How to make relaxation a lifestyle choice

Dubai - Practical modern-day applications of ancient oriental wisdom

Are you like most who spend half their waking life at work (maybe even at a job you don’t like) — enduring a five-day week so you can enjoy a two-day weekend? Spending 50 weeks in gloom so you can enjoy a two-week annual break. Doesn’t this sound absurd to you?

Our busy city lives are now more fast-paced than ever, and you’ve probably got a lot of daily tensions. This can include work stress, financial burdens, relationship worries, parental tensions, job pressure and the need to keep up with others in this competitive society we live in.

You probably take a break every once in a while, but what if you could make your lifestyle that of “relaxation”! Imagine creating a life from which you don’t have to take a break? A life you love!

My students ask me — is that even possible? The answer is a resounding YES!

So, how do you create that life?

Here are some tips to create a life that you want to live every day, every moment and without a break. If you’re ready to TRUST yourself, reprogramme your awareness and build the skills needed, you can become somebody no-one thought you could, perhaps not even you.

Step 1 – Trusting that it is possible

Without that acceptance, you will never try. You’ll never give it the energy it needs or you will quit too soon. To reaffirm your belief, ask yourself “has anyone done this before, or is anyone living this life now?”. If they can, you can too! We call this "Sraddha" in Zen.

Step 2 - GOALS!

You’ve probably LOST touch with what you love to do and don’t really know what would be fulfilling work for you. Find that first. Design this life with purposeful goals with specific timelines. We call this “Lakshya" in the Yogic Anthology. Answer these questions immediately.

• Where do you see yourself in one year, five years, 10 years?

• What will you be doing and how much will you be earning?

• What example will you set?

• How will the lives of those you love be different by your example?

Step 3 – TAKE ACTION & acquire the SKILLS!

You have to build this life by not chasing the money — instead find things you can be passionate about and then acquire the skills required. You need a realistic analysis if what you “love to do” is really something that someone will be willing to pay you for!

Perhaps you know what you want and you even know what you’d need to do but you’re still not taking any action. Taking that “first step” will build your self-confidence, increase your drive and create momentum so you are motivated! We call this principle “Karma-Phala” in Yoga.

That’s why it’s important to know who you will be serving, helping and inspiring. When you add value to people, they are happy to pay you. You create this life by serving others, you can’t get there by only serving yourself. Your income will always be relative to the number of people you serve and level of impact you have on others. It’s the simple truth. Skills pay the bills.

Step 4 – Persevere and be ready to fail!

You build this life with perseverance, and by getting up after falling. Again, and again. We call this “Gaman” in Japanese Zen. Acquire the skills to learn from your failures and applying what you have learnt — everyday!

Step 5 – REPEAT!

Every action you take is a step closer to or further away from the life you want. So why not create this life deliberately? So set the intention for your life right now. What do you want from this human experience you have? What impact will you have? What example will you set? Define clearly what success means to you to snap out of the matrix, and practice living intentionally and deliberately.

We humans are the creators of our universe and you have the potential to make changes to it that you might not have thought of. Like, I repetitively tell my students, “We are all creating stories. What’s stopping you from making your life story magnificent?”

wknd@khaleejtimes.com

Connect with Anjaan on social media @MeditateWithAnjaan

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