You can’t set plans for big goals and follow a dream that is a long stretch. There are so many variables involved, you can’t predict and keep them under control. You can’t be sure how things will pan out in the long run, you can only do some guess work, so the smaller the number the better the chances are of getting it right. Start with small and have an impact. See if it is really worth something big or the small scale is perfect for the vision. Once you have figured that out, be satisfied with it. You can't live your life stretching something that can no more be stretched, but you can make sure that the length you have gotten to is meaningful and worth remembering.  There is no harm in aiming big, but you cannot execute big, be open to the possibility of scaling big, but focus your efforts to the present scale. You don’t want to break what you have build or can build to fetch something which is out of reach. 

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Don’t have a big dream

In every single moment, you are creating the narrative of your life. If you are mindful about it and take notice of the moments that are defining you, you are in control of your life, if not you are letting others take control of it.  When you get irritated with people, you are letting them define your mood and feeling. When something happens in the morning, which was not in your control, you let it affect your day with a belief that the day is not good. It is just about the right mindset and being in the moment and defining how that moment affects you and in the long run, the narrative of your life.  Today you are busy, busy with the things that fill in your day, but is it making it meaningful? When that busyness will not be there, will you be satisfied looking back? Will you be happy with yourself and being with you, alone?  Every day matters and has something in it that is shaping us and writing pages of our life. As we turn to the next page, we don’t get another chance to write that page again. 

You are the writer of the narrative of your life. - daily thought nugget

We all are guilty of picking up our phones in conversations, pretending we are listening and we think we are listening, but we miss out on a lot of visual signs of conversation.  A research found out that more than 90% of meeting attendees spend time daydreaming and 70% doing some other work. We all get distracted, no matter how important the conversation is. To be fully mindful we can build the habit of avoiding phone when talking with someone.   What do you do to stay engaged in the conversation and avoid using your phone? 

Have you been fully present in a conversation and haven’t picked up your phone? - daily thought nugget

Opening up Instagram when you are stressed, might seem to be working but this is making you more stressed. Instead, go for a walk or grab a cup of coffee or green tea. If you already had too much caffeine ?, take a pen and paper and write down the things that are bothering you and list down the possible solutions. It is important to slow down instead of ignoring the problems that are making you stressed.

Avoiding emotions can make them more stronger - daily thought nugget

Research has shown that in the first 45 minutes of the day we release stress hormones. We aren’t ready in the morning to take in information form the outside world. Give yourself at least 15-20 mins away from the phone.  Sit for some time on the bed and just notice your breath or make your bed and have a glass of water or make some coffee for yourself. The way you start your day sets the tone for the rest of the day, don’t let others control it and use this time to be with yourself.  How do you start your day? 

Don’t check your phone first thing in the morning! - daily thought nugget

Having a daily to-do list is great, but once you start missing items on the list, it becomes a problem. That is where having a weekly plan in advance and weekly goals to point your daily efforts to will boost your daily productivity. You don't have just 24 hours to get things done and keep things on track, but you have 168 hours. Even if you get distracted in a day with something unplanned, you have time to cover things up the next day. It is more of a mindset change that can help you reduce stress and pressure. Once you start doing this, you will be more in control of your actions as they will be driven by purpose every single day towards your weekly goals.

Don't just plan your day - daily thought nugget

Hope is a powerful emotion! When you are in all the joys of life, hope is more like a forgotten emotion. But when you find yourself in the middle of life were there is nothing certain moving forward, hope is what keeps you positive and optimistic. Hope is what drives us, motivates us to take actions even when the chances of success are slim.

Hope - Daily thought nugget

Having a positive mindset and outlook in negative situation helps you mindfully tackle situations and respond to them instead of reacting. More often than not, we react to situations, as soon as something happens, instead of processing the information and responding effectively we just react.

Positive mindset in negative situations - daily thought nugget

Sometimes the reality we perceive is the creation of our fears. The negative thoughts swirling in our mind makes us see the world with caution and doubt. Our brain keeps telling us stories that might not even come true and keep us away from having a positive outlook.  The next time you find yourself in between negative thoughts, ask yourself, what better can happen out of this? 

