[Time-Management] Arise, awake and take charge!

 

1st December 2010

Thinking is a habit, and like any other habit, it can be changed; it just takes effort and repetition.

 John Eliot, Ph.D

As we grow up in life, we pick up many habits, some good and some bad. We learn to read and over a period of time if we read more and more, reading becomes a habit. When we are young, we are taught to respect elders and if properly cultivated, respecting elders becomes a habit. We are introduced to coffee or tea and over a period of time, we get into this habit.

Like any other habit, thinking is also a habit. The only difference is that before getting into the habit of drinking coffee we were did not drink coffee; before reading became a habit, we were not reading. But, we were always thinking even before we realised that we were thinking! But what is to be developed as a habit, is the habit of thinking in a `structured way'. We have to develop the following habits with reference to our thinking process:

·         The habit of focusing all our thoughts on one issue.

·         The habit of thinking differently.

·         The habit of `lateral thinking'.

·         The habit of allocating a specific time and place for the `portfolio of thinking'.

·         The habit of involving others in our thinking process instead of thinking alone all by ourselves.

·         The habit of wanting to think and do and doing and thinking!

We have to become conscious of our thinking process as a habit. Many times we do not know what we are thinking about and how much we think. We also do not know how to develop the habit of thinking on the above lines.

Over this weekend, can you spend some time to know how have good is your thinking habit?

N C Sridharan

www.thetimefoundation.com

000

 

__._,_.___
Recent Activity:
MARKETPLACE

Get great advice about dogs and cats. Visit the Dog & Cat Answers Center.

Hobbies & Activities Zone: Find others who share your passions! Explore new interests.

Stay on top of your group activity without leaving the page you're on - Get the Yahoo! Toolbar now.

.

__,_._,___

[Time-Management] Arise, awake and take charge!

 

30th November, 2010

`To conquer, one must first yield'

Winning and conquering is an art and we should do it tactfully and not forcefully. Force and aggression my yield a temporary victory and excitement but will cause and tension. We may win, but the price of such winning could be very dear.

We should learn from bamboo. When you see a bamboo seedling, you will notice it is very thin and fragile and you will not believe that it is going to grow into a very strong bamboo tress. But if you observe the process of its growing, you will notice that it yields to the wind and storm and hence it grew. It grew against all the natural forces which were against it. The same applies to any tree. Next time you see a large banyan tree, just visualise how many storms it would have withstood?

The best navigator of any ship is one who can navigate against wind and storm. He will know when to go with the wind and when to go against the wind, at the same time not losing sight of the shore. Also see a snake charmer and you will notice that he does not use force while handling a snake!

Violence may thrill, but will kill human relations!

N C Sridharan

www.thetimefoundation.com

000

__._,_.___
Recent Activity:
MARKETPLACE

Find useful articles and helpful tips on living with Fibromyalgia. Visit the Fibromyalgia Zone today!

Hobbies & Activities Zone: Find others who share your passions! Explore new interests.

Stay on top of your group activity without leaving the page you're on - Get the Yahoo! Toolbar now.

.

__,_._,___

[Time-Management] Arise, awake and take charge!

 

29th November 2010

I learned that the only way you're going to get anywhere in life is to work hard at it. Whether you're a musician, a writer, an athlete, or a businessman, there is no getting around it. If you do, you'll win. If you don't you won't.

 Bruce Jenner

Success is not an accident. It is a result of systematic application of efforts aimed towards a predetermined goal. Unless and until we accept this principle, we are not going to make it to our dream goal. We may have every resource we need, we may be very clear in our goal, we may be gifted with all the talents and skills required to reach our goal, we may have the support of all the people who will extend all the cooperation and we may be at the right time and place. But the most important question is: are we working hard enough?

If the answer to the above question is `no', we are not going to succeed, period!

To dream is a pleasant experience. But to work may not be pleasant. In fact hard work will be even more painful. Hard work involves determination, focus, self discipline, commitment and a willingness to sacrifice temporary comfort for long term happiness. Many people are not willing to do this and that is why many people are not succeeding. There is no substitute for hard work and it is a simple common sense. Sometime back I wrote about the concept of Deliberate Practice, which was the subject matter of a paper presentation by Dr. Anders Ericsson. This concept says that anyone can become a genius in a chosen field if one is prepared to put in 10, 000 hours of systematic practice in a period of 10 years. This amount of focussed work is not impossible, but very difficult. That is why very few people reach to the level of global excellence.

Before going to bed tonight, ask yourself a frank question and answer frankly: what's my chosen field, what's my dream goal? Am I working sufficiently hard at it?

N C Sridharan

www.thetimefoundation.com

000

__._,_.___
Recent Activity:
MARKETPLACE

Hobbies & Activities Zone: Find others who share your passions! Explore new interests.

Stay on top of your group activity without leaving the page you're on - Get the Yahoo! Toolbar now.

