Husain Journal

“Would you like me to give you a formula for success? It's quite simple, really. Double your rate of failure.” Thomas J. Watson, founder of IBM I have since long been charmed by the idea of giving more time to producing rather than just consuming knowledge. Consuming or gathering knowledge on your topic of interest is good, but sometimes this is a clever way of running away from producing. Take my example. I secretly dream to become a great writer so that I can travel the world and live on my own terms. So to make this audacious dream a reality, I read books and top blogposts on writing. But when it ultimately boils down to producing my work so that others can judge it… I reason with myself that the time isn’t not yet ripe for it, and therefore I have to do more homework. Doing more homework, i.e. reading more books or listening to more podcasts, looks a good idea. But at the heart of it lies my fear of producing – my fear of making mistakes or getting rejected or ridi...

Does this describe you? You’re so overfilled with stuff that before you know it, scores of highly important tasks slip through the cracks and vanish. After all, state of things earlier were not as jumbled up as they’re now, right? And no matter how terribly you try to mute it, that same question scratches the core of your heart – Will I ever be able to organise and clear up the traffic of my affairs? Read on, I’m going to mention a bunch of attention-chewing habits that could be contributing in messing up your life. The hot metric to instantly ment away your crutch activities This piercing truth might sting you right on your face, but let me tell you a dirty secret about us. We invent clever, fox-cunning excuses to dodge the tough – the results-fetching stuff so to embrace the easy and mundane. But if easy tasks would have made our audacious, soul-stirring dreams true, every second person had cut it. So success lies in challenging and blood-squeezing work. For e...

Oh, end of another bone-stiffening day. You sigh, rub your misty eyes, and slump down on your soft bed to taste some ice-cream. You’re tired and drained yet a part of your mind desires to push more. But you direly feel like resting a little. It’s vital to refresh your creativity and health, right? As it slips around your tongue, you try enjoying the crispy texture of the ice-cream, but you can’t, because a bunch of work files are open in your mind. And you think… Can I ever get successful in enjoying the little pleasures of my everyday life? Maybe you’re overambitious, maybe not. But you certainly require changing the approach you have for your work. Fortunately, these mind-quickening points can inject fresh electric in you when you’re sucked up: Forget work and talk about war Rewind to June, 1942. German air force is bombarding England to hold sway over Europe. The Commanding General of the European Theater of Operations for the US Army, Dwight Eisenhower is plunged ...

Ever felt looking over a massively successful work that you yourself would have created it equally well? Ever felt that you yourself would have delivered the same level of talk and had written the same kind of a novel? I guess that like me you too would have felt so. And maybe then you also would have felt that people get fond of just average or above average things…So if you had simply released your work, you would have made an amazing splash. Or you might have got this question in your head: Were these people simply lucky that they got so high popularity for their works? Maybe they would be having great connections, right? So far being lucky is concerned, well, I believe in the oft-repeated wisdom that the harder you work, the better your luck gets. And so far having great connections part is concerned? Maybe yes, maybe no. But that’s not so relevant. What’s the reason for their success, I think, is their bravery and courage. Yes, their courage to put forth their work i...

“Your worst enemy cannot harm you As much as your own thoughts, unguarded. But once mastered, No one can help you as much, Not even your father or your mother.” Lord Buddha A simple thing that can turn us highly productive is that we must train ourselves to guard our thoughts. If every moment we’re guarding our thoughts optimally, if every moment we’re true in doing justice with our cognitive capabilities and blessings, the success we dream about isn’t going to evade us for that long. The problem with us is that we’re lazy, rest-loving folks, and doing justice with our blessings is no easy feat. This is because we have entangled ourselves in bad, unproductive thoughts, and therefore we find ourselves backing out when it comes to using our blessings optimally. The ugly truth is that we have chained ourselves in clutter and frivolity: The clothes we want to wear at the party Why is she hanging around with that guy so often…is there a romantic story brewing up? He never ...

