Circle of Excellence

Study skills for smart students

2011-07-24T12:24:00.009+01:00

How do smart students study? What specific skills do they use? What are their optimum learning habits? Do they apply any special strategies? How do they learn faster, study better and score higher at exams? What are their secrets?

Their secrets are really no secrets at all. They have a few predictable study habits and they follow some simple rules of learning. Anyone who observes the same strategies will get the same results.

Whole-brain learning
One of the first things to know and apply is what is called whole-brain learning. It’s really a simple concept after all. There are two hemispheres in our brain – the left and the right – joined by a complex neural switching system called the corpus callosum. Each of these sides performs its own special functions. The left side plays a major part in processing the language, logic and mathematics (academic abilities) and the right side mainly deals with music, imagination and pictures (creative activities).

While learning our courses, we generally neglect the right side. But best learning takes place when you engage both sides of the brain.

One reason we remember songs easily is because they use music (right brain activity) and words (left brain activity) together. Similarly, movies use music, pictures and lots of imagination. No wonder we like them so much.

So it would be a pretty good idea to take the services of your right brain while you study. Make use of music, pictures and imagination whenever and as much as possible. Let the right brain do the visualizing while the left brain is busy analyzing. Two brains working together is always better than one struggling alone!

Mind mapping
If you want to engage both sides of your brain in the learning process, then you wouldn’t want to take linear notes starting at the top of the page and ending at the bottom. You’d make a mind map instead and study it.

Mind mapping is a simple tool to brainstorm, organize and store ideas. It’s actually like making a map of what you’re studying (or thinking) using words and pictures. You start from the center with the main idea and put all the related ideas and points on the branches spreading out from that center.

A mind map looks rather like an octopus with main idea as its head and supporting points as its arms. See an example here.

Mind mapping is an effective learning tool because it has food for both the brains - words and pictures. Besides, it gives information to the brain the way it likes it. You see, the brain doesn’t work in neat lines and columns. It processes information on its tree-like dendrites, using special association patterns. You do just that when you make a mind map of what you’re learning.

For more on mind mapping, read Tony Buzan’s excellent book on the subject The Mind Map Book.

Memory systems
There are fantastic memory systems that you can make use of as a student. One of the oldest and most popular is the linking system. “In order to remember any new thing, it must be associated, in some ridiculous way, with something you already know,” says Harry Lorayne, a memory specialist. And that’s really the essential part of this system. You connect new material (what you want to remember) with something common and familiar (that you already know) in some funny way. The crazier and more ridiculous the connection, the better the memory. You can find a good example of this in the book Circle of Excellence which you can freely download.

Then there are other simple and effective methods such as the peg and the number-rhyme system and a whole range of mnemonics. The good news is it doesn’t take long to understand and apply these systems – a week should be good. Read a couple of fine books on the subject such as the ones listed here (25 Power Books for Students) and you’ll be excellent.

The superlearning state
If you want to learn faster, then you’ve got to slow down your brain – down to what is called the alpha level. At this level, the brain is working at a frequency of 8-12 cycles per second. At higher frequencies of beta level (12-16 cycles per second), the brain is surely alert and prompt, but it’s not in the right state for learning. Beta is good for other activities such as talking, driving and playing. Then, at the lower frequencies of theta and delta (0-8 cycles per second) the brain is actually too slow to take in new learning. Alpha is just right – here your brain is slow but alert and open to learning. Researchers believe that when you are in this state of ‘relaxed alertness’, the information you take in goes directly into the subconscious mind. It’s the superlearning state.

How do you put your brain into that state? Through relaxation and music. The best is Baroque music – a 60-beat per minute music from the 17th century. But of course, even your favorite relaxation music will help.

Listen to it (again, Baroque if you can get it!) for about 30 minutes before you sit down to study. Or you can have it playing softly in the background even while you study.

Do it for a few weeks and you’ll begin to see the difference.

Rest and review
Do you know why normal class periods are usually of 40 to 45 minutes? That’s because it’s time to take a quick rest. You can't learn much by pushing your brain too hard for too long at a stretch. After every 30-to-50-minute session of study you need to take a short break – five minutes will do fine. The brain uses this downtime to make sense of what has been learned and to organize and store the stuff in their right places. And as your brain is doing its critical duties behind closed doors, you can just stretch and relax. Or if you wish, you can jump, hum or doodle. Do whatever pleases you. Just don’t study. Then, after five minutes, you’re back to work, ready to learn more.

