Everyone is born unique and special in their own way. We start life brave with few fears. Then society and social pressure kicks in and begins shaping us, distorting us into some kind of socially acceptable norm, and most of the times we become someone unrecognisable. We often look for ourselves in the mirror of others rather than reflecting inwards. There are many ways we can bring ourselves back on track – back to the path we were born for. Sounds philosophical? The truth is practical.

One way to overcome this social influence is not to accept excuses – yours or anybody else’s. We are surrounded by people who will help us avoid tough choices – and we learn to avoid them ourselves. We must overcome such thoughts and influences and follow our instinct. Sometimes it can get difficult to differentiate influenced thoughts with instincts.
There are other ways to be true to ourselves and realise our potential:
– Get out of your comfort zone. Now is the only time to do anything. Delaying to the future is not an option. It’s a word which lacks commitment and creates excuses to avoid the now – the moment.
– Do more of what you enjoy by doing less of what doesn’t matter to you. There simply isn’t time to do the stuff that doesn’t matter and we have to be discerning.
– Pursue excellence, not wealth. Don’t fall under the economic trap. Understand that financial gain is a byproduct of the relentless pursuit of excellence. This applies in every field and profession. Some might consider this idiotic, but believe me the idiots are those who accept their life as passenger, even when some of them are in luxury cars and lifestyles.

My dad gifted me two books when I was young, both of which had a profound impact on me as a boy. One of them was “If you can’t control your destiny someone else will” by Jack Welch. The other was “Who says elephants can’t dance” by Louis V Gerstner.

Those books and my early life experiences led me to realize that life itself is a wave – problems and opportunities, sadness and happiness, failures and successes, lapping back and forth. We have to learn to ride the waves when they’re on our side and learn treat obstacles as part of our path, rather than running away from them.

Running away from discomfort is foolish because discomfort is the point when we grow. Comfort is a dead end – it kills your ability to grow and certainly slows your capability to adapt.

You can overall appreciate life if you learn to treat obstacles as part of your path rather than running away from them.