Use imagination to Quit Smoking

I used to smoke 20 cigarettes a day and I did it perpetually for 12 years but now I have left smoking completely. When I thought of quitting smoking, I started to seek advice from doctors and friends on how to quit smoking. Most of them advised me to leave it gradually by reducing the number of cigarettes consumed every day. I also tried some of the sprays and anti smoking chewing gums but without result. Surprisingly I left smoking suddenly one fine day.

Photo Credit : Nicoletta Ciunci

I used imagination to quit smoking instantly. I tried to find out and understand how my brain functions during pre and post smoking scenarios. The urge to smoke was more or less time specific and it lasted till I had a cigarette. Suddenly increasing or reducing the number of cigarettes caused discomfort, when I analyzed the reason for it I found that it was basically because my brain was sending an instruction to my body but the body was not complying with it. I tried to identify the same discomfort with some other activities I do. I read for about half an hour before sleeping, when I stopped reading, it caused discomfort and it took me more time to fall asleep. I shifted my time to have breakfast by an hour, I felt discomfort in the beginning but after a few days my body adjusted to the new timing. these analogies helped me in understanding the pattern my brain follows.

For sleeping and breakfast the body had an alternate time to adjust with but for smoking the body has to live without it. So, I concluded that I have to tame my mind or rather fool my brain. I collected pictures of people smoking and pasted it in my room and washroom. I looked at details of the pictures and imagined how happy and satisfied the person in the picture would be feeling while smoking. I did it several times in the day so that the picture pops up in my mind without even without looking at it. It is also necessary to remember the feelings we associate with smoking.

Whenever I felt like smoking I closed my eyes and remembered the pictures and the feelings. My brain could immediately identify the feelings and my urge to smoke was gone in five minutes. I kept doing it repeatedly to keep away from smoking. I left smoking three years back but my brain still believes that I smoke.

The Power of Courage - A Speech

Speech Transcript:

Nelson Mandela said “I learned that courage was not the absence of fear but the triumph over it. The brave man is not he who does not feel afraid, but he who conquers that fear”.

Dear Toastmasters fellow members and guests today I will draw a picture of courage capturing its two shades – “action” and “restrain”.

12 year old Vijay was a great cricket lover but unfortunately he was blind by birth. His friends in school used to taunt and make fun of him but that never dampened Vijay’s indomitable spirit.

Vijay had a secret – a cricket bat with which he used to play with his father. His father knew that a blind boy cannot play cricket, but at the same time he never wanted to hurt Vijay’s feelings. So, he played with Vijay just to make him happy. Soon Vijay learnt to track the sound of the ball as it whipped through the air and bounced in front of him. His father was amazed when Vijay started hitting every ball just by following the sound. This was a secret until a friend of his discovered Vijay’s unique ability.

Next day in school students were busy passing the news of Vijay playing cricket. Some bullies challenged Vijay to play with them. Vijay had promised his father that he won’t play with anyone else, so he started to walk away avoiding the challenge. The bullies taunted him, they said “your father thought that you, a blind, can play cricket – what a fool”. Vijay would not tolerate a word against his father, his coach. He turned around and accepted the challenge. At that time Vijay was unaware that soon he would be facing a hard leather ball unlike the soft cricket balls with which he used to practice with his father.

The news of Vijay playing cricket at school soon reached his mother who called up his father in office. His father ran to the school and saw Vijay in the field, getting ready to face the ball. Vijay’s father jumped over the short fence to stop Vijay but something stopped him – the courage inside him. He came out of the field, stood behind the fence and shouted at Vijay “Come on son; hit it out of the park”.

Vijay heard his father, he tightened his grip on the bat and turned his ear towards the bowler. The first ball was a full toss, Vijay missed it completely. “Steady” his father whispered to himself holding onto the barbed wire on the fence. The second ball was a Yorker which Vijay was able to dig out just in time. The third ball jumped off the turf like a spitting cobra and ruptured Vijay’s left eyebrow. His head reeled, He could feel a trail of blood snaking down his eyes and he collapsed on the ground. His father didn’t move an inch, soft tears rolled down his eyes, he tightened his grip on the barbed wire already stained with his own blood and waited for his son to stand up. Vijay stood up, wiping the blood off his face…the fourth ball was another bouncer, he ducked in time saving his head. The fifth ball was directed at his rib cage, Vijay jumped up and knocked the ball down. The last ball was again a Yorker, this time Vijay could clearly hear the ball approaching him ripping through the air, he got under the ball and scooped it high over the bowler’s head. The ball went up high and dropped sharply on the fielder at the boundary rope. The fielder jumped, the ball brushed his finger and went over the boundary rope. It was a six.

