Keeping Resolutions

#LivingStories
”I never keep my New Year's resolutions, so this year I resolve to gain weight, make less money, & hate my life”. - A cartoon by Glasbergen

#MyLearning
New Year resolutions are notoriously difficult to keep. The Vedas offer a 3 level hierarchy to test the intensity of our intentions.
L1: Abhilasha: A wish with little energy, with little impetus to move one forward
L2: Svatmi karana: Wish becomes important enough to influence thoughts and actions
L3: Iccha bhavana: Our desire, will, action, speech & thoughts, all become laser-focused on achieving the goal.

For L 3 focus, get a coach.

Nursing Innovation

#LivingStories
“If you inject a live virus into a healthy body, the body will react to it. And it's the same thing with organizations. They say they are promoting innovation but they are not, really. And if you happen to be in the innovation/disruption team, then the organization will attack you. So you need to find a way around it“. - Tobias Digswell,  Nobel Museum curator

#MyLearning
Do not stop at just innovating a product or a process, think through the strategy of how to inject and nurse the innovation through the whole system.

Spirit of The Season

#LivingStories
60 years ago this month, at the height of the Cold War, the emergency phone rang at the US Continental Air Defense Command. When the in-charge, Col.Harry W Shoup picked up the phone, it was a child asking to speak to Santa. Turned out, a local store had carried the phone number in an ad asking children to call to speak to Santa. Realising there would be a deluge of calls, Shoup ordered his operators to respond to ”every child who phoned in that night.” The tradition continues to this day.

#MyLearning
The milk of human kindness overflows during the festive season. Put it to good use.

The Well-Formed Mind

#LivingStories
In his TEDx talk, Sashi Tharoor speaks of the response of a village woman he spoke to. Asked the benefits of becoming literate, she explained she was now able to read bus destination signs, which she previously had to ask others. She could also read the street signs and therefore felt more independent. Tharoor also speaks of how, having a well- formed mind is more import than having a well-filled mind.

#MyLearning
How can I use the benefits of being literate to develop my intellect?  To not merely know facts, but to regard them with mindful curiosity & make meaning of them?

Using Emotions to Your Advantage

#LivingStories
“McEnroe needed to believe that the world was against him, he needed to get angry, to stoke the competitive beast inside of him. He played his best when hard done by - with justification or otherwise. Especially in the 70s and early 80s when the world hadn't been exposed to the ‘competitiveness’ and ‘aggression’ of the modern age, Mac the Mouth was an aberration.”
“…..but being too nice comes with a price too, especially if you are nice to the wrong person.” - R. Kaushik In the Wisden

#MyLearning
Anger and politeness, both have their uses. Use with discretion.

Metaphors Make Communication Easy

#LivingStories
Persistent efforts by Rahul Bajaj to convince authorities that his small car, built on his 3 wheeler rickshaw platform, still qualified as a 3, and not a 4 wheeler, were futile. He was being persistent as 4 wheelers are liable to pay more taxes, which drive up the price. Finally, he decided to give the example of the Gillette 3 blade razor. When they added two more blades, making it a 5 blader, did it still qualify as a razor he asked.
He got the permission.

#MyLearning
By linking abstract information to a concrete concept, it becomes easier for people to understand the information.

Taking Time Out

#LivingStories
Twice a year, during the busiest and most frenetic time in the company’s history, Bill Gates still created time and space to seclude himself for a week and do nothing but read articles (his record is 112) and books, study technology, and think about the bigger picture. Today he still takes the time away from the daily distractions of running his foundation to simply think.

#MyLearning
Taking time out to refresh one's knowledge, and think about the past and the future to make sense of the present, can have a profound effect on all parts of you.

Life is Semantics

#LivingStories
“If you say that creating the Taj Mahal is indulgence,  then it is - in the eyes of the world”, says filmmaker Sanjay Leela Bhansali. “If you say he loved her and he created a monument - then it is a monument. It is the way you look at it.” He claims what others call indulgence, he calls commitment and the two should not be confused.

