Humour is the quality of being amusing by trying to find something interesting in almost any situation. A good sense of Humour keeps a person lively, free from stress and thus is a great asset. When a person says to someone “I am warning you to not mess up with me as I know Karate, Kung Fu, Judo, Daimoku, Jutsu” etc. and similarly names 28 other dangerous words. The time when a person reads these words, one cannot imagine that ultimately that person is saying he only knows words and nothing else. This makes you smile and that is humour. Life is short thus one should always smile.
When a person thinks that he needs glasses at his age and if wine glasses are shown in a picture in place of wearing glasses it makes that person smile.
To that extent, humour should give some surprise by either pun of words or in any other manner so that the surprise achieved is a pleasant one but without sarcasm.
Someone who is fond of vacation might say I need a 6 month vacation twice a year. Now, this is absurd but still it makes one smile.
It is said that humour is by far the most significant activity of the Human Brain. Never mistake a person’s silence for weakness. No one plans a murder out loud.
As said by Osho “If you find a saint who has no sense of humour then he is not a saint at all.” Humour is indeed a great asset.
There is another saying which goes as “A sense of Humour makes a man handsome and a girl beautiful.”
If one is serious and says. “A recent survey has found that one in three men is just as stupid as the other two.” Again, absurdity makes you smile.
The great leaders and the famous people throughout the world have also expressed humour in different ways.
Abraham Lincoln said “I destroy my enemy when I make him my friend”.
Albert Einstein said “Two things are infinite; the Universe and the Human stupidity and I am not so sure about the Universe.”
Author Francis Bacon said “There are two ways of spreading light: To be the Candle or the mirror that reflects it.”
He also said that “If a man will begin with certainties, he shall end in doubts; but if he will be content to begin with doubts he shall end in certainties.”
Sometimes there are just wise sayings and only expressed humorously.
Humour is also about right thing, and needs to be having right words at the right place.
It has to be well-timed too.
Someone said “Failure is the opportunity to begin again more intelligently”.
It is said that “Common sense is like deodorant and the people who need it the most never use it”.
Whenever there is a surprise or if you are comparing two things which don’t justify the comparison it makes you smile and that is Humour.
“Forgive and forget; I am neither Jesus nor do I have Alzheimer’s disease.”
Humour is rightly called Mankind’s greatest blessing.
Charlie Chaplin once said “A day without laughter is a day wasted”.
When it comes to why humour should be used, Lincoln said “If you are in a situation wherein important and controversial ideas must be presented to less than open minds, humour allows those ideas to be presented in a non-threatening manner”.
Abraham Lincoln was famous for his ability to relate humorous stories. And so was Albert Einstein who said “A person who never makes a mistake, never tried anything new”.
Find humour in everything and you will live without worry and die without worry.
Thanks for reading.
Category: Personality development
Power of Good Habits!!
What is habit?
Habit is a routine of behavior that is repeated frequently, and tends to occur unconsciously. Bad habits intrude your life and prevent you from accomplishing your goals. Breaking any habit can be difficult. For instance, if a person smokes regularly, it becomes his habit and even if he wants to quit, it becomes difficult for him to give-up.
Psychologist and philosopher William James proclaimed that the entire life is nothing but a series of habits that we form repeatedly. The power of habit has been explained by various authors, world leaders and motivational speakers. One of the famous Authors, Stephen R. Covey, wrote a book titled “The 7 Habits of successful People” describing an approach to being effective in realizing your goals.
One can create excellence in big things, by developing good habits even in small matters. Keeping the desk clean, using mobile with discretion, removing the clutter from your mind, etc. All these can be practiced again and again easily. When you instill these habits into your life, you create the foundation for achieving your goals.
Here are 8 Habits of highly productive people that you may adopt to get the best out of you!!
- Ruthlessly cut away the unimportant
That’s right. Try to focus only on the important things, and cut away everything that’s unimportant. There is no point doing something that is not needed for the desired results. So push yourself to quit wasting time, and bring yourself back to the production mode.
- Allocate breaks strategically
Productivity declines over time without taking brakes. Take many small breaks during the day. The rule of thumb would be to take a 5 to 10 minutes break every 2 hours of work. Breaks are a highly effective way to boosting your productivity.
- Remove productivity pitfalls
Things that limit your productivity must be thrown out. It can be the loud music you listen to when you work, your phone calls, alerts from your inbox, your slow computer, the internet, YouTube, Facebook, Twitter, etc. These things trap you and prevent you from getting things done.
