The game is not yet over. You have enough opportunity left before the final whistle. (Anonymous)
Let me share someone's life history with you. This was a man who failed in business at the age of 21; was defeated in a legislative race at age 22; failed again in business at age 24; overcame the death of his sweetheart at age 26; had a nervous breakdown at age 27; lost a congressional 53 of 279 race at age 34; lost a senatorial race at age 45; failed in an effort to become vice-president at age 47; lost a senatorial race at age 49; and was elected president of the United States at age 52.This man was Abraham Lincoln.
One day a partially deaf four year old kid came home with a note in his pocket from his teacher, "Your Tommy is too stupid to learn, get him out of the school." His mother read the note and answered, "My Tommy is not stupid to learn, I will teach him myself." And that Tommy grew up to be the great inventors history has ever seen. Thomas Edison. He had only three months of formal schooling and he was partially deaf.
Colonel Sanders, man behind KFC, at age 65, with a beat-up car and a $100 check from Social Security, realized he had to do something. He remembered his mother's recipe and went out selling. How many doors did he have to knock on before he got his first order?.
These people could have quit. But they didn’t. They took the defeat as a challenge to conquer. To them, defeat was a detour and not a dead end, and this made them one among the people who reshaped history.
Trust yourself. Create the kind of life you will be happy to live with all your life. Make the most of yourself by fanning the tiny, inner sparks of possibility into the flames of achievement.
All success stories are stories of great failures. The only difference is that every time they failed, they bounced back. This is called failing forward, rather than backward. You learn and move forward. Learn from your failure and keep moving.
Thomas Edison failed approximately 10,000 times before he invented the light bulb. How many of us quit after three tries, ten tries, a hundred tries, and then we say we tried as hard as we could?
Setbacks are inevitable in life. A setback can act as a driving force and also teach us humility. In grief you will find courage and faith to overcome the setback. We need to learn to become victors, not victims. Fear and doubt short circuit the mind.
Ask yourself after every setback: What did I learn from this experience? What should I do to make sure this doesn’t repeat again? Only then will you be able to turn a stumbling block into a stepping stone.
Disappointments will cross your path in the future. Every day brings its share of challenges. Still, we can choose to enjoy each day as it comes, purposing not to dwell on the things we can't change. As our attitude towards life changes, we identify the opportunities left in front of us. This Hope re-ignites in our hearts, and we begin to dream again.
In the darkest of your life, see the tiniest spark of light rays. Kindle them. If you decide to give up, you have decided to fail. If you decided to fail, there is nothing more disastrous than that.
Sometimes everything turns upside down. Bad things happen to good people.
We cannot choose our parents or the circumstances of our birth. What do we do from here; cry or take the ball and run? That is a choice we have to make.
Between stimulus and response is our greatest power -- the freedom to choose. This takes me to the habit of “be proactive”. It says that as human beings,
we are responsible for our own lives. Our behavior is a function of our decisions, not our conditions. We have the initiative and the responsibility to make things happen.
Look at the word responsibility -- "response-ability" -- the ability to choose your response. Highly proactive people recognize that responsibility. They do not blame circumstances, conditions, or conditioning for their behavior. Their behavior is a product of their own conscious choice, based on values, rather than a product of their conditions, based on feeling.
Success is not measured by how high we go up in life but by how many times we bounce back when we fall down. It is this bounce back ability that determines success.
To deal with a setback the right way, take a step back and look at the situation objectively. You are probably feeling hurt, worried, upset and maybe confused. Most likely, a swarm of emotions is flying around in your head. Try to put these aside so you can seriously ponder the problem you are facing.
People who have overcome obstacles are more secure than those who have never faced them. We all have problems and we feel discouraged some time. Most people get disappointed; but winners don't get disheartened. The answer is perseverance.
An English proverb says, "A smooth sea never made a skillful mariner." Everything is difficult before it becomes easy. We cannot run away from our problems. Only losers
quit and give up.
Success is a journey through thorns. Path is not filled with roses to you. You have humps ahead of you. Your car may get break down. Gas gets over. You seem to get totally lost on the way. Winners never give up. They take it as a challenge.
The game is still going. You are still in the team. Time is running. Plenty of opportunity left before that final whistle ends the entire show.
Remember: BEHIND EVERY SUCCESS STORY, THERE IS A STORY OF A FAILURE. BUT FOR WINNERS, FAILURE IS ONLY A STAGE BEFORE SUCCESS”
Sunday, February 22, 2009
Thursday, February 12, 2009
Do You Record Your Life Memories ?
