Right or Wrong!

Do you know there is a doctrine that argues that pleasure and happiness are the primary aims of human life? And that only pleasure has worth or value and pain or displeasure has dis-value or worthlessness? This belief system is called "Hedonism". Plato and Aristotle had argued for this belief. However, interestingly enough, it is very challenging to achieve happiness when we have defined feelings of pain with more than 50 varieties whereas that of pleasure in just 15-20! After all, what are the chances? 1/3rd? My concern here is, however, what should be the way of achieving happiness. Next question comes to mind is, who is to decide that the chosen way is right or not? And even if we all agree for something being right, or wrong, we know that knowledge changes, time change, perspective change, needs change, abilities change and what is right today may become wrong tomorrow or vice versa and again the opposite the day after! So how to decide?

Let me tell you what happens in the industries. Management Guru Peter Drucker, in his book "The Effective Executive", has said - " The first rule for the concentration of executive efforts is to slough off the past that has ceased to be productive. If leaders are unable to slough off yesterday, to abandon yesterday, they simply will not be able to create tomorrow."

He is absolutely right with this philosophy. But he must have meant this for technologies, systems, methods and mindsets. But, American industries took him so religiously that they applied this philosophy on employees as well. Sloughing off "low-performing" employees became a style when 'neutron' Jack Welsh argued for laying off "bottom" 10% every year. Funny that Forbes website is showing him quote - "When you became a leader, you were not given a crown but were given responsibility to get the best out of others". I had to reread the quote because in the first time I read, "You were given responsibility to get others out." Anyway, in contradiction to American style, Japanese companies believe in retaining their employees for lifelong and yet Japanese economy is growing at a good enough pace. So who is right?

My opinion is, "What is" differs totally from what both the Right and Left believe "ought to be". It is only a collision between the delusions of the decision maker if he thinks that only his way is right and that only pleasure has worth and value and pain or displeasure has not. You have to make something completely different out of yourself to understand the concept of Right and Wrong.

Let us take a simpler example.

Suppose one day you did something and felt good about it. And next day someone told you that what you did was wrong. You did it because you believed in it. And now it is wrong! Even if it is by someone else's perspective. What would be your response(s)? Normally, I think, there are two easy ways to face this situation:

1. Continue believing that you were right and try to convince the other person that he is wrong. (Terrorist     train and get trained with this thinking)

2. Get convinced that the other person is right and repent.

And then there is a third, mature, way to respond:

Listen and understand to other person's opinion while staying assured that you did right. Because you do something when you believe that it is a right thing to do. Isn't it? And as today you have more knowledge and information than yesterday, and since you are brave enough to embrace your shortcomings and improve yourself, you are going to work upon it. I call it a mature way because this keeps our conscience clear and I think our conscience decides whether something is right or not.

We can experience this in our routine life - finding mistakes and blaming others. You see, it is easy to blame parents for their children's mistakes. But one thing is necessary to understand that most of the time, people give their best based on the knowledge, skill, information, awareness and maturity they have. If they would have had these qualities better, they would have done better. So, understand that, parents are right, even if they are wrong. Same goes for every individual. Either you are a boss or a subordinate, husband or wife, same philosophy applies.

So, if you notice someone's wrongness, pause and tell yourself that he is giving his best. And then, with the right manner, you can share your opinion, if necessary. After all the truest challenge is being a decent human being and not being right.

Believe. Be. Live.

What if someone spills sugar in your coffee? You can drink it. And what if someone spills cyanide in your coffee? You will die! Now, what if your best friend, by accident, spills cyanide in your coffee? You'll still die! Similarly, we come by both kind of experiences in life, through friends, family, acquaintances, colleagues, news, movies, etc. That is why it is very important to watch your coffee. Become your thought-guard. What you take in should be your choice. Because, there will be times when everyone will be around and yet neither counting on you, when odds won't be in your favor, when the wind will be blowing against your face and time will be standing in front of you like a huge mountain- in such times of crisis only, you will need someone to have your back. But remember that struggles of the mind are fought alone. You will have to become your motivator, your guidepost and your light house. You will have to become your compass to stay consistent to your right direction. I believe, the only time of crisis for anyone is when a person doesn't believe in himself.

