May 7
This entry is part 1 of 1 in the series Weight loss and Fitness

Do you want to make changes to the way you look? Are you fed up with being overweight and deep down inside worried about people really think about you? (Even though they may not be thinking anything but in your mind they are.) Are you fed up with getting to the top of the stairs and being exhausted? Are you tired of not feeling attractive to the opposite sex?

A while back I mentioned that I wanted to started posting a series based on weight loss, fitness training, exercise for overweight people who weren’t sure how to being the process of changing their physical state and for anyone else who wanted to begin a new chapter with their physical condition.

When I began my journey just over three years ago I was in terrible shape, and that is putting it mildly, however I know that there are people in much worse shape than I was. Starting a new regime is easy and sticking to it is only the beginning of the challenge. Initially the weight drop will be fast and easy but then that will slow and plateau. Then there will be motivation issues and other temptations to contend with.

Everyone once in a while feels the surge of energy to act and make changes but that doesn’t last long if preparations aren’t made to maintain the enthusiasm for undertaking a new personal project. There are ways to combat this and I’ll share more of those a little later on. Then there things that pop up out of the blue that will also hinder your progress such as injuries and they can at times be soul destroying as you’re making such good progress it is very often at those times that injuries occur, almost as a test to your resolve.

There are many methods of weight loss and I have friends who tried varied weight loss systems that involve eating bars and shakes for breakfast lunch and dinner. Some have had success and some have had temporary success and some have had no success because sticking to those programs involves enormous amounts of will power and resistance.

I’m going to be offering you my suggestions and principles that should hopefully make the slimming down fun, easy, and gradual. If you expect massive losses consistently you’re kidding yourself. This process can take months and sometimes even years however time will become irrelevant because you’ll be enjoying what you’re doing so it will become part of your overall lifestyle rather than just something you do for a few months and then eventually give up.

The keys here are variety, enjoyment sustainability and pleasure. If you incorporate these four keys slimming down does become a breeze; something that you don’t have to even think about and something that doesn’t make you feel guilty just because you happen to miss a day!

To begin with:

1) Most people would say start by creating a goal. I say forget that for now and just make a start. The more specific goal setting can come later but for now just make your goal to start exercising whilst having some fun!

2) Find something energetic that you ENJOY doing! It can be a sport, going to the gym, walking, swimming, running etc pretty much anything you like that you like! ;-) Start doing it on a regular basis!

3) However, here is something that is extremely important and it’s a mistake most people make when undertaking a new program like this. Many people exercise until they get tired and end up having that achy feeling for the next few days. When that happens they feel reluctant to continue exercising because they’ve anchored that feeling into their body. It doesn’t last but if that happens for the first few sessions it’s what beginners remember the most and it’s that feeling which then puts them off maintaining that program.

Here’s the key: Exercise to the point where you are enjoying the exercise and stop well before the point of feeling tired! Do this for the first few months! Yes, you heard me right, the first few months especially if right now you’re classed as being ‘overweight’. This has a few objectives: i) It Anchors the feeling of enjoying exercise. ii) It gives your body the time to get used to the exercise especially for your joints. iii) You won’t be put off the exercise because you won’t have the exhausted feeling that can come from vigorous exercise.

I can’t stress enough how important it is for you to find something you enjoy doing. Enjoyment is the best motivation tool there is. It doesn’t matter what else you try and use as leverage on yourself; whether that be money, becoming more desirable to the opposite sex, or just to look good, nothing will beat sheer enjoyment. Let me explain what I’m talking about. When it comes to exercise badminton is my passion. If my body could allow me to play more then I would probably play 24 hours a day 7 days a week. If I had the choice between a hot date and badminton, badminton would win hands down every time! :lol:

That brings me onto my final point. Plenty of people come up to me and tell me: “Amit, I need to lose weight for the summer so I’m going to join the gym!” At this point, I debate about whether to roll around on the floor laughing for the next 15 minutes or whether to explain to them direct. The former never goes down that well so let me go ahead and explain the latter.

As I mentioned earlier, the greatest motivational force is pure enjoyment. When you enjoy something you never have to even think about getting up to do it, you just, do it! Thinking that the fact that £50 is coming out of your bank account is going to be enough of a motivator to get you to go to the gym then you’re deluding yourself. Here’s the rub: Get into the habit of exercising now without a gym. If you can do that for 3 months, then fine, go ahead and join the gym and go use the variety of equipment and classes. Until that point though firmly establish your good habits first and then decide on longer term commitments later. If you absolutely feel the need to join the gym then ask them gym if they do a trial membership for a month or so before they tie you into long contracts which you later cannot get out of.

These are the first few steps to take. Make a start now and do what I said and you’ll find that you enjoy the process of exercising and losing weight rather than feeling like it is a chore of necessity.

Part two coming soon! ;-)

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Apr 21

Personal Development and the bigger picture

Whatever your perception of the world, there is an undeniable truth in that the change comes from within. Everyone will see the world in a different way, some people will choose to focus on the economic crisis, some will choose to focus on the the upheaval in Tibet,some will choose to focus on the political situation in Zimbabwe and some will focus on the rising fuel prices. Where does Personal Development fit into the the current climate?

It boils down to whether we choose to focus on the symptom or the cure. Personal Development is the cure whereas each individual problem is just the symptom of a greater underlying problem. Trying to tackle each issue one by one is kind of like masking the symptom with pain killers. It never gets to the root of the issue. The solution is understanding. A broader scale understanding that we are all one and have just this one home to share.

Do you see your family as just those around you that share a home with? Or do you see every single soul on this planet as not just an extended family but an immediate family? Try observing a stranger on the street as someone who is part of your immediate family. You will be amazed at the difference it makes to the way you feel about them. Suddenly they’re no longer a threat to you. As soon as you look at the physical differences of language or culture or skin colour or any difference, those differences can make you feel the need to arm yourself. Whereas if choose to look at the similarities instead of the differences a whole different world opens up to you.