How exciting is to record the cherished memories of my life and may be many years later, I would flip through those pages to view the precious moments I spent with my friends and family, and all those who came and walked through my life.
The day I jumped out with joy. The day when I went exhausted. The day when I felt emotionally lost. Cried because of the unexpected. A wonderful way to play my life back as a movie and see all the silly and crazy things I did in my life. All the wonderful people I met in my life. All the excitement I went through in this great journey called "life".
We video record or take photographs of important occasions of our life. How about recording every detail of our life day by day in some kind of storage medium? How many of us have the habit of spending a few minutes daily to "diarize" our day.
I started this habit when I was studying in tenth grade. The thing which started just as a fun later became a passion for me. Now I keep record of how I did well in my life. What things I did which I shouldn’t have done. All the glorious memories and events in my life are being recorded.
If you have not yet started, then you are probably missing all those fun and excitement of recording your life. It gives us a chance to record the days you felt extremely delighted and happy. It gives chance to retrospect our own life.
He held the book towards his chest. He knew it is the most precious possession he has in the whole world. "Tom, Today is your daughters marriage and I see tears in your eyes." Nothing John. I am alright." "No. I am sure there is something. Can I look at that book you are holding to your heart". "Sure John, here it is". "John, I cant believe my eyes Tom."
"You are right John, today is my daughters marriage. The book you hold in your hand is a witness to my life. I just had a flash back on my life and I really felt those missing moments. It has the day when I first went to school holding my fathers fingers. My mom looked at me and I could see the tears of happiness in her eyes. I never knew I was opening a new chapter in my life, but I don't know john, I just cried. I came back to my house eyes reddened with tears. How can I forget my first day at school? This book will never make me forget it.
It has the day when new friends came to my life giving me new meaning to friendship and love. Days of happiness and days of sorrow one after another creating new entry to my book as the day passed. I joined college and moved to another city. I left most of my belonging behind, but took this book with me, giving it a chance to witness my yet another phase of my life. The fun filled days in college was sometime disturbed by the sour memories I had to go through in the campus. Exams, assignments and other academic works, not to mention the games and fun filled activities. All the daily events and memories took a place in this book.
My graduation from college, a workaholic life in search of a successful career, then my marriage, our first daughter Lisa, and now her marriage. All those life memories were recording as it is in this book and I can replay them life a video.
Today I completed 50 years of my life john. The glorious 50 years. All my life is written down in this book. I really miss everyone john. I don’t know. Replaying my precious moments of my life gave me an intense feel of happiness and the tears you saw in my eyes is the result of that.
How much time you spend, how often you write, the medium of the journal are all personal choice. One method may be perfectly applicable to one but may not be applicable to another. We can allocate a minimum of 2-5 minutes (i.e. 0.2% of time we have in a day) every day, any time, preferably early morning to record the previous day/ or at night to record current day.
There are a few important things to be considered in order to effectively cultivate this habit.
One, we need to religiously allow our-self regular writing times. Many people like to write in the morning when they first awaken. For someone who keeps a dream journal or a creative journal, this is a wonderful idea as it starts out your day by awakening your mind. A few others like to write at the evening before going to bed,
and this time, you reflect your day in one page.
Two, Write because you want to write and not because you have to. Don’t allow diary writing to become an obligation or chore. Let the need to write naturally flow from your heart. If you miss a day, accept that. In my case, if I miss a day because of some pending works or schedules, I write it together with my next day journal or decide to leave that day altogether (especially if nothing worth full or important happened that day).
Three, your journal listen to you what ever you say to it. Remember you feel so dejected about something, and you get a person who just sits in front and do nothing other than just listen, then you will start opening all your issues and feelings to this person. Your diary doesn’t talk to you, but it listens. Listens to everything you say. Once you get started, your journal will become one of your good friends — one who is always available and has the time to listen attentively.
Four, do not lie to yourself. Be honest. You may feel Happy, Great, Mad, Bad, Sad, depressing, confusing, embarrassing, frustrating, heart breaking, disgusting, lonely, shocking or rewarding. What ever you feel, reflect them in your words. You are talking to your best friend and you need to be honest to it right!!
Nowadays my diary is password protected. Instead of writing in a diary, I feel more comfortable to type and store them online. I use www.penzu.com for my journal writing. In this way, I don’t need to carry them with me wherever I go and I don’t have the trouble of someone “unknowingly” reading my journal. We have lots and lots of web sites offering free diary writing space.
The day I jumped out with joy. The day when I went exhausted. The day when I felt emotionally lost. Cried because of the unexpected. A wonderful way to play my life back as a movie and see all the silly and crazy things I did in my life. All the wonderful people I met in my life. All the excitement I went through in this great journey called "life".
