Work Life Balance-The Tree Way

A very well-known and favorite connotation of today’s professionals which is being referred by everyone be it a job seeker, an employer, an employee or for that matter HR professionals too is ‘WORK LIFE BALANCE’.

But the question is what exactly we mean by work life balance? Mostly we refer it to as no stretched working hours, no working on holidays and no carrying of work to home for which we heap the responsibility on the shoulders of either the organization or its culture or the manager.

But actually speaking these are not the only factors for disturbed balance between our professional life and personal life. There is something else also attached to it. Let’s understand it by means of a story:-

There was a carpenter named Mohan. He lived in a town called Kurusat. He had a small and happy family comprising of his wife and 2 kids aged 5 and 7 years. Mohan belongs to a very mediocre family wherein his ancestors were also into carpentry business and spent their daily livelihood by working on daily paid basis. Mohan was associated with a contractor for his project assignments and was paid wages on hourly basis.

One Sunday Mohan got an assignment at Raj’s place. Raj was working with a reputed organization at a mid to senior level position. Mohan reached his place by 9.00am, understood the work to be done by Raj and started taking out his tools. When he plugged in his machine, he found that it’s not starting. He did some R&D but still it didn't work and owing to Sunday no technician was available for repair. So he had to drop his day and return back home. When he called up the contractor to inform this, the contractor was immensely angry and scolded him to check his machine a day prior. Mohan, with a heavy heart of losing his daily wage for that day, informed Raj about his inability to complete the work. Raj noticed the sadness on his face and hence followed him till gate. Now when Mohan tried starting his Luna, he found that it has got some technical problem and because of which it is not starting. Again being Sunday, the mechanic was not available. Raj was observing him from behind. He asked Mohan to drop him till home. On the entire way Mohan was upset, sad and didn't utter a single word.

On reaching, Mohan invited Raj to visit his home and have a cup of tea to which Raj agreed. While entering, Mohan touched a tree trunk outside his home and thereby entered. As soon as Mohan entered his home, Raj noticed a drastic change in his behavior. He happily called his wife and introduced her to Raj, hugged his both kids with joy and started talking to them. After having tea, when Mohan came to see off Raj near his car, Raj asked him why he touched the trunk of tree before entering home. Is it part of any tradition or what? To this, Mohan smiled and replied that this tree is his TROUBLE TREE. Every evening, when he returns from work, he hangs his worries/problems/overheads of work on it and thereby enters home. While daily next morning while he leaves for work, he takes it back from tree. He added: - “Believe me sir; the load is lesser as compared to which I hung last night”. On the entire journey back to his home, Raj was thinking about Mohan’s incredible practice and felt highly enlightened by this incidence.

Work life balance has lot to do with our internal factors like behavior, attitude, and mindset. External factors are not in our hand but remember internal factors are guided by our own-self. Everyone of us shall have a trouble tree with us wherein we can hang our professional life worries/backlogs and do not allow them to fade away/take away the happiness and involvement of our personal life.  To have a balance between personal and professional life; it is necessary for us to keep both lives discretely apart from each other. Its all about quality of life and finding a happy balance between work and family and friends. Ultimately life is not measured by the number of breaths we take, but by the moments that take our breath away.

“Never get so busy making a living that we forget to make a life…”

 Stay Balanced; Stay Carefree

We Reap What We Sow

The choice between what’s Convenient & What’s Right

               - The Seed Way…

The CEO of ABC Corp., Mr. Williams, was retiring next month and in regards to the same; he called upon a meeting of around 20 crucial members of the Company. The agenda of gathering was to appoint a fitment to his replacement. Mr. Williams introduced the group about his retirement and the plan of identifying an internal employee to replace his designation.

