Category: Work Life Balance

Snoozing your Success

I had an early morning flight to catch and the airport was on the other side of the city. And I needed to get up very early in the morning. I was alone at home as my family was away. Though I had set an alarm but still to be double sure I called my 10 friends, who work in US, to wake me up at 3 am (IST). It was 4am when someone knocked my door bell and I woke up and saw the cab has arrived. I was in shock as neither had I listened the alarm nor any of my friends called to wake me up. Now the situation was critical as I was to leave in next 15 minutes else I could have missed the flight. Cab driver assured me that I can take another 15 minutes and get ready. I took 25 minutes and left for the airport and I was the last passenger to enter the plane. Though I caught the flight I was in shock that how could I miss the alarm? What would have happened had I missed the flight? May be just a flight or some money or an opportunity? That was the day I realized that I didn’t snooze the alarm but I snoozed my success and whenever I snooze for 10 minutes I snooze my success for 10 minutes. I realized that snoozing is nothing but another name of procrastination and in order to be successful one need to learn how not to procrastinate and how can we manage our time effectively. What is Procrastination? Procrastination is habit of putting off or delaying things that one should be focusing on, in favor of doing something which is more enjoyable or that one which is more comfortable. Reasons for Procrastination Weak Focus Focus is the most significant aspect for any achiever. You need to lay your focus right and need to understand & prioritize. You cannot allow things/problems and people to affect your focus. Make them a part of your goal and ask things to wait, problems to get solved and people to support you in your motive. You need to work, take break, rejuvenate and get back to work. Complacent attitude towards Comfort Zone It is human nature to become complacent in an affable surrounding. But you need to check the difference between being comfortable and being complacent. It is good to take a break in comfortable surroundings but we need to watch out when we are turning complacent about it and need to get back to the work. Lazy Optimism A no. of times, people seems too optimist to see the future. Mostly, it is the lazy attitude to act which brings such damage to the ongoing pace. Better to keep going positively rather than thinking positive. An untimely break usually leads to a huge wastage of time. Bad Time-management Manage time smartly. One should keep the ‘to do list’ handy. Be it the leaders, philanthropists, successful people or even those who haven’t made it large to any lists but are happier than most follow the rules of time management. A simple example, we know that we have to rush & switching on TV at the breakfast table will cause delay, still we want to get hooked for that last piece of news. How well you manage your time is directly proportional to how far you go & achieve. Know yourself If you are able to avoid the above points and feel that you have already overcome those shortcomings that it is better to know yourself and do a quick self-assessment and find out the reasons which affect your routines and lead you to procrastination. Short-sightedness & Over-excitement are some other personality reasons which lead to a break in the pace of a task at hand. Sometimes, we get over excite about a certain new project, a personal incident that we shift our entire focus towards that particular stance and leading to procrastination of the goal. Overcoming Procrastination The point here is – How to Overcome Procrastination! Self-analysis The first & foremost requirement is to do self-analysis and find out what disturbs your concentration and what leads to distractions. The best way is to take a pen & paper and make notes of what takes away your focus and then make a list on – How to stop this from happening? Manage your Time Well If you have realized that some habits and practices are leading to procrastination, immediately you need to manage your time in a way that you do not end up in such situations again. Start making Task lists and assign them time-lines and if it still doesn’t help – break the tasks into smaller chunks and set shorter goals which combined lead to a larger perspective. Change the Order of Deliverable If you think that there are certain tasks you aren’t able to accomplish on timelines. Keep it aside and take the projects which excite you more at that particular time and get to work. Doing this will bring back your confidence and it will help you get back to normal routine where you want to excel & finish up the tasks. The feeling of that small accomplishment will give you the required push for bigger assignments. Change the Work-station Very often it is seen & observed that a change in place works as magic to many. People call it funny, some say these are misbeliefs, but a simple logic of this is it breaks monotony. We humans become slow when we work in a monotonous environment. A good change is well advised for. If you are really cringed to same work for longer hours or week and you feel – you are not able to really add value, it is time to change your workstation. Before it starts leading to procrastination, it is time to change the work-station and bring a fresh spark to the perspective. Unschedule/ Unwind & Plan Sometimes, doing… Continue reading Snoozing your Success

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!

