When "MORE" Makes Life Better !

 

Doesn't it sound ironical to talk about "more" as a means of bettering our lives especially when so many of us seem obsessed with incorporating "less" in our lives for the purpose. Whether it's implementing the concept/ philosophy of de-cluttering, minimalism or essentialism, the quest to "live with less" never seems to end. Many of us are always on a spree to do away with our possessions in a bid to "live better and more meaningfully" through surviving with bare, minimum life essentials.

To many of us, talking about "more" as a means of achieving a better life (in many ways) may sound contrary to the above and we may start to wonder about the possibility of it ! The catch here is the context we put for "MORE" - as long as we perceive "more" in terms of "extra" or "add-on", we may always be in astonishment, but the moment we change the frame of reference to "incorporating the essential" in our life, "More" starts to make better sense and things become much clear. Here, in this post i share about five such ways when "more" brings fulfillment and success and makes our lives much better vis-a-vis "less". Let's look at them 

Living more REAL and Less Digital 

The amount of life we live in the virtual world is so much more than in actual. The social media, social networks has permeated our lives so much that it has blurred the distinction between real and fake. We always seem to be living our "alter ego" in the digital world and have almost forgotten what it is to live our "real" self. The time calls for being more real than digital to remain the "homo sapiens", the species that we, humans, belong to. The biggest danger of living "digital" is the eroding away of basic elements like emotions, feelings and rationality that sets us apart from the rest of the species. Living more REAL will not only help rekindle the lost spirit of brotherhood, but also prevent the pretense of superiority or parity which is not required and help us be more respectful of others' identity and needs. The moment we drift away from the "real" is when we start to see a dip in our esteem, efficacy and confidence. So, let's not compromise on living a fulfilling life and start live Real.     

  

Living more in PRESENT than in Future

We live in a fast paced competitive world and majority of the time we are focused on securing our future. We go all out to accumulate as much as we can, thinking that this will make our lives better in future (a myth, though !). We do not give sufficient importance to the existing moments and let go of all the beauty and pleasures contained in the current moments by allowing the life go by us. All this happens, primarily, because we tend to view life in limited dimensions (like wealth and professional growth) and so keep working towards improving these specific dimensions of our life at the cost of the rest of the dimensions like self, family, health, etc. This ultimately leads to a state of imbalance and our hopes of a better life in future get quashed in no time. When we start giving importance to the present, we, not only, start noticing and feeling the little pleasures of life but also start living life lot better. So, let's live in the Present and bring balance in our life.   

Saying more NO and less Yes

However positive and affirming "Yes" may sound but making it a philosophy of life leads to lot of dissatisfaction in life. We need to realise that every "Yes" eats into our resources of time, effort, attention, money, etc. For reasons obvious and not-so obvious, we may say yes to things, people and situations but that doesn't guarantee success always and later we may regret saying yes to so much. If we can remember that everything is not worth our time, attention and effort then we can start saying NO more comfortably. The best thing about saying NO is that we take a positive and progressive step towards a better life by avoiding taking too much, which most of the times is beyond our capacity and interest. So, let's get judicious in our choices/ decisions and say NO when doing so make our lives clutter-free and better.     

Doing more MONO and less Multi

When "Survival of the Fittest" becomes the sole mantra to live by and busyness takes preference over productivity; when being competitive is not good enough and one starts to outdo others by way of becoming better, smarter and/ or faster than multi-tasking seems to become the norm. Engaging ourselves in plenty, much more than we can handle, gives the feeling of doing more. We try to ape the supercomputer which has in-built capability for parallel processing, but forget that as humans, we possess only single processing capability. For us to focus on multiple tasks together is impossible and how much we may say we are multi-tasking, it's actually mono-tasking that we still do. The reason being, that at any point, humans can just focus on a single thing. The biggest advantage of mono-tasking is that we can focus well and pay undivided attention to the task at hand. On the other hand, in multi-tasking, not only we become more unproductive as a result of many unfinished tasks, but we also tend to spend more time shifting among the multiple tasks and taking longer to restart on the previous tasks (proven by research). So, let's make our lives better by doing things one at a time.  

