tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-51928946303179267712023-12-28T01:09:51.840-08:00Live Well, Love Much, Laugh...Random musings on the dream called Life while trying to live well, love much, laugh often and ....Brajahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09523015525968155780noreply@blogger.comBlogger140125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5192894630317926771.post-34374844607739432772017-01-08T06:24:00.000-08:002017-01-08T06:24:03.621-08:00Morning Walk<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjqopXOK8VMjBVZ3JbB5qmRPnjqU-gqL19Nz4_yDndtCLge2Rv8gVi9gOybPJCqJwi_iCGnqrKRwVEUuTLyNA1yL7MqcMGdZJ0_5u1QJ_JEaonjEvR-L3Fs116amYS-rixVYuTv-z3NHZ0/s1600/morning-air.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="morning-air" border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjqopXOK8VMjBVZ3JbB5qmRPnjqU-gqL19Nz4_yDndtCLge2Rv8gVi9gOybPJCqJwi_iCGnqrKRwVEUuTLyNA1yL7MqcMGdZJ0_5u1QJ_JEaonjEvR-L3Fs116amYS-rixVYuTv-z3NHZ0/s320/morning-air.jpg" title="morning-air" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The Freshness of the morning!</td></tr>
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<span style="color: #333333; font-family: "trebuchet ms" , "sans-serif"; font-size: 10.0pt;">A morning walk is one of the best forms of exercise. It helps
give a head start to your day ahead by giving you a boost of endorphin, the
happiness hormone. You can do your morning walk either as a group, or you can
walk alone. Wear comfortable shoes and weather appropriate dress. Wear warm
clothes in a winter morning and carry an umbrella in monsoon</span><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 10pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: #333333; font-family: "trebuchet ms" , "sans-serif"; font-size: 10.0pt;">Here are broadly 2 ways in which you can enjoy your morning walk
alone:</span><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 10pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<li class="MsoNormal"><span style="color: #333333; font-family: "trebuchet ms" , "sans-serif"; font-size: 10.0pt;">Walk mindfully, observing the surroundings, peacefully,
without a thought:</span><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 10.0pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></li>
</ol>
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<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: "symbol"; font-size: 10pt;">·<span style="font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal;">
</span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="color: #333333; font-family: "trebuchet ms" , "sans-serif"; font-size: 10.0pt;">Look around you - see the greenery of the trees, watch the
myriad hues of the morning sky with the infant sun rising across the horizon
and observe birds, insects and animals.</span><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 10pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: "symbol"; font-size: 10pt;">·<span style="font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal;">
</span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="color: #333333; font-family: "trebuchet ms" , "sans-serif"; font-size: 10.0pt;">Hear the different sounds of the morning - the birds chirping,
the wind blowing gently caressing your face, the leaves rustling or temple
bells ringing in the distance.</span><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 10pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: "symbol"; font-size: 10pt;">·<span style="font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal;">
</span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="color: #333333; font-family: "trebuchet ms" , "sans-serif"; font-size: 10.0pt;">Feel the morning chill against your skin in winter or the warm
rays of the morning sun piercing your face and soak in the peaceful atmosphere.</span><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 10pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: "symbol"; font-size: 10pt;">·<span style="font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal;">
</span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="color: #333333; font-family: "trebuchet ms" , "sans-serif"; font-size: 10.0pt;">Smell the fragrance of the early morning air or the beautiful
flowers or the wet soil.</span><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 10pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: #333333; font-family: "trebuchet ms" , "sans-serif"; font-size: 10.0pt;"> 2. Walk with intention and being engaged doing any
one or more of these:</span><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 10pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="color: #333333; font-family: "symbol"; font-size: 10.0pt;">·<span style="font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;">
</span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="color: #333333; font-family: "trebuchet ms" , "sans-serif"; font-size: 10.0pt;">Identify and count the birds or trees or animals that you see.</span><span style="color: #333333; font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 10.0pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="color: #333333; font-family: "symbol"; font-size: 10.0pt;">·<span style="font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;">
</span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="color: #333333; font-family: "trebuchet ms" , "sans-serif"; font-size: 10.0pt;">Listen to music / audio books</span><span style="color: #333333; font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 10.0pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="color: #333333; font-family: "symbol"; font-size: 10.0pt;">·<span style="font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;">
</span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="color: #333333; font-family: "trebuchet ms" , "sans-serif"; font-size: 10.0pt;">Say your prayers or repeat your personal mantra</span><span style="color: #333333; font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 10.0pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="color: #333333; font-family: "symbol"; font-size: 10.0pt;">·<span style="font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;">
</span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="color: #333333; font-family: "trebuchet ms" , "sans-serif"; font-size: 10.0pt;">Count your steps, count your blessings, say your affirmations,</span><span style="color: #333333; font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 10.0pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="color: #333333; font-family: "symbol"; font-size: 10.0pt;">·<span style="font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;">
</span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="color: #333333; font-family: "trebuchet ms" , "sans-serif"; font-size: 10.0pt;">Assess your goals and plan your day.</span></div>
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<span style="color: #333333; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 21px;"><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif;"> </span></span><span style="color: #333333; font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 115%;">Ponder on life</span></div>
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Brajahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09523015525968155780noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5192894630317926771.post-74214960373814918302017-01-01T06:19:00.000-08:002017-01-01T06:19:00.191-08:00Good Morning<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjCsN1LDJjiHRx1UaFrz1gnL5V41f-BBTyp6YIj7YauWtTljTfnR0aRP5sbWRNSbJ9tcEOZ4CiMLmuvQbPTS0mukmnMmntTW5QfEXtT54i8ZQd6xDjEU0DvCIu8lAeY9W4BIOMp0XKVKrU/s1600/Good-morning-gift.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="Good-morning" border="0" height="265" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjCsN1LDJjiHRx1UaFrz1gnL5V41f-BBTyp6YIj7YauWtTljTfnR0aRP5sbWRNSbJ9tcEOZ4CiMLmuvQbPTS0mukmnMmntTW5QfEXtT54i8ZQd6xDjEU0DvCIu8lAeY9W4BIOMp0XKVKrU/s400/Good-morning-gift.jpg" title="Good-morning" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Good Morning </td></tr>
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<span style="line-height: 21px;"><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Mornings are always serene, silent and beautiful. Our daily life starts in the morning. As they say, morning shows the day. If your morning is positive, purposeful and productive, a good day will naturally follow. You may wonder what is the good morning wish that you would say. But before I come to that, lets take a moment to think why the morning wish is so important.</span></span><br />
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<span style="line-height: 21px;"><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">A wish conveys your desire, your belief and your thoughts. You are what you think. Your thoughts are molded over time to become action. You seed the universe with your desires and thoughts. So, starting with a positive intention is very important. And this intention should not only be for yourself, but also for others. When we cheerfully smile and say good morning to someone, we pass on the positive thoughts to them. This can light up someone and pep them up. Hence, it is important.</span></span><br />
<span style="line-height: 21px;"><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="line-height: 21px;"><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Now, you may think saying the same good morning to a person you meet everyday becomes trite. You want to break the routine. You can add a question or remark after saying Good Morning. Good Morning Jon - How are you doing today? or Good Morning Sara - It is such a beautiful day today. You could even say good morning in different languages, like Namaste, Namaskar or Vannakam.</span></span><br />
<span style="line-height: 21px;"><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="line-height: 21px;"><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">It is not what you say, but how you say the wish is important. You have to be cheerful, positive and say it with purpose. Greeting everyone is a habit. And greeting everyone is one of the best habits that you can form for yourself. Go ahead - Smile, say Hi, Hello, Hola, Good Morning or Good afternoon, give a firm handshake or fistbump - say few positive words and see how the world responds.</span></span><br />
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Brajahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09523015525968155780noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5192894630317926771.post-67681433946125407642016-12-25T06:14:00.000-08:002016-12-25T06:14:00.756-08:00Secrets of the One Minute Manager<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Ken Blanchard and Spencer Johnson
have written the best seller, The One Minute manager. This book has sold over a
million copies. It deals with the search for the best management techniques by
a young man, who finally discovers a One Minute manager. The One Minute Manager
tells him about the three secrets and more. You can read my summary of the book
here.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">The three secrets revealed in the
One Minute Manager can be used in our professional life. Here is my
interpretation of the same.</span></div>
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<b><u><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><br /></span></u></b></div>
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<b><u><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">One Minute Goal Setting<o:p></o:p></span></u></b></div>
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">This is the first secret revealed in the book, The One
Minute Manager. This deals with setting clear expectations between the manager
and his team member. Often the team member is clueless of what is expected from
him. The manager does not specify what exactly a win is. The team member does
not know what good behavior in his specific context is. He does not have a
goal. So, the One minute manager recommends the following steps:</span></div>
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<ul>
<li><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif; text-indent: -0.25in;">·</span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif; font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal; text-indent: -0.25in;">
</span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif; text-indent: -0.25in;">Agree on your goals.</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif; text-indent: -0.25in;">·</span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif; font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal; text-indent: -0.25in;">
</span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif; text-indent: -0.25in;">See what good behavior looks like.</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif; text-indent: -0.25in;">·</span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif; font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal; text-indent: -0.25in;">
</span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif; text-indent: -0.25in;">Write each of your goals on a paper using less
than 250 words.</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif; text-indent: -0.25in;">·</span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif; font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal; text-indent: -0.25in;">
</span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif; text-indent: -0.25in;">Read and re-read each goal, which takes only a
minute to read.</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif; text-indent: -0.25in;">·</span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif; font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal; text-indent: -0.25in;">
</span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif; text-indent: -0.25in;">Take a minute every once in a while to look at
your performance, and</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif; text-indent: -0.25in;">·</span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif; font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal; text-indent: -0.25in;">
</span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif; text-indent: -0.25in;">See whether or not your behavior matches your
goal</span></li>
</ul>
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">The Goal setting helps establish a
contract. From what I have read, a written goal, as opposed to just having it
in mind, is one of the most effective ways to imprint the goal in our mind. It
enhances certain neural pathways that help us in the longer term to achieve the
goal. Then reading and re-reading the goal helps one remain focused. Often, due
to various distractions in our daily life, we loose track of our goals. This is
where reading and re-reading helps us. Now, it has to be within 250 words so
that you can read it faster. Had it been a 2500 words goal, one will not be
willing to read it at all! Then it helps to check if our actions and behavior
are leading us towards the written goals or not. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">This is all about 1 minute goal.
The idea is not to set goals in 1 minute. But that the goals can be reviewed in
1 minute. Also, one can use the Pareto principle for goal setting. Since 20% of
our actions produce 80% of results, the goals should be focused on those 20% of
actions only.</span></div>
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<b><u><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><br /></span></u></b></div>
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<b><u><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">One Minute Praises<o:p></o:p></span></u></b></div>
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">The second secret of the One Minute
manager is the One Minute Praise. This is based on the belief that everyone is
a potential winner. The manager should help them reach their full potential.
This can be done by catching the team members early doing something right.
