Category: Coaching & Training

Journey to Excellence

Have you ever wondered what is the definition of Best? What is definition of Excellence? What is the definition of Perfection? Here is a small story which not only helped me to understand the meaning of The Best, Excellence and Perfection but also guided me towards journey to excellence. In ancient Rome, Romans had a very large number of Slaves. The behavior of Romans with their slaves was very cruel. Even for slightest mistakes the slaves were punished very harshly. Killing slave was not an offense in Roman law and Romans used to explore new ways to torture their slaves. If any of the slaves tried to escape from his master, there was only one punishment, slow but very painful death. This was also used to refrain other slaves from running. All the roads were well protected by the Roman army and a big jungle was the only place where slaves could hide themselves. But the jungle was full of wild animals and it was considered impossible to cross jungle without any protection. Romans calculated if someone was to cross the jungle successfully he will have to run like a leopard else he will be chased and killed by wild animals. It needed a superhuman to run at such speed hence Romans never tried to protect the road leading to jungle. Still in ancient Roman texts there are tales of many slaves who were able to cross the forest successfully and live a free life. When modern medical science came to know such stories they started testing human body if it was capable of running long distances at fast speeds. After so much of research medical science concluded that human body is incapable of taking this much of stress and if someone tries to run faster than the maximum speed described in the study his blood pressure will rise to such a level that he will die of a heart attack. They gave a bench mark that a human can’t run a distance of 400m in less than 50 seconds. On 29th Sept. 1900 Maxie Long of USA covered 400m in 47.8 seconds breaking the bench mark set by scientists. Time taken by Maxie was a world record in athletics and he was considered the best. Scientists said Maxie Long has something special that made him capable of covering 400m in less than 50 seconds. On May 27, 1916 Ted Meredith of USA broke this record by 4 seconds. Now 47.4 seconds was the new bench mark. On 18th Oct.1968 Lee Evans of USA covered the 400m in 43.29 seconds to reset the new bench mark. On 17th Aug. 1988 Reynolds set a new world record to cover 400m in 43.29 seconds. A new bench mark. And on 26th Aug 1999 Michael Johnson of USA made a new world record and covered 400m in 43.18 seconds. Michael Johnson’s world record still standing tall and has not been broken. Today how many of us know Maxie Long of 1900, let alone remembering him. People talk about Michael Johnson of 1999 and they will talk till a new athlete comes and reset the bar higher. In last 100 years the bench mark in athletics has been reset at least 25 times by different athletes. No one talks about athletes who were the best of their times and raised the standard to new levels. We remember people who keep raising the bar continuously and keep improving their own bench marks. Yesterday’s best can’t always be the best. It may not even considered to be good tomorrow. So what is the Best, Excellent and Perfection? There is nothing called Best, Excellent or Perfection. It is all about improving, getting better and better and raising the bar to next level. Hope you too are on your Journey to Excellence. Happy Journey!

