Experience - The Best Teacher

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Welcome to Anbusivam's Blog Page.

While I was travelling from my home town to Bangalore last night, numbers of thoughts were rambling in my mind due to couple of comings and goings in my life. I was thinking of my recent experiences and lessons I am taught by them…therefore got a thread for this post.

Yes, I am absolutely convinced that experience is the best teacher in our lives. First Person Experience in particular is the “Bestest” teacher. I agree that its always good learn lessons from others experience and not to burn our finger once again to learn things. Yes reading biographies, listening to experiences, seeking wisdom from our elders are all means of taking lessons for us to make our lives easier. What we learn through experience is more lasting than that acquired through reading. It is accurate, complete and permanent. It is first-hand knowledge. But, nothing can teach us as good as our own personal First Person Experience. I’ve learnt that, grueling experiences at some point of time will always be a great saviour at some later stage in life and I am sure it’s pretty much true for all of us. A child does not stop playing with fire till he burns his fingers. He learns from his own experience.

Moreover, involving as a first person brings in all the senses of ours into the situation and our brain precisely records that experiential learning so that, it would be readily available for us in future at the right moment when needed. Before crying out “Why Me…?” we should understand that the experiences we have had all through our life is not just to test our faiths in some unknown beliefs, but only to make us as strong as what we are today. We should be thanking the experience and feel blessed for having given this wonderful opportunity to learn. There is profound meaning and purpose to everything that happens to us. May be we are not aware of the purpose right when things are happening to us, but certainly looking back we can very well understand that, its all well connected to our present:

Steve Jobs, CEO of Apple Computer said,
You can't connect the dots looking forward; you can only connect them looking backwards.

It’s also interesting to know that, two of us exactly experiencing a similar experience may feel entirely different based on so many factors. It may depend on our child hood, up bringing, society, family values and many more. Hence it is important to experience the experience personally in first person to get the best out of it.

Experience is the "bestest" teacher that always results in the most enduring lessons.

Thanks for visiting my page.

With love,
Anbusivam

Alcoholic Leadership

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Welcome to Anbusivam's Blog Page.

I know you must be wondering, what's this Alcoholic Leadership...???

Its all about taking leadership over alcohol and not letting that bottle take over us. We had an excellent session this morning in our counselling class by Mr.Vincent representing AA (Alcoholic Anonymous, a world wide organisation), Bangalore. He shared his personal life experiences on his 25yrs of addiction and how he poured alcohol completely out of his life 15yrs ago. Since then from 1995, he is very instrumental in working with AA, Bangalore reaching out to alcoholics and their families to get out of alcoholism.

AA defines alcoholism as "A physical allergy, coupled with mental obsession, leading to spiritual bankruptcy".

Alcoholism by itself is a deadly disease that succumb mankind to a lowest level in life. I personally knew few of them in my family and friends, who are alcoholics leading a miserable life.

Image courtesy (http://images.inmagine.com)

Its not that they wish and happy to lead life in a miserable way, but they've no other choice as they are programmed to the core with the barrels of alcohol that have gone in all through these years. Even if they badly want to come out of that misery, they will not able to do so, as things have gone out of their hands and mind. Hands starts shaking and shivering without that peg in the morning, mind is out of control fantasizing that one day every thing will be alright. Most importantly they make a promise every day not to drink, though they very well knew that their day is going to end up drinking anyway.

AA is an excellent self help group that has made a remarkable change in thousands of lives all over the world. Here is their famous twelve step program to overcome addiction.

THE TWELVE STEPS PROGRAM OF ALCOHOLICS ANONYMOUS

1. We admitted we were powerless over alcohol—that our lives had become unmanageable.

2. Came to believe that a Power greater than ourselves could restore us to sanity.

3. Made a decision to turn our will and our lives over to the care of God as we understood Him.

4. Made a searching and fearless moral inventory of ourselves.

5. Admitted to God, to ourselves, and to another human being the exact nature of our wrongs.

6. Were entirely ready to have God remove all these defects of character.

7. Humbly asked Him to remove our shortcomings.

8. Made a list of all persons we had harmed, and became willing to make amends to them all.

9. Made direct amends to such people wherever possible, except when to do so would injure them or others.

10. Continued to take personal inventory and when we were wrong promptly admitted it.

11. Sought through prayer and meditation to improve our conscious contact with God, as we understood Him, praying only for knowledge of His will for us and the power to carry that out.