Get great advice about dogs and cats. Visit the Dog & Cat Answers Center.

.

__,_._,___

[Time-Management] Arise, awake and take charge!

 

26th November 2010

Success is achieved by development of our strengths, not by elimination of our weakness.

~ Marilyn Vos Savant

In my NLP workshops, I teach how to overcome limiting beliefs. People come to me with some specific weaknesses such as `I am lazy, I lack self confidence, I am poor, my parents are not rich, etc. It is ok to be aware of our weaknesses, but the problem is when we rationalize and justify our failure as a consequence of our weakness. This is what I call as a limiting belief.

No one is perfect and no one is born without any weakness. If you read the life history of successful people, you will come to know that all of them succeeded not because they did not have any weakness, but because they had some strengths to neutralize their weakness. Einstein had the weakness of dyslexia. But he overcame the same by working hard. Consider the multiple handicaps Helen Keller had. She overcame the same through sheer determination and will power to succeed.

In my time management seminars I used to notice a peculiar situation. Whenever ask the participants to list all their weaknesses, they will be very fast to list almost all their weaknesses. But if I ask them to list their strengths they will be very slow. I have even found some people struggling to understand what it means! The reason is the fact we are very comfortable to list our weaknesses, and may be we are aware of the same. But we do not introspect on our hidden potential and strengths.

You would also have noticed that people are more ready to point out our weaknesses than they are willing to spot our strengths!

Over this weekend, you can do an exercise. List down your strengths and have a strategy on how you are going to use the same. For example, if you are strong in writing, have a strategy how and where you are going to use the same and the outcome you want to have in your life through writing. This exercise will give you the self confidence required to think proactively. On the other hand if you are going to be thinking about your weaknesses only, you will end up with lack of self confidence and poor image.

N C Sridharan

www.thetimefoundation.com

000

__._,_.___
Recent Activity:
.

__,_._,___

[Time-Management] Arise, awake and take charge!

 

25th November 2010

The achievement of one goal should be the starting point of another.

~ Alexander Graham Bell Quotes

Has the best television set assembled? Have we made the best automobile? Have we made the best computer? Have we invented the most effective medicine to cure the most difficult disease? In management people talk about continuous improvement as a tool for growth in order to remain in business. In fact it applies to everyone.

The other day I was listening to Robin Sharma. He was saying that success breeds failure! Sounds interesting? But it is true for ordinary people who consider success as the destination. For the extraordinary people, one success is the beginning of another task. They are not satisfied with what they have achieved. They are focussed on what's not yet been achieved. Anyone who does not understand this simple principle will soon become complacent and the success will into his head.

It is said that Olympic Gold Medallists go through a syndrome called POD, meaning `Post Olympic Depression'. The Olympic gold medal winner gets so focussed and works very hard and wins a gold medal. The winning takes place in a matter of few seconds, for which he would have worked for years all day long. After he achieves his victory, the question is `what next' and for a normal person there is nothing beyond an Olympic Gold Medal. This situation leads to a state of mind called Post Olympic Depression' syndrome. They overcome this by fixing their next goal even more than what they have achieved.

We need to keep moving from one success to another and believe that success is not a destination but a journey. The quest for improving our own performance is very essential to keep our excitement glowing!

N C Sridharan

www.thetimefoundation.com

000

__._,_.___
Recent Activity:
.

__,_._,___

[Time-Management] Arise, awake and take charge!

 

24th November 2010

It is not the critic who counts, not the man who points out how the strong man stumbled, or where the doer of deeds could have done them better. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena; whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood; who strives valiantly; who errs and comes short again and again; who knows the great enthusiasms, the great devotions, and spends himself in a worthy cause; who, at the best, knows in the end the triumph of high achievement; and who, at worst, if he fails, at least fails while daring greatly, so that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who know neither victory nor defeat.

~ Teddy Roosevelt

We live in an imperfect society. In a perfect society, everything will be as they should be. People will behave as they should behave. People will follow systems and procedure. But in an imperfect society, things will not be as we want. People will not behave as they should behave. We will be disappointed at seeing a gap between what we want and what we see.

We have an option to be proactive and do what we can to remedy the situation. This will be difficult and it calls for courage and self confidence. If we do not have this, we can resort to one of the five alternatives: blaming, complaining, criticising, labelling and avoiding. This is easy and causes no tension or stress in us.

You can take any social reformers or individuals who achieved. If you read the biographies of great people, you will see a walking example for the above quotation. They performed amidst worst conditions. They were challenged by non cooperation and lack of support. Yet they made their way.

Life is not about what happens to you. It is about how you respond to what happens to you. In order to respond positively, you need two traits: passion and attitude.  The type of passion a mother has with her children and the type of  `never give up' attitude when her children do not behave the way they should!

N C Sridharan

www.thetimefoundation.com

000

__._,_.___
Recent Activity:
MARKETPLACE

Get great advice about dogs and cats. Visit the Dog & Cat Answers Center.

