Karan Bajaj is a #1 bestselling Indiannovelist with more than 200,000 copies of his novels in print, bothoptioned into major films. Karan'sfirst worldwide novel, The Yoga of Max's Discontent, will be bepublished by Random House on May3rd' 2016. The book was inspired by Karan's one year sabbatical traveling from Europe toIndia by road and learning yoga and meditation in theHimalayas. Karan hasalso worked in senior executive roles at companies like Procter& Gamble and the Boston Consulting Group and was named among AdAge's "Top 40 Under 40 executives" in the US.
Fullshownotes: http://yourcreativepush.com/karan
In this episode, Karan discusses:
-The "4, 1, 4" rule and how it helped him to thrive, not only inhis career, but in his life.
-His "conscious goal-lessness" during his time off, especiallywhen he is so driven during his working years.
-His advice for someone who struggles to get to the point ofrealizing that they are already equipped for life and don't need toconcentrate so hard on improvement.
-The idea of taking mind- or self-dissolving vacations, whereyou actually try to change and better yourself as a person asopposed to simply going to a new location.
-How he kick-started my meditation practice with a 10 day silentvipassana retreat and how a vipassana retreat is actually quiteaccessible for anyone who is interested in trying it (it'sfree!)
-How his 10-day silent retreat helped him to see that he hadbeen in a constant mode of wanting, or feeling as if hewas lacking something instead of living in the moment.
-His one year sabbatical and how he spent the time.
-How living extremely simply for a long period of time helps youto realize that you really don't need much in your everyday life tosurvive and it helps to make you stronger when facing toughsituations.
-The benefits that his retreat gave to his creativity.
-His suggestion to always start with concentration-basedmeditation approaches.
-What to do when other thoughts begin to creep into yourconsciousness while you are meditating.
-The joy and inspiration that comes from seeing yourself on ahero's journey. Even if you don't reach the goal, the act oftrying is a success.
-How art fixes the world for him.
Karan's Final Push will inspire you to SHUN
COMFORTfor a period of time in order to be a happier and more
creativeperson in the long term.
Quotes:
"What I have learned through this period is that my sabbaticalyear has to be almost the complete antithesis of my workingyears."
"I'm always shunning this idea that I have to constantly bebetter than who I am."
"I just try to operate with this idea that I am complete and Ihave enough depth to tap into, versus wanting to be more than Iam."
"You can't help but to be different after those ten days."
"It's not like some instant moment of enlightenment. Youstart understanding the endlessness of our thought waves."
"I almost feel that every artist is creating out of a sense thatthis world is incomplete and they need to create a more completeand idealized version. Art fixes the world for me."
Links mentioned:
TheYoga of Max's Discontent by Karan Bajaj
"My 4,1,4 rule, or why you shouldn't feel thepressure to become an entrepreneur" (From Karan's blog)
Your Creative Push Ep. 2: Approach the first brushstroke with ENERGY (w/ Karl Mårtens)