How To Overcome Fear

Most of us afraid of something and when we need to face that moment we freeze. We feel trapped and feel how we can escape. Fear stops us from enjoying various things which life has to offer us and it can lead a feeling of deprivation when you observer that you are not able to enjoy things like others.

Usually reasons of fear are not totally know and could be related to some past experiences. Those could be some childhood experience which could have impression in the mind. So whenever you face a similar situation, brain brings back that stored impression and the body reacts in the defined manner for that impression. For example when you meet a friend after a long time you automatically smile or laugh and this is due to the impression in the brain for this event. It could also be due to some experiences of past life. Although some of people you find this hard to believe I personally feel that experiences from your past life plays an important role in how you behave and feel in a certain situation. I may write more on this in some later posts.

My Personal Fear
Let me admit, I have a huge fear of heights. I shiver at the prospect of riding any rides in the theme parks. I remember several instances where I have not been able to enjoy the rides due to this fear. Somehow my body tightens up and I feel that entire thing is out of control for me.

I start sweating profusely and my blood pressure and heart rate goes up. I remember that one I went to Six Flags in Wisconsin Dells in USA and was able to ride very few rides and even in those felt very unsafe. I have faced similar situations lot of times and wondered why I become so much afraid. I have tried to ride some easier rides but then also the fear remains the dominant feeling.

How to Reduce Fear?
Key factor in reducing fear is to accept it that you are afraid but still tell yourself that you will attempt the task which makes you afraid, though it may be a small step. Taking small but brave steps reduce the fear atleast to some extent. When we keep on taking them it may gradually eliminate the fear. You need to keep in mind two things here. Firstly the fear will not go away quickly, and it will take time. Second and more important is the person involved should be willing to take that baby step.

1. Take Baby Steps
   Be supportive to the person and if you are the victim then seek support. People may have ideas to help you. Most people have fear of public speech and if they need to make some speech it is really difficult and some people dread any social occasions where they may need to speak. If you suffer from this fear you can try to speak in front of close family members first and then when confidence increases then try to speak in front of extended family and friends. Tell them in advance that you will speak to them for only 5 minutes. When you do that your confidence will surely increase. Keep on taking further baby steps till the day you are able to give a talk to a large group of people.


2. Develop a Superiority Complex
   Before starting think that if others can do it I can also do it, after all they are no way superior to you. If you have this feeling it will give you courage. For example, when I was starting to learn driving a bike or car I was afraid. Then I thought that if most of the people whom I know and who are in no way superior to me can learn then why not me. That provided me the required courage to learn.


3. Think of you past fears and use them
   When you are afraid to try or fail after first few attempts here is how you can have more courage. Think of lot of things which you tried in the past and were not able to do initially and now able to do them easily. Which means that as we keep on attempting a task it surprisingly becomes easier to do. Then apply this knowledge to your situation.


4. Think of the Good Things
   Imagine the good things which you can enjoy when you are able to overcome the fear. Use that imagination to provide you the courage. For example imagine how you will feel when you come down from the stage and people congratulate you after a great speech.

Now continuing my story of fear of heights. I was afraid to ride a horse also, but in a recent trip I had to ride a horse in the mountains and I thought that if old ladies can do that why not me. That gave me confidence. I relaxed my self and decided to enjoy. It was a 12 KM ride and it made me really comfortable riding a horse. Now I look forward to riding horses, camels and elephants.

Recently I decided to take on my fear and rode a Giant wheel. Initially I was really afraid and just as I rode it I thought I had take a wrong decision. Then I noticed that my body was really tense which was making me more miserable. I opened up and relaxed my arms, stomach and the legs and started looking at the things. I saw that things look different from the top. This has increased my courage and once it was completed I was really glad with what I did. Though it is easy stuff for lot of people for me it is a baby step in the right direction. I plan to ride more rides in near future to reduce my fear. Now one of my aim is para jumping which involves jumping from a plane.

Remember everyone is afraid, it is just that they are able to control the fear and in fact use that fear to have thrill. I have talked to lot of people who like to take rides and they all say they are afraid but that is the source of the thrill. I was an introvert and never talked to girls. I was extremely self conscious but now I have given a lot of public speeches many times. Initially during a speech I am also nervous, but I have learned to control that nervousness. The secret is every great speaker is afraid initially.

