by Deepak Raj on May 5, 2013
It is a bad thing to stick with the status quo. It is even worse to stick to something in the future that hasn’t even happened yet. And that’s called Future Quo! If you had seen the movie Shawshank redemption – Andrew says, *hope is a good thing*. But hope is not always good.
You see, there are two kinds of hope. One hope is the kind where you can do something about it. The other kind of hope is beyond your control. If you are hoping that your boss will not shout at you since you screwed up – that’s the wrong kind of hope. Hope or no hope, your boss will shout if he wants to and he won’t if he doesn’t take it seriously.
But if you hope that you will do the work well – the work that was assigned to you by your boss, then that’s good hope. Because hoping for a better result will make your perform better. Good for your boss. Good for the company.
In my earlier post, I talked about detaching yourself from the results – to have prajna. Detachment can help you be objective and not subjective and you are looking at the world with clear glasses instead of coloured glasses of your world view.
Future Quo is having attachment for the future. If you are hoping that a relationship will get better when it has already formed some cracks, you are having nostalgia for the future. The more you have it, the better are the chances that it won’t happen and it can break you. If you are hoping that your boss will give you are promotion and suddenly you get laid off – you will break down. Because you were visualising yourself in the new office cabin or the promoted you and got attached to the outcome that hasn’t even happened yet. [click to continue…]
by Deepak Raj on April 28, 2013
For a while I have been dreaming to by a 46″ LED TV and I was having my eye on Sony 46″ HX850. I kept postponing the buy because it was too costly at 1.2 Lakhs and I really didn’t need 46″. It was a little bit bigger than my needs. Also I didn’t need 3D and inbuilt wifi for the internet TV. I am used to having the ultimate internet TV by connecting my Mac mini to the TV and using it as a media player, streamer, downloader and iTunes controlled music player which syncs with my iPhone.
Today I just passed by the Sony center and I was quite pleased to see that Sony has launched an almost custom made TV for me. I had exactly what I needed and what I didn’t need. And the price is about half of what my dream TV (HX850) costs. This TV, Sony KDL-42W650A is not even displayed in Sony.co.in yet. Its very new.
The highlights of the TV…
- Very affordable at Rs.62,500 (0% 6 months EMI for HDFC and Citibank Card Holders). Actual MRP is Rs.65,900 without any discounts.
- 42″ is apt for those who feel 46″ is a little big and 40″ just doesn’t cut it.
- X-Reality picture pro engine (Dual core image processor compared to single core in X-Reality)
- 200Hz Motion Flow. Just apt for those who prefer smooth flowing images. Almost no difference to the common man’s eye from 400Hz.
- Really thin bezel and a cool LED glow with the Sony logo in the bottom centre. [click to continue…]
by Deepak Raj on April 2, 2013
We humans always try to control a situation so that we can get results that we expect. And in-spite of our best efforts to control an outcome of the situation, if the result is not favorable to us then we undergo an emotional meltdown which drains all our will power and productivity of the day.
Why are we not able to see things as it is and why are we always trying to CHANGE THE WORLD? Just because we don’t like it, it doesn’t mean the world is imperfect. The world is perfect as it is but not just perfect for you and me. Trying to change the world than accepting the reality of the situation will lead to frustration and in the end nothing would have changed. It is like trying to move a huge rock by pushing it. You will be draining so much energy and yet the rock doesn’t move an inch. All the energy is wasted.
When someone on the road drives rashly, we get angry. We shout at him or worse we try to overtake him and “teach him a lesson”. We justify this act by telling ourselves that this will teach him a lesson and next time he wouldn’t be so much of a rash driver and hence the world will become a better place. But the reality is that this act is an act of personal vengeance; and we do it because we would feel better and deep down inside we know that we are not making the world a better place. It’s just like trying to push a heavy rock. [click to continue…]
by Deepak Raj on March 9, 2013
In this article I am going to give you a solid fool-proof plan with which you can make your life more meaningful and create your own retirement plan and financial freedom without depending on anybody. If you are working for someone else right now and plan to start a business in the near future, this article will be really valuable to you. Before we talk about financial freedom, lets define what is freedom for us today. Do you think you are free? Do you know what freedom means, or what it means to you? I believe freedom is not having to work for a living. That doesn’t mean I don’t respect work. In fact, work is the only thing that deserves worship next to the universe. I believe in working because we want to rather than because we have to.