God’s Companion

Have you ever wondered why do people take birth? What makes them take birth? They have friends, relatives, companions. Who is God’s companion ? Here is a small story, I was told in my childhood and the lesson to be learnt. God is one and he is the supreme power. Because God is one so he feels very lonely and he is very tired of his loneliness. He wants to have a companion with whom he can talk, play and spend time. So what he does is he makes his replica, a sculpture, of sand and then he adds life to it and examines if it is worthy enough to be God’s companion. If he finds any drawback/ weakness in his replica he throws it on mrityulok (earth). And here on earth human take birth. We are exactly like him, his true replica. We have most of his strengths and yes! some weaknesses too else he wouldn’t have sent us to earth. The day he will be successful in making his true replica, his eternal companion, he will stop making other sculptures and then no human will take birth on earth. I believe every bit of this story and I am firm believer that the mankind has been blessed tremendous potential. I wonder when people say they have so many weaknesses and only they want is to get rid of their weaknesses and not to work on their strengths. They forget that they were created by God to be his eternal companion. Story of a child There was a child, who was considered as a bully, a school dropout. Normally one would consider him to be someone who will struggle in life but this boy was different. He had a special talent of batting. He started practicing in nets for hours. When he was aged 16 years and 205 days, he was picked up to represent India against Pakistan. He made 15 runs in the first test he played and was out on a ‘duck’ in his first international one dayer. But so determined was he that he wrote history in international cricket for being the first player to score a century of centuries. There is hardly a record which is not under his name. When he decided to say good bye to international cricket after playing for 24 years and was to play his last test (200th test) at his home ground ‘Wankhede Stadium’ in Mumbai, he padded up and practiced for the whole day to prepare himself for the last innings of his international cricketing career. Cricket fans who had come there to witness him practice told reporters that he practiced so enthusiastically as if he was practicing for his first game of his career. He scored 74 runs in his last test match and when he got out and was walking towards pavilion he was still thinking he should have played his shot differently. By continuously polishing his abilities he took his career to such a level of excellence that he is became a legend. He is known as ‘Sachin.. The God of Cricket’. Believing yourself, knowing and polishing your abilities can make the difference for you as well. After all almighty had created you to be his eternal companion.  

Investment Avenues

In my last post ‘Compounding- The 8th Wonder’, I had shared how small investments can give you wonderful returns. In this post I’ll share what are different investment avenues available for you to invest your money. There are two types of avenues available for investment, Financial and Non Financial. The Financial avenues of investment can broadly be categorized in Debt, Equity and Insurance. The Non- Financial avenues of investment can be categorized into Real Estate, Gold, Commodities etc. To invest in non financial instruments of investment we require a large sum of money. In my current post I’ll explain the financial avenues of investment. Insurance: Insurance is the first step towards financial freedom and one should start his investment planning by investing in insurance. There are different insurance policies like Term Plan, Endowment Plan, ULIPs, Pension Plans, Health Insurance etc. Each insurance plan covers a specific risk of the assured. Term Plans cover the risk of life of assured.  Normally these are very low cost. Endowment Plans help plan mid to long term financial goals. ULIPs are market linked insurance plans and give very good returns in the long term. Pension Plans ensure you don’t change your life style even after retiring from work. Health Insurance takes care of all the medical emergencies of the assured. Investments done in life insurance and Pension Plans are eligible for deduction under Sec. 80-C of IT Act- 1961 and investments made in Health Insurance are eligible for deduction under Sec. 80-G of IT Act-1961. Debt and Debt Instrument: Debt is a loan you give to someone where as a debt instrument is one through which you lend money to a company. There are different types of debt instruments like Savings Account, Fixed Deposit, Bonds (Debentures), Govt. Securities, Post Office Securities, Money Market Instruments etc. Saving Account: One should keep an amount equal to at least six months of his salary in savings account at all point of time. This amount should only be used as contingency fund. If you get a hike in your salary you should also increase this fund by six time of your salary increment. Banks pay 4-8% annual interest on savings accounts. Fixed Deposits: FD’s has varied maturities but had assured returns. The longer the time period better the returns will be. Penalty is charged on the premature encashment. FDs done for a period of 5 years and above are eligible for deduction under Sec. 80-C of IT Act-1961 subject to a limit of Rs. 100,000/-. Recurring Account: Recurring deposit are term deposits in which a fixed amount is deposited every month. The interest paid is almost equal to the interest paid to FDs. R A/c helps you to build up their savings through monthly installments of a fixed amount over a fixed period of time. Bonds (Debentures): Bonds has fixed maturity date and provide regular income. The market price is sensitive to interest rate and credit rating. Corporate bonds offer higher returns than the Govt. bonds. The returns are of the tune of 7-10% per annum. Public Provident Fund: One can invest from Rs. 5,000/- to Rs. 100,000/- in PPF in a financial year. You can make deposits in lump sum or in 12 installments. PPF gives a return of 8.7% per annum (in FY 2014-15). Investments done in PPF are eligible for deduction under Sec. 80-C of IT Act-1961 subject to a limit of Rs. 100,000/-. Govt. Securities: Govt. Securities are issued by central or state Govt. with a fixed maturity of period of 2 to 30 years. These provide regular income and have high liquidity low volatility. Post Office Instruments: Monthly income scheme, Kisan Vikas Patra (KVP), National Saving Certificate (NSC), Time Deposit etc. are Post Office Instruments. They are low volatile and offer returns in the tune of 8-9% per annum. Money Market Instruments: They mature within a year. They offer high liquidity, low volatility and low returns (3-4%). Equity & Equity Share: Equity is ownership in a company where as an equity share represents proportionate ownership in the company. It means you own a part of the company. There are two types of equities, Equity Share and Preferential Share. Equity Shares: There is no maturity date of equity share. If you need money you can get it by selling your equity to another buyer. Shareholders get their returns on equity share in form of dividends and also by capital appreciation. These days equity Mutual Funds are very popular as they help the investors to get maximum returns of their investments by pooling their money to invest in diverse portfolio. Investments made in Equity Linked Saving Scheme (ELSS) Mutual Funds are eligible for deduction under sec. 80-C of IT act- 1961 subject to a limit of Rs. 100,000/-. Equity shares and MFs offer high risk and high returns of the investors. One should invest in equities and MFs only after reading the offer documents carefully. Preferential Shares: Preferential Shares are hybrid instrument of debt and equity. These shares pay a fixed dividend that doesn’t fluctuate. The major benefit of preferential shares is that the owner has a greater claim over company’s assets than any other shareholder. If the company becomes bankrupt, the preferred shareholders are paid off before the common shareholders. I have tried to cover most of the financial avenues available for investment. One should start investing early to reap the benefits of compounding and should take utmost care while investing and keep updating themselves about various avenues of investment to get better returns. In case you need any information on investment avenues feel free to write at rjdhir@gmail.com. Happy Investing !!

