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

 

26th May 2011

Your point of focus will decide your energy level!

`To accomplish more, redirect your mental energy by continuously reminding yourself of all the good things you do right'

Brian Koslow

I was speaking to a group of young executives of a leading automobile company. There was one interesting question which came up for discussion. The question was: what decides our energy level? Sometimes we are at the peak of our energy and at some other time our energy is at the lowest ebb. But in terms of our biology, we are the same. Our body chemicals does not alter so drastically from our to our. But our stamina and energy level keep changing. What is that factor which decides our energy level?

I explained to them the point of our focus will decide our energy level. Supposing we are handling a difficult project which demands all our resources. There are two things we can focus. One is the end result excitement and the other is the painful process which we go through as we work towards our ambitious project. If we visualize how things will look like and how we feel like, we will not be bothered about the painful effort level and the process. On the other hand, if our mind is too much occupied by the painful process, our mind cannot visualize the end result excitement.

When I talk to people who have achieved great results, I was stunned at their ability to mentally live the future even before the future has really arrived. In NLP we call it as `AS IF' frame. In this mindset we do a time progression and arrive at our future and typically live our dream. The more the detail of the dream, the more will be our energy level.

There is one tool you can try to realize what this dreaming means. Think about you very difficult project which is far beyond your present resource level. Visualize as though you have achieved it. Let it run as a picture in your mind's eye. Now take a piece of paper and draw a collage of your dream project. Use as many colours as possible. Make it as large as possible. Use all your creativity. Explain this collage to all your friends and relatives and notice how you feel. Keep this picture somewhere in front of you. In all your free time focus only on this and vivify this scene.

Do this honestly and see what happens to your energy level!

N C Sridharan

www.thetimefoundation.com

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

 

25th May 2011

Do you know what you already have?

`Attitude is a little thing that makes a big difference'

Winston Churchill

We always want something new. We yearn for things we don't have. But we should know the value of what we already have. If we know how valuable are the things we already have, our attitude to those things will be different.

Every day I spend some time in plucking flowers from my garden and offering the same to the God in my prayer room. In my house there are two very old trees called `Nagalingam' and the botanical name is couroupita-guianensis.  It is also called cannon-ball-tree. It's not only a beautiful flower, but also a very rare one. It is considered as very sacred by the Hindus who worship Lord Shiva. Every day I get over a hundred flowers. I have seen this flower in my house for the past fifty years.

I did not realize how valuable is this flower until I browsed the website. I saw a lot of comments on how scarce is this flower. When I went to the flower market I noticed that each of this flower is sold at Rs 10/- ! Not only that. The flower merchant said that since the flower is very rare, unless you order for the same you will not get it. You can log on to the website and know more about this flower.

Next day when I went to the same tree in my house to pluck the flower, my attitude to the flower was completely different! I was more careful in plucking the flowers. When I carried the flower in the basket I felt more proud! I had not felt this way all these years.

Same flowers, same tree, but different feeling! The only difference was in my mind. Nothing changed outside me, but the change was internal.

Next time when you drive your car, think of those who don't have one and you will maintain your car well. Next time when you talk to your parents, think of those who don't have their parents living, and you will respect your parents more. Next time when your children `disturb' you when you are very busy, think of those who don't have children and you will start enjoying such pleasant disturbances!

Remember, unless you value what you have, you will not enjoy its presence!

N C Sridharan

www.thetimefoundation.com

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

 

24th May 2011

The quality of a person's life is in direct proportion to their commitment to excellence, regardless of their chosen field of endeavor.

Vincent Lombardi

Conscious consent….

This morning I was watching a TV Channel and a person was using the phrase conscious consent and the phrase attracted my attention. He was talking about the broader aspects of yoga. He was mentioning that the ultimate end of yoga is to make us conscious about what and why we are doing the various actions.

For doing any action, we need the consent of our mind. I have been repeatedly saying that our mind is the master and our brain is a very obedient servant to the mind. I will even say that the brain is a slave since it cannot do anything on its own. The brain has independent will. It is something like a computer in which there is no software. Or the software is malfunctioning due to a virus which has affected all the segments.

