Being Aware

Though freely moving around the world, we are caged by the burdens of every day life that we fail to see the beauty around us. Most of us are so engrossed in ourselves that we don’t even have time to see rather become aware of the things around us. We don’t have to go to exotic places to find nature’s beauty, just need to aware of the simple things around us like feeling the gentle breeze, enjoying drizzle from the window, watching the men at work etc . These things are not something new, these were the same things that we used to be interested and enjoy when we were kids. And we don’t need to become a philosopher or poet to enjoy these things, just need to bring out the ‘child’ in us. As a quote goes -“There's no point in being grown up if you can't be childish sometimes."

Our daily routine runs on a time table we had set for ourselves. Unfortunately, even the breaks are strictly defined. This routine is so ingrained in our sub-conscious mind, that we do it even without actually being aware of it. In the process of automating the manual task at our work to make our life easier, we have automated our ‘personal’ routine, that we made our life so life-less!! It just keeps running until we interfere. Take a break and just be aware of things around us and enjoy them. These small breaks provide the ‘oiling’ to run the system better.

Sometime when things don’t work out and when life seems be too monotonous or dry, these are few things that we can fall back on for a break instead of breaking ourselves!! Let’s not bury the child-like spirit in us.

Acknowledge the ‘lesser’ people

There are people whom we ‘see’ regularly during routine work – shopkeeper we regularly visit, the auto-Walla at the stand, the receptionist, the office boy, security guy at the office, cleaners etc. These are few categories of people whom we see everyday but not really ‘aware’ of. They do a very monotonous job quietly for us but which may/may not directly impact us.

Just take the case of a security guy working in your organization. You pass by him and see him everyday but really don’t make a conscious effort to notice him and you just go your way. This person does a very monotonous job of standing there around the same place with none to talk. It’s definitely not motivating to stand in one place literally doing nothing. We don’t need give a motivational talk, but why not smile and say ‘hi’ to him? It doesn’t cost anything! This could be the best way we could acknowledge a person doing a ‘lesser’ job than us. This will definitely create a positive impact on him. I say this from a personal experience.

We are fortunate to be where we are. There are lot of people out there doing ‘lesser’ job. Just acknowledging them may increase their self-worth and could even motivate them.

Networking with peers, colleagues, bosses at workplace could enhance our career growth. But just acknowledging people doing ‘lesser’ job will definitely go a long way in building up human relationships!

Smile @ workplace

" Smile - a magic curve on the face needs a positive thought to bend it."
"Let your smile be a mirror – let others see what they already have or what they are missing!"

In this fast paced work environment with ‘succeed at any cost’ value system, cut-throat competition, fast food, quick lunch, frenzied work atmosphere etc there is no time for real meaningful breaks. Preoccupied and tired faces with exhausted energy moving around like robots, forgetting the fact that they are humans are common work place scenarios. Sometimes, even informal interactions happen with formal and expression-less face missing out an important element – a smile.

Take a break and smile. A smile provides a momentary break but albeit a valuable one. Smile not for medical reasons or everlasting health – but to take a break, to make a silent communication or a simple ‘hi’. It’s impossible to think a negative thought and smile at the same time. That magic curve on the face needs a positive thought to bend it!

Fake a smile, until it becomes part of the face. While it’s not possible to maintain a positive outlook all the time, but making sure to lend that smile during that common encounters like meeting someone at their desk, when someone comes to your desk, at ‘hi’ to known faces in that walkway, to the security at the gate, to the office-boy etc .will definitely make a difference. Every time you laugh or smile, you are recharging your batteries and others as well- sending out bouts of positive energy. While you may not do a good deed to everyone everyday, you can do a noble act just by smiling everyday. Everyone’s has their own share of burdens; your smile could be a momentary pain relief spray for them. As H. Jackson Brown Jr puts it “Today, give a stranger one of your smiles. It might be the only sunshine he sees all day”. Let your smile be a mirror – let others see what they already have or what they are missing!

Power of Appreciation

"Nothing is too small to be appreciated. No honest appreciation is too small to make a difference."

Every soul in this world has inner need to be recognized. Appreciation is the inexpensive yet valuable form of recognition. It’s an indicator of effort or the idea or the work being recognized.

Appreciation is morale booster. One never knows what an honest appreciation is capable of doing. When a work cannot be rewarded monetarily, a word of appreciation could be a rewarding one.

Appreciating a person’s effort or work in spite of its failure, really does wonders for the shattered morale. It helps to regain the confidence and propels in moving forward.

