Make Things With Your Hands

October 27, 2021 Shazad Ahmad

By Shazad

We all used to do this as children. We made things with blocks, with playdoh, and with paper. We regularly worked with our hands and it was fun. There was great meaning and joy in it. What happened to those days?

We all became more digital and started using computers and tablet devices more. We can create great audio/visual things on these devices and it’s lots of fun. The problem is that it’s just not the same as creating physical objects. There’s something appealing and powerful about creating something physical which could be as simple as a sandwich or a salad even.

Remember what kinds of things you loved to create as a child and make some of those things again. It will be fun and good for your brain. Who knows. You may inspire everyone around you to also sew/knit, cook, do woodwork, or paint again. Wouldn’t that be Awesome!?

This Story (Allegory) Could Change Your Life!

October 20, 2021 Shazad Ahmad

By Ahsan

Once upon a time, there was a group of people who were imprisoned in a cave. This unfortunate group of people were chained by their necks, arms, and legs to only face the dark walls in front of them. Behind them was a fire to provide them with some warmth. However, what they saw in front of them were shadows of objects that moved behind them.

One day, one of the prisoners broke loose from the chains and saw the real world of objects and even ventured outside the cave's mouth and saw the sun and the trees. She then returned to the prisoners and explained what really lies beyond the cave.

The prisoners declared her mad and even agreed to kill her if they could.

This story is given to us by the Greek Philosopher Plato. It is a powerful allegory that can be interpreted in many ways…A wise person has said, “there are no facts, just interpretations.”.

I wish to highlight the moral of the story that we all live in a cave world where we see a particular perspective of life. Often, that perspective is limited and may not serve us well. All we have to do is break free of our “chains” and venture outside the cave to see the world of truth and possibilities.

Once we leave the cave, we do not want to ever go back and dwell there again.

We become free to explore and grow. We are no longer limited to only see shadows of the world. We can witness the very objects in their true light.

May you remember the “Allegory of the Cave” and use it as an instant reminder to live an Awesome Life!

Liked this blog post? Share it with others who could benefit from this. Don’t forget to join the Awesome Life Subscriber’s email list and enjoy more content for Awesome subscribers only! Enter your name and email address at this site to get started: awesomelifebook.com

Where You Headed?

October 13, 2021 Shazad Ahmad

By Shazad

“Would you tell me, please, which way I ought to go from here?” “That depends a good deal on where you want to get to,” said the Cat. “I don't much care where—” said Alice. “Then it doesn't matter which way you go,” said the Cat. (Alice In Wonderland)

In challenging times as well as during normal days, we can lose sight of where we are going in life. It’s so easy to become a reactive person and just deal with what’s urgent or in front of you right now without considering what happens next. Too many people are just trying to ‘get through the day’ and losing track of which direction they are moving to. This takes the fun and meaning out of life and is no way to spend this gift called existence.

As with many things in life, where you are going starts with decisions made in your head. Everything from Where and Why to How and Who is coming along for the ride. When you start and When you will take a break are also conscious choices you will need to make.

Here are 3 Easy Things you can do to get to some meaningful destinations:

Make note of what you are doing each day and why. Just write things down and look at your daily activities for an entire week.
Write out where you want to be in a month, at the end of the year and 10 years from now. Be clear about your destination and the meaning it has for you.
Decide what you are going to do each day to move closer to each of your milestones. Make sure you have clear next steps and even ‘pit stops’ to just have a diversion or rest from all the great progress you will be making. This will help you recharge and get back on the road again.

How I Learned the Awesome Importance Of The NOW From My Son

October 5, 2021 Shazad Ahmad

By Shazad

“True happiness is to enjoy the present, without anxious dependence upon the future, not to amuse ourselves with either hopes or fears but to rest satisfied with what we have, which is sufficient, for he that is so wants nothing.” – Seneca

My young son is going to be 2 years old in a few short months and it’s been a joy to spend so much time with him every day. I am finally realizing how blessed I am to work from home and see him daily for many hours at a time. I literally see him grow before my eyes. By spending more time in the moment and rushing less through my day, I’m able to appreciate all the many things going on around me including the human development and bonding time with my son. That realization inspired me to write this post to better appreciate each and every single day of life.

You are alive today….at this very moment. You are choosing to read this blog post and do so many other things in the present moment. One thing after another. This is how you will spend your time this hour, this day and eventually your life. What you give your attention to grows and becomes part of you.

The NOW is precious. The NOW is where we live in real time. The Past Is gone. The Future is uncertain. The NOW is all you really have for a moment in time. What are you thinking right now?

The Here and NOW is what you have to dwell in and that is called living. To truly breathe in and breathe out this atmosphere in the present. Don’t get caught up in the regrets of yesterday, or the many fears of tomorrow. Live right NOW. Pay attention! This moment will be gone in a second. Here comes the next one and it’s gone too. Choose to Live Awesome NOW and your life will be a summary of that choice made each day.

