Black Sea Story

Power of NOW

Thanks to my buddy Sathish JM for sharing this wonderful article.

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All fear is, in essence, fear of the future. We are afraid of the things that have not yet happened, but which if they did might bring us pain, suffering or some other discomfort - or stand in the way of our future contentment. And we are afraid that circumstances that are already causing us displeasure may continue in the future. Or that what occurred in the past may occur again.

We may fear losing our jobs and the resulting drop in living standards. We may fear failure for the disapproval it might bring. We fear the unknown for the dangers it may bring. We fear uncertainty, not knowing whether or not we will find what we are after. Here lies a sad irony. We want to be happy and at peace with ourselves. Yet the very nature of fear makes us anxious in the present and not at peace.

Many of our fears are not so strong that we would label them as fears. They may be just concerns, little niggles we have about how things may turn out. They may not even be conscious concerns - in many cases they surface only in our dreams, in conversation with a friend, or being-idle moments. Nevertheless they fill our minds with thoughts.

This is the voice within our heads that comments, often critically, on everything we do. It thinks, "I did that well, people will approve of me", or "If only I had said it differently she would not have got upset". It is the voice that speculates on the future, "Should I make that telephone call? What if?" It wonders what other people are thinking and how they will react. It is the voice of fear, the voice of the ego-mind - the part of us that believes that only through what happens to us in the world around can we be at peace within. But filling our minds with worry over what people might or might not think is not the most constructive use we can make of our imagination.

This internal dialogue keeps us trapped in time - it dwells on the past or the future. As long as our attention is in the past or future, we are not experiencing things as they are, we are seeing them through the judgments of the past and our fears for the future. At times we can be so caught up in our self-talk that we do not even notice the present. We ignore what is going on around us, do not really hear what people are saying, do not appreciate how we really feel. So engrossed are we in our concerns that we never seem to pause to let things be. We have lost the present moment - lost the NOW.

This moment is all that exists. This fleeting instant is the only reality. The past is gone forever. The future is not yet born.

Your body is in the NOW. But if you're like most people, your mind is in the past or in the future. You grieve or glory over events of long ago. You harbor resentments and guilt and shame - hangovers from the past. You think of what you should have said or might have been. You fear and fantasize over the future, you worry about every moment of wasted time. You worry about death, not having enough time to achieve your ambitions, the end of your ego. All of which cuts you off from the present like a dark screen.

If you bring the mind from miles away to the activity of the moment, if you abate the clatter in your head to focus on the physical reality surrounding your body, and the sensations from within it, you'll gradually experience a surprising sense of well-being. Indeed, tuning in to the NOW is one gateway to perceiving eternity. The philosopher Wittgenstein observed: "If we take eternity to mean not infinite temporal duration but timelessness, the eternal life belongs to those who live in the present". By experiencing a moment for itself, you stop time. Time is defined as the interval between two events. When you are in the NOW there is no interval, only the event alone.

As the saying goes, bright and prosperous future can only be built not by thinking about past, but by living the NOW moments the way the envisioned future has to be.

That is the power of NOW. Start living powerful life by taking control of these NOW moments.

LIVING THE REAL YOU

LIVING THE REAL YOU

[As read in Robin's blog]

1. IT IS ALL ABOUT YOU! The #1 reason you may not be where you want to be in your career and personal life is who you currently are vs the external conditions you might be blaming. It’s stunning how our limiting beliefs and core fears sabotage us and keep us small. And here’s the thing: because most of them are subconscious, we can’t even see the mess they are creating for us.

The key here is to clean up the self-deception in your life. And take a good hard look at why you are where you are. Is the truth that you’re scared of failure or rejection or the unknown or success? The more aware you become of how you’re the one standing in your own way, the more you’ll move into choice. And have the power to make the new choices that drive new results.

2. YOUR NET WORTH NEVER EXCEEDS YOUR SELF WORTH. We get from life not all we want, but who we are. To have more, we must become more. The more you can learn, grow and provoke the highest display of your potential on a daily basis, the more all you want will begin to show up.

3. FOCUS IS MORE VALUABLE THAN INTELLIGENCE. You’re smart enough to master your life – and play in the big leagues of success. Here’s another thing that may be holding you back: you’re really busy being busy. But what’s the point of being uber-productive doing useless things?

Two quick ways: turn off your technology for a few hours each day and do Real Work. And second, make your Stop Doing List more important than your To Do List.

4. DISRUPT OR BE DISRUPTED. OK, so here’s the reality: the next 20 years will be nothing like the last 20 years. You and your team and your organization can “wait for the up cycle to return”. But I think you’ll be waiting a long time. I don’t think we’re in a down cycle. I think the way the global economy+society currently is, is the new reality. And if you agree with me, there’s only one choice for any one of us: innovate – or become obsolete.

So, to win in 2012, out-think who you were and outlearn what you learned and outwork the way you worked. Read constantly. Iterate daily. And ferociously improve every part of the way you think, work and live.

