Why do you want to do; what you plan to do?

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You would have encountered many people at work and among friends who just write plans & goals; without evaluating it through "capacity of execution". Moreover, their plans & goals are inherited after looking at the "positive" & "flashy" ends of their fellows or friends. Something like "Since Ram created his own house at the age of 35, I also need to do the same", "Since Shyam started Investing Rs. 10000 every month in Equities, I also need to start Investing Rs. 10000 every month", "Since Mehtas had been to Europe Tour this year, we also need to visit Europe", etc.

People while framing their plans don't evaluate the "capacity of execution". Most of them don't even answer themselves as to "Why do they want to do what they plan to do?" If you question "Why" to them, they will come with answers like "Ram & Shyam did that, so am I doing?" and they completely oversee the fact that the execution of a plan is directly affected by the environmental & capacity variables. And they believe & rely on their "Power of Assumption" to such an extent that it starts appearing "reality" to them.

I recommend you to plan & write goals on something you are passionate about, while evaluating your capacity to execute it. Like, if you have liquid funds & want to plan your financials, invest in better options instead of buying a SUV to "show-off". If you love mountains, and want to go on vacation, go to "Laddakh" instead of "Mount Titlis" after borrowing a sum of Rs. 1 Lac from the bank. Do something which can give you "sense of achievement" without pushing you into debts & not measuring yourself on scale of "relative competition". This is your life, why to mould it like anybody else's?

Assess Capacity! Plan Goals! Execute Happily!

Is your mind accepting the ONLY solution?

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Everyone is surrounded with one or more problems at any instance of time. However, magnitude of problems may differ. One might have a problem with his phone & other might have problems on his project. The most preferred way of Problem Solving is sharing out & Brainstorm! Everyone knows that! And so we share out some of our problems at home as well as at work.

One interesting observation is, after sharing out your problem, you'll look out for solutions from few set of guys (who are probably SMEs - Subject Matter Experts). At the same time, there is another set of guys who will give instant solution (and these guys can be in or out of the set of SMEs), who will answer to your problem something like:

1. This is the ONLY way to resolve the problem on...
2. This is the ONLY way to make money through...
3. This is the ONLY way to be in the business...
4. This is the ONLY way for you to be successful in...

Every time someone on phone call at work, or someone out of friends & relatives gives a solution after introducing the word 'ONLY', my mind generates a WARNING Signal! These category of people, on answering instantly with the word 'ONLY', pressurizes other's mind to not to 'Think any Further', and 'Accept' the solution. This further stops the 'creative thinking', and more usage of these patterns of solution answering will put 'creative thinking' to death over a period of time.

You need to observe yourself too. Do you often use the word 'ONLY' during solution answering? And now on, when someone uses the word 'ONLY' while giving solutions, look for the underlying assumptions they are making. Interestingly, you'll find the usage of the word 'ONLY' in events & conferences by various CEOs, VPs & Top Management.

Be Creative! Think more Further, when the word "ONLY" comes during the conversation.

What do you Want in Life & How much money is required?

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"I want chocolate ice-cream!" can be heard if you ask 5 years old kid, "What do you want?" 30 years old guy will answer "I want my own house!", and a 70 years old man will say "I want nothing!" Here 5 years old kid doesn't earn money, and so asks you a very small portion of money which can satisfy his want. Whereas 30 years old guy earns money and asks equivalent of what his money can satisfy his want. And 70 years old man simply says "nothing" because his wants cannot be bought with money.

Everyone knows that value of money in this world depreciates with time. 10 years back if you were able to buy 1 Kg of rice in 5 rupees, today you'll get 100gms for the same sum. The value of money doesn't even depreciate in this world, but also in our lives with time. Money is a scale of measuring the importance or value of 'entity' in your eyes. And this 'value' gradually increases with age, attains its peak between 40-50 and then drops steeply. If plotted on graph, it will be:



At the time of writing this article I am 31, however the plot of values on the graph above is being judged by the answers you get by questioning "What do you want?" to different age groups. This graph depicts the 'Amount of Money required to Satisfy Want'. The age-band where I am in today 25-40 years, people learn how to make money, and do what not to make it more. Next age-band, 40-60 years people make money out of what they earned in 25-40 and gradually in 40-60 the "want for money" fades and "want for respect/recognition" increases. Next age-band, 60-80 years people will go clueless as to what did they do with their life? Kept on running behind something which was just depreciable?, and will ask questions to self "Did I just kept on earning more of what was actually needed & missed the opportunity to see other key aspects of life?" and will eventually go to "world tour" or some "house of worship" & spend rest of the life understanding "spirituality" and "inner strengths of humans" or just "exploring this world".

