How to make yourself indispensable at work !
How to Produce Stunning Change in Your Life Immediately
A productive list of practical techniques to bring real change to your life.
BY CHRIS DESSI
CEO, Silverback Social@chrisdessi
We all want change in our lives. We seek to succeed, and to break free from the doldrums of the everyday rat race.
We also know that motivation can be fleeting. So how can we buckle down and shock ourselves into the change we need?
I’m going to share seven ways to produce stunning change in your life immediately.
1. Wake up 30 minutes earlier than you usually do.
I’ve just recently gotten into the rhythm of waking up at 5 a.m. While I’m not a morning person, getting up earlier helps me get a jump start on my day.
If you challenge yourself to get up just 30 minutes earlier it will help you kick start your day. It will also help you at night. You’ll be that much more ready for sleep in the evening.
You’ll also have gotten just a bit more accomplished throughout your day. This will alleviate any bedtime brain chatter/freak outs about the day ahead.
2. If you can, meditate or nap during the day.
I used to assume that if I got some rest during the day it would effect how quickly I would fall off to sleep at night. Of course, if you take a two-hour nap this will change the time you go to bed. That’s also a pretty unrealistic request of any productive adult.
Optimally, we’re looking to reduce your stress throughout the day. That shouldn’t take longer than a quick 20-minute respite.
Ducking into a conference room to close your eyes and enjoy some deep breathing can have a lasting effect. Download HeadSpace APP to help with guided meditation.
3. Remove the distractions to your goals.
This morning I noticed a large bag of Doritos in our office cabinets. I joked with my colleague who brought the bag into the office, and then gently requested that he take it home.
I’m not some sort of health nut (well, maybe), but I know that if it’s near me, I’ll want to eat it. I love Doritos, but I also know that if I eat them, I’ll feel horrible. By removing the temptation altogether, I’ve effected positive dietary change.
4. Tackle big tasks one baby step at a time.
Big projects loom constantly. The more we think of the big deadline, or the volume of pages that need to be written, the more discouraged we become.
By breaking down big tasks into little ones, we break the inertia and move in a positive direction. Stock piling small wins will build our confidence and stoke the fires of production.
5. Think about death more often. Yes, seriously.
When we attempt to manage our time, and accomplish more in shorter periods of time we’re forced into the position where we need to resolve that we won’t waste time. This seems noble enough, except that it doesn’t work.
What does work is if we increase the scarcity of time. We can do this effectively if we set serious time constraints. For example, challenging our minds to believe that this year is your last year on earth. How productive would you be then?
It’s also a fun way to live your life. When you’re deciding what to do next weekend for example, challenge yourself to imagine it’s your last weekend on earth. Thought of something? Great. Do that.
6. Choose better words.
Becoming more aware of the impact that your words have on those around you, and yourself, can be a powerful change agent. Opening a conversation with comments like “You look tired” or “You look good for your age” can destroy your rapport with friends and colleagues.
Travis Bradberry, co-author of Emotional Intelligence 2.0 and president at Talent Smart, suggests you start with “Is everything OK?” or just state “You look great.” Bradberry stresses that some compliments don’t need qualifiers.
7. Get new friends.
It’s true that you’re the sum of the people you spend the most time with. If you surround yourself with positive people who are pushing themselves to bigger and better things, chances are you’ll have a better time of effecting change in your own life. Harvard Business Review’s Joseph Grenny says this can be a potent way to trick your brain into long lasting change.
Bringing it all together.
If you want deep, long-lasting, positive change in your life, you’ll have to commit to at least a few of these suggestions. Why not try out one or two? You’ll enjoy the results.
@B@R_0_0_D wrote:
bhai, keesney keesko judge kar liya???:-P
Don’t Make Your Employees Run Through Hoops
April Rassa
Product Marketing | Digital Marketing | Communications | Brand Story
Just ship it! Fail fast! Fire fast! HUSTLE! Get it done ASAP!
They’re the battle cries of the startup world, which maintains a culture of moving quickly.
Maybe you’ve experienced this culture?
It’s the kind of culture that perpetuates moving quickly, even when everyone may not be on the same page.
That’s a bad culture.
It’s bad management. Poor communication.
Don’t get me wrong, instilling a sense of urgency amongst employees is key to success but as a manager you need to make sure you invest in the time to get your employees on the same page before asking them to run through hoops.
Here are some 6 ways to get your employees on the same page.
1. Be a supportive boss
We’ve all heard that dissatisfied workers don’t leave companies, they leave their managers. Look at your communication style and get to know your people and what motivates them.
