365 Exciting Ways to Live - Excitement # 45 - Improve Your ‘Creativity Quotient’

Improve Your ‘Creativity Quotient’.

It is better to have enough ideas for some of them to be wrong, than to be always right by having no ideas at all.

– Edward de Bono

These days we hear about Intelligent Quotient (IQ), Emotional Quotient (EQ) etc. Have you thought about ‘Creativity Quotient’?  Lot of researchers and scholars across the world are trying to do some research on this subject. Leave out all those jargons! Are you a creative person? Do you want to be thinking differently?

A few days ago, in one of my ‘IGNITE’ seminars, a participant asked me how to improve his creativity. Here is my answer: Creativity is a function of the Right Side of our brain. We can trigger the Right Hemisphere through ‘Brain Gym’ exercises. Log on to any search engines and you can get simple Brain Gym exercises. Spend 10 to 15 minutes a day doing simple Brain Gym exercises.

Become inquisitive to think creatively. Instead of following a beaten track, ask yourself: ‘why should I not think in this way’? Try to find an alternative solution to simple everyday problems. Read books written by Edward De Bono, who came out with the breakthrough concept called ‘lateral thinking’.

From today, spend at least 45 minutes per day to think differently! Let your creativity sprout and grow!

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

N C Sridharan

www.thetimefoundation.com

00000

365 Exciting Ways to Live - Excitement # 44 : Check Your Personal Integrity Account

Check Your Personal Integrity Account

Rather fall with honor than succeed by fraud.

– Sophocles

A person’s financial creditworthiness is evaluated by analysing his bank account. The more you credit and the less you debit your account, the more will be your creditworthiness. If you are creditworthy, people will respect you.

Similarly, you are also building up your ‘personal integrity account’. Every time you promise something and keep up your promise, your personal integrity account is credited; every time you promise something and you don’t keep up your promise, your personal integrity account is debited. Finally, your credit and debit will be balanced to evaluate your creditworthiness as a person, in terms of integrity.

People evaluate you by what you say and what you do. Check for these following traits in you:

·         Do you over-promise and under deliver?

·         Are you late to appointments?

·         Do you tell lies?

·         Do you fail in your commitments?

The list is only illustrative and not exhaustive. If the answer to such questions is ‘yes’, you run the risk of damaging your personal integrity account and image!

Audit your personal integrity account periodically and take remedial action before it is too late!

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

N C Sridharan

www.thetimefoundation.com

00000

365 Exciting Ways to Live - Excitement # 43 - Know Your Unknown Side.

Know Your Unknown Side.

He who knows others is wise. He who knows himself is enlightened.

– Lao Tzu

There is a difference between an isolated behaviour and a behavioural pattern, which is a style. For example, you may get angry and shout at people. You may say something harsh to people. You need to know whether these are isolated behaviours or it is your nature to get angry and shout at people with harsh words.

Unconsciously you are building your personality and projecting your image. Two American psychologists by name Joseph Luft and Harry Ingham developed a tool called Johari Window. According to their theory, there are areas about ourselves which are not known to us, but known to others. For example, we may not know that we have a pattern of using harsh words and hurt others’ feelings.

Self awareness is an important trait. People may not be comfortable to give you a feedback, which you may not like. From today, spend ten minutes every day to understand you, before you understand others. Check if you have any negative traits spoiling your personality and image. Try to work on one negative trait every month to eliminate the same and watch your pleasant personality grow!

(From my Book '365 Exciting Ways to Live)

N C Sridharan

www.thetimefoundation.com

00000

365 Exciting Ways to Live: Excitement # 16: Carry a Book of Learning!

Carry a Book of Learning!

Learning never exhausts the mind.

– Leonardo da Vinci

Some time back I wrote about an idea book, which I suggested that you carry it wherever you go and jot down every idea that pops up in your mind.

How about a ‘learning book’? The other day I met a very important person, who showed me a book in which he writes every day, what new thing he learns on that day.  A learning book registers something you learn every day.

Suppose you miss a flight, write down one new thing you learnt while you went through the tension of missing the flight. If you meet with a minor accident, jot down what you learnt out of that experience. If you mess up something in the office and your boss shouts at you, jot down one learning point.

Once in every month read all the learning points that you’ve registered and you will be stunned at the richness of the experience!

It’s a simple, yet powerful self-improvement plan.

Do it from today! 

From my book '365 Exciting Ways to Live'

www.thetimefoundation.com

00000

365 Exciting Ways to Live: Excitement # 42 - Avoid Emotional Hijacking.

Avoid Emotional Hijacking.

The sign of intelligent people is their ability to control their emotions by the application of their reason.

– Marya Mannes

Are you a victim of ‘emotional hijack’?   As human beings, we have our emotions and feelings, which decide our external behaviour. We have basic emotions such as happiness, sorrow, anger, jealousy and irritation. Our mind triggers these emotions and activates the brain to give certain commands to our five senses and we say or do something; we don’t listen to certain things; we ignore certain things; our emotions may make us to ignore the consequences of our actions. We may regret for our actions.  We should ensure that we don’t fall into the emotional traps laid by someone.

Watch for the following in you when your emotions are tickled:

·         How do you respond when you are praised, sometimes much more than what you deserve?

·         How do you feel and what do you do when you don’t receive the praise and appreciation you deserve?

·         How do you respond when someone irritates you and makes you feel angry?

·         What words do you use and how is your facial expression when your negative emotions are tickled?

Resolve not to get emotionally hijacked!

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

N C Sridharan

www.thetimefoundation.com

00000

365 Exciting Ways to Live : Excitement # 41 : Model Your Role Model.

Model Your Role Model.

My father didn’t tell me how to live; he lived, and let me watch him do it.

– Clarence Buddington Kelland

Do you have a role model? You should have someone to benchmark your performance. Every field has its legends. Beethoven, Mahatma Gandhi, Mother Teresa, Walt Disney and Martin Luther King are some legends, who walked this earth. There are living examples like Bill Gates, Viswanathan Anand and Sachin Tendulkar, who are icons in their chosen fields.

You can improve your performance by modelling the mindset of your role model. The more you think about your role model, the more you will unconsciously imbibe his qualities. At the same time, you don’t have to lose your originality. Try the following:

·         Decide your role model and read more and more about him/her.

·         Read their autobiography.

·         Meet them – it may be difficult, but do it.

·         Have their picture in front of your work table and in your bed room. You should look at their picture first in the morning and before going to bed. You should be looking at them as you work through the day.

Notice what happens to your internal personality! Do it from today!

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

N C Sridharan

www.thetimefoundation.com

00000

365 Exciting Ways to Live - Excitement # 40 : Concentrate on Your Concentration

Concentrate on Your Concentration.

If you can keep playing tennis when somebody is shooting a gun down the street, that's concentration.

Serena Williams

We all know that concentration is important. Without focus and concentration, we cannot achieve great things in life. What is even more important is the quality of our concentration. It is something like the component quality. Components, assembled properly, will make a product. But if the product is to be a good product, then the quality of the components should be good.

Try the following parameters to enrich your concentration:

• What is the duration of your uninterrupted concentration? How long can you concentrate on a single subject?
• What is the consistency of your concentration? Can you concentrate on the same subject the same way every day?
• How strong is your concentration? Are you disturbed very easily?
• Do you have a strategy to handle interruptions?
• Can you anticipate the type of interruptions, so that you can handle them tactfully?

The most critical factor, which decides the world-class performance is the quality of concentration. Today, you resolve to improve the quality of your concentration by asking yourself the above questions. 

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

N C Sridharan

www.thetimefoundation.com

00000