Compounding- The 8th Wonder

Once there was a king who was very kind. He was renowned for keeping his words and helping the scholars for their wisdom and knowledge. There was a poor poet who came to know about his generosity and came to meet him. He had written a poem which had very high literary quality. The King was impressed and asked the poor poet for reward he wanted for his literary work. The poet pointed towards a chess board which was lying there and asked to place 1 grain of rice on the 1st box of the chessboard, 2 on the 2nd box, 4 on the 3rd box, 8 on the 4th box, 16 on 5th box and double the no. of rice grains till 64th box. The king was surprised to know on his demand and asked the poet to demand something else as this was a petty demand. But the poet insisted on putting the rice grains on the chess board. The king ordered his servants to start putting rice grains on the chess board as per poet’s demand. The servants started putting the grains on the chess. On 20th box the no. of grains was 524,288, on 25th it was 16,777,216, on 30th the no. was 536,870,912, on 35th the no. was 17,179,869,184. On 40th the no. was 549,755,813,888. On 45th the no. was 17,592,186,044,416. On 50th the no. was 562,949,953,421,312. On 55th the no. was 18,014,398,509,482,000. On 60th the no. was 576,460,752,303,423,000 and on 64th the total was 9,223,372,036,854,780,000. The total number of rice grains which the poet won was astonishing 18,446,744,073,709,600,000. This was something which was out of the means of the king. To keep his words to the poet the king handed over his kingdom to the poet and went for meditation in the forest. This is an ancient story which explains the wonder power of compounding can do if one starts investing early, invests regularly and sticks to his investments for a longer period of time. Albert Einstein once noted that the most powerful force in the universe is not the gravitational force but the power of compounding. He even said, “The power of compounding is the 8th wonder of the world”. I am sure you must be wondering about compound Interest and what Compounding- The 8th Wonder can do to your investments. Compound Interest is an interest which is added to the principal amount and the added interest start earning interest. The addition of interest to the principal is called compounding. For example your investment of Rs. 1000/- per year with a rate of interest of 10% would become Rs. 1100/- at the end of 1st year and at the end of 2nd year it would become Rs. 1210/-. This difference may look very small if you compare it with simple interest (which will be Rs. 1200/- after 2 years @ 10% rate of interest). But remember even the no. was small when the servants were putting rice grains on the chess board but eventually compounding made all the difference and the king lost his kingdom. To get more clarity on the power of compounding let me give you an example of two friends Amit and Satish. They both started working at the age of 25 at a same salary package. Scenario-1 (Assuming RoI @ 15% per annum) Amit starts investing at the age of 25 and invests Rs. 5000/- per month till his retirement at the age of 60. He will get an amount of Rs. 5.70 Crore Satish starts investing at the age of 35 and he invests Rs. 10000/- per month till his retirement at the age of 60. He will get an amount of Rs. 2.77 Crore Scenario-2 (Assuming RoI @ 15% per annum) Amit starts investing Rs. 5,000/- per month at the age of 25 and keeps investing for next 15 years. He does not take his money out till his retirement age of 60. He will get an amount of Rs. 5 Crore Satish starts investing at the age of 35 and invests Rs. 10,000/- per month till for next 25 years that is till he’s 60 years of age. He will get an amount of Rs. 2.77 Crore Scenario- 3 (Assuming RoI @ 15% per annum) Amit starts investing at the age of 25 and invests Rs. 5,000/- per month till his retirement at the age of 60. He will get an amount of Rs. 5.70 Crore Satish starts investing at the age of 45 and he invests Rs. 50,000/- per month till his retirement at the age of 60. He will get an amount of Rs. 3.07 Crore The power of compounding is the secret behind the great returns for long term investments. If you have the patience and if you can save and invest, then the power of compounding can do wonders to the investments made. If you have not started investing yet, you can start investing now and can still make good corpus for your retirement. In my next post I’ll share the different avenues of investment. Stay tuned and Happy Reading !!