When a person appreciates, it shows his/her sense of gratitude, the ability to see the positive effort beyond the failed results, open-mindedness, ability to put him/her self in other person shoes and understand what it really takes to do the work etc. It fosters a good relationship. Anyone will be willing to take a positive criticism from a person who appreciates than from a person who looks for only the shortcoming. A closed mind is incapable of appreciating things.

It just takes a few moments to appreciate but could leave a lasting impact.

Appreciating need not always be restricted to formal atmosphere like cubicles or boardrooms or classrooms alone, it could be a compliment for personal things too like the dressing, a joke, a personal traits, a smile, a positive attitude, a quick response from a customer service, a painting done by a child, good dish in eatery etc.. Each one is unique and special and it’s even more special to look and appreciate the uniqueness.

Nothing is too small to be appreciated. No honest appreciation is too small to make a difference. Look around with an open mind and appreciate with an open heart and create a positive impact! You never know, your simple words could make a positive impact!

Simple Moments

"Present moment is a mystery demystified. Enjoy it."

The beauty of life is that ‘next’ moment is always a mystery. Some of these moments could be unforgettable for any of the reasons - good or bad!
Taking up a positive note, the unforgettable moments are not always moment of glory or achievement or success - though it could be one. Everyone remembers their first success, first winning, first day on job etc but may not remember the consecutive ones.

There are some simple incidents beyond our boundaries we live in, like an unexpected help from a stranger during a travel, unexpected smile from a person we haven’t spoken before, innocent talk of an kid ,kiss of a infant, unexpected gesture of a boss, looking at puppies playing, getting a unexpected personal note from an acquaintance, listening to a beautiful piece of music, a casual conversation with a person that had a big impact on you etc these moments are touching and cannot be described but only be felt and savored in silence. Just being aware will open up to these great experiences!

While looking forward for the big ones, do cherish and treasure these simple ones. When you sum up life, it just boils down to few moments and it could be some of these simple ones!

Present moment is a mystery demystified. Enjoy it.

Move Slowly but Start!

Every effort that make things move, creates an insatiable feeling that propels us to move forward.

Great achievements are made just by starting it. Every small effort that creates momentum will feel great, however trivial it may be.

Consider every step forward as a success. There is a joy to see things move when we put our effort. It’s an experience to be savored. This joy increases the confidence level. This confidence will fight the fear and difficulties that may arise in the journey.

As a Chinese proverb goes by - "Do not fear going forward slowly; fear only to stand still."

Every step forward throws open to us the world of possibilities that we could explore, achieve and experience

Every effort that make things move, creates an insatiable feeling that propels us to move forward.

To experience those wonderful feelings, just Start!

Problem – A learning experience

Problems are like never-ending video game-you don’t finish it, you just keep moving to next level of increasing difficulty

Not a day passes by when we dont come across problems - at work, family, environment, people etc, eveready to drain us out. What could be a "problem" depends on the each individual - Lifting a heavy school bag could be problem for a kid, a nagging kid could be problem for a parent, a troublesome worker could be problem for a boss, but everyone has a problem.

Not everyone handles/could handle the problems in the same way. It varies depending on the individual & environment. Blessed are those souls who don’t consider a problem as problem at all. Unlucky are those who had never had opportunity to face any problem.

But the fact is that if we didn’t encounter any problem in any day, it could be either of the two things - either we knew how to solve it, so we don’t consider it as a problem or we haven’t done anything worth to create a new set of challenge.
The word 'problem' comes for the Greek work problema, "a problem, a question"; literally, "a thing put forward" from proballein, "propose" from pro, "forward" plus ballein, "to throw". Hence, problem need not conjure up a negative meaning. Every problem is a challenge put forward, an opportunity to be capitalized, and a live learning experience.
It’s an essential part of growing up to strengthen ourselves for next level – in words of Darwin; it’s the “survival of the fittest”. It’s the problems that bring out the real inner person in us. It’s our choice to take it up and learn or ignore and perish. Ignoring or running away is the most common solution to face it and it’s the best solution to weaken ourselves!

We may not have solved every problem that came in our way, but merely facing and fighting it, by itself is a great learning experience.As Gaius Cassius says -In great attempts it is glorious even to fail.

Lack of problem is not stability; rather it is lack of challenges.

Elders in family or top execs in an organization do not overreact to a problem, for they have faced many and their learning has made them mature in dealing with these problems. What may appear a problem for young person may not be considered as a problem by elders at all.

Dealing with problem in the right way, unconsciously add to our learning experience, even though we haven’t made any conscious effort to do so. Take a case of workplace situation: There could an issue that may seem to be impossible to solve for a newcomer in the team, but you may just say few steps that would have resolved it. It’s because you have faced it before and resolved it and it was added to your learning experience.

