Countdown to Countdown - Day 20

Its Sunday! Trust everyone is having a great weekend. Today I was thinking let me take a break and not write a post, not much of research goes into the post that I write though.!My blog is called The Optimist Diary. Its always written as a diary, and since I am keeping an emotional account of the events leading to Dream Live, I have to express my thoughts even on a Sunday! My diary doesn't say what a tough day I have had, no maid so ended up cleaning a 2000 sq. ft area, washing machine felt like taking a day off so ended up with buckets full of clothes. Being a holiday, kids too want to have something nice! The diary has certainly found a Dream that I wish to explore and I am loving every bit of it. Its like doing something that makes me Happy!

I just had a chat with Bharadwaj Dayala,  the man is travelling and travelling big time. He is on a mission and I understand what he is doing. From 26th Of January where I met him in Mumbai. He had come down from Vizag. He went back to Vizag after finishing his work here, then headed to Delhi for the Auto expo. Now he is in Hyderabad already. Lots to be done before 1st of March and he doesn't leave anything to chance. As we were talking about super achievers yesterday. He is one for sure! 

I mentioned to him that all the running around that he is doing will certainly have its fruits and reward. To which he says once you achieve something no one sees what has gone into reaching there. I told him that's why I just felt like maintaining the diary. I am hopeful that when another person takes up something like this or for that matter when someone has a Goal to achieve, these can be some case studies. 

Success is sweeter when you have put in your best, have slogged to reach there, isn't it?

I am a hotelier, a professor and involved in learning and development. From my field I have read a couple of stories of the successful hotel chains. Anyone can say that the largest hotels around the world are Marriotts or Hiltons. If you look at their founders they had  very humble beginning. In fact John Willard Marriott studied till 8th standard and used to work as a newspaper boy. Today any country that you visit you'll find atleast one Marriott property if not more. So its just not your college degree thats going to make you realise your dream but the passion and systematic approach that you adapt for the project that you are aiming for. Closer home, Look at the Oberoi hotels, one of the best in the world. Raibahadur Mohun Singh Oberoi, worked as a clerk at the Shimla Hotel, went on to own that property and opened many more finest hotels around the world. He was given the title of Raibahadur by the government. Success certainly chooses those individuals who are prepared to receive her. That preparation is what everyone terms as giving ones sweat and blood.

Excellence is my minimum standard!

This is the mantra of all achievers. If you don't follow this, you'll never be there among the best! .You are worth what you think you deserve. Never stop believing in hope as miracles happen everyday. Infact Dayala, coined this statement to me, "Excellence is my minimum standard". He said that he is a very tough task master and people working with him think that he is unreasonable but that somehow brings out the best in them. I told him that I didn't have an inflated ego and that I can find the madness among the rest. Jokes apart, I am getting to know what dreams are made of and what goes into achieving them. 

Would love to hear your dream stories. A lot of us believe in the magic of that secret. 

Tell us your stories too and will share them with others, you never know when someone gets inspired and your story changes a life.

Follow #DreamLive to witness how dreams become reality. Bharadwaj Dayala, the first Indian to go around the world on a motorcycle, will show us how to live our own dreams by realising his dream of riding from Russia to South Africa in just 100 days starting with nothing.  He'll then help 12 to 24 passionate bikers to live their dream of riding in a foreign country by getting sponsors for them.

DreamLive: Dare to dream and care to achieve it.

https://www.facebook.com/BJsDreamLive

@letsdreamlive

Countdown to Countdown - Day 24

Hello Everyone!

We are now 24 days to go! somehow I like the number 24 and the date 5th! Don't know why but these two numbers look good and so does Dream Live. We are getting some fans and some people teaming with us on this absolutely voluntary and inspiring endeavour. 

I would like to thank the bloggers who I notice have started following my posts. Would love to hear from them, it certainly motivates me to keep scribbling my thoughts. I have seen the work of some of them and I know where they come from. Thanks.

The ones who are crazy enough to think that they can change the world , are the ones who do.  ~Steve Jobs 

This is the 5th day of the Coutdown, I wish to share with you a bit from my own experiences, I am just a girl next door. Had my own goals, believed in them and have achieved whatever little I aspired and I keep looking at new goals and aiming to realise them as well just like a lot of you reading this. Something that I feel is significant and wish to share with you is getting married was a big decision as everything else would change from then. As I learnt more about my husband and we started understanding each other I told him what I visualised for us. And in 8 years of our marriage I guess we have achieved all that we shared with each other. 

