Adventures in Awesome Living

by Sunil Bali, 19-02-12

Thanks to his class mates at school spilling the beans and my wife loudly dropping coins down the side of his bed which woke him, my 8 year old son Aran has stopped believing in both Father Xmas and the Tooth Fairy.

No longer will my son be afraid to incur the wrath of these doyens of good behaviour, and so miss out on presents and hard cash.

What’s remarkable is how quickly kids can change their belief systems and go from believing in fairy tales to believing in the Argos toy catalogue and the bank of mum and dad.

Research clearly shows that during our teenage years we become conditioned into holding onto belief systems which clearly don’t support what we want to achieve. This toxic process continues during adulthood…..

"I’ll always be overweight."
"If I fail, I’ll feel stupid and rejected."
"I’m not good enough."

We’re born with a clean slate but the doom mongers, psychic vampires and non-achievers tell us what we can aspire to.

Don’t listen to them (77 second video)

Having positive role models and mentors in your inner circle can make a hugedifference to your outcomes:

A little boy who drew soldiers on the walls of his bedroom and enacted great battles was told by his parents that if he wanted to be a great general then that was fine by them. The little boy was Napoleon Bonaparte.

A young lad drew a three pointed star and said he would make the greatest engines in the world and put his star on them. His parents said to him, why don’t you go one step further and make the greatest cars in the world? The boys name was Gottlieb Daimler.

What beliefs and habits are stopping you from being more like the people you admire and aspire to be like?

Quotes

What a distressing contrast there is between the radiant curiosity of the child and the feeble mentality of the average adult – Sigmund Freud

Within you right now is the power to do things you never dreamed possible. This power comes available to you as soon as you change your beliefs – Maxwell Maltz

If I have the belief that I can do it, I shall surely acquire the capacity to do it – Gandhi

The only true happiness comes from squandering ourselves for a purpose – William Cowper

Humour

A recent study found that women find different male faces attractive depending on where they are in their menstrual cycle.

For example, when a woman is ovulating she tends to prefer a man with rugged, masculine features.

However, when she is menstruating, she prefers a man doused in petrol, then set on fire with scissors stuck in his eye.

…..and finally, if you’re having a bad day, remember it could have been worse:

…..or worse still you could you have been this incredibly unlucky bird (5 second video)

To your success,

Sunil

Adventures in Awesome Living

by Sunil Bali, 12-02-12

Indians and Italians have a number of things in common, including their passion for food and the importance of deepening relationships over the course of a long, slow dinner.

Keith Ferrazi, author of the New York Times bestseller Who’s got your back tells me that Italians have a saying: "A tavola non s’invecchia" which means "At the dinner table no one grows old."

Whether it’s a family member or a potential client, getting people away from distractions and their daily environment is crucial to establishing closer relationships.

When you’ve got one eye on the clock, it can often become a case of "Let’s cut to the chase" rather than "What can I do for you?"

Don’t you find that time stands still and food tastes so much better when sprinkled with the intimacy of a "getting to know you better" dinner?

The long, slow dinner provides a platform to get what matters on the table and all agendas off the table and allows for openness, intimacy and ultimately trust to develop.

So who would you like to take out for dinner and get to know much better? How about over an Indian meal?

Being an Indian, I’m passionate about Indian food. Unfortunately, the food served by more than 95% of the Indian restaurants in the UK is, in my humble opinion, not fit for a dog! So here are a few restaurants that are the real deal and serve fabulous Indian food. But be warned…..you’ll never want to go back to your local curry house!

1. West London: http://dine-online.co.uk/madhus-indian-restaurant.htm Madhu’s Brilliant, Southall. They did the catering at my wedding 11 years ago and people are still talking about the food!
2. East London: http://www.tayyabs.co.uk/ – Tayyabs serves probably the best Lamb chops in the UK.
3. East London: http://www.lahore-kebabhouse.com/ – Lahore Kebab House is one of the first and very best curry houses in London.
4. Harrow: http://www.regencyclub.co.uk/ The Regency Club is a bar and grill which also serves fantastic vegetarian food. It’s 1minute walk from Queensbury tube station.
5. Birmingham: http://www.ashasuk.co.uk/ Asha’s – a fine dining establishment with some exquisite house specialities.

I’ve eaten at virtually all of London’s upmarket, fine dining, Indian restaurants and whilst my first 4 recommendations don’t have the grandeur of these establishments, the food is considerably better and will cost the same as your local curry house.

