Pressure at Work !!!

Here is a beautiful story, which I received through a forwarded email. I liked it so much because I could relate to it, and understand what I am missing. Each of us have something to pick from this.
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I hired a plumber to help me restore an old farmhouse, and after he had just finished a rough first day on the job, a flat tyre made him lose an hour of work, his electric drill quit and his ancient one-ton truck refused to start. While I drove him home, he sat in stony silence. On arriving he invited me in to meet his family. As we walked towards the front door, he paused briefly at a tree, touching the tips of the tree. When opening the door he underwent an amazing transformation.

His tanned face was wreathed in smiles and he hugged his two small children and gave them a kiss. Afterward he walked me to the car. We passed the tree and my curiosity got the better of me. I asked him about what I had seen him do earlier.

Oh, that's my trouble tree," he replied. "I know I can't help having troubles on the job, but one thing's for sure, those troubles don't belong in the house with my wife and the children. So I just hang them up on the tree every night when I come home and then in the morning I pick them up again. "Funny thing is," he smiled, "when I come out in the morning to pick them up, there aren't nearly as many as I remember hanging up the night before."

Rise - The Road Ahead Lies Within

This is a poem I wrote (taking inspiration from some other poems) for an internal competition, and I got a consolation prize for this...
Need to apply this in my life now...

If you gaze around, there's nothing to keep you behind...

Don’ be anxious, un-limitation and way ahead lies in your mind...

Conventional thinking needs a punt in the face,

It's okay to fail now, yes, it's no disgrace...

Break all those shackles put by those around you,

Explore all the alternatives, because that's how you grow.

With the no-limit spirit, Unlimit yourself,

Unthink your past, and Unprogram yourself...

Pull out the stops now, go right ahead...

Put your heart and soul into what you're doing today,

Feel the energy in you, as limits fall away...

Be a black ocean, leaping and wide,

Roaring and soaring, bear in the tide,

Keep a positive thinking in gloom,

And the joyous road to success will bloom,

Leaving behind nights of terror and fear,

Into a daybreak that's wondrously clear...

You can Rise! Rise! Rise!

It's great till it lasts... But what next??

A day before my 25th birthday, I am penning this post down. Probably it was time for a quarter-life realization.

Picking up cues from the feelings I had while writing a few earlier posts, a silly question coming to my mind... What happens when u lose faith?? It can be faith in a relationship, faith in friendship, faith in someone, or faith in self...

Howsoever stupid it might seem on reading, but sometimes it does happen. I will describe what happened to me when I lost faith in a relationship...

NOTHING. Yes, Nothing happened. I didn’t even make out that I have lost something. I never felt the pain. Slight exasperation for few weeks, but that was all. I never noticed anything else. Even now I don’t feel any pain or sadness. But off late (after over one and half long years) I realize what I have lost. I lost most of my emotions and feelings along with it. I don’t feel anything now days. Happiness, Sorrow, Anger, Fear… They’re all superficial... Something inside stopped working.

Today at this instant I feel that it may change in due course of time. I may come back to my real self. But when frustration creeps in, I feel that that I won’t mind even if I don’t come back to my real self.

As it is, most people do not notice this change. For them, I am still the same. Thankfully, they can't look through my eyes, or read my mind. And so to me, this seems like a far better state, like attaining “Nirvana” without much effort. It’s funny. Life really is.

If anyone would have guessed, that a hard core emotional and sentimental guy like me would change like this, I would have definitely laughed at him/her at that time. But now, let me see how long this will go… Maybe I can emulate a saint and share some pearls of wisdom when this period is over. Or maybe I am en-route the path of Enlightenment... Who knows ;-)

Jokes apart... I really want to get out of this phase, and be the person I was... This is the testing time, and I will strive to get out successful and victorious... :) Pray for me...

Things I am learning from my boss...

I recently read a blog post that started with a tale of a lousy supervisor doing a truly horrific job of relaying negative feedback to a subordinate. It got me thinking about how some bosses can be so miserable. Not wanting to linger too much in negativity, I tried to conjure up some of the points from the various bosses and managers I see around at my workplace. A good manager is hard to find, but when you have one, you often get to learn valuable lessons.