5. SHATTER YOUR STANDARDS. It’s stunning how many people – built to play at wow with their lives – accept mediocrity in their health, finances, work, relationships and mindset (the problem with letting a little mediocrity into your orbit is more starts to creep in until eventually it becomes your new normal).

Right now, I challenge you with my usual respect and affection, to raise your standards. Don’t tolerate any form of average. Don’t accept Dis-excellence. Don’t stand for mediocre. If you’re going to settle, then please settle for the absolute best.

6. HAVE SOME FUN. Life’s a short ride when you really think about it. Yes, do your dreams while you change the world. But do it with a smile. And a festive heart. Make time for life’s simple pleasures Savor life’s gifts. Embrace all that’s good in your life.

Right to Forgive

As read in one of Harvey's article:

Clara Barton was an American nurse who founded the American Red Cross in 1881 and was its president until 1904. A remarkable woman, she made it a rule never to hold resentment against anyone.

Once a friend reminded her of a cruel thing that had been done to Barton some years previously, but Clara seemed not to remember the incident.
"Don't you remember the wrong that was done to you?" the friend asked.
"No," Clara answered calmly. "I distinctly remember forgetting that."

You will never get ahead of anyone as long as you are trying to get even with them. Even if you do get even with someone, you have put yourself on their level.

The daughter of a friend of mine gave me some advice a few months ago on how to handle forgiveness. She suggested making a list of the grudges, anger and pain that weigh you down. Commit to releasing it once and for all. Take three deep breaths and ask for peace. Then burn the list. And smile. You've just lightened your load.

As F. Scott Fitzgerald said, "For every minute you remain angry, you give up 60 seconds of peace of mind."

Forgiveness is the key to healing all relationships and leads to happiness. You'll be grateful for the experience of forgiving someone. It ultimately makes you stronger.

I don't think a single person can escape life without experiencing hurt by another person. Everyone, and I mean everyone, messes up, hurts others, finds fault, misjudges and acts emotionally and improperly from time to time at the expense of others.

What is the best course of action? How can you get past the anger and the bad feelings? Only one way that I know of—forgiveness. Forgive the people who kept their jobs when you lost yours. Forgive yourself for being in whatever position you find yourself. Accept that some things are just not in your control. And then, except for the lessons you learned, forget it.

Carrying grudges can be a heavy load. Just the thought of past pains pulls your energy down. Forgiveness is how you free yourself. You release your anger. You move forward. And you lighten up.

Forgiving what's happened in the past allows you to focus on the future, which is the only place you have to go.

"Forgiveness is not an occasional act; it is a permanent attitude," said Martin Luther King Jr.

"Forgiveness does not mean ignoring what has been done or putting a false label on an evil act. It means, rather, that the evil act no longer remains as a barrier to the relationship."

It is far better to forgive and forget than to resent and remember.

Every time you forgive you feel more empowered and powerful.

Circle of Influence

Tale of two fields

As read in Robin’s blog

Once, there was a pristine green field that was alive and lush, amidst the extraordinary bloom of Springtime. Next to it happened to sit another field. This one full of weeds, dirt and rough edged stones. A testament to mediocrity. And an acute lack of care.

Through the operation of Nature's laws, the seeds of the weeds from the mediocre field were slowly blown over to the lush field. And so, day by day, the once stunningly beautiful one - with once awesome potential - succumbed to the influence of it's low-grade next door neighbor.

Before the season was through, there sat two fields. Both completely overcome by weeds.

The leadership lesson for you and I (in this world that aches for real leaders): your influences and environments matter.

The people you associate with will infect your thinking.

The content of what you read/watch/listen to will affect your game.

And the things you surround yourself with will determine whether you work at wow. Or end up at a field called mediocre.

Its important to be in a positive influence for us and be that positive influence for others

That Busy Perception

THAT BUSY PERCEPTION

In Washington DC, at a Metro Station, on a cold January morning in 2007, this man with a violin played six Bach pieces for about 45 minutes. During that time, approximately 2,000 people went through the station, most of them on their way to work. After about 3 minutes, a middle-aged man noticed that there was a musician playing. He slowed his pace and stopped for a few seconds, and then he hurried on to meet his schedule.

About 4 minutes later:
The violinist received his first dollar. A woman threw money in the hat and, without stopping, continued to walk.

At 6 minutes:
A young man leaned against the wall to listen to him, then looked at his watch and started to walk again.

At 10 minutes:
A 3-year old boy stopped, but his mother tugged him along hurriedly. The kid stopped to look at the violinist again, but the mother pushed hard and the child continued to walk, turning his head the whole time. This action was repeated by several other children, but every parent - without exception - forced their children to move on quickly.

At 45 minutes:
The musician played continuously. Only 6 people stopped and listened for a short while. About 20 gave money but continued to walk at their normal pace. The man collected a total of $32.

After 1 hour:
He finished playing and silence took over. No one noticed and no one applauded. There was no recognition at all.

No one knew this, but the violinist was Joshua Bell, one of the greatest musicians in the world. He played one of the most intricate pieces ever written, with a Stradivarius violin worth $3.5 million dollars. Two days before, Joshua Bell sold-out a theater in Boston where the seats averaged $100 each to sit and listen to him play the same music.

