3 Tips on Hard Work
• Accomplishment is Joy – Hard work is inherently difficult, but only through hard work can we accomplish much and accomplishment is joy.
• We Can All Work Hard – We must learn at an early age that we are competent, able and can handle hard work well.
• Hard Work Resonates – Know that accomplishment at an individual level is connected to accomplishment on a universal level. We are not alone in our hard work. The universe is with us.
“Work is love made visible,” said Kahlil Gibran, and the same has held true for me in my life. When I understood that my individual hard work is definitely connected to accomplishment on a universal level, it gave me faith and confidence to understand that we are not alone in our endeavors. Many other forces, visible and invisible, are supporting our efforts. Is this not a powerful piece of knowledge to keep in our minds as we give our all to the work we undertake? The harder we work with focus, the more competent we become and the more knowledge we gain. This makes hard work easier and easier over time. These are the gained skills we can pass onto younger generations so they may accomplish the same tasks with greater ease knowing they will also find newer technologies and paths to get the same work done, taking the planet to a higher and higher degree of sophistication and complexity. This is, after all, how we evolve.
I remember a phase from my childhood when we lived in Pune at the Indian Institute of Armament Technology campus and my father saw a spot on the Khadakwasla lake where he started taking a small boat out. He then had a small jetty created. Every day after office, my father would go there to oversee the construction. Many days after school I would be on the waterfront, watching the digging and building as the marina took shape. It was soon named ‘The Naval Experimental Bay’ and today it stands proudly, well expanded with boats that dock on it and frequent events held there. It was and is a product of hard work and one man’s vision. This taught me at the age of 7 that if you can think it, you can do it. Hard work and perseverance is the only thing needed with which all can be accomplished!
Accomplishment is joy and happiness and joy are the ultimate reason why we are on this planet. So hard work and creating tangible, useful results that others can benefit from is a very important part of our journey on Earth. Think of it as fun and it will be fun, think of it as easy and it will be easy, ascertain whether it’s useful or not and then proceed accordingly! Here’s to hard work and joyfulness!
3 Tips on How to Get the Best Out of Your Education
• Write Clearly – Learn how to be direct and forthcoming in your writing
• Express Yourself Convincingly – Learn how to make readers empathize with your needs
• Think Analytically – Develop your critical thinking skills. This way one can weigh options sensibly and make the best decision for oneself in EVERY situation.
Education is the gift of information that is passed down to us from other people’s experiences. We get this download so we can springboard off this treasure trove of knowledge with the information that we don’t have to labor to learn first-hand. Once I understood this, I started learning with gusto thinking that all this knowledge was a gift that was going to make my life easier, my choices more informed and answer some existential questions that my soul posed from time to time. I encouraged my 3 children through their childhood and youth to love learning. School and college is a very happy time in life and I always communicated this to my children by being present at all school events and making their school and college life a top priority of my time. The “love of learning” is key to growth and a calm, successful life!
Armed with education, we have to add our unique thinking to this and express our thoughts clearly, write clearly and think analytically while listening to our consciousness, which is our best guide. That combined with using the information our education has provided enables us to glide through life, making good decisions for ourselves and others and creating win-win outcomes for all!
Although learning is a lifelong trait, thinking of my education takes me back to my years at school. Growing up, my family moved a lot owing to my father’s work, and we moved between Pune, Mumbai and Delhi. I studied at St. Anne’s in Pune then Convent of Jesus & Mary in Delhi. When we moved to Mumbai, I went to St. Anne’s in Fort, Mumbai and then The Cathedral and John Connon School for my high school years. Each of these formative school years stressed clear writing skills, but the Cathedral School in Mumbai really taught me how to express myself convincingly. Debate and Elocution were serious there! At the United World colleges, I learnt how to make decisions that collectively had a positive impact on the entire community of students. Later, I went to Boston University where I got my MBA and learned key analytical skills. The journey of learning didn’t stop there, and I think every day brings forth a teaching moment. We just have to be aware of what we are learning from where and from whom so we can utilize those skills when the right time arises!
