As I shared in my posts of “My 2022 Goals” in which one of them was book reading (completing 12 books for this year) and it is going excellent so far, I’ve completed around 10 books and 8 more months left over. I thought to share my takeaways from the book “ Who will cry when you die?” by Robin Sharma.
Before starting, I’ll share a few things about the book. It’s for self-development but not as complete motivation. And it has 101 chapters in it and the total pages will be around 200+ so roughly 2 pages per chapter. You don’t need to worry about the continuity when reading these chapters, you can randomly pick a page and start a chapter from there.
There are multiple useful things that can be found in this book, but I am going to share the things which I try to take from it, and I am also going to implement them in my life.
So, you no need to worry that this is a book summary, this is just my perspective on this book.
The theme of the book can be put into this quote from the book itself, “Son, when you were born, you cried while the world rejoiced. Live your life in such a way that when you die the world cries while you rejoice”.
Who should read it?
- If you’re in the thought of starting to read books then this will be your perfect start – It’s in easy English which anyone can easily understand, so I recommend the readers to start with this book and later check out my reading experience for 30 days post if you’ve in serious thoughts on reading books.
- If you feel like you’re around more negativity, stress, and anxiety then this is definitely for you to enhance your life in a more positive way.
- Then finally for self-improvement, productivity, life advice, and much more.
Let’s get started,
1. Schedule worry breaks
I used to worry about a lot of things in a day in which most of them are not in my control which in turn takes lots of my time in a day. In our life we must care about the things which are in our control, we can’t control all the variables in life. So, the first takeaway from my book will be this, scheduling “worry breaks”.
In worry breaks, I am going to have a fixed time(say 30 mins) to worry for the entire day. During this break, I am going to wallow about the worries and difficulties in my life and I’m going to leave those things after 30 mins and not take them for the rest of the day. In any of my work it should not be a distraction, this technique can reduce our time worrying and keep us productive.
PS: At other times of your day if you feel the need to worry, note down the worry and bring them to the next worry break.
2. Get good at asking
I am not good at asking what I want in my life, I keep it to myself without asking. I decided to ask for the things which I want in my life and there is nothing wrong with it. Nothing wrong with asking for the favorite table in a restaurant, nothing wrong with asking to prepare your favorite food when visiting friends and relatives, get good at asking, and enjoy the abundance that flows into your life when you sincerely ask for the things you want in life.
So, hereafter flex your asking muscles on the things you need or the knowledge you want to gain. Remember, the one who asks what he wants has a good chance of getting what he wants, the person who does not has no chance.
3. Forgiveness is a selfish act
This is my favorite chapter (Practice Forgiveness) from the book, do you really believe that forgiving someone is more of a selfish act than a selfless one. Yes, it is. You may face trouble with your colleague in the office or you have some grudge against your neighbor for the things that happened a few years before. But letting them out of your mind is doing something for yourself rather than for the other person.
Having them in your mind burns lots of energy and peace of mind, you almost carry them on your back all the time. So, start to forgive people who have troubled you or made a mess in your life. Forgive him and get him off your back and live peacefully.
4. Don’t pick up the phone every time it rings
When a phone rings we hurry to take it as an emergency even when we are working on an important task or when talking with our loved ones, I often did this. What’s a hurry in it like life depends on it, it’s not necessary to pick up the call or reply to a message immediately unless there is a need for it. If you think most of the calls/messages would be like taken care of later.
So, the mobile phone is for convenience not for the convenience of the callers. You have control over it, don’t let the phones take control over you. Often, picking up the call is another way of putting down your work, and it seems like you’re not giving priority to the work which you’re doing.
I decided not to be a slave for my phone and am going to have it under my control.
5. We all suffer from Amblyopia
There is a medical condition called Amblyopia, a condition that occurs when a patch is placed on a young healthy child’s eye. When the patch is removed the child will lose sight completely of the patched eye. It stops the development of the eye and causes blindness.
We all are suffering our own form of amblyopia; we are limiting ourselves to the work which we are going through because of the fear of failure. We are all afraid to go behind our big dreams and do the things which we don’t like to do. The result will always be like amblyopia, we stunt our growth because of limiting ourselves and losing our vision, eventually spending our day in a limited zone.
Remember, nothing can stop a person who refuses to be stopped.
6. Learn how to walk
If you’re not a fan of walking then this is not for you, but I am. I try to do physical activity in a day either going to the gym or home workout or walking. Most of the time I try to squeeze in walking in my schedule because it gives you that much pleasure in your fast lane life.
But I sabotaged that too by thinking about the schedule of my entire day or listening to books on audible or podcasts on YouTube. These are all really pleasant things to do but I forgot to “enjoy my walk”.
After reading the chapter about walking I decided to follow this hereafter, which I was doing previously even when I started my walking habit. The author advises, that rather than having a destination in mind we should immerse ourselves in the beauty of walking itself and then never take our worries with us ( if you don’t by end of the walk it will be more rooted to your mind) and finally pay attention to sights, sounds, and smells, study the plants and trees along the way, observe the beauty of sky and fragrance of flowers. Don’t forget to enjoy walking, if you are not a person who walks I would say try it and you’ll thank me later.
That’s it, these are all my takeaways from six chapters out of 101. These things may sound simple, but these are the changes that are needed in my life right now, so you can read the entire book to have more like this from your perspective. Book link to buy
My Top Quotes
- “The deepest personal defeat suffered by human beings is constituted by the difference between what one was capable of becoming and what one has in fact become.”
- ” If you have suffered more than your fair share of difficulties in life, perhaps you are being prepared to serve some greater purpose that will require you to be equipped with the wisdom you have acquired through your trials”
- “Forgiving someone who has wronged you is actually a selfish act rather than a selfless one”
- “The telephone is there for your convenience, not for the convenience of your callers”
- “It is not because things are difficult that we do not dare; it is because we do not dare that they are difficult.”
Until next time,
Peranesh xx