If you try the above steps you will not only be able to reduce the fears but start enjoying more. May you conquer your fear.

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How to Achieve More Goals This Year

Every year lot of us make new year resolutions and start with a bang. Then after a week or so the enthusiasm level starts falling and by the end of January the resolutions are lost and forgotten somewhere. Then at the end of the year we again dig up the ghosts of the past year's resolutions and put them in new clothes and they are again ready for the next year. Usually the cycle repeats each year.

When this happens for a few successive years, people stop making any resolutions at the beginning of the year. They stop feeling guilty or sorry at the end of the year. All the guilt free years come back to you with interest though later. As years pass by and when we look back we start feeling what we have lost by not taking any actions and wonder what we may have achieved if we had worked to achieve even 50% of those goals. This has happened with me as well as and when I am more focused I can see what an time waster I have been.

If you do not act on your goals then they are just your wish list and unfortunately we do not have a genie who can fulfill our wishes.

Here is how we can do to achieve our Goals?

1. Write Down Your Goals
   I have found it myself after implementing it. I have been reading this for a long time but once I wrote it down it somehow becomes easier to focus and achieve the goals. Here is a post on importance of writing down your goals. If you really serious about your goal write it in paper and stick it either in front of your computer or mirror or anywhere where it will be visible everyday.


2. Have a Goal which will excite you.
   Selecting an exciting goal is very important. It should be challenging and at the same time should be something which will make you proud when you achieve that. There should be some attraction from the goal itself which draw you to the goal. For example if you want to lose weight choose a bigger picture. if you are in middle age think you will look when you shed all those flab. If you want to get a better paying job then think you will feel when you get that job everyday. You can add some excitement by making it bit difficult to achieve.
   
   Here is an example. For example if you want walk for 1 mile every day for a month, then you can have a goal like "Start walking every day for 30 days. Start with 1 mile and at end of 30 days I should be able to walk the XYZ trek which is 5 miles long and at a altitude." Here I have presented very simple way, but you can manipulate this to suite your situation.


3. Take Actions Every Day or Frequently
   Taking Action(s) Frequently.
   Work on your goals to reach close very frequently. Take actions frequently like daily or every two or three days is very important. This keeps you on track and does not let you lose focus. The frequency can depend on the goal. For example, if you want to quit smoking, read anti smoking literature every day. Create a check list of the items which will help you to avoid smoking and read that every day.
   
   If you are planning a dream vacation as your goal then daily action may not be required. But you may set a checklist like checking a cheaper hotel booking, planning and booking the flights at the right time to get discount, saving money and see if you not spending the money on the items which you plan to avoid to fund this vacation.


4. Start with a Short Term Goal
   If you have failed to achieve most of your goals previously then go for a shorter term goal first. Start with a goal which can be achieved in a week or so. Then move on to month long duration goal. Making sure that you are achieving these goals will give you confidence to achieve long and bigger goals. Make the shorter goals stepping stone to bigger goals in your life.
   
   Thing to remember is do not make the short term goals easy. They should be equally important for you to achieve and make you feel excited as mentioned in point 2.
   

Having goals are important for us to reach near our potentials and having a richer life and with the above steps you can achieve many of your dreams this year and in the years to follow.

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50 Things I Want To Do or Achieve Before I Die

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How to get higher rate of Interest from a Bank FD or CD

We all know that fixed deposits(FD) in bank are a safe bet and provide better returns than savings accounts. Usually FDs have 3 to 4 percentage more returns than the savings accounts. Another advantage of FD is that usually they are safe and you almost have guaranteed returns. Many people who do not understand stock markets put their money in FDs.

Till few years back FDs used to return more than 12% in India and people put all their money in the FDs. Due to economic policies it is not longer possible for the banks to provide such high interest rates. Now currently in India the rates are around 7.5% for FDs which is quite less if you put all your money here.

Simple way to have more interest rates for your FDs

Instead of bank FD go for company FDs. They will provide you more interest rates. Usually companies raise money through public issues, but certain times they go directly to public and offer them Fixed Deposits. Since people trust the banks more than the companies, therefore the FDs from companies offer more interest rates.

