My UPW Experience: Part 2

On day 1, the event was supposed to start at noon. I got to my seat, but it started much later. We were allowed to bring one item to eat – I had brought a protein bar. We were asked to bring plenty of cough drops – to soothe our throats when we shout at the top of our voices! I asked several of the volunteers for advice on how to get the best of this experience – “Play full out”, they said, “When Tony tells you to do something, do it even if it feels silly or uncomfortable”. After close to half an hour of waiting, dancers came out, and started dancing (every session began with dancers). All participants were also asked to dance, or at least jump up and down, to get our energy levels going. And, finally, Tony arrived, and was greeted with a lot of cheers.

The environment was like a rock concert – there was a lot of music, lot of shouting, lot of dancing, a lot of fun, but Tony as well as all the other speakers kept reminding us that we were not there to have fun – we were there to self-transform – they gave life lessons in plentiful. I took copious notes. Here are twenty life lessons from the first day:

1. We should see things as they are. Never worse than what it is.
2. Knowledge is potential power. Execution is power. Repetition is key. Practice insanely.
3. The body is tied to emotional muscles.
   – We can exercise our courage muscle
   – We can exercise our discipline muscle
   – We can exercise our focus muscle. And so on.
4. I should figure out where I am. And decide where I want to be. And close the gap quickly.
5. As long as I focus on myself, I feel pain. I should focus instead on helping others.
6. Get rid of excuses.
7. Can I change where I live? (I shouldn’t live in sadness, anger, immobility, and so on).
8. It is difficult to change myself. But it is easy to change patterns I have built. That is what I should look to change.
9. Fit or Fat – it is my choice.
10. Energy is a habit. When I’m not having energy, I should drink water.
11. I should focus on what I can control, and not what I can’t control.
12. Is self-esteem built based on what people say? No. Self-esteem is based on doing difficult s***. Worthiness arises when I push myself to the fullest.
13. Change your physiology, and you will change your energy. Emotion is influenced by motion.
14. A coward dies 1000 deaths. A courageous man once.
15. Intelligence is not enough. You need clarity on what you want.
16. Focus on what you want, not on what you don’t want.
17. We become like the people we spend time with.
18. ‘I want person X to do Y’ – this is merely a preference. Don’t give too much importance to it. Even if I get others to behave the way I want, what good will come of it?
19. I won’t go to a bad movie a 1000 time. Then why do I visit my traumatic past repeatedly?
20. The biggest drug in the world is problems. They are addicting. They cover our fears. 

You can find part 1 of my UPW Experience here
You can find part 3 of my UPW Experience here
You can find part 4 of my UPW Experience here

Image Credit: By Randy Stewart – https://www.flickr.com/photos/stewtopia/3948482669/, CC BY-SA 2.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=16169479