bruised

The word itself indicates a lot and one gets physically bruised , maybe due to an accident,a fall, in sports, a knock on the head and many other situations.Along with that however there are many cases where we get mentally bruised.Bruised due to ill effects, foul words,unpleasant circumstances and so on.In the first case one can apply a medication, bandage it or plaster it and maybe with some time period it heals.Almost.But........

What happens in case of a mental bruise?

It needs repairing from within.How many of us can overcome that?How easily or how tough is it?Is it completely curable or stays behind in the bylanes of the gray matter?May be in the subconscious, deeply rooted at times and creates havoc with our present and maybe in the future too!!How can one overcome this?How does one deal with such situations?Is it the inner strength, the willpower, the attitude, the approach to life?What are all these?Does every individual have them?If so in varying quantum , is it?Can they be strengthened?Through what?

We recall incidences so often,and they come back to us .Deja vu.Sometimes even when we don't want them they appear out of nowhere.People remind us of them and sometimes rub it in.These are things beyond our control.How then do we tackle these without letting it affect us?

1)Take time out and reflect over the episode that disturbs us.

2)What happened, what could have happened and how best could have things been better, if at all?

3)If that is looked in then one may select what to do next! You decide if you wish to linger over something that is not redeemable, or make a note of it an decide to move on, if there is a next time you are better prepared, and if there are ways to make that better, one must use these learnings to ensure we do make them better.

Once you decide, move on and keep looking and focussing on things that are happening and going to happen , rather than those that have happened.

Its that practice that definitely helps you heal your mental bruise.

H2O

The essence of life.Commonly termed Water.Never given importance unless the rains play havoc.They either create storms and floods or droughts that make people realise the value of a single droplet.

But watch the plants.How many of us really understand them?The street side ones grow by themselves and survive just like human begins and street side urchins .TheY deep root them selves and draw water from the deep.The ones in the gardens of affluent society are taken care of by gardeners.Others have no time to take care of themselves and may not value these plants much.

However, just try to water the garden, tend to the leaves and dress them up a bit and watch the way they are energised and invigorated.The sudden dull, dried , I give up look turn around 360 degrees, with just a few water droplets and revive like they were just born yesterday.When a small shower takes place the entire ambiance changes.The flowers bloom with the help of the sun rays and the water effect.The grass encompasses the dry plains and the trees have foliage as if to say " environment day begins".

The result is better oxygen for us, lush green surroundings amongst the concrete jungle and nature's beauty that make your life healthy.So value that single water droplet.Save water and use it wisely.Take care of your surroundings and the plants ,whether potted or grounded.They are your partners for life.

customer delight

This phrase is being tossed around all companies who are trying to be customer centric, evaluating each other and benchmarking against leading competitors, as to where they stand, quarter on quarter, year on year viz others.Sometimes we have astonishing results and many of them really don't know how they manage to get such high scores of satisfaction/delight.Others really strive towards excellence and they sustain.Kudos to these.In the retail sector especially in  India, and maybe other Asian countries one finds the following.The people selling a Porsche for example have never probably visited a star hotel or for that matter been associated with anything termed premium in his daily life.The potential buyer on the other hand, may be a suave , well attired, high flying global czar or just a plain clothes business man but with tons of money stashed  away and not knowing where to splurge.It is here where the litmus test starts.

If we don't gauge the potential correct, we had it.If we do gauge and don't offer him a star treatment we still had it.To give star treatment one should have at least experienced the star treatment ones self to offer the same.e g Dom Perignon champagne in the ELITE lounge, Mont Blanc exclusive Meisterstuck to sign the documents,a Rado or Omega round the wrist to show the exact time,and so on.Is this all necessary to keep the customer delighted.?If so, once he gets used to this treatment he will ask for more and you have to oblige!!If not your ratings plummet.If you give, your costs escalate.What a catch 22 indeed!!He may ultimately buy the product  or maybe not.The standard psychology of a salesman being, look at the mans attire, which pen he uses, which car he came in, which perfume he wears and what timepiece he has to show precious time.If he comes in any other attire,poof he is a sundry guy and one doesn't give him that importance.This is where we make our biggest mistake.Judgements.

