Dont waste people's time

Written on Monday, June 01, 2009 by Siddharth PV

Giving a presentation to people is a privilege.

If people agree to attend a presentation given by you, they are gifting you their time. They are investing their time with the hope that you / your thoughts will add some value to them.

So, when you are presenting to a group, be very mindful of not wasting people's time. Make sure that every person who walks out of the room at the end of the presentation has gained something. Leave them richer.

If you genuinely think that you have no value to add by giving the presentation - accept that. Cancel your presentation. Do not waste people's time.

They will appreciate you for that.

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Tips to Stay Young n Happy Always !

Written on Thursday, April 30, 2009 by Siddharth PV

One of those email forwards that makes a lot of sense...

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1. Throw out nonessential numbers. This includes age, weight, and height.
Let the doctors worry about them.. That is why you pay them.

2. Keep only cheerful friends. The grouches pull you down.
(Keep this in mind if you are one of those grouches!)

3. Keep learning:
Learn more about the computer, crafts, gardening, whatever.
Never let the brain get idle.
'An idle mind is the devil's workshop.'
And the devil's name is Alzheimer's!

4. Enjoy the simple things

5. Laugh often, long and loud. Laugh until you gasp for breath.
And if you have a friend who makes you laugh, spend lots and lots of time with them!

6. The tears happen:
Endure, grieve, and move on.
The only person who is with us our entire life, is ourself.
LIVE while you are alive.

7. Surround yourself with what you love:
Whether it's family, pets, keepsakes, music, plants, hobbies, whatever.
Your home is your refuge.

8. Cherish your health:
If it is good, preserve it.
If it is unstable, improve it.
If it is beyond what you can improve, get help.

9. Don't take guilt trips.
Take a trip to the mall, even to a foreign country, but NOT to where the guilt is.

10. Tell the people you love that you love them, at every opportunity.

And if you don't send this to at least four people - who cares?
But do share this with someone.

--
Always & Never are two words one must always remember never to use.....

Posted in be happy, tips to be young and happy | 1 comments

Decision Making

Written on Tuesday, April 28, 2009 by Siddharth PV

More time doesn't lead to better decisions. It only leads to anxiety.

What enables better choices is better information.

So it makes no sense to postpone a decision - unless you are going to
get BETTER INFORMATION in the meantime.

Rather, just go ahead and make the choice.

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Basics of Problem Solving - Identify the problem correctly

Written on Monday, April 20, 2009 by Siddharth PV

The first step to solving any problem is - identify your problem correctly.
The moment you get that right, your problem - solving efforts will automatically get aligned in the right way.

Thanks to Ravi for bringing up this thought.

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Learn 2 new things each year

Written on Sunday, April 19, 2009 by Siddharth PV

This thought came up while discussing appraisals with Ravi.

Ravi's thoughts on appraisals:

" The appraisals are a way to let you know what is it that is lacking from making you that super stud - super leader that you can be.

In fact, if there is ONE thing that all great leaders always have is - Self Awareness.

They have identified their strengths.They know exactly what they lack.

So, when you finish a round of appraisals, try and identify what is it that you need to learn to root out your 'apparent' shortcomings.

Out of the many shortcomings that you might have identified, decide those 2 things that you are going to learn / improve.

Focus on them for the next 6 months - 1 year. At the end of that period, you would have mastered those 2 things.

Continue this over the next 15 years of your career - you have learnt 30 things - eliminated 30 weaknesses.

And before you know it - you will end up being the stud that you always wanted to be. "

My take on this:

I think Ravi is right. Mostly right.

The only catch here is - one must ensure that his appraisal is done by someone he trusts. (Good part about iRunway is we can choose our career managers.)

For any person to take his feedback seriosuly, he must respsct the person who is giving the feedback.

Otherwise the entire excercise is a waste.

And yes - I completely believe the part about learning 2 things at a time.

Considering the MANY things I need to learn, it will be close to impossible if I attempt them all at once. :)

So I better target 2 things at a time.

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Relationships...

Written on Saturday, April 04, 2009 by Siddharth PV

Trivial relationships - either personal or professional, never work.

If you are not adding any value to the opposite party in the
relationship, it is bound to fail.

When, is just a matter of time.

- Srinivasan Alagu

Posted in adding value, relationships, srini | 2 comments

'The Bucket List'

Written on Sunday, March 29, 2009 by Siddharth PV

Some of the best dialogues from the 'The Bucket List' -

Carter Chambers: You measure yourself by the people who measure themselves by you

- - - - -

Edward Cole: I envy people who have faith, I just can't get my head around it.
Carter Chambers: Maybe because your head's in the way.