I visualise things even for Dream Live and I believe that we are all going to achieve the target that we have set for ourselves. I will consider this as my PhD. Yes I am a doctoral candidate and almost half through my research but now the university wants me to attend 3 months classes fulltime, and the campus is far away in another city, this is very difficult for me at this point. It is possible but I don't want to do anything that will affect my children in anyway. When I associate with the Project I want to give myself the satisfaction of having earned a PhD when we realise our dream here in front of all connected. Afterall that's the purpose of any study, to visualise something, work towards it and make it happen, at the same time empowering and guiding others to achieve that. 

We need to have long term as well as short term goals. The moment we do that all the obstacles appear as pebbles on the pathway!.... and they are very easy to overcome.

Join us on facebook and follow us on Twitter for all the excitement building on to tour the world again on a motor cycle. Here, see the Dream going live and finally becoming a reality.

Follow #DreamLive to witness how dreams become reality. Bharadwaj Dayala will show us how to live our own dreams by realising his dream of riding from Russia to South Africa in just 100 days starting with nothing. He'll then help 12 to 24 passionate bikers to live their dream of riding in a foreign country by getting sponsors for them.

DreamLive: Dare to dream and care to achieve it.

https://www.facebook.com/BJsDreamLive

@letsdreamlive

Countdown to Countdown - Day 25

The excitement is building up, we have more people joining us. Also Dream Live taking shape every moment, brainstorming and new ideas coming up. Also the larger picture unfolding. Its not about this post on the blog or the ride around the world on a motor cycle that Bharadwaj Dayala will eventually take up. 
These two are minuscule in comparison to the Big Picture that we visualise. Dreams are all about seeing the larger picture, the means to that will unfold gradually and start making sense each day as we progress.

Be with us each day so that you know where we are heading. Afterall the project will eventually progress with inputs from everyone on this platform. Let the idea engulf your thinking and your senses. 
Today, let me address the bikers. Who are they? Do we really understand them? The poster sums it all.

Read it somewhere that all men and women were created equal, then some go ahead and become bikers. Salute to the breed who follow their passion. Also, that you don't get old when you are riding but you get old when you stop doing that.... how true?

See the difference between a biker and a hooligan

Bikers, bikers at heart, pillion riders, enthusiasts and dreamers, be a part of the the magical journey that  shall unfold soon. Are you ready? Would love to hear from you all....

Join us on facebook and follow us on Twitter for all the excitement building on to tour the world again on a motor cycle. Here, see the Dream going live and finally becoming a reality.

Follow #DreamLive to witness how dreams become reality. Bharadwaj Dayala will show us how to live our own dream by realising his dream of riding from Russia to South Africa in just 100 days starting with nothing. He'll then help 12 to 24 passionate bikers to live their dream of riding in a foreign country by getting sponsors for them.

DreamLive: Dare to dream and care to achieve it.
https://www.facebook.com/BJsDreamLive
@letsdreamlive

Countdown to Countdown - Day 26

DreamLive goes online  and within a few hours we have more than 290 people joining us and the numbers are ticking every minute. More people joining the project will mean more synergy, better networking, feedback and suggestions after all this project will find direction from the interaction of the bikers with the others, the general people. Bharadwaj Dayala wants to take everyone with him on this project, tell people how to dream and turn those dreams into reality within a year. This will build confidence among the people, especially youngsters who'll in turn learn to have dreams, set goals and achieve them, no matter what the dreams are!

I was all charged up with the possibility of the project being a reality in 100 days from 1st March. I spoke about it to my family. The biggest support came from my mother in law. She found it very interesting. To add a fact here, she also loves cricket and gives up on her serials when India is playing. Understands cricket and enjoys the game better than a lot of men. Brother in law also was there and he said, "But who'll be interested, as people have other things to fulfill in life,  as for Dayala, what'll he achieve by going around the world?"

I want to highlight the fact that we must never stereotype anyone. Most unlikely people become the best role models at times.Here are two different view points from two individuals, the first one is from a 60+ homely lady and the second one from an almost 40 year old biker. So dreams are all about not stereotyping anyone, first thing!

I also spoke to a professor who teaches Strategic Management about Dream Live and I told him that I was certainly a very unlikely person to do anything with the project, I wanted to highlight this fact to him. Ofcourse from my heart of hearts, I believe in the success of the project and everything that I expect it to experience during the journey. He said that the most unlikely candidates are the ones who bring about the change, he also added that it'll surprise me and the others who'll join us what we have achieved. That sounded encouraging.