#MyLearning
Personal truths, are a summation of experiences from the personal notes we make of them. Indulgence or commitment, successes or failure, profit or loss etc, are only the topic heads to a deeper set of self narratives of their meaning to us.

Your True Value

#LivingStories
The matriarch of a reputable business family, known for her vast collection of modern art possessed an enviable series of pahadi paintings by a well known miniature painter. The painter was her grandfather's family friend and had gifted her 18 miniatures paintings at her wedding. However, she unaware of the high value of the artworks until someone pointed it out to her.

#Coach perspective
How we see ourselves is a function of our mind, even the mirror captures only an image painted by our mind. How we value ourselves is also a function of the same mind. How close is  your true value, to the value you  put on yourself?

Check with a coach!

Your Workspace Talks!

#LivingStories
According to Aparna Piramal Raje, author of Working Out of The Box, the private workspaces spaces  of CEOs provide insight into their business priorities and personality. She has classified CEO workspaces into four distinct archetypes, based on their design, usage and purpose that provide valuable insights into the minds of CEOs.

Coach perspective
Private workspaces provide insight into the working style of leaders. As a Business coach, this observation is key to my coaching. 

Think
What do you think your workspace tells about you?

Using Weaknesses of Your Advantage

#LivingStories
Jaideep Barman, CEO of Faasos was asked what his social media profile saying, “Pretending to be a CEO” meant. He replied, “See I am a Bengali, so I am very lazy. From day one I have looked for people who can work their best. I am the CEO, but it is a job well done by the team.“

Coaching perspective
Weaknesses used creatively for the greater organizational good can produce effective outcomes.

Try doing
Write down  on the left side of a  sheet of paper all your weaknesses and on the other side people, places or things that can help to compensate them. Don’t edit anything. Just free associate as many compensates as you can with their specific contribution. Once you’ve found one that you think works, test it out.

Tell
In what ways have you used your weaknesses to your advantage?

Image: Openforum

Dealing with Dissent

#LivingStories
When Snapdeal’s Rohit Bansal made unflattering comment about talent in India,  Flipkart’s Sachin Bansal disagreed and tweeted,  “Don't blame India for your failure to hire great engineers.  They join for culture and challenge“.

Coach perspective
It may be perfectly OK to have an opinion that may not vibe with your colleagues. But how you handle the opposing point of view is an art.

Try doing
Speak to the person directly. If you two can't seem to find common ground, consider going  to a sound third party to defuse the situation.

Tell
How do you deal with people of a different opinion than that of yours?

Image: Otis

Sweet Spot for Peace of Mind

#LivingStories
Beyond a certain point , money is not something you live for, feels Kumarmangalam Birla. “If I didn't have the money to buy the two works of art that I want,” he elaborates, “I'd feel pretty bad about it, but more than two  works of art and two holidays. I've no need for money.”

Coaching question
What are the things you would want to buy, after which you'd feel you do not need any more money?

Try doing
Practice cutting down on your needs and limiting your wants. Aim to choose the sweet spot between your Needs, Wants and Lacks.

Tell
How do you view your lacks?

Image:Ian Brown Lee

Yes Is A World

#LivingStories
“Find a way to say yes to things”, says Eric Schmidt,  executive chairman, Alphabet. “Say yes to invitations, to a new country, yes to meet new friends, say yes to learn something new. Yes is how you get your first job and your next job, and your spouse even your kids.”

#MyLearning
E.E. Cummings couldn't have put it better when he said, “Yes is a world & in this world of yes live (skillfully curled) all worlds”. Truly, saying yes can open the door to so many exciting and unexplored worlds!

Image: Improvised life

Acts of Kindness

#LivingStories
“If you are unemployed and need an outfit cleaned for an interview, we will clean it for free”, says a sign outside the establishment of In The Bag cleaners. Below this is a personally signed note from Team Leader Dave Coyle, which says,  “When times are tough, we will help you look your best.”

#MyLearning
Reading the sign aroused a mixture of emotions in me - a slight constriction of the throat followed by a sunny feeling which Wodehouse would have described as, “The bird’s on the wing, the snail's on the thorn,  God’s in his heaven, all's right with the world“. If those my emotions, one can only imagine the feelings of the receiver of the act and the giver.