This is a true story. Joshua Bell, playing incognito in the DC Metro Station, was organized by the Washington Post as part of a social experiment about perception, taste and people's priorities.

This experiment raised several questions:

*In a common-place environment, at an inappropriate hour, do we perceive beauty?

*If so, do we stop to appreciate it?

*Do we recognize talent in an unexpected context?

One possible conclusion reached from this experiment is this:

If we do not have a moment to stop and listen to one of the best musicians in the world, playing some of the finest music ever written, with one of the most beautiful instruments ever made . . .

How many other things are we missing as we rush through life?

Very powerful question this one is...the answer to which can bring in attitudes within us that could make our life lot more meaningful and enjoyable.

Next time when we get under that busy tag comfortably and avoid spending time with loved ones, enjoying those little miracles in our lives, pause at that moment with this powerful question.

Keep Your Dreams

KEEP YOUR DREAMS

Thanks to my friend Ram who yet again shared one more wonderful article.

I have a friend named Monty Roberts who owns a horse ranch in San Isidro. He has let me use his house to put on fund-raising events to raise money for youth at risk programs.

The last time I was there he introduced me by saying, “I want to tell you why I let Jack use my horse. It all goes back to a story about a young man who was the son of an itinerant horse trainer who would go from stable to stable, race track to race track, farm to farm and ranch to ranch, training horses. As a result, the boy’s high school career was continually interrupted. When he was a senior, he was asked to write a paper about what he wanted to be and do when he grew up.

“That night he wrote a seven-page paper describing his goal of someday owning a horse ranch. He wrote about his dream in great detail and he even drew a diagram of a 200-acre ranch, showing the location of all the buildings, the stables and the track. Then he drew a detailed floor plan for a 4,000-square-foot house that would sit on a 200-acre dream ranch.

“He put a great deal of his heart into the project and the next day he handed it in to his teacher. Two days later he received his paper back. On the front page was a large red F with a note that read, `See me after class.’

“The boy with the dream went to see the teacher after class and asked, `Why did I receive an F?’

“The teacher said, `This is an unrealistic dream for a young boy like you. You have no money. You come from an itinerant family. You have no resources. Owning a horse ranch requires a lot of money. You have to buy the land. You have to pay for the original breeding stock and later you’ll have to pay large stud fees. There’s no way you could ever do it.’ Then the teacher added, `If you will rewrite this paper with a more realistic goal, I will reconsider your grade.’

“The boy went home and thought about it long and hard. He asked his father what he should do. His father said, `Look, son, you have to make up your own mind on this. However, I think it is a very important decision for you.’ “Finally, after sitting with it for a week, the boy turned in the same paper, making no changes at all.

He stated, “You can keep the F and I’ll keep my dream.”

Monty then turned to the assembled group and said, “I tell you this story because you are sitting in my 4,000-square-foot house in the middle of my 200-acre horse ranch. I still have that school paper framed over the fireplace.” He added, “The best part of the story is that two summers ago that same schoolteacher brought 30 kids to camp out on my ranch for a week.” When the teacher was leaving, he said, “Look, Monty, I can tell you this now. When I was your teacher, I was something of a dream stealer. During those years I stole a lot of kids’ dreams. Fortunately you had enough gumption not to give up on yours.”

Moral: Don’t let anyone steal your dreams. Follow your heart, no matter what. No Dream is too big or too small when one works hard to live it. One should always try making dreams come true no matter what.

Its simply magic

Its simple magic

My friend Madhu Madhan and I keep exchanging thoughts now n then that provides some interesting insights to life. Here is one very powerful but yet simple reasoning Madhu has provided a while ago. It happened when Madhu and family were at a Magic show during a weekend.

As narrated by Madhu…

We were at the PC Sorcar Master magic show this weekend. The kids in the group were sitting at the edge of the seat mouths wide open their eyes rarely blinking. My 3 year old started crying thinking they really pushed a sword through a screaming man. On the drive back the grown-ups were exhausted answering questions about 'how was it done' and 'was it real'. I slowly nudged my 7 year old into taking the perspective of magic into the real world and fired back observations at him such as 'Aren't trees growing out of the ground magic?', 'see how magically the flowers bloom and then die', 'imagine how children are born', 'there is so much magic happening around you'. All that got a muted response, but I knew the seed has been sown. I'm a firm believer that familiarity and knowledge rids us of the awe with which we look at the world around us as though it's magic. If we can shed that ego of knowledge or the burden of knowing we can simply enjoy the greatest magic of all that we all live amidst in this world. Let's make a cautious choice to observe atleast one spontaneous magic around us everyday/every week. Then life can be beautiful and enchanting just the way it should be.

Super powerful thought it is...

Inspiring Discovery

As read in one of Harvey’s article

The African impala can jump to a height of over 10 feet and cover a distance of greater than 30 feet. It's a remarkable feat to observe -- so effortless and graceful, a real defense mechanism necessary on the predator-filled savannas. But put these magnificent creatures in an enclosure in a zoo surrounded by just a three-foot wall, and the animals will not jump if they cannot see where their feet will land. They will be killed rather than risk the unknown.

