Spice of life

The show must go on and therefore , each of us is in the struggle mode, surviving. I guess before birth we kick in the womb , probably wondering " how the hell should one face the situations coming up in the future, with no placenta to protect you ?"

What are we doing today? Running, panting, stressing ourselves out to earn a few dollars to help us keep afloat.And then we find the global climate change that increases the water levels globally and some of us "SINK" like the Maldives or future Venice.Some still struggle to keep their head up , like Indonesia, to draw a parallel. There you find another story , the internal rumblings in the core of the earth leading to rise in temperatures and volcanic eruptions , similar to violence on earth due to loss of jobs, unemployment, crime rates etc. So for some you may have the money , but not the mental peace and others still swimming with life jackets , life guards, dingies etc. just to survive the journey called life.

Is this the life we wanted, or say expected or say look forward to ?

Visualise and see if we really are being just and fair to us and then on to others.To help others , first one must help himself , right? If you have the mental peace and health to support , probably you can step out and add value to this life. We have condoms and yet we see a spurt in population.7.1 billon globally and counting .No one realises that bringing in a new born to this world is adding to the woes we have created for us and are living in. The reality dawns when the educational expenses and upbring costs, shoot through the roof and those lead to medical expenses which makes you wonder , was this all worth it??

Fried, grill, barbequed, blanched, smoked and plain boiled that's what a recipe of life we create for our selves and consume it daily , to face another day .

L I F E

That's what we all are living . I got this definition early today , on a bright sunny morning , clear blue skies and rain drenched mountains with green covers .

L: Looking 

I : Inwards 

F: For 

E : Ever

So many definitions exist. Many perspectives of how we must live life ,and what we can do for others ,Professional and personal experiences stated by the so called successful people ,and then we have the Mentors, guides and last of all the places of worship to seek the truth . All these and more lead to debates and biases, leading to the disruption of the other wise peaceful life one is to lead on this place called Earth .We end up making this 4 letter word so complex that one wonders , is this what we are born to live? 

Every one has a right to live, and my take on this is, LOOK WITHIN ,and one will really find the beauty and simplicity in life. Why do we need to live for others, when we can live for ourselves making that inside so beautiful, that it rubs of on every thing in this world and automatically leads to making that part also beautiful. Imagine, every individual looks within, makes his own mind and the garden of his soul clean and beautiful, such that ,all his actions, deeds and thoughts would be equally beautiful, pristine, tranquil, leading to these emotions, spreading across every one he or she comes in touch with.

This applies to nature, animals and every being on the universe. We tend to compete, try and outdo the others , have these envious and jealous thoughts about the success or happiness of others , which tends to disturb your mind peace and leads to actions that are harmful to others ,as well as you .

God sent us on to this planet , head down ,so that we apply it, and then steady on our feet, and stay firm ,becoming down to earth .But, we do all the somersaults in life and see this life as complex and wound up, as we do all kinds of  acrobatics , trying to work a way out of this differential perceptions.He wants us in my opinion ,to create our stories for his book on life, and make every word, phrase, sentence and page a memorable one ,so that, our chapter , in his encyclopedia, becomes an ideal subject for him to feel proud about his creation. He  is trying to send each one to this universe to make it a better place than what he created and then see the experiences we add to his creation . What have we done to it today? What are we creating for the next generations? It was indeed heaven, called EARTH, living on which today ,we are dreaming of reaching another  heaven when we die. Irony isn't it?.Making a mess of the heaven we were suppose to enjoy in and dreaming of a place which may not exist.

I even think that based on our previous KARMA, we have been sent here with a certain life span to try and make good for the deeds in the past life and have a ZERO ledger balance in this life so that we need not go through these travails again. Imagine, the rate at which the world is deteriorating and should you take a rebirth to go through all this and more in the future, would you like to do so? Some lives are born and perish instantly at birth and is sad for us , but a blessing for the soul, who may just have had that moment to clean up his ledgers of the past life and not go through the travails again. Others ,who we consider as blessed for living past 80 and 90 years, are  praying to god to take them back and fighting each day to live LIFE. So the faster we learn to look inside and make us a better individual each moment , would indeed make this place called EARTH back into the place called HEAVEN that almighty had designed for us.

This came to my mind early hours of today and felt like penning it down. May make sense to some .However as far as I am concerned , I will make every attempt to introspect at all times , finding the real me and trying to be better each moment of the balance part of my ledger in life .May be it will be worth reading that chapter of my life with almighty some day without any remorse. 

