“You are always one step away from a different life.”

—Them Benjamin’s

One has to be content even with the small steps they take. For every decision, you make, you experience different things. Whatever you decide, think about the short term as well as your long term goals. A decision is not for today but for the coming times, let not your emotions overrule it. Make it wisely, because there is never a “U-turn” from that part of life. Our life is full of decisions, be it what to eat, what to wear, where to go, etc.! Making good decisions requires a great deal of patience and determination. Most of us ignore the mental processes that lie behind our choices. Nevertheless, research by psychologists has brought attention to such processes and help us make better choices. 

 Be fearless; almost every decision that we take involves predicting the future. Whenever making a decision we naturally tend to think about the outcomes we will face ahead. In addition, we usually choose decisions that surge our happiness. Always remember whatever the future holds for you is either a blessing or learning. Count those things and learn from them. Small things result in a much bigger outcome and not taking those shall make you stagnant. Never hesitate and procrastinate, the things you face now will make you stronger tomorrow.

“Walk wisely and inspire others to walk wisely.”

Your taste and style of reading reflect what kind of a person you are. Therefore read not for the society, but for yourself.

“Every great dream begins with a dreamer. Always remember, you have within you the strength, the patience, and the passion to reach for the stars to change the world”

—Harriet Tubman

• • • Sir’s philosophy: Don’t worry about money, it should never be something the inhibits you from pursuing a dream or an opportunity. The money will always come
    • Can work twice as hard, and pursue your dreams through side hustles. Have a job for financial stability, but then use the rest of your time to work incredibly hard to achieve your dream. 
• • As a teenager, here are some practical things you can do to inspire you to dream bigger: 
    • Explore and educate: Read books, watch interviews, listen to interviews, etc. about a subject that interests you. Take advantage of our collective intelligence, and let’s use our phones (that are always glued to our hands) to watch content that educates and inspires us. This gives us a clearer understanding of our field, helping us dream better.  Watch ted talks instead of tv shows
    • Find events that inspire you- There may be many networking and motivational events in your area that are geared towards helping you become inspired. Whether it’s author’s visiting libraries, a renowned figure speaking at a local college, or a dynamic musical performance at the theater, take advantage of these events within your community. Hearing these people’s stories can kickstart yours. 
    • Find a mentor- Whether it’s a teacher, parent, coach, or other important figures, find someone that can guide you and inspire you. Utilize their wisdom and life lessons to build upon your dreams, and use them to hold you accountable to your dream
    • Learn about your role model- The difference between this and a mentor, is you don’t need to actually know your role model. Have this person be someone who is at the top of their field, especially one who is recognized at the national or international level. Learn more about their lives, through autobiographies, documentaries, or interviews. Seeing someone who dreamed big and “made it” can help inspire you to dream big as well. 
    • Travel the world- Especially through study abroad, school trips, or any other international programs, take advantage of these opportunities to experience new cultures. Understanding the needs and lives of people around the world can help inspire your dream so that you can make an impact and improve lives on a global scale. 

• Seek real-life experience- Instead of getting a summer job at your local fast-food restaurant, aim to spend your time on an internship or shadowing experience. This can give you more insight into how the real world works, and allow you to grow professionally. Moreover, this can allow you to explore more within your craft, allowing you to dream bigger. 

• • • Build and explore your passion- Especially to turn an interest into a passion, take it to the next level by exploring, learning, and practicing your passion. Sign up for something that may push you out of your comfort zone, but will improve your craft. For example, I used to only have a slight interest in dancing when I was younger. But then, I attended an intense week-long workshop by a world-famous dancer. Even though this intimidated me and was a challenging experience, that opportunity turned my interest into a passion.

• Create a dream team- If you have a dream, find others that share the same passion as you. Use this common interest to cultivate innovation through collaboration. This allows you to create more progress towards achieving your dreams and creating an accountable community to support your dreams. 
• Dream big but start small- For many teens, a big dream can be intimidating, which is why we don’t pursue it in the first place. But start small. Create short-term and long-term goals, and do some work every day. Aim for progress, and then turn that progress into achievements. Starting small doesn’t mean not working hard, but it’s about turning a dream into realistic checkpoints.