Training Effectiveness

When I started my career into sales my first training was like some crash course of IIT JEE. Trainer will come he will try and make you understand all the medical and marketing aspects of the product; he will ensure that you are able to spell out every complex molecule name with ease. You will undergo a series of test papers coming day after day and the final test which will decide your fate. So for me it was how effective I was as a learner and not a trainer, because it was me who will be thrown out of the group for non-performance. When I made a shift from Sales to Training again I was like a fresh graduate as, all my sales experience only supported me in understanding the real situation and ways how it can be worked, I was able to simulate the real world experience but as a trainer – I still had to hone the required skill-set. Though delivery was never a problem and I mastered it. Now I was working in an environment where, questions were being asked about training effectiveness, but it was simpler as it was linked to my first-hand experience, remember my crash course experience. Now I had transition from a domain based trainer to behavioral trainer. AND THE NEXT BIG QUESTION WAS – MEASURING TRAINING EFFECTIVENESS I guess it was 1 year of my struggle with the big question and now I am able to satiate both ends of the string – My Customer and Myself. Basically, for me it was as difficult to tie a horse with imaginary rope. Things you need to learn before you measure or execute the training effectiveness: 1) What exactly is in their mind: Expectations can be endless”. Your internal/client has the right to set any expectation regarding your training before you met him and set the expectation right. On one good day my boss asked me to prepare training on effective communication and I did the same mistake, I never asked. ‘What change he would like to see after the training?’ Steps you should follow before delivering any presentation in your new organization: a- Explore their job: We as a trainer generally exhibit empathy, but do we really mean it. Come on remove your shoes and prepare yourself to put some muddy, uncomfortable shoes for a while. Remember you will feel more pain than they have it in real. This will help you to understand the key area of priority. REMEMBER, don’t assume their need, just try it first-hand and find out. b- Remember they have a Boss: As a trainer we try to full fill the expectation of our participants inside room. What about the set of people outside, who are waiting eagerly for the results to come. 2) How you can help: Remember learning is like taking bath, you need to take it every day, or soon you will be stinking. a- Know your limits: Every expectation cannot be met as stated earlier, Discover the most painful area you felt after thorough research and discussion over the expectation, where you can have a valid intervention. b- Sell your Training: Before you do any Training program for any group, sell it to their bosses. Here we are not telling to mail the teasers and stuff. It’s about selling the outcomes so that none of your customer can come up and say: “Hey you never delivered what we expected out the training” “Training was really good we can observe the change in ‘xyz’ behaviors, but would be great if peoples demonstrated ‘abc’ also” c- This is what you need to do: You are not a superhero, make them part in making and measuring the effectiveness. Clarify their role that how they can reinforce the learning. Ask for feedback in a formal patron to avoid complicated situations. (as discussed in Point B) 3) A Cook never tastes his own Dish: As old saying In India “Halwai apni Mittai Kudh nahi kahhta” A desert maker never tastes his own desert/dish. With the change in time, they do and you are a trainer. The saying never set’s right into your context. Try it once so that you have your own case study. Remember people get motivated when they listen inspirational stories. It happens because they relate or put themselves in the place of character. Guest Blogger: Rahul Molasi, is working as a Training Manager in Cipla Pharmaceuticals. A family person, Rahul loves to travel in his pastime.

