Inspiration

Hector and his 23 Observations about Happiness!

Mush Happiness, Inspiration , ,

Hector and the Search for HappinessI watched ‘Hector and his Search for Happiness’ movie on a recent flight and loved it! It’s about a psychiatrist who feels guilty of dispensing recommendations to his patients that never change their conditions or make them any happier. So he sets out on a journey to find what makes people happy. It’s quite funny, interesting and inspiriting. During his ‘research’ he makes the following 22 observations:

  1. Making comparisons can spoil your happiness***
  2. Happiness often comes when least expected
  3. Many people only see happiness in their future
  4. Many people think happiness comes from having more power or more money
  5. Sometimes happiness is not knowing the whole story
  6. Happiness is a long walk in beautiful, unfamiliar mountains***
  7. It’s a mistake to think that happiness is the goal***
  8. Happiness is being with the people you love; unhappiness is being separated from the people you love
  9. Happiness is knowing that your family lacks for nothing
  10. Happiness is doing a job you love***
  11. Happiness is having a home and a garden of your own
  12. It’s harder to be happy in a country run by bad people
  13. Happiness is feeling useful to others***
  14. Happiness is to be loved for exactly who you are (People are kinder to a child who smiles)
  15. Happiness comes when you feel truly alive***
  16. Happiness is knowing how to celebrate***
  17. Happiness is caring about the happiness of those you love***
  18. Happiness is not attaching too much importance to what other people think
  19. The sun and the sea make everybody happy***
  20. Happiness is a certain way of seeing things
  21. Rivalry poisons happiness
  22. Women care more than men about making others happy
  23. Happiness means making sure that those around you are happy

*** These are my favourites. Which one is yours?

Mush Panjwani interviewed about Romantic Relationship

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One of Hong Kong’s top hypnotherapists, an image consultant and a fellow trainer, Sonia Samtani has been producing a series of videos called Raising the Bar. She interviews people who have done something extra-ordinary that can inspire others.

I was happy to be chosen to talk about romantic relationships, and my love story that started at the age of 15! And I hope this talk inspires people, or even one person, to improve their relationships. Great relationships can often mean more happiness, increased motivation and greater success in everything else.

Mush’s Lessons from the Himalayas: The joys of disconnecting (being offline)!

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My two weeks in Nepal were full of inspiration, with some important lessons learnt and many beliefs reinforced. Through this series of blog posts, I am sharing some of those thoughts and hoping to inspire some of my readers.

There are many things that we take for granted in life. When you are up in the mountains or in villages, a network on your phone is a privilege and Internet access a luxury. Imagine waking up in the morning completely offline, with no emails, messages or FB to check. And going through the day, using just the camera function on your phone. Once I accepted the reality, I began to see the beauty of the situation and the many benefits of disconnecting, unplugging and being offline:

  • Connection. I was better connected to everything and everyone around me. I was able to better appreciate the beauty of the nature; I was more aware of the presence of other human beings and the opportunity to talk to them, listen to them and learn from them.
  • Inner voice. By ceasing the flow of information and news, and other people’s opinions and updates, I was more in tune with my inner voice. I became more aware of my own thoughts and feelings. I even found solutions to some of my problems, within myself, due to the clarity and focus.
  • Mono-tasking. The increasingly unusual state of doing just one thing at a time. I was reminded of the pleasures in simple things when done with mindfulness – a sip of coffee, a hot shower, breathing with awareness, a bite of wholesome food, an eye contact, a smile, listening to someone with 100% attention!

I was still connecting to the Internet for an hour or so almost every evening after the trek. I was posting photos to Facebook, blogging my daily diary, and even uploading my daily 2-minute videos to YouTube whenever the connection was ‘good’. And I found that even my connected time was so much more productive and efficient due to the focus, and the awareness that I only had an hour or two to get everything done.

