Welcome to the Deploy Yourself Newsletter. Every two weeks I share what impactful leadership looks like to show you how powerful you are. I also share the most insightful lessons and stories I encountered in the last two weeks. You can also read this issue online.
Hey,
Two weeks ago I talked about how each of us is much powerful than we think we are. I have discovered 3 main ways we can tap into this hidden source of power, and the first of them is the subject of today’s mail. I will share the other two sources of power in the next two emails.
The Power Of Your Mind
The human mind is often called the most sophisticated machine in the universe. Yet we are never taught how to best use it to our advantage. And guess what, the human mind can also lead you to damaging behaviors if you are not conscious about its usage.
Social media (seen this?) and e-commerce websites work hard to exploit your brain’s unconscious wiring to get you addicted to their products. If we don’t take proactive action, the constant bombardment on advertisements and notifications can take our attention from things that really matter – like friends, family, and results that are important to us.
Here are 3 ways we can make our brains work for us, rather than work against us –
- Build Your Own Conscious Habits – Every time you upload a photo on social media and get notified of a like, you are getting a dopamine hit and building a habit. Similarly, most of our habits are unconscious and formed by others. The first step is to form your own habits that serve you, not the other way round. Become aware of your own biases and limiting patterns, and take control of your life rather than just relying on willpower. Design your life, rather than let it be designed by external circumstances.
- Don’t Choke On Your Thoughts – Don’t believe the endless loop of internal thoughts that gives you a running commentary on everything in your life. If you’re not careful, you can choke on this never-ending stream of random thoughts. So much so that it can block the rest of your thinking. Or you can do more deliberate thinking to be more conscious of your life choices and results. As with most things, the choice is yours.
- Dream and Play Big – Playing small is easy as we don’t get unwanted attention and questions. We play small as everyone around us is doing the same. We settle for too low. And then we blame ourselves for achieving less than what we know deep inside we are capable of. We deprive ourselves of the true joy and happiness which comes from going after what really matters to us. We think we are scared of failure when we are in fact more scared of our own hidden greatness. We are scared to show this hidden greatness in front of the world.
Your unconscious and limiting beliefs stop yourself “to be” in the world. It is not “you” if you are not free.
You might be breathing but you are not living. Give yourself the freedom to play, laugh, and fully express yourself .
Act in a way that allows your own unique light to shine upon the world, instead of following the path others have decided for you…
Reply to this email right now if it sparked something for you, or if you want to know more…
Articles and Stories Which Have Fascinated Me
One
Ripple of Hope
When nothing around you is going your way,
When nobody is hearing what you have to say..
Times like these are the real test of your will,
For amid storms is the challenge to stand still..
When your life will take a sudden turn,
When you will reach a point of no return
Just keep moving ahead despite of every hurdle,
For there is always light at the end of the tunnel..
When all you get is blow after blow,
When every hope and promise seems hollow
You have to decide how high you want to rise,
For you know in every crisis there is a prize..
When nobody around you knows what to do,
When everybody is searching for a clue
That is the time for you to stand strong,
For every night ends no matter how long..
When everything looks like falling apart,
It is very important not to lose heart
For every step you take against the slope,
You are giving rise to a ripple of hope...
(this is a poem I wrote around 10 years ago. Interesting trivia – I coined the name Deploy Yourself only in 2016, but I was already writing on the idea behind DY for more than a decade)
That’s it for now. If you have any questions, just hit reply. All the best,
Sumit
(Twitter) @SumitGupta
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