Yogi n Techie5

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THEYOGIAND

THETECHIE(Life skills for the young technocrat)

Rahul Dubey, PhDAssociate Professor

Dhirubhai Ambani Institute of ICT (DA-IICT)


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The Yogi and the Techie Page 2________________________________________________________________________

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Background:

It would not be incorrect to label the 21st century as acentury of computing and communication advances.

These advances have changed the way we live, workand interact. One of the serious fallouts of theadvances is the changed lifestyle. Most of us agreethat the 21st century has brought in great amount ofstress in people.

Most of us go through cycles of feeling high and low.The wiser ones amongst us can handle the stressesof modern life but majority of us are unknowingly partof a stressful rat race that is not even allowing us timeto realize this.

The 21st century generation is not willing to reconnectwith the world, when there were no emails, mobilephones and 24 x 7 operations. They are all tooabsorbed in their own technical world to even thinkabout staying healthy and sane. The following pagescontain a collection of ideas, borrowed from thetechnical world to help us live a better life. Most ofthe techie world examples are based on theubiquitous computer which every techie loves.

These ideas are put forth using technical worldanalogies through the story of the yogi and the techie.It is not feasible to live by what has been said in thisstory (that why it is a story!). In fact, realisticallyspeaking, it is not possible to be in control of lifesituations, as is mentioned in the different examples(if we could, we would no longer be humans!). The


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great gurus flounder, while they preach to the world.They basically share the lessons that they have learntfrom their failures.

The book hopes to help one reconnect and have agood life by presenting these examples. There is apossibility that certain examples from the technicalworld do not fit in with the lifestyle statement. But themotivation is to align the thoughts as close aspossible. Also there are ideas which are very closeto each other but are represented differently.

About the author:

The author is a faculty at DA-IICT. He teaches

courses on digital system design. Most of theexamples used in this book originate from ideas oncomputers and their working and the authorsexperiences.


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This story is about a young technocrat (techie) who isbraving a quarter life crises. Although he has a greathigh paying job, big house, gets to travel to differentcountries, yet somewhere he is not happy and

satisfied.

The CEO of the company senses the indifferentattitude and also sees signs of burn out in our youngtechie. The techie in the story had already put inseveral years for the company, so the humanresources department decides to send him for aweekend break. It is supposed to rejuvenate him totake up greater responsibility at the office.

Someone at the office tells him about the weekend

break to the Yogis ashram. The Yogi is a retiredtechnocrat, who has renounced all worldly pleasuresand lives in an ashram. The Yogi is attributed todiluting and making sense of the problems youngpeople face by giving examples from the world oftechnology. Although young techies first sneer at thethought of learning life skills from a Yogi, they seem tosavor the experience, after their return.

Our young techie finally decided to visit the Yogi on aweekend, by convincing himself that there is nothing

to loose. He enrolls for a weekend course to spendtime at the ashram meditating and experiencingcatharsis.

The first thing the ashram asked him to do was todeposit his mobile phone and laptop. Initially ourfriend was reluctant to part with his mobile and


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computer, but since he did not wish to return backfrom the outskirts of the city, he complied.

The first meeting with the Yogi was in the open; in a

courtyard surrounded by trees. There were severalother registered participants who had assembled tolisten to the sermon. There were carpets laid down onthe ground, where everyone was supposed to sit.

There was curiosity as to what the Yogi looked like.When he came out, the gathering saw the Yogiwearing a loose cotton shirt and jeans. He did not fitthe monk like image our young techie had in mind.There were no saffron robes.

He had a glowing countenance which was notdimmed by daily tribulations of life. He seemedcontent and happy. No deals to close. No code todebug. No deadlines to meet. No loose ends to tie.He seemed to be reveling in the moment. He seemedto have a clear perspective on life; much like the timewhen one returns from a funeral.

He came and sat on the podium, under the tree. Heintroduced himself and then sat still for some time.The gathering seemed to be getting restless. They all

expected the Yogi to say something.

