Iqbal Latif

In fossil evidence, archaeologically visible changes in brain, hand and technology go together but with Homo sapiens it is not so! We humans are a product of 'behavioural modernity;' we epitomise behaviours that are communal among present-day Homo sapiens yet are uncommon among other species.

The Behavioural B’s: blades, beads, burials, bone tool making, and beauty have made us what we are, i.e., language, art, music, religion, ritual, caring for the sick and old, burying the dead, stories, imagination, beauty, jewellery, fishing, kn ives, bone-tools, long-distan ce trade.

Our behavioural modernity split open into a blossom between 80,000 and 40,000 years ago – Why this rupture occurred no one knows. The opening between anatomical and behavioural modernity is one of the mysteries of early man. We are at that similar cusp now in this millennium; we have burst open into a new flowering of progression and development; we need a rethink and debunking of a lot of myths; just do it for the sake of posterity for your future generations.

We are challenged every day by natural forces of 'Creative Destruction' to topple us. We need to ask every morning: “How can I add value to myself, who can I add value to and how can I do it?” To have an 'Absolute Advantage' and a 'Competitive Advantage' in this 'Dog Eat Dog 'world, only speed and agility widely known as 'Judo Business Strategy' will help you.

The secret of our life is quality of your daily agenda. The walls around you are there to be scaled. Staying hungry and foolish are contrasting demands but one can do it; it is the power within that makes people not the external manifestation of it. Internalising strength and hiding it with a cloak of humility is an art. Understatement and humility are two pillars of life, if you are bounded by them, with the help of inner fortitude and knowledge of the world you make it a happier personal self. That is the objective of life: are you content and happy? This is the only yardstick one needs to test oneself on.

Drawing on your inner strength is what makes a person, we as humans face in our generational lifespan 'Creative Destruction;' it is the natural way that decontaminate the vents of human growth; something new out there kills something older. We need adaptation, our philosophies need a new define and our outlook towards the world necessarily needs to change with changing times; don't become the 'junk' that natural phenomenon will clean it way. Talk sense, not drivel; make coherent statements, read coherent thoughts; add History, Geography, Anthropolgy, Literature, Science and Astronomy with any of your favourite subjects as a matter of routine; you will enjoy your little stay far superior here. Dump the myths and legends that your forefathers have bequeathed to you, question and query elegantly, find answers that may satisfy the multiversity of sciences and logic.

Don't spend time to mend the past, rather, train for the future. Learn something new every day. Our ancestors have survived this 'Topple Rate.' This is the new paradigm or a "paradigm shift we live in, our world is shifting around us we need to break this engrained dowel with the past. Stop living in what could have, might have, and should have been. Nations and individuals who are not ready to adapt are toppled. If you practice cave-age rituals in the modern world of connectivity, don't expect miracles, famine, hunger, ignorance and illiteracy will be part of such a redundant stance.

*Always make your learning greater than your experience*: In today's environment, hoarding of knowledge ultimately erodes your power. If you know something very important, the way to get power is by actually sharing it.

*Always make your purpose greater than your money*: No one remembers any rich people in the time of the Masters of Greek thoughts, Socrates, Plato, and Aristotle. Pursue knowledge not wealth, wealth will come anyway through your mind; prosperity of intellect is superior than any enchantment you can ever have. The fact that I can plant a seed and it becomes a flower, share a bit of knowledge and it becomes another's, smile at someone and receive a smile in return, are to me continual spiritual exercises.

*Always make your contribution bigger than your reward*: I always wanted ‘me and mine’ to follow the Greek school of knowledge, tread the footsteps of Socrates, Plato, and Aristotle.

Give before you receive. Serve with dignity, empower people with elegant thoughts. You cannot continue to endure on 'eating someone's lunch;' you have to have your own vision and that is what will carry you through. Before feeling like you deserve a reward give your best, try to become 'essential' without becoming self-conscious of it. Millions of indispensable go away every day to sleep; but 'indispensability within' that does not seek recompense but is weaved around 'I want to be the best in what I do' give a rocket kind of power to your entire enterprise of inventiveness.

*Always make your questions bigger than your answers*: I firmly believe in Socrates's axiom that no one would knowingly do a bad thing; so knowledge is important, because it results in good behaviour; according to Plato, Socrates asked people about what they knew and consistently they had to confess that they did not actually appreciate what was meant by words like courage, friendship or even love.

*Always make your future bigger than your past*: Socrates was poisoned to death on charges that he had corrupted the youth. Among his students was Plato. Aristotle was Plato's most famous student, a Macedonian scientist who studied biology and founded a school in Athens. Aristotle's philosophy replaced his master's speculations with a more down-to-earth philosophy. His main works were logic, Rhetoric, Metaphysics, Ethics and Politics.

*Always make your gratitude greater than your success. Always make your performance greater than your applause*: Innovation of intellect, innovation of contemplation and breaking up of old 'mould' will only help in developing ground-breaking stratagem to live to tell the tale. Seeds you sow today are important, the harvest tomorrow will come if you nurture well today. Be grateful and express gratitude, listen to those who know better, learn from them and stop being obstinate; it is listening, growth and thankfulness that adds up to a proper menu of living.

*...* - Ref. from Sullivan/Nomura's The Laws of Lifetime Growth