There could be exceptional cases of an eternal problem, like an incurable disease, never ending poverty etc. In this situation, fighting it out is the only option. It may not resolve it, but definitely builds strength within.

As they say, what makes a leader is not what he does when things are rosy, but what he does when in crisis.

The fact is that solving a problem will only provide you a different problem with higher complexity. Problems are like never-ending video game-you don’t finish it, you just keep moving to next level of increasing difficulty! Using cheats may get through initial levels, but definitely will stagnate at particular level and will not able move to next level at all, for there is a learning experience missing.

Go on, face it and Unleash your true (and powerful!) Self!

Farewell - a new Beginning

The word "Fare Well”, I believe means another opportunity awaits you, its time to leave and fare well in new one.

There comes a time in our lives when we have to bid farewell. Most of find us do find it emotionally painful. Especially when it has been a great journey like - doing the work that we enjoyed the most, taking up challenges that made us realize our strength or being with some of the best people around us, sharing, inspiring, motivating and bringing some meaning to our lives etc.

Lucky are those who have sense of detachment in work, hence they do not experience much pain while moving on. Blessed are those who feel the pain, for this pain is the indicator of self involvement - our sincerity, hard work etc. More involved we are, more attached we become. More attachment more pain.Yet we need to move on and there is a long distance to be covered in short time. In this long journey, the pain should be a milestone, but not become a dead end.

Farewell does not just mean an end of a phase; it does also indicate a beginning of a new journey. Farewell- The word by itself says "Fare Well”, I believe means another opportunity awaits you, its time to leave and fare well in new one.

There lay an unexplored world awaiting you - great people to be met, challenges to be taken up, joys to be experienced and peaks to be scaled. Just keep moving on.Time is a great healer and it would heal this pain too.

In this fast dynamic world, the healing too is faster. We will be missed and we would be missing too. But looking back after few years these would have become sweet memories to be cherished. Also in this highly connected world, is staying in touch is as simple as click of mouse or mobile key pad. Even the connecting devices (mobiles & computers) are changing and moving on to next phase. Then why not us?

Just move on to a new beginning and Fare Well!!

Letting it go

Take up new opportunities and move forward and be happy or hold-on to the same old things and stay where you are and regret later

Often, there comes a time in our life where we need to let go off the things that we cherished the most. It could be leaving our friends to travel abroad, a new role in the job from existing one, leaving the team to join another team, leaving something that we had passionately created to taken care by someone else etc. Some of it would be so close to heart that we unknowingly become possessive about it especially when we had worked so hard to get it done. Its a very difficult situation to be in. But choice has to be made. Being the same place or doing the same work because of emotional attachment, is definitely not a good idea in the long run. It in-fact would create monotony and boredom and could be fatal in reaching our long term goal.

We live in a very dynamic world, where change is the only constant. If we dont change at the right time, then we would be forced to change at the wrong time. With every change, there's a whole set of new responsibilities, new challenges, new faces, new opportunities to be explored. Holding on to the old things because of emotional attachment, may definitely not be a good thing, as it would be difficult to concentrate on both the things at same time, ultimately screwing up both.

What we need to understand is that we might have been provided a new opportunity like - change in work, travel abroad for higher education, new assignment etc because of the good work we have done in the current level, and its only expected that we move to next level. We never know, such a move could be a catalystic change in reaching our ambition or long term goal.
You have done a good work, let it go when the right time comes to take up the next one.Who knows you could be the missing piece in the jig-saw puzzle?There are more opportunities around calling you.Take it up and move forward or hang on to old one and stay where you are and regret later.

Emotional Compartmentalization

The work and family should be like rail tracks - together but parallel and never meeting at any point, to enable smooth journey in life.

In our day to day lives, we don atleast more than one role- family and work. Some of them even more. Each role has its own set of problems and needs a different way to handle it. Never mix up this both or never let the problems in one role to affect another. In other words, compartmentalize your emotions. Store up anger,tension,anxieties,sorrow of each role in separate compartments - for family,work and other roles.Its tough but doable.

Most of us carry the problems of work to home and vice-versa, thereby ignoring the support/comfort/joy the other role provides, creating discomfort to people around us. A selfish behavior - making others suffer for your problem they have no idea or no control.

The work and family should be like rail tracks - together but parallel and never meeting at any point, to enable smooth journey in life.

Emotional compartmentalization enables us to focus our energies on tasks in hand channelizing it in right direction. If we were to mix up family problems at work and vice-versa, it would result in lack of focus in either of the problems, building up the burden.

Everyone has their own share of problems and they definitely dont need yours !! Leaders (more so soldiers!) engage this art of emotional compartmentalization to carry out their task in hand.It creates an emotional stability in handling the tasks at hand. What if your boss vents out his anger on you because of his family problem?What if our parents do the same because of work tension? Is that acceptable?