All of us set our goals and all of us also sincerely want to achieve the same. But not all of us achieve our goals the same way. The achievement is a result of the quality and intensity of our commitment to the goal. In most organizations there is a system of target setting and evaluation. People are assigned various targets and they are asked to execute the same with the resources allotted to them. Most of the people will also accept the same. But many do not achieve. There is a gap between what they promised to do and what they deliver. It is not as though they are not capable of delivering what they have promised. If you analyze their lives, in some other portfolio of their lives the same person will be totally involved and committed to what he promised.

Take for example the various suggestion schemes and task forces that are there in any organization. There will be people who will not take part in any of these discussions. It is not as though they cannot be creative or they cannot think in a  different way. If you go and observe them in their personal life, they will be highly creative and energetic. But they don't bring this attitude to their work place. The opposite may also be true. There are some people who are so much involved in their organizational roles. But they will be completely detached in their personal life.

The reason for this incongruity is that they don't consent to what they should be doing consciously. May be their mind is not in that. May be they don't see a compelling reason to commit to the task whole heartedly.

Next time when you commit to do anything, check if your mind is consenting consciously!

N C Sridharan

www.thetimefoundation.com

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

 

23rd May 2011

I have good anticipation, and good reaction to the the ball because I've played so many matches in my life.
Martina Hingis


We all know that we should take responsibility for our actions and lapses. But, will we agree that we should take responsibility for the actions and lapses of others? The answer is `yes'. An intelligent person will do so.

I want to share with you an interesting experience I went through a few days ago. I was travelling in a vehicle along with a few of my friends. We could notice that the driver was not that mature in his driving. We were discussing how to drive a vehicle carefully and what makes a good driver and a good driving.

As we were discussing this, our vehicle was passing through a sharp bend and the we saw a speeding truck just heading towards us just opposite to our vehicle. Luckily our driver avoided a serious accident. Obviously the truck was in the wrong lane.

Immediately our driver was blaming the truck driver and said how that person can come on the wrong side. He also asked us how he can be blamed for the fault of the other driver!

This is where an intelligent man differs in terms of his thinking quality and attitude to others' mistakes and lapses. While we may have no control on others' actions, mistakes and lapses, the most important thing we should do is to anticipate how others will behave. Don't you agree that driving safely means anticipating how the others will behave on the road? Leave alone driving. Take the example of crossing the road. Are we not taught how to cross the road anticipating in which direction vehicles will travel? While we need not be pessimistic that others will make a mistake, we can be careful to anticipate such a situation.

I will put it this way: in any situation the person who is going to be affected adversely will have to be more careful and anticipating. This is a mindset and attitude of mind. If we don't have this mindset, we will walk into one of the traps of blaming, complaining and criticizing.

Over this weekend do a small exercise. Take one experience you went through in which you were affected by someone else' mistake and jot down three points on how you could have mitigated the damage by anticipating how the other person would behave. This is what experience will go you – the ability to anticipate and improve the quality of your success.

N C Sridharan

www.thetimefoundation.com

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

 

23rd May 2011

I have good anticipation, and good reaction to the the ball because I've played so many matches in my life.
Martina Hingis


We all know that we should take responsibility for our actions and lapses. But, will we agree that we should take responsibility for the actions and lapses of others? The answer is `yes'. An intelligent person will do so.

I want to share with you an interesting experience I went through a few days ago. I was travelling in a vehicle along with a few of my friends. We could notice that the driver was not that mature in his driving. We were discussing how to drive a vehicle carefully and what makes a good driver and a good driving.

As we were discussing this, our vehicle was passing through a sharp bend and the we saw a speeding truck just heading towards us just opposite to our vehicle. Luckily our driver avoided a serious accident. Obviously the truck was in the wrong lane.

Immediately our driver was blaming the truck driver and said how that person can come on the wrong side. He also asked us how he can be blamed for the fault of the other driver!