We video record or take photographs of important occasions of our life. How about recording every detail of our life day by day in some kind of storage medium? How many of us have the habit of spending a few minutes daily to "diarize" our day.
I started this habit when I was studying in tenth grade. The thing which started just as a fun later became a passion for me. Now I keep record of how I did well in my life. What things I did which I shouldn’t have done. All the glorious memories and events in my life are being recorded.
If you have not yet started, then you are probably missing all those fun and excitement of recording your life. It gives us a chance to record the days you felt extremely delighted and happy. It gives chance to retrospect our own life.
He held the book towards his chest. He knew it is the most precious possession he has in the whole world. "Tom, Today is your daughters marriage and I see tears in your eyes." Nothing John. I am alright." "No. I am sure there is something. Can I look at that book you are holding to your heart". "Sure John, here it is". "John, I cant believe my eyes Tom."
"You are right John, today is my daughters marriage. The book you hold in your hand is a witness to my life. I just had a flash back on my life and I really felt those missing moments. It has the day when I first went to school holding my fathers fingers. My mom looked at me and I could see the tears of happiness in her eyes. I never knew I was opening a new chapter in my life, but I don't know john, I just cried. I came back to my house eyes reddened with tears. How can I forget my first day at school? This book will never make me forget it.
It has the day when new friends came to my life giving me new meaning to friendship and love. Days of happiness and days of sorrow one after another creating new entry to my book as the day passed. I joined college and moved to another city. I left most of my belonging behind, but took this book with me, giving it a chance to witness my yet another phase of my life. The fun filled days in college was sometime disturbed by the sour memories I had to go through in the campus. Exams, assignments and other academic works, not to mention the games and fun filled activities. All the daily events and memories took a place in this book.
My graduation from college, a workaholic life in search of a successful career, then my marriage, our first daughter Lisa, and now her marriage. All those life memories were recording as it is in this book and I can replay them life a video.
Today I completed 50 years of my life john. The glorious 50 years. All my life is written down in this book. I really miss everyone john. I don’t know. Replaying my precious moments of my life gave me an intense feel of happiness and the tears you saw in my eyes is the result of that.
How much time you spend, how often you write, the medium of the journal are all personal choice. One method may be perfectly applicable to one but may not be applicable to another. We can allocate a minimum of 2-5 minutes (i.e. 0.2% of time we have in a day) every day, any time, preferably early morning to record the previous day/ or at night to record current day.
There are a few important things to be considered in order to effectively cultivate this habit.
One, we need to religiously allow our-self regular writing times. Many people like to write in the morning when they first awaken. For someone who keeps a dream journal or a creative journal, this is a wonderful idea as it starts out your day by awakening your mind. A few others like to write at the evening before going to bed,
and this time, you reflect your day in one page.
Two, Write because you want to write and not because you have to. Don’t allow diary writing to become an obligation or chore. Let the need to write naturally flow from your heart. If you miss a day, accept that. In my case, if I miss a day because of some pending works or schedules, I write it together with my next day journal or decide to leave that day altogether (especially if nothing worth full or important happened that day).
Three, your journal listen to you what ever you say to it. Remember you feel so dejected about something, and you get a person who just sits in front and do nothing other than just listen, then you will start opening all your issues and feelings to this person. Your diary doesn’t talk to you, but it listens. Listens to everything you say. Once you get started, your journal will become one of your good friends — one who is always available and has the time to listen attentively.
Four, do not lie to yourself. Be honest. You may feel Happy, Great, Mad, Bad, Sad, depressing, confusing, embarrassing, frustrating, heart breaking, disgusting, lonely, shocking or rewarding. What ever you feel, reflect them in your words. You are talking to your best friend and you need to be honest to it right!!
Nowadays my diary is password protected. Instead of writing in a diary, I feel more comfortable to type and store them online. I use www.penzu.com for my journal writing. In this way, I don’t need to carry them with me wherever I go and I don’t have the trouble of someone “unknowingly” reading my journal. We have lots and lots of web sites offering free diary writing space.
Monday, February 02, 2009
Don’t Say YES when you want to say NO
Many of us would have had the dilemma to let down a request to do something you honestly don’t have any time to do it. The request might have come from your friend, colleague, neighbor, or a relative. Even if you don’t have time to do them, you are not willing to say a NO, but by saying so, you feel you are letting them down.