• Add a dream into your life. Take a second to write down your dream. That’s the first step to making your idea a reality. Create a vision board, a long-term plan, and an aspiration. Continue to feed your drive to succeed, and take your dream and run with it. Many people delay their dreams, until next month, next week, or next year, until they think it’s too late. But the truth is, you will never be ready to start your dreams. Instead, just start now, start today. And once you have your dream, take it, and run like hell with it. 

“Plant your own garden and decorate your own soul, instead of waiting for someone to bring you flowers.”

—Veronica A. Shoffstall

Self Love in Mahatman is a power that nurtures and builds; it is not to be mistaken for narcissism and self delusion. It is for this reason that the Mahatman concept of love is based on the attitude of humility – I am only too aware of the complexities and intricacies of human relationships and so very consciously and humbly I say that the only real way to love another is by oneself. It is arrogance to think that two people can understand each other, let alone be fused together in love. An individual is virtually a universe by himself or herself – just think of all the influences from the first day of this person’s life which has gone to make the person that he or she is today – all the myriad experiences, thoughts and feelings which make up his or her personality at this moment. how can two individuals even begin to understand this enormous and complex universe that each is inhabiting? This is the reason Mahatman adopts an attitude of extremely humility where Love is concerned and believes that the only person we can really understand and therefore truly love is our own self. But mark how true self love helps us become more aware of our deepest thoughts, fears and motivations. The more aware we are of ourselves, the better we will be able to seek and make loving relationships.

Conventional advice on love talks about innumerable ways and strategies to build relationships. But think for a moment – what control do you really have over the thoughts, feelings and actions of another human being? No matter how much you trust him or her, is that enough for that person to be faithful to you? No matter how much you give and sacrifice, is it any guarantee that you will receive in the same measure? None at all. So why this preoccupation about how someone else should feel and think about you, why so much energy wasted on attempts at influencing his or her behaviour towards you? It is sheer impracticality to commit so much time, energy and resources into another person over whose emotional and behavioural choices you have no control.

Indeed this unhealthy need to control others has been responsible for heinous abuses in the name of ‘love’. Somewhere a husband prevents his wife from working because he loves her so much that he cannot bear her to leave the house to have a career; somewhere a woman ‘loves’ her boyfriend so much that she gets angry when he hangs out with his friends or goes for a game of golf. Parents ‘love’ their children so much that they decide what their kid will study, where he or she will work and even who he or she will marry. On the other hand, a child can ‘love’ parents so much that he or she wants power of attorney over their assets so that the old couple need not be bothered about financial things. All these are expressions of manipulation and abuse, unfortunately carried out in the guise of ‘love’.

Instead follow the Mahatman concept of love which says the only relationship worth building and nurturing is the one with your own self. Invest in acquiring valuable skills, high self esteem, positive experiences; take time to look after your health and make the effort to look your best. All these Self love practices will make you so attractive that potential partners are bound to be drawn to you. So rather than getting bogged down by tips and tricks to get a partner to think, feel and do your bidding, channel all that energy towards a goal where all your efforts will reap the greatest rewards – your own self.

Finally I believe that Self love is the surest way to enjoy a relationship because it makes for a continuous stream  of positive emotions – a stream that will never run dry so long as you love and respect yourself the most. You love yourself so much that it organically flows out of you and towards people you are close to.

But to experience the full benefits of Mahatman way of loving, you have to keep in mind that self love is not greed or vanity or pride. When you blow up your entire paycheck on a pair of shoes that will be dated the very next season or binge drink just because you have won that coveted contract, you are definitely not acting out of Self Love. Instead these are harmful actions which would make you poorer in your resources.

Most importantly, Self Love is not self centredness when you don’t care whether your actions are hurting others as long as they make you feel good. Let me see if I can explain this with a real life example. Self Love is taking time off during the weekend to go to an art gallery or attend a meditation retreat on your own whereas self centredness will be dragging along an unwilling partner. In case of the latter, your action is driven by that elusive  – and ultimately mistaken – desire to feel good but it end up causing self harm, through ruined relationships.