Below are the steps that can be taken for the same.</span></div>
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<ul>
<li><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif; text-indent: -0.25in;">·</span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif; font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal; text-indent: -0.25in;">
</span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif; text-indent: -0.25in;">Tell people from the beginning that you are
going to give feedback to them.</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif; text-indent: -0.25in;">·</span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif; font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal; text-indent: -0.25in;">
</span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif; text-indent: -0.25in;">Praise them as soon as they do something right.</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif; text-indent: -0.25in;">·</span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif; font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal; text-indent: -0.25in;">
</span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif; text-indent: -0.25in;">Tell them exactly what they did right.</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif; text-indent: -0.25in;">·</span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif; font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal; text-indent: -0.25in;">
</span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif; text-indent: -0.25in;">Tell them how good you feel about what they did
right and how it helps everyone</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif; text-indent: -0.25in;">·</span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif; font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal; text-indent: -0.25in;">
</span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif; text-indent: -0.25in;">Stop for a moment of silence to let the good
feeling</span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif; text-indent: -0.25in;"> </span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif; text-indent: -0.25in;">sink in.</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif; text-indent: -0.25in;">·</span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif; font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal; text-indent: -0.25in;">
</span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif; text-indent: -0.25in;">Encourage them to do more of the same behavior.</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif; text-indent: -0.25in;">·</span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif; font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal; text-indent: -0.25in;">
</span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif; text-indent: -0.25in;">Shake hands or touch people in a way that makes
it clear that you support their success</span></li>
</ul>
<!--[if !supportLists]--><br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Please note that one of the step is to have a moment of
silence, after you praise. This lets the feeling sink in. This is a
psychological technique to win people over. The other one is a light touch on
the hand or shoulder. It is incredibly effective and I have seen one of my
supervisor use this technique to win over the team members. But if you are
going to use it, be sure that you are authentic and it should not be construed
as acting.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Praising someone reinforces the right behavior. This is the
method that Pavlov used on his dog in his famous experiment. This is the
technique used by parents to encourage their child to walk or learn new words.
We do it instinctively in social and family setup. But how this technique is to
be used in a professional setup is something many are not aware of. If used
correctly, this technique will reap rich dividends in terms of developing your
team.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<b><u><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><br /></span></u></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<b><u><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">One Minute Reprimand<o:p></o:p></span></u></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">The third secret is One Minute
Reprimand. This is needed in order to rectify incorrect or improper behavior.
There are 2 parts to it. As soon as you catch someone doing something wrong,
you have to give the feedback on the behavior. That is the first part. After
that, you should also support the person so that he understands that the
behavior is undesired, but not the
person. The basic steps are listed below.</span></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpFirst" style="mso-list: l2 level1 lfo3; text-align: justify; text-indent: -.25in;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">·<span style="font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal;"> </span></span></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpFirst" style="mso-list: l2 level1 lfo3; text-align: justify; text-indent: -.25in;">
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif; text-indent: -0.25in;"> Set the expectation with your people that you
are going to give them direct feedback</span></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpFirst" style="mso-list: l2 level1 lfo3; text-align: justify; text-indent: -.25in;">
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif; text-align: left;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpFirst" style="mso-list: l2 level1 lfo3; text-align: justify; text-indent: -.25in;">
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif; text-align: left;"> The first part –
Reprimand:</span></div>
<ul>
<li><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif; text-indent: -0.25in;">·</span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif; font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal; text-indent: -0.25in;">
</span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif; text-indent: -0.25in;">Reprimand people immediately when they do a
mistake.</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif; text-indent: -0.25in;">·</span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif; font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal; text-indent: -0.25in;">
</span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif; text-indent: -0.25in;">Tell them specifically what they did wrong.</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif; text-indent: -0.25in;">·</span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif; font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal; text-indent: -0.25in;">
</span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif; text-indent: -0.25in;">Tell them how you feel about what they did
wrong.</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif; text-indent: -0.25in;">·</span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif; font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal; text-indent: -0.25in;">
</span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif; text-indent: -0.25in;">Stop for a moment of uncomfortable silence to
let the feeling sink in</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">The second part
– The support:</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif; text-indent: -0.25in;">·</span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif; font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal; text-indent: -0.25in;">
</span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif; text-indent: -0.25in;">Shake hands, or touch them in a way that lets
them know you are with them.</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif; text-indent: -0.25in;">·</span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif; font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal; text-indent: -0.25in;">
</span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif; text-indent: -0.25in;">Remind them how much you value them as a person.</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif; text-indent: -0.25in;">·</span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif; font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal; text-indent: -0.25in;">
</span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif; text-indent: -0.25in;">Reaffirm that you think well of them but not of
their performance in this situation.</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif; text-indent: -0.25in;">·</span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif; font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal; text-indent: -0.25in;">
</span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif; text-indent: -0.25in;">Realize that when the reprimand is over, it’s
over</span></li>
</ul>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Most of the time, the feedback is
not given immediately. It is given at the time of appraisal. At that time, it
is too late for the team member to change. Also, we forget that we should hate
the sin, not the sinner. Too often, it is the sinner who is punished!</span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">These are the 3 secrets of the
One minute manager. Easy to say, easy to remember but difficult to practice! </span></div>
</div>
Brajahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09523015525968155780noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5192894630317926771.post-53080224656052123782016-12-18T06:49:00.000-08:002016-12-18T06:49:03.881-08:00Talk by Anu Vaidyanathan - Hyderabad Runners <div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<div style="background: white; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in; text-align: justify;">
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiSxf_P0FmSLPeWK7_Vcwx9TwqLbPwspCrXOLX030d47VGMuOTVzobTu81hC4rT8Sq2tvHaJr-_AZXMwtRIihVQ9Ys_OL9PP2QGK0irBd3mpxKXoYO725vBO2pYVCsNvcuOW-ydYFzBfXw/s1600/Anu-vaidyanathan.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiSxf_P0FmSLPeWK7_Vcwx9TwqLbPwspCrXOLX030d47VGMuOTVzobTu81hC4rT8Sq2tvHaJr-_AZXMwtRIihVQ9Ys_OL9PP2QGK0irBd3mpxKXoYO725vBO2pYVCsNvcuOW-ydYFzBfXw/s640/Anu-vaidyanathan.jpg" width="412" /></a></div>
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Sunday, June 26th 2016, I went to St Mary's College at
Yousufguda. There was supposed to be a talk by Anu Vaidyanathan, India's
first Ultraman. Now, I didn't know what Ultraman means.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="background: white; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="background: white; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Anu is a triathlete. She runs, rides bike and swims.
She has finished several marathons, iron mans (2.4 mile swim, 112 miles bike
ride and 26.2 miles running). In 2009, she completed the Ultraman, which is
swimming for 10k, bile riding for 425.6k and running for 84.4k. Now, you may be
thinking that she is an adventure sports junkie.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="background: white; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in; text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="background: white; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Well, she has a graduation and post graduation in
computer science, a PhD in electrical engineering, and she has been a professor
at IIT Ropar and IIM Ahmedabad. She has her own consulting firm operating in
the patents field. Also, she is a daughter, wife and a mother!<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="background: white; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="background: white; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Now, that's some list of achievements that can make any
one proud. But she is all about humility.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="background: white; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in; text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="background: white; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">I had read about Anu earlier and knew about her
achievements. So, when HR Runners decided to host her talk in the occasion of
the 10 years celebrations, I registered a slot for myself.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="background: white; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="background: white; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Though I had been to St Mary's College at Yousufguda
earlier, I was and still am not familiar with the way. Google maps have become my best
friend and they guided me to the destination. There were few cars and bikes
parked outside the college compound. As I entered the gate, the security staff
told me to go to the 4th floor.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="background: white; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in; text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="background: white; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Near the lift, I met Amulu, a Toastmasters friend who
was also there for the talk. There was a small auditorium, with capacity of
around 150 people on the 4th floor. Rajesh Vetcha, founder of Hyderabad
Runners, along with Shiv Kosgi, the operations manager, were there at the door
of the auditorium, welcoming people as they walked in.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="background: white; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in; text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="background: white; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">The auditorium was dimly lit. There were about 50 odd
people inside the auditorium. Some were seated and some were milling around the
stage. On the stage, there was a small table to the right with a pile of books
neatly stacked. There were 2 standees on the stage, one announcing Hyderabad
Runners 10 years celebrations and another for Anu Vaidyanathan' book, Anywhere
but home. Anu was standing there talking to anyone who wanted to, signing the
books for anyone who bought it.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="background: white; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in; text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="background: white; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">After some time the talk started. Rajesh gave a welcome
speech and invited Anu to take over. Anu passed on a feedback from and a post
card with a lucky draw instructions before starting the talk. She was very calm
and composed. She spoke in a natural style, spoke very fast and had lots of
humor baked into her talk. She started with her connection with Hyderabad and
especially Rajesh. Then how there were many Telugus who were part of her life
and the contribution by them in her journey. She told about her childhood,
school days and college days at USA. She apparently used to be a chubby kid
during school. Is was the college that one of her friend introduced her to
running.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="background: white; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in; text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="background: white; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Post her engineering in the US , she started pursuing a
PhD there. Somewhere in between, she got frustrated and decided to come back to
India. She came to Bangalore and started a start up. Running was her anchor
during that time. She felt most comfortable while running.<o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="background: white; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Then one after the other, she started taking up bigger
challenges, culminating with the Ultraman in 2009. Later she got married to a
person who also supported her ambitions. Then, she became pregnant and
continued long distance walking till almost the end of her pregnancy. It was
during that time, someone asked her to write a book. The book project took
about 2-3 years to complete. Now, it was being released.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="background: white; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in; text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="background: white; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">If you look at her now, it will be difficult to believe
that she was once a triathlete. She has gained weight. But there is one thing
that she said which I liked. Her overall message was to keep passionate goals
and achieve them. She said, people like to brand themselves as something. Like
you may say you are a runner. Then you become imprisoned with your own
definition of yourself. You have to prove to yourself and to others that you
are a runner. You have to beat a certain time. That is dangerous. She said,<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span>do not cubby hole yourself. Do
whatever you are passionate about. Reinvent yourself based on the time and
circumstances. You define yourself. Others definition of you doesn't define
you!!<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="background: white; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in; text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="background: white; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Finally, there was a question and answer session and a
prize distribution ceremony of HR Relay Run.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
</div>
Brajahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09523015525968155780noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5192894630317926771.post-71566542438499002642016-12-11T00:24:00.000-08:002016-12-11T00:24:10.749-08:00Influence of 7 Habits<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , "sans-serif";">Books
are like people that you meet and you know. You like some people and some
people, you dislike very much. Then there are others that you neither like nor
dislike! Then there may be one person whom you like very much, but your friend
may not like that person. Similarly, books that are important and that you like
may not be important for others. Some books speak to you directly. Some do not.
