The 4 Cardinal "Cs" of Life !

A successful life is built upon layers of goals achieved by us. If we aim to accomplish all our goals in life then we need to ensure forward momentum in life. Every step we take should be progressive, thereby ensuring our growth. Challenges and Opportunities would never cease to crop up in our journey to success so we need to be well prepared to confront these challenges, address them appropriately and take advantage of these opportunities. One of the simple, easy and effective way to sustain our forward momentum in and progress in life is to harness the power of 4 Cs. The 4 Cs are simple elements which when adopted and mastered would not only put us in better control of our life but also propel us towards achieving greater heights in life. All that stands between us and success is a better understanding of these 4 Cs and their application in our lives. 

Let's explore these 4 essential building blocks of better life

The 4 Cs are - Choice, Change, Consequences and Correction. They are well connected and act as feeder to each other. Their convergence point is a point of guaranteed unlimited success. Let's understand what each of the 4 C stand for: 

• Choice - When opportunity strikes, it's time to decide and choose. The power of choice is always within our control and our choice decides whether we move closer to our goal or away from it. What we choose is what we become.

• Change - The process of change is always uncomfortable initially but the mere resolve to be ready for change/ transformation is the deciding factor. Our willingness or unwillingness to change (after weighing all pros and cons) determines whether stay put in our comfort zone and be a mediocre achiever or we move into our creative zone and live our best possible life

• Consequences - Every choice that we make in our life has a flip side to it. Being wary of the unfavorable conditions and having a plan to deal with them put us in better control of those situations and our life.

• Correction - Every step/ action towards our goal may highlight certain gaps that need to be plugged in to continue our forward movement. Our ability to gain insight into what holds us back and then doing the needful to mend it is what ensures our steady progress towards success.  

In a nutshell, the 4Cs mantra is 

"Choose to Change, anticipate the Consequences, be prepared to do the necessary Correction and then Carry on Creating an awesome life"

FOCUS to move FORWARD#AtoZChallenge

F is for FOCUS

We live in an age where we are surrounded by irresistible distractions (internet, technology) resulting in reduced attention span. It’s a case of plenty resulting in empty ( in terms of achievement). The need of the hour is to develop FOCUS in us which in turn builds up the requisite qualities like concentration and attention span that helps us to survive in this dynamic world laden with information overload. FOCUS is all about paying attention to right things i.e. things that matter most in terms of importance in our  life. Daniel Goleman has very nicely established the importance of Focus in our lives and defined 3 types of Focus – 1. Inner (Self Awareness) , 2. Other (Empathy) and 3. Outer (Awareness of our environment). Let’s explore the other facets of FOCUS - http://tinyurl.com/lsay2hw

Why FOCUS is important ?

·         It defines purpose of our life and gives us a direction to move in

·         Establishes traction on our goals as focused approach ensures forward movement

·         Builds an eye for detail as when we focus on something we absorb it wholly

·         Gives us better control over our life in terms of time and attention

·         Makes us an achiever as focus keeps us sufficiently motivated to cross the finish line

·         Makes us more productive as we start accomplishing more

·         Saves us energy and effort as we do away with unfinished tasks

·         Builds up Positivity in us

How to build FOCUS ?

·         Limit the information we consume so that we have as many tasks as we can handle

·         Have a clearly defined agenda for the day/ week/ month so that energies could be directed on those

·         Practice doing one thing at a time. Interpret this statement to signify that finish what you start before you move to the next  task

·         Magnify what you want to focus on so that other irrelevancies are out of the frame

·         Chunk down goals/ tasks into smaller manageable pieces

·         Maintain a checklist/tracker/ journal to keep track of your progress

·         Track how you spend your time, whether on Important or Urgent tasks  

·         Don’t get overwhelmed with the tasks/ goals

·         Develop Listening skills as this will develop patience in us

·         Practice Minimalist living as this will teach us how to be satisfied with less 

Always remember that we give power to what we focus on so focus on the right things !