PRASAD PANKAR

“What matters most is how you see yourself…” – ANONYMOUS.

Today I am going to start with a story. A story about a man who completely changed his life. Well, let’s see how.
There was this man in the United States, who used to beg at the railway station. Now before you go about saying that why only good things happen in the United States, let me tell you that such things do happen in our country too. So, one day a businessman was passing by and saw this beggar and knelt down to give him some coins, just then he saw a pencil in his pocket. Don’t know what exactly passed through his mind, but he took that pencil, left some loose change in his begging pot and said, “You are a businessman.” That was it. That was the defining moment in this beggar’s life, which changed him forever. He kept on looking after the businessman (who of course had left by that time). YOU ARE A BUSINESSMAN. These words kept ringing in his head and it made him aware that he actually had affected a sale and was indeed into a business of sort. The very next moment he gave up begging and got a job in sales, and slowly he climbed the ladder of success and one fine day, he had his own business set up. You won’t believe it, one day he met the same businessman at one of the seminars and he went up to meet him with tears in his eyes.
Now stop for a minute. And THINK.
What happened here? Was that businessman a magician? Did he do it with an intention? Did the beggar see a God in him?
WHAT EXACTLY HAPPENED?
YOU ARE A BUSINESSMAN. These words changed something in him. From that moment on he began to SEE HIMSELF DIFFERENTLY. HE BEGAN TO SEE HIMSELF AS A BUSINESSMAN.
His SELF IMAGE changed from that of a beggar to that of a BUSINESSMAN. That’s EXACTLY what happened. And that small shift was enough to change the entire course of his life.
We are like that beggar who go about in life without knowing WHAT IS STORED WITHIN US. And in turn we literally STEAL the greatest pleasure and glory from US. WE STEAL FROM US. We are the biggest ROBBERS the society can ever hope to see, because we STEAL FROM OUR OWN SELF, by not getting to our highest standards. By not doing the best to what we can become. Because of our poor healthy self image. We don’t see ourselves worthy of being a success.
“Oh, business is not for me.”
“I can’t even think of that car.” Or
“I don’t look good”
Did you see now what the biggest problem holding us back is? And it’s been from the childhood for most of us. Majority of the people, at least in India, are raised with negative inputs, and many of the times it was innocent warnings or not intended to mean any harm. DON’T RUN, YOU WILL FALL. DON’T GET INTO A BUSINESS; SEE WHAT HAPPENED TO YOUR FATHER. SON, WE ARE TOO POOR TO THINK OF A CAR. YOU ARE TOO WEAK TO TAKE UP KARATE. WHAT WILL YOU DO PLAYING CRICKET, THERE IS NO FUTURE IN IT. DON’T GET INTO MUSIC; IT IS NOT FOR OUR FAMILY. WHAT WILL YOU DO STUDYING FINE ARTS, PAINT WALLS? And it went on.
Still there were some that meant to put you down. YOU AND A MODEL, LOOK AT YOURSELF IN THE MIRROR. LOOK AT YOUR BONES AND THEN THINK OF BODY BUILDING. And your colleagues taunted. I DON’T KNOW WHY YOU HAVE JOINED THIS COMPANY; YOU’RE NOT WORTH EVEN TO WORK FOR MUNCIPALITY. YOUR HAND WRITING IS SO DIRTY. YOU ARE GOOD ONLY TO TALK.
And it continued. If you are fair, it was a problem. If you are dark, it was a problem. If you are tall or short, it was a problem. Fat or thin. Good teeth or bad. Good hair or bald. Rich or poor. Smart or dumb. You got names regardless of what you were.
And finally, the greatest damage was done to you was by none other than YOU. With your negative thinking. I am ugly. I am not smart. I will never be able to succeed in life. I am cursed by the stars I was born under. I was born at the wrong time. I am born in the wrong country. I love cricket, but I can’t even think of it. I am scared to speak in public. My English is not good. The list is endless and you have done nothing to make amends, because you were not even aware that the damage was done. Most of us even grew up believing that to think good about ourselves was wrong.
Would you have done something about it if it was known to you that all these negative programming of your mind was the main culprit to get you to have a poor self image? I can see you nodding your head. YES. You would have. Now I am telling you that it was THE MAIN REASON why you are stuck with a negative self image. Now, will you do something about it?
Healthy self image is the starting point of all success. WHAT YOU THINK ABOUT YOURSELF is more important than what people think you are. Unless and until you work on your self image, you hardly will have any chance in making it big or winning any life battles, no matter how talented you are. This world is full of highly talented people doing nothing. On the other hand, I am sure you’re astounded to know that the back benchers of your class in school are rocking in their chosen fields today. NOW YOU KNOW WHY
Now you want to know how you can repair the damage. Let me start by making you aware how important and wealthy you are. Have you ever wondered how many people in this world would want to be in your shoes? Go to a hospital and speak to some of the patients there. They would want to give all their wealth just to take your place, to walk again. To see again. To hear, run, to play again. JUST FOR ONE DAY. For them all their fortune would mean nothing. Now tell me, are you not lucky? Are you not important to yourself? Are you not beautiful with all your limbs still intact? Aha, I loved that smile on your face.
A smile reminded me of another smile. A mystic smile. The lady with a mystic smile. You got it right, MONALISA. The most talked about painting in the history of art. Why MONALISA is MONALISA? Well, because there is no other painting like that. There may be many masterpieces, but not another MONALISA. That makes it UNIQUE. I like that look on your face. You are now wondering what’s with me, suddenly talking about art and masterpieces. Well, here is my point. YOU ARE LIKE MONALISA. You are UNIQUE. There never was nor there will ever be another YOU. There is only one YOU in this entire universe. Doesn’t that make you special? Of course YES. There may be a look alike, but not another YOU. There is only one person to walk, talk and think like you in the entire universe. Feel the happiness of being so UNIQUE.
Final step (in fact there are many) in fixing up your poor self image is to regularly read motivational books and autobiographies of great personalities. REGULARLY. It is very difficult, if not impossible; to read the life stories of great people and not be inspired. You will learn that almost all these people started with a very poor self image. But the difference is that they did something about it. What about you?
If you are a parent reading this piece, then PLEASE raise your children with lots of compliments and positive inputs for their highly receptive minds. Let’s raise a healthy society.
See you soon with a renewed YOU.
Rock your life till we meet again…!!!