Life is beautiful , when you know how to live

Wealth

Wealth is a lot of things. It is much more than just money.

• Merriam-Webster defines 'wealth' as abundance of valuable material possessions or resources.
• The United Nations definition of inclusive wealth is a monetary measure which includes the sum of natural, human, and physical assets. Natural capital includes land, forests, energy resources, and minerals. Human capital is the population's education and skills. Physical capital includes such things as machinery, buildings, and infrastructure.
• Wealth means different things to different people. Wealth has a meaning that varies from person to person as well as family to family.
• Wealth is what you accumulate — not what you make. If you were to stop working tomorrow, how long could you support your current lifestyle? That is what makes you wealthy.
• A community, region or country that possesses an abundance of such possessions or resources to the benefit of the common good is known as wealthy.
• The wealth of households in the world amounts to USD 280 trillion (2017).
• The net worth of a person, household, or nation – is the value of all assets owned net of all liabilities owed at a point in time.
• Wealth is created through using labor and/or capital to make things, or provide/perform services, that other people find valuable. In the modern information economy, computer programmers often create wealth too, so it isn't necessary to create a tangible product in order to create wealth.
• Wealth means being able to be financially free to do the things you love, to live the way you want to live. But it also means being healthy, and to know that your family and the ones you care about are healthy and spiritually whole, and that they’re contributing.
• Wealth provides access to more. While money doesn’t make you happy, it does give you freedom to not worry about those financial stresses
• Having excess income allows you to be more involved with family and community.
• If you’re a healthy person, you are already wealthy. If you have your health, if you have your life, you can accomplish pretty much anything if you get the right mind-set.
• Material aspect of wealth is very important, because everything else is much easier to plan around if you are financially stable.
• For the poor it is always survival mode. The transition from scarce resources to financial security will be a challenge. It’s always about choices.
• Spending and taking care of money is a skill — not everybody has that skill.
• On the business side, wealth creates opportunities. On the personal side, wealth is about having more security and giving more to those you love.
• Wealth means you have the luxury of being able to provide for your family and determine how much work you want to do.

Rich is having abundant financial assets: money, real estate, investments, material possessions, etc. Wealth has four categories of assets:

1. Core Assets: your family, values, faith, health and the individual well-being of each family member;
2. Experience Assets: good and bad experiences, education, reputation, networks, knowledge and the wisdom of each family member;
3. Contribution Assets: contributions made to the well-being of others;
4. Financial Assets: money, real estate, investments, material possessions.

Money vs Wealth conundrum

Everyone seems to be running after money and still not being able to be satisfied with what one has got. Money is defined as the cash flow you need to maintain the lifestyle you have. Wealth is defined as the money accumulated over time or the money that will last a lifetime. Therefore, we must focus on wealth creation and not running after money. Remember, money never made a man happy yet, nor will it. There are 4 kinds of people with respect to their attributes on money and time. 

1. People having lot of money, but no time.
   We see rich businessman, company's CEO's and other top notch officials who are arriving in chauffeur driven cars and are always busy in meetings and events. They seem to have a lot of money in their pockets but no time to enjoy it.
2. People having lots of time, but no money.
   We come across a lot of people who just laze around or just enjoying their hookah, with no work to do and no money to have.
3. People having no money and no time.
   Most of the salaried class and businessman lie in this class (over 97% of the world's population is here). Everyone seems to be working their day and night for money to be used to pay bills and EMI's. Growing in the corporate ladder will only take you from the quadrant 3 to quadrant 1. The corporate mindset is aligned towards attaining a level wherein you reside in the first quadrant.
4. People having both money and time.
   This is where one must aim for and attain a mindset for so that one has the time to earn and spend on himself/herself. Less than 1% of the world's population lies here.

Wealth consists not in having great possessions, but in having few wants ... Epictetus

Money is a terrible master but an excellent servant ...  P.T. Barnum

Too many people spend money they earned, to buy things they don't want and, 

to impress people that they don't like ... Will Rogers

To be happy - Give up 15 things

Here is a list of 15 things which, if you give up on them, will make your life a lot easier and much, much happier. We hold on to so many things that cause us a great deal of pain, stress, and suffering – and instead of letting them all go, instead of allowing ourselves to be stress-free and happy – we cling on to them.