This Is Why You Might Like To Change Your Identity

September 29, 2021 Shazad Ahmad

By Ahsan

Growing up, I was really into Superman and Spiderman. As a real small child, I wish I could fly and make webs shoot out of my wrists. But, I also thought it would be cool to be who I was not⎯a superhero with extraordinary strength and the admiration of the people I saved using my powers.

Not until recently did I realize that the underlying fascination with superheroes lies in the phenomenon of vicariously changing your identity from your ordinary self to someone greater. Peter Parker and Clark Kent are much like me, regular, average and one of many. However, Spiderman and Superman are quite the opposite and represent a transformation from "mild-mannered guy next door" to "superhero with mystique and muscles to boot!"

I never realized the power of “identity change” as being the spider bite that leads to greatness until I read a book called Atomic Habits by James Clear. This book has received great reviews and reveals a framework for success by building positive habits or dropping harmful ones.

Mr. Clear has a very engaging writing style and brings home several vital points that deliver the essential keys to anyone's desire to go from zero to hero.

Goals, according to James, are great, but rather than focus on goals, you ought to focus on who you want to become. In other words, what identity do you wish to adopt! For example, do you want to lose weight and get ready for an upcoming wedding, or do you see yourself as a fit and healthy person? Do you want to read three books this year that will advance your personal development, or do you see yourself as a lifelong learner?

James offers a simple message to harness the power of identity change as a means to achieving your goals.

It has two parts. They are simple and straightforward.

My friend Shazad and partner in the campaign to make you more Awesome adds a third.

So here is the Super Awesome Action Plan for achieving your goals through changing your identity:

First, decide who you want to be!
Then, prove it to yourself with small wins.
Live each day accordingly.

As James correctly points out. Everyone has goals. This is not a remarkable thing. What activates the power of goals is a decision to identify the identity you need to embody, so you become someone who accomplishes the goal.

This is the path to your greatness; however, you define it. Become the person that would achieve the goal.

With great identity comes great achievement.

Openings in Time and Living Awesome

September 22, 2021 Shazad Ahmad

By Shazad

We all lead busy lives with so much going on every day. Meeting after meeting. Call after call and urgent demands from everywhere come for us. Rapid-fire media updates and app notifications blasting away at us all day like machine-gun fire No wonder we are tired and overwhelmed! So what’s the antidote? How do you become ‘bullet-proof’ or better yet, stop the bullets from hitting you?

You’ve heard it before. Say NO to as many things as you can without avoiding truly necessary activities in life. Create openings for creativity and even some boredom each day. Don’t pack your daily schedule so tight that you cannot even take a Bio break or spend 15-30 minutes of quality time to have lunch with family and friends. We have to take our time and our lives back from constant ‘busyness’.

Our attention is the thing most people and companies want so be frugal and disciplined with it. Not everyone deserves your time. Those who truly do need you likely want more of your time and are being neglected because you may be distracted and too engaged in everything during your day.

Here’s how you take your life back:

Identify the 1-3 things that truly deserve your attention each day and say NO to everything else that day.
Decide if the other things should be Delegated, Delayed, or Deleted entirely from your schedule. Let someone else deal with things for a few days and see what happens.
Stop stacking calls/meetings and activities back to back for more than 2 hours at a time. Make sure you have about 10 minutes or more to just think and decompress every 2 hours.
Schedule eating time on your calendar so you are forced to just have food without working.
Allow yourself to get bored in some of your newly created “Free Time”. Don’t look at your phone or tablet and don’t try to do anything. Just listen, observe and reflect.

Always remember that we are Human Beings and not “Human Doings”. Your life is not about how many things you can accomplish in a day or lifetime. It’s about the attention and value you bring to each moment. It’s also about the Awesome memories you create so that when you look back on your life, you can say, I truly lived well even if I wasn’t always doing something every single hour of the day.

How To Succeed At Life By Playing Golf

September 15, 2021 Shazad Ahmad

By Ahsan

I played a round of golf yesterday with three friends and had a great time. We had great weather even though the forecast was for rain and high winds. Little did my friends know that I was secretly watching their game closely and making notes about how they were playing compared to the last time I played with them.

One friend was trying a new technique for his swing and was very inconsistent compared to his ordinarily impressive performance. The other was playing “military golf”; right, left, right, left. The other friend was more consistent but would “duff” about 25% of his shots.

And then there was me. Of course, I was lenient in judging myself, but my score at the end was pleasing—nothing to brag about but certainly one worthy of my respect.

I scored a glorious 97, a score that I have been able to reproduce more consistently lately. My next goal is to break 90. In my mind, I know I can do it. I see myself in that picture, and I will get there if I follow the advice I will lay out for you.