On listening to the CEO; all started chit chatting internally and there was a wave of excitement running in hearts of all. Mr. Williams then said that all of them are equally qualified, with proven track record and equally eligible to be identified for the said position. So in order to choose the right person who is Mr. Right to blossom the Company with magnificent colors and aid in the swift growth of Company; he has got zip lock plastic bags for each of them which carries seeds. Each one has to plough the seeds in a pot, water them regularly and take care of its upbringing. By end of 15 days, all have to carry their respective pots to the office and based on observation, Mr. Williams will take the decision. Although astonished, all were excited about the whole exercise and more of to the ultimate tag to be attained post that activity which created more fascination.

All went home happily with their bags, buying a beautiful pot and best of the fertilizer on the way to home. The first thing that they did on reaching home was to plough the seeds in their expensive pots, water it, add fertilizer and then doing the daily activity. Amongst the 20 chosen employees, there was 1 employee named John who also did the same as rest 19. All used to do the same thing daily for first 5 days, then on 6^th day onwards they started sharing their experiences. Few of them got a yellow flower, few got 2 red flowers, few got orange sunflower and few got white lilies. On the other hand, John was little sad as till date there was no flower to his plant. He still watered the plant and adequately fertilized to eagerly wait for his 1^st flower or at least a leaf. Days went by, all kept on cherishing their flowers and the plant’s growth but alas, John was still resenting as his seeds has not even grown the roots!!!

On 15^th day, all the 19 brought their pots happily and with pride on their faces. However, John brought the pot with immense heavy heart and with a sad face. All were informed to gather in the conference room. All intended to keep their pots in front but John kept his pot at the last, feeling ashamed. Mr. Williams entered the room. He started observing plants one by one and asking the concerned about experience of upbringing the plant. Everyone started talking about their efforts and cautious approach for the 15 days exercise. After listening all, when Williams turned to John, he was surprised to see his pot. He asked him, “Is this your pot?” to which he replied “yes”.

Mr. Williams holds and raises the hand of John with happiness declaring him to be the next CEO. Everyone’s jaw was dropped in the room as to why John was chosen. Then Mr. Williams announced that the seeds that were handed over to be grown have no potential to grow at all as they were the dead seeds!!! All the 19 employees played trickery and manipulated results by buying a flowery plant from market and presenting in front of management; while unlike others John consistently and honestly kept watering the seeds and feeding fertilizer without losing hope and presented the honest outcome in front of management.

“Wrong is wrong even if everyone is doing it

While; Right is Right even if no one is doing it”…

This story makes us understand the true meaning of Integrity which means- Doing the right thing even when no one is watching you. Integrity is one of the core values that is a mandatory expectation from a professional. Also as rightly titled that whatever we sow the same would be reaped. It was convenient to buy plant from market and present rather than having patience and doing what’s right. John sows honesty, commitment, consistency and trust which reaps him to be appointed as next CEO for the Company.

                       “Respect is earned;

                                      Honesty is appreciated;

                                                        Trust is gained &

                                                                    Loyalty is returned”…

Which Type R WE???

"The Learning

 Curve Way..."

There were 2 colleagues named Shukan & Snehal. Both joined ABC Limited on same day at same level and started working in the same team under the same boss.

Days passed by, months passed by and years passed by. Shukan was excelling in his performance, became favourite of other team members including the boss, and was central point of contact for any advice/support for everyone. While on the other side, Snehal was comparatively infamous professionally, was happy going and fun loving person having good terms with all.

By end of 5 years, Shukan was promoted as Manager with double the remuneration drawn by Snehal who has reached to Sr. Executive grade till time.

Now the question to ponder upon is what created this huge difference between the career graph statistics of Shukan & Snehal? Most of us will think that it is-The difference in IQ and intelligence level of both.

But the fact is its not only the difference in capability/skillset level but it the difference in our Attitude, Passion & Determination towards Career that draws the leaps & plummets in our career graphs.

There are 2 types of person: Type A & Type B

Type A person wakes up in the morning, goes to office, works whole day as and when work comes, returns home, have dinner, watch TV/mobile/roam around, then sleep and wakes up again in the morning for the same schedule. By end of the month, salary is credited in the account and he feels ‘Balle-Balle’.