Do you all know why we are sitting here, in this opencourtyard with trees around? asked the Yogi.

No one spoke up.


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Both Gautam Buddha and Isaac Newton, got insightinto the way the world is, while sitting under a tree!he smiled to put the gathering at ease.

Although the tree is symbolic, the message is to beclose to nature. All of us seem to be getting awayfrom outdoors.

Our techie friend was distracted on seeing someblack garden ants walking on the carpet. The Yogicould see his discomfiture. He decided to use thegarden ant to illustrate a point.

How many of you have heard the Panchtantra storyof the three Brahmins who try to bring a tiger to life,

by the power of their accumulated knowledge?

Several people raised their hands.

Ok, tell me, can we create a black garden ant likecreature, using all the accumulated knowledge ofmankind?

There was silence.

The Yogi went on to tell the audience about the

challenges in creating a garden ant.

The major issues would be intelligence, weight andflexibility. These ants start walking even after fallingoff from tree branches.


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I do not wish to belittle our scientificaccomplishments, but we need to realize that naturehas lots to teach us.

If you visit a research lab, working on one of thelatest gizmos about to be released; you will find lots oftechies working on multi-core CPUs, minimizingpower consumed by hand-held devices, creatingbetter audio and video compression standards,coming up with new sensors and using artificial neuralnetworks or some kind of genetic optimizationtechnique.

The scientific community journals are filled withthousands of research papers on these areas.

The Yogi had earlier been part of a major researchlab. He had quit his position at the lab, when hedecided to share his realizations and ideas with fellowtechies.

But if you think with a calm mind, you will see thatmany ideas originate from nature.

With the coming of cable television, computer andthe internet, most of us are confined to the luxury of

home. We do not have the time to go outdoors.

The Yogi then went ahead and recited the poem onLeisure by William Henry Davies.

What is this life if, full of care,We have no time to stand and stare.


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No time to stand beneath the boughsAnd stare as long as sheep or cows.

No time to see, when woods we pass,Where squirrels hide their nuts in grass.

No time to see, in broad daylight,Streams full of stars, like skies at night.

No time to turn at Beauty's glance,And watch her feet, how they can dance.

No time to wait till her mouth canEnrich that smile her eyes began.

A poor life this if, full of care,We have no time to stand and stare.

Most of the participants had memorized this poem inschool, but had never fully understood its message.The poem aptly described the hectic lives they wereleading.

Since it was close to lunch time, the Yogi concludedwith certain recommendations that our techie friend

jotted down in his notebook.

Take time out to go to a nature park orto a neighborhood park.

It is great to spend time outdoors andtake our children along with us. Not only doesthis make our engineering seem primitive, but itis also a great way to relax and learn.


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After lunch, the group reassembled indoors. Therewas a sense of lethargy and the body was begging forrest. Everyone was pleasantly surprised to seerocking chairs put up in the seminar hall. Each

participant was allowed to take a nap. After thesnooze for half an hour the lights were brightened andtea and coffee was served.

When the Yogi walked in the hall everyone seemed tobe recharged and attentive.

He sat down on the dais, and asked a question.

How many of you have been through the process ofdealing with a non-responsive computer - one that is

hung up?

Several hands in the audience went up.

What do you do when nothing seems to work?asked the Yogi.

Restart or reboot the computer, answered oneparticipant.

I will now put on my computer engineering hat to

answer this, said the Yogi.

We all know that the easiest ways, (and one of themost effective!) of dealing with a non-responsivecomputer is to perform a power reset. Turn the poweroffand then onagain.


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When a power reset happens, the computersmicroprocessor brings the program counter (PC) andstack pointer (SP) to a predetermined location. The

job of the program counter is to keep track of the next

instruction to be executed, while the job of the stackpointer is to organize in memory, different variablesfrom the programs that are running.

Programming errors or switching from oneapplication to the other cause the PC and SP to loosetheir bearings. When this happens the computer juststands there staring at you!

Very much similar to the information overload causedat work! observed one participant.

Yes, and resetting brings both PC and SP back to apre-determined location, added another techie.