Many humans share these characteristics. They thrive in familiar territory, doing what they know is safe and comfortable, but they won't take any risks for fear of failure. They would rather watch opportunities pass them by than jump over the wall.

And then there is the barnacle which makes one single and lasting decision about where it's going to live. After it decides, the homely little creature spends the rest of its life with its forehead cemented to a rock or attached to a ship. It survives by capturing food with its feathery legs and fending off predators. Not a glamorous existence, to be sure.

Again, parallels can be drawn to human behavior. Some people will attach themselves to a job or company with no intention of doing much other than eating or being eaten.

Have you ever wondered how a little stake in the ground attached to a chain can restrain a four-ton elephant? These powerful creatures must be trained to stay with their keepers. For the first few days they are in captivity, the elephants are tied to bamboo trees with heavy rope. After trying unsuccessfully to free themselves, the animals give up, and can be restrained thereafter by a rope anchored to a small stake.

Certainly the stake is no match for the elephant's power, but these largest of land mammals have learned to be helpless. Chances are you've worked with a few elephants, who won't leave their comfort zone even though they have plenty of strengths to protect them. Their spirits are broken and they step back at the least resistance.

Of course, we can also learn plenty of positive lessons from animal behavior.

In the 1930s, a leading zoologist concluded it should be impossible for a bumblebee to fly. That is because its size, weight and the shape of its body are all wrong in relation to its total wingspread. Fortunately, no bumblebees have ever studied aerodynamics so they just naively keep on doing what they should logically be incapable of doing.

We work with people like that too. They buzz around, doing the seemingly impossible without giving it a second thought. No explanation for what they are able to accomplish: they just do what needs to be done, and along the way, they pollinate ideas and make them grow.

Watch a duck navigate across a lake. It looks so smooth and steady, floating along, like a postcard from the north woods. Look under the surface, and observe how hard the webbed feet are working. Then look at the wake the duck leaves behind. A ten-pound duck, less than a foot wide, opens up an angle of at least 40 degrees, with ripples extending more than 50 feet. The duck has left its mark--more than 600 times its size!

We have that extra sixth sense and its really upto us to make use of it for a great living!

Telling-Lies-No-Papa

Telling lies no papa…

Dr. Arun Gandhi, grandson of Mahatma Gandhi and founder of the M.K. Gandhi Institute for Non-violence, in his June 9 lecture at the University of Puerto Rico, shared the following story as an example of "non-violence in parenting":

"I was 16 years old and living with my parents at the institute my grandfather had founded 18 miles outside of Durban, South Africa , in the middle of the sugar plantations. We were deep in the country and had no neighbors, so my two sisters and I would always look forward to going to town to visit friends or go to the movies. One day, my father asked me to drive him to town for an all-day conference, and I jumped at the chance. Since I was going to town, my mother gave me a list of groceries she needed and, since I had all day in town, my father ask me to take care of several pending chores, such as getting the car serviced.

When I dropped my father off that morning, he said, ' I will meet you here at 5:00 p.m., and we will go home together. ' After hurriedly completing my chores, I went straight to the nearest movie theatre. I got so engrossed in a John Wayne double-feature that I forgot the time. It was 5:30 before I remembered.

By the time I ran to the garage and got the car and hurried to where my father was waiting for me, it was almost 6:00. He anxiously asked me, ' Why were you late? ' I was so ashamed of telling him I was watching a John Wayne western movie that I said, ' The car wasn't ready, so I had to wait, not realizing that he had already called the garage. When he caught me in the lie, he said: ' There' s something wrong in the way I brought you up that didn' t give you the confidence to tell me the truth. In order to figure out where I went wrong with you, I'm going to walk home 18 miles and think about it.

So, dressed in his suit and dress shoes, he began to walk home in the dark on mostly unpaved, unlit roads. I couldn't leave him, so for five-and-a-half hours I drove behind him, watching my father go through this agony for a stupid lie that I uttered. I decided then and there that I was never going to lie again. I often think about that episode and wonder, if he had punished me the way we punish our children, whether I would have learned a lesson at all. I don't think so. I would have suffered the punishment and gone on doing the same thing. But this single non-violent action was so powerful that it is still as if it happened yesterday.

“That is the power of non-violence."

[Thanks to Rohit for sharing this article]

All About Excellence

Sculptor and Excellence

A German once visited a temple under construction where he saw a sculptor making an idol of God. Suddenly he noticed a similar idol lying nearby. Surprised, he asked the sculptor, "Do you need two statues of the same idol?" "No," said the sculptor without looking up, "We need only one, but the first one got damaged at the last stage." The gentleman examined the idol and found no apparent damage. "Where is the damage?" he asked. "There is a scratch on the nose of the idol." said the sculptor, still busy with his work. "Where are you going to install the idol?" The sculptor replied that it would be installed on a pillar twenty feet high. "If the idol is that far, who is going to know that there is a scratch on the nose?" the gentleman asked. The sculptor stopped his work, looked up at the gentleman, smiled and said, "I will know it." The desire to excel is exclusive of the fact whether someone else appreciates it or not. "Excellence" is a drive from inside, not outside. Excellence is not for someone else to notice but for your own satisfaction and efficiency.