" If you see Nirvana as somewhere outside the mind, you're deluding yourself. "

                                                                                                                        - Bodhidharma

You'll be doing everything right - making plans, organizing, prioritizing, maintaining discipline with dedication and determination, and yet there won't be visible fruits of your actions. Understand that such times are here to pass by. You have courage to withstand such times of dilemma. You have patience to go through such tough and unpleasant situations. Hang on, or rather keep moving forward. Stay with your plans and you'll become more deserving of your dreams. Besides, will you be really living a life if you'd give up on your dreams? So keep working on yourself and your goals. Remember that you can enjoy the air in your hair when the wind blows against your face, of course, if you are not bald. Live the challenges and don't bother right now about the final goal. Be in this moment and rest will fall in place.

" You're conditioned to be in desperate need of a future. "

                                                                                    - Alan Watts

Focus on this moment. Life is not only success or happiness but it is living in this very moment fully. It doesn't matter whether you feel happy or sad or angry or blissful as long as you are true to yourself in this moment. Trust your soul and live truly. Stay a lifelong learner. Never let your brain settle with a thought pattern. Don't let your thoughts crystallize; keep them fluid. It keeps mind open to new ideas. That is one way to live interestingly.

Let me share an example of out-of-box-thinking - A farmer was much troubled by trespassers during the nutting season. After consulting with a botanical friend, farmer placed notice at conspicuous points. The place was unmolested that year. Notice was - "Trespassers, take warning! All persons entering this wood do so at their own risk, for, although common snakes are not often found, the Corylus Avellana (scientific name of hazel nut plant) abounds everywhere, and never gives warning of its presence."

When you know there is more than one way to handle situations, it is easier to believe in yourself. You just need to put a right message in your mind.

It's time to get out of the shell.

The road is yours. Rise and Shine.

Presence leads to Improvement

Having read "Eat that frog first", a friend said, " I am now convinced that one should first finish up the challenging task and then handle the easier ones." I couldn't help asking him, " How is it not a commonsense?" When I was about 8-9 years old, or rather young, I used to help my mother wipe the floor clean at our home. Naturally, I had ended up at first cleaning the places with difficult approach or access and where things needed to be moved, and then I used to quickly wipe the remaining places clean. I had never given this a thought but that got converted into a habit. And it stayed with me during and after graduation and even after marriage. [ If you know what I mean ;) ] Just kidding!

Anyway, point is, with this habit, one can plan his hour, day, week, month, year and even whole life and get positive results. This increases effectiveness and enthusiasm along with efficiency. Ready tools like Pareto Principle and MoSCoW, which are available online, can be used to learn how to prioritize. You can choose the one that is suitable to you and plan further. It could be the case that even after prioritizing, you end up doing differently. How to improve continuously when you don't have this habit imbibed in you?

Important is, to understand how we work, how human mind works. Let me ask you this - How did German technology reach at such a level of excellence that we now blindly trust it? Or how an improvement tool like "Lean Manufacturing" developed when there was nothing to refer to about Lean Manufacturing? How did an extraordinary medical science called "Ayurveda" come into existence? You see, human mind craves novelty. It's difficult to focus on one task for longer period of time. Look at the children and you will realize this. But answer to the above questions is - this cannot be a result of efforts of few years! It takes decades and decades of commitment, focus, passion, courage and perseverance to stick to what you are doing, and then improving continuously. In India, there is a saying which means - peeling off the skin of a hair. This is used when you want to say that someone has such a nasty habit of asking too many questions for getting more and more details that it ultimately frustrates you. I think this saying is being used unjustifiably. Because the people who question the current situation only can generate the idea for improvement. German technology has evolved because dedicated people have spent their lives to improve a single component or an assembly. Lean manufacturing must have been an outcome of continuous refinement of existing processes. It must have taken painstaking efforts to explore the number of medicinal uses of various herbs for Ayurveda's existence. This is why great people keep saying that improvement is a never-ending process.

To improve, let me suggest a simple idea - Be there. Attend yourself. Attend your activity.

One improves when the mind is 100% present in the moment. You can't stop this from happening if you are 100% there. Mind has to do it. Also, you might agree with me that looking for the problems is also a way of improvement. This is why consultants observe the process when you call them up for improvement. So mind will keep pioneering alternatives. A simple idea can make a huge difference and give you a scope of improvement. Some ideas will come to you when you are focused and some will come when you are at leisure. That is why Einstein used to play violin. You should just keep trying.