#me2

Another dimension of #me2 comes to my mind which is prevalent across the globe and with every living being. It , infact seems to be the sole purpose of existence. Go across continents, age groups, sex and age and one finds that all we do here is try and prove our existence , our EGO that prevails and wants to state that I am  always right , in whatever I  do or say.

You want to be first and if you don't come then you justify the same and prove to the world how you were deprived of it.You want to be the domain expert in your field and apply the so called knowledge that you have attained in every walk of life. Over and above , if you are of the nature that you are the one and only know all GUY , with closed learning windows, then you start a battle of wits that leads no where. How to outwit the other, how to prevail over every word, statement and expression in every debate, so as to make it an argument. Keep giving lectures, unwarranted advices, instead of suggestions ,stating it in memoirs and books and terming that as intelligentsia,

We tend to trigger mental, physical and virtual battles that create hopeless situations and we move on. How many others have to bear the brunt of the aftermath. So many innocent beings get trapped in this vicious circle and loose the directions and basic purpose of life. This leads to violent acts at times and destroys peace and the fabric of this Society. What is already  heaven , you turn it into hell.

We want to prove that we are the best and dominate in our spheres. Others who have a cattle mentality tend to follow blindly as mute spectators, some hopelessly try to debate ending up sore .Most of them, take another path and try their luck at that, wanting to top the table. It is ultimately #Me2 of the first kind that is the root cause of all this unpleasantness.No one wants to lose and yet all of us lose mental peace and happiness and contribute to the destruction of this paradise called EARTH and the ONE opportunity called LIFE.

Space-X,(Y,Z)

In your professional career span of almost 4 decades , one sees so many pilots in each industry , who are doing or not doing enough to launch their careers , into space , to reach new heights, dreams, and fulfil ambitions . 

They are ready to put those efforts and work long hours for themselves and someone else , in anticipation of rewards at the end of the journey .They play a role in aligning the rocket and position it in line with the launch pad provided by the company.He or she works ,and then set the parameters ,so that they align to the goals, be it Moon or Mars .Drawing a parallel to the KRA's and targets one has set for themselves  through out their life . Without an aim in life , it would be futile to live anyway , isn't it? .Let's call it  your Mission SPACE-X.

Now, the countdown begins, and the Commander and the Launch Module is set for the historic launch , when you start seeing the true colours. Not every one around you is in a rocket or space craft as one would term it . Some are considering themselves as the launch pad and are deep rooted in the organisation for many years. They are the KNOW ALL'S and nobody can teach them !! Every element of the launch pad is supposed to be spot on and one MUST not find any flaws in that or..... "GO launch your rocket from some place else" is the LOOK that one gets. You bank on the software's and back up team, and one glitch holds back or defers the plan , causing big pain and immense frustration to all the plans made by you .The rocket boosters  attached which will be instrumental in putting your plans into orbit, cannot be suspect otherwise the mission fails.

Then if all goes well and you get launched , with or without payload ( The tag along), you start the journey trying to escape out of the earths orbit and experience the feeling of having achieved the first stage of your KRA. However , as you get closer to the Moon's gravitational pull , which ultimately is to take you to your goal, irrespective of a soft or hard landing , the push pulls come into play. Is earth calling you or playing with you at that stage , or the moon in sight but no pull or push available at that stage of the mission?

If after all this you manage to reach the lunar surface , your life is maybe 14 earth days or if you are still orbiting around  the moon at 100Kms radius then maybe a year. There after what  , Since you have reached only the moon's orbit and not the surface , you are most likely to be forgotten , irrespective of all the efforts to reach so close but remaining in orbit and you may burn out earlier than  a year and no one cares . The person who lands on the surface is applauded and in the limelight as long as it on the visible side of the moon .But if you prefer to remain on the dark side of the moon , trying to be different your energy source will never reach your solar panels and you may left out in the cold !! That makes you think and say , hey after so many years , and efforts I reached here , just to bask in the glory for a few days ,in order to be forgotten as preparations for the next mission say, space -Y is all set and people at the Head Quarters have forgotten you .

This is the story of corporate life for which you spend 4 decades , be it at one place , or multiple test sites, trying to find the best place to launch or ignite your space rocket. Since every body is launching his own rocket , what probability do you have to make the mission successful? Technical snags, political snags, and many more issues are prevalent across . 

One wonders , should we keep trying to be that rocket , self propelled or hired, or remain someone who applied passion , sincerity, dedication with no expectations and remained happy for life on this earth with NO STRINGS ATTACHED.

PAPA-RAZZI

The 4th estate or paparazzi as they are lovingly known are a different breed altogether. Across the globe and in any field be it politics, to Hollywood, to fashion, et -al.