Mahatman says that in the state of true Self Love, when you reach out to a significant other – be it your partner, parent or child – you do it from a position of strength and maturity. You already know that you are a being who is full of potential, skills, goals and energy, who is worthy of and is already treated with respect, kindness and promise. Hence you engage in relationships not from a state of neediness but in order to give generously and fully. In this way, Self Love frees you from the needy, dependent bondage which has unfortunately been glorified in pop culture as ‘love’.

Then there are those who put forward Respect as an alternative to Love, believing that if you replace the sentimentality, desire and control associated with romantic Love with the regard and esteem for a loved one, the relationship can be more fulfilling. While respect is more mature than love, my point is, even that cannot guarantee a trouble-free relationship. You may deeply respect your partner but he or she may not reciprocate with the same regard for you, at all. What then – are you going to rage and cry and throw a tantrum over how your partner is not respecting you? Or are you going to swallow the disrespect meted out to you and seek refuge in online articles about how to get more respect from your partner and other such half-baked strategies? Eventually all such mistaken attempts boil down to the fact that you are trying to control another person’s thoughts, feelings and actions, which we agreed above – as in the case of Love – is just not practical.

So what are your options – how do you get your partner to really respect you? Mahatman gives you the only foolproof answer – by building respect and esteem for your own Self. And there are many, many ways of doing this.

“Don’t be afraid to give up the good to go for the great.”

—John Rockefeller

Greatness is no longer the physical strength inside a person, it is something innate; the desire to become most powerful. 

Today, we are living in an era which according to the famous author Steven Pinker in his book “The better angels of our nature” is the most peaceful era of all time. We have freedom like we never had before (in most parts of the world). We have the technology and the resources at our behest, needed to eke out a comfortable life. Medical science has bestowed us with longevity. The world has become a small place that can be fit into our smartphones. And yet with all this cornucopia, this abundance of everything, we are unhappy. We are happy and yet we are unhappy. The reason- we are not wired for complacency. We are meant to become what we can be. We are meant to express ourselves to the fullest of our potentials. If this world is a cocktail then we are a steady mix of Intuition and rationality. We have to make the most of it. All of you who are now reading this book, have that hunger inside of you to not just be happy, you have this insatiable desire to settle for nothing less than being great.  

We must seek greatness and not happiness – Happiness is our natural state of existence. Look at the animals around you, and the birds, and butterflies, they are all happy and carefree. But that is what sets us apart from the rest of the creatures. There is a blueprint for greatness inside each one of us, which yearns and craves for scaling the zenith of our potential. Happiness will make us all feel hunky-dory, but sooner or later we will all languish into complacency. At all times we must avoid the garden of low hanging fruits. We must choose what must be done over what makes us happy. We have to push our limits and make some tough choices. That is how we shall all turn into indomitable forces of greatness. There is a beautiful movie by the name “Hurricane” about a former middleweight boxer who was wrongly convicted for a triple murder in a bar in Paterson, New Jersey. I love a statement made by the eponymous Rubin Hurricane Carter- “I will always be the Hurricane and the Hurricane is beautiful” We must all strive to raise a storm of greatness in this happy life of ours. We must be great. 

We hear a lot about self-realization and knowing yourself, but in this path of self-realization, it’s equally important to know who we can be. Moving from Self- realization to self-actualization makes you transcend from who you are to who you can be.  To become the best version of yourself and to express yourself the best, keep focusing on the power of your core; your inner self. Recognize your inner being and stimulate your energies towards the good. One should walk towards the infinite route, only to find their true self. The thirst is eternal. Create stories and live them. When the future is uncertain, make sure you step slowly on the path leaving no trails. 

On the route of such an adventurous journey, push yourself to achieve the extraordinary.

“If you rise in love with yourself, Life itself will fall in love with you.”

