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!!
1. 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.
2. 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.
3. 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.
4. 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.
5. 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.
6. 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.
7. 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.
8. 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.
It is necessary to identify the negativity in your attitude. What is negative attitude? Negative attitude is when you start focusing on the problems that you might face during your efforts to achieve your goals. It is the lack of hope that things will happen to help you out in your mission. It is the feeling that people will not help you because on earlier occasions you met with rejections. Negative attitude is the lack of your conviction that you can overcome the hurdles that you might face during your journey. In a sense, negative attitude is also a lack of belief in you. Some more symptoms of negative attitude are enumerated below:
1. Laziness: When you think you don’t have the energy to get up and do the work. Sometimes you don’t even think and realize that laziness is simply whiling away the time. It is not even procrastination which will be described separately.
2. Low self esteem: It is an extremely harmful attribute in your personality. You start thinking that you are good for nothing. You accept the situations in which you are because your self esteem is so low that you think you can do nothing better.
3. Low productivity: Work has a strange tendency of expanding as per the time available. Even worse is when no time is allotted for the completion of a task. This gives you a feeling of solving certain important problems whereas in fact you are just being satisfied in remaining busy. This approach will never allow you to increase your productivity. For doing more in a given time, you have to stretch yourself. Therefore is it necessary that you allot specific time duration for a task. In the beginning, the allocation may seem difficult, but once you form a habit it will become much easier. Difficult or easy, it is necessary.
4. Lack of initiative: For any significant progress, initiative is necessary. What is initiative? Initiative is your first step for going ahead with a task. When it is something new, you have to creatively think and courageously take the first step, even if there is some risk. No risk is the biggest risk in life. Any significant initiative cannot be taken to move forward without accepting this reality. So don’t be afraid to take initiative.
5. Not listening to understand: In the course of conversations, sometimes we tend to focus so much on what we have to say, that we stop listening to the other person. This is particularly so when the speaker has said something for which we have a ready argument to negate what he has said. Unfortunately, such a habit does not allow us to listen and assimilate what the speaker says after that. Evidently it leads to miscommunication and problems. The solution is first understand and then be understood.
6. Faking: We feel envious of some people who are more successful in the material sense than we think that they deserve. Such a feeling leads us to a myth that it is their style which makes them successful and we try to imitate their conduct. This is a extremely bad situation. We lose belief in ourselves, and how can we expect that others will believe us.
7. Not trying to express: When we have certain ideas, but either we do not want to express, or we are afraid to express, is also indicative of our negative attitude. It is necessary to develop an ability to express without hesitation. The fear of rejection which takes away your ability to act is one of the serious handicaps.
8. Not learning lessons from mistakes: There is no one who does not commit mistakes. Whenever we undertake something new, mistakes may happen. This is normal. However, repeating the same mistake again and again, is neither normal, nor should be acceptable. Thus we must learn lessons from our past mistakes and use these lessons to direct our future efforts.
9. Ego: Ego happens to be another aspect of personality which does not allow us to grow. Ego comes in the way of our approaching people to help us. It makes us believe that it is below our dignity to seek help. A success Guru had said that there are eleven principles of achieving success. And what are these eleven principles? These are, ask, ask, ask….(eleven times).
10. Jealousy: Jealousy is a negative emotion which keeps sapping our creative energies. We gain nothing in the process. It makes us feel as victims of fate or poor destiny. Jealousy may even take away our sound sleep. The worst part is that sometimes it cannot be contained, it goes on swelling. Jealousy must be thwarted out of the personality.
11. Avoiding hard work: There is only one way to success, and that is the hard way. If we habitually seek short cuts it will be very difficult for us to work hard. What is working hard? When you are fully devoted to completing the job and you forget even your surroundings, you continue to work even when you are tired because you want to complete. That aspect of work may be termed as hard work. Initially it may be very difficult, but then one can form a habit. For any significant progress, hard work is necessary.
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 9 Habits of highly productive people that you may adopt to get the best out of you!! When you follow these habits, you will be amazed to find how your life will change.
1. 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.
2. 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. Above all, it is good for your mental health. These habits will make you stress free.
3. 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.
4. Keep on improving your skills
Technology is fast changing keep pace with it. Remember the story of the efficient would cutler who would spend more time on sharpening the saw than cutting the world. His productivity was manifold the productivity of the college who kept on using the blunt saw.
5. 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.
6. 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.