The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People is one such book that had a huge impact
to shape my thinking and world view.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , "sans-serif";"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , "sans-serif";">Covey’s
book, 7 Habits, is one of those books that I give credit for having had a deep
influence on me and my thought process. It provided me with a paradigm to look
at myself, to look at my relationship with others, and to look at the world in
a pair of new eyes. It gave me ideas and links to discover more. I read up
Vicktor Frankl and his works, I learnt about the stimuli, the response and
freedom of choice in between. It taught the concept of inside out change and
the concept of dependence, independence and interdependence! The 7 Habits book
gave me a completely new way of thinking. Over a period of 6–7 years of trying
to read, re-read, listen to the audio book, and incorporate his ideas in life,
I found myself improving in many ways. My relationship with myself and with
others has improved. I have become a better person. This book has done wonders
for me. Hence, it is very important in my life.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , "sans-serif";"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , "sans-serif";">I
am a fan of Stephen Covey. I have read most of his books as well. Two other
books that I liked were First Things First and The Principle Centered
Leadership. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
</div>
Brajahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09523015525968155780noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5192894630317926771.post-35937631594109321682016-12-04T06:36:00.000-08:002016-12-04T06:36:10.240-08:00Book Review - The One Minute Manager<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgLMm7q53ZE7J3kPYVFPZuSpCSgEnv2VV2CYlx8c4nqRDo98a_HbZaZeyonWT9l3ce0vNrENShKKkj28BV3L20fDMHVzDd2UYXyAE8VTuoHdCcJB9LtYx75nfmfZsAO6B5KMQ60Xia-gSE/s1600/one-minute.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgLMm7q53ZE7J3kPYVFPZuSpCSgEnv2VV2CYlx8c4nqRDo98a_HbZaZeyonWT9l3ce0vNrENShKKkj28BV3L20fDMHVzDd2UYXyAE8VTuoHdCcJB9LtYx75nfmfZsAO6B5KMQ60Xia-gSE/s400/one-minute.jpg" width="261" /></a></div>
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Between 2009 to 2011, I was
working at a client location in Bangalore, the IT hub of India. Our client was
ANZ Bank, which had its captive IT operations running out from Bangalore. I
used to stay in a village called Kagadasapura. ANZ office was at Embassy Golf
Links Business Park, a modern IT factory, about 10km away from my residence. I
used to travel to office by bus from the CV Raman nagar bus stop. This ensured
that I got a seat and it also gave me ample of time, almost 1 hour daily, to
read books. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">ANZ was, and I believe still is a progressive
organization. It used to organize several events to promote different type of
awareness among its employees. In one such quality awareness drives, the
Quality team had come to our work bay and they conducted a mini quiz. They said,
anyone who could answer 3 questions would get a spot prize. I do not remember
the questions now, but I eventually won the prize. It was a Cadbury’s
Dairy Milk Chocolate and a small red book titled “The One Minute Manager”.
Being a book lover and also a chocolate chaser, I could not have asked for
anything more. So, I devoured the Diary Milk Chocolate as soon as the event was over. Then, I took a hard look at the book and read the synopsis on
the back cover. It was interesting. It talked about 3 secrets of a One Minute
Manager. This piqued my interest to glance at the contents. From the contents,
the book seemed very funny. I decided to read it cover to cover once I board
the bus, I thought to myself.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">The One Minute Manager is a very
small book, about 110 pages, written by Ken Blanchard and Spencer Johnson. A
small book, published first in 1981, you can literally breeze through it
quickly and understand the core concepts easily. Before I go to the core
concept of the One Minute Manager, let me tell you about the characters in the
book. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">In this book, there are 2 main
characters – The young man & the Old man and 3 supporting characters – the
3 folks who report to the old man. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">The scene opens with the
following context. A young man is searching for the most effective manager. His
search has taken him many places. He interacted with different types of
managers. Some of them were ones who got results, but the people under them
were not happy. Some were such that the people working with them were very
happy, but they did not get results. Finally, he comes to a manager of whom he
has heard a lot of good things. He thinks it will be difficult to get an
appointment. But he is surprised with the ease with which he is able to meet
him.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">The Young man spends some time
the Old Man, discussing about his management style. He learns various quirks of
the old man. The old man commends him for his sincerity to learn the method of
management and also rebukes him when the young man asks the old man to repeat
something. When the young man asks him what is his management style, the old
man says he is the One Minute Manager. Our young man is not able to understand,
let alone believe what the old man said. So, the old man asks the Young man to
talk to his staff to understand his management style.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Our young man goes and meets the
staff members and each one tells him one secret. So, here are the 3 secrets of
the One Minute Manager.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpFirst" style="mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-align: justify; text-indent: -.25in;">
</div>
<ol>
<li><b style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif; text-indent: -0.25in;">One
Minute Goal Setting – Set written goals that can be read in 1 minute</b></li>
<li><b style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif; text-indent: -0.25in;">One
Minute Praise – Praise people doing right thing to encourage that behavior</b></li>
<li><b style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif; text-indent: -0.25in;">One
Minute reprimands – Reprimand the wrong behavior, not the person</b></li>
</ol>
<!--[if !supportLists]--><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">These are 3 simple but effective
techniques that the young man learns. The young man also discovers that the
operations run by the old man was the best in the organization and the old man
was known to be a manager-maker in the organization. After learning these, the
young man comes to the one minute manager and has a long discussion with him.
He has some doubts in his mind. He asks the following questions:</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpFirst" style="mso-list: l1 level1 lfo2; text-align: justify; text-indent: -.25in;">
</div>
<ul>
<li><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif; font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal; text-indent: -0.25in;"> </span><b style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif; text-indent: -0.25in;">Why does
One minute Goal Setting work?</b></li>
<li><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif; font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal; text-indent: -0.25in;"> </span><b style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif; text-indent: -0.25in;">Why does
One minute praise work?</b></li>
<li><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif; font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal; text-indent: -0.25in;"> </span><b style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif; text-indent: -0.25in;">Why does
One minute reprimand work?</b></li>
</ul>
<!--[if !supportLists]--><br />
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin-left: 0in; mso-add-space: auto; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">The old man patiently explains why each of these techniques
work. He tells that these are based on psychological principles and concepts.
He gives examples from animal world as well as social real world context on how
these principles are applied. At the end, the young man is convinced of the
effectiveness of these techniques.</span></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin-left: 0in; mso-add-space: auto; text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpLast" style="margin-left: 0in; mso-add-space: auto; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Finally, the old man offers a job to the young man. He
gladly takes it up and starts practicing the one minute management concepts. He
keeps sharing these concepts with others</span></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpLast" style="margin-left: 0in; mso-add-space: auto; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<h3 style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">My observations</span></h3>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">This book gives simple, effective
and easy to remember management techniques for managers. I loved the simplicity
and the reasoning that is given in the book on why these techniques are
effective. These techniques can be easily implemented, provided you learn them
properly, practice them and get a conducive environment. Being in toastmasters,
I could relate how effective these are while providing evaluations. In fact, as
an evaluator in one of the toastmaster meeting, I had once used this technique
to provide my evaluation to the speaker.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">I have few qualms with this
technique as well. The first one is, this principle is quite good for managing
team members. But, it cannot be used while working with peers or with your
supervisors. The second one is that the scenarios described in the books are
idealistic. Real world is much more complex. It has various nuances and shades
and a direct application of these techniques may not be possible.</span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Having said that, my verdict is
this is a good book. I would advise you to read it, re-read it,
understand it and apply it in your professional and personal life.</span></div>
</div>
Brajahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09523015525968155780noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5192894630317926771.post-12078236910197974042016-11-27T00:17:00.000-08:002016-11-27T00:17:11.442-08:00Good Habits Kill Bad Habits<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span class="renderedqtext"><span style="color: #333333; letter-spacing: -0.75pt; text-decoration: none;"><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">Can
developing good habits kill the bad one's?</span></span></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span class="renderedqtext"><span style="color: #333333; letter-spacing: -0.75pt; text-decoration: none;"><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span></span></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">The short answer - Yes.</span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">The long answer, well it is a long process and it
takes time. But developing certain good habits are known to kill bad habits.
Let me give you an example from my own life. 6 years ago, I was a sedentary,
lethargic and utterly unfit person. I used to eat all kinds of junk food, smoke
almost 8–10 cigarettes a day, sleep late and wake up late. All my vital health
parameters like BMI, Blood Pressure, Lipid Profile, Urea, etc had gone over the
roof. I knew that all that I used to do like smoking, binge eating, oversleeping
etc are bad habits. But I did not know how to get rid of them. In fact, I never
tried to shed those habits because I used to enjoy them.</span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">In 2011, I took up running to control my weight.
It was a difficult process. It took me several months and a truckload of will
power to get into the groove of running. You can read that story here: <a href="https://brajadulal.blogspot.in/2012/04/couch-potato-to-runner-my-story.html">Couch
Potato to Runner - My Story!</a> </span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">In about an years time, the running habit was
firmly established. I started calling myself a runner. I did not know that I
was setting up a habit that would change my life. I lost the extra weight that
I was carrying for most of my life. The health parameters came back to normal.
I started taking part in longer runs. This meant I has to eat healthy food. My
binge eating stopped. I had to wake up early to go for my daily run. This meant
that I had to go to sleep early. My overall lifestyle changed because of the
habit of running. In order to run better, I felt like quitting smoking. One
fine day, I just stopped. The runs were much more enjoyable and I became
faster.</span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Today, I am a changed person. I have become much
disciplined and have incorporated many other practices into my daily life. My
life today is 360 degree different from what it was 6 years ago.</span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">So, yes, it is possible. It will take time. But
with your will power and patience, a good habit will help you kill bad habits.
Such habits are known as key-stone habits. They are the ones that help add more
and more good habits in your life and drop the bad ones. Example of keystone
habits are running, meditation, tracking your food intake, maintaining a daily
to-do list etc.</span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
</div>
Brajahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09523015525968155780noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5192894630317926771.post-554744619410998082016-11-20T00:14:00.000-08:002016-11-20T00:14:13.100-08:00The Three Bulls<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiyBQpMn_F0ywwe272eHdEkWalPe_WAXZY9UphYns-ziEkQ_RCy298yALX4xsMkwCpyyg_pjoiCkIEc8n9ZYpAqHy-j50tQfoEsiSEvLxKoURJ_QeDnLz2sNX5YmpJ_TRPKENa69-T83IA/s1600/The+Bull.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiyBQpMn_F0ywwe272eHdEkWalPe_WAXZY9UphYns-ziEkQ_RCy298yALX4xsMkwCpyyg_pjoiCkIEc8n9ZYpAqHy-j50tQfoEsiSEvLxKoURJ_QeDnLz2sNX5YmpJ_TRPKENa69-T83IA/s400/The+Bull.jpg" width="266" /></a></div>
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Long ago, in a village, lived a
young man. He fell in love with a beautiful young woman. He wanted to marry
that woman. So, as was the custom in those days, the young man went to the
woman’s father and asked for his daughter’s hand in marriage. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">The woman’s father wanted to test
the courage of the young man. The father said, “I will give you my daughter in
marriage if you are able to pass in a certain test”. He added, “Come to my farm
tomorrow morning. I will release three bulls one after the other. All you have
to do is to touch the tail of any one of the bulls. Mind you, you have to touch
the tail only. You cannot touch any other part of the bull”. The young man
agreed.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">The next day, the young man
reached the farm. He was waiting at the gate of the farm for the bulls to be
released. Soon, the gate of the farm was opened. The young man could see a
large black bull was stomping inside. It was huge. It was more like a rhino
than a bull. As soon as the black bull started running towards him, he felt nervous
and queasy. He thought, “This is a large bull. If I try to touch it, it could
kick me hard. I would be make pulp out of me. There are two more bulls to come
after this. May be I should try the next one”. And he let the large bull get
away.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">After some time, the young man
could see another red bull stomping inside the farm. It was not as large as the
previous black bull. But it had two ferocious horns. The red bull was stomping the
ground, raising a little storm, all the while tossing its head all around and
jumping up and down. It displayed very aggressive behavior. The young man
thought, “This bull is smaller that the previous one. So the next bull will be
even smaller. Why to take risk of life. I still have one more chance and I will
try it.” Thus, when the bull came running towards him, he let it go.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Finally the third bull came
around. It was a white bull. It was built small. It had very small horns and
looked very docile. The young man thought “This is my chance and I will catch
the tail of this bull”. He positioned himself and got ready to catch the tail.