You feel GUILTY already, and you haven't even responded yet! So you say, "Sure," even though doing so is going to put you under tremendous stress and PRESSURE. You know that you will probably end up resenting this activity, and maybe even ducking some of your responsibilities because your heart's just not in it, but you go ahead and agree anyway
Following are the thoughts which cause us to say a YES to those requests. (1) I may disappoint others. (2) I’ll have to deal with others’ reactions. (3) I might create conflict. (4) People won’t like me. (5) I may lose my job. (6) Its just easier to say yes.
No matter how busy you are, we dutifully take more and more tasks. One of the biggest blocks we may have is the want to please others than to please the self. Think about that. The reason you say yes is often because you don’t want someone else to think badly of you.
We are afraid to tell people "NO"? For some reason, we have been taught that "no" is DISRESPECTFUL -- and even insulting. We seem to value other people's time more than our own -- feeling that we need to bend over backward to accommodate others, even if it inconveniences us. When you tell someone "no," you are really saying that you understand and accept your own LIMITS, and you value your time and priorities and aren't willing to take away from the truly important things in your life. A little selfishness is necessary, if you want to maintain a balanced and sane life!
So how do you say "NO" without insulting the other person, feeling consumed with guilt, or hurting your own credibility? We need to find a way to say "no" without dragging up all of those HIDDEN FEARS -- they'll think I'm lazy or selfish, that I have no career drive, that I'm not ambitious, that I have no concern for other people.
As I have mentioned in my previous article, we do have a set of priorities, tasks and goals. We have prepared our mission statement. We have taken pain to identify and write down our priorities. If these priorities are not met, then we are responsible for it. Not our friends or anyone. We all live a social life and we can’t live independent. Letting down others request could lead to a situation whether other let down our requests too. That is perfectly fine, since we both have identified the importance of time.
There are a few more things to be noted here. We all honestly want to do help, and thus a NO should only come if you feel it will affect your priorities and you will get overburdened. Let us consider Mr. X. He is not a person who has well defined priorities nor does he manage his time effectively. When one of his friends gives him a help request, he suddenly becomes too busy. He has many things to finish and he let down his friend’s request. There is a big difference between a fake “NO” and a genuine “NO”.
Helping mentality is always a good habit and something which everyone needs to develop.
Here comes a question – When to say NO and how to say NO ? Following are the time when we have the right to say a NO. If posed with a request, and any of the below points are matched, then go ahead and say a polite NO.
(1) When your priorities do not go along with the request. (2) When the person can do it themselves. (3) When it’s against your values and judgments. (4) If you would feel bad doing it. (5) If it would hurt you or someone else. (6) If the demand is inappropriate. (7) If you just don’t want to do it. (8) If the request is inconsiderate to you or others.
The next step is to learn the various varieties of “No” and the appropriate context to use them.
1. The Direct No – “No, I can’t help you in this task.” This simple phrase can be used any time you lack the time or the will to do something.
2. The Reflecting No – In this softer version, you acknowledge the content and feeling of the request. “I know you’ve been counting on me to help in this task, but I just can’t do it today.”
3. The Reasoned No – Give a brief and genuine reason for refusing, without opening up negotiations. “No, I can’t take up this project. I have two big projects due in March.”
4. The Broken Record No – This is used when someone is trying to wear you down by begging, flattery, or trying to sweeten the pot. It can be hard to ignore the whining, but it’s possible. It goes something like this: “I know I can do it, but I must decline it for the moment.”
5. The Pain Now or Pain Later No – This is one of the kindest things you can say if you really don’t think you have the time to do something. “I’m not sure how things will shape up with my schedule, so I’d rather say, “No,” today than have to disappoint you later, when it will be harder to find someone else.”
6. The No Sandwich – In this one, you recognize the value of the relationship, refuse the request, and thank them for asking. “I know this project is really important to you, but I just can’t see a way I can do it right now. I do appreciate your asking me.”
7. The Yes If No – This is the negotiator’s "no." You state the conditions under which you can meet the request. “Yes, I can help you with the project, but only after Sept 24 and you agree to make me the project lead.”
8. The Sleeping No – “I’ll let you know tomorrow, after I’ve had time to think.” Thinking about the request overnight will remind you that this is your decision. You may actually decide to say, “Yes.” (Courtesy: www.hodu.com)
Make sure you fully understand requests before you agree to anything. I know this is a hard one. Sometimes wanting to help can be your worst enemy and you’ll agree to something before you truly understand how it’s going to effect your time. Try and get all the facts before you start adding tasks and projects.
For any one seriously interested in mastering this habit, I suggest two books to them. How To Say No Without Feeling Guilty, by Patty Breitman and “Don't Say Yes When You Want to Say No: Making Life Right When It Feels All Wrong”, by Herbert Fensterheim and Jean Baer.