Bill Gates has said - " The first rule of any technology used in a business is that automation applied to an efficient operation will magnify the efficiency. The second is that automation applied to an inefficient operation will magnify the inefficiency."

What we can take from this is - as long as we are here in this moment, we are fine with the magnification of efficiency or inefficiency. Both cheers us up. Right? After all, our business is improvement.

Let us be here and in now. Let us get better.

And do let me know YOUR improvement stories.

Cheers!

The Future

"Our earth is degenerate in these later days; bribery and corruption are common; children no longer obey their parents; and the end of the world is evidently approaching."

on a Sumerian Clay Tablet, 3000 B.C.

You know, the facts of reality are just too intense.

Anyway, let's start our talk with today's in thing - Women Empowerment.

This world has always been a women's world and I believe we have polluted the mindset of our generation with this notion that it's a men's world. There is no fight to be fought, especially for women. What is necessary is to educate men that it has always been, it is and it will remain women's world. And not in just homo sapiens but it can be observed in the other species as well.

For me, a simple bio-logical reason is convincing enough to accept this idea - the sex which exhibits less parental investment (of course male in case of mankind) will have to compete for mating opportunities with the sex that invests more.

However, today's scenario is, instead of increasing the self-competence, males are opting for other options which are psychologically convenient and satisfying. In the coming time, there might be the case that mankind may perish because of absence of competent males. Question is - what shall perish first - mankind or our planet?

When I say "In the coming time", let me set a context for you -

- 5/6th of the time Earth has had life on it; that life has been only microbes.

- Dinosaurs lived 165 million years ago.

- Humans have been sentient for only 0.12 million years and we're at the verge of blowing the planet up.

I'd also like to mention here that we might also get yet smaller in size before we obliviate this earth up. This is because there is a strong record of skeletal changes that clearly shows that people become physically smaller, and their brains and teeth are also smaller. This is generally seen as a sign of relaxed selection - that size and strength are no longer keys to survival. After all who fights on the streets now-a-days like before? Information is the new weapon now.

Meanwhile we are busy in destruction of our natural habitat, there are some "short term" changes one might envision. For example - with the easy and ready access to information, knowledge of an individual will grow but the level of commonsense will deteriorate. There are growing cases already. Birmingham City Council has made compensation of £4.9 million between 2006 to 2011 for only trips and falls. There was a case where school worker was handed £100,000 after slipping on food in dinner hall. I remember when I used to live in hostel, I discovered a broken metal nail in my morsel which had reached my mouth already. I barely got saved by puncturing my hard palate or I would have been dead. I wish I had sued those caterers. I would have been rich enough to spend my time in more creative activities and contribute to the society.

However, coming back to the future, spirituality may go down eventually for the growth of technology and luxury. People are not trained of sitting idle and spend some time on self-reflection. Rather they turn the screen-light of their electronic gadgets on and off, if nothing else, as if they are expecting a genie coming out of it any time now. Answer yourself honestly - When was the last time you sat for 5 minutes in peace with yourself? Yesterday, last week, last month, last year, ever?

As we all are busy in the survival race and to earn power and money, there aren't much volunteers who would protect and explore the depth of our ancient traditions and cultures. Every tribe of the world has cultures and traditions and those come with the logics and reasons. The solutions of our problems are in the past. What we need is an eye with an interest. You will be amazed of your language if you notice how beautifully the vowels and consonants are sequenced based on the origin of the vibrations as we speak. But in future, I think our history will remain in cloud and might become a history in itself. Only the path-finders like you and me may look into it every now and then for some answers.

Artificial Intelligence (AI) has already entered our world with outstanding products from Vinci, HY and many other innovative ventures. The day is not far when the characters of Terminator might materialize in real life. I so love Harold Finch (from Person of Interest) and his principles regarding AI but the reality of our world scares me. Imagine the combination of Cloning with AI. I guess with that, even if we bring the fourth dimension in routine use, it might become irrelevant.

Having said all this, if we become aware and responsible of the ramifications of our actions, I think we can have a small window of opportunity to make a conscious choice of selecting our future instead of future choosing us, or maybe not choosing us! Will it take something/ someone from another dimension to make us understand what the reality is? I believe we have a chance to save this planet. Or in a larger context, prolong the existence of mankind and other species. All human actions have one or more of these seven causes: chance, nature, compulsions, habit, reason, passion and desire. It's up to us to decide which cause we want to choose to start.