Think of them as human just as you are. Think of them as someone who is just trying to find a purpose just as you are. Think of them as someone who is trying to make a lively hood just as you are. Think of them as someone who is creating opportunities just as you are. Think of them as someone who would like to enjoy life and experience some variety. Think of them as someone who believes they are significant just as you do yourself.

Can you feel the shift within you already?

This is where the path of Personal Development makes inroads to the relationships between all beings on this small planet. It begins with a small shift and so, if we can start with ourselves, those beliefs and attitudes spread and eventually will create mass change, especially if we educate our children this way.

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Apr 17

Meeting Deepak Chopra

On Monday I had the wonderful pleasure of seeing Deepak Chopra speak personally at a seminar in London.

For those who don’t know who Deepak Chopra is, he is a medical doctor by profession but over the years has fused eastern medicine with quantum physics and has developed his own philosophy on the mind-body-spirit connection. He has written over 50 books in which he very wonderfully and succinctly explains the connections in a way which even a child could understand.

His talk was lively, entertaining and very informative. He shared some very interesting facts about the make up of the human body and how within two years every atom in our body is completely replaced and so in essence; we are completely different. So what is it that retains the information that allows me to still know myself as Amit Sodha? ;-)

During the talk we had a brief 10 minute meditation in which all we did was repeat the words to ourselves in silence “I am”. So simple and yet it was so powerful. It also reminded me of a blog post in my ‘100 Days of Wisdom‘ series from day 2.

I was so engrossed in his discussion that I didn’t take many notes but he did share 15 thoughts at the end which I wanted to also share here too. I was scribbling as fast as I could and so I believe I captured all the messages correctly but if you think I missed something please do let me know.

1) There are hidden dimensions to our existence

Jesus - The Kingdom of Heaven is within you.

2) The world is in you

Jesus - Be the world and not of it.

3) There are 4 paths to unity

Jesus - For my yoke is easy and my burden is light

4) All fulfillment comes from within

Jesus - Ask and you will receive

5) Suffering is the result of not knowing the true reality

Jesus - Forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us

6) Freed comes from choiceless awareness

Be still and know that I am god

7) The world is a mirror of the self

Jesus - As you sow, so shall you reap

8 ) Evil is not our enemy , evil is the personal and collective shadow

Jesus - Resist not evil

9) You live in multi dimensions

Jesus - In my fathers house there are many mansions

10) Death makes life possible

Jesus - You must be born from above

11) The universe thinks through you

Jesus - You are the light of the world

12) The only time is now

Jesus - You are the light of the world

13) You are truly free when you are not a person; we all exist in consciousness

14) Consciousness conceives, governs, constructs and becomes reality through synchronicity, self interaction and karmic connections.

Jesus - For where there are two or three gathered in my name - I will be there

15) The goal of life is unity consciousness and transcending the limitations of space, time and causality.

Jesus - What does it profit a man to gain the world and to lose his soul.

If you didn’t get to see him this time join me in setting a very powerful intention for him to return in the very near future! :-D

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Mar 15

Be afraid!

To put yourself into a position of fear is actually a good thing. Doing so on a regular basis is even better. Putting yourself in stressful situations is not and there is a very distinct difference!

The fear factor is wonderful! It’s the mechanism that tells us that we’re experiencing something new and something that is challenging us on every level. I had extreme fear the first time I went up to do the ‘Firewalk’ and I can in all honesty that it wasn’t the kind you associate with stress. It was a very different kind of feeling, I was very excited but scared at the same time.

That kind of fear is good for us; it’s when you do the thing that was giving you fear in the first place that you experience growth!

Stress based fear is very different and more often that not comes from being unprepared. You cannot be prepared for everything but you can prepare for most things that you know are coming your way and hence eliminate the majority, if not all, the forthcoming stress. Being prepared is probably the main key to the this and planning ahead also plays a big role.

You can also change your mindset and covert the stress into the healthy kind of fear by simply remembering that it is a challenge that is going to make you grow. It can be for anything too; like buying your first house or going for a job interview.

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Mar 13

Hey everyone,

For anyone who’s been wondering where I’ve been for the last three weeks, as previously mentioned, on the 9th of March I completed my double whammy challenge of not only running the half marathon, but also performing my second stand-up comedy gig.

As you can probably imagine the last few weeks have been intense. Not only was I training for the run physically and preparing for it mentally, I was also re-writing my stand-up set and also rehearsing it too.

—–

I entered the Adidas Silverstone Half Marathon and I’m pleased to say that I ran all the way without stopping or walking in 2h40m. I was running at a pace to complete it much faster than that but when I got to the 10mile mark I was utterley exhausted and I had to drop my pace considerably to make sure I finished. It was more than double the distance I’d ever run in my life! Last year I ran the 10K Great Capital race and after I had done it I didn’t continue with the running. I started running again approximately 8 weeks ago and I got back into it quite quickly as I mentioned in one of my previous articles.

This time I decided to raise money for a charity called Children Walking Tall and have thus far raised approximately £400. I was elated with myself that I did it but for me the challenges will not stop there! I’m already looking into doing another in October in preparation for the full marathon next year.

This was of course…just my pre dinner time challenge…my day didn’t stop there! Oh no! :lol:

Next was the Humili-Asian comedy gig as a follow on from the one we did in December last year.

Not a lot of people realise this, and to be honest, neither did I until recently, but the biggest challenge, was not the events themselves, but taking good care of my thoughts before and after both events. You’ll understand once I start explaining what happened.

