Srikumar Rao's Blog, page 13

Don’t Try to Give Up Desires. Give up Desiring!

More than two thousand years ago the Buddha proclaimed the Four Noble Truths. Suffering exists. The cause of suffering is desire. Suffering can end. The eightfold path is the way to end suffering. Many dedicated seekers have devoted enormous time and energy to their efforts to give up desires. Look at our politicians. See how…

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Good Thing, Bad Thing, Who Knows? (Part 2)

In my last column, I narrated the tale of “Good Thing, Bad Thing, Who Knows?” My coaching clients and alumni of my course remember this as one of the most useful lessons they learned from me. Suffering does not begin when an event occurs. Suffering begins the instant you label that event ‘bad thing’. Let’s…

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Good Thing, Bad Thing, Who Knows?

I have been teaching my course, Creativity and Personal Mastery, for close on three decades and many of my earliest students are still in touch with me and are part of the alumni community. I ask them what they found particularly helpful in life and what they remembered from the time they took the course.…

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The Song That Almost Died

We have a model that talent will somehow come out and be recognized. That, in some inscrutable way, the best will triumph. Maybe. Maybe not. I was in Nashville in August for a meeting of the Marshall Goldsmith 100 and a most enjoyable event it was. I was at a table with Greg and Susan…

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WHO Makes the Decision?

There was a wonderful gathering of the Marshall Goldsmith 100 in Nashville, and I enjoyed it greatly. I was inducted early into the group so, I guess, I am a senior member. Marshall, as is his wont, makes pithy statements and this event was no different. He said something that I have heard him say…

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Don’t Be Grateful For … Just Be Grateful!

All the management consultants and trainers are talking about gratitude these days. It is good to be grateful they tell us. Companies want you to be grateful because, when you are, you don’t notice how terrible your work environment is! Appreciation and Gratitude has been one of the cornerstone exercises of my course, Creativity and…

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How to Achieve Phenomenal Success

There is a myth peddled by motivational speakers and believed by many. Hundreds of millions of dollars have been spent by people who want to learn how to do what the myth says. And there are many who swear that their immense success is due to their adherence to this fairy tale. Believe it if…

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To Him That Hath Will More Be Given!

These are the dog days of summer and perhaps you are heading out to achieve ataraxy on the beach. Here is something for you to ponder. When I first read, in Matthew, that “… to him that hath will more be given.” It made a deep impression on me. The newer King James version is…

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How to Truly Enjoy Your Life

I was having lunch with one of my coaching clients – who is also now a dear friend – when he asked me a profound question. “Professor Rao, how can I fully, deeply, enjoy life?” In my public talks I ask the audience, “Does your blood sing at the thought of doing what you do…

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Get Rid of the Struggle!

We, unfortunately, live in a world of individual accomplishment and reward for ‘hard work’. There are any number of successful entrepreneurs who attribute that success to their hard work. They attribute the failure of others to lack of hard work. We are encouraged to to burn the midnight oil to get ahead. We have to…

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