Here are some things I have learned from my boss.

Maintain a blame-free work environment
Finger-pointing is a highly toxic and counter-productive behaviour, but there is more to it; in a relatively new organization it is essential to move forward at a fast and efficient pace. A no-mistakes pace is simply too slow. To survive, we have to move at a speed that guarantees a certain rate of error. We must accept the fact that mistakes will be made and corrected on the fly, simply because a pace that yields no mistakes will not bring us to takeoff before the end of the runway.
In a typical organization where a culture of “no mistakes” prevails, everything is gold-plated to death. Time is regularly wasted on unnecessarily perfect performances, and on cover-ups when things didn’t go according to plan.
“No blame” does not mean “no accountability”. My boss has clearly spelt out, “It’s OK to make a mistake and you will not be judged for it. Making a mistake and not learning from it is a different story”.

Don’t confuse “urgent” with “important”
You plan your day, week and month. You focus your efforts in a calculated effort to achieve very specific goals. Then someone rushes in screaming that the sky is falling and all progress is put on hold until the oh-so-urgent issue is resolved. There’s a hero’s aura about riding to the rescue and saving the day, but when the day is done, you are still a day (or a week, or a month) behind your schedule. The fires you are putting out may be real, or they may be artificial emergencies conceived to manipulate your priority list. Don’t let the moment’s glory distract you from executing your plan for too long. It may not be as urgent, but it is far more important.

Manage your personal productivity
Productivity is a complicated issue. First off, the disparity between individuals is huge. It is not uncommon for a star performer to be 3-4 times as productive as an average, good employee. On top of that, there are many subjective and even random factors at play; the estimates that we use to measure productivity are always partially subjective.
Improving your personal productivity is a great way to get better at what you do, but as an individual, you are the only one who can tell how productive your day is. You can expect your manager to measure your productivity over time, but when it comes to your day-to-day personal productivity — you’re on your own. You’re the only one who can do it, and you’re the one to benefit from it.

A Fact, hard to accept for me

This is a post which I have taken from my personal blog, and was written on April 17, 2010. almost after an year not, I was finding it too relevant again in my life right now, so thought of bringing it up here.

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There is a fact of life which so far in my life I have encountered quite a few times, and every time I lost something in the process. But even till date, I have not been able to accept this particular actuality, because somewhere at the back of my mind, I hope and pray that ‘it’ is not obvious to happen. And that is why I want to question ‘it’. Whoever reads this, would wonder what the hell I am talking about.

I have many examples to explain, but I am refraining from putting them here. But because of some incidents, a strange feeling has crept inside me, suddenly making me feel that things change. My feeling of loss stems out of such drastic changes concerning my very close friends. It’s a mixed feeling. This happens with a friend of the same sex, as well as the opposite sex. Whatever the case may be, I feel that post marriage, people view friendships in a different light. The losses always begin subtly and impact gradually. But is it necessary?

I am not saying that it is the married/engagement friend who is at fault. Relationships certainly do change after marriage/engagement. While he/she is trying to adjust to the new environment, his/her friends find it difficult to adjust to the new person he/she becomes. Insecurity, protectiveness and missing the old times become very prominent. Everyone needs company, and when the company seems to be drifting apart, it is obvious that a feeling of rejection sets in. And this is especially difficult for people like me whose world revolves only around a few friends, and finds comfort in the company of that friend.

I just get scared because my world is shrinking fast. Most of my close friends would get engaged/married before me, and I would be left all alone. I get anxious whether I should make close friends, leaving an open area to get shattered time and again. I commit myself totally to my friendships, and I give in everything for it. I don’t want my close friendships to get wilted and put myself in the position of saying, “Our friendship was great till it lasted.”

It's nice to be back... :-)

A little over a year and half ago, I started this blog, but back then I knew nothing about blogging. Nor do I know it now. For me, all I knew was that I was about to embark on a new chapter in my life wherein I would be putting down the thoughts coming to my mind.

Over last few months, I have been so occupied with work that hardly got time to write, even though there have been loads of posts queued up in my brain. But these things take forever to write, and now that I’m working, I don’t have forever to write.