12. Having had a spiritual awakening as the result of these Steps, we tried to carry this message to alcoholics, and to practice these principles in all our affairs.

In these days of widely accepted social drinking, its very very important to be aware that, alcoholism starts with a very first drink in some point of time in our life. I am not here to say don't drink, it is absolutely an individual's choice to make. All I would like to request is

"Let us be the Leaders in this world and not allow those mere bottles to take over us".

Thanks for visiting my page.

With Love,
Anbusivam

Note: If you are willing to help an alcoholic in Bangalore, please get in touch with me to know further details on AA, Bangalore fellowship. Thank You.

Great Indian Democracy..Where is it heading...?

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Welcome to Anbusivam's Blog Page.

Now, time has come for the Great Indian Democracy to reinvent itself. I strongly believe this is one of the best times that the younger generation of this wonderful nation can assertively make their voice heard to the country. These days we hardly see any politician who also works for this society and the people those elected him/her. One can clearly see every where from north to south, east to west, the inability of our Indian politicians to rise above their very narrow mentality and their own personal agendas.

Where are we heading....??? I am afraid, if this trend continues for next 10 years, our entire democratic system will collapse and people will take up law and order in their hands, which may lead to dire consequences. We very well know that, all we need is a Great Leader of all times, capable of taking the nation to next greater level.

It's more than enough and we the people are badly badly sick of

dynasty politics,
ruthlessly selfish leaders,
ridiculous freebies,
undelivered promises,
criminal and unethical law makers,
corrupt minds,
opportunistic hearts,
money and muscle powerplays,
madly power greedy,
thoughtless actions,
useless statements,
absurd behaviours,
and on......and on.............,

I am seeing a number of so called leaders willing to become the top brass of our country, and I wonder if any of them even think truthfully if he/she deserves that......??? I can understand that in a democratic country like our's anyone and everyone can have that wish, but as a common sense they should also think about their credentials and abilities to deliver on commitments.

Oh....I am sorry to talk in an alien language "deliver on commitments" what's that....???

One of my friends asked how to choose a better politician....how do I know whom to vote for....?

I think we should not be having that dilemma at all. I know a simple rule. In fact that's is pretty easy, all we need is to just choose between what we want, "worse" or "worst"......?


Let's make our vote count.

Thanks for visiting my page.

With Love,
Anbusivam

Let's Become Wiser Said Warren Buffet...!!!

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Welcome to Anbusivam's Blog Page.

I talked about simplifying our lives in my previous post, Voluntary Simplicity.

One of my friends shared some wonderful thoughts from the great investor of our times Warren Buffet and I am sharing that with you all. I am sure this is nothing new, as he says its all the wisdom of our elders that will make us financially wiser.

Hard work: All hard work brings profit; but mere talk leads only to poverty.

Laziness: A sleeping lobster is carried away by the water current.

Earnings: Never depend on a single source of income.

Spending: If you buy things you don't need, you'll soon sell things you need.

Savings: Don't save what is left after spending; Spend what is left after saving.

Borrowings: The borrower becomes the lender's slave.

Accounting: It's no use carrying an umbrella, if your shoes are leaking.

Auditing: Beware of little expenses; a small leak can sink a large ship.

Risk-taking: Never test the depth of the river with both feet.

Investment: Don't put all your eggs in one basket.

I'm sure that those who have been practicing these principles will remain in good financial health.

Let us become wiser and lead a happy, healthy, prosperous and peaceful life.

Thanks for visiting my page.

With Love,
Anbusivam

Life of Voluntary Simplicity

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Welcome to Anbusivam’s blog page.

Phew…!!! Job loss every where. I am literally seeing frowning faces every where....and the questions they ask are "How is it going in your company...?, any lay offs ...?".

Organisations are into cost cutting mode. Managers are looking for reducing the operating costs in each and every corner, even to the extent of buying low cost toilet tissues. For individuals, I believe this is the right time to come out of consumerism. which many are blindly falling prey to. In this time of global economic melt down, leading a simple life means a lot for survival.

Only way we individuals can cope with these kinds of situations is with “Voluntary Simplicity”. Voluntary simplicity comes from within. It is the only way of more sustainable human existence in this world. Voluntary simplicity is a matter of personal responsibility and conscious awareness of how we live on the planet. It means identifying the difference between our needs and our wants. Needs are those things that are necessary for our survival - food, clothing, and shelter. Wants are all the other things we desire and to a large extent are driven by media advertising. Simplicity as a life-style is the identifiable difference between needs and wants, and the awareness.