(Related Article: BUSYNESS - The Utopian Paradox )

Connecting more INTERNALLY and less Externally

With all the attractions and distractions contained in the world around us, it's easy to get swayed by what strike our senses and fall prey to the "pull factor" syndrome, where we just get led by things. This results in ending up operate our lives with an "outside-in" approach, where the control of our life gets passed onto things external and we lose grip on our life. This tendency of going along with the flow of  VUCA (Volatile, Uncertain, Complex, Ambiguous) environment is not conducive to our growth and development and can be addressed by altering the orientation of our approach to life by making it an "inside-out" approach. During these times, when we are struggling to be authentic and credible, connecting more within gives us access to that inner wisdom that equips us with powers of creativity and intuition, that helps us stand tall during times of adversity. So, if we keep visiting our inner guide, we will end up discovering our best ally.  

(Related Article : Playing Buddha At Work)

Here's ending with a wonderful quote that nicely sums up the entire post 

"Aspire not to have more, but to be more" 

                                                - Oscar Romero

Note : the images in the above post have been sourced from the internet

SWOT Matrix : Know Yourself First

Productivity Tool/ Technique : SWOT Matrix/ Framework

Let me begin with a short story (please note that the characters are fictitious):

Ramesh is a highly ambitious, confident and successful working professional. He is always up for any challenge thrown at him by his boss and takes it head on. He wants to climb the ladder of promotion and success as fast as he can and doesn't say NO to anything that he thinks serves his ambitions. 

But, as we all know, life is unpredictable and always holds many a tricks up its' sleeves. The market dynamics changes and Ramesh's organisation enters into a merger with another one. Two organisations with different values, different work cultures, different territories, different product lines and with many more dissimilarities (than) similarities have now become one. The new reporting structure now has Ramesh reporting to the CEO of the other organisation. The CEO, for obvious reasons, is focused on preparing a common strategy and pitch for the merged entity. He (CEO) is looking for someone to lead this project and sensing this as an opportunity to impress the new management, Ramesh offers his candidature for the position. While other shortlisted candidates take it easy on the timelines during their pitch, Ramesh overcommits and proposes a rather unreasonable timeline for the project. But being a HPI (High Potential Individual), Ramesh gets the nod by the management. Now, here's Ramesh working on the project and a couple of months into the project, he feels all stressed and burnt out (to say the least). Unable to cope up with the pressure of the task, he gives up and fails miserably. It's not about what happens/ happened next but about why this ended this way ?

The question that i want to put is not about why Ramesh chose to overcommit (because that reasons are obvious) but why others didn't chose to overcommit ? What was it that prompted them to propose/ pitch it the way they did ?

But before we jump to the answer, how about a little bit of pondering on the above and try to relate it to situations/ events from our lives. Has it happened to us/ with us/ around us ? 

   

We all have ambitions, we all are hungry for success but do we ever pause and think about how this attitude of ours could prove to be counterproductive if we don't tread the road cautiously ! How many times have we jumped the gun and taken up an assignment/ project in haste and then regretted it afterwards ? I am sure, most of us, have been in such a situation, at least once (if not more) in our life.

Now the answers

Whether it was overconfidence or miscalculation of time/ effort or some other factor, it is all because of an inability to self-assess during times of venturing into an unknown or lesser known terrain. Assuming that while Ramesh jumped the gun to grab the position, others took some time to self-assess and then provide a pitch.

Let's talk about the VUCA  (Volatile, Uncertain, Complex and Ambiguous) that we live/ work in. The environment that we operate in is dynamic and poses new challenges every day, every moment. The "survival of the fittest" is the mantra to sustain in this VUCA world and becoming the "fittest" is about being ready to face any new challenge. The "readiness" is about ensuring the following 2 things:

1. knowing what the challenge (task, assignment, project, etc.) entails and

2. knowing what i know in terms of knowledge, skill, competencies needed to address the challenge.

   

Had Ramesh not reacted and spent some time gauging the gap between what the challenge entailed and where his current abilities and capabilities stood, he wold have done a much better job of the project/ task. Likewise, we need to ask ourselves, about how willing and equipped we are to deal with challenges (big and small) posed by the VUCA world ? I would leave the "willingness" portion for a different post and just talk about the part about being equipped to deal with challenges and exigencies. Many a times, we may we willing but may not be equipped appropriately.

