When Was The Last Time You Checked Your Beliefs?

Belief is like a personal guidebook to reality: it tells us not just what is factually correct but also right and good. It fundamentally informs our behaviour. It would be nice to think these guidebooks are reliable and dispassionate, but it has become clear that they are not. Beliefs are largely a product of our fallible psychology, gut feeling, the company we keep and biological differences such as how easily we scare. -  Graham Lowton,  New Scientist,

My Learning
Beliefs are born of our experiences, context and time. It is worthwhile to  evaluate the validity of our beliefs periodically.

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.

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?

Leaders Build Cultures

Warren Buffett has often noted that you build a reputation over years and decades, but you destroy it in a blink of an eye,. Well, Volkswagen just blinked.
The most critical work of an incoming CEO may be to rebuild and overhaul the culture where this sort of deception occurred, says Charles Elson, a governance expert.

#Viewpoint
The Volkswagen case is a rude reminder of the role leaders in creating organizational culture. Employee performance is a function of assumptions & behaviours leaders encourage, promote, or turn a blind eye to. And these assumptions and behaviours drive the results.

The Path of Four-Way Wins

Stewart Friedman, founding director of Wharton's Leadership Program and the Work/Life Integration Project,  recommends pursuing the path of four-way wins. The path comprises practical steps to making things demonstrably better in four domains of of our life,  at work,  at home, in our community and our private life. To begin, do a quick  review to explore: what's important to you,  where you focus your attention and how things are going in each of the four domains. Use some of the the thoughts and experiences of the people given below, help to generate ideas for experiments to better align what matters to you to what you actually do. Design experiments in which you are deliberately aiming to improve your performance and results in each of the four domains.

    1.   Expand your Knowledge

Scott Adams, creator of Dilbert cartoons, believes, every adult must have working knowledge of; Public speaking, Psychology, Business writing, Accountancy, Design (the basics), Conversation, Overcoming shyness, Second language, Proper grammar, Persuasion, Technology (hobby level) and Proper voice technique.

       2.   Declutter you Mind

"To compose, I need to be happy and to have free mind space, " says A.R. Rahman the Oscar winning music composer, and Leander Paes, winner of the US Open Mixed Doubles title along with Martina Hingis says, "if I can keep Martina happy,  if I can keep her relaxed,  the tennis I don't even have to worry about. "

Focusing our motivation results in our single-minded immersion and harnessing of our emotions into performing and learning. The emotions are not just contained and channeled, but positive, energized, and aligned with the task at hand.

     3.     Dance with your Emotions
"A relationship is like a dance,  says Indian classical dancer Anita Ratnam, "sometimes you are close, sometimes you pull away;  there is passion, anger and forgiveness;  and much like a dance,  the relationship will end one day." 

Every relationship has its share of a range of emotions - most, if not all are impermanent, changing with time, context and our personal and mental growth. Let us make the best of our relationships in our time in the world.

     4.    Accept the Past

"Not surprisingly,  I find myself thinking about that slippery substance - the past - and the infinite variety of human attempts to make peace with it.  The impulse to freeze it into tradition,  to tame into verity,  these are common options.  But just as readily available is that other inconvenient choice,  so seldom exercised - the choice to wonder at it,  too accept it's essential non- graspability." Arundhati Subramaniam in book review of Keki N Daruwala's book Fire Altar in HT

      5.   Accept your Ignorance

"Belief means something that you do not know. You want to assume and bring a certainty to something that you do not know. says Sadhguru Jaggi Vasudev.  "That means you are concretising your ignorance.  There is no need to know everything.  What I know, I know. What I do not know I do not know."

       6.    Establish a Routine

For geniuses, a routine was more than a luxury - it was essential for their work…Charles Dickens took three hours walks every afternoon - and what he observed on them fed directly into his writing. Tchaikovsky made do with two hour walks, but wouldn’t return a moment early, convinced that cheating himself of the full 120 minutes would make him ill. Beethoven took lengthy strolls after lunch, carrying a paper and pencil with him in case inspiration struck. Ernest Hemingway tracked his daily word output on a chart “so as not to kid myself”. Arthur Miller said, “I don't believe in draining the reservoir you see? I believe in getting up from the typewriter, away from it,  while I have still things to say.” 

        7.    Measure What You Can Control

Film director Ashutosh Gowarikar's advice to  actor Abhishek Bacchan - do not measure your success by how your film fares at the box office - because that is not within your control.  Measure your success by how you fared with the goals you set yourself for the film. Their success is within your control.

         8.     Be Resilient
"The hardest time to Captain the team is when your are not scoring runs and that's when your character and of leader you are outweighs your own form. The team needs the Captain to be a strong person who enjoys other people's success and sees the bigger picture. " Brendon McCullum, New Zealand skipper.

         9.      Create Lasting Emotional Bonds 

"In every situation, says Deepak Chopra, make it a habit to ask the key questions of emotional intelligence: How do I feel? How do they feel? What are the hidden stumbling blocks? A leader who can answer these questions will be in a position to create lasting emotional bonds.” 

Call to Action

The result of undertaking the practice of the four-way win is a greater sense of control and freedom living in ways that are consistent with what you're passionate about, what you really care about. When people take even a small step that's under their control, that's intentional and that's in a direction that they choose, they feel better about their lives and about the people they're affecting with their actions on a daily basis.

Power of Intention

It was my son Sooraj's 12th birthday and I was feeling guilty that I had to attend an urgent meeting out of town.  So, I was at the Delhi airport. My flight had been announced but the since the queue was long,  I decided to continue to wait for some time.

