I wish I could travel back in time. I wish I could re-visit my early years and fix some things. Is that what you think sometimes when life isn’t the same or life is tough to you. I am sure many of us think that ways, and desire to change some things in the past which are probably affecting our present situation in life. Well, you can’t, you cannot travel back in time, nor you can visit your past, unless and until you have a time machine or a time device that could take you back in the past, as you see in a lot of sci-fi movies. Unfortunately, we can’t time travel, we can’t visit our past. But we surely can learn some life lessons that would make our present super awesome than the past. This video is all about that. Hi, I am Aakash and today I am gonna talk about simple ways to make your life way more awesome.
Time is the most important currency in life
Now we all are perplexed or confused what to choose between the Money and Time. We all want more of money & more of time, but usually, to make more money, you’ll certainly need to invest more time and to have more free time it usually costs you more money. So the million dollar question is which is more important? Time or Money? Come on let’s look at an example – Say if your boss came up to you and said: “Right then son, the company is growing and we want to increase your working hours from 30 to 40 hours per week, and we’ll increase your salary from say $15000 to $20000.” What would you do in that situation? Well some years back If I were you when I was immersed in the corporate world, I would’ve jumped and said “yes” to this offer, no questions asked whatsoever. I didn’t care, that I was going to be working like more hours, as long as I had a paycheque that was going to be bigger at the end of the month, I was happy. Money was my driving factor, and in my head, money was far more important for me. However, as I am doing this video on Skillopedia, today, I think differently, and now firmly value my time over money. Don’t get me wrong, of course, I still value having and earning money, but in situations, like we saw just now, time will always be the influencing factor, at least for me now. Now, why do I think in such a way now? What has changed for me over the years? Well, it really has come down to the experiences I’ve been through. People are unique with their own past experiences, and a lot of you people probably won’t agree with me, but let me explain why I think time is more valuable than money.
I had a family friend who spent much of his time saving up money to later live the life he always wanted. After years of saving, he was involved in a tragic car accident. He never had the chance to live the life he always dreamed of. Money is important, but time is even more important. Our time is limited. In fact, we could fall down and die tomorrow, we just don’t know. This realisation that we don’t live long is why I treat time very preciously, and actively use it to seek new experiences in life. You may love going to work, and that’s fine, you should, but what after your working hours, have that time to learn new things. Life is a continuous learning process in itself. For example, learn a new language, learn how to break dance, learn how to strum a guitar or learn how to take amazing photographs. There are millions of learning opportunities in this world right now and most of these can be learned by yourself free of cost. Overworked hours and having less time means you’re saying no to new learning opportunities, which you never know in the future, might lead to something amazing and something great!
Be the great person you are meant to be
You’re weird. You’re unique. You’re different and you know what that’s awesome. Be the great person you were meant to be. It’s human nature to have a desire to be liked and accepted by everyone, so I understand why we try to please people. If someone likes you for a complete fabrication of your personality that you have created – and imagine they don’t even know who the real you is – what’s the point? I’d rather have few close friends who like the Real Me than have a lot of friends who like the fake person in me. Because I have no patience for or I could say I have very little interest in trying to make every single person happy.
I don’t want to be anybody, I just want to be me, because that person in me is awesome, and trying to be anything else would make me feel like a big loser. Just Knock it off. Do you really want to censor yourself? Forget about that shit. If someone can’t accept you for who you really are, it’s their problem and it’s their loss. Be yourself and make connections with people who DO love and accept you as you are.
You know what when I was young, I used to smile during conversations all the time, even when I wasn’t feeling happy. I thought, “This will make people more comfortable talking to me because I look happy all the time.” Then one day, one of my best friends pulled me aside and gave me some sage advice (I’m paraphrasing it for you) he said, “Hey buddy, you know, sometimes when I think something isn’t funny, I don’t laugh for the sake of laughing. If I don’t find something interesting or I’m not happy at the moment, I won’t smile, either. I want to show people exactly what I feel.”
Now that was a game changing moment for me. Ever since then, I’ve always tried to do exactly that. I want people’s experience with me to be 100% genuine and transparent. After all, isn’t that the best way to deeply connect with someone? Be authentic. Be yourself. Be all the awesomeness you were meant to be.
