365 Exciting Ways to Live: Excitement # 96. Promise Yourself All the Very Best!

Promise Yourself

 To be so strong that nothing can disturb your peace of mind.

To talk health, happiness, and prosperity to every person you meet.

To make all your friends feel that there is something in them

To look at the sunny side of everything and make your optimism come true.

To think only the best, to work only for the best, and to expect only the best.

To be just as enthusiastic about the success of others as you are about your own.

To forget the mistakes of the past and press on to the greater achievements of the future.

To wear a cheerful countenance at all times and give every living creature you meet a smile.

To give so much time to the improvement of yourself that you have no time to criticize others.

To be too large for worry, too noble for anger, too strong for fear, and too happy to permit the presence of trouble.

To think well of yourself and to proclaim this fact to the world, not in loud words but great deeds.

To live in faith that the whole world is on your side so long as you are true to the best that is in you.

– Christian D. Larson

(From my book '365 Exciting Way to Live')

NC Sridharan

www.thetimefoundation.com

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365 Exciting Ways to Live : Excitement # 93. Sponsor Your Own Training and Development!

 Sponsor Your Own Training and Development

I hated every minute of training, but I said, ‘Don't quit. Suffer now and live the rest of your life as a champion.

– Muhammad Ali

Do you invest on your own training?   We live in world of exciting opportunities and unless we are the best, we cannot remain competitive. For this we need to hone our knowledge and skill.

Normally, people wait for their organisation to sponsor them for training. But achievers are proactive and design their own training calendar. They are clear about where they are going and what they are lacking. They are focused on their long, medium and short term goals. They plan to equip themselves with the type of knowledge and training they need to reach their goals.

Do the following exercise:

·         Review your list of goals and identify the gaps in your ‘skill set’.

·         Identify your training requirement – technical and non-technical.

·         Evolve a monthly budget in terms money and training hours and nominate yourself for appropriate training programmes.

In short, you should become your own HR and Training Manager! You can surrender anything to others, but not your future. The quality of your life depends on what you can deliver, which in turn depends on your training and personal development.

(From my book '365 Exciting Ways to Live')

NC Sridharan

www.thetimefoundation.com

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365 Exciting Ways to Live: Excitement # 84 : Programme Your Reading Portfolio

     Programme Your Reading Portfolio

If we encounter a man of rare intellect, we should ask him what books he reads.

– Ralph Waldo Emerson

You should have an effective reading programme. In a world where information is power, you should be well informed about the most important developments in your field of specialisation. Due to various other priorities, your reading portfolio may get the least priority if you don’t programme your reading.

Consider the following:

·         Set aside a specific place for reading. Have a small book shelf, note pads, pencil, etc. to help your reading effectiveness.

·         Practise fixed time reading as a discipline. May be one hour in the morning or one hour in the night.

·         Remove sources of distractions such as television, radio and mobile phone.

·          Use the timer or stop watch to track time frame.

·         Ensure that you are not disturbed by others.

·         Practise paraphrasing each chapter and it will enhance retention.

·         Focus reading topic-wise, like leadership on one month, time management on another, etc.

Time is an invisible resource. If you don’t have a schedule and budget, it will be dissipated on unimportant activities at the cost of critical issues.

(From my book '365 Exciting Ways to Live')

N C Sridharan

www.thetimefoundation.com

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365 Exciting Ways to Live: Excitement # 79: Take Responsibility!

     Take Responsibility

You must take personal responsibility. You cannot change the circumstances, the seasons, or the wind, but you can change yourself. That is something you have charge of.

– Jim Rohn

Take personal responsibility in order to grow. Even in situations, where you are a victim of circumstances, think how you could have avoided the damage. We find one hundred reasons, why we are not responsible for what happens to us. That will be rationalising how helpless we are. Successful people differ from others on one unique trait: they own responsibility for what happens to them.

You don’t grow by blaming or complaining about others for your position in life. You will feel bad. But that is not going to help you in any way. Next time when you suffer any setback, ask yourself the following questions:

• In what way I am responsible for it?
• How could I have prevented it?
• What do I learn from this?
• How am I going to prevent its recurrence?
• What strategy do I have to reduce the damage that is done to me?

Remember that we can learn a lot from our everyday experience. Life is not what happens to us; what is more important is what we do with what happens to us!

(From my book '365 Exciting Ways to Live')

NC Sridharan

www.thetimefoundation.com

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365 Exciting Ways to Live : Excitement # 36 : Choose A VVIP Project.

Choose A VVIP Project.

Circumstances may cause interruptions, but never lose sight of your goal. Prepare yourself in every way you can by increasing your knowledge by adding to your experience, so that you can make the most of opportunity when it occurs.

– Mario Andretti

A normal day is a day full of interruptions. But certain tasks deserve our undivided total attention.

When a very important person is visiting your house, will you not take all the efforts to give him total undivided attention? You will plan your day in such a way that you allocate all the time for that person. Similarly choose a very important task, which will make a huge difference in your life and give it a ‘VVIP Status’.

Suppose you are writing a book, which you know will be a big hit. Reserve the whole day only for this task. Lock yourself in a room and write. Don’t watch television, switch off the mobile phone, don’t lift the landline. Do whatever. Let everyone know that you are just not available.  You should not speak anything else except in connection with the book. Whenever you are interrupted, say to yourself ‘back to work, back to work’ and get back to the task.

Try this out this week and see your own improvement! You will be amazed!

(From my book '365 Exciting Ways to Live)

N C Sridharan

www.thetimefoundation.com

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365 Exciting Ways to Live : Excitement # 35: Shift Your Focus to Task from Activity

Shift Your Focus to Task from Activity

Never mistake activity for achievement.

– John Wooden

There is a difference between task and activity. Walking, jogging, reading, running etc. are examples of activities. Time is like a container and the content is the activity. For example, you fill up your time with running, writing, reading etc.

Effective people think not in terms of activities, but in terms of tasks. A task is a result you want to achieve by doing an activity. For example, jogging is an activity. But why do you jog? To reduce your weight? Then don’t say that you are jogging, but say that ‘in the next three months, I will reduce my weight by three kilo grams’.

By shifting your focus from activity to task or result, the activity will become more meaningful. Perhaps you will be able come out with alternatives. For example, if you want to reduce weight, instead of jogging, you can do yoga or use a treadmill etc.

From today, keep asking yourself the question: Why am I doing what I am doing and what is that I want to achieve by doing this? Is there an alternative?

Try this from today!
(From my book '365 Exciting Ways to Live')

N C Sridharan
www.thetimefoundation.com
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