Sand To Pearl

First of all its great to read a poem after a long-time [not that i never came across one for long time]

This poem is as found in of one of Harvey's article

"Plain Old Oyster" attributed to David Cohen

There once was an oyster, whose story I'll tell
Who found that some sand, had gotten into his shell
It was only a grain, but gave him great pain
For oysters have feelings, although they are plain.

Now, did he berate the harsh workings of fate
That had brought him to such a deplorable state?
"No," he said to himself, "Since I cannot remove it,"
I'll lie in my shell, and think how to improve it."

The years rolled around, as the years always do,
And he came to his ultimate destiny ... stew.
Now the small grain of sand that had bothered him so,
Was a beautiful pearl all richly aglow.

This tale has a morale, for isn't it grand,
What an oyster can do with a morsel of sand?
Think ... what could we do, if we'd only begin,
With some of the things that get under our skin.

This is what a determined spirit can achieve...

This is also Integrity

[Thanks to Nandini for sharing this wonderful article of Mr. Bagchi]

While discussing instances of professional conduct while researching for the book, here is a great lesson from the life of Amit Varma, a man I deeply admire. Amit got his MBA from Kellogg School of Management and has been with MindTree ever since we started. Today, he heads MindTree’s worldwide consulting practice in IT strategy out of California, USA. Here is a story about integrity and values from his school days that has shaped Amit’s business outlook and I am sure will touch you deeply:

“This is an incidence that goes some time back when I was 14 yrs old and was representing my state (West Bengal) in cricket. We were playing the final game of the qualifiers and the semi finalists would have been decided based on the outcome of this game. We were playing Karnataka and both of us needed to win to qualify - we still had an outside chance of qualifying based on the outcome of another game but Karnataka had to beat us to qualify. It so happened that the weather intervened after the first half of the game and per the rules the points were to get split between the teams. This would have given us the advantage and would have helped us qualify based on the total points and would have knocked the Karnataka team out. We were all rejoicing in our dressing and the high fives had started when our coach walked in and said that he had agreed to play the game again the following day. Needless to say, there was shock, dismay and disbelief on our face when we heard this - why would someone want to do this especially when this outcome had helped us qualify?

Our coach told us that if we really wanted to win the championship, we should do it by winning and not by relying on statistical methods - in his words “you win by playing; if you had to sit and do statistics, you are all better off sitting in school and attending the right classes”.

We lost the game the next day and didn’t make the semi finals! None of us could ever believe that our coach had done this to us.

It so happened that Karnataka went on to win the championship and when the team went to collect their awards, their coach called our entire team on the podium and ensured that we all received the awards with his team. He specifically called out our coach and said that if he had not been professional and agreed to play again, some other team would have been receiving this award and he actually went on to dedicate the award to our coach and us.

We felt extremely humbled - the seeds of professionalism were probably sowed in most of us right then and there but the true understanding of what happened sunk in much later in life. Even today I ask myself - would I have done the same had I been in our coach’s shoes especially with the benefit of knowing that we actually lost the replayed game? As much as I’d like to think I’d have done that, I’m really not sure.”

How often we get to hold our integrity wherein breaking it is fine too just as in above example? Those are the times that are true tests to our integrity.

Pair Of Old Shoes

A young man, a student in one of the universities, was on a walk with his professor one day , a man whom the students considered a friend for his kindness to those who waited on his instructions. As they went along, they saw lying in the path a pair of old shoes, which were belonged to a poor man who was working in a field close by, and who had nearly finished his day's work.

The student turned to the professor, saying: "Let us play a trick on the man. We will hide his shoes, and hide ourselves behind those bushes, and wait to see his perplexity when he cannot find them ..." .My young friend," answered the professor, "We should never amuse ourselves at the expense of the poor. But you are rich, and may give yourself a much greater pleasure by means of this poor man.

Put a coin in each shoe, and then we will hide ourselves and watch how this affects him.." The student did so and they both placed themselves behind the bushes close by. The poor man soon finished his work, and came across the field to the path where he had left his coat and shoes.

While putting on his coat he slipped his foot into one of his shoes, but feeling something hard, he stooped down to feel what it was, and found the coin. Astonishment and wonder were to be seen upon his countenance. He gazed upon the coin, turned it around and looked at it again and again. He then looked around him on all sides, but no person was to be seen. He now put the money into his pocket, and proceeded to put on the other shoe; but his surprise was doubled on finding the other coin.

His feelings overcame him . . . He fell upon his knees, looked up to heaven and uttered aloud a fervent thanks in which he spoke of his wife, sick and helpless, and his children without bread, whom this timely bounty, from some unknown hand, would save from perishing .The student stood there deeply affected, and his eyes filled with tears."Now," said the professor, are you not much better pleased than if you had played your intended trick?"The youth replied, "You have taught me a lesson which I will never forget. .. I feel now the truth of these words, which I never understood before- "It's more blessed to give than to receive."