On one hand they have to go through an ordeal trying to catch up with what's happening around in  their designated  part of the  world . Should they dig up a scoop , its breaking news and the rush to upload this at all cost starts the conflict of privacy and rights , quotes and misquotes , leading to ban and gagging of media.

Whose right and who is not is a million dollar question !!

Every individual on this planet wants recognition and if he or she gets that paid or unpaid , who would not like it. In the quest for getting famous, one treads the fine line of ethics, morality , honesty etc . those values, that  we as humans cherish .The rich and famous want controversy , they use formal and informal channels to ensure the message is let loose. hey capitalize on it and if they find it stirring up a storm, quickly resort to " I was misquoted tactics" and keep themselves in the headlines. The amount of space they wish to occupy in print or hog the prime time news channel TRP's are sometimes atrocious. It reminds me of rumination where the same s**t is thrown at the gullible public like us over and over again , leading to flash wars and so called media gagging .

The media too in a bid to outwit the competition channel on electronic media is rushing to break news and incentivises the journos covering them handsomely. In some cases the " The inside sources " as they normally term them , especially in Government , politics and defence are suspect. The leaks , the unconfirmed reports , the sensational scoop goes so deep at times that you almost sleep with the person involved and happen to know all moles and birth marks on his or her body. An individual needs privacy , however public his or her image maybe. End of the day , it's the responsible journalism that gets respect.If you start revealing inside information which is also classified to some extent , especially in the area of defence etc. , is that necessary ? The enemy country can track such information and use it for it sown benefit. The kargil or balakot incident as BREAKING NEWS!!! .Do reveal , but don't start romping around in a birthday suit!!!.

The mediums are also fast and social media takes seconds to create storms and controversies which could even destroy basic social fabric, enhance animosity and start wars-verbal or physical.

So request the media to search for the truth but not at ANY COST !!!!

Value-able

We talk about values through our life. We add value and try to be meaningful to anything you do in life .If one doesn't add value , the meaning of living life would be null and void. In the corporate world, we use these jargons so often.

When I look back at the 35 years I spent in the professional space , working with various companies, cultures, regions etc. ,one thing that emerged was ,that your space that you occupy to play that ROLE , is valued as long as you are seen to be of value there. The moment you  leave that space , people in general, have a short term memory or at least temporary(selective in some cases) amnesia , where ,what you added as value would suddenly be of no consequence to them , now that you are not there .

Spiritually speaking one should say , drop the baggage and move on.You are to do a role which you played, and played well at that .What happens later is not for you to be a part of. So, move on.If  , however when you are still at that place after having added huge value to the organisation and then deciding to step away from it voluntarily , one finds a drastic change in the circumstances around you . One wonders, that the values you were taught while being brought up, the values that you nourished and cultivated through the professional journey being upright, fair and positive, should that deserve the treatment one gets .

At the fag end of ones career, one decides to hang his boots and that he decides to inform his organisation which he has served for many years about the same. This is so that, they get enough and more time to restructure the organisation and do not face inconvenience. It is a heads up and every support the organisation may require is extended . Yet , maybe a kind of insecurity or just plain adhoc measures seem to be taken in such a way that the same employee who served in your best interest is made to look like a non entity . Giving a cold shoulder or taking adhoc , knee jerk steps bypassing the norms or creating an atmosphere which appears to be heading in a foggy direction. Why?

Did the person do anything wrong in sticking to the principles and values? Did he do wrong by adding value for all these years and being acknowledged every year practically as a good VALUE-ABLE  performer( Asset)? Are you suddenly now not VALUE-ABLE anymore ? What has changed? Can we term the people encouraging such an environment as plain OPPORTUNIST? Plenty of them around as we see in day to day life.

Shall we there fore train our youngsters to be aware of such situations and not feel let down or feel devalued, stressed or demoralised , just because somebody"  depreciates " while  judging you . You have earned your levels, reached your goals ,and played your role . Then why let such situations intimidate you? I guess, take control of your mind at all times and not let mind control you is imperative .This is the key to success and a happy life , personally and professionally. I consider this journey to a bullet train which makes stops at specific stations in our life, where people board or get off at their destinations and you continue your next leg of  your life journey with or without them . The speed, Destination and stops are programmed ,and you are just the passenger trying to make that experience an enriching one , which you can recall and cherish ALL YOUR LIFE .

What If?

This title was triggered off by a what's app conversation between us friends ,with one of them asking a query on a group message for parents whose kids are in the USA.The question was, what is a better investment -Shares/Stock and bonds in USA or Mutual funds , shares etc in India for students abroad today whose parents live in India?.

