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Showing posts from February, 2019

Stop Digging Faster: Why Building the Right Tools Matters More Than Working Harder

Introduction   In today’s professional world, hard work is everywhere. People are working longer hours, replying faster, and constantly pushing themselves to do more. On the surface, it looks like progress. It looks like ambition. It looks like success in motion.   But if you look closely, something feels off.   Despite all this effort, many people remain stuck. The growth they expect never fully arrives. The recognition they chase feels temporary. And the results they achieve often don’t match the energy they invest.   The problem is not a lack of effort. The problem is direction.   We have been conditioned to believe that working harder is the answer to everything. But sometimes, working harder in the same direction only keeps you in the same place. Real progress begins when you pause and question whether your effort is actually effective.   The Illusion of Hard Work   Imagine two workers at a construction site. Bot...

The Science of Self Management

Socrates was a great philosopher of his time. Let us learn self-management from one of his life events. Socrates used to spend hours in philosophical discussions with his friends in the evening hours. During one such occasion, his wife, who was by nature quarrelsome, shouted at him in front of all his friends about her usual chores of the imagined problems. Socrates continued discussions with a cool head while his friends were a little taken over by anxiety. When Socrates observed that his fellow mates are getting disturbed due to the rash behavior of his wife, he suggested to them that they all better proceed to some park to continue the discussion. As soon as they came out of the house, all of a sudden there was a downpour of bulk quantity of water from the top right on the head and body of Socrates. Everyone was stunned to notice that it was Socrates's wife who went to the first floor to pour a bucket of water on his head as a display of her anger. No one could steal the cal...

The Power of Positive Thinking (Part 1)

Positive thinking is not just a matter of thinking but its a matter of perceiving and its a matter of responding to external stimuli. Two people looking out from the same window and one sees the star and others see the mud. When two people look like this then it shows the focus of their vision, energy level, and motivation. One who looks at the sky may dream, aspire and utilize his creative energy to achieve his goals but on the other hand, a person that looks at the mud might be thinking why bad things happened with me and this world is worthless. Our vision and disposition are symbiotic. What we see that shapes how we think and how we think shapes what we see. Let us understand the importance of positive thinking with the help of a short story: A very famous shoe company sent two salesmen to Africa to determine the market potential for their products. One of the salesmen was sent to the North of Africa, while the other salesman was sent to the south of Africa. Both of the s...

When Circumstances Are Beyond Your Control

Viktor Frankl rightly said that "When we can no longer change a situation, we are challenged to change ourselves". Let us read one of my realization for a better understanding: On a hot sunny day when I returned to my home after an exhaustive cricket session of 6 hours, I was sweating like a crazy man. I decided to make lemonade for myself and took out some fresh lemons from the refrigerator. As I started cutting lemons I got a call from one of my best friends. While talking to my friend I poured around 5 times more lemon than what was actually required. It was so sour that it can actually bring anyone back to consciousness from the state of unconsciousness. Somehow or the other I had to correct it now. I wanted to remove the extra lemon from my lemonade but it was impossible. Because there are some things in life that can never be undone. So there was no way to remove extra lemons from the lemonade but surely there was a way to correct that mistake. Th...

Move out of comfort zone to effort zone

An interesting incident happened on the day Abraham Lincoln took office as a president of America. When he was about to give his first speech, an Aristocratic gentleman stood up and told Lincoln do not forget that your father used to make shoes for our family. The whole senate started laughing at Lincoln. He thought that he had made a fool of Abraham Lincoln. But the Lincoln was unfazed, he looked at this man and told him that he is very proud that his father made shoes for his family and of many other families. I am very happy to say that when my father made a shoe for anyone he makes sure that he put his life and soul into his creation. If anyone of you has any complaint regarding his work then let me know as I am also trained in shoemaking. Life really begins when we come out of our comfort zone and enter into the effort zone. Nobody can hurt us without our consent. Let us read a sloka from Bhagwad Gita (17.15): Gitaanudvega-karam vakyam satyam priya-hitam ca yat svadhya...