365 Exciting Ways to Live: Excitement # 95.Change What You Can Change!

Change What You Can Change

They always say time changes things, but you actually have to

change them yourself.

– Andy Warhol

Change is permanent and we cannot stop it.   We need to adapt ourselves to the changes. It is not easy to change. We should be intelligent enough to know what to change and what not to change.

Read the following five different types of change:

1.       Things which you think you cannot change and you cannot change;

2.      Things which you think you cannot change, but you can change;

3.      Things which you think can change but you cannot;

4.      Things which you think you can change, but you don’t;

5.      Things which you think you can change and you change.

Your opportunity lies in areas which you can change, but you don’t want to change. Great people have succeeded in this area only. Identify and work on at least five things under your control to change but you are not taking efforts. For example: I can reduce my excess weight, but, I don’t want to exercise; I can learn a new language, but I don’t want to cut down my TV watching and study every day thirty minutes.

Do this exercise for a month consistently and notice what happens to the quality of your life!

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

NC Sridharan

www.thetimefoundation.com

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365 Exciting Ways to Live: Excitement # 94. Seek Experts’ Opinion!

Seek Experts’ Opinion

An expert is someone who has succeeded in making decisions and judgments simpler through knowing what to pay attention to and what to ignore.

– Edward de Bono

Do you seek a second opinion? Many times we are influenced by one view, one opinion, one judgment, one decision, etc., which are either our own or that of others, whom we trust one hundred percent. Because of our faith on us or on the person whom we trust, we may not seek a second opinion.

Seeking second opinion is all the more important, when the issue involved is very critical. You should have a data bank of people, who can give their views and nurture their friendship so that they are available to you.

Over this weekend, take one very important project you are currently handling. List all the decisions you have taken and the assumptions on which you have based your decisions. Discuss that project with an expert, who has not been involved in that project at all. Encourage him to be as critical as possible. After you have completely listened to him, revisit your assumptions and decisions and check if you need to change any of them.

Do this exercise sincerely and notice the power of seeking second opinion!

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

NC Sridharan

www.thetimefoundation.com

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365 Exciting Ways to Live: Excitement # 80: Ensure Accessibility and Visibility!

     Ensure Accessibility and Visibility

Putting out a newspaper without promotion is like winking at a girl in the dark -- well-intentioned, but ineffective.

– William Randolph Hearst

All of us have some talent or skill and we have to offer the same to others. We become more valuable when what we offer reaches more people. In this context, accessibility and visibility are important factors, which we should be conscious of. In this electronic era, visibility and accessibility can be easily managed, provided it is our priority. At this exact point of time, someone from somewhere may want to reach us. Check the following:

·         Do you have a mobile phone? If so, does your address card carry the number with the correct area code prefix number?

·         Have you thought about a website? It is a powerful visibility tool. If you have one, are you taking efforts to make people to visit? What is the ‘hit rate’?

·         Is your mobile service provider good enough? Does the signal break and irritate the other person while you are speaking?

·         Do you have an e-mail id? Do your people know the same?

In order to exploit all our hidden talents and achieve our ambitions and goals, accessibility and visibility are very important portfolios to be managed intelligently.

Are you doing justice for this portfolio?

(From my book '365 Exciting Ways 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 # 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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