Insight > 3 Most Powerful Prayers for Success

At times we end up learning something profound while teaching our kids.

Recently when my 8 year old was preparing to participate in a competition, I shared some tips with him that I practice subconsciously. I realised that if one was to apply these tips to anything that you do, stress free success is almost guaranteed.

I am a strong believer in the power of prayers. Call them prayers, mantras, affirmations, visualisation or simply positive thinking, I feel that they have a profound effect on our psyche. And the right attitude is usually the most powerful way to experience success.

So, while preparing my son for his competition, I told him about the following important prayers to get him started with a productive attitude. Here I'll also explain how they help at various levels.

* Pray to Enjoy Whatever You're Doing
When you enjoy whatever you do, you naturally end up doing your best. The sense of enjoyment lends an inherent sense of confidence. In case you need to enhance your knowledge about it, when you learn about something that you enjoy there is usually no pressure, but a genuine urge to learn. This makes you learn more about the topic of your choice without any pressure to do so.

* Pray to Do Your Best
As I explained to my son, while we needn't pressurise ourselves with competition with others, it is important to feel satisfied with the effort that we've put into something. There shouldn't be a situation where you come back feeling that you could have done better. While I don't believe in pushing myself, or anyone else, into achieving success, it is important to make sure that you don't fall short of doing whatever you're capable of doing.

* Pray to Be Happy with the Result
If you've done the first two things, ideally you can just surrender to whatever the outcome is. But I feel good praying to be happy with the outcome. Then, in case you come out a winner, it's great. But if there's somebody else who is actually more deserving to be a winner, so be it!

As long as you've enjoyed the whole process (of participating in a competition, for instance),  knowing that you've done your best, and are genuinely happy about the outcome, then you're a winner in any case!

Insight > The One Value That I Want To Inculcate In My Kids

There is one phrase that I seem to be using quite often with my kids: "You are not doing this for me, you are doing this for yourself".

Even though it may have an impatient tone, the underlying message is that of Self Motivation.

Aged 8 and 6 years, my kids may still be too young to understand the concept of self motivation. They are all too eager to impress their parents, cousins or friends by all that they do. While approval and appreciation play a very important role in raising confident children, I know that this is the time to lay the foundation of this all-important value. In fact, you may even start using self motivation at an earlier stage.

Instead of pushing them constantly to eat healthy, do their best in academics or extra curricular activities, I find that telling them that they are doing it for themselves has a much deeper impact.

And as they grow, competition amongst peers and external pressures to perform at a certain level will only increase. But self motivation is the one thing that will ensure that they are always giving their best, without succumbing to stress of any kind.

This is one value that I cherish the most in myself. Believing that I am trying to be the best that I can be, at a personal as well as professional level, makes me enjoy all that I do. It also takes away the need to prove myself to anybody.

While I don't have a competitive streak in me, self motivation ensures that I don't become complacent. I am sure that everyone, without exception, has a combination of certain talents and qualities that makes them unique as well as special. We need to nurture and develop these qualities to be the best version of ourselves.

And if there's just one thing that I'd like to teach my kids, it is this - always strive to better yourself! Then whatever activity or lifestyle they undertake, I'm sure will be met with success.

Here's wishing you all a very Happy New Year 2015. I hope you have set personal and professional targets for yourself to be the best that You can be!