January 1, 2019
Hi friend, Happy 2019!
As I reflect on 2018, I have so much on my mind (good and bad) and it’s been hard to sit down and put my words on paper.
The three themes that I experienced repeatedly were as follows:
- If I’m not self-disciplined, I’ll get screwed
- Human life is filled with suffering (includes your life too)
- I must take responsibility for everything that happens to me
Shortly, I’ll share with you my real-life examples addressing each of these recurring themes.
But before we get to the examples, I’m excited to share with you the things that have brought me much happiness in 2018.
- Jinal and I celebrated our 10th wedding anniversary in December! 🙂
- Enjoyed a vegan diet 98% of the time in the last 12 months
- Loved traveling to India, Thailand, and Portugal
- Produced over 18 episodes for the Clinical Trial Podcast
- Launched the Indian Wedding Podcast with my love, Jinal
- Met or exceeded my 2018 goals at work
Now getting back to three themes we talked about earlier.
If I’m not self-disciplined, I’ll get screwed
I honestly did not realize the importance of self-discipline in our lives until I read Brian Tracy’s book NO Excuses! In this book, Brian talks about how you can apply self-discipline in 21 areas of your life.
Once I got serious about my podcast, I soon realized how hard it was to consistently produce high-quality work. I got many messages from people around the globe thanking me for the content.
But then I also had friends and listeners who kept messaging me when things got a bit inconsistent.
This is when I realized that if I’m not self-disciplined, I won’t be able to serve the people I seek to serve. In 2019, I hope to get better with self-discipline.
Human life is filled with suffering
Even though I very enjoyed my travels to exotic places, I was found myself in situations that made me unhappy. For instance, I fought with my mom (my fault, sorry mom!) in Thailand, which literally ruined two days of our trip. When we were in Portugal, we experienced bad weather and an incompetent tour guide.
At work, I was assigned some of the best projects and I found myself exceeding my goals. However, I experienced people challenges for the first half of the year. For the second half of the year, I developed more empathy and understanding of the situation to change my professional life.
And this brings me to my final point.
I must take responsibility for everything that happens to me
We came across many not-so-good “professionals” in life and business. For instance, we hired a medical doctor who did not care about her patients. It took months to realize that this doctor was not the right one.
I could sit and complain all day long about how bad these people were. We spent thousands of dollars on nothing.
But now I know that it is up to me to take responsibility for everything that happens to me. I’m in a better place with this sought of mindset.
I hope my 2018 experiences will help you reflect on your own life’s journey. In 2019, I’m looking forward to more wisdom, courage, and consistency.
Well, my dear friend, that’s all I’ve got to share with you this year. As always, I’d love to hear from you and will look forward to your reply.
Love,
Kunal