For instance, instead of making currency out of trees, we should make trees as our currency. We can categorize them, for example, based on the usage, availability, access, life term, time taken to grow, medicinal qualities, etc. And then we can update our formulae to calculate the GDP growth accordingly. Highest GDP growth means highest variety and quality of species and tribes. I think this idea can bring the whole world together and we can get social in true means. A little advice - Next time you go to a party, gift 'em a plant. That's going to be the currency of the future.

Let's create a better future.

A small update:

Apart from reading a book and writing two blogs, I planted trees, donated blood and spent quality time with family and friends in this month.

Let me know how you spent yours.

Look at the whole white paper instead of a black dot in the center of the page.

Smile. :)

What's Your Story ?

It's not about what you know. It's about what you do.

There was an Indian wedding going on in a village. All of a sudden lights went off. Bride's father had missed to plan for this situation because of the pressure of making other arrangements. However, a relative of bride was heard saying, " I can solve this in a moment. But let someone ask for it first. I can arrange 10 generators but someone should ask me to get it done!"

Born in 1898, there was a guy named William James Sidis. He could read newspaper by the age of 18 months, by eight he knew eight languages (one being the language he invented), between 4 & 8 years he had written four books, enrolled at the Harvard University at the age of 11 (youngest ever to do so), could speak 40 languages, earned first degree - BA in mathematics (with honors) at the age of 16, began lecturing at Rice University at the age of 17. As a young man, he was well versed in cosmology, anthropology, philology, thermodynamics, civil engineering, biology and native American history - all self taught. William's IQ was estimated to be between 285 and 300 - about 100 points higher than Albert Einstein. Yet, if you google his name, you will find a starkest remark about him - The most wasted brain ever.

You have the potential to develop skills and gain knowledge. William was lucky to have a father who was psychologist. It was because of his upbringing that William could do so well on the front of knowledge. His father hung alphabets over this new born to make him learn earlier. What lacked for Sidi was action. There was no guidance about what to do with this knowledge.

Question is - Why don't we use our potential to the maximum even when we know we have it? Sidi didn't make any remarkable impact in this world, although he could have. You can. I believe you can make a massive difference and make it more habitable and joyful place. Sidi couldn't do it because he didn't have any purpose or sense of duty. He is no more but we are here. Waiting for someone to come and ask us to do something is not in our blood. We are go-getters. We are leaders. We take initiatives. We are beginners*. Before we go, it's our duty to make this place, our planet, more beautiful and full of nature. It's our responsibility to leave a legacy of grandeur and humility for the generations to come.

I damn well hope that you find your purpose and fulfill it. And coming generations tell your stories with pride and get inspired. Do. Act. And then share with us. A small did of positivity has a potential to spark a revolution. Sharing your experiences doesn't mean boasting if the intentions are right.

Keep spreading love and smiles.

Donate Blood.

Create greener earth.

*beginners - here means those who begin. (word-play intended)

From Knowledge towards Awareness

The soles of your shoes shall tell you the quality of balance in your walk. Important is to notice it consciously.

I have a friend who is into health and fitness. Another one is all about Robotics and Automation. Everyone has an area of interest. If you notice someone for a while, if you look closely, you can define a person pretty much in a word or two. Interestingly, if that word matches with yours, you can have an extraordinary bonding.

Now, how to know a person?

To know someone in a scientific way, Dan McAdams, a professor at Northwestern University, states that, "there are "three levels of knowing" someone. Level 1 is a description of a person's broad, general traits, such as shy, outgoing, intelligent, or warm someone is. Level 2 provides a description of an individual's personal concerns - descriptions of personal striving, life tasks, strategies of defense and coping, and similar matters that involve the specific times, places, and endeavors of the person's life. Level 3 is the identity. As one moves from Level 1 (general traits) to Level 2 (Personal Concerns), one moves from the psychology of a stranger to a more detailed and nuanced description of a flesh-and-blood, in-the-world person, striving to do things over time, situated in place and role, expressing herself or himself in and through strategies, tactics, plans, goals, and so on...Then what is missing? The answer stems from the..mindset of...individuals [who] are expected to create selves that develop over time and that define who they are...what is missing is identity."

Pretty scientific, han?!!

Do I have to be a psychologist or a psychoanalyst to know someone - And because I always talk about focusing on self - to know and become aware of myself?

