June 2016 — NIMBLE FOUNDATION BLOG

Peace of Mind – It’s Free!

It’s difficult to conceive the vastness of the ocean. But it is even more difficult to imagine the vastness of the mind. Sea is often very calm only sometimes it is turbulent. While an ocean is turbulence only at some occasions, the mind is at peace on only sometime. The confusion of the mind primarily arises due to the contradictions experienced in the fast paced life today. There is nothing that we can do for turbulence of the ocean. We can certainly tame our mind to achieve calmness and peace.

In fact peace of mind requires only your focus and consistent reminders to yourself. It has no tangible cost. It’s free
Nature – what it does? When it does? It remains unknown to mankind. Though there is no doubt that extensive study of nature has given us the knowledge and power to predict.
But when we talk of mind it is our choice to train it to be at peace most of the time. We have to understand the difference between peace and bliss. Peace is not bliss but peace offers you an ability to get into state of bliss when you want.
At work place, if you are doing something that you don’t like to do yet you have to do it under compulsion, your mind cannot be at peace. When you are lost in your work and you know that the work is important for you, you are a peace with yourself. Further, if you enjoy your work then every milestone that you achieve will give you bliss. There are the number of Dos and Don’ts which help you to gain peace of mind.
First, let us enumerate the don’ts:

Don’t get too much involved in reading the negative news. Our newspapers and electronic media are full these. You may scan through the headlines to be abreast with what is going on.
Avoid spending too much time with people having negative attitude. Interaction with them will sink their negativity into your subconscious mind.
Regard each person as an individual. They are entitled to hold their opinions. Do not be judgmental. Negative emotions like envy, jealousy, criticism of others will affect your peace of mind. So avoid these.
Past is history. It does not have any significance except the lessons you have learnt. So don’t dwell on your past.
Become friends with members of your family. Children are very intelligent today and they should be treated as friends. Likewise you should be friendly with your spouse.
Your speech controls your relations with others including members of your family. Therefore use your words with care and discretion. The way you say something is as important as what you say.
Don’t be too much attached with your possessions. Practice detachment. What we have today, we may not have tomorrow.

Now about the dos!

Learn to focus your mind. Cut the clutter. On and average there comes as many as fifty thousand thoughts in one day. Try to reduce this number by focusing your mind.
Practice meditation. It will help more than one can imagine.
Cultivate a habit to enjoy only healthy food. Decide that you must eat slightly less than your hunger.
Go on vacation periodically. The cycle of routine work needs to be broken as often as possible.
Give yourself some quality time. Talk to yourself. Talk about what you like about you. And, further improve the same.
Make it your habit to consider that challenges are your opportunities. When you face these challenges with success, it gives you happiness and your mind becomes peaceful.

Thanks for reading.

Sail Seven Streams to Enjoy the LinkedIn Jaunt!

Be Very Selective

LinkedIn is a professional platform. So, be sure to carve out your Professional Objectives. Evidently, you need to be very selective in building your connections. Your efforts should be focused on quality and not quantity. It is necessary to find commonality while inviting people to connect. The proposed connections should be beneficial to both. For example if you are selling a service or a product all those who are decision makers to buy your products would be the most appropriate connections.

Personalize Connection Requests

Send a polite email for the invite after going through the profile of the person. Describe briefly how the connection will be beneficial to both of you. If you have met the invitee at a social event, you may refer it. However, brevity is extremely important. Nobody likes to receive a verbose mail or any kind of message. The words chosen and the sentences constructed should delight the receiver of the message. It can happen only if you speak from heart. It means you need to be your natural self while communicating. Write to express but not to impress.

Group participation

There are many groups formed on the LinkedIn. Some of these are active, others not so. Identify the group which is most suitable to your professional needs. In the beginning it will be easier to participate in a group where most members are from the place around. Unless you are a high profile professional, joining a group with participants from different countries may not be very effective. We must understand that the cultural background plays an important role in people coming together.

Publish Posts

Create content of your niche expertise and publish in LinkedIn. Your post will be seen not only by your connections but by everyone on the LinkedIn. You have to be very careful about the ease of reading and comprehending by the people who view your post. It must add value. While content is the king, simple language which is easy to understand, will be appreciated. A long sentence with many clauses may not be appropriate for your story on the LinkedIn. Further, sentences of different lengths when put together in a paragraph make reading very interesting.

LOINs

Loin means LinkedIn open networkers. They are the people who want to network with as many people as possible. One can search by using the group search feature. There are open networkers who will welcome you. Some groups cater to specific locations. There are other groups serving various industries and services. You have to select the group which is most suitable to your professional interest. In the search features if you specify the criteria you will be able to find out the group of your choice.

Post status update daily

You need to establish that you are active on LinkedIn. It is therefore expected that you post something of interest to your connections and people at large every day. You may spend only 15 minutes daily. But use these 15 minutes with great discretion. As said above every post that you publish should be found interesting at least to some of your connections. It is understandable that you can’t please all. Therefore don’t even try to do that. Your focused approach on subjects of general needs or special interest to your connections will be highly appreciated.

