Skip to main content

Posts

Showing posts with the label Self management

The “Settle In” Advice for New Jobs Is Dangerous

Introduction  When you join a new company, someone will probably tell you, “Don’t worry. Just take some time to settle in.” It sounds like good advice. After all, starting a new job can be overwhelming. There are new people, processes, systems, expectations, and ways of working. Naturally, you need time to understand your surroundings. But there is a problem with the “settle in” mindset. If you spend your first few months simply waiting to feel comfortable, you may lose the most valuable period of your transition. Your first 90 days are not just a period for settling in. They are a period for learning, building relationships, creating credibility, and understanding how you can make an impact.  Why “Just Settle In” Can Hold You Back  When people are told to settle in, they often become passive. They attend meetings, complete assigned tasks, observe what others are doing, and wait for someone to tell them what they should focus on. There is nothing wrong with observing. In ...

Demosthenes: Philosopher who filled his mouth with stones

Introduction  Demosthenes was a great statesman and orator of ancient Athens. He diligently learned the rhetoric of previous great orators. He delivered his very first speech when he fought a case against his relatives to save his property at an age of 20 years. He played a very vital role in uprising Athens against the new King of Macedonia, Alexander the Great. He was also recognized as one of the ten greatest Attic orators and logographers in the world. But initially, things were not in his control and he faced so many challenges in his life.  Childhood of Demosthenes Demosthenes used to stammer during his childhood and no one had any hope from him. He was a very introvert child and his father was a very rich person in Athens. But his father died when he was just seven years old and left a huge sum of money for him. Shortly, his relatives flocked to his home and started sipping his father's fortune. At that time, Athens was a republic and people of Athens used to gro...

Best Motivational story of Michael Jordan

Migratory birds used to travel from 5000 to 7000 km to sustain their lives. In India, Siberian birds used to come in the month of December and stay there for more than three months. These birds used to come from Siberia but this long journey is not very easy. During winters Siberian birds have two options, first is to live in Siberia and die while tackling extreme temperatures in the range of -40 to -50 degree celsius or to travel to relatively warm areas like India. This is just like a process of change we also face in our lives. Change is never easy and we have a tendency to enjoy the status quo. But the status quo is very harmful and never benefits us. Siberian birds decide to travel 5000 to 7000 Kms and start preparing 3-4 months before the winters by subsequently increasing fat in their bodies. They face very harsh conditions like extreme temperatures of dessert area, starving, hunting, etc during their journey. But it's a matter of life or death for these birds hence they ...

Ultimate Motivation: Silver Surfer Bethany Hamilton

She is a shark attack survivor, one of the top-notch surfer of the world and a mother of two. Yes, we are talking about Bethani Hamilton, a girl who lost her hand at the age of thirteen but due to her hard work and diligent consistency she became a surfing champion. In one of the interviews that happened just a few months after the shark attack, the interviewer asked, " Will you surf again ?". And with great optimism she answered that " I think, I know". Her words uttered sheer confidence that she will definitely surf again with only one hand. Its rightly said that "A good attitude opens the door to high achievement, which means you then have a better attitude, getting you into a good circle of learning". She had that positive attitude since the beginning and see how far she came now. Let's go through her story now. On October 31, 2003, Bethany who was aged 13 at the time of the incident. She went for a morning surf along the Beach, Kauai, with...

Best inspirational story: Károly Takács

Károly Takács was born in Budapest, Hungary on 21 January 1910. Many of us do not know about him but his story inspires many and he is still a national hero of Hungary. He joined the army as a sergeant and his main interest was in pistol shooting. He was not allowed to play in the 1936 Olympics as he was a sergeant and only commissioned officers can participate in games. By 1938 he became a top-notch shooting player of Hungary and the ban was also lifted by that time. Hence he became the national favorite for gold in the upcoming 1940 Tokyo Olympics.  Just a few months before the 1940 Olympics he lost his right hand when a faulty grenade exploded in his hands during army training camp. It was a major setback for a person who was at the helm of the world ranking of pistol shooting. At that time he can find so many shoulders to weep over his loss. He spent one month in the hospital to recover from the injury but we can't imagine the mental pain he might have faced at that time....