Its may not be possible everytime to compartmentalize, especially if the problem is too big for us to handle and drain us out,but it should be an exception case, but not a rule!Once in a while its ok as it cant be helped!

Leave your workplace problems at your doorstep when you reach home to take up other role. Similarly, leave our family problems as you swipe in your ID card at your workplace. There are challenges in store for you.

Its inspiring to be You - the Unique Self

In this world's stage, being ourselves will make us heroes, being someone will only make us mimicry artist - just to be laughed at !

One of the very very few things in this universe that cannot be duplicated is You - i.e. being one's self. Our Self is a combination of capabilities, appearance, environment, interests, talents, joys ,struggles, people around us etc. Each of us have our own way of handling things. Its impossible to find another person who has lived in the same combinations as you.

Billions have come and gone and yet there is none like you. Fingerprints in our own hands are not the same, nor are the power same in both our eyes. For this earth, there is one sun, one moon and the one-unique You.

Alas, some of us tend to ignore this fact and pretend to be someone else wasting the whole potential of being one's self. There was and will always be only one Aryabhatta, one Charaka, one Leonardo Da vinci, one Einstein, one Mozart. There are a lot of things to get inspired, motivated and learnt from others, but it must only be learning not imitation! Learning expands our knowledge and experience, thus expanding our uniqueness.

Take a simple example: If a music composer copies or picks up a track another source and uses it for different film, do we still call him a learner or copycat? Do we still call him genius?? From that moment, doesn't he loses respect? The same applies when we also try to be someone.

The universal truth is that, there are people to like you, appreciate you, accept you as you are! Pretending will only demean one's unique (and great!) self.

With all the flaws and greatness, weakness and strength, stupidity and intelligence - You are the only one! You are where you are now because only you can fill in the gap in your family, fill the gap in the workplace, fill the gap in someone's life. In short, you are the unique missing piece to complete the jigsaw puzzle in life. So, just be You. Its inspiring to be You!

In this world's stage, being ourselves will make us heroes, being someone will only make us mimicry artist - just to be laughed at !

Perfect Situation??

There is nothing called a Perfect situation, only a perfect excuse

Most of us wait for things to get better before taking action.The truth is that if we keep waiting for it, we would be waiting forever. There is nothing called a perfect situation,maybe I would call it a perfect excuse!. Taking time to analyze the situation to take right action is fine, but waiting for a situation to get better to take any action is procastination. Its the process of delaying things because of fear of failure. In other words, a perfect(proper/right/approriate..whatever the term maybe) situation is not the circumstance but our attitude to face the situation. Its the only way to move forward.A soldier cannot wait for a such situation in a war nor can CEO in crisis period.

Everyone of us face such situations in our daily lives.Its a challenge thrown at us.An action needs to be taken.No matter whatever action it is,however small it is, it would definitely make the things move forward, leaving us more confident,stronger and motivated.These small actions fuel us to take on bigger challenges, building our inner strength and confidence and in turn build others' confidence in us. And this defines our leadership. It just requires just one quality - ATTITUDE. What makes a leader is what one does in Crisis and not when things are rosy!

In worst case, even if the action we have taken is wrong,it does gives an invaluable learning called Experience.

A Personal realization on this New Year 2010 – Acceptance and Hope

Like many, I was into deep retrospect of the just gone year 2009. Was deep into thought, when I realized that, while most the professional and family related wishes were fulfilled, my personal wish-list was totally untouched. All the items in the wish-list had financial strings attached to it. I realized that my personal financial commitment had totally taken me off my sight rather thought of my wish-list! There was an element of pain and frustration but too feeble to voice it out. Every moment I thought about it, there was such a negative feeling of frustration and pain – similar to a child crying when pulled off lollipop from its mouth! There was nothing I could do about it as none those things were in my control and I had other important priorities. After some quiet moments and self-consolation (just short of tears), I realized I had to accept the things that cannot be changed. It is better said than done! It wasn’t easy and it did take (and still taking!!) some time to accept it. Fretting over it again and again was kindling my negative emotions and it is definitely was not good for me and people around me. A good part of the New Year day was gone fighting over it. Can’t afford to lose the remaining part of the day!

As I slowly started accepting it, there was a kind of instant calm inside me. Did I bury my wish list?? No way..! I did feel like burying it but then it was something so close to my heart that I just couldn’t do it. It’s just became this year’s wish-list with the hope that it would be full-filled.

Most of us may have faced similar kind of situation. Acceptance of past will create a burdenless present and Hope for a better future.