7. 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.
8. 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.
9. 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.
How to become efficient and
effective in work? And in life, as well? These are two foremost questions.
In today’s competitive world, the word “Personal Effectiveness” has got an
immense importance, and why not? Today’s work environment is very demanding and
to be successful means grooming yourself and honing with the skill of being
effective. Personal effectiveness is not restricted
to the corporate environment. Productivity is important and can be applied well
to all other walks of life. May be also the be kitchen work , gym work out or
anything else carried out by you.
What is this technique and how to imbibe it?
Well, let us discuss in detail what is personal effectiveness
after all?
Doing the right things and doing these right. Peter Drucker said: “Efficiency is doing things right, Effectiveness is doing the right things”. Self-explanatory as it is personal effectiveness of a person can be calculated by two parameters. It not only measures the result against time but also gauges the quality of work. Quality and quantity, both are important. Thus, effective people are those who can achieve more quality work in less time. While doing so they are not stressed, or confused as if they are working under pressure. Neither do they lose their physical health nor do they lose their mental or emotional one. These people are consistent and deliver results constantly.
Andre Maurois says “The effectiveness of work increases
according to geometric Progression, if there are no interruptions”.
So let us take a look at how do you achieve personal
effectiveness. Personal effectiveness is the art which helps in self-development.
You need to observe and practice the seven important rules to achieve the same.
Ask yourself these questions:
How to increase Personal Productivity?
How to increase Personal Productivity at work?
How to improve Personal Productivity?
How to increase my Personal Productivity?
And at night write down your assessment on all the above questions how you handled these during the day in your journal.
Before you start your work keep in mind the
following questions:
a)
How to start a good routine?
b)
How to start a good day?
c)
How to start your day with positive vibes?
Thoroughly understand what you
want to do, and do it in a relaxed manner.
When you start doing a certain work do start in haste, it’s
not so good. Well begun is half done. Isn’t it? And that is why it is required
to thoroughly understand the task which you are supposed to begin. Read through
or just mind walk through the process. You may encounter some grey areas which
can be dealt with by exploring more from the umpteen books and also the
internet. Information can be extracted from various sources if not available
readily! Isn’t this process more sensible than starting the project in a hurry
and then stumbling across something which you are clueless about? This is one
of the principles to work your way straight to personal effectiveness. It
reduces the time in which the work is done and also improves the quality of the
work.
Focus on your work. In order or develop your focus, keep following in mind.
a)
What should I do for increasing focus?
b)
How to focus better at work?
c)
How do I increase concentration during study?
It is easier said than done! But you need to starve all the distractions that come in your way and you need to feed your focus. The art lies in not digressing from the objective in any way. Focus means to continuously put your attention on something and forget the rest of the world. When handling something of critical importance, lock yourself in where no one can disturb you. Once you start on focusing on what you want to achieve, every other stuff should appear meaningless. Focus empowers and teaches you a lot. If you love your job, this love will add to your focus. One has to decide to be focused until it becomes a habit. And eventually the end result is qualitative work in less time.
Self-belief: It gives you immense power to work with a
positive mind. Always keep in view the following:
a)
Difference between confidence and belief?
b)
How to motivate yourself to be confident?
c)
Building self-belief is a continuous process.
d) What is the difference between confidence, over confidence and self-belief?
Undeterred faith in yourself is a sure way to personal effectiveness. Unless you believe in yourself how can you make the world believe you. Doubtful mindset spoils the results. You should have a constant strong belief in yourself and your capabilities. Best possible results often are delivered when you keep reinforcing that YOU CAN DO IT!
Expect the unexpected Life is never a straight line. Everyone has their own ups and downs. All of us have roughs and crests. But the art to lead personally effective life is to be least disrupted due to unexpected events. You can have a plan. But rarely do plans get executed in the same way as planned. You should be proactive enough to foresee any interrupting event and should have an alternative plan which would work without any hassles. Personally effective people are prepared to handle any situation with great ease.
Application of mind is always
necessary. Never keep on doing something as a matter of routine without
thinking. Routine also will improve with application of mind. Check the
following:
a)
Habit of mind curriculum.
b)
Habit of mind chart.
c)
Why are habits of mind important?
d)
How is mindfulness while thinking?
e)
How do I make mindfulness habit?
