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)
Connect with Karan:
Website/
Facebook / Instagram / Twitter