Now something about revision. You can study like crazy, but if don’t review and revise at regular intervals, you’re wasting a lot of good energy.

Most of what you’ve learned will have gone from your head within the next 24 hours if you do not review it. Within a week or two, you may have nothing to show for it. So a smart thing to do is, after you’ve studied anything, review it immediately in about 5 to 10 minutes. Review it again in 24 hours, then again in a week and then again in a month. Each review may take less than five minutes, but this short-term investment will deposit well in your long-term memory.

Speed reading
You may think that if you read slowly and deliberately, word by word, you will understand better. But no, it works the other way round. The faster you read, the better you understand.

The brain itself is designed to understand things quite fast. Would you understand a movie better if they rolled the film fast or if they showed you one frame at a time (taking a couple of months to finish the complete movie)? Would you understand a joke better if I told you the whole thing in one shot or if I told you one word a day?

So learn to read fast. One simple way to do so is to train your eyes to jump from one group of words to another. Not glide in a straight line, but jump. You’ll find clear instructions on how to do this in the book Circle of Excellence (you can download this book free)in the section titled How to study better, learn faster and score higher.

Individual learning styles
You learn best if you follow your own learning style, of course. For example, if you are an auditory learner, then you will learn better and faster if you listen to things. Why not record all your notes and listen to them on your mp3 player? That’s a cool way to learn! You could even put the stuff into some kind of music and then sing it. Sounds good, doesn’t it?

If you are a visual learner, then you could draw pictures of what you’re learning. Design colorful mind maps rather than take the usual black-n-white notes. Make mental movies of the matter to learn and then play them in your head while you lie on the couch. That’s what you call having fun while you learn!

If you are a kinesthetic learner who has to touch or feel or do something to get a grasp on the subject, then don’t sit still and moan. Get into action. Dribble a ball while you learn. Dance while you study. Act the part. Do something!

As a student, you’re going to have to learn a lot of stuff – some of it important and relevant to life and some of it hopelessly outdated and useless stuff. But learn you must whether it’s for life or for the exams. If you adopt smart and creative ways to learn, you’ll do yourself a world of good. On the one hand, you’ll save yourself a lot of time and effort. On the other, you will score better, which counts too. On top of it all, you will develop a genuine love of learning because for you it won’t be a chore anymore, but a creative adventure. It will serve you for life.

All the best.

How to quit smoking and drinking

2011-07-24T12:23:00.005+01:00

It’s easy. I know because I have done it.

I used to smoke like a chimney and drink like a fish. I was an addict for more than fifteen years. Then one fine day I quit. No struggles, no therapies. I just quit.

Do you want to hear my story? I don’t think I will tell you because it’s long and complicated. But I will share the secret with you. It’s simple, effective and durable. So read on.

Why do people smoke?
OK, tell me, why do you smoke or drink in the first place? Is it to feel good? No, there are a thousand other ways to feel good. You wouldn’t want to engage in these damned habits to make you feel good. In fact, you don’t really feel good by blowing up your life in smoke and drowning in hell. So tell me the truth, why do you smoke or drink?

To look cool, to ‘belong’ in a certain group, to impress the opposite sex…. No, silly. Those were the reasons that got you started. You were an idiot then. But now you know better. You have grown up since then. So now why do you smoke or drink?

“Because I’m addicted!” I hear you shout. “My body wants it. I can’t help it.”

Oh, no. You don’t drink or smoke because you are addicted. You drink and smoke because you have nothing better to do. That’s it.

Yes, you have nothing better to do. If you had, then you’d be doing those ‘better’ things. You would be pursuing more wholesome desires and doing something more constructive with your life. You wouldn’t be sitting there sucking the life out of yourself.

So how can I quit?
You cannot quit by trying to quit. You have tried many times already, haven’t you? You have thrown your packet of cigarettes into the trash can and begun chewing gum. You have emptied a whole bottle of whisky down the drain and vowed never to drink again. Everyone has tried these tricks, but then you know what happens the very next day, or a couple of days later. Old habits die hard and little tricks don’t work.

What you need is something larger than the habit itself. Remember what Einstein has said: “The significant problems we face cannot be solved at the same level of thinking we were at when we created them.”

You need to take a massive decision. You need to go for a compelling change. You need to create a quantum shift. What you need is a mission.

Yes, a mission. Not a mission to quit, but a mission for your life.