Mind is the biggest weapon. Human beings are armed with it
and must use it for improving on the battle of being competitive. Many great
feats are best performed when mind is applied to those. Never take for granted
even small objectives. Once you apply mind to a particular problem, you will
definitely find a solution. The more you apply your mind to something that you
love it becomes more effective.
Put your mind and soul into
the work. Keep the following in mind and observe the difference.
a)
When you put your heart and soul into your work?
b)
What puts your mind at ease?
c)
‘Put your heart and soul into everything you do’: Bible verse.
When you dedicate totally and put your mind and soul into an objective, you start enjoying the work. When you do the same you leverage on opportunities .The lessons learnt through various experiences in life could also be put to use to be personally effective.
Stretch yourself to the extent, you can. Even physically
stretch and find it is helpful. Keep in mind the following:
a)
Stretch before work.
b)
The importance of stretching when working.
C) Benefits of stretching at work.
Nothing worthwhile can be achieved by shortcuts. You should be eager to move an extra mile then only better things can happen. It is often said that “if you wish to achieve something you haven’t you need to do something you have not!” That is where you can get different results by putting yourself to a task little more than yesterday. Your objective should not be competing with others, but improving your own self. Continuously improving the work that you do and following the other
Introduction of good habits in your daily life is the first step to improve productivity. 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!!
1.Form a habit to 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. Ensure that you do it everyday to experience the power of good habits.
2.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. Importance of good habits needs to be experienced by putting them into practice.
3.Importance of habit information.
It’s necessary to understand your habits. 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.
4.Advantages of good habits need to be counted .That will inspire you.
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.
5.How to practice good habits?
You may have defined good habits that you want to develop. But how to do that and more importantly how to practice these good habits on daily basis needs your urgent and consistent attention .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.
6.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.
7.Set time limit for all your project.
Unless you do a thing in time, it may loose its significance all together .Delay is most damaging. 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.
8.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.
‘How to be a better conversationalist?’ is a question that hovers in the mind of all socially aware people of the civilised society.
Besides, an interesting conversation is a very important business etiquette. The skills of effective face to face conversation enable you to build better relations at the workplace and in society. We converse day in and day out. So we must try to think back how often we are very interesting and how often we are not. There are certain rules which we need to keep in mind to develop our good business conversation habits. These are as follows:
1. Be present: When you are conversing with someone for fun or for business negotiation, you should be totally with him or her. A good conversationalist must be an active listener. You need to listen to understand and not to reply back. When you do that you will be more engaging in the conversation. You should not think about anything else; not about any past events nor any similar situations. You should only be listening to the person you are speaking to. While listening, you should be assimilating the information not to reply but to understand. In simple words first understand then only try to be understood.
2. No advice unless you are asked, please: Your conversation should not be just to vent out your opinions or to display that you know everything about the things that you are discussing. It also does not mean that you should not participate in the conversation. You may hold a different opinion and also express the same decently in an inoffensive manner. Always keep in mind than an effective conversationalist need to be flexible, but, you should be. That can happen only if you listen and understand the other person properly and never interrupt anyone when he or she is speaking.
3. Ask open ended questions using what, how, where, when etc. If these are suitable to the person & situation when they answer these questions, they will be able to speak out in detail what they have in mind. They will be able to throw more light on the subject of conversation which will add to your knowledge and pat their ego. Don’t just ask questions for which the answer is ‘yes’ or ‘no’. That will not show that you are a good conversationalists.
4. Go with the flow and make the conversation a fun: You must first listen to the person talking and if at all you have to say something different from the current topic wait until the subject changes. Maintain a good sense of humour. Besides, you need never be waiting for speaking out as soon as the speaker completes the sentence. In such an instance your mind will be only concerned with what you are going to speak. In the process you will not listen and you will not understand what the person just spoke.
5. If you don’t know, say it: You should never behave like “I know everything” even when you know much. One never knows all. Thus, if you are asked something and you don’t know simply say “I am sorry, I don’t know!” There is nothing wrong in that. In fact, I have never met anyone who knows everything. But I must admit that there could be people who show off as it they everything.
6. Don’t equate your experience with theirs: Now, if someone is sharing with you an experience and you also had a similar experience earlier, hold that back. Let the speaker enjoy telling/sharing his/her experience and then briefly only if necessary just in agreement you can say that yes this is true because you also experienced the same. You should never rob him/her from sharing that interesting experience with you. A good conversationalist has a good sence of humour and makes the conversation enjoyable for everyone.