Whether you are from the category of willing or unwilling, i am going to share about an extremely simple tool, SWOT Matrix, that could equip us to be better prepared for any challenge in our lives (personal or professional). Let's learn more about SWOT

Background of SWOT

SWOT is an acronym which stands for Strength, Weakness, Opportunity and Threat

SWOT Matrix or Analysis, is a framework or technique, initially developed for businesses/ corporates, for strategising business growth and enabling the organisations to gain competitive advantage in the market. SWOT was invented in 1960s by a management consultant named Albert Humphrey during his research at Stanford University. After "corporate planning" failed to deliver for businesses, a need was felt for a tool that could help organisations in proper long-term planning. The simplicity of the tool ensured it's wide acceptance by the businesses (big and small) and gradually into the "personal" arena as well. In this post, we are going to discuss about SWOT in context of "personal" arena only. 

Need for SWOT 

Let me give you few prompts to ponder 

• Would it help to have a plan for my life to make the best of it ?
• Would having clarity about my goals and actions help me achieve more ?
• Would knowing more about myself help me be more realistic in my expectations and actions ?
• Would i prefer to be proactive in my approach wherever possible ?
• Would being competent help me be more competitive ? 
• Don't we all prefer to be better prepared for life ?

The dynamic ecosystem that we are a part of doesn't leave us with any other option but to say "yes" to one or more of the above and even one "yes" is a reason enough to start applying SWOT Framework/ Matrix in our lives. We all will be better prepared to deal with life if we have a strategy for it, a strategy that is based on facts.   

Elements of SWOT Framework 

There are 4 key elements of the framework which are (S) Strengths, (W) Weaknesses, (O) Opportunities and (T) Threats. From these Strengths and Weaknesses are 2 elements which are internal, positive and helpful whereas the other 2 elements, Opportunities and Threats are external,  negative and potentially harmful.

• S - Strengths : Strength refers to the strong points that we possess, the qualities that separates us or differentiates us favourably from our competitors. Some of these strong points could be our knowledge, education, experience, competency, skill, or anything alike. Many of these could be put in tangible terms. 
•  W- Weaknesses : Weaknesses refer to the weak links in us, things which are better in our competitors, limitations that exist in us, things we are not strong in compared to our competitors. Some of the examples are any undeveloped/ underdeveloped skill needed in the context to operate effectively and efficiently. The gaps and areas of improvement in us all refer to the Weakness element.
• O - Opportunities : This refers to the identified potential for growth and development, based on our identified goals and ambitions. This refers to any of the future plans that we identify and set for ourselves to achieve. This may be a direct outcome of our existing Strengths element. This element refers to the favourable conditions that aids our pursuit of relevant context-defined goals/ objectives. 
• T - Threats : This refers to the anticipated barriers, bottlenecks or problems that we may face in our effort to achieve our future goals. Thus may be a direct outcome of our existing Weaknesses element. This element refers to anything that may be a potential risk in our effort towards pursuing relevant context-defined goals/ objectives.

There's no control we can exert over the Opportunities and Threats elements because these are defined by market factors, which are beyond our scope of control. 

Using/ Applying SWOT

• Pick up the context for the SWOT analysis. It could our personal goal, any difficult situation or scenario, or a problem requiring effective decision-making 
• Place the SWOT template in front. We can either download a ready-made template or draw it ourselves.
• Keeping the context in mind, start filling in the Strengths quadrant and then the Weaknesses quadrant
• Now, to fill up Opportunities quadrant, reflect/ ponder on the already identified Strengths and write down what all opportunities our existing strength could provide
• Likewise, to fill up the Threats quadrant, reflect/ ponder on the already identified Weaknesses and write down what all future threats these present weaknesses of mine could create
• Once the 4 quadrants are complete, analyse them and come out with an executable Plan of Action (POA). 

Few Precautions while doing SWOT

• Keep it short and manageable by making it relevant and applicable to the context
• Be rational while filling up the quadrants
• While doing SWOT, bear in mind that it is to be done with reference to our competitor 
• Avoid making the SWOT complex by not mixing multiple contexts/ scenarios. If need be, do SWOT for each of the identified context separately
• Ensure that the focus of SWOT is appropriate to give us the specific outcomes. The focus should not be too narrow or too broad
• While filling the quadrants, wear outsider's eyes to see the Strengths and Weaknesses.
• Don't over-rely on SWOT as a comprehensive diagnostic approach. 
• Repeat the SWOT at regular intervals to ensure consistency of effort and direction 

To end the post, few important points to remember about SWOT 

• SWOT is a good, simple and effective tool and could be a good starting point but if we need a more comprehensive and holistic diagnostics, then we should not hesitate to make use of other tools as well.
• the main purpose of SWOT is enable us to arrive at a Plan of Action. So, ultimately, the effectiveness of the SWOT Analysis done by us would only be as effective as our actions. So, we need to ensure that we take appropriate actions.

