Book 9: The miracle morning..The 6 habits that will transform your life before 8AM

Book : The miracle morning..The 6 habits that will transform your life before 8AM

Author: Hal ELROD

Publisher: JOHN MURRAY LEARNING

Not all books deserve our valuable time but yes, few do. Even in that case too, one can not expect that every single page of that book will give knowledge or whatever you desire from it. May be same case with this book. when I started reading this book, I was eagarly waiting for the main content of the book. I kept on turning pages after pages of it, hoping that may be on another page I will find something.

After around 50 or some pages real books starts. Before that it's just a talk regarding book only. I think it is not so important to discuss about the book for 50 pages. A couple of pages are sufficient for introduction. But author kept on writing regarding people's reaction and experiences after reading the same book. I think this much of elaboration is not required.

Anyway let's come to book summary which is important for me and I suppose for you too.

This book explains about few rituals or practices that a person should adopt for healthy and peaceful life. As per author these rituals looks so ordinary but they have much greater impact on our life in a long term.

They have abbreviated as S.A.V.E.R.S.  by author. Let's have a look at it.

1) S- SILENCE

when ever we woke up we shouldn't do anything. Let our soul and body take its own time. Just observe things around you. Try not to think much. Just be silent.

Meditation may help in that matter.

2) A- AFFIRMATION

Telling yourself about what you want. What you want to be and what you would like to be. It doesn't matter how big or small your dreams are. What matters most is that they exist. For ex. If you want to be successful business man just say "I am a successful business man." At first sight it may ridiculous but actually it works. What happens is when you say such thing to yourself, you keep of reminding yourself about your dreams and aspirations. It works like a positive energy.

3) V- VISUALIZATION

This is next step of affirmation. Just saying is not enough,we should act in that direction so that we can achieve our intended goal. Every day we should visualize our dreams.

4) E- EXERCISE

Now comes very difficult task of our day to day life. There is always a reason for not going to gym or doing workout. Mostly two reasons are more predominant. First is, I don't have much time for workout. I am very busy. The second reason is , I am too much tired.

Most of us fall into these two reasons.

Exercise is really a very important thing. It has impact not only on body but on mind too. There is a connection between mind and body.

5) R-READING

"TWO THINGS MAKES PERSON WISE. PEOPLE WE MET AND THE BOOKS WE READ."

We may or may not have control over the formar but we can certainly choose later. We are free to choose books. No matter what you read. It is always beneficial as long as it feeds our brain and soul.

Investment in books is the best investment. The amount of knowledge you gain is beyond your imagination. Such a powerful book reading can be. 

You can choose from any type of literature. But one should read few pages everyday.

6) S- SCRIBE

Don't be confused. Scribe is just another word for writing. Now it does not matter what you write. It can be your personal diary, book notes, articles or whatever you interested in. Writing gives us a proper orientation to our thought process.

As per author these six S.A.V.E.R.S are very vital for any person who want to excel in his life.

A special thanks to EXECUTIVE ENGINEER MR.K.N RATHOD for suggesting me to read this book and he even gave a copy of it.

Well, this is all about "the miracle morning" by HAL ELROD.

Keep reading,keep growing.

Thanks,

Guru Bargaje

www.gurusreads.blogspot.com

Book 4: The Monk who sold his Ferrari

Book: the monk who sold his Ferrari
Author: Robin Sharma
Publication: jaico books

                                      

" what lies ahead of you and what lies behind you is of least important than what lies inside you''

When I read the title of the book, I was forced to think about it. I mean "the monk" who have sold his "Ferrari" ? Even if he have sold his Ferrari the question is still there, if he is monk then why does he has a Ferrari. Why does monk holdings a material possession like a Ferrari.
Well after turning few pages I was getting some clue.
This is a story of a person who is super successful in view of world. He has a good career, prestige,money, a big house, costly cars etc..you name it and he got it.
But even though he is holding such a big property and name he was too much unhappy from within.
The person name is Julian mantle. He was so sick from within that reflections of his weak mind was reflecting on his body. He was looking much older than his age.
One day after he collapsed in a packed courtroom and got admitted in hospital something struck to his mind. It was like a wake up call for him.everything happening like a drama movie scene. He sold all his material possessions and he traveled to East. Gathering wisdom of knowledge he traveled all over country. Finally settled at one tiny village where he met with a person named Yogi Krishnan. Krishnan was also a lawyer who left his job and left everything in search of knowledge that may help him find answers to his questions. Even Julian was searching for the same. But what Julian was expecting yogi Krishnan could not give. Krishnan apologized politely for not helping him even though he wanted to. But yogi Krishnan gave him way where he could get his all answers.
Yogi Krishnan said, there are sages deep in Himalayas who could help him. Julian,after travelling by foot over a week finally got one of the sages named Yogi Raman. Until this point when you read on it seems like a story but from this point onwards every page you turn of this book will give you plentiful knowledge. Much more than what you expected from this amazing book.
Chapter after chapter and point after point you will explore countless wisdom for life Time. At some point of time you would be amazing to know how some simple things can alter your behavior and your surroundings.

