Category: Self Help

Developing Ownership

Business Ownership is a looked upon personality trait for leaders, team builders and those who are managing people. Taking ownership about things is a human trait. But taking ownership of situations, circumstances and people doesn’t comes easy. A number of business managers complaint about the lack of ownership among the team members. Developing ownership amongst employees is the challenge a number of leaders come across. I was finishing up a TNA – Training Need Analysis at a Company in BFSI industry and somewhere during the process – felt that all a company lacks these days is the – Employees with ownership & belongingness as a trait. This post is been due since three weeks and the idea was to share and ponder with you my readers – on what companies can do to develop ownership among it employees? Following are few tips I could streamline, please feel free to share your take and ideas on the same: 1. Delegate Smartly: Usually employees don’t take decisions or take ownership as they are afraid of taking a decision which will not be supported by the management. This problem can be solved by delegating effectively. You need to clearly communicate the responsibility of decision making as well as responsibility of the results. When you assign any responsibility to someone you also need to give him freedom to make necessary (at least routine) decisions required to executive the assignment. For any strategic decisions regarding the project you need to take your employees in confidence. Delegation requires a lot of will, time and energy to communicate your expectations but once done properly it helps developing ownership. 2. Have a Plan: Align your team with the vision of the company and help them understand where do they fit in the picture. Once people have understanding of the key objectives, the ownership comes in automatically. As a leader you also need to ensure your team is engaged properly with the broader goals and if you help them succeed and grow, you may be surprised to see what they achieve. 3. Let Employees Speak Out: Employees feel more empowered when they are allowed to speak and contribute ideas and solutions to the problems. Their voice will define the value they bring to the organization. 4. Allow for Mistakes: As a project manager one may have to make a number of decisions in a day and there are many project managers who keep on delaying decisions as they are afraid of taking a wrong decision which may hamper their growth in the company. Allowing people to make mistakes plays a very important part in building a sense of ownership. Mistakes help people learn new lessons and broaden their horizon. 5. Create United Sense of Purpose: When you collaborate on goals and decisions with your employees and connect them to the bigger picture, they develop a united sense of purpose and they tend to be more participative and look beyond their role. The united sense of purpose that employee ownership delivers helps attract and retain the best talent. 6. Build in Daily Reminders of Your Mission: For the first time when I visited Shoppers Stop to conduct a training program, I encountered an amazing but incredibly simple way of reminding all its employees of its mission. At 10:45 am all the Shoppers Stop employees across all the stores PAN India, including their corporate office staff at Mumbai, will stand up and everyone will sing their anthem. Shoppers Stop anthem has a wonderful lyrics and reminds their company mission to their employees. I found it as a very powerful daily reminder of the company mission. Due to such inbuilt daily reminder no doubts Shoppers Stop is amongst most admired retail brands in India. 7. Reward Employees: Who Go Beyond the Norms: Nothing can quell desire to give extra than not feeling recognized. Rewarding employees who go beyond the norms helps in developing ownership amongst employees. I remember a store manager of a retail store in Mumbai opening the store very late in the night to help a customer. The customer was to get engaged the next morning but had lost her luggage in the flight. Though opening a retail store in the absence of the security staff posed a big risk but to help his customer the store manager went beyond the norms. And he was recognized for going beyond the norms and helping the customer by his company. Nothing motivates an employee more than recognizing his contribution to the company goals.   These are the 7 tips which I could think of as a practice for developing ownership among the employees. I am sure these are helpful not only for big corporates but also for SMEs, which mostly work on resource restrictions. The above pointers are also some of the reasons why some of the startups have excelled quickly.