7. Don’t repeat yourself: Repetition in a conversation is extremely unwelcome. People will get bored and they will definitely think that it is not worth talking to you because you keep on repeating yourself. And many people do the same. Therefore try to think, observe and ensure that you never repeat the same thing over and over again.
Thus, one must listen, be more open and while speaking, should
be brief. Verbosity kills the efficacy of the idea. Always use simple language
and short sentences. Short sentences means one can vary the sentences between
four words to twenty words. If you are using a sentence containing 20 words,
you must pause in the middle just like you give commas in a written speech and
not speak in one go. Develop a sense of humour to keep the conversation light.
The word success as defined in the dictionary means “ the accomplishment of an aim or purpose” . True as it is but definition of the word success changes from person to person. Every individual’s definition of success is different. And why Not? We all have different aims, objectives, goals and purpose of life. And accomplishment of those would mean SUCCESS to each one of us. Though there is no common definition of success many successful people have presented their views on success. Let us now understand what success meant to them and how best we can add to our success from their experiences.A writer, statesman and a leader as he was Winston Churchill who has contributed immensely to the Britain’s victory in World War II has quoted that “Success is not final, Failure is not fatal; It is the courage to continue that counts”. Isn’t it true? Many people think that if you fail at something , it is the end of your life. The suicidal stories you hear after the academic results are declared clearly indicate people’s attitude towards failure. The quote mentioned above re instills the value of courage to continue the effort in spite of several failures. In short, perseverance is one of the keys to success. When one wants to achieve something one should turn deaf ears to what people say about your endeavors . Because as the quote goes,” At first they will ask why you are doing it ;But later they will ask How did you do it? Yes, this is especially important for the people who are torch bearers. Torch bearers are people who attempt to tread the less taken path and are the first ones to do so. When you are pursuing something different and novel, skeptic people always try to ask the validity of such pursuit. Well, if you are convinced about your effort and are ready to give in your hundred percent you will be successful at it. And then the same people would ask you the ways in which you tried to achieve such an untapped feat. Life is a mix of good and bad times. We are successful sometimes and sometimes we do fail. The most important thing in life is to “Be thankful for hard times as they have made you.” Hard times are testing times. Failures should be visualized as a lesson. I t is rightly said,” When the going gets tough, the tough gets going”! Every struggle to get successful will make you wiser and stronger. While achieving success it is important that you put your heart , mind and soul into excelling at what you have undertaken. If needed you have to sacrifice a lot in order to achieve something great.
Swami Sivananda has rightly pinpointed the secret of success. He quotes ,” Put your heart , soul and mind into even your smallest acts”.
It is also very evident that there is no
shortcut to success. It is well known that there is “No elevator to success.
You have to take the stairs.” Hard work in proper direction definitely yields
success. ease everybody.
Success is a result of focus, hard work, learning from failure , loyalty and persistence .
Indeed when you strives to excel at certain thing you are bound to be successful. When you balance your hard work with persistence and loyalty the end result will be none other than SUCCESS. Nelson Mandela quotes” Don’t judge me by success but how many times I fell down and got back again”.If you have persevering attitude in life, nothing can stop you from being successful. Perseverancefffffff is a factor which differentiates between success and failure. Success is , thus, relative to each individual. Unfortunately, many people don’t have goals at any time in life. Life is very short and the most important thing in life to be successful is to set some goals. What is a life without goals? People misconstrue goals to be only related to career and finances. Well, negating that opinion you can categorize goals as:
Career
goals,
Financial goals,
Health goals,
Family goals and
Goals for society
Hobby Goals
And Spiritual Goals
You
have to take charge and set goals for yourself. The priority of goals would
differ from person to person. You may feel family and health goals are more
important than the rest of the goals. An ambitious person may prioritize on
career and financial goals. Hobby goals are the goals which are meant for
yourself satisfaction. Society plays an important role in everyone’s life. You
should also set some goals which will benefit the society. It is a way to give
back to the society where you belong.
Maslow’s pyramid of self motivation has the self actualization need at the top of it! Spiritual goals help achieve that need of a person. While setting up goals make sure that your goals are SMART. SMART Goals mean
S- Specific M-Measurable A-Achievable R-Realistic T-Time bound Well, to achieve success be specific about what you want to achieve. The goals should have some yardstick against which you can measure your success. You should always have realistic goals and not unbelievable ones. An example of setting a goal could be “ I want to reduce my weight by 1.5 kgs in a matter of 15 days. Once you do that you can start working over it by chalking out a plan and then executing the same. Always check on what you have achieved against what you wanted to achieve And keep on bridging the gap, if any. When diligently persevered, success becomes a habit!!