It's the reality we perceive

Just define what you want to read. You want to read to stay updated or learn new things or you want to live a story. We live in an era where access to reading material is infinite and you can read anything you like with a few taps. This will give you a direction to read and a purpose why you want to read.

Have reading goals

It is always easy to spot gaps and deficiencies in things. We become so engrossed in grumbling about the things we don't have and results we didn't get. We forget to be thankful for the things we do have and are blessed with. Each moment is an opportunity, grab onto it with gratitude and make a difference in your life. 

Grumbling or Gratitude? - Daily thought nugget

No plan is the final perfect plan when you start, it evolves with time and needs. No matter how much clear you are with your plans, it still isn’t a perfect plan. Every plan evolves with time, so be flexible and keep improving the plan as the goal evolves. Everything seems perfect when you look at the execution of plans, but that is not true, every plan changes, and evolves.

There is no perfect plan - Daily thought nugget

Last year started with a dream and ambitions to live those dreams, but the year went by and it is still a dream. Is it really difficult to follow through dreams and achieve goals? We start our year with dreams, hopes and resolutions that this year we will achieve our goals. We are excited about our goals and feel this is THE year and we will finally be able to achieve what we always hoped for and wanted to achieve.  After a few exciting days, we lose track of our goals and the aspirations just fade away. Is it really so difficult to keep up with your goals throughout the year?  Let’s try and understand why we struggle to keep up with our goals and what can we do to make sure that we stay on track and achieve our goals before the end of this year.  All that you have done in life so far has taken efforts. The bigger the goals the more effort it needs to achieve them.  A dream is a goal that has been created in your stream of thoughts and is waiting to come to reality. The longer you hold that dream the more difficult it becomes for that dream to be realized. You need to understand the importance of working on these dreams. If not you, who will bring it to reality?  The dream that you have been building upon will just stay a dream if you don’t work on it. The goal or the dream or the change you are wanting to have doesn’t exist. It is just the creation of your mind and when you work on it, things will be different, but better and most importantly, real. Living in a reality is fun and exciting but you will have to come out of your world of dreams into reality. Small Habits Everything starts small and one of the pitfalls of not being able to achieve goals is the ambitious nature of goals. Most goals are long term and it is difficult to see rewards instantly, making it difficult to follow through. To achieve goals you need to break it down into small habits. Small habits are everyday actions that you keep doing until they become automated and are part of your lifestyle. Small habits are already part of your life, for eg. brushing your teeth, is a small habit with a goal to keep healthy dental hygiene throughout your life. Let’s say you want to achieve a goal of reading 10 nonfiction books in 2019. To read 10 books you need to start with a habit of reading every single day. An average book is about 300 pages. 300 pages x 10 books = 3000 pages. 3000 pages / 365 days = 8.2 pages in a day. So to achieve the goal of reading 10 books in a year you need to start with reading 8 pages in a day. 8 pages in a day would roughly mean 15 mins – 30 mins of reading per day. Having this small and simple habit of reading 30 mins in a day can help you achieve your goal in 12 months. You need to shift your mind to long-term thinking. 8 pages don’t look to be significant progress, but it will add up towards accomplishing your goal. You need to shift your mindset towards the beauty of persistence and daily habits to achieve goals. You need to love the process of achieving a goal. The feeling that you have achieved something is a very short feeling. You will spend all the time building up to that achievement and working towards it. The process is more memorable than the feeling of achieving a goal. There is a popular quote from Eric Thomas: “Fall in love with the process and the results will come.” Here are some actions that you need to take  Break your goal down to small everyday habits Get started Keep a log of your everyday progress This is the year! There is just one simple secret to achieve goals, GET STARTED! 

S1E1 - Achieve goals this year - it's easier than you think

DoRemember podcast is a productivity and mindfulness podcast to help you take actions and connect with yourself. Each episode is a perspective inspired by our daily lives with the actions that you can take to be more mindful and productive at your work and personal life .

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DoRemember Podcast

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