Maybe It's Time To Bust Some Myths

Your number one job in life should be to bust myths.

Why?

Because not doing so might keep you spinning round and round on a wheel of your own self-deception.

Round and round you will go on the wheel of self-deception - until, thankfully, the myth is busted.

Busted myths mean growth.

Busted myths mean new opportunities.

When I moved to America, and started a new life, so many myths got busted.

In India, having failed to learn to drive, I did not think driving in America was possible for me.

Within 6 months of moving to America, this myth was busted.

Not only did I learn to drive a car, I was zipping up and down freeways; to work; to see my brother and sisters; I even made a trip to Disneyland in my very first year of driving.

That was not the only myth that got busted.

I had been an advertising copywriter prior to moving to the US, and I had always thought being good with words automatically meant being hopeless with numbers.

Yet, within two years, I was in a Commissions Analyst job, a job in which I had to deal with numbers; numbers and nothing else, at that – and guess what  - it turned out I was pretty good at it.

So out went the idea of numbers not being my thing.

Ain't that something!

When I look back on my Commissions Analyst career, I remember looking at a blank Excel spreadsheet for the first time, and thinking, wow….all these squares with letters running across the top of the screen, and numbers running across the left of the screen.  What did it all mean? Being used to the blank space of Microsoft Word, Excel was unfamiliar and baffling to me.

I got even more frightened when I saw my first Excel formula. 

This is beyond my capacity, I thought – I have over-reached, I am doomed.

When the manager who hired me as a Commissions Analyst went on maternity leave shortly after hiring me, you can imagine how terrified I was.

“Laura, how will I ever do this without you being there to guide me? What if there’s a new hire, and I have to set up a commissions statement for them? What will I do then?” I asked, nervously.

“Don’t worry, Minoo” she said, “It will be fine.  Just copy my formulas if there’s a new hire.”

From that really scary beginning, I eventually went on to become super comfortable with Excel.  In fact, today, I am so comfortable with Excel, I routinely find vba to automate processes by searching online, and use the vba in my Commission Analyst assignments.

So you see how another myth got busted.

What myths need to be busted in your life?

Maybe it’s time to bust them.

For example, this may be one of the myths you need to bust – that only activities which generate money, or give you bragging rights, have value.

Of course not!

Besides hobbies, entertainment, and sports activities, pets are an example of something that can bring us a great deal of value, even though they will not add to our money, or our bragging rights.  A mixed breed mutt can add tons of value to our life; so much so, we would be willing to cough up substantial amounts of money to make sure they are happy, comfortable and well.

Some of the greatest satisfactions in my life have no money component.

Such as meditating, and going for walks, and writing my blog.

We have myths to bust in every area of our lives, career myths, health myths, skills myths, diet myths, even personality myths.

We may believe we cannot change our personality. 

Oh no, but we can.  We absolutely can!

I used to believe I had a short fuse.

Well, I did, until I didn’t.

I worked on my anger management issues and I got past them.

Really, truly, genuinely, got past them.

Today, it is very hard for me to get angry.

How is that even possible?

Another myth busted!

What myths need to be busted in your life?

What ‘I can’t do this' or 'I can’t do that’ myths are you holding on to?

Try doing the ‘this’ and the ‘that’ you think is not possible for you.

All my life, I thought I could never miss a meal – “I will get a sugar drop, you know”.

This myth got busted approximately 2 years ago, when I decided to try Intermittent Fasting.

Today, I can go 24 hours without a meal.  Yes, 24 hours without a meal, just a few cups of black coffee in the morning. I have done this several times.  In fact, once I even did it for 5 days in a row – went 24 hours without a meal, every day, for 5 days.

Challenge what you think you can do, and what you can’t do.

And challenge what you’ve been told.

And challenge what you think is the norm.

Challenge what you think about yourself.

What are the limits you are unnecessarily imposing on yourself?

What have you gotten used to, accepted as a way of life, that you don’t need to?

What haven’t you tried, because you think it is not for you, or you think it is beyond your capacity?

The more limiting ideas and myths you bust, the less sorry you will feel for yourself….

…..the less frustration you will experience…..

…..the less helpless you will feel.

.....the more confident you will feel about facing the world, and about the future.

Yes, maybe it’s time to bust some myths, and discover how much more you are capable of.

