My Compass

Thank you all of you for taking out time to share your comments on my last blog ‘Where’s your Compass?’ Since this blog is in continuation to that, hence my recommendation would be to first check that first in case you haven’t already done that. 

The values of Benjamin Franklin ended up eating up all the space there was for that blog, that my good friend Jayanth sent me the following message “I cannot see your thoughts”. What he meant was that these were Franklin’s thoughts and not mine, and rightly so, this motivated me to write down this blog.

Thanks Jayanth / Neeraj / Rashid / Puneet / Vikas Katyal / Arun / Nitesh / Pooja / Ruchi / Jasmine for sharing your inputs / thoughts on this. Special thanks to Neeraj as well for pointing out that something was missing in my last blog.

A few driving values which I believe in most are shared below. These are not arranged in any particular order and may not be exhaustive in nature. These are inspirational and something I would want to incorporate in my life to the “T”

1. Family before self - I am responsible for my family.
2. ‘Say what you mean and Mean what you say’ – Avoid sarcasm in speech.
3. Never say Die – Develop a positive Attitude & ‘Will to win’. Whenever you lose something, don’t forget the lesson.
4. Always Believe that I have scope for improvement – Learning never Ends and bring paradigm shift in my beliefs.
5. Respect others & their feelings – Be Polite  & ‘Do unto others; what you want others to do to you.’
6. Trust and be trusted – ‘Honestly is the best policy.’ Don’t loose trust in others because one person misused your trust.
7. Social Responsibility – Do something, howsoever little it may be, constructive for the society. It makes you feel good.
8. Develop tolerance towards difficult people & avoid criticism. To smile when it is most difficult.
9. Think Before Speaking – Be Patient  and remember ‘Patience always pays’
10. Always look at the ‘Big Picture’ in life and not loose focus in event of failure or accident.
11. Live in Moderation; maintain a healthy balance between ‘Work & Life’.
12. Setting Priorities Right – So that I am able to achieve all that I target for myself within the stipulated time.

(The words which are in BOLD are hyperlinks which will take to some of my earlier blogs I shared with you all. Do click on them to find out more..)

I might not be 100% compliant of these above mentioned values but I will strive to ensure that I come as close as possible when it comes to living these values.

Do share some of your guiding principles as well....

P.S – I would be taking a printout and putting it on my workstation.

Where's your Compass?

Ever imagined a life before the compass was invented, it certainly would have been very different. Not only did people have to do without a reliable direction indicator, but they also had to do without street lights, torches, road maps and satellite navigation. This must have meant a lot of dark nights lost in the woods.

Did you know when people don't have signs or other external cues for direction, they will probably end up walking in circles. Somehow the same is also true in our busy lives that we often find ourselves in the middle of a whirlwind. We dont know what to do and where to go. So, we look inside for our own compass to help us guide the way.

The compass, I am referring to, is our Values (Guiding Principles). The word is self explanatory. What do we value in our lives? These should be assisting us on where we want to reach in life.

Let me share an interesting article with you about Values.

Benjamin Franklin (the same guy who features on a $100 bill) was one of the Founding Fathers of the United States. A noted polymath, Franklin was a leading author and printer, political theorist, politician, postmaster, scientist, inventor, satirist, civic activist, statesman, and diplomat. He listed down all his 13 values and divided into 2 categories.

Personal

The eight personal virtues relate to your attitudes toward activities and their challenges. Good personal character traits will better your chances of success in achieving your goals.
Temperance: Eat not to dullness; drink not to elevation.
Order: Let all your things have their places; let each part of your business have its time.
Resolution: Resolve to perform what you ought; perform without fail what you resolve.
Frugality: Make no expense but to do good to others or yourself; i.e., waste nothing.
Moderation: Avoid extremes; forbear resenting injuries so much as you think they deserve.
Industry: Lose no time; be always employed in something useful; cut off all unnecessary actions.
Cleanliness: Tolerate no uncleanliness in body, clothes, or habitation.
Tranquility: Be not disturbed at trifles, or at accidents common or unavoidable.

Social

These five social virtues that Franklin stated concern your attitudes toward people with whom you have dealings. Good social character traits result in other people wanting to do business with you or to have relationships with you.
Silence: Speak not but what may benefit others or yourself; avoid trifling conversation.
Sincerity: Use no hurtful deceit; think innocently and justly, and, if you speak, speak accordingly.
Justice: Wrong none by doing injuries, or omitting the benefits that are your duty.
Chastity: Rarely use venery but for health or offspring, never to dullness, weakness, or the injury of your own or another's peace or reputation.
Humility: Imitate Jesus and Socrates.