About a week and a half before the big day, I found out that that half marathon started at noon. Without going into too much detail; it basically meant that I didn’t have much time inbetween both challenges to rest, eat, recouperate etc. So it was there that my next challenge began; trying to not let the worry of time get the better of me! Of course, at the same time I was still training, preparing myself mentally, studying human anatomy, finding out how best to keep myself fit, energised, healthy and injury free during the run.

I wanted to improve on my stand-up routine from the last time so I began the process of adding, deleting, re-writing and polishing off the routine. This took as much time as the my first attempt of comedy set writing. Even though I had previously memorised my routine, I had now forgotten 90% of it and so I had to begin the process all over again of imprinting it into my brain. It was quite funny as during this process I noticed that I couldn’t help let slip some bits of my old routine, which I also ended up doing on the night; although I don’t think anyone noticed. I certainly did though!

During this whole time I could feel the onset of stress and anxiety. As the clocked ticked and the days passed; it steadily increased! I was nervous because I wasn’t sure if I was ready or fit enough to run the half marathon. I was nervous and scared because I did quite well at my first stand up gig and I wasn’t sure that I could repeat that performance! Loads of little niggly thoughts started to peck away at the back of my mind!

I realised then that my mind was clouding with all these random thoughts and that was resulting in me feeling quite, heavy, depressed and nervous. It didn’t have to be that way; that only came from where I was choosing to focus my thoughts. Many people feel that where there thoughts flow from and to is not really through choice and that is true right now; it’s conditioning! To change you have to choose to change. If you want to shift your thought patterns then it begins with the decision and then the conditioning comes later. It’s like a smoker that successfully gives up smoking; they have to decide that they want to give up smoking first and then after that they find a way. I gave up coffee by changing my thinking; it began with my choice or my decision to make a change. It is the greatest power by far that we humans possess.

To achieve that kind of mental clarity and balance is not easy but it is essential if you want the repeated results you’ve been getting in your life to change. Without doing so you will find yourself having moods and getting very easily upset or depressed.

Sunday arrived and I was still not quite 100% prepared for the day. I didn’t feel nervous about the run and all through the race I felt relatively relaxed and calm and even though I did struggle, I knew that I would be able to finish the race running. During the run though I was still heavily focused on my stand-up set because I felt like I wasn’t quite ready. I felt like my material wasn’t quite up to scratch and that I wasn’t quite ready to perform.

When the time for me to perform arrived it was the thoughts of self doubt that kept me from being at my best. Even though I got plenty of laughs I knew that it wasn’t quite as good as it could have been and that came down to one factor and one factor only; taking care of my thinking before, during and after the event! I did well and even though I was faced with a few surprises I handled then all well. Experience has taught me though that having mental clarity and flow will always lead to much more fruitful results. If you want to be at your best during something, you have to be at your best before it too.

If you find that your thoughts are like a runaway train learn to apply the brakes and change your focus. If you feel like you’re experiencing worry it’s because you’re focused on results you do not wish to occur. If you’re stressed it’s because your thoughts are tuning into the worst case scenarios. It’s a that moment you need to set your personal wake up clcok and say to yourself: “snap out of it *insert name here*!” :lol: And that’s when you have the opportunity, if you choose to, to change your thinking. You can now focus on what you want to occur, what result you would like or even things like what you could do better or remembering the reason why you’re there in the first place! The choice is yours!

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Feb 14

Results Vs Process Driven.

The title of this topic might be a tad bit misleading so straight away let me clarify what I mean by results Vs proccess driven. When I refer to results I’m referring to people who do focus on the end result only and their mind stays focussed on solely that throughout the entire task. The one who is process driven is focussed solely on exactly that, the proccess, which ultimately meanders away from the result and it is they who end up being the ones who experience lethargy and entropy. It’s not always the case but from what I understand of the way the mind works more often than not it is.

When you focus on the result or outcome, your vision and purpose remain clear. You keep, in the forefront of your mind, the reason why you undertook the task at hand. When you remember the purpose or the “why” and you remain focussed on that, you eliminate any trace of burden, of worrying about the specific tasks that you need to do to attain the result you desire. You’re fully aware and still get on with them, but you no longer get caught up in, shall we say, the menial stuff.

When you focus on the process, more often than not, you lose your drive because you can often forget why you’re doing the task your doing and thats when you start to feel the resistance and the drag co-efficient of your lack of purpose. It’s happened to me and I’ve seen it happen to many people. We create a grand idea, dream or vision and then during the process the dream is forgotten about and then suddenly, unconsciously it’s all become about the process and you’ve forgotten the the very thing that was driving you in the first place.

Get back to the result. Make it grand and lucid. Write it out in big bold letters on a huge sheet of A3 and put it somewhere you see it every single day! Remind yourself of it every single day! Keep a small notepad with you wherever you go and regularly write down and remind yourself of the vision and the purpose that initially got you jump started and into gear.

Ready? Tomorrow I’ll talk about how to enjoy the process! ;-)

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Jan 22

This post was inspired through the recent work I’ve been doing on the radio and some of the articles I’ve been reading in the tabloids regarding certain celebrities. Now, I don’t always believe what I read, especially from the tabloids, but I do know that celebrities will face challenges, in a very different way, to you or I on a daily basis.

What separates them from us? In reality, nothing, but we’ve designed a culture where they’re treated so differently which often stems from one of two poor perceptual constructs: 1) The way they look. 2) How much money they have. What happens then is that a celebrity will often need to meet the high levels of expectations which are created for them. There are many other factors but these two, more often than not, shape our attitudes towards these unique individuals who are fulfilling their dreams and doing the thing that they love most!

They will often be judged in various ways but a common theme that I hear often is: “They have so much money, how can they have anything to be worried about or complain about anything or lack anything or not be happy?” That suggests to me that there are still people out there that believe that money will bring them all the happiness they desire when the reality is that money is only part of the equation; a very small part to boot! Only WITH the right mindset can money serve you as a tool for not only enhancing your life but enhancing the life of others.

