Convincing Ourselves

::SPOILERS::: I just finished watching the first and only season of the German/Austrian Netflix Orignal 'Freud'. A reimaging of the early life of Sigmund Freud, before he became famous for his work in psychoanalysis. The show starts off as an autobiography. It shows a young Freud who has just encountered hypnosis and is trying to convince his peer of its powers. The show gives the impression that Freud was a big believer in hypnosis early on and among his peers was the only one who believed that neurosis was due to 'thoughts and beliefs' rather than physiology. This is not entirely accurate, but the show does a good job of portraying him as a genius waiting to be discovered. The show quickly turns into a crime thriller with Freud coming into contact with a group of Hungarian rebels. These Hungarian rebels at first glance seem like trickers playing around with the feelings of people and letting them talk to their dead loved ones through Fleur, the medium. Howeve...

There still exists a lot of trauma and stigma surrounding mental health, especially in developing countries. People are not only unaware of what mental health is, once they are, but they also shy away from going to a professional with the belief that they themselves or their loved ones might think that they are 'handicapped' or 'not normal'. However, it is important to recognize that ignoring a problem doesn't make it go away. Mental Health issues take a toll on families, organizations and society at large. It is important to realize that mental health issues are common and prevalent. They come in all shapes and sizes and lay on a continuum from something as small as anxiety to something as deadly as anorexia. Ignoring mental health issues can have devastating effects. One example of how mental disorders can impact physical health is anorexia and bulimia, deemed one of the most deadly psychological disorders out there. Having an anorexic child often leaves...

This is a follow up to my article on goals: https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/what-do-you-really-want-umair-usman/ When starting a business, a workout regiment, or any project for that matter, when starting with a blank sheet. No idea of how to move forward. We try things, we fail, we stumble, we fall and even with advice or a coach, we tend not to be able to attain what we set out to attain. A big reason for not being able to achieve our goals is because we lack a strategic plan. Now whats a strategic plan? A strategic plan is simply a break down of a list of goals over a period of time. All you need to do is to answer three questions to really set out a strategic plan -Where are you? -Where do you wanna go? -How do you get there? Example 1: BUSINESS Say you are starting a coffee trading business, how will you answer these? -Where are you? Define your objectives, mission, assets, strengths, weaknesses etc. All are necessary to understand know to figure out what can...

When one looks at high achievers, it is easy to get impressed. Finance CEOs, Athletes, movie stars, they all seem to lead a life where everything is perfect. One can even look at societies with high incomes and living standards with disproportionate levels of depression and wonder, what's going on. The big difference is that we think we can get happiness out of achievement or any one thing. We tend to think in terms of extremes because the world values achievement more than anything. We tend to tell ourselves “Only if we exercise 1hr a day and eat healthily, I will be happy” “Only if I am making a certain amount, I would be happy ” And so on After a while, we look back and see all the things we missed out on. Our health suffers, our relations suffer and sometimes even the very pursuit of perfection in all areas of life burns us out. The reality is we are not happy by achievement, or health or perfection or even great relationships. We are happy when life is ...

The Mind Game of Health Is losing weight and/or being healthy really that difficult? Well, everyone knows how to lose weight or/and be healthy, its not rocket science, yet very few it seems tend to reach their goals. Here,  I will discuss here the mindset that is required to be healthy and/or lose weight. Remind yourself why  It is important that you remind yourself all the time why it is important to be healthy. Whenever you have low motivation, or whenever you might be having doubts, remind yourself why its important to be healthy, be strong, have good mood, and be around for the people you love. Remind yourself how the benefits of health go beyond just cosmetics, and can actually help you achieve all your dreams! The benefits in terms of energy,  positivism and the learning one can experience from the health journey itself, will make you a much stronger person. All this will ensure you keep health a priority. Convince yourself that its possible Most people ha...

Mujeeb was a pottery student in the ancient city of Multan back in ancient times, in one of the earliest known settlements in the world. Growing up in one the great pottery making towns of antiquity, Mujeed had always been fascinated by the crafts. The colours, the intricate designs and the tradition of pottery, had all put a huge impression on him since he was a kid. He was taken under apprenticeship by his Uncle, Ustad Mali, one of the most renowned pottery craftsman of the age, at the very young age of 12. Slowly but surely Mujeeb perfected his skills. He started from learning about the material, ie the earth, water, hay and slowly went up to craft a potting and later on even painting. By the time Mujeeb was 20 years old, he was one of the brightest pottery apprentices in Ustad Malis shop. Mujeeb showed great promise and it was understood that he would grow up to be a master himself. However, Mujeeb wanted more. Mujeeb did not want to be just another pottery craftsman, he wanted...

There is no magic formula to success. We need to work harder and smarter and then there is luck/chance/right place right time. We can not do much about luck but we can surely work on everything else. There are many people who want to be successful in a certain field, but for some reason cant get themselves to be the best. What can we do? Well, as always I believe it is all about convincing ourselves of various truths and realities that we usually ignore. Step 1-Know what you want The first step to being good at something is to know convince yourself that this is something you want to be good at. I once wanted to do a PhD, but my proposal was never accepted. After getting rejected several times I realized that as much as I wanted to be 'known' as a good academic, it is not something that I really wanted to do. I believe I might not have even finished my PhD as I probably would have gotten depressed in between.  To be good at something, we need to give a lot of effor...

Well, I am not going to give a solution as to what to do when you are confused and afraid. The idea of writing this blog was not to explain solutions to problem but to show how solutions usually reside within us already. It is we who cannot get out of our internal struggle and make things happen, even when we know the solutions already. We set block up to our growth by imagining an easier, better or simpler solution. By waiting for a magical event or someone out there to help us. If that does not happen, many of us just do into depression and feel victimized. There is nothing worse than feeling victimized. Warriors cannot be victims. We are all warriors after all. How you may ask? well, we may be confused about a future work plan or confused about simple things eg what to eat? or which university to join? All complex decisions [and as frustrating as these moments are], we can always get over these and make a decision. We cannot predict the right outcome, obviously, but we can...

Let us get fit!!! Everyone wants to get fit nowadays. If they are thin, they want to bulk up. If they are fat, they want to slim down. Whatever the issue, no one is really happy with their body. Now I can take the very common 'New Age' concept and say that we should be happy with our body, however sometimes changing our bodies become necessary.I myself was obese and suffered greatly. Many in families had to get heart surgery, because of their lifestyle choices, which included bad eating habits and obesity. However, even when we know that something is bad for us and can actually kill us, we might not change our habits. This is true. Even when smokers known that smoking causes cancer, they know that is long way of and they go for the immediate pleasure and discount the risk. What to do? What to do when you feel you really cannot do anything? your will, your idea of time/delay of pain and pleasure, simply do not let you get through that barrier. The Solution I believe...