Remember what I said earlier – you’re following these dumb habits because you have nothing better to do. That is to say, you don’t have a mission for your life. You’re not following your passion and you’re not going for your dreams. You’re not living your life according to your true potential. That’s why these darn little habits are eating away your life just like termites eat wood and rust eats iron.

When you build a vision for your own life and go for your dreams, these pesky little habits crumble and dissipate own their own. They lose their power. They give up themselves at your mere decision to quit.

Here’s a line from the exceptional book Little Master that sums this idea so well:
“When you know your own greatness, petty things lose their sting.”

What can I do now?
You know what to do. First decide on your mission in life. Set goals for your future. Begin working towards those goals. Then you can talk about quitting.

“But I don’t know what my mission in life is. I don’t even know if I have any goals. How do I begin?”

Well, then, it looks like we have to begin from scratch.

First, sit down and have a good look at the wreck you have made out of yourself. Then look into the future. See yourself there. See yourself as the person you want to be. What kind of life do you want to live? What do you want to achieve? See yourself living that life, having achieved what you want to achieve. See yourself as a successful person who’s living the best life you can imagine.

Yes, see yourself in the future. Project yourself five or ten years into the future. You don’t see yourself smoking and drinking there, do you? Which means, in that future time, you have already quit these nagging habits. You are successful and happy there. You are using your talents and giving value to the world. You have found your mission in life.

There you are. What you just did was get a glimpse of the possibilities. You saw yourself as having quit the habit though at the moment you don’t have the slightest idea how you did it. You saw yourself as living a successful, mission-bound life even though you don’t yet know how that could be possible.

This is the beginning. See this vision every day. It won’t be long before new avenues begin to open up for you. You’ll begin to see possibilities where it seemed none existed before. You will feel a new surge of power within you.

Let the countdown begin.
Now you begin to realize who the boss here is. Certainly not that stupid roll of tobacco or that poor glass of vodka. They had taken the power over you because you had been weak, with no direction and mission in life. But now you know better. You are the boss. And your decision rules.

So, now is the time to act. Decide on a day when you will quit once and for all. I propose that you choose a special day, such as the New Year’s Day or your birthday. It’s going to be an important occasion – the beginning of a new life for you.

On that day you bid goodbye to your habit. You don’t smoke and you don’t drink any more. You have other more important things to do in life.

But then you may feel fidgety, quirky and shaky for a few days. That’s because your old habits have left a vacuum in you and you feel off balance. You have got to fill that vacuum with the seeds of your mission.

What is your mission again? What is it that you want to achieve in life? What do you want to be, do and have? Fill your days with the thoughts of your mission and work on your goals. Use every moment of your free time acquiring new knowledge and skills. Do the things that will fuel your passion and propel you towards your mission.

In other words, replace your dead habits with new and empowering ones.

That is the way it works.

You don’t quit major habits by using minor methods. You need to apply massive force. And what greater force can there be than the vision of your own life.

Have a vision for your life first, then you’ll see how easy it will be to quit. In fact, you won’t even have to quit; the habits that don’t serve your purpose will quit themselves.

I’ll leave you now with these two resounding quotes on vision:

"Where there is no vision, the people perish." -Proverbs 29:18
“We go where our vision is.” - Joseph Edward Murphy

How to walk on fire

2011-07-24T12:12:00.012+01:00

Can anyone actually walk barefoot across a bed of red hot burning coals and not get hurt? Is it possible to take your shoes off and walk on a heap of broken beer bottles without getting a cut on your feet? Fakirs and monks from the east have been known to have achieved such feats, but how about mere mortals like you and me?

Well, I did both and lived to tell the tale and share the lessons I learned.

The first time I ever heard of firewalking was from Indra Gurung, an HR trainer and friend of mine. He had participated in one of Anthony Robbins’ firewalking seminars in Manila some years back and would often talk of his experience. I used to think to myself, don’t some people have anything better to do than walk on fire?

But then, a few days back I found myself staring at a 12-feet stretch of embers and flame, ready to take the steps. Do you think I was scared? Or was I enthusiastic and eagerly waiting for the countdown from my coach? Honestly, I was filled with Fear (yes, with a capital F), and how I wished I could just run away from the scene. But then there was no escape, with more than a hundred people cheering and prodding me from all directions. I did the 12 feet marathon and when I reached the other end there was a winning smile on my lips and not a tiniest burn on my feet.

Then I did something else. I walked over a pile of broken glass strewn on the floor, and I did it without so much as a scratch on my feet.

Tall tale? No. There was not a scar on the feet of any of the people who went through the experience. I was not an exception.