Hobbies & Activities Zone: Find others who share your passions! Explore new interests.

Stay on top of your group activity without leaving the page you're on - Get the Yahoo! Toolbar now.

.

__,_._,___

[Time-Management] Arise, awake and take charge!

 

23rd November 2010

Focus on being productive instead of busy.

~ Timothy Ferriss

There is a big difference between being busy and being productive. Being busy means doing some work and active. But being productive means producing some tangible result. We get excited when we become very busy and we may even boast that we have no time. But we should understand that all of us get the same amount of time every day irrespective of our social status. But all of us do not produce the same result.

In my time management seminar I give the example of driving a wonderful car on a well laid out smooth road. You may be an excellent driver and you may even enjoy your driving. You may have an unlimited supply of fuel and the car may be the most modern and highly technical car. But what if you don't know where you are going? Or what is the use if you don't arrive at the destination at the right time? What is the use of climbing a mountain and arriving at the cliff only to know that you have climbed the wrong mountain?

In my executive coaching seminar I come across people who suffer the mid career burn out syndrome. They have everything in life, money, material, good family etc. But they are not happy about the result they have produced.

May be it is worth stopping whatever you are doing one day every month and ask the question: where am I now and where I want to be? What is that I am producing out of my time? What is my knowledge and skill and is there anything more productive I can do in my time?

May be you can do absolutely nothing for a day, speak to no one, retire to some place and insulate and isolate yourself. Keep asking the above questions and try to find an answer!

N C Sridharan

www.thetimefoundation.com

000

__._,_.___
Recent Activity:
.

__,_._,___

[Time-Management] Arise, awake and take charge!

 

22nd November 2010

I am not more gifted than the average human being. If you know anything about history, you would know that is so--what hard times I had in studying and the fact that I do not have a memory like some other people do… I am just more curious than the average person and I will not give up on a problem until I have found the proper solution. This is one of my greatest satisfactions in life--solving problems--and the harder they are, the more satisfaction do I get out of them. Maybe you could consider me a bit more patient in continuing with my problem than is the average human being. Now, if you understand what I have just told you, you see that it is not a matter of being more gifted but a matter of being more curious and maybe more patient until you solve a problem.

~ Albert Einstein

I find a huge treasure hidden in the above words of Albert Einstein. It's true that he suffered from learning difficulty when he was a child and no one ever expected that he would succeed in his life.

There are two very important traits discussed in the above quotation: curiosity and perseverance. All of us have the same problem and I don't think that a problem is specifically designed for us taking into account our weaknesses. In fact we may have unique talents and physical features and there may not be another person with our talents and uniqueness. But the external environment in which we operate is identical for all of us.

When faced with problems, we need to become curious as to why is the problem occurring. We need to go into the root cause analysis of the problem. Management experts say that you should ask `why' five times to understand the real cause of the problem.

You need perseverance at two stages, first while finding the root cause of the problem and second while solving the problem. Successful people get excited while facing a problem and the not so successful people get dejected when confronted with a problem.

So be become curious about your problem and patient till you solve the problem.

N C Sridharan

www.thetimefoundation.com

000

__._,_.___
Recent Activity:
.

__,_._,___

[Time-Management] Arise, awake and take charge!

 

19th November 2010

Men are born soft and supple; dead, they are stiff and hard. Plants are born tender and pliant; dead, they are brittle and dry. Thus whoever is stiff and inflexible is a disciple of death. Whoever is soft and yielding is a disciple of life. The hard and stiff will be broken. The soft and supple will prevail.

~ Lao-tzu

I was viewing a clipping from Bruce Lee wherein he says `be like water, my friend, be like a water. If you pour water into a cup, it takes the shape of the cup. If you pour water to some other container, it takes the shape of that container!'.

What applies to water also applies to the air. The air is very flexible. Just because water and air are flexible, does it mean that they are not strong? You know what will happen if the water and air become furious. We cannot stand it!

We have to be flexible in our approach to people's issue while at the same time strong in our goals and ambitions in life. We should follow the golden principle of give and take. Give and take does not mean `you give and I take'! When dealing with others, we have to be appreciative of the just and fair expectations of others.

You take any relationship. Be it between parents and children, customer and supplier, doctor and patient or among friends. When someone asks us to do something, how do we project ourselves? The policy of `I, me, myself' may not build happy and healthy relationship in the long run.

Over this weekend, why don't you ponder over this principle of flexibility and rate your flexibility quotient?

N C Sridharan

www.thetimefoundation.com

000

__._,_.___
Recent Activity:
MARKETPLACE

Stay on top of your group activity without leaving the page you're on - Get the Yahoo! Toolbar now.

Hobbies & Activities Zone: Find others who share your passions! Explore new interests.

Get great advice about dogs and cats. Visit the Dog & Cat Answers Center.

.

__,_._,___
Subscribe to: Posts (Atom)