If you want happiness for a lifetime - Help someone

[Thanks to Ram for sharing this nice article]

Sachin-Job-Love

Like Sachin, love the job

G S Vasu is the resident editor of ‘The New Indian Express’, Hyderabad
source : express 19nov2009

At one of the meetings I had with a group of associates, I asked if they loved watching a movie in a theatre. The response was a ‘yes’. Turning to the smokers, I asked if they loved every puff they took. ‘Yes’, they replied. The same was the response from those who loved every sip of whisky or beer.

On all these, they spend money — for cinema tickets, cigarettes, liquor and a cup of coffee or a favourite dish for the girlfriend. Then, I asked why they don’t love the work they do, though they get paid for it. The small gathering just remained silent.

Many greats paid glowing tributes to Sachin Ramesh Tendulkar on his completing 20 years of international cricket, but the one fundamental reason that has kept him going for two decades is the simple fact that he loves doing what he does, an aspect the legend himself has emphasised more than once. Being just one among his millions of fans, I am not qualified to write about his exploits on the field, but I began wondering how a case-study of his success, rather his traits, applied to almost every organisation or company — those that do exceedingly well and emerge leaders, those that keep trying to do better but never manage to reach the goal and those that just fall apart.

How many of us actually love what we do at the work place? Many don’t, whether they admit it or not. It could be true of a carpenter, a journalist, a manager or a marketing person. But the fact is most of us spend 70 per cent of our active life at work and if we don’t enjoy that time, life itself becomes meaningless. Making employees love what they are supposed to do is the key to the success of any organisation. Otherwise, it is like a husband and wife living together (for a variety of reasons) but not exactly loving each other. Just as my boss makes it a point to emphasise that in respect of journalists, there is no alternative to good writing. But it is possible only when one does it with passion.

‘You’re only as good as you are today’. It is true of everyone, Tendulkar included. How many times have we heard or read people saying it was time he quit, until the maestro kept proving himself again and again, just as he did in Hyderabad recently when he played one of the finest one-day innings the game has seen? Sachin is under scrutiny all the time but lesser mortals like us can often get away with non-performance. I had a colleague who always told me how he had exposed some scandal two decades ago. But, in the last decade of his service, I never saw him write and he could get away with it. Even today, the one remark that I keep hearing from employees in various organisations is: “We have worked very hard in the initial years of our service. But, we are no longer interested.”

The reasons could vary: one hasn’t got a promotion for years, another hasn’t received a decent increment and yet another has no faith in the future of the organisation he works for. Creating effective mechanisms — money and recognition — is the key to motivating people, the two factors that had a role to play even in Tendulkar’s success, just as they had a negative impact in the case of other equally talented sportspersons who did not have the same kind of money or recognition in a cricket-crazy nation.

One manager was confronted with a similar situation in a department — a bunch of disheartened staffers, more than required, and all of them doing things in the most routine fashion. Some of them were capable, a few others incorrigible or ‘resisters to change’ as I would like to put it. The latter group was slowly weeded out and a part of the money saved used to reward those who remained. They are much better off today than a few months ago; five of them doing what eight did earlier. After all, as Jack Welch said in his Winning, plaques and public fanfare have their place. But without money rewards lose a lot of their sheen. Equally important is a non-bureaucratic and meaningful evaluation system so that the right people are rewarded. I am reminded of the CEO of a company who spent all his time in the office in engaging low-level employees to spy on the seniors. Over the years, it wrecked the careers of many and in the process the organisation itself. Just as Indian selectors often kill promising sportspersons because the consideration is not based on talent but something else.

For one last time, I shall return to Sachin and this time it is about the lack of ego despite all the success he has achieved, and his commitment and integrity. Good and great people never think they have reached the top of their game and they never allow their integrity to be questioned. Today, he is praised as much for his commitment and integrity as for his batting. But, how many companies have heads with a similar attitude? On the contrary, many of them are saddled with leaders, smart and capable, but who believe they are so indispensable that they should not be bound by anything, including the company’s values, which are written in boldface and kept on the table to draw everyone’s attention except their own.

They can never be in a team, just as a friend narrated the episode in a company where one head kept fingering another till the latter left, totally frustrated and dejected. There is this story of another senior manager who used all his creativity to violate a rule and claim refund of a certain expenditure that is not allowed. The accountant knew passing the bill was a mistake and yet could not muster the guts to say ‘no’ because the claim was made by the boss. More often not, ethics apply more to the heads than those under them because it is the former who has to set an example and also has a greater opportunity to steal, lie or cheat.

Sachin might have walked on to the cricket field hundreds of times so far and yet each time all of us cheer every minute that he spends at the crease and feel terrible when he walks back. The reverse is perhaps true of most heads — employees hate the moment the boss enters office and feel relieved when he/she leaves. That’s why I would say the life of Sachin Tendulkar can be a good lesson for any corporation that is required to manage a large workforce as it would be, in any case, to every aspiring cricketer.