“Emotional Intensity is that unquenchable burning desire that propels us to be the best version of ourselves”

—Sam Adettiwar

When you think, feel and act intensely you are making way for the enormous psychic energies that lie submerged in your subconscious and buried even deeper within your unconscious self. Intensity helps this energy push through layers of conventionality and tradition till it bursts forth into the world as creative brilliance and purposeful action. Here let me give you the example of a legendary inventor and entrepreneur – Steve Jobs. He dreamed and worked with such intensity that he gave the world designs and devices that no one could have dreamed of before. He could never have achieved such heights of greatness by being mired in the drama of managing emotions. Seeking to control, soothe and manage emotions – your own as well as of those around you –  is a criminal waste of time and energy – that is much better spent at dreaming big and achieving bigger. So use emotional intensity not just to unlock your potential but propel it out to the world where it can power your dreams and goals to Greatness.

Now emotional intensity is often confused with symptoms of mania like overactive and excessively excited behaviour. Because such symptoms are common in psychological mood disorders like bipolar disorder, seasonal affective disorder, postpartum psychosis or schizoaffective disorder, the emotional intensity has been getting some bad press.

But I tell you that resistance is a synonym for this world we live in – any idea that is new, energetic and powerful will always be pulled down by the mainstream and traditional modes of thinking. So get out of the binary of normal/abnormal to expand your insight into this most electric of energy sources. Indeed I would boldly proclaim that emotional intensity is not a disorder but a hiorder. Emotional intensity fires you up to the dream of great things, energizes you to work towards Actualization and best of all, fills you with a creative buzz just loud enough to drown out the whining naysayers. Look at Hollywood stars like Robert Downing Jr and Bollywood icons like Shahrukh Khan – can’t you see them oozing emotional intensity on and off-screen? They not only bring alive the characters they play but lead personal lives full of zest and joie de vivre. But by no accounts, can they be labelled insane. They choose roles, movies and take professional decisions with clarity and purpose. Mixed martial artist and boxer Conor McGregor has been embroiled in so many controversies but even then his obsession with being the best fighter shines through. That is how emotional intensity makes you work and live like a Mahatman – lion-size, larger than life itself but in command of all your mental faculties. 

It is all very well to exhort others to be emotionally intense to the extent that you do not tip over to insanity. But how do you identify that all-important dividing line? Mahatman has several ways of helping you to live intensely without succumbing to insanity.

What if I told you about a person who stalked different men every day and clicked people their sleep? You would probably recoil in disgust and get ready to call the cops. But that is exactly what French photographer and installation artist  Sophie Calle became famous for doing in the 1980s. These works depict human vulnerability while questioning issues of identity and intimacy – all of which would not have been possible within the confines of emotional calm and balance. To imagine and create such works of art, it is essential to shrug off the limitations of the straightlaced and the staid and allow yourself to be directed by sheer emotional intensity. In such situations, this energy is directed by wholesome intention – to create art, science, technology, or philosophy – and so is saved from insanity or depravity.

Thomas Edison comes to mind as the brightest example of what emotional intensity really implies. Remember his famous words upon hitting a stumbling block with the electric bulb, “I have not failed. I have just found 10,000 ways that won’t work.” Imagine the fervor for work that such a mentality indicates – so what if he was known to push a few buttons here and there, tick off his employees and subordinates if they slacked. Genius has no time for managing emotions – there is simply so much to be done that you would be frittering away precious time and energy by worrying about how to make someone feel better. Unleash your emotional energy and like a laser beam and focus it on your purpose – then watch it burn away all the dross and sculpt your goal in the sharpest relief. 

Above all, emotional intensity should flow organically from the self. Think of the iconic speech given by that great civil rights leader, Martin Luther King Jr – how can you not help but marvel at the emotional intensity firing up each word, phrase, and thought? Directed towards the purpose of civil rights activists, this type of emotional intensity energized him to rise above personal and ideological attacks to demand racial integration and end to discrimination. The emotional intensity that does not emerge naturally from the self will always be in conflict with the rational part of the self. On the contrary, Mahatman puts forward a state of integration where careful thoughts and plans are used to achieve dreams and goals but at the same time, they are energized by the subconscious, intense power of emotions. 