Each of us, whether In business or employed, have the capacity to do an act of kindness to those who are less privileged than us. It does not cost much, but can be immensely gratifying and emotionally rewarding to both the giver and the receiver of the act.

Sensitive Leadership

#LivingStories
When Shikha Sharma, MD and CEO, Axis Bank, moved to a new office, she took some radical decisions. Everybody, including the seniors in the organization, had desks of the same size. She was trying to demonstrate to the company the need to be more open.

#MyLearning
Symbolism in organization has a subtle and elusive nature but few organization members fail to notice differences in the size of offices and desks, quality of furnishings, parking privileges, and use of titles. Thoughtful leadership means being sensitive in dealing with the differences for organizational good.

Image:Jokeroo

Peace of Mind

#LivingStories
The governor's residence in Mumbai is a sprawling 47 acre ecosystem of rich biodiversity, filled with peacocks and other creatures. Two decades ago, to control the snake population, an officer released a pair of mongoose. Their progeny is now endangering the peacock population by breaking their eggs and eating their chicks.

#MyLearning
Our bodies ecosystem is  a self-regulated system operating in a state of perfect balance. Into this balanced system, we release the ‘mongoose’ of emotional stress, which uncontrolled, is often liable to endanger our peace of mind.

Image: Deviant art

The Identities We Own

#LivingStories
Business leaders often get carried away by the power their designations command. Nitin Nohria, Dean of the Harvard Business School understands well that position is not personality.  He is clear that the way people approach him today as the Dean of HBS may be different from the way they approach him as just the individual.

#MyLearning
Inside of us we carry several identities: inner and outer identity, professional (leader,follower), and personal (father, son, friend, subordinate) identity, and so on.

Be aware that the overlap of one identity by another, can be good or bad, or it can be something in between.

Picture: yzoedesigns

Overcoming the guilt of 'Why'

#LivingStories
At a recent art auction, artist Souza’s painting sold for $4m. Before fame and fortune came calling, he lived in poverty. In a letter to his second wife on her birthday,  he wrote,”I wish thank you for raising my daughters… for a decade or you have me great joy Lisolette. What did I give you? I gave you children and a load of misery with my alcoholism. I simply can't fathom why?

#MyLearning
Before undertaking an action, to lessen the guilt of the ‘Why's’, follow the rule of the Indian roads. Look left, look right, look above, look below, look back and then look front again.

Then let your karma do whatever it intends to do!

Doing and Being

LivingStories
American businessman Mark Cuban believes the worst advice he has received is, “Follow your passion.“ He says everyone has multiple passions, “but those don't lead to career success.” What does, he claims, is finding something hard to work at. By following your effort instead of your passion, you can develop skill and learn to appreciate it.

#MyLearning
Doership has shades of nishkama karma, effort without expectation. But behind every effort is an emotion; anger (vengeance), fear (of loss) or passion (happiness). I'd rather let passion the healthiest of them all, drive my efforts.

Humour - A Great Leadership Skill

#Livingstories
At a function of the industry body ASSOCHAM, CEO Rana Kapoor asked celebrity guest actor Shahrukh Khan how he would counter the Chinese film industry and take Bollywood to new heights. In a witty rejoinder to the challenging question, Khan, speaking gibberish with a Chinese twang said, “I have responded to the challenge to the Chinese. You will not understand it, but they will get what I said.“

#MyLearning
A sense of humour is a great skill for leaders to have. It can help to fend off awkward questions and also help defuse  tense situations in a non-threatening manner.

Living With LSD

LivingStories
In 1997, a student Mahan Mitra was awarded a PhD in topology by the University of California,  Berkeley. The very next year, he renounced the world and joined the Ramakrishna Mission & became known as Mahan Maharaj.  This year,  he was awarded the Infosys Prize for 2015 in Mathematical Science. His reaction was , “I have little to do with awards. It is the recognition of the work which I value. “

MyLearning
Live with the right proportion of LSD in your life. Balance between:
Laxmi: wealth & prosperity,
Saraswati: knowledge seeking and
Durga: spiritual fulfilment & peace.

