Luck By Chance

Disclaimer: I have been thinking about this for almost the entire of last week. I am not the subject matter expert and would welcome my readers to please post their thoughts on this blog. This thought is more driven by my mind than my heart. I am not trying to demean anyone’s thoughts & beliefs.

Do you believe in a simple four letter word called LUCK? Are you one who would pick up the newspaper and skip the headlines to first check your daily astrological forecast? Or switch your television and check out what’s in store for today? Going by the no. of TV channels serials and newspapers columns in circulation, I am sure a lot of you would feature in that list (including me). Sometimes these forecasts are head on and sometimes they don’t. Logically and statistically speaking there are 6.9 billion people (click here for latest update) on this globe and divided by the 12 Zodiac signs, hence each forecast caters to an audience of 500 millions people of the same star sign.

When we look around us, we find that some people are more successful than others. We are living in this world of limited opportunity in which a lot of us claim not being so-called “lucky”. I guess that one of the biggest delusions of success is that successful people don’t fail while the truth is that they fail more times than other people. 

One of my friend asked me how much weightage would you give to Luck against Ability? I am very confused and in split mind in my thought process. I would give it a 90%-10% in favour of ability. I am confident that a lot of people will not agree with me as stroke of luck definitely is also a factor which cannot be ignored. There can surely be a lot of instances like buying a lottery ticket, lucky draw, windfall gain where ability stands no chance. However in normal day to day living, I quote this very famous line- "Success is when Preparation meets Opportunity."  Without ability we would not reach anywhere even if we are lucky.

Some of the factors which contributes to success more than luck

Meet

Opportunity Half Way

– People who have taken initiatives and have been more proactive have made more progress than people who kept waiting for the perfect time to come.

Consistency pays – Try, Try till you succeed. Success has often come to those who have been disciplined in their approach and not lost their path after failures.

“Fortune Favours the Brave” - We should not bank on chance to become lucky…rather we should continue our efforts to reach our target.

Diligence is the mother of good luck. ~ Benjamin Franklin.  

This list is surely incomplete and I urge you to share your thoughts on this as this would bring out some more perspective on this.

I leave you all with this thought – “Destiny is no matter of chance. It is a matter of choice: It is not a thing to be waited for, it is a thing to be achieved.”

Regards

Bhupesh

Setting priorities Right!!

Ever discovered your car insurance expired a week ago, just immediately after you had an accident? Ever happened that you wanted to follow some recreational vocation but never found time? Ever wished for 26 hours in a day than 24 as you always have so much to do?  Ever happened to you that you were not hold on to your ‘new year resolutions’ for more than a week?

How many times have we pushed back a lot of important things because at that time we did not feel it was urgent? We are so busy in our lives that it is very difficult to decide between what was only urgent & not important and what was important but not urgent. Most likely, we are so engaged in our lives that we are left with no choice but to choose to do the urgent work first.

Dr Steven Covey’s “Seven habits of highly effective people” states “first thing first” as the third habit for being effective. “To live a more balanced existence, you have to recognize that not doing everything that comes along is okay. There's no need to overextend yourself. All it takes is realizing that it's all right to say no when necessary and then focus on your highest priorities. It is about life management as well as your purpose, values, roles, and priorities. What are "first things?" First things are those things you, personally, find of most worth. If you put first things first, you are organizing and managing time and events according to the personal priorities.” Pareto’s principle states that 20% of your activities will account for 80 percent of your success. When you have to choose among several tasks, there are several prioritization tools that we can use. The very basic of such a tool is dividing our activity into the four quadrants of important & urgent. However, to begin to do, that let’s quickly define ‘Important’ & ‘Urgent’.

Urgent – something that has to be attended “NOW” else we might have to face some consequences. Eg. Fire Alarm / medical emergency/ answering a ringing phone

Important – Having great value, influence or effect.

Now, we need to run our work on these filters and ensure that we focus majority of the time only on the important things. However, we can’t imagine ourselves in a situation where everything is going as per plan and we don’t need any fire-fighting!! Hence, we would definitely find fire-items taking away majority of our time.

