Last week I had the privilege of attending a Leadership Summit and also a pre-conference workshop on Building your leadership skills. Amongst the speakers were Dr. Mohit Bhandari from Canada and Dr. Beate Hanson from Switzerland.
The qualifications and
achievements of the speakers were beyond merits. From being PhDs to successful
business developers to being amongst the most reputed researchers, they are what
you can just dream of. But the beauty was, in spite of these achievements, they
are recreational athletes, being involved in mountain biking and skiing,
including participating in professional marathons and events. I was much more
impressed with this than anything else.
We generally tend to be
‘Busy’. Being successful means being busier, earning more money, having more
clients, slogging from 6am to 11pm, getting a big car, a bigger house, and looking
rich. Not that this does not count in life. We feel this adds to a better
quality of life. Fact is, this is our standard of life, not quality of life. The Standard of life can be dependent on various external factors, your designation,
your status, your social image, and your standing. There is nothing wrong with having
a good standard of life. But there are limitations to it because we are never
satisfied with what we have and there is always Ye Dil Maange More.
Again, nothing wrong with being ambitious as long as you have some content and
satisfaction to it. Or else, not to forget the freebies with it like stress,
insomnia, hypertension, obesity, acidity, migraine, etc. Not necessary you will
have this. But you WILL have this.
Quality of life
essentially is the life or the time that you spend with yourself, pursuing
your happiness and satisfaction. Let us understand that this happiness is NOT
by material things or money. That happiness is still your standard of life.
Quality of life is what gives you that inner peace, the feeling of worthiness, and the satisfaction of living. It is that feeling when you just sit in Himachal
and watch the mightiness of the Himalayas or on the beach of Kerala looking at
the waves splashing on your feet for hours together. It is that feeling when
you watch your child play innocently and creatively or when you just hold her hand
with her head on your shoulder and sit into emptiness. Quality of life CAN NOT be
from any external sources; it just comes from within you.
I had heard a speaker
say, earlier generations (our grandparents) used to work for survival, later
generations (our parents) worked for the standard of living and the current generation
(we) work for quality of living. Maybe he is right, but ultimately, external
factors like work, salary, incentives, perks, etc still give you a standard,
unless you are going for team breaks to some retreats or partying and laughing
hard together or just being there for each other. I don’t know how much this is
possible in the corporate culture with cut-throat competition. Dr.
Bhandari says you must invest at least 20% of your time in things that give
you 80% of your joy. He says it's ok to fail, cause at least you have tried. So,
embrace it and start again. And never forget to try new things and have fun.
Isn’t this what we are missing in life?
These days, every 2nd
person has anxiety, depression, breakdowns, and mental health issues. We are
just stretching our life and forgetting to live it. We are forgetting to let go
and begin again. Look at a gun or a sling or bow and arrow. Whenever something
is to be shot with speed, there is always a stage of pulling it back first. So,
whenever we have to accelerate, it's always important to take a step back first
to get your recoil. Take a break, read a book, just sit and breathe (we have
forgotten to even do that voluntarily), go for a stroll, take a nice shower, or
if possible, take a trip and get recharged. Or just play a sport like cycling,
trekking, badminton, etc. Or just do that thing that you loved, like playing
a musical instrument or writing a motivational article (like me 😉). Chances of your performance
improvisation will definitely be much more. Cause life is a present, a gift,
not a competition. So learn to live it rather than merely survive.