It's no rocket science and neither do we have to bend , twist so much that we end up getting coiled up like a spring.Just offer the person coming over, the basic courtesies, satiate his ego,he is the most precious thing that ever happened to you and that exists in the world for that moment, and keep smiling.If your attitude is correct, and the approach is honest I think one can deliver delight at all steps.Be it branded jewellery to watches or cars.Don't look down upon the customer even if he is ignorant about your product or a first time buyer or even boasts of having used similar products and not really familiar with the usage.Be polite, take it in stride and make that experience the best ever he would have wanted.Keep things simple and you will find the biggest smile on the customers face.

Running thin

The culture one tries to create takes a long time and tons of efforts in the professional circuit.Its bringing in people from all religions, ,mindsets,upbringings, male and female together and focus their minds in the direction that would help the organisation set examples and best practices that become that culture.One makes processes adherence  a habit.Volumes of process and audits are carried out as if to train the people like circus animals at times.Actually the intent is to condition the mind and make the people involved in the system attuned to the working and service delivery so that there is  a pleasant experience internally and externally.

Then comes money and the mind gets warped.The intelligence given by god that is used in getting academic graduation and growing up starts working in a crooked manner suddenly.The warped mind then doesn't have patience  to wait 30 days to get his hard earned salary and looks out for quick ,easy  routes to generate it through avenues that start hurting the system.These are the termites of the organisation that burrow the organisation and make it a beehive if not detected in time.

Crime doesn't last long and the guilty are caught.Then comes the culture at the top management in treating the wrong doers.Loosing its cool and showing signs of cruelty and anger rubs of on all members of the organization indirectly.The morale, the motivation, the rhythm all go for a toss.The trust is breached and every one in the system then becomes suspect.The normal working day doesn't become interesting anymore.Even if one tries to push the system to go back to normalcy the cracks are evident.The culture fabric weaved has to be stitched, patched and worn again but without the original effect.How do the people who are innocent and sincerely adhering to the spirit of the culture created get back to normal business, if they witness such low standards of ethics and behaviour by the owners in treating the people who are at fault.

Crime is wrong but one must also know that dealing with the people who have wronged must be left to the enforcement officials, HR departments and done in a civilised way.If the treatment meted out to the wrongdoers where tempers fly high and physical treatment of the police kind given in the working premises itself is in my opinion uncultured.It sends out wrong signals, instills fear but sane people in the organisation find it difficult to align back because of what they have witnessed.I have witnessed such a sequence for the first time in 30 years of my professional life and pity the people who faulted and would certainly like them to be punished no doubt.But ,I never prescribe to the physical inhuman treatment given by the so called civilised Management to the employees within the premises.

Few seconds of greed as well as anger can lead to destruction of an entire system, and some ones personal life, self esteem, Honor and standing in the society at large.Earn money the hard way even though it may look insufficient in the mind,but momentarily greed that takes over makes you compromise your ethics and let down your colleagues and friends by your actions.Be aware, it can happen anywhere and anytime.

Power of Zero

The figure Zero can add so much to your life.Size Zero spruces up your fashion  quotient.Add a couple of zeros to your paycheck will lift your social standing,but the same Zero in your mark sheet and your self esteem crashes, your body temperature goes sub zero, the peer pressure go skyrocketing by many zeros and life goes on.

Just imagine the life of a person who earns 100 bucks a day and just manages to qualify as an above average below poverty line person.(BPL) as per sadistic government guidelines in India.Add a zero and he becomes a decent earning member for his family but his aspirations are unfulfilled and he starts chasing zeros.The more the zeros he adds to his income his life starts becoming full of zeros.He starts taking more stress, that spoils his health and work life balance,Thereafter he starts zeroing in on to targets and achievements and his peaceful sleep turns to Zero.His or her relations start getting strained and then its simply a zero world.

To be honest we all come into this world with a big Zero and then we add all zeros thinking that life would be better and that turns out to be the biggest error.If we live within our means and add only as much as we need then the zero sum game is well played and life is enjoyable.If not then we only add to our woes and will repent later.Size zeros which the ladies run after is also damaging though it adds fame and money but the health may go for a toss .God has given each individual an unique beauty within and we add zeros to that it will make our external presentation better each time.Climatic Zero and sub zero temperatures make us shiver ,add zeros and it make us feel as if we are getting cooked in an oven.While studying we get a zero and we are failures, we add zeros and we are excellent at academics , though not necessarily in life as you need to be excellent as a human being.Your expenses with every zero added makes a big zero in your wallet.

