Sacrifice

An excerpt from movie "Beautiful Creatures" which truly define what Sacrifice is..

"I just want to talk to you. About a word we don't hear much anymore - Sacrifice. It's not what I'd call a modern word. People hear the word "sacrifice" and they become afraid that something will be taken away from them. Or they'll have to give up something they can't live without. "Sacrifice," to them, means "loss," In a world telling us we can have it all. But I believe true sacrifice... is a victory. Because it requires our free will, to give up something or someone you love, for something or someone you love more than yourself. I won't lie to you -- It's a gamble. Sacrifice won't take away the pain of loss. But it wins the battle against bitterness. The bitterness that dims the light on all that is of true value in our lives."

Creativity

Every creative journey begins with a problem. It starts with a feeling of frustration, the dull ache of not being able to find the answer. We have worked hard, but we have hit the wall. We have no idea what to do next. It often at the point of give up, after we have stopped searching for answers, the answer often arrives. And when solution does appear, it shocks us. All of sudden, the answer to the problem that seemed so daunting becomes incredibly obvious. We curse ourselves for not seeing it sooner.

When we tell one another stories of success, we tend to leave out this phase of creative process. We forget to mention those days when we want to quit, when we believed that our problems are impossible to solve. Instead, we skip to the breakthrough. We tell the happy endings first.

Creativity as viewed by Jonah Lehrer (Author of "How we Decide " and Imagine")

The Monk who Sold his Ferrari by Robin S Sharma

1. Your vision will become clearer only when you can look into your heart.When you look outside, dreams; when look inside, awakens.

2. Failure whether of the personal, professional or even spiritual kind, is essential to personal expansion. It brings inner growth and a whole host of psychic rewards. NEVER REGRET YOUR PAST. Rather, embrace it as the teacher that it is.

3. One was pouring water in already filled cup. Just like cup, we seem to be full of our own ideas. And how can any more go in... until we first empty our cup?

4. Nothing is absolute. There is no such thing like objective reality or 'the real world'. An event that appears to be tragedy to one might reveal the seed of unlimited opportunities to another. Everything is relative, what separates people who are habitually upbeat and optimistic from those who are consistently miserable is how the circumstances of life are interpreted and processed.

5. Every event has a purpose and everything happens for a reason. Every setback is a lesson.

6. It is hard to let go of the past, if you have not learned from the past. As soon as you learn and let go you improve the present.

7. It is important to experience painful situations and learn from them rather than try to distract yourself with something else.

8. Ultimately life is all about choices. Ones destiny unfolds according to choices one makes.

9. Dreamers dream are never fulfilled, they are always transcended ( go beyond the range of experience, belief.)

AMAZING FACTS-V

1. The most common name in world is Mohammed.

2. If you sneeze too hard, you can fracture a rib.

3. 9 out of 10 people believe Thomas Edison invented the light bulb. This isn't true; Joseph Swan did.

4. The lowest section of the average person's arm - between the elbow and the wrist - is exactly the same length as their feet.

5.  The total combined weight of the worlds ant population is heavier than the weight of the human population.

6. Normal Saturn day is only 10 hours and 14 minutes and 1 year on Saturn equal to almost 30 years on Earth.

7. Actually it doesn’t take 24 hours to Earth rotate on its axis. The real amount of time is 23 hours, 56 mun and 4 sec. That mean that our day is actually 4 minutes shorter that we normally think it is. And a year on our planet isn't 365 days, but actually 365.25 days. Here's the reason why we add on an extra day in February.

8. The typical lead pencil can draw a line that is thirty five miles long.

9. Black pepper is the most popular spice in the world.

10. Honey is the only food that doesn't spoil.

11. The animal that farts the most is Elephant.

12. Ants never sleeps and butterflies taste with their feet.

AMAZING FACTS IV

AMAZING FACTS III

AMAZING FACTS II

AMAZING FACTS I

RULES OF POWER

1. Never outshine the master.

2. Never put too much trust in friends, learn how to use your enemies.

3. Always say less then necessary.

4. So much depends on reputation. Guard it with your life.

5. Win through your actions, never through arguments.

6. When asking for help, appeal to people, self interest never at mercy.

7. Keep others in suspense. Cultivate an air of unpredictability.

8. Know who you are dealing with, do not offend the wrong person.

9. Use the surrender tactic, transform weakness into power.

10. Make your accomplishments seems effortless.

11. Act like a king to be treated like one.

12. Master the art of timing.

Why --> How --> What

A very thought provoking video which challenges the basic thought process.
 

