Learning's from Guru's

Dedicated to all Guru's, Coaches, Mentors Teachers, Advisers and Counsellors... See a mistake, as a mistake not as yours or mine, for mine brings guilt and yours brings anger only realization brings improvement.

What's POISON?

Anything which is more than our need, could be anything power, wealth, hunger, greed, laziness, pride, anger, ambition, love or hate...! As said by Hippocrates, “everything in excess is opposed to nature” and there is a lot of truth in his saying. Nothing in excess is good. For example, if you have money in excess then you turn into a spendthrift and never understand the struggle of a pauper.

What's FEAR?

Non-acceptance of uncertainty, which is truly, inevitable... When we accept this reality, life becomes an adventure. Success comes not from having certainty, but being able to live with uncertainty. Fear is caused by the uncertainty of the future.

What's ANGER?

Non-acceptance of things beyond our control. When we accept this truth, it becomes tolerance. For every minute you remain angry, you give up sixty seconds of peace of mind. Every day we have plenty of opportunities to get angry, stressed or offended. Speak when you are angry - and you'll make the best speech you'll ever regret.

You will not be punished for your anger, you will be punished by your anger.

What's HATRED?

Non-acceptance of a person or thing, for who he/she is or it is. When we accept people or things unconditionally, it becomes love. Our lack of forgiveness makes us hate, and our lack of compassion makes us hard-hearted. Pride in our hearts makes us resentful and keeps our memory in a constant whirlwind of passion and self-pity. We may not know what each day has in store for us. We could be gone tomorrow. Any minute could truly be our goodbye. But we do have this moment. This time. Today. Right now. It takes way more effort to shell out hate then it does to allow love to flow freely in our lives. After all, it's what we were born to do.

The Inner Core, and the Attitude

Cheers!

The world has many qualified, smart, skilful people who made it big, real big in life, so big that they head positions of CEO's of large organizations, hold positions in world organizations, governments etc., and some even go to become great business people.

There will be articles, news, books on them, and or books they've authored.

Their accomplishments, their achievements, their wealth, their stature are there for all to see. All of this will give us great lessons on how to become successful, and indeed these will be the lessons taught in "B Schools," too. Business will award them, governments would award them, praises will be sung on them and they can easily become role-models for young to follow and perhaps emulate.

All of this is fine indeed, but, the biggest and the truest learning for us would come, if ever any one were to be asked "Which is the biggest failure you met, or encountered in life, how did you overcome it and what's the lesson you learnt, from it?"

We all know how to carry ourselves when we succeed, but, very few will have the capacity of falling from their glory, failing in what they do, and then rise, to gain everything the lost.

That is the one question that can spell out their "inner strengths," their "inner core," and their character. Just a very few people during their lifetime come anywhere near exhausting the resources dwelling within them.

There are deep wells of strength that are never used. A truly strong person does not need the approval of others any more than a lion needs the approval of sheep.”

Above all these characteristics what will be revealing of that person is what their "attitude," of self and how they dealt with other, in good times and also in those troubled times. No matter what kind of challenges or difficulties or painful situations you go through in your life, we all have something deep within us that we can reach down and find the inner strength to get through them. Attitude is a little thing that makes a big difference. People may hear your words, but they feel your attitude. Adopting the right attitude can convert a negative stress into a positive one. A positive attitude can really make dreams come true. Life is not about waiting for the storms to pass. It’s about learning how to dance in the rain.

Fundamental Focus

Technologies are advancing at the speed of light and to keep pace we all are hastening to learn new skills.

We can get ahead, in all aspects of life because, the belief is our fundamentals are built of universal, pragmatic, logical and timeless principles.

From

Accounting to Astrophysics,

Blooms to Bombs,

Computer Programming to Construction, Education to Engineering, Fishing to Fire Fighting,

Rock Climbing to Rocket Science

Raising Kids to Raising Capital,

all of this consist of fundamental principles of which each and every fundamental counts.

Succeeding therefore is a natural consequence of consistently applying the basics - they are fundamentals.

As much as foundations anchor a house or a multi-storey to the earth, or the roots of a tree going deep down into the earth holding it up to stand tall and grow as much as holding it down to stay rooted.

A well-constructed rock solid foundation will last not just one life time but several life times, whereas a poor one is always unstable and threatening. These firm foundation principles applies to every aspect of our lives too.

