Polish your GOLD, why clean Copper?

On how many occasions in the recent past, did you brood on what skills you did not have, and why you could not make it big? ‘Big’ – not by your own standards, but by the standards of what you perceive as ‘the world’!

This piece is to emphasize the fact that there can be nothing more suicidal to your personality and life; there is no bigger waste of time than just thinking of all the weaknesses in you, and wonder what has gone right or wrong in life’s journey!

Most of us are trained and taught to work on our weaknesses, day in and day out, and overcome them come what may!

Today, I would want to leave a contrarian thought in you – and I can assure you that it will work well for you

Ignore and belittle your inherent weaknesses, and spend all the time and resources in honing your inherent strengths… you will do a lot of good to you, your life, and work…

Many contemporary life & leadership lessons speak of the need to do what you are good at… Decisively identify your strengths and do something which is pretty close to your core competence. What else can be core competence other than you natural strengths? The strengths which sort of flow with you in life, and with which you don’t have to undergo the so called drudgery of ‘work’.

Visualize this – spend a few minutes and do this – You have a handful of a mix of shining gold coins, and some rusted old copper coins… Would it be good to just ignore the rusty dusty copper coins and just put all your time and energy into how well you can exploit and make good of the shining gold coins on hand…. Or would it be good to waste your time and energy on cleaning/making the rusty copper coins into Gold coins? You will be wasting that much time because whatever you do, the Copper can never ever turn to Gold….  On the other hand, you can make the best use of the Gold coins…hone and polish them, and take them to the market place and show your worth and mettle to the world

This, is the cardinal rule in managing time – put time to its best use here and now…. So, your time is not going to be best used by cleaning the rust and dust of the copper in you…… Just do not give any importance to the copper in you (weaknesses) and hone your gold (strengths) now and always…

We all have heard enough of why and how we should somehow work on converting our weaknesses into strengths. Believe me, if you have ever worked on any of your weaknesses for some considerable time, you will testify to the fact that it takes a lot of time…. with disproportionately small or miniscule result. Just look back in life and see how many weaknesses you have managed to convert into strengths and you will get what I mean here!

It is wishful thinking that we can completely overcome our weaknesses and even convert that into strengths. With that, we expend so much energy… almost make you feel that you are losing it and making you frustrated with yourself, and the the so called weakness in you. The only end result is that you have lost precious time and energy….

Precious resources that should have been used in focusing on the positives with us and getting to the point of perfection….

Your goal and intent must be – only focus more and more on the positives.. Make the best out of the inherent strengths you possess and shine your ware in the market-place of the world.

Many business leaders have opined that working on weaknesses is not a great personal growth strategy….More can be achieved by getting more time and focus into what you are good at….

Mediocre to Good is a journey of high improbability. Gold to Diamond, if you can see is a more successful endeavor.

So,  pick up three to five things you are good at and work hard and toil to make them great personal offerings!  See the difference it makes in your life…. And you will enjoy the journey of life more…..

Captain, please pilot your aircraft to hit that mountain!...??

How stupid does it sound when you hear something like this.... Imagine you are piloting an aircraft at 20000 feet, and someone in the crew comes and tells you something as stupid and outrageous as this.... would you ever, even in your wildest dreams be willing to do something like that...  be wantonly willing to crash YOUR aircraft by deliberately hitting it on an obstruction, be it big or small!

Now, hold, and shift to your personal front...  Is'nt that what you precisely do, when you get angry, agitated for whatever is happening to you as an event, externally? Call it anger or any similar emotion, NEGATIVE and sapping your personal energies - when you knowingly or unknowingly nurture such emotions, what you do is precisely this - YOU are crashing YOUR personal life aircraft on that hill or mountain, willfully.

Look at the journey of life, as a flight to a destination. Piloting the flight is such a joyous and indeed easy to do thing, if you make sure that the course is smooth, and the aircraft stays away from any hindrances. The analogy to hindrances in life are negative and energy sapping emotions. When there are perceived obstructions are disturbances in the flight path, the best thing and easiest thing to do is to shift course, avoid the hindrance, and then come back to the normal path.

No good pilot knowingly keeps going on into chaos and obstructions when such situations are encountered. More so, the moment the pilot sees something like that, he immediately shifts course to make sure that come what may, the journey is smooth for the flight.

Use the same analogy on your personal front - every time, you are in a situation that you think makes you turn into a negative state of mind, immediately visualize your life as a wonderful flight, which you are carefully piloting.  The more you persist with the negative emotions, the more you are jeopardizing your LIFE, knowing well the consequences - the chance that the flight (LIFE) stays on a air pocket, or goes straight to crash on that mountain??!! (even crashing life, with all the health related consequences too!)

As a good life pilot, make sure your path is smooth, and when there is a disturbance in the path, you steer to smooth road at once. Visualize this situation whenever you see that things are getting out of your hand - the reasons can be whatever - internal, external, or trivial!

Whatever be the case, as a LIFE pilot, would you want your aircraft to hit that mountain?

No one would want to! Life is to celebrate, in a joyous flight path!

What have your tatooed your mind with?!

All of us keep seeing body tattoos on the youth icons of the day, and also many youngsters seeking to convey a message or even trivia….  Body tattoos are in vogue and indeed a fashion statement all over the globe… But what we tattoo on any part of the body for others to see is not as important as what we tattoo in our minds….  And positive, successful, energetic mind tattoos are a must to attain success… 

The story goes, as I read somewhere,  that Dr Norman Vincent Peale was walking by a tattoo shop when a confused looking young man came out of the shop with a tattoo in his right arm that read “Born to Lose”. Dr Peale asked the tattoo artist about it and the tattoo artist replied…. “ I did ask the young man if he was sure that he wanted to state “Born to lose” in his arm and the young man was pretty stubborn in that. A surprised Dr Peale asked the tattoo artist – “Is’nt that surprising?” For which the artiste replied “Not really! Much before he tattooed it on his arm, he has firmly tattooed it in his brain, and his body tattoo act is just a reflection of his mind tattoo”. 

That brings us to our topic, the power of mind tattoos’. Every single act of us, big or small, positive or negative, winning or losing, good acts and deeds or otherwise are a sheer reflection of the cluster of small and big thought tattoos we keep etching in our mind, be it consciously or unconsciously,  And this mind tattooing process is the most powerful in determining what the outcome is in reality. 

So, it should be our conscious and subconscious endeavor to keep tattooing our mind with thoughts that are ONLY about winning, what we want be, want to reach, want to achieve, that perfect day as desired,  and about that ideal job/career and all that wealth that we would want to accrue in our lives….. ALL THAT IS SOUGHT BY US FOR A GREAT LIFE. 