Changing attitude is your choice but this choice is critical, because it controls your life.
1. What is Attitude?
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.
2. Importance of Positive Attitude. 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.
3. You can train your mind for The Attitude you choose. 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.
4. Negative attitude is disastrous. 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
5. Believe in yourself for positivity. 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”.
Sometime ago, we had a very useful discussion regarding managing CHANGE in life. The subject was how to inculcate good habits and how to ward off, the bad ones. Each participant was advised to identify 10 good habits of their friends, colleagues or of family members which each wanted to imbibe in their own personality. At the same time they were also asked to identify 5 bad habits of their own which each wanted to give up. Besides, what efforts have been made so far to give up the bad habits were also to be explained? Since it was a Speech Training Session, the participants were supposed to detail clearly each point with examples. These examples could be chosen from their own lives or those of others known to them. A heartwarming open and interesting discussion led to a number of conclusions. First of all it’s necessary to understand how habits work. A habit is a kind of repetitive behavior for which you don’t think. You don’t have to apply your mind to check up anything before you take action. Let’s examine with some examples. If you wake up at a particular time, you don’t need any alarm to remind you. Taking bath and getting ready is also done as a matter of habit. If you were to check the time you take for getting ready everyday it will be more or less the same. Taking your breakfast fast is also a habit which need consistent efforts to bring about the desired change.
Does it mean that we cannot change our habit/habits which we want to change? No, it doesn’t. We certainly can with required will and efforts. However some habits can be changed by one’s own efforts, whereas some others require professional help. But in both the situations one needs to adopt a systematic approach. First of all we must state clearly what new habit we want to adopt. It’s always better to write in your journal in clear terms. For example, if you have wanted to go for a morning walk but habitually you get up late, you can change this habit. After writing in your journal about your decision to start doing for a morning walk regularly you must fix up the date for starting. The first few days you may have to use the alarm which will wake you up at a particular time. It’s necessary not to laze around after the alarm. Just get ready and go for a walk. It is said that it is normally take 21 days to form a habit. Now I give another example. If you suffer from stage fright and you cannot speak to a group by standing up, you need a professional help. You also require a firm determination that you will overcome the stage fright because it is impeding your progress. Further, you must carefully select the professional. It is like going to the right doctor for getting the ailment eliminated. With appropriate efforts and continuous practice one can definitely overcome the bane of stage fright. In today’s environment, it is necessary. In colleges you have to give presentations, and wherever you work, once you are in a senior position, you need to give presentations to your bosses.
Even if you are an entrepreneur and doing your own business, you need to motivate your staff and for this also you need great confidence. Besides, you must not have any fear of facing the people from the stage.
Five Ways to Break 10 Bad Habits
Nearly everyone has a
bad habit that they should break. Some people have less than others and some
people’s bad habits are more grating than those of others. Bad habits
like excessive drinking, smoking, biting the fingernails, etc., starts slowly
and gradually. They jeopardise your health — both physically and mentally
thereby wasting your time and energy.
Bad habits are hard to give up, they are like a comfortable bed, easy to get
into, but hard to get out off. However, you can achieve anything with the
right amount of willpower and a realistic plan of action. With persistence and
right mind-sets, it’s possible to break your bad habits.
Here are some ideas for breaking your bad habits
1. Change one thing at a time
It is most important that you don’t try to break all your bad habits, at once.
You’re not a superhuman and trying to quit all your bad habits at the same time
is probably going to be hard to achieve. Instead, prioritise and choose the
habit that you need to change most urgently and then focus on that accordingly. 2.Prepare for weak moments
A positive mindset is significant but if you’re not prepared for those weak
moments this can be a biggest mistake. Try to remove temptations as that can
help you prepare for those weak moments. For instance, clear the cupboards of
junk food, keep some distance from friends who encourage you to smoke/ drink
and avoid stressful situations. 3.Set regular reminders
Bad habits are often so deeply ingrained in us that sometimes they can catch us
unexpectedly. To help prevent those accidental slip-ups, try setting yourself
regular reminders to resist those bag habits. 4.Reward your success
The key to breaking bad habits is to make the process as rewarding and
enjoyable, as possible. If you are facing difficulty focusing on the long-term
benefits of breaking bad habits, then arrange small rewards for yourself as you
go along to help keep you motivated.
