CHOICE

One of the ironies of daily living is that we crave to have choices but when given a CHOICE we are confused and indecisive because although we Can Have Options Including Candid Evaluation all alternatives look attractive and sacrificing one for another is anathema to our rational. Perhaps emotions have a big part to play in us being unsure of the right choice or it is possible that we suffer from the ‘grass is greener on the other side’ syndrome.

 

The beauty of choice is in the fact that we have alternatives from which we can choose. This is critical because each of us has our own unique tastes, thought process and yardsticks to come to a conclusion and make a decision. The mobile hand set boom for example has triggered a revolution simply because it incorporates style and features that can be customized to be as distinctive as the individual who owns it. Choices also ensure that there is no monopoly, control or domination and at the same time ensures that there is vigorous competition that ups the quality antennae, expands the range and keeps the price competitive.

However too much of choice poses a new dilemma; one of selection rationale. To commit to a choice implies that one has made an informed decision but as is often seen in the market place regarding investment choices for example, we have to seek professional help and hope the advice is without any vested interest. This however is a minor price to pay for we can attempt to educate ourselves and at the same time give deep thought and have greater clarity about our end goals. The real benefit of choices is the freedom that we as individuals enjoy for we are free to choose and also free not to choose. There are times though when we are left only with a Hobson’s choice where the alternatives are equally poor and yet we have to make a decision. If there is no choice then we would be forced to make a half hearted commitment as we do for example when we cast our vote at election time. Yet one would agree that the imperfections of choice provided by democracy are far superior to the tyranny and suppression by a tinpot dictatorship.

Choices enable us to exercise our personal power and express our individuality. While many a decision we take are often unduly influenced by our emotions and feelings, if we have a focused goal and clarity of purpose we Can Have Options Including Candid Evaluation. We can then be proud of our decisions when they turn out perfect and we will have to manfully accept our error of judgment if we exercise a wrong choice. Remember the series ‘Who wants to be a Millionaire or the Indian version of it Kaun Banega Crorepati’!

Action Points:

1. Clarity of our end goals is the key to choosing the right options. Attempt to write down your goals for the following aspects of your life. Long term financial goals at retirement. Short term goals to pursue an interest or passion. The kind of assets you want to create over the next 10 years.
2. Based on your goals work out the action plan with specific timelines and milestone activities clearly identified. Keep reviewing your goals and also your choices made from the various options available to you to attain those goals. 

Power Act - from http://www.actspot.com/ is focused on -

Powering your Spirit to ACT Now.

 

You are also invited to visit our DAILY inspirational and motivational blog http://www.actspot.wordpress.com/

CLASSY

One of the buzz words that marketing thrives on is CLASSY. Most products experiences and style trends are projected as Cool Latest Aesthetic Stylish Stunning & Youthful and the world laps it up for they are sold on that idea. There is no doubt that what is classy is open to debate for tastes vary as do affordability and suitability. While the younger generation prefers glitz, glamour colorfulness and techwiz, the older generation is more clued into functionality, sobriety and value for money.

Many a time classy products are perceived as something very special because they are priced high and have exclusivity because very few can afford it. No doubt these products have a major qualitative superiority and possibly very exclusive features and so appeal to a certain class of people who can both appreciate the exclusivity and have the financial wherewithal to afford these products. Classy products and services set benchmarks and could also spark of fashion trends. Style statements are often made by a classy display and fusion of fashion and personalities that are highlighted by the media and reinforced by a mass fan following.

Technology is a key trigger that is at the heart of the new age classy products. Where once we just worse canvas shoes to run with, today’s running shoes are equipped with little chips that capture and analyze data and give real time updates about the users health and vital parameters. Telecommunication has provided ample scope to innovate and the classy equipment and features that are prominently highlighted tempt even the most astute individual to fall for its lure and invest in it. In modern times the interplay between technology, personalization and exclusivity provides the perfect platform for marketers to pitch a classy product for each person. This ramps up sales, sets cash registers ringing and sets of mass hysteria among the gullible public.

The new age economy is now being transformed by the new mantra of creating needs out of luxuries. In effect we are attempting to bridge the generation gap and make every potential customer see everything as Cool Latest Aesthetic Stylish Stunning & Youthful; for the youth a shaven head is a CLASSY style statement while for the aging generation hair transplantation and silicon implants provide them the with the CLASSY image.