What do we keep doing in life , speculate? About what ? What may happen to me , my future, my kids etc.? What we were 20 years back and dreamt of or not, and what we are today? How much of that really worked out ? End of all this are you happy with what you have today ? Is your mind at peace ? If not , all that time , money energy you spent speculating , was a  waste, in my opinion. Nostradamus predicted dooms day and if statistics were to be true , we should all be at the gates of heaven by now, with all the money accumulated thus far , piled up in dust , burnt out by a volcano or forest fire or simply swallowed by a Tsunami, natural or man created.

The great depression.Who predicted that? Was the American Freddie and fannie episode not an eye opener? 1% of the worlds population has wealth equal to 50% of the others ? YOU want to struggle and burn out your once in a lifetime opportunity , called life ,in working, earning , more and more and investing, only to find out that it got lost in seconds due to a handful of people who can destroy all your efforts by manipulating indices  , however well you may have planned it .

Why amass wealth and have sleepless nights on that?Instead earn, keep aside a little for a rainy day and then enjoy your moments with your loved ones at a time when you can afford and health permits you. Interest rates yo-yo, bank frauds, scams, Real estate disasters, natural calamities , and more we have it all around us. Big corporations get busted over night in spite of your best intelligence and can lead to nightmares. Look at Brazil Venezuela, Mexico, Greece, Portugal, Pakistan all on tenterhooks. Iran, Iraq, Syria, Yemen have Guns blazing 365x24x7 , Qatar in a blockade, China raring to go and spreading its tentacles wherever it can, Russia shutting itself to the Cyber world, the Arctic and Antarctic's melting, Wild life displaced, Africa struggling to keep its head up above the water and we have thoughts about how to secure our monies and make it grow? One wrong move that can cascade this world into a holocaust will bring all the chips down in seconds.

The gen next has their plate full and need to find their way  through this maze much better than we did and leave some for destiny to decide as it is beyond your scope.Worrying about it or speculating the returns is not realistic in my opinion.

My take on this .Plan your life for 70 years , starts working to a 5 year plan from age 20 and live every moment  , instead of worrying about tomorrow and spoiling the very moment you were suppose to enjoy. When you have set a goal and work backwards , you can in my opinion achieve a lot. Any extra years , treat them as Bonus .If not , you can at least say " lived a full life ,with no regrets".

Purpose of life

Goal setting

How boring? What is this? Never applied it beyond my work!! When I work my company and my bosses want this so I do it, to get incentives and bonuses. Sometimes even if I don’t make my goal, others do, and hence I should get my bonus , irrespective of the blow the company may take due to my underperformance…..Familiar?

In life , if you don’t know where you are going , any road takes you there. If you have a target , a goal to achieve something  and you have the available productive hours as I mentioned in my previous article ( I hope you recall!!), you can reach it provided you have a road map. Now , what is that ? All the roads I travel on here are full of potholes and make my life miserable when I need to reach my destination. Same here. Do you want to achieve your goal or reach your destination in the most optimal and smart access route? Then chalk out a plan and make that your route map or road map , finding out the best way to reach the goal.

This goes beyond the professional Goal setting exercises which major companies do and set the course for the year to achieve a common objective. Others, just dream and  drift. Learning from these and applying it to your day to day activities , one can make short term,Mid term and Long term Goals for each individual that will help you cruise through life. Let those be financial, Educational , Health, Marriage, Family and many more .Take  a book or on your tablet or PC and start putting things in sequence of priority as you see this life unfolding .Then put key milestones you wish to achieve with specific time line so that you don’t waste precious hours. Take a target date and benchmark it with the actual and tick of every step of the milestones you set to measure where you are at this moment. What you cann’t measure , you cann’t improve.

While working on the time charts , review these goals and milestones periodically as you may deem fit, as they are your goals. Create plan “B” just in case you need one for a rainy day. Keep moving ahead and you will realise how awesome you feel achieving those small steps you set for your self and later on in life look back and immerse your self in those moments.

How many of us refer to the KRA’S? How many review them quarterly to see if we are on course? Is it only the Managers job or you are accountable as well. Learn to own these , only then you have really “W O N “( O W N reshuffled ).

If you think you have really strived and achieved the goals individually and as a team, will you realise what it takes to be a good Manager. You not only own your own goals and KRA’s , but also your family and team members at work. Hence it is crucial to align the goals in such a way that all gears of the motor run in a direction that gives immense traction to the effort put by every individual. It’s  a WIN –WIN situation then. Help others, motivate them and synchronise where necessary to get your results. Communicate clearly and set the expectations at the start of the journey . You may make mid course amends , but these too should not be knee Jerk, hotch potch and erratic , that send confusing signal to you and your team members at work and home. Inclusive growth and prosperity is what one should seek and make each agenda clear and set priorities to make that happen.