Vijay’s father jumped over the fence, with open arms he ran into the field like a child clutching his son in a tight embrace. Vijay’s dark world was illuminated with joy, he broke into tears and said “thank you dad, for not stopping me”.

Friends, this is how Vijay demonstrated courage through his action while his father demonstrated courage through restrain. Both of them conquered the demon called fear and immortalized the message of Nelson Mandela.  

The Purpose of Life - A Speech

Speech Transcript:

A doctor was asked the question – “Who are you? Are you aware of the purpose of your life?” he answered – “ yes, I am a doctor and the purpose of my life is to save lives”. The same question was asked to another doctor and he replied – “ I am a guardian of human soul and the purpose of my life is to ensure that every human soul gets the best out of the body they are in – who do you think is going to do a better job?- the first doctor or the second one. Yes, the second doctor because it is profound from the purpose of his life that medicine is not just a profession for him – it is a passion.

I believe every human is born with a purpose in life – and it is our responsibility to find out the purpose. I will share the responses I got when I asked my friends what is their purpose of life.

Vinay, a businessman said….Hey, Sandeep you know how much I used to love Neha, the purpose of my life was to marry her. I married her, and I am happy.

I replied – So, the purpose of your life is to keep Neha happy, right?

Vinay answered back agitatedly “of course, she is happy, I mean….I give her 10000 rupees every month for shopping”

Another friend of mine, Jyoti, a fashion designer said….that her purpose of life is to settle down in Canada.

Neeraj, an IT professional said that his purpose of life is to buy a swanky pent house in New York City and have the best wines.

Wow, what purposes….you might find it amusing but most us think the same way.

Now let me turn the question around and ask – what is that one work you can do for 16 hours a day constantly without getting tired? Or What is that one thing you BELIEVE in the most? I am sure the answers would be quite different.

There is a relation between the purpose of life and what you believe.

What you believe is what you do, and what you do is the purpose of your life.

Let me tell you a short story…..

In a remote village, a young man of 28 years was recovering from a major illness due to which he lost his memory. A sudden flood swept the village leaving hundreds of people marooned on trees and roof tops. A wise old man came up to the young man and said “son, you are an army officer and you are the only person who can save the villagers stuck in the flood, please help them.” The young man jumped into the menacing waves and saved hundreds of lives. Later he came to know that he was not an army officer but was a very good swimmer. The wise old man instilled belief in the young man and he played the role of an army officer. That’s what belief can do to you.

Now I will share my belief and my purpose of life - I believe that practicing creativity can improve the quality of human life. What are we doing here – we are all practicing creativity and it has a positive influence on everyone’s life over here. I believe that only by practicing creativity we can overcome all our negative thoughts. So, my purpose of life is to influence human development through creativity.

Do you have a purpose in life? If not, write down your belief first and then find out what all should you do to practice your belief. Then that becomes the purpose of your life.

Don’t worry if no one cares about your belief. No one cared about what Mary Kom believed in. No one cared about what the Noble Laureate Kailash Satyarthi believed in. But they practiced their belief, every day and that became the purpose of their life.

I am sure you will also identify your belief and define the purpose of your life.

What makes a Great Team

“What makes a great team?” - The question kept me thinking for several days. People never forget to talk about leadership, motivation and empowerment while defining a great team. Although these are essential ingredients which go into building a successful team but a different perspective goes into building a “great team”.

Henry ford said “Coming together is a beginning. Keeping together is progress. Working together is success”....... I just want to add one more perspective to it – “Thinking together is greatness”.

What I feel is that “A great leader may build a great team but a great team will always give a great leader”. Now some people might debate, which comes first – the leader or the team. Let’s look at an example:

The famous Orpheus Chamber Orchestra of New York City has won the heart and minds of millions by staging the greatest performances ever, but “without a leader”. The leadership roles are taken up by members in turns while the rest of the members “thinks together” and contributes to create the magic in their performances.

Photo credit - Scott Maxwell

“Leadership” is a “top heavy” word and clearly discriminates the leader from the rest of the team. Although the role of a leader in a team is non-negotiable, the spectrum of leadership which nourishes collective thinking only has the right to achieve sustainable greatness. Some leaders feel tempted to act intelligent to establish their supremacy but an effective leader creates a collective opinion by allowing everyone to contribute their ideas.

A successful organisation is the one which has more market share but sustainable greatness is achieved by organisations which invest more in training, development and R&D creating intellectual and proprietary capital.

A great team is actually a group of great leaders who exercise “thinking leadership” to leverage team’s thinking ability and create magical synergy.