- Tap into your inspiration
No matter what field you’re in, your inspiration is the key to your output. So, channel your inner muse. Keep on thinking and contemplating the things that motivates you. And definitely you will find that your focus increases thereby up surging your productivity.
- Create barriers to entry
Don’t make yourself too accessible. If you’re too accessible, then you will face a lot of interruptions. Nowadays, people can connect with others very easily- with the touch of button (text, emails, calls, etc.). Therefore, guard your time to improve your productivity.
- Optimize time pockets
Make the best of every minute. For instance, if you’re working for 10 minutes, ensure that you achieve maximum outcomes in those 10 minutes and then you can take time off. You usually get time pockets while waiting for people, commuting, chess app, reading books, or planning.
- Set timelines
Be clear on what you want to achieve, and then set your timelines for them. When you set timelines, you commit to yourself to complete the work on time, hence, paving the way for the reality to manifest.
- Automate everything possible
Technology today has made automation possible for a lot of things we do. Hence, find a way to automate every task and let it be your habit. If you outsource, delegate. Delegation and automation wherever possible will enhance your productivity.
By no means, this is a complete list. But as you focus on improving productivity by adopting good habits you will be inspired to adopt more such habits which are particularly useful to you.
Thanks for reading.
Self-appraisal Will Power; Answer 12 Questions
I list below some questions which you need to ask yourself. Considering their importance in your success story, contemplate seriously and answer as honestly as you can. Please give marks from 1 to 4 in each question. In the end you have to add up your score. The scale of evaluation is given at the end.
Analysis:
After completing the assessment, you need to add up your score and compare your performance with the analysis given below. We all know the significance of human life is continuous improvement in all areas. Pursuit of excellence should be your habit.
You will find adequate suggestions and techniques for improvement in your weak areas during the program, its activities and the course material. Make the best use of the opportunities.
Scores:
32 and 48: Great! Just remember pursuit of excellence is unending.
16 to 31: Please identify the areas to be improved and work on these.
15 & below. Please work seriously to remove the deficiencies.
Thanks for reading.
Changing Attitude is Difficult but Critical!
Attitude is your response to a situation, circumstance, person or an object. But the detailed definition of attitude would be; a predisposition or tendency to respond positively or negatively to a situation, circumstance, person, idea or an object. It influences a person’s choice of action and response to challenges, incentives, rewards etc. These are called stimuli. Stimuli are challenges, incentives and rewards. Four major components of attitude are –
- Emotions and feelings
- Cognitive – belief or opinions held consciously
- Inclination for action , spontaneity
- Evaluative – positive or negative response to the stimuli
The first 3 components influence or determine the 4th component.
The importance of Attitude can hardly be exaggerated
It controls our lives. This is why it is extremely important. We must also understand the difference between positive and negative attitude. It is important to know what these both can do for us.
Positive attitude brings strength, energy, motivation and initiative.
Person with a positive attitude will ask “How something can be done?”, rather than saying, “It is very difficult. We don’t know whether it can be done or not.”
It gives you power over your circumstances rather than your circumstances having power over you. That’s the power of positive attitude; it gives YOU the power. You control circumstances, rather than circumstances affecting you or your behavior.
It is also an understanding of the fact that nothing can change until you change. Therefore, everything changes once you change. You have to identify what are your habits, what are the things that are holding you back. And you have to overcome those, and to overcome those, you have to change.
It is necessary to train your mind to see good in everything. To see something positive, so that it encourages you to go ahead in whatever you are trying to do. Life is 10% of what happens to you and 90% of how you react to it. Let’s make it positive.
It will be a good idea, to decide and say it to yourself every morning that you will face everything that comes to you today with a positive attitude. All things about you are important and you should give importance to all those things. Only when you are careful about everything around you, others will give you the respect you deserve.
While positive attitude will help you in every aspect of life, negative mind will never give you a positive life. It will create only negativity. Further, negative thoughts create negative situations.
A bad attitude leads you nowhere. You cannot go very far until you change it. Therefore, if you identify that your attitude needs some enhancement, do it sooner than later. A person with negative attitude sees difficulty in every opportunity. Whereas a positive thinker, sees an opportunity in every difficulty. This is a big difference. How can you change? You have to figure it out for yourself. Because it depends on your habits.
Positive thoughts are good, but they are not enough. They have to be followed with positive feelings and positive actions. Actions are most important. Without actions you cannot have the benefits of positive attitude. Attitude has to be supplemented and supported by respective actions.