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.

Are you Listening?

Are you Listening? A lot is been said, discussed, trained, argued on listening skills. Be it a debate on television, a healthy discussion with friends, a critical board room meeting or anything – listening holds importance everywhere. If you are listening, you are alert and you are into the game. If you aren’t – you are surely missing something! While thinking about this phenomena, this practice, this significant trait, I was thinking about the 3 princes who left a great message for all of us about Active Listening. Once there was a king who had three sons. As the king was aging, he decided that he should handover his throne to his sons. He consulted to his wisest ministers and reached a conclusion that as he doesn’t have a big empire so he can’t divide his empire in three parts and give it to his sons. So he decided that he will hold competition which will assess the Princes on various parameters like intelligence, diplomacy, strategy etc. After some more consultations with his ministers he announced the competition and invited all his countrymen to witness the occasion. The competition began. The princes were given very difficult tasks to perform and they finished those tasks very efficiently. Then there was a competition to check their knowledge on topics like diplomacy, war, strategy, economics, politics etc. They all answered the most difficult questions with ease and at the end of the competition their scores tied. This was a big problem for the king as he was at the crossroads again. He announced to extend the competition for one more day and returned to his palace. He called his ministers again and discussed the days’ outcome. One of his ministers suggested something and the king agreed to him. Next day the competition begun and everyone was expecting something very tough to happen. The King gestured and there came three statues made up of Gold, Silver & Bronze. Then he asked all three prince to examine and pick the best statue. First came the Eldest, he examined the three statues and came back to his seat. Then came the middle one, he examined the statues and returned to his seat. Lastly it was turn of the youngest prince. He examined the statues carefully and after spending some time he too returned to his seat and sat. Now king called the eldest prince and asked his opinion. The eldest prince answered that the Gold statue is the best as it’s made of gold which the most precious metal and signifies prosperity. Hence the statue made up of Gold is the best. Unsatisfied with the answer of the eldest prince, the king called the younger one and asked his opinion, he answered that the Silver Statue is the best as nature of silver is cold so it would help control anger and a Kings greatest asset is to control his emotions and take a rational decision. So statue made up of silver is the best. King liked the answer but was not fully satisfied and called the youngest prince for his judgment. The youngest prince answered the bronze statue is the best statue. The King asked the reason behind adjudging the bronze statue as the best. To explain his choice, the prince asked a servant to bring a long bamboo stick. The servant brought the bamboo stick and gave it to him. Then the prince picked the Gold statue and put the bamboo stick in its ear. To everyone’s surprise the bamboo came out of the other ear. Then he picked the silver statue and inserted the bamboo stick in its ear and it came out of the mouth. After that he inserted the stick in the other ear and it came out of the mouth again. now he picked the third statue and inserted the stick in the ear of the same. Everyone was expecting that the stick will come out through other ear or mouth. But it didn’t. The Prince inserted the remaining stick in the ear but there was no sign of the stick. He placed it at its position. And picked the gold statue and then explained, Gold is the most precious metal but still the statue made up of gold didn’t make the best statue as this statue represent people who comes at a great cost to the nation but doesn’t listen to their king. If there king will say anything to them they will listen from one ear and throw it out from the other ear. Such people are of no use and should be removed from their positions. Then he picked the silver statue and explained, there are people whom you’ll consider as closest to you. If you ever share your secrets with them they will listen with both the ears and will go out and spread your secrets everywhere they go. Such people are enemies of the country hence should be dealt very strictly. Then he picked the last statue and explained why he adjudged it as the best. One should be like bronze statue and should listen to everything not only with his ears but also with his eyes and heart. Whatever is being said to him, he should be able to absorb it and utilize it for everyone. The king was so happy with the answer that he announced him the winner of the competition and handed over the throne to him. This is an old story which tells us the importance of active listening. But like most of my listeners, you must be wondering – why this story for listening? How is this relevant – isn’t this about the decision making and analysis. When I got further into the understanding, I realized ‘No’ there is a message for listening skills. Imagine the similar situations in the work atmosphere, link the statue traits to the people we work with, we meet in everyday life. There are people who listen and ignore because they are firm… Continue reading Are you Listening?