If you don't play golf, know that there are 18 holes that you challenge in a game of golf, and the idea is to finish your hole in the fewest shots per hole. The accumulated shots after 18 holes are your score. Breaking 100 is a sign of good things, and being over that means you are still working on your skills and consistency.

But as with anything, there are always a few other ingredients that need to be added to get the results you are after. For example, if skill and consistency were all you needed, then the game of golf or even life would be dominated by a few people and rarely would new people emerge as champions.

Again, for those who don’t follow golf, rarely do you see one person win every championship because they go from hot to cold in the areas that we will dive into.

To play golf well and to play life well, I believe you need three things plus one added ingredient.

The added ingredient is what I mentioned earlier in this article.

Can you guess what it is? I will wait a few seconds for you to answer. Great answer; you are right; you need a positive self-image. You need to see yourself as a good golfer!

The other three things are Skill, Focus and Smart Play.

The game of golf involves “skill," and to be a good golfer, you need to learn four different kinds of shots. These are your first shot off the tee called the "drive"; your second shot from the fairway, aptly named the "fairway shot," the third shot to land on to the green where the flag and hole is, called a "pitch" or a "chip" and finally "putting" the ball into the hole.

There are "hazards" between these shots like trees, ponds, rivers, and sand bunkers. On top of that, you need to keep your shots out of "woods." If you "slice" too much or "hook" too much, you will be so out of bounds that you have to take a penalty of adding an extra stroke because you will never find that ball you so wildly "sliced" or "hooked."

In other words, you need to learn how to play different shots, and each of these four shots has its distinct nuances in terms of skill mastery.

A lot like life, if you might agree. Life has to be played with some measure of skill. You need a vast repertoire of skills to play the game well, especially when obstacles appear at the most inconvenient moments.

As for “focus," those of you who do play the game will know that I am referring to keeping your mind on your shot.

Shot by shot by shot.

You need to execute your shot with the proper technique, rhythm, grip, ball position and stance width, to name a few. If you make a bad shot, you need to let that go and play your next shot.

You can't let one shot ruin your mindset, and or one or two bad holes cause you to become angry or discouraged.

You need to relax and let it go and regroup immediately and play your next shot.

The key to focus when it comes to golf is that you have to hold your focus for the entire game. Sure, you might be focused on several holes, but you need to keep it intensely for all shots and all 18 holes.

Only then will you give yourself a chance to play your personal best. Again, in life, you may see the parallel. Hold your focus, not just be focused on your life and its goals.

Now I come to "smart-play." When I played, little did my friends know that I had just watched a YouTube channel called Golf Mates. There are two hosts on the channel, Liam and "OMP," an 80-year-old Scotsman named Old Man Pat. These guys are endearing as they are loveable and helped me out yesterday big time. The episode I watched is right here:

https://youtu.be/uCJjGYp0JAQ

In the game of golf, you will be tempted to make a hero shot when a sensible shot would help you score better. Similarly, in life, you know, and I know that the well-considered and rational approach can often get you the results you seek so you avoid "hazards."

Likewise, in golf, some techniques will improve your results and score.

You will find this to be pure gold: to sink more putts, OMP suggests that you find a spot along your putting line close to the ball and aim at it versus aiming only at the hole. This little tip helps, especially on longer putts, because it sends the ball along the right line. If executed with skill, your ball will get very close to the hole if not in the hole. At worst, you need to tap it in for a two-putt and avoid the score-wrecking and dreaded three or four putts.

Whether you play the game of golf or you play the game of life, you may like to consider the following:

Action Plan:

Begin with the positive self-image that you seek. See yourself as a good golfer; see yourself winning at life.

Skills and skill training make a difference. Identify a good teacher or model the success of someone you admire for the skills you wish to acquire and short-cut your success. Stop bumping around in a dark room. Turn on the light switch.

Focus is everything. Holding your focus is priceless. If you can't focus, you are going to be frustrated in golf and life.

Get into a “smart-play” frame of mind. Learn the nuances and the simple but overlooked ideas that get you from point A to point B with effortless ease.

My wish for you is to break 100, then 90, then 80 and even 70! Even if you don't play golf, you can better relate to how life and golf are intertwined. So go out there and live your most awesome life!

How To Steer Your Inner Thoughts

September 7, 2021 Shazad Ahmad

By Ahsan

Everyone experiences that "inner conversation" during their waking hours and also while they are sleeping. A zillion thoughts go through our heads. Sometimes the thoughts, or more accurately, the conversation we are having with ourselves, are downright awful, and other times they are genuinely present, lucid, and controlled.

So, the question I pose is, “How do you stop it?”, especially if you are not experiencing positive effects from your inner dialogue?

The short answer is you most likely can't stop it. This thinking process is constant and very natural. It cannot be stopped much like a beam of light from a star zooming through space and time. It just keeps traveling forward. However, you can control light to make it go around objects, and the same is true for the thoughts in your mind.

