motivation Archives - Penguin Random House India

6 Audiobooks To Level Up in 2023!

Posted on July 21, 2023July 21, 2023 by prathod

Half the year has gone by and feeling like you need a dash of inspiration to power through the remaining months of 2023? Don’t worry, we’ve got you covered. Tune in to these inspiring audiobooks as you spring clean your house, finish up mundane tasks or even take a refreshing walk. We promise you’ll leave feeling motivated and ready to conquer the rest of the year. What’re you waiting for? Let’s dive into this extraordinary audiobook adventure and make the most of what’s to come!

In Ask the Monk, celebrated monk Nityanand Charan Das lucidly answers over seventy frequently asked questions-by young and the old alike-on topics such as karma, religion versus spirituality, mind, God, destiny, purpose of life, suffering, rituals, religion, wars and so on. These answers that are extremely crucial to help you, the reader, embark on the journey of self-discovery and self-realization.

Don’t Lose Your Mind, Lose Your Weight has revolutionized the way Indians think about food and their eating habits. Funny, easy to read and full of great advice, it argues that we should return to our traditional eating roots (yes, ghee is good for you), nutrients are more important than calories (cheese over biscuits) and, most importantly, the only way to lose weight is to keep eating. In the ten-year anniversary edition of this classic, read about the simple steps you can take towards maintaining a healthy and proper diet and understanding your body and its nutritional requirements.

In Energize Your Mind, bestselling author and life coach Gaur Gopal Das decodes how the mind works. He combines his anecdotal style with analytical research to teach us how to discipline our mind for our greater well-being. Throughout this book, he provides interactive exercises, meditation techniques and worksheets to help us take charge of our mind.

Let Me Hijack Your Mind is Alyque’s parting gift to Indians, exhorting them to throw out the old and embrace new ways of approaching everything, which will lead them towards a more exciting and contented life-and a better society and country. It is a way to open windows in their mind to think about life aside from greed, power and money. This is a book designed to throw everyone off-balance in a good way, because it is crammed with fresh ideas on how to live, how to dream and how to completely reset our mindset and attitudes. As Alyque says in his inimitable style: ‘Get people out of stuffy thinking.’

50 Toughest Questions of Life invites people to have a conversation about themselves with themselves. Deepak Ramola’s quest began after he was inspired by the life lesson of a young girl who said, ‘Life is not about giving easy answers, but answering tough questions.’ Over the years, Ramola has amassed life lessons from inspirational sources across the world: from the women of the Maasai tribe to young girls in Afghanistan and sex workers in Kamathipura; from the lessons of earthquake survivors in Nepal to Syrian refugees in Europe, among many more.

An army medic who went beyond the call of duty amid a frenzy of treacherous bloodletting in Ladakh’s Galwan while his fellow soldiers fought the Chinese to death; the crew of an Indian Navy destroyer that put everything on the line to rescue hundreds from Cyclone Tauktae in the Arabian Sea; an Indian Air Force pilot who ejected from his doomed fighter less than two seconds before it hit the ground, only to find he was missing a leg.

India’s Most Fearless 3 presents their accounts, or of those who were with them in their final moments. The book also features ten true stories of extraordinary courage and fearlessness, providing glimpses of the heroism Indian soldiers have displayed in unthinkably hostile conditions and under grave provocation.

Freedom to live life on our own terms

Posted on June 7, 2021June 8, 2021 by Penguin India

How many times have you stopped at a traffic signal and turned your face away from the hijra who stood outside your car window asking for money? Wasn’t it pure loathing that you felt? Wasn’t it worse than what you normally feel when a beggar woman with a child does the same? Why? I’ll tell you why. You abhorred the eunuch because you couldn’t identify with her sex. You thought of her as a strange, detestable creature, perhaps a criminal and definitely sub-human.

I am one of them. All my life people have called me hijra, brihannala, napungshak, khoja, launda . . . and I have lived these years knowing that I am an outcast. Did it pain me? It maimed me. But time, to use a cliché, is the biggest healer. The adage worked a little differently in my case. The pain remains but the ache has dulled with time. It visits me in my loneliest hours, when I come face to face with the question of my existential reality. Who am I and why was I born a woman trapped in a man’s body? What is my destiny?