We must live simply, so that others may simply live. - Gandhi

The ability to simplify means to eliminate the unnecessary so that the necessary may speak. - Hans Hofmann.

Practical Steps to Simplifying Our Life:

1. Get yourself with what you really need and not what you want.

2. Limit your buying habits. If we can escape materialism, we can easily get into the habit of buying less. And that will mean less stuff, less spending, less frustration.

3. Limit your media consumption, media advertisements dominates most of our buying decisions. Simplify your life and your information consumption by limiting it.

4. Learn to live frugally. Living frugally means buying less, wanting less, and leaving less of a footprint on the earth. It’s directly related to simplicity.

5. Before you buy something, write the item down on a note and if you still want it after a month, purchase it then.

6. Have a Buy Nothing Day.

7. Walk down or take out your bicycle to round the corner shopping.

8. Decide what is really working in your life and let go of that which no longer serves you.

9. Brew your own coffee at home instead of spending time and money in that posh café corner.

10. Find friends who know the glass is half-full or in other words, find friends who share the same value system as you do.

After all the above,

Always ask: Will this simplify my life? If the answer is no, reconsider.

Thanks for visiting my page.

With Love
Anbusivam

Counselor Chalisa...!!!

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Hanuman Chalisa is a Hindi poem on Lord Hanuman written by Shri.Tulsidas, which is recited as a prayer by Hindus. The moment I came across an excellent poem on Counselors , I shared it with my DCS ( Diploma in Counseling Skills) classmates of Banjara Academy. I would say nothing else in this world can depict what counseling and counselors are all about as perfectly as this one poem does. I am really really grateful for the person who had written this wonderful poem. Its simply amazing combination of words together that makes a huge impact. And yes, we as counselors decided to recite this day in and day out. We named it "Counselor Chalisa".

Here it goes:

"Counselor Chalisa"

I can't give solutions to all of
life's problems, doubts, or fears.
But I can listen to you and
together we will search for answers.

I can't change your past with all it's heartache and pain,
nor the future with it's untold stories.
But I can be there now when you need me to care.

I can't keep your
feet from stumbling.
I can only offer my hand
that you may grasp it
and not fall.

Your joys, triumphs, success,
and happiness are not mine;
Yet I can share in your laughter.

Your decisions in life are not mine to make, nor to judge;
I can only support you, encourage you,
and help you when you ask.

I can't prevent you from

falling away from friendship,

from your values, from me.

I can only pray for you,

talk to you, and wait for you.

I can't give you boundaries which I have determined for you,
But I can give you the room to change, room to grow,
room to be yourself.

I can't keep your heart from breaking and hurting,
But I can cry with you and help you pick up the pieces
and put them back in place.

I can't tell you who you are,

I can only love you and be your friend.

Thanks for visiting my page.

With Love,
Anbusivam

What is Leadership - an Art or a Science...?

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Welcome to Anbusivam's Blog Page.

Today in office at the lunch table, we were talking on Leadership in context with Satyam's scam, I would say it's indeed Ramalinga Raju's fraud.

Then came a question: Leadership - is it an Art or a Science...???

One of my colleagues said, "Leadership is an art, not a science. It depends mostly on sensitivity to circumstances, courage to face reality and a continual willingness to do whatever it takes to bring others along with an artistic eye for the future".

One another colleague said, "Leadership is a science, not an art. It purely depends on the ability to gather the data available around, gather tangible information and take appropriate decision on that for the future".

I believe "Leadership is more of an art with some science. Its all about dealing with people and situations those would probably lead to a better future if led in the right way".

What do you think on Leadership, is it an Art or a Science...???
Share your thoughts and comments.

Thanks for visiting my page.

With Love.
Anbusivam

Small Change Can Make Big Difference

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Welcome to Anbusivam's Blog Page.

Yes indeed its very true that, "A Small Change Can Make Big Difference" most of the time in many areas of our life.

A Better technical term that can well explain this idea is "Butterfly Effect" (or sometimes referred to a Chaos Theory). A butterfly's soft tiny wings can make changes in the atmosphere, that may ultimately may alter the path of a Tornado, it may even create or prevent the occurrence of tornado at certain location. It doesn't mean that flapping of a butterfly's wings only can create tornado, but its a consecutive chain of effects whose initial conditions would be different if not because the flapping wings of a butterfly.