They say analogies help a person to understand complex ideas, so here’s an analogy for you. Think of your mind as a car, a fantastic car that gets you comfortably to your destination and lets you enjoy the ride. This is of course true only if you drive with care and maintain your car so it’s tuned up. Imagine what would happen if your car had a faulty steering wheel and brakes. Would you be able to accurately or safely make turns? Would you have a comfortable ride down the highway or even your local streets? What about slowing down or stopping when you needed to?

Every car needs to be controlled by its driver using its steering wheel and brakes. Similarly, every mind needs to be controlled using its version of steering and brakes. You must not let your mind race around all day like an out-of-control car that is going to crash into things and people. Don't let your mind run continuously as well because, just like a car, your mind will burn out. This is simply a wrong way to live. It is a bad habit, just like any other bad habit you know you need to drop.

The controlled and tuned-up mind is a beautiful place to live and move around in. However, the mind that is the servant is way better than the mind that becomes a cruel master!

Below are a few things you can do to flip the switch and take control of your inner car.

Action Steps:

1. Resolve to leave the bad habit of allowing your mind to run on or behave like a car without a properly functioning steering wheel.

2. Model success. Study the lives of people past and present who lived beautiful lives because they mastered their minds and tuned their thoughts on a daily basis.

3. Check in with your thoughts every few hours, especially if they put you into a negative state. Are they correct about your reality and the direction you are actually heading? Correct your steering to get back on the proper path for you.

Well, I hope this short commentary with some practical suggestions was helpful. Don't worry too much about stopping a beam of light or bad thoughts. Instead, check your mental steering, brakes, and change lanes when needed. Drive Safely!

How Baby Steps Become Awesome Outcomes

September 1, 2021 Shazad Ahmad

By Shazad

“You can’t lift a thousand pounds all at once. Yet, you can easily lift one pound a thousand times. Tiny, repeated efforts will get you there.” Marc & Angel Chernoff

You’ve probably heard this before. Doing a little bit of something consistently adds up over time to become something very significant. I personally love this concept and have adopted it in my own life such as eating something healthy each day, some exercise done every 2-3 hours, and a little reading each day. Ideas like this take the intimidation factor and excuses away. I’m also regular in my spiritual practice each day. We’ve all said things like, “I don’t have the time to read a whole book” or “I don’t have the energy to work out for 30 minutes or more” and “I am too busy to practice mindfulness or think about my spiritual wellbeing”. Why not shorten the commitment for each of these things? For example, just 5 minutes of reading each day or 5 minutes of exercise on the hour, every hour from 8 am to 3 pm, done 5-6 days a week? Taking the first 10 minutes each day to be grateful, thoughtful, and reflect on your faith is also possible for everyone. Surely, we can all spare a few minutes each day to improve ourselves!

Think about what you are resisting or avoiding because of an excuse like those mentioned above. Consider what it will be like to finally finish that great book you haven’t started yet. What about that health transformation in the next 3-6 months that you sincerely desire but haven’t done anything about? Take the time now to map out how you are going to incorporate a little bit of reading each day and a maximum of 30 minutes of daily exercise spread out over 3-6 hours in a day. All of these kinds of small steps taken each day will accumulate over time just like investing small amounts of money consistently in some kind of financial tool. The one big difference is that investing your time and energy into good things, even when they are small amounts each time, ALWAYS gives you positive results in the long run. This cannot be said for all financial instruments or assets which always come with a disclaimer of the potential loss. There is no loss to your small or large daily practices performed with a growth mindset and focus on refinement.

Make the best investment you will ever make - the small but consistent investment in your health, education, and spiritual being! That’s how you reach Awesome!

Back to The School of Awesome!

August 25, 2021 Shazad Ahmad

By Shazad

It’s nearly September and for many students, that means school is starting up again after the summer break. You should always be prepared to return to the School of Awesome whether you are currently in school or have long since graduated from an advanced degree, or somewhere in between. You have probably taken some time off to enjoy summer activities and free time. Now it’s time to return to your education/training for the rest of your life.

I personally like and endorse the idea of Lifelong Learning which means that School is never ‘over’ for me. I’m always learning formally through courses and on the job training or, on my own through personal study and tinkering with some technology. I find this keeps me sharp and curious as well as happy.

People need to keep exploring and wondering about the world around them and the overall universe to make sense of things in their own lives. By constantly learning, thinking and playing with ideas in your own head, you can ensure that you are always staying fresh and current in your life.

Get your pencils sharpened and your notebooks organized to start taking classes again. The School of Awesome is always open and waiting for you!

How To Develop Your Warrior Mindset

August 18, 2021 Shazad Ahmad

By Shazad

“We don't rise to the level of our expectations, we fall to the level of our training.”

