The Multiple Personality Order

The human brain represents the epitome of all organic evolution on Earth. It forms our feelings, forges our thoughts and consequently governs our actions. It is a harmony of electro-biochemical reactions that render it capable of making the most advanced of computers look hopelessly rudimentary in comparison. 

The role of the brain for any person can be considered analogous to the role that a pilot plays for an aircraft. The aircraft by itself is incapable of flight. It requires the pilot as the controller who plots its course, maintains its speed or altitude, makes it take off or land. Just like the flight of the aircraft, our behavior is controlled by our brain.

Different pilots have different ways of flying. Similarly we can have different behaviors if we allow ourselves to be "piloted" by virtually different brains - something like multiple virtual cores inside the physical core of an advanced microprocessor. By mastering this art, one can induce multiple personalities within himself or herself.

The words "Multiple Personality" normally bring a third word to the mind - Disorder. Multiple Personality Disorder is considered to be a mental anomaly, a disease. I disagree. Moreover, a self induced Multiple Personality Disorder, which I prefer to call a "Multiple Personality Order" can be used to bolster your faculties to levels that you may otherwise be incapable of achieving with just one personality. This is exactly what I did to myself in 2010.

Back then, I was juggling with many issues at the same time. I had multiple priorities that I wanted to address concurrently:

• Maintaining Health: I wanted to to lose excess weight and this meant at least 150 minutes of high intensity cardiovascular exercise every week.
• Studying For GATE: This is an exam for admissions to the M. Tech. courses in the Indian Institutes of Technology. Preparing for it was not exactly a walk in the park.
• Visiting My Friends: I lived in the opposite end of the city so visiting them meant traveling 30 kilometers to their place and spending entire weekends there. And yes, I needed my share of partying too ;)
• Working At Office: I needed meet my boss's expectations at office. This is not something that I wanted to do but something that I had to do.
• Spending Time Alone: This helped me relax. I normally spent time alone by exploring a new highway or eating out in a nice hotel.

Balancing out all the aforementioned tasks was easier said than done. I was not good with time management either. 

It was then that I let my imagination get the best of me. I considered my self to be some kind of a sci-fi spaceship. Within my mind, I assigned different pilots to fly me through the different things that I had to do. Being under control of different pilots at different times clearly meant one thing; I behaved differently when doing different things; and I put my 100% when doing those tasks. The following pilots helped me achieve the balance in 2010:

• Kezunova Schneider: He piloted me when I worked out in the gym, went for a swim or played a game of squash. Any form of activity that was meant to improve my health was taken care of by Schneider.
• Kazan Strignatamuser: The pilot in control of me when I sat down to study for GATE. He would eventually land me at IIT.
• Kez Nikopfmin: The party animal, the one who socialized, the one who placed greatest importance in making me meet my friends. And he was really good at it.
• Kunov-Akun Sharovin: A man of few words. He took control of the cockpit when I was at office and was supposed to work.
• Kurast Vantrinol: He was the one in control when I would hit the highway to explore a new area, or enter a 5-star to try something new to eat.

At any time, only one pilot was allowed entry in my cockpit - my brain. In a way, I forcefully fooled myself to do whatever I did with my full effort, regardless of the state of the other important things. When I ran over a treadmill, I would not think of a pending task at office. Partying hard on a Saturday night did not make me regret it when I would sit down to tackle a problem on complex numbers the following day. Eating at Hyatt Regency would not make me think of how many extra pounds I was packing up.

Even to this day, I can not manage my time. But having many different pilots inside myself to be in command when I did different things produced pleasing results last year. Will the same technique work for me now - with a demanding academic schedule, an injured knee and no money to squander... Nah!