Here are a few more advantages of Living with Emotional Intensity:

How many mornings have you been absolutely unable to get yourself out of bed? Do you remember the last you were so exhausted at work that you just did not want to make that stop at the gym? The way to overcome such physical and mental inertia is to live with emotional intensity. Conjure up images of just killing the boardroom presentation at work and you will immediately feel fired up to rise and shine. Imagine the pleasure of having a toned, good looking body and you will have no trouble of slipping into your gym wear even after a full workday. Emotional intensity is all about shaking off the lethargy that occasionally paralyzes your body and mind. Research 1 has found that eustress – whose signs like an adrenaline rush and higher pulse rate mimics emotional intensity – can actually protect the body against oxidative damage, which is linked to aging and disease. The benefits to the mind are even more. Scientists are increasingly believing that stress can actually aid in problem-solving and building motivation as well as resilience. When you find yourself whining that you are tired and just cannot do it or take it anymore, it is time to unleash that emotional intensity and power your way to achieve great things.

Do you think Columbus would have found the way to the American mainland if he had been seeking merely emotional balance all the way? Or Edmund Hillary had been able to push on to the highest peak in the mountain by seeking emotional peace and calm? It is an only intensity that can equip you with the energy and grit to break through the boundaries of the familiar and known worlds. It is only by being intensely imaginative and driven that you can keep pushing into the unknown to chart your way through territories never touched before. Emotional Intensity is thus one of the fundamental traits of all successful people who have achieved great milestones – as inventors, artists, scientists, or leaders. In other words, People who achieve greatness have one thing in common – they follow intense lifestyles. 

Why take Life so seriously anyway? Find and fulfill your true purpose with a sense of playfulness and adventure. Remember how as a child you would believe anything was possible and you could be what you wanted. If you feel jaded and tired now, let emotional intensity help you to bring forth a renewed sense of wonder and adventure in your life so that you can soar towards your Actualized Self.

Emotional intensity is about the sharing of all the energies of the self with the world. All the skills, emotions, learning and experience that are bubbling within your subconscious need to be expressed fully to be a Mahatman and it is intensity that will make this happen. Here is where I give an example from my own life. Being born in a small village in India, I would always dream of winning the world. There were innumerable psychological and financial hurdles in my way but none that could defeat my intense desire to cross the seven seas. Throughout my childhood and young adulthood, I felt the flames of obsession licking at my insides and firing me to follow my heroes like Walt Disney and Steve Jobs. Finally I made it in the US and like my designer-inventor idols, I am now on my way to spread the philosophy of Mahatman. This is how emotional intensity has not just energized me to dream and achieve big but pour out my creative energies towards all of humanity. This is how it is helping me live as a whole, integrated person where I experience supreme one-ness at a functional level. There is little or no conflict within me, between instinct and thought, between what I am urged to do and what I think is right – in other words, the emotional intensity has unleashed my instincts to a purposeful and wholesome way of being. Finally, I say to you, live intensely so that you can give your all to the world – without holding anything back. This will take you to the peak of Greatness and you will emerge as the Actualized Soul.

“No complain. No explain – Drag Yourself Across the Goal line.”

—Sam Adettiwar

How many times have you been tempted to look for something or someone to blame for not getting the job done? Perhaps you have been plagued by bad internet connectivity or are feeling under the weather or seething against that annoying coworker who breathes too heavily in the next cubicle. Recognize these for what they really are – temporary glitches that can be overcome. Learn how to quickly get over or past them so that work and your own productivity does not suffer. 

The other common situation is when you are tasked with an important project and then for whatever reason, you are unable to deliver. Rather than taking ownership of the situation and then doing whatever it is required to set it right, you spend hours explaining to your boss why you couldn’t get the job done. Just consider all the time and effort you are wasting coming up with elaborate explanations which might be inconsequential at best and a cover-up, at worst. Recognize that such superficial, lengthy explanations for non-performance do not help anyone – neither your organization which is suffering the loss of productive hours nor you since you come off as incompetent.

Mahatman today urges you to take extreme responsibility for your own situation and set it right. Do whatever it takes to get over a technical fault, a weak body, or a negative attitude from people. Rather than blaming your situation and others around you, learn to be resourceful, and get the job done.

There is another reason why Mahatman wants to hammer the lesson of being resourceful to you. Thoughts and actions repeated in a pattern become a habit. So, turn away from this practice of complaining and explaining before it becomes a habit reeking of negativity and ineptitude. Build self-awareness through techniques like mindfulness so that you can catch yourself in the act the next time you start giving excuses for not getting the job done. Control your mind chatter and replace negative thoughts – that crib and whine – with positive thoughts that are more focused on solutions. If you have already been whining for some time now, it will be a while before you can get out of the negative loop but the main thing is to start – NOW!