“No” is a generous thing to do. It frees us from making insincere commitments, and it ensures we commit to things we can put our hearts into. We don’t say “No” to everything; we say “Yes” to the things that matter.
You feel GUILTY already, and you haven't even responded yet! So you say, "Sure," even though doing so is going to put you under tremendous stress and PRESSURE. You know that you will probably end up resenting this activity, and maybe even ducking some of your responsibilities because your heart's just not in it, but you go ahead and agree anyway
Following are the thoughts which cause us to say a YES to those requests. (1) I may disappoint others. (2) I’ll have to deal with others’ reactions. (3) I might create conflict. (4) People won’t like me. (5) I may lose my job. (6) Its just easier to say yes.
No matter how busy you are, we dutifully take more and more tasks. One of the biggest blocks we may have is the want to please others than to please the self. Think about that. The reason you say yes is often because you don’t want someone else to think badly of you.
We are afraid to tell people "NO"? For some reason, we have been taught that "no" is DISRESPECTFUL -- and even insulting. We seem to value other people's time more than our own -- feeling that we need to bend over backward to accommodate others, even if it inconveniences us. When you tell someone "no," you are really saying that you understand and accept your own LIMITS, and you value your time and priorities and aren't willing to take away from the truly important things in your life. A little selfishness is necessary, if you want to maintain a balanced and sane life!
So how do you say "NO" without insulting the other person, feeling consumed with guilt, or hurting your own credibility? We need to find a way to say "no" without dragging up all of those HIDDEN FEARS -- they'll think I'm lazy or selfish, that I have no career drive, that I'm not ambitious, that I have no concern for other people.
As I have mentioned in my previous article, we do have a set of priorities, tasks and goals. We have prepared our mission statement. We have taken pain to identify and write down our priorities. If these priorities are not met, then we are responsible for it. Not our friends or anyone. We all live a social life and we can’t live independent. Letting down others request could lead to a situation whether other let down our requests too. That is perfectly fine, since we both have identified the importance of time.
There are a few more things to be noted here. We all honestly want to do help, and thus a NO should only come if you feel it will affect your priorities and you will get overburdened. Let us consider Mr. X. He is not a person who has well defined priorities nor does he manage his time effectively. When one of his friends gives him a help request, he suddenly becomes too busy. He has many things to finish and he let down his friend’s request. There is a big difference between a fake “NO” and a genuine “NO”.
Helping mentality is always a good habit and something which everyone needs to develop.
Here comes a question – When to say NO and how to say NO ? Following are the time when we have the right to say a NO. If posed with a request, and any of the below points are matched, then go ahead and say a polite NO.
(1) When your priorities do not go along with the request. (2) When the person can do it themselves. (3) When it’s against your values and judgments. (4) If you would feel bad doing it. (5) If it would hurt you or someone else. (6) If the demand is inappropriate. (7) If you just don’t want to do it. (8) If the request is inconsiderate to you or others.
The next step is to learn the various varieties of “No” and the appropriate context to use them.
1. The Direct No – “No, I can’t help you in this task.” This simple phrase can be used any time you lack the time or the will to do something.
2. The Reflecting No – In this softer version, you acknowledge the content and feeling of the request. “I know you’ve been counting on me to help in this task, but I just can’t do it today.”
3. The Reasoned No – Give a brief and genuine reason for refusing, without opening up negotiations. “No, I can’t take up this project. I have two big projects due in March.”
4. The Broken Record No – This is used when someone is trying to wear you down by begging, flattery, or trying to sweeten the pot. It can be hard to ignore the whining, but it’s possible. It goes something like this: “I know I can do it, but I must decline it for the moment.”
5. The Pain Now or Pain Later No – This is one of the kindest things you can say if you really don’t think you have the time to do something. “I’m not sure how things will shape up with my schedule, so I’d rather say, “No,” today than have to disappoint you later, when it will be harder to find someone else.”
6. The No Sandwich – In this one, you recognize the value of the relationship, refuse the request, and thank them for asking. “I know this project is really important to you, but I just can’t see a way I can do it right now. I do appreciate your asking me.”
7. The Yes If No – This is the negotiator’s "no." You state the conditions under which you can meet the request. “Yes, I can help you with the project, but only after Sept 24 and you agree to make me the project lead.”
8. The Sleeping No – “I’ll let you know tomorrow, after I’ve had time to think.” Thinking about the request overnight will remind you that this is your decision. You may actually decide to say, “Yes.” (Courtesy: www.hodu.com)
Make sure you fully understand requests before you agree to anything. I know this is a hard one. Sometimes wanting to help can be your worst enemy and you’ll agree to something before you truly understand how it’s going to effect your time. Try and get all the facts before you start adding tasks and projects.
