All Entries Tagged With: "Life Skills"

My friends tease me that my pseudonym is “How is it relevant”. I use this phrase very often and for most situations because it helps focus my mind. Let me share this secret with you. Scene 1. The boss is firing the hell out of a person and the person is miserable. Scene 2. The [...]

Do what you believe in, and the rest will follow. I have lost count of the number of times I have heard this statement. For someone who is constantly trying to balance the spiritual path along with a practical approach, life sometimes throws questions that are not always easy to answer. Working for a passion [...]

I recall the haunting song in the hindi film Masoom, which has this line, ‘Tujse naaraaz nahin zindagi, hairaan hoon mein. Pareshan hoon mein. Jeena ke liye, socha hi nahin, dard sambhaline hongein’. This means, “I am not angry with you, life. Just puzzled and vexed. I never thought that, to live, one would have [...]

“Pull Over Ma’am….” Not words anyone that I know would like to hear on a bullhorn behind the car. But come to think of it, maybe hearing the command at a really high decibel is the only way that we’ll ever move our foot from the gas pedal to the brake pedal and pull over. [...]

There is a Buddhist saying: As in the beginning, so in the middle, so in the end. …and it’s one of my life compasses. It never fails me and it’s nearly always proven true. Things often continue how they start. The click, the comfort, the clarity – or the lack thereof, is there at the [...]

Though no one can go back and make a brand new start, anyone can start from now and make a brand new ending – Carl Bard Frustration! It is a word which is commonly associated with feelings of helplessness and sometimes rage. So is there a way out? The answer is a big Yes! Any [...]

It is time to challenge the Einsteins and Newtons of this world. Do you have the courage to stop making a product, even when it is the largest selling one in its category? Can you think of wanting ‘demanding customers?’ Do you start developing the next model even before introducing the earlier one in the [...]

Last week end I took a break at a sea side resort in Pondicherry (aka Puduchery, as it is called now). Much to the chagrin of my wife and kid, I anchored myself for a few hours in the comfortable pool side chairs placed alongside the beach and indulged in my favorite activity – gazing [...]

Language has created the word “loneliness” to express the pain of being alone. And it has created the word “solitude” to express the glory of being alone. Paul J Tillich, The Eternal Now In today’s fast paced life we all seek peace and happiness. We set material goals and work toward achieving them. But, in [...]

You are a beautiful essence expressing your own unique genius. Yes, I said genius. And no, I don’t mean like Albert Einstein. We each have something that delights us, that we enjoy doing and most times a yearning to share that with others in some way. This essence that wants to manifest itself, leads you [...]

One of my visits to the beach left me thinking about the term, ‘sea change.’ What exactly is the connection between ‘sea’ and ‘change’? Delving into the dictionary for its meaning, I was able to figure out that it can mean: transformation, a u-turn, reversal, change of heart, etc. Etymologically speaking, William Shakespeare used the [...]

We crave it. We die for it. We try to pay for it. We aspire, we mire, we miss the mark. In the unending, coiling, incessant pursuit of being right and good enough to find love and get love and give love, we forget about the very nature of love itself. Love gets buried beneath [...]

There are times in life when for no particular reason, you’re feeling lower than a snake’s belly you know, a little on the weepy side, kind of listless, thinking a big chunk of chocolate would lift your spirits right up. Sometimes, without much effort, the weather changes, the mood passes and all’s right with the [...]

Well, I am not referring to the one that is being commonly used to express surprise, shock, anger, awe or all of it at the same time. I am talking about the other 4-letter F-word, which is about the emotion that we all experience at some time or the other: Fear! Why do we fear, [...]

Sometimes we make promises to ourselves about habits we know we need to change. With determination and firmness we say, “I will never be impatient again” and for a day or two we stick to our resolve. Some of us use the additional tools of reiki, affirmations or visualization to help us in our quest [...]

One of our Success Circle members recently asked for more specific guidelines on setting goals. The members each set a 60 Day WOW Goal – an achievement that they would feel really terrific about sharing with other members at the end of 60 days. Here are my best secrets for setting great WOW goals and [...]

I am not a professional expert on perfect parenting, so this article is not about how to bring up a child. This is not advice on how to become good parents. I am simply describing a few experiences which my friends, relatives and I have had as parents over the years. If the person reading [...]

