As the year 2021 comes to an end, I hoped to collate the few genuine life lessons this year has taught me, the stuff I have learned from networks and podcasts, threads, and experiments. I’m sure most of you have come across these at some point but summarizing them to words does amplify it, make it clearer.

The biggest challenge that we face towards achieving success is an untrained mind.

If there is one big takeaway from reading this, it is - An untrained mind is a poison. We, as humans, go through a swarm of emotions on a single day. Our mind instinctively reacts and focuses on what it thinks is the most important one. While this sounds like it’s actually a good thing and focusing on the important one helps, I have come to realize that the mind doesn’t really know exactly what’s actually is the important thing for you.

The Blessings of a Trained Mind

If you were to ask me, if I’m an EarlyBird or a NightOwl, I would probably look at you in astonishment while I stutter to find the right answer. I’m somewhere in between - I don’t like waking up at 4 AM in the morning cause that’s too early neither do I like staying late at 3 AM cause well, I ain’t fighting crime. Most of the lessons out there on the internet speak about how waking up early helps, and I’m not going to deny, it does but this one focuses more on the general idea, whether you sleep at 4 AM or wake up, this got you covered.

A New Day

The first and the foremost idea that you need to carve on your mind is that The Sun doesn’t decide a new day, at least not habitually. It’s the night before that plans it, makes it, and helps you implement it.

Before you are off to bed, do spend 5 mins to write down how exactly you want to plan your day tomorrow. Can be a rough one but don’t let your mind decide stuff instantaneously early morning.

Mindfulness

Meditation. I know, I know meditation seems like a waste of time & truth to be told, I had the same belief too. However, this is like the A-B-C to train your mind.

Practice meditation for 2-5 mins every day right after you wake up. This would let your mind stay in the present & not be distracted by every random event.

Here’s how I do it:

• Close your eyes
• Initially, it’s always chaotic inside your head, don’t be overwhelmed
• Watch what pops up on your mind, don’t react, don’t control them.
• Let your thoughts flow. Open your eyes when you want.

Activity

In the current world we live in, deskwork, bean-bag work, bed work is the new norm. Not only is this unhealthy but reduces neural connections resulting in brain fatigue. Solution?

Find time to do cardio exercises for 15-20 mins in a day. If it’s too much to start with, do 5-10 mins and slowly push it up. This allows your brain to create new neural connections which in return helps you learn new things.

Distraction Time

This is undoubtedly one of the important things I discovered pretty recently. We like being distracted & nothing we tell our mind can stop us from feeling that. Isn’t that a bad thing, you ask? Well, yes but there’s a silver lining though, you can schedule it.

Schedule your distraction time, where you do the stuff you like. Gaming, yes. Series, yes. Movies, yes. Reels, yes (I don’t recommend though).

Here’s how I do it:

• Keep a notepad handy. While you are on your Focus hours (time you are being productive) if a thought pops up in your head, note it down. You will immediately focus back on the work you were doing avoiding random distractions.
• While in the Distraction time, complete the work that you noted down.
• I normally tend to schedule them late afternoon or evening for 1-1.5 hours and never miss them.

Tip: Just before the Distraction Time, schedule work you don’t like doing. Take the Distraction Time right after you do the work. This will make you finish the work you dislike doing, as well as keep you interested in the scheduled Distraction Time.

Reflection & Rejection

I will put this on a plate, everyone gets rejected before they are, what they are. What differs, however, is how you reflect on your rejection. We hate rejection so much that instead of reflecting on how to improve we choose the easiest option (Ha! Brain, you and your cheap tricks) and stop doing stuff we fear we will be rejected in.

Take rejection as a pinch of salt. Understand and reflect on what you could have done differently. Note them down and improve them the next time. If you are rejected again, congrats, you learned more on how to not be rejected in two different ways.

Here are a few questions you can ask yourself:

• Am I progressing as I wanted to?
• Am I able to provide equal attention to the things that matter?
• Am I distracted by unimportant things more than I want myself to be?
• What change can I make to make things easier than it is currently?

I recommend asking these at least once in two weeks. Edit, crop, and update your schedule.

Conclusion

Overwhelming? That’s okay! Initially, everything is. No one is asking you to implement them instantaneously, all at the same time. Start with one. Our brain is always finding ways to take the shortest known route or the easiest one. Walk a different path than the other 90% and you will see a difference. Know that no schedule is perfect, no rules are carved in stone and change is the only constant. Learn. Evolve. Grow.

I hope these serve as a new beginning to a New Year. A year to run closer to your goals. To keep chasing the long-term ones. I, you, we can do it. Wishing you & your family a Happy New Year. 🎊

If you like what you read feel free to connect with me on:

• Twitter.
• GitHub
• Or subscribe to my Newsletter