See, Life is a like a journey of becoming the highest version of who you are, and no one gets it right every time. We all have shaky moments. We all have bright moments. We all go through ups and downs and experience scary upsets in life. If you are who you are, you can always come back to who you are, because your true personality never wavers with the wind. In moments of fear or uncertainty, give yourself a gentle tap and say, “I’m enough no matter what.” So guys just be yourself.
Dump the emotional baggage
Maybe you did something really mean or nasty in the past that you regret now… but please realise we are all humans, and hence make mistakes in life, nobody is perfect. The most important thing is to learn from your mistakes and move on. Whatever mistake you made, how grave the mistake was, don’t let yourself become emotionally paralysed by it. Did you say sorry for it, Did you feel sorry for it. Did you own up to it? And did you try to make amendments after that? If you have done that, just forgive yourself.
I’m fully aware you must be thinking, it’s easier to say than actually doing it. What if the person involved doesn’t forgive you – if you’ve done everything in your power and limits to fix things, what else can you do? You need to move forward. Have you sat in a roller coaster? Life is just like that, Life is like a roller-coaster of adventure with sharp twists and turns, and extreme ups and downs that can rock your emotional balance. If you hold on to your emotional baggage, you are just limiting your true potential. Whatever that thing is that you can’t get out of your head… it’s time to let it go. And be the awesome, awesome person you are meant to be.
Listen to your body signals
Well if you can’t take care of yourself, you won’t be able to take care of anyone else. Treat your body as your number one priority and how do you do this? Be conscious of how your body feels. I love cupcakes. I love chicken nuggets. I love burgers. You know some years back, I used to eat tonnes of this stuff and would feel just fine. Seriously, guys, I used to eat like what, 36 chicken nuggets in one go! And nowadays, if I eat any of these, my body feels off. Your body sends you signals all the time when you eat. Pay attention to them and nourish your body. You probably won’t be perfect. I’m not. I still eat a burger from time to time. But if you try to keep your body healthy, you’ll be in much better shape long-term.
There was a time I used to weigh around what 110 kilos. My eating habits were absolutely bad, no perfect time for eating, I used to eat a lot of junk food and in some years I got those extra tyres around my waist. One day I saw some teenagers cycling and I asked them if I could ride the cycle, well I hadn’t cycled for years now. These guys hesitated, maybe looking at my weight they were worried, I may damage their cycle tyre and exactly the same thing happened. Well, I didn’t damage the cycle tyre, but my own ankle, when I lost balance and landed on the ground, and the cycle over me and my whole weight on my ankle fracturing it to an extent, that I was one month with my right leg up in the air.
Now that’s the time I realised, It’s now or never, what’s restricting me from enjoying these simple things in life, well it was my weight and what’s stopping me from getting rid of that. That rang a bell; I joined a gym, changed my eating habits, went on a strict diet and lost around what 40 Kgs in 6 months. I felt so awesome, my complete wardrobe changed, I looked very energetic. I was a new me with recharge and a new battery in me ready to take on challenges in life head on.
Make time to exercise by establishing a daily routine. We are creatures of habit. Create good habits when it comes to working out. One way I was able to consistently work out is to have it on my schedule for 6:30 Am every day before my work starts. I also gave up my car in the city, I live in Mumbai, so for short distances, I gave up my car. So the only way for me to get home was walking or cycling. So, guys, health is your number one priority, don’t neglect that beautiful creation.
The world is massive – Explore it
It’s a Big World Out There! Stop Doing the Same Things All the Time. Remember that Chinese joint near your house, is really great when it comes to food, It has awesome drink specials, why would you eat anywhere else? Or your family’s been visiting to the same Chinese joint for last 5 years, and it’s like tradition. Birthdays, special days, That’s the place you are meant to visit, its like a thumb rule. But there are SO MANY cool things in this world! If your life is like a CD that rewinds the same thing over and over again, every single week… you’re missing out on everything this world has to offer.
Come on Go to that new Mexican joint, even though the food is not great there, You’ll never know until you try. Even better, check out a food joint with a cuisine you’ve never tried before. The world is massive. Why the hell would you go to the same single place, out of approximately thousands or even millions of places, over and over again? Why get stagnant with the same things in life. Explore, there’s lot out there. Even if it is watching a new TV show at night, try something new every day. Constantly have new experiences and really appreciating them is a great way to feel awesome because you will feel like more of a risk taker and you will constantly be learning new things about yourself.