2. Don’t be opaque
When you lead a team, you have access to more information than your team as you’re in meetings and discussions they are not. You are part of planning they may not be included in as well. If you don’t share some of the information they should know, you hurt them.
Holding out on them will hurt their ability to do their job and the ability to feel that their work has value. Vagueness undermines accountability.
3. Motivate and involve your team in problem solving
Many organizational managers are poor leaders. Rather than inspire, they lack the ability to motivate; sometimes they even demotivate. Many managers have found themselves in leadership roles quite by accident. They were top performers on a very specific level, and either became supervisors by promotion or by ownership. This does not make them inherently good and productive people managers. Involve your team in the end goal—what’s the problem you are trying to solve and how can the team collectively come up with the solutions. Don’t rely on email as a the only form of communication. Collaborate, conduct one-on-one meetings and team meetings.
4. Appreciate contributions
Appreciation is positive feedback for the contribution one makes to the organization. It’s important to recognize how an individual’s ideas, work and time contribute to the efficiency and success of the organization. When new ideas go unsupported in the department, both creativity and connection decrease. With time, people disengage and risk of desertion increases.
5. Recognize work life integration
A lack of flexibility or understanding that people have a life outside of work creates stress for everyone. And, millennials more than any other generation are unhappy about it. Kevin Clearly at Clif Bar has set the right example, “I don’t send out emails at night. I don’t send them out on the weekend. I may do work, but I won’t send out an email. I don’t want to set the expectation that people should be working at 7 or 8 at night. I get home at 6:30. I put the phone in my home office. I leave it there, then I’m just dedicated to my kids. Once a week, I cut out of work early and I’m coaching my twins — they are 6 — their soccer team, and I coach their baseball team. It’s important for people to see me doing that and see it’s okay.”
6. Provide feedback and ask for feedback
It’s important to provide feedback (good or bad) regularly. Feedback is more effective when given right after an action or behavior happens. As a manager, you need to give your team members regular, ongoing feedback so people know where they stand. Alternatively, asking for feedback constantly is key. Employees often feel hesitant about approaching their superiors, especially if those leaders seem unreceptive to input. It’s important to not only tell your team you’re open to feedback, but show it by listening when an employee makes a suggestion, no matter how small or seemingly irrelevant. Dismissing an employee’s idea one time can cut off the potential for future suggestions permanently.
When running a startup, life is constantly in a state of flux – one key hire or departure can make or break a team, one key sale can set the company up for success, one flaw in the technology could be the final nail in a coffin. There’s no place where strong leadership is needed more than in a hectic startup environment in which the odds are most stacked against you, and Herculean efforts to gain and maintain traction are required daily, not quarterly. So be sure to inspire positive change in others, earn their trust, create cohesion and over-communicate to get your employees on the same page. Rinse and repeat.
April Rassa has more than 15 years of marketing and leadership experience across various industries including consumer, education, finance, healthcare, travel and technology.
Strengths & weaknesses
@asoka
cute angel@
@mahidada
@AKA
Sometimes your biggest weakness can become your biggest strength.
Take, for example, the story of one 10-year-old boy who decided to study judo despite the fact that he had lost his left arm in a devastating car accident. The boy began lessons with an old Japanese judo master.
The boy was doing well, so he couldn’t understand why, after three months of training the master had taught him only one move.
“Sensei,” the boy finally asked, “Shouldn’t I be learning more moves? This is the only move I know”
“But this is the only move you’ll ever need to know,” the sensei replied.
Not quite understanding, but believing in his teacher, the boy kept training. Several months later, the sensei took the boy to his first tournament.
Surprising himself, the boy easily won his first two matches. The third match proved to be more difficult, but after some time, his opponent became impatient and charged; the boy deftly used his one move to win the match. Still amazed by his success, the boy was now in the finals. This time, his opponent was bigger, stronger, and more experienced. For a while, the boy appeared to be over matched. Concerned that the boy might get hurt, the referee called a time-out. He was about to stop the match when the sensei intervened.
“No,” the sensei insisted, “Let him continue.” Soon after the match resumed, his opponent made a critical mistake: he dropped his guard. Instantly, the boy used his move to pin him. The boy had won the match and the tournament. He was the champion. On the way home, the boy and sensei reviewed every move in each and every match.
Then the boy summoned the courage to ask what was really on his mind. “Sensei, how did I win the tournament with only one move?”
“You won for two reasons,” the sensei answered.
“First, you’ve almost mastered one of the most difficult throws in all of judo. And second, the only known defence for that move is for your opponent to grab your left arm.”
The boy’s biggest weakness had become his biggest strength.
Great posts …Keep up with the excellent work!
@ros_guy wrote:
Great posts …Keep up with the excellent work!