Does this Butterfly Effect play a role in our relationships....??? Yes to a great extent.

Small gestures and reciprocations could make a huge difference in the way our relationships take course. Most of the time we take things for granted in our close relations. We don't even think of saying a Thank You to our parents, spouse or friends as we believe that they are obliged to do things for us, as after all we are there for them. Understanding some of the subtle feelings of our loved ones and supporting them the way they need (not the way we would need in a similar situation) would surely change the relationship into a stronger one. I've come across people who, feel pressure in their relationships now as they failed to address these small and subtle needs to nurture it into a stronger one.

Does this Butterfly Effect play a role in our work....??? Yes to a great extent.

Looking carefully to the smallest details while starting a project is very very critical in our work place too. A subtle mistake while getting our customer's requirements would end up in a big trouble at the finishing of the product. This would definitely take a huge expense to correct at the final delivery stage.

Every morning, the time it takes for me to reach my office greatly depends on what time I start from my home. It usually takes 30mins if I start at 7.20am. It takes more than an hour if I start at 7.30am. I used to wonder how come just a 10mins difference in the initial condition makes a huge impact of more than 30mins at the destination. In fact the number of vehicles come out on the road increases more than twice in that 10mins delay and it literally looks like butterflies crowding on the road....:) Yes, this is nothing but a Butterfly effect.

Again, Yes indeed its very true that, "A Small Change Can Make Big Difference" most of the time in many areas of our life. We should be looking out for those subtle things, that can really make big difference.

Thank for visiting my page.

With Love,
Anbusivam

New Year Afformations...!

Hell0 Friends,

Welcome to Anbusivam's Blog Page.

Wishing you all a very prosperous New Year 2009.

Read it again....not Affirmations, its "Afformations". Before we talk about Afformations, let me tell you something that happened last week. Last Friday after dinner we discussing on some movies and suddenly my sister brought in the topic of an old time singer who was my favorite in school days. Surprisingly I was not even remembering his name and tried all my best to recollect it by all means from my memory, but couldn't. That night when I went to bed, I was unable to sleep without knowing the name of that singer. The question of What's that singer's name...? occupied my mind completely and it was a long night indeed.

Being a student of Human Mind, I just wondered how smart our mind is. It was literally stuck in a question, trying all means to find answer for that. Almost all of us are wired with this inherent curiosity to find/search answers for the questions posed to us in our lives. I was thinking how can this tendency of Human Mind to seek answers to the questions can be used in the field of self development.

After various searches in Google, I ended up with "Empowering Questions" which took me to this wonderful world of "Afformations" a word coined by Noha.St.John of The SuccessClinic. His wonderful book The Great Little Book of Afformations talks in detail about the power of Afformations.

Unlike affirmations, afformations are not just positive statements. Its all powerful positive questions. I've been using positive affirmations since my NLP days, but yes there is always a conflict between my conscious and subconscious mind each time I repeat my affirmation statements. As Noha says in his book, "I am rich" is indeed believed to be a positive affirmations. Important thing to notice here is do we sincerely believe this affirmation statement or do we doubt them..? Okie if I believe it and then, what's next after this art of convincing ourselves with what we are not. Noha's Afformations takes us to the next level, that is the new way of asking powerful questions to which our mind automatically try to find out the answers leading to greater results at the end.

According to Noha,

Affirmation --> "I am Rich", this is a statement to which our mind says "Yeah, Right". It all ends there most of the time.

Afformation --> "Why am I Rich?", this is a powerful positive question to which our mind starts seeking/searching answers. In the process we find all possible means and ways to become rich actually.

In this New Year 2009, We can simply modify all our negative questions into positive, empowering questions which will cause our mind to focus on the positive possibilities.

Thanks for visiting my page.

With Love.
Anbusivam

Leadership Skills for Legislators

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Welcome to Anbusivam's Blog Page.

I was very happy and it is good to see our legislators sitting in the classrooms of IIMB the elite management institute, trying to learn the new way of social management. Yes, ofcourse they need it.

Who else can make this happen other than our great Indian Inspiration Dr.Abdul Kalam sir. He is an amazing Indian who deeply energies and inspires the youth of this nation to a greater level. I don't think there is anyother leader who could create this inspiration and passion throughout the nation. I am sure every school going children knows who he is and what's his dream 2020 is all about.

When Karnataka Legislators decided to take up a 3 days management class from our former president and some senior professors of IIMB, there is a hope that they would have at least picked up some basic managment lessons to implement in their constituencies.