Type B person wakes up in the morning, goes to office, works whole day as and when work comes, returns home, have dinner, analyses entire day-what new did he learn, what good things he did which he needs to carry for tomorrow and what unproductive things he did which needs to be eradicated for tomorrow, plan the activities for tomorrow, measure the improvement in skills, then sleep and wake up again in the morning for the same schedule. By end of the month, salary is credited in the account by default but with it the real earning is increase in the skill level & learnings that take us to the next level.

Shukan was Type B and Snehal was Type A in the above scenario. Shukan had the will and urge to learn more and more and hence his learning curve was exponential. Due to this habit of self-learning and improvement on regular basis, Shukan became more learned and hence had productive output, fruitful suggestions at time of meetings and innovative ways of solving the problems. While, Snehal was least bother about his learnings and upliftment. He was working in his comfort zone and had no goals defined for the life. For him it was - 'khavanu, pivanu and maja ni life'...

Type B has aspirations, goals and all passion attached to it while Type A lives a carefree life without any aim/direction. Now its upto us-1^st to identify which type we are and 2^nd which type we want to become...as time never waits for anyone...once gone is gone for ever...

“Learning how to learn is one of the most important skills in life”

"Keep Learning; Keep Growing"

Have We Ever Introspected Ourselves???

“Importance of Knowing Thyself
- The Button Way”

There were 2 students named Kunjal & Ashish studying in class-X in the same school and same division. They were together since class-1 and had wild competition amongst each other for 1^st rank. Kunjal ranked 1^st in class-1, 3, 4, 7 & 9 while Ashish ranked 1^st in class-2, 5, 6 & 8. So now in class-X; the competition became more cut-throat.

While observing Kunjal one day, Ashish discovered something strange. In the last exam of board examinations, Ashish furtively managed to take off the 1^st button of Kunjal’s shirt without his knowledge. Now when exam started, Kunjal started sweating and panicking and was not able to write a single word in the exam paper. Finally the results were out wherein Ashish topped the school and Kunjal failed the examinations. The thing that Ashish discovered about Kunjal was that Kunjal has a habit of writing exams by holding his topmost shirt button again and again. On the last day of exam, since the button was not there, Kunjal was not able to concentrate on his exam and was feeling out of memory because of which he failed.

This small story urges us to ask few questions to ourselves:

·     Are we aware of our weaknesses?

·     Are we known to our habits that are making us helpless and dependent?

·     Are we alert on our competitors knowing of our weakness/habit/dependency?

· If yes then have we started with the remedial actions to eradicate them or are we procrastinating?

We all are aware of a well-known management concept of SWOT Analysis which says we shall be aware of our Strength, Weakness, Opportunity and Threat. But the concern here is we are just aware about it; we don’t implement it.

              He who knows others is wise; 

                                      but he who knows himself is enlightened...

In practical lives, we sharpen our axe by focusing on strengths and creating the opportunities wherein in this heftiness of leading the race; we overlook the significance of identifying our weaknesses and thereby shrinking the radius of our threats!!! In order to mark an unbeatable success in life, all the four dimensions of SWOT concept needs to be followed hand in hand. Every single dimension is futile without the existence of other 3 dimensions…

“Know Thyself; Know Thy Success”

“Who is driving us?-The Playtime Way”

There was a village named Keshva and there lived 2 friends named Raghu & Teny. Raghu was 13 years old and Teny was 8 years old. Their friendship was appreciated in entire village and they were known as Jay & Veeru Jodi…

One fine day Raghu & Teny while playing reached to some distant place from village. While catching each other and doing mischief; accidentally Raghu falls in well. Both started screaming for help but alas no one was found around as it was a distant place and no life existed in nearby vicinity. The panicked Teny without any delay threw the bucket in well and shouted for Raghu to get on the bucket. The frightened Raghu without giving any thought climbed up the bucket. The little Teny then started pulling the rope with all his energy that he could gather to the peak level. Teny tried and tried hard and finally the bucket reached top and Raghu came out of the well. The duo with the mixed feeling of fear and happy of being out of danger; tightly held each other and cried out loud. Both after getting control on their emotions walked towards the village but they were afraid of parents to narrate this incident as they would be scolded for their carelessness.