As always, thanks for sharing my Journey to Wisdom, Meaning and a Better Life.  Like you I am trying to find my way through this complex maze we call life, and I am honored to have you share my journey. I continue to keep seeking wisdom which is hidden in plain sight.

Thanks to Ajay for his compliments on my last post, and thanks to the rest of you for your likes, pins, shares, tweets and votes…..much appreciated….M ……a Pearl Seeker like you. 

Happy Birthday to those of you with July birthdays.  Hope you use your birthday month to birth something new and wonderful in your life. Try busting some self-limiting myths; you are sure to birth something new and wonderful in your life.

Posts to help you on your journey…

Maybe It’s Time To Stop Making Poor Choices

The Element of Understanding the Path You Follow Today Will Shape Your Tomorrow

Maybe It’s Time to Understand What Freedom Is

Maybe It’s Time To Walk In The Direction Of Your Fears

Weight, It's Not Too Late

The Element Of Focusing On Quality of Life Rather Than Quantity of Life

Maybe It’s Time For Freshness

Are You Ready To Meet Your Personal Development Destiny?

The Element Of Becoming More Focused and Precise In Our Goals

Maybe It’s Time To Stretch Yourself

Chicken Playing America the Beautiful

Things which are worth it, which are valuable, are rarely easy.

We have to stretch to get them.

Are you willing to make the extra effort?

It is easier to just stay where you are.

But if you want to get to a better place, staying where you are, doing what you currently do, and doing them the way you currently do them, won't cut it.

You will need to stretch yourself.

Most people don’t reach the levels they are capable of.

This is simply because they get comfortable too easily. They get comfortable too fast.

They are willing to do only so much, and no more! They find it impossible to find the time, to find the energy, to do anything more, anything extra.

But if you do find the time and the energy to do more, to do extra, you will find out what you are capable of.  And it is a lot more.

It is sweat equity which builds futures.

It may be exhausting, it may be challenging, but in the end, if you stretch yourself, you will find yourself in a better, more satisfying place.

I repeat, sweat equity builds futures.

If you look around you, you will see many people, who currently, are exactly where you are.

If it is a comfortable place to be in, few will try to get to a better place.

Years can pass, and you and them will be exactly in the same place.

You can keep the status quo.  It is your choice to live with it.

Or you can say goodbye to that comfortable place, to timid achievement, to settling, and you can stretch yourself.

Are you up to the challenge?

The tougher the challenge, the more miserable you will feel going through the experience of the challenge, but the prouder and stronger you will feel at the end of it.

In the prologue of Spartan Up,  Joe de Sena, reflects on participating in the Raid International Ukatak, an extreme sports event...

Here's what he says:

“An inverse correlation exists between how you feel during the race, and how you feel after it.”

De Sena felt like a million bucks after the Ukatak was over, but during the event, he was utterly miserable, frightened, and desperate, at many points.

He adds, “When you break through the other side of hell and finish an event that did not seem possible, that stopped you in your tracks, over and over, something happens.  You feel accomplished, incredibly proud of yourself, and in some ways, a different person”

You are guaranteed to feel this way after you tackle a challenge, especially a challenge which is extremely tough for you, which you think is currently out of your league, a challenge which you deliberately decide to tackle, because you don’t want to be a wimp anymore, and because you want to feel the accomplishment and pride Joe de Sena felt after finishing the Ukatak.

In order to stretch yourself, you have to replace your standard reactions to things which you think are beyond you – standard reactions such as getting frustrated, throwing up your hands, hating yourself for not being able to handle it.

The solution may be simpler than you think, the knowledge or expertise you lack, may be easier to acquire than you think.

Our default reactions are our own worst enemy.

They stop us in our tracks.

I know, because even now, my first reaction is to panic if something goes wrong – whether it's something at work, or something with my car, or something with my finances.

When I panic at work, Candice, my current boss, will say to me, “Minoo, take a deep breath”.

Wise advice.

The panic usually turns out to be a false alarm, or something easily correctable.  I think something is WRONG, but nothing is WRONG, or it is not as WRONG as I imagine it to be. 

I have mistaken the rope for the snake.

If you don’t watch out, you will be constantly mistaking the “rope for the snake”.  You will think that everything is the “end of the world” and furthermore, you are cursed, and it is only happening to you.

Frustration is a sign you need to stretch yourself.

Don't get frustrated by what others do, or don’t do, or the things that happen to you.

Stretch yourself instead, and find out what you are capable of. 