The Power of Boredom

Dr V K Kurien arrived at Anand in May 1949. Bored, and with nothing to do in the small sleepy town, he joined a band of tenacious dairy farmers in their  struggle against the exploitative practices followed by the local trade. Little did he know that he was actually sowing the seeds of a revolutionary cooperative movement. It went on to create the White Revolution, making India the largest milk producer in the world.

#MyLearning
Do not underestimate the power of boredom. Activities born of a state of boredom, could transform into passion and produce remarkable outcomes

Failure Is Success in Disguise

In 1917, Einstein set out to design a theoretical model to prove space is bent around itself like the sides of a tin can.

He failed.

But in the process, he succeeded in doing something very interesting - unifying the effect of acceleration and gravity.

#MyLearning
Treat failures like Edison, who in  the course of his journey of the invention of the incandescent light bulb, said he had succeeded in “finding 10,000 ways that won't work.” Discard the 10,000 ways that won't work, but do learn from the ones that did, and had ‘Einsteinian’ outcomes.

Picture Source : Paul S. Cavella

The Downsides of The Digital Age

The control & nurturing of an ecosystem takes patience  care, contrasting sharply with the immediacy of messaging or tweeting of the smartphone generation. In order to encourage them to slow down & take time out to take care of their plants, Samuel Wilkinson has designed a terrarium that links to your IPad or IPhone & can control the climate, water level & nutrient from your device.

MyLearning
The ‘convenience’ of being online 24/7 & the compulsive call of the social media adds up to a state of constant urgency & stress. Take time out and tend to life?

Think
What's your sense of the story?

Beliefs and Business

Patrizio Bertelli,  CEO of fashion and jewellery line Prada, believes the counterfeit trade has created jobs & they do not want to be a brand that nobody wants to copy.

On the other hand Caroline Scheufele, Co-President of Chopard believes that one had be desirable to be copied. But imitation is plagiarism and is annoying, hence they create patterns that are too elaborate to copy and have 10 lawyers constantly trying to stop the menace.

#MyLearning
Our Beliefs influence Behavior.
Behavior impacts Business

#Think
What's your sense of the story?

Channelising Energy Productively

Thimmakka is a native of Karnataka. She has no formal education and worked as a casual labourer in a nearby quarry. Married to Chikkaiah who is a cattle herder, they unfortunately have no children. She has filled the lack by planting and tending to 384 banyan trees along a four-kilometre stretch of highway between Hulikal and Kudur. Her work has been honoured with the National Citizen's Award of India.

#MyLearning
Mourning and lamenting a lack or loss is an unproductive use of our energies. Best to channelise them into working on the larger good, both for self and others.

Clearing Our Demons

“All my demons, all my monsters that I’d been carrying around forever… The light came through and I realized, 'Oh! They’re not demons, they’re not monsters, they’re not dragons. I’ve been making them more grandiose than they are. They’re just the orphaned parts of me. And they are throwing temper tantrums because of their fear. And now I have to tell them it’s going to be okay. And they will all go to sleep. I am the mother of all of these parts of me.'”.  Author Elizabeth Gilbert in an interview.

#MyLearning
We create monsters of our fears. We also have the power to put them to sleep.

Ideal Decision-Making

Ryoma, a 19th century samurai, played a key role in the movement to overthrow the Tokugawa shogunate & end Japan's 300-year isolation. He established the nation's first trading company & helped Japan become a naval power.
A portrait of Ryoma, hangs in the office of SoftBank chief Masayoshi Son. Every morning when he comes to office, it reminds him to make a decision worthy of Ryoma.

#MyLearning
Ideals are born, not of logical analysis, but of feelings which have no language of words to measure them. Holding ourselves to the ideals of our heroes invests the ideals with a measure for our actions.

