference between real happiness and materialistic happiness.  And the irony is when I have realized it, I cannot be happy. I am dying and practically, I cannot choose happiness. I can only miss happiness. But at least you can... choose it now. You might be curious to know what happened suddenly that my life turned upside down? I am literally into tears to pen it down but I will, just to make you realize that today is my turn, likewise, it can be yours tomorrow. And I don’t want you to die like me, just like that. Well... nothing much to tell because it was all good a week back. Just a slight pain in my stomach which led to a couple to tests. Huh... to find what? The final stage of liver cancer with a piece of news... the news that I have a few months, weeks or maybe days left. Hard to live with the fact that I am dying anytime soon. But wait a minute, is this something new I got to know? Is it really news that I might die soon? Was I not aware of it or rather are ‘we’ not aware that we‘ll die one day? I am sure even you know about this inevitable truth but there is a difference between you knowing and me knowing it... The difference is that I can feel it now but I’m not sure you can!!! Sorry to say this but maybe you die before me, trust me it is possible. I may sound weird so let me back it with a testimony. About a month back, I heard the shocking news that a 40-year-old man from my vicinity has been diagnosed with a final stage brain tumor and he does not have much time left. I know him personally and this news left me shattered. I remember I was saying to my wife that 40 is not an age to die. How could be God so cruel? Ha... never dared to imagine that I am dying before him in my thirties. Now I am sure you got a pinch of my taste! This is how unpredictable life is. I close my eyes at night more in fear whether they would open to see a morning... sometimes I wonder what is a bigger challenge? To die gracefully or to live gracefully? Because suddenly I see my definition of challenges transforming.   I could sense the definition of my success changing, which was once to earn bread, and what is now to earn breaths. I could feel a change in my attitude from ‘let it come’ some time back to ‘let it go’ today. I could sense the perception of my future...

If you an Indian, I am sure you could relate to any of the two emotional phrases in the title.  Say... you are the one for whom Cricket is Life...it means you are the one who plays cricket, who knows cricket, who is passionate about it. Now let’s say Life is cricket for you... it means you may not be the one who plays cricket or who knows much about cricket. But whenever India plays a match, you are always there in front of the T.V cheering and shouting... India...India. Be on either side, we, the Indians are in love with the game of cricket. To break down further, you gotta be kidding me if you are a Ranchiite and you are not an MSDian. Yes that's my love for this man speaking who has not only made me proud being a small town boy from the same city, but also He has made the country proud by his historic achievements. Gut feeling is all about the experiences that you have had in your life. It is about being in difficult scenarios, knowing what worked, what did not work, and then taking a decision. —Mahender Singh Dhoni Cricket is a religion for some and just a game for others. But irrespective of how you see it, let us expand our mental horizons and relate to India’s favorite sport in our real lives.  Many of us perceive it as a glamorous sport and feel jealous of a cricketer's lifestyle, fit bodies, name, fame, and money. But how many of us know how have our heroes reached the international stage? How many of us know how disciplined they are in terms of their regime, diet, and routine to maintain that level? How many of us are aware of their failures behind their success? And when they have reached here, how many of us know what they go through in and off the field? We only see them playing but you know, there is a lot we need to see beyond the conventional batting, bowling, and fielding aspects. My dear friend, the game of cricket is not less than a life lesson. To be precise, Life is a 22-yard cricket pitch and we all are players who will retire one day...Why am I saying this... Let's find out. Most of the people consider cricket to be a batsman's game, so first, let us find out what can be learned from a batsman?   How does a good batsman build his innings? He comes to the crease, not sure about the wicket. He begins his innings tentatively. He observes, takes time, allows the nerves to settle down. The initial time at the crease is not easy. He is tested by short balls, pacy yorkers, swinging delivering, not to forget the doosras and the googlies. He defends, ducks, respects the challenging deliveries; He does not have answers to every ball but is not rattled by it. He absorbs the pressure and gradually starts playing his shots. Once his eye is in, he manipulates the field, starts dictating the terms to reach a milestone. This is what a good batsman...