Dreams belong to those who believe in them and want to make them a reality!

Join us on facebook and follow us on Twitter for all the excitement building on to tour the world again on a motor cycle. Here, see the Dream going live and finally becoming a reality.

Follow #DreamLive to witness how dreams become reality. Bharadwaj Dayala will show us how to live our own dream by realising his dream of riding from Russia to South Africa in just 100 days starting with nothing. He'll then help 12 to 24 passionate bikers to live their dream of riding in a foreign country by getting sponsors for them.

DreamLive: Dare to dream and care to achieve it.
https://www.facebook.com/BJsDreamLive
@letsdreamlive

Countdown to Countdown - Day 27

DreamLive goes online. The first step to connect with you all. Hop on and be a part of this roller coaster ride. Its going to be our baby! The blank canvas is set, lets put the colours of our dreams and see it turning into a great painting.... a masterpiece! I am not talking about just the bikers here, They are a part of the project but this is going to be live on the social platform. That would mean there will be a lot of youngsters, women, enthusiasts and people who are not riders per say but feel the excitement of being connected with the project. As everyone has dreams and they wish to fulfill them.

Bikers can follow the project from the technical angle, as from 1st of March it shall go live and the real countdown to the 100 days would begin.  At this point, We have a lot of non bikers joining the project, its basically preparing them for what to expect when Dream Live goes live. So thought of Countdown to Countdown, Not really a meaningful phrase but slowly it'll make sense.

For the youngsters and non bikers

Today, lets just take a pause, do some introspection and see within ourselves. Lets find out what our dreams are? What do we aspire to be? How do we want them to shape up and how are we doing to turn them into a reality. Lets not talk about bikes and rides. Actually Dream Live is not about it. Its about a person's dream and what does he do to realise them also what he doesn't do so that he fails in achieving them. Its the story of you and me.... everyone!

Lets also look at what do the winners to? they don't do different things but they do things differently! Thats the key. Here I am thinking of a book by Shiv Khera, You can Win. The book that I read during my under grad days, yes it did inspire me. An easy to read and a very practical, common sense approach that takes the reader from old world  wisdom to the modern, contemporary thinking. A book that required to be kept by the bedside and read each night before going to sleep.

In my recent vacation in Rajasthan, I came back with feelings of heroism and stories of grit, perseverance and enormous will power. Rana Pratap was one such hero and so was his horse Chetak. Rana Pratap prepared and prepared his army so well that they defeated the mighty Moghuls in the war of Haldi Ghati. Rani Laxmi Bai of Jhansi,  the feisty queen who fought for her motherland. All these people had a dream, a vision and the will to see their motherland free! and they laid their lives for the very same cause. Our history is filled with such heroes.

When we travel to historic places, its not just to see the ruins but we need to feel the heroism and romance the place held. That can only be brought alive by a good Guide. So a good guide who can narrate the drama of the past actually lets you appreciate the true beauty of the monument. Its never just the brick and mortar but people who lived there, make the place worth a visit. Everything revolves around people.

I strongly believe that human mind is a mine of possibilities.If it has originated there, the idea will find expression someday or the other.

On the countdown ,27th day, lets just revisit some places and people from the past and see what they did different that got them to achieve their dreams and their goals.


DreamLive: Dare to dream and care to achieve it.

Join us on facebook and follow us on Twitter for all the excitement building on to tour the world again on a motor cycle. Here, see the Dream going live and finally becoming a reality.

Follow #DreamLive to witness how dreams become reality. Bharadwaj Dayala will show us how to live our own dream by realising his dream of riding from Russia to South Africa in just 100 days starting with nothing. He'll then help 12 to 24 passionate bikers to live their dream of riding in a foreign country by getting sponsors for them.

DreamLive: Dare to dream and care to achieve it.
https://www.facebook.com/BJsDreamLive
@letsdreamlive

Pictures are taken from Google.

Dare to dream and care to achieve them....

Countdown to countdown should begin today as its 1st of February 2014.

The project is all about synergy, networking, collaborating, dreaming, setting up goals and working towards achieving them. The key lies in aiming high have heard this from time immemorial!

On the 28th day (Countdown to 1st March #DreamLive) I wish to talk about dreams and realizations. Today I share with you some of the quotes that I have used during my lectures and while hosting functions. Hope they motivate you all just the way they have motivated generations of great men and women who in turn have become super achievers.

