Lifes Like that

It is now 5 years since I passed out of college and started working. Ilove working. I am not a workaholic but I love working. There is a lotof pressure in the work we all do. This era is all about speed.Everything around us moves at the speed of thought. And the wiseguys from the big B-Schools would tell you to be there at the righttime or else you'll loose the next big opportunity. All of us try tosearch for the next big opportunity so that we are not left of out inthis race. We travel from place to place in search for that hiddentreasure, success, Happiness or whatever one may like to call it.

I have closely interacted with hundreds of people in these years andone of my favorites activity is studying people and humanbehavior. In the beginning I used to get surprised (sometimes evenlaugh) when I hear a new kid out of college and starting his lifesay that he feels burnt out. But then if you look at it closely, thekid is right. He is burnt out before he even starts because he isalways expected to perform beyond what his mind and body can take.There is always this sense of urgency within all of us that usuallykeeps us unhappy no matter what we achieve.

I too was in this rat race till my mother taught me the most importantlesson of my life and that is about being in the present and enjoyingevery moment of it. Sadly though I had lost my mother by then. I stillremember that day on 18th December 2002 when I was thinking about mymother in the back of my mind but yet I stayed in the office as we had this requirement to get the ISDN up in our office. I was scaredthat if the leased lines goes down we'll not have an alternative. So Isat with the providers and did not listen to my heart. As a result bythe time I went to see my mom it was too late. I wish I had followed myheart instead. That is when I realized that the ISDNconnection had no real significance in my life and yet I gave it anunwanted priority.

Here are some rules I live by now which I hope would help all of you.They say that it is best to learn from others mistakes. 6 basic rulesthat we must all follow to be happy -

Live in the present - Most good books on better living talk about being in the present. You cannotafford to think and live in the past. Neither can you think about thefuture all the time. You do not know what would happen in the future.You do not have control over it. This does not mean that we should notplan. It just means that we do not need to over stress ourselvesthinking about what would happen in the future.
Let me explain with a simple example. You want to go for avacation. You need to plan and buy the tickets in time. But it does notmean that when you are in the train or aircraft you start runninginside it. You'll not reach any faster than all the other passengerswho are traveling with you.
However, do remember that you must learn from your past and improveuponit. The food from Pizza Hut is fattening. This means that it wouldremain the same, unless they do some major changes to the way pizzasare made. So saying that I cannot think about the past and I shouldkeep going over and over again to Pizza Hut does no make sense.
Also another important point is that you must learn to visualize aboutthe future. When I was kid our swimming coach used to talk a lot aboutthe power of visualization. He used to say that if you going for acompetition tomorrow, the previous night one should visualize theentire event. It goes like this - Ifeel light and energetic. The weather is great for swimming. I am goingto get the best place. My start is perfect. I have a perfect dive inthe water. The water is not too hot neither is it too cool. It is justright for me. My breathing is perfect and my strokes are perfect andcoordinated. I am the winner...
Simulate the same situation when you are facing a client or an ISOauditor.

Another aspect I'll like to point out here is that some people get intothe urgency because they feel insecure about the future. They think "IfI die my wife or family would face alot of problems... " In the process they start taking insurancepoliciesleft and right, try to buy a house etc.. In many cases they are notable to keep up with