Prof. Amrat Patel

Meditation is the art of silencing the mind. When the mind is silent, concentration is increased and we experience inner peace in the midst of worldly turmoil. This elusive inner peace is what attracts so many people to meditation and is a quality everyone can benefit from. What are the Benefits of Meditation? I’ve been meditating twice a day for the past 9 years because I enjoy it. It may seem strange, but I feel happiest when sitting in perfect silence. The experience is difficult to express in words. It is akin to the “peace that passeth understanding”. It is also true that every meditation is not the same. Sometimes meditation is a struggle to control the mind, while at other times it feels effortless. These are some of the benefits of meditation: 1. Improved concentration – A clear mind makes you more productive, especially in creative disciplines like writing. 2. Less bothered by little things – Do you sometimes allow yourself to get upset by little t...

If you’ve decided that you’d like to be your own boss, it doesn’t have to remain a dream forever. In fact, with some proper planning on your part, you can become your own boss in no time. If you want to be your own boss you need to start your own business. Being self-employed will more than likely seem overwhelming in the beginning, but in the end many people feel that the benefits far outweigh the costs. So start brainstorming some business opportunities! Here are some reasons why you should be your own boss: 1. You’re in Charge of Your Income. This can be seen as a pro or a con at first, but eventually the sky will be the limit as you develop your business. In the beginning, seeking self-employment might not make you as much as you used to, and you also may  have to worry about issues like individual insurance coverage. The huge advantage is the fact that you keep every dime that you make and your salary is not capped by your employer. 2. You Have Creat...

Photo Credit: Niklas Often we see things that others have and wish that we had the same. Or sometimes, if we see somebody who is very happy, we feel a lack of happiness in our own life and feel jealous of the other person. Jealousy is a very unhealthy, counterproductive feeling that directly results in making us feel discontent and unsatisfied. As jealousy is an emotional response and almost seems involuntary it feels like it is something that cannot be fought. The biggest problem of a jealous person is that we makes a lot of assumptions and don’t see the clear picture. In order to stop feeling jealous, we need to make an effort to think clearly and rationally. The following are some tips that can help in thinking straight and tempering jealous emotional responses: 1. Count Your Blessings: In my school life, when I used to see one of my friends with a cool gadget and rant to my mother about wanting the same, I was always told “Look at the people that have less than you.”...

Everyone has to deal with difficult people, whether they are argumentative, abusive, stubborn, or combative. The question is, how can you assert your own rights without creating an unnecessary incident? In most cases, angry people are screaming to be heard. They want to be valued, loved, and listened to. They want to feel important but aren’t able to express themselves constructively. With the right attitude, it’s possible to get past these insecurities and reach an understanding. These 7 strategies will help you setting disputes quickly and peacefully for the benefit of everyone involved: 1. Remain calm. Be still and say nothing. Let the storm run its course. Often times the angry person wants to provoke you. Arguing is ineffective because it raises barriers. Consider how I handled the barber situation. 2. Let the other person do the talking. He or she will soon grow tired of it. Sometimes that’s all they want. To be heard. To feel important. Everyone wants to fe...

People at the top of every profession share one quality — they get things done. This ability supercedes intelligence, talent, and connections in determining the size of your salary and the speed of your advancement. Despite the simplicity of this concept there is a perpetual shortage of people who excel at getting results. The action habit — the habit of putting ideas into action now — is essential to getting things done. Here are 7 ways you can grow the action habit:  1. Don’t wait until conditions are perfect – If you’re waiting to start until conditions are perfect, you probably never will. There will always be something that isn’t quite right. Either the timing is off, the market is down, or there’s too much competition. In the real world there is no perfect time to start. You have to take action and deal with problems as they arise. The best time to start was last year. The second best time is right now. 2. Be a doer - Practice doing things rather than...

Over the past year I have come to see the morning as the foundation upon which I build my entire day – mentally, physically, and spiritually. I find that if I start the day by doing the habits listed in this article, I am usually happier, healthier, more productive throughout the day. In contrast, if my morning is chaotic and rushed I find that my energy runs out later in the day and I generally get a lot less done. Here then are 10 morning habits I believe will provide you with a solid foundation upon which to go about your entire day: 1. Wake Earlier It seems there are endless articles online espousing the benefits of waking earlier. But when you think about it, this really is the key to overhauling your morning routine. With more time, you are free to develop the habits listed in this article and actually enjoy the morning free from the pressure of having to rush out the door. If you would like to develop this habit, I suggest the following articles/ sites: How to ...

