A Puppet in the skin of butterfly? - Free Will (Part 1)

As humans we have always been proud of the thought of having free will. It is considered as one of the most important gift we have. Because that sets us apart from other species on this planet. That's what gives us hope, gives us our motivation, a purpose to live life and at some level a sense of being fulfilled. It, infact, will be one of our greatest achievement to be able to think and make decisions on our own. To be able to do things that we really want to do. To create dreams on our own and pursue them endlessly.

 But the question is, do we really have free will?

 

What is free will?

 Dictionary suggests:

 The power of acting without the constraint of necessity or fate; the ability to act at one's own discretion.

 

Think about all the choices that you have made in life … the person you choose to love and get married to, the job you are in where you think you are happy, buying toothpaste or clothes that really makes you feel good. Think about the most important decisions that you have made in life.

Were they all really your choice or were they really a summation of unconscious influence on your mind by the external environment.

 

You will be, infact are, the biggest idiotic moron to think otherwise. I mean if you really belived there was free will you are the dumbest person on this planet. Even animals who are not proud of having free will are smarter then you to realize that free will is just a myth. I dont think you even deserve to think, because when you think you are collectively bringing down the IQ of the world with you. 

Well now knowing that you are an idiot, how well would you rate this article?

 

Now ofcourse, I didnt mean any of my above words. If you weren't smart I am sure you would not be reading my blog. 

Yet, take a moment to think about what just happened. If the above words were really portrayed as true, would that have influenced your decision to how well you rate this article. My guess is yes. 

Even though you may think the choice to rate this article was your own, it is very well influced my by smartly placed paragraph about you in between. If that paragraph wasn't there, you would have rated this article very differently. 

So, the choice you make from free will , very well depends on what & more importantly how are thinking NOW. In this moment. What are your thoughts/state when you are about to make a decision. 

 

So where does these thoughts come from? You think them, but how do they originate? what's their point of origin?

Is God inserting them in our mind? Or are our mind really controlled by aliens? Or do we create them ourselves somehow that we still dont understand. 

(We will explore more about this in part 2 of this article) 

 

Experiments suggests that most of the choices we make as humans are not from free will but manipulated from our previous experiences, current & past environment and other convenient factors.   

Below is a brilliant real life demonstration by Derren Brown where he shows how the external factors unconsciously influence us each moment in our life.

From the video, you can notice (Caution: Do not read further if you haven’t seen the video yet) until the truth is revealed the marketing executives believe that the idea that they came up with was their very own. 

But as seen from the video we all know that it was not the case. At every point since the time they sat in that cab till they finished their final draft, they were continuously influenced by smartly placed messages by Derren Brown. 

Scientists suggest that even when you decide to move your right hand by an inch,  that decision is influenced by external stimulus.

 So, think about all those important decisions again? Did you really want to decide them or were those decisions made for you? 

 

And if we think about little bigger picture,

So who are we really? Humans who have developed a great civilization on their feet by making choices that were previously considered as free will. Or some puppet in a meat who act and do things as directed by other factors/people.   

Who are we as humans? Who have we really become? What’s our identity in this world?

 Is it someone that we really wanted to be? Or is it someone that we have become by accident?

 

And more importantly …

  

Even after knowing this .. do we still really have a free will to change who we are ? or are we still going to live our life by chance and be happy or sad (or any kind of emotions) by being who we are by accident? 

 

 

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Untitled

Every now and then I am asked about what NLP is and how can it be useful to us. This comes from people who have a basic understanding of what NLP is and also from some who have no idea about NLP and have just happened to read about it somewhere, or a friend or colleague has told them about it.

Let’s, first look at the literal definition of NLP - NLP stands for Neuro Linguistic Programming.

Neuro stands for our Neurons, which basically stands for ‘the way we think’.  

We, as humans, have a unique thought process. The way we think, the way we make our memories and the way we experience life are basically constructed through our senses which are

●        Visual

●        Auditory

●        Kinesthetic

●        Olfactory

●        Gustatory

In simple terms, our thoughts are constructed through our senses mentioned above.

Linguistic stands for ‘the way we communicate with ourselves and the world’. We use 

●        Pictures

●        Sounds

●        Feelings/touch

●        Smell

●        Taste

to communicate with the world.