How did we do it? And why did we do it? Why would anyone in their senses ever want to walk barefoot on fire, or glass, or ice, or whatever for that matter?

Let me explain.

How is it possible?
Most promoters of fire and glass walk emphasize that you need to be in a special mental state or have an unwavering belief in order to prevent the hot coals from burning and the sharp glass edges from cutting your feet. Critics quickly point out that neither firewalk nor glasswalk has anything to do with the power of the mind, and it doesn’t really require any special mental state or ability; it all has to do with basic physics.

Going by the laws of physics, the reason you can walk on burning coals is that they are poor conductors of heat. It is the same reason why you can touch a cake baking inside an oven without being burned, but you can’t touch a metal plate inside the same oven.

Similarly, it is subtle pressure management when it comes to broken glass walk. A bed of glass is prepared with sufficient depth for the glass to be able to shift and settle as a foot is planted slowly and directly down upon it. This is somewhat similar to pressing a sharp knife with the flat of the blade against one's flesh, where considerable force may be used without injury.

A word of caution though, no matter how much physics or logic you apply, there are definitely serious risks involved in both fire and glass walks. So do not try any of them at home! To make matters clearer, swimming across a 12-feet deep pool is possible by all laws of physics, but you wouldn’t take the plunge unless you know how to swim or you have an experienced coach to guide you through the process.

Why would you do it?
In certain tribes such a practice is a part of the ritual that you can’t escape, and for the ascetics it may be a form of penance and surrender. As for Tony Robbins, Suresh Padmanavan (whose event we attended) and other life coaches, getting people to walk barefooted across a bed of red hot coals or a pile of broken glass is a way of driving home some valuable life lessons.

These people use fire or glass walk as a tool to demonstrate it to people how they can overcome their fears and limiting beliefs.

One of the most important sets of beliefs that we have are the beliefs about possibilities and impossibilities in life and these beliefs influence not only our choices, behavior and actions, but also the risks that we take and what we are willing to try. If we believe something is impossible for us, we wouldn’t even try it, would we? But once we start believing that something is actually possible, it opens up a whole new set of avenues and choices right in front of us.

The firewalk or glasswalk experience is a perfect example. People who have not seen or experienced any of them find it difficult to believe that anyone could actually walk on hot coals or broken glass without getting hurt. It seems to go against common sense and their previous experiences with hot coals or broken glass. But when they do the walk, the old belief comes crashing down, and there is a major shift in paradigm.

That’s what exactly happened with me.

What to do when someone calls you ugly and stupid

2011-07-24T12:09:00.005+01:00

I have been called ugly, stupid, dunce, failure, thief, everything. Not now of course, but in the past.

Do you think I am any of those? Not by any chance. I am a wise and handsome :) author and educator who’s into giving, rather than thieving. And I am not a failure; I am a success by any definition.

What about the people who called me those names?

Well, I don’t even bother about them because I secretly know that they were calling those names to themselves.

How’s that?

Look, it’s simple. If they were beautiful people, they wouldn’t call me ugly. Those who have beauty in them also have the vision to see the beauty in others. And if they were wise people, they wouldn’t call me stupid. Those that are truly wise have the wisdom to see the greatness in others.

I never paid attention to what they said. I knew I wasn't any of the things they said about me. So whatever they said went back to them.

Indeed, what we see in others is really what we are. It is our own reflection that we see around us – good, bad, ugly, beautiful, success, failure, everything.

In the story of Little Master, the little boy learns this lesson from the stars. He and his friends were looking at the stars when…. Well, let me give you the extract from the book itself:

Suddenly, the sky looked unusually bright. There was a flurry of flashes and blinks all over the sky. It seemed the stars were in celebration of some kind.

Then the boys and girls heard whispers and giggles up in the sky. "We are beautiful! They think we are beautiful!" It was the stars whispering among themselves.

Then a bright old star in the northern sky blinked merrily at the boys and girls as if it was trying to get their attention. When they looked at it, it simply said: "Thank you for making us beautiful." The other stars immediately broke into a beautiful chorus. "Thank you for making us beautiful!" they sang.

The little boy was thunderstruck, and so were his friends.

"We... how do we... make you beautiful?" the little boy asked in great surprise and disbelief. "You are stars and we're just human, young and little."

The stars continued to sing. "You are made of the same stuff that we are made of. Yet you are more than the stars. It is you who make us twinkle."

"Wow!" exclaimed the boys and girls in unison. "How do we do that?"