Know the power of zero and when and where to add or delete.This will help us all to enjoy the life to the maximum,

Lonely at the top

In life , we struggle, and however positive an outlook and attitude we may have , we still have to take major decisions for self, family, business and others.All this takes it toll and one may sense fatigue at times and you sit back to introspect , lots of thoughts flash across your mind.

Many a times you realise that you do share your thoughts,your actions you propose to take or consult your friend, wife or some one you trust or have faith in.In the professional network however you remain lonely at the top.The pressures mount by the day.The results and outcome is the benchmark of your success.You have to keep your cool and take rational decisions as you are the leader.The captain of the ship and you are to steer clear of all dangers that you may visualise or anticipate or some that are created to make things difficult for you.You are blitzing through cities and countries perhaps, using technology to the limits and discussing graphs and statistics that are mind boggling,% and fractions that sometimes make you hairline recede faster than the torrents of the high tide and low tide in the seas daily.The surf in the water becomes pepper and salt in terms of your hair and you age.Mentally and physically.Time doesn't stop for anyone and you cannot afford to miss out on any moment.

When these things are happening , its obvious you may  be able to share this grind or crunch or emotional state of mind with some one in the office space or professional space who could comfort you and help you unwind.This is true.Where does one get that outlet?Who should he /she choose?What kind of emotional outlet one expects?How fast can he/she unwind?One thing is a must that one needs to unwind and fast , cause if you don't the results may be dreadful in the years to come.

If one gets a companion in such times, who could give comfort, in the same space and be a friend, a sponge,a muscle relaxant,a stress buster,a fun quotient who adds zest to your life, even in the professional space,it  would in my opinion be the most sought after.It really helps you to change course, share some thoughts that make sense to the other person and connect at a different level mentally and perhaps physically.A bear hug, a warm handshake, an assuring pat on the shoulder, a flirty smile or remark,a quite coffee break or a simple drive make these stress levels disappear.This may not be possible in the home environment where one needs to switch over to a different tune.Explaining everything from scratch to any family member at home, is an ordeal and more over rewinding the episode itself is a disaster and stress builder than a buster.This applies for both sexes at work.If one can manage the equations well I say this is  a need of the hour.Practise it.

B-vision

Buzz, that's the Bee Vision I am talking about.What, you may wonder and it again came out of the blues in my mind this morning.A bee happened to be flying too close around my airspace , possibly seeking a landing ground with so much of area to spare on my bald head.I was looking at how the bee with its multidimensional vision capabilities must be viewing the world, as it flies and hovers around different air spaces, seeing, smoke, sunlight, rain, colour, flowers, a swatter,a cow  and tons of pollen, everyday when it slogs more than us to collect HONEY.Human beings collect MONEY.Because they have a unidirectional vision.Money, money and more money.

On its head, a bee has two sensory antennae. It also has five eyes -- three simple eyes, or ocelli, and two compound eyes. The compound eyes are made of lots of small, repeating eye parts called ommatidia. In each compound eye, about 150 ommatidia specialise in seeing patterns. This allows bees to detect polarised light -- something human beings cannot do.See how much of value it all adds up to.It does sting you ,if there is a threat perception.But,so do we!!!

Humans have brains but they use it for many other purposes that they are not supposed to.If they were ever to experience the Bee Story, and look at life from the B-Vision, they might be able to add so much of value to life.Better results, better efficiency, better output and at the same time help the world to flower. In its lifetime, a drone which lives for 40-50 days collects 2.5gms to 40 gms or 1-1/2 teaspoonful of honey!!!!Look at the massive activity it does in that time.A very active life indeed.It lives it live with all the risks, has a multidimensional view of life and takes its chances.Can we too live like that and make every moment of life as interesting as the 1-1-1/2 teaspoonful of honey the bees collect?With an average lifespan of 70 years ,we humans can add sweetness worth 52kgs of honey.But because we run after money we get Diabetes instead.That is sweet too, only harmful.

B-vigilant, B-alert,B-conscious of your surrounding,B-smart, B-Yourself.