Give up on all those things that no longer serve us, and we will embrace change. 

1. Give up your need to always be right.
   Many of us can’t stand the idea of being wrong. Wanting to always be right, even at the risk of ending great relationships or causing a great deal of stress and pain, for us and for others. It’s just not worth it. Whenever you feel the who is right and who is wrong, ask yourself this question: “Would I rather be right, or would I rather be kind?” What difference will that make? Is your ego really that big?
2. Give up your need for control.
   Be willing to give up your need to always control everything that happens to you and around you – situations, events, people, etc. Whether they are loved ones, coworkers, or just strangers you meet on the street – just allow them to be. Allow everything and everyone to be just as they are and you will see how much better will that make you feel. By letting it go it all gets done. The world is won by those who let it go. But when you try and try. The world is beyond winning.
3. Give up on blame.
   Give up on your need to blame others for what you have or don’t have, for what you feel or don’t feel. Stop giving your powers away and start taking responsibility for your life.
4. Give up your self-defeating self-talk.
   People are hurting themselves with their negative, polluted and repetitive self-defeating mindset. Don’t believe everything that your mind is telling you, especially if it’s negative and self-defeating. You are better than that. The mind is a superb instrument if used rightly. Used wrongly, however, it becomes very destructive.
5. Give up your limiting beliefs.
   Give up your limiting beliefs about what you can or cannot do, about what is possible or impossible. From now on, you are no longer going to allow your limiting beliefs to keep you stuck in the wrong place. A belief is not an idea held by the mind, it is an idea that holds the mind.
6. Give up complaining.
   Give up your constant need to complain about many things, people, situations, events that make you unhappy, sad and depressed. Nobody can make you unhappy, no situation can make you sad or miserable unless you allow it to. It’s not the situation that triggers those feelings in you, but how you choose to look at it. Never underestimate the power of positive thinking.
7. Give up the luxury of criticism.
   Give up your need to criticize things, events or people that are different than you. We are all different, yet we are all the same. We all want to be happy, we all want to love and be loved and we all want to be understood. We all want something, and something is wished by us all.
8. Give up your need to impress others.
   Stop trying so hard to be something that you’re not just to make others like you. It doesn’t work this way. The moment you stop trying so hard to be something that you’re not, the moment you take off all your masks, the moment you accept and embrace the real you, you will find people will be drawn to you, effortlessly.
9. Give up your resistance to change.
   Change is good. Change will help you move from A to B. Change will help you make improvements in your life and also the lives of those around you. Follow your bliss, embrace change – don’t resist it. Follow your bliss and the universe will open doors for you.
10. Give up labels.
    Stop labeling those things, people or events that you don’t understand as being weird or different and try opening your mind, little by little. Minds only work when open. The highest form of ignorance is when you reject something you don’t know anything about.
11. Give up on your fears.
    Fear is just an illusion, it doesn’t exist – you created it. It’s all in your mind. Correct the inside and the outside will fall into place. The only thing we have to fear is fear itself.
12. Give up your excuses.
    Send them packing and you no longer need them. A lot of times we limit ourselves because of the many excuses we use. Instead of growing and working on improving ourselves and our lives, we get stuck, lying to ourselves, using all kind of excuses which are not even real.
13. Give up the past.
    It’s hard, especially when the past looks so much better than the present and the future looks so frightening, but at the present moment is all you have and all you will ever have. The past you are now longing for was ignored by you when it was present. Stop deluding yourself. Be present in everything you do and enjoy life. After all, life is a journey, not a destination. Have a clear vision for the future, prepare yourself, but always be present in the now.
14. Give up attachment.
    This is a concept that for most of us is so hard to grasp, but it’s not something impossible. You get better and better at with time and practice. The moment you detach yourself from all things, (and that doesn’t mean you give up your love for them – because love and attachment have nothing to do with one another, attachment comes from a place of fear, while real love is pure, kind, and self less, where there is love there can’t be fear, and because of that, attachment and love cannot coexist) you become so peaceful, so tolerant, so kind, and so serene. You will get to a place where you will be able to understand all things without even trying. A state beyond words.
15. Give up living your life to other people’s expectations.
    Too many people are living a life that is not theirs to live. They live their lives according to what others think is best for them, they live their lives according to what their parents think is best for them, to what their friends, their enemies and their teachers, their government and the media think are best for them. They ignore their inner voice, that inner calling. They are so busy with pleasing everybody, with living up to other people’s expectations, that they lose control over their lives. They forget what makes them happy, what they want, what they need and eventually, they forget about themselves. You have one life – this one right now – you must live it, own it, and especially don’t let other people’s opinions distract you from your path.