The wise old star of the north winked heartily at them and said:

"We are stars because you call us so. We twinkle because you look at us. We dance with joy for you think we are beautiful. If it weren't for you, we'd just be balls of hot swirling gases."

The old star then joined its billions of little friends in the merrymaking. They were all frisking and frolicking and turning the sky into a heaven of lights.

The little boy and his friends continued to look at the marvelous night sky for some more time. Now they had a new reason to look there: to make the stars beautiful, to get them to twinkle. They even made new stars appear in different parts of the sky.

Imagine making the stars beautiful!

But it could be true. It could be true that the beauty we see around us (including that of the stars) is really our own beauty reflected back to us. It could be true that how we see other people is really how we are. It could be true that when we call someone ugly or stupid, we are really calling that to ourselves.

So the next time you are tempted to point a finger at somebody, remember that you might be doing that to yourself. The rubbish you want to hurl at someone might land on your own nose.

But what, now I hear you scream, but what if it is the others who are calling me the names and throwing the garbage at me? It’s they who think I am ugly and stupid. I am the victim here!

Well, in that case, you have a choice: Believe what those people say to you and dutifully play the role of a victim. Or do what I did – DON’T GIVE THEM A DAMN! Let them call you a thousand names, point a million fingers at you and scream their hearts out. You hold your head high, put a smile on your lips, pray for those poor souls and walk your way. For you know the truth.

Angel in the rock

2011-07-24T12:05:00.006+01:00

There is an interesting anecdote told about Michelangelo. He had just begun work on his masterpiece David chiseling away at a huge block of marble. People who passed by looked at what he was doing and remarked: “Oh, he’s making a statue.” A young boy was particularly intrigued by what he saw. There was no sign of a statue – all he could see was an old man working painstakingly on a piece of rock. So he asked Michelangelo what he was really doing. The great master looked at the boy and said with a smile: “There’s an angel inside this rock. I’m setting him free.”
Michelangelo saw an angel where others saw a rock. He was working to set the angel free while others thought he was making a statue.

In due time, the statue was completed and people looked at it in awe. It was breathtakingly beautiful – a majestic work of art. They then looked at the hands that had shaped the statue and then at the master himself. “It’s wonderful!” they exclaimed. “You’re a genius!”

Michelangelo smiled again and simply said, “If you knew how hard I worked to get my mastery, it wouldn’t seem so wonderful at all.”

How right!

We all have a David, an angel, inside us. The angel is hiding, waiting to be discovered, wanting to be revealed. Geniuses have found their angels. Every great person in history has found and followed their own inner angel. You and I can find ours too. All it takes is a realization that there’s an angel within and some work to reveal the angel.

Yes, it takes work. Ask Michelangelo, Thomas Edison, Bill Gates. It takes work. Ask a farmer who’s weeding the crops. It takes work. Ask a woman who has just given birth to a baby. It takes work!

It takes work to be a genius, and it takes work for a genius to reveal his angel. But it won’t seem like work. When you are out to explore your potential and uncover your genius, it won’t seem like work. Because it isn’t. It is a mission. A mission worth accomplishing.

Find your angel.

All the best.

An effective technique to quit negative habits

2010-04-17T07:14:00.010+01:00

Do you have a nagging habit? Maybe you bite your nails, eat too much chocolate or smoke quite often. If you are willing to give up the habit, now is the time. The process is simple and short, just do it right, and you’re done.
We’ll take nail biting as an example here. Substitute it with your own pesky habit as you follow the instructions. Let’s start.

The first thing to identify is what goes on just before you engage in this habit. Maybe you’re studying or talking and suddenly you bring your hand up to your mouth. Is that it? OK, see the picture of your hand coming up to your mouth. We’ll call this picture one. Now keep this picture aside for a while. (Picture one is really the picture that you see of yourself doing something that prompts you to engage in the habit.)

Let’s create another picture – a picture of yourself after having quit the habit. How are you different? Do you look more confident and positive? Are you smiling and humming a tune? See this positive image of yourself in all details. This is your second picture, or picture two.

Now let’s go back to picture one. Make that picture big and bright in front of you, and turn your second picture into a small, dark dot and place it in the lower right hand corner of the big and bright first picture.

Now it’s time to do a quick ‘swish’ – the heart of the exercise. Here’s how:

Make that small, dark dot (picture two) quickly expand, growing bigger and brighter until it completely covers the first picture. At the same time, let the first picture grow dim, shrink in size and vanish. Do this part really fast, in less than a second. And say “swish” when you do it.
Now that you have swished the images, turn your screen (mental screen, obviously) blank.