The bull came running slowly towards him. Just as the bull reached near him,
the young man stepped forward to catch its tail. But, alas, the white bull had
no tail!</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Thus, the young man could pass
the test and could not marry the woman he wanted to.</span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">In life, many times, we also let
go of opportunities. Under various pretext and excuses, we forgo opportunities
that life gives us. We say, we will take the next opportunity or the next one.
But no one knows, whether the next opportunity will be the right one or not. </span></div>
</div>
Brajahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09523015525968155780noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5192894630317926771.post-18119487004253613962016-11-16T07:38:00.000-08:002016-11-16T07:38:00.321-08:00Benjamin Franklin - Moderation<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">The ninth virtue
developed by Benjamin Franklin was moderation. He described moderation as - <span style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: white; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial;">Avoid extremes; forbear resenting injuries
so much as you think they deserve.</span><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><span style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: white; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial;"><br /></span></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="background: white; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Franklin advises us to avoid extremes in anything. One should
be moderate. Everything in extreme is bad. Excess rain causes flood and no rain
causes draught. Excess enjoyment causes senses to become dull and no enjoyment
makes life very uninteresting. Excess eating causes health problems and so do
not eating anything.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="background: white; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="background: white; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">The second part of his description is about resentment. When
someone causes you an injury, it is natural for the aggrieved person to resent
it. In this situation, Franklin advises that one should tolerate it and not
resent it so much. Basically, do not go to the extreme. One could say that if
you have to get angry on someone, get mad, but be in control!<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="background: white; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="background: white; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Various religions in the world have advocated the virtue of moderation.
The Buddhists say, follow the middle path. In Taoism, the ancient Chinese
philosophy, moderation is considered as a key part of one’s personal
development. The Taoists believe that there is nothing that cannot be moderated.
One's actions, one's desires and even one's thoughts can be moderated to an
extent. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="background: white; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="background: white; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">In ancient Greece, Moderation was a principle of life. In the
temple of Apollo at Delphi there is the inscription Meden Agan which means 'Nothing
in excess'. Greek philosophers believed that health was seen to flow from
observing moderation – in exercise, in study, and in diet.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif; line-height: 115%;">Thus moderation has been a key principle throughout history
of mankind and many cultures and religions have extolled this virtue. This is
certainly a key virtue for the student of success</span></div>
</div>
Brajahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09523015525968155780noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5192894630317926771.post-22687378560758543982016-11-15T07:18:00.004-08:002016-11-15T07:18:53.557-08:00Benjamin Franklin - Justice<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<div style="background: white; text-align: justify;">
<span style="color: #222222; font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">The
eighth virtue practiced by Benjamin Franklin was justice. Franklin described
justice as (do) wrong (to) none by doing injuries or omitting the benefits that
are your duty.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="background: white; text-align: justify;">
<span style="color: #222222; font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="background: white; text-align: justify;">
<span style="color: #222222; font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">Everyone wants to live in a fair
world. We want others to treat us fairly. This is something which was known
even 2000 years ago. As Jesus told - Do unto others as you would want others to
do unto you. This is known as the Golden Rule or the law of reciprocity. This
is a principle which is seen in many religions and culture. If you want to be
treated fairly treat others fairly. This is a very simple principle. You reap
what you sow. You get what you give. Thus if you want to get justice, you have
to be to be just. One cannot expect to be treated in a just manner while
inflicting injustice or injuries to others. Similarly one cannot be partial and
stop the benefits that are due to others and expect impartiality from others.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="background: white; text-align: justify;">
<span style="color: #222222; font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="background: white; text-align: justify;">
<span style="color: #222222; font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">To be fair and just in all dealings
requires a high degree of moral values. This is an investment which does not
seem to pay in the short run. There have been many examples in real life and in
stories, where the protagonist has been fair and just in all his dealings, but
life has not treated him fairly. In real life, we see that the ones who wield
muscle power, political power, and the ones who barge their way through things,
the corrupt people seem to make the most progress in life. The ones who follow
the law, the one who is on the path of the truth and Justice seem to lag
behind. But if you look at the conscience of these two different type of
people, you will find that the latter has a clear conscience. They go to the
bed every night without any worries and fear in their mind.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="background: white; text-align: justify;">
<span style="color: #222222; font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="background: white; text-align: justify;">
<span style="color: #222222; font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">There
is another side of justice as well. One can be just and at the same time bear
injustice from another person. In such a situation, one should not submit to
the injustice. One has to raise his voice against it. This requires some degree
of courage. As a student of success, we should develop this virtue of being
just to everyone and have the courage to stand up against injustice.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
</div>
Brajahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09523015525968155780noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5192894630317926771.post-27634947100101750862016-11-14T06:12:00.000-08:002016-11-14T06:12:00.165-08:00Benjamin Franklin - Sincerity<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif; line-height: 115%;">The seventh virtue
that Benjamin Franklin worked to develop was Sincerity. Franklin described it in simple words as - Use
no hurtful deceit; think innocently and justly, and, if you speak, speak
accordingly.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif; line-height: 115%;">This particular
virtue is the one that is closely related to being truthful. Franklin upheld
truth not only in act, but also in thought and speech. He exhorts us act in a
non-deceitful manner, to think innocently and justly and speak on the same
lines as well. So, in a nutshell, it is to think, speak and act in a non
deceitful manner.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif; line-height: 115%;">We find so much
degradation of moral values in today’s world. People have become so materialistic
that they not only think and speak twisted truth, but also act in such a way as
to deceive and hurt other people for their material or political gain. But in
the fundamental analysis, all human connections depend on a single character
strength which is trust. Trust is the bond or the glue which holds all
connections together and everything else originates from that. Trust is the
basis of business, trade, exchange of goods, services or knowledge. Trust is the
basis of our life. And trust is sustained by truth.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif; line-height: 115%;">Untruth, insincerity
is the enemy of trust. Employing those tactics may lead to short term gains in
business, but they lead to a erosion of trust. When there is lack of trust, or
depreciation in trust levels, at the end of the day, the relationship suffers,
the connections suffer and business suffers. But if someone is sincere, it
leads to a higher level of effort, better trust and stronger bonds. Hence,
being sincere is a very important virtue for a person. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
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Brajahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09523015525968155780noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5192894630317926771.post-13139150373341665312016-11-13T00:09:00.000-08:002016-11-13T00:09:06.721-08:00Book Review - The Ice Cream Maker - Subir Chowdhury<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjTPuDHUIGxKNXEwV6T4datL9ISn6JWcCcElu2BjuH_Fl-tO1uOi0gzW_O8DPwfhBomAf59K5Z4t0FmSmh1rl24gsbfHXtloQg18tEp5Ezeqrg3Ei10nCQKrK-N__UairKl65m8roRexqU/s1600/IceCream-Maker.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="icecream-maker-subir-chowdhury" border="0" height="335" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjTPuDHUIGxKNXEwV6T4datL9ISn6JWcCcElu2BjuH_Fl-tO1uOi0gzW_O8DPwfhBomAf59K5Z4t0FmSmh1rl24gsbfHXtloQg18tEp5Ezeqrg3Ei10nCQKrK-N__UairKl65m8roRexqU/s400/IceCream-Maker.png" title="icecream-maker" width="400" /></a></div>
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Browsing through the book shelves
in the management books section of our library, I came across a small book with
a unique name - The Ice Cream Maker. The spine even had a tiny picture of an
Ice cream cone! My first reaction was that probably someone has misplaced a
story book in the management section. I looked at the name of the author –
Subir Chowdhury. It was not a familiar name. However, the book seemed well worn
out and I was intrigued. So, I pulled it out and read the front cover – It said
– An inspiring tale about making quality the key ingredient in everything you
do. I realized that this is not a story book, or may be a management book
masquerading as a story book.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Subir Chowdhury is an expert in
quality and processes. This is a story, fictional I guess, in which the
protagonist is a manager in charge of an Ice-Cream manufacturing unit which is
a profit centre on its own and is responsible for sales and marketing as well.
The unit is not doing well and the owner is contemplating to sell it off or
shut it down. Everything seems to be going wrong with the Ice-Cream factory.
Their sales were dropping. Their quality was bad. The people were de-motivated
and cynical.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">That is when the protagonist
finds a mentor, who is the manager of a large retail store in their town. He
visits him and asks for his guidance. The subsequent story is about how the
Ice-Cream Factory is turned around and finally sales soar and our protagonist
gets a promotion. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">A very lovable acronym – LEO is
introduced in the book.</span></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpFirst" style="margin-left: 1.0in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-list: l1 level1 lfo1; text-align: justify; text-indent: -.25in;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">·<span style="font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal;">
</span><!--[endif]-->L stands for Listen. Listen to your customers (
and employees as well!)</span></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin-left: 1.0in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-list: l1 level1 lfo1; text-align: justify; text-indent: -.25in;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">·<span style="font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal;">
</span><!--[endif]-->E stands for Enrich. Enrich your products and
services (innovate)</span></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpLast" style="margin-left: 1.0in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-list: l1 level1 lfo1; text-align: justify; text-indent: -.25in;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">·<span style="font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal;">
</span><!--[endif]-->stands for Optimize. Optimize the customer
experience</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Here are a few more quotes from
the book –</span></div>
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</div>
<ul>
<li><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif; text-indent: -0.25in;">·</span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif; font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal; text-indent: -0.25in;">
</span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif; text-indent: -0.25in;">If you sell something, you have customers</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif; text-indent: -0.25in;">·</span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif; font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal; text-indent: -0.25in;">
</span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif; text-indent: -0.25in;">Most companies are better at delivering
“excitement” than at serving customers’ “basic” needs</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif; text-indent: -0.25in;">·</span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif; font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal; text-indent: -0.25in;">
</span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif; text-indent: -0.25in;">You need to think about how to improve your
product or service every day</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif; text-indent: -0.25in;">·</span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif; font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal; text-indent: -0.25in;">
</span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif; text-indent: -0.25in;">Recognize the price of failure</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif; text-indent: -0.25in;">·</span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif; font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal; text-indent: -0.25in;">
</span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif; text-indent: -0.25in;">Get absolutely dogged on the details</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif; text-indent: -0.25in;">·</span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif; font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal; text-indent: -0.25in;">
</span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif; text-indent: -0.25in;">Develop productive paranoia</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif; text-indent: -0.25in;">·</span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif; font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal; text-indent: -0.25in;">
</span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif; text-indent: -0.25in;">Instill a passion for perfection in your team</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif; text-indent: -0.25in;">·</span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif; font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal; text-indent: -0.25in;">
</span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif; text-indent: -0.25in;">The real measure of performance is not how you
do at your best, but how you do at your worst.</span></li>
</ul>
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<br />
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Overall, this was a very light
read. It does not introduce any new concepts or ideas that you do not know. But
it is a good refresher into how some of the basics of quality can be introduced
in your team/operations.</span></div>
</div>
Brajahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09523015525968155780noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5192894630317926771.post-25390810658266945222016-11-12T01:16:00.003-08:002016-11-12T01:16:50.607-08:00Benjamin Franklin - Industry<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">The sixth virtue that Benjamin Franklin sought to develop was
Industry. The word industry in today’s common usage means a factory or a place
where some goods are produced. We have the Film industry, the IT industry, the
heavy industries etc. But the another meaning of industry is to be industrious.