Money and wealth are two totally separate things. Money is currency for exchanging goods and services but true wealth is an abundance in of everything in every area of your life. The thing that people often don’t realise about wealth is that you can be wealthy right now. The way to be wealthy is to firstly being grateful and secondly to share that energy with others. When you start to experience true wealth through gratitude money will follow naturally.

Some celebrities have an abundance of money but become lost in their way and then squander their money for things like: cosmetic surgery, alcohol and drugs; all the types of things that cause damage and destruction; rather than towards things that create, expand, grow and help others! Why does that happen? How can someone with the means to obtain or do anything they like choose to take that kind of path?

My best friend recently got back from India and was telling me about how far just a small sum like 7,000 rupees (or£80 approx) can go for an orphanage and yet for us it’s not uncommon to spend £80 just on a haircut which can go wrong and in turn we can feel sad, down, angry or depressed? Why?

A celebrity is someone who is, where they are, because they not only love what they do, but they also enjoy giving happiness to other people and they enjoy receiving that love and admiration back. They enter a world where they all eyes now focus upon them and for some people they can do no wrong but then suddenly, they might do something that, between everyday folk like us, is something perfectly normal, but because they’re in the limelight whatever it is they have done is completely taken out of context and then often the media come along and crucify them. How would that make you feel? To just make one small mistake and have that plastered across the newspapers the next day? In my mind it would take someone incredibly strong minded to overlook that kind of attention and only focus on the the good they do.

If we allow the countless number of voices on the outside and try and absorb the input it’s no surprise that we might end up getting dazed and overwhelmed! Have you ever been in a position where someone has said something about you that has set you off or got you angry or upset? Right, now multiply that a thousandfold If you were a celebrity, and a paper printed something about you that wasn’t necessarily true, or was taken way out of context? Most people read an article in a paper and they often within a week or two it’s forgotten about but for the celebrity the sting of it can potentially last a life time! Even just a few small bashings can permanently change their mindset if they listen to all those stories!

So what can the celebrity do to minimize or even totally negate the effects of the public humiliations, stories, or mistakes? Here are my suggestions and ideas so feel free to try them out, experient and remember these ideas aren’t just for celebrities, they apply to anyone and everyone no matter who you are and what you do!

1) Do more for others, especially children, maybe even anonymously! - It’s naturaly with your lifestyle that you’ll work hard and also play hard. In amongst all your activities set time aside every month for charitable work; something hands on and something you can personally get stuck into! Even just a few hours every month doing something that you enjoy and also helps others. Find something that you feel passionate about and do lots of that. There was one celebrity who recently go into looking after mis-treated horses and said that helped to turn her life around.

2) Make the voice inside stronger than all the voices on the outside - I remember recently reading an article about Kylie where she consults her inner voice before making any big decision. Some might say she’s crazy, I say she’s the smartest one of all! Everyone has an inner voice and you can choose to change that voice at will depending on what you need it for. If your inner voice is pounding your for making a silly mistake, turn it into a forgiving voice and then change it into a voice that helps you either change or turn it into something positive. There is also more you can do in terms of adjusting your mental imagery to enhance your performance too. Sports people do this all the time as they know that doing so will absolutely enhance their performance.

3) Become a mentor for upcoming celebrities. - If you spot talent offer to take them under your wing and share the experiences that you’ve gone through so it might better prepare them. They might get thrust into the limelight incredibly quickly and might not have had the time to adjust to the sudden change in their profile or status. Initially it will be exciting for them but after time the steam from the pressure can build and they can get to boiling point! Offer them your help and guidance which will be priceless to them; something that money cannot buy.

4) You can’t always do everything right and please everyone so don’t try! - If you do you’ll constantly be second guessing yourself and then you’ll start to feel even more lost. People will always think what they want to think and trying to shift their opinion of you and that is just going to exhaust you! The only thing you’ll ever have conscious control over is where you choose to focus your mental energy. If you always focus on the things that are bothering you then you’ll slowly but gradually start to experience inertia. If you focus on what you can do next and all the outcomes that you want to achieve you’ll begin to gain more momentum and start feeling more energised.

5) Take onboard my 5-a-day rule. - I’ve always said that to experience a more fulfilled and enjoyable existense there are 5 things that you need to incorporate into your routine every single day. These are things which are very simple and easy and including them takes very liittle time or effort. The five things are: i) Meditate, ii) Smile, iii) Laugh, iv) Give, v) Appreciate. So simple and yet so effective. Make time for these 5 things watch it transform your life for the better.

Related posts: 5-a-day

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Jan 14

Once again, last year, I decided to enter for the London Marathon through the ballot system but I found out in December that I didn’t get a place. I wanted to make sure I didn’t loose the momentum of challenging myself every year whilst making each challenge more difficult so, just last week, I decided to enter the Adidas half Marathon at Silverstone on the 9th of March.

The half Marathon equates to 21km or 13miles approximately. That’s more than twice the distance I’ve ever run before! Last year I did the BUPA 10K run and I managed to finish that in 79 minutes but since then I had not kept up the running.

Yesterday I wanted to make sure that I began my program of running in preparation for the half Marathon so I decided to stretch myself early on and to see if I could run 5K even though I hadn’t done any running since last July. I’m quite happy to say that I managed to complete it very comfortably in 40 minutes and I felt like I could’ve easily have gone on to do 7 - 8K.