If we have to work for a living – it means we are slaves. In olden days people used to be slaves for Kings and a few powerful men. Now we are slaves of a system. Being a slave to work for a living means that there is no time to do work on the things that matter. The kind of work that can change your life and your world. And if you are increasing the cost of your living as you move forward in life, you are imprisoning yourself. It is hard to reduce the standards of living. It is easy to maintain and not upgrade. The simpler your lifestyle is the more free you are to do what you want to do.
Working for a living means working to meet our basic needs. Basic needs always have been and always will be food, clothing, shelter and a few more things. But sometimes we would feel that having a TV, the latest Apple product and an Internet connection are also basic needs. What are your basic needs? That’s a question that you have to answer for yourself and define how much money per month would you need to meet all those needs.
Get Freedom
If you want to free yourself up to do the kind of work you love to do and want to do you need money every month which is not generated by trading your time. Passive income or active income always needs to be on a monthly basis because our bills are generated every month.
Passive income in its best form is buying real estate and renting it out so that it generates income every month. If your monthly expenses are, say, Rs.50,000 – then you can have real financial freedom if you own a piece of real estate which generates that income on a monthly basis. It can be an apartment complex of 4 houses where each house generates Rs.12,500 per month – and it will help you pay your bills and save some as well. [click to continue…]
by Deepak Raj on February 10, 2013
Have you ever come across a situation in your life where someone expects something from you, you do it and you later regret it?
We humans are always influenced to behave according to other’s expectations because we like their approval. Saying no and disappointing them is difficult because we are social animals. But more often than not, its not what we want and we regret doing it.
We have to stand for what we want. If we don’t, no one else will; including our loved ones.
Our parents want us to behave in a certain way because it is what they want for us to have, do or be. It is hard to say no, we give in and trade long term unhappiness to avoid temporary discomfort. But someday we are going to go back and blame them that we couldn’t get what we want because they expected something else from us. But the real problem is not with them expecting something. The real problem is that we did not stand strong enough for what we wanted.
Some of us are fortunate to learn this early in life. Some of us (including me) are not so fortunate and learned it only later in life but by that time a lot of irreversible decisions have already been made. Some people are so unlucky that they don’t learn to stand for themselves for their whole life and they end up living someone else’s version of the ideal life. Their entire life gets hacked by other’s expectations. [click to continue…]
by Deepak Raj on January 12, 2013
At some point in our lives, we’ve all experienced the procrastination phenomenon. There are those things that you should be doing, and you end up doing a million other things, being subject to the abundant level of distractions that are always there to occupy you.
If this sounds familiar, you’ll know that procrastination is a huge challenge to overcome. Unless the problem is addressed quickly, a person can be locked up for years in the procrastination loop, and all the time is gone before you know it. Here are three ways to overcome the procrastination problem…
1. Let go of Your Fear of Failure
It is, above all, the biggest reason you procrastinate. The task you intend to do is not done yet. You fear you may mess it up, and hence you keep waiting for the perfect time, and postpone whatever you need to do because of X, Y and Z reasons. These reasons will always be there to deter you, and there will never be that perfectly perfect time that everything falls into place. Ignore your fear and go out there and do it. You may fail, but hey, it is a heck of a lot better than doing nothing. [click to continue…]
by Deepak Raj on January 9, 2013
Whenever I tell someone that I do not watch TV News or read news in the papers everyday I get an angry look back and then they tell me something in the line of what I do is not right and I am crazy. I have been thinking about writing a blog post on this topic for a long time but I have been postponing it. Now I have got the courage to tell the world how crazy I am and I hope at least a few people would be as crazy as me to agree to my opinion. (Actually some already have!).
Before we talk about why I do not watch news, let me make it clear that this is not a joke and what I am saying is true. I have not been following the news for the past 3 to 4 years. I don’t watch TV and I do not subscribe to the newspaper. Even if someone in my family convinces me to subscribe, it doesn’t last for more than a month. My arguments have been so powerful that even my dad finally gave in and doesn’t follow the news. [click to continue…]