In our lives also, there are times of informationoverflow, continued the Yogi.

How many times, you feel like just walking away fromit all?

Many participants raised their hands.

For the sake of comparison, let us say that the hungup computer is like a dazed state. There are manytimes when humans also reach this hung state. Oneway to get out of this state is to perform a reset on thethought process. A short nap or a good nights sleephelps.


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Reset

How does a nap or meditation help? asked a techie.

How many of you defragment the hard disk of thecomputers? asked the Yogi.

Some of the participants raised their hands.

During normal operation, the computer stores filesand data non-sequentially on the hard disk. Whenyou start the defragmentation process, you willobserve the data is scattered in small clusters.

After the defragmentation is done, you will see thatthe computer collates the data and places it in anorderly manner on the disk. This improves the speedof the system.

Similarly there is lot of unrelated information

contained in our minds. Sitting quietly and justfocusing on our breath, gives the mind some time toorganize itself just like the hard disk.

Perform a power reset on yourself once or twice a day either by taking a quick nap or by meditating for ashort while.


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One of the ways of de-cluttering our minds (similar toresetting) is to practice Yoga asana. Many peoplehave reported the benefits of a nap. This has resultedin better work efficiency.

The power nap is similar to a power reset. It may bedifficult to find a place to take a nap in a cubicle, butclosing your eyes and shutting off from the nitty-grittyof the external world, performs reset functionality.Concentrating on the breath is a good way to slowdown and refocus the mind.

I quote from hatha yoga pradipika, said the Yogi.

When the breath wanders, the mind also is unsteady.

But when the breath is calmed the mind, too, will bestill. Therefore learn to control breath.

Our breathing pattern is a good indicator of the stateof mind.

Quick shallow breathing usually indicates behaviorwhen you are trying to cope with the situation. Slowdeep breathing is associated when you have masteryof the situation.

When one goes to the Task Manager of a computer,you see various processes and applications that arerunning. Certain times there are tasks running in thebackground that one may not be aware of.


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When you wish to reach the idle state of mind, all thetasks and applications stop and the CPU is freerunning. Without load!

International Standards Organization (ISO) requiresperiodic recalibration of test and measurementinstruments. Similarly we should recalibrate ourbreathing rate by breathing exercises through out theday. This relaxes the mind and puts you on the righttrack.

Also meditation, which helps you transcend thepresent is quite similar to virtual reality. You seepilots training using the flight simulator, in a similarmanner one can use meditation to see thoughts of

what you wish to achieve and then work towards thatgoal.

Sitting still and moving away from mundane stuffhelps one to visualizing

By the time the discourse finished, it was evening andthe Yogi invited the group to take a stroll in theashram campus.

Talk through the campus and enjoy its beauty. Donot let thoughts from the workplace enter your mind,he advised as the group set off for the walk.

As the group walked through the ashram, theyrealized that it had been really long, since they hadtaken time off for a walk at sunset. It was a beautiful


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sight to see birds returning home to the trees, and therise of the full moon. These every day celestialoccurrences seemed so grand. It was as if they hadall been away from this for so long.

Once they returned to the ashram, tea was served.The Yogi sat amongst the participants at one of thetea tables and started to chat.

Many members were animatedly talking about theexperience they had of being away from work andclose to nature. The Yogi talked about the advantagesof such excursions.

Withdrawal from a given

problem, at times yieldsnew perspectives, whichcan eventually help insolving the given problem,he said.

The concept of introducingnegative feedback for astable system occurred toHarold Black during a ferry

ride to work. Since the lab notebook was not with him,

he wrote down his idea on a newspaper. Many novelideas have come not in the conventional workspaceenvironment, but in restaurants, while walking orwhen taking a bath. Archimedes can vouch for this!

After dinner, the group again assembled in thecourtyard.


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The sky was filled with sparkling stars when the lightsof the ashram were dimmed.

The Yogi walked up to our friend and said, You are aproject manager at work, what is your job profile?