Now for those of you who are new to my blog you might think that’s nothing special. It’s true, it’s probably not but just so you’re aware, I’m 19 stone in weight or nearly 270lbs. 3 years ago I used to be 22stone and I could barely walk up one flight of stairs without being in incredible pain and out of breath! I even had trouble walking down stairs because my knees would hurt too much! :lol:

After the run I had tons of energy and even though I was a bit achy, I wasn’t feeling tired; if anything I was more energised! I was a little surprised that I managed the 5K so easily and I wondered how I’d managed to maintain my fitness even though I hadn’t done any running. I do play badminton regularly (at least 3 times a week) but that’s not really a sport that increases stamina. Badminton is a great fat burner and helps you to accelerate your reaction times, especially if you play doubles, but other than that it doesn’t do much in terms of fitness.

I realised that one small lifestyle change I had made recently has been making a huge difference to my fitness overall. It’s something very small and very easy and something that anybody can do; it just requires a firm commitment to yourself. Last August I made a solid choice that I would stop using the lifts at work and that I would only use the stairs; unless I was carrying heavy equipment. Since then I can say that I’ve only used the lift 3 times, for transporting heavy equipment only, other than that, it’s been the stairs all the way. I only work on the second floor of my building but I usually enter from a back door which is in the basement to in reality I’m climbing 3 floors and I do that usually 3 - 4 times a day.

This little change has made all the difference in assisting me in maintaining my levels of fitness, and in addition to that, what it has done is also strengthen my knees and developed and conditioned all the muscles in my legs.

The simple lesson is this: For you to make large inroads into whatever changes you wish to make to your life all you need employ is a very simple strategy; one that is easy to maintain. As with my example, I didn’t need to go join an expensive gym or totally overhaul my diet, all I needed to do was to commit to using the stairs.

I’ll be updating you on my progress and following up this article with some motivational and training tips for people who are overweight and want to take up a new challenge for 2008.

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SOS (Simple Obvious Strategies)

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Jan 9

John DeMartini Yesterday Evening I had the great priveledge of obtaining complimentary tickets for seeing John DeMartini speak in person. He has to be the most inspiring speaker I’ve seen to date. He really knows how to get people inspired and into action. If there was only one person I could model myself on he would be it. I could sit there and listen to him talk for hours and hours on him sharing his stories and experiences of how he has come to reach 2 billion people on the planet so far.

For anyone who is interested you can still obtain tickets to see him today, tomorrow or Friday discussing other topics such as relationships and health. The website where you can get tickets is Triumphant Events.

I went with my close personal friend Mamta who is also a Life Coach. It was her first experience of seeing him. I was fortunate enough to see him speak at Akasha back in August 2007.

For those of you who are unfamiliar, John DeMartini is a Speaker, Entreupreneur, and an author of 250+ books and he himself has read over 29000 texts in over 200 different disciplines. He also appeared on ‘The Secret’. Yesterdays talk was about ‘Breakthrough in Business’ and he cetainly delivered what he promised. The great thing about seeing Dr DeMartini is that he spent over 2 hours talking, sharing and teaching people what it takes to succeed in business and only the last three to four minutes was used by T.E. talk about his future events.

His message was quite simple and clear; if you love what you do then it takes no effort to get out of bed in the morning and do it. If you love what you do keep doing it; but if you’re doing what doesn’t align with your values then you will always be in the procrastination zone. So it’s quite simple; find what you love, do it and keep doing it, and what it takes to do what you love will also come to you!

I was fortunate to meet him at the end and share a little joke with him. I said: “John, we share something wonderful in common.” He asked: “What’s that?” I responsed: “We both both look way younger than we are!” He chuckled! I still can’t believe he’s 53!

On Monday I’m going to one of T.E.’s breakfast meetings to see Roger Hamilton. If you want to go visit their website and get yourself a complimentary ticket!

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Jan 3

It’s a new year and for many a new hope. Reliance on the feelings of new year are very short lived and so what you must do is change the way you approach your idea of the renewal of your life. My bet is that there are already people out there who’ve either dismissed their resolutions completely or have, in their mind, failed and are already thinking about retaking up that resolution next year. Not a wise move!

Where people often fail is focussing too heavily on the destination rather than engrossing themselves into the journey. The destination is never what it seems, the journey is far more real. Focus your attention on the journey, enjoy the moment, appreciate those feelings of excitement and anticipation. When you do this you’ll notice something very significant happen, your perception of time will slow!

Time appears to travel faster as you get older. After all, how often have you heard someone say “hasn’t the year gone so fast!” Or “where did the year go?” No, it’s gone at exactly the same speed but your perception has shifted. Your paradigm has changed and so ultimately has your perception of time has skewed. The only way to change you perception is to shift your patterns of repetitive thinking and learning that you, no matter your age or where you are in life, whatever you truly want to do, is possible for you!

I totally confess I haven’t even finished writing and deciding what my resolutions are for 2008 but they are a work in progress. I aim to finish them by Sunday and discuss them with my Life Coach so that together we can work on them, plan and prioritise. I can quite happily say that with the exception of one or two small things I not only achieved but surpassed many of my goals in 2007 and some of my dreams came true e.g. becoming a radio presenter!

Take the time now, sit with a friend and ask them to question you on what you would truly like to accomplish or achieve over the next 6 months to a year? It’s a simple process and maybe you can even do the same for your friend. Help them also get closer to their goals and dreams! :-)

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Dec 28

A huge festive greeting to you all! I hope you’ve managed to now unwrap all your pressies and are delighted with what Santa got you for Xmas!

I’ll keep this post brief as I’m shortly off to see my family which means I’ll get to play with my neices and nephews!

1) Firstly, a belated happy birthday to UnlimitedChoice.org. It’s been just over two years since I first wrote my first blog post and I must say that this blog has come along way and will continue to make strides. There is much work I must do with this blog and many projects and new ideas I still have planned. All part and parcel or my grand design and purpose for my life which seems to take massive shifts every 6 months at the moment. So happy 2nd brithday to UC.org.

