What comes next?

Sometimes while connecting the dots, you realise how everything was coincidental and you realise the importance of the statement “Everything is Pre-planned.”

Had a peer coaching session yesterday where the coach, as a client, explained how she feels overwhelmed about the coaching journey. She is the person of structure and believes in following a pattern.

Till receiving an education, the path was clear, you do this much, you will get this. In a job, it's clear, you do this project, you will reach here. In one's coaching journey, nothing is clear. She feels like she is standing in a maze and when asked where exactly she is standing, she couldn’t identify. She was not sure how much further the destination is and wanted a mentor to know if someone couldthe tell her whether in next ten minutes she will be out of the maze or not. She was also overwhelmed by the number of directions present in the maze to reach the destination.

Another one of my client's mentioned a similar dilemma the other day. Where he was in a business for five years and still not able to see his goal. He is unsure of how much time he will potentially take to reach his goal.

He has set his goal depending on some of his role models, and when asked where he finds himself or where he is already, he compares himself with his role models. His reply was that he is already quite well off in these five years in comparison to his role models, yet he feels anxious about the time to achieve his destination. He also considered the option of consulting an astrologer to know whether he is in the right direction or not.

The predictability of the future and a specified structure is what the human mind always longs for. My mind likes certainty. However, when we are on a customised path where everyone’s journey is different, which is essentially the part of any business, and even our role models and mentors will never be able to tell how far we exactly are from our destination. And this creates a

fear in our minds whether we are on the right track or not.

Human mind is a wanderer and gets associated with materialistic and worldly things. Though its only destination is to meet the ultimate soul, for which masters suggest only two paths, practice, and detachment.

Spiritual practices to free the mind from fear include practising concentrating on the inner self through mantra meditations. While doing so after sometime our mind gets fixed to those repeated mantras and gets detached from the engaging and impure thoughts. Which is undoubtedly difficult at first instance as Krishna mentioned to Arjun. But it is not impossible either if done with continuous practice, it becomes easy.

How can this wisdom be applied practically in today’s world and in the above situation? When we have already understood that it is difficult for the mind to disengage from certain impure thoughts, we can accept that yes, we will face such challenges of standing in a maze. Where we continuously think of consulting an astrologer and a mentor.

But with practice and concentration, we can align our mind in one and only direction that is needed in the present. So, it is all about patience, perseverance, and consistency. It is not such that we don’t know about this, so then still, what is it that makes us go up and down and switch again and again. Because of the numerous distractions to which we cater to in the present world.

While studying we might be sitting to study but may be thinking of something else or someone else. While doing professional work, we might be working on a project but you might want to hear somebody else's gossip. In our business journey, we may be focused on what we want. But sometimes other distractors, like saturation or comparisons may hit us hard. All these distractions are nothing but our impurities, Which make us finish the designated tasks but by taking huge amounts of time than actually required.

“itni shiddat se tujhe paane ki koshish ki hai ki har zarre ne tujhse milane ki saazish ki hai”

The thing we want for ourselves without getting ourselves distracted not even for a moment we will eventually get that for sure.

It’s a proven fact. In earlier times it was prevalent that sitting under a Kalpavriksha tree, all our wishes become true. In Kaliyuga that Kalpavriksha is nothing but our mind. Mind can be our greatest enemy and can be our greatest friend if we know how to use it. Let your mind be not a wanderer to aspire for something today and the other tomorrow. Let your mind not be doubtful whether you are on the right path or not. Let your mind be focussed in whatever you have decided for yourself. Everyday take one step towards that what you have decided for yourself. Wish it with all your heart and you will find it one day. Without any help of astrologer or knowing from someone where you are standing in a maze, you will already be there.

As told by Krishna yes, it is difficult but its not impossible. We can achieve it with continuous practice. And that practice is nothing but taking one step at a time towards that goal howsoever small it may be. Then our mind will get tuned to that continuous practice and will get detached from the impure distractors.

Now how are all these things aligned to what was mentioned earlier; “Everything is pre-planned”?

Because I had two similar conversations yesterday and was struggling with the same thought for my own journey too. As I always say in my trainings that the best moments to learn about yourself are the most difficult ones, provided you are ready to sit with them and analyse what is actually making you uncomfortable rather than avoiding that discomfort.

So, today when I was feeling overwhelmed and discomfort about my own coaching journey itself, I dug deeper into it and tried to search for the solutions for my discomfort in old scriptures and learnings where I found this concept of spiritual practice and detachment. And thought how could it be applied to the practical worldly situations. And that is how I came up with this article of mine.

So, yesterday’s similar coaching conversations matching up to my own discomfort and finally me sitting and writing an article out of it was all pre-planned.