Gandhi's Top 10 Fundamentals for Self Development

Though I am not a die hard fan of Gandhiji and don’t agree with all his principles. But I loved "Lage Raho Munnabhai" and agree with the philosophies filmed there. This particular article taken from Henrik Edberg’s book on Personal Development published on May, 2008 is lovely and had answered most of the doubts that I was having from the past few incidents so thought of posting it here.

Gandhi's Top 10 Fundamentals for Self Development

1. Change yourself.
'You must be the change you want to see in the world.'If you change yourself you will change your world.

2. You are in control.
'Nobody can hurt me without my permission.'What you feel and how you react to something is always up to you.

3. Forgive and let it go.
'The weak can never forgive. Forgiveness is the attribute of the strong.''An eye for eye only ends up making the whole world blind.'

4. Without action you aren't going anywhere.
'An ounce of practice is worth more than tons of preaching.'Taking action is hard and difficult.You have to take action and translate the knowledge into results and understanding.

5. Take care of this moment.
'I do not want to foresee the future. I am concerned with taking care of the present. God has given me no control over the moment following.'When you are in the present moment you don't worry about the next moment that you can't control anyway.

6. Everyone is human.
'I claim to be a simple individual liable to err like any other fellow mortal. I own, however, that I have humility enough to confess my errors and to retrace my steps.''It is unwise to be too sure of one's own wisdom. It is healthy to be reminded that the strongest might weaken and the wisest might err.'
It's important to keep in mind that everyone is just a human being no matter who they are and that we are all human and prone to make mistakes. Be able to see with clarity where you went wrong and what you can learn from your mistake.

7. Persist.
'First they ignore you, then they laugh at you, then they fight you, then you win.'Be persistent. In time the opposition around you will fade and fall away.
Find what you really like to do. Then you'll find the inner motivation to keep going, going and going.

8. See the good in people and help them.
'I look only to the good qualities of men. Not being faultless myself, I won't presume to probe into the faults of others.''Leadership means getting along with people.'There is pretty much always something good in people. And things that may not be so good. But you can choose what things to focus on. And when you see the good in people it becomes easier to motivate yourself to be of service to them.

9 Be congruent, be authentic, be your true self.
'Happiness is when what you think, what you say, and what you do are in harmony.''Always aim at complete harmony of thought and word and deed. Always aim at purifying your thoughts and everything will be well.'One of the best tips for improving your social skills is to behave in a congruent manner and communicate in an authentic way. People seem to really like authentic communication. And there is much inner enjoyment to be found when your thoughts, words and actions are aligned You feel powerful and good about yourself.

10. Continue to grow and evolve.
'Constant development is the law of life, and a man who always tries to maintain his dogmas in order to appear consistent drives himself into a false position.'You can pretty much always improve your skills, habits or re-evaluate your evaluations. You can gain deeper understanding of yourself and the world.