Archilochus

Thankfully, most of us are not involved in actual military conflicts or physical battles during the week. Hopefully, we can avoid this for the rest of our lives as well. So why talk about being a “Warrior”? There is a benefit from learning what the Warrior traditions have to teach us and how to apply those things to our everyday lives. The alternative is to spend your life as a “Worrier” fearing everything and everyone because you don’t know how to handle situations. Let me share.3 simple ways you can “WIN the “battles” of everyday life and become a Warrior.

First, have a very compelling reason to live your life and spend your energy the way you do each day. Make every day a disciplined day of purpose and action that is fulfilling your mission in life. This will prevent you from just trying to ‘get through’ the day or ‘surviving’ another workday, etc. Make the days count and they will be more enjoyable.

Second, prepare for and expect difficulty, challenges, obstacles, and even temporary failures. Rehearse some common or expected challenges in your mind and how you can manage the situation if they occur. This inoculates you to some of the shock and sadness when you actually face this setback. It also prepares you to respond and recover more quickly.

Third, develop your confidence by getting things done early in the day and challenging yourself over time. When you complete simpler tasks early and work to achieve harder tasks over time, you feel better about yourself and can be proud of yourself. Having constantly challenging projects to work on and learn from prevents you from becoming too comfortable with your current abilities and helps you stretch so you are always improving even if it is just 1% each week. You need to be challenged regularly so you know how strong and capable you really are.

Many people want to just enjoy a comfortable life without worrying about the future or doing hard things. They think everything will be ‘fine’ if they don’t think about what could go wrong and plan for it. Such people are usually the first to be shocked and often lose hope in themselves as well as the world when something does take an unexpected turn. Your physical, mental and emotional well-being depends on you developing your inner WARRIOR so you are alert, prepared and constantly improving your skills.

How Important Is Purpose In Your Life?

August 11, 2021 Shazad Ahmad

By Ahsan

So here we are some 16 months since the world became engulfed in a massive global change. Life is indeed different and will likely be on a new path from now on. That said, we all are doing our best to adjust and carry on with the business of living life.

Along the way, we have likely had some serious self-reflection about what matters most to us. We have probably thought about how we should spend our days and moments to live our most Awesome Life.

In other words, more than ever before, we were asked by life to answer the question:

“What is the purpose of your life?”

What is the answer for you?

I bet that today is a great time to visit or revisit this question because the benefits to your life are too significant to ignore.

About six years ago, we published our book Awesome Life, on Amazon. The subtitle is Create The Life You Always Wanted And Soar With Purpose. A good life comes from having a purpose, just like the hero in every story or movie has a mission. As self-evident as this concept may be, we can all use a reminder, especially in times like these.

Don’t forget, you are the hero in the story of your life!

Having a purpose in life might just be the missing piece of the puzzle. But, as said by Dr. Alan Zimmerman, author of Pivot, "the purpose of life is a life of purpose."

My takeaway from this message is that life is like being on a sailboat where the wind causes the boat to move in a specific direction. However, the rudder is a crucial component of the sailboat. Like having a purpose, it allows you to take the circumstances of life (the wind) and manipulate the direction you want to go (purpose in life).

Your purpose in life is your rudder on the sailboat of life!

With purpose, you will have two outstanding benefits that will set you on the course of an Awesome Life:

1. A life with direction

2. A life with meaning

And you know what else? Having a purpose in life will cover 97% of all the other things you try to do well daily! It will cover achieving your goals, attaining happiness, cultivating a winner's mindset, fostering excellent relationships, spiritual connection to your Creator, helping your fellow man, and even make you a better person!

That's a lot of knock-on effect, wouldn't you say?

So here is a plan to help you answer or reinvent the purpose of your life:

Action Steps:

1. Make yourself a cup of tea and sit down with your journal and give yourself a good one hour of quiet time to think and brainstorm some ideas.

2. Then, at the top of your page, write down "My Purpose In Life."

3. Now make two columns, one that says "Things I can do for myself" and the other "Things I can do for others."

4. Start writing things as they come to your mind under each column, and don't judge them. Let the ideas flow.

5. Look at what starts to pop out at you as exciting, not just enjoyable, from the completed lists.

6. Circle the ones that you really like and do the next step: Write down your Awesome Life Purpose: ALP

7. Here is a template for your consideration:

My life’s purpose consists of (your list of things you might do for others)

I also make my life’s purpose (your list of things you will do for yourself)

When I live my life with purpose, I feel (write down the emotions you will achieve and state of mind you will be in by living your life with purpose).

Here is an example:

“My life's purpose consists of being helpful to my family and friends. I also make it my life's purpose to improve my skills in my work life and personal life. When I live my life with purpose, I feel happy and motivated.”

Perhaps now more than ever, we can all benefit from thinking about the purpose of our life.

The benefits of having direction and meaning in life are genuinely too big to ignore.

