Why you shouldn't take up a New Year Resolution

I hope you had a great 2013. This is the time of the year when the arrival of the New Year is looming large and people are planning their lives ahead. All this ultimately manifests itself into a frustrating concept called the ‘New Year resolution’. I don’t have the statistics to corroborate my conjecture but I am pretty sure that the best-laid plans fall apart and the resolution, which starts off by an ebullition of positive energy, loses steam and year after year, these resolutions aren't fulfilled.

IT'S THE JOURNEY NOT THE DESTINATION

What will happen if you ignored your goal (which you are trying to achieve through your resolution) completely and focused solely on the process of achieving it? Chances are that you will be happy, nay, anxiety-free while simultaneously fulfilling your ambitions.

 I want to lose 10 kg. I want to write a book. I want to learn a new language. It’s great that you are forming these goals. Goals are important; they bring a sense of purpose in life. But when you get obsessed about them, you are subliminally delaying happiness. I will lose my flab, then I will rest. Let me once get over with this book, then I will be happy. All these thoughts lead to dissatisfaction and take the enjoyment out of the work.

  So, try this. Suppose you want to lose weight during the course of the next year, and by the end of 2014, look slimmer and fitter than ever. Forget the numbers and devise a workout schedule to realize your dream of a lean-and-fit body. Be obsessed about sticking to your schedule and not missing a single workout.

THE SEINFELD STRATEGY

Regarded as one of the top 100 comedians of all time by comedy central, Jerry Seinfeld is one of the most successful comedians, writers and actors of his generation. He is the co-creator and co-writer of Seinfeld, widely regarded as the greatest sit-com of all time. Here is the Seinfeld strategy- get a big wall calendar that has the whole year on one page and hang it on a prominent wall. The next step is to get a big red magic marker. For each day that you adhere to your schedule and complete your designated tasks for the day, put a big red X over that day. After few days, you will have a chain. Just keep at it, and the chain will grow longer every day. Your only job is not to break the chain.

START BEFORE YOU ARE READY

 You will notice that Seinfeld does not say a thing about results. Actually, they don’t matter at all. All you have to do is turn up every day and start working. Inspiration and motivation are over-hyped parameters which do not feature in the equation. Start before you are ready. The problem with a thing like a New Year resolution is that we attempt to achieve something which is really out of our grasp. The only way around this is to follow your schedule come what may in order to gain the necessary skills. DON’T STICK TO YOUR GOALS. STICK TO YOUR SCHEDULE.

               

 I hope this little sermon of mine helps you put a step ahead en route to your goals. May God bless you with love, happiness and the fortitude to face the challenges that come knocking at your door. The writers of The Maverick Take wish you a very happy New Year!

P.S. : This post is largely inspired from James Clear’s blog. Here is the link-                                http://jamesclear.com/

Living by the Creed

                As far as gaming series go, we have seen countless instances of the sequels failing to live up to their predecessors. And then, there are some that simply blow us out of the water and make us fall in love with them-title after title. Assassin’s Creed, one of the most decorated games ever made is one such brand. So much so that to its ardent followers, it is something they swear by.

             As vast as my gaming repertoire is, I hadn’t delved into the AC series until this November. My friend Ritesh introduced me to the world of Assassins and as I give you a review of sorts, I’d also like to take this particular opportunity to thank him. It became clear exactly why this game is regarded as one of the best ever.

Master Assassin Altaïr Ibn-La'Ahad

               It is just about the perfect mix of everything. Stealth, combat, intelligence, investigation, tactics and, of course, pure fun. Add to that a captivating plot-one that really makes you introspect- and you’ll be locked to your screen for hours on the end. You step into the shoes of Subject 17, Desmond Miles, and through him, with the help of the Animus machine, live through the memories of Master Assassin Altaïr Ibn-La'Ahad, in a bid to regain his lost status and redeem himself from the crime of breaking all 3 of the commandments of the Assassin Order, namely-

1.     Stay your blade from the flesh of an innocent
2.     Hide in plain sight 
3.     Never compromise the Brotherhood

Hide in plain sight

The Assassins also live by the doctrine,” Nothing is true. Everything is permitted.”

Sent on a mission to recover a certain Templar treasure, Altair, in his arrogance and misinterpretation of the Assassin doctrine, slays an innocent man, enters into an open confrontation with the Templars, leading to the death of one of his comrades and an attack on the Assassin City of Masyaf-breaking all three of the Assassin commandments. Although, as punishment for such a crime, the Assassin in question is executed, the Assassin leader, Al Mualim, recognizing Altair’s potential, makes a rare exception for him, demoting him to the rank of a novice and offering him a chance to absolve himself. And so begins our journey.

The Hidden Blade- your enemies will never see it coming.