There are so many icons of business, sports, and entertainment industry who are idolized for their success and star appeal. But most of them are proudly self-made which means they were not born in the lap of luxury. Rather than being showered with opportunities right from the beginning, they actively modified their circumstances so that opportunities would come their way. The Chinese billionaire Jack Ma for instance was born into humble circumstances but even as a teen, he would frequent tourist hotspots in his hometown not just to earn a few extra bucks as a guide but so that he could learn English from the Western travelers. These skills came in real handy when Ma had to look for ways to travel to America and then build his business in China. 

Yet another shining example of grit and resourcefulness is Media baroness Oprah Winfrey. She has survived sexual abuse, teen pregnancy and body bias to emerge one of the richest women in the world. You don’t find these people complaining that they lacked resources while growing up and that not enough opportunities came their way. Instead what you learn from their stories is to make your own opportunities – the crux of the Mahatman mantra! 

Apart from real-life role models around you, other cultures and characters can also teach you entertaining lessons about being resourceful. How many of you remember the swashbuckling hero of the TV show, MacGyver – now there was a guy to whom resourcefulness came as easily as breathing! He would disarm bombs with paper clips and use gum wrappers to fix fuses like it was all in a day’s work! Then there are cultural concepts like “jugaad” in semi-urban India where things break down our systems don’t work so often that enterprising people have learned to tweak situations to get on with their work and business – and that too in the most frugal way possible. Some examples of such resourcefulness that have made their way into public stage range from an ingenious electrocardiogram in a backpack, developed by GE Healthcare’s Indian engineers to SELCO India, a sustainable energy provider that sells solar panels to a network of small entrepreneurs who in turn use them to charge battery-powered lights rented to households outside the country’s electricity grid1.

It is however hardly enough to limit a discussion on resourcefulness only to why we need it. It is equally important to know the ‘hows’ of resourcefulness which is why I shall be leaving you with a few strategies on cultivating this most useful of life skills. To become more resourceful:

• Use technology – these days so many difficulties can be solved by smartphones, digital personal assistants, internet connectivity and apps. For example, if you have forgotten to take your driver’s license for an identity check, you can request a clear pic of the hard copy to be considered for the purpose.
• Creativity – allow your creativity to come to the fore when grappling with difficulty. So many times, problems are easier to solve when you willing to think outside the box. Resourcefulness is all about problem-solving rather than relying on ready resources and this can happen only when you are willing to imagine beyond the horizon of tried and tested. Indeed sometimes you may even have to break a few rules to this end. Do not break the law but by all means push the boundaries of a situation if it means overcoming your problem. 
• Persistence – We all know about Edison’s comment on one of his setbacks when inventing the light bulb, “I have not failed. I have merely found 10,000 ways that don’t work”. Being resourceful is not always coming up with awesome epiphanies but sheer determination to not let the problem get the better of you. Keep trying, again and again, until you have found a way around the problem.
• Be positive – At the same time, it is important that you persist not as a result of toxic egoistic reasons but in a positive frame of mind – being hopeful that persistence will pay, and eventually you will come up with a way that will work.
• Tap into your support network – Shamelessly ask for help if you think that could help you overcome hurdles. Feeling hesitant or hopeless about seeking genuine help are all signs of poor self-esteem. Overcome your anxiety of reaching out and you may be pleasantly surprised how often people are willing to help you. Additionally, nurture a support system you can tap into when you need certain skills and resources to get past a sticky situation. 
• Finally, Burn the ship – Heed that ancient story of Captain Hernan Cortes who ordered his soldiers to burn the ships before the conquest of Veracruz. This was so that the men knew that there was no going back and they would be compelled to fight to the best of their abilities. Sometimes, it pays to burn your ships too – do away with Plan B or the option of backtracking so that you know how you have to find a way around the problem – come what may!

“It does not matter how slowly you go as long as you do not stop.”

—Confucius