And then, aided by Julia Cameron’s book on creativity, I took on journalling and started to slowly unpack what had been building up inside of me for years. Every day, I began to pour out my fears, worries, insecurities, and dreams onto three pages of paper. In unpeeling myself like an onion, removing layer after layer of unconfronted emotions, I slowly became lighter. I began unlocking the vaulted doors to my soul.

There’s a powerful little story that I read almost eight years ago, to which I return time and time again. The source of the story is debatable; one attribution is to Heinrich BÃ. Regardless of its origin, this story always pushes me to reflect on how satisfied I could be if I lived simply:

The benefits of reading in my latter years have been twofold. Reading has not only made me a better person, but has also taught me to be more mindful and intentional about everything I do.”

My thinking process starts with a particular question or thought that dominates my mind for hours and days. I keep reflecting on it, unconsciously discussing it with myself, and finally putting pen to paper in my journal. From there, my thoughts might expand to a blog post, a talk, a task at work, or a project. I then revise and refine again and again till I have a final product.

My impatience has helped me get things done. I make quick decisions, and I get them right more often than wrong. I have led my business team to reach goals way before others. In crises and emergencies, I’m the go-to person to take initiative.

Write in first person, and date the document 10 years from the day you do the exercise. Aim for a word count of 3,000 or more to capture the details. Write out all your dreams, wants, and needs. Write as if this is the life you demand. Dream big, as no one will see this 10-year plan but you.

The ladder of abstraction was popularized by S.I. Hayakawa in his 1939 book, Language in Action. It connects two opposite and conflicting forces. One is the involvement of the senses. The details, the specifics that hook us into the story or learning experience. The other is the abstract—the big goal that appeals not to the senses, but to the intellect.

I’m grateful for my curiosity and view it as one of my primary strengths, as it has taken me to places I didn’t know I could reach. I have systematically changed my life—from adhering firmly to society’s status quo to embodying aliveness and authenticity. I’ve changed many of my unhelpful beliefs and have explored countless aspects of the world that I never knew existed.

We “modern parents” overprotect by interfering with our kids’ schooling and teachers’ judgments. “Don’t you think they deserve a higher GPA?” we ask the teacher, who then smiles awkwardly. We overprotect by engineering their friendships and pushing them to choose the kind of people our younger selves wanted to be with. We overprotect by monitoring their every move like a CIA agent trailing a drug lord.

On September 21st, I spoke about Practical Spirituality at the HIS EVERY ACTION Summit Web Series. I decided to be part of this series because I realized people have portrayed spirituality as complicated and even mechanical. However there is the need to let people know that we can simplify, practicalize and learn to thoroughly enjoy every part of it through simple forms such as mindfulness, solitude, connection, giving and receiving. I believe that learning to infuse these seemingly little experiences into your life will make it more fulfilling.

This ideal day would have me wake up at 5 am to meditate for 20 minutes, then make my long espresso just in time to watch the sunrise. Feeling refreshed and connected to my spirit, I would next journal non-stop for another 20-30 minutes, pouring out every thought and wish onto paper just as Jackson Pollock would pour out his heart onto canvas—with a glint of madness.

The Bhagavad Gita is a part of a much larger Hindu holy text—the Mahabharata—written between 200 and 500 BC. It documents a conversation between Arjuna, prince of the Pandavas, and a God named Krishna.

This fear of not fitting in is at its strongest when we’re young, but it never fully leaves us until we become confident in who we are. Whether we are teenagers entering college or adults joining a new company, our first instinct is to be careful with our words and actions. We don’t want to upset the status quo; we fear failure, ridicule, and standing out. We are petrified that people might not like us

Reasons Why We Need Play

When we sit alone with a good book, our mind wanders and wonders into different worlds that we haven’t seen or heard of. I remember when I read Shantaram by Gregory David Roberts. His vivid portrayal of life in Bombay and the sense of community the locals felt even in the direst circumstances fascinated me and kept me turning pages.

Pain, setbacks and sadness are inevitable in our lives, and we need to be realistic enough to accept them as part of our journey. Pain is not just “a part” but an important one, as it becomes this great teacher, rather than something we simply endure. When we dig deep into pain, we remove the mounds of anguish blocking the path to our joy.

Walt Disney, a man who inspired generations to dream with his animation films, cartoon characters and theme parks started off as a failure. He was fired in 1919 from his job because he “lacked imagination.” His first business went bankrupt, as he was unable to manage money and employees. Over 300 banks denied him help.

Technology has also made it more difficult for us. We can now easily measure our so-called success and compare ourselves to others. We forget that most people craft their lives digitally, showing only their best moments. Many social media users take 20 pictures before posting the best one. Most scan their feed and like only the people who liked their posts (and some buy likes), rendering “likes” meaningless. All this leads to yet more raised expectations. Maybe our photo got 80 likes, but we “need” 320 to be like that young fashionista we follow.

Real estate magnate Gary Keller is an Ernst & Young Entrepreneur of the Year and finalist for Inc. Magazine‘s Entrepreneur of the Year. He explains how we can be more productive in his book, The ONE Thing: The Surprisingly Simple Truth Behind Extraordinary Results.

However, as I’ve transformed myself from the inside out, my values have changed too. What used to give me joy, no longer does. Instead of luxury and comfort, I would rather seek inner peace, simplicity and authenticity—ironically, the very things that money not only can’t buy, but usually neglects.