You never know what you are capable of. And you will never know, unless you make an effort to stretch yourself.

In the more recent years of my Commissions Analyst career, I have done Xactly implementations, written Varicent Functional Requirement Documents, written White Papers on Incentive Comp, found VBA to automate cumbersome Excel processes, done UAT testing, trained other commissions analysts on Varicent or Xactly processes, written Xactly and Varicent user guides, and created Commissions Process documentation at multiple companies.

Frankly, I did not know I would do any of this.

Interestingly, stretching yourself is sometimes just telling yourself to do something.

In several of my Commission Analyst assignments, I just told myself I should document the commission processes for the person who succeeded me.  I did not wait to be asked.

By doing this at multiple companies, I have gotten better and better at it, and furthermore, I have left a footprint at multiple companies, as a result of this documentation.

Your tenacity to tackle new challenges, overcoming the obstacles that confront you, will take you far.

By going from assignment to assignment, I have had the opportunity to observe the tenacity of several bosses.

From observing them, I have no doubt their tenacity to overcome obstacles is what has taken them so far in their careers.

It has been a privilege to watch them deal with all sorts of challenges and situations first hand – the challenges of losing a key resource, the challenge of managing with limited resources and tools, the challenges of dealing with management changes, company changes, role changes, resource changes, and the challenges of dealing with ever-changing demands and requests.

It is time to supersize your ambitions.

It is never too late to stretch yourself.

Replace frustration and whining, and seeing a lot of snakes which are ropes, with a new determination to stretch yourself, and get beyond where you currently are.

If a chicken can play America the Beautiful, surely you can stretch yourself, and get beyond where you currently are. 

As always, thanks for sharing my Journey to Wisdom, Meaning and a Better Life.  Like you I am trying to find my way through this complex maze we call life, and I am honored to have you share my journey...as I continue to keep seeking the wisdom which is hidden in plain sight.

Thanks to Ajay for his compliments on my last post, and thanks to the rest of you for your likes, pins, shares, tweets and votes…..much appreciated….M ……a Pearl Seeker like you. 

Happy Birthday to those of you with July birthdays.  Hope you use your birthday month to birth something new and wonderful in your life. By stretching yourself, you will definitely birth something new and wonderful in your life. 

Posts to help you on your journey…

Yoga for Investors – my personal investing philosophy, one that lets me sleep at night.

How Many Times a Day Do You Visit Ireland? – in which I tell you about what did more for my relationships than anything else. 

The Element of Becoming More Focused in Your Goals and Its Hope for Experiencing Powerful Results– where I let you in on how to approach a challenging medical condition.

The Making of a Menthalete – inspiration to help you become mentally stronger.

Connected Minds - in which you will learn about the many benefits of introducing a spiritual practice into your routine.

Maybe It's Time To Become More Receptive

When you become more receptive, you can only gain.

You can find out how other people achieved their success. 

Sometimes, if you are lucky, you can get step by step information from them.

You can learn how they got from Point A to Point B.

You can find out their latest discoveries, because information is a moving target.

You can get valuable input.

You can get new ideas for old problems.

Most of the time, we are not receptive because of arrogance.  We think we know everything.

We can't stand someone telling us what to do – who do they think they are!

Also, we are not receptive to advice or information in areas in which we think we are experts, or “so called experts”. We will say, “oh, I knew about this years ago.”

We hate it when something we tried but gave up, is working for someone else. Instead of trying to figure out the reason it didn’t work for us, we tell them it won’t work, and their efforts are doomed, even though we can clearly see it is working for them.

This is how perverse we are.

We try our damndest not to be receptive.

One of the ways, is to pretend to be receptive, but actually not take any of the advice or information we are given, seriously.

Another way is to come up with an excuse not to be able to act on the advice or the information.

An excuse is a dead give-away, a person is not receptive to suggestions, advice or information.

Another way is changing the subject, or ending the conversation.  If people change the subject, or end the conversation, it means they are not receptive - they’ve heard all they want to hear, or are willing to hear.

People who are not receptive usually learn nothing from friends, family, and acquaintances.

The thing we are most unreceptive to as we get older is “change”.

We are used to our stuff, we are used to our routines, our ways of doing things have become set.

We hold onto our stuff, and our routines, long after they have a useful purpose in our lives.

Open and receptive people act on new information, closed and unreceptive people ignore new information.