2) Secondly A belated merry xmas to you all! Whatever you’ve been up to I hope that you’ve had a wonderful time with family and friends and if you haven’t had a great time, then maybe you and I can work together to make next year a much more fulfilling and enjoyable time!

3) HAPPY NEW YEAR! Earlier this year and last last year I wrote a couple of blog posts with regards to new years resolutions that still apply so whatever happens make use of that extra power that this time of year brings with it. I, for one, will definitely be writing down my goals and reviewing them regularly to make sure I’m am on track or adjusting them as and when I need to to keep up with the pace of everything I do! So below are the links to my previous posts, use those ideas and suggestions to thrust yourself into a solid year of progression and personal evolution!

Don’t Lie!
Create and begin your new years resolutions now!

Wishing you all the best and more for 2008!

Amit Sodha - Editor - UnlimitedChoice.

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Dec 11

For the last 6 weeks I’ve spent much of my free time planning and writing material for a charity stand-up comedy event that I’m appearing in this coming Sunday. (16th December)

This is my first attempt and when I first accepted the challenge of doing stand-up initially I jumped at the chance! I thought the challenge would be great as a character building exercise and for learning some other new skills. All those are true but never did I for one second realise how much hard work goes into writing even a short 15 minute stand-up set.

Firstly you have to brainstorm ideas, come up with material and transform that material into humour. That in itself is a challenge! I alway find that the best ideas come to me while I’m driving or in the shower or doing something else and where there is no paper or pen to hand! Secondly you have to then re-write, practise, re-write, practise, re-write practise etc. I know, I ended there with 3 repetitions but trust me, that process is never ending! The practising part takes so much work! You don’t always know how you’re going to come across to the audience; are the jokes funny? Is the audience going to understand them? How shall I deliver the punchline?

I can quite easily say that over the last 3 weeks I put in at least 20-30 hours of work into creating and polishing my routine!

We had our first rehersal about 5 weeks ago and I wasn’t prepared at all. In fact I wrote most of my material about 2 hours before the event and I was still writing as I got my friends house. When it came to my time to perform, I was nomiated (forced) to go first I did my bit and all I got was one laugh from about 6 minutes of material. Needless to say I was completely devastated and embarrased! But, it was a great lesson and I made the headline act look incredibly good! :lol:

So I went away and I decided that the next time would be very different! I ordered two books off Amazon, one was called: “Getting the joke” and the other is called: “A step by step guide to stand-up comedy”. The first book so far hasn’t been of much use but the step by step guide has been incredibly useful! It’s written by Greg Dean and the foreword is by Steve Allen. I’m glad that this was the first book I decided to start reading. Like myself, Greg is a student of NLP and you can tell by the way that the book is written that he puts it to good use.

Before I even picked up the book I had no idea the mechanics in constructing a joke or even telling a joke. I’m quite good at impromptu humour when I’m in a face to face situation with one person but when I’m crowds I’ve always struggled to be “the funny one!”

The book starts off by giving the readers an introduction into the mechanics of creating a joke and smashing all the assumptions the audience creates in their minds, from the setup, with the punchline!

So I read this book through a few times and started re-writing my material. Initially my aim was to create clean routine with no blue humour, but I struggled, so I caved and decided to include plenty of swearing and jokes involving sex! I realised that this will probably work better anyway because the majority of the target audience is going to be young asian professionals from the age of 21 - 31 and so I realised that blue humour was probably a safer bet in securing laughs rather than going for a purley clean routine. It’s about a 50/50 split between clean and blue!

With only 5 days to go before the big day, I’m quite confident with the material I’ve written but have yet to still memorise everything. I decided today to put keywords next to each main segment and use that as my memory trigger points. Lets see if I can remember 5 pages of text in 5 days! ;-)

Wish me luck! I will report back on how it all goes along with my personal tips to you if you ever decide that you want to give stand-up comedy a go! :-D

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Oct 22

The power of flow…

I just finished reading the book called Flow by Mihály Csíkszentmihályi and it was one of the most well written, informative and practical books that I have read thus far. The principle of the “Flow State” is described on Wikipedia as:

The mental state of operation in which the person is fully immersed in what he or she is doing, characterized by a feeling of energized focus, full involvement, and success in the process of the activity.

I took a great deal of time reading this book through thoroughly as I felt there was so much information to asborb which was meaningful, solid and highly applicable to day to day living. Another great thing about this book is that in many ways it decribes what many of us may call spirituality and it is done in a way that everyone can understand and appreciate. I have always said that pretty much any activity can become “spiritual” if it is done with a spiritual mindset. For me, the “spiritual mindset” and flow state” is very similar. It could be any activity ranging from writing to golf, from motor racing to gardening!

The reason I mention this book is because I feel like this book would be extremly useful if it was introduced, not only to educators, so that they can explain flow and use it as a tool for children, but also re-written as version which young adults from the ages of 14-18 could appreciate. The language in the book is very simple, however it is quite long, so a condensed version would not only be easy to create, but would then be more enjoyable for young adults to read with pleasure and at the same time give them the ability to take more control of their lives. Who knows, maybe this is even a project I may take up myself or even propose to Mihály Csíkszentmihályi. :-D

It is books like I feel which will ultimately stand the test of time and will shape humanity in it’s own unique way. As time passes I get the impression that more and more people are understanding the principles behind the spirtual human evolution. Learning how to create the flow states within ones own life will be one of the major tools that people will look towards in terms of enriching and enhancing the human experience!

I wanted to share some quotes from the book with you:

“The general malaise is not due directly to external causes. Unlike so many other nations in the contemporary world, we can’t blame our problems on a harsh environment, on widespread poverty, or on the oppression of a foreign occupying army. the roots of the discontent are internal, and each person must untangle them personally, with his or her own power.”