Call this positive mind tattooing…. And our effort here MUST BE to continuously and consciously strive to tattoo our mind, ONLY all that is desired in reality…. And what else do all of us desire than the very best in all walks of life…  Let us tattoo these desires in mind in as much positive detail as we can….   With the smell of victory, with love and affection for the near and dear ones, for winning at the work place, and for recreating the hearts’ desires to the mind… and creating an ideal life in our own terms….. 

While doing this positive mind tattooing, it is quite but natural that in the mood swings we have, there will be situations when negatives get tattooed in the mind too…  The easiest way to persist on our terms of life is to quickly erase this negative mind tattoo with a more and say bigger positive mind tattoo. And when we perceive the negative tattoo is close to affecting our success/life agenda, we have to be ruthless and aggressive is working on creating positive mind tattoos, only resting when we are thoroughly convinced that the positive tattoo has erased and prevailed over the negative. 

All of us are born to ONLY win, and none of us are here to lose in Life.  If anyone of us is losing it is because we are etching our mind with unnatural negative tattoos, rather than etching it with positive tattoos, which are natural, easy and a part of the flow of life….. 

Now on, be a consistent positive mind tattoo artist… not only for you but do that bit of positive mind tattooing on all those around us…  Inside each one of all us, there is a spectacular positive mind tattoo artist…..  

Cardinal LIFE rule.... Family first

In all of our facets in life, the most ‘taken for granted’ side is our relationship with those in the family. A lot of times, the need for each one of us to ‘behave’ or ‘conduct’ ourselves in a professional or social situation is compelling – due to the position held, power perceived, and also the compelling need to be ‘correct’ in these facets of life.

All of us take for granted one crucial and most vital facet of life – the family and the relationships there… Our life, sure I am true is littered with instances, where we vent all our frustrations and feelings to those in the family – the loved spouse, the wonderful kid, and the most precious father and mother to whom we owe so much for being what we are in the social milieu.

Family, for today’s hi-flying pro, is the place to rationalize the most disgusting and condonable behavior, in the guise of being stressed at work… and also the lack of the ability to assert at the work place and draw lines with bosses, peers, subordinates, and make reasonable demands with all the professional stakeholders!

And as a result, one exhibits irrational, unacceptable, and downright disgusting behavior, with our own families… little do we realize that the bedrock of our happiness, wellbeing, prosperity.. is the Family….

It is essential for each one of us to realize this, and display the best of behavior, conduct; with all in our family – to the loving spouse, great kids, parents and everyone at home… it is only they who accept us unconditionally, day in and day out! Lets redeem this commitment to the most precious place in the world.. our home!!

Brand YOU... the journey!!

Building a brand you is just a beginning of a long journey. Its so important to take stock of your personal brand time and again. And most of us seldom do that.

With a thorough insight of our own competency and skills circle, and added to that our formal degrees, work experience and other paraphernalia, each one of us must be able to articulate what our personal brand statement is!

Almost entire careers or work-lifes get squandered in the absence of a personal brand statement - and a personal brand statement just mens that you are sold to yourself. Only when you have been successful in selling to you, will you be able to sell to the outside world... the outside world would mean anything, just about anyone of your stakeholders - family members, client, employer, workplace, society and so on.

Another notion which we all cherish, wrongly but, is to think that our personal brand remains the way it is for the rest of our life. This is far from true.

In a world where even product or service brands re-position, re-jig, and re-invent them in appropriate phases of their life cycle, it will be foolish and rather suicidal to think that you can do with a static personal brand.

Whether your personal brand works or not at any point in time, is not just dependent on who you are and what you stand for, plus your competencies; it is, more importantly, how the brand is seen to be, by the end user - it can be the job market, employer, and strangely even a spouse. For your brand to win in the 'marketplace', the users have to feel the relevance of the brand and a need for the same. If it's an employer or someone who has to invest capital in your personal brand, they need to see a value add by "brand you" to them.

So, as you can see, the brand you as seen by others can be so much different from what it really is. The essence will be to communicate and clearly articulate the value of your brand to the relevant stakeholders - by making the right noises - your brand communication.

As we see many times, choice of the personal brand which an employer makes is purely his perception of the brand. So, success in the employer market could depend immensely on reducing the gap between your brand in reality and the perception of your brand. Its all about effectively creating your brand speak. And communicating it at the right time, in the right place, in the right quantity.

The most important part of the brand you, is to make sure that you also must do a reality check of the brand. Is it relevant to what you aspire for? Are you honing yourself with the right competencies, soft skills, knowledge etc, to be in the race for mindspace (with your stakeholders)....

In todays times of upheaval in the global economies, which does not spare any nook and corner of the world, and any individual, the probability of your brand taking a beating or being battered over time is very high. It is times like these that dictate a re-jig of your personal brand.

The key ingredient of your brand, irrespective of how you reposition and re-invent is - the brand must have persistence, and stay afloat against all odds. The brand must keep going. The brand must possess and live a never say die attitude. The brand must stay relevant and must be at the right place. The brand must be a powerhouse of knowledge, and niche skills, which could be transferable across different industries, timezones, and geography.

Ensure that you evaluate the credentials of your personal brand, and see how it must be re-invented or if need be re-born, time and again

Happiness - a few commandments for life!

Life is all about making the best of what we could do, in this moment; the sum such a zillion moments make the journey of life, and we owe it to our very existence to make all these moments filled with joy, happiness and fulfillment. That MUST be the basic tenet of life, and for that to be the base, here are six commandments which can be of good help.

Commandment One: Live by the power of gratitude

Gratitude is one of the best ways to live a complete life. Gratitude is by far the most powerful positive emotion that is filled with energy to negate all ill & negative feelings in us. Just take a conscious effort to focus on filling our mind and heart with gratitude – there is no end to what we can be grateful for – you can be grateful to God, to nature, to our parents, our loving kids, our siblings, to our boss, our co-workers, to a handful of people who touched upon our life today, everyday, and possibly even in this very minute.

Think of what and who you can be grateful for, everyday when you wake up in the morning, and you will see the quality of the day improve. It is such a huge contrast to waking up grudgingly for some mean reason, or even no reason.

A thanksgiving state of mind gives you a rush of adrenalin for your mind and body! Make sure you practice conscious gratitude from now!, and you will have the most powerful fuel that will propel your life-rocket to happiness and success!

Commandment Two: Avidly visualize what you want from Life.

Imaging is the most powerful tool in creating a life of your choice. It has worked wonders to all those who have attained unparalleled success and happiness in any vocation they chose to be in! Imaging anything you chose to have and wish to be, and no sooner will you see your vision turning into reality! Sustained visualization gets etched in the subconscious after a certain period of time, and after that the power of the subconscious takes over the actual process of creation of reality as imaged.