I need to make sure that all the individual tasksintegrate together correctly, replied the techie.

That means you have the big picture in front of you,observed the Yogi.

Sometimes, we tend to get upset and anxious whensmall things go wrong. At times like these, we need

to see the big picture.

What big picture? asked the techie?

At times viewing a problem from a distance makes itlook more manageable. Whenever you feel low, takea walk in a starlit night. Though it is difficult to findstarlit skies in todays polluted cities.

The stars remind us that we are all tiny players in thegrand scheme of the universe. It is time to go easy on

your problems, not to take life too seriously and tohave a good time while we are here on this lovelyplanet.

This perspective of looking at things told you not toget overwhelmed by problems, thought our friend.


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Suddenly all insurmountable problems seemed moremanageable.

The next day at the ashram was supposed to begin at

day break and everyone went to bed before the datechanged. The room was designed with a transparent

glass rooftop,with the starsclearly seen inthe night. Itwas difficult tosleep late, asthe morning

sunshinespread out in

the room. Early in the morning the participants wentfor a walk in the ashram lawns and then a Yogainstructor guided them with breathing exercises andYogic postures.

When they assembled after breakfast in thecourtyard, the Yogi asked them about the importancethey give to their health.

One participant shared his concern of less sleephours and unhealthy eating habits.

The Yogi narrated an incident from his work life.

As an engineer working in a factory automationdesign firm, I visited many factories. One such visit toa plant managers office is etched in memory. On thewalls of his office, I saw several charts showing that


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the uptime of the machines of the plant to the order of95 to 98 percent.

Being a continuous process factory, stoppage or

downtime would result in production loss which wasunacceptable to the management.

It was the job of the maintenance staff of theseprocess plants to keep the machinery running,explained the maintenance manager. Lot ofpreventive maintenance was carried out weekly,quarterly or annually to ensure maximum uptime.

Come to think of it, the human body is also amachine. It is much more sophisticated than any

machine to be found in any factory. It is one of thoseintelligent machines, which tries to heal itself whendamaged.

The research world is trying extremely hard to comeup with artificially intelligent, fault tolerant and self-healing mechanisms. But we are still a long distanceaway from creating a machine like the human body.

Most of us do not stop to think about this machinethat keeps us alive and moving. We have a calendar

which tells us, when the car is due for service, but weseem to forget our own undemanding machine.

Let us eat right and exercise to ensurethat this machine stays fighting fit.Exercise for some time in the morningand evening.


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Exercise creates a positive feeling that keepsyou energized all day.

After the brief talk on the need for good health, the

Yogi asked if anyones absence from the officeyesterday or the invisible tether of the email hadstopped the world.

The realization sank in that since yesterday no onehad checked their emails or voicemails. There wasthis urge to go and check if anything was amiss.

Once in a while the chirping of birds distracted theaudience from the morning talk. The cheerful chirpingof the birds prompted the Yogi to ask,

If we were to think of God as a computer engineer,do you think he would make pre-programmed orprogrammable systems?

Everyone was flummoxed by the question.

Would you agree with me that birds and insectsaround us have limited thoughts and abilities as

compared to humans?

Everyone nodded theirheads.

These birds go abouttheir daily lives withoutthinking much andbeing satisfied and


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happy. They have survival abilities, but no thoughtprocesses otherwise.

The pigeon who is trying to make a nest on that air

conditioner does not feel dejected when all the twigsfall off every day. It tries to make it again.

It is difficult to find an unhappy sparrow or parrot, inthis world. All creatures seem to be pre-programmedin a particular way. Unhappiness or dejection is notpart of their program.

Just like the microprocessor, which can beprogrammed to work as a bomb timer or as a heartpacemaker controller, humans are also

programmable. We have this programmable brain thathelps us think. Good and bad. It is a dual edgedsword that has to be used correctly.

How many of you think thought is supreme? askedthe Yogi.

Many people raised their hands.

Why do you think thought is supreme? was the nextquestion posed by the Yogi.

There was silence. No one wanted to answer thisquestion.