“As people move through life, passing from the hopeful ignorance of youth into sobering adulthood, they sooner or later face an increasingly nagging question: “Is this all there is?” Childhood can be painful, adolescence confusing, but for most people, behind it all there is the expectation that after one grows up, things will get better. During the years of early adulthood, the future still looks promising, the hope remains that one’s goals will be realised. But inevitably the bathroom mirror shows the first white hairs, and confims the fact that those extra pounds are not about to leave.”

“The pursuit of a goal brings order in awareness because a person must concentrate attention on the tast at hand and momentarily forget everything else. these periods of struggling to overcome challenges are what people find to be the most enjoyable times of their lives.”

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Oct 19

I feel as if we’re entering a new paradigm. It doesn’t matter how much politicians try and fix all our problems, it seems like those problems only want to grow with the desire to fix. With a growing culture of “please fix this for me” it seems we are losing our way somewhat. The more we ask for others to fix for us the less gets fixed because we disempower ourselves by asking, “please can you do this for me”, or “what is the government doing to tackle this?” The onus is always put anywhere else but ourselves. Offering help and asking for it are not the same thing and they do not produce the same result.

Change won’t come tomorrow, but it can come within a generation. Just the other day I heard on the news that within a generation we will face a mass obesity crisis. That means that it can also remain the same within a generation or it can improve dramatically within a generation. Self empowerment is the only solution that I currently see to this problem and many others! It’s a cycle but it must begin somewhere so I choose that it will begin with me. I’ve made many mistakes, I myself am overweight, something that could have easily been avoided if my parents and guardians understood better how to communicate and empower me. It’s the sole reason I now have chosen this path that I have. If I can empower the children I work with and show them that there is another way then maybe they’ll be much better prepared to deal with the challenges that not only face us on a community based level, but a global community level, the level that affects not just humans, but every living creature on this planet.

The paradox is here is that the more selfish I become the more selfless I become. True self consciousness is where I understand that I’m not just this bag of bones but we are all intricately connected. Every little thing I do has a global impact. If I focus on myself to become a stronger, more focused, caring, loving, spiritual individual then in turn it puts me in a better position to help others and that in turn will create a massive domino affect that will impact 100’s if not 1000’s of people. In turn those people will then affect 100’s or thousands of people too and so begins the process of a change within a generation. If my desire is to better myself then maybe, just maybe it will rub off onto others!

I see so many people out there who have the tools but don’t know how to use them. Some people though, genuinely don’t have the tools. The source of change is firstly insight and then choice. Many people like myself who follow a similar path first came to it through insight, the old patterns and old ways were interrupted for whatever reason, it was like an alarm clock woke us up and after the insight we made a consciouse choice to first begin the change in ourselves then show others that there is another way. I’ll make it clear, I don’t think we should all be thinking the same or doing the same things but deep down, I know we all want change in one form or another, and change is the source of the new destination we’re sailing for!

I went to a talk not so long ago and one of the speakers, Roger Hamilton said that if we take matters into our own hands, begin the change process now, then eventually there will be little left for the government to do!

And so begins my 100 days of Vision series… ;)

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Oct 1

My heart is sensitive and romantic and I believe that everyone in this world has that one special soul who they connect with. However recently, life has illuminated the reality of love, and essentially compartmentalised it into a ‘black and white’ order. I have been granted a brief look into the eyes of others around me, who see love as the manifestation of hormones, lust and desire. Where love has nothing to do with your heart or higher self’s purpose, but more of an indication of what other parts of the body are pulling you to do. The stark realisation of this fact aggrieves me; even though I have known it for years and am no stranger to its concept, I never the less find it a difficult and painful awareness to accept.

Have we as humans become so disconnected that even love has lost its mysterious potency? It has been handed over to our bodies and we are but slaves to its satisfaction.

The more I cling onto the thought that love is a beautiful, transformative, uplifting journey for your soul, the more I am forced to witness its corrupt expression.

However being a firm believer in the teachings of Abraham, I know that my thoughts are the powerful engines which shape my reality, therefore I understand that this moment in time serves me well to uphold my firm beliefs in love and what I REALLY want from the love of another.

Why should I bow down to an unnatural concept when my heart craves to experience the power of my creator through the love of another soul. Do I compromise my hearts calling for the sake of conforming to a lifestyle that is accepted by everyone else around me?

As I transmit my intention of love to others I am consistently made to feel guilty for asking for a love that is innocent and sweet, looked upon as though I have a warped, archaic perception of love. Have I always been the human dreaming of being the butterfly, who is now lost in the psychosis?

As you can see, my internal battle and quest to eliminate this loneliness brings pain, doubt and fear. However even though the world around me adopts such a view, I wish to live in my fantasy and hold on to my concept that this person who I fall in love with, will also have the view that love is a soul connection, and not just the result of chemicals and hormones surging around the body.

If this view is indeed a result of years of misconstrued understanding where the barrier between the dream world and real world has been breached, then I wish to allow this to grow within me. It gives me ‘hope’ and paints a picture of a world I ‘choose’ to live in, albeit a reverie.

So with this in mind, I allow the tears in my heart to dry and hold firm my views in the face of harsh truth and with god’s grace breathe in life and wait for the day when my fairy tale romance becomes my reality. I wish to be saturated in its magic, to bathe in its sweet aroma and to taste its intoxicating essence upon my lips!

Follow your dreams in the face of adversity – no matter what the cost!

Peace and Blessings – From a slightly broken heart, but i know i will heal! Kavi xxx

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Sep 10

Woooohooooo! :-D

The 100 day mark has arrived. For me this is a true milestone. When I first began this “100 days…” project it just started out as a little idea to keep me blogging regularly. Now I can see that it has the potential to go much further, who knows what else I can achieve with this idea. It’s just the beginning and I know it will go much further. Very shortly I will be begin a new “100 days…” project and it will have a slightly different theme. One thing is for sure, I’d like to make it more challenging for myself.

