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

 

18th March 2010

 

I want to do it… I should do it… I will do it!

 

A rabbit is not supposed to climb trees, but sometimes he must.

Author unknown

 

All along our life, we want to do various things and we don't do them all. As we live our life, our priorities change and we end up doing something we didn't want to. But there are also others who are so obsessed doing what they resolved to do. What is the difference between us and them? It's all a question of mindset. I mean whether we have set our mind on what we want in our life.

 

Just recall the quality of perseverance of Thomas Alva Edison who tested one thousand filaments before he found out which one will be suitable for an electric bulb? Also think of the perseverance of the Portuguese explorer Vasco da Gama who landed on India. Read the biography of Alexander the Great or Napoleon Bonaparte. What motivated them? Did they not have enough reasons to give up?

 

Unless and until we find a compelling reason to do something, we will find a lot of excuses for not doing the same. You will see what you look for. If you look for reasons to do something, you will get. On the other hand if you look for excuses for not doing something, you will get them also. It all depends on where you want to focus.

 

In the process of achieving our goals in life we pass through the three states of minds given above. Unless we resolve that we will succeed come what may, we will not muster all our resources to do the same.

 

Over this week end, list all the things you wish to do one after the other and write them on small pieces of paper. Have three containers captioned:  I want to do it, I should do it and I will do it. Read each item and decide where you want to put the same and place it. Do this exercise honestly and notice what happens to your mindset!

 

N C Sridharan

www.thetimefoundation.com

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

 

17th March 2010

You never change things by fighting the existing reality.  To change something, build a new model that makes the existing model obsolete.

R. Buckminster Fuller

The existing reality is change! Everything around us is changing and we cannot stop the same whether we like it or not. As the management Guru Peter Drucker says, the pace of change is catching up. We have to change or perish. The human tendency is to resist change and wish that everything will be okay. But the reality is that what is okay today will not be okay tomorrow. Look at the technology we are using today and just imagine what will be our life minus these technologies! But all of us resisted the introduction of any new technology until we got used to it.

 

The so called best will become ordinary over a period of time. Next time you watch cricket match notice the speed of the fastest bowler. It will be around 150 kilometers per hour. Some twenty years ago it would was around 140 kilometers per hour? But we accepted the same as the best as of that day.

 

You may not accept that some one else will be better than you in your field. Rate yourself as to how you will be assessed ten years from now in your career. Where will you be in comparison with your competitor? Do you have a skill which will stand the test of time for the next five years? How vulnerable are you to world class competition?

 

I read somewhere that the motto of Sony is "We will make our product obsolete before our customers do so." Just think how powerful is the message they want to convey to their employees and customers! It calls for an extraordinary self confidence to say something like that.

 

Over this week end ponder over your position in your career and think how competitive are you and what is going to be your strategy and effort level to maintain your position?

 

N C Sridharan

www.thetimefoundation.com

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

 

16th March 2010

One's objective should be to get it right, get it quick, get it out, and get it over. You see, your problem won't improve with age.

Warren Buffett

There is a specific mindset which is unique for any successful person. They are restless. They yearn to achieve what they want. They will not rest till they achieve. Their conscious and unconscious minds are totally occupied by the dream they cherish deeply in their heart. This state of mind gives them the focus and concentration they need to accomplish their goals. They are proactive and plan things well ahead of time. They approach the problem like a game of chess. They know what to do if `x' happens and what to do if `x' does not happen. They don't get into the trap of blaming, complaining, criticizing, avoiding and labeling.

They keep the end in mind and are excited by the mental picture that evolves once they achieve their goal. They act from what is called `as if' frame of mind. While they execute their plan of action, they imagine as if they are sure to succeed. Since they are very sure and confident about their strategy, they operate from a position of strength.

Just recall what Jon F Kennedy declared. He said that the first ever person to land on the moon shall be an American. He was definite about it. Mahatma Gandhi was very sure that India will attain freedom through nonviolent means. All the setbacks and struggles did not stop him. They only strengthened his resolve.

If you happen to hear the speeches of great people, you will be stunned at their confidence. Read the ` I have a dream, I have a dream' speech of Martin Luther King and you will know what I mean.

In short: if you want to succeed, become obsessed and restless!

N C Sridharan

www.thetimefoundation.com

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

 

 

15th March 2010

 

"To get your ideas across, use small words, big ideas and short sentences."

John Henry Patterson

 

Communication quality is a very critical quality that we should develop in us. The quality of communication does not depend on the amount of time we speak, but on how we present the same. Our communication is as effective as it is received. In NLP, we have a presupposition `the purpose of communication is the response you get'. You should develop the skill of short, sweet and powerful communication.

 

Next time you watch a television commercial, notice how short and sweet is the communication. If you cannot communicate in thirty seconds, the viewer will change the channel. That is why for a thirty second advertisement, the producer will spend several hours to shoot. Before shooting the script writer will spend several days or weeks to write the script and edit the same several times. The shooting will take several takes.