If you are feeling rudderless, go make that cup of tea. If you know someone who might need to read this article, please share it with them.

Be Awesome, and may all your life be filled with purpose!

What Feeds Your Soul?

August 4, 2021 Shazad Ahmad

By Shazad

Are you taking care of your spiritual side? I’m not talking about practicing a religion in some ritualistic way. I’m asking you what care and feeding are you giving to your soul. You innermost person that wears this flesh and bone body on this journey called life? What are you doing about that part of you which does not die when this body is buried and broken down to be absorbed back into the earth?

Ask yourself what you believe about that eternal part of you and what does it need? What should you be doing to take care of your soul? Maybe you should follow some religious customs such as daily prayers, occasional fasting and charity. If possible, you should gather with other like-minded spiritual people and talk about this life, it’s meaning and your beliefs about the next life. Have good conversations with people you trust and share perspectives. This will be good for your life in this world as well as give you a glimpse of things that are good for the soul in the life beyond. Take the time and nourish your spiritual side.

What About Life Before Death?

July 28, 2021 Shazad Ahmad

By Ahsan

“We make a living by what we get, but we make a life by what we give.” Winston Churchill

There was this farmer who always won the best corn prize in his county fair year after year. What was his secret? He did something that surprised the reporter of the local TV station who asked this very question.

The farmer replied he gave all his neighbours his foundation seeds to also have good corn crops that were robust and tasty. The reporter, a little surprised, asked, why would you do that? Why would the farmer be giving his best seeds to his competition?

The farmer said that might be, but it works best in all our interests because the wind blows the pollen from the corn across farms. The cross-pollination of good seeds affects all farmers in a beneficial way. The better one farmer’s corn is, the better all of the corn becomes. In other words, the farmer understood that if he is to do well, he must help his neighbours to do well also.

This story reminds me of this verse in the Holy Quran about corn:
The similitude of those who spend their wealth for the cause of Allah is like the similitude of a grain of corn which grows seven ears, in each ear a hundred grains. And Allah multiplies it further for whomsoever He pleases; and Allah is Bountiful, All-Knowing. ⎯The Holy Quran, Chapter 2 verse 262

The wealth we have to share is not just money. It can be many things including our time, our experience, and our advice. The rewards that we get could be in the future or even in the present through a life well-lived and a feeling of personal contentment. This is the ‘wealth’ that keeps growing in your life like a healthy cornfield.

So here is the takeaway.

This lesson of life illustrated by the corn farmer allows us to really live before we die through generosity of spirit and attitude.

The essence of a life well-lived is to have helped others around us, whether by a smile, spending time to give them company or encouragement, spending in the way of the less fortunate, building relationships, or just building people. The possibilities are infinite!

The clock of life is ticking by for all of us. The final moment is never known. This is why we need to live before we die. It’s natural to think about life after death but what about life before death?

How might you define it for yourself?

Take some time out today to answer that fundamental question and make your remaining days really matter!

Action Steps:

On a piece of paper, write the question down. What matters most to me for my life to be lived before I die?
Then, do some brainstorming and write down any answers that pop into your mind under that heading. Look at that list and see what you feel inspired to focus on.
Edit your list to make a final list full of the most inspiring ideas you will try to live out!

Just like an ear of corn contains within it a field of corn, you too are filled with an ability to multiply the good in your life and the lives of many others. This just might be the secret of a good life before you die. What say you?

What Will Your Sacrifice Be?

July 21, 2021 Shazad Ahmad

By Shazad

Life is a series of trade-offs and decisions also known as SACRIFICES. In youth, we sacrifice our time for knowledge, experience, and then money. In our middle years of life, we trade some of that saved income to get time back until we reach our Senior years when all of the focus is about gaining more time in the day by sacrificing our wealth and possessions. It’s a delicate balancing act and no two lives are the same. The well-educated and the poor farmer in a small village somewhere all make sacrifices all day long.

It’s necessary to make these decisions and to do so with intention, wisdom, and the future in mind. We can have all the things we need in life as long as we are willing to make the required sacrifice to obtain them. There is no lasting pleasure in getting things we did not have to struggle for and there is no great accomplishment that isn’t preceded by a series of hurdles and forks in the road. Every choice we make cuts off another path. Sometimes it’s permanent and there’s no going back. Other times it is simply not practical to backtrack to the point we made a choice and do things a different way. Think of a boiled egg that cannot be made raw again. In contrast, a decision about which subject to major in University is something that is more flexible in terms of the decisions you make.

Think of your life as intentional decisions made in your own best interest and the interests of everyone you care about. Live with the knowledge that you are making sacrifices that are part of your greater purpose and make them boldly with no regrets. In the end, your sacrifices will be worth it.

Make Things Happen Before They Happen: One Easy Idea!