5 Miles High & Zero Existence

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You would have encountered "5 miles high & zero existence" people at your office, among friends or among acquaintances. Let me explain who are 5M-Hi-ZeEx (5 miles high & zero existence)? Rolling back 20 years of Life when you were pretty young, remember the guys who used to show-off their motor bikes, their gadgets, their power, their acts-of-living life, their collection of music cassettes, etc. And then, when you used to get to these guys to try out or share their things, they used to either show-off with glitters or refuse to give it to you saying excuse.

Similar people exists at our offices too, they show-off by saying "I am having X years of experience", "I have done super complex projects in my life", "I am the sole contributor to the success of what X company boasts about", "Problem solving is a cake walk, do Step 1 - Step 2 - Step 3, and you are done", etc. They not even show off their own-categorized "superlative wisdom", but want others to pamper it too. If someone approaches these 5M-Hi-ZeEx guys to discuss on to the solution of Problems, or just over a casual chat. They will question back on competencies and history of achievements so far after keeping their "superlative wisdom" on the table.

Questions to be asked to 5M-Hi-ZeEx guys:
1. If I Google your name, will you be the first link?
2. If I Google the top competency you possess, will you be on first page?
3. If I ask for you at the reception of your office, will receptionist be directing me without looking at her computer?
4. If I put your pic on posters, and paste it across city of your choice in country you live. How many will recognize you?
5. Flying 5 miles high on a plane, if I shout out your name. Will anybody recognize you?

If answers to these five questions are on negative side, it is better for these set of people to be on ground, and greet people in corridor with smile, keep their "ego" at the back seat and respect the knowledge others have. Thinking & Knowledge are not always dependent on the Years of Experience you have. Contributing to success of others & sharing owns knowledge will help gain the respect. Give it! Don't demand it!

First Impression is no more Last Impression

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"1st Impression is the Last Impression" is a famous saying. Is it still true? Remember the time you guys interacted me 1st - At Work, In a Meeting, Some Conference, Reading my 1st Mail, During College or may be some 20-25 years back? Today after knowing me for some time, all of you carry a different Perception of me - Friendly, Over-Friendly, Neutral, Formal, Silent Observer etc.

And there are some others in this group who never had a talk with me, but have known me from BlogSpot, Face book, Articles, etc. The perceptions of these guys differ totally, because they never had a chance to have 1st Impression about me. They never met me, nor did I send them any email. They just carry my "0th Impression". Today, they have some assessment about me without even interacting with me.

Whereas, few other guys in the group who know me for quite some time, probably never knew some of my Hidden Thoughts. And so now via Blogs & Articles they are getting "Surprise Impressions".

So, in today's world, you don't have to worry about your "1st Impression" any more. Focus on "0th Impression" to help Unknowns and on "Surprise Impressions" to help Knows in giving your True Picture of Who You Are?

What are your GOALS in LiFE

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When you were in school, this was the question which was shooted the most - "What would you like to become when you grow up?". And then you'll hear the answers covering all the professions. But when you grow up, there is change in wish. You get to experience more reality, and then you filter, change & narrow your goals based on the surrounding opportunities & your competency.

But many of us today just plan out short-term goals, and once achieved; we raise another set of short-term goals, and keep the loop going till we hit the age of 65, where we eventually realize and then question ourselves - "What was the human life for?", "Why was I sent to this planet as a human being, and not as any reptile or a tiger?", etc etc. And then suddenly you'll draft a Spiritual Plan, and join some house of worship to devote rest of your life understanding the meaning of those questions.

In my opinion you should craft out both short-term goals and long-term goals which should be revisited every 6 months, and stay more focussed on top 3-5 goals every year. Make one goal from each of the nine categories:
1. Career Goals
2. Relationship & Family Goals
3. Financial Goals
4. Educational Goals
5. Health & Fitness Goals
6. Community & Social Involvement Goals
7. Self-Understanding & Personal Goals
8. Spiritual Goals
9. Leisure Goals

Truly speaking, setting up a goal sheet is much easy, but many of us wouldn't know which direction to move to achieve them. The best way is to measure where you are right NOW. And so a correct assessment of our current situation is very much required to move ahead. I suggest a simple way of doing it - Against each goal list down some obstacles which could get in your way, and list down the resources you will need to overcome those obstacles. Resources can be your family members or friends or coworkers too. And more precisely have a Start Date & End Date attached to all of the goals!

It is always that when you regular habit of reviewing your goal sheet, you'll be able to achieve them. So what are you waiting for? December 31? My dear, do it NOW.

Do you REALLY Think?