Acording to Kalam, a leader must have the following eight qualities:

1. Vision
2. Passion to bring true the vision
3. Ability to travel on unexplored path
4. Know how to manage success and failure
5. Courage to take decisions
6. Nobility in management
7. Transparency in management
8. Work with integrity

The main problem I see is , as a country we have labeled politics as service to the society. During the days of independence people entering into politics were considered to be sacrificing their personal and family priorities for the sake of National priorities. Now even after 60 years of independence our politicians still think that they are doing a great service to the people and the society, while actually doing all possible things to keep their personal and family priorities on the top. I believe that this irony of thought and action should be fundamentally changed.

Why can't we consider at least our elected representatives as an executive of a company, who is accountable, perform, deliver his promises, fold his sleeves and get into action.

Thanks for visiting my page.

With Love,
Anbusivam

Leadership in the Times of Crisis

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Welcome to Anbusivam's Blog Page.

When the entire world was glued to their television sets, watching the great mayhem of this year in Mumbai I was equally angry on our so called Leaders as any other young Indian. The 60 hours of action seemingly like a Hollywood blockbuster at last came to an end with unfortunate loss of the innocent lives.

It was very obvious, as a nation we are not even near ready for these kinds of times of crisis. Crisis is an unexpected, sudden disaster that can deeply impact the lives of the people, disrupting even their very existence in this society. Now with this Mumbai event it’s clear that not only Nations but businesses, institutions and even individuals need to be prepared to these kinds of crisis. Today’s society is more and more becoming vulnerable to these kinds of dastardly terror acts as it is easy for any one to get hold of the necessary materials, technology and expertise to make weapons of mass destructions.

In an open society where we value the freedoms of movement, we definitely can’t guarantee stopping these attacks completely. All that we can do is to make our best possible efforts in putting up all possible hurdles to carry out even a simple attack on the innocent lives around. In fact the Mumbai attacks clearly showed that, we don’t even have given a simple difficulty for those mindless animals to carry out such an outrageous act. It was just a cake for them into those high profile buildings. This is really a matter of deep concern for all the citizens of this country.

Leadership that can promptly act, make things happen quickly in the times of crisis is what we need. For all these years, we’ve allowed these problems to be part of our lives. At least this time it’s heartening to see the young Indians waking up, who don’t want to allow the problem to be part of their lives, instead wanted to deal with it strongly. We should be demanding our leaders to make things happen and make it clear to the world that we as a country will not allow these kinds of dastardly acts in our soil anymore in any form. We should firmly make it apparent that will go to any extent to address these issues right now at this moment.

Some critical points for the leadership during times of crisis I could think of are:

• Be proactive and not reactive (let’s at least have a crisis management team in place to handle such times of crisis)
• We shouldn’t even think of what to do when the moment hits us, instead we should be prepared in detail on what are the priorities in the times of crisis (faster we act, quicker we can take charge of the situation)
• Speculations and rumors are the killers in times of crisis. (we should have a one singe reliable communication channel to the people, instead of every one taking out to take political mileage out of the situation)
• We should be careful of every word spoken during crisis (especially for the media and political leaders)
• We should learn to rise to the occasion, leaving all our differences aside (religion, caste, creed, etc…)
  

As I always say, we often relate the word "Leadership" with politics, business, sports, and very few areas of our lives. Many a times I've noticed people think and talk, that Leadership is all about position. But, I strongly believe Leadership is everybody’s business. It is for men, women and children. It is for families, business and communities. It is for me and you. It is for each one of us.

Let’s take charge and make sure for a Fundamental Change in this great India. Jai Hind.

With Love.
Anbusivam

Leadership through Physical Fitness

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Welcome to Anbusivam's Blog Page.

When I was doing my regular weekend long-run this morning, the thought stuck in my mind was, "Is there a relationship between Leadership and Physical Fitness...?". From my few experiments and little experience I am fully convinced that, Yes there is a great relation between one's Leadership Qualities and his/her Physical Fitness.

It is also true that, children involved in rigorous physical activities like sports and games could concentrate better in their studies as compared to the children who spend most of their time with computer games or television.

Here is what physical fitness can bring in to our lives,

1. Keeps us healthy and fit.
2. Positively impacts our personality.
3. Increases our self confidence.
4. Certainly clears of all the stress and tension.
5. Brings in lots of clarity in thinking.
6. Provides more behavioral choices.
7. Increases our ability to handle stress.
8. Increases our endurance.
9. Makes us more flexible.
10. Gives better emotional stability.
11. ...
12. ... i am sure this list could go on and on.....!