To download the SWOT template, please visit this wonderful link on internet - 

https://www.smartsheet.com/14-free-swot-analysis-templates

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Wheel of Life : Creating a Balanced Life

PRODUCTIVITY TOOL - Wheel of Life  

Why do we crave for a "balanced life" even though we know that it's not easy to achieve ? 

The answer is straightforward - A "balanced life" is a sure recipe for order, happiness and satisfaction in life which is so essential for a fulfilling life !

But this "balance" comes with the caveat that it may not take much for things to go "out of order" in our life inspite of our best efforts to hang on to the balanced state. The moment imbalance starts to creep in, is when things get out of control for us and we start to struggle to get things back in order and get our life back on track ! 

The resulting stress, mental chaos and confusion is exactly the reason that we need to address this "imbalance" in our life and do it with a well-rounded approach. Developing a well-rounded approach is made simple by answering the most fundamental question - What is my understanding of "balance" in life ? If the understanding is all about meeting the ad-hoc or urgent needs of life then the approach is bound to collapse. On the other hand, if the understanding is broader in nature and incorporates the key impact areas of life, then the approach is bound to succeed. 

The three key guiding pointers for building an effective approach towards a "balanced life" are  

• Identifying the key impact areas of our life
• Scoring/ Gauging the current level of "balance" in each of the identified areas
• Shift from seeking a balanced life towards seeking a "well-balanced" life

The task of accomplishing the above is made simpler by a tool that is easy-to-use and yet so effective in building clarity. The tool is known as WHEEL OF LIFE and is often the very first tool used by coaches with their clients to help them become clear about their focus areas. The simplicity of the tool cannot undermine its' effectiveness. Let's look more closely at the tool   

About the tool - Wheel of Life

The Wheel of Life is an extremely simple yet robust framework for bringing in life through self-assessment and reflection. It is a visual representation of the status quo/ balance/ imbalance that exists in our life and provides a "helicopter view" of things in our life. This holistic view which the tool provides enables us to gauge where we stand in various areas of our life and where we need to pay attention to bring balance/ better balance in our life. 

The credit for creating the modern version of Wheel of Life goes to Paul J. Meyer, the founder of Success Motivation Institute though the tool has its roots in Buddhism. The modern version of the tool was created by Paul J. Meyer in the 1960s and has been popular ever since then.

The tool consist of a circle divided into various pie shaped sections/ segment, where each section/ segment denotes an identified key areas of our life. Each section has a scoring scale of 1-10 (1 being the lowest and 10 being the highest) with 1 placed closer to the centre of the wheel and 10 placed towards 

Among the plenty of advantages that the tool offers, the key benefits include self-awareness/ self-reflection, clarity and prioritisation. The tool is a great saviour for times when we feel lost and stuck. 

Using the Tool

The following steps would enable us to derive the best from the tool

• Identify the key categories/ areas of your life, the areas that are meaningful and impact our life. Identifying too many areas may not be much helpful so it makes sense to restrict the categories to 8 in number. 
• Label each section/ segment with an area from the list of 8 identified areas
• Score yourself for each area, on a scale of 1-10, based on the current level of satisfaction or balance
• Based on the score identified, draw a line across each segment 
• The resultant drawing will give an indication about how bumpy the ride is at present and where we need to pay attention to make the ride smooth.

Few important things to remember 

• In the scoring scale of  1-10, 1 denotes the most dissatisfied/ imbalanced  and 10 denotes most satisfied/ balanced. As we move along the scale from 1-10, the rest of the scores (2-9) denote the gradual improvement in the level of satisfaction/ level.
• The range of scores denote the status quo
• the scores of 1-4 denote an high level of dissatisfaction and ask for immediate measures to address the issues and seize the opportunities. This score could be an indication of our neglect towards a particular area, which we did not seem necessary to attend to till now. 
• the scores of 5-7 denote a reasonable level of satisfaction in the particular areas but also indicate the need to step up the game and make the best use of opportunities to move to the next level.  
• the scores of 8-10 denote a high level of satisfaction and also an indication of not to become complacent in the particular areas but to retain the momentum.
• There's always a need to ensure that we operate at a minimum level to always ensure the basic life balance and my experience has shown that a score of 6 is always essential for every identified area.   