However, there's a story behind the 13th Value. This was not a part of the values originally noted by Benjamin Franklin. History has it that he never exhibited that trait. So the moral is that only you can decide which the values you choose for yourself are.

The values listed above are only suggestive and by no means exhaustive. It is very important for us to put a lot of thought before we decide what is going to be an integral part of our value system.

Once our goal is fixed, our values will act as a compass and would always help us remain focused and on track in however dire strait we are in.

So, where's your compass? Click here to read my next blog

http://bhupeshdhawan.blogspot.com/2011/01/my-compass.html

I leave you all with this thought: "It is the set of the sails, not the direction of the wind that determines which way we will go."

Law of the Garbage Truck

How much are you affected by your external environment? How often have you let someone’s non-sense affect your mood?

I am reminded of a Franklin Covey workshop in which our facilitator asked us how we felt when he spoke good about us and likewise vice-versa. He pointed out that our reaction was directly linked to his actions and we indeed were letting him affect our emotions. Though this was a small example, there are a lot of other instances when we do indeed let others’ (and when I say others, I am referring to people who are not important to us) actions affect our equilibrium. Sometimes not even by their action, but their sheer presence we feel very insecure / frustrated / dejected.

He further went to share a story of a person travelling in taxi which just missed having an accident by a whisker due to the other driver’s fault. The errant driver instead of apologising hurled choicest of expletives at the taxi driver. The taxi driver just smiled and way bye much to the surprise of the passenger sitting inside. When inquired by him, the taxi driver explained.. "Many people are like garbage trucks. They run around full of garbage, full of frustration, full of anger, and full of disappointment. As their garbage piles up, they need a place to dump it. And if you let them, they'll dump it on you. When someone wants to dump on you, don't take it personally. You just smile, wave, wish them well, and move on. You'll be happy you did."

So this was it: The 'Law of the Garbage Truck.'

Just think how often do you let Garbage Trucks run right over you? And how often do you take their garbage and spread it to other people: at work, at home, on the streets?

However, the mark of a successful person is how quickly she/he can get back her/his focus on what's important. We need to focus our energies all around important things and should not let such instances ruin your day.

The bottom line is that successful people do not let Garbage Trucks take over their day.

I leave you all with this thought….

Life's too short to wake up in the morning with regrets, so love the people who treat you right. Pray for the ones who don't.
Believe that everything happens for a reason.
If you get a chance, TAKE IT! If it changes your life, LET IT! Nobody said it would be easy. They just promised it would be worth it!

First Time

Though we are almost one week into the New Year, I sincerely wish all of you a Wonderful, Happy and Prosperous New Year 2011.  It’s great to be back sharing my thoughts with you after a short break. My last blog brought out some divergent views on the controversial topic “Luck versus Ability”. A very warm ‘Thank You’ to all friends who posted their thoughts on my blog or sent reply to my message. I would be posting them under the comments sections with the acronym of their names. 

New Year is the time for Resolutions. Well, for me, it is to continue to seek improvement in whatever I do and ensure that I learn from my everyday experiences. I know it sounds very bookish and boring but it is not as easy as it looks.  I have shared my earlier blog on “Learning” (<----you can click here to read that blog) and this would be an extension to that.

First Time

When was the last time you did something for the first time? This is an innocuous looking question but its answer tells us a lot of things.

As I had mentioned in one of my earlier blog 'Learning', our experiences in day-to-day lives broadens our horizon and helps us understand things from a bigger perspective. We can learn from ours as well as other's experiences. Most of the learning has come during times when we are not at the helm of affair. Every time we come out of these difficult situations, we realise that we have become stronger and definitely we would respond to the same situation in a better way.

Let me share my experience of visiting the Police Station & Delhi Court for the first time in my life.

I happened to be dining at one of South Delhi's happening restaurant when one thief broke my car's window pane to steal my belongings kept on the rear seat. However, to his bad luck on a busy Saturday night, his act was stopped midway and he was apprehended red-handed. Police was called and this guy got arrested. So far, so good. But now I learnt that since my belongings were now case property I was required to file a complaint to get my stuff back. It's been 3 months now and till date I have visited the police station thrice and appeared in court once but the matter has still not been disposed. As luck would have it, the judge was on leave that day and now my next date is in second half of 2011.

Moral of the story - Don't leave stuff in your car while parking!!

I am reminded of the quote” It is better to protect your feet by wearing slippers rather than trying to carpet the whole world”

The second part of the learning is what we try to do proactively. It can be learning a new language / dance classes / increase your educational quotient by enrolling yourself for some new course / health regime etc.

The last time I did something for the first time was about 2 months back when I wrote my first blog.

Coming back to the golden question….what's your story? Do share it and post it in the comments section.