Certainly, we’re of a hasty temperament. And “Hastiness,” Imam Husain said, “is a kind of stupidity.” To curb the rush of my mind, I meditate by using the free version of an app called Headspace . When I play the body scan session of this app, I feel relaxed and well-grounded in the present. The instructor will ask you to think about a photocopy machine. As the light whizzes back and forth through the paper in it, similarly he will ask you to imagine a light is passing through your body, scanning every part of it from head to toe. Actually, oftentimes there’s a voice in my head which tries to race ahead of the present time. This voice disturbs me because it doesn’t permit me to focus on my present. As a consequence I can’t enjoy and saver the bliss of the present moment. But when I meditate, it reminds me to come in my natural unhurried speed, and unloads the burden of doing more than it’s required of me. The effect is that I get unburdened, and then I’m fairly successful in...

And here’s the reason behind it: As a general rule, we fear what improves us. Admit it, you fear public speaking. You fear asking questions in conferences. But you know it deep down in your heart that if you go forth to do it, you’ll get closer to success. We resist what’s tough for us, but the amazing truth is that all improvement takes place beyond the boundaries of our comfort zone. So, if we’re resisting public speaking, it’s a clear sign that it would bring improvement in us, and eventually we must do that particular thing. If you’re resisting physical workouts, you know that it’s the thing you want to go after. If you’re resisting to post regularly on your blog because you feel they’ll laugh at you, you know you need to chase that very thing. We resist what’s tough and risky for us. A student will invent excuses to avoid studying deeply, in a distraction-free climate. He might keep his phone within his reach, he might not turn off the notifications, he might study at ...

The beauty is that unless you outstep your comfort limit, you’re not going to improve. Many incredible people have said that all progress takes place outside the boundaries of our comfort area, on risky terrains. The resistance in us, triggered from our lizard brain, dissuades us from venturing out in risky situations (public speaking, tendering that proposal, launching a business, having a tough talk) because it sees that groundless fabric of fear from miles and miles away. Unable to gauge the gravity of the risk, it treats it as if it were life-threatening, and hence the resistance. This resistance once upon a time was important. The thing is that now things have changed – i.e. now we don’t have that many life-threatening situations as before – but the resistance operates in the same way. And the remarkable thing is that this resistance isn’t merely a concept. It has its physical, material existence, and as I said above, is known as the lizard brain. When we suddenly get alar...

Suspicion in some places is shattering and disastrous. What you expect of the other person he is very likely to become like it. If you think that that person is good, he likely will elevate himself to meet your expectations, but if you think that he is bad, you likely are going to see the reality stooping down to match your expectations. In How to Win Friends and Influence People, Dale Carnegie suggests “Giving others a great reputation to live up to.” This is called The Expectation Effect. Yes, it’s possible that sometimes cold waters of cheating might sweep away your trust, yet overall it’s beneficial in relationship, work, and in all other dealings. What I’m saying here might appear flimsy to you at first, but give it a long, hard look, and you’ll find many businesses standing on this policy. How? A lot of businesses give the customers the guarantee that if they didn’t like their products post-purchase, they can return them and take back their full money without any ques...

Picture this to yourself… You’re crazily in love with an innocent and gorgeous girl. Just the kind of lady you ever dreamt to be with you on your tea and dinner table. You’re spinning up excuses to be around her. You’re creative in doing things to please her. You’re repeatedly opening your heart to show her your overflowing love. But oops…she thinks that you’re becoming a drag on her. Your constant indulgence is making her sick of you. Yes, it doesn’t mean that your love for her is untrue. No, you’re sincere, earnest, and you love her from your full heart and soul. But the only problem? You’re unable to make an effective proposal. A proposal that she would thank you for, can’t wait to jump upon, and finally drench you by her angelic affection you so dream of. Paradise on earth, right? And while you’re making frantic efforts to woo her, the cruel fate grins and something cruel stings you right on your face. Smash… A cleverer guy walks in, dials the right number, and she is g...