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I was playing a game of questions & answers with my friends with the rule that they need to answer within 5 seconds of me completing the question. I was asking them questions like "Which country is the largest exporter of Tea?", "Which is the 3rd highest mountain peak in the world?” etc. And after a while one of the friends said that I need to give more time from 5 seconds to say 15 seconds. I asked him "Why?", and he replied he need more time to THINK!

You might have asked similar questions to the people in day-to-day life like "What is Rahul's Phone No?", "How far is New Delhi from here?", etc. And soon thereafter they will gesture like they are THINKING, before they answer out. The common entity among all these questions is, they have a finite answer. So, would you agree with them that they were THINKING? Or would you agree with that they were just SEARCHING? In my opinion, someone who is good at answering quiz questions may not be a good Thinker. Where as someone who is good at reasoning, planning, decision making, and doing similar activities is most likely a good Thinker.

Remember of when you were kid, how many of your classmates used to raise their hands quickly soon after teacher finishes the question? All of those were having great Recall & Search memory, and how many of them used to dive into the questions and come out with some creative answers after a while? All of those were Thinkers. But the 'Fact of the Life' is then Searcher succeeded and Thinkers Failed! But as you grew, you would have observed it going reverse.

Consider your brain is having a box within, and whatever you have learned so far is in this box. Now, if somebody asks you a solution to the problem, most of the time you will go to this box, search out pieces from your learning, apply some relational analysis and join those pieces to present the solution. Eventually you are going to make a known solution, because it came from learning already known.

The Power to THINK is so incredible, it allows you to go beyond the boundaries of this box, and come out with a solution which is unknown to this world. And it is you who need to apply that 'extra' effort on your THINK muscle, because it that 'extra' only which differentiates between an ORDINARY & an EXTRAORDINARY.

Do you THINK at work?

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I am in IT Service Delivery for more than 11 Years now. And most of the folks in this group are also in some way or other related to same function. Being in Service Delivery function of the organization, we need to clock 40 hours/week in a tool to show our weekly productivity. I wonder if I can add 8 hours/week in the tool as 'Thinking' activity?

Let me ask you a question - 'Do you THINK at work?'. You might reply back saying 'Yes', if you are an Individual Contributor, or if you are a Manager you'll question back saying - 'Who does not?' :). So if you really THINK at work, why don't you clock those many hours as 'THINKING' activity in the tool? One of you may say 'The option does not exist in the tool'. If I further ask you another question - 'Does THINKING helps in increasing productivity & efficiency at work and derives new ways of doing work? And is it one of the necessary skills to possess?’ If you answer 'Yes' to this, then wouldn't it be nice to discuss the same with your team/group and have the option inserted in the tool?

I want you to try out this - When you are at work, free up your mind and pick one problem from your daily process, or your project, or your assignment, and then THINK on it for 15 - 20 mins, on how can you solve this. During THINKING don't look at anything distracting like PC Monitor or Hallway and don't sip any drink like Tea or Coffee. Just keep looking at something still like ceiling or the desk or the pen or the wall and keep Thinking. You know, what will happen? people will come to you and after keeping their hands on your shoulder they'll ask you - 'Are you worried about something?', 'If something is bothering you?', 'I can't see you sitting like this, anything I can help on?', etc etc. Yes, they can't let you think. The only acceptable mode at work is keep on working by either moving your mouse, or typing, or staring at your monitor.

Question is changed from 'Do you THINK at work?' to 'Can you THINK at work?'

Fact of the matter is, Customer is not going to pay for clocking the time as 'THINKING' activity, and people at work will start sympathizing(disturbing) you after looking at you not working, even when 'THINKING' is the most productive activity.

Hence from now on, you spread the word and give space to people at work to THINK, to empower them from their inner strengths to make them more Productive & Efficient, and let them derive new ways of approaching on same problems, eventually helping the Business they are in.

Do you admit saying "I don't know"?

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Are you questioned every day, either by your boss, relatives, friends or by yourself. And in instances when you are in public or in community, you reply back with an answer at the very moment. I have also observed people answering the questions they don't know what to answer about on. There are two reasons for answering instantly for the questions you don't know, (1) "ego" issue, and (2) "prestige" issue.

It becomes difficult for you to say "I don't know", especially when you are in a position of a manager or a leader, or if you are delivering a talk or presentation to a group of people in some event. Because you are in a position with the "preset" in your mind that you know everything about where you are, and it is your responsibility to answer to the team/group. But answering to the questions you don't know the answer of, can lead to two problems, (1) you give a fast-food answer which might not be able to give the right diet to the questions asked, (2) you get relieved, and further don't think about the right answers for the questions because you already gave the substitute.

