10th March 2011
I am determined to be cheerful and happy in whatever situation I may find myself. For I have learned that the greater part of our misery or unhappiness is determined not by our circumstance but by our disposition.
Martha Washington
I head a school in which around 2300 children study and most of them belong to lower middle class families and most of their parents are not highly educated. Within a few years of starting the school I realised that the real issue behind poor performance of children is not that the children are not intelligent, but their mindset. Children who are mature and who can think for themselves are able to fight any crisis.
In my three decades of mentoring and training in various organisations I realised the same. I have seen people who join as ordinary operators raise up to the level of General Managers and Presidents, not because they are gifted, but because of the mindset.
The more and more I though about the mindset factor the more I got convinced that one should spend a lot of time in self development. Personality and character building assumes a lot of importance in the era of change and competition. We cannot change the circumstances around us. Threats and opportunities in the outside world are the same for all of us. Recession is common for everybody. But all are not affected by recession.
It is not the circumstance around us which is important, what is even more important is how we handle the same. Crisis will take place, friends may let us down, customers may leave us, recession may threaten our business, and government may come out with tougher laws. All these are not in our control. What is in our control is to improve our personality to handle the unexpected events.
Why don't you do a small check? Over the next one week, jot down the number of hours you invest on your own self development and check if it matches the challenges you are going to face in your life.
N C Sridharan
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