Practice dynamic visualization – Imagine what you seek in all the color, shade, be in that situation which is the final outcome – be in the midst of your happy family, in that great getaway, in that CEO job – make the image as dynamic, interactive and colorful, and as real as it can get in your mind. After time, you will see the same in absolute reality and even the colors and shades you created in mind will come to existence.

Combine imaging with gratitude well in advance – gratitude to the cosmic universe to giving all that your want – and you are in the pathway to a great, happy, and successful life – all of which as exactly as you wanted!

Commandment Three: Have you mission statement written.

It is a misplaced notion that only organizations and corporations of the world need to have mission statements written. Individuals – you and me – must write down mission statements for our life, and these statements must be the raison d etre of Life.

Writing down such a statement is not something that is done in a huff. A considerable amount of thought must go into the exercise, and the statement shall clearly articulate the prime intents of what we expect in the journey of life.

There is no age barrier for this – if you are twenty or fifty, such a mission statement brings in a huge sense of direction to what we do. It brings in a sense of purpose, and also makes us set goals towards achieving what is stated in the mission statement.

The mission statement is also dynamic, and can be worked on, after time frames – it can be modified with the times, as long as the core message is in tact – for example, if ‘providing everything for a happy family’ is the mission, the broader statement can encompass anything that serves this mission. The mission can be anything to do with various facets of life – personal, family, money, growing up children, running a business – anything that touches life, and living.

Commandment Four: Link your mission to Goals in Life

Goals are very important to keep life filled with positive action. Like the flowing water in the stream is fresh, the blood of life is fresh when you keep moving towards goals you set for yourself. And these goals are so potent when they are linked to the mission of our life.

Life is fun only when there are goals to it! Living without goals, is just vegetable existence, and it leads to boredom which takes the verve and fun out of life. Goals can be either qualitative or quantitative. And it is good to have a mix of qualitative and quantitative goals. Being happy and Staying positive is, for example qualitative, and reaching a professional position, earning x amount of money, is quantitative as well.

When there are written goals in place – be it personal, professional, monetary, family or whatever – we tend to work around those goals, which bring in so much of direction and power to our life. It is important to have goals for all areas of life, and not just one part of life – that leads to imbalance, and creates pressure on only a few areas.

Life is all about being well-balanced, aimed at being happy, contended, and achieving a few things which we need to; goals facilitate that.

The happiest, contended and successful people are those who have written goals, and worked to make the goals come to reality.

A combination of having a purposeful mission, with goals, and avid imagination makes life so much purposeful and positive.

Commandment Five: Manage YOU well, and manage time well.

It is oft-stated: All of us have the same amount of time in disposal. Yet, we all keep blaming ‘not having enough time’ to do things that are most important. In reality, there is nothing like managing time – what we need to manage is ourselves, and the activity we do.

If we decide to do what is most important in getting to our goals and being happy, and staying positive all the time, the seemingly humongous task to managing the time-monster is so easy… Focus on accomplishment and not activity. Cut off all the time wasters from your schedule – needless talk, bickering, mindless TV watching, useless internet activity – just do a little analysis on how you spend time, and you will see so much time spent on ‘time-eaters’ in your life.

Packing the schedule full of work and no fun is no better self management. To repeat, the goal of life is to be happy, joyful, and not to carry stress and sorrow to the grave. Sprinkle your schedule with a mix of work, fun, family time, social time- built around the broad goals of life.

Once this is done, managing YOU gets better, and managing time falls in place.

Commandment Six: Never spend a moment worrying.

It has been seen that the biggest time waster and the single most deterrent to a happy life is the worry habit – worrying about this thing or that thing, big or small, important or trivia, and sometimes even being worried about nothing at all..! So much time and energy is expended in this habit, knowing well that it is sheer waste of time and energy, and moreover, something that saps the positivity in each of us.

The easiest thing to kill this worry habit is action… when you start wasting even a minute worrying as a habit, just change the pattern and do something… Contrast the worry pattern by a loud laugh, a kick on the wall, a hit on the punch bag, or just something that sets you in motion.

Just resolve that you will never ever waste time by worrying. This is one of the most definitive things you can do to live a happy and successful life. And not just that – your family, friends, co-workers – anyone who is in your circle of influence and concern will feel joy and happiness radiating out of you.

Follow these, and you will see the difference in the quality of your life… now and always.

Happiness - a few tips for a GREAT DAY...!

Have a great day, is a constant refrain we hear. Yet most of us wonder how this is possible in the quagmire of daily chores we immerse ourselves in.

The way the day begins sets the pace and mood for all that follows; till the day ends… But, most of us are in an awful mood in the precious morning hours. Lets work to break that jinx, here and now.

Here are 10 simple and great ways to begin your day in a nice way..

1. Begin the day with some great music you love; let it be of any genre. just that it has to pep you up, and fill your mind. And wear a smile on hearing that. Most morning mood issues are just because we are blank in the mind, and the void attracts negativity. And by doing things listed here, we are just attempting to get positive energy flow into us.
2. Ensure in the first few minutes after you wake up and get done with your usual morning chores, you get going with some brisk activity… can be a jog, some cycling, laughing with your wife and children, reading little of a good book.. Anything that does not keep you idle… Morning idleness is the biggest sinner.. Be extremely active…
3. When you get up from the bed, get up and move around with deliberate gratitude. Count your steps as you do your morning chores, and for each step, say thanks to anyone/everyone you chose – can be your spouse, some friend you touched you, your loving kids… could be just anyone whom you can express gratitude. And there are so many of them, who we come across by the hour, everyday. Just that in our purposeless activities, we fail to see them.
4. Visualize a great day in your mind…. with all details, color and candor of what your perfect day should look like.. that sale close, that great meeting, your best pitch, shopping with your spouse etc.. In most times, what is visualized becomes real later in the day.
5. Start the day with a to-do list creation as the 1^st task… Let it contain not only professional tasks, but even personal and social task.. Including something mundane and as light as watering the tree, or cleaning up the desk… and off-course having fun with your family and friends. End of day, tick off what you have done… it gives you a feeling of achievement, and when you make this list, you will do most of what is important.
6. Take a piece of paper, and quickly jot down 5 things you did right the previous day, and also 5 things that you messed.. include all trivia, like not smiling at the receptionist of your workplace, abusing someone in the traffic snarl… This is one of the best ways to introspect.. and get to being a better person.
7. Make one or two small resolutions for the day… not necessarily big and life changing, but simple ones that will make you a better person than the previous day… like ‘I will smile at every human encounter’ or ‘I will say thanks to all during the day’…..
8. Help in the household chores… Pick up some simple household chore and help your spouse quicken the morning chores.. again anything simple would do.. Most of all, it keeps you active, and also saves time in the family for more things to be done.
9. Close the doors and sing a song, dance a few steps, laugh at yourself looking at the mirror, admire you from head to toe, look at how confident and nice you are as a person…
10. As your kid wakes up, lie down next to him or her, and just catch up with what they think… could be about their friends, school, a fight in yesterday’s gully cricket, some conflict in them… Just start of and run a conversation for just 5 minutes… You will see a different world, and get a perspective of what things are…

By no means are these are not the only ways you can start of… There could be many and you can design a positive start to the day, with any of these as cues….

