Wednesday, January 22, 2014

Twenty Little Tips!


Here are some simple tips. Don't underestimate their value because they sound simple. They have profound truth.

1. Give people more than they expect and do it cheerfully.

2. Marry a man or woman you love to talk to. As you get older, their conversational skills will be as important as any other.

3. Don`t believe all you hear, spend all you have or sleep all you want.

4. When you say, ``I love you``, mean it.

5. When you say, ``I`m sorry``, look the person in the eye.

6. Be engaged at least six months before you get married.

7. Never laugh at anyone`s dreams. People who don`t have dreams don`t have much.

8. Spend some time alone, everyday.

9. Love deeply and passionately. You might get hurt but it`s the only way to live life completely.

10. In disagreements, fight fairly. Never indulge in name calling.

11. Don`t judge people by their relatives or friends but by their words, actions and companions.

12. Talk slowly but think quickly.

13. When someone asks you a question you don`t want to answer, smile and ask, ``Why do you want to know?``

14. Remember, great love and great achievements involve great risk.

15. Say ``bless you`` when you hear someone sneezes.

16. When you lose, don`t lose the lesson.

17. Remember the three R`s:
a) Respect for self;
b) Respect for others;
c) Responsibility for all your actions.

18. Don`t let a little dispute injure a great friendship.

19. When you realize you`ve made a mistake, take immediate steps to correct it.

20. Smile when picking up the phone. The caller will hear it in your voice.




Tuesday, January 21, 2014

When people say 'Yoiu can't'


Have you sometimes be told by people 'you can't' when you set out to do something? And do you remember how you took these reactions? Either you were discouraged by these remarks and you gave up or you just ignored these remarks and went ahead. And in the latter case, sometimes you might have succeeded and sometimes you might not have. In any of these cases, the, "No. You can't' comments had no real value. They might have had a negative value in dissuading you from doing what you set out to or affecting your performance by denting your self confidence and hence your efficiency.

I came across this quote:

"All your life you are told the things you cannot do. All your life they will say you're not good enough or strong enough or talented enough; they will say you're the wrong height or the wrong weight or the wrong type to play this or be this or achieve this. THEY WILL TELL YOU NO, a thousand times no, until all the no's become meaningless. All your life they will tell you no, quite firmly and very quickly. AND YOU WILL TELL THEM YES."

It is as simple as that. 'Knock the 't' out of the 'can't,' says Norman Vincent Peale.

There is an interesting fact to support the point that no one can say that you are not capable.

As per the aerodynamic laws, the bumblebee can't fly. But it flies! Do you know why? The bumblebee doesn't know that it can't fly because no one can communicate this 'fact' to this poor insect. So, it jolly well flies.

If the all powerful science cannot dictate what a tiny insect can or can't do, why should you pay attention to fallible human beings telling you that you can't do what you want to!

Monday, January 20, 2014

Yet another definition of success

One question for which you will get divergent answers is asking people to define success. You may be surprised at the range of answers you could get from different people.

For some people, it is status quo. 'Let things be as they are. I will be happy'

For some it is change; getting something they want. The thing that everyone wants will range from the trivial to the sublime.

For some, success means happiness but for some, these two are different. There are successful people who are not happy and they are happy people who have not been successful.

Whatever is your idea of success, you need to give it a concrete shape. I read a beautiful definition of success which all of us can use:

Success is the sum of small efforts repeated day in and day out.   - R. Collier

So you don't have to wait for success. Success is not only the end result. It is the process itself.

As long as you are making efforts towards a goal, then you are successful.

Let us celebrate our success by deciding to bring it forth everyday through our efforts.

Sunday, January 19, 2014

When should you give up?

You keep working on your target but you don't succeed. You keep trying but keep failing. So should you continue or should you give up. And if you should give up, when should you?

the following poem by Garth Brooks gives you an answer!