July 14, 2021 Shazad Ahmad

By Ahsan

One of my childhood activities was going to Cub Scouts. It was a very positive experience, and we earned badges that my mother would sew onto my Cub’s shirt. I still have that shirt, by the way. The badges represented a skill that you learned, and believe me, they all came in handy as you grow up. I owe a lot to that early training. Here is a link to see the type of things we learned: https://filestore.scouting.org/filestore/cubscouts/pdf/Wolf_Addendum.pdf

Not surprisingly, The Boy Scouts have a motto: Be Prepared. Likewise, the US Coast Guard has a similar slogan: Always Ready.

You may appreciate many things you know because they help you live your life better and can even save your life!

Have you ever heard of someone falling unexpectedly out of a boat and drowning? This is a colossal tragedy. However, sometimes, it is determined that the person did not know how to swim and could have survived if they knew how.

So, there are specific skills that need to be learned before they are required.

Swimming is one such skill among many.

Can you think of certain skills you are glad you have?

Now that you think of it, are there any skills that you should acquire?

Maybe you need to learn how to get up and speak in front of people. Or perhaps you need to know how to drive a car. What about taking up a bit of First Aid training or cybersecurity skills to protect you from scams and identity theft? Perhaps most importantly, how to think on purpose so you enjoy the moments of your life.

May I challenge you to think of at least three skills you need to acquire over the next 3 months and present you with a dose of motivation with a concept of the 3 Ps of Skilling?

3 P’s of Skilling:

Proactive approach to identifying your gaps in skills.

Prepare in advance, so you survive and thrive.

Performance when it counts.

So here is the game plan for your 3 Skills Challenge

Proactive: Start thinking. Consider some excellent results you need in your life and identify the skill you need to learn to attain it. A golfer might need to learn how to chip onto the green closer to the pin.
Prepare: Feel the excitement of doing the skill. Then, get started on training for the skill. Take the course or get the lessons or get a coach or whatever you need to do.
Performance: See yourself doing the skill in your mind's eye. When you need to chip onto the green and leave yourself with an easy one-foot putt to win, you will do it because you proactively prepared and got the performance when it counts most!

Most people have the skills to live a life that will be just fine.

You, however, are now more aware of how learning new skills before you need them will lead to a more Awesome Life!

Work on Your Craft

July 7, 2021 Shazad Ahmad

By Shazad

“Don't worry about being famous or making money; the most important thing is being the best. You have to become a master of your craft, and everything else will come.” Anastasia Soare

We were all made for some greater purpose in this world. That is my personal belief and motivation in life. Do you know what your great contribution is or will be? How do you show up each day to fulfill that purpose? One thing is for sure, effective communication will be a big part of your life’s purpose so we all need to work on that because we cannot achieve any greater goal without communication skills.

Make sure your reading great work from modern times and the past. Learn to understand key points and details in the writings and wrestle with possible subtleties in whatever you read. Reading between the lines and seeing the bigger picture will help you to become a better thinking and also better writer as you practice your communication. Whatever your life’s focus is it probably has something written about it so get immersed in the best works that interest you. This ensures you learn more about your topic while learning how others have communicated key info about it.

Just like anything else, if you want to get better at anything, you have to work on this regularly through deliberate practice. Make a commitment every day to spend as little as 30 minutes improving your skills in your given field or desired subject. Make sure you can articulate why it is part of your mission in life in the clearest words possible. That’s how you become Awesome!

How To Have A Good Day Every Day

June 30, 2021 Shazad Ahmad

By Ahsan

The way your day goes can really be unpredictable. Sometimes you have an ordinary day where it's all about work and no play, and other times you're on a mission, like shopping for someone's birthday gift.

“Great days add up to great weeks, and that starts off great months and a great year ahead.” B A

Depending on what happens during the day, you may feel like the day went well or not so well.

In fact, one of the most popular phrases we hear from folks that meet us is “how is your day going?” Of course, the answer to that question can and should be it is going great if you understand how to make every day a great day.

Think about this, even people that you would think should have a great day everyday may not be living their life this way. Tragically, we see this a lot when we hear about famous people. They have it all, money, fame, friends and adoration. You might like to look up the 1970s heart-throb David Cassidy. He had it all. A TV Show, a music career and all the trimmings. When he passed away, his daughter said his last words were “so much time wasted.”

So here is a set of ideas that you can try and see if they work for you:

First off, when you wake up in the morning, take a few moments to simply say to yourself that you intend to have a great day. The power of setting your intentions will shield you from minor setbacks and annoyances that indeed pop up for all of us. Let's say someone is rude to you or you are late for an appointment because of traffic. Instead of letting these things disturb you and your intention, you simply recall your intention and let these minor annoyances slip off your back like water on a duck.

Next, after your intention is set, list two or three things you want to get done today: high payoff activities for your work or business or family. In one sense, when we are productive, we often feel fulfilled. So, rather than just perform work expected on any given day, try to identify a few things that will be really impactful. Maybe it is calling a client or perhaps doing some marketing for new clients, or it is cooking a great meal for the family instead of the usual same old.