Let us define passion in the first place...  Passion could be anything which you love to do, which stays with you every moment till your last breath. The things which you feel from within, leading to happiness is your passion. Dedicating long continuous hours to passion is something which you are not forced upon. It is your choice. Pursuing passion is not a work-load, it's recreation. It does not tire you but energizes you. According to Wikipedia, "Passion is a feeling of intense enthusiasm towards or compelling desire for someone or something." One could be passionate about anything; singing, dancing, reading, playing any sport, playing an instrument, gyming, photography, painting, cooking, and so on... The feeling of effortlessly following the passion is magical and unmatched. Lucky they are who could discover their passion; Luckier are the ones who get an opportunity to pursue it. Another face of passion... There are many things which you can do passionately, but it does not involve money. Following compassion passionately, loving someone passionately, devotion to God are a few examples. But in this post, I am referring to the passion-oriented careers, the fields you are relying upon for your source of bread. The path of pursuing your passion: Often, hobbies lead to passion. Remember, hobbies are the things you like to do while passion involves things you love to do. Yes, it might sound similar but there is a huge difference between the two. The feeling associated with passion is quite intense compared to enjoying a hobby. How? Let us try to dig deep into it. Reading, writing, singing, dancing, cooking, playing, painting, are some of the hobbies. Say, playing cricket is your hobby. But unless you are a good cricketer and you dedicate your full time and potency to improve and adapt, it cannot be called your passion. Playing it as a favorite pass time cannot turn you into a successful cricketer unless you follow it passionately. Therefore, it's important not to hope for the outcome of a passion just by enjoying a hobby. The obstacles in the passion-driven journey... There is no problem if you are passionate in conventional fields. What I mean is, if you want to become an engineer, doctor, lawyer or you want to pursue your family business, it is all fine. But the path of the passion-driven journey can be extremely tough if you want to become a writer, singer, actor, model, photographer, footballer, painter dancer, comedian and the like. In such domains, only finding passion never means you will be able to pursue it and most importantly, complete the passion-driven journey. Do you know why? It is because of the 5 major hindrances: 1. Non-Acceptance Yes, you read it right, 'Non-Acceptance.' These fields are still struggling to find acceptance in the first place. In most of the countries especially Asian countries, you just can't do what you want to do without the acceptance of two sections of people -'Parents and Society.' Hard to believe but it is a fact. And this is why you have to go out of the way to...

Allow me to begin with a small composition of mine: Speak Speak speak... you speak SPEAK WITH AUTHORITY, SPEAK WITH CLARITY... make sure you get heard when you speak Irrespective of the language YOU SPEAK... as long as you have a voice, you speak don’t wary the criticisms and the questions ... as long as you are right, you speak Don’t worry about losing them, FOR THE SAKE OF FINDING YOURSELF, you speak. To spit out the negativity, for the sake of positivity... gather courage only once to speak on their face and never behind, as long as they are wrong, you speak FOR THE SAKE YOUR RESPECT AND ESTEEM... SPEAK SPEAK SPEAK... YOU SPEAK Hope you liked it! Let's jump right into the nitty-gritty of expressing: Expressing is an introduction of your true self to the outside world. Whatever you are inside, just exhibit it outside. What you are and whatever you feel, just express yourself. Never feel afraid of it. Always remember: “You were born to be real, not to be perfect.” - Claire Baker And this applies to everyone. When you have the freedom of expression, use it to your advantage. You are probably wondering: Why is expressing important? Expressing is your deliberate attempt to convert the negativity felt into positivity. In the world full of lies and betrayals, it is difficult to stop feeling negative. But you need to understand that feeling negative is not a problem.  The problem arises when you keep that negativity within you and do not express it out. But when you express out, you unburden yourself and flush out the negativity.  To maintain transparency between your physical and mental appearance. In case you don't know: There are two facets of your appearance- physical and mental. Expressing acts as a mirror between the two. It ensures that whatever you feel from inside, you present it outside. This way, you are true to yourself and to others. There is no retention of negative feelings inside you to attract other negative energies. You always ride high on yourself via expressing. When you express your true self to others, it means you value your ideas, thoughts, and beliefs. No wonder, expressing is one of the best ways to develop self-love. The quote above says it all... When you express, you expose yourself in front of others. You reveal your true identity to them. In the process, people might get hurt. Many people might not like you. They can call you rude, offensive and aggressive. They might misunderstand you. However, the ones who deserve to be in your life will understand you gradually. They will accept you the way you are. No wonder, these people will be less. But they will be the ones whom you will find by your side every time you need them. It's your identity, this is the way you always are, independent of the person, time and situation. Feel proud! Look: Being nude is always better than being naked. Sounds silly? It's not: Being nude is your choice. It is when you uncover yourself by yourself. It‘s your discretion to expose yourself to others. It is the transparency you...