Being unreceptive is not all bad.

It is prudent to be non-receptive, when there is a chance of losing something you value, such as your relationships, your money or assets, your health, your peace, your sanity, or your values.

Temptations abound.

People will try to tempt you to put these things at risk.

For example, some folks will try to sell you on a financial product, just to get their commission.

It is wise to be non-receptive, unless and until, you have done your homework.

It is also wise to be non-receptive, to requests for financial help that could put you in trouble.  It may seem harmless to co-sign someone’s loan, but you are on the hook, should the party be unable to pay, for whatever reason.

Being non-receptive also protects us against brain-washing.  Being receptive does not mean being suggestible and easily swayed.

What to be receptive to and what not to be receptive to?  When to be receptive and when not to be receptive?

The best solution is to be receptive, but keep your guard up.

Put on your thinking cap - when any information, ideas or suggestions are presented to you.

Think about the pros and cons, give the ideas and suggestions serious thought, before taking any action of any kind.

Here are some of the things ,we will find it difficult to be receptive to, but we must try to be receptive to…..

Criticism from any source.

Suggestions from those who are younger than us, or less experienced than us.

If we are told the exact same thing by an experienced boss, or someone who is close to our age, or older, and a rookie, we may be completely non-receptive to the suggestion, if it came from the rookie.

This being the case, we have to become more self-aware of our reactions. We should be able to benefit from ideas and suggestions, regardless of the source.

Being receptive does not mean you have to be open to suggestions to everything under the sun.

Someone who is happily single, is not going to be receptive to getting into a relationship, because there is nothing intrinsically bad about being single, and in fact, there may be a lot of good.

In general, I would be receptive to one and done things, such as trying a new dish or cuisine.  If I don’t like it, I don’t have to eat it again.

I would be non-receptive to changing aspects of my lifestyle, if there is nothing inherently wrong with those aspects of my lifestyle, and I am not experiencing any dissatisfaction or lack.

There is also a “how” in receptiveness and a “how” in non-receptiveness.

We need to be non-receptive as graciously as possible, without causing the person whose ideas and suggestions we are being non-receptive to, to lose face.

Better to say, “I’ll think about it, and if this is something I want to do, I will get back to you.”

Some people like my sister Rosie are natural diplomats.  Me, I can get into it, if someone presents an idea to me which I don't agree with, and if I think the idea needs to be stopped in its tracks.

I have spent a great part of my life being non-receptive in the worst possible way – arguing till kingdom come.

Despite my success with meditation, even now, certain topics and ideas can set me off.

I am still a wip (work-in-progress) in this respect.

I would like to achieve a state where I am compassionate even when I am non-receptive.

By being compassionate even when we are non-receptive, we can become “a shelter in the storm”.

Receptiveness is so much connected with point in time.

We may not be receptive to an idea at one point in time, but at another point in time – even years and decades into the future – we may become receptive to that very same thing.

As an example, back when I first met my friend Julia, she told me that my need to eat rice at lunch and dinner was just an addiction.

I was not receptive.

I thought, “How could I be addicted to rice?”

Two years ago, I decided to halt the onset of diabetes in my life, by doing something about it, while I was still pre-diabetic.  By doing some online research, I discovered rice, wheat, potatoes, and most fruit, were deadly for those with pre-diabetes. I invested in a glucose meter, and it confirmed what I had discovered online.

I started cutting down on these things, and eventually eliminated rice, wheat, potatoes, and most fruit other than berries, from my diet.

Today, you won’t find rice in my pantry, and I do not crave it, though it had been a staple part of my diet for most of my life.  So Julia was right. It was an addiction.

Also, 2 years ago, if anyone told me, I could skip a meal, I would have said “impossible”.

I would even get terrified if a fasting blood glucose test at a lab was scheduled for after 9 a.m, because I usually ate breakfast as soon as I woke up.

Now I have been practicing ‘intermittent fasting’ for a year, as advised by Dr. Jason Fung, and it has been extremely illuminating.

I can go 14-24 hours with bullet-proof coffee, and sometimes with just plain black coffee without sugar.

What happened to the person who could "never skip a meal"?

For circumstances such as mine, we need to revise the quote – “When the student is ready, the teacher appears” to “When the student is finally ready, the teacher reappears”.

Yes, my fasting transformation has made me more aware than ever, of the fact, answers to our questions, and solutions to our problems, are often hidden in plain sight.

