Lessons from 2016

All you wonderful people, thank you so much for carving out the time to read my reflections of 2016 and reflecting upon the same to bring them into your life. So here we go:

1. Your life is a reflection of your choices. You have one even when you think you do not have any. In any moment, we need to have clarity of our values. Not quite surprisingly, clarity of values comes from making the choice to reaffirm your values to yourself.

2. The human being who helps herself / himself during the times of their own crises is the real superhero. We all may give (or imagine giving) bundles of advices to everyone around us. However, if we need real, drastic and lasting change, begin within. Consistently. We do not need more tactics in times of danger. We just need the understanding that whatever we are going through in life is happening for us and not to us. Once we get that we automatically relinquish the need to justify ourselves and that creates a space for creativity and nourishment to flow.

3. Looking for the qualities in others is the tactic of a real diamond. It does not condone the wrongs they did, it simply tells your character sketch that you reflect outside what you are within: a swan who chooses pearls over stones.

4. An angry human being is an angel in disguise. They remind you of your nature of stability and kindness by making you witness their nature of anger. Thanking them and blessing them is the pathway to your personal freedom.

5. Do not let today be a photocopy of yesterday. You are the artist of the beautiful painting of your life, and you can make the best strokes possible therein, even when the world claims to hold better brushes (metaphorically) than you.

6. All the knowledge, motivational quotes on social media and life changing email subscriptions are vague if we do not do the most important thing: take action. These things instantly do all their best to help us when we act. Consistently. (This one lesson alone can take our life to a whole new level if we take action, no matter what!)

7. The world has been programmed since birth to resist the different. Once you take the courage to show up for yourself and your dream, they will eventually respect you, because deep down in their heart they also wish they could do the same with their life.

8. Offline is the new luxury. Period.

9. Take time to spend with your loved ones. If you strive for a big house and ultimately have one, you will ultimately go out to spend time with friends. The secret to a successful life is to happily achieve. The sequence of “achieve and be happy” has never ever made anyone happy.

10. Falling into the trap of negative thinking is what our mind has been programmed to do for millions of years. In order to eradicate the negative thoughts when they arise, talk them over to yourself and then implant a seed of optimistic thought. As much as the world disgraces it, if you tactically move from negative to positive by actually making your way through it, in no ways can that very negative thought can enter into your mind.

11. Your routines, rituals and the manner of utilization of your time define you.

12. You have the power to inspire and influence the world by your example. Before that, just ask yourself: “Am I living a life that I love and enjoy?”

13. When you love the work that you do, distractions anywhere else that are beyond your control do not have any power to affect your body of work. The condition is simple: do you love the work that you do?

14. Do you ask yourself this question on a consistent basis: “If my life were the best autobiography ever written and I were the author, how would I write the story?”

15. Doing good things over a period of time without progressive overload will lead to monotony. Always keep relentlessly improving.

Finally, no matter how your past year has been or what situation your life is going through, today is the perfect day to start living the world’s best autobiography. This is the biggest gift we could give to anyone on the planet: to live the best life by challenging and shaking it consistently. It reminds us of our innate power, and that every moment of life is here to make you grow. Are you living it fully?

Love yourself this year

Awesomeness Unlimited,

Nishtha Gehija