Once Julian meets yogi Raman this story converts into knowledge express for life.
This book will make you think about your mind, your thoughts and how they affect our day to day behavior. Even this explains how to get rid of negative thought and be Superior to your former self.
Next few pages will tell you about importance of having a dream for life. Those people who don't have dreams are those people who live life very ordinary and die like that only. They could have done miracle in their life if they could understand what their dreams were. Every single person in this world is unique. Every person has some special capabilities . God sends us to earth for a special reason and with special capabilities. Only thing is some understands this and some not.
Next few pages of this book I think are the most important pages of this book. They explains us about self leadership and how everyone of us can develop ourselves with some small but incremental changes. This changes are regarded as a "rituals".
These are 10 ancient rituals for radiant living. These are
1) Ritual of solitude
2) Ritual of physicality
3) Ritual of Nourishment
4) Ritual of abundant knowledge
5) Ritual of personal reflection
6) Ritual of early awakening
7) Ritual of music
8) Ritual of spoken word
9) Ritual of congruent character
10) Ritual of simplicity

After reading all these simple rituals I was forced to think about it. If any person follow these rituals I think he or she will be happy- from within. And so far I have read or have been taught that , happiness on outside is just a reflection of happiness inside.

Next chapter explains important of self discipline. While reading this chapter I stopped at following lines. These lines worth reading again and again.

"When you control your thoughts,you control your mind.
When you control your mind, you control your life.
And once you reach the stage of being in total control of your life,

you become the master of your destiny"

But for any change ,when not tied with time limit becomes less valuable. As per this book the time is the most precious commodity in universe. If you don't plan your time wisely you will eventually loose control of your life balance. properly arranged time can bring up  unbelievable change. According to this book, if planned correctly, 80% of results you achieve in your life come from only 20% of activities that occupy your time.
Most of the time true happiness comes from sharing. Life of those people is always fulfilled who think of others. Even a small act of kindness can have a major influence on others. Thinking of others along with ourselves will make this world a better place than before.
Finally author wants to tell us that no matter how good you planned, life will go through it's ups and downs. Enjoy every aspect of life.weather it is good or bad. Embrace change. Don't fear it. Live life as if it is your last day on Earth. Never forget to say thanks for those who matter. No matter how busy you are, ensure that you have time for your friends and family. Because In the end only those things will matter. Be free. Live like a child,worry free. Then only you will enjoy the true colors of life.
- Regards,
Guru bargaje
www.gurusreads.blogspot.com

Book 2: what got you here won't get you there

Book name: what got you here won't get you there
( How successful people become even more successful !)
Author: Marshall Goldsmith

   

                                      

Often we come across books which are full of texts and images claiming they are best in motivation class or self help type but very few of them are practical enough to use them in our lives.
Out of many books I have read so far, I like this book for it's simplicity and to the point practical approach.The way Marshall go through every flaws of human behavior step by step is really worth appreciating.
There is a relation between our behavior and our surrounding. Our behavior,the way we think,the way we interact with other people can be associated with the society in which we live. What happens over time is these things we have been living with start influencing our life. Our behavior changes accordingly. Then one moment comes when all this behavior become a routine and we have absolutely no idea why we behave like this. In response to our behavior people's response got changed and then we start thinking what went wrong.
Marshall's book may help you find what may have gone wrong and what to do to correct it. Like a ready-made solution he gave common twenty habits which drags us back from getting successful. Being successful is not just bind to getting a big paying job or to own something valuable.Success can be of any form. Every individual have different perceptions about success. It depends entirely on what his or her priorities are.
With due respect to author I would like to copy down some of habits that should be avoided to achieve desired results. Like
1.adding too much value to every little thing
2.passing judgement and making destructive comment
3.being negative at Every stage
4. Failing to give proper recognition
5.claiming credit that we don't deserve
6. Making excuses
7 Refusing to express regret
8.not listening to what opposite person saying
9.passing the buck etc

It is much easy to judge others but when it comes to ourselves we fail to do so. In our own eyes we are always correct. But that is not the way how it works.
It's not like we don't know above mentioned points which I have mentioned but what happens is we fail to recognize it. Over time it gets bigger and bigger and bigger. And then it becomes difficult to make them correct.
Let me give some examples:
1) your colleague have taken credit of your work.
2) you are talking to someone an important issue and he is not paying attention at all.
3)you suggested a brilliant idea to someone and then he added something to it and taken whole credit of that.
4) someone is blaming you for everything wrong happens to him and not taking responsibility.
5) you done a brilliant work but still nobody cares what you did even if that was only for them.