It is to be productively engaged or employed in something useful. Franklin
described Industry</span><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">in the following words - Lose no time;
be always employ'd in something useful; cut off all unnecessary actions.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 13.85pt;">These days, everyone is very busy. We find it difficult to add
another item on to our packed schedule. There are so many attractions and distractions.
Family, friends, profession, hobbies, social and personal life – all demand our attention and time. Hence, it is very important for us, not to lose time
in those activities which are not useful and congruent to our goal. If someone’s
goal is to be the best badminton player, his focus should be on the game most
of the time. Except for some time devoted to recreation, he should focus on
practicing the game, reading books on badminton, discussing various techniques
with his team members, coach or other players, encouraging others to play and
talk about the game because by doing so, one becomes motivated. The badminton
player should not spend hours together watching movies or surfing internet or
playing video games. He should drop out all the other activities that do not
help him progress toward his goals.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 13.85pt;">The biggest impediment to industry is a lack of focus and laziness.
If someone does not have a goal, if there is no focus, no aim in life, then one
does not know what to work on. He wastes his time on many activities. He does
not move forward on anything. It is like a mouse running on a mill. It keeps the
mouse busy, but it don’t reach anywhere. Similarly, if someone has a goal, but
is lazy to work on it, he keeps procrastinating the work. It is like you want
to exercise to reduce weight, but every morning you tell yourself that you will
do it the next day and sleep in some more. In either of the case, you will not
be able to reach your goal.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 13.85pt;">Industry and hard work are key ingredients for a successful life. It
has been the same 300 years ago during the time of Benjamin Franklin and it
still is one of the key ingredients today. All students of success should have
a big helping of this virtue to make their life sweet, successful and
satisfying.</span></div>
<h3 style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: 10pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"> </span><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><br /></span></span><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><o:p><span style="font-size: large;">Related Posts:</span></o:p><o:p><a href="https://brajadulal.blogspot.in/2016/11/benjamin-franklin-virtues.html" target="_blank"><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></a></o:p><o:p><a href="https://brajadulal.blogspot.in/2016/11/benjamin-franklin-virtues.html" target="_blank"><span style="font-size: large;">List of 13 virtues developed by Benjamin Franklin</span></a></o:p></span></h3>
</div>
Brajahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09523015525968155780noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5192894630317926771.post-47975512315092726732016-11-11T10:22:00.001-08:002016-11-11T10:22:13.208-08:00Benjamin Franklin - Frugality<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><span style="line-height: 13.85pt;">Frugality is the fifth of the 13 virtues that Benjamin Franklin </span><span style="line-height: 18.4667px;">striven</span><span style="line-height: 13.85pt;"> to develop as part of his self improvement effort. In short, he
described frugality as: Make no expense but to do good to others or
yourself; i.e., waste nothing.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif; line-height: 13.85pt;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif; line-height: 13.85pt;">Today’s materialistic world entices people to spend more. There
are such creative advertisements which artificially creates wants and needs
where none really exists. Consumerism urges people to buy more unnecessary stuff.
Consumerism thrives on creating a sense of inadequacy in your life. It fires the
emotions of envy and pitches it against pride. Remember the feeling of keeping
up with the Joneses?</span><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif; line-height: 13.85pt;"> All these have led
to the consumerist society.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif; line-height: 13.85pt;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: 13.85pt; margin-bottom: 3.0pt; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif; line-height: 13.85pt;">The consumerist society is full of show offs. They are the ones
who get a sense of achievement by bragging their latest acquisitions, be it the
newly launched iPhone or an Applewatch or some other gizmo. Some people love to
splurge on cars and yachts, some others on castles and property. They have
different tastes. Different strokes for different folks. But in the final
analysis, to live a life well, one need not spend unnecessarily on such
extravagant luxuries. Benjamin Franklin believed that the money that one earns
should be spent judiciously. Money should be spent in such a way that it should
either do good or be beneficial to others or be beneficial to yourself. There
should not be any wasteful expenditure.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: 13.85pt; margin-bottom: 3.0pt; text-align: justify;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: 13.85pt; margin-bottom: 3.0pt; text-align: justify;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif; line-height: 115%;">Some people may argue
why one should not be free to spend their own money in the way they like. I am
sure Ben Franklin would not have objected to one spending his own money as per
his desire. But before spending that money, one should ask, if this expenditure
will result in something beneficial or not. When a millionaire goes for yet
another race car, whom is he doing good? It is only for his ego satisfaction
that he is buying another race car or luxury yacht. Doing something for your
own ego is universally known as a selfish act. A student of success should not
act in a selfish manner.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; margin-bottom: 3pt; text-align: justify;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif; line-height: 115%;">Frugality is a way of
life. It can be practiced not only in matters of money, but also in matter of
words. Wise people are known to be frugal with their words. They think more and
speak less. By being frugal with their words, their words carry more weight. </span><span style="background-color: transparent;"><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><span style="line-height: 115%;">These days, there is
a small tribe of people who follow a way of life called minimalism. They like
to call themselves minimalists. Their philosophy is one should live one’s life
with minimum need for material things. They live in a sparsely furnished house.
They have bare minimum possessions. They may have just a pair of dresses, few
books, few utensils, etc. Some sleep on the floor and live a very monastic life.
Some of them take </span><span style="line-height: 18.4px;">minimalism</span><span style="line-height: 115%;"> to a different sphere by thinking in a </span><span style="line-height: 18.4px;">minimalist</span><span style="line-height: 115%;"> way. They try to think less. They meditate more and try to stop their
thinking process when it is not needed. I think this is the height of being
frugal. This may not be possible for many people.</span></span></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif; line-height: 115%;">There
are 2 ways to become rich – either earn more, or spend less. Those who are frugal
will be rich due to the second reason. Their life is a life of fewer needs.
Since the needs are less, they have more time, better relationships and enjoy
life more. </span><span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif; line-height: 115%;">By practicing the virtue of frugality, one can get the strength and
courage to drop out of the rat race and focus on those things that are truly
fulfilling and uplifting. </span><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif; line-height: 18.4px;">Being judicious in money matters and avoiding wasteful expenses will result in a wonderful life. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif; line-height: 18.4px;"><br /></span></div>
</div>
Brajahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09523015525968155780noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5192894630317926771.post-60971243744494728762016-11-10T08:53:00.001-08:002016-11-11T04:38:13.576-08:00Benjamin Franklin - Resolution<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhRMDWZoIoMTLn25p193PPTWbWKXu55YNI9RXY7jQdy1dySCCL3gz2yY_FqApMwXqzksu9hU3YqOcde-8VDZpeVOc7dIefdknEkp6qY5NNNJNwiU63zh5yhVnUkCcIW5lG0EnB0UQttVLY/s1600/Resolutions.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="Benjamin-Franklin-Resolutions" border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhRMDWZoIoMTLn25p193PPTWbWKXu55YNI9RXY7jQdy1dySCCL3gz2yY_FqApMwXqzksu9hU3YqOcde-8VDZpeVOc7dIefdknEkp6qY5NNNJNwiU63zh5yhVnUkCcIW5lG0EnB0UQttVLY/s400/Resolutions.jpg" title="Benjamin-Franklin-Resolutions" width="265" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><br /></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><span style="background: white; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><span style="background: white; line-height: 115%;">The fourth virtue that was practiced by Benjamin Franklin was
Resolution. He described Resolution<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span>as
-</span><span class="apple-tab-span"> </span>Resolve to perform what you ought; perform without fail what
you resolve. In other words, make and keep promises.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="background: white; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Making resolutions and keeping them is what separates the
dreamers from the achievers. The dreamers see a beautiful future. They nurture
their dreams and some of them make promises to themselves to realize those
dreams. But, only a few of those dreamers, who are disciplined of mind and
spirit can only make it to the next stage of keeping those promises. Most of
them fall off track from pursuit of their dream. It takes courage, it takes
determination and most of all, it takes perseverance to go after one’s dreams,
despite obstacles in the way, despite failures, and despite challenging
circumstances, to finally emerge victorious. It is then that the dreamers
become achievers.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="background: white; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="background: white; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Habits are the passport to create or destroy one’s life. If a
person has good habits, his life will be ordered, disciplined and successful. A
person with bad habits will eventually succumb to the effects of those bad
habits. Creating good habits and changing bad habits are essential for any
student of success. Will power is the basis of creating good habits. It is the
basis of breaking bad habits. It is the sole source of strength. And contrary
to common perception, will power is something that can be developed in a person.
The surprising thing about will power is that just like your muscle power. It
can be strengthened by exercising it on a daily or regular basis. Just as one
can increase the strength in ones arms by doing pushups daily, one can increase
one’s will power by taking up certain small challenges and progressively big
and bigger ones.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="background: white; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">In order for a dreamer to become an achiever, one needs strong
will power. Will power is that internal strength which propels the dreamer to
move forward in a hostile environment. This can be developed by making and
keeping resolutions. This is as applicable in today’s world as it was 300 years
ago!<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<h3>
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">Related Posts:</span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif; font-size: large;"><a href="https://brajadulal.blogspot.in/2016/11/benjamin-franklin-virtues.html" target="_blank">List of 13 virtues of Benjamin Franklin</a></span></h3>
</div>
</div>
Brajahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09523015525968155780noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5192894630317926771.post-75672600400359554972016-11-09T08:55:00.002-08:002016-11-11T00:34:37.778-08:00Benjamin Franklin - Order<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg8-d2VI1dFn0W7CNHDlfBo9stvVbjj0RSKKMcKyAkgvVvpbUUsOd8a7I9akF1-mXfbDQXnbYFQPRRV4yN9uXbCWY16B5vfKZkKuuYfcgOWtPcNKi3BGYK136U1M74YLNmwYCY_uP6o4d4/s1600/Order.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="266" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg8-d2VI1dFn0W7CNHDlfBo9stvVbjj0RSKKMcKyAkgvVvpbUUsOd8a7I9akF1-mXfbDQXnbYFQPRRV4yN9uXbCWY16B5vfKZkKuuYfcgOWtPcNKi3BGYK136U1M74YLNmwYCY_uP6o4d4/s400/Order.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><span style="background: white; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><span style="background: white; line-height: 115%;">The third virtue that Benjamin Franklin sought to work on was
Order. <span class="apple-converted-space"> </span>He advised - Let all your
things have their places; let each part of your business have its time</span>. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="background: white; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Keeping things in order is a sign of a great mind. It is not
only sign of a great mind, but sign of a very disciplined person as well. How
many times do we forget where we keep various things. Hence, it is good to not
only have a place for everything, but also have everything in its place. Assume
that you have a book shelf to keep all your books. But if most of your books
are lying scattered here and there, all over your house, what is the purpose of
the book shelf? <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="background: white; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><br /></span></span></div>
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<span style="background: white; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Following this simple virtue can save you hours which would
have otherwise been wasted searching for things. It is not only with things, it
is about time as well. If we have a proper routine for our day, we will be able
to focus on all the things that are important to us, without missing out anything.