 

Another quality of good communication is the impact and size of your idea. An idea can change your life. The ability to come out with powerful idea is very important. One way to do this is to meditate. Instead of working for ten hours, meditating on an idea for thirty minutes will make all the difference. Practice complete silence for one day a week and notice the change in your thinking process.

 

Over this week end, ponder over the content of this page and try to implement the same.

 

N C Sridharan

www.thetimefoundation.com

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

 

12th March 2010

It always gives me a shiver when I see a cat seeing what I can't see.
~Eleanor Farjeon

Information is wealth. We need to know a lot of things. We are living in a world of exciting opportunities and cut throat competition. To survive this charged environment, we need to have certain critical qualities. One such is the ability to notice minute things and paying attention to details. Everyday we take a lot of decisions, big and small. All our decisions are based on the information we already have about a thing. But the world of opportunity lies in the area of what we don't know about the thing!

In order to notice the minor details of anything, we need to have the power of focus and that does not come to us automatically. We need to develop the same. When we see a thing, we need to see only that thing and all our attention should be only on that thing. Next time you see a one year old child, see how he sees. You will be surprised to notice the quality of concentration and focus. In fact we were also like that when we were of that age. But over a period of time we lost our power of concentration.

Do a small exercise: stop reading and take a look around the room for sixty seconds; stop looking around the room and write down all that you noticed one after another and give a serial number. Now, again look around the room and notice what you did not notice! You will be surprised to know that you noticed only 25% of the things around you.

This is with respect to the physical objects that you do not pay attention to. What about what you don't notice when others speak? What about the facial expression that you don't notice when others speak?

Develop the habit of focusing all your attention to the job in hand and you will be surprised to see the quality of your output!

N C Sridharan

www.thetimefoundation.com

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

 

11th March 2010

We grow great by dreams. All big men are dreamers. They see things in the soft haze of a spring day or in the red fire of a long winter's evening. Some of us let these great dreams die, but others nourish and protect them; nurse them through bad days till they bring them to the sunshine and light, which comes always to those who sincerely hope that their dreams will come true.

Woodrow T. Wilson

In our young formative years, we received some advice which may not be true or we might not have understood the real meaning. One such advice is `don't day dream!'. In my time management seminars, I encourage my participants to wildly day dream! I encourage them to visualise accomplishing the most impossible things. Creative visualization is a powerful tool in the armory of successful people. They dream the impossible. They are able to `see' themselves actually achieving their dreams in their mind's eye. The mental picture they see is so powerful and excitement that they fall for it. The mental picture is so exciting that they become restless to achieve their dream.

Great people dream great and thrilling goals and nourish and nurture the same through hard work and focused efforts and they are honest and sincere that their dream will true not because they dreamed but because they know that they deserve it.

Spend thirty minutes everyday mentally visualizing your future. See your dream unfolding in your mental world. Close your eyes and concentrate on every detail of your dream. See the people who are involved. Take a snapshot of the dream. Open your eyes and paint a colour picture of the same. Work the details of the pictures. As you keep your eyes closed, verbalize your dream in first person singular like, ` I see myself working hard, am jogging in a cold winter regardless of the difficulty, I see my parents looking at me…. it's two am and I have not slept…. I see my boss appreciating my efforts….' etc.

Do this exercise whenever you don't have anything specific to do and see the result over a period of time!

N C Sridharan

www.thetimefoundation.com

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

 

10th March 2010

 

CONCENTRATION/FOCUS

"I can feel guilty about the past, apprehensive about the future, but only in the present can I act. The ability to be in the present moment is a major component of mental wellness."

 

 Abraham Maslow

This day is a gift to us. That's why we call it `present'! We may wish to change the past. But we cannot put the clock back. Time spent and spoken words will not come back. In my time management seminars I hear my participants say, ` I should have attended this seminar long ago', ` I wasted a mot of my time', ` I feel guilty that I did not do that or this' etc. I used to ask them the question `What if, what next and what prevents you?'.

 

The next problem we face is the `uncertain future'. I do not believe that the future is uncertain. Barring some unfortunate turn of events over which we do not have any control, we can to a large extent design our future. The question is whether we are willing to shed our fear and laziness. If the future is unpredictable, how is that large organizations survive for hundreds of years? Tomorrow is the yesterday you didn't care to plan meticulously.

 

So, by the process of elimination, we have the whole of today in front of us. Start the day with the feeling that it's exciting to be alive. Believe in your ability to muster all your resources to make this day your master piece. At the same time be cautious to match your dream with your present resources. Ask the question: what is the best use my time just now and what's that one thing that I should do today to make my future bright and happy? Ask this question as many number of times in a day as possible.

 

Believe in your abilities to design your own future by acting today!

 

N C Sridharan

www.thetimefoundation.com

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