Quotes

Call it a clan, call it a network, call it a tribe: whatever you call it and whoever you are, you need one – Jane Howard

People don’t want any more information, they’re drowning it. They want trust. Trust in you and the story that you tell – Sunil Bali

To fly we have to have resistance – Maya Lin

I use my muscles as a conversation piece, like someone walking a cheetah down 42^nd street – Arnold Schwarzenegger

Humour

The following passage is taken from my book, Mind, Set & Match

Love Is…..

A team of researchers asked a group of primary school children: "What does love mean?" The answers were broader and deeper than they could have imagined:

"When someone loves you, the way they say your name is different. You know that your name is safe in their mouth."Billy, age 4

"Love is when you go out to eat and give somebody most of your French fries without making them give you any of theirs." Chrissy, age 6

"Love is what makes you smile when you’re tired." Terri, age 4

"Love is what’s in the room with you at Christmas if you stop opening presents and listen."Bobby, age 7

"If you want to learn to love better, you should start with a friend who you hate."Nikka, age 6

"During my piano recital I was on a stage and I was scared. I looked at all the people watching me and saw my daddy waving and smiling. He was the only one doing that. I wasn’t scared anymore."Cindy, age 8

"Love is when Mummy gives Daddy the best piece of chicken." Elaine, age 5

"Love is when Mummy sees Daddy smelly and sweaty and still says he is handsomer than Robert Redford. “Chris, age 7

"Love is when your puppy licks your face even after you left him alone all day."Mary Ann, age 4

"I know my older sister loves me because she gives me all her old clothes and has to go out and buy new ones."Lauren, age 4

"When you love somebody, your eyelashes go up and down and little stars come out of you."Karen, age 7

"Love is when Mommy sees Daddy on the toilet and she doesn’t think it’s gross."Mark, age 6

"You really shouldn’t say ‘I love you’ unless you mean it. But if you mean it, you should say it a lot. People forget."Jessica, age 8

….. and finally, here is an awesome marriage proposal (video)

To your success,

Sunil

Adventures in Awesome Living

by Sunil Bali, 05-02-12

Have you ever wondered why so many rich people, don’t retire?

Billionaires such as Steven Spielberg, George Soros and Ralph Lauren could easily pack in the day job, but choose not to.

It’s because they’re having too much fun to stop.

When questioned why he doesn’t call it a day, Warren Buffet replied, "When I go to my office every morning, I feel like I’m going to the Sistine Chapel to paint."

These billionaires have to put up with crap just like anyone else. The trick is to get the Pareto scales weighing heavily in your favour and make sure that you’re having fun at least 80% of the time and doing stuff that’s not fun less than 20% of the time.

If it’s the other way around you’re in the wrong job and probably getting a lot of stress.

The evidence is unequivocal: Stress isn’t working 12 hours a day doing a job you love. Stress is working 8 hours a day doing a job you hate.

In this 90 second video, Steve Jobs explains the rules for success and why you should chase your passion and not our pension (p.13 of pdf)

Quotes

Tension is who you think you should be. Relaxation is who you are – Chinese proverb and one of my favourite quotes

A true professional achieves success when you don’t know what you’re doing is work or play – Warren Beatty

I never did a day’s work in my life; it was all fun – Thomas Edison

I wasn’t the funniest guy growing up, but I was the guy who worked the hardest on being funny – Chris Rock comedian

Humour

1. Why does water that has "trickled through the mountains for centuries" have a "use by" date?

2. Why do we press harder on a remote control when we know the batteries are going dead?

3. Why does Superman stop bullets with his chest, but ducks when you throw a revolver at him?

4. Why do they use sterilized needles for death by lethal injection?

5. Why doesn’t glue stick to the bottle?

6. Why doesn’t Tarzan have a beard?

7. Why do Kamikaze pilots wear helmets?

8. Whose idea was it to put an "S" in the word "lisp"?

9. Why is it that no matter what colour bubble bath you use the bubbles are always white?

10. Is there ever a day that sofas are not on sale?

11. How come you never hear father-in-law jokes?

To your success,

Sunil

Ps. If you enjoy this column, then you’ll enjoy my new books:

The Art of Awesome Living

The Book of Awesome Humour

which will be published next week. You can get free samples of both books & order them at:

http://www.sunilbali.com/books/