Find your Inner Strength

A week back, while I was working on a leadership module for a level II executive batch of middle management & senior executives, I thought of another story from Indian mythology to back my content. Like I always maintain, stories enable a total recall. Stories not only evoke our brain cells but they also summon up the lessons. To explain, let me share an incident from Ramayana– Ravan abducted Mata Sita, Lord Ram’s wife, and took her to his capital, Lanka. Lord Ram searched for his wife all over and reached Rishyamukha where he met Hanuman and Sugrive and their Vanar Sena (Army). Lord Ram helped Sugrive regain his honor and reunite with his wife, who was abducted by his brother Bali. Hanuman and his Vanar Sena pledged to help Lord Ram and find Mata Sita. Lord Ram gave his ring which was to be shown to Mata Sita to establish their identity that they were sent by Lord Ram. The Vanars lead by Angad spread all across and started searching for Mata Sita. They reached the southern end of the land and ahead was a vast ocean. Crossing the ocean was a great challenge and they were sure that they won’t return without finding Mata Sita and decided that they will fast unto death. There they met, Sampati , a vulture and brother of Jatayu, who tells them that Mata Sita is in cruel shackles of Ravan and is sitting under a tree in his palace in Lanka. Sampati asks them to use their strength and skills to cross the ocean and reach Lanka. Like any new assignment, conflict or situation in our jobs/everyday life, they did their SWOT analysis. While they discussed their strengths and calculated how far they can go in the ocean- they realized that it won’t come close to crossing the ocean. Listening to all this, Hanuman got discouraged and separates himself from the group. He was getting into a stressful pressure cooker situation – he had the pressure to perform and accomplish the task at hand. Noticing him standing alone and discouraged, Jambavanth who was older than all the Vanars, goes to him and tells him about his strengths and tells him that he’s the only one who can cross the ocean. And all Vanars starts praising Hanuman. This is how a good boss, a leader influences the team and like most of the times – few could realize their inner strength and true potential. Jambavanth kept on telling – You are as powerful as the wind You are intelligent, illustrious & an inventor. There is nothing in this world that’s too difficult for you. You possess the ability to rule against every obstacle. As per Ramayana, Hanuman was cursed by a sage during childhood that he will forget his strengths and would be unaware of the extent of his capability & potential until he’s reminded by someone. Like in the modern age, we are surrounded by so many distractions, attractions, aspirations, opportunities, ill-focus and peer pressure that we start worrying about the problem so much that we eventually forget about our own inner strengths and we end up thinking about the problem so much that we do not even think about the solution. Remember, the capability to achieve things from our own inner strength lies inside, we only need to realize it and attempt. As Hanuman became aware of his strengths, his stature became giant and he collected his inner strength, tall enough to cross the ocean he jumped the ocean to in search of Mata Sita. [You can watch the relevant video from Ramayana here] Knowing ones strengths is most important for anyone who wants to be successful in his life. A true leader knows the art of exploring the strengths of his team member and motivates them to work on their strength to reach a common objective. Circumstances, Situations, Peer pressure, People Conflict are all external factors but one’s own strength lies within. Your success lies inside you. Realize and succeed.