Cockroach Theory for Self Development

Sundar Pichai - CEO, Google

A beautiful speech by Sundar Pichai - an IIT-Stanford Alumnus and Global Head Google Chrome and now CEO of Google.

At a restaurant, a cockroach suddenly flew from somewhere and sat on a lady. She started screaming out of fear. With a panic stricken face and trembling voice, she started jumping, with both her hands desperately trying to get rid of the cockroach.

Her reaction was contagious, as everyone in her group also got panicky. The lady finally managed to push the cockroach away but …it landed on another lady in the group. Now, it was the turn of the other lady in the group to continue the drama.

The waiter rushed forward to their rescue. In the relay of throwing, the cockroach next fell upon the waiter.

The waiter stood firm, composed himself and observed the behavior of the cockroach on his shirt. When he was confident enough, he grabbed it with his fingers and threw it out of the restaurant.

Sipping my coffee and watching the amusement, the antenna of my mind picked up a few thoughts and started wondering, was the cockroach responsible for their histrionic behavior?

If so, then why was the waiter not disturbed? He handled it near to perfection, without any chaos.

It is not the cockroach, but the inability of the ladies to handle the disturbance caused by the cockroach that disturbed the ladies.

I realized that, it is not the shouting of my father or my boss or my wife that disturbs me, but it’s my inability to handle the disturbances caused by their shouting that disturbs me. It’s not the traffic jams on the road that disturbs me, but my inability to handle the disturbance caused by the traffic jam that disturbs me.

More than the problem, it’s my reaction to the problem that creates chaos in my life.

Lessons learnt from the story: “Do not react in life. Always respond.“

The women reacted, whereas the waiter responded.

Reactions are always instinctive whereas responses are always well thought of, just and right to save a situation from going out of hands, to avoid cracks in relationship, to avoid taking decisions in anger, anxiety, stress or hurry.

A beautiful way to understand LIFE.Person who is HAPPY is not because Everything is RIGHT in his Life.He is HAPPY because his Attitude towards Everything in his Life is Right!

Life doesn’t always throw at us pleasantries, but also disappointments. How we deal with these disappointments is what will determine whether our lives will be chaotic or whether it will be under control, and finding a solution to it. Many people try to blame other people for their problems. A good advice is that you should remain calm in times of stress. This helps you see the problem in a different perspective and helps you think of ways of dealing with the problem. It is much better to respond to life stresses instead of reacting to them. In this way, you will develop the right attitude in enriching your life, despite the challenges that come your way.