Intentional Living

“Intentional living, basically, is about choosing your spots. You can’t be on 24/7, but you can identify the spots when you are going to be on. So I think a lot of high energy is a result of intentionality, looking at your schedule and saying, OK, I’d better be good here, here, here and here. But hey, this is just lunch, and I can be 50 percent and be OK there.” - John Maxwell, Leadership Guru

#MyLearning
Clarity and strength of intention (aka purpose) can help us intuitively decide how much energy to expend in a situation.
Action
Clarify my Purpose, define my goals and set priorities. For a deeper analysis, talk to a coach.

Relationship Boundaries

Elizabeth Gilbert’s memoir Eat, Pray, Love became a bestseller, and from being an artiste living close to the bone, she found herself in possession of a giant pile of money. Feeling lucky and wanting to do something for her friends who still lived in poor circumstances,  she gave away a lot of money to them.  But by doing this, she found that in many cases, far from strengthening relationships, it actually spoilt them.

#MyLearning
Money, religion and politics are divisive. Best to keep them out of relationships, both at home and work.

Picture Source : Souleylo

Lifework Results Calculator

Entrepreneur Kazuo Inamori believes the formula for calculating the results of someone's lifework is Attitude x Effort x Ability.

#My Learning   
To work the formula into my life I have to commit to an:
Attitude: Constantly demanded perfection for yourself.

Effort: When launching a new project start off with a dream. Once the planning stage begins, become a pessimist in order to recognize every possible difficulty, then it’s back to optimism for thee execution.

Ability: Live by the belief that you have the ability to do anything

The Elixir of Knowledge

In the 6th century, Borzuy, the personal physician of the Persian emperor came to India looking for the Mritsanjeevani, the mystical herb that could revive a corpse. He did not find the herb but found the Panchatantra instead. After reading it, he  realized that the magical herb was knowledge and the corpse was ignorance.

#MyLearning
May I have the  wisdom to use the elixir of knowledge, not only for my own benefit, but also for the benefit of others.
May it not instil in me the pride of knowing what I know, but the humility to understand that there is yet more to know and learn.

Time to Stand and Stare?

“Time is the new currency, “ says Pushkraj Shenai, CEO, Lakme Lever. Consumers are multitasking with buying groceries and hailing cabs on mobile phone apps, food is getting delivered in record time and household chores are being outsourced. ‘Busy’ consumers are even being offered express hair colouring along with manicure and pedicures in 10 minutes instead of 40 minutes earlier!

We are increasingly becoming a people in a hurry.

#MyLearning
A poor life this if, full of care,
We have no time to stand and stare.
                         - William Henry Davies

The Luxury of Freedom

Actor Ranveer Singh is considered the high priest of fashion, but he believes in the  luxury of freedom. Freedom such as walking back home through the by-lanes from the studio to his suburban Mumbai home.

#MyLearning
We perform the Laxmi Puja to propitiate the goddess of wealth, but the greatest wealth she could bestow on us is not money. It is the wealth of peace and happiness, and the luxury of  the freedom to do what one’s heart wants.

From Material to Sentimental Value

Jean-Marc Lacave, President and Regional Managing director,  Moet Hennessy Asia-Pacific, was  asked what is his most prized position. His reply,  “I am starting to think I need less and less. But my watch is sentimental to me. It's not worth too much,  it was given to me by my father when I was 18.”

#MyLearning
Aging after a life of craving and acquiring things, realisation dawns  that all our indulgent acquisitions are less valuable than say, the solitaire earrings bought with your first paycheck, the pair of sunglasses left to you by your granddad or the shawls passed on to you by your mom and grandma.

The Power of Questions

Physicist Richard Feynman found the atmosphere at the Institute of Advanced Studies at Princeton stultifying.  He found it sterile because there were no students to ask him questions - questions that would force him to rethink his beliefs and perhaps discover new theories.