We will be able to attend to the important things as well as the urgent things.
<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; font-family: "trebuchet ms", sans-serif; line-height: 115%;">If you maintain order in material things around you, it will
also rub off in other spheres of your life. You will be disciplined and ordered
in your activities and in your thinking as well. When you keep things in order
in your personal and professional life, your life will be in order.</span><br />
<h3>
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><span style="background-color: white; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span><span style="background-color: white; line-height: 115%;">Related Posts:</span><span style="background-color: white; line-height: 115%;"><a href="https://brajadulal.blogspot.in/2016/11/benjamin-franklin-virtues.html" target="_blank">List of 13 virtues of Benjamin Franklin</a></span></span></h3>
</div>
</div>
Brajahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09523015525968155780noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5192894630317926771.post-39013079950515991612016-11-08T08:32:00.000-08:002016-11-10T23:49:01.792-08:00Benjamin Franklin - Silence<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhaeVl-_YVL9PqQep06QHyAFa1Wj12joYXv4j5BOxuWlxmVPPCVEqE0xlYNAg4Dx4IBjufYwfv1WDHAezMB6DVLcIfk-LDDH2jLBW9N0Sr8sXmbjvVs4Hxq4HU0oduhWM4Wa5T08B6dMmE/s1600/morning_silence.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="210" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhaeVl-_YVL9PqQep06QHyAFa1Wj12joYXv4j5BOxuWlxmVPPCVEqE0xlYNAg4Dx4IBjufYwfv1WDHAezMB6DVLcIfk-LDDH2jLBW9N0Sr8sXmbjvVs4Hxq4HU0oduhWM4Wa5T08B6dMmE/s400/morning_silence.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">The second virtue that Benjamin
Franklin practiced was Silence. He advised to speak that what may benefit
others or yourself and to avoid trifling conversation. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">With regards to speaking Aristotle had proposed a very simple and effective test known as the Triple Filter Test.
When one of his friends came and told him that he had some news to share,
Aristotle stopped him and asked if he had used the triple filter test. He said,
before one speaks, one should check if any of the following questions is true,
with respect to what one has to say:</span></div>
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<li><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif; font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal; text-indent: -0.25in;"> </span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif; text-indent: -0.25in;">The Truth Test: Is it true? </span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif; text-indent: -0.25in;"> The Goodness Test: Is it something good?</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif; text-indent: -0.25in;"> The Usefulness Test: Is it something useful?</span></li>
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">If the answer to anyone question
is yes, then one should tell it. Else, it would be better to remain silent.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Today, it is a world of self-promotion. We find people too loud and verbally too
aggressive. When one is too preoccupied in airing ones views, it does not give
us the time to reflect, think and construct the correct world view. This is
where silence helps. Silence is the garden where good thoughts grow. Silence
provides us time for introspection, time to review our goals and time to think
about course correction. The best form of silence is not just to stop talking –
it is to stop thinking – it is silencing the mind.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">There is a constant inner talk
that goes on in our mind. This inner talk affects us in many ways. It drains us
of our energy. It can create a negative outlook and persona. The way to stop
this is to silence the mind – an extremely difficult, but very powerful tool
that one can acquire. Silence calms a person. It paves the path for clear and focused
thinking and thus taking correct decisions. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">The virtue of silence has been
described as a source of great strength by the Chinese Philosopher Lao Tzu.
Francis Bacon, the English Philosopher compared silence to the sleep that nourishes
wisdom. Unfortunately, in the affairs of the world today, silence is seen as a
weakness. The most loud and vocal groups or persons are making the most hay.
But from the development of your inner strength and virtue, silence is as
effective today as it was 300 years ago.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<h3 style="text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><br />Related Posts:<br /><a href="https://brajadulal.blogspot.in/2016/11/benjamin-franklin-virtues.html" target="_blank">List of 13 Virtues of Benjamin Franklin</a></span></h3>
</div>
Brajahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09523015525968155780noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5192894630317926771.post-11948077925553082862016-11-07T09:07:00.002-08:002016-11-10T23:40:59.188-08:00Benjamin Franklin - Temperance<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiKR99xaQCI0aMyPsmfpb5LSM-W3dfKtf2yzpF2Mwu4HNvVdhFnZLpDvl0vwL-iQ94AMLUAwPGk28DScU0DuGqctkHACjmFQColj1aH0ZjxwcG4Hdhfa_hlcgTVF0_4DSyVMq6T62U-PvY/s1600/Temperance.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="Temperance" border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiKR99xaQCI0aMyPsmfpb5LSM-W3dfKtf2yzpF2Mwu4HNvVdhFnZLpDvl0vwL-iQ94AMLUAwPGk28DScU0DuGqctkHACjmFQColj1aH0ZjxwcG4Hdhfa_hlcgTVF0_4DSyVMq6T62U-PvY/s400/Temperance.jpg" title="Temperance" width="307" /></a></div>
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">The first of the 13 virtues that Benjamin
Franklin worked on was Temperance. He defined Temperance as “Eat not to
dullness; drink not to elevation”.
Temperance means having restraint, having control or self-control. It is
the opposite of excess. So, it is basically moderation. One might wonder, why Franklin chose
Temperance as the first of the virtues to be practiced. Franklin probably
believed that to start on a virtuous path, temperance in food is one thing that
could be easily followed and will build the requisite discipline and will power
to master the other virtues as well.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Franklin meant temperance only in
terms of food and drinks. It seems to me Franklin developed this virtue to
maintain a good health. We all know how important health is. As long as someone
is healthy, one does not realize how lucky one is. But as soon as one’s health
fails, one realizes the adage Health is wealth.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Apart from very few diseases that
can be congenital, all others are due to some foreign germs or carcinogens or
particles which get into the body. The bulk of the diseases in human beings can
be traced to what we eat and drink. So, if we are able to control our food
intake, it will result in a strong and healthy body. That could be the reason
that Franklin advised not to eat so much so as to become dull and lethargic. He
advised not to drink so much as to lose one’s sobriety. Being a man of the
world, he did not restrict someone completely. It was not very prescriptive
saying one should remain in a sugar free diet and have only proteins, or
abstain from alcohol completely. Food and drinks should be taken in moderation.
With a healthy body and a healthy mind, one will live long and enjoy the gift of
life fully.</span><br />
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<h3>
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Related Posts: </span></h3>
<h3>
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><a href="https://brajadulal.blogspot.in/2016/11/benjamin-franklin-virtues.html" target="_blank"></a><a href="https://brajadulal.blogspot.in/2016/11/benjamin-franklin-virtues.html" target="_blank">List of 13 virtues of Benjamin Franklin</a></span></h3>
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Brajahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09523015525968155780noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5192894630317926771.post-55615470980703344482016-11-06T00:06:00.000-07:002016-11-06T07:45:38.835-08:00How to Become a Voracious Reader<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="color: #333333; font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><span style="line-height: 115%;">All good habits are difficult to form but they
make your life easy. A reading habit is no exception. But there are certainly
somethings that can be done to establish this habit.</span></span><span class="apple-converted-space" style="color: #333333; font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif; line-height: 115%;"> Here is a list of 10 tips that can help to make you a voracious reader</span></div>
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<ol style="text-align: left;">
<li style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><span style="color: #333333;"><span style="line-height: 115%;">Make a list of 12 books that you should read. You can compile this list by
looking at best sellers in NY Times or books in your area of interest or the
most popular books in Goodreads etc. Try to finish one book a month.</span></span><span class="apple-converted-space" style="color: #333333; line-height: 115%;"> </span></span></li>
<li style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><span style="color: #333333;"><span style="line-height: 115%;">It is a good practice to make sure that you read at least 15 pages of a book
every day. You have to read it every single day, whether you feel like it or
not.</span></span><span class="apple-converted-space" style="color: #333333; line-height: 115%;"> </span></span></li>
<li style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><span style="color: #333333;"><span style="line-height: 115%;">Join a reading challenge in a social media forum . The 2016 reading
challenge is underway in Good reads.</span></span><span class="apple-converted-space" style="color: #333333; line-height: 115%;"> The 2017 Reading challenge will start in 2 months time.</span></span></li>
<li style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><span style="color: #333333;"><span style="line-height: 115%;">Join a book club in your area. If there are no book clubs, form
one with like minded people. This will help you with a support group that will
be encouraging and appreciative of your efforts. Also, you will get to learn
from the reading experience of other members of the club during the club
meetings where you discuss on the books that people have read.</span></span><span class="apple-converted-space" style="color: #333333; line-height: 115%;"> </span></span></li>
<li style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><span style="color: #333333; line-height: 115%;">Join a book lovers group in Facebook or good reads. This provides the
similar benefits of being part of a tribe, even if not physical. There can be
virtual discussions, book reviews and immense learning.</span></span></li>
<li style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><span style="color: #333333;"><span style="line-height: 115%;">The amount of information you can acquire depends upon how fast you can read printed materials or articles online. Learn various techniques and methods for speed reading and skimming contents of books. You
can devour more books in a shorter time span using these techniques.</span></span><span class="apple-converted-space" style="color: #333333; line-height: 115%;"> </span></span></li>
<li style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><span style="color: #333333;"><span style="line-height: 115%;">Once you finish reading a book, ensure that you write a review or summary of
the book and your key take away in the form of a blog or review on Goodreads or
on other social media. This will give you a sense of accomplishment and help
retain the knowledge.</span></span><span class="apple-converted-space" style="color: #333333; line-height: 115%;"> </span></span></li>
<li style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><span style="color: #333333;"><span style="line-height: 115%;">Become a member of a lending library. If not a member, try to visit libraries
in your area and browse through the different collections. You can also visit
upmarket book stores where you can sample and savour many books. This will help
you find out the genre of books that you like.</span></span><span class="apple-converted-space" style="color: #333333; line-height: 115%;"> </span></span></li>
<li style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><span style="color: #333333;"><span style="line-height: 115%;">Once you create a habit of reading, read books outside your area of
interest. This will help you understand different forms and structure of
writings and broaden your knowledge base.</span></span></span></li>
<li style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><span class="apple-converted-space" style="color: #333333; line-height: 115%;">Make your intention to read more books public and you will see your family and friends will help you achieve it.</span></span></li>
</ol>
<span style="color: #333333; font-family: "trebuchet ms", sans-serif; line-height: 115%; text-align: justify;">All leaders are readers. Hence, you should cultivate the habit of reading. It
takes time, it takes effort and it takes loads of patience to establish this
habit. Once you start, you may not be able to continue on a daily basis. But do
not give up. Start again. Slowly but surely you will find your rhythm and
become a voracious reader!</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">
</span></div>
Brajahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09523015525968155780noreply@blogger.com8tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5192894630317926771.post-63774984451158869832016-11-05T08:25:00.001-07:002016-11-05T10:45:15.984-07:00Benjamin Franklin - 13 Virtues<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">In the annals of self
improvement, the one person whose life has been most inspirational among all
stalwarts is Benjamin Franklin. Ben Franklin, one of the founding fathers of
United States, was a person who built his life, virtue upon virtue, just as a majestic
cathedral is buil</span><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">t brick by brick. </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #1d2129; line-height: 19.32px; text-align: start;">Much before challenges like 100 days Sugar Free, 21 days 21 km running were in vogue, Benjamin Franklin pioneered a unique Challenge. It was a 52 week method of self development. </span></span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms", sans-serif;">Benjamin Franklin showed the world the
method and technique for self development through his systematic process of