The only disability in life is bad attitude. There is no reason why you should live with a disability which is under your control. There are some difficulties we have to live with. But it’s not so with your attitude. Your attitude is something you can change and the best thing is to change it. Whenever you feel pain in your life, think about its full form –
P – Positive
A – Attitude
I – In
N – Negative situation
If you have a tendency to self doubt it keeps giving more negative energy to feed on. That means you are actually attracting negativity. One American in his grey years said “my life has been full of misfortunes which never took place”.
Another man had said, “I don’t have time to hate people who hate me, because I am too busy loving people who love me”.
Thanks for reading.
Self-appraisal Define your Goals; Answer 10 Questions
I list below some questions which you need to ask yourself. Considering their importance in your success story, contemplate seriously and answer as honestly as you can. Please give marks from 1 to 4 in each question. In the end you have to add up your score. The scale of evaluation is given at the end.
Analysis:
After completing the assessment, you need to add up your score and compare your performance with the analysis given below. We all know the significance of human life is continuous improvement in all areas. Pursuit of excellence should be your habit.
You will find adequate suggestions and techniques for improvement in your weak areas during the program, its activities and the course material. Make the best use of the opportunities.
Scores:
25 and 40: Great! Just remember pursuit of excellence is unending.
16 to 24: Please identify the areas to be improved and work on these.
15 & below. Please work seriously to remove the deficiencies.
Thanks for reading.
Self-appraisal Time Management; Answer 26 Questions
Self appraisal Communication Skills; Answer 21 Questions
Bad News: Time Flies Away / Good News: You are the Pilot
If there is one thing that is equally distributed by the Lord Almighty, that is Time. And it is the most important of all resources. Proper use of time makes the people very successful and vice-versa. With the fast development of technology, executives are expected to be far more productive. It is possible. But it calls for more efficient use of your time.
In fact, over the years our attitude towards time has changed. Today, each one of us has become aware of cost of time.
One can effectively use time if the goals are written down. The specific goals make it mandatory to write down a plan of action. And when you have worked out your plan to achieve your goals in respect of important aspects of life, there is hardly any time which you can afford to lose.
I would like to mention here that some habits need to be changed to be more time productive. These are:
- Procrastination is the most potent culprit which destroys some of your most precious time. It is only important tasks that you want to carry out as a priority. But if the task is challenging, many a time you tend to postpone it. In the process, you lose time but more importantly the burden or guilt of not attending to important work makes you time inefficient. So having a habit of procrastination even in the smallest measure is not permissible.
- Time has the habit of expanding to work to the time allotted. Even if you are able to do a job in two hours, but you have four hours available, the work will expand to fill all four hours. So what is the remedy? Allot lesser time to the task. You may have to stretch yourself a bit. Do it. But, save time.
- Another villain which steals away your time is indecision. Whenever you are not able to decide between two or more options, you lose time. You must learn to be more decisive. Normally decisions are not taken because of risks associated with the decision. We must remember that not taking any risk is the biggest risk of our life.
- Verbosity in our speech is another time-wasting demon. We need to be terse in our communication. It just requires better focus and a determination of not using more words than are necessary.
- If we follow the system of diving our tasks into four quadrants as propounded by Steven Covey of “Seven Habit of Successful People”, we can surely save time which is often wasted.
There are some suggestions to use our time more productively. These are:
- Keep a Time Log for 2-3 days. Understand the normal, routine use of your time. Now study the same to find out where you can save time. The exercise will not go waste. In process the credit balance of your time current account will increase.
- If you want to become really time efficient follow the rule of 60 : 25 : 15.You must try to complete your routine (daily tasks) in 15% of the available time. Besides, 25% time should be spent on ongoing projects. Finally, spend 60% of your time on developments, innovations, and new projects.
- Make a to-do every day morning and try to complete the jobs which must be done on that day. In this list, you must keep in mind the priorities. In fact proper prioritizing your tasks enables you to use your time very productively.
Working out priorities:
You must analyze your tasks. Then place them in three distinct categories:
- Tasks which are important as urgent. These cannot be carried forward.
- Tasks which are important but not urgent. For example, looking after your health and going for a walk daily is important but not urgent.
- Tasks which are neither urgent nor important. These should always receive the least importance.
While making your to-do list you must be realistic. Don’t pack too many things in a day which cannot be completed. If is unnecessary to create a burden for yourself. This will decrease your efficiency.
Thanks for reading.
Create a Great First Impression; Answer 16 Questions
12 Questions for Self Assessment in respect of your Attitude:
Scores: 36 and above – you are doing well. Excellence has no limits. Keep going!
24 to 35 – please work on the areas that need improvement.
23 and below – there is an urgent need to change your attitude.
Thanks for reading.
