Power of Introspection - I am doing my work and rain is doing theirs

I Am Doing My Work and Rain Is Doing Theirs

Rishit, my son had a class where his teacher was supposed to visit our house and take the classes.  It was a Sunday and since morning the weather was very cloudy and it had started raining at least 3-4 hours before his class had to start.   As it started raining and because it didn’t stop, I could see Rishit’s smile getting bigger and I was pretty confident the smile was only because he felt his sir wouldn’t come in those heavy rains to teach him.  And both my wife and me were also kind of echoing that view by repeatedly mentioning about heavy rains and how the normal life would have been disrupted.

His class was to start at 1PM and by 12.45PM all of us were pretty confident of not hearing the doorbell ring.  Rishit was getting more and more relaxed and cheerful with the clock ticking away.  At 1.05PM the doorbell rings and Rishit opened the door only to find to his disbelief! – His Sir.  He greeted him and opened the door.  That moment my wife was also quite amazed to see him and asked –“Sir, we thought you wouldn’t come because its raining heavily”.  To this his answer was – “Ma’am I am doing my job and the rains are doing there’s”. 

That statement gave me the inspiration to write this blog post.  It truly reflected the character of his Sir, in terms of the clarity of his thought process.  He had to take a class and despite all odds (raining, water logging etc.), he did not budge but reached for his class on time. 

In our life because of so many distractions, we tend to deviate from the work we are supposed to do and digress from our goals.  The level of distractions in today’s world is quite high and there are numerous modes and channels attracting our attention and consequently, deviating us from our focus/ goals.  Whether it is social media or social chat platforms or TV or video games, they all queue up everyday vying for our immediate attention.  And because they have such a strong mass appeal, the majority succumbs and gets distracted by them.

If we look at top performers including athletes and entrepreneurs who have shocked the world with their performances and achievements, we would notice that all of them (without any exception) had a monomaniacal focus to achieve their dreams.  They were/are so highly focused in their craft/work that it appears the term ‘distraction’ perhaps doesn’t exist in their personal dictionary.  All of us have either read or heard about the success stories of personalities like Dhirubhai Ambani, Narayan Murthy, Steve Jobs, Sachin Tendulkar, Milkha Singh etc, who have shown this world that hard focus coupled with extreme focus cannot deter anyone from their goals. 

I was reading an article somewhere that the All India Radio for a job rejected Amitabh Bachchan because his voice was too heavy.  And look at him today; he probably has the largest number of followers on social media, much larger than his younger peers.  Steve Jobs was thrown out of his own company and later called back to make Apple what it is today.  Narayan Murthy was called back to Infosys and we all read how the company is back on track with his vision and decisions. 

The true character of a person is determined not only by the way he/she conducts himself/herself in front of others, to me it is also determined by how he/she perceives himself and how serious he/she is to achieve their goals.  The more you are serious about yourself, the more you would be serious about others, about your work and about the overall well being of the society.  And top leaders and entrepreneurs are damn serious about their lives and in the process of leading a successful life, also help others tread a path of success.

When you get up early morning (Join the 5AM Club), there should be a set of questions that one should ask everyday.  I believe if you have correct answers to these questions, you shall be well prepared to take the world with confidence, ease and a high level of maturity.  This is because, once you are clear about yourself, there is a high likelihood of you achieving much better results:

1. Who Am I?

It is very important to know who you are.  When you ask yourself this question, you are actually trying to ask yourself about your values, your attributes, your ethics and answer to the question – why was I born on this earth.  The more you deep dive into this question, the more you would be able to reflect on your own identity.

2 .Where Am I Going?

As Warren Buffet once said – “There is no point doing something exceedingly good when it need not be done at all”.  What this means is that there is no point doing well a job that was actually not required to be done at all.   Because of the enormous distractions, it is very common for people to deviate from their objectives and goals.  And therefore, the importance of this question everyday.

You should be able to very clearly identify where you are heading and is that the right path for you. Would this path lead you to your dreams? Would it fulfill your aspirations? Finding answers to these questions is important if you are serious about yourself and are thinking of making a change in this world. 

3. Is your daily routine reflecting your desired progress

In my blog nimishgoel.com I have written on numerous occasions the aspects of writing a journal or maintaining a diary.  The journal should have the goals of your life very clearly mentioned and your days should be led to ensure you are on the right path.  You can read more on writing a journal on http://nimishgoel.com/write-journal-or-diary-daily-why-how/

Remember – “Your days are your life in miniatures.  The way you live your days is the way you live your life”.  Plan your days well so that you don’t waste the precious time.

4. What do I need to do to make my life awesome and more meaningful

Whilst on the path of self-discovery and self-improvement, it is important to stop at regular intervals and think about ways and means to make your life meaningful.   If we take the example of our cars we drive, the way they need to be continuously serviced and aligned so that they don’t break down in our journeys, the same way our mind and body needs to be serviced at regular intervals to check that everything is going smoothly and

In the routine hustle bustle, we tend to lose focus and start working against our own principles and values.  This is unacceptable because the more we deviate from within, the more our subconscious will realize our intention to be away from our values and it then ensures it becomes true. 

5. Am I in the right company

Jim Rohn, one of the most effective motivational speakers once said – “You are the average of five people you spend your most time with”.  The company we keep determines how we would act and behave and trust me, being with visionaries and successful people always inspires you and helps you tread the path to success and your goals.  As the renowned speaker Robin Sharma says – “If you are the smartest person in your group, time has come to change the group”.  You may not be able to spend time physically with your heroes, but surely can spend time reading their biographies, listen to their podcasts or watch their videos on YouTube.  The more you read about them and listen to them, the more you will start to adopt their styles and traits.

Not knowing what you want to do and being aimless, to my mind is criminal because you are then not allowing your best to come out and simply leading a life that is destined by others, rather than by you.  Have a very clear purpose in your life and then channelize all your energy to achieve that purpose.   

Hope you enjoyed reading this article as much as I enjoyed writing it. 

Do well in life and stay blessed.

Authored by Nimish Goel who by profession is a qualified chartered accountant but by passion, is an active blogger. Nimish has worked with EY and PwC in India and has also worked with KPMG in Europe.  He now runs his own consulting company (International Business Advisors) and manages his blog www.nimishgoel.com.