The Little Things Which Make Me Happy

Have you ever wondered what those little things which make you happy are? Following is list of those little things which make me happy Waking Up Early Without Alarm: You know you have more time to finish things. Cuddling In The Bed: It feels great to cuddle in the bed waiting for the bed tea. Going for a Walk: You enjoy the beauty of the nature. Watching the sun rise and watching the birds going out of their nests fills you with joy. Deep Breathing: A 5-10 minutes of deep breathing fills you with positive energy. Touching the Feet of Parents: It’s a way of thank your parents for raising you well. Their blessings can make miracles happen. Smile by a Stranger: Smile breaks the barriers and you may get a friend for life. Give one and you may one. Playing with Kids: Reminds us of those golden days when we were kids. Aaloo Prantha with White Butter and Lassi: Nothing can be more delicious than Aaloo Prantha with white butter and a glass of lassi. Mouth watering and keeps you going for the day. Listening Stories From Elders: Elders love to tell their stories and these stories are full with their life experiences and can help you understand life easily. A Tight Hug From Your Little Ones: That’s what I call, “Unconditional Love.” To See Kids Smiling While Sleeping: What else could be happiness than watching kids smiling while they are sleeping? A Small Change in Your Routine: Makes you more exciting and try something new. Less Traffic on Roads: Heavenly feeling if you are a Delhite. And if you get all signal lights green then.. (No words can describe that feeling) Reaching Office Early: That head start which counts at the last. Storytelling To Kids: Ensures you are spending time with your kids and pass on the knowledge you received from your parents. Reading Your Favorite Book: Helps you understand so many things. Meeting Old Friends On The Go: Who else can remind of all those mischief and blunders? Finding Money in Old Jeans: May be that’s what we call magic! Food Cooked By Mother: Divine! Hugging Your Parents: Telling them whatever you are today and wherever you have reached, it’s only because of their hard work. To Listen Parents Childhood Stories From Their Friends: It’ll make you rolling over the floor laughing. And tell you how naughty/humorous they were at their young age. Spending Time With Old Buddies: Connect to your past. Spending Time Following Your Passion: For me it’s bird photography and playing Alghoza. It helps overcome anxiety and there are a number of lessons I have learnt from bird watching. Click here to learn lessons from bird watching. A Joke From Little Ones: Helps forget the tensions and enjoy life. Visiting Your School/College: Gives a chance to return whatever you have learned to the future generations. Watching Full Moon: That wow feeling!! Experimenting While Cooking and Letting Your Wife Know About The New Recipe: An off from kitchen keeps wife happy. Season’s First Rain: That cool breeze and smell of freshness. Langar Sewa In A Gurudwara: Heavenly feeling! A Break From Your Routine: Gives you an opportunity to rejuvenate yourself. Music You Love: Takes you to the other world, away from your sorrows. And if you can sing along that’s the icing on the cake. Going On a Long Drive: Helps exploring new areas. Dew Drops On Petals Of A Flower: Makes you enjoy the beauty of Mother Nature. Watching/ Listening The Birds Chirping/ Singing: It could be mesmerizing. Massage: Relives from exertion. An Extended Weekend: One can’t ask for more these days than an extended weekend. It gives you enough time to finish all your pending work and go to some distant place away from noise and pollution and rejuvenate yourself with new energy. Your Status Message/ Tweet Getting Viral: Something everyone wants these days. Hand Written Letter: A rare feat these days as people prefer emails and other short messaging services. . Extending A Helping Hand: Sometimes your little help occupy the biggest part of their hearts. Let Your Spouse Pursue his/her Dreams: Makes the bond stronger and makes you proud of his/her achievements. These are some of the little things I could figure out which make me happy. There could be many other things which can be added to the list. Make your list of little things which make you happy.

Life Lessons from Dr. APJ Abdul Kalam

It was around 7:40 pm when my wife told me about demise of Dr. APJ Abdul Kalam. I thought she must have seen the picture circulating on various social media wherein Jharkahnd Education Minister paid floral tribute to Dr. Kalam thinking he’s no more and I ignored the news. I was having dinner when I switched on to TimesNow news channels and was shocked to know whatever my wife had told was true and Dr. Kalam was no more. It was very sad news as Dr. APJ Abdul Kalam was such a big role model and inspiration for millions of people for his simplicity, humbleness and dedication towards our nation and its people. There are following life lessons we can learn from Dr. Kalam: Give Back to the Society: If you have achieved something in your lives, give something back to the society as not everyone is as blessed as you are. You need not to have a lot of money to be able to give donations to the NGOs. You can give back to the society by raising your kids well, by volunteer to help children, by providing food and shlter to someone in need and by suing your skills and teaching other. Children provide us the best opportunity to give back to the society. Learn to Manage Failure: Dr. Dhawan was the chairman of ISRO and Dr. Kalam was the project Director for Rohini Satellite Launch in August 1979. The satellite was launched but the launch rocket fell in the Bay of Bengal after few seconds of its launch and it was a major setback to Indian Space Program. The press conference was supposed to be attended by Dr. Kalam but Prof. Dhawan took the responsibility of the failure and gave assurance to the media personnel that the mission will be completed next year. Next year, in 1980, after launching the satellite successfully into the orbit, Prof. Dhawan asked Dr. Kalam to face the media and conduct the press conference. When failure occurs a leader owns the failure and when success comes a leader gives it his team. A leader should learn how to manage failure and should take full responsibility of the failure. Have a Vision/ Dream: He once said, “Dreams are not what you see in sleep, dream is the thing which does not let you sleep”. The single most important factor to drive the human civilization ahead is our Dream. If you have a dream, nurture it with hard work and whatever circumstances never let your dreams die. People with dream move far ahead than people with none. In one of his speeches at India Parliament he recited his poem, “The Vision”: I climbed and climbed Where’s the peak, my Lord? I ploughed and ploughed Where is the knowledge treasure, my Lord? I sailed and sailed Where is the island of the peace, my Lord? Almighty bless my nation With vision and sweat resulting into happiness. Humility & Modesty: Though Dr. Kalam was awarded the highest civil award of India, the Bharat Ratna, he never liked being called Bharat Ratna Dr. APJ Abdul Kalam. He even sent circular across DRDO, India’s premier research agency, to not to refer him Bharat Ratna. For a leader the ambition should be greatness of work and people rather than the leader himself. A leader should always be humble and down to earth and should keep a low profile. Follow Your Passion: Whatever you do in your lives do with passion and the success will follow. Passion is powerful feeling of enthusiasm inside us. If you are enthusiastic and passionate about your work you will overcome many obstacles and move up in your lives. Your passion helps you to improve and get better in your lives. Don’t be victim of your situations. Find something you love to do so much you can’t wait for sun to rise to do it all again. RIP Dr. APJ Abdul Kalam.