Before evaluating the differences, let's find out the similarity between both the attitude.  Did you notice that both the attitude have four consecutive letters in common-'LOSE'? You know what does it mean? It means that both the attitude(loser/nothing to lose) are provoked by a loss. Now, there are two possible conditions involving a loss.  You are on the verge of losing. You have already lost. Subsequently, when you encounter any of the above-mentioned situations,  it provokes either a 'nothing to lose' attitude or you develop a 'loser attitude'.   An example involving sports where you are on the verge of losing... Two players are playing a game of squash inside two different courts.  The game is of 5 sets. Both the players lose the first two sets. Obviously, the recovery seems extremely difficult hereon. Now, let us try to compare and analyze their respective attitude where one develops a loser attitude while the other develops a nothing to lose attitude.  The one with the ‘loser attitude:’ After losing the first two sets out of five, the person with a negative mindset starts considering himself as a loser even before the result of the game. It evokes fear inside him and he begins saying to himself that he cannot win from this particular game-situation. Eventually, he surrenders to a situation and showcases a ‘loser attitude’ in the subsequent game-set. This attitude fails to deliver miserably, no need to mention the outcome. The one with the ‘nothing to lose attitude.’   A person with a positive frame of mind sees things differently. After losing the first two sets, he sets himself free. Even he starts considering himself as a loser but with a different mindset. As soon as he accepts his loss, he starts seeing it as a different ball game altogether. It evokes a fearless attitude within him as he is already considering himself as a loser. He starts feeling that he cannot go down anymore and plays the rest of the game carefree and stress-free. Trust me, most of the times he is able to turn the tables around from nowhere, and an evident lose turns out to be a surprising victory. Let us consider a monetary example where the loss has already occurred: Two businessmen suffered a huge financial loss in their respective trades. The one with a loser attitude: The person with the loser attitude starts feeling embarrassed and ashamed. He is not able to sink that loss inside his mind. As a result, it never lets him overcome that loss or defeat. That fear of losing refrains him from starting again. As a result, he always considers himself a loser.  The one with a nothing to lose attitude: There is the other businessman who considers it as an opportunity, the opportunity to start from scratch, where he cannot go down beyond it. This attitude allows him to realize his mistakes so that he never repeats it again. Time for some Happy Realizations!!! Friends, we all lose on something at some point in time.  But what makes us a loser or winner depends...

