You need only THIS thing in life
Everything else follows. Everything else.
Hey Friends,
A lot of you are new here, for the first time ever :)
This is how this newsletter goes:
Every Saturday, we have:
1 Raw and Real Conversation
2 Raw One Liners
3 Real Gratitudes/3 things I loved in works of others
Let’s go :))
Raw and Real Conversation
All my life has been a lie.
Forgive me, but maybe yours too.
Ever since we were born, we were asked: “What do you want to be when you grow up?”
Through our school days, we are made to focus on 10th boards. Then 12th boards.
Then getting through a great college.
Or acing that professional exam.
Then getting a great job.
Then losing ourselves because “what if my manager gets angry and kills my rating”?
Or when we run our own business, we wonder what would others think of us.
So we ill our intuition again, and start living someone else’s life.
The vicious cycle continues.
It all leads to us believing a lie.
A false notion.
Which is:
“When you will accomplish something, you will be happy.”
Rubbish.
If you could be happy by accomplishing something, you would have done that in the 10th standard itself, right?
Reminds me of what Naval Ravikant once said: “If you are so rich, why aren’t you happy?”
Here’s why:
Because happiness does not lie in getting, happiness lies in being.
Happiness is not the end, it is the means.
Happiness is not what comes to you, happiness is what comes from within.
What does happiness look like?
Few examples:
1. You are okay if a client deal works out or even if it doesn’t. You know you are giving your 100%, learning and growing every day, and that is what matters.
2. You make sure you spend time with the people that matter the most to you. You do not compromise on the people you love with the people who would replace you in a day.
3. You make sure to make yourself a priority daily. By working out, reading, meditating, going on long walks, etc. So that when the world turns upside down, as it inevitably does, you don’t curse yourself. You take responsibility but you don’t take worry.
4. You know it is not your job to fix the world. Fixing yourself is the biggest service to the world anyway.
5. You do not complain about AQI, traffic, weather, etc. You change what you can. You accept what you can’t.
These are just a few examples. Which all boil down to the following:
Be so unshakeable from within that anything that comes to shake you loses its power.
Be so full of love that anything that isn’t love learns love from you, it doesn’t take your love away.
It is not about being ruthless or emotionless, it is about managing your emotions so you are a walking example of love and happiness, not loathing and hurt.
When you are that accomplished, wonderful things happen.
You enjoy the sun. You smile at strangers. You laugh at tiny mess-ups. You are okay dancing in public for no reason. You do not care what someone else thinks about you.
This is purest joy.
When you operate from that joy as your lifestyle, there is no way you cannot accomplish grandiose things in life.
And here comes the banger:
In order to do all of these, the only thing you need to make sure you have a home full of love.
Work on making your home a safe space for you and the people you live with.
It is not easy. Most of us are walking examples of our childhood traumas.
But fixing ourselves and our homes is how we will eventually be happy.
It differs for all of us to “how” to do it. Nonetheless, we must.
Everyone else is perhaps winging it.
2 Raw One Liners:
Q: How to do it? A: Do it!
Do not let the noises of the outer world go on to become the voices of your inner world.
3 Real Gratitudes:
I was once emotionally attached to a client project. Later I realised, it is only hurting me. So I kept loving the project, and applied what I taught you above to myself. It made me more independent.
The Delhi weather. Lot has been written about Delhi AQI. While that is true, the sun is at its finest in February. Which I believe is the case for most of Northern Hemisphere. Make the best of it :)
Books :) I went to the Delhi book fair earlier this week, and returned with four bags full of books that also gave me an arm workout :) I also felt guilty on spending so much, however, it was just the childhood me whispering unceremoniously. Later I told myself: I do not spend ruthlessly on shopping, am looking for a puffer jacket for two years and haven’t bought one yet, travel expenses are low, restaurant expenses are zero, and more than anything else, I could afford it. Stop beating yourself for investing in your education.
PS: Here is the pic of the goodies from the book fair.
PPS: I still feel I could have got 2-3 more :))
That is it, friends.
Stay raw, stay real, and never stop reading :)
I will see you all next week
Nishtha Gehija
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Instant access ebooks for your reading, and spend some time with yourself:
The Corporate Life Handbook: The book everyone working a corporate job needs :)
The Career Changing Guide: My bestseller so far :)
How to Deal with Heartbreak: Because, life happens :(
Every Writer Needs to Read this: I wish I had this one, when I was starting out as a writer
This is What You are Looking for (Paperback): Small Life Lessons for a Happier Life
❤️