There in the village, entire village was finding their Jay & Veeru Jodi. On seeing them, all ran up to them and asked where they were since long. Both narrated the incidence and the villagers were stunned to listen all. They denied believing them and started scolding them saying there is something else that they are hiding and hence making these stories. Both tried convincing the villagers but no one was ready to believe. Then they decided to take both of them to the most senior and intellectual person in village named Himmat Chacha who has been the only point of contact for any type of advice and problem solver for all. The entire incidence was presented to Himmat Chacha and the villagers asked how it is possible for an 8 year old kid to pull 13 year old out of the well. Himmat Chacha after listening to the kids replied that it is possible and the kids are telling truth. The villagers were astonished by the answer and asked how it is possible. The Chacha replied it was made possible because there was no one around the kids who could tell them that this is NOT possible!!!

The crux of the story says that nothing is impossible until we believe it is possible. One of the perspectives of ‘The locus of control’ theory says that there are 2 types of locus of control- Internal & External. The external locus is driven by factors like People, Environment, Chance, Luck, Fate etc. While the internal locus is driven by Self-confidence, Self-belief and Self-motivation.

There are certain external factors (PEOPLE) who will discourage, feed in negative thoughts in our mind and try to change our belief and thereby loose our confidence. We need to be cautious of such external factors and focus more on the internal control factors like confidence on ourselves to sail through the tides of our life.

Being deaf to the external factors and keeping faith in internal factors is the key to cross any hurdle of our life. It was the internal control of Teny that made it possible to save the life of Raghu as there was no external controlling factor to discourage his confidence on himself and belief that it is possible. The frog race story wherein the winner frog was found deaf also conveys the same concept.

So its up to us whether we want to be a puppet who acts in accordance with people or to have hold of our life’s strings in our own hands!!!

“Kuch to log kahenge, logon ka kaam hai kehna;

               

                                    Chhodo bekar ki batton main, kahin beet na jae raina”

    “Be Confident; Live Confident”

Concept Ref: Julian B. Rotter

“Perception about Life-The Sculpture Way”

What is the meaning of Perception???

* The ability to see, hear, or become aware of something through senses

* Way we think about or understand someone or something

* Ability to understand or notice something easily

Let us understand how life changes by means of perception through a simple story-

One day a man was wandering around in jungles. While enjoying the beauty of nature, he suddenly noticed some tickling sound. On searching, he discovered that 3 workers are dismantling the small traditional temple for building a new one. The man went to 1st worker and asked-“What are you doing?” The irritated worker replied in a loud tone “Can’t you see, I am doing laborious and gruelling pathetic work of breaking the stones? Just go away and let me continue sweating by blood in this draining boredom.” 

The man moved ahead and reached the 2nd worker and asked-“What are you doing?” The tired worker replied in a pity tone “What else we would do sir? We are born to do such arduous work and earn our daily bread to run our family; so doing the same without choice.” The man became little sad on hearing both the workers and understanding their situations emotionally. 

Moving further he saw the 3rd worker. He asked him the same question expecting the same disappointment; but to his astonishment, the answer was completely unexpected. The 3rd worker replied “I am doing a historical work of building a residential place for my Almighty. I am the blessed one of thousands who is chosen for such a noble opportunity of creating shelter for one who gives shelter to all.” 

On listening to 3rd worker, the man understood the biggest crux of happy life which is nothing but our own perception about our own life. 