@sukhichd710 @Noah @rajrocks77154 @kryptonite @Born Legend @Green Arrow
@ros_guy wrote:
Great posts …Keep up with the excellent work!
In the class for 6 sigma,
there were examples given on Japanese culture and its pursuit for perfection. This tables gives a perspective on what could be done with a “problem.”
Interesting Ways to Develop Patience
http://www.speakingtree.in/blog/interesting-way...
Be Empathetic
You lose patience when you have an altogether different opinion and you feel that if your opinion was taken into consideration then the situation would have been in your favour. In such cases, your mind is unable to have control on its reactions and your anger and conflicting attitude blasts out.
You must first understand what is it in you that makes you so impatient. If you analyse, then you will get to know that it is your inability to understand the situation from the viewpoint of the other person that is creating a storm of thoughts in your mind. You need to be empathetic and give rest to your mind when you know you can lose patience. Think for a second about the complete situation from all the spheres and you will definitely come to a better solution.
Cultivate The Habit Of Reading
The habit of reading is great to develop patience in you and the added benefit is that your knowledge level will also get a boost. It may sound weird that book reading can help in developing patience but its true. Reading requires you to be patient. You can finish a book only if you start reading it patiently.
If you don’t have hours to invest in book reading, then you must make a target of reading 10 pages everyday. When you start reading the first page, you will be impatient to finish reading those 10 pages but as you go to second page or third page your speed will come to normal and you will gradually develop patience and endurance.
Start Gardening
No it is not a joke! Start maintaining your own home garden and grow your favourite fruits, vegetables and flowers. Learn about how to grow them and how frequently they need to be watered and after how many days they need to fertilisers. When you see your garden growing at the right pace, then you will feel mentally peaceful. You need to be patient and take care of them as per instructions and when your garden will be filled with fruits and flowers, then you will understand what you get for being patient.
Start Cooking
If waiting at any restaurant for your order to appear on the table makes you impatient, then this one is for you! Avoid going to restaurants and wear the apron and head towards your kitchen. Check out for some easy recipes on the internet and first, get the ingredients ready. Then get the vegetables chopped in desired way and then start the cooking process where you need to go step by step. Sometimes you need to be quick and sometimes you need to wait and observe. In this way, not only you will relish a new achievement of yours but will also nurture new lessons of being patient.
Pursue Activities Other Than Your Hobbies
If you pursue your hobbies, then it will be a cake walk for you and you won’t be learning the important lesson called patience development. Start learning a new creative activity that will test your patience level. Start painting, dancing, singing, pottery or web designing that will enlarge your scope of knowledge and at the same time teach you to be patient enough to learn it and be more creative in life. When you get disinterested with these new activities, you will get frustrated initially but you need to convince yourself that it will be beneficial for you in all respects.
Explore New Places
It is one of the most proven techniques of developing patience as your patience level is tested when you need to find addresses in new places. Start walking every evening to distant places without worrying about getting lost. When you go to distant places and roam to explore the area, there may be chances that you get confused from which lane you came or you may even find yourself alone at that place. All these experiences will teach you to be patient and to be calm enough to think positively and find a way to reach home.
Keep Your Schedule Flexible
If you find yourself too busy, then chances are greater that any deviance from your schedule will make you furious and impatient. Even if you are busy, try to understand that in most places you will have to compromise on your schedule as other people may also be engaged in some work. Try to keep your schedule flexible and keep your mind occupied in attaining your goals for the day. If you keep losing your temper every moment, then it is guaranteed that you won’t complete all your tasks for the day or even if you complete, then your impatience will have an adverse effect on your efficiency level.
Leadership is about knowing what to do when you do not know what to do
— Magus
http://www.mapta.gs/blog/hosting-event-get-mapt...
Hosting an Event, get a Maptag first
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By Stephanie Booth
This story originally appeared on LearnVest.
It’s hard not to resent Mondays. The day marks the end of the fun and freedom of the weekend—and that’s especially true during the summer, when ordinary Saturdays and Sundays have a carefree vacation vibe.
Even if you love your job, the angst of having to go back to the grind on Monday can leave you disorganized and spinning your wheels all day, explains Richard Citrin, Ph.D., MBA, an organizational and consulting psychologist and author of “The Resilience Advantage.” Then you have to spend the rest of the week playing catch up.
But while Monday is going to happen whether you like it or not, that lack of productivity doesn’t have to. The key is to adopt a few smart habits on Sunday so you set yourself up for a brighter, more efficient workweek without really cutting into your weekend R&R time. These tips will help you do just that.
