Beyond Achievement

Ready for some epic stuff??

Took me 2hrs of hearing, 1hr of assimilation and 30mins of writing!

Here goes…

I tuned into yet another awesome episode of Tim Ferriss’s podcast where he picks the brains of Tony Robbins!

Just thought of sharing my notes so that you can benefit too. Just the essence.

Off late Tony Robbins, ever since the launch of his new movie “I’m Not Your Guru” has shifted his message from just “take all out massive action” to “the art of fulfilment.”

He gives examples of people like Robin Williams, who’s achieved so much in life but ended up committing suicide because in spite of achieving so much, there was still no fulfilment.

That’s where I could draw a parallel where how our entire Vedic philosophy is based on the principle of taking action and performing ones duties without expectations.

So here were the key messages from the podcast:

1. Expectations are the cause of stress and distress. Expectations from society, spouse, family, friends, colleagues and even oneself.

2. There are beautiful states and suffering states. We have the choice on which state we want to live in. You can “either fight it or flight it”, as he says.

3. The mind is weird thing which works great for strategy but mostly operates on a survival instinct. The heart on the other hand is where love, gratitude and fulfilment can be experienced. Balancing the heart and mind is one of the most powerful exercises to master, to achieve and yet stay fulfilled.

Arjuna, in the Bhagavad Gita, tells Lord Krishna — “I can control the wind, but I cannot control my mind”.

And Lord Krishna replies that, “Its possible, through practice.”

So that was another parallel I could draw, which our whole Indian culture and philosophy is grounded in this very foundation.

4. Gratitude and Appreciation are powerful tools to change the state of mind. You can look at a glass half full or half empty — your perspective determine the quality of your life.

Whatever you appreciate, appreciates.

5. You cannot manage something which you cannot measure. Constantly review your internal dialogue and see where it’s taking you. Are they serving you or enslaving you?

Tony says, “Kill the monster while it’s still a baby. Don’t let it become Godzilla and pull down cities.” He’s taking about our negative thoughts.

6. Anger and Fear are the root causes of all our problems. When you question why you’re feeling this way and get to the root, you have a better chance of letting go of it, than keeping things stuck for years.

Again, our Vedic philosophy talks about the six enemies of the mind or desire: kama (lust), krodha (anger), lobh (greed), moha (attachment), mada or ahankar (pride) and matsarya (jealousy);the negative characteristics of which prevent man from attaining salvation.

7. Finally, he gave a very simple exercise to balance the heart and mind, a breathing technique and a hypnotic process to recall beautiful moments from the past to create an instant state change. Well, we can connect this to pranayama and yoga.

My personal observation in this whole schema of the personal development world is that a lot of people are now consciously moving towards “personal fulfilment” as it takes a higher place than “personal achievement.”

The funny thing is that our Indian culture has all this, and more. There are higher states that can be experienced once we establish our connection with our Creator.

We get all this info packaged really well from the western world, to realise that we (Indians) are actually sitting on gold.

We just have to open up our scripture and look at the world thru that lens, to live a happy fulfilled life and achieve success!

It’s not some honky dory mambo jumbo superstitions. It’s called the “science of self realisation”. (Get your hands on this book of you can)

Hope this post inspired you.

Share your comments below on what was your big take away?

Cheers
Siddharth Rajsekar