War and Peace by Leo Tolstoy

Just finished reading War and Peace by Leo Tolstoy. It has been said that every book lover has two favorites. If it is true, one is ought to be War and Peace. A book possessed by many and read by few. Having once read it, one is certain to turn it to again, to get mesmerized and to experience ever possible human emotion. The characters of this book became as real to us as people whom we have know all our lives. Every possible human emotions find its place in this magnum opus.

Here I quote few of my favorite excerpts from War and Peace

War & Peace-Book 10-Chapter VII-Para I
"A Good Chess player having lost a game is sincerely convinced that his loss resulted from a mistake he made and looks for that mistake in the opening, but forgets that at each stage of the game there were similar mistakes and none of his moves were perfect. He only notices the mistake to which he pays attention, because his opponent took advantage of it. How much more complex than this is the game of war, which occurs under certain limits of time, and where it is not one will that manipulates lifeless object, but everything result from innumerable conflicts of various wills! ".

War & Peace-Book 14-Chapter XII-Para IX
"He learned that there is no condition in which man can be happy and entirely free, so there is no condition in which he need to unhappy and lack freedom. He learned that suffering and freedom have their limits and that those limits are very near together; that the person in bed of roses with one crumpled petal suffered as keenly as, sleeping on the bare damp earth with one side growing chilled while the other was warming." 

A visit to Amber

Amber Fort is located in Jaipur, Rajasthan, India. Amber fort is all built in white marble and sandstone and known for its artistic style which is blend of Hindu-Mugal architecture.

  Front view of Amber fort across Maotha Lake

As we move in we come across Diwan-i-Aam (Hall of Public Audience). Patterned after similar halls in Mughal Palaces, Diwan-i-Aam was the place where Emperor gave audience to his subjects and met his officials.

   Diwan-i-Aam (Hall of public Audience)

As we move beyond Hall of public audience, we enter into Char-Bagh or Four Gardens. Char Bagh provides access to inner and private parts of palace.

Char Bagh(Four Gardens)

Four Gardens lead us to Sukh Mandir. The Royal family used to live there during the mid days of summer season. The walls of the chamber have beautifully designed lime work in mughal architecture.

                                Sukh Mandir

Now comes the Diwan-i-Khaas (Hall of Private Audience). Diwan-i-Khaas is also called Sheesh Mahal or Glass Palace because of  beautiful mirror glass work. The emperor used to meet his special guests, like envoys from other rulers, here.

  Diwan-i-Khaas (Hall of Private Audience)
 

The Trader : Tips on how to select shares in stock market

These are few suggestions/tips I happen to learn while reading the book "The Naked Trader" by Robbie Burns. I found them extremely useful and easy to follow to pick good shares. They are as follows-

1. Dividends, Profits and turnover are rising
2. There are tons of positives
3. Debt is low and under three times(3x) full year profit (PBT)
4. Demand for its product is likely to grow. Never buy a single product company as chances of failure are much higher.
5. It looks cheap as compare to its peers and expected growth
6. It has full listing
7. You understand what the company does and check the company's background
8. There are no question marks on the company
9. Avoid dealing in penny stocks. Its more of a gamble.
10. The share is under 15x profit to market cap.
11. The chart looks positive and is in upward trend.
12. Go with the sector which is in demand. If the sector is hot and you picked the right stock then chances of making good money is quite high. Go with the trend rather then antagonistic to it.

Economics in One Lesson by Henry Hazlitt and Uncommon Sense: Economic Insights, from Marriage to Terrorism by Becker and Posner

This book can be summarize in one sentence i.e The art of economics consists in looking not merely at the immediate but at the longer effects of any act or policy; it consists in tracing the consequences of that policy not merely for one group but for all groups."

The author is definitely the advocate for free market and Laissez-faire type of economy where there is minimal intervention from the government. Throughout the book, the author held government and its policies responsible for all the financial mess we are in right now.

In accordance with author's premise financial deficit, extravagant tax burden, minimum wages laws, government sponsored inflation, tarrifs and Keynesian theory is responsible for troublesome and uncertain era we live in.
Though few of his ideas are very compelling and to the point , however, I feel author gets too tough on government and Keynes that he negates and dismisses all other theories and ideas which are indeed important going forward.

 "Uncommon sense: Economic Insights, from Marriage to terrorism" is an array of exhaustive and extensively researched essays on various topic ranging from marriage to economy. The authors don't needs any introduction as one is Nobel prize winning economist ( Gary Becker) and another is US Court Judge (Richard Posner).