Research have proved clearly that there is an obvious connection between the employee muscle and employee behavior. A study undertaken by Naval postgraduate school, gave organizations a better idea of what to expect from improved management and employee muscle. The results indicated the improved physical fitness can significantly affect the individual in terms of changes in personality and behavior. The changes also appear to have a significant positive effect on individual leadership traits.

Barack Obama, one of the very few fittest presidents usually starts his day in the gym. He says,

“I tend to be a healthy eater. So I probably could get away with cutting my workouts back a little bit. The main reason I do it is just to clear my head and relieve me of stress. It’s a great way to stay focused.”

One key thing to remember is, what ever we do, its all going to come back to us.

Thanks for visiting my page.

With Love,
Anbusivam

My Presentation at IgniteBangalore2008

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Welcome to Anbusivam's Blog Page

I am sharing the presentation slides from my talk at IgniteBangalore2008.

What is Ignite?

If you had five minutes on stage what would you say? What if you only got 20 slides and they rotated automatically after 15 seconds? Around the world geeks have been putting together Ignite nights to show their answers.

IgniteBangalore was the first of its kind in India organized by the folks from McKinsey here in Bangalore on Thursday, November 13, 2008. I must say it was an excellent evening, with enthusiastic and wonderful crowd. I was one among the 12 presenters , who were from different walks of life passionate about Technology, Biking, Humanity, Social Contribution, Child Education, Political Awareness, Innovation and so on.

World May End Tonight Ignite Bangalore

View SlideShare presentation or Upload your own.

(Hope the video will be up soon too)

These slides were running at one slide per 15secs, I had 20 slides and 5mins to talk. Let me know if you can think of what I would have talked there...???

Thanks for visiting my page.

With Love,
Anbusivam

Hardwork Can Only End In Great Results

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Welcome to Anbusivam's Blog Page.

For the first time I've shamelessly copied few excerpts word by word from a wonderful article of SiliconIndia. Thanks to my friend Pradeep of SiliconIndia, for one of the best article that has ever come in SiliconIndia. (In my humble opinion)

This is a story of brothers who have proved clearly that no matter what the external circumstances are, but a sincere hard work had to end in great results. There is no other way actually. Nothing can be substituted to Hard Work in the world of consistent success. Though hard work may not be the only attribute for success in life, but I am sure every thing else without hard work is meaning less.


It's an amazing life lesson from Kalyan Raman, VP.Technology and Head of Amazon Bangalore Centre and Kumar Srinivasan, CEO of Global Scholar. This brothers had proved that sucess comes to those who dare to dream and have the spirit to make it true. This really inspired me to daringly dream for a next level in my life.

Do Visit this Link for Sure:
http://www.siliconindia.com/shownews/48412

Disclaimer: Inspiration Guaranteed.

Thank for visiting my page.

With Love
Anbusivam

Yes, I am a Valuable Person

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Welcome to Anbusivam's Blog page.

I am writing this post when most of Bangalore is snoring in a cold midnight suddenly jumping out of my bed. Though writing a blog post has been one among my high priority tasks for the end of my work week, I thought of doing it tomorrow as I was little down with some overwhelming emotions and feelings. In spite of all, I couldn't resist myself jumping out of my bed to complete this task, prompted by Scott Peck.

I picked up a very interesting book "The Road Less Traveled" by Scott Peck last week. As usual I am sticking to it like a lizard on the wall and I will, until I complete it. Scott says,

"The feeling of being valuable - "I am a valuable person" is essential to our mental health and is a cornerstone of self discipline. If we feel ourselves valuable, then we will feel our time valuable, and if we feel our time to be valuable, then we will want to use it well."

I personally value my time spending in blogging to the most purposeful in my life This is the time during which I really think more critically, try to get more information, understand the subject to its deeper and subtler levels and so on. As I value blogging to the core, I was unable to sleep while that is not completed as required to be. This can also be looked as a way of "Delaying Gratification" means, by which I am ready to sacrifice a cozy sleep in this cold midnight in order to get this task of blogging accomplished on time.

Let's all value ourselves and hence value our valuable time to put it for our best purpose.

With Love,
Anbusivam

Congruent Living

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Welcome Anbusivam's Blog Page.