Like everything of quality is used for durability, constructed carefully, patiently, lovingly to ensure a proper end result, so it is in real life too. There's nothing new under the sun.

Fundamentals are the same for all.

The fundamentals of investing in,

accounting,

raising kids,

science,

mathematics,

physics,

chemistry,

biology,

zoology,

sociology,

are still the same.

How we take care to build them fundamentally to make it count makes the difference.

How some get ahead of others is the amount of time spent and care given to build it.

No point comparing, best thing to do would be to see how others do it and learn.

1.   Fundamentals come first

2.   Fundamentals are simple

3.   Fundamentals require patience

4.   Fundamentals must be mastered

5.   Fundamentals require patience

6.   Fundamentals are universal

7.   Fundamentals never change.

In times of high uncertainty, professionals should understand they must be focussed on the key fundamentals, which shape their careers and business landscapes at large.

The same applies to us individuals too, hence one must never choose fad over fundamentals.

Fundamentals are really basic, and may not seem all that important, are because of the proven fact that everything else can be built on strong foundations - Fundamentals.

I repeat, never choose fad over fundamentals.

Life become so much good when we have our fundamentals built on

CHIPS -

Character

Honesty

Integrity

Purpose, and

Sincerity.

Developing a true and solid character and finding unique traits that belong to only you is a foundational thing. Humility is the fundamental principle that builds up greatness. Arrogance on the other hand never brings anything good. When you are humble, you’ll learn to become better.

The fundamental tragedy about life is that those who possess it often are not aware of its value.

Ultimate Utilization of Resources

This is a story from Buddha.

One day a young man came to Buddha and told him "My robes have become old, I need a new one."

Buddha saw it was very old so he asked one of his disciple to give him a new one.

The young man got it, wore and went to Buddha to show it to him.

Buddha said "Good. And ok, tell me what did you do with the old one?"

Young Man : "I used it as a bed spread!"

Buddha : "Then what did you do with the old bed sheet?"

Young Man : "I used it as a window curtain!"

Buddha : "Then what did you do with the old window curtain?"

Young Man : "I used it for wiping the floor!"

Buddha : "Then what did you use the old floor wiping cloth?"

Young Man : "I used it for wiping the kitchen table top!"

Buddha : "Then what did you do with the old kitchen table wiping cloth?"

Young Man, "I used them as wigs for burning my oil lamp at night!"

Buddha was very happy hearing what the young man and said, "You've taught all of us a great lesson on how to use resources well, thank you."

This indeed is a great lesson for all of us too as to how we can use and reuse resources, especially in a world we live today where many resources are getting scarce.

It also offers a great lesson to employers too as to how they can use resources well as there's value in everything.

From The Womb To The Tomb....

...it is a long journey.

The arrival of a child is heard by the loud shrieks of cry...perhaps the only time the mother laughs with joy...after that her all her attention, love and care is to make that little being, a human.

It is the same story from Biblical times to now, and will be the same,

I guess, in the far future too. Fathers play the role of the provider, pouring his love too. Some who go with all the goodness fed by the mother for the body and the mind, grow to become humans with love, care, values and earn the respect of every one they meet up with.

There are the other some grow up and just let their life pass through, minding their own business to finally end up as just human beings. The world has large numbers of such people.

Some more just go a stray from the beginning being rigid, not caring for anyone, falling into bad company and so their life goes, into some much dark days, that no one would want to even remember they too were a life on the planet.

What is not uncommon is circumstances in everyone one’s life that makes all human beings.

Some despite all odds become valuable, majority others become tolerable, and a minority absolutely intolerable. So, it takes a lot many people to make this world. What remains constant is the love, care and kindness of the mother, be it a queen or even a poor refugee.

Our earth is much like the mothers. She keeps giving her bountiful goodness to everyone alike, despite the mauling she is subjected to. She takes them all patiently, with the hope that her children will realize their mistakes, else someday she will show us what she is, after which none of us will live to breath even to say, "Once upon a time...this was. A..."

That's the story of this world, Womb to Tomb.

It's for us to live life in a way that our parents will feel proud. After them let our tombstones be inscribed with sparkling words about the human who lived honourably. Let it remind our children, grandchildren and the generations to come know what it means to be a good loving and caring human.

A lesson…

…I was taught very early.

Be decisive - right or wrong doesn't matter. In any moment of decision, the best thing you can do is the right thing, the next best thing is the wrong thing, and the worst thing you can do is nothing.