Have this as a daily mantra… the first hour after you wake up is the golden hour, that sets the ball rolling rest of the day… By making this active and positive, your day can be worth its weight in gold… in joy, happiness, and fulfilment.

( and you can also do all these at anytime during the day to make a great life!!)

Task management - the single question to ask : WHY?

Its natural - most of us struggle to carry out number of tasks, big and small, simple and complex, trivial and important, in the different facets of life, and the journey. And in the quest to be better, resort to a whole lot of task and time management techniques!

And yet, we do not get to perfection. What is more frustrating than the task itself, is the 'how to' of it... we think, plan, make notes, schedule, organize.... yet see that we do not move an inch ahead in executing the task. In all probability, the execution happens not by plan but by force... in the last minute, due to mostly external compulsions.

One question to our self will change this habit and will make us see purpose behind the task, than just venture into it mechanically, using any time management tool.

It is -

WHY?

Ask yourself why you are required to carry out the task. Once you get to know the WHY, the HOW of it will easily fall in place.

For example, you are supposed to make a plan for the next project at work, and have been procrastinating. Ask WHY is making this project plan important? You will get to statements like-

- the plan is a reflection of my ability to manage projects.
- the plan is a crucial link in the event flow for the team.
- the plan asked from me is a reflection of the trust people have in me.

Once such a statement of purpose for the task is conclusively formed in the mind, then it gives enough shots of adrenalin in you, to just swiftly get into execution.

This technique can apply to any task, in any facet of life. And this is a technique that will work.

The way in which you will go about the task will be on a technique of your choice; but if there is no purpose behind the task, then no amount of thinking about the task, how to do it etc will be sheer waste of time, and cause stress, knocking off personal productivity.

So, do you have a WHY for your things to do today?

If yes, great; If no, then please sit down and make sure you have the WHY for every thing you do.

Dialogues within you?

What are the dialogues you have to yourself? Are you aware of the conscious and subconscious internal dialogue that goes on in your mind all day and all night long, throughout this journey of life?

Make small incremental efforts by being aware of the dialogue, and then slowly controlling the kind and nature of dialogue within you! Once we become aware that there are constant dialogues within us "our precious mind", then we also can easily ensure that these dialogues are harnessed to better our self in every way - on the personal, professional and social spheres!

Let these dialogues be powerful, making us better our personality, sending out better vibes in the place we are in, and solution finders rather than problem-brooders! Being happy, being positive, accomplishing things which we want to and just about any small or big endeavor in your life begins with the dialogue within you!

What is called 'powerful positive imaging' is nothing but holding a vivid image of what is desired within... and this image of the desired gets better and clearer - depending on how intense the dialogue within is!

Focusing on the dialogues within, in our minds, is one of the easiest steps to success and happiness in life.

What are the dialogues you have in YOU, right now? Let them be only about happiness, success and winning life, in your own terms!

Positivity, yes have loads of it; follow it by action, ACTION!

There is a whole new age movement on this topic, which I too love and live by – being positive. To use another word, be optimistic in any situation – even be it the darkest moments of life – there is honestly nothing so; it’s all your perception! You can look at the bright side of things if you want to!

“A pessimist sees the difficulty in every opportunity; an optimist sees the opportunity in every difficulty.” – Winston Churchill.

So, for each one of us out here savoring this great journey of life, it is important to stay positive, and look for the brighter side in every situation, every endeavor – it is said that if you have the positive outcome in mind, and do your best, then success or what is desired MUST and WILL come your way!

But, a little more than being optimistic and staying positive is needed for each of us.

And THAT is the most important element that will be a success or outcome determinant - that is ACTION.

ACTION, in even small measures every single day will move you to what you what to want to get!

“You've done it before and you can do it now. See the positive possibilities. Redirect the substantial energy of your frustration and turn it into positive, effective, unstoppable determination.” – Ralph Marston

So, it’s all fine to stay determined, and look for the positive, be an incorrigible optimist!

But that mindset has to be backed by ACTION, even if in little incremental measures, by the hour, by the day and by the week.

As you look for the brighter side in every adverse situation, make decisions as to what action will usher in the brightness, and change things for the better! By decisions, I mean the decision to act in one way or other.

A tough moment or a challenging situation will come upon you so hard, that the first thing that can happen is feeling ‘incapacitated’ – and if there is one thing that will be of great power to you is to ACT! Look for what you can do immediately, to shake the hell out of ‘your’ inertia – and take the first step, even if it smallest or minuscule right then and there!

Trust me – when you take small steps in ACTION like that – adding up to your incorrigibly positive mindset, the change you see will be a complete transformation – of the situation you are in, of the person that you are!

"Actions speak louder than words." - Daniel Schiess

Remember, a combination of action with a positive mindset is a sure shot change agent, for you, for LIFE!

Conserve your "personal" energies!

It is commonly said that the human potential is unlimited, and we set our limits only as much we can imagine. And its so true - what we think is possible happens, come what may, and what we decide as impossible, in the mind, just does not happen. Not that this is a reflection of reality, but its our all powerful mind that has said so.

May be some of us have also mistook this fact about the power of the mind, and its ability to charter the unconquered.

Instead of imaging, dwelling and imagining what is important to us in the larger canvas and journey of life, we allow the mind to harp on a hundred unimportant, non-core-to-life, and even trivial things - so much that the energies and the power of the unique and mighty mind do not get channelized in a positive fashion, BUT worse, this powerful resource in us, gets drained and wasted, also draining us of our body energies.

This, knowingly or unknowingly we end up doing most of the time - to the extent that if we do a time inventory check, it will end up that we are 'draining our mind' most of the waken hours.

The best way to conserve energies of our mind is to make sure that we do not use it the completely wrong way - on negative thoughts, on trivia, on things that would not even matter few hours, few days and few months down the line.

This, each of us can do by conscious choice and practice and by self questioning our response to any stimuli, be it internal or external. And by making this daily practice, we can make ourself better persons, more focused on things that really matter.