I have read many places about the power of thought.To me it had almost become a clich when some onesaid, thought is supreme!


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But come to think of it, thought, when looked upon assoftware of the techie world, thought is supreme.

Let us start with this simple fact. If we were tocompare the revenues of all software firms in theworld vis--vis the revenues of the semiconductorcompanies guess who would be the winner?

The software guys hands down! observed aveteran from the software industry.

The key to softwares strength is that you can comeup with newer applications using the same hardware.The personal computer can run a variety of

applications from Office, Games, Internet Browserand lots more. It is up to the creativity of theprogrammer, how he uses the personal computerhardware.

Those of us, who have fulfilled their basic necessitiesof life (Remember the song from Walt DisneysJungle Book Just the bare necessities, that Baloosings with Mougli as they walk down the jungle path),can be considered to be at the same level of apersonal computers hardware platform.

Most successful people agree on the fact that thereis no limit to the hardware or society approved stuffyou can get, to make you happy. You can have aPhD, millions in your bank account, a luxury car butstill you can be unhappy. Material things can providetemporary happiness but it is the thought one holds


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that provides for the future. This brings us to themagical realization.

You are as happy as your thoughts. Without good

software (thought), the best of hardware (materialstuff) is useless.

Think of the current pay cheque vis--vis your first pay cheque. Which wasmore memorable?

A realization to dawn on you, which should besimilar to that Mastercard advertisement punchline: Priceless. Many times the pricelessmoments are free and for the asking. They do

not need materialistic investments.

The session broke for lunch to reassemble for the lasttime before the weekend came to an end.

The last lesson, which I wish to impart to you beforeyou leave, will act as shield from the joys and sorrowsof the world, said the Yogi.

How many of you have noticed the porcelain

insulators on overhead electrical transmission lines?

We saw several of these towers on the way to theashram, replied one participant.

I think all of us have seen these insulators, whose job is to support the electrical wires which carry kilo


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volts of electricity. It is also used to ensure that theelectric potential does not travel to the supportingstructure.

You can imagine the effects, if this insulation were torupture. Complete devastation through a short circuit.There are fault detecting circuits which shut down theline, when this happens!

Let us for a moment consider what would be like, ifwe insulate ourselves from the external world.Suppose we did not let external events upset andrattle us.

Remember Howard Roark from Ayn Rands

Fountainhead. In the novel, Roark went about doinghis own thing, without caring for what everybody hadto say. He had a rock like self confidence which theworld could not dent. See how Roark and Rockrhyme!

In a similar fashion, we need to ensure that our selfesteem, self-worth and confidence are insulated andprotected from the external world.

Another way of looking at it is to tell yourself that you

have nothing to loose. We are all humans with thesame set of abilities. We have created all kinds ofartificial titles (CEOs, Project Managers, Vice-Presidents and so forth). These are just temporaryroles assigned to us.


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Go out there and do your thing. Do not worry aboutthe outcome. You have nothing to loose. Everythingthat you hold dear is insulated. Enjoy the world as achild does. He does not seem concerned about

falling down, getting dirty or the right place to play.

I have shared my thoughts about many things, butbefore you leave I wish to answer some questionsthat you may have.

The techies asked questions related to their workplace and their struggle to keep up with the fast paceof their jobs.

Q1. A techie complained about being left behind in

the rat race of promotion and salary.

The Yogi emphasized the need for long term goals inplace of short term gains.

We have young techies and executives striving tomake a mark for them selves. They slog through ourcrowded transport system, work long hours, workweekends to establish themselves in the company.Fundamentally, there is nothing wrong in workinghard, but we need to realize that there is a finite

amount of energy that each one of us has. At timeswe get into a fast burn mode to meet deadlines.There are some of us, who are in the fast burn modemost of the times and they burn out early in the gameof life.


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A good idea is to step off the accelerator once in awhile. Sit back and think where things are leading to.Spend time with your loved ones.

The laptop computer is a ubiquitous device that mostof us use.

