Sunday, November 16, 2008

3. Self Management



You are responsible for everything that happens in your life. Learn to accept total responsibility for yourself. If you do not manage yourself, then you are letting others have control of your Life. These tips will help "you" manage "you."

Here is a list of things that help you in self management and which will in turn lead you to the path of success: -

-) Look at every new opportunity as an exciting and new-life experience.

-) Be a professional who exhibits self-confidence and self-assurance in your potential to complete any task.

-) Agree with yourself in advance that you will have a good attitude toward the upcoming task.

-) Frequently ask, "Is what I am doing right now moving me toward my goals?"

-) Do it right the first time and you will not have to take time later to fix it.

-) Accept responsibility for your job successes and failures. Do not look for a scapegoat.

-) Do not view things you do as a "job." View all activities as a challenge.
-) Use your subconscious mind by telling it to do what you do want. Instead of telling yourself, "I can't do that very well," say, "I can do this very well."-) Give yourself points for completing tasks on your "to-do" list in priority order. When you reach 10 points, reward yourself.

-) Practice your personal beliefs. It may be helpful each morning to take 15 minutes to gather your thoughts and say a prayer.

-) Make a commitment to show someone a specific accomplishment on a certain date. The added urgency will help you feel motivated to have it done.

-) Practice self-determination, wanting to do it for yourself.

-) Believe that you can be what you want to be.

-) Never criticize yourself as having a weakness. There is no such thing. You are only talking about a present undeveloped skill or part of yourself that if you so chose, you can change. You do not have any weakness, only untapped potential.

-) Be pleasant all the time-no matter what the situation.

-) Challenge yourself to do things differently than you have in the past. It provides new ideas and keeps you interested.

-) Talk to yourself. A self-talk using positive affirmation is something that is common among all great achievers. They convince themselves that they can accomplish their goals.

-) Create your own "motivation board" by putting up notes of things you need to do on a bulletin board or special wall space. It is an easily visible way to see what you need to work on. When an item is done, remove the note. Also keep your goals listed and pictured on your board.

-) Stay interested in what you are doing. Keep looking for what is interesting in your work. Change your perspective and look at it as someone outside your job would,

-) Establish personal incentives and rewards to help maintain your own high enthusiasm and performance level.

Sunday, November 9, 2008

2. Boy and Tree


There was one time a very young boy, who used to spend time playing by a tree.

One day he got bored and he said to the tree, "I'm bored, I've played with these toys too many times!"

The tree replied, "OK, you can climb up on me and play on my branches."

The boy got really happy with this suggestion and he had a lot of fun playing and sitting high up, on the branches of the tree.

When he started school, he spent more time away from the tree, but one day he came back to it, and the tree was overjoyed to see its young companion, and it encouraged him to climb on, but he refused.

"My clothes are going to get dirty if I climb up on you."
So the tree thought for a while, and said, "OK, bring a rope and tie it to me, and you can use my branches as a swing."

The boy liked that idea, so he did that too, and would come back every other day to sit for a while on that swing.

Whenever he used to get hot, the tree told him to rest in its shade.

As he got older, and moved on to college, times became harder on him and he ran short of food, so he went back to the tree which he had stopped visiting for a long time.

The tree recognised him immediately and welcomed him, but he was hungry and complained to the tree, "I don't have any food to eat, my stomach is cringing with hunger."

So the tree said, "Pull down my branches and take off the fruit, and fill yourself up."

The young guy didn't even hesitate, but jumped up and tore off one of the smaller branches and ate to his fill.

Over the weeks, he tore off all the branches and ate all the fruit.

After the fruits had all gone, he went away and didn't come back to the tree.

When he reached his middle ages, he came back to the tree and said to it, "I have been very successful in life.

I have earned a lot of money, I have a huge house and I have found a great wife.

Now I want to travel and see the world."

The tree was now very old, but to help its long time companion, it didn't wait, and said, "Bring a saw, cut off my trunk and make a boat. Then you will see the wonders of the world."

So again, without hesitation the man cut down the tree.

The same tree which he had played on, ate its fruit, laid in its shade; he cut it down and made a boat.

As soon as it was finished, he sailed away and wasn't seen by his people again.