If it is right, it can be passed off and you may not be even appreciated.

However, some decisions may really be hailed to the skies.

On the other hand, if your decision is wrong, you can be criticized by not just one but many. It can agitate us and can be demoralizing too. The gain will be it is a great learning, a gain in experience and also helps build the inner you with resolve. The other aspect would be you go trace back a review how you made that decision and why it went wrong. Doing this will help your analytical skills too. Good decisions come from experience. Experience comes from making bad decisions.

Decisiveness is a characteristic of high-performing men and women. Almost any decision is better than no decision at all. Being decisive helps build your confidence.

Next learning do not say "Yes," always or for everything, nor say "No," to everything. Saying "Yes," you surrender your self-esteem and saying "No," you present a negative image.

Let me take this as an example.

A plastic bag is made without it's permission.

Gets sold and used and it has no decision power too.

Has to go wherever it is offered.

Gets used, gets thrown.

Lies on the road, flies when wind blows, or when a car or some vehicle passes by.

It just gets tossed, and tossed.

I have seen many "plastic bags," (in context with my narration), in both my professional and "personal" live too.

Taking this analogy back here, just sit down and ponder within yourself - Are you a plastic bag?

If you are not, then become more decisive ! Decision is the spark that ignites action. Until a decision is made, nothing happens…. Decision is the

courageous facing of issues, knowing that if they are not faced, problems will remain forever unanswered.

It all begins...and ends...

…with self and ends with self.

Ever wondered, why some people seem to have made it all, while some drift away?

What's the difference between such people, leaders and the rest of us, who lead mundane, routine and ordinary lives? There's no secret.

Such people learn early in life to be curious, learn to be knowledgeable, realizing they are vulnerable, work towards working on their weaknesses, have no limiting beliefs to hold them back, adopt positive behaviour and habits that help them become productive, get promoted in their work.

Such people invest in :

Self-discipline is THE starting point of all great achievements. It has been referenced time and time again by those who have accomplished much and have achieved great success.

Self-discipline, is one of the keys to living to your full potential. If you can be disciplined with your daily actions you can achieve anything that you set your mind to.

Self-discipline; the real ‘secret’ to success. If ever there were a true magical ingredient to achieve success, self-discipline would be it.

Self-Discipline that helps them gain greater self-esteem, self-respect, and power.

Self-Discipline is the key to stronger self-confidence, that leads to higher and greater achievements in various walks of life.

Discipline is

-  Clear thinking

-  Daily Goal Setting

-  Daily Time Management

-  Excellent health habits

-  Regular Savings and Investment

-  Hard Work

-  Continues Learning

-  Continuous Improvement

-  Persistence.

All this observed, one must be consistently authentic in whatever they say or do.

Friendship...

…and we are networked..

“The strong bond of friendship is not always a balanced equation; friendship is not always about giving and taking in equal shares. Instead, friendship is grounded in a feeling that you know exactly who will be there for you when you need something, no matter what or when”.

Simon Sinek.

It is ECLAIR  time.

Express engaging

Collect and collate

Learn without limits

Accept and adapt

Ignite an interest

Respect each other and to relearn

Knowledge may come in small packets, but, the wisdom that gets aggregated is beyond words to explain.

So ENGAGE purposefully...

Explore

Navigate

Gravitate

Articulate

Gratify

Emerge

larger than you ever were.

It is up to each of us to become what we want.

You'll benefit from needs more than your desire.

•        A desire is whatever you want at the present time. Desire is the starting point of all achievement, not a hope, not a wish, but a keen pulsating desire which transcends everything. In order to succeed, your desire for success should be greater than your fear of failure. The most basic human desire is to feel like you belong.

A need is something that serves your long-term being. After nourishment, shelter and companionship, The world says: "You have other needs satisfy them, too. You have as much right as the rich and the mighty. Don't hesitate to satisfy your needs; indeed, expand your needs and demand more." This is the worldly doctrine of today.

What makes an employee stay?

If you don't know what you want, you'll never find it.

If you don't know what you deserve, you'll always settle for less. You will wander aimlessly, uncomfortably numb in your comfort zone, wondering how life has ended up here. One thing many would say is pay, benefits and perks. Understandable. They'll feel comfortable with, given the pressures, be it at work, home or in the society.

Being an environment that "micromanages, scrutinizes or judges," giving them more or less will just not help save the environment from toxicity.