Finally, the queue had thinned and I rose from my seat.  Just then I spied a tall imposing man with a shawl wrapped around his shoulders striding regally towards a seat. It was superstar Amithab Bachhan! The last of the passengers had walked out of the gate to board the plane, just then, a thought struck me;  why not I take Amitji's autograph as a gift to Sooraj? I quickly retraced my steps and headed towards where Amitji was sitting.  But my țhroat was dry and my steps faltering!  I seemed to have been struck by a sudden bout of nervousness! Regardless,  I went up to him, and croaked, "Sir, could you give me your autograph? " and stuck out a piece of paper from my pocket. "Certainly", he said. "... and please say,  happy birtday,  Sooraj, as your message*. He duly wrote the message and handed it back to me with a smile. 

On my return a few days later,  I gifted this 'special message for Sooraj from Amithab Bachhan" to him He was very happy! I do not know whether Sooraj still preserves that piece of paper,  but I still preserve the memory of it. For it demonstrated to me that if your power of intent is strong and emotional ( guilt of being not present on son's birthday), one can overcome one's weaknesses ( my terrible nervousness! ).

5 Stolen Recipes to Do and Become

A recipe has no soul, You as the cook, must bring soul to the recipe.” - Thomas Keller, chef, writer, restaurateur.

Every artist gets asked the question, "Where do you get your ideas?" The honest artist answers, "I steal them."

Here are a 5 stolen life recipes to which I have added my soul (aka my learning spin) to;

1. Adapt to the times

Restaurateurs today, realising that food is not the only carrot drawing diners in are giving more emphasis to the design and giving their places a makeover. Attention is being paid to the decor, layout, music. lighting, the clean fragrance (of herbs or fresh coffee and bread or wood charring in a clay oven) comely staff. All of which come together very nicely to pull in the customers. Ultimately however, as Chef Solomon says, as good as the decor maybe, it will be the food which will pull in the customer.  

Know when to focus on targets, when to pay attention to emotions and when to focus on the changing needs of customers. Be sensitive to the ecosystem and respond accordingly, taking care to never forget your essence.

2. Connect to the environment

When we think of the word 'food', we only think of nutrition, says chef Pankaj Walia. But the truth is our connection with food is deep and spiritual; something that our ancestors realised and respected. Archaeology professor Dr Kurush Dalal recommends slow cooking to establish the connection. Slow cooking, he says, recognises the connection between plate, people, planet and culture; things we have forgotten to correlate these days while munching on fast food."

People, planet and culture - each, some, or all three, are integral to our every action. Recognising the connection between our actions and their impact on the three, can help us become more conscious and connected to our environment.

 3. Connect to the Universe

“You’ll find a sense of calm overtaking you as soon as you pray or sprinkle water around your food before your meal," says Prof. Kurush Dalal. That time - even if it is for a split second - makes you appreciate the world, its wonders and the food on your table. It connects you with the Universe.”

Ritual or ceremony is a celebration, a tradition. Through these rites we re-live, re-enact, honor, remember, and call forth ancient spiritual teachings, tradition and divine spirits. Studies show that they are good for people’s physical and mental well-being. They help make life seem predictable, under control, and meaningful.

4. Have a hobby

Money isn't  the only thing stock market man Ramesh Damani kneads. He has a thing for dough which made him seek out baking and attend a week's bakery course in Paris. Asked for the similarity between brokers and bakers, Damani's reply is, "Both like the feel of dough....and both (investment and baking) need a lot of patience."

A hobby is an echo of the soul, and if you are following your heart, so can be your profession. Seek answers within, discover the parts between your profession and your hobbies which are similar, or support the other.

6. Play your cards wisely

"I realised my face was never going to be my fortune," says  Prahlad Kakkar, ad guru. "(So) I decided to impress ladies by tickling their palate - good food, full-bodied wine, candlelight and my storytelling powers are a lethal combination.  It has always worked. Food is much more than fuel for your body."

Remember what Randy Pausch said, "we cannot change the cards we are dealt with, just how we play the hand."

CALL TO ACTION

Now that you have a bunch of recipes to choose from, make your choice, put the ingredients of your choice into the pot, marinate in a thick sauce of motivation for a few days. Then light the fire of your passion, stir in a good dose of determination and serve. 

Bon Apetit!

Leap From The Comfort Zone

A king received a gift of two magnificent falcons and called in his head falconer to train them. Some months later the head falconer informed the king that though one of the falcons was flying, the other had not moved from its branch since the day it had arrived. The king summoned the best healers and sorcerers and healers to tend to the falcon, but no one could make the bird fly. Having tried everything else, the king decided to call in someone familiar with the countryside - a farmer. In the morning, the king was thrilled to see the falcon soaring high in the sky. He immediately ordered his courtiers to bring him the doer of this miracle. When the farmer arrived,  the king asked him, "How did you make the falcon fly?" " It was very easy, your highness, the farmer replied  I simply cut the branch of the tree where the bird was sitting."

#My Learning
I am most comfortable in my comfort zones because within it, I can operate with certainty and least risk. Can I take the leap?

The Healthy Sceptic

Before Isaac Newton came on the scene, people believed that the rainbow comprises of three colours;  red, blue and yellow. Through his famous prism experiment, Newton demonstrated that color is intrinsic to light. He also divided the spectrum into seven colours giving us ROYGBIV.  We now know that the spectrum consists of more than just those seven colours. Turns out, there wasn’t any particular scientific reason he chose the number seven, it was just his idosyncracy; he  thought it made more sense that way!

#Viewpoint
In these days of dependence on Google for research and knowledge seeking, and stories going instantly viral, it makes sense to recollect what the Buddha said more than 2500 years ago.