LSD

LSD is a concept created by Dr. Devdutt Pattanaik which stands for: Lakshmi, Saraswati and Durga. Lakshmi stands for monetary growth, Saraswati for intellectual growth and Durga for emotional growth. All the three elements are important for attaining happiness. "How much" of each element is upto each individual and is highly subjective. Figuring out the right combination is our job.

When I decided to take a break from employment, I was tempted to pursue my masters. But the problem was: Though I was interested in one thing (philosophy), I needed cross connections (because my job is all about making connections and coming up with something creative and I am interested in many things). Specialization is important but not at the cost of declaring other interests "unrelated" or "Waste of time." If someone is studying Business, the time he spends studying material related to business is considered 'study' while his other interests like Mythology are considered 'relaxation' and 'timepass' ...but my question is: What if there is a connection between the two? What if I'm learning about business even when I'm reading stuff related to mythology? This question might seem absurd but what if I tell you that Mr. Devdutt Pattanaik has actually written a book called Business Sutra (there is also a series on CNBC by the same name) where he has derived business lessons from Hindu Mythology? There is an artist who paints maps and they are so beautiful that you cannot decide: Is it geography or is it art? There is an artist who illustrates statistics in an innovative manner! What will you call it?

One of my interests in watching sports. This is conventionally a 'timepass' activity. But the thing is, I have learned so much about copywriting (Which is my profession) from sports. It does sound insane but the truth is I have. And Sports hasn't just helped me in my profession, it has helped me become a better human being. 

I have nothing against conventional methods of education and the existing courses (unlike earlier when I used to vehemently shout against MBA :P..now, i have realized that no way/no course is completely useless) but I had already chosen to be an autodidact and hence, I have my own self designed course (the course finishes after my death). The course is a work in progress because learning is work in progress. The syllabus may change any day.

I was analyzing the process through which we come up with creative ideas and an interesting thing (I could be wrong about this) is that we never create ideas. We just create an environment which is receptive to creative ideas. This environment actually consists of life skills like: courage, patience, determination!! For example: If you are given 2 hours to come up with a great idea, you first need to have courage to experiment with crazy ideas. You have to be aware of two opposites: You just have 2 hours but at the same time, you cannot panic so much that you mess everything up. And these skills can be built through meditation, reading, watching a test match (which requires patience as we are living in a T-20 world!)

LSD:

Subject # 1: Sports

1. How is a successful sportsperson different from an unsuccessful one?

2. How important is courage in sports and how can we develop courage in our lives? 

3. Applying the 'switch on: switch off' strategy used by sports-persons to the creative process and also in balancing our lives.

4. Studying the work ethic of players across different sports and applying it to our daily lives.

5. Studying sportsperson's playing style (Aggressive, defensive) and learning when to be aggressive and when to be defensive in relationships, creative process etc.

6. How do sports-persons adapt themselves to different formats? (20-20:test matches, mixed doubles: singles). How do we adapt ourselves to different kinds of creative tasks: for example in copywriting profession you have to write for television, print, radio, social media etc. In relationships, you have to adapt to same people in different kind of situations, different people in similar situations etc.

Subject #2 Law of attraction

1. Is it a sham?

2. Observing synchronicity

3. If synchronicity has any worth, how can you apply it practically?

4. If Law of attraction is true, how can we create better ideas? How can we create better lives? 

5. Practical application of law of attraction starting from small things like: wishing for a particular movie to air on television to big things like attracting money.

6. To love giving away money as much we love receiving it. 

Subject # 3 Meditation

1. Achieving multiple results like:

a. Knowing the answers to questions like "why are we here?", "what is good and what is bad"...basically, all the big questions.

b. Outgrowing fear

c.  Peace

d. Clarity

e. Enhanced creativity

f. Sharp mind

g. Observation

h. Many other life/practical skills

2. To get rid of negative beliefs about money like "Money is evil"

Subject # 4:  Excellence

1. Studying the lives/ work of people who have achieved excellence

2. Do people from different professions approach excellence differently?

3. Is there a universal formula to attain excellence?

4. What kind of sacrifices is required to achieve excellence?

5. Are excellent people always monetarily successful?

6. Is there a thin line of difference between passion and obsession?

Subject # 5: Interestingness

1. How can seemingly unrelated things help us in our practical lives?

2. Observing, learning from Brainpickings, TED talks, interesting facebook pages, blogs etc for intellectual stimulation and inspiration. Using these resources to solve professional problems like creative block and personal problems like listlessness, depression etc.

3. Is art subjective? Commercial success= sellout? Why are some books best-sellers and why are some films box-office hits?

4. Watching some bad films/reading bad books to find out where the writers/ filmmakers messed up.

Subject # 6: Devdutt Pattanaik’s work

1. How to move from self righteousness to understanding and compassion? Are 'good' and 'bad' delusions?
2. Learning from his ideas of Vishnu and Shiva and applying it to practical lives.
3. Applying his leadership ideas, practically.
4. Applying his business ideas at our workplaces.
5. How to be involved and detached at the same time (like Vishnu)?
6. How to create Ranga Boomi (a place where everyone enjoys) and avoid Rana Bhoomi (a place where everyone competes)?
7. For improving our understanding of creativity:

a.      How does he convey complex ideas to common man?

b.      How did he create a new designation called CBO (Chief Belief Officer)?  

Whenever you feel that you are wasting your time, remember this quote:

“The master in the art of living makes little distinction between his work and his play, his labor and his leisure, his mind and his body, his information and his recreation, his love and his religion. He hardly knows which is which. He simply pursues his vision of excellence at whatever he does, leaving others to decide whether he is working or playing. To him he's always doing both. ”