Some of the questions which could be of help in making sure our most potent resource - mind energy - does not end up sapping us are -

1. Would this matter 20 minutes, 20 hours, 20 days and 20 months from now?
2. If i make a choice to respond more gracefully and positively to this situation, how would I be doing it?
3. Is my mind responding to the actual reality of the situation now, or to some imaginary, may not even happen later event?
4. Is the way I am reacting helping to get to a solution to any problem, or am I just aggravating things for the worse, for me, as well as for others?
5. Am I even focused on the right priority, or am I not spending my time in a better way, that I am being forced by boredom to attend to the trivia and unnecessary?
6. Is the way I respond the best thing to do, or would just ignoring it with a smile a more apt solution? I can always talk it over when the heat cools off!

These are just some indicative questions to yourself, and you can tweak it in a way that can be appropriate to what you chose to respond to, in your daily routine.

Ask such questions to yourself, as often as you can.

Conserving the most resourceful weapon you have - your mind - is easy this way.

Great life to you! Everyday, in this wonderful journey!!

Whats you life page today, looking like?

Look at each day as a notebook in the page of YOUR LIFE. The notebook is yours and you are the author of every single page in the notebook.

You may chose to leave the page blank, scribble it and fill the page with pictures that are not clear - but you also can fill the page with great things you do, things you stead-fastedly remain focused on, a make it a page that you will look up to.

Either its a page you have chosen to waste or its a page you create with love, dedication, and fervor - making every note worth its stroke.

The thing is - everything in that page is what you consciously wanted to be; yes they may have been influenced by events outside of your, and people who came across you during the day; BUT, unless you chose to give a place in the page of life, NOTHING can get into your page!

Fill the page of life with love, joy, happiness, great thoughts, good work, great relationships.

And seldom give anything negative - be it people, things or events around you - a chance to get into your page today!

You create the page of your life today and everyday. Only YOU. Do it in a way that it a a great work of art and love, and a page which every other page yearns to be!

So, how is your page going to be, now and today??

The Happiness thing – Are you happy? Say YES

It’s pretty important to be happy about what we do! Isn't it?

Think about it - if there are one hundred reasons that you think are right to be unhappy about, I would say there can be more reasons than that to be HAPPY!

And also think of this - most of your unhappiness is about tons of hypothetical things that are more your perception than anything which is real in the NOW!

You are unhappy thinking what will happen at office or work tomorrow, what happened the day before yesterday, and why you do not have something some else, you think has or had? Can you see reason and do you think it is funny? IT IS INDEED FUNNY.

So, rather than being unhappy about you don’t know, why don’t you make a conscious choice to BE HAPPY!?

Try doing that for a day or two – to begin in the morning, say to you – I am a happy person today, and I am being the best I am in the now!

By doing this, you will see that things and events sure pan out better, than when you thought you should be an unhappy person – the whole point is, we are all made to be happy.

“It's good to be just plain happy, it's a little better to know that you're happy; but to understand that you're happy and to know why and how and still be happy, be happy in the being and the knowing, well that is beyond happiness, that is bliss.” – Henry Miller

Like you always found reasons to be unhappy about nothing, why don’t you beginning now and today, STAY HAPPY and then see how things are for you?

Think about this too – by staying happy, you also are in a better frame of mind and body, which make things better than they can be!

Out there, de-stressing is a billion dollar industry, feeding to the happiness appetite, of a unhappy lot – unhappy about no reason! Don't join that gang. Just be happy!

And one final reason for you to stay happy – in YOUR OWN health, in the best interests of all those loved ones in your family and your own world, BE HAPPY.

Success is getting what you want; Happiness isliking what you get - Trevione Hudson

BE YOU... stop 'comparasitis'!

Take my word on this today – comparisons are the biggest bane we all face in our life journey! “Comparisitis”, as I would call itis the single most important block to your happiness and success.

What do I mean by “comparisitis”? It’s the most dreadful thing that can affect your mind and soul if left unattended to. That that lingering tendency in you to be someone else – live life by someone else’s standards - to peg you and your life against peers, friends, relatives, and the rest of the world!

“To be nobody but yourself in a world which is doing its best, night and day, to make you everybody else means to fight the hardest battle which any human being can fight; and never stop fighting.” E E Cummins 1955

So, know this, and live this - comparisitis in not the natural choice of being! By drawing comparisons to YOU, you are putting yourself to unnecessary stress, and making such a pleasant experience of life into a fight of sorts – and things which are quite natural to you, become otherwise.

What would you want the journey of life to be – a loving, every-moment-enjoyed spectacular journey or a dreaded battle, where you don’t even feel life getting up in the morning every day, dreading the fight - a fight that is of your own creation!

Most people are other people. Their thoughts are someone else's opinions, their lives a mimicry ~Oscar Wilde, De Profundis, 1905

The cardinal rule of life is to have a strong belief that LIFE is unique and YOU are unique too!

It’s one fact you ought to realize – the journey of YOUR life is so UNIQUE, only you can make the best of it – by just being YOU.

I am sure you will not want to squander your journey, by making it a mime of someone else’s footprint!

Be yourself, in your wonderful journey! Shun comparisitis in you today! And if you would want to help others, please ask them to do so as well!

“It takes courage to grow up and become who you really are” E. E. Cummings

I have no doubt whatsoever, that YOU are courageous and would want to live only your signature.

Learning from lovely kids!

All of us want to teach kids, and see what can be done to shape them as great persons.

Contrarily, how about learning from kids, who always wow us with some of the greatest human qualities! Here are some of them.

1. Kids smile. At anyone and everyone. They can smile for no reason. Unlike you and me - we need a volley of reasons just for a simple smile. Change that. Smile more.

2. Kids forget and forgive. They yell a second and just forget and forgive the next second. We don't. We have a mask that says you have to put on, or carry it to even the grave. Sounds stupid, but that is precisely what all of us do. Now on, learn the art of forgiving and forgetting! Master it till it comes as second nature.

3. Kids love fairplay. Kids play any game for the sake of playing. Not just to win. Kids know so well than most of us - grown adults - that there is only one winner. And they know it only matters how well you play to the finish. The winner is incidental. So, let us admit and come to terms with the fact that you just have to play well. Play well to the finish. Period.

4. Kids live in the NOW. I have never seen a kid who was preoccupied with what happened or was worried. And will bet my last rupee that you have'nt either. What about all of us? Oh...... It's so tough for us to just be present in the NOW.... And all this new age meditation gurus work so hard to just make us be in the NOW! Folks, its so easy to be in the now. In fact, its the easiest disposition to be in. From this minute, master the art of being in the NOW..... Look at kids, master it by just focussing on what you do this minute. Greatest service you do to youself is to be here and NOW....!