While you are at it, you can also add in one thing you will do later in the day that is just for you. Maybe you want to go for a bike ride, or call an old friend, or watch a show on TV or whatever floats your boat. The idea here is to do something that gives you personal joy and happiness. Too often, we forget to do this and then wonder why we are not having a good day.

So far, you may notice I am asking you to set your intentions, identify a few activities that relate to your practical responsibilities to others in life, identify one activity that is just for your personal amusement and, in a sense, to do all of this before you jump out of bed in the morning.

This could be the best three minutes you will spend all day!

And here is the final tip: mainly for the keeners, the dreamers, the achievers and the Sea-Hawks!

Check-in several times a day to see how you are feeling and performing.

What does this mean?

Are you feeling relaxed and happy?

You should because that was your intention in the morning. If not, go inward and give yourself a pep-talk.

Are you feeling productive?

You should because you identified a few things to check off as done and even set aside something just for you. If not, work on your tasks with a feeling of gratitude for having the health to do it and make sure you schedule your personal fun item before the clock runs out and you get too tired.

All work and no play make Jack and Jill dull and sporadically happy. Every day is a great day if you intend to make it so, fill it with a bit of productivity and something that blows your hair back.

Actions:

Do the above every day: your morning should begin before your jump out of bed. 180 seconds is all it takes.
Make a list of High Pay Off Activities to refer to. You know what they are, but a list can concentrate your focus on ideas.
Make another list of your hobbies, joys and whimsical dreams. This can be very helpful to remind you that life is indeed short and putting off your personal pleasures means you lived a few days when you could have lived them all.

It’s never too late. Start now and make every day a great day!

Are You Daring Greatly?

June 23, 2021 Shazad Ahmad

By Shazad

“The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood;

who strives valiantly;

who errs, who comes short again and again, because there is no effort without error and shortcoming;

but who does actually strive to do the deeds; who knows great enthusiasms, the great devotions;

who spends himself in a worthy cause;

who at the best knows in the end the triumph of high achievement,

and who at the worst, if he fails, at least fails while daring greatly,

so that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who neither know victory nor defeat.”

The Man In the Arena Speech by Theodore Roosevelt

The above lines are from a very famous speech many people know and are inspired by. I like it because it challenges us all to live our lives to the fullest with courage and resilience rather than passive acceptance of the passage of time. We should not and cannot take this life for granted. It will pass us by and we’ll regret all the great things we never did out of fear or laziness.

Make a commitment today to spend your days with enthusiasm and courage. Make a pledge to live with possibilities of a better outcome and better world. Don’t fear moments of stumbling of failure. Pick yourself up and keep moving forward towards your goals and mission in life. In short, Live Awesome!

You Are What You Consume

June 16, 2021 Shazad Ahmad

By Shazad

How was your day? Did you experience a juicy, action-packed adventure day with a satisfying ending to your work or school tasks? Did you have nutritious activities and exciting bursts of flavour in your work? It may be too much to ask that every moment of every day be like a delicious meal but you can certainly ‘enjoy’ a day by consuming the right kinds of things from beginning to end, to actually fuel your day with excitement and guilt-free pleasures.

What am I talking about? Start with the thoughts you put in your head when you first wake up. Do you grab the phone or your TV remote? Do you listen to News Radio as you eat breakfast or earlier? This will likely taste like bitter herbs first thing in the morning so you should avoid these things. Drink a plain or slightly salty glass of water to hydrate and wake up your system.

Next, do you eat sugary carbs as your breakfast? I’m talking about checking your twitter feed or FB notifications. It can feel nice and be a treat but you shouldn’t consume this as breakfast just like you shouldn’t consume muffins and pie if you want to fuel yourself with the right things. Make the first meal of your day a mindful gratitude session of no longer than 10 minutes followed by the sunlight and fresh air. These things will feed your soul.

It’s afternoon now and time to consume something else. Do you grab a giant cup of coffee and a big cookie which is what it’s like to gossip with friends and engage in backbiting? Try having a better snack in the form of an inspiring song or poem. How about reading your favourite motivational blog to get energized?

You are winding down the day and it’s time for the final meal. Will you try to drown your stress or worries in some substance which is what it’s like to binge-watch 3 hours of tv at night. Instead, have good conversations for at least 1 hour with someone you care about. Call them on the phone if you can’t meet with them in person. The interactive discussion is more fulfilling than watching hours of streaming video.

So there it is. An idealized Information diet that can transform your day. Why? Because we become like the food and information we regularly consume. I’m assuming you don’t want to become a self-absorbed manic with the constant need for drama. If you want it to be exciting and healthy, make your diet better than it is today. I predict that you will become fitter in your mind and body.