Sone Ki Chidiya- Learning Perspective

These days when the entire nation is witnessing the vote bank politics. All we listen in the television news is about polls, the 49% women voters, the youth making choices and the country demanding a change – the positive one! On one such day, there was a debate on television where 2 panelists argued on the phrase ‘India – the then Sone ki Chidiya’ and I found that the phrase echoed in my mind for little longer than the usual. Something was disturbing me and I realised that my mind wanted to go back to the history. There was a time our country was called ‘Sone ki Chidiya’ (The Golden Sparrow). This is something we all are proud of. I always wondered how did India get this name ‘Sone ki Chidiya’ and not ‘Iron Eagle’. Who named India, ’the Golden Sparrow’? How did it all start? I hope you are also curious to know the story. So here is the story: India was invaded by many. The first time someone invaded India was Alexander the great. He crossed into India in 327 B.C.E. fought against King Porus. King Porus fought fiercely but was defeated. Alexander wanted to move further towards Magdha, the strongest of Indian empires. But his army refused to go further as they had heard the tales of powerful Indian tribes and they had not forgotten memories of their battle with King Porus. Alexander was extremely disappointed but accepted the decision of his army and decided to return to his capital. Post Alexander departed from India, close to next 1300 years were relatively peaceful and India didn’t suffer any major invasion. Starting 1000 A.D. Mahmud of Ghazni, an Afghan, invaded India several times. He plundered several temples and killed hundreds of thousands of Indians. The booty which he looted is estimated to be more than 100 million Dirhams, several tons of gold, silver and precious gems. While Mahmud of Ghazni was returning to his capital in Afghanistan, one of his generals asked Mahmud Ghazni about why Indians were not showing any resistance and were fleeing from the battle field without caring about their country, their families, savings and whatever they had. Mahmud of Ghazni reminded his general of a game they played in their childhood. They had eagles as their pets and their favorite past time was to watch their eagles fight. In order to make them fight, they used to throw a sparrow in the sky and before it can fly away, their eagles will chase, kill and eat the sparrow. Whosoever’s eagle killed the sparrow, was the winner. Listening this, his general laughed and told Mahmud of Ghazni that they are still playing the same game in India and the only difference is that they are the eagles and the Indians are the sparrows. Listening this Mahmud of Ghazni answered, “Yes! We are eagles and they are the sparrows.. But they are the Golden Sparrows!” This is how India got another name, “The Golden Sparrow- Sone ki Chidiya” as Indians didn’t stand united to face the threats and invaders not only defeated the Indians but also took away the resources. And today when I think about this story again, I wonder what would have been our country like if only, “the Maharajas, Kings, Dewans and then landlords during those times chose to show some resistance and fight instead of giving up to their own fancies, India would never have been called ‘Sone Ki Chidiya’. If we go by the facts in the story there doesn’t seems a single reason to feel proud. Digging deep into the context and trying to find out – how this could have been saved, I got the following answers from within and these are certainly the lessons learnt. Points to Ponder: Escapism: Running away from a problem is not an option instead we should understand, explore, find the solution and then act responsibly. An escapist attitude is never appreciated in any sphere of life – corporate or life in general. We come across many difficult situations but only those who face them patiently sail & survive. Escapism is a complete no in our lives, as emotions may sometime help us in life but here – results matter most. And those who care for results, choose to act. Team Work: No Indian king made any attempt to make a coalition to face the external threats. Had they formed a coalition and challenged Mahmud of Ghazni and other invaders, the story could have been totally different. Attentiveness and Action: As they say, the more you sweat during peace the less you bleed during war. One should always be ready and keep all the options open. During peace don’t stop practicing war. However, sometimes there is nothing wrong in buying time, if there is a grave threat to your existence because of the challenge in hand or a corporate situation is disturbing your work-life balance, one must buy some time, assess the possibilities and act accordingly. But mind you, taking too much time is not recommended. Take risks: Don’t keep waiting for the best time. The go-getters believe in ‘now’. This also comes from an independent & leaders attitude. Those people Take Risk > Lead> Confront> Solve. Experiment: Learn from others mistakes. When Indian kings were losing one by one, no one learnt the lessons and rectify their strategies to confront the Mahmud of Ghazni. Experiential Learning is life long, it offers a different point of view to handle situations, people and circumstances. It is the way of learning during the pressure situations. It is supposedly the only way to come out of those situations. One should rather not get trapped and act smartly. This was my interpretation of story for my corporate trainees who each day go out of home to add some more meaning to life. Stay tuned for more stories. Take Care