Since getting back from the trip, I have incorporated some of these ideas, yet again, into my life. I have switched off many ‘push’ notifications on my phone, so I can better control the flow of information. I have again started doing emails in blocks of an hour, 2-3 times a day. I have again limited my social media time to the bare minimum, and only twice a day. I have again started switching off my phone after 7pm. It’s only been a week, but it’s working out so well then I’m unlikely to go back to the old habits.

What do you think about disconnecting, unplugging and going offline for scheduled periods of time every day? How will that affect your productivity at work and the quality of your time with yourself, friends and family?

Please also check out Dinchack Facebook page for daily inspiration.

Inspiration from a 21-year old Everest climber!

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I was lucky to meet this girl during my recent trip to Nepal. She had climbed the Mount Everest last year, and was on her way to climb Lhotse (the 4th tallest mountain in the world). I found her story so inspiring that I recorded a short interview, using my iPhone on the spot, hoping to inspire hundreds of others who read my blog…

What inspired you most from Priyanka’s story? The courage to climb solo; the dream to climb 14 of the highest mountains; the way she finds time to follow her passion… or something else?

You may see my daily Nepal diaries here, and daily video diaries here.

20 Inspiring Birthday Quotes

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  1. May you live all the days of your life. -Jonathan Swift
  2. From our birthday, until we die, is but the winking of an eye. -William Butler Yeats
  3. Because time itself is like a spiral, something special happens on your birthday each year: The same energy that God invested in you at birth is present once again. -Menachem Mendel
  4. Very early, I knew that the only object in life was to grow. -Margaret Fuller
  5. Growing old is mandatory; growing up is optional. -Chili Davis
  6. To me, old age is always 15 years older than I am. -Bernard Baruch
  7. If I’d known I was going to live this long (100 years), I’d have taken better care of myself. -Ubie Blake
  8. Old age is like everything else. To make a success of it, you have got to start young. -Fred Astaire
  9. Live as if you were to die tomorrow, learn as if you were to live forever.  -Mahatma Gandhi
  10. The bad news is time flies. The good news is you’re the pilot. -Michael Althsuler
  11. The way I see it, you should live everyday like it’s your birthday. -Paris Hilton
  12. God gave us the gift of life; it is up to us to give ourselves the gift of living well. -Voltaire
  13. The more you praise and celebrate your life, the more there is in life to celebrate. -Oprah Winfrey
  14. Every year on your birthday, you get a chance to start new. -Sammy Hagar
  15. How old would you be if you didn’t know how old you are? -Satchel Paige
  16. You were born an original. Don’t die a copy. -John Mason
  17. Don’t just count your years; make your years count. –Ernest Meyers
  18. It takes a long time to become young. -Pablo Picasso
  19. Just hit my 75th birthday; I am feeling great. -Colin Powell
  20. And in the end, it’s not the years in your life that counts. It’s the life in your years. -Abraham Lincoln

For daily inspiration on happiness, motivation and success, also check our Dinchack Facebook Page and Dinchack App

Maysoon Zayid: One of the most dinchack (wow!) TED talks ever!

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Wow! Maysoon is extremely inspiring, super funny and very beautiful. One of the most dinchack (wow!) TED talks I’ve ever heard…

You may watch in HD on TED through this link.

Happy New Day!

Mush Inspiration

Happy New DayLet us greet every day of the year with the same cheer, optimism and enthusiasm!

An older post on the new year.

Make 2014 a Dinchack (Fantastic) Year!

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Dinchack Season's Greetings2

For many of us, New Year is a time to make some resolutions and commit to bring positive changes in our lives. See if you would like to include any of the following to your goals and to-do lists for 2014:

1. Learn to be happy! Happiness is the foundation for all success and achievements. Happier people are more productive at work, better at relationships, healthier and have more energy. Practice the happiness principles daily:

  • Be grateful. Acknowledge the good things in your life. Being alive, having the comforts, doing a job, having a family… are not things to be taken for granted, but to be thankful for.
  • Accept what you can’t change. Don’t get angry, frustrated or disappointed at things that are beyond your control: The weather, traffic, the colour of your skin, your height, your past, other people’s thoughts and actions…
  • Make others happy. Compliment more. Acknowledge when someone does something well. Be kind and helpful. Help someone solve their problem. Give your time.
  • Find out what makes you happy and do that. Whether it’s nature walk, some form of exercise, volunteering, learning something new… Change your job if you have to.