Programming stands for our ‘patterns of habits, behaviors and emotions. ‘

By studying and learning from these relationships people can transform the way they traditionally think and act, and can start adopting a new and far more successful model of excellence.

In short, the literal definition of NLP can be taken as a more effective way to Program/Reprogram and influence our own or other’s mind and produce magical results in the process.·

If you are reading about NLP for the first time or you have a very basic knowledge about NLP, most likely the case will be that you are still not clear about what NLP is and how can it help you. This is ok, even I took some time to really understand what NLP is.

In its simplest form, NLP can be defined as ‘Science of Excellence’; Excellence in results and in the process of obtaining those results.

Let’s take an example to understand about NLP better.

If you were really good at Mathematics and lets say I am not so good at it (It’s just hypothetical, in reality I am super good at it ), I can use NLP to model what you do, the way you do it and how you do it to significantly achieve same results as yours in absolutely no time. Using NLP, I would be able to learn and model what you do, how you think, what you think, how you use your body and take note of the minutest details possible. Using this information I would create a structure of ‘how to be good at Mathematics’ and apply it on myself to start producing the same or even better results than yours, with respect to Mathematics. In fact, not only I can produce better results with your observations but I can train others also to apply the same structure in their life to be better at Mathematics.

One of my other favorite example is about developing confidence. From the time we were born till this minute a lot of people in different areas and in different context must have told you about being confident. Even when we go for seminars investing thousands of rupees they tell us, “if you want to be successful you really have to be confident”. But has any one ever told you ‘How to be confident?’. This is one of the places where NLP helps you to create structure of confidence and using that structure you will be able to experience confidence anytime you want.

In fact, NLP was first developed by Richard Bandler (a Brilliant Mathematician) and John Grinder (an Effective Linguistic) on the principle of Modeling. They modeled some of the best and most successful people involved in fast-change therapeutic work from several different areas and then used their observations to apply it on their students. Amazingly they were able to produce the same results at even faster speed than before.

At First NLP was developed keeping therapy in mind but since then it has spread across almost all the the different fields.

NLP has whole has a lot of skills involved in it which includes using our body, using our language, thoughts, memories and lots of other skills to create the kind of results we want to produce. Having said that, even if we are able to learn one skill and master it, the amount of success and the sense of achievement it can bring us can be beyond our imagination.

In a nutshell, NLP is what you make of it. NLP can be the thing which you are doing now to get your desired results. Hope understanding this explanation of NLP has helped you. Keep checking the blog section to get some of the most powerful articles on how to use NLP in different areas of your life. These techniques which we will share are some of the most effective techniques which you can master to get your desired results.

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Why are you doing what you love doing the most?

IF you had all the resources in the world, how will you live your life?

I am sure this question has been directed to you several times but if you were to just pause for a second and really think about it. What will/can your answer be?

 

Few years back, while I was on the horizon of loosing my interest in engineering I came across a powerful workshop. As this workshop made a huge difference to my life, I really wanted everyone to feel what I had felt during the workshop. See the way I looked at the extraordinary life that was possible for each one of us and resources that each one of us has to make anything possible. I really wanted to make a difference. As I started working with that company I got the opportunity to do exactly what I wanted to.

I did it for couple of years, until I decided to start on my own. The moment I decided to start on my own, for the first few months the purpose of making a difference was there and as time passed slowly it started shifting towards making a living. Just do enough – Do anything so that I can survive or be able to live a comfortable life.

 

Think for a moment and realize what you really wanted to do when you started out. A Friend of mine who worked as a consultant in one of the big firms started out with only one purpose in mind --Making a difference to each and every client and being with them in health and otherwise. He loved what he did. He loved the sound of applause and cheers when one of his clients performed really well. He always told me that the key to success is to have a personal relationship with each client and really being there for them till they achieve everything that they love doing.

As time passed by without him being aware of it, he started losing his purpose. There were more clients more money and more results. He knew money and success were important to him but In the process of making money and being success he started losing the real purpose as to why he was doing what he really wanted to do and he became part of that cycle until one day when he was totally lost and could not figure out why he was doing what he loved doing the most.