Sometimes priorities will keep shifting with passing time. We would need to juggle between tasks. On balance, though, we need to ensure our priorities are consistent with our personal goals and the goals of our organizations. Doing this requires a periodic review, and a weekly planning session is ideal for this.

I am sure that most of the people reading this would already know whatever I am sharing with you today. But when it comes to application, it is very important to be able to determine what is important to us before we can use this tool.

To sum it up, a battle well planned is a battle half-won !! 

The Big Picture

Some of us would have seen those mammoth hoardings of a very popular insurance company with the tag line “YOU ARE THE BIG PICTURE”. 

As individuals we come across lot of instances where we ask for directions, guidance help from our elders, seniors, friends because we get lost in doing a lot of micro things that we loose the big picture.

What is “BIG PICTURE”? To me, it’s like a road map which shows me where I am and the road I am going to take to reach to my destination.

I would like to share the story of the Six Blind Men who described one animal as snake, a wall, a tree, a spear, a fan and a rope. The animal in question turned out to be…………………….. A ELEPHANT? Each of the six blind men described what they felt by touching the elephant to each other. I am sure you can understand how difficult it would have been for them to see the complete picture.

This small story may be true for each one of us as well. The way we look at the world may just be a reflection of what people close to us think about and might not be the true or the complete picture.

A lot of times we are reminded by our good friends to stop looking at the finer details and utilise most of our times in search of perfection ending up loosing the big picture.

Have you ever tried the Google Earth software which lets you zoom out and lets you see the same place from higher altitude with a broader perspective?  Can we have something like that for us as well? Wishful thinking…but the same is not available yet for us to use in our personal or professional lives.

Don’t see the world from the eyes of others and believe it, decide your goal, plan well towards it , take some calculated risks, be open for learning, read books and most importantly keep asking yourself the million dollar question regularly………….”What’s your BIG PICTURE and where am I fitting in that today?”

The “Big Picture” helps us in the following ways…(and it goes without saying that feel free to add to this list..)

1. See the vision beforehand,

2. Size up the situation, taking into consideration lot of variables,

3. Seize the moment, when the timing is right.

I am sure you would be amazed that your perceptions about your surrounding will undergo a paradigm shift. 

I leave you with this thought “ People who are constantly looking at the whole
picture have the best chance of succeeding in any endeavor."- John Maxwell

Do share your thoughts on this and how you keep your tab on the BIG PICTURE.

Being Polite

I simply love the "Vodafone Delights' tag line "Isn't it nice when someone makes you feel special?"
I guess we all feel nice when we are given differential treatment.  So how about being someone else's reason of delight or even just giving them their due respect?

I am sure you would have heard the quote 'Do unto others, what you want others to do to you.' Be nice to people around you. Everytime we interact we people, remember that a smile, a wink, a raised hand, a small pat on the back, a firm handshake...that's all it takes to show your appreciation. A lot of times, we tend to believe that such small gestures dont make any difference. Think again, I am sure you would think otherwise.

I agree that while at work, it might be someone's duty to do a particular job and doesn't call for a 'thank you'. Yet, we should try to be polite with all those we interact.We should respect everyone and not look down upon anyone. As a team manager would agree, every team member is important in the team. Everyone in the team is like a piece of the jig-saw puzzle and the picture wouldn't be complete with each one of them. Just imagine a day when your maid wouldn't turn up, your office boy or the house keeping guy is on leave....the job they do isn't easy. So, respect that!

A lot of times, we might be facing the wrath of someone for no fault of ours. At times, with so much pressure, frustration and despair all around us we tend to lose our temperament and shout, even abuse people for a something they do which upsets us.  Look around, incidents of Road Rage is on the increase. Any provocation and our emotions just erupt like a volcano. It does not get square if we vent out all our frustration on someone else. 

 Let me clarify that being polite doesn't mean being a soft rubber that anyone can tread over you. If your team meber is not doing what he is supposed to do and deserves a dressing down, the same should be done in private and not in an open forum. I strongly believe that being polite and giving respect is a sign of strength and not weakness. Be strong, take charge of your emotions and channelise your energy. I know, its easier said than done.

What is your take on this ? Do post your views....