This is one of the most significant learnings from our Forum Senior Leader, Mr. Gopal Rao, who explained that every 30 minutes, you need to plan your work or life. Every 30 minutes, you need to keep up that integrity ex: This morning, from 8:00 am to 8:30 am, I promised myself that I would practice piano, and I have to ensure that I keep that integrity when I start to keep up this 30 minutes of integrity we will feel more powerful, we will feel good about ourself and we will also be motivated to do more good job and keep our mind body and soul happy. So Keep up this 30 minutes of integrity every single hour and do the donkey promises.
The first time I heard Gopal Rao speak about Donkey Promises, I couldn’t help but smile. He said something that didn’t sound fancy or profound at first, but it went straight into my bones. “We don’t need to do bigger things to maintain integrity or build discipline. Just keep the smallest promises. Even a donkey can keep them. That’s why we call it a Donkey Promise.” That line stayed with me like a whisper in my everyday life. For years, I had tried chasing discipline with big declarations, massive vision boards, and powerful goals. But the truth? I was slipping—not because I didn’t have the passion or clarity, but because I didn’t honor the little things. I would set big goals and then disappear the next day when life got in the way. That’s when it hit me. Maybe I didn’t need to go big. Perhaps I just needed to go small—consistently.
To emphasize the importance of integrity, it is essential to consistently maintain your commitments. You should uphold your promises, which means dedicating 30 minutes to integrity regularly. The donkey promises to be repeated 100 times without any breaks or changes. Once you master the routine, you will have developed it and completed 100 repeats of your Piano or Guitar practice or singing.
Gopal Rao also informed us to audit every 30 minutes of your life during our working zone hours where you are active; you have to plan your day, and every 30 minutes, you need to check if you are standing for your integrity or not, if not then work on it, reschedule it and make it complete. He says that by following this, you will feel full at the end of the day and be free from worry. There will be emptiness, and you will be blank when you go to bed.
He also advises people who want to do more than the first thing to develop the necessary muscles to achieve their goals. Until you have that muscle within you, how can you do more? So for musicians or entrepreneurs, there is no holiday. They have to work 365 days, and they have to be available 24/7 when the team needs them; this is a fact, and if you do not develop that muscle of consistency and effort, you will not be able to work on it, so grow one by one in small, then increase, develop daily practice and daily inputs and efforts on the goal which you want to build.
Starting today, begin your 30 minutes of music integrity practice and 100 repeats of the donkey promise and type. In the comment box, the one key promise you are doing now!
A new beginning and a new kick-off to achieve more and more!