5. Kids master time, and just won't waste a minute. Not sure how many of us see the various manifestation of this - yet, this is a great lesson of kids. Adults get flustererd when kids always want to do something. Always - 24/7 minus sleeping hours. Its another way of saying that they would not waste a minute of the awaken hour. Let us not waste a minute of time which we have; follow the kids path. Stay alive and active, now, and always.

So much to learn from lovely little ones.

It's high time we left teaching to them, and we grown ups start learning!

The 'BANISH FEAR' song...

On your way to being your very best
You always have just one block
That will pop up again and again
So much that you might waver from your best....

Fear. It is the biggest nuisance. And Not even a worthy foe.
Fear has no face to come and show to YOU.

Yet, you give it a hundred manifestations.....
And hold to it like.... Like you will hug a porcupine.
Uh... Hug a porcupine.... Never never...

Now, decide that there is nothing you fear.
'Coz it does not even exist.
Why drain your energy on something that
Never never exists, never ever'll happen!?

Stop hugging that fear porcupine..... Banish fear from your mind, your LIFE

Be what you are meant to be
Your best... And what ONLY YOU CAN BE!

Art, in progress...

For each of us, life is such a unique and wonderful journey, filled with a series of unique events, accomplishments, challenges, and joy unplugged! The emphasis here is on the word 'unique' - because no two persons are alike in the creation of God - each one of us is such a wonderful work of art.

You must have heard more often that each one of our lives is work-in-progress. But, I would take it one step ahead and say that each of our life is a wonderful work of art-in-progress.

While God or the super power, whichever your belief be, has given us the wide canvas unique in itself, it is we, as creations and individuals who perfect the art canvas by our unique brush-strokes - every single action, deed or decision in life being one stroke of your brush.

Every artist worth his brush will only have one mission in life (in doing every piece of art) - make sure that each stroke of the brush adds value to the painting - add beauty to the canvas given to him, one stroke at a time.

There is so much qualitative difference in seeing yourself/your life as art-in-progress, compared to seeing as work-in-progress. Work can remain same between two or more people - but art cannot.

Every work of art is the accumulation of a series of unique and one of its kind brush-strokes. So, every single journey of life, is the accumulation of a series of unique deeds (brush-strokes), deeds that have no parallel anywhere, in anyone else's journey.

Like the artist striving to perfect each single stroke, better than he did it the last time, each one of us must strive to improve on our own acts, in any facet of life - it can be at home, at work, in our creation.... the goal must be to create a 'unique brush-stroke'.

And the artist seldom spends time looking at how some one else's art is shaping up - that results in him losing his decisive focus on each of his strokes. The singular focus in each step of the journey of creating your life's painting, is to better and better your brush-strokes.

So, as your life artist, what are your brush strokes for today?

Make the journey of life wonderful, and as unique as only you can. Life is nothing but ART-IN-PROGRESS.

Life's most powerful law.... ACTION!

Each one of us live in a clutter of advises, as to how we can get what we need and want in life. The desire to get from point A to point B is the fundamental and most natural law of nature... and it holds good irrespective of what one desires... be it a great job, a loving family, an award or prize, being an accomplished pro, or as simple as a good human being!

But, most of us just refuse to understand and acknowledge that to get to all this and more, the first and decisive step is to ACT!

ACTION and ACTION alone gets you to go from point A to point B! From desires to realities!! ACTION is the magic wand which is omnipotent! And it is this "Law of Action" in life we should imbibe in our minds as a magic rule... as one rule that will make all the difference in this great journey of life.

Life does not take excuses... It only rewards actions in any front... To illustrate, just constantly saying that we love our family, but not acting on it by either spending tones of quality time in their midst is of no avail. Such inaction will only lead to heart breaks!

Rather than speak volumes and mouth platitudes, we rather just get into ACTION mode by doing something with the family.. Spend a quite day loving and cuddling your spouse and kids, take them out somewhere, gift something to them! Be it anything - only ACTION and DOING is the right way, and not otherwise..

The same applies to anything in life... increasing your knowledge in any area, writing that book, getting that promotion at work, buying that car or dream house...

The first and powerful step to moving in the direction of getting all the above is to ACT... and it is for this reason, we keep coming across the words "ACTIONS speaks louder than words".

Even the biblical warning says faith without deeds is of no value.

The most powerful obstacle to achievements in life is procrastination... and simple ACTION HABITS can chase procrastination out of all our lives, forever.

The other time honored formula for accomplishing in life is BE, DO and HAVE... BE committed, DO what it takes, and HAVE what you want. In this formula, DO what it takes is the most critical part. There can be so much commitment to something, but sheer talk of being committed without the needed ACTION will never make you HAVE what you need! So DO what it takes in anything in LIFE....

Get the ACTION HABIT built inseparably into your mind, and for sure you will get to every single thing you would want to accomplish in LIFE.

Wake up every morning with one thing in mind.. ACTION, ACTION one something... and the only way to keep failure and loss out of your life is to get to the ACTION habit!

Only Action is rewarded in Life...! Everything else is an excuse... excuse for not ACTING!

So, ACT NOW... and WIN forever!

Cheerleaders... and lessons for life and happiness!

In this wonderful journey of Life, there are lessons to learn from anyone whom we all come across...lessons from sportsmen, businessmen, CEO's and cheerleaders.

Cheerleaders are said to be a small crowd across the globe, and it makes them very special and unique for what they do - fly across continents to be at sports venues just to spread cheer, warmth, positive energy, smiles and laughter. So, wherever they cheer, they are an epitome of what all of us aspire to be... just plain happy within and outside.

The power of their presence is felt when you see them cheering the crowds - you and me included. Does anything cheer you more, bring more joy, more vivacity during these matches than these cheerleaders? They dance and giggle through you TV screen irrespective of how the match is poised. Whichever team you and me may patronize in the game, we are all on one-side - the side of the cheerleaders...... and happiness!

These cheerleaders are not just bone and flesh, pretty and chic.... In each of them is a teacher, a nurse, a corporate executive, an airline hostess, a travel guide, an architect...but above all, they are cheer-leaders and their goal is to spread as much joy and cheer cutting across color, creed, and continents. This is the power of positive energy at its best. If each one of us, above all we do in our lives, decides to imbibe cheerleading, this world will be a greater place than it is now.

Each of these cheer leaders have their own set of problems, they have overcome many hurdles in life than any of you and me, they have their successes, failures and setbacks, and in some cases even insurmountable tragedies.