Little things matter the Most!

During the beginning of a training session I asked my trainees to give their introductions and also additionally they were told to tell the name of an animal they like the most and explain the reason for their liking. When everyone finished, trainees asked me about the animal I like the most. I told them that I like Squirrels the most as Squirrels remind me that whenever we are given a task we should take it as service to God and should give our 100% to it. They were curious and wanted to know the logic behind the same. I shared an incident from ‘Ramayana’- Ravana abducted Lord Ram’s wife, Sita, and took her to his capital, Lanka. Lord Ram asked Ravana to return his wife but he refused. Then with the help of Vanar Sena (Army) he decided to fight Ravana and take his wife back. They reached the southern end of the land and Lanka was on the other side of the sea and since it was not possible for the Vanar Sena to swim and cross the vast ocean, Lord Ram decided to build a bridge (Setubandh Rameshwaram) across the ocean with the help of ‘Nal’ and ‘Neel’, the Vanar princes. Nal and Neel were very notorious in their childhood and were used to throw belongings of sages in water. They were cursed by the sages that whatever they throw in water will not sink. The entire Vanar Sena started collecting the stones so build the bridge. The army was so excited that they started running around to look for biggest stones. The Vanar Sena was very strong and they brought huge stones and rocks and dropped them in the ocean. The other animals also wanted to help Lord Ram build the bridge. A small squirrel was watching this and decided to help. It thought for a while and started collecting pebbles and dropped them in the ocean. The squirrel worked hard and dropped as many pebbles as it could. Squirrel was tired but still wanted to continue the work so it rolled self in the sand, ran into water and washed. It ran back the shore rolled and washed self again and continued. While he was moving to and fro, it came in the way of a Vanar who was carrying a big stone and just survived from being crushed by Vanar. On seeing this another Vanar picked the squirrel up and threw it towards the shore and other Vanars started laughing. Lord Ram was watching all this and he caught the little squirrel before it fell. He addressed the Vanar army: “ Dear Vanars, you are huge and strong so you can bring big stones and rocks but those big stones can’t be joined perfectly and there are many small gaps between the stones. The pebbles brought by the squirrel have filled the gaps and the sand particles bind the bridge in proper shape and also make it strong. Remember, that in order to achieve something BIG one should not only concentrate on major task involved but one must take care of the small details as each step and all the efforts count equally. If you are working in a team, the efforts of all the team members, however small these may be, must be appreciated!” The Vanars were ashamed and asked for forgiveness from Lord Ram and the Squirrel. Then Lord Ram turned to the Squirrel and said, “My dear squirrel, I am sorry for the hurt caused by my army and thank you so much for helping me building this bridge. Please go back and continue your work.” Then he touched the back of the squirrel and three lines appeared where Lord Ram had touched him. Now whenever I see a squirrel, the three lines on its back reminds me that every task however small it may be, is important and significant in its own way and we should appreciate each and every contribution made by a team member (in personal or professional lives) to achieve something.