Life's most important question

• Everybody wants what feels good. Everyone wants to live a carefree, happy and easy life, to have amazing relationships, to look perfect and make money and be popular and well-respected and admired. It’s so ubiquitous that it doesn’t even mean anything.
• Everybody wants to have an amazing job and financial independence. But not everyone wants to suffer through 60-hour work weeks, long commutes, obnoxious paperwork. People want to be rich without the risk, without the sacrifice, without the delayed gratification necessary to accumulate wealth.
• Everybody wants to have awesome relationship. But not everyone is willing to go through the tough conversations, the awkward silences, the hurt feelings and the emotional psychodrama to get there.
• Happiness requires struggle. The positive is the side effect of handling the negative. Positive experience is easy to handle. It’s negative experience that we all struggle with. We get out of life is not determined by the good feelings we desire but by what bad feelings we’re willing and able to sustain to get us to those good feelings.
• People want an amazing physique. But you don’t end up with one unless you legitimately appreciate the pain and physical stress that comes with living inside a gym for hour upon hour, unless you love calculating and calibrating the food you eat, planning your life out in tiny plate-sized portions.
• People want to start their own business or become financially independent. But you don’t end up a successful entrepreneur unless you find a way to appreciate the risk, the uncertainty, the repeated failures, and working insane hours on something you have no idea whether will be successful or not.
• People want a partner, a spouse. But you don’t end up attracting someone amazing without appreciating the emotional turbulence that comes with weathering rejections. It’s part of the game of love. 
• What determines your success isn’t “What do you want to enjoy?” The question is, “What pain do you want to sustain?” The quality of your life is not determined by the quality of your positive experiences but the quality of your negative experiences. And to get good at dealing with negative experiences is to get good at dealing with life.
• If you find yourself wanting something month after month, year after year, yet nothing happens and you never come any closer to it, then maybe what you actually want is a fantasy, an idealization, an image and a false promise. Maybe what you want isn’t what you want, you just enjoy wanting. Maybe you don’t actually want it at all.
• You can’t have a pain-free life. It can’t all be roses and unicorns. And ultimately that’s the hard question that matters. Pleasure is an easy question. And pretty much all of us have similar answers. The more interesting question is the pain. What is the pain that you want to sustain?
• I wanted the reward and not the struggle. I wanted the result and not the process. I was in love not with the fight but only the victory. And life doesn’t work that way.
• Who you are is defined by the values you are willing to struggle for. People who enjoy the struggles of a gym are the ones who get in good shape. People who enjoy long workweeks and the politics of the corporate ladder are the ones who move up it. People who enjoy the stresses and uncertainty of the starving artist lifestyle are ultimately the ones who live it and make it.
• This is the most simple and basic component of life: our struggles determine our successes. So choose your struggles wisely.

No pain. No gain.
You can’t win if you don’t play.
God seldom gives us all we need to understand, 
but He always gives us all we need to obey

Ten life lessons to excel in 30's

30 second speech by Bryan Dyson

My View:

If one doesn't learn life's realities on his own, then adversity will teach him the lessons in a bitterest way. If you try to be cool, you will never be cool. If you try to be happy, then you will never be happy. Happiness is not something you obtain, but rather something you inhabit. Happiness is not achieved in itself, but rather it is the side effect of a particular set of ongoing life experiences. You can’t buy happiness and you can’t achieve happiness. Pleasure is great but it’s not happiness. Pleasure does not cause happiness. Happiness is what you get when other parts of your life are in order. 

Money is important in life. But how much?

• We need money to make a living. 
• Between life and death the only inevitable thing which makes you keep running all your life to fulfill your wishes, your dreams, desires is money.
• But as you move higher up the pyramid, money plays a lesser and lesser role in satisfying one's needs.
• Money is important in person’s life but money can’t buy you the most precious things like happiness, love, family etc.
• We live in a society where money is honored most. We are tend to believe that all daily struggles will be solved by higher financial status.
• Money is important as long as it helps you survive and grow. Besides that, what is important is how you manage to be happy.
• Money can make your life better by providing you comforts only.
• Some amount of money to fulfill our basic needs is absolutely essential. But beyond a point it does not add any value if the other aspects in life like emotional support, family and friends are in disarray.
• How much is the "need" and how much do we actually "want"?
• Money is important but it is just a means of living not the life itself!
• Wealth is a personality multiplier. If you're cruel and unkind, then being wealthy will make you even more cruel and unkind and vice versa.
• Learn to be happy before becoming wealthy. Learn the skills that lead to inner peace, inner joy and compassion. These skills which made you happy when you're middle class, and will make you even happier when you get rich. Without these skills, the most likely outcome of wealth is misery.

Money has no utility to me beyond a certain point .... Bill Gates

Money is difficult to earn; Money is difficult to safeguard; 
Money is difficult to invest; Money is difficult to spend; 
Money is troublesome all the way.