Trap of 99- Striking the Work Life Balance

Once there was a Seth (Rich Man). One night the Seth and Sethani (his wife) were standing on the terrace of their house and they saw their neighbor, a Brahmin, playing with his kids and seemed very happy with his kids. While Brahmin was busy playing with his kids, Sethani told the Seth that their neighbors are poor still they are happier than them, they spend more time together. Upon listening to his wife he told his wife that their neighbors are happier because they are not under trap of 99. His wife asked what he means by the trap of 99. He asked his wife to wait for some time and she will come to know. Calling it a day then, they went to sleep. Next day when the Brahmin‘s wife woke up and opened the door of their house, she saw a small bag lying in front of the door. She looked around but couldn’t locate anyone. So she picked up the bag and brought it inside and called her husband. Upon opening the bag they saw gold coins in it. Curiously they counted the coins and found it has 99 coins. Brahmin was very happy to see the money and thanked God. But his wife said, “Had there been one more coin in it, they could have had 100 coins”. Upon seeing disappointment on his wife’s face, Brahmin told her not to worry as he’ll work hard and will earn one more gold coin and make it 100. And his wife told him that they spoiled their precious time and should have tried and made some money. And from that day onward they started putting more hard work in their work to earn gold coin and they forgot playing with their kids and stopped laughing. Now Sethani understood the reason behind the change in Brahmin’s family as they were trapped by 99. The ‘trap of 99’ is nothing but a phenomena of craving for more, which defines the human nature of not being satisfied and happy with what they have but to invite stress and tensions in the chase for what all they do not have. This is an age old story which tells us not to be trapped by 99 and teaches to enjoy our lives with whatever we have and to strike a work life balance. But what we see around is most of us are running in an endless rat race. People are so busy and held up in fulfilling their aspirations that they forget to give enough time to their families which results into more stressed lives, low productivity and a feeling of incomplete life. Take a moment and think about the increasing trend in divorce cases, children going against their parents, alcohol problem, drug abuse, suicides and what not. Society is victimized by this imbalance because families are becoming nuclear, parents cannot cope up with their work, kids are over burdened to perform and everybody needs space. What a vicious circle it is – of growth and development! Cost of living is so high these days that people hardly get enough money so they try to work harder to earn more and compromise on their personal life and aspirations. After all, man is a social animal. However, the trap doesn’t deny the hard-working or chase for achievement. It just suggests that a balance is required. One should not ignore his work; neither shall one stop dreaming/aspiring. But all this should not be done at the cost of his/her family. So what do we do in such a situation? Strike a Work Life BALANCE. Balancing work with life is a matter of grave concern for the companies as well as their employees. This kind of imbalance is resulting into low productivity and high attrition. It is unfortunate to see that most of the companies remain ignorant on the long term cost involved to create a work-life balanced environment. They fail to realize that this thus leads to loss of talent, performance and ultimately revenues. Here are some simple ways on how to strike balance between family and work life: 1. Prioritize: Do not plan too many things together and don’t treat everything as top priority. Finish urgent tasks first and then take important ones. The important tasks should be finished before they become urgent. Check what can wait. 2. Have a Support System-Delegate: One cannot do everything by himself. Try and have a support system among family, colleagues and friends, who are willing to help if something unexpected happens. Learn to delegate and help others, if they are in need. This will not only help to finish the task within time limits but will also create bonding within the team. But delegate only if you are not disturbing the other person’s schedule. 3. SAY ‘YES’ to ‘NO’: You must know – what you can take up in your stride and what not. If you have a list to abide by, you don’t have to agree to everything and to everyone. Say No to something which is beyond your physical & mental stamina because neither you’ll be able to do justice with the task and nor with yourself. Through this you would also avoid unnecessary negativity and pressure. 4. Set SMART Goals: Set Specific >> Measurable >> Action Oriented>> Realistic >>Time Bound Goals. Break your goals in smaller goals. Develop plan to reach those goals on daily, weekly, monthly and yearly basis and keep a tab on your progress. If things don’t change and the strategy which you have formulated is not working, alter your strategy and make it in sync with the resources you have. Alteration in your strategy should not change your goals. It’s just like taking some new route to reach your destination. Don’t forget to share your goals with your family and make them partner to your goals. 5. Create Work Life Happiness: Don’t work to earn only money. Work to create happiness, towards self satisfaction and the money… Continue reading Trap of 99- Striking the Work Life Balance