 

When all of us start out to do something we really have a strong and powerful purpose in mind but due to several environmental responsibilities such as taking care of our family, being successful, our focus starts shifting towards something else. And that something else might not inspire us as much.

 

Just a note to remember. I am not saying don’t take care of your family or don’t be successful. The Point is to do that while keeping your true purpose in mind.

 

Now imagine you had all the resources in the world. Imagine, all your responsibilities were fulfilled. Imagine you had all the money in the world.  How would you live your life now? What would you do differently? How would you do things differently? How will you get to a purpose, which makes you feel comfortable and inspired?

 

Once you have all the answers just check how different your life would be like when you start implementing the things that you have just answered.

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JK Rowling: The fringe benefits of failure | Video on TED.com

THis video is funny, powerful and gives you some of the most important lessons. If you have a dream and if you are little bit serious about achieving your dreams then watching this video is a must

JK Rowling: The fringe benefits of failure | Video on TED.com

Adrenalin Fun

In the early days of my training life, i used to be too scared to be in front of people on a stage. specifically if the strength of the crowd was above 100 people, i used to shit in my pants. At that time, any training including more than 50 people would be 'No training Zone' for me.

Like everyone experiences days when they have to do something that they are really scared doing - i also had mine. It was when one of my colleague bailed on me and i had to do the training all by myself. I tried calling the other trainers to fill in for me, but it was a short notice and no one could to make it. I was stuck and i was stuck badly. I had no other option with me but to go ahead and start the training myself. I was able to feel adrenalin rushing throughout my body. I literally started shivering. My senses were distorted. I already started seeing everyone laughing at me before even i went up on stage. I could already hear everyone making fun of me.

As i was getting closer and closer to the stage the feeling of adrenalin inside my body increased exponentially. Just 2 mins before i had to start - i finished drinking a whole bottle of water. While i was drinking a simple thought crossed my mind.

Where am i focusing on?

My Focus was mainly on imagining people laughing at me. Imagining that i am going to screw up. I realized keeping my focus on everyone not laughing at me wont be of any help. As the more i focused on everyone not laughing at me, the more are the chances of getting laughed upon (Its like i tell you don't think of pink elephant while the first image that would have came to your mind will be a Pink Elephant). While, if i shift my focus to making a difference to everyone, there is a chance i might not get laughed upon.

That was it, as i realized this, i told myself - "What the heck - Lets have Fun" and i jumped into the training making sure i have fun training and making a difference.

Obviously by now, you already know the result, the training went really well and the feedback was also pretty good for the beginners. But, more important than training going well, it was the fear that i got rid off, made all the difference. Next time when i went into a training with larger crowd - i felt very much comfortable doing it and at the same time had lots of fun also.

Here is the exercise

Step 1: - Think about at least 5 different things that you are not comfortable doing. Preferably within the next 2 days.

Step 2: -  Just go ahead - Tell yourself "What the Heck - Lets have Fun" (Or any other substitute that you prefer) and Jump into the situation having that adrenalin rush of not knowing whats going to happen at the same time curiosity of how much Fun you can have doing it.

Step 3: - While you are doing this be aware of the place where you are keeping you focus on. If its not useful, shift it to something that you find useful.

 Have fun Doing new things, while i would love to know your experience of doing this exercise.

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The Not knowing principle

Sometime back I went for an interview for the job profile of Quality assurance executive. My job was simple - Watch movies, Find the digital audio/visual errors in the DVD (If there are any) and Log it. In simple terms, I was going to get paid for watching movies.

It was a simple job to do and to acquire the job I had to appear for a test, where they would show me few clips and I was required to find errors in them. It sounds very easy and in fact it was very easy till I started using my brains. I wanted to catch all the errors which were present on those clips. So I started using all the NLP principles i knew - peripheral vision, overlapping of audio and visual to synchronize it with my mind, relaxing my mind - here is the best one - Let my conscious mind take over because I knew conscious mind can take only 2 bits of information at a time while for the test I needed around 6 (It was my calculation). While I used all these principles I lost focus from detecting errors to using all the knowledge I had about NLP. The result was obvious -  for the first few clips I was hardly able to finds any errors. It was just, in break, when I asked myself a question which totally changed the way I saw the next few clips.