Throughout this wonderful journey, I’ve leanred many new and exciting things. Each day has brought with it a new adventure and a new understanding in how to live a more purposeful, spiritual life. Spirituality is everything that we do and if you can do it with a spiritual mindset, you will love every moment of life, no matter how challenging it maybe!

Always keep the relativity paradox in mind, you cannot know happiness without sorrow, you cannot know love without fear, you cannot know light without darkness. These things were created to so that we might know what it means to be loved and what it means to recieve it. We enjoy that feeling because we know it’s counterpart!

There are 10 things I want to share that will ehance the quality of your life, remember and use these 10 things and I promise that you will life will be more happy, enjoyable and fulfilled!!

1) Have fun with life! Don’t let your first response to people be about how stressed out or how depressed you are or about how busy you are. Always start you interactions on a positive note. If during your interaction you need to talk about your challenges then do so, then finish where you started, on a happy and light note, sharing what you’ve learned through that encounter, or just share a joke!

2) Challenges don’t disappear, they change form. Notice I say challenges and not problems. Problems are barriers, challenges are hurdles, hurdles can be leapt, it takes a leap of faith. Barries need to be broken down and take much more energy! It may appear to you that other people don’t face challenges, or that their challenges are not as challenging as the ones you face. That’s your own mind creating a story to hold you back from being where it is you want to be. Running away will not take away your challenges, changing jobs because you have a horrible boss won’t take your challenges away, they will change form. When challenges arise, face them head on!

3) Whatever your religious or spiritual beliefs, don’t hold so tightly to them so to you nothing else is true. Keep and open mind and listen to others when they share. Everyone’s point is valid and there is truth in every way of thinking as it all comes down to perception! There’s no need to challenge anyone else’s beliefs either, respect them, appreciate them, and share yours with spiritual pride. Views are not there to be converted, they’re there to be enjoyed and appreciated.

4) Our childrens education is not just dependent on the teachers. I consider every single child on this planet as my children and I make it my responsibility to educate them. Education doesn’t necessarily have to be of an academic nature, in fact, most often that’s not real education. Real education comes from what children see us do and then, in turn, emulate. Whether we like it or not, we have a responsibility to them as they will always follow our actions. They will adopt our attitudes and they will look to our actions to shed light where for them, there is none. Make it your responsibility to educate every child on this planet. The more we educate them, they more they will be prepared to deal with the challenges they will inevitably face.

5) Learn NLP! NLP (Neuro Linguistic Programming) has some pretty impressive, no nonsense, tools that you can use for improving your life. It will be one the best investments of your time and money that you can make. You don’t have to become an expert, even learning the basics from any “off the shelf book” and acquiring a basic understanding will improve the quality of your life and your relationships. It will enhance your skills no matter what profession you’re in, whether you’re a house husband, a lawyer, a high powered business woman, it will benefit you!

6) Even if your life is going amazingly well, get a Life Coach! I’m not being biased in this because I am one! :P In fact, when you’re life is going amazing is the best time to get one because they will be able work with you to enhance your performance! If your life isn’t going so great, get one and you’ll be amazed at the results. They don’t perform magic, they just know how to ellicit the best from people!

7) I’ve said it before many times and I’ll say it again! Follow the 5 a day rule! Make sure that you incorporate these 5 things into your day, every day! 1) Meditate, 2) Smile, 3) Laugh, 4) Give, 5) Appreciate! They don’t have to follow any particular order but if I were to say one was mandatory, it would number 5, to appreciate and have gratitude for everything in your life! If you can do that one consistently and regularly then the other 4 will pretty much come naturally!

8 ) If you’re not sure what to do with your life the sure fire way of getting out of that rut is to put yourself out there and try different things. Watching Eastenders, even at the best of times, isn’t going to improve the quality of your life. What will is being social, interactive and experimenting with various activities like a sport or doing some charity work! Activities like that will enhance your focus and give you some clearer purpose and direction. The rule of thumb is to do something that completely takes you away from what you would normally do. If you’re normally on a computer or games console, then get out there and try a new sport or go speed dating! Anything that challenges who you are is worth trying once!

9) So often these days the first thing a person will tell me about is how tired they are! I’m no doc but one of the main reasons why people get so tired is because we’re so used to cars and junk food and living a lazy lifestyle it’s no surprise that lethargy sets in. We’re no longer use to physical exertion! When you feel tired is the precise moment you should get up and do some physical activity, push your body beyond what it’s used to and soon you’ll start feeling less tired! Another reason it lack of “good quality” sleep. Even if you’re consuming small amounts of caffeine, your sleep will be affected. Cut out as much caffeine as possible and was your quality of sleep jump from 3/10 to a 8/10 and you’ll feel more fresh and rejuvenated. You’ll actually wake up feeling like you’ve had enough sleep and be ready for your day!

10) Last but not least, tip 10 is read my blog and make it part of your daily spiritual digest! :lol: Ok that was a joke! You are valuable and important, make sure you make time for yourself on a regular basis. Whether that be 20 minutes a day to have some quiet time or whether you take 1 whole day a month and dedicate it to yourself is up to you but make it a regular ritual! We dedicate so much time to everyone else and unless we take the time to look after ourselves and nuture our well being that any pleasures in life will be short lived. The more you make time for yourself and take a step out of your life and become a spectator with an attitude of gratitude the more you will feel naturally happy and the more you will enjoy life.

There we have it folks, my top 10 tips and learnings from the 100 days of wisdom! Thank you so much to all of you who have left me messages, comments, sent me emails of blessing and well wishes! I truly hope this has been something you’ve not only enjoyed but something that you’ve got use out of too! Stay tuned for the next 100 days series! :-D

With love,