‘PEMI de Niyane’ (The Children of PEMI)- A Tale of Faith and Belief

Having come across many Introvert, Low in Confidence cases, in my training programs and; personal counseling sessions, one day I tried to explain it in a well simple way through a very simple story which I read somewhere in my childhood. Here is the story: ‘PEMI de Niyane’ (The Children of PEMI)- A Tale of Faith and Belief Once upon a time there was a farmer, called PEMI, who had two naughty kids. To stop his children from doing any mischief he used to scare them by telling them – if they will do any mischief ‘RASHA- The Wood Cutter’, who lived on the road to their farms, will catch and hurt them. This made the kids scared and they gave up their ill-discipline. PEMI was a hard working farmer and used to leave for his farms very early in the morning only to return late in the evening. One day PEMI’s wife was not well and couldn’t cook. So PEMI left for his farms without having breakfast and asked his kids to deliver his lunch at farms. By afternoon PEMI’s wife cooked food and gave it to her kids as they were to deliver the food at farm house, The moment his kids thought of crossing the road, to go to their farms, they shivered with fear. The fear created in the minds for RASHA – they now thought of him as a Monster. Once the food was ready, the mother asked them to go to the farms and give it to their father. They took the lunch box and moved towards the road leading to their farm. When they reached the road they saw a RASHA sleeping on the footpath and came back to their street. They started looking for someone who can help them cross the road. They waited for some time but it was a very hot day of summers hence they couldn’t sight any help. Knowing their father will be very hungry, they thought to cross the road but they were so sacred of RASHA that they couldn’t even dare to leave their street and walk towards the road. With every passing minute they were getting late with no help in sight. They starting thinking how can they cross the road. After many arguments over many permutations and combinations between them, both the children agreed that if RASHA will try to catch and harm them, they will tell him to leave them as they are ‘The Children of PEMI’ and he would be scared of their father and won’t say anything to them. And they started walking on the road and reached their farm safely. This story is amongst the best short stories of Punjabi literature and teaches us to keep Faith and Belief in ourselves. There could be thousands of fears in our minds but self-belief will always help us land safely. The children were scared of RASHA not because he was an evil (The story doesn’t say it) but they were simply insecure. While I pondered and discussed my take-away from this very simple story, I could extract few more and here are they: Wrong learnings have only temporary results and shall be avoided. Restrictions are good but one has to be careful that what & how are its impact. Too many of them lead to lack of confidence. Childhood lessons have great impact and if not learned properly they result in lifetime limitations. Examples shall always be realistic. They turn the explanations – better. In many cases parents do say such things to their children to stop them from doing any mischief. The intentions though right led to certain insecurity in the children’s heart and mind forever. Skepticism can lead to a weak decision making. Communication Gap Mostly children when grown-up fight certain feelings/lacunae in their life – be it at work, socially or personally. The value system which they imbibe at times, leave a gap in mindsets, they start having a mental block – a way of thinking which works as a hurdle when exposed to contrary situations. This at times makes life- all the more difficult. These gaps develop a strange resistance to ideas which are never welcomed. Communications Gaps must not be there. One should have the freedom to express, talk and discuss. For this limits the growth, the personality and the power to acceptance.

How Critical is it to be – Self Empowered?