For any one seriously interested in mastering this habit, I suggest two books to them. How To Say No Without Feeling Guilty, by Patty Breitman and “Don't Say Yes When You Want to Say No: Making Life Right When It Feels All Wrong”, by Herbert Fensterheim and Jean Baer.
“No” is a generous thing to do. It frees us from making insincere commitments, and it ensures we commit to things we can put our hearts into. We don’t say “No” to everything; we say “Yes” to the things that matter.
Friday, January 16, 2009
Wednesday, January 14, 2009
Luck Or Hard Work - Which One Determines Life Success?
I have been thinking about this question since a long time. How much percentage luck and how much percentage hard work play in our life success? I am sure that at any point of your life, you would have looked at a person and said "How lucky He/She is. I wish I was like him/her".
In order to understand this topic better, I began to read various personality development books and started talking with people regarding this. This article is about what I learned from them and what conclusion I had come upon.
A one sentence answer to our question is given in the book, the monk who sold his Ferrari, "What is luck, my friend?" Julian replied kindly. "It is nothing more than the marriage of preparation with opportunity." As we see, Preparation plays a vital important role in life success. When opportunity comes to a person who is prepared, he can take the opportunity. This is what Julian Mantle considers as luck. So if the luck knocks an unprepared mind, there is a high probability that he missed the opportunity and hence misses his luck.
When posed this question to my friend Shyam, he told me "Life really is generous to those who pursue their destiny. When a person is determined to succeed in his life, the whole world wants him to win. Lady Luck is greedy. It supports success. It goes with those who do hard work. The nature silently prays for the person who does hard work and lady luck can't ignore him for long. A better word for Luck is opportunity. A person, who wants to learn more, who wants to accomplish something great in life, who focuses on only realizing his dreams, is bound to succeed and the right opportunity will definitely knock his door."
If a person believes only in luck, he just buys lottery tickets. He just waits. He will always be like that gambler in Las Vegas, staying at the roulette wheel. But if u do hard work, and luck comes, u never miss that luck.
Arun Vijay, put the answer in this way "You need to do had work without believing in luck. If you do hard work, and luck doesn't come your way, you don't need to worry since you have only believed in hard work and not luck. Hard work includes ability and skills. You should have right attitude to make this happen. If you wish to fly, and you do hard work day and night without working on to acquiring the necessary skills required flying, it is almost guaranteed that luck will be reluctant to come to your foot step".
It is truth that there might be many people who got success just of sheer luck. But since exceptions are not rules, I personally believe that we should not take these people as our role model since they took a bit of short cut to reach success. Short cut don't always lead a person to success.
What I understand on this topic is that, we are supposed to do our home work without depending on the luck factor. We should not be like a person who buys a lottery tickets and waits till luck blesses him. He may end up spending his life on this. We have to take advantage when luck is on our side, and do as much to help it as it's doing to help us. This is called the principle of favorability or beginner's luck.
If you are a student, we can do our best to concentrate on our studies and do as much hard work as we can. If you are an employee, give your best to your job. If you have a dream to follow, start immediately on it. Luck waits for no one. Before it comes, be prepared for it.
In order to understand this topic better, I began to read various personality development books and started talking with people regarding this. This article is about what I learned from them and what conclusion I had come upon.
A one sentence answer to our question is given in the book, the monk who sold his Ferrari, "What is luck, my friend?" Julian replied kindly. "It is nothing more than the marriage of preparation with opportunity." As we see, Preparation plays a vital important role in life success. When opportunity comes to a person who is prepared, he can take the opportunity. This is what Julian Mantle considers as luck. So if the luck knocks an unprepared mind, there is a high probability that he missed the opportunity and hence misses his luck.
When posed this question to my friend Shyam, he told me "Life really is generous to those who pursue their destiny. When a person is determined to succeed in his life, the whole world wants him to win. Lady Luck is greedy. It supports success. It goes with those who do hard work. The nature silently prays for the person who does hard work and lady luck can't ignore him for long. A better word for Luck is opportunity. A person, who wants to learn more, who wants to accomplish something great in life, who focuses on only realizing his dreams, is bound to succeed and the right opportunity will definitely knock his door."
If a person believes only in luck, he just buys lottery tickets. He just waits. He will always be like that gambler in Las Vegas, staying at the roulette wheel. But if u do hard work, and luck comes, u never miss that luck.