The power consumed by a laptop (microprocessor) isrelated to the frequency of the clock and the voltage.

When not in use, (detected, by finding inactivity of thekeyboard) the computer starts operating at a lowerfrequency and reduced voltage (translating to lowerspeed) to conserve battery life.

Learn to slow down, enjoy your work and extend thequality time of your life.

All of us know that steel is one of most used alloy inthe modern world. It is known of its strength andresilience.

Steel does not get into this form very easily it has togo through a long drawn tempering process whichgives it the qualities that we attribute to men of steel.

Most of the good managers have gone through thisprocess of seeing the good times and the difficulttimes. They have learnt how to ride out the toughtimes, by using their experience.

Reaching the top in terms of salary and promotion isan organic process and cannot be cut short.


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Q2. A young CEO complained of being impatient withhis subordinates and frequent mood swings.

The Yogi gave some pointers on the benefits of notreacting impulsively. Also a long term goal helps oneget over glitches on the way.

In this era of high efficiency and large workload, oftenthere are unreasonable demands on the workforce.The boss walks in and sets an unrealistic deadline fora project. There is this insidious email from acolleague who wishes to foist his work to you. All thismakes you real angry.

There are many who go ahead and respond to theunjust demand by loosing their cool and reactingimpulsively (a spike).

They have a heated dispute with the boss or writeback an obnoxious email to subordinate or colleague.

This only makes matters worse.

This also happens at home with the kids. Sometimesfor no great cause, we tend to react harshly with the

kids only to feel bad later on.

I have repented all the exchanges I have had, when Ihad lost my temper.

Not only did it spoil my mood, I did not achieveanything out of it.


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There is a saying, Count toHundred, before reacting.

An averaging filter helps toclean out a spike byaveraging it out with otheradjacent samples. Give

yourself time before responding this will help in awell thought out reply.

Also one does not have to respond to every argumentor provocation. We need to choose our enemies, warsand arguments with discretion.

The detailing required to get a certain water flow froma sink water tap is not the same as the fuel flow ratefrom an aircraft fuel nozzle.

Certain times small distractions fade out when onehas a long term goal. Most human achievements canbe traced to challenges and long term goals.President Kennedys mission to the moon is anexample of a long term goal. These long term goalshelp to ride out the small bumps along the way. Theidea is to keep in mind the end goal, in difficult times.

Q3. A new entrant to the workforce wanted advice onbeing more organized at work and at home..

The Yogi focused on the need for documentation andkeeping ones material needs to the minimum.


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What distinguishes humans from other animals onthis planet?

We share many of our traits with other animals.There are intelligent dolphins, dogs, apes Buthumans have taken the lead in running the show onplanet earth. One of the advantages that humansenjoy is akin to the domino effect.

Humans have developed means to disseminate theirexperiences and knowledge by documenting it.

Since the arrival of paper and data storage means,human knowledge has grown manifold. This has been

accentuated by the coming of the Internet.

Human memory is volatile. Not like the RandomAccess Memory (RAM) of computers. We do notloose our memory after a nap or a sleep. But most ofus will have difficulty debugging a code written sixmonths back.

There are many times when we have repented for notdocumenting well.

Documentation puts off most people. Techies are nodifferent.

Project managers have to thrust documentation downthe throats of their engineers like bitter medicine. Asa techie just starting out, I would advise you todocument well.


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At home one needs to manage time and keep yourmaterialistic requirements to a minimum.

The modern lifestyle has become very demanding.You may be talking on the phone, when the door bellrings. As you walk to open the door, your newbornchild starts to cry.

There are lots of things to keep track of. There aremultiple credit cards, EMIs of various loans, multipleemail accounts, bank accounts, mobile phone, taxesand much more. Every time you miss out of adeadline, there are people waiting to levy largepenalties (for example, the credit card companies).

If a microprocessor needs to attend to many tasks ina given time, the microprocessor does have any timeto rest! One of the jobs of an operating system is toschedule tasks the microprocessor has to carry out. Ifthere are lots of task closely spaced with harddeadlines (deterministic!) the CPUs loading factorgoes high.