Steal an Hour to Get Organized
Whipping out the calendar app on your phone or tablet while you’re poolside or enjoying a sports marathon on TV is probably not how you planned to spend Sunday. But trust us, it’ll pay off.
“Taking no more than an hour out from your Sunday to anticipate the week ahead and get organized will help you free up head space and reduce worry,” says Christine M. Allen, Ph.D., a psychologist, executive and coach. Check your calendar, email a note to a coworker or yourself and make a to-do list prioritizing tasks you expect to come in first thing in the a.m.
And if you really want a happier Sunday to set you up for Monday, try knocking out annoying chores earlier in the day rather than waiting until the last minute. You know the ones: doing that load of laundry, prepping for next week’s meals or laying out your work clothes so you aren’t tearing through your closet desperately looking for something decent to wear. Tackle them ahead of time, and you can coast through the rest of the weekend.
Fill Your Plate With Healthy Food
Do your feasting on Friday and Saturday, as an indulgent Sunday brunch or dinner can make Monday stress worse. Consuming rich, heavy food and alcohol on Sunday will sink you into a food coma that can leave you lethargic on Monday morning, explains Debra Nessel, RDN, CDE, a registered dietitian with Torrance Memorial Medical Center in Torrance, California.
Aim for three balanced, delicious meals on Sunday, each containing lean protein and complex carbs to give you steady energy and lots of high-fiber fruits and vegetables to aid digestion and leave you feeling full. Remember to skip the cocktails or brew and fill your glass with plenty of water. Alcohol is dehydrating, and that brings on the mental fog and sluggishness that intensifies stress.
Add Meaning to the Day
No judgment if your preferred way of spending Sunday afternoon is sacked out on the couch binge-watching “Game of Thrones.” But making your Mondays brighter might come down to designating Sunday as the day you do something active that’s personally fulfilling—such as going on a nature hike or walking shelter dogs.
We all have things we have to get done over the weekend, but there’s something to be said for making time for activities that are consistent with your values and connect you to the people you love, says Allen. Scheduling a yoga session with friends or volunteering in your community, for example, lends meaning to the day and resets your mental and spiritual batteries, so you’ll go into Monday feeling accomplished and inspired.
Concentrate on the Positive
A rough commute, crabby coworkers, stale coffee—the start of the workweek can bring on an endless round of small miseries. It can be easy to get in the habit of dreading Monday, anticipating what the morning will bring. Instead, focus on the positive things that can happen when you get back in the office. Maybe you’ll have the opportunity to blow away new clients with fresh ideas or at least get caught up on weekend gossip.
If the problem is that, in general, you’re not loving your work these days, spend some time on Sunday thinking about what could help you enjoy your work more. Try recalling those days when you looked forward to your job and all the hard work it took to move up in your career. For many people, those early days were a high time in their career. Says Citrin: “Ask yourself, what’s changed since you had that feeling? What can you do differently now to help you recapture it?”
Your Monday hate might cue you to stretch your boundaries and take on different assignments—or it may mean it’s time to put out feelers for something new, says Citrin. Until then, focus on the good things, such as the salary, the occasional chance to travel or the officemates who never fail to crack you up.
Have Some Old-School Fun
Pull out the Monopoly board, invite friends over for poker or suggest a game of H-O-R-S-E with your kids. Games, hobbies and creative activities “stimulate creative thinking, encourage single-tasking, clear your mind and improve your confidence,” explains Maura Thomas, founder of RegainYourTime.com and author of “Personal Productivity Secrets.” Playing computer games, sports and other activities that promote fun are also linked to improved creativity, according to a study published in Research in Organizational Behavior.
If you want to start Monday morning feeling fresh and inspired, these are qualities you want primed. “There’s no specific amount of time you should play,” says Thomas. The point is to not work on weekends and simply use this time to engage different parts of your brain but approach it like fun, she adds.
Set Yourself Up for Quality Sleep
A good night’s rest on Sunday is the best way to dodge the madness of Monday; it helps you handle stress, puts you in a more optimistic, can-do mood and leaves you feeling alert and energized, ready to tackle the start of the week rather than retreat under the covers.
To prep for the shuteye you need on Sunday, try eating healthy, not-heavy meals and finishing your last meal two-and-a-half hours before you plan on turning in so the digestive process is underway, says Michael Breus, Ph.D., a sleep specialist and author of “The Power of When.”
Other tips include getting in a decent amount of physical activity on Sunday. “
There is data to show that daily exercise does help with improving sleep quality,” says Breus, who recommends getting at least 20 minutes of heartbeat-raising movement. And make alcohol off-limits before bedtime, as it can lead to fitful sleep, affirms one 2015 study.