Ashta Siddhi- 8 Divine Powers

I am reading Hanuman Chalisha in morning prayers since my childhood days. I always believed that I know the meaning of all the verses of Hanuman Chalisa. Few days back while I was praying I stopped at one stanza of Hanuman Chalisa, which read ‘Ashta Siddhi Nau Nidhi Ke Data As Var Deen Janki Mata’, as I was trying to figure out the meaning of the same. After my prayers I had my breakfast and went for my Training program and I skipped exploring the same. Next day again while praying I stopped, there again, thought for a while and went ahead with the prayers. It bothered me the whole day that I am reading Hanuman Chalisa since childhood believing I know the meaning of each and every stanza of it, then how can I forget this one. I came back home and asked my wife if she knows the meaning of Ashta Siddhis and Nau Nidhi’s. Though she reads it too in her morning prayers, she was unaware about the same. Like our generation if we want to know anything about something we Google it, I did the same and take refuge of Google. I came to know Buddhi (Wisdom) and Siddhi are consorts of Sri Ganesha. There are eight types of Siddhis (Ashta Siddhis). Ganesha Ji and Hanuman Ji possess Ashta Siddhis and can give one access to Ashta Siddhis. Following are Ashta Siddhis (8 Divine Powers): Anima: Ability to become as minute as one wishes. Mahima: Opposite of Anihma. One can become as large as one wishes. Laghima: Ability to become almost weightless and travel thousands of miles in a fraction of second. Garima: Opposite to Laghima. Ability to become infinitely heavy. Prapti: Ability to touch the highest things (Moon, Sun & even the stars), to attain desired objects, ability to predict future events, ability to telepathy and thought-reading, etc. Ability to understand the languages of the beasts and birds and understand unknown languages. Ability to cure all diseases. Prakamya: Ability to realize whatever one desires. It is also defined to be the power of entering body of another (Parakaya Pravesh). It is also the power of keeping a youth-like appearance for any length of time. Vastva: The power of taming wild animals and mesmerizing people to control them. Istva: The ability to restore life to the dead. I wondered if such divine powers are available for mankind today then how our world will look like. More prosperous or More peaceful! As a science graduate, if I take into consideration whatever I learnt in Physical Sciences, it seems impossible to have such powers. How can one go against the law of gravitation and become so light that he can fly and reach wherever he wants? How can life be restored to a dead? Can one increase or decrease his height or take shape of some other person/animal? It triggered a thought in my mind: Are these actually divine powers or some hint towards unexplored potential of human beings? And if one can explore his full potential he can certainly do wonders. I feel this is all related to the power of faith and will-power. Like they say, if you wish to – you will do. What I could figure out Ashta Siddhis (8 Divine Powers) which one can achieve are as follows: Aṇima : One can become small by being humble and leaving ego and anger. Mahima: Thinking Big and helping others to be big. Laghima: No grudges whatsoever. To forgive and forget. Garima: To keep ones commitment. Prapti: Ability to install your vision in others hearts and minds and to achieve your aim. Prakamya: Never say never attitude and ability to reform and adapt as per the situation. Vastva: Ability to self discipline and defeat ones bad habits. Istva: Ability to lead and motivate. I hope I could make sense through this post for I believe in power of self belief and faith.