This also applies to humans. Multi-tasking for longperiods get us worked up.

.One way out of this labyrinth is to keep things simple.

Keep ones needs to the leanest possible. Do not gettether yourself to too much stuff.


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Unless you are a senior executive with a personalsecretary to take care of all that we have been talkingabout, it is advisable to lead a Spartan lifestyle.

Cut loose from all the paraphernalia of multiple cards,EMIs, emails, PDAs, and bank accounts. Lifebecomes much simpler and manageable, by nothaving to worry about servicing these self generatedinterrupts.

Q4. A techie was constantly trying to cope up withvarious projects single handedly and this had madehis life difficult at home and at work.

Some of us find great deal of satisfaction, trying tooperate solo. We do not want to delegateresponsibility. There is lack of trust in the ability of thesubordinate to do the job right. But many real lifeprojects are not one man projects. Teams ofprofessionals collaborate from different locations.

What eventually happens is there are signs of fatigueand slowdown. Let us take an analogy from electricalpower generation, where there are huge turbines

coupled to electrical generators. When the electricalload goes up, the mighty turbines start to slow down.As the speed of the turbine starts to reduce, thefrequency of the power transmitted to our home alsodecreases. More turbines are brought in to share theload. These turbines are synchronized, just likemultiple horses pulling a chariot. If there are too many


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tasks assigned to one individual, there are chances ofthe person slowing down.

Q5. How can I ensure success?

There are very few of us who get our software codesto work the first time. The compiler spews out syntaxor other errors the first time.

That does not stop us from writing code. We areconfident that even if we make mistakes, we can set itright by keeping at it. The computer does not getdamaged because it just tried to compile an incorrectcode.

The same thread of thought can be extended to oureveryday life. Consider the position in life that youare presently in as the most conducive conditionpossible. Try and build upon it. Do not worry aboutwhat has happened and what will happen.

Make a small list of what you want to accomplish inlife and then start chipping away.

I finish this by this quote by Buddha,

The secret of health for both mind and body is not to mourn forthe past, nor to worry about the future, but to live the presentmoment wisely and earnestly

As our young friend headed back to the hustle andbustle of his daily life, he stopped at a coffee shopand summarized the experiences of the week end.


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A. Analogue world.There are trade offs everywhere. No ones orzeroes, black or white.

B. Be your own controller.Do not let the external world sway you.

C. Connect with nature.Be outdoors with Gods creations.

D. Document well.Consolidate your work for the future.

E. Easy does it.Do not strive too hard. Being serious does not pay.

F. Frog in the well story.There is more to life than just work andtechnology.

G. Gods creations.Learn from them. Children, birds and animals.

H. Have a long term goal.Helps in getting over small obstacles.

I. Interrupts and interrupts.Be wary of them. Do not get caught up in them.

J. Judgment matters.Pick your opponents and issues wisely.

K. Knee jerk reactions.Filter out your response.

L. Live the moment.

Do the best you can right now.M. Marathon not sprint.

Do not burn out very fast. Long way to go.N. No pain no gain.

Lenzs law. More effort, more electricity.O. Ooze confidence.

Possess the can do attitude.


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P. Protect your self worth.Insulate your self esteem. It is not on the line.

Q. Quite mindA quite mind thinks clearly and weeds out noise.

R. Reset yourself to stay sane.Detach and come back stronger.

S. Software thoughts.Keep lofty thoughts and aspirations.

T. Take good care of your body. Well oiled machineis needed for traveling far.

U. Undertake new activityNew experiences lead to new perspectives

V. Vacations and breaksRejuvenate.

W. Withdraw and rethink.

Serendipity. Unexpected results.X. eXperience - the tempered you

No shortcuts.Y. Yoga

Recalibrate your breathing and mind.Z. Zoom out

Get a better perspective on things

He decided among other things to think like the Yogiin times of difficulty; frequently find solace of a quiet

mind, and take regular time outs from daily routine.

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