#MyLearning
A leader who fosters a work culture of asking questions, opens the door to an engaging and collaborative environment for innovation and success.
Read the Forbes article below for ideas and suggestions for questions leaders can ask their people.
http://www.forbes.com/sites/hennainam/2013/07/30/why-oprah-is-worth-2-8-billion-the-power-of-questions/

Love Has Many Parts

When Anand Mahindra met Harvard collegemate Bill Gates for the first time, he complained, "Thanks to you, I am never going to look like a winner to my kids." Explaining the reason why, Mahindra says his daughter asked him who were the famous people at Harvard with him, and when he  enthusiastically responded, “Bill Gates” she put him down with,  ‘Jeez Dad! In comparison, what a loser you are.‘

#MyLearning
Love has many parts to it; respect, caring, honesty and trust. While all are important, a few maybe some degrees less than others, but the weight of the rest more than make up for the lack.

Life is Choices

Actor Salman Khan says it Is difficult for him to deal with the dichotomy of perception. In his professional life, people see him romancing pretty girls, travelling to fancy places for film shoots, hosting shows, laughing, responding and giving advice, and they think he is having a good time. But, he says, with the verdict of the court cases against him due shortly, people have no idea what it takes for him to smile and romance on screen and do justice to his work.

#MyLearning
That work and life are two separate and contrasting entities of our lives is a dichotomy of perception They are just one - LIFE, and being happy is an outcome of the choices we make.

Picture source: bms. co.in

Time The Healer and The Killer

“Men talk of killing time, while time quietly kills them,“ says Dion Boucicault. How about women?  Actress Jennifer Lawrence says her busy schedule in Hollywood takes a toll on her body.  Moreover, she feels empty when she has nothing to do. She therefore tries to keep working instead of taking a vacation, and says now she's “aging like a president.”

#MyLearning
Man or woman, we need to draw a balance between killing time and overworking to the point of exhaustion. Time quietly kills both extremists.

Leaders Lead the Way

Both Actor Salman Khan and film director Sooraj Barjatya are the same age, yet the actor addresses the latter as Sooraj babu. Asked why, Salman say he realized (Sooraj’s) calibre right from the time of their first film together, when both were 19-year-olds. He had then noticed that people were taking Sooraj for granted, and he had not liked it. So he’d started calling him Sooraj babu so others would respect him.

#MyLearning
Every action and communication of a leader has the power to shape the perceptions,as well as behavior of his people. Use the power well.

Picture source: brettlsimmons. com

Accepting Alternative Points of View

“Raja Raja Chola, in building the magnificent Brihadeeswara Shiva temple in Thanjavur, also incorporated sculptures of Vishnu as well as the meditating Buddha thus admitting to alternative viewpoints. When Shahenshah Akbar invited scholars of all manner of persuasion to debate the eternal verities in his court, he was only following older traditions of our Hindu and Buddhist kings, who encouraged and protected the spirit of enquiry.” - Raghuram Rajan, RBI governor.
#MyLearning
Accepting an alternative point of view,  so long as it is not intended to hurt is a sign of strength & a source of enriched ideas.

Your Day a Blank Page

Asked about the kind of book he wanted to write, Rajdeepak Das,  chief creative officer, Leo Burnett says, his life has been like blank pages. He works positively to scribble something new and memorable each day.

#MyLearning
Early each day, we prepare a draft plan of our to be o actions. Once pen is put to the blank sheet of the day,  what emerges is either the exact same as we had planned, or it may be different. Both ways, it creates new learning and the scope to do a better draft plan for the next day.

That Courage to Act

Ben Bernanke, chairman of the Federal Reserve during the financial meltdown years, has written his memoirs. The New York Times in its review of the book says, “Bernanke’s memoir is called The Courage to Act - a title that may be ironic because, although he generally chose to act in most of the crisis he faced, it would have required an equal amount of courage, or even more, not to.”

#MyLearning
Actions carry relevance and pertinence when done at the right time & at the right place. May I have the courage to be proactive in the deserving moments of life situations.

Pic: biz shift-trends.com

Setting Life Goals

Economist and political scientist Joseph Schumpeter, who popularized the term "creative destruction" in economics, claimed that he had set himself three goals in life: to be the greatest economist in the world, to be the best horseman in all of Austria and the greatest lover in all of Vienna. He said he had reached two of his goals, but he never said which two,although he is reported to have said that there were too many fine horsemen in Austria for him to succeed in all his aspirations.