Your Profile

What you write on your profile is particularly important. It should give a clear message about your background and your profession. Instead of writing in a traditional chronological fashion you can be more innovative. Consider you are speaking to a large group of people. While you are addressing all to inform about yourself, it should clearly indicate your intention and interest. Take special care to choose a nice photograph. Give information and links to your website/websites, blog sites etc so that people can easily view. Recent events that you may have created or participated in would also be newsy and of interest to your friends.
I am sure that you will find that your sailings in the above seven streams will bring you a lot of joy with success on your ‘LinkedIn Jaunt’.
Thanks for reading.

Six Parameters to Analyze your Audience before Preparing your Speech

Whenever you’re preparing a speech, it is necessary to know your audience thoroughly. After all, you deliver the speech to help your audience in one way or the other. It could be a speech to inform. It could be a speech to convince or influence your listeners. It could also be to entertain the audience. You cannot succeed unless you study the audience beforehand. We have chosen six most important parameters which will enable you to know your audience well enough. These are as follows:

No. of People:

You need to know approximately how many people you’re going to address. A speech which is meant to be delivered to a small group of 10 people may not be valid, for example, for 40 people. When the no. is small, you have to be personal. This is not possible or feasible if you are speaking to a large crowd. Even the language you may use will have to be different for different groups.

Gender Composition:

It’s also necessary to know the gender composition of the audience. Treatment of your speech should be different for a group of male or female or both mixed males and females. Your message should crafted according the majority of the people you are going to address. The way you handle ladies only group may not be suitable if you’re addressing an all male crowd. Women and men react differently to various topics at most of the time.

Purpose of Speech:

The general attitude of your listeners should be known to you. This is particularly so when your objective of speech is to convince or persuade. Application of mind on the issue will provide you sufficient information about the reaction of audience. For example if you are addressing an uninformed group, you will have to be more detailed and rather basic in expression. Further, if you expect your audience to be more apathetic or against the subject, you will have to modify your speech accordingly. Such knowledge beforehand will also help you to determine the language and the method of delivery of your speech.

Age of the Audience:

It’s equally necessary to know to which age group your audience belongs. Younger people will react in a certain way to a topic. It may be totally different from the response of elderly audience. If the crowd does not represent a particular age group and has both young and old, you have to write your speech accordingly.

Formal Education:

It may also be required to know the formal education of your audience, generally speaking. When the audience is highly educated, they will look for a trainer to speak in their language. Undoubtedly, this will be quite different from the language you will use to address a group of people who may be doing well in life but whose qualifications are much lower. The objective of the speech will not be served if the listeners don’t understand the implications of the message involved.

Specialized Group:

Whenever you are speaking to a group of people who specialize in one subject or the other you have to be sure of many things. Superficial knowledge of the subject will not work. Your definition of the topic should connect with the level of the specialized knowledge that this group may process. More of professional jargon may be expected from you, lest you appear to them too elementary. The language of the specialized group is best used as their own.
All the parameters detailed above will come in handy for formulating an approach which would be most suitable for the audience you are going address.
Thanks for reading!

Six Critical Aspects of Public Speaking

For a Long time Public Speaking has posed a great problem to most of human beings. Traditionally, public speaking was known as the leader addressing a crowd from the stage. It is not so today. Verbal communications have become extremely important. So even if you are speaking one on one, same articulation and clarity in voice is required as if you are talking to a group. PPT presentations have become very important in day to day functioning of the office. We will therefore deal with the six most critical aspects of Public Speaking, which are:

Stage Fright:

Stage Fright is the fear of speaking to someone or to a group of people. When you are addressing a group of people the intensity of stage fright may be more. However if an executive is speaking just to one person – his Big Boss, he/she may experience the same fear as if they are speaking to a crowd. The strength of the fear may very from person to person and situation to situation.

Preparation:

You must thoroughly prepare to meet the requirement of any speaking assignment. And how do you do that? First of all, you must know your subject well. Content is the king. You should never pretend and display your ignorance of the subject to a group or even to an individual. If you don’t know, your best option is to say ‘I don’t know about it as of now’. Nobody can be expected to know everything under the Sun. Further, you should know your audience very well and you should speak in their own language.

Body Language:

This is also very important to convey your massage. If your body language does not contribute to the efficacy of your speech, the audience will not appreciate your message. They will feel that you’re not speaking from your heart. This will go against the basic can tenets of public speaking- Ethos, Pathos and Logos. So far as body language is concerned, everything counts. The way you stand or sit, your facial expressions, the movement of your hands and legs if you’re standing. All are important.

Practice:

Practice is critical for making a presentation. You must practice by reading your speech many times. You should also practice the way you’re going to deliver your speech. In delivery, it’s important to maintain an eye contact with the audience. And enthusiasm should be maintained throughout the speech. It is possible only if you breathe properly. Deep breathing is recommended. In fact yoga and various yogic practices help you to develop a habit of deep breathing. The importance of practice in public speaking can never be exaggerated.