 Altair is instructed to assassinate nine members of the Templar clan, the rival order to the Assassins in order to return to his former status. Set against the backdrop of the 3^rd Crusade in the 12^th century, Assassin’s Creed offers as historically authentic a gaming experience as any I have seen. The cities of Jerusalem, Acre and Damascus are intricately detailed, so is the combat and the factions of Saladin and Richard the Lionhearted, the Hospitallers, the Teutonic Knights and the Knights Templar. You need to get up to high places, or viewpoints, to reveal more of the map. Then there’s eavesdropping, stealth assassinations, blending in the crowd to escape the notice of the guards, pickpocket missions etc. to gain intelligence on your targets and some pretty awesome sword fights. Everything about this game is so authentic that you never for a second feel that this wouldn’t have been possible back then. Its as if you're playing through a historical chapter and not a work of fiction. And then there’s my favorite part, the leap of faith- to demonstrate the Assassins’ unwavering courage. 

The sword fights are challenging and fun

Enough said.

Altair is a likeable, plausible and to an extent, engaging character who, despite his abilities, is not above the human fallacies of arrogance and complacency. He is someone you can relate to. There is a lot to learn from this game as well. The plot centers around two ideologies to achieve world peace-the Templar school of thought, which seeks to control while the Assassin order preaches peace by knowledge and reason. It also cautions you against the dangers or thinking yourself above criticism, arrogance and blind faith. The plot and the story actually forces you to think and reason, and teaches you something- unlike most titles.

On the down side, the game-play does tend to get a bit repetitive, which may irk some impatient gamers, but that’s the only real complaint anyone can have with the game. All in all, the first title in AC series is one helluva experience and at the end of it, all you want to do is delve into the next one. So those of you who haven't played this one, don't wait. Take the leap of faith.

That's all for now, safety and peace.

Sycamore Row by John Grisham - A Review

                With John Grisham, expectations are always high and to his credit, he has managed to deliver every single time, barring a few which was nothing more than a blip on his exceptional repertoire. Now, the master of legal thrillers presents the sequel to A Time to Kill, his maiden novel, which has garnered immense critical acclaim and love from readers alike, and is regarded as one of the most important works in popular fiction in recent times. Does the much-awaited sequel score over its predecessor? Keep on reading to know more.

                “In Mississippi, everything is about race, don’t ever forget that,” says Lucien Wilbanks, the eccentric gaffer, to Jake Brigance. Yes, racism is the theme again. Set three years after the dramatic trial of Carl Lee Hailey, Grisham takes us back to the fictional town of Clanton in the fictional Ford County, Mississippi.  Jake has a small rented apartment as his abode; his old Victorian home having been burnt to the ground by some fanatics of the notorious Ku Klux Klan. Business is slow and Jake is still a struggling street lawyer.

                The action jumps off from the first page itself. Seth Hubbard, a millionaire and a dying cancer patient, hangs himself on the piece of land once known as Sycamore Row. But not before bequeathing almost his entire fortune to his black maid and cutting out his family out of the will, except for his brother Ancil Hubbard. ‘Fight them Mr. Brigance, to the bitter end. We must prevail,’ says Seth Hubbard, in his suicide note, to Jake. The lawyer, out of the blue, finds himself embroiled in a racial controversy, where passions are soaring and the stakes are high. The will, if it steers past the storm of the courtroom, will leave a black woman as the richest person in Ford County in its wake. Too much to accept for the fuddy-duddies of the rural South.

               

                Once the milieu has been set, the events start unfolding at a tremendous pace. The town is abuzz with rumours and unscrupulous lawyers are circling like hawks, each of them wanting a slice of the proverbial pie. The pace of the story-telling is very high and the reader will enjoy the adrenaline rush stemming from the twists and turns and tantalizing moments which are so trademark Grisham. The sleazy divorce lawyer Harry Rex Vonner and Lucien Wilbanks are involved in the action as well.

                But what takes the total reading experience a notch higher is the final twist, where the suspense is unravelled and the mystery surrounding Seth Hubbard’s shocking decision of putting his entire fortune in the hands of his maid is decoded. As I mentioned earlier, Seth commits suicide on a particular piece of land which is the title of the book but that’s not why the novel is named Sycamore Row. The end is unpredictable, even for seasoned readers of thrillers.

                The mind-boggling twist at an unexpected juncture is the forte of Grisham and he manages to concoct plenty of them in this novel. Comparisons to A Time to Kill are imminent. However, in spite of the excellence of the book, a lack of depth is palpable. A cold-blooded murder by a black vigilante is always going to be more tense than a will contest. There are no madmen from a chauvinist cult nor is the sense of responsibility as a lawyer on the part of Jake as strong as was in the Hailey trial. Though the novel doesn’t disappoint, it doesn’t exceed expectations either.

                 If you are an aficionado of courtroom dramas, do not miss Sycamore Row. It provides 550 pages of high-octane entertainment and if you loved A Time to Kill, you will love this one as well. Watch the book trailer here-