The beauty of the tool lies in not being dependent on a specific template. Though there are plenty of online downloads available, such as http://cmaleadershipconsultants.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/05/CMA-Coaching-Wheel.pdf  but we can draw it ourselves too and get started. 

So, grease your Wheel of Life and start putting your life in balance ! 

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What's Your Doorway To Life ?

Haven't we been spectators to our own life many a times when it spirals downwards, roller coasting downhill ? Those days when everything appears challenging and things just seem to go from bad to worse, when reaction overtakes the response and the external forces appear too many to handle and  then we assume that the only option left with us is to "confront" and the only thought that crosses our mind is to wait for things to get better (only if they will).

The events in life are never in our control and they may occur anytime, anywhere and in any form. Quite contrary to the events in out life and much against the popular belief, the outcome of any event is never pre-defined and is always under our control. Just a case in point - consider the day that starts off with a minor irritation but ends up with an exhibition of full blown anger. Few things that may still have gone in our favour also go the other way. Life seems like slipping away from our hold/ grip and and we are left in the lurch wondering what went wrong. The blame gets passed on to the events that occurred which catapulted a manageable day into an unmanageable one. 

All this while when the reasons were being sought to pass on the blame, a little introspection could have worked wonder. A little thought to the following could have brought back the control of the day and of life. 

Ask yourself - What's controlling my life and what's determining the outcomes in my life ?

And when we ask yourself the above, let's not settle for the most convenient and easy answer which is "external events". If that would have been the correct answer, then just about everyone would have been struggling to control/ manage their life. How is it, then, that so many still seize control of their life when they sense it slipping away ?  

The mantra is quite simple - "Identify your doorway to life !", which means finding out through what lens do we view life. Simply put, the doorway defines our attitude to life and the values/ philosophy we live by. Though the day may not begin as per our expectations many a times and we may face unfavourable situations, events or circumstances but still we can end our day well if our doorway is of positivity, hope, trust, faith, teamwork, and anything that makes our life better in some way. 

Getting perturbed by unfavourable events is easy and this can play spoiler in our unless we build a doorway on the foundation of trust and confidence - trust that things may seem bad right now but will surely get better in future, so let me focus on what this experience has to teach me; confidence in self that I possess the requisite capability and capacity to turn it around by holding onto enabling and empowering positive thoughts and actions.  

Always remember that we can seize the control of our life whenever we want to and nothing external can determine the outcome in my life except myself. Once I imbibe this, all I need to do is to build a doorway that's always empowering for me, helping me to accomplish more and evolve.

So, let's do whatever it takes to build a doorway that will even inspire the Universe to conspire and help us attract peace, love, harmony , success and happiness in our life !

 

When Life Hits An Impasse !

source: www.goodtherapy.org

When our life is brought to a screeching halt and we are thrown in a tizzy, all we wonder is "What now?" . What had so far been a smooth cruise now appears to be a tricky and bumpy ride. Looking further ahead, we see our life engulfed in a cloud of confusion and chaos. This is when the reality hits us that our life has hit an impasse !

The "cul-de-sac" that stares at us in our face and leave us completely blank is in fact a manifestation of our ill-conceived goals and ill-directed actions. Now, when all our goals seem out of sight no clarity of direction, the only way forward is to do course correction.

Hitting a dead-end in life is not the end of the road for us. A little bit of self-probing and self-reflection could help us get our life back on track again. This is the right time to dig deep and identify what's holding us back.

The following could help us explore the root cause:

• Do i feel motivated (at this moment) to pursue the goal ?
• Am i pursuing my existing goals of my own free will ?
• Do i feel overwhelmed/ underwhelmed with my goal(s) ?
• Do i need to rework on my goals - maybe establish a different goal altogether or rework on the existing one ?
• Do i need to establish few mini-goals that will help me be motivated ?
• Are my action items in place ?
• Have i set my priorities right ?
• Have i built the necessary discipline in my daily routine for the tasks that needs to be executed? 
• Have i built a closure (timeline/ deadline) for the tasks identified by me? 
• Have i identified all the available options ?
• Do i have a mechanism in place for feedback ?