Five qualities of dogs

Do you know why dogs are one of the best pets in the world? There are some very important qualities that humans lack nowadays but those qualities are shown by dogs. We must always strive to develop these qualities in us. Let us understand those qualities and try to inculcate these essential qualities in us. 1. Loyalty: This is the most popular quality of dogs. You can also observe this quality yourself. I have observed this quality and can say that this species is the most loyal among all animals. As we are becoming more and more advanced, this particular character is getting extinct from our behavior. People used to respect seniors (Professors/Bosses) in their presence but used to say bad things about them from behind. One of my friends has a dog and he is with this dog for the last 2 years. My friend used to return home by 8 pm daily and that dog used to wait for its owner eagerly. That dog used to eat only when its owner returns home. Dogs are also used in wars and battles and t...

Mindful minutes and you

If we will observe closely then we will find below-mentioned facts are very true: " Time is slow when we wait" " Time is fast when we are late" " Time is very deadly when we are sad" " Time is short when we are happy" " Time is endless when we are in deep pain" " Time is long when we feel bored" We correlate our situation with the current time but actually, our situation depends on our feelings and psychological conditions. Below mentioned techniques can be used to manage our time well and achieve our goals in a time-bounded manner. 1) Distraction elimination: We all know that the number of distractions is increasing day by day. We are surrounded by distractions and it depends upon us to focus on our goal or to just waste our time with social media and other distractions. Direction and distraction are inversely proportional. If we eliminate distraction then our direction got cleared but if we didn't focus on our...

How Indra Nooyi became successful?

If we read about any famous personality then we will find some very simple rules they followed in their life. Those very simple rules made them very successful. Indra Nooyi is also among those famous and successful personalities and lets us go through a short biography of Indra Nooyi and understand her life's three lessons. These lessons made her very successful and the same thing can also happen with us. Indra Nooyi is an Indian American business executive known for holding CEO position for 12 years at PepsiCo. Currently, she is serving on the board of directors of Amazon, the largest e-commerce business website. She's consistently featured in Forbes list of top 100 most powerful women on earth. She was ranked 2 on this list in 2015. In 2007, she won Padma Bhushan which is also the third-highest civilian award in the Republic of India. Indra Nooyi had approximately 144 million dollars of net worth as the CEO of PepsiCo. In her leadership, PepsiCo's net profit rose f...

Virtues of Benjamin Franklin

Being Indian, we have not heard of Benjamin Franklin much but he was a founding father of the United States (US). He was a child prodigy and had invented numerous inventions. His inventions include the lightning rod, bifocals, long arm, and the Franklin stove. Due to his contributions toward mankind and the United States, it was decided to publish his photo on 100 US dollars. His face appears on U.S. postage more than any other notable American except George Washington. He was also a leading political theorist, author, politician, postmaster, Freemason, scientist, humorist, civic activist, statesman, and diplomat. Benjamin Franklin also earned the title of " The First American " for his contributions. There are so many things to tell about Benjamin Franklin but that is not a topic for today. Today we will indulge in the basic tenets of his character and how he built his personality. In his autobiography, he explained how he created a system to develop his character wh...

Success sutras of Nelson Mandela

Do you know there was a time when basic services were provided on the basis of skin color? White people used to get better facilities as compared to black people. This problem was there in most of the countries but it was worst in South Africa where 70% of people were blacks and most of the services were performed by Africans but still they used to get the worst facilities. The racial difference was there since time immemorial but it got worse when the National Party in 1948 decided to create separate places for Blacks and Whites. But due to the persistent efforts of Mr. Nelson Mandela, this differentiation ended. However, that was not easy as Mandela spent 27 years of his life in prison due to this movement. Let us know more about Mr. Mandela. He was a son of a tribal leader and his original name was Rolihlahla Mandela and later became the first Black president of South Africa. He also won Bharata Ratna and Nobel peace prize. He was a great orator and a true Gandhian. So what wa...