Just Do It (JDI)

New Year is here, and one thing that comes to mind to almost everyone who wants to succeed in life is the famous phrase "NEW YEAR RESOLUTION" - the phrase that's set for personal commitment to complete certain goals for the year. But do they really work...the urge to fulfill goals is stronger at the beginning...but as days pass by...goals and their strength fades away....only few people can make it to the end of the year and if you are one of them..HATS OFF to you.

To certain extent, we do accept the fact that NEW YEAR resolutions always don't work the way we think. Why not JUST DO IT whatever we have in our mind? But how? Unlike work culture where goals are set to fulfill company needs and have a cross check in terms of personal performance reviews, who will review our own personal goals? YES..it's none other than ME...the inner ME.

Sometimes at work, when my boss says, "we have no solid requirements, but we must complete this work by certain date...so JDI(Just Do It)"....in turn, our team response will be JDI(Just Doing It). Even though it’s used in a witty way, there is certain driving force in it. When dates are set with no final requirements...just start doing it with whatever requirements we've at hand, gives us an opportunity to raise questions, and further understand and discuss the requirements with the team well ahead in time. So why not JDI to get a better understanding of the product and start some ground work? If requirements do change completely, the learning curve stays with us...whether it's a failure or success. If requirements are in-line with the initial set, we are close to achieving the deadlines.

Unlike the goals set for us by others, how about our own personal goals? Everyone dreams of doing something in life. Dreams or thoughts are the stepping stones for our actions and in turn our goals. If you have the goal to turn your dreams into reality, judge yourself whether certain dreams can be met in real. Judging and preparing no-commitment list is another challenge that goes a long way and saves lots of time.

This raises another question, do you always do things with SUCCESS tag in mind? Well, things always won't work for success...and that results in disappointed soul. It's good to dream of success in life...but be ready for the outcome, whether it be success or failure. The laws of action   - "Karma" are very well defined in Bhagavad Gita. Try your best with positive attitude to reach your goals and leave the rest on God.

Still remember the message conveyed in the movie Ashwini Nachappa ..."try your best to be number one....but don't compare with others". There is so much truth in it...when we start comparing with others, that implants a feeling of egoism and selfishness...when the struggle is with self...that raises the bar far from the competing world, close to God and then to self-realization.  If possible, adopt good things that made others achieve their goals and learn lessons from failures to pave the path to success. 

So what should we do to achieve our goals? Is NEW YEAR RESOLUTION the start? In addition to the long-term goals set in mind, you better pen down the goals daily. Don’t leave commitments in your brain. Whether you dream or think of something, putting it on paper gives clarity and sets you for the rest of the day. As the little drops make a mighty ocean, doing a bit everyday helps us achieve our goals. The strategy that's helping me is the mighty TO DO LIST..whether it be POST-IT-NOTES at work or DIARY on my desk. 

With so many electronic gadgets in hand, nobody wants to touch a pen ;-). But penning down the TO-DO-LIST gives so much joy once you are addicted to it:

• If you are a computer geek and never hold a pen, it helps you honor the writing you learnt for ages.
• We tend to forget things with so many distractions in life, writing them down let's your mind free from remembrance.
• Whether it's household work, paying bills, kids activities, attending parties.... writing them down by date alerts you with due dates and lets you plan ahead.
• If you have a list at hand, you know what's more important and what not, and that helps you prioritize tasks for the day.
• When you are feeling low or depressed, the actions written down drive your day. At least, try doing some of the light actions that can divert your mind and give the happiness of completing certain tasks.
• Not just that, when your mind feels cluttered with so many things, writing them down brings clarity in your thinking.
• If you have a goal that spans more than one day, divide the work and do it in chunks... like reading tech books, divide chapters by day. If you can’t get it in one day, postpone it to next day….but keep writing the task…after sometime, finishing off the work makes you feel happier than writing it again….testing your own patience you know ;-)
•  In doing so, you'll get into the habit of DOING the work and be satisfied rather than DOING it for success or failure.
• Also write down things that you don’t want to do for the day. Sometimes, this NOT-TO-DO list fetches more time to target your actual goals.
• And ultimate happiness comes when you start striking out the completed items...one of my favorite :-)

The DIARY sitting on my desk is not a reflection of my past...but stepping stone in to the future. Successfully completed my 2011 diary...my TO-DO-LIST scrapbook. And the new one is ready to be filled with items that will be struck out at the end of the day, to give a smile on my face.

Started implementing the same with my kids, especially when they are off from school, and they love it. They may not know the ultimate goal of this activity...but kids definitely like the idea of striking out the items once done :-)

Feels funny when my younger one strikes out items even before doing them, and then explains me "mamma, don't worry, I'm doing it now..". Whatever it is, it's good to get them into the habit of visualizing the actions for the day. Hope this post inspires someone for the year...and do share your thoughts.

And when it's our turn to spend time with loved ones, all the other goals take backseat and it takes top priority. Something that's written in heart... not on a piece of paper.

Before leaving the post, just want to say one thing..JUST DO IT doesn't mean you'll just do whatever you want and wherever you want... ;-)

DO THE RIGHT THING IN A RIGHT WAY AT THE RIGHT PLACE.

Thanks for reading this post and Wish you all a very Happy and Prosperous well TO-DO New Year!!