Do we teach the right things? I recall an old Tamil film called Kaliyuga Krishnan. The story was rather simple but very interesting. There is this impoverished man who keeps bemoaning his fate and cursing Krishna. One day Krishna appears before him and challenges him. The Divine One offers to give the man all the [...]

Be quiet and listen….. This is the simplest and fastest change we can make to become a more skilled listener. In conversations with others, we can directly observe who’s doing most of the talking. If it is someone else then that is a good start. However, if we are talking a majority of the time, [...]

Napoleon Hill once said, “Most great people have attained their greatest success just one step beyond their greatest failure.” Success comes with a price of failure. We were meant to grow and learn from our mistakes. How much we have paid for the lessons of failure determines our next step to success. Generally we do [...]

All of us happen to meet pesky people in our life. We find others stepping on our shoes and we step on others’ shoes many times. An easy solution to handle such tricky scenarios or people is to look at them with wonder or amusement. Instead of getting upset by their worst or best habits, [...]

In career services we preach that you need to find yourself a mentor.  A mentor is someone who guides you, gives you their insight and their professional advice.  I have been very lucky to have had some GREAT mentors during the course of my career in education.  Betty Wilting, my former Dean at the technical [...]

Why do you feel so hopeless that your life seems empty? I am bored and don’t like what I am doing. It’s the same again, my job, my relationship all seem so lifeless. I wish to die. What is this life about? These are all statements of helplessness, devoid of natural passion. The following tips [...]

Right from the time we are born, yes from that very moment we get used to joy rides. Mom carrying us in her arms, dad becoming either a horse or a piggy back and the thrill we get from it! Then come the merry go round, tumbling box, giant wheel and as we grow older [...]

1. There are no rules. Structures, how-to’s, dogma, principles…all disciplines and theories should be used to support your freedom and independent thinking. Curiosity is exponentially more powerful than playing by the rules. 2. Say thank you. Gratitude is one of the most creative and noble forces of human nature. It makes everything – absolutely everything [...]

USHERING IT Once there was a breathtakingly beautiful garden with soft green grass, a lovely hedge, fragrant flowers and luscious fruit trees. No wonder the garden was the favourite haunt of Panna Lal and all the other children living in the neighbourhood. They spent most of their time in the idyllic setting, exploring the secrets [...]

Tummy trembles. Brain fuzz. That discombobulating feeling that you’re not quite sure what you should be doing but you should be something to keep your act together. Anxiety. Sometimes it slips away with a few deep breaths, other times you need to beat it off with a stick or some little white pills. Naturally, we [...]

LIVING LIFE CREATIVELY AND JOYOUSLY The Fine Print of Life brings alive the charmingly named Panna Lal, Hira Lal, Mishri Devi, Jalebi Devi and others as they muddle through life in their search for happiness and success. Struggling to make it big, but not sure what they really want from life, they reflect our own [...]

This topic is inspired by a recent ad of an SUV in India called Tata Safari which talks somewhere of the life most of us are living. The ad shows a corporate executive with a sad de-motivated face telling himself, ‘I always wanted to resign on a Monday morning.’  Then it shows a senior corporate [...]

It’s been around three decades since I left School. Recently, after having gone through the grinds of education in engineering and then work life in India, Hong Kong and now Canada, I had the opportunity to connect with some of my classmates. We used to be a bunch of fun loving students yet eager to [...]

We have a natural tendency to reflect about the past. I often hear people saying wistfully, “Those were the days!” This expression is almost always followed by some criticism of the present life be it environment, economy, society, politics or any other aspect – the pollution has increased, politics has become dirty, the economic world [...]

                  Friendship is a good example of intangible joy. When we are young, we love our friends. Sometimes, we even fight for and support our friends to the chagrin of our kith and kin. We learn from our peers and not seers. But as times change and [...]

Gratitude is one of the most powerful forces in the universe. It may not look as good as money, a big car, a palatial house, or the latest makeover – in fact, you can’t see it at all – but, as I’m going to show you, gratitude has more power to change your life than [...]