Arun Vijay, put the answer in this way "You need to do had work without believing in luck. If you do hard work, and luck doesn't come your way, you don't need to worry since you have only believed in hard work and not luck. Hard work includes ability and skills. You should have right attitude to make this happen. If you wish to fly, and you do hard work day and night without working on to acquiring the necessary skills required flying, it is almost guaranteed that luck will be reluctant to come to your foot step".
It is truth that there might be many people who got success just of sheer luck. But since exceptions are not rules, I personally believe that we should not take these people as our role model since they took a bit of short cut to reach success. Short cut don't always lead a person to success.
What I understand on this topic is that, we are supposed to do our home work without depending on the luck factor. We should not be like a person who buys a lottery tickets and waits till luck blesses him. He may end up spending his life on this. We have to take advantage when luck is on our side, and do as much to help it as it's doing to help us. This is called the principle of favorability or beginner's luck.
If you are a student, we can do our best to concentrate on our studies and do as much hard work as we can. If you are an employee, give your best to your job. If you have a dream to follow, start immediately on it. Luck waits for no one. Before it comes, be prepared for it.
One Personal and One Professional Goal For 2009
Good bye 2008. It is over and it is gone. Only what we did in this year remain, as a witness for this great year that have slipped away from us. The year which made us jump with joy, made us take crucial step's and decisions of our life and spent a life we always wished to live. Lot of happiness and achievements, and it is time to tell a fair well good bye to 2008, and whole heartedly welcome 2009 to our life.
Welcome 2009. As fresh as it could be. A new year to go for our life ambitions. Life passions. A new year to see our dreams being fulfilled. A new year to achieve the impossible. A new year to bring out the best out of us, and make it the best life we ever had in our life.
Life Resolution New Year resolution is part of our rituals for January 1. However, study shows that 95% of those who make new year resolution fail to keep them up for more than 2-3 weeks. Today I want to ask you not to keep a New Year resolution, but a Life Resolution. We are going to pick 2 Life Goals for 2009 - one from our personal life and one from our professional life, and go through a life journey to achieve them. This is the first installment of power article's in sijith.com and the whole 2009 will be dedicated to article's in achieving these life goals we are going to set today.
Let us pick the best two goals for 2009 that would make 2009 the best year for us ever.
One important point here: You commit one thing to me. "I am going to allocate a weekly quota for these goals and commit that I will not take any other personal/professional goal, unless my primary goal quota is complete."
Question ? What if I have two goals in each category.
Answer: It is perfectly fine to have two or more goals for each category. BUT, you should make one of them as primary for each category, and other's as secondary. You are going to work towards the secondary goals, only if your weekly quota for these goals is achieved.
Personal goal 2009:
I want you to do an exercise here. Take a paper/pen. Write down one personal goal that if you achieve will totally change the way you live. It could be something as small as mending a broken relationship, or could be something big, say changing your dietary habit or come out of a bad habit or improving your financial life or learning a foreign language. Just one goal - not more nor less. Just one personal goal, that could change your life and turn your dream into a reality. This goal could be also a spiritual goal or any goal that would improve your inner/personal life.
Now that you have this ONE personal goal written down, I want you to do the second step.
Write down 5 steps that if you do one at a time, you will achieve the above goal. Let me explain you with an example.
Imagine your goal is: "To learn a new foreign language".
So here is how, I would break down the goal into 5 steps. (For each person, the steps would be different. Identifying what works for YOU is the most important part here).
Sub Goal 1: Join an institute teaching this foreign language.
Sub Goal 2: Decide on a syllabus for 2009 that if I complete them, would reach my target.
Sub Goal 3: Buy/Get the required books/resources that I am going to use for this goal.
Sub Goal 4: Decide how much hours/time I am going to spent every week for this goal.
Sub Goal 5: Commit to stick with my goal and constantly check my goal progress.
Professional goal 2009:
Now let us come to a professional goal. This is a goal that would make a real real positive impact on your professional life. This is THAT goal if you achieve, would change your professional career life, and achieve what you always dreamt in your life in your career.
I want you to write this down. How you are going to achieve them is not important here. What you want to achieve is important here.
Here is an example of a professional goal:
"I improve my communication and interpersonal skills"
Sub Goal 1: Join a toastmaster's club and start a public speaking course.
Sub Goal 2: Work with a professional mentor to identify the area's of improvement.
Sub Goal 3: Spent sometime every day for exercise. Join yoga classes or a gym.
Sub Goal 4: If you look to become a manager, work towards achieving managerial skills/qualification. Like improving relationships, increasing personal contacts, etc.