2. Become more productive! Do the right things, do them well, on time and with ease. That may seem too ambitious but here are some of the ways to achieve that:

  • Prioritize. Do less to get more done. Ask yourself whether you can drop it, delay it or delegate it, before you do it! Distinguish between important and urgent. Develop the habit of ‘first things first’. Do what matters most first.
  • Simplify. Unclutter. Get rid of useless stuff that just occupies space – in your office, on your desk, at home, your wardrobe, book shelf, even the desktop of your computer and the number of apps on your phone. Don’t accumulate excess in the first place, and keep cleaning. When you buy something new, give away the old one. Go paperless!
  • Cut your Facebook time. And other social media time. And emails. Do them in batches instead of 24/7. Switch off the push notifications.
  • Sleep less. Waking up an hour earlier in the morning can be the single most critical change you can make, adding significantly to your productivity, efficiency and effectiveness. Use this time to exercise, plan, read, learn… no more ‘I don’t have the time’ excuse!

Do you have any additional tips for the two lists above? This is part 1 of a series. Can you guess what’s coming up next?

For daily inspiration and resources on happiness, motivation and success, please also see Dinchack on Facebook.

10 of the most inspiring quotes by Nelson Mandela

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mandelaAn excerpt from last year’s post, on Nelson’s Mandela’s 94th birthday:

  1. There is no passion to be found playing small – in settling for a life that is less than the one you are capable of living.
  2. A good head and a good heart are always a formidable combination.
  3. After climbing a great hill, one only finds that there are many more hills to climb.
  4. Does anybody really think that they didn’t get what they had because they didn’t have the talent or the strength or the endurance or the commitment?
  5. Education is the most powerful weapon which you can use to change the world.
  6. If you want to make peace with your enemy, you have to work with your enemy. Then he becomes your partner.
  7. It always seems impossible until its done.
  8. Money won’t create success, the freedom to make it will.
  9. There can be no keener revelation of a society’s soul than the way in which it treats its children.
  10. We must use time wisely and forever realize that the time is always ripe to do right.

For more quotes and resources on happiness, motivation and success, check out Dinchack Facebook page.

Inspiration from Felix, of The School of St Jude

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In 2002 a young lady, Gemma Rice, from a sheep farm in Australia, opened a small school in Northern Tanzania with the help of her family, friends and local Rotary Club. What started with only three students and one teacher is now a thriving school of over 1,500 students and over 400 local Tanzanian staff. The students and staff are located across three campuses and includes two boarding houses to accommodate more than 1,000 students!

Last week, I had an opportunity to join their fundraising event in Hong Kong, and meet Felix and Kim, the ambassadors. And the story of Felix really moved everyone. Starting primary school at the age of ten, attending class under a tree, writing in sand with a stick… to becoming a bus driver at St Jude so he could learn English by talking to the kids… to getting a job in the office… to becoming an ambassador and making the first trip outside Africa to travel to Hong Kong and Australia! The moral of the story:

  1. Change is possible. It’s OK to start small, like Gemma.
  2. When there’s a will, anything is possible. If Felix can do it, anyone can.
  3. There are still millions of people in this world who do not have access to basic needs – food, water, housing, education, medical. Those of us who have an abundance have some responsibility.

Here’s an amateur video I made of Felix’s speech, and here’s a link to the St Jude site if you wish to read more or support this amazing cause!

“Starting Today!” by Pido Aguilar

Mush Books, Inspiration

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During my last talk at the 7th HR & Training Congress in Manila, I was honored to have a few great international speakers watching and listening to me. At the end of the talk, I was obviously thrilled to hear extremely positive feedback from all of them, but the highlight was a note and two books that Pido Aguilar had left for me before he went backstage to get ready for his own talk.