virtue refinement and improvement.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Even at the young age of 20,
Franklin realized that one needs to cultivate ones character by building
virtues. He conceived a plan to improve upon 13 virtues in his life. The 13
virtues he worked upon were:</span></div>
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<ul style="text-align: left;">
<li><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><u>Temperance</u> -</span><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif; white-space: pre;"> </span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Eat not to dullness; drink not to elevation.</span></li>
</ul>
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<li><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><u>Silence</u> -</span><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif; white-space: pre;"> </span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"> Speak not but what may benefit others or yourself; avoid trifling conversation.</span></li>
</ul>
<ul style="text-align: left;">
<li><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><u>Order</u> -</span><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif; white-space: pre;"> </span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Let all your things have their places; let each part of your business have its time.</span></li>
</ul>
<ul style="text-align: left;">
<li><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><u>Resolution</u> -</span><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif; white-space: pre;"> </span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Resolve to perform what you ought; perform without fail what you resolve.</span></li>
</ul>
<ul style="text-align: left;">
<li><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><u>Frugality</u> -</span><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif; white-space: pre;"> </span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"> Make no expense but to do good to others or yourself; i.e., waste nothing.</span></li>
</ul>
<ul style="text-align: left;">
<li><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><u>Industry</u> - </span><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif; white-space: pre;"> </span> <span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Lose no time; be always employ'd in something useful; cut off all unnecessary actions.</span></li>
</ul>
<ul style="text-align: left;">
<li><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><u>Sincerity</u> - </span><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif; white-space: pre;"> </span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Use no hurtful deceit; think innocently and justly, and, if you speak, speak accordingly.</span></li>
</ul>
<ul style="text-align: left;">
<li><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><u>Justice</u> - </span><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif; white-space: pre;"> </span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"> Wrong none by doing injuries, or omitting the benefits that are your duty.</span></li>
</ul>
<ul style="text-align: left;">
<li><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><u>Moderation</u> - </span><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif; white-space: pre;"> </span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Avoid extremes; forbear resenting injuries so much as you think they deserve.</span></li>
</ul>
<ul style="text-align: left;">
<li><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><u>Cleanliness</u> -</span><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif; white-space: pre;"> </span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Tolerate no uncleanliness in body, clothes, or habitation.</span></li>
</ul>
<ul style="text-align: left;">
<li><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><u>Tranquility</u> - </span><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif; white-space: pre;"> </span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Be not disturbed at trifles, or at accidents common or unavoidable.</span></li>
</ul>
<ul style="text-align: left;">
<li><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><u>Chastity</u> - </span><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif; white-space: pre;"> </span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"> Rarely use venery but for health or offspring, never to dullness, weakness, or the injury of your own or another's peace or reputation.</span></li>
</ul>
<ul style="text-align: left;">
<li><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><u>Humility</u> - </span><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif; white-space: pre;"> </span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"> Imitate Jesus and Socrates</span></li>
</ul>
</blockquote>
</blockquote>
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<o:p><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"></span></o:p></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Franklin developed a virtue
chart. He had the virtues listed in that against the days of the week. Each
night, after his days work was over, he used to spend some time in solitude, introspecting
upon the entire days affair. He recollected his experiences and observations
against each of the virtues, and noted them in his chart. Typically, for each
week, he focused on improving one virtue, while he left the rest 12 virtues to
chance. The next week, he picked up another virtue. Thus, in 1 year, he would
cover all the 13 virtues for 4 times. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj3D4JukvPhZu-T1VXNaBxUo6tQadcmnEErBeR_WyUesqY73HetYTGq2D8WQnF-S_s9tnGljMVORcSieng4krOYeCoUYCYC9q8ycdtHk_TxXrGVLPgBRqoQ5k-nrk9Z_T-cI5D12t6id9o/s1600/Virtue-Chart.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="Ben-Franklin-virtue" border="0" height="250" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj3D4JukvPhZu-T1VXNaBxUo6tQadcmnEErBeR_WyUesqY73HetYTGq2D8WQnF-S_s9tnGljMVORcSieng4krOYeCoUYCYC9q8ycdtHk_TxXrGVLPgBRqoQ5k-nrk9Z_T-cI5D12t6id9o/s320/Virtue-Chart.jpg" title="Ben-Franklin-virtue" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Virtue Chart</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Franklin in his own admission,
fell short of living his life perfectly to the standards of the virtues on
every day. It was as difficult in those days as it would be today to live such
a morally perfect life. But, yet, he admitted that this attempt to work on
virtues made him a better human being and greatly contributed to his success
and happiness. In his autobiography, Franklin wrote, "I hope, therefore,
that some of my descendants may follow the example and reap the benefit”.</span></div>
<br />
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">For any serious student of success, Benjamin Franklin's autobiography is like a Bible. It is recommended to read and implement those methods for your own benefit.</span></div>
</div>
Brajahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09523015525968155780noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5192894630317926771.post-4647858400154530642016-11-04T05:14:00.001-07:002016-11-04T06:51:31.090-07:00Lessons on Collaboration - Benjamin Franklin<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/2/25/Franklin-Benjamin-LOC.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="Benjamin-Franklin-collaboration" border="0" height="320" src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/2/25/Franklin-Benjamin-LOC.jpg" title="Benjamin-Franklin-collaboration" width="237" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Benjamin Franklin</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">There
have been many great personalities in the course of modern history. We have had
unparalleled scientific minds like that of Albert Einstein, great literary
figures like Ernest Hemingway, artists who have made incomparable contributions
like Pablo Picasso and folks who have made contributions to several aspects of
knowledge and literature like Leonardo da Vinci and Rabindranath Tagore. But among
all the great historical personalities that I have read about, I am really
fascinated by one person who was what they call as a polymath. This person had
expertise in several fields and made his mark in all of them. He was a well
known editor, scientist, industrialist, institution builder, sea farer,
politician and statesman. He is none other than Benjamin Franklin, who lived in
the United States of America in the 18<sup>th</sup> century. He achieved all
these things in a single lifetime, at an age when information was scarce and
resources non-existent. Such ambitions are unimaginable to any of us even
today, with all the resources that we have in our disposal. He is truly among
the Founding Fathers of the United States. <span style="background: white; color: #333333; line-height: 115%;">Franklin viewed virtue as a path to
personal happiness and social utility.</span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Here
are some of the key achievements from the life of Benjamin Franklin. I have picked
up a few of them to illustrate one point which I feel has been key to his
success. And it is collaboration. Franklin was a master at networking and
collaboration. He was able to work with many people simultaneously and produce
work of great value. This was one of his key capability.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpFirst" style="margin-left: 1.0in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-align: justify; text-indent: -.25in;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">1.<span style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal;"> </span><u>Network of Printers</u>: Franklin established the ‘The Pennsylvania
Gazette’, as a successful newspaper in Philadelphia. He tried to <a href="https://www.amazon.com/Benjamin-Franklins-Printing-Network-Disseminating/dp/0826216145/">establish
an inter colonial network</a> of printers which grew to be one of the prominent
and influential informal network. One of his aims of setting this network was
to promote virtues among people. As recorded by Ralph Frasca, “<span style="background: white; color: #333333; line-height: 115%;">Franklin intended
for his network of printers to teach virtue and encourage its adoption. The
network would disseminate his moral truths to a mass audience, and this would
in turn further his own political, economic, and moral ambitions</span>”<o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin-left: 1.0in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-align: justify; text-indent: -.25in;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">2.<span style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal;"> </span><u>Freemason</u>: Franklin joined the
Freemason club in 1731 and became a Grand Master in 1734. He also produced several
Masonic books and remained in the organization for the rest of his life.<o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin-left: 1.0in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-align: justify; text-indent: -.25in;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">3.<span style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal;"> </span><u>Gulf Stream Discovery</u>: Franklin
worked with Timothy Folger and other experienced ship captains to chart the
Atlantic ocean current and named it Gulf Stream. It is known by the same name
even today.<o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin-left: 1.0in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-align: justify; text-indent: -.25in;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">4.<span style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal;"> <u>Socializing with </u></span><u>Chess</u>: Franklin was an avid
chess player. He used chess as a means to network and meet new people <span style="background: white; color: #252525; line-height: 115%;">during his time as a
civil servant and diplomat in England. Old Slaughter's Coffee House in London was
the place he visited to play chess and socialize, and he made many important
personal contacts during that time. When he was in Paris, later as an ambassador,
he used to go to Café de la Régence, where the best French chess players met. </span><o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><span style="background: white; color: #252525; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin-left: 1.0in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-align: justify; text-indent: -.25in;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">5.<span style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal;"> <u>Volunteer Fire Fighting</u>: </span><span style="background: white; color: #252525; line-height: 115%;">In 1736, Franklin
established the Union Fire Company, a volunteer firefighting company,
comprising of volunteers, who will be pressed into service as and when needed.
These were on-call fire fighters who would be pursuing other vocations in their
regular life but could assemble to fight a fire when the need arose.</span><o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><span style="background: white; color: #252525; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin-left: 1.0in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-align: justify; text-indent: -.25in;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">6. <span style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal;"><u>Ameriacan Philosophical Society</u>: </span><span style="background: white; color: #252525; line-height: 115%;">Franklin established
the American Philosophical Society in 1743. The main objective of this society
was to help scientific men discuss their discoveries and theories</span>.<o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin-left: 1.0in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-align: justify; text-indent: -.25in;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">7.<span style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal;"> <u>Model College</u>: </span><span style="background: white; color: #252525; line-height: 115%;">Franklin worked with
<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span></span><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Samuel_Johnson_(American_educator)" style="text-align: start;" title="Samuel Johnson (American educator)"><span style="background: white; color: #0b0080; line-height: 115%; text-decoration: none;">Dr.
Samuel Johnson</span></a><span class="apple-converted-space"><span style="background: white; color: #252525; line-height: 115%;"><span style="text-align: start;"> </span></span><span style="background: white; color: #252525; line-height: 115%;"> and </span><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_Smith_(Episcopalian_priest)" title="William Smith (Episcopalian priest)"><span style="background: white; color: #0b0080; line-height: 115%;">Dr.