It is quite easy to get around 3 to 4 percent more than the bank rates. Last year I had some spare cash and did the same. You should be careful while choosing the company. Just make sure that they have good track record to ensure the safety of your investment. For example TATA is is trustworthy company in India and going for FDs offered by them is a safe bet.

You need to keep in mind that some of the FDs may have a lock in period and you may not be able to withdraw before that period.

Some companies offer FDs to only their shareholders or offer them slightly higher rates. If you want to go for those companies but do not want to purchase too many share then go for only one share of the company and then purchase the FDs.

Investing the money in FDs over longer period have superior returns and managing our money wisely will ensure financial freedom to us and our family.

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How to Make Money with Minimum Risk

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How to Make Money with Minimum Risk

You might have heard from lot of financial planners that those who cannot understand stock markets should go for mutual funds and best way to invest in mutual funds is through Systematic Investment Plan (SIP). In Systematic Investment Plan you need to invest every month in a mutual fund on a fixed date for a period of time say one year or two year etc. As per the financial consultants, this will give good returns. In case there are periods where markets are high for certain time and then it goes down for certain time then the average investment will even out and you will get positive returns.

This is totally misleading statement especially if you start out at when the stock markets are on a high. I have done that and found how misleading it is. The moment you stop the SIP the fund stops getting evened out and if you stop when the markets are at a low for last few months, then you chances of making any profits are quite less. Financial planner and mutual fund companies are the only gainers.

SIPs are for lazy investors. Most people want to earn money from stock markets automatically and they do not want to take much risk and in the bargain do not earn what they could have earned potentially.

How to Profit from Stock Markets?
If you want to make money in stock markets I will suggest a simple solution. Invest in index funds. In case you are unaware, index funds are mutual funds which are not actively managed. They invest money in all the funds which represents a index. For example, Nifty is collection of top 50 companies in India. Similarly Sensex consists of top 30 companies. If the index fund you choose is based in Senxexm the index fund you choose will have proportionate investment in all the stocks which are included in Sensex. Whenever Sensex increase by 5% that index fund will also increase by 5% and if the Sensex fall by 10% that index fund's value will also reduce by 10%.

As per the history of Sensex and any other index in the world, the indexes increase over time. So investing in them is a almost certain way to have profits.

Another advantage of index funds is, since it is not actively managed, they have very less fund management charges as compared to other actively managed mutual funds.

Although for a short period of time like one or two or three year a fund may give more returns than the index for over a longer period of time they are not able to beat the returns of index funds consistently. So go for index funds.

How to Invest in Index Funds
Making profits is easy. Invest when markets are down and sell when markets are high. So next question is how. It is simple. First fix some money say for example 5000 or 10000 rupees or dollars whichever is your currency. Decide that whenever markets fall by 5% then you will invest that money and whenever market rises by 7% you will sell units worth that money. Usually fall like 5% and rise of 7% will not happen more than 5 to 7 times a year.

Based on the averages you will definitely make money. If you want to increase the returns than you can increase the money you invest or sell in a transaction. So with each fall you buy more units are cheaper price and when it rises you book your profit. Whenever you buy or sell, mark when you will buy or sell next. For example if you sell today when the market is at 100 points then your would sell next time when market is at 107 and buy at 95. You would now mark these two as the new transaction points.

I have observed the pattern for last few years and have seen that it can make money. Another advantage is you do not need to watch the markets every day very closely. You only need to observer if it is gaining and moving towards the new markers. When it is close then you need to make sure that you do the transaction.

If you follow the above steps you can make money without much risks.

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Twelve ways to sharpen your brain

It is a fact the our brain, like the other body muscles sharpens more as we use it more. More neurons are created to store newer experiences. More the number of these neurons, sharper it will be.

There is another similarity between the exercise of the muscles and the brain. If you continue to exercise the same set of muscles, they will grow stronger till some point and then the muscles becomes used to that exercise and does not grow after that. Similarly when we keep on feeding the brain same experiences time after time it stops recording them at a deeper level and stronger neurons networks are not developed.

On the other hand, if you exercise different set of muscles, then body will respond to that exercise better and body will have more muscle mass and same is the case with brain cells. When it fed with newer experience it becomes sharper. Newer experiences are recorded at a deeper level and for that you need to feed it with different experience which are not recorded previously.