The feedback note said: “Energetic, poised, infectious, life-related!” And it had three ticks under ‘strongly agree’ for Relevant, Effective and Fun. The two books he had left for me were his own: “The 7 Heartsets of True Abundance”, and “Starting Today!” And each had inspiring and personalized messages he had written for me! I was deeply touched by this beautiful act of kindness and encouragement.

Both the books are extremely inspiring and totally dinchack!. “Starting Today!” is a collection of 1001 affirmations that ‘bless your life, touch your heart and nurture your soul’. I often pick it up, open it randomly in the middle to ‘see what’s my affirmation for today’ and each one is usually more inspiring than the other e.g. Starting Today…

  • I improve myself; I improve my work.
  • I assume less; I presume less.
  • I rise every morning with gratitude; I retire every night with gratitude.
  • I take nothing personally.
  • I allow nothing and no one to block my dreams.
  • I keep the past in the past.
  • If I need an increase in income, I increase my giving.
  • I grow my money best by adding value to other people’s lives.
  • I know that now is the time. Now is my time.

Many thanks, Pido! ‘May everything in your life get better, starting today’ to use your words!

Inspiration from Anu Vaidyanathan: Asia’s only “Ultra-man”!

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I just saw this inspiring story and video and couldn’t help post it here, even though it’s from 2012:

India’s first Ironman. Asia’s only Ultraman. Sounds impressive, doesn’t it? But Anu Vaidyanathan is a woman, and one of India’s finest triatheletes. Owner of an intellectual property firm, Anu completed her first triathlon as a graduation gift to herself. For her first Ironman competition, she trained through a year, waking up at 3 a.m. everyday to get the exercise she needed. From there, it was a steady journey onward till she had put together a consistent racing schedule that didn’t clash with her Ph.D. studies. The result of all her hard work? She finished a gruelling 3-day trialthlon (10 km swim, 420 km bike, 84.4 km run) and became Asia’s only Ultraman athlete!

A great lesson in positive self-image, goal-setting, planning, discipline and inspiring others through action!

How mobile phones are affecting the quality of our lives

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Are you guilty? What are you going to do about it?

Inspiration from Hal Lasko: 98-year old Pixel Painter

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Also check out the other blog for news and updates on Dinchack. And the Dinchack Facebook page for daily tips on happiness, motivation and success.

A 29-year old woman climbed the Everest, twice in a week!

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Another inspiring story of the power of dreams, commitment and perseverance! Excerpts from the article on CNN:

Many climbers dream of reaching the peak of the world’s highest mountain at least once in their lifetime. Chhurim Sherpa has done it twice – in one week.

“People have set different kinds of climbing records in Everest,” said Chhurim, sitting on her living room couch directly beneath a string of certificates hung on the wall – the Guinness plaque included. “But no one has climbed twice within a week. So I just climbed with the sole motive of making a world record.”

Chhurim made her initial ascent on May 12 and then, after a two-day rest on her return to base camp, reached the peak again on May 19, 2012. Since Tenzing Norgay Sherpa and Sir Edmund Hillary broke barriers by stepping afoot the 8,848-meter peak in 1953, many benchmarks have been set. But for Chhurim, it was Pasang Lhamu Sherpa – the first Nepalese woman to climb Everest (she died during her descent) – who inspired the then fifth grader to sketch a future plan that most girls the same age couldn’t conceive of.

When she came to Kathmandu to visit her sister in 2010, Chhurim enrolled in a basic mountaineering training course run by the Nepal Mountaineering Association. She said it helped her get the “psychological, physical, and technical training” required to prepare for her the mission. For the next two years, Chhurim honed her skills in rock climbing and first aid and climbed the Yala Peak (5,520m) in Nepal’s Langtang region. Continue reading →

Inspiration from Dookaz

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IMG_2506I bumped into Dookaz website when looking for good quality t-shirt suppliers for Dinchack. That’s how I met the owner, Iris Chan, whose story is nothing short of inspirational, and something I must share…