Sub Goal 5: Proactively invest time in one project that would make a difference and help me towards my life goals. (This is a quadrant 2 activity and we will cover about four quadrants of time management in one of the future article).
The above goal/sub goals is just shown for an example. You can choose them based what you want in your life, and how best you want to use 2009. Here is a criteria for choosing your goals : "It is the ONE goal that would change my life, make 2009 the best year ever I had, and take me closer to achieve my life dreams."
Let's can take our time, and work towards our goals. Let us bring out the best out of us. Let us go for to achieve the impossible and get want you dreamt in your life. Believe me, you are in the process of changing your life, and changing the life of people's aroundyou, and let us be excited that we are in the process to make 2009 the best year ever we had in our life.
Wish you all the best and New Year greetings to all the readers.
Welcome 2009. As fresh as it could be. A new year to go for our life ambitions. Life passions. A new year to see our dreams being fulfilled. A new year to achieve the impossible. A new year to bring out the best out of us, and make it the best life we ever had in our life.
Life Resolution New Year resolution is part of our rituals for January 1. However, study shows that 95% of those who make new year resolution fail to keep them up for more than 2-3 weeks. Today I want to ask you not to keep a New Year resolution, but a Life Resolution. We are going to pick 2 Life Goals for 2009 - one from our personal life and one from our professional life, and go through a life journey to achieve them. This is the first installment of power article's in sijith.com and the whole 2009 will be dedicated to article's in achieving these life goals we are going to set today.
Let us pick the best two goals for 2009 that would make 2009 the best year for us ever.
One important point here: You commit one thing to me. "I am going to allocate a weekly quota for these goals and commit that I will not take any other personal/professional goal, unless my primary goal quota is complete."
Question ? What if I have two goals in each category.
Answer: It is perfectly fine to have two or more goals for each category. BUT, you should make one of them as primary for each category, and other's as secondary. You are going to work towards the secondary goals, only if your weekly quota for these goals is achieved.
Personal goal 2009:
I want you to do an exercise here. Take a paper/pen. Write down one personal goal that if you achieve will totally change the way you live. It could be something as small as mending a broken relationship, or could be something big, say changing your dietary habit or come out of a bad habit or improving your financial life or learning a foreign language. Just one goal - not more nor less. Just one personal goal, that could change your life and turn your dream into a reality. This goal could be also a spiritual goal or any goal that would improve your inner/personal life.
Now that you have this ONE personal goal written down, I want you to do the second step.
Write down 5 steps that if you do one at a time, you will achieve the above goal. Let me explain you with an example.
Imagine your goal is: "To learn a new foreign language".
So here is how, I would break down the goal into 5 steps. (For each person, the steps would be different. Identifying what works for YOU is the most important part here).
Sub Goal 1: Join an institute teaching this foreign language.
Sub Goal 2: Decide on a syllabus for 2009 that if I complete them, would reach my target.
Sub Goal 3: Buy/Get the required books/resources that I am going to use for this goal.
Sub Goal 4: Decide how much hours/time I am going to spent every week for this goal.
Sub Goal 5: Commit to stick with my goal and constantly check my goal progress.
Professional goal 2009:
Now let us come to a professional goal. This is a goal that would make a real real positive impact on your professional life. This is THAT goal if you achieve, would change your professional career life, and achieve what you always dreamt in your life in your career.
I want you to write this down. How you are going to achieve them is not important here. What you want to achieve is important here.
Here is an example of a professional goal:
"I improve my communication and interpersonal skills"
Sub Goal 1: Join a toastmaster's club and start a public speaking course.
Sub Goal 2: Work with a professional mentor to identify the area's of improvement.
Sub Goal 3: Spent sometime every day for exercise. Join yoga classes or a gym.
Sub Goal 4: If you look to become a manager, work towards achieving managerial skills/qualification. Like improving relationships, increasing personal contacts, etc.
Sub Goal 5: Proactively invest time in one project that would make a difference and help me towards my life goals. (This is a quadrant 2 activity and we will cover about four quadrants of time management in one of the future article).
The above goal/sub goals is just shown for an example. You can choose them based what you want in your life, and how best you want to use 2009. Here is a criteria for choosing your goals : "It is the ONE goal that would change my life, make 2009 the best year ever I had, and take me closer to achieve my life dreams."
Let's can take our time, and work towards our goals. Let us bring out the best out of us. Let us go for to achieve the impossible and get want you dreamt in your life. Believe me, you are in the process of changing your life, and changing the life of people's aroundyou, and let us be excited that we are in the process to make 2009 the best year ever we had in our life.
Wish you all the best and New Year greetings to all the readers.
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