I have been wondering since few days about Self Empowerment. And I have lately realized that it is critically important to be self empowered. In fact, self empowerment should be practiced as a way of life. A job, a business, a lecture, a movie, a shopping spree, an outing, a meeting everything needs self interests and a will to do it. Still, things remain incomplete. That’s because we are not self empowered. The though process is that of, ‘I want to do this but I would do it if…..’ These buts, ifs, though, may be suggesting a lack of self empowerment in most of the cases. That suggests one more thing that we are not self motivated enough to take the jobs & responsibilities at hand. Or there is a lack of will power which puts in our way of doing tasks on priority as compared to the actual tasks. Power boosting the following for Self Empowerment: External Motivation is of great help but actual help comes from the internal environment. How positive we are? And how positive can we think of? Positivism is a rule to self empowerment. I personally believe it’s a rule to life. It is necessary & important to lead a life – positively. Self Assessment at times helps us keep oneself self empowered. We need to enquire within, ask ourselves as what is stopping us and what triggers us most towards an activity. A combination of positivism & self assessment calls for a Self Talk. We need to analyze, ask & listen to our inner voice to gather ourselves. Meditation at times is also a great help. It helps us keep a Self Esteem for ourselves which in turn is most important for self empowerment. Self Esteem instills great trust & confidence in the abilities & self potential. It also helps one fight out the fears of heart & mind and enables a better concentration. A five minutes regular meditation will be of great help for self empowered. Empowering one would definitely induce self-belief and self-belief will proceed achieving. Be empowered be an achiever!

The Little Angel

Do you believe in angels? Have you ever seen an angel? I never believed till the time I didn’t meet a Little Angel. I was very young when I started learning to ride bicycle. I was quick to learn and just after a couple of practice sessions I was able to ride on my own. I was quite confident that now I can ride fast. As they say confidence is good but overconfidence always sinks the ship and I learnt this hard way while riding. I was driving fast when I saw a scooter taking a sharp turn and moving in my direction. I panicked and I applied the brakes. I lost control of the bicycle and I fell down on the road. A couple of bystanders rushed to help me. They picked me from the road and I was bleeding from my nose. They took me to a nearby hospital for the first aid. Doctor checked my injuries and asked if any of my family members was around. I gave him my father contact number and he was there at the hospital in next few minutes. Doctor told my father that there are no internal injuries but to stop bleeding I needed a couple of stitches, to which my father agreed. Doctor asked the nurse to give me an injection and then he will stitch the wounds. I was very scared of injections and I started crying due to tyrpanophobia. The moment nurse started filling the injection my screams got louder and louder. I was crying so loudly that my screams were audible to everyone present in the hospital. My father and everyone around tried their level best to make me agree for the injection but I was determined not to take injection. While they were trying to give me an injection forcefully, a 7-8 years old kid came to my bed and touched my head with his small hands. I could not stop myself looking at him as he said, “ਵੀਰੇ ਤੁਸੀਂ ਟੀਕੇ ਤੋਂ ਡਰਦੇ ਕਿਉਂ ਹੋ? ਮੈਂ ਤਾਂ ਨਹੀਂ ਡਰਦਾ l ਟੀਕੇ ਦਾ ਦਰਦ ਚਾਰ ਸਾਹਿਬਜ਼ਾਦਿਆਂ ਦੇ ਸ਼ਰੀਰਾਂ ਤੇ ਚੱਲੀਆਂ ਕਟਾਰਾਂ ਤੋਂ ਕਿਤੇ ਘੱਟ ਹੁੰਦਾ ਹੈ.”- (“Dear Brother, why are you scared of an injection? I not scared of anything. Pain of this injection is not even a fraction of the pain four sons of Guru Gobind Singh Ji would have suffered when they were hit by swords fighting evil”). His words just mesmerized me I stopped crying and got the injection. While doctor was stitching my wounds I was thinking about the sacrifices of four sons of Guru Gobind Singh Ji. Their sacrifice was for others and they had no personal interests while injection and stitches were for my early recovery. Surprisingly I felt no pain at all during the small surgery. I promised myself that I’ll never be scared again from such petty things like injections or stitches. I recovered in a couple of weeks and soon afterwards I started riding my bicycle again. I don’t know who he was? Where did he come from? Why did he inspire me to take the injection? I never saw him again and to this day I believe him to be “the little angel’, who was sent by God. He is amongst my biggest sources of inspiration. Whenever I see people scared from troubles of their lives; I share the story of ‘The Little Angel’ and tell them the importance of pains which leads us to better life.