Pondering over the above questions could help us pin point where exactly the problem lies - whether in our goals, action items or time. Once the root cause is identified then its not difficult to do the necessary course correction and go beyond the impasse !

Brace Yourself For CHANGE !

The mere thought or mention of the word CHANGE instils in us a feeling of discomfort, if not anything more. Remember the times when CHANGE caught us unaware and landed us in a "No- Man's Land" where all we did was to rue the moment when we resisted the first step towards a better
future and life. The many missed opportunities and chances stand as a testimony to our reluctance or inability to change.

We grow up hearing that "Change is inevitable" but still we do not brace ourselves for it. The sooner we realise that the only thing constant is Change and there's no escape from it, the better equipped we will be to welcome the Change when it arrives in our life!

Bracing ourselves for any sort of Change is all about implementing the following "4W Model" where each "W" deals with an essential aspect of Change.

Let's understand what each "W" stands for

• WHY - To embrace any new situation, scenario or circumstance, we first need to be convinced about it. This "W" is all about establishing and becoming aware of the need to change. This awareness then sets the right context for us to take future actions which are well aligned. We become ready to adapt to change the moment we realise its benefits in terms of our growth and evolution.  

• WHAT - After establishing "Why", this "W (What)" is about getting specific in terms of what transformation or transition needs to happen to bring about the desired best/ better state in us. Being specific helps in gaining better clarity and the details help us identify clear and precise steps for initiating and achieving the change. Identifying whether a change in skill, knowledge or attitude is required help us complete the "What" component of change.

• WHERE -Closely linked to "What", this "W (Where)" is about identifying the area(s) of our life where Change needs to be brought in. A case in point is our constant struggle to achieve work-life balance. Our quest for holistic wellness depends a lot on our ability to select the area (Home, Office, Health, Relationships, Spirituality, etc.)  that needs to be prioritised for action.  One of the key reason for Work-Life imbalance is our failure to pinpoint the area (Home, Office, Health, Relationships, Spiritual, etc.) that needs to be prioritised and focused upon. Once the "Where" is identified, then taking specific actions become easier and smoother.

• WHEN -To ensure that we do not "miss the bus"  to a better life, it's important to put a timeframe to our actions towards adapting the change. Defining a time limit based on appropriate parameters help ensure that we not only stay relevant but are also ready to move to the next stage of change, as and when it arrives. As with everything else, a closure is essential to let the change happen seamlessly.

   So, embrace Change without any Fear and Success will always be Near! 

Activate the GPS of your Life now !

In this world where we constantly strive to reach somewhere all the time, can we imagine using our smartphones with the GPS (Global Positioning System) turned off ? Wouldn't that put us out of balance, out of focus and leave us in a state of commotion ?

The VUCA (Volatile, Uncertain, Complex and Ambiguous) world that we live in expects us to be always connected with everything around us so that we are in sync with the changing world, if we need to keep pace with the things. Our digital existence and ultra reliance on technology is made possible because of GPS acting as our guidance system and helping us to reach where we intend to. And if the GPS turned on, there is very little possibility of us losing our way or failing to reach our desired destination.

But how about our life ? Do we always reach where we intend to ? Do we always find our way when we get lost ? The fact is that, life always presents us with moments that may make us feel overwhelmed, lost, confused or completely clueless about ourselves. A cloud of obscurity engulfs our goals and destination and we just wander through life aimlessly, without a definite purpose. It is during these moments only that we need to take stock of things and not let life pass by us with just a whimper.

Wouldn't it help immensely to have a GPS for Life that could start from where we are and then guide us to where we intend to go ! Further, what should this particular GPS (of our Life) comprise of to help us move beyond the crossroads that we find ourselves staring at many a times in our life. The expectation from this GPS is simple - to lead us into light where we have a clarity of purpose, direction and action. A timely activation of this GPS could then provide the control back in our hands. So, building a GPS that acts as a guidance system for our life need to possess the following three key elements

• G for GOALS - Moving ahead in life is all about gaining clarity of destination and direction and well established goals play a pivotal role in brining this clarity. Goals aligned with our passion breeds purpose in our existence and builds in us the needed inspiration and motivation to achieve our goals.