So, while money is needed and is important, it is equally important that they work in a very encouraging and congenial environment.

If it makes them feel wanted, secured, heard, cared for, made to feel comfortable, offer them enough peace of mind, then half the battle for retaining them is won.

This done to engage them fruitfully for a longer period then planning to and training them adequately enough to handle future responsibilities will do well. With good mangers to mentor and guide them, things begin you blossom.

The employee not just grows professionally capable but also gains more confidence to accept more responsibilities as an understudy.

With a little experience their self-belief increases and so does their trust on the company, it's leadership, management style, policy, relationship with colleagues, etc., begin to make them stay to become more accountable to all stakeholders, not just for their development, but, also of others thereby adding value to the company's intellectual base.

At this stage pay, perks and benefits, are a given, but people don't get stuck nor get bogged down because of pay, benefits, perks, etc.

Company's flourish if only all these things are made to happen. It isn't a one time effort it is an on-going process. This is how companies succeed and this how people get recognized by the world outside.

A bit of advise to those who leave : Burning bridges behind you is understandable. It's the bridges before us that we burn, not realizing we may need to cross, that brings regret.

From Concept to Sale…

…Everything starts with

Don't watch the clock; do what it does.

IT -> I Think

1.     Think  IT

2.     Dream  IT

3.     Ideate  IT

4.     Search  IT

5.     Create IT

6.     Find IT

7.     Explore IT

8.     Live IT

9.     Own IT

10.   Love IT

11.   Plan IT

12.   Act IT

13.   Drive IT

14.   Work IT

15.   Make IT

16.   Apply IT

17.   Realize IT

18.   Adopt IT

19.   Tell IT

20.   Sell IT

What we dwell on is who we become. Always do your best. Beware of monotony though as it's the mother of all deadly sins. Become the person who would attract the results you seek. We humans have an innate inner drive to be autonomous, self-determined, and connected to one another. And when that drive is liberated, people achieve more and live richer lives.

When you complete the process go back to the board, and start all over again. Our greatest weakness lies in giving up. It isn't necessary that you have only one thing to work on. There are multiple things you can think about at the same time and can work parallelly on. The more you take up and the more you accomplish, the more you'll gain in experience and in confidence too. We learn from the mistakes of others too. The secret of getting ahead is getting started. Quality performance starts with a positive attitude. The most difficult thing is the decision to act, the rest is merely tenacity. The fears are paper tigers. You can do anything you decide to do. You can act to change and control your life; and the procedure, the process is its own reward.

Meditation is to be "focussed, in the "moment."

We are all aware of the Indian tradition of leaving our footwear at the door, whenever, we enter a house, as an inmate, or as a guest don't we?

It is a ritual, some still practice; some may have given this up long ago.

The point am trying to make isn't that at all.

You can always tell the level of consciousness, by the way people leave their shoes at the doorstep.

You may argue, heaven is not gained or lost, by dramatic deeds, but, by the little acts of daily living.

I can recall a Zen maxim that states, "If you can serve a cup of tea correctly, you can do anything," meaning that we can use any mundane act as a meditation to create harmony and beauty. This is just an example.

Here are some more, for instance,

-     depositing the keys in a marked place,

-     a pencil and paper to write down messages or

-     post-it's to remind us of what to buy when we are out to the store next time,

-     the way we peel an orange or the banana,

-     the way we eat an apple,

-     the way we eat our food, and

-     the many routine things we do during the course of a day, even if it is by a habit, we can make our life a work of art by being 100% present in the moment paying attention to all those little details of daily living.

You might laugh at what I am saying, and be it so, but, these small acts are for me are tiny acts of "meditation."

Let everything be a dance in which we create a poise and grace.

It is the highest game there is.

We've all heard and know that tiny drops of water make a mighty ocean. Our life is built one moment after another to make it a life story - yours, mine and everyone's. It has been the same from "old stone age," to now, there's been no change at all, it is "moments, moments, moments..."

So to make our life more meaningful and purposeful, all that we need to do is to learn to become the "master of the moment," nothing more nothing less. It is as simple as that.

To Do or Not To Do...

"To be or not to be.." is the opening phrase of a sol quay spoken by Prince Hamlet in the so called "Nunnery Scene" of William Shakespeare's Play Hamlet. He was talking about "death," and "deep sleep," being the same.

You can get the context reading the script here below, because "Shakespeare's Prince Hamlet," is not the focus of my script this morning.