Put aside the smart 5-inch screen
I was waiting to board my flight from Mumbai to Singapore. I was looking at my phone and after getting mentally tired from staring at my phone screen for an obscene amount of time, maybe I was staring for around what 1 1/2 hours with only small breaks in between. Then I decided to look at everyone around me. Guess what I saw? Thousands of people with their heads down looking at their phones. Sometimes surfing the internet to get a lot of information on demand isn’t always a good thing. The next time you have dinner with your friends, put your phone down. You’ll probably have a great conversation and a lot of laughs. The next time your father, your mother, your spouse tells you about his or her day, really listen to what they are saying. There’s a lot to learn and bond. The next time you’re travelling in a foreign country, experience the amazing culture and immerse yourself. Learn the language. Uhh..try different local foods joints. And put the phone down, unless and until you’re taking an amazing Instagram photo.
Less is more and more is better.
Less is more and more is better. So first let’s look at why Less is more – now when it comes to stuff, we don’t need a lot of it. Somewhere along the way, we were told that accumulating material goods or I could say acquiring material things resulted in happiness. Well, money will be absolutely important for basic necessities like food, shelter, having a bike or car for transport. These are basic necessities in today’s world, but using the money to accumulate excessive of that doesn’t typically equate to happiness. Such as having two cars or bikes and one of them is always parked in the garage, because you can only drive or ride one car or one bike at a time.
Now guys, too many things have administrative debt. What do I mean by this? So you Have a lot of clothes? The debt is you need to have a bigger wardrobe or a closet. Do you have too many cars? The debt is a high insurance premium for those cars, costly maintenance packages and one fine day the value of these material things are certain to depreciate and not appreciate. Clean out that clutter and donate it. Ask yourself, “Do I really need this? This question will certainly get you closer that awesomeness.
Now More is better – wait, didn’t I say “less is good?” and now I am saying More is better, Are you confused, well don’t be confused, there’s an exception to that rule. More is better, at least when it comes to experiences. Getting rid of that extra stuff will save you a lot of money, you could travel the world, you can expand your horizons. You can learn new cultures and redefine the way you see the world. Who knows, you might even meet the love of your life while travelling. Remember, money used for experiences can be life changing.
Dip your toes into the water
There is a risk in not taking a risk. It’s called stagnancy. When I was young, I was really afraid of taking risks. I was afraid to join new start ups, even after studying technology. I saw a friend of mine join a really hot direct marketing company, and he somehow convinced me to take the jump. Now when I joined this marketing firm that sold technology products, of course, leaving my engineering job, it was one of the best decisions of my life. I went into a role with a steep learning curve, I learned how to build a business unit right from the scratch, I met people from all walks of life, and met some of the most amazing people at work, in fact, some will be my friends for life.
The reality is that you usually can’t be 100% certain about anything until you actually experience it. So you need to dip your toes into the water. Me being an engineer got into something that was totally different, that was direct sales, which included cold calling where customers generally refuse you straight on your face. But this step proved to be a turning point in my life, it made me confident, it made me an extrovert. It made me ready to face challenges in life. It helped me set up an education business right from the scratch. In life, we are always scared to take risks. So friends don’t be afraid to take risks, I am sure you are gonna be awesome. But also remember to take smart risks – maybe you shouldn’t dip that toe in the water. Not all risks are worth taking. Think about the expected value you can get by taking that risk and make sure it’s a smart bet. Don’t be foolish and take a risk that doesn’t have the appropriate upside. Do as much due diligence as you can well in advance.
Now as per our daily routine, it is not possible that the each day we spend working or chilling can be tagged as an awesome day of our life. There are these little things we do daily specify that the day we are enjoying is one of the best days of our life. Those little things may differ from person to person, but I am sure each one of us can make our day awesome and amazing.
Well, that’s all for today, I hope you like this video, click the like button, share the awesomeness with your friends and folks, subscribe to Skillopedia and press the bell icon so that you don’t miss on some of the awesome videos we make for you. I’ll catch you soon with another great video, till then you stay just awesome.