When people don't fulfill your expectations, you get hurt. Your undue expectation from people has become one big reason to feel negative.  Therefore, it is imperative to find out why these expectations and from whom are these expectations? Why do you expect and from whom do you expect? In today’s world, you expect from people because you want them to ‘Return the favor back.’ It is an obligation you anticipate from others in exchange for the good things you assume you did for them. It is the reason why you expect a reciprocation. Quickly, you need to understand that if you are counting on every acquaintance to fulfill your expectations, the matter of fact is that you are unreasonable and foolish. Supremely, your expectations could be from the ones whom you love, who are important to you. It might be from the people you care for, whom you respect, the ones with whom you share a strong bond and an active connection. Let's say, people are fulfilling every expectation of yours. But, what we need to comprehend is that everything is perfectly fine until people keep responding as per your expectations. The question is how long you will keep on getting your expectations fulfilled by others? How long will others carry the burden of meeting your expectations? The never-ending expectation process: Be mindful of the fact that the fulfillment of one expectation leads to the urge of the other. Gradually, it leads to an endless flow and to tell the truth, the chain breaks down one day. Yes, your feelings get hurt one day. Sometimes, the volume of that pain soars high to an extent where you tend to shift your perception of people who belong to you. By and by, you even form a negative opinion about those people. You begin to judge those people based on that particular situation in which they did not raise up to your expectation. You start to forget the positives associated with them. In due process, you don’t realize the value of that person in your spirits before this particular incident. And eventually, you lose that person.  Let me bombard a few questions on you... If you are demanding the ideal condition out of a person, are you an ideal person to demand it? How will you feel when you are on the other side of the table? Are you not wrong on your part if you are expecting people to respond according to you? Are you not judging people calling them wrong without knowing about their problems and situations? Maybe, they could have been in their world of problems when you were expecting from them. Or maybe they are the ones dwelling in their own aura and you are not able to perceive it. Sorry for being brutally honest but when you start putting conditions on expectations from others, you are wrong. Put it to yourself and ask yourself how do you feel about those people who impose their expectations on you? And when you are not able to meet their expectations, how do you feel about those judgemental...

Most of us do not train our minds to accept: An unfriendly situation. A self-imperfection. First of all, let us comprehend ‘an unfriendly situation.’ Time is not always favorable to us. Sometimes, when situations are hostile to us, what most of us do is try to avoid the situation or run away from the problem. We don't talk about it now. We don’t want to face it and hence, we try to overlook it. Now, let us try to understand ‘a self-imperfection.’ Nobody is perfect. We all are the effigy of imperfections and yes, there is nothing wrong in it. Nonetheless, how many of us have the courage to accept it? Trust me, only a few. Always remember that being imperfect is not a concern, the problem is the un-readiness of our minds to accept it. Whether it is an unfriendly situation or a self-imperfection, is the denial mode solution to our troubles? I am sorry but we are elevating our problems all by ourselves. Denying the fact that we are facing a problem is an invitation to other troubles. Always remember, how fast and how far we try to run away from an unfriendly situation or a self-imperfection, it will catch up with us soon. This time around, its intensity will be so strong that it will be virtually impossible for us to deal with it. A situation will arise in which neither we will be able to face it, nor we will be able to avoid it. Finally, we will never be able to move out of it. Let us understand it with the help of illustrations. Example 1 You are chit-chatting with your friends. Suddenly, one of them initiates a discussion about politics. Others too plunge into the discussion.  Say, you are the only one who is not updated in politics and you insist them to change the topic. The matter of fact here is you are getting bored because you are not proficient in expressing your views on the particular subject. However, the reason you give for it, ‘Politics is not an interesting subject’. Here, you are avoiding the fact that you are not acquainted with politics, which is the actual reason you are not finding it interesting. Still, you are not accepting it. Example 2 You appeared in 5 exams. You performed well in all subjects except mathematics. Subsequently, you begin to put allegations like the mathematics paper was lengthy. Yes, sometimes you also say that the course was out of syllabus. Again, instead of accepting the fact that you need to work on mathematics, you opt for the denial mode. Example 3 You get into an altercation with your loved one where you give a rude reply. You also raise your voice intensely during the conversation. Instead of accepting that you quickly get angry on petty issues, you put the blame on him/her. Again, you avoid the cause of the problem when you very well know deep down inside that you are wrong. Example 4 You go to a formal together where people were mostly talking to each other...