The question is how to feed the brain with newer experiences. The answer is to do some activity to which you are not used to. Doing that requires more concentration and brain is feed with different impulses from the muscles or the sense organs which are being used. This leads the brain to record that experiences which add new neurons making the brain stronger.

Here are twelve simple activities which can sharpen your brain.

1. Drive to a place through a new route.


2. Ride a bike facing backwards while someone else is driving. Be careful it may be dangerous


3. Go for trekking to a new place.


4. Solve some puzzle.


5. Write or draw with left hand if you are right handed or vice versa.


6. Play carom board with your weaker hand


7. Play Chess especially with a player with who you do not normally play with.


8. Learn a new skill like Skating or Skiing or Salsa.


9. Paint.


10. Try something adventurous like rock climbing or scuba diving.


11. Meditate


12. Try some new Yoga Postures. You can visit my blog www.headfirstyoga.com for Yoga articles.

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Write Down Your Goals To Achieve Them

Yesterday I finished one of my goals in 50 Things I Want To Do or Achieve Before I Die. It was really good to complete one of my stated goals. Now that I am able to write Done in front of the goal I can now move on to next goal with more confidence than ever that I can achieve them also.

Benefits of Writing Down your Goals
It proved to me what I have read for a long time. If you want to achieve something, then write it down. Writing down your goals in a way compels and more than that encourages you to at least have a go at them and once you do that you are in a better position to achieve them.

Writing down your goals also good because writing means more of a commitment and less of a wish. Only you have the power to achieve your goals and the satisfaction which you will get from achieving can not described in words.

Writing down your goals and making the list public will also put some positive pressure on you to accomplish the goals. That is why I have published the list on my blog. If you do not want to publish it on blog then you can share it with your friends and family and also tell them to remind you after that.

Another benefit of writing down your goals is you will only write the goals which are quite meaningful to You. Lot of time we try to accomplish goals which are set by others for us. That is not good. Once you write down your goals, you take charge of your life. You will then be able to decide the destiny and journey of your life and not others.

Action Item
Take a pen and a paper and write down following three list.
a. Your Goal for next three months. include various things which you would love to do in life and not just health and money, for example learning something new skill or visiting some place. (For example my personal aim is to learn Skating.)
b. Similar list for next six month.
c. Similar list for next one year (2010).

Now paste the list on your wall where you do most of your work. I think after six month you will have a lot to shout about. Go and get a pen NOW.

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50 Things I Want To Do or Achieve Before I Die

Every one has dreams. I have read this kind of list where people list out places they want to visit before they die. I think this is a powerful way to achieve your dreams. Instead of just being passive and hoping that some dreams will come true, wh not create a list and go after them. At least once you know what you want how will you ever achieve your dreams? This kind of list empowers you and fills you with motivation to go ahead and achieve your dreams.

I have also decided to create a list. I want to achieve at least 50 things which are important to me. At present the list is quite short, and I intend to fill it up as and when I meet some interesting goal. Some of the goals below may be expanded to create few more interesting goals.

As and when I complete a goal I will update that here.

So here goes my list.

1. Finish the 32 Week Basic Course of Iyengar Yoga


2. Retire at 45


3. Practice Surya Namsakar for 21 rounds for 30 days. (Done)


4. Practice Surya Namsakar for 108 rounds for a week.


5. Create a poster with self performed 108 Yoga Poses.


6. Reach more than 10000 daily visitors on my Blogs.


7. Travel to Darjeeling and Sikkim and explore the great Himalayas


8. Visit Switzerland and Paris. Travel through the alps


9. Learn Skating


10. See Tiger in a Wild Life Sanctuary.


11. Visit Andamans.


12. Do Snorkeling.


13. Build a Wind Power generator.


14. Buy a Farm and grow crops.


15. Take my parents abroad once


16. Go on a cruise for at least 2 days


17. Be Total Vegetarian


18. Learn Sanskrit good enough to understand Bhagwad Geeta


19. Have a pet cow.


20. Para Sailing


21. Do Para jumping atleast once in my life


22. Attend a 10 day Vipassana Course


23. Live on boiled and raw food without any spices for a week


24. Release own Software Products


25. Write 5 Books (1 Done)

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How to Achieve More Goals This Year
Write Down Your Goals To Achieve Them

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