Action Points:

1. 
   
   Jot down 3 exclusive features that you would definitely want in your new mobile phone which are not there in your current mobile phone. Now rationally analyze if there are better alternatives to these features and how did you mange without these features so far?
2. 
   
   Assuming you had the money what will be the three items on which you will splurge on. Now examine if the 3 choices are because it helps to make life easier for you or is it for your personal pleasure or is it for you to make a CLASSY style statement in your social circle.

Power Act - from http://www.actspot.com/ is focused on -

Powering your Spirit to ACT Now.

You are also invited to visit our DAILY inspirational and motivational blog http://www.actspot.wordpress.com

POWER

The craze for POWER is perhaps at the center of Machiavellian activities espoused by ruthless leaders in general and politicians in particular. However real power is all about commanding respect and not demanding obedience, as is commonly understood by those, who are power hungry. One automatically gets POWER when one takes on Personal Ownership With Empowered Rights 

In the first place any with who has the power takes on command and responsibility. There can never be any power without responsibility. In taking ownership of not just the activities but the team and the output of the team a person gains the respect and the support of all those whom he/ she interacts with. Consequentially people follow orders, take on challenges and place their implicit trust in the leader for they also know that the leader will stand by them and give them the freedom to operate. By and large they are also sure that the person having power will also give credit where it is due, correct and rectify mistakes and if need be punish mistakes and penalize the guilty. 

No one can just usurp power and think they are in charge. Real power comes from being empowered with rights by those who anoint a person with power. Empowerment emphasizes legitimizing the role, action and consequences of those who are given the power. Both success and failure will then be the full responsibility of those assuming power. E.g. In a coalition government the party who heads the coalition takes on ownership of the actions of the coalition partners and is also empowered to act on behalf of the coalition. In most dictatorships the problem starts with those usurping power holding on to Personal agendas and worse still, lacking the empowerment required from the majority who are under their power.

To differentiate between real power and usurped power do this litmus test – check if POWER means 

Pulverize Opposition Withhold Every Right or it reflects Personal Ownership With Empowered Rights

 Action Points:

1. Look back at those who were your class monitors/ leaders in school and college. Were they elected or chosen by a fair process. Did they use their power judiciously? How could they have done a better job?
2. List out 5 leaders whom you have come across in your life whom you respect very much. Ensure that at least one politician and one industrialist figures in that list. Enumerate those qualities or action demonstrated by them that endear them to you as a leader. Do you think you can emulate them?

 Power Act - from http://www.actspot.com/ is focused on -

Powering your Spirit to ACT Now.

You are also invited to visit our DAILY inspirational and motivational blog http://www.actspot.wordpress.com

SIMPLE

One of the challenges people in general and teachers in particular grapple with is to make their communciation SIMPLE. The key here is to ensure that Something Informative is Made Plain Lucid and Easy. No doubt it is easier said than done for it takes a special effort to ensure that things can be made simple. However if we have closely studied the more popular teachers in school or some of the exceptional tuition teachers in coaching classes, we would observe that it is their ability to simplify the complicated, the difficult made to look easy and their lucid explanations that endear them to us.

We must take a cue from them and develop our own style to ensure that our communication, interaction, explanations are SIMPLE, for then it can be quickly grasped, understood and acted upon by the receiver. One of the difficulties that impede our ability to be simple is our obsessive need to sound intelligent and articulate. In this process, we end up using jargon, buzzwords and acronyms to show off our superiority. Most times we end up alienating our audience, confusing them and making them feel inadequate, which ultimately leads them to abandon the interaction lest they make a fool of themselves.

The most common problem in simplifying matters is our own lack of preparation and effort. If we want to ensure understanding, it is critical that we understand our audience their abilities and their grasp of the subject. This understanding should be put in perspective when we draw up our communication so as to ensure that we do not alienate them during the process of communication. All this takes effort and we need to ask ourselves if we have that kind of zeal and motivation. Our inability to put the receiver of the communication first, invariably leads to a situation where we assume too much about the receiver. Consequentially we alienate them because they find us too high flown and perhaps a wee bit too intellectual for their tastes.

Using all the forms of communication available appropriately, be it visual, audio, verbal, non verbal, olfactory will ensure simple and effective communication. Equally important is the use of appropriate words and visuals to reinforce the communication and ensure it is understood in the correct context. Thus simplifying communication is quite a challenge but there is great sense of satisfaction when Something Informative is Made Plain Lucid and Easy and they respond with enthusiasm and glee.