I am doing my DCS (Diploma in Counseling Skills) from Banjara Academy. Our teachers both Dr.Ali Khwaja and Raja Reddy are wonderful people. I really love and enjoy myself in this course with excellent classmates helping me to understand myself and others in a better way.

As a part of the course work we were out of Bangalore this weekend to Manthan, a six-acre farm located in Yelahanka (outskirts of Bangalore), belonging to the Banjara Academy serves as the venue for the many activities of the Academy. Manthan is an ideal weekend getaway in its wonderful serene surroundings. Two full days were all about "SelF AwarenesS".

I personally had a wonderful experience there, during the camp I could really get to know some of my unknown traits those are useful neither for me nor for anyone else. In fact those qualities in me were roadblocks to some extent in my interpersonal relations. So, having identified them I am gonna sincerely work on them to get rid of them to replace with some very useful qualities there in place. I did some soul searching there to identify few good qualities those will be certainly useful to me and in my interactions as well.

"Congruent Living" is the right phrase I would like to put in place for what I want in life. Carl Rogers originated the word the term congruence. For him congruence is only when our thoughts, feelings, emotions, values and behaviours are aligned in same direction. I always find meditation to be an excellent technique to strive towards congruence. I am sure this is helping me a lot in my never ending journey from the present real-self to the ideal-self.

Thanks for visiting my page.

With Love,
Anbusivam

Brick Walls Are Not There To Keep Us Out

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Couple of weeks ago I realised that I am almost stuck with one of my personal goals. All my efforts ended up in vein and I was about to give-up. My thought of giving up broke, when I came across this wonderful video of Carnegie Mellon University Professor Randy Paush's Last Lecture.

Randy talked about his application to Walt Disney Imagineering, saying "I dashed off my letters of applications to Walt Disney Imagineering, and they sent me some of the damned nicest go-to-hell letters I have ever gotten". But the rejection didn't discourage him and eventually wound up doing work for Disney.

He said, "The brick walls are not there to keep us out. The brick walls are there to give us a chance to show how badly we want something." In other words, the brick walls of rejection help us figure out who we really are and what we really want.

Randy went on to say, "The brick walls are there to stop the people who don't want it badly enough. They're there to stop the other people."

So I asked myself , "How badly do I want that goal to be achieved? How good are my climbing skills to climb across? Or do I think success is 'too hard' to achieve and just give up?". After all these questions I started working with all my effort towards that goal and it looks like I am making some decent progress if not great steps ahead.

I am happy for not giving it up....!!! Find here the (Video)

Let's understand that, "Brick Walls Are Not There To Keep Us Out "

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With Love,
Anbusivam

Street Smart Leadership

Hello Friends,

Welcome to Anbusivam's Blog Page.

When I was walking along the busy commercial street last evening, I noticed a young boy selling balloons on the road side. I was curious to know the way he does his business. I opted to wait and observe him rather than going and asking him questions about his way of business. I quietly picked up a cone of ice cream and stood near him, to observe what's going on there.

My observations:

1. First thing he did was gave a flashing, catchy smile at the little children looking at him and his balloons.

2. With his smile and some funny actions, he inspired the children to ask for a balloon to their parents.

3. He had a variety of balloons, round, long, twisted, doll like...etc in various colors.

4. He had no fixed rate for the balloons, it depends on the attire of the child and her parents. He charged Rs.15 to a posh looking family in a brand new car and Rs.5 for the same balloon to a middle class family. He even gave it out for Rs.2 to a poor child on the street.

5. He knows how to fix the rate according to the person....as well. The price starts with two to three times the basic price and comes down gradually if the buyer seems to be bargaining too much. Same balloon is fixed at a reasonable price if a decent and quick buyer is seen in front.

I am sure this young boy on the street side had acquired these skills just by practice, and experience not by reading any best selling books. All the above the very necessity of not loosing a prospective buyer.

We have the most highly educated, literate and engaged workforce in our corporate world. And these graduates from elite institutions are most of the times from well to do families and they hardly know what "Street Smart Leadership" means. Street Smartness is just a combination of life experience, intelligence, awareness, cleverness, guile, humor, ingenuity, agility and ability acquired beyond (or in place of) formal education.

I sincerely believe "Street Smartness" is a greatly valuable commodity these days for those who want to get ahead of those elite and highly educated.

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With Love,
Anbusiva

Motivation from Special Children

Hello Friends,

Welcome to Anbusivam's Blog Page.