Beneath my colourful exterior lies a curled up, bruised individual that yearns for freedom—freedom to live life on her own terms and freedom to come across as the person she is. Acceptance is what I seek. My tough exterior and nonchalance is an armour that I have learnt to wear to protect my vulnerability. Today, through my good fate, I have achieved a rare success that is generally not destined to my lot. But what if my trajectory had been different? I keep telling myself that this is my time under the sun, my time to feel happy, but something deep inside warns me. My inner voice tells me that the fame and celebration that I see all around is maya (illusion) and I should accept all this adulation with the detachment of a sanyasi (hermit).

The first ever transgender to become a college principal is a rare feat, the media has proclaimed. My phones have not stopped ringing since, and invitations to felicitations have not ceased to pile up on my desk. I would love to believe that those who fete me also accept me as I am, but how can I ignore the sniggers, the sneers and the smirks that they try to hide but fail? For them I am just another excuse to watch a tamasha (spectacle), and who doesn’t want some free fun at someone else’s expense?
Hurt and anger are two emotions that I have learnt to suppress and let go. It is part of the immunity package that I am insured under. I have finally accepted the fact that my achievements have no bearing on the people around me. They still think I am sexless between my legs and that is my only identity. That I also have a right to have emotions is an idea that is still completely foreign to most. I don’t blame them. I blame myself for not being able to ignore such pain. I should have long stopped bothering about them.

It is not that I have not had my share of love in all my fifty-one years of life. They were good while they lasted. I have had major heartbreaks too, but each time I learnt a new lesson. I have loved well and deeply, and I hope my partners, wherever they are now, would silently remember that bit about me. It’s another matter that relationships don’t seem to work for me. Those who have loved me have always left me, and each time I have lost a piece of me to them.
Memories rush back as I sit down to write my story. I write with the belief that it would help society understand people like me better. We are slightly different outwardly, but we are humans just as you are and have the same needs—physical and emotional—just as you have.

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Reintroduce Yourself

Posted on January 15, 2018February 23, 2020 by Penguin India

Reinventing You provides a step-by-step guide to help you assess your unique strengths, develop a compelling personal brand and ensure that others recognize the powerful contribution you can make. Branding expert Dorie Clark mixes personal stories with engaging interviews and examples from Mark Zuckerberg, Al Gore, Tim Ferriss, Seth Godin and others to show you how to think big about your professional goals, take control of your career and finally live the life you want.

Small, tangible signals are only part of the battle, however, the biggest challenge is changing your behavior to reflect your new goals and reality. For over a decade, Dan had worked at a large, international technology company, ascending to the rank of engineering director. But when he decided to leave for a newer tech company with a hip reputation, he realized his résumé had some baggage attached. His previous employer was well-known and respected by the public, but in tech circles, it was viewed as an old-line behemoth, resistant to change and full of stuffy bureaucrats, not exactly the image he wanted to project to his new colleagues. “I had to work to get other people to understand I was comfortable in the new environment,” he says. “It’s a grassroots culture, so I had to start building relationships and trust. It was lots of time ‘managing by walking around,’ being as visible as possible. With anything that smacked of a big company, like having a standing staff meeting, I overreacted against it.”
Dan realized he had to make connections quickly to shape his colleagues’ perception of him, but he was starting at a disadvantage. “I discovered my entire personal network was at [my previous employer],” he recalls. “I decided I shouldn’t be in that situation again.” So he embarked on a networking campaign to deepen his connections both inside and outside his new company, and in the process, build a reputation as a forward-thinking, connected executive who understood industry trends. But there was only one problem: his personality.“I’m a fairly introverted guy,”Dan says.“I hate taking these meetings with strangers, the idea of a meeting that’s not going to help me get the job I have in front of me done, or getting to know people without an action item.”
But he forced himself to persist. “I realized it was important, that by the time you need connections, you can’t suddenly make them. You have to be ready.” These days, while his night-owl engineering team is sleeping in, Dan has a steady regimen of breakfast meetings including “people in my industry at other companies, executive search people, leaders at small companies, venture capitalists, a guy who works on corporate turnarounds.” When it comes to making connections, Dan says, “the biggest change is my default answer used to be no, and now my default answer is yes. I’ve focused on reasons to say yes.”
His networking has paid off. He’s now on the pulse of start-ups to acquire and knows which ones are going down (and from which he can poach talent). He’s made himself indispensable to his company and the furthest thing from an old school, bureaucratic manager. In fact, he’s found ways to play with his background and upend expectations. When he discovered his new company required receipts for all travel expenses above $25, whereas his old firm’s threshold was $75, he shook up his colleagues by letting them know it was less bureaucratic at his old company and suggested they change the policy. He recalls with pleasure: “I could use negative branding to my advantage.” And he knows that if he wants to change jobs in the future, he’s positioned himself with the contacts and branding he needs to land securely.
Find this book: Reinventing You