Find out stories. Follow the Do’s and Don’ts (Post 4 in Series)

We have covered the details on ingredients of a good story and how to prepare for storytelling. To follow such steps, we need to know first, where to find the right story? That is the Part- I of this post and afterwards we will discuss about the Do’s and Don’ts of storytelling. Stories are everywhere but it’s a difficult work to find a powerful story which can connect the audience to the speaker. Where to find stories from? From your own life/experiences: This is the best place to find stories from. Your stories are unique as these tell about experiences of your life. Make a list of things happened to you or your loved ones. When you tell a story from your life, you tell it with more energy and passion. You act as a source of energy for your audience and you can pull their attention towards you. Mythological stories: Myths are an integral part of human existence and such stories are proof of people’s beliefs of divine powers. The epics ‘Ramayana’, ‘Mahabharata’ and ‘Bhagwad Gita’ contain thousands of stories about ancient Indian society, philosophy, beliefs, culture and ways of life. Though these epics were written thousands of years back but still there is lot of resemblance. For example, the exact distance between Earth & Sun which is determined by NASA now is been exactly defined in the ‘Hanuman Chalisa’ years back. It is incredible to find such meaningful information and statistics which we never realized existed. Historical Stories:History is our guide to future. It not only provides the best relevant examples but also helps with the proofing of a subject. Take up the history, research the subjects and dig deep into them. You must have heard of the Panchtantra stories and the age old Fairy tales, they all still hold so much of importance & value in terms of learning. We all remember Cinderella, Snow White, Rabbit & the Tortoise, Thirsty Crow etc. Now here is a quick review to the Do’s and Don’t of Storytelling. Do’s of Storytelling 1. Keep your stories simple and to the point: Always keep your story simple and to the point as complex stories make it difficult to explain the point you want to make and lengthy stories has potential to lose interest by the audience. 2. Relevance: Tell stories only those stories which are relevant to the subject. For experienced and intelligent people it 3. Use Humor: Humor will help keep audience’s interest in the story. Follow a simple rule: The longer, the humorous it must be. 4. Personal Stories: Tell your personal stories to the audience as these are your first hand experience of the challenges you faced and how you overcame those challenges. Personal stories will make you a unique speaker as none in the audience will have listened to them and no one can steal your story. Make a list of the things happened to you the best, the worst, the biggest mistake, the funniest, he greatest, the most frustrating, the most embarrassing. 5. Personal Humor: Tell about your ignorance at a particular instance and how did you behave in that situation. Audience will see themselves mirrored in you hence connecting to the point you want to convey. 6. Learn your Story: Tell a story at least 10 times before sharing it with your audience. Learn to tell what exactly you want to say and even if you miss that point you can improvise and make out your point. If you leave out an important point in the story it may spoil the outcome of the story. 7. Trigger the Emotions: There are many emotions, Happiness/ Sadness/ Anger/ Nostalgia/ Compassion/ Sympathy/ Empathy, a speaker can target with a story that have emotional power. A powerful story will help getting positive emotional response as the audience feel connected to it. Don’ts of Storytelling 1. Do not use too many stories in a presentation:Often only one good story is enough. You can tell two or maximum three stories to reinforce your point. Using more than three stories in your presentation will make it difficult for the participants to remember the points you made in each story. 2. Do not Keep your stories too simple: For experienced and intelligent people it will be a boring and they will lose interest in the message. Still if you have to tell a simple and short story keep it short after making your point proceed to the next part of your presentation. 3. Do not be Funny: There is a thin line between using humor in your story and being funny and lose the interest and respect of the audience. Do not portray yourself how stupidly you behaved at a particular instance as there is strong probability that they will forget the point you wanted to convey but will remember you as dumb. 4. Do not memorize Story: Do not memorize the story as people have tendency to tell the story word by word. And if the fumble they’ll miss the interest of the audience and hence the outcome of the story.