GANDHI'S HABITS

Are you a busy bee? Here’s how to prioritize on what’s important

Mahatma Gandhi, one of my heroes was a man who helped liberate nearly 350mn people from the yoke of slavery and occupation by throwing the British out of India. Unlike the carnage and bloodshed of world war 2, he did this without a shot being fired. Whats even more remarkable is that he did this in roughly 20 years after landing in India. The biggest secret of his success were his incredible habits that helped him achieve this. 

Some of these may well be impossible for us to implement but even if we can do one, it will transform our life.

  1. Solemn Vows to avoid vice – Before leaving for England he took the vows on his mother to abstain from alcohol, meat and women. This ensured that in the tough environment in Great Britain, nothing distracted him from his purpose of becoming a barrister. The vows for us maybe different but all of us have vices that prevent our success – procrastination, too much internet, TV, alcohol, smoking. What can we take a solemn vow to avoid that will help us today.
  1. Reading – Gandhi read everything. He read the Gita, the Quran, the Bible, books by famous authors, newspapers, magazines. He expanded his mental horizon beyond the obvious by doing so. Can you begin by spending 10 minutes reading something new everyday.
  1. Writing – Gandhi saw it as his moral purpose to share his views with the Indian people. Hence he wrote almost 50000 pages across his lifetime, hundreds of books, countless letters everyday and edited many newspapers for many many years. This was blogging before there was the internet. Can you write a diary or start a blog or write a weekly article in magazine to share your thoughts and views.
  1. Fasting – Gandhi used the ancient technique of fasting for many purposes. He used this to protest the British government who often gave in to his moral superiority. He used it for penance when he thought he had made a mistake. It’s also a fantastic way to lose weight, develop more self control and become healthier when done for 1-3 days.
  1. Service – Gandhi spent his life serving the poorest of the poor. He carried human soil on his head, cleaned his ashram with his own hands, spun the wheel to make cotton cloth for himself. He served others all his life in a spirit of giving.

He had many flaws but had many great qualities too. What can we embrace from the Mahatama ?Can we find one habit to embrace ?

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