So, in the spirit of “Good enough” is the enemy of “At all”, I’m going to start blogging again, but with no blogging schedule.

I’m writing because I want to – when I want to. I know from personal experience that I most like to write when I’m unhappy because when I’m unhappy I withdraw from the world and the last thing I want to do is to keep all that stuff confined to my mind, that’s making me unhappy. But that doesn’t mean I will not be delighted to share all the good things happening.

My only motive is to write. I don’t care how many readers there are – it is simply an outlet for my thoughts. It’s nice to be back :-)

In Shadows...

I have a realization that I may have to stop writing for a while. I think I could be upsetting people. Thought what I write seems to be philosophical, they are all inspired from my experiences in life. But I've been downright nasty with some of my posts, raising fingers directly or indirectly. I'm probably showing up the more thoughtful, horrible side of my nature and giving people all the reason they need to stop talking to me.

It's been an odd week so far, damn hectic and stressed out. It feels pathetic when you cannot talk to your close ones for an elongated period. Many of the fears about the frenzied work life that would accompany with my new job profile have actually come true. A few posts earlier I wrote about experiential learning, and exposure. Now, given how strenuous it can be, I fail to find time for myself, and end up frustrated.

Unintentionally, one day, through my wrath and hateful words, I will push away everybody those matter to me. Then I'll be alone and will be forced to surrender. This thing, this confinement to a shell, rules my life, and haunts me at times. It subtly tells me that the worst is inevitable and that the only way to avoid all the pain is to just give up. But I don't want to let it win. I want to make my success plausible.

The part of me that exists without shadow looks only for a bright future. Sadly the clouds are gathering and everything remains in shade. But soon I will return with my positive self, tearing apart the clouds of dejection, cheerful and progressive as always.

The Binding Energy of a Relationship – TRUST...

By its name, a relationship defines what it is, the ability of two or more people to relate to each other.

In order to relate to another entity, you have to trust them and be able to communicate with them. This doesn’t apply only to romantic relationships, which strangely is often the terms in which people think of a relationship, but also to family members and friends.

Trust, is the phenomenal word that gives a true shape to our life. It is the most valuable gift that we can offer to anyone. Have you trusted anyone blindly, or believed in blind faith? If no, then you have missed the essence of life. "Trust" is that simple element that forms the gist of all true relationships, and gives the sheer joy of Life.

And trust is a mutual affair. Everyone loves to trust, likewise everyone likes to be trusted too. Trust gives joy both to the one who trusts as well as to the entrusted. But why do we feel happy or contented when we are trusted? Is it a sense of achievement or accomplishment? No! It’s not! We feel happy when we are trusted blindly because we feel that our care and affection has been recognized. We are assured of the fact that our care is accounted for and is equally respected by the one who enjoys the care.

Relationships sans trust are just like sugar-free cakes. Trust is that fragile thread that strongly binds people together. There exist relationships in life that have no speck of trust, still they exist vaguely, but eventually end up in no sweet memory and no feel of attachment. This is what happens to relationships that lack trust. Such relationships can better be referred to as acquaintances. Most of the times when we are in a new surrounding, we will be longing for trust and friendship. Initially we will be allured towards people who superficially seem to share characteristics and wishes much similar to us. We gradually get along well. Then with the passage of time, we start feeling that inspite of spending a long time, there is no emotional attachment and neither is there any strong bond with them. This is because this new relationship was based on similarities and not on trust. So, relationships that lack the principle ingredient of trust are just transient.

Nevertheless, the critical point is that Trust, once been broken, there's a chance it may never be fully repaired. You might be able to achieve a degree of trust again, but the cracks from the break will always be there, and it will take far less to not only break, but completely shatter trust a second time.

So, if you want a happy life and a happy relationship, trust in trusting your loved ones. The same can be very well extended to business relationships, wherein when meeting your clients you need to convey a sense of professionalism and trust. You certainly don't want to come across as a "untrustworthy scumbag with a big sales pitch".

With someone entrusting you at all crossroads of life, you would really feel the difference.