To Do or Not To Do.

That's the question, or if you may choose, that's not the question.

We wake up every morning full of hope, solid ideas, and may be perfect plans or may be not so perfect plans.

And, we stall them.

Our "to-do," list gains priority.

We start giving "Excuses," "Justify," or we pamper our "Lack of Seriousness," or whatever..

-  We blame time, or lack of it.

-  We await readiness or motivation, or both.

-  We immediately promise to do it some other time, hence postpone, what we can.

-  We rationalize about tomorrow being better.

-  We make assumptions about what it takes to be good enough.

-  We accommodate doubts, uncertainty to gain control.

-  We wait. As if we know what's our time on the planet.

-  We forget every opportunity unrealized hinged on a thing we decided not to do.

This takes me back to "Prince Hamlet"

-  To Be or Not To Be ("dead or deep sleep). To Do or Not To Do is just the same.

If we are alive and awake.. We must commit to take action when we can, while we can, because we can.

Pause for a moment think about what you are putting off, what you are postponing, and how it can affect your future. You will get your answers. Acting or not is left to you. The result will be Joy, or Regret, all of it is in your hands.

Life and Time

Life and Time, are the best Teachers.

Life teaches us the way to Value Time, and Time, teaches us the Value of Life.

All that all of us have equally are Time, and Life, how good we get them to work together is what makes the difference, not just for us, but, even for those we are connected with.

Travel, And You Will Be In Love With People And Life. Travel makes one modest, you see what a tiny place you occupy in the world.

Once you have travelled, the voyage never ends, but is played out over and over again in the quietest chambers. The mind can never break off from the journey.

Continents, we know

AFRICA -> is for "SOUL"

ASIA -> is for "SPIRIT"

AMERICA -> is for "MIND"

EUROPE -> is for "CULTURE"

AUSTRALIA (NEW ZEALAND, OCEANIA included) -> is for "ADVENTURE"

Let me elaborate....

01. AFRICA -> SOUL

We all believe that we have "Souls," but, we hardly ever do any Soul Searching. It is believed to be Dark but has "Light," within, and will Live, forever.

Africa, is called a "Dark Continent," (wondering really why it is called so, except that it could be a racial bias skin colour), not many go there. At least, not on their travel plan as choice No. 1.

The fact is, there's more "Life,"  because of nature's bountiful gifts of all sorts.

That’s something, for every living being on the planet, to be proud of.

The "Soul," in whomever it resides is "Simple and Loveable."

2.    ASIA -> is Spirited and Spiritual, in its own unique way, " distinctly different," but, not too "dissimilar," because of all it's "emotional people." Very competitive, to the extent that each pulls the other down. Individually capable, collectively unmanageable on all accounts.

3.    AMERICA ->  is all "Mind."  Starts from dominance "Mind Your Own

Business."

"Mind," as such of a human is so very difficult to fathom.

Different Definitions Different Thoughts Different Practices,

which are all "Distinctively Different from all," good or bad is anyone's guess.

4.    EUROPE -> fascinates everyone with it's "Culture." Ranges from

Traditional to Unconventional

Historical to Modern and Happening.

Geography say's it is the playground of the world, may be because it played ground for World War I and World War II.

5.    AUSTRALIA, NEW ZEALAND, OCEANIA -> far away from most, freer than most, endowed with mountains, seas, forests, deserts, with hot and cold seasons, makes them an "ADEVENTEROUS" which manifests in their fondness for sports.

From "Womb to Tomb, we all HUMANS, are the same, mostly eat the same though - we have the "SOUL, SPIRIT, MIND, CULTURE," and we are "ADVENTEROUS," too.

Pity is that we have "Dehumanized," now more than ever before to the extent that Malthusian Theory may become applicable, "If man doesn't know ways of controlling the population, nature will find it's ways of balancing the resources." Global warming, typhoons, hurricanes, cyclones, flash floods, tsunami's, earthquakes, landslides etc., may all be early warning signs.

If you can travel well and good, if you can't then please at least let your mind travel all the distances towards "humanizing, humans."

When we get out of the glass bottle of our ego and when we escape like the squirrels in the cage of our personality and get into the forest again, we shall shiver with cold and fright. But things will happen to us so that we don't know ourselves. Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things you didn't do than by the ones you did do. So throw off the bowlines, sail away from the safe harbour. Catch the trade winds in your sails. Explore. Dream. Discover.