- - - - -

Edward Cole: Somewhere, some lucky guy's having a heart attack.

- - - - -

Carter Chambers: Edward Perryman Cole died in May. It was a Sunday in the afternoon and there wasn't a cloud in the sky. He was 81 years old. Even now, I can't claim to understand the measure of a life, but I can tell you this: I know that when he died, his eyes were closed and his heart was open, and I'm pretty sure he was happy with his final resting place because he was buried on the mountain, and that was against the law.

- - - - -

Edward Cole: Kiss the most beautiful girl in the world.
Carter Chambers: How are you going to do that?
Edward Cole: Volume!

- - - - -

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Rangai Jaa Ne Rang Ma...

Written on Thursday, March 26, 2009 by Siddharth PV

One of my favorite stavans ever.

Finally I tabbed it (the first part atleast)...

The rest will follow soon.

Btw - how did i end up doing it?

I was actually trying to tab the SUTTA Song..

When I happened to just accidently 'figure' a part of another stawan ' Aavyo charane tamaara'...

And then one thing led to another...

It is moments like this which actually make the phrase 'Divine Intervention' make true sense...

Rangai Jaa Ne Rang Ma...

e ---------------------------------------------------------------
B --7-9---7--10-10-10-9-9-7-7-7-7-7-7-7-7------------------------
G ------9--9-----------------------------------------------------
D ---------------------------------------------------------------
A ---------------------------------------------------------------
E ---------------------------------------------------------------

Mahavir Tana Satsang ma... Adinath na tu rang ma...

e ---------------------------------------------------------------
B -9-11/12-12-12-11-9-9h11-7-7-7---7---10-10-10-9-9-7-7-5-5-4-4-2
G -------------------------------8---8---------------------------
D ---------------------------------------------------------------
A ---------------------------------------------------------------
E ---------------------------------------------------------------

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Rocky Balboa - on life...

Written on Sunday, March 22, 2009 by Siddharth PV

"Let me tell you something you already know. The world ain't all sunshine and rainbows. It is a very mean and nasty place and it will beat you to your knees and keep you there permanently if you let it. You, me, or nobody is gonna hit as hard as life. But it ain't how hard you hit; it's about how hard you can get hit, and keep moving forward. How much you can take, and keep moving forward. That's how winning is done. Now, if you know what you're worth, then go out and get what you're worth. But you gotta be willing to take the hit, and not pointing fingers saying you ain't where you are because of him, or her, or anybody. Cowards do that and that ain't you. You're better than that! "

-Rocky Balboa

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How does experience help? And how do you help yourself, in case you dont have it?

Written on Tuesday, March 17, 2009 by Siddharth PV

When you are experienced - you have seen a lot more.
You have been in similar situations before.
You have seen the possible problems that you could face.
You know that A,B,C things work... And X, Y, Z approaches dont work. ( The list may not be exhaustive, but you still more than others.)
You have the initial 'comfort factor' of having 'been there and done that'
This can be a BIG morale booster. It helps you begin well.

And well begun is half done, well done.
Period.

So, how does a newbie on the job try and match his manager? (who, on most occasions would be his grand-daddy as far as the domain is concerned)

1. Be exceptionally brilliant (unfortunately cant proactively do too much about this)
2. Out-Listen, Out-Read & Out-Think

Out-Listen:
Keep your eyes and ears open - Take in ALL the gyan that you can.
You never know what might come in handy.

Out-Read:
What makes your managers so good is the rich exposure of the years that they have spent - handling problems REAL TIME.
If you read enough RELEVANT material (there are enough books, blogs, manuals out there) - You will read about the mistakes that you could make - that your manager would have already made, lived through AND LEARNT.
That way, you are cutting through your learning curve, putting yourself in a better position.

Out-think:
Most difficult of all. But spend more time analysing the problem at hand. Spend more thought on it. If you are reading and listening enough, this will be easier.

............

Of course - at the end of the day - living throuhg something can never be replaced by Listening, Reading or Thinking about it.
But atleast - you would know more. Your mind would have been exposed to a newer dimension. And as Einstein says -
Once your mind has been stretched to a new dimension, it WILL NOT go back to the old dimension.
You would have grown.

Posted in experience, importance of reading, listening, thinking | 1 comments