William Smith</span></a><span class="apple-converted-space"><span style="background: white; color: #252525; line-height: 115%;"><span style="text-align: start;"> </span>to establish the </span></span><span style="background: white; color: #252525; line-height: 115%;">new-model college
would focused on the professions, with classes taught in English instead of
Latin</span>. This college later became one of the constituent college of the
University of Pennsylvania.</span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">8.<span style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal;"> <u>Raising an army</u></span><span style="background: white; color: #252525; line-height: 115%;"> : In 1756, Franklin organized the Pennsylvania Militia. He recruited
a regiment of soldiers to go into battle against the Native Americans. </span><o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><span style="background: white; color: #252525; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin-left: 1.0in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-align: justify; text-indent: -.25in;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">9.<span style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal;"> <u>Royal Society of Arts</u>: </span><!--[endif]-->In 1756, Franklin had become a
member of the Society for the Encouragement of Arts, Manufactures &
Commerce. This society is now the Royal Society of Arts or RSA. In 1775,
Franklin became the Society's Corresponding Member, continuing a close
connection. <o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpLast" style="margin-left: 1.0in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-align: justify; text-indent: -.25in;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">10.<span style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal;"> </span><!--[endif]--><u>Military Alliances and treaties</u>: 1776–1785:
As the Ambassador to France, Franklin conducted the affairs of his country
toward the French nation with great success, which included securing a critical
military alliance in 1778 and negotiating the Treaty of Paris (1783).<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">As
you can notice from all the above examples, Benjamin Franklin knew how to work
with people, in groups, big and small. In most of his endeavors, he formed superlative teams which
propelled him to success. He was part of various literary and scientific societies
and alliances and drove them towards a common objective. No doubt, Benjamin Franklin was a great person
and he had immense personal virtues. He professed and cultivated the 13 virtues
to improve his character. But the virtue of collaboration was something he
practiced and practiced well to perfection! This is something which as a
student of habit we all have to learn.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</div>
Brajahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09523015525968155780noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5192894630317926771.post-74979994145997103932016-11-03T08:20:00.000-07:002016-11-03T08:23:31.851-07:00Missing Practice<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">Today, I missed my morning run. I could not wake up at 5:00am. I woke up at 6:00am. Things started getting delayed from that point onwards. Since I did not wake up on time, I could not go out for my run. One thing got delayed after the other. I had to miss few things and adjust or cut short many others. My morning routine was completely off schedule.</span></div>
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<br /></div>
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Now, I am not so much bothered by my morning routine going haywire. The best thing about a morning routine is that there is always the next day! But what I am interested is in understanding how missing practice affects the process of habit creation. Researchers say, it takes at least 21 days of consistent practice to set a new habit. But missing the practice for 2-3 days can be detrimental to the effort of establishing a new habit.</div>
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<br /></div>
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Consistent practice is needed to form new habits. Some say, the practice should be done for 21 days, some day 30 days and some other says 66 days. But missing the practice consecutively for 2 to 3 days, brings one back to the old routine. This happens mostly in the initial phase of habit creation when you are still trying to internalize the habits.</div>
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<br /></div>
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In the initial phases, there is a tussle between your old ways of doing things and the new habit that you are trying to establish. You have to spend high amount of will power to set up a new habit. When you keep doing something new, you are basically setting up new neural pathways, and ignoring the old neural pathways in your brain. Daily practice strengthens the new neural pathways. It is needed on a daily basis, until the habits become self sustaining, i.e you do not have to expend will power to do it. But, when you skip the practice, the daily reinforcement of the new neural pathway does not happen. Missing practice consecutively makes the old neural pathways takeover and then you tend to revert to old routine. To come out, you have to expend more will power than it would have been if you had not skipped practice.</div>
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<br /></div>
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I so wish I would have woken up at 5:00 am today.</div>
</span></div>
Brajahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09523015525968155780noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5192894630317926771.post-28663898062122606252016-11-02T08:07:00.003-07:002016-11-02T08:22:39.882-07:00Being a writer<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgEX7HlcxFd0K4S4jN_SHOgteaElXlWdd-Oy9WmlMphi91sIoLjTvIe_U7FPkpl0nyU1TgbBTuLVldmVjD_U9dJmA96C_CcgKBKDAnWvmmO_x59igEpk99IGTOG-uqCfYVrkVTfUEFGkbM/s1600/Insecure+Writers+Support+Group+Badge.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="314" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgEX7HlcxFd0K4S4jN_SHOgteaElXlWdd-Oy9WmlMphi91sIoLjTvIe_U7FPkpl0nyU1TgbBTuLVldmVjD_U9dJmA96C_CcgKBKDAnWvmmO_x59igEpk99IGTOG-uqCfYVrkVTfUEFGkbM/s1600/Insecure+Writers+Support+Group+Badge.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">I just joined this support group for writers - <a href="http://www.insecurewriterssupportgroup.com/" target="_blank">The Insecure Writers Support Group</a>, also known as ISWG.<span style="background-color: white;"> </span></span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">IWSG was created by <a href="http://www.alexjcavanaugh.com/" target="_blank">Alex J. Cavanaugh</a> and his monthly support team, <a href="https://cluculzwriter.blogspot.com/">Joylene Novell Butler,</a> <a href="http://jenchandlerwashere.blogspot.com/">Jen Chandler,</a> <a href="http://playoffthepage.com/">Mary Aalgaard,</a><a href="http://www.lisabuiecollard.com/">Lisa Buie Collard,</a> <a href="http://www.tamaranarayan.com/">Tamara Narayan,</a> <a href="http://tyreanswritingspot.blogspot.com/">Tyrean Martinson,</a> and <a href="https://christinerains-writer.blogspot.com/">Christine Rains!</a>
Special thanks to all.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">The first Wednesday of each month is officially the "Insecure Writer's Support Group Day". A writing prompt is given on that day, and you are supposed to post on the same. So, the prompt for today, being the first Wednesday of November is:</span></div>
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<b style="font-family: "trebuchet ms", sans-serif;">November 2 Question: What is your favorite aspect of being a writer?</b></div>
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">A writers derives many things from writing. For me writing, </span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">like a </span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">magic potion, </span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">has always been very therapeutic. Here is an attempt to crystallize my thoughts on writing in the form of a poem:</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Writing is the culmination of the tsunami of my thoughts. </span></div>
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Writing is the proof of the exuberance of my emotions. <br />Writing is the visible iceberg of my imagination.<br />Writing is my heart, soul and inseparable companion.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><br />I do not create stories, poems, plays or prose. <br />I create and destroy several parallel universe. <br />I give birth to some and kill some character<br />I play God, in my head, and on paper.<br /><br />I derive strength, I derive solace, <br />I derive happiness and I derive joy.<br />Writing is a way of expressing a promise.<br />Writing is the freedom from this matrix. <br /><br />So, if you want to join this group, please sign up <a href="http://www.insecurewriterssupportgroup.com/p/iwsg-sign-up.html" target="_blank">here</a> #IWSG</span><br />
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Brajahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09523015525968155780noreply@blogger.com12tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5192894630317926771.post-82037537782330761782016-11-01T08:54:00.000-07:002016-11-01T10:01:28.140-07:00Zero, zilch, nix, nothing!<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi_41seoa1bkkX3yEp4CUXE2oq4ycegvNhPCsRjIAgks8x5F315OCgxrSqwCdtRXQNj4hzkNwndZFr_0arXE5dM_bpmP3Q-2JkRMovOHwsrn_OjcnM5hDkZ20lZPDdB3XUD7CWpC28uCEc/s1600/Zero.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi_41seoa1bkkX3yEp4CUXE2oq4ycegvNhPCsRjIAgks8x5F315OCgxrSqwCdtRXQNj4hzkNwndZFr_0arXE5dM_bpmP3Q-2JkRMovOHwsrn_OjcnM5hDkZ20lZPDdB3XUD7CWpC28uCEc/s400/Zero.jpg" width="265" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">This is a story that
illustrates the difference between the western view of life and the eastern. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Alexander the great, who was on
his dream of conquering the world, reached the banks of river Sindhu. On the opposite
side of the river bank, sat a Jina – a Digambar jain- a gymnosophist. He was a enlightened
soul, but as a Digambar, he was completely naked. Alexander looked at him and
asked, “what are you doing?”. The Jina said, “I am doing nothing”. Alexander
heard him and laughed. The Jina asked Alexander, “what are you doing?”.
Alexander answered, “I am conquering the world”. The Jina heard his reply and
laughed out loud.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Both men were correct. Both men
understood the world from their perspective. Both men were evaluating the
situation against their own paradigm. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Alexander was brought up in
Greece, under the western philosophy of heroism. He believed that man gets only
one chance at life. The value of one’s life is all the achievement that one can
garner in one lifetime. So, wasting time
doing nothing was absolutely ridiculous. Thus he laughed at the Jina, who was
doing nothing.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">But the Jina was brought up in
the eastern philosophy. He believed that this life is just one of the infinite birth
that the soul goes through. While the external actions in the life are
important, in the perspective of the infinite births that the soul goes
through, one birth is insignificant. 1 divided by infinity is Zero, zilch, nix,
nothing. He believed that trying to conquer the world was futile, zero, zilch,
nix, nothing. He believed that conquering the self was paramount. Conquering the world, zero. Conquering the self - Infinite!</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">While Alexander and Jina can keep
laughing at each other, what is it that you learn from this exchange? </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">PS: </span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">I heard this story first from Devdutt Pattanaik</span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"> and </span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">have added a bit of my own interpretation as well.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; line-height: 24.2667px; text-align: left;">PS. Written for Indispire Edition 141 </span><a href="https://twitter.com/search?q=%23zero&src=typd" style="background-color: white; color: #888888; line-height: 24.2667px; text-align: left; text-decoration: none;">#zero</a></span></div>
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Brajahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09523015525968155780noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5192894630317926771.post-60841405713996749142016-10-30T00:00:00.000-07:002016-10-30T00:00:21.522-07:00The Master Within<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi90g3Xxri_v9kg_lV85ccliSqxaI0I1Lf_foUZ6buzf_rzND3HgbLVsUX8cOMe1-m5nNdpEn6DhdM4PpPrIRZl6geSCHu7L1dzbhNTKJ7VbAcDQ2sSPlrhtQbirzjlsk0wJldudtkGIz8/s1600/Daily_meditation.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="Daily-Meditation" border="0" height="266" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi90g3Xxri_v9kg_lV85ccliSqxaI0I1Lf_foUZ6buzf_rzND3HgbLVsUX8cOMe1-m5nNdpEn6DhdM4PpPrIRZl6geSCHu7L1dzbhNTKJ7VbAcDQ2sSPlrhtQbirzjlsk0wJldudtkGIz8/s400/Daily_meditation.jpg" title="Daily-Meditation" width="400" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">In one of the Toastmasters event,
we had DTM Nagaraja Rao, a very experienced Toastmaster, who was speaking about
mentors and how mentors help in the learning and growth of a mentee. Explaining
one point about learning, he spoke about a well known story from Mahabharata,
that of Eklavya and Dronacharya.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Eklavya was a tribal boy who
wanted to learn archery from Guru Dronacharya.
But Dronacharya had certain limitations and was not able to take Eklavya
as his disciple. Eklavya, as the story goes, made a statue of Drona and kept
practicing before it. In course of time, he became a very accomplished archer,
even better than Arjuna, the favourite disciple of Drona.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Then he asked us a question. How
is it possible that Eklavya, who did not learn directly from his guru, learn
archery? The audience could not give any satisfactory answer to this question. Finally,
Nagaraja said, as per the story, Eklavya used to practice in front of the statue
of Drona. Whenever he faced any difficulty in mastering a particular technique,
he would come to the statue, present his problem and seek help. Then he would
meditate on it and in his meditation, he used to get the answer to his
question. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Nagaraja concluded that it is the
same for us as well. The guru or master is always within us. We just need to
know that, ask the right question and listen intently. Then the answer will
come from within. Meditation is the gateway to the region beyond your consciousness</span></div>
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Brajahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09523015525968155780noreply@blogger.com0