It's just a question of us becoming more receptive.

As always, thanks for sharing my Journey to Wisdom, Meaning and a Better Life.  Like you, I am trying to find my way through this complex maze we call life, and I am honored to have you share my journey - as I continue to seek answers to questions, and solutions to problems, that are often hidden in plain sight.

Thanks to Ajay and Majella for their compliments on my last post, and thanks to the rest of you for your likes, pins, shares, tweets and votes…..much appreciated….M ……a Pearl Seeker like you. 

Last but not least, Happy Birthday to all those with July birthdays.  Hope you use your birthday month to birth something new and wonderful in your life. Be receptive to inputs from others, is my sincere advice.

Posts to help you on your journey…

Maybe It’s Time To Stop Making Poor Choices

The Element of Understanding the Path You Follow Today Will Shape Your Tomorrow

Maybe It’s Time to Understand What Freedom Is

Maybe It’s Time To Walk In The Direction Of Your Fears

Weight, It's Not Too Late

The Element Of Focusing On Quality of Life Rather Than Quantity of Life

Maybe It’s Time For Freshness

Are You Ready To Meet Your Personal Development Destiny?

The Element Of Becoming More Focused and Precise In Our Goals

Maybe It's Time To Shake Off The Oppression Of Your Body

Your body may seem tyrannical.

It gains weight too easily.

It doesn’t let go of the weight once you’ve gained it.

It tells you, you are hungry, even though you have all those stores of fat which could be burned for energy.

If you don’t feed it at the time it is used to, it makes you tremble with hunger and nearly swoon – even though you have sufficient fat on your body which could be burned for energy.

It quickly becomes addicted to food and "non food" – cigarettes, alcohol or drugs. After it becomes addicted, you often want more and more, even when it is destroying you.

Maybe it’s time to shake off the oppression of your body.

But how do you shake off the oppression of your body? And why should you bother?

I read this line in Wisdom of the Peaceful Warrior by Dan Millman :

“From the transcendental view, whatever we do is perfect (there is no right or wrong, only consequences)”

You should bother about shaking off the oppression of our body, only if you don’t like the consequences of not shaking off the oppression of your body.

Consequences, for example, such as getting fatter and fatter, and being unable to do simple things easily – such as climbing up stairs, or running to catch a bus.

Consequences like feeling sicker and sicker.

Consequences like spending all your time, money and creativity on getting the next fix – even to the point of putting yourself and others in danger.

Consequences which fall out of these consequences – since the state of your body can impact your ability to function normally, to get and hold a job, to live with dignity, to enjoy life, to feel good about yourself, and to feel hopeful about your future.

If these consequences are fine by you, no need to do anything.

To repeat what the book Wisdom of the Peaceful Warrior says, “From the transcendental view, whatever you do is perfect, there is no right or wrong, just consequences”.

But if the consequences are not fine by you, you should take action.

You should begin the process of shaking off the oppression of your body by taking the first steps.

Of course, trying to do anything differently – eat differently, work out, spend your time differently, make the effort to correct a health condition, wean yourself off something, is going to make you feel miserable.

Just be curious about all of it….and keep at it.

Allow yourself to be grumpy, irritable, feel exhausted, suffer pain, see little progress...and still keep at it.

When you come out the other side, you will be glad you did.

Yes, maybe it’s time to shake off the oppression of your body.

It is part of the wisdom of a wonderful life.

As always, thanks for sharing my Journey to Wisdom, Meaning and a Better Life,  and have a great day and week….M ……a Pearl Seeker like you.  Thanks to Ajay for his compliments on my last post, and thanks to the rest of you for your likes, pins, shares, tweets and votes…..much appreciated.

P.S. Happy Birthday to all those with July birthdays.  Hope you use your birthday month to birth something new and wonderful in your life, maybe a new chapter in fitness.

Here are some posts to help you on your journey…

Maybe It’s Time To Stop Making Poor Choices

The Element of Understanding the Path You Follow Today Will Shape Your Tomorrow

Maybe It’s Time to Understand What Freedom Is

Maybe It’s Time To Walk In The Direction Of Your Fears

Weight, It's Not Too Late

The Element Of Focusing On Quality of Life Rather Than Quantity of Life

Maybe It’s Time For Freshness

Are You Ready To Meet Your Personal Development Destiny?

The Element Of Becoming More Focused and Precise In Our Goals