Self confidence is the difference between feeling unstoppable and feeling scared out of your wits. Your perception of yourself has an enormous impact on how others perceive you. Perception is reality — the more self confidence you have, the more likely it is you’ll succeed. Although many of the factors affecting self confidence are beyond your control, there are a number of things you can consciously do to build self confidence. By using these 10 strategies you can get the mental edge you need to reach your potential. Talk To Somebody Now about building Self Confidence! Build Self Confidence 1. Dress Sharp Although clothes don’t make the man, they certainly affect the way he feels about himself. No one is more conscious of your physical appearance than you are. When you don’t look good, it changes the way you carry yourself and interact with other people. Use this to your advantage by taking care of your personal appearance. In most cases, significant improvem...

Life is a drag.  What’s the point of anything?  I’ll never be happy. Do any of these gloomy thoughts sound familiar? It’s likely they do. The occasional case of the blues is perfectly normal, but that doesn’t make dealing with it any easier. If you allow them to, negative thoughts can fester and lead to serious depression. That’s why it’s important to take action early to bust yourself out of a slump. While these suggestions won’t eliminate your problems, they can help you break a negative thought pattern and stop feeling depressed. If you think you might have a serious mental health problem, don’t hesitate to see a medical professional. 1. Understand the emotional cycle – Life is an emotional roller coaster. Some days you feel like nothing can stop you. Other days you feel utterly hopeless. Most of the time you’re somewhere in between. Understanding the pattern of positive and negative emotions will help you put your feelings in perspective. Next ti...

Are you nailing job interviews, closing new clients, and maximizing every meeting? Most likely you aren’t, but I’ll show you how I blew a huge meeting and what you can learn from my mistakes. Bottom line . . . you need to prepare for key meetings. It doesn’t matter if you are on an interview, auditioning for a TV show, meeting a prospect for your business, or trying to get your kid into a swanky private school. It doesn’t matter if the meeting is at your office or theirs. You need to invest some of your other 8 hours into preparing for your big meetings. Why? It’s simple. If you don’t prepare for a meeting, someone else will control it. If you have something important to say, you might not get the chance to share it. And when I say “control,” I don’t mean some Machiavellian thing where you need to dominate the  discussion. Control the meeting means you know what you want to say and that you navigate the discussion to make sure your key points are addressed. ...

It has been 7 years since my graduation day and I still remember the excitement; I was relieved that the ”exam phase” of my life was over; I looked with enthusiam towards my first job. Little did I know that the “working world” would require an extraodinary effort and loads of other skills! My journey on the career ladder would have been smoother, had I known a few important lessons. While there are many ”on the job” lessons, some things in life must be experienced, to be truly understood. What follows are 8 such career lessons, I wish they‟d handed out to me along with my diploma. 1. Your career is not your life. Many of us rely heavily on our careers for satisfaction in our lives. We get immersed in the day-to-day rush of our work and discover that we no longer have the time, energy or inspiration. For some people (my former self included), it‟s as if our jobs are part of our bodies, and if we don‟t see ourselves as successful in them, we feel almost physically unhealth...

Secret #1: Big Doers Are Big Dreamers Marcus Aurelius, who rose to become Emperor of the Roman Empire, shares one of the most important secrets of World-Class Goal Achievers: “Dream big dreams; only big dreams have the power to move men's souls.” Procrastination is one of the biggest complaints I hear from the people we work with. And generally speaking, I believe one of the two main causes of procrastination is a dream that’s too small (the other cause is belief which I’ll cover later). It’s just too easy to put off doing something that doesn’t have a lot of appeal even if we were to achieve it. Big dreams drive us to do things we’d never do for lesser dreams --- in many ways they almost pull us through the obstacles we’re likely to have on the way to reaching them. Living a life of big dreams is a lot easier than you might think. It’s really just a decision. Here’s a great lesson in that from the World’s #1 Goal Achiever: When he was just 15, John Godd...