Now you must have figured out how it feels when someone does it to us. Not every point mentioned above but we make some mistakes of it unintentionally and still not aware of it. This book made us think about it.
I think we all make mistakes. But they can be corrected if we know what they are.
If you want to correct your behavior first step to it to analyse yourself but with honesty. If you are failing yourself to recognize it then you can take help from someone whom you trust. He or she can be your friend,colleague,parents,spouse or someone you love. But the only thing important in this process is that feedback must be honest and should be given in order to improve and not to criticize.
Now it comes your turn. When your dear one given you the point in which you are bad at then you should not start to judge it. just listen. and be thankful for it. And try to improve in that area.
MARSHALL gave some tips that we can follow:
1) Apologize: apology makes people think that you honestly want to change
2) Work on it: just apology wont work if it is not backed by your work of self improvement. Your work will show people that you are changing.
3) Listen with respect: listen to what people talk about you. what their perspective about you. if they are something related to your rude behavior, try to accept and correct. dont criticize for it.
4) Get feedback: keep taking feedback from people you trust on your behavior. if they suggest something better then take it positively. you must be serious about it.
5) NEVER criticize the person whose whole intention is to help you.

Its take a longer time to change behavior and much more longer to get acknowledge by people. you must be patient throughout this whole process.

In essence, its our behavior in terms of how to deal with people while talking, appreciating,giving feedback,passing judgement etc. if we try to analyze our own behavior then it will be much more easy this transformations become. if we can measure something, we can manage that. and same applies to our behavior also.
i think its a nice self  help book that must be read by those who need to address their flaws.

thanks,
Guru bargaje
gurusreads.blogspot.com

BOOK 1: POWER OF HABIT

Book name: power of habit by Charles duhigg

Publication: random house publication

When we talk with people often we introduce ourselves with our name ,our profession etc. But according to my opinion it is more important to be "what we are?" Than "who we are?".."who we are?" may be defined by our profession,what surname you came up with, your designation,social status but "what we are?" has different dimensions to define.

I think "Actions defines what we are."

Our behavior is not result of just a single incident or event but this is expression of what we are habituated of. Our habits are driving force behind our behavior.
Thus in order to control behavior of our own it's necessary to watch out our habits. If our habits are in a way that it is helping us to develop ourselves then it is a good thing. But what if our habits are not in our control and what if I wish to change it for a better cause? What if we could achieve whatever we desire?
The answer is YES.. you can change it, modify it with some very simple rules given by Charles duhigg.

According to Author
"Change might not be fast and isn't easy .But with time & efforts ,almost any habit can be reshaped."

But to change habits it's important to know how habits work. What is driving factor behind habit change. So, In first chapter, Charles told in a simple way how habits works & how to modify it with simple loop of cue-routine-reward.

According  to Author,
"If you use same cue, and provides the same reward ,you can shift the routine and change habit .Almost any behaviour can be transformed if the cue & reward stay same."

Second part explains how individual habits reflect as a whole and used by organizations. Those organizations which studies human behavior,human psychology & habits of individual tend to have high success rates than it's counterpart.
Specially I liked story of "ALCOA" where a single habit of safety made it a most successful aluminium company of America.
Third part is about how habits of individual reflect in society. Also it contained one chapter explaining neurology behind habits formation and how we get addicted to it.
Most beautiful part of this book is that these are not just ideas of habits but there is given a way to modify it. with his own example author gave the way to change any habit with four point framework. It's really appreciating..

No matter how much hard to change any habit. It can be changed . If we have faith that we can change it. I have witnessed it.

To be short : what should we do finally
1. Identify which habits has to change
2. Identify cue-routine-reward pattern
3. Set goals
4. Have self discipline
5. Have belief that you can achieve it with your will power.

If we could achieve this ,we have that "Power of habit " that will change our life  forever.

Thank you.
- Guru bargaje