This is where an intelligent man differs in terms of his thinking quality and attitude to others' mistakes and lapses. While we may have no control on others' actions, mistakes and lapses, the most important thing we should do is to anticipate how others will behave. Don't you agree that driving safely means anticipating how the others will behave on the road? Leave alone driving. Take the example of crossing the road. Are we not taught how to cross the road anticipating in which direction vehicles will travel? While we need not be pessimistic that others will make a mistake, we can be careful to anticipate such a situation.

I will put it this way: in any situation the person who is going to be affected adversely will have to be more careful and anticipating. This is a mindset and attitude of mind. If we don't have this mindset, we will walk into one of the traps of blaming, complaining and criticizing.

Over this weekend do a small exercise. Take one experience you went through in which you were affected by someone else' mistake and jot down three points on how you could have mitigated the damage by anticipating how the other person would behave. This is what experience will go you – the ability to anticipate and improve the quality of your success.

N C Sridharan

www.thetimefoundation.com

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

 

20th May 2011

`Stress is nothing more than a socially acceptable form of mental illness'

Richard Carlson

Last week I was addressing a group of Vice Presidents on stress and tension. An interesting point came up for discussion on where is the tension, whether it is in the body or in the mind. There was also a very interesting discussion on where is the aging taking place, whether in the body or in the mind of people. I was trying to explain that there are two different subsystems coexisting, the body and the mind. If they complement each other, we don't feel the stress and tension. But if there is a mismatch between what our mind wants and what our body wants, we undergo stress and tension.

We carry a physical weight on our body. But we carry worries in our mind. We may put on a colourful dress and look attractive externally. But we may not feel well internally unless we enjoy peace and harmony in our mind. We may fall down and suffer an external injury in our body. But in spite of the bodily injury, we may feel perfectly fine in our mind. On some other days we may be perfectly fit in our body, but mentally sick and all our physical energy may be useless.

While I write this I recall a story. Two Monks were going on a street. It had rained heavily and there were puddles of water on the road. The elder Monk saw a very beautiful lady unable to cross the road due to water. So he lifted her and carried her to the other side of the road. The younger Monk was watching this. After both of had reached their monastery, late in the evening the younger Monk asked the elder Monk if Monks can touch ladies for which the elder Monk replied that they should not. Then the younger Monk asked him why he touched and carried that lady in the morning. The elder Monk replied that he left the lady on the road in the morning itself, but the younger Monk is still carrying her in the monastery!

We have to take care of our mental health as well as our physical health.

N C Sridharan

www.thetimefoundation.com

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

 

19th May 2011

Success is sweet: the sweeter if long delayed and attained through manifold struggles and defeats.
A. Branson Alcott

The result of any struggle is always a feeling of joy and ecstasy. Life will be a dull and boring game if there are no challenges to face. Just imagine if there is no opponent in a game of football! Will the players get excited if they score a goal? Or if the opponent team is a weak team, will the winning be exciting?

If things are offered to us in a platter, we will not enjoy the same. Just imagine a hypothetical scenario: Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi writes to the British Government to leave India and immediately the Queen of England agreed and declares India to be independent of the British rule! Do you think that Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi would have become Mahatma Gandhi?

If Mohamed Ali had not faced a Mike Tyson, do you think he would have enjoyed the game? Do you think Cocoa Cola would beam with joy with Pepsi does not fight for a bigger share of the market?

The irony is that want to be glorious, but we don't like the fight! But if we stop and think for a while, struggles are the testing ground to be our very best. Have you heard of the story of a man took pity on a butterfly trying to come out of its cocoon and cut opened the cocoon so that the butterfly came out without the final struggle? The man waited for the butterfly to take its first fight of freedom. But the butterfly had a withered body and shrivelled wings. It never was able to fly! The man did not know that the strugle the butterfly undergoes is the God's design to secrete coating from the body of the butterfly so that the wings will be stronger. Since the butterfly did not go through this process, the butterfly never had a strong wings to fly and was crawling for the rest of its life!

We need struggles and crisis to make us stronger and more efficient. A ship is tested on the high sea and not on the safe waters of a harbour!

Over this weekend perhaps you can do an exercise. List all the struggles you have undergone and think for a while if you would have enjoyed the success if there had been no crisis!

N C Sridharan

www.thetimefoundation.com

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