Through out the book both the authors put up their unique perspective on issues and problems which are highly debatable and have no clear answers. I must admit few of solutions suggested by authors are very innovative and can be clear answer to those problems.

Beginning chapters are monotonous but once you move to later section it gets interesting and appealing.
Becker and Posner blog- http://www.becker-posner-blog.com/

How We Decide by Jonah Lehrer

Throughout History it is believed that a person who doesn't involve emotions in decision making process tend to make better decisions. However, recent studies showed that emotions indeed play vital role in decision making process. How We Decide is a book about decision making process and How we can make better decisions by conditioning our brain. This book is written on the premise that decision making is amalgamation of art and science. A good decision maker is not the one who makes decision based on pure logic but the one who uses right combination of feelings(emotions) and thinking(logic). How we decide also analysis different parts of brain and what respective role they play in our thought process. 

For Centuries Brain has always been a mystery. It is no less than a wonder that how this 3 pound of flesh inside our skull is responsible for all the decisions ranging from simple to the most complex one can imagine.

Brain believes in continuous learning process and tend to learn from the mistakes which we make. When we try harder and learn from our mistakes, then only we can manage to make better decisions. Practice also plays a very important role in our quality of decisions. The more we practice, the more patterns(experiences) we spawn in our brain. However, it is the quality of practice rather than quantity which matter most. In crux It means we should analyze the patterns(experience), particularly mistakes and then incorporate those lessons in our future decision making. This way we can enrich our thought process and can make better decisions.

Brain works in similar patter like division of labour where each part of brain given certain responsibilities and they work in accordance with that. Lets look at different brain sections which affects the decision making process.

Among them OFC (Orbito Frontal Cortex) which is situated below the eyes is responsible for "emotions" into the decision making process. If this part of brain is defective or get damaged then a person cant comprehend the emotions and we lose access to wealth of opinion that we normally rely on. Along with Amygdala, OFC regulates our feelings and emotions

NACC (Nucleus Accumbens) along with Dopamine neurons generates pleasurable feeling. On the other hand Insulas generates painful and negative feeling. It is the combination of Insula and NACC which determines our decisions. If Insula is more activated then we tend to avoid that thing and if NACC is more activated and release more Dopamine then we tend to have pleasurable experience.

Apart from it, PreFrontal Cortex is part of brain which is responsible for rational and logical thinking. Prefrontal Cortex determines the ability to withstand emotional urges. It allows the person to reject first impressions which are often based in impulsive decisions. It helps in making informed and rational decisions by analyzing through process rather than emotional shortcuts which are impulsive and often wrong.

Author suggests few strategies which can help us in making better decisions. It works like this-

If the situation is complex and involves lots of choices and options then use your conscious mind to acquire all the information you need for making a decision. But don't try to analyse the information with your conscious mind (rational thinking). Instead distract yourself by engaging yourself in something else or take a break while your unconscious mind digest it. Whatever your intuition or instinct then tells you is most certainly going to be the best decision or choice.

On the other hand If the decision is trivial or doesn't involve much choices and complexity then it can be handled through logic and taking all variable (options) into account.

The gist is when the situation is complex and involve lot of choices (variables),  its better not to think  much about it and go by your instinct. And If the situation is simple and doesn't involve much choices then its better to make informed decision rather than rely on instinct (emotions).

Well it does sound bizarre But let me assure its worth give a try.


Another thing which particularly grabbed my attention is concept of "Loss Aversion". It is a mental defect which we all suffer from. We get so determined to avoid any option associated with loss that we are willing to risk lose everything. The thought of loss can be really dangerous and can trigger a dangerous set of feelings where you find yourself taking risk your probably shouldn't take. At such times it is always better to think or take a break before making a decision.

At last Jonah Lehrer word of advice, The best way to make sure that you are using your brain properly is to study your brain at work, to listen to the arguments inside your head. whether these arguments are repulsive or antagonistic to what you believe. still let them have a say. Then only you can make a better and informed decision.


I highly recommend this book to all who want to know how conditioning of brain can help them in making better decisions.

The Dream: How I Learned the Risks and Rewards of Entrepreneurship and Made Millions by Gurbaksh Chahal

Quite an Inspirational and Interesting read.

Though the biography is full of adage which everyone must have heard and read myriad times.. Inspite of that this biography is like a fresh air with few interesting narration which indeed makes this book quite a treat to read.

A worthy read for all book lovers.