10,000 hours to mastery !!!

Harvey Mackay - Dec. 7, 2008 12:00 AM

For years, I have preached the importance of hard work, determination, persistence and practice - make that perfect practice - as key ingredients of success. A nifty new book seems to support my theory.

Malcolm Gladwell has written a fascinating study, "Outliers: The Story of Success" which should make a lot of people feel much better about not achieving instant success. In fact, he says it takes about 10 years, or 10,000 hours, of practice to attain true expertise.

"The people at the very top don't just work harder or even much harder than everyone else," Gladwell writes. "They work much, much harder." Achievement, he says, is talent plus preparation. Preparation seems to play a bigger role.

For example, he describes the Beatles: They had been together seven years before their famous arrival in America. They spent a lot of time playing in strip clubs in Hamburg, Germany, sometimes for as long as eight hours a night. Overnight sensation? Not exactly. Estimates are the band performed 1,200 times before their big success in 1964. By comparison, most bands don't perform 1,200 times in their careers.

Neurologist Daniel Levitin has studied the formula for success extensively and shares this finding: "The emerging picture from such studies is that 10,000 hours of practice is required to achieve the level of mastery associated with being a world-class expert in anything. In study after study of composers, basketball players, fiction writers, ice skaters, concert pianists, chess players, master criminals and what have you, the number comes up again and again. Of course, this doesn't address why some people get more out of their practice sessions than others do. But no one has yet found a case in which true world-class expertise was accomplished in less time. It seems it takes the brain this long to assimilate all that it needs to know to achieve true mastery."

Two computer giants, Bill Joy, who co-founded Sun Microsystems, and Bill Gates, co-founder of Microsoft, also were proof of the 10,000-hour theory.

As Gladwell puts it, "Practice isn't the thing you do once you're good. It's the thing you do that makes you good."

Consider these thoughts from successful folks in all walks of life:

• "No one can arrive from being talented alone. God gives talent; work transforms talent into genius." - Anna Pavlova, ballerina.

• "I know the price of success: dedication, hard work and an unremitting devotion to the things you want to see happen." - Frank Lloyd Wright, architect.

• "The way to learn to do things is to do things. The way to learn a trade is to work at it. Success teaches how to succeed. Begin with the determination to succeed, and the work is half done already." - Mark Twain, writer and humorist.

Do you detect a theme here?

The abilities these people possessed were far-ranging, yet the formula for success was the same: hard work and lots of it. I don't know anyone who has succeeded any other way. Some people just make it look easy. Of course, you probably didn't see the first 9,999 hours of hard work. And you don't just have to work hard; you have to work smart, too.

[Thanks Vivek sharing this wonderful article]

An easy to refer example for us - [in fact most of us would have remembered this name everytime we see numbers in the range of 10,000]. SACHIN RAMESH TENDULKAR it is.

Sachin attributes the hours he practiced [and still practices] as a huge factor for his consistency. 

With Practice comes Perfection leading to Genius.

Genius is not only about doing things we have mastered. Its also about not doing things we are well versed to do.

Otherwise how else Sachin could have scored that historic, famous, BIG HUNDRED in Australia without scoring a single run on the off-side until he scored most of his 241* runs.

Aspire Vs Inspire

As received by my dear friend Madhu Madhan as part of his The Wisdom Times [TWIST] Series.
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Even when you can't get what you 'want'
You still can cherish that which you 'have'
Continuing to dream and high on 'hope'
Till the day your hope leads to have

TWIST Comment: Inspired by observing little children. The tantrums at new attractions are merely momentary till her mom diverts her attention to the beautiful things she's got in her toy box. Then the child goes on happily playing yet dreaming in secrecy for the things she always wanted. One day she gets what she wanted yet without having missed enjoying what she had in hand till then. Reflecting on troubled news we get to read of the economic turmoil and the distress people are going through losing jobs, homes or merely their luxuries, won't it be wonderful if we can all pause for a while to cherish the things we still have despite the ones we aspire for aren't reachable yet?
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Simple and powerful thought. Thank you Madhu!

Complaining about your job?

Thanks to Rohit for the email-forward

Are we professionals?

Thank you Kaushik, for sharing this wonderful article.
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This is an excerpt from Mr. Bagchi's book 'The Professional'.

I want to introduce the idea of who a professional is through a man whose life is dealing with dead bodies. Unclaimed dead bodies. This is not someone who is conventionally associated with the term ‘professional’. His name is Mahadeva. He came to Bangalore as a child when one day his mother simply walked out on her entire village and her own family in a huff. Mother and son lived on the streets; she worked to support him. Until the day she became very unwell. She brought herself and her son to the government-run Victoria Hospital. There she was admitted in a state of delirium and her little son, Mahadeva, made the streets outside the hospital his home.

He found many playmates among the urchins there and soon that world engulfed him. It was the first time he had had anyone to play with. For little Mahadeva, it was his first experience of kinship and he lost himself completely in this new world. It was pure happenstance that one day someone told him his mother had died. Where had he been when that happened? Died? What was that? The hospital had been unable to wait for him and had disposed of the body. Now Mahadeva had nowhere to go. No family.

