A Gift to Self by Radhika Kapoor is a little new-age Bible without any spiritual bent or religious ethos. Kapoor, a dentist and entrepreneur who has now turned an author urges people to challenge themselves. Why? Simply because we have it in ourselves to achieve and deliver greatness in every phase of our lives.
Kapoor stated, “We are all health-minded indeed. But we need motivation and upliftment from time to time. Human nature is such that we get into a dark zone many a time. “It is often said that it is not about how many times you fall, but how you pick yourself up and get back into the white zone—whichever, however and in any way and means possible. The mindset, the premise, of A Gift to Self, is exactly that.”
Does the book fall into the self-help category? For the author, the book is a “self-care” one. She said, “I call it a self-care book. It’s about daily reinforcements, constant affirmations, exercising for happiness, doing everything and anything that pleases you. I strongly feel that it’s not about ritualistic, sitting and meditating formats.”
Often these energy-driven books are the outcome of a crisis. As was the case for Kapoor, who found herself becoming the voice of self-awareness, of empathy, compassion and upliftment to her family members during a tough phase in their lives.
Kapoor wanted to create awareness about the importance of emotional quotient and emotional intelligence through her book. She explained, “My son, Shivam, who is doing Masters in Entrepreneurship Managements and Leadership from Babson College, US, told me that they are taught how the basic jobs will soon be taken over by robots. So the future is going to be about emotional quotient and emotional intelligence. And if we reflect on this, it’s definitely a must, for humanity to flourish and survive, to blossom and thrive.”
What we often tend to forget in our race for success, glory, fame and fortune is that for high performance, one needs to introspect about themselves. For if we do not project and radiate compassion, kindness and gratefulness to ourselves and mankind, how are we to progress as a universal enlightened force? So it not only makes complete sense but describes emotional quotient and emotional intelligence buzz terms of 2020 decade onwards.
Fascinatingly, the ultimate satisfaction for Kapoor was learning the art of saying no. She devotes a lot of text to this word and actions related to it. She said, “The moment you say, ‘no’ to others, you say ‘yes’, to yourself. This act brought for me the biggest liberation and the biggest joy. For, we all want our dreams and desires to be realised in life.”
Talking about what was the vision behind writing this book, she said, “I am often asked why I wrote this book. Honestly, life motivates me, people motivate me. It’s a learning curve from those who love me and even from those who don’t love me. Definitely this book is also about the internal synergy that is required for a healthy, balanced personal and professional life.”
When you pick up Kapoor’s book, read any page. What would determine a change in your life is if you choose to implement the lessons. You will see the gracefulness in which your days will progress.