Audience connect:

You should connect with the audience. It should appear that you are speaking to them individually. You may roll your eyes in the entire hall. Verisimilitude will take place. The speaker should never look toward the ceiling or any corner or only in one direction. This will disconnect the rest of the people. In turn, they will become disinterested.

Inject humor:

Any speech devoid of humor becomes very dry and uninteresting. Humor can be created in many ways. Experienced speakers ask the audience simple questions a in such a way that they burst into laughter. A new speaker has to be more careful. He should practice interesting anecdotes, or humorous stories. We must remember that the relevance of the story with the subject or the situation we face should be unquestionable. Story telling is also an art which must be practiced extensively.
Public speaking is no doubt difficult. But its advantages are immense. Today, when lots of presentations have to be made by executives, any kind of stage fright or hesitation is a serious handicap. Likewise, clarity in speech in order to articulate your ideas is important to make an impact. Practicing by finding opportunities to speak in public will go a long way to making you good public speaker.
Thanks for reading.

Seven Times you Fall Get up Eight!

A Japanese proverb advocates that ‘Seven Times You Fall Get up Eight’. That is resilience. You don’t ever give up. In competitive life, today, setbacks cannot be avoided. A rubber ball when thrown to the ground, bounces back. But you have to bounce back even higher knowing that repeated falls are inevitable.
Resilience gives you courage not to abort the journey because of problems in the way. Life’s journey in variably has many impediments. Often times these are unexpected ones. Everyday must brings a new beginning. It’s like writing on a clean slate about life. Experience is said to be a unique teacher. You fall, you get up, you are hurt, and yet again you fall but you keep going. Every time you fall and get up there is lesson to be learnt. Accepting this reality without being mentally disturb is resilience.
It requires trust in you to maintain this attitude. A bird sitting on a branch of tree continues to do so in spite of wind shaking the branch. The bird does not believe that the branch will not fall, but it has faith on its wings. There is no material as resilient as the human spirit. Once we realize and accept this, we are able to take control of our attitude which in turn, strengthens our confidence.
In other words, resilience is how you respond and recover from what has happened to you. Your experience will tell you that it is best not to expect that things will happen the way you want these. Efforts may not bring the result that you desired. But efforts must make our resolve even stronger. Energise you to make your will like a rock that is capable of even facing even more powerful jolts. That is resilience.
Further, challenges only make the life more interesting. Meeting the challenges makes the life more meaningful. Every day gives you an experience, a lesson for the future.
You have to be patient with yourself. Take only one step at a time Step by step you are able to climb the most steep, most difficult mountain. You must repeat to yourself that you alone have the power and responsibility to face your challenges bravely and try to come out as a winner.
Today, we must accept this new reality without being mentally hurt. A person may not be the strongest, but he/she needs to be most adaptable to change. One must always remember that the real strength of a person is known when being strong is the only choice, the only way to survive.

Seven Times you Fall Get up Eight!

A Japanese proverb advocates that ‘Seven Times You Fall Get up Eight’. That is resilience. You don’t ever give up. In competitive life, today, setbacks cannot be avoided. A rubber ball when thrown to the ground, bounces back. But you have to bounce back even higher knowing that repeated falls are inevitable.
Resilience gives you courage not to abort the journey because of problems in the way. Life’s journey in variably has many impediments. Often times these are unexpected ones. Everyday must brings a new beginning. It’s like writing on a clean slate about life. Experience is said to be a unique teacher. You fall, you get up, you are hurt, and yet again you fall but you keep going. Every time you fall and get up there is lesson to learn. Accepting this reality without being mentally disturb is resilience.
It requires trust in you to maintain this positive attitude. A bird sitting on a branch of tree continues to do so in spite of wind shaking the branch. The bird does not believe that the branch will not fall, but it has faith on its wings. There is no material as resilient as the human spirit. Once we realize and accept this, we are able to take control of our attitude which in turn, strengthens our confidence.
In other words, resilience is how you respond and recover from what has happened to you. Your experience will tell you that it is best not to expect that things will happen the way you want these. Efforts may not bring the result that you desired. But efforts must make our resolve even stronger. Energize you to make your will like a rock that is capable of even facing even more powerful jolts. That is resilience.
Further, challenges only make the life more interesting. Meeting the challenges makes the life more meaningful. Every day gives you an experience, a lesson for the future.
You have to be patient with yourself. Take only one step at a time Step by step you are able to climb the most steep, most difficult mountain. You must repeat to yourself that you alone have the power and responsibility to face your challenges bravely and try to come out as a winner.
Today, we must accept this new reality without being mentally hurt. A person may not be the strongest, but he/she needs to be most adaptable to change. One must always remember that the real strength of a person is known when being strong is the only choice, the only way to survive.