One day, an old man, walked past the tree.

It hadnt recovered from the time he had cut it down. He went up to the tree, but didn't say anything.

He felt the tears coming down from his eyes.

This time the tree spoke in a faint voice, "I'm sorry. I don't have a trunk for you to climb, nor fruit for you to eat, nor branches of shade for you to lie in. All I have now are my deep roots."

The old man whispered, "That's fine. Tree roots are the best place to lie down, snuggle up and sleep after a long life."

The tree symbolizes our parents, and the boy symbolizes us.

The moral of the story is that we make use of our parents like tissue, and use them all up, and don't even give thanks, but they stay with us till the very end.


Sunday, November 2, 2008

1. Tips to get smarter, better at work

Here are some simple and effective tips that could enhance your career to a greater extent.


1. Effective communication forms the foundation for a positive work alliance. You need to be able to tell your potential ally what you need and listen deeply to what they need.

2. Treat your allies as equals. No matter their position within your organization, all people are equal; they just have different jobs. Believe this.

3. Exhibit total professionalism. Never participate in gossip or in discussing the business of coworkers behind their backs.

4. Make sure you are not forming an exclusive club that the rest of your organization will fear and resent. But, you must take the time to develop strong relationships with your allies.

5. When working on a project together, always put forth your best efforts. Be the person who is willing to do extra to strengthen the collaboration and the outcome or product.

6. Keep your promises. If you say you will do something, do it. People need to depend upon you and the deadlines to which you commit.

7. Resolve any conflicts or disputes at your earliest opportunity. Unresolved conflict festers just under the surface in organizations.

8. Be an ally. Support your colleague’s ability to accomplish his or her mission, too. Give credit for ideas and solutions.

9. Effective managers delegate and don’t micromanage. Prioritize your tasks to focus on the important ones.

10. Your workspace should keep you motivated, not provide hot spots for daydreaming. Dress up your desk with items that keep you focused.

11. Too much to do at work? Add another task to your list: take a vacation and relax. People can’t operate at full throttle on the job day after day.

12. It’s a fact that taking breaks will increase productivity. It’s been proven in studies. If you need to, find someone to help ensure you take a morning and afternoon break.

13. Establish a routine of planning your week and your day. This will allow you to have your most productive week all the time.

14. Delegate or delete the non-essential items from your to-do list. The best way to do this is to always do your most important things first.

15. Make sure you plan in enough time between activities and appointments, and find ways to fail proof being on time.

16. Choose to enjoy your time at work. Find others who are like this and spread good cheer. It’s contagious and it grows.

17. Deadlines, tough bosses, rude clients, slow computers. Don’t make them into large dramas. Don’t lament the challenges of the world.

18. Try doing something different. If you always go on a trip, try taking a more local vacation, and really get some good rest time.

19. When you complain or fight on everything, then your power to ask for things is diminished. Save it up for when you really need it.

20. Don’t wait for your company to tell you what to do. Think creatively about how you can work with others to generate a greater result than if you had each worked on this alone.

21. If you are asked a question that stumps you or surprises you, never feel like you have to answer it right away. Seek more time to think about or research your answer.

22. Don’t immediately reject critiques from others, even if you don’t like or respect them. Sometimes people you don’t like may be giving you more honest feedback.

23. Be open to change. Give it a chance. Adapt to new things while using your experience to guide you, and you will have great success.

24. Always be on the lookout for opportunities to learn and improve your skills. Look for good seminars and training.

25. Set up a routine for “busy days” - perhaps you work 2-4 extra hours, and stick to that schedule, working nothing beyond it.

26. Schedule things like “break”, “coffee”, or even “video games” into your calendar just like you would a conference call.

27. There is a time and a place for perfectionism - when things are busy, consciously choose the areas in which you are willing to slack.

28. Whether it be business or personal support, busy times call for a morale boost on a regular basis. Hire a temp virtual assistant or call a good friend.

29. Everyone has a few things that are guaranteed to bring your stress level down to normal. Know your ‘relax buttons’ and get them on your schedule now.

30. For many people, a computer is the central tool at work. Optimizing the energy settings for computers and other devices can be more than a modest energy saver.