Repeat the swish (brightening and expanding picture two while at the same time shrinking, darkening and obscuring picture one). Do it again and again, for at least seven times. Do it faster and faster each time, and be sure to blank the screen after every swish. Also don’t forget to say “swish”.

When you’re done with this exercise, you’re done with the unpleasant habit. Just try to see the first image (the trigger to biting your nails) and notice what happens. It won’t have the effect on you. You won’t have the urge to bite your nails.

This exercise, called the swish pattern, was developed by Richard Bandler, one of the founders of neurolinguistic programming.

You could try it for all negative habits. But for compulsive habits with disastrous consequences, such as drugs or alcoholism, do also seek professional help. Refer to Chapter 23 of the book Circle of Excellence (the chapter titled Would you smoke, drink and do drugs?) for more on this.

How to solve problems

2010-04-09T17:13:00.004+01:00

Beggars have problems. So do billionaires.
Let’s face it – problems are a part of life and you’re not spared. You’ll get your fair share to deal with.

And did you know that there’s always a solution to every problem? You have to look for it and you’ll find.

In fact, problems exist so that we may find their solutions and in the process we become better, stronger and wiser.

Next time you get a problem, try this new perspective.

The first thing you’ll see, obviously, is the ugly side of the problem. It’s the part that sucks. Let’s say you’re broke, and you can't go for that party. They’ll all have a great time while you have a dumb evening at home.

Sucks, doesn’t it?

Now, if a problem has a part that sucks, it also has a part that rocks. Yes, it always has a positive side, the side that forces us to change our ways, and makes us better in some way.

So, if you’re broke, you could look for ways to earn money. In order to earn money, you have to develop your skills. Which means, you’re going to make good use of your time. And on second thoughts, that party is a waste of time anyway. Plus, it’s the wrong group of people – the sooner you leave their company the better!

See, the problem forced you to think in new ways, didn’t it?

Now you have choices in your hand.

Do what works for you.

Once again, see what sucks (it’s glaring anyway!), find what rocks, and do what works.

Of course it won’t always be that easy. There’ll be times when your head will go blank and you can't think of what to do.

At such times, remember your goals and the vision you have for your life. Make your decision based on whether your action today will take you there tomorrow.

This way you don’t just solve the problem, you actually transcend it!

Making a difference

2010-04-09T17:10:00.004+01:00

It’s good to be popular and have an influence on people.
Then there’s something even better you can do. You can go out of your way, help people out, and make a difference in their lives. Do it expecting nothing in return.
You’ll not be popular. You’ll be great.

There are lots of people you can reach, and there are lots of ways you can help.
You can buy bread for a hungry person or books for a poor kid.

You can volunteer at orphanages, senior citizen homes, and animal care centers.
You can clean the streets in the neighborhood and paint the walls in the school.
Look around and you’ll see plenty of opportunities to help, serve, contribute, and make a difference.

Do it, and you’ll never have to bother about popularity, or self-esteem, or confidence, or anything like that.

You’ll have them all and much, much more.

You’ll be a model of excellence.

Beware of busters

2010-04-09T17:05:00.003+01:00

Have you heard about that geeky young boy who wanted to be a rocket scientist? Or about that sweet young girl who was such a talented dancer?
Well, they both got busted.

The boy couldn’t become a rocket scientist because he had to look after his family business of sheepskin exports. And the girl gave up her dream of becoming the world’s greatest dancer because she didn’t get the social approval. “Being a dancer is such a bad idea,” they told her. She’s now studying to be a dental surgeon and I hear that she’s hating it like hell.

You wouldn’t want to end up that way, would you?

You see, some people have limited vision (that’s why they are where they are!) and they can’t see the mission you have in mind. But they’ll give you advice anyway, and they’ll even try to ruthlessly unload their opinions on you.

Listen to them with a smile, and then turn around and do your own thing!

Then there are people who really care about you – your parents for example. They hate to see you fail or suffer. That’s why they want you to go for something ‘safe and secure’, like a family business or a ‘regular job’.

Can’t blame them, really. They’re a bunch of nice people.

But you can’t let them live your life!

Listen to them with a smile, and then make them understand. Show them that they can really trust you. Be an absolutely ‘good boy’ or ‘good girl’, doing everything exactly as they say except compromise on your passion, mission and dream.
Or else, you’re busted for life.