Many of us make New Year resolutions every year, and a majority of us fail to continue on them even for a week. So here's a fresh take on the problem.

Start early. Start your resolutions today, so you'll have 5 days to figure out whether you can actually get them to work, by Jan 1 2012. And you'll know what you need to  tweak, so that they actually work. 

Make sure you work on it for 66 days, Researchers tell us that would be the magical number to make a habit stick for one, five or 10 years. Make March 2 the minimum date until which you have to keep your resolution. 

Write everyday about your experience of keeping the resolution. 25 words, fifty words, one page..... make sure you write something, everyday.

Visualize the process of accomplishing your resolutions. Not the outcome but the process. It would get you to commit to your resolutions more effectively.

So start. Now.

Love Manifesto

Marriage 4.0

Its all about giving. All the time.

Its about amazing the other. everyday. For life

Its about being in love. all over love. Fully love. Always.

Its placing the other ahead of you. Even during dinner. Or a trip to the loo. 

Its about feeling the " I love you", even when it is not heard. 

Its listening when you hear. Every time. 

Its smiling with your eyes. Even with the tears. Every time you see.

what are the chances?

....that you give everybody a second chance....everytime!

And as much as we would like to believe otherwise, we have been granted so many second chances and yet we are so stuck up about giving another person that same privilege. And we vow..."I'll never trust men (or women) again!", "I will never believe anybody again!, "I'll never love again", "I will not forgive them"...etc.

Give that second chance another chance and chances are you'll never have to take another chance about where your life is headed.

Life Manifesto

The Holstee Manifesto by Dave Radparvar, Mike Radparvar & Fabian Pfortmüller. Typography by Rachael Beresh.

Marital Bliss

Step 1. Find a person that YOU can amaze for the rest of THEIR life. *
Step 2. Do the amazement thing on the 1st of every month.
Step 3. Repeat for the rest of the month.

My amazed wife responded with a unique question; does that mean if a person finds somebody dumb enough to be amazed at everything they do, will they have marital bliss?

Well sure, they will. But my point being, if you start to take an active interest in amazing your better half, he/she will start ignoring your little shortcomings because he/she is too busy being amazed everyday. And you will be busy amazing them, you may not have enough time to make mistakes and ergo marital bliss.


*For those already married, start to amaze your spouse starting yesterday.

Get something new done. for the next 31 days!

We have been proving ourselves time and again that we cannot sustain behavior, though by doing so we are actually sustaining the behavior of not sustaining behavior!, like i used to tell my dad I am very consistent at being inconsistent.

So here goes, if we can actually do that, its time to start now. small sustainable changes done continuously can make you consistent in them. And that is exactly the reason why our new year resolutions don't work. We think about achieving a whole lot, without actually looking or thinking or planning how we would like to achieve them.

Ever wanted to write a book? start today for the next 31 days. Everyday make sure you write 483 words by 11:59 p.m. every night and voila by January 1st 2012 you have a 14,973 word book! Want to really match a weight goal, start with what exercise you want to and go at it for the next 31 days. Want to improve your photography, take a picture a day for the next 31 days and trouble all your friends by posting them to facebook :)

Its not only about doing stuff, but also make undoing stuff. Troubled about something you want to stop but never could? Start today for the next 31 days get off it. Remember don't do it today till 11:59 p.m. and continue till the end of the month.

Why do this? For one you can make a habit of these lovely things you can come up with, and get out of habits/behaviour/moods that you don't like.

This month will pass whether you do something or don't do something, get the most of the month and start now! the journey is going to be exciting! Godspeed!

Brain Rules

As you no doubt have noticed if you’ve ever sat through a typical PowerPoint presentation, people don’t pay attention to boring things (Brain Rule #4). You’ve got seconds to grab someone’s attention, and only 10 minutes to keep it. At 9 minutes and 59 seconds, something must be done quickly—something emotional and relevant...


Ever feel tired around 3 o’clock in the afternoon? That’s because your brain really wants to take a nap. You might be more productive if you did: In one study, a 26-minute nap improved NASA pilots’ performance by 34 percent. Even so, the brain isn’t resting while it sleeps. It is surprisingly active. And whether you get enough rest affects your mental agility the next day. Sleep well, think well (Brain Rule #7).


Read more about the amazing phenomenon of the Human Brain at BRAIN RULES by John Medina.


Couldn't help posting this!

LESS is MORE

Lesser tv inches definitely means more wall space, lesser furniture more room, lesser stress more calm, lesser excesses more healthy lifestyle…and i can go on and on. And yet in our culture obsessed with more it is increasingly difficult to think about less. In a lifestyle constantly obsessed with upgrading to the latest iteration of what you possess, can we think about downgrading?

Alas if we had MORE time, we could have perhaps, or can we do it with LESS?