How to Wake Up Early?

I am an early riser and a number of friends ask me how to wake up early? In this post I’ll share the benefits of waking up early and some  very simple nut powerful way which will help you in waking up early in the morning. There’s one common trait found in all successful people world over- they all are early risers and they start their day when most of others are still sleeping in their beds. Waking up early is amongst the most important lessons I learnt from my parents (Click here to read). We are living in an era where people love to watch TV and surf internet till late and these days there are not many early risers. I am not saying people who are not early risers are not successful but there are a number of benefits on early risers can avail. Following are the benefits for early risers: Exercise: Mornings are the best time to exercise in fresh air. A brisk morning walk of 45-50 minutes is considered one of the best exercises for human beings. Regular exercise improves fitness, provides energy for the whole day, boosts mood and helps with deep sleep cycles. Explore Nature’s Beauty: Watching rising sun and birds flying in large numbers is amongst the best feasts of the nature. There’s nothing more beautiful than the loveliness of the woods before sunrise. Breakfast: A number of daily commuters on Delhi roads can be seen having their breakfasts in their cars as they don’t get time for most important work of the day i.e. to have breakfast. And if their mothers/wives/cooks too wake up late they leave for office without having breakfast after fasting for whole night. People who wake up early get ample time to have a healthy breakfast which will supply sufficient energy to work whole day Develop a Positive Mental Attitude: Osho once said, “Morning is the best time to meditate. After the whole night’s rest you are very close to the center of your being. It is easier to move into the center consciously early in the morning than at any other time — because for the whole night you have been there at the center, you have just left it. Deep sleep rejuvenates because, although unconsciously, you enter into the core of your being — but you still enter. All the tiredness of the outside world is taken away, and all the wounds are healed, and all the dust disappears. You have taken a bath; you have dived deep into your own being. So in the morning when you have just awakened and you are very close to the center… Soon the periphery will take you, will possess you; you will have to go into the world of occupations. Before you go into that external journey, have a look, so that consciously you can see who you are. This is what meditation is all about. Hence, down the ages, the morning, early morning, when the earth is awakening and the trees are awakening and the birds are awakening and the sun is awakening, when the whole atmosphere is full of awakening, you can use this situation. You can ride on this tide of awakening and you can enter into your own being, awake, alert, aware. And your whole life will be transformed. And your whole day will be transformed because then you will have a different orientation. Then you can go into the marketplace and still you will remain in contact with your inner core.” Waking up early helps you develop a positive mental attitude as you can prepare for the challenges ahead in the day. Take Advantage of Extra Time: If you wake up just one hour earlier each morning you would gain 15 days in a year and that extra one hour can make all the difference to your lives. You will commute in less congested roads and reach their offices on or before time if you start your day early. One of my colleagues, Mr. Sachit Jain at Bharti AXA, was used to reach office before time so that he can finish important work without being interrupted by anyone and leave on time in the evening. Better Family Life: You can finish your work on time by starting early and you can leave office on time and you can spend quality time with your family without worrying about any pending work. Various studies has described that early risers are more optimistic and have better family lives than night owls. It’s not very difficult to become an early riser. It’s just a matter of taking action with discipline and motivation. Following are some quick tips which can help you develop a habit to get up early in the morning and plan your day in a better way: Put Your Alarm Away From Your Bed: Don’t keep alarm near your bed as you will either shut it up or put it on snooze. If the alarm is far from your bed you will have to leave your bed to shut it. You are up now and all you need to do is stay up. Don’t Fall in 5 Minute Trap: Once you are up better jump out of the bed and go out of your bedroom. Don’t fall in 5 minute more trap as once people start snoozing usually they keep on snoozing again and again. Remember you lose when you snooze. It’s very easy to wake up at first attempt. If 6-8 hours of sleep is not sufficient then 5 more minutes are not sufficient either. People who fall in 5 minute trap usually end up waking up guilty for not waking up at the first attempt. Start With Decremental Timing: Don’t be rigid about waking up early. If u want to start waking up at 5am from your daily routine of 7am, don’t start waking up at 5am next day onwards. It should be decremental say by 15 minutes every 4th day. Your… Continue reading How to Wake Up Early?

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

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.