365 Exciting Ways to Live - Excitement # 92: Encourage Others

Encourage Others

A word of encouragement during a failure is worth more than an hour of praise after success.

– Anonymous

Do you generally encourage or discourage others? Encouraging others is an important quality of a leader. We all need encouragement to achieve in life. Encouragement is the emotional tonic you give to others to build self confidence. This is the mutual help we give each other. We need a lot of help from others, but the most important one is their encouraging words.  

Great achievers were lucky that they got encouragement at the right time, which made all the difference. But for the encouragement of Helen Keller’s mother Kate Adams Keller and her teacher Anne Sullivan, she would have remained deaf and dumb forever.

Read the following:

·         Do you generally encourage people or discourage them?

·         Are people comfortable to come to you to say what they are trying to achieve? Or, do they shy away from you for fear of discouragement?

·         Would you have achieved whatever you’ve achieved, if you had not been encouraged by someone?

Over the next one week, identify at least ten persons, who are trying to achieve something in their life and think how you can encourage them.

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

NC Sridharan

www.thetimefoundation.com

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365 Exciting Ways to Live: Excitement # 91: Don’t Brag!

Don’t Brag!

Do you wish men to speak well of you? Then never speak well of yourself.

– Blaise Pascal

Do you brag too much? We may not know, but others notice it! Bragging means to speak boastfully. There is nothing wrong in talking about your achievements. But, if you do it out of context, it’s bragging and others may not like it and it may also irritate others.

There may be specific contexts when you have to talk about your achievements. But, if you are talking about your achievements on every occasion and to every person you meet, then it is bragging.

Be conscious about the following:

• Do you talk about yourself in every meeting?
• When you are supposed to be speaking about someone’s achievements, are you actually speaking about your own achievements?
• How do people perceive you with reference to this important trait?
• When someone talks about his achievements, do you belittle the same by giving an example of how you did better than him?

Building a positive image is an important factor in life. Let it not be spoilt by your bragging. Remain humble when others talk about your achievement.

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

NC Sridharan

www.thetimefoundation.com

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365 Exciting Ways to Live: Excitement # 90: Respect and Remember Names

Respect and Remember Names

If you want to win friends, make it a point to remember them. If you remember my name, you pay me a subtle compliment;

 You indicate that I have made an impression on you.

Remember my name and you add to my feeling of importance.

– Dale Carnegie

 

Do you give importance to remember peoples’ name? It is a basic courtesy you can show to any person who is introduced to you. A name is a very emotional thing for a person. The happiest time for a parent is the day when they give a name for their child. From our childhood days we have been repeatedly called by our names. When we achieve something, we are given a certificate carrying our name and we proudly show it to many people.

Don’t we feel happy when someone addresses us by our correct name? Remember the following basic etiquette:

·         Take interest to remember a person’s name.

·         If there a special way in which the person wants his name to be spelt based on numerology or other sentiments, respect the same.

·         When you address a letter, use the correct spelling with the correct first name, initial etc.

·         After meeting a person on several occasions, don’t embarrass him by asking his name once again or calling him by a wrong name. You are insulting him.

There so much in a name!

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

NC Sridharan

www.thetimefoundation.com

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365 Exciting Ways to Live: Excitement # : 89. Respect Personal Space

Respect Personal Space

Etiquette means behaving yourself a little better than is absolutely essential.

– Will Cuppy

People want privacy. Learn to respect the personal space of others. When we know someone very well, sometimes we take them for granted. Without our being aware of it, we may intrude into their personal space. Some people may not like it. Some may feel embarrassed to express this. Some others may tell you bluntly and you may not like it. Even among very close relationships such as husband and wife, there is a personal space.

Check for the following traits in you:

·         Do you ask very personal questions to your friends?

·         Do you offer unsolicited advice?

·         Do you give unsolicited criticisms?

·         Do you offer unsolicited suggestions?

·         Do you point out others’ mistakes, which they may not like?

·         Do you barge into others’ office without appointment?

·         Do you take undue liberties with your friends?

These are the areas, where you’ve to be very careful with respect to personal space. Respecting others’ personal space is good manners. Maintaining good rapport and interpersonal relationship is an art. We should be diplomatic and graceful when moving with others.

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

NC Sridharan

www.thetimefoundation.com

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365 Exciting Ways to Live: Excitement # 88. Double the Planning Time!

 Double the Planning Time

By failing to prepare, you are preparing to fail.

– Benjamin Franklin

Double the planning time to cut the execution time by half! Looks very simple! But it is a very powerful time management idea. Every project involves a planning and an execution phase. If you plan meticulously, you will be able to accomplish any task to the highest quality standard.  

Before going to sleep, spend at least thirty minutes of your time on how you are going to spend your next day. In addition, spend the first hour of the day in planning and meditating.

Take an important project which will make a substantial value addition to your life and do a detailed strategic planning. Use project management charts and tools. Plan for all the activities, resource mobilisation, time schedule etc. Anticipate problems and think ‘if this goes wrong then...’ and prepare a contingency plan.

Put your plan on a piece of paper. Many people don’t do this part well. Mental planning is not good enough for important projects. When you write down, many things will get cleared. It will be a good idea to discuss your plan with others, who may have a different perspective.

Meticulous planning will avoid unnecessary tension during execution. 

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

N C Sridharan
www.thetimefoundation.com
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365 Exciting Ways to Live: Excitement # 87. Respect Others’ Time

Respect Others’ Time

Time = Life; therefore, waste your time and waste of your life, or master your time and master your life.

– Alan Lakein

Are you sensitive to others’ priorities? If you want people to respect your priorities, you should respect their priorities. Time is a scarce resource which should not be wasted, whether it is your time or others’.

Check if you do the following:

• Do you waste others’ time by involving them in unnecessary conversation, especially if you are in such a position that they cannot avoid?
• Do you engage others on long telephone conversations, insensitive to time?
• Do you make people wait without any reason?
• Do you make unreasonable demands on their time regardless of their time pressure?
• Do you interrupt others very often affecting their flow of work?

·         Do you force your priorities on others using your power and authority?

Some people may not express their embarrassment, if you are not sensitive to their priorities. They may not feel comfortable to say ‘no’ to your demands on their time.

Over the next week, audit your own style with respect to the above factors. If you value others’ time and priorities, they will also reciprocate the same sentiment!

(From my b00k  '365 Exciting Ways to Live')

N C Sridharan
www.thetimefoundation.com
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365 Exciting Ways to Live : Excitement # 86. Control TV-Viewing Time

 Control TV-Viewing Time

Television: chewing gum for the eyes.

– Frank Lloyd Wright

Have you considered reducing your TV watching time? If not, do it immediately. The visual media are so powerful that it will take away all your precious time. With the latest technology available, there is no limit at all for the number of channels available to watch. The only limitation is our time, which you know is very scarce and precious.

Just imagine your life before the TV came to your room! Didn’t you have more family time and personal time? What happened to all that?

Consider the following:

• All programmes may be interesting, but you have limited time. So, choose in advance, which programmes you are going to watch.
• Spend quality time on TV by watching useful channels. Give a functional bias to your TV-watching portfolio.
• Log your TV-watching time for a week and try to reduce it by 20% to start with.
• Don’t have a TV in your work or study area; it will interfere with your work.

The list is endless. If you are really serious, you can use the TV for a productive purpose.

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

N C Sridharan

www.thetimefoundation.com

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