#MyLearning
Our life goals should be a healthy mix of aspirational professional and personal goals. Working toward becoming the best in each can be fun and deeply satisfying - and never mind that we may fail to achieve one or two of our goals - the fun lies in the journey!

Picture source: engineering. com

Living Life Authentcally

Their chests were to be digitally tattooed in post production so they had to shave their chest hair. While others in the cola campaign ad agreed, cricketer Sehwag did so only after some coaxing. After the shoot, while others rushed to the monitor to reflect on their performance or their looks, Sehwag just swaggered away unconcerned,  once the director yelled cut.
Because frankly, as with his batting style, he didn't give a damn.

#MyLearning
How unmindful can I be of societal, familial and peer pressure in being my authentic self?

The Truth of Intention

He treats his music room like a mosque & visitors have to keep their footwear outside. He prays five times a day, which leaves him with “no time for smoking, drinking or fornication.” That was ace composer A.R. Rahman speaking in the television documentary Jai Ho, based on his musical journey. He explained how an intention coming from purity and love  can make any music appeal to people,  irrespective of their cultures, nationalities or geographies.

#MyLearning
The truth of my intention should be seen like a beacon of light - clear, direct and of unmistakable integrity. Can I honestly do it?

Mentors and Life Lessons

Mentors don't mould champions.  Opponents do. - An ad for Jack & Jones.

#MyLearning
Opponents do mould champions by teaching them unforgettable lessons in the do’s and don'ts in certain life situations.
Mentors organise those lessons into doable actions in daily life.
Both have their roles to play.

The Pain of Ravana

Last evening, as they stood him up in the middle of the grounds, readying to set him afire, Ravana looked down sadly on the multitudes and wondered to himself,  “Who among you is Rama?”

#MyLearning
Before I criticise, or think negatively of people, can I look inside myself and ask,  “am I too guilty of the same wrongdoing? “

Skill Building Framework

"I want to thank everyone for the cricketing advice given to me over the years and apologise for not accepting most of it. I had a reason; I did it my way." Cricketer Virender Sehwag announcing his retirement.

#MyLearning
The path of skills evolution is:
1. Learn the Rules,
2. Practice the Rules,
3. Break the Rules and finally,
4. Make Your Own Rules

While the linear path to evolution may be best,  mavericks and geniuses can, and do,  skip steps. I am the best judge to decide what, where and how I shall deal with rules.

Driving Desire

"Some dreams need wings, some ride on a chariot of desire." From an advertisement for a jeweler.

#MyLearning
The Brihadaranyaka Upanishad says, "You are what your deep, driving desire is. As you desire, so is your deed. As your deed is, so is your destiny." Great things happen as a result of  a deep driving desire.  Dreams too require this desire in order to take wing.

Right Focus

Hindi film lyricist Varun Grover says Hindi poets had a purist angst that a poem should not be part of a film. But now, threatened by English and Hinglish, they are changing tracks. But Urdu poets didn't mind such things, so even today, romantic songs use Urdu words.

#MyLearning
Focusing on performance over process, volume over value and quantity over quality etc, have their place, but know when to widen focus, or change focus so as not to be left behind in the race.

Your Gift to The World

An artiste has to constantly grow,  says singer Sunidhi Chavan. Epiphany dawned at the Global Citizen Festival, where she realized that as a human being & citizen of India, songs weren't the only thing she wanted to be remembered for, she  wanted to make a difference and help causes. While her profession made her a singer and entertainer,  she wanted to be someone people could look up to.
#MyLearning
The Needs of Man, says Covey, are, To Live, To Love, To Learn, & To Leave a Legacy. Once we are clear about the contribution we want to make, it can influence our actions in the rest of the needs.

Rules of Decision-making

Children Not Allowed, But The Child In You Is Welcome, says a sign outside a Mumbai eatery. A Chinese restaurant meanwhile, has a dress code for patrons - No Shorts Please.

#MyLearning
Age confers wisdom on us, while children have an insatiable curiosity to know and constantly question the status quo. So think curious wearing the shorts of childhood and act wisely wearing the pants of adulthood.