If I didn't have some of the knowledge I had, would the test have gone better?

The answer to my question was undoubtedly 'yes'. In the process of detecting all the errors that the clips had, I ended up finding almost nothing. The tools and techniques I knew made the task more complicated inside my head than If I would have not know certain things to produce the same results. I believe without the knowledge I would have surely done much better.

As soon as I realized this, I told myself - 'if I want to detect all the errors there is only one thing I can do - Not know all the tools and techniques I know and GET back to the basics.

I am not saying knowing those tools and techniques is bad or not useful. Knowing those techniques are certainly useful - but we need to get aware of the times when knowing some of the things that we know are actually coming in our way to get results or deliver some outcomes. Also sometimes we tend to use our knowledge and skills as an excuse for not doing something.

Sometimes just by sticking to the basics and keeping it simple can make most of the difference.

Here is the Exercise for you

Step 1: - Take a piece of paper and list down the goals and outcomes you need to achieve in next 2 months.

Step 2: - Put down the list of things that you need to 'not know' to achieve these outcomes and goals easily?

Step 3: - When you get aware of the things that you are not suppose to know, just park them in some place of your mind where they are not lost, at the same time not coming in your way to achieve your Goals and Outcomes. (I call this place Parking Zone)

Step 4: - Get the total Focus on your goals, while at the same time be aware of your Parking Zone. Whenever you need something out from your Parking Zone,  just get back to that location of your mind where you have established your Parking Zone and pull out anything the things that you require.

If these things come again, all you need to do is be aware of them and park them in your parking Zone.

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The Not Knowing Principle

Sometime back I went for an interview for the job profile of Quality assurance executive. My job was simple - Watch movies, Find the digital audio/visual errors in the DVD (If there are any) and Log it. In simple terms, I was going to get paid for watching movies.

It was a simple job to do and to acquire the job I had to appear for a test, where they would me few clips and I was required to find errors in them. It sounds very easy and in fact it was very easy till I started using my brains. I wanted to catch all the errors which were present on those clips. So I started using all the NLP principles - peripheral vision, overlapping of audio and visual to synchronize it with my mind, relaxing my mind - here is the best one - Let my conscious mind take over because I knew conscious mind can take only 2 bits of information at a time while for the test I needed around 6 (It was my calculation). While I used all these principles I lost focus on detecting errors to using all the knowledge I had to do the best and the result was that for the first few clips I was hardly able to finds any errors. It was just, in a break, when I asked myself a question which totally changed the way I saw the next few clips.

If I didn't have some of the knowledge I had, would the test have gone better?

The answer to my question was undoubtedly 'yes'. In the process of detecting all the errors that the clips had, I ended up finding almost nothing. The tools and techniques I knew made the task more complicated inside my head than If I would have not know certain things to produce the same results. I believe without the knowledge I would have surely done much better.

As soon as I realized this, I told myself - 'if I want to detect all the errors there is only one thing I can do - Not know all the tools and techniques I know and GET back to the basics.

I am not saying knowing those tools and techniques is bad or not useful. Knowing those techniques are certainly useful - but we need to get aware of the times when knowing some of the things that we know are actually coming in our way to get results or deliver some outcomes. Also sometimes we tend to use our knowledge and skills as an excuse for not doing something.

Sometimes just by sticking to the basics and keeping it simple can make most of the difference.

Here is the Exercise for you

Step 1: - Take a piece of paper and list down the goals and outcomes you need to achieve in next 2 months.

Step 2: - Put down the list of things that you need to 'not know' to achieve these outcomes and goals easily?

Step 3: - When you get aware of the things that you are not suppose to know, just park them in some place of your mind where they are not lost, at the same time not coming in your way to achieve your Goals and Outcomes. (I call this place Parking Zone)

Step 4: - Get the total Focus on your goals, while at the same time be aware of your Parking Zone. Whenever you need something out from your Parking Zone,  just get back to that location of your mind where you have established your Parking Zone and pull out anything the things that you require.

If these things come again, all you need to do is be aware of them and park them in your parking Zone.

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