Living Purposefully and Finding Balance

Photo by Sebastian V from Pexels

Based on Robin Sharma’s book entitled “The Monk Who Sold His Ferrari: A Fable About Fulfilling Your Dreams and Reaching Your Destiny”
Date Read: February 6 to 27, 2022

Courtesy: Reader Literature

Are you a workaholic person that no longer has a balance in your life?
Are you someone who lacks willpower and self-discipline to pursue your big goals?
Are you someone who wants to live fully and purposefully?

This book might be the right one for you!

Book in One Sentence

• This is a remarkable story that provides a step-by-step approach to living with greater courage, balance, abundance, and joy.

Who Should Read It?

• People who want to find balance in their lives
• People who want to develop positive and optimistic thinking
• People who want to cultivate self-discipline and willpower
• People who want to bring back the value of their time
• People who want to live fully every day

Favorite Quotes from the Book

• Worry drains the mind of much of its power and, sooner or later, it injures the soul.
• There is only one thing that we have absolute dominion over — our minds. We all have the power to determine what we will think about at any given moment.
• No matter what happens to your life, you alone have the capacity to choose your response to it.
• To transcend pain, you must first experience it.
• Saying that you don’t have time to improve your thoughts and your life is like saying you don’t have time to stop for gas because you’re too busy driving. Eventually, it will catch up to you.
• Either you control your mind or it controls you.
• Everything is always created twice — first in mind and then in reality.
• If you want to improve your life and live with all that you deserve, you must run your own race.
• Every second you spend thinking about someone else’s dream, you take time away from your own.
• People grow the most when they enter the “Zone of the Unknown.”
• Fear is nothing more than a mental monster you have created, a negative stream of consciousness.
• Knowledge is potential power. For the power to be manifested, it must be applied.
• Every arrow that hits the bull’s eye is the result of 100 misses.
• The universe favors the brave.
• It’s willpower that pushes your dreams forward when the odds appear to be insurmountable.
• Too many people are slaves to their impulses. They have grown reactive rather than proactive.
• When you work to improve the lives of others, you indirectly elevate your own life in the process.
• Never put off happiness for the sake of achievement. Never put off the things that are important for your well-being and satisfaction at a later time.
• Life does not always give what you ask for, but always gives what you need.
• Tiny, incremental changes and improvement will create positive habits. Positive habits will create results. And results will inspire you towards greater personal change.

Personal Insights

• Most of the time, we, human beings, worry too much. To the point that we worry about all the things — even those things that are beyond our control. As Robin Sharma highlighted, worry just drains our mind and injure our soul. Therefore, it’s very important to focus ourselves on the things that are worth worrying about — the things that we can directly control.
• We have the power to control our minds — the way we think, and respond to the things that happen to our lives. We can dwell on the negative things but we can also put our energy into the things that can make us happy.
• To rise above the pain and other negative emotions, we must first experience it. As they say, we can only enjoy the sunny day when we conquered and surpass the rainy day.
• To have positive changes in your life, you don’t need to do extravagant things. We just need to apply daily incremental improvements in our lives. (This is also what James Clear said in his book “Atomic Habits” — check the summary in this link.)
• We must be comfortable being in the unknown. After all, this is the place where we can grow the most.
• Celebrate small wins and achievements. You don’t need permission from other people or wait for some other time to cheer yourself up.
• No matter what we ask in the universe, it will always give us not what we want, but what we need.

Application in Everyday Life

• “Opposition thinking” — When an undesirable thought occupies the focal point of your mind, immediately replace it with an uplifting one.
• “Secret of Lake” — Use images to influence the mind. Then, visualize mental pictures of all that you want to be, to have, and to attain your life.
• Create a dream book. Divide the sections for physical fitness goals, financial, personal empowerment, relationship, social, and spiritual goals.
• Ten Rituals of Radiant Living
• Ritual of Solitude — mandatory period of peace everyday
• Ritual of Physicality — care for the body and the mind
• Ritual of Live Nourishment — good diet
• Ritual of Abundant Knowledge — lifelong learning and expanding your knowledge
• Ritual of Personal Reflection — getting to know oneself
• Ritual of Early Awakening — rising with the sun and starting the day off well
• Ritual of Music — songs being one of the finest motivators
• Ritual of Spoken Word — creating a mantra or written affirmations
• Ritual of Congruent Character — take daily, incremental action to build your character
• Ritual of Simplicity — live a simple life
• Create your own mantra or follow this: “I am more than I appear to be. All the world’s strengths and power rests inside me.”
• As Robin Sharma said, “Small victories lead to large victories.” Therefore, it’s very important to celebrate our small wins.
• Robin Sharma also emphasized that 80% of the results you achieve in your life come from only 20% of the activities that occupy your time. This is also similar to the Pareto Principle. Hence, we must focus on high-impact activities.
• Learn to say “no” to the little things in life that will give you the power to say yes to the big things.
• Develop a deathbed mentality. Today could be your last day so savor it to the fullest.

*For more info about the books and Robin Sharma, visit this link.
*Outline inspired by Ali Abdaal