Nothing can stop the man with the right mental attitude from achieving his goal; nothing on earth can help the man with the wrong mental attitude.
~Thomas Jefferson

Human progress is neither automatic nor inevitable... Every step toward the goal of justice requires sacrifice, suffering, and struggle; the tireless exertions and passionate concern of dedicated individuals.
~Martin Luther King

If you want to live a happy life, tie it to a goal, not to people or things. 
~ Albert Einstein

Obstacles are things a person sees when he takes his eyes off his goal.
~ E. Joseph Cossman

Reach high, for stars lie hidden in you. Dream deep, for every dream precedes the goal.
~ Rabindranath Tagore

If you're bored with life, if you don't get up every morning with a burning desire to do things, you don't have enough goals
.~ Lou Holtz

Setting goals is a first step in turning the invisible into the visible.
 ~ Tony Robbins

DreamLive: Dare to dream and care to achieve it.

All pictures are taken from google.

#DreamLive - Who am I?

In my last post I spoke about Bharadwaj Dayala, the first Indian to go around the world alone on a motor cycle.  He achieved that feat in 2006/ 07, a lot of us had no clue about the man or his achievements, I tried to find as much information on him as was possible. I got an opportunity to speak to him, did  the post on him. I also spoke about his upcoming project DreamLive. DreamLive is going to be unique no one has thought about a thing like this, in the whole world. It'll be people's project, and they'll see the dream of touring around the world on a motor cycle that Dayala has visualised being realised in front of them. 

My post has found tremendous response people have read it and recommended it. Its still being shared and I am getting friend requests in 100s now,  mostly from bikers. This makes me introduce myself to the readers. As people may wonder whats my role in the project? Why am I writing about it? and a whole lot of other queries. 

Me

I am not a professional blogger, I don't do any paid writing either. I am a hospitality professional and a Professor. My expertise, if it can be called at all is Learning and Development , I earned my Masters is Training and Development. This is what I do and writing is just a way of expressing myself and connecting with people. I am married to a Master mariner Capt. Rajesh Todiwan, the best friend that I have he can read me like a book. I am a mother of two boys, yes they are growing up and I am learning new things from them each day. My hands are full, dancing around the different roles that I play like all the other women. I guess this tells a lot about me. I am certainly not a biker but I follow the passion and I connect well with people who have dreams, passions that they follow in life. Who aspire to achieve their goals and whose goals are not the conventional ones. Its equally satisfying to see others  realise their dreams.

I thought people need to know about me as they'll hear a lot more from us henceforth, as a part of team DreamLive. Dayala is an achiever but I am an unknown face in the crowd. Yes whatever little I have done in my life I am proud of who I am and what I have achieved. I shall connect with my readers and all the individuals who will hop on to team DreamLive, bikers, non bikers, youngsters, older people, dreamers, achievers and anyone who wants to be a part of this dream and watch it going live. I explained the project to Capt. Todiwan who is anyway going around the world on his chemical tanker, he liked it, he becomes the first fan as far as Dream Live for me is concerned. It shall be driven by people that's what we have visualised and we are hopeful that as planned it shall be launched on 1st Match 2014 and 100 days from then it'll take off with Dayala going on his second World tour.

Dream Live

Dream Live will engulf you and your time in the coming year. It's a Unique project, will connect to youth as well as the older people. Social media will be used in a big way and it shall be a Hit! The scale of the project is large and exciting. You are going to love it.

As Dr. Abdul Kalam says, " Dream is not that which you see while sleeping it is something that does not let you sleep".

People don't want to dream as it brings a lot of stress, is time consuming and is difficult to achieve but its never impossible. People who dream big are the ones who have the courage to go at them and make them a reality. Dreams are exciting, enriching and very fulfilling. Working towards achieving those dreams is the most satisfying experience. Its not just the destination but the journey becomes enjoyable. Dayala says when he preparing for a target be it a tour of India on his bike, climbing the mountain or doing the world tour, he hardly sleeps. He's working all the time and that gives him immense satisfaction.

Sir Arthur Conan Doyle created detective Sherlock Holmes, it was his dream creation. That dream grew very big and he became bigger than Sir Doyle. He thought of killing that character and did so but the readers didn't like it and he started losing them, he had to bring Sherlock Holmes back to life. The character had to be revived. That's what dreams are all about.

An individual needs to look far and wide, think how he can work on his dream, make a time line for the project and then see it reaching one milestone from another. Finally the desired goal or dream is achieved.

Dream Live shall be launched on 1st of March but we begin with the Countdown to the Countdown from today.

The next post will be 28- Count down begins!