• P for PROBLEMS - Anticipating problems that we may encounter on path to our goals helps us adopt a proactive approach. It prompts us to do a self-analysis in terms of the resources we currently possess and also those we may require in future to be able to solve the problems that may act as barriers enroute our goals. These resources refer to the appropriate skills and competencies relevant to the context.

• S for SOLUTIONS - This component is all about displaying a positive and progressive mindset. When the going is tough or when we feel overwhelmed with the goal/ situation, all we need to do is to keep going. Focusing on solutions will keep us motivated to take small steps which will take us closer to our goals. 
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So, wherever you find yourself at this point in time, just activate the GPS (Goals-Problems-Solutions) of life and reach where you always yearned to !

"Thanks to Thankfulness" - The shortest path to GRATITUDE

Technology has permeated every aspect of our life, promising to make us better, effective and more productive; the gaps have also been bridged in terms of seeking/ accessing information/ knowledge and everything is available at our fingertips now. Still the biggest irony that exists is that the parallel online world created to bring together and connect people across geographies, continents, countries, etc. has been created on a bedrock of loose human values. 

A case in point is – can we recollect easily the last time we appreciated something around us or in others? 

Isn't is hard to do so as there aren't be too many such occasions.  

The interconnectedness of people that promised camaraderie and togetherness has in fact created a more self-centered society where personal success and achievement rules the roost. We are seeing an erosion of fundamental human values and Gratitude is one of those key values that is diminishing. The “Thanks” or “Thank You” are hard to come and if they come, they are just so robotic.

Let’s dig deep and examine why gratitude is eroding and what could we do to cultivate it

What is Gratitude?

Gratitude is the basic quality of appreciation or being grateful.

Why is Gratitude important?

• Gratitude builds holistic health and personality by positively impacting our physical, mental, emotional and spiritual aspect.
• It shapes the growth of society as connecting together is a key tenet of a flourishing society
• It complements the interconnected nature of the virtual world that we live in. Our parallel online world needs real values to build lasting relationships.
• The new smartphone generation needs to imbibe basis human values like gratitude to build a holistic personality.
• Gratitude acts as feeder to many more essential human values like kindness.

How to cultivate Gratitude?

The simplest way to cultivate gratitude is to make a transition from “Thanks to Thankfulness”. Practising the following would help us achieve the same 

• SATISFICING which means finding delight in what’s given to us. This builds in the quality of being grateful for what we have. This further triggers our orientation towards the much needed concepts of decluttering, minimalism and essentialism. Maintaining a “gratitude journal” is an easy way to do so. The journal entries act as a reminder to us that by default there are plenty of things that we need to be grateful for in our life such as the beautiful body, the nature, the family, the friends, the sunshine, and so on.

• MINDFULNESS which builds awareness of the present moments and makes us appreciate the beauty that lies in each moment. This generates feeling of gratitude and makes us grateful for each moment.

• EMPATHY which is the foundation of human relatedness. Empathy propel us to connect with others at a deeper level and establish an emotional connect. It’s this deeper connection that builds in us feelings of gratitude.

• CONNECT MORE – One of the major downside of technology is that the opportunities to meet face-to-face are very few. This lack of physical connection inhibits our basic human tendency to relate to others. Establishing more face to face connections will kindle the feelings of gratitude.

• A LITLLE EXTRA – Once we imbibe the basic feeling of empathy and start connecting more (at a physical level), offering a little bit extra through our intent and action will develop more gratitude.      

For all the readers looking for more scientific explanation about the benefits of gratitude, here's the link to a wonderful article http://happierhuman.com/benefits-of-gratitude/

So, what are you grateful for today ?

ZEAL takes us to ZENITH#AtoZChallenge

Z is for "ZEAL"

We always aspire to reach the Zenith in our life and this gets manifested in the form of our

aspirations. But many a times our half-hearted efforts results in unachieved goals and a gap persist between our Inspiration and Aspiration.  Even though we are inspired to achieve our aspiration triggered goals, still there’s something that holds us back from achieving our goals. This missing piece is “ZEAL” which ensures sustained movement towards our goal(s). ZEAL refers to enthusiasm and excitement that is so much needed to keep us inspired always.  

Why ZEAL is important ?