Makes sense? If so , give it a shot and may be we could discuss this a few years down the line and evaluate if it made sense or not? For me and many others it worked. Degree of success etc.is relative and each has his own views of where he or she is today as compared to yesterday.

Just Do It

Decision Paralysis

To do or not to do!! Is closely connected with the famous phrase “ To be or not to be” by Hamlet. It is a deep insight, of your sheer existence.

In life you have many twists and turns, ups and downs where you need to decide which course to take. Many of us like to be the light house, and throw light to show the ship in the stormy waters , expecting it to navigate the course successfully , without captaining it. Having the steering wheel of life in your hand, will make you take charge of your life and every decision you make. It’s easy to point a finger and say , you were wrong. But , at least you took a decision and of course learn from it. Not taking one ,is Decision Paralysis.

Once you get habituated to decision paralysis , you create people who are comatosed and survive by a life line thrown in by someone with glucose or water injected into it. But , little do you realise , under the pretext of handholding , you make a cabbage of his gray cells and not allow him to grow or take decisions that are vital to your business success.

Every human being is gifted with a brain which is utilised to a maximum of just 10% , as per research done. Imagine 90% of that is wasted , and spread over a population of 7.7 billion globally , would be a huge loss. When we encounter a unique challenge or situation , we tend to look out for support .Do we apply our mind, common sense ,logic and evaluate how you could have solved it? Seeking help, support and inputs is always a good sign , deciding what to and what not to is your call. We sometimes work with a thought , what if my Boss says No!!!!?? I works with the principal of , do what you believe in and having applied your mind 100% and take a step , till someone says DON’T!!!.I still would like to question , why , so that I learn from it and evaluate the Pro’s and Con’s of my decision.

Every Entrepreneur is also taking a similar stance. He doesn’t have everything written down that carves his destiny. It is sheer grit, determination and  courage to take that one step forward towards the goal he wishes to achieve. You have 613,200 hours , assuming a life span of 70 years on a 24x7 basis .If I were to take 8 working hours per day it would 204,400 hrs. of your life span. If you remove the 24 years of your teenage and adolescence and youth  etc. till you start earning ,you have effectively just 134,320 hrs. of your life span. Do you want to be remembered for making these the most effective and productive hours for you and be called a successful person ? How you apply these hours to generate maximum bang for the buck is based on what decisions you take to reach there. There are interesting examples of Warren Buffet , Mukesh Ambani , Bill Gates , Narayan Murthy .You could take a leaf out of their page , but apply your own unique touch , which you have within and make it better .Don’t just follow blindly , apply your mind and live every moment.

If you want to scale the ladder of success in these 134,320 hrs.( Leaving Bonus Hours ,which are probably hard to find in these  stressful days) , you and only you will have to add maximum value to what ever you decide , that will take you to your ultimate goal. Coming to think of it , how many of us really have a personal and professional goal chalked out for us????

Blacck hole

The silo effect.

Many of us believe that we are the Masters of our destiny and that we must remain in those comfort zones so as to reach the ultimate destination. Somehow this leads to severe erosion of a healthy environment and blunts out your skills. Holing yourself up, without ever trying to see or experience the other side, you tend to be a chalk stick, and remain brittle.

One needs to blend in well to add real flavour to the dish one cooks and yet stand out unique as a component of the whole. This makes you jack of all. While you keep learning, keep upskilling and then you see sharpening your senses and staying ahead in spite of being together. This is healthy competition.

Trying to outdo someone in your sphere when you know you are good ,at it is a no go. The same if you attempt to step in other domains, learning the ropes, and hoisting the sails so that the ship sails through the stormy seas ,then you start becoming a successful captain steering clear of the storms in your life every time.

Getting over these barriers and stepping out of your comfort zones, you forget your armour and battle it out in all kinds of situations with great conviction. You start believing in yourself and realize that if one decides to take things up and go through the grind irrespective of his skilled domain, one can achieve mega feats that can Marvel the very best of Masters.

All in all, remember nothing really is out of bounds if you don't set boundaries for yourself. It’s seen, experienced by those who take up that task and set milestones for themselves and others to treat them like benchmarks.

Remember there is only one life, one opportunity, one knock at the door of life. It’s up to you to unlock that potential, if not, keep searching for the master key and become a lock with a hole so deep that you will never see light at the end of it.