We can do this - finding individual's word. For example, I think India's word for so long have been RELIGION and CAST, America's word have been POWER, Japan's word have been IMPROVEMENT. Likewise, you can find a word which fits your character (please mind that I have not said personality).

How to find this word? How to become cognizant?

It's very simple - Put a reminder for every hour to bring you back to the present moment. Once you are in here-and-now, ask yourself these questions -

1. What was I just thinking (about)?

2. Can those thoughts enhance my life and my standards?

3. Can those thoughts increase peace and add balance to my life?

4. If answer to questions 2 & 3 is no, Can I replace these thoughts and thought patterns with better ones which are, necessarily, assertive?

This can definitely help you become mindful of your unconscious and sub-conscious habits which you can improve for your betterment. Out of on an average 60,000 thoughts a day, even if we become conscious about 1//10th of those, imagine the quality of difference we can make in our lives within one year. Thoughts are food of our mind. And you are constantly feeding it whether you want it or not, whether you are watchful or not. People are becoming more and more health conscious. It's equally important to become thought conscious, mind conscious.

Habit of self-awareness takes you to the habit of self-improvement. The first step towards change/ improvement is knowledge. The second step is awareness.

What do you want to feed your mind? And what are you feeding? I hope only positive and creative thoughts. Are you a fearless dreamer? Tell me - which thinking is better - a) I'm all right as long as I'm not sad, Or b) I'm very happy and I contribute same to the world ?

Get up and smile. Still there is hope of better future because this world has got you.

Here are some quotes on awareness, just to emphasize its importance:

Without self awareness we are as babies in the cradles.

- Virginia Wolf

What is necessary to change a person is to change his awareness of himself.

- Abraham Maslow

What I am looking for is not out there, it is in me.

- Helen Keller

Self-awareness involves deep personal honesty. It comes from asking and answering hard questions.

- Stephen Covey

Find out who you are and do it on purpose.

- Unknown (to me)

And That Made All The Difference

Exceptions tell us where rules stand.

Let us don't waste time with the examples of situations where making decisions have made us feel that it's better to die over handling such situations. We all go through those at one point or another. Truly, you make but don't wait for the choices to appear. Important is, was it made in an autopilot mode or consciously? You cannot do a runner but are bound to face the ramifications of the choices you make. So, how to make a choice without being (looked*) selfish?

Well, I think primarily two factors should be considered. First consideration should be your progress as a person - Shall I learn something from this? Or shall I be able to contribute for the greater good? Another important consideration should be other's progress - Will this decision help someone? Will it enhance his/ her understanding or maturity or lifestyle or anything else which can benefit him/ her/ them? Either way, you end up feeling better. That is why these criteria sound to me worthwhile. These help us weigh the options and arrive to a rational** decision.

However, once the choice is made, human tendency is to rethink or rather doubt over the decision made. Thoughts like - "Did I do the "right***" thing?" and "Was that alternative better?" cross our minds. Easiest way to deal with this situation is to go with the flow. Be assertive about your actions. Grass always looks greener on the other side. Given the choice of trading your life with someone else, you wouldn't do it for the world. So appreciate what you have selected. Learn to arrive at peace with what you have chosen. You are who/ where/ what/ how you are because of the choices you have made so far. No one is to blame. You are not known by life or death but by the choices you make. Life is lived by preference. What is life? It's what you choose.

How do you want your life to be? Choose. Think about what defines you. Search for a single word, a verb, which defines your core characteristic. [ Shall elaborate this further in next blog]. Good health, remarkable relationships, job satisfaction, peace of mind, everything will be derived out of the choices you make. I am sure you don't want to compromise on any part. Rather you want them to be exceptionally great!

I am here, just like every other time, to remind you about your extraordinary goals and about your sheer grandeur and about your paramount power to lead yourself. When you believe in miracles, they happen. Take the control of your life in your hands.

Choose to expand yourself !

"I exist now more than I did four months ago. I'll leave "this world"# noticeably bigger than when I arrived here. And I'll leave with the hope that the expansion of one person - the magnification of one life - is indeed an act of worth in this world. Even if that life, just this one time, happens to be nobody's but my own."

 - From "Eat Pray Love" by Elizabeth Gilbert

*Looked - A smirk in context to today's reality of exhibitionism

**Rational - From whose perspective?

***Right - What's right?

#This world - Actual word in book is "Italy"