5.Remind yourself why you’re breaking those habits
In order to successfully break a bad habit, you have to be sure of your reason
for breaking those habits. Find a solid reason for breaking your habit that
really means something to you – such as improving your health, relationship or
appearance – and keep your goal in sight. This will help you to carry on and
stay strong in moments of weakness.
Power
of Good Habits!!
As described above, 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!!
1.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.
2.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.
3.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.
4.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.
5.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.
6.Optimise 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.
7.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.
8.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.
If you want to remove procrastination you must contemplate on the following three aspects of procrastination.
Reasons of procrastination so far as you are concerned.
Decision to remove procrastination from your life.
How to overcome procrastination at all times.
First of all let us talk about the reasons for procrastination. There could be following one or more reasons. These are laziness, indecision and health issues. It is necessary to find out which of these reasons are present in your personality and affecting your work.
If there are health issues, you must consult your doctor. In cases where there are some problems and you feel fatigue most of the time, you can be sure that there are some health problems which need to be resolved. This may time take some time and proper effort and follow-up, but it is necessary that you should undergo the process. There is no shortcut available.
If laziness is the issue you must understand that it is your habit which you have to change. Nobody else will do it for you. Habits die hard and you should be prepared to consistently work to eradicate the bad habit which you may have formed over a period of time.
If however indecision is the problem, you may have to struggle in order to become a decisive person. Here again you will have to dig deep to find out what are the reasons of your ‘indecision’. Mostly this could be related to fear of rejection or fear of failure. In either case the fear tends to become deep-rooted. While one finds it easier to escape this fear by not taking any action, in fact inaction leads to further indecision. Lower self esteem goes down and you find yourself as a poor performer. This is a serious handicap which unfortunately affects 90% of the people, today.
In any case all the above reasons have to be properly identified. These have to be properly addressed. Then only you can go to the next step which is consciously deciding to do away with this bane of life.
How do we do that?
Again, you have to do some research from your own life. You have also to document the problems that you have been facing; losses that this useless habit, procrastination, is causing continuously. It is better to write down all such situations and the damage procrastination has caused in your life in the past. Do it is for as long a period as you can go. Go through the history of the sufferings and of the all losses that you would have suffered. If it is possible you try to convert all the losses into money. Find out the total money lost due to your habit of procrastination. This will open your eyes. It will then be easier to realize that your progress has been suffering because of this bad habit which has been lingering on in your life.
The exercise will surely motivate you to stop procrastination. But don’t ever think that you will be rid of this malady easily. Therefore be prepared to work hard to achieve this feat. The good thing is that consistent efforts in this direction will surely produce results. If you have gone through this exercise honestly and diligently, you will surely decide to ward of this wasteful and costly habit. You will do whatever it takes to achieve this.
Start following your mind, taking actions whatever your inner self suggests. At the same time you have to keep on measuring the result. I have talked to you about two of the three aspects which I mentioned in the beginning and which we must study. Having talked about reasons for procrastination and taking a decision to remove it, eradicate it, we come to the most important aspect of the project. That is how to overcome the procrastination.
I have two critical suggestions which are known to bring forth excellent results. The first one is to start writing a journal. At the end of each day sit down for a few minutes and write down all that happened during the day. Focus on your procrastination. Note down where are you could have acted better. You should also note down if you had postponed anything which needed to be done. For that you should further describe the possible losses which postponing can cause in the coming time. The process of documenting these problems will surely play a very potent role in your enhancing efforts to overcome the serious problem, the one, which has been creating misery in your life.
The second suggestion that I want to give in this regard is: start reading stories of great achievers. You will find that most of them have achieved what they did because they never suffered from procrastination. In some cases the stories may or may not document how they overcame this serious roadblock if at all they had. Therefore do read. In either case you will be motivated to ward off procrastination in life. Even your basic logic will tell you that it is not worth suffering because of a habit which has never helped anyone. Their life stories will inspire you to follow their examples and do your duties diligently. When you are engaged in performance of your duty, you will find that there is no opportunity to procrastinate.
These are not by any means comprehensive solutions. These are just proven suggestions. You may find some other ways which could be helpful in addition to these. Do everything in your control to fight this enemy of your progress procrastination.
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