Last Friday I had a great opportunity to visit Spastic Society of Karnataka, which is a special school for children with special needs. It was a part of my Counseling course and I was not even aware of the meaning of Spastics till I go there to see those wonderful children.

Yes, this school is mainly for children with Neuro-muscular disorders, Developmental and Learning Disabilities. All the teachers there are well trained special educators with lots and lots of care and empathy for those children. It was absolutely an amazing experience when we were taken to the classrooms. Those children seems to be enjoying and having a great time in their own world with their special school, special friends and special educators. Paradoxically I felt a huge pain and agony to see those innocent little ones in need of special care. Children were very happy to see us and they were well trained to handle thier basic physical needs and ettiquites by themselves. And the best part I observed is those children are highly helpful to eachother than the children we see in normal schools.

In spite of being differently-abled with special needs, I felt somehow the nature had given those little ones something more than what we all have and striving for. That something is Happiness. They are just laughing, giggling, smiling, talking, and playing all around with no big sorrow and worry on their disabilities. They also do some wonderful paintings, craft work, bakery products. We picked up some wonderful paintings and nice biscuits those were made by the children themselves.

The greatest Motivation I got from the visit is "When those children can be happy and enjoying life all the time, why can't we too...!!!"

Please, find out a special school near your place, do visit them, just spend some time with those little one's and help them as much as you can. I am sure you'll feel great and contented at the end of the day.

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With Love,
Anbusivam

Becoming a Motivational Leader

Hello Friends,

Welcome to Anbusivam's Blog Page.

When I was browsing through my older folders this evening, I just came across this very interesting piece of information from Brain Tracy on Becoming a Motivational Leader.

Create a Big Vision:

To become a motivational leader, you start with motivating yourself. You motivate yourself with a big vision, and as you move progressively toward its realization, you motivate and enthuse others to work with you to fulfill that vision.

Set High Standards:

You exhibit absolute honesty and integrity with everyone in everything you do. You are the kind of person others admire and respect and want to be like. You set a standard that others aspire to. You live in truth with yourself and others so that they feel confident giving you their support and their commitment.

Face Your Fears:

You demonstrate courage in everything you do by facing doubts and uncertainties and moving forward regardless. You put up a good front even when you feel anxious about the outcome. You don't burden others with your fears and misgivings. You keep them to yourself. You constantly push yourself out of your comfort zone and in the direction of your goals. And no matter how bleak the situation might appear, you keep on keeping on with a smile.

Be Realistic About Your Situation:

You are intensely realistic. You refuse to engage in mental games or self-delusion. You encourage others to be realistic and objective about their situations as well. You encourage them to realize and appreciate that there is a price to pay for everything they want. They have weaknesses that they will have to overcome, and they have standards that they will have to meet, if they want to survive and thrive in a competitive market.

Motivating people properly will bring out their best:

Since you have built self-esteem and self-confidence in your employees, sales and output have been on the rise. When I started unlocking the full potential in all of my employees, performance and output have increased.

Motivating People to Peak Performance:

By learning my techniques you can get extraordinary performance out of ordinary people. With this video you will learn the 21 best methods ever discovered to manage and motivate other.

Accept Responsibility:

You accept complete responsibility for results. You refuse to make excuses or blame others or hold grudges against people who you feel may have wronged you. You say, "If it's to be, it's up to me." You repeat over and over the words, "I am responsible. I am responsible. I am responsible."

Take Vigorous Action:

Finally, you take action. You know that all mental preparation and character building is merely a prelude to action. It's not what you say but what you do that counts. The mark of the true leader is that he or she leads the action. He or she is willing to go first. He or she sets the example and acts as the role model. He or she does what he or she expects others to do.

Strive For Excellence:

You become a motivational leader by motivating yourself. And you motivate yourself by striving toward excellence, by committing yourself to becoming everything you are capable of becoming. You motivate yourself by throwing your whole heart into doing your job in an excellent fashion. You motivate yourself and others by continually looking for ways to help others to improve their lives and achieve their goals. You become a motivational leader by becoming the kind of person others want to get behind and support in every way.

Your main job is to take complete control of your personal evolution and become a leader in every area of your life. You could ask for nothing more, and you should settle for nothing less.

"It's not what you say but what you do that counts" is my favorite thought provoking statement in this article, which I think is the essence of a being a Leader.

Thanks for visiting my page.

With Love,
Anbusivam