·         Helps us achieve our goals

·         Keeps us passionate about our actions/ tasks

·         ZEAL breeds positive energy that is necessary to move forward  

·         We become a positive influencer for people around us

·         It provides direction to our efforts , so we need to ensure that it’s channelized in the right direction

·         Keeps us in a creative frame of mind and ensures better problem-solving and decision making

How to ensure “ZEAL” in life ?

·         An early diagnosis of our goals would help us ensure that we are pursuing the right goals

·         In case the ZEAL is missing, we must  change our goals and pick the ones that excite us and make us enthusiastic

·         Adopting an optimistic mind set ensures positive outlook towards life

·         Build in sufficient “self-time” to pursue our hobbies and calming activities like mindfulness, meditation and yoga. This will bring more clarity about  our goals in life

·         Build proper checkpoints to keep us on track. Also do a regular review of goals and  do the necessary correction whenever required

“ZEAL” is the backbone of  a Progressive Life ! 

YEARN for YIN_YANG#AtoZChallenge

Y is for YIN-YANG

PERFECTION and BALANCE are 2 things that each one of us is striving for in our life. But the irony is that we are trying to achieve it in a completely non-conducive environment which consist of a world that’s overflowing with information & knowledge; mind that is filled to the brim with chaos and commotion and a body that is all the time busy multi-tasking. We are aiming for the improbable considering the dynamic eco-system we live and operate in. The best way to achieve balance is to seek progression instead of perfection and move forward. The moment we start accepting the duality of everything in life, we will achieve balance in life. This principle of duality is YIN-YANG, a concept/ approach which helps us deal effectively with uncertainties of life - ups and downs, good times and bad times, opportunities and challenges.

Why is YIN-YANG important ?

·      Life is never a smooth ride and we need to deal with adversity as well. YIN-YANG prepares us for dealing with the downs in life and move ahead in life

·   Adopting the YIN-YANG approach build in us the requisite mental strength to deal with difficulties

·        YIN-YANG prepares us to build multiple perspectives

·        YIN-YANG helps us perceive the adversities as natural       happenings and not get bogged down by them 

How to balance YIN-YANG ?

·         Accepting failures and negative events in our life as natural occurrences, similar to the positive ones

·         Focus on achieving balance in all aspects of life – work, home, relationships, etc. The more all these aspects are in harmony, the more balanced our life will be

·         Include practices like mindfulness, meditation and yoga which connect us to our inner self

·         Practice gratitude and be thankful for everything in life

·         Declutter life to attract clarity and positivity in life

 Bring YIN-YANG in life and live holistically forever ! 

"X-FACTOR" avoids being a "XEROX"#AtoZChallenge

X is for "X-FACTOR"

“Survival of the fittest” is the mantra for success in this highly competitive world. There is a cut-throat competition everywhere and in everything. To come out victorious we need to outclass our competitors and also be the preferred choice.  To stand apart from the crowd we need to be unique in something, possess some special talent, develop some special skill/ knowledge which is what is termed as “X-FACTOR”.  This “X-FACTOR” is the real differentiator for us which separates us from the rest of the crowd and puts us right there in front and in limelight. “X-FACTOR” is what we excel at.

Why “X-FACTOR” is important ?

·         It makes us more charismatic and creates a magnetic effect in our personality

·         It is an important trait in our personality which differentiates us from others and determines our success

·         Gives us an extra edge over our competitors in situations where every competitor meets the basic mandated requirement of education, skills and knowledge and something unique or different plays the deciding factor

·         It paves the way for us to move forward in life

·         It boosts our self-esteem and confidence as we find worth in our existence

·         It helps us identify our USP (Unique Selling Proposition) which helps us direct our energy and effort on our unique talent, skill or passion

How to identify/ develop “X-FACTOR” ?

·         Exploring our interests and passion helps us identify our “X-FACTOR”. What excites us and keeps us involved is most probably our “X-FACTOR”.

·         If in various social situations, people approach us and show keenness to interact with us because of our certain behaviour/ attitude then that’s an indication of our “X-FACTOR” at play

·         Once identified, it’s important to develop it further to retain that extra edge in our personality and capitalise on the opportunities that come our way.

·         Hone your “X-FACTOR” skills as much as possible by practicing it over and over again, Be an Outlier by doing it for 10,000 hours

·         Try bettering at the “X-FACTOR” by doing it with interest and attention

Let your X-FACTOR make you a WINNER !