A few people in the hospital ward where his mother had been admitted raised some money to help him go back to his village. He refused. Instead, he grew up running errands in the hospital. The hanger-on who had helped with his mother’s admission process and made a living by running errands for patients asked him to move in with him. He was an old man who had no one either.Mahadeva grew up under his tutelage; the hospital became his universe. And then, one day, the cops asked him to bury an unclaimed dead body and paid him Rs 200 for the job. This was when Mahadeva entered his profession and eventually became the go-to guy for burying the city’s unclaimed corpses.

Every time the police picked up a dead body that had no claimants, Mahadeva was summoned. He had to do a turnkey job: Pull the stiff body from the morgue, hire a horse-drawn carriage, put the body in it and take it to a burial ground, dig the ground to bury the dead—all by himself, and for only Rs 200. After doing the job, he would hang INTEGRITY 5 around in the hospital to be summoned to dispose of the next unclaimed body. Mahadeva did his work with such dedication, focus, care and concern that soon he was very much in demand. His work grew and he bought his own horse-drawn carriage, and between his horse and himself he was the undertaker to the abandoned.

One day, the horse died. People who had watched Mahadeva all these years came together and bought him an auto-rickshaw. The white auto-rickshaw, his hearse, carries the picture of the horse in memory of the animal who helped him take thousands of people to be laid to rest. It became the logo of his business and appears on his business card today.

Mahadeva has buried more than 42,000 corpses in his lifetime and his dedication has earned him phenomenal public recognition. Local petrol pumps do not charge him when his hearse is topped up and the chief minister of Karnataka felicitated him for his selfless service to the abandoned citizens of Bangalore. Mahadeva is proud of his work and business, and today his son has joined him. Mahadeva: the high performer, and a true professional.

What are the two qualities that Mahadeva has which differentiate a professional from someone who is simply professionally qualified? One is the ability to work unsupervised and, two, the ability to certify the completion of one’s work. Whenever Mahadeva got a call to reach the morgue, day or night, hail or high water, he arrived. Most of the time, it was a gruesome experience dealing with a dead body; there was no telling what had been the cause of death or state of decomposition.

In his business, Mahadeva does not choose his clients. He accepts them in whatever size, shape or state they come. He treats them with respect and care, with due dignity, covering them with a white sheet and placing a garland around their necks before burying them. The day he buried the man who had taken him home after his mother died, he had cried. He was special and Mahadeva had bought a garland as a mark of his respect. That day, it occurred to him that he should be garlanding all the bodies he buried, not just his benefactor’s. Everyone deserves respect and no one should feel ‘unwanted’ in death, even if life had treated them that way.The cops do not supervise Mahadeva. He is not an employee of the hospital; he is the outsourcing agency the hospital has engaged for the disposal of all unwanted cadavers. He does not have a boss who writes his appraisal, giving him constructive feedback for continuous improvement. In most work environments, people who produce anything of economic value usually need supervision. A person who needs supervision is no professional. He is an amateur, maybe even an apprentice. Whenever Mahadeva picks up a corpse, it goes straight to the burial ground—no place else. He completes the task with the immediacy it demands. And he certifies his own completion of the task: between the dead and the living, there is no one to question him.

Are we professionals? Answer is for us than for others.

Peace of Thoughts

[Thanks to Vivek Iyer for sharing this wonderful piece about peace]

Once Buddha was walking from one town to another town with few of his followers. While they were traveling, they happened to pass a lake. They stopped there and Buddha told one of his disciples, “I am thirsty. Do get me some water from that lake there.” The disciple walked up to the lake. When he reached it, he noticed that right at that moment, a bullock cart started crossing through the lake. As a result, the water became very muddy, very turbid. The disciple thought, “How can I give this muddy water to Buddha to drink!” So he came back and told Buddha, “The water in there is very muddy. I don’t think it is fit to drink.” After about half an hour, again Buddha asked the same disciple to go back to the lake and get him some water to drink. The disciple obediently went back to the lake. This time he found that the lake had absolutely clear water in it. The mud had settled down and the water above it looked fit to be had. So he collected some water in a pot and brought it to Buddha. Buddha looked at the water, and then he looked up at the disciple and said, “See what you did to make the water clean. You let it be….. and the mud settled down on its own – and you got clear water.

Your mind is also like that! When it is disturbed, just let it be. Give it a little time. It will settle down on its own. You don’t have to put in any effort to calm it down. It will happen. It is effortless.”

What did Buddha emphasize here? He said, “It is effortless.” Having ‘Peace of Mind’ is not a strenuous job; it is an effortless process! Also remember that you could be in very peaceful surroundings, where everything is wonderfully beautiful, but if you’re inside is disturbed, then that beauty is of no use to you. It does not mean anything to you. For you to be peaceful, peace has to be generated from deep within you - from your being to the mind, and from the mind to the environment.

When there is peace inside you, that peace permeates to the outside. It spreads around you and in the environment, such that people around start feeling that peace and grace ....!