BUT they are a determined lot - put all of their personal life aside, and be here and now, only to make you and me smile, laugh, feel happy, feel good, be a bundle of positive emotions. Believe me, even the critics of these cheerleaders, get infected with their joyful emotions. THAT is the power of spreading positive energy, smile, happiness, and joy. We all must imbibe a little bit of cheerleading in our daily schedule.

Amongst them, each of these cheerleaders invests so much of time and energy in staying and looking to be what they are.... Be it keeping their good and happy looks, an ever smiling disposition, a strong mind and body to take them across countries, and make a million and more spectators reciprocate the same positive energy and joy. I don't think there could be any other small group akin to these wonderful cheerleaders. Cheerleaders are power packed positive emotions their best. They are teamwork at its best. Each one of these cheerleaders is from a different place, nation, speaks a different language, has a unique set of life goals and career aspirations.

But when it comes to their 'here and now' goal of cheering, they are the best team, move as one, dance as one, and smile and make you smile as one...a cohesive and close-knit team that performs only to accomplish the group's goal to cheer. These are great management lessons in how teamwork ought to be.

Cheerleaders spread joy and happiness not to one sport... They do the same for cricket, baseball, football and any other sport which would want to get them to cheer the crowd. That is an example of a vision statement, irrespective of what is done... a vision to spread joy and cheer, and positive vibes for a huge audience. So, here we learn the power of having a personal or corporate vision.

Let's all benefit from a few good life lessons from these cheerleaders!

CEO, Your Life.

If you are a professional, whichever chosen field of work you are in, the aspiration is to become the CEO of an organisation. Day in and day out, every step as a professional, we work hard to reach that place. Some reach there, whereas many don't.

As in any game, the difference between the one who reached there (CEO) and the one who could not make it is just the equivalent of that one ten of a centimeter, in a 100 m dash, or something like that. Ceterus paribus (all things remaining the same), the person who reached the CEO position gets there by that little extra he gave in terms of every single effort of his, all through the journey of life.

Now, cut to the personal front - which is any-day more important than the professional front - I can see some of us murmuring that how can you have a joyous and happy personal life if you don't get to the top in your profession?! In reality the opposite is mostly true - there are hordes of people who have reached the 'top' in their profession, leaving behind just about everything - family, friends, happiness and what not. And once they reach there, they realize it was not worth kicking off just everything that really mattered in life.

The better choice to make would be - aspire to be the CEO, your life.

This will be so much fun, and work/career will be one part of this whole. By consciously seeking to remain CEO of your life, you get the priorities of life right, a great balance between all the elements of life - which include family, friends, parents, society, your continuous learning and your contributions to all the facets of your life.

You always remain the CEO of your life, and every thing you do in that position is a well thought out choice - how much you should work and grow, how much you will spend time with family, what social causes you will spend time on, what will you do to make you a better person, what new skills and qualities you must develop to be a better CEO everyday... and so many thing which are truly important, and will remain wildly important now (WIN) all through the life journey!

The core of being CEO, your life, will encompass the truly relevant priorities for you, which are so unique to only you. A life that is unique and will not justify any comparisons whatsoever, with anyone else!

So, now on, aspire and be one thing - CEO, your Life.

Half time?!

In life, there are times in which most of us think about what has gone wrong or right, in the midway mark, as we perceive it - thats what I call half time!

And its precisely in this half time, we have a lot of naysayers and doomsday specialists go around saying that its all over, and life is well lost!? Listening to such naysayers, will be the biggest mistake we can do - more than a mistake, its nothing short of doing gross injustice to this great journey of life.

How many times have you watched a match, something like the a world cup foot ball play off match or even the IPL T20, and have been able to decide that the team which has an upper hand midway through the game, will win the match for sure? I would think that its almost impossible to judge the victor in the half way mark (assuming that both the sides are balanced in skills).

Not one team that you know off in any game or sport, throw of the game at the half way mark and walk away into oblivion! Its the opposite that is true most times - dramatic bounce backs, famous comeback performances and the accolades that accompany, are for those players who make a mark in the later half of the game!

If a simple match or game of sport cannot be thrown halfway, irrespective of what the situation be, don't you think the same applies to your and my life?

Half time or may be the better way to call it is mid-life or mid-career is the best time to assess things as they are in reality, and move forward and make sure that we play to the fullest of our abilities! Its the time we know the pluses and minuses, and ups and downs - a pefect time and place to be in, and one that will decide the road to be taken ahead!

The road ahead can be just a course correction or a completely new route, and it will depend on your 'unique' half time. Each of our half times in life are so unique and who else but you and me, are the best judges as to how the second half of the game (life) is played?

To say that its all over in midlife, in half time is stupidity of the highest order - it is so silly that we can't even do something akin to that in a street match. Yet, some of us do that to us, and sort of squander away the best part of the journey that remains in life.

So, today, and now on, tell yourself and bear in mind that half time is the best time indeed to re-start the journey of life, as we desire and love to do. And make sure that we play to the best of our ability, using all the ammunition in our personal armor.

By doing that, we can see the journey of life transform for each one of us; reaching us to greater heights - in joy, happiness, success and life.

Whether it is half time in your business or halftime in your life, whatever you do and wheverever you are in life, dont, just DON'T let up now. Look well beyond the half time score - The only way you will win is when you endure till the very end of this wonderful journey called life. And to win, please remember in mind... keep constantly doing What is Important Now (WIN).

With these thoughts embedded in your mind and soul, life could well be a exponentially upward curve, beginning the half-way mark!

Your things to do... Happiness?

You know, i am sure you will agree with me on this – how many of us keep having a long list of things to do – could be at home, work or wherever! Most of us rattle our brains and time with such lists either in the mind, on pieces of paper in the pocket, or an organizer!

I also bet you on this too – not one item in that ‘to-d0′ list will read – BE HAPPY!

You will be amused at this, but let me brief… What is one thing which all of us want to do, but think we can’t or is elusive, despite we pushing us or chasing the to-do lists… ? It is and must be to “BE HAPPY”.

Is that not what we all want to be…

So, next time when you make your list for the day, please make this as item number 1 – BE HAPPY.

Believe me this is not silly. The moment you do that – that too put it in writing – it will be the prime state of mind and body you will be in for that day; and when you do it everyday, you are just going to BE HAPPY!

Happiness is a state of mind, and needs no reason or great accomplishment! I repeat, happiness is a state of mind!

And when your to-do list has “BE HAPPY” right there at the top, you will see that most of the other items get magically ticked off faster that they will be.

Why? Because, when you are intentionally happy, the mind is like a placid lake, free of stress and disturbance of any sort… and that makes you go ahead faster with your things to do!