5 Ways in Which You Can Mickeymize Yourself to a Healthier Life

Posted on October 18, 2017February 25, 2020 by Penguin India

Life is all about the hustle and bustle. Between polarities, we are constantly being pushed and pulled, against our own will, which leads us to being exhausted and emotionally fraught people.
Global leading wellness coach and corporate life coach Mickey Mehta in The Shoonyam Quotient will help you discover your mind and body in a different way as he makes you introspect about the different facets of your life, to become your source of infinite potential. He will also show you how to be neither pessimistic nor optimistic, but optimized-primed to become the best version of yourself.
Here are 5 ways in which you can simplify your life and mickeymize it.
Shoonya lies within you

Set your priorities right!

Dwell on your personal experiences to look for the Shoonyam Quotient

Let your thoughts and intentions be clear

When you are watching, that’s the time, that’s the moment: transformational vortex

So, how are you going to mickeymize yourself?

6 Ways in Which You Can Achieve Your Dreams In 5 Years

Posted on August 29, 2017February 25, 2020 by Penguin India

Peak performance coach Arfeen Khan, who has been long associated with Bollywood, gives you the mantra to turn your dreams into reality. He says 5 years’ time is all you need to make it happen. His approach is practical, effective and can be implemented from day one. He helps you make your own plan, overcome your personal problems and move on a path of growth and change.
Here are six tips to nail success on its head:
Self-belief is everything!

Value all aspects of life equally

Your choices frame your personality

Pressure can bring out the best in you

Passion will push to achieve greater things

Planning always helps!

So, are you ready to take on the world?

5 Times Anne Frank Showed Us How to Not Take Life for Granted

Posted on June 12, 2017February 25, 2020 by Penguin India

The Diary of a Young Girl by Anne Frank is one of the most translated and read books across the world, and with good reason. 13-year-old Anne Frank witnessed holocaust first hand cooped up behind a book-shelf hiding a bunker, and still found hopeful words and the spirit to tell the tale.
Here are five times Anne Frank exemplified why we should strive to see the silver lining in the dark clouds.
“I’ve come to the shocking conclusion that I have only one long-sleeved dress and three cardigans to wear in the winter. Father’s given me permission to knit a white wool sweater; the yarn isn’t very pretty, but it’ll be warm, and that’s what counts. Some of our clothing was left with friends, but unfortunately we won’t be able to get to it until after the war. Provided it’s still there, of course.”

“I long to ride a bike, dance, whistle, look at the world, feel young and know that I’m free, and yet I can’t let it show. Just imagine what would happen if all eight of us were to feel sorry for ourselves or walk around with the discontent clearly visible on our faces. Where would that get us?”

“Have you ever heard the term “hostages”? That’s the latest punishment for saboteurs. It’s the most horrible thing you can imagine. Leading citizens—innocent people—are taken prisoner to await their execution. If the Gestapo can’t find the saboteur, they simply grab five hostages and line them up against the wall. You read the announcements of their death in the paper, where they’re referred to as “fatal accidents.””

“Father, Mother and Margot still can’t get used to the chiming of the Westertoren clock, which tells us the time every quarter of an hour. Not me, I liked it from the start; it sounds so reassuring, especially at night. You no doubt want to hear what I think of being in hiding. Well, all I can say is that I don’t really know yet. I don’t think I’ll ever feel at home in this house, but that doesn’t mean I hate it. It’s more like being on vacation in some strange pension. Kind of an odd way to look at life in hiding, but that’s how things are.”

