The child is grown, the dream is gone.

A friend of mine posted on facebook

"The child is grown, the dream is gone."

 It means a lot.

A Plan is a Plan only if it is thorough & written

I thought, "Well I know what I am going to do in next 7 days, I don't need to spend time on writing that on a piece of paper with hourly target, that's waste of time. I would rather spend that time on achieving my target".

I was so wrong. I drifted. There was no clear goal. I felt I could easily achieve what I am set out for in few hours of day and wont require full 24 hours.

Let me confess friends, I didn't utilize last 3 days. It went wastefully. I had no target to motivate me. I spent time leisurely. Now I am doubtful if I will be able to achieve what I wanted as the no. of days have suddenly shortened.

Every time I miss on plan, I remember an incident from my job days where I was in the committee of people arranging for business event for the employees and I saw my manager going by nanoseconds( OK, I exaggerated but it was surely in seconds), on each event timing and execution. Initially I thought, what a fool he is to be so pricking but after the wonderful success of the event I realized how right he was and what role his thorough plan played.

Unless I change myself it is going to happen repeatedly. As said in one quote "Life will keep repeating the lessons until you learn from it".

Why Start Early

Recently I learned the importance of "starting early". One morning I woke up at my first alarm and not waited for second alarm which was due 15 mins later. I told myself, "Amit, it is good to start early" and I was up and got myself ready for the conference I had to attend in Boston.

After I got ready, I waited for public transport but none were in sight and when I looked up their website, it was day off for them. Little anxious, I called up campus police for escort service and they were not servicing either. The lady police suggested if she could get me cab but I said "No, it will be very expensive. Thank You." Now, I decided to walk to railway station as it would take 45 mins which means I will be reaching 3 mins before my train departs from my station.

The good part was, I was not anxious but very calm and steady. With confidence to catch the train, I was walking briskly and kept my GPS on to help me correct in case I was going in wrong direction or path which was not shortest. On the way I asked a lady (who was about to enter her car) for directions to train station just to be doubly sure. My mental directions got confirmed and I resumed my journey. After sometime, while walking down the street I saw the same lady waving and asking if I need ride and I said "Only if you are going in same direction" and hopped inside she car. A small talk followed where she said "I still believe in giving lift to people even though the world has become a big crime place now". I nodded but at the same time got into thinking, "The problems are the same be it India or US. US is 100 times safer than India in terms of police response to crime but look here I am meeting someone who is bothered with the exact same thing what people back home are bothered with. Isn't life problems are similar(if not same) everywhere." Anyways we reached the station and I bid he goodby and thanked her. Next I had to wait for half and hour for my train. In the mean time I spent time reading a conference paper my professor asked me to read and give my opinion.

Coming back to the motivation of this blog, I realized that this control over the situation is due to the fact that I woke up in the first alarm and not waited for final alarm to buzz. This gave me lot of time and I was capable of absorbing any unforeseen situation. Doing things early could be boring and its benefits are mostly unnoticed until we start cramming in last moment which results in stress and anger and frustration and god knows what not.

P.S. It takes me more than one experience to change and hence I am not sure if this will change me.

I Dare

Let the New Year Begin with many Dares...

P.S : NYE = New Year Eve.