Another interesting observation with other kind of managers, leaders & speakers is, they will try to cook some answer which eventually will mean "They don't know", and then will pick up a guy from the team/group and piggyback this half-cooked answer to him for further cooking it to full. But none of them will say "I don't know".

In my view, when you say "I don't know", it opens up whole new set of opportunities to learn about something you don't know. The moment you declare "I don't know", you change yourself to the receptive mode to learn something new, and further spread the 'right' knowledge to your team. Also you don't have to come up with fast-food answers, and get out of the trap of making another quick sauce for the fast-food answer, in case somebody questions your fast-food answers.

Admitting "I don't know" won't make you small by any means, and in case the team/group thinks that way, you need to ask yourself if you are answering to right audience. But remember, saying "I don't know" regularly can become a competence or skill issue as well.

Get the most from "Bringing iDEAS 2 LiFE"

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I see Life as a Program, and at any point in time we are always in the middle of one or more projects in our life. But where we head towards in this program is largely dependent on the success of the projects. Life would have been cake-walk if we were exceeding expectations of key stakeholders, and completing all of our projects in time and within the budget. But truly speaking, most of the projects are running late, and are over budget. Moreover, there is a constant pressure both from within and people we connect - to perform better, and improve efficiency on every project. And so, we work hard towards completing the very project we are in, and put short term goals. Having achieved the same, we celebrate, and move on to the next project.

We completely forget about the Program, and eventually get into the trap of taking projects, setting goals, finishing it up, and repeating the same cycle. If nobody tells us about the 'Program', we will soon hit 45, and then start thinking about Life (The Program). And then will pick the reasons for failure, and will play the 'blame-game' for rest of the life.

I am setting up this Group of Facebook to share the Ideas we have learned from experiences, and get the followings in the best form of iDEAS to LiFE:

1. Tools to get most out of your Life.
2. Learning from the experiences you had.
3. Methods to identify the 'Hidden You'.
4. Decrease the turn-around-time for solving real life problems.
5. Strategies to improve your skills, and many more.

Return on Investment (ROI) is a key concept in business, and spending time in a Group is no different. I hope you'll get right ROI from this group. To calculate your Investment, go through this table:


And to calculate the return, you have to:
1. Take this group seriously: Really, it is up to you on how much you are applying these principals in your life?
2. Believe this group: Have faith in whatever you take up in life. And give time for tree to grow up before you look out for fruits.
3. Participate in the group: It is not the best answers from your Gurus can help you live the life to maximum; it is the questions you put up to them.

So let us start on this collectively, and thank you for your time for taking this read, and I believe we can share here some of our Ideas in living a better Life.

Stop Comparing Start Living

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Do you have a tendency of comparing your Job Title with your schoolmate's or college mate’s Job Title? Do you see at the model of the car or the type of gadgets when you make visit to your friend's house? Do you often think the reason of your friend happiness is the new property he/she bought? Do you run guess work on the Salary of your friends or peers in the office? If it is so, you are suffering from a disease, of which probably I don't know the name of. But this article can help you (somewhat) to get rid of it.

If you want to be happier in where you are then just try this - Stop Comparison! If you'll try it, for sure it will make a huge difference in looking at your life, and living it in a way it is supposed to. Most people I have met, have trouble with their jobs or relationships or (if not anything else for sure) the boss at work. Why? Because they 'Compare' their job or relationship or boss with some 'Ideal entity in their imagination'.

If you are suffering with the problem of comparison, your mind will generate all negative thoughts for the entity (job or relation or boss), and going through this for a longer period of time reduces your 'Thinking Bandwidth' such that whenever you Think Next, you think negative.

To overcome this, flip the way you think. Try this - Think what is positive about your job - Is it giving you opportunity to work with most powerful brands? How many people in the market are willing to come and work at place you are? Similarly think positive side of your relationships & your boss.

It is pretty difficult to overcome the 'Comparison' quickly. So I suggest it is better to compare the reverse way. Take a sheet of paper, and write down the things your friend or peer doesn't have. And more precisely write non-materialistic things first like 'Caring Spouse', 'Living with Parents', 'Childhood you had', 'Time you spend with Family', 'Some skills you have like - painting, singing', 'Things you are passionate about' etc. And then write a header on this sheet "Exclusive to my Life" & then stick this sheet somewhere in your Bathroom (preferably right adjacent to mirror where you brush your teeth), to have a refreshing kick start every day.

Remember, in 'The Race of your Life', you compete in getting better with 'Yourself' and not somebody else, after all this is 'Your Life' not anybody else’s. So why let anybody ruin 'Your Life'? And every day in this race either 'You WIN' from yourself or 'You Learn' for yourself.