“After May 1940 the good times were few and far between: first there was the war, then the capitulation and then the arrival of the Germans, which is when the trouble started for the Jews. Our freedom was severely restricted by a series of anti-Jewish decrees: Jews were required to wear a yellow star; Jews were required to turn in their bicycles; Jews were forbidden to use street-cars; Jews were forbidden to ride in cars, even their own; Jews were required to do their shopping between 3 and 5 P.M.; Jews were required to frequent only Jewish-owned barbershops and beauty parlors; Jews were forbidden to be out on the streets between 8 P.M. and 6 A.M.; Jews were forbidden to attend theaters, movies or any other forms of entertainment; Jews were forbidden to use swimming pools, tennis courts, hockey fields or any other athletic fields; Jews were forbidden to go rowing; Jews were forbidden to take part in any athletic activity in public; Jews were forbidden to sit in their gardens or those of their friends after 8 P.M.; Jews were forbidden to visit Christians in their homes; Jews were required to attend Jewish schools, etc. “You couldn’t do this and you couldn’t do that, but life went on. Jacque always said to me, “I don’t dare do anything anymore, ‘cause I’m afraid it’s not allowed.””

These heartrending words taken from the diary of 13-year-old Anne Frank was first published in the year 1947 as The Diary of a Young Girl. The first entry made by Anne Frank was on 12 June 1942 and the last words were written on 1 August 1944, a period of two-years when the Franks were in hiding in Amsterdam.
Anne was determined to tell her story after a member of the Dutch government in exile announced in a radio broadcast from London that once the war ended, he would look for eye-witness accounts of the Dutch people’s horrifying plight in the Nazi regime. He specifically mentioned diary entries and letters as examples. Anne not only wrote her diary but also edited it simultaneously, tuning it to perfection for her readers.
So, here’s wishing the world’s most fearless 13-year-old a very happy birthday. May your words never rest in peace, Anne.

5 Reasons Why You Must Read Sheryl Sandberg’s New Book

Posted on June 8, 2017February 25, 2020 by Penguin India

After the sudden death of her husband, Sheryl Sandberg felt certain that she and her children would never feel pure joy again. “I was in ‘the void,’” she writes, “a vast emptiness that fills your heart and lungs and restricts your ability to think or even breathe.”
In her new book, Option B, Sheryl opens up her heart – and her journal – to describe the acute grief and isolation she felt in the wake of her husband’s death.
Here are five reasons you must read Option B!
A powerful, inspiring, and practical book about building resilience and moving forward after setbacks.

From Facebook’s COO and Wharton’s top-rated professor.

Stories that reveal the capacity of the human spirit to persevere and to rediscover joy.

Resilience comes from deep within us and from support outside us.

We all live some form of Option B. This book will help us all make the most of it.

Do you know of someone who is facing adversity? Are you aiming to build resilience and find joy? Get Sheryl Sandberg’s illuminating new book here!

10 Lessons from Lilly Singh’s Book, “How To Be A Bawse”

Posted on May 18, 2017February 25, 2020 by Penguin India

Lilly Singh is a multi-faceted comedian, entertainer and now an international bestselling author. In her book, HOW TO BE A BAWSE: A Guide to Conquering Life, Lilly teaches readers how to be their own bawse, a person who exudes confidence and reaches goals. Inspired by hilarious and honest stories from Lilly’s own experiences, this book proves that there are no shortcuts to success and becoming a bawse requires handwork and dedication.
Here are 10 of our favorite lessons from Lilly (aka Superwoman) in How To Be A Bawse:

Tell us how are you conquering life.

7 Quotes by The Great Khali that’re Bound to Motivate You

Posted on February 8, 2017February 25, 2020 by Penguin India

The world knows him as the WWE superstar, but most do not know the entire story of Dalip Rana. Born in a small village, his formative years were nothing if not full of turbulence. From leaving his school to working as a daily-wage labourer to bodybuilding, he had done it all at a very young age. Often the subject of ridicule, he was poked fun at due to his extraordinary size. However, a determined Dalip relentlessly pursued his goal of wrestling and such was his passion that he did what no Indian had done so far enter the internationally acclaimed WWE arena!
The Man Who Became Khali is an inspirational, emotional and a no-holds-barred account of a man who not only went on to win the World Heavyweight Championship but also conquered his inner demons and physical anomalies.
This is the story of how Dalip Singh Rana became the international icon – The Great Khali!
He’s lived a hard life and fought hard to become a winner. And that is why there is no one better to motivate us. Enjoy some of the most inspirational quotes from The Man Who Became Khali, written by Dalip Singh Rana and Vinit K Bansal.

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9 inspirational quotes from literature to start off the New Year

Posted on January 7, 2017December 30, 2020 by Penguin India

The start of the New Year is the best time to reflect on the year past and to make a new start, whether in your relationship, your career or even your health. That is why we bring to you nine quotes from literature, which we are sure, will motivate, challenge and inspire you in the new year.