You know a dream is like a river, ever changing as it flows.
And a dreamer's just a vessel that must follow where it goes.
Trying to learn from what's behind you and never knowing what's in store
makes each day a constant battle just to stay between the shores.
And I will sail my vessel 'til the river runs dry.
Like a bird upon the wind, these waters are my sky.
I'll never reach my destination if I never try,
So I will sail my vessel 'til the river runs dry.
Too many times we stand aside and let the water slip away.
To what we put off 'til tomorrow has now become today.
So don't you sit upon the shore and say you're satisfied.
Choose to chance the rapids and dare to dance the tides.
                                                                - Garth Brooks

Do you believe that the river of your life has dried up? Till you are convinced that the river has dried up and there is no water, you should keep sailing. A good tide may come your way amytime and take you to your destination. You just have to keep navigating

Saturday, January 18, 2014

Watch Your Words


When you converse with others, what do you talk about? If you can understand the nature of your conversation, you can have an idea of your attitude and mindset and get a key to progress.

You can start with others. Observe a few people you are in constant touch with. Observe what they talk about generally. You can classify the subjects people talk about into three categories:

Ideas
Events 
People

If the major content of a person's talk is ideas, he or she is likely to be a successful person or at least a person focused on success (success may not have still come to them).

If a person talks more about events, he or she is interested in progress but is not doing much about achieving things.

If a person talks about people most of the time, he or she will be leading a mediocre life giving no thought about progress. There may be two types of people here - those who speak admiringly of others and those who speak disparagingly of others. The first category of people at least know the value of success and progress though they are not taking any action either because of diffidence or laziness. The second category of people are cynical and are not likely to realize the value of work or success. Such people bank on luck to achieve success in their lives. They are naturally jealous of people whom they consider lucky and speak ill of them.

Once you do this exercise with a few people, then turn to yourself. Find out what kind of person you are. Once you realize the pattern you (unconsciously) follow, you can change yourself for the better.

Remember:
“Great minds discuss ideas; average minds discuss events; small minds discuss people.”
                                                                                           - Eleanor Roosevelt

Friday, January 17, 2014

When you feel defeated?

How often do we feel defeated?


'Quite often' will be your answer, if you are like me.

It is alright to feel defeated but the feeling should not be allowed to stay for long.

In olden days, when news was received through letters, there would be some letters carrying good news and some carrying bad news. Many people had the habit of preserving all the letters received because they might need them for reference sometime in future. But people who are sentimental would destroy all letters that carried bad news.

The feeling of having been defeated should be instantly disposed of like the letters carrying bad news.
Getting defeated is a reality. It can't be wished away. But the negative feelings associated with that should not be allowed to stay.

When a boy falls down, he will get up and first dust off the dirt from his body. The injury will be there and so will be the pain. These will go eventually. But the dirt has to be cleaned off. It can't be allowed to stick to the body.

What you have lost is a reality. The damage caused by the defeat is real. But you don't have to live with the feeling of having been defeated. We should focus on our next move just a person falling down would focus on getting his injury healed.

Remember this when you feel defeated the next time. Shrug off the negative feelings like a person falling down will shrug off the dirt that has stuck to him from the fall.

Wednesday, January 1, 2014

The Learning Process


Some of you reading this post may be highly educated. Have you noticed one thing in life?

There is o correlation between success and education. There are many educated people who aren't successful and there are  many successful people who aren't educated. Does this mean that one need not be educated to be successful? No. It only means that you need a different kind of education to succeed in life.

What is this education? You can give it many names but I would call it 'self education.' This is a complicated term but can be understood in a simple way. Self education means knowing what you want, what (resources) you have, what more (resources) you need, what you should do to obtain them and whether you are capable of doing what needs to be done. If your answer to the last part of the question is 'no', you have to think of other options.

Self education involves knowing your interests your aptitudes, your strengths and weaknesses.

Unfortunately there is no uniform or standard curriculum for self education. You have to design you own curriculum and pursue it with zeal and perseverance.

Look around you, identify successful people and study what kind of self education they had given to themselves to achieve the level of success they have. You will get a lot of inspiration.