So, here is note to you – in your things to-do, make “BE HAPPY” as item number.1 and start your day by ticking it

The river that is life!

As a nation, or as a culture, do we all think it's taboo to seek help to get ahead in this wonderful journey called LIFE?! I would think so.

It’s also a mindset that a happy life is one without any challenges and problems! Day in & out, almost all of us are in search of that that elusive state, where life is devoid of any problems, challenges, and adversities…

Now for an analogy if it helps...The river which finds is birth in some mountain top flows, meandering through every form of land – a peak and a valley, a hill or a fall etc – and changes courses naturally with one goal – to gather more strength and power as it finds it way – rather makes it way to the mighty ocean…. all along its path, it keeps adding immense utility value for the folks who come to its touch-points!

How stale and uninteresting would it be if the river was born atop a mountain, and from there, it came in as one ‘straight line’ to the coast, to quietly get itself into the ocean? Leave alone how it would be, the fact remains that such a river will never ever come into existence!

Reason – it is completely out of nature’s way to have such a straight, and what you would think as problem-less river to ever come into existence. Its elusive. Its unreal. It can be only in fiction!

So are our lives and the wonderful journey we make in this world! A Life, sans any adversity and challenge, climb and pitfall, joy and sorrow, with all of it in a judicious mix is just not Life. Its against the universal laws of nature to be so.

Thats why this is such a wonderful journey, and all we need to do is to live it to the fullest, taking all challenges head-on, getting into our personal quality armor tonnes of life lessons, and getting better by the day, by the hour.

That way, it is certain that our lives will be full of “LIFE”.

Accept this truth in this wonderful journey of Life… and move ahead... lets the best come by your way!

The power of a "personal vision statement"!

Did you think that vision statements or credo are only for organizations and not for you and me? It’s time for a reality check.

The most important driving force of any successful and contended individual is his or her ‘vision statement’. And this statement can be made by the person at any point in life, by thinking and writing down what he/she thinks are important and priorities to life… in the personal front, family, work, friends and so on. On giving the values and priorities a considered thought, they shall be written down in the form of a ‘personal vision statement’ or ‘credo’.

Once this is done, this will be the beacon that will guide each and every action of the owner of the ‘vision statement’.

The time spent on making a ‘vision statement’ for yourself, will be worth more than its weight, not in gold, but the most expensive metal in the world….. Just think of the fact that at every point and step in any facet of your life, you will be subconsciously guided by your ‘vision statement’ of which you and only YOU were the author.

Let me give a simple example of my own case. About a couple of years ago, on reading extensively about the value of personal written vision statements, I just spent about a day thinking of what my priorities in life would be, and what value systems would guide me on-course. Concluding the thought process, this was the ‘vision statement’ written down.

“…will be a successful man who will nurture his family with love and affection, provide them a better and comfortable future. He will embark on any step that will directly or indirectly contribute to this mission. He will live life with integrity, full of smiles, and radiate the same wherever and however he is. His career will be full of creative contribution to the positions he shall hold".

Once I wrote this, and kept a few copies of it with me, I went through it time and again, probably for a few months. In hindsight, I can state emphatically that I have been guided by this ‘vision statement’ in all my deeds - be it at home, at the workplace, or anywhere and anything done, for that matter.

Think of what you want to do, what you want to accomplish, what will be your guiding values in each of your actions and steps…. And put down this, in the form of a concise vision statement. This ‘vision statement’ can change and evolve, and be written and re-written time and again, by introspection.

Write your vision statement NOW……. And see success and accomplishment in all you do…success and accomplishment as defined and set forth by you….. Because that is what is you command your mind, body and soul to act on consistently.

So today, and just now, please sit down and think of what should be your vision statement. Consult your parents, your spouse and kids if need be and make sure that you have a written vision statement before you retire for the day.

Make a few copies of your ‘vision’ statement, and leave it in places which you will see if often, may be 2 to 3 times a day. Carry a copy of that in your wallet. Make a public commitment – be it to your spouse, friends, and confidante about your vision.

The result of this easy and simple exercise will be there to see for the rest your life…….. and you/your family shall soak in be nothing but accomplishment, happiness, satisfaction, success; at its best. In your terms.

Whats your ME brand speak?!

One of the earlier posts here was about what you speak to yourself! This post is on the same lines... about what I call your brand speak!

Think about this… what is that you want to be, want to achieve, or have achieved, and how much of the 'same language' does the brand you speak? If the answer if 'not as much', as what is the intended reality, then, there is lot of work to do on your ME brand-speak!

What’s the ME brand?

Each of our ME brands are work in progress - a sort of focused, continuous & RIGHT self-speak efforts, which communicate our thoughts through our brand ME. What we are seen as is what we communicate through our ME brand-speak.

Brand ME also makes sure that you communicate your position sans any ambiguity in the professional marketplace, and equally so, on the personal front – as a spouse, as a parent and as a socially responsible person.

To throw a little illustration, if you want you/your ME brand to be seen in as a successful professional in your space, then your walk and talk ought to be in sync with all that is needed to be so – both the hardware: the efforts needed, the knowledge & skills you ought to possess, and most of all the power to execute – you will carry all this and more to be seen and also be recognized as a successful or to-be-successful professional.

And the ME brand-speak shall be seen as the ‘software’ - that makes your hardware to be seen by all those in the relevant marketplace – be it the place of work, or home, or the social ecosystem.

Your ME brand speak will talk the entire walk you can do, amply well, and sort of loud and clear in the marketplace. Loud and clear does never mean being brash about what you are made off, but is being unambiguously clear about what would make you stand out and be different out there – be it in the kind of work you do, or the sales you can achieve, or the knowledge/core competence you will bring to the table in any place.

The ME brand speak would apply equally to any work and personal situation – you need to talk the walk you do and want to do as a parent, a child, a associate in any event and so on – this can be in any place, in any time and in any situation.

The ME brand speak is also so important and crucial in bridging the gap between perception and reality, more from the extent of the value you add in any given place. I am sure most of us agree that we did not get that deal, or get that hike or promotion or anything measurable and tangible just because it was not communicated or packaged in sync with what was delivered or done in reality.

The more you think of what you keep telling everyone or what all those around you see, is more of what your ME brand-speak is. Whether this is in sync with what you as an individual are or what your true capabilities are, is more a function of your ME brand speak, that any other factor.

Its’ worth so much to gather your thoughts together to create your own ‘ME brand speak now’. It’s also a wonderful exercise to introspect all your facets of life, and create an appropriate ME brand-speak, that reflects you in the right perspective to all those in the marketplace.

So, what’s your ME brand-speak? Are you packaging you as much what your true capabilities and qualities are? Do it now, for a better & greater LIFE…..