Do you work hard to avoid the embarrassment of not having enough and making good on your promises? Or…do you work hard because there’s so much of life to experience and you want it all? Reputation, or self-satisfaction? What the Joneses think, or the merit of your inclinations? The destination, or the journey? The fact [...]

When you set yourself a big new goal in an area you’re unfamiliar with, you’re going to go through an initial phase of complete and utter confusion. There’s nothing wrong with this. In fact, you should be delighted. It means you’re doing things right. But it’s not always comfortable. Which is why you need to [...]

“I demand an apology!” If you have to demand it, is it really worth receiving? Forced apologies are kind of like nice plastic. Shiny, maybe even useful, but ultimately, just trash. For a long time, I wanted an official kind of apology from my husband for some jerk-like tendencies he was trying out on me. [...]

This morning, I came to the office with a colleague of mine, as I had left my vehicle in the office last evening. As we approached our parking lot, I saw that my vehicle was parked haphazardly and it was blocking the way to the parking area. At that time when I parked there were [...]

I organized a painting competition at one of my workplaces. The paintings of the participants had to reflect or bring about the vision and mission of the company. One of the painters brought out an artwork that was a stunning example for the power of NOW. The painting was of trapeze artistes. Both the artistes [...]

      You don’t feel like flying today, you say? You’re feeling life’s weight? If I say, “Chin up,” it may piss you off. It sounds trite, as though I expect you to down a placebo. Well, listen up.   You can’t fly without sticking your neck out.   Watch a bird in the [...]

When I got married, my uncle gave me only this advice: The sea of suspicion has no shores! The gravity of the statement did not hit me until recently when, again, I was moved by the common thread that connected a few disparate incidents! The common thread was “suspicion”. I set out on a journey [...]

One Sunday afternoon in 1994, my dad came to pick me up at my mom’s place. Funny enough, kids of divorced families tend to have a double residency and plenty of clothes, toys and books at both locations. That was not my case. I have always lived with my mom and barely spent a full [...]

Sunday morning caught me uncoiling lazily in my bed, stretching the sleep out of my body and squinting against the sunshine streaming on the pillow. Choices had to be made – should I leave the safe zone of my comfortable quilts or uncover myself to the sunny reality slowly invading all corners of my bedroom? [...]

I was having a chat and when posting my profile I finished with the sentence that is the title of this article. Indeed to become an artist in life is a tough task. The core issue is to have a balance between work and success and to allow to be tickled by life. That is [...]

Imagine two kids fighting over a toy. “It’s mine!” “No, it’s mine!” They yank the toy back and forth, neither kid letting go, neither kid giving up. Now, imagine you’re the toy. Not only are you being pulled this way at that, but, more importantly, no one is playing with you. Your purpose, your great [...]

Life promises to surprise. Just a while ago we were polishing our shining economy and patting the bloated belly of our envisaged future. Suddenly the winds of fortune turned out to be gas! A case of the economy suffering from grave dyspepsia with the indigestible servings of the high and swinging life of over-indulgence. A [...]

Lyndon Baines Johnson was the 37th President of the United States. Politically, he has gone down as one of the most unsuccessful presidents in history due to his inauguration following the assassination of President John Kennedy and his pursuit of Kennedy’s policy in Vietnam. However, Johnson was a great people person who endeared himself to [...]

“You preserve only what you love, you love only what you understand, you understand what you are taught.” – Baba Pioum I read this at an aquarium in Kuala Lumpur. Given that most of the creatures are facing extinction in the order of magnificence they exude, I felt aquarium was probably the most appropriate place [...]

In 2005 as I was traveling through Montana on our way back to Wisconsin from Oregon, I exited onto Highway One from the Interstate to find gas. As I traveled the two mile trek to the nearest gas station I passed a sign pointing to the right that said “Opportunity”. I thought to myself, “How [...]

Super moms are supposed to be good jugglers so we juggle a job, home, a child and a husband. Super moms are always on the go, so we drive our kids to soccer, ballet and museums. Super moms are known to be social, so we choose play dates on weekends instead of sleep. Sometimes I wonder, if we are secretly vying for the “super mom” label?

It is miraculously true and accurate. Here is a small but true incident. A young lady who leads a sales team as sales manager was judged the best performer last year. She keeps up her performance this year too. Being in the role she is in, it is very common to hear her yell at [...]