Iris is a qualified nurse who always wanted do something bigger and better, something that helps the community. So she founded Dookaz a few years ago, with a promise to:

  • make changes to our environment by doing what is right
  • encourage and conduct fair trade, fair business, equality and justice
  • encourage and protect our environment
  • spread positive messages all round

IMG_2502That’s quite an undertaking for a t-shirt company. After the initial challenges of any new business, her work became known in Hong Kong. They were the first company to offer anyone to print their own design, logo or message on t-shirts, without any minimum quantities – as long as the message was positive. Iris started teaching under-priveleged children and adults to learn how to make t-shirts and make a living. Business expanded to printing bags and shoes and labelling services, but still ensuring that none of the material or process would cause any harm to the human body or the environment. Her team grew to over 20 designers and workers, all of them as passionate as her to do good.

Then few months ago, her machinery broke down. With no money for repairs, business depended on handmade stuff only, and soon started to decline. She lost the entire team one after the other, but continued working all by herself to serve her existing clients as best as she could. Then last week, she broke her arm. All her family and friends told her this is a sign that she should finally close down the business. But Iris said, ‘I still have one arm, and the other will be ok soon’. And there she is, making t-shirts all by herself, with just one arm, serving her clients with a smile, and making a difference!

Iris is likely to read this piece, so please feel free to share your comments with her.

10 of the shortest and the most inspiring Buddha quotes

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Today is a celebration of Buddha’s birthday in Hong Kong. And here’s a collection of the shortest but very inspiring quotes by Buddha. Each one seems so simple, yet is so deep.

  1. You have no cause for anything but gratitude and joy.
  2. What you are is what you have been. What you’ll be is what you do now.
  3. Hatred does not cease by hatred, but only by love; this is the eternal rule.
  4. Until he has unconditional and unbiased love for all beings, man will not find peace.
  5. We are shaped by our thoughts; we become what we think.
  6. Every human being is the author of his own health or disease.
  7. Always be mindful of the kindness and not the faults of others.
  8. It is a man’s own mind, not his enemy or foe, that lures him to evil ways.
  9. Peace comes from within. Do not seek it without.
  10. Live every act fully, as if it were your last.

Do you have a favorite Buddha quote, or any other short inspiring quote to share?

[Photo of a wall hanging in a store – probably unauthorized]

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Book Recommendation: Manuscript Found in Accra

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IMG_2337I just finished reading this wonderful book by Paulo Coelho, and recommend to anyone looking for inspiration. Some excerpts:

“Losing a battle or losing everything we thought we possessed will bring us moments of sadness. But when those moments pass, we will discover the hidden strength that exists in each of us, a strength that will surprise us and increase our self-respect. We will look around and say to ourselves: ‘I survived.’ And we will be cheered by our words. Only those who fail to recognise that inner strength will say: ‘I lost’, and be sad.”

“Defeat ends when we launch into another battle. Failure has no end; it is a lifetime choice.”

“Stay close to those who sing, tell stories, and enjoy life, and whose eyes sparkle with happiness. Because happiness is contagious and will always manage to find a solution, whereas logic can find only an explanation for the mistake made.”

“Anxiety was born in the very same moment as mankind. And since we will never be able to master it, we will have to learn to live with it – just as we have learned to live with storms. For those who cannot learn to do so, life will be a nightmare.”

What’s your favorite Paulo Coelho’s book? Or any inspiration book. Please share through comments.

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Dhinchak Life, free preview ebook!

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I turned 48 today, and this e-book is a small gift from me! This is part of the first section of my book, Dhinchak Life. If you already have the book, this may serve as a reminder of the principals that can make you happier, and in full color. And if you haven’t got the book yet, this may inspire you to buy a copy.

The photos used in the book are from my travels during the last year. I hope they inspire you to go out and visit these beautiful places.

Thanks to Sara Mush, my brilliant daughter, for creating this e-book version. Just click on the image to download, or download from here, and don’t forget to share with friends. Wishing you many Dhinchak moments!