Use your brain, make goals and nudge yourself towards success in 2012!!
(Excerpt from the New Year's Eve lecture by HG Vaisesika Prabhu @ ISKCON of Silicon Valley, San Jose, California - USA)
It takes a nudgeGo over if you can all the things that you did last year, how your practice was, where you went, who you talked to, what books you read, make an honest assessment of how you did last year and write those things down and then think about what you want to do next year, what goals do you want to make, what improvements can you make, which habits do you want to form this year. You can form a new habit by just deciding ahead of time that you are going to make a new habit and then incrementally implementing it in your material life, just a little bit at a time. It takes a nudge....nudge...just a little push and you keep nudging something long enough then it will move into place. So look into places you need to nudge yourself. Nudge yourself into better sadhana, a better practice and all that leads to a better life, and to increase Krishna consciousness and happiness on all accounts.
Formula for successThe way to have disaster in life is to repeat a few bad habits every day. You may say that it is no big deal. You know we say an apple a day keeps the doctor away and you say the Hershey bar a day keeps the doctor away then, there is nothing wrong with it right now but in the future it will add up. You have to see what is going to be the effect over time. So the formula for success...
there is a formula for success just as there is a formula for good cakes and pies, the formula for success is to find out those few habits that you will repeat every day that will bring you to a higher level…that will bring you to success and then use discipline to implement those habits into your life. They don't have to be huge. You don't have to be great. You just have to find some good habits and implement them. Even if you start on that smallest scale that you can imagine and that smallest increment is nudge.You start with a little nudge, going towards the good habits at least you should know what they are and if you write them down and endeavor for that…that is the formula for success. A few good habits repeated everyday and over a week , over a month, over 6 months, over a year you'll notice the difference and everyone else will too …..you can do this in any sphere of your life.
Think, Think, ThinkWhen you make your goals it is a good idea to look into different categories of your life, how you are doing in your communications with your spouse or with your family members how would you like to improve those over time how are you doing with your health lot of people fall apart when they start getting around 40 or 50 or 60 years old but there are some improvements you can make … you can change..you don't have to be the same as when you walked in here today. Everyone can make a difference but it takes brain work.In human being, the primary factor is the brain, not the legs, not the arms but it is the brain so you sit down and do little brain work .One good way to do this is to take a legal pad and a pen and jsut sit there and start brainstorming and write down all the things that you did last year..things you want to improve. Think about it. Just think, think, think and that is the power of the human brain and then decide. To make a goals there is a simple formula-decide what you want and write it down. If you do that and consolidate your thoughts then it is like the rudder it will send you in a certain direction in your life.
Do it now!Now is the good time to do it before the year starts. Because before you know it, if you don't nail it down, when you look down then it is going to be april and then you'll think oh well I'll do it next year.So take some time , schedule sometime today or tomorrow to sit down with yourself , with your spouse, with your family members and write down some things. Just get them down then you'll see you have a profound change in your life. I know that Prabhupad kept a little book , he made goals all the time . If you look back into his old letters, he had all kinds of plans & goals for what today is the International Society for Krishna Consciousnes , He wrote them down, he categorized things, he looked at it carefully and I saw on his little book in Vrindavan….he wrote down some notations like….meet the queen of England… & this and that...So if you write them down then you'll start gravitating towards those things .That is the great excitement of being a human being. Use your brain , make goals and nudge yourself towards success, gradually you'll attain all things in Krishna Consciousness and in every other aspect of your life.
Srila Prabhupad Ki Jai!
Gaura Bhakta Vrianda Ki Jai!!
(Excerpt from the New Year's Eve lecture by HG Vaisesika Prabhu @ ISKCON of Silicon Valley, San Jose, California - USA)With Gratitude,
Your Servant,
Gandharvika