Radically honest!

To be honest with you this isn't going to be easy.

It actually means being honest in every moment, with everybody, in any situation.

That means no white lies, grey lies or any black or blue lies, it means nothing but the truth and the whole truth, every time, all the time.

Difficult, crazy, strange, call it anything but definitely not impossible, as we have some amazing people who chose this path and the fate of nations depended on their radical decision to be honest, no matter what!

Try it for an hour, for a day and you'll see for yourself that it definitely changes the world around you.

Your Givelist

Yep its a list you make up with stuff you'd like to give to make somebody else's wish come true.

Check your room, your house, your cupboard, your closet, get a list of all the things that you'd like to giveaway. Put it on your blog, make it your facebook status update, twitter it, take a printout and put it up on your office board or just put it outside your house.

Find people whom you can bless with these things. Ask people if they need the stuff you can give. Search and don't stop until your list is finished.


Repeat as necessary.

Its fun. Trust me on this.

Get it done at any cost!

really? any cost?
even if it means your values? (if they matter that is!)
even if it means priority over loved ones?
even if it means pushing your body to extreme limits?

is it worth the cost? are we looking at the compounded effects of that cost years into the future? will the cost be worth it then?

The next time someone orders you to get it done at any cost, tell them that the compounded cost of that cost does not make it a wise investment today to spend that much on what you ask me to do! so sorry, but i can get it done at a lesser cost!

Do it for free

Yep. Your best game/ talent / art / expression, for free. absolutely nothing in the bargain.

some of the things that we are most amazed today started out with people just giving their awesomeness for free, think inventors, musicians, teachers....its not the prize but the thrill of giving their best thats changed the way we see our world today.

It's high time we got our act together and gave our best for free! And once you've started the freebie thingy, spin it with more freebies, then switch the room, the audience, the situation, and finally your act!

* you can find more of the above stuff at the goodness manifesto.

Hear what you see!

More proof that we don't actually hear all that is said, and its our brain once again playing spoilsport with our senses. Come to think of it our brains are smarter than we are and that is good, just imagine that you had to consciously get the heart to pump blood, the kidney to purify it while deciding to let air into your lungs while simultaneously managing another 10 things atleast! Phew!

But the brain increasingly relies on past information, visual and sensory clues, often at times relying on the past even at the cost of ignoring current real time info just to make a faster decision. 

Time to tame the brain, I guess!

More on the above clip here.

Facebook, We are done!

It has been a long journey together, but finally managed to let go of Facebook (well almost, you can still find me on a page here).

 Which brings us to an important question, do we have stuff that we hold on to that we cannot let go off?

Is it because?

• It is/was/will be something precious.
• Have unlimited storage (physical/ mental/ psychological/ in the cloud).
• The process of acquisition was enchanting/ demanding/ painful/ disturbing.
• Too lazy to bother.
• Costly to make the decision to let go.
• Isn't worth the cost to make the decision to let go.
• Love to be in the comfort label that it puts me in (victim/ controller/ stoic / martyr / hero)

Now would be a great time to find out those things/ situations / people / feelings  and decide...to hold on or let go?

The Hiatus is over!

Back again. soon. like now. in 5 min.

#BTD Are you the complainee?

Have we ever stopped to think about the times that we are the complainee?(the one who is complained about :) )  At work, on the road, at home, by our friends, coworkers, enemies?  Kinda changes the perspective of why we complain, doesn't it? Which brings us to the quintessential question, why do people complain anyway?

Good Intentions. Bad Directions.

And it happened again. Walked 2.5 kms extra off course because a good soul chose to help me by giving wrong directions!

Why do we do this all the time? Is it because we can help but help? or because we cant afford not to know the answer and come off as ignorant? Or is it because our egos do not let us politely say that we dont know? or is it our brains trying to guess by approximating the location of landmark based on past references with the said location that we might have heard/seen/felt/thought?

P.S. : You must be asking me, Why didn't you just use google maps?

Expanded Edition?

For those of you who have read,  "The Goodness Manifesto", do you think there is a need for an expanded edition, like an ebook that describes more of how to's, tips on getting the goodness manifesto happen? Do let me know, by a  comment, or email as you like it.

For those of you who haven't read it just scroll down on this blog or click here.

Goodness Manifesto for download

For all those who liked "The Goodness Manifesto", you can now download it here (approx 3mb).  Feel free to share it, talk abt it, use it or even embed it (Click Here).

The Goodness Manifesto

The Goodness Manifesto. 30 days. Changing your world. For the Better!

#12 Being the Difference

What have you done that you previously thought you couldn't do?

Being the Difference

About to follow is a series of questions/thoughts/actions that will urge you to be the difference that we all brag/complain/protest/love to be in our world.