Have you ever wondered the most common reason for unhappiness amongst people? The general middle class mass of population like you and me who otherwise have a respectable job in the market, a place to stay, food to eat, the luxury of an occasional holiday that they take with family…still somewhere all of us are not really happy with life, isn’t it? The mid-life crisis situation with the questions ‘What am I doing?’ or ‘Why am I doing this?’ always haunt us, or the universal frustration and tiredness with work and life in general are all too common, right? But why?
We let life happen to us
Why is it that most people are not really happy and content with their life as they are?
Let me answer you. The real reason is because most of us never really take charge of our own life but we let life happen to us. The secret to being successful, rich, satisfied with what you do, to be happy and content lies in taking direct action instead of just sitting back and letting life happen to you.
Many people write to me to ask what the secret of my success is. And it is precisely this. If you see my past life, you’ll see that I’ve never really let life take charge of me. Whenever such a situation arose, somehow I have always turned around, taken some direct action and taken control of my life back.
For example, when I left Engineering, it was a big decision, a ‘direct action’ with which I stopped the usual ‘engineer-job-seeker-white-collar job-yet frustrated’ life happen to me. When I started my magazine, it was also a direct action away from what was expected from me, towards starting something new, fresh, something that I know I can be good at, not something that people expect me to be doing. And as you know, each and every time I have been rewarded with success and wealth.
3 golden rules
I follow these 3 golden rules that I feel lets me get the better of life and not the other way round. Follow these to take direct control on your own life and happiness.
Passion Identification: Just think about what you can do in your entire life. What is it that you would never get tired of? Remember, we are not talking about a hobby here. Try and identify your true passion that makes you feel that you’ve done something worthwhile. Once you’ve found that, leave everything else and follow that.
Strength Assessment: Identify what you are good at. Remember, this is not what ‘people think’ you are good at or not what ‘people want’ you to be good at. Put all these social filters away and go deep down within yourself. What is it that you ‘know’ that you’re good at? Design your career around it.
Turn Around Time: When you feel you are letting life happen to you, don’t let yourself go into the despair flow. It’s time to stand steadfast and rock solid and then turn around. Wherever you are and whatever the situation, take a direct action that is going to help you take control of your own life. If you get bogged down by little difficulties then, try and look at the bigger picture. Ask yourself what amongst them would be important when you would be on your death bed at 80? You’ll see, most of the troubles would seem meaningless and would vanish, leaving you free to pursue your passion and your dream from that point onwards.
