Speaking against the motion..

Atul came at 5 pm today. We went to our dojo– the OPD hall. For the sake of debate practice, I asked Atul to speak against the motion: “The current government is totally responsible for the recent tragedy in Uttarakhand”.

He had to state that he was going to oppose the thesis, give two evidence (logic) and then conclude. I recorded it on my tablet and made him review soon after he finished. 

One of his surprised reactions was: I thought I was very coherent, as I spoke- but now looking at the video, I am not so sure…
I too agreed with him. Things can be very clear in our own head but when we relate it through oral medium (not thru writing), something goes wrong. Obvious one (among many) reason is: pws is more focused on NOT stammering rather than communicating the message. (We shared a funny anecdote about it- which I wont share here due to our editorial policy!)
Then, I casually asked him: if video recording can tell you something as important as that, how often have you done it back home, on your own? His honest answer was: just once!
Why not more often?
Now, we are entering the realm of “motivation”- an inner psychological drive. Not just pws, many “normal” people have this problem: they are not able to develop or retain a high level of self-motivation on a long term basis.. What begins as a “Do or DIE” struggle to find cure and fluency, dies out in a few weeks and gets buried under routine frustrations, complains, rationalisations and self-serving justifications..
So, what can we do to remain highly motivated on a long term basis?
1. Having clear, written down, goals – broken down in “Short-term”, “Medium term” and “long term” time frame- is very helpful.
2. Stick these goals as reminders in various locations: your desktop, mirror, work table, Fridge, home screen of your mobile phone.. on top of your Blog, bottom line of your email etc.
3. While you develop “goals”- also brain storm about “routes to reach them” (methodology) – Here is an example:
Goal: To develop high comfort level with block corrections in next 3 months
Route: A. Practice block correction on phone with strangers – by phoning one stranger on phone every night.
B. Practice it every sunday in the SHG…. etc.
4. Frequently review your goals and your progress. If needed, re-phrase and re-write your goals.. Doing this exercise once a year is no good.
5. Reward yourself every time you successfully achieve a goal or sub-goal.. Write (brag!) about it on FB or blog.
6. Find a supportive environment. Power of environment is often underestimated. If you are in a casino, you will sooner or later want to play a gambling machine… Only super-humans will be able to resist the sub-conscious pull. We are not one, obviously; not at this moment at least.
So, find the right atmosphere for yourself: it could be SHG; it could be online communities..

Above all- never give up. If you fall 1000 times, you must get up 1001 times.. When you write yourself off, then the world too stops having faith in you. Not before.  TISA wishes you all the best!