Some of us are like 1st worker who are frustrated with our lives and rather than looking out productive ways of coming out of problems, we tend to get more negative and frustrated. This creates anger which increases day by day and we end up living a horribly discouraged life!!!

Some of us are like 2nd worker who have accepted the life the way it is. Although dis-satisfactory but no aspirations and thereby no efforts to make it happy going. All fine to spend the whole life as a life waiting for end!!!

Very few of us are like 3rd worker who finds positivity in all the circumstances irrespective of being odd or even and this optimism keeps them happy going. They enjoy all that they do and lives life with a stint of satisfaction. These are the kinds that are always ready to welcome future with a smiling face and be firm in all the offbeat tracks of life too.

It all begins in mind. Our life is reflection of our mind. It is very rightly said-

“Life is based on perception; perception is based on opinion, opinion is based on thought, and thought comes from mind…So….

“Change your Mind; Change your Life…”

"Reaction Vs Response-The Spilling Coffee Way"

Reaction Vs Response

Both 8 lettered words starting with “R” are many times used interchangeably; but the impact of each word on one’s life is invariably high. Let us understand it in depth by means of a story:-

The Coffee

Scenario-1

One day, a father in hurry of going to office was stepping down stairs hastily from bedroom towards the dining table. The daughter was having her breakfast on the same table. Looking at her father, the little angel wished “Good Morning Dad” and while trying to embrace him, her tiny hand touched the coffee mug and the entire coffee spills on father. The furious father scolds the daughter which leaves her crying. He quickly changes and on the way to office, he drives his daughter to her school. On the entire way, daughter was sobbing and didn't utter a word. After dropping his daughter, he enters office where his boss asked for an important file of business plan to be presented. But he realizes that, in the hassle, he forgot the file at home. He was badly reprimanded by the boss and was asked to get the file at earliest. The poor father did so. After entire day’s suffering, when he rings the door bell, the wife opens the door with furious eyes without smile on her face (she was angry with his behavior in the morning). The wife keeps dinner on the table and goes straight away to her room without talking to him. The father had dinner alone and on reaching bedroom he finds his wife and daughter in deep sleep. He too falls asleep with a heavy heart.

x_______________________The End____________________________x

Scenario-2

One day, a father in hurry of going to office was stepping down stairs hastily from bedroom towards the dining table. The daughter was having her breakfast on the same table. Looking at her father, the little angel wished “Good Morning Dad” and while trying to embrace him, her tiny hand touched the coffee mug and the entire coffee spills on father. The father looks at his daughter and moving palm on her hair explains her to be careful with her actions. The daughter realizes her mistake and says sorry. He rushes back upstairs to change the attire and after changing, on the way to office, he drives her daughter to school. On the entire way, the daughter was happy and excitedly talked about the preparations of annual event to be held in her school next week. After dropping daughter, he reached office and when the boss asked for an important file of business plan to be presented, he presented the file and the deal went as per the plan. After spending entire day productively in office, when he rings the door bell, the wife opens the door with a sweet smile on her face and serves the dinner on table. Both while having dinner together talked about entire day’s activity. They both pampered the sleeping daughter and fell asleep.

x_______________________The End____________________________x

Now if we analyse both the scenarios;

What was common in both situations???

“The Spilling of Coffee”

What was different in both the situations???

“The Behavior of Father”

In scenario-1, the father reacted to the situation and in scenario-2, the father responded to the situation

Off the entire day in both the scenarios, the spilling of coffee was 10% portion of whole day while rest of the things that happened forms the 90% of the whole day. 

This is called 90-10 principle which says; 

Only 10% of things in our life are not in our hands and are pre-determined to happen. However, the rest 90% of the things are determined by Self, Our Reactions and Our Responses. The life will take us on a different path altogether if we start practically following the 90-10 principle and start Responding to things rather than Reacting towards them.

Always remember, Reaction is an impulse action which surpasses the role of Mind and Response is a thoughtful action which is sign of a mindful person

“Stay blessed; Stay Happy…"