Action Points:

1. Identify the various words in this write up that you are not familiar with and look up their meanings in the dictionary. Also try to find out the synonyms of those words. This will be one way you can improve your vocabulary.
2. Make a team of 3 persons. Now attempt to play a game called ‘What is the right word?’ The rules are simple. Person 1 will write a word on a chit and give it to Person 2, who will then get three chances to say a word that is closest in meaning to the word on the chit. Person 3 has to guess the word on the chit using the hints given by Person 2. You can decide how many clues Person 2 can give. Ideally the word is to be identified in three tries. eg. Word given is RUSH. Clues could be Haste, Run, Urgent, Speed etc.

If you have more people then make teams of twos and nominate one person to be the person giving the original word to each team of two. 

 Power Act - from http://www.actspot.com/  is focused on -

Powering your Spirit to ACT Now.

You are also invited to visit our DAILY inspirational and motivational blog http://www.actspot.wordpress.com /

CHANGE

The problem with change is two fold; it is constant and yet it is so variable. It may sound ironic but if you delve deeply into the subject of change you would realize that there is a change every moment and that is the constant factor while the type of change keeps varying each minute too. Unfortunately since most of us are creatures of habit, change is something we find hard to  accept, impossible to avoid and difficult to ignore. Yet if we just decide to objectively look at change we can with a Clear Head Accept New Growth Emerging.

Ideally we would like the status quo to continue except on the rare times when we are in pain or discomfort or if there is hope of getting something better, enjoyable or enviable. In real life change often brings about these positive benefits, but in our skewed and concocted way of seeing things we focus on the short term compromises that change will necessitate in our lives rather than seeing the long term benefits of change. With a clear head if one tries to appreciate the need for change you will realize that in most cases the beneficiary is us, albeit the fact that we may have to pay a small price for it. Look at the concept of an express highway, which may charge us a toll and it could possibly be a few kilometers longer but the drive is smother , more pleasurable and we reach our destination faster too.

Change in personal life is not so clear cut. Age brings about changes that we may not like; wrinkles, aches and pains, baldness etc but these are gradual so we reconcile to it with a sigh. Marriage brings about a big change for we are no longer one but two in one. The adjustments that come with it stress us out once the honeymoon is over, the starry lovers dreams suddenly become a distant dream and the chores of family life suddenly overwhelm us. Most of us adjust well to these changes because we are mentally prepared for it and we have examples before us to follow. However the change that strangles you suddenly, like the loss of a spouse or child is much more harder to bear. It is not only hard to accept but it is near impossible to see the benefit of that drastic change brought about by fate.

There may not be any rationale for change and yet we have to believe that by accepting the change we can be long term beneficiaries. Death of a loved one is classic case in point. Some changes are extremely tough to accept because it may run completely counter to your point of view. Abolishment of the death penalty or reservations for the less privileged could possibly fall under this category.  Some changes are so subtle that by the time we realize that there has been a change we are either forced to accept it or forced to wring our hands in despair for it is too late to counter it. The ill effects of climate change, depletion of the ozone layer, garbage disposal problems, depleting water resource etc. are some pointers to the malaise of change.

Since change has to be accepted as a way of life, it is best we anticipate the changes, prepare for changes likely to come and accept change and adopt or adapt to it.  It is also imperative for us to realize that all change signifies opportunities for improvement, benefit and growth. However it is only a Clear Head that Accepts New Growth Emerging. 

Action Points:

1. Can you list out 3-5 changes that you know will definitely come your way in the next few years?  How are you going to cope with it? Eg. You could fall sick. I will have an insurance cover for it.
2. Being creatures of habit we find it hard to easily accept change. Hence we shall attempt to do a few exercises to appreciate this.

• Attempt to write with the other hand than the one you normally use. (Does this make you more responsive to the difficulty of a small child trying to write for the first time ).
• You might be used to having a fixed style of putting your wallet and handkerchief in your trouser pockets. For a week change the pockets in which you keep these paraphelia. (See how disturbed you get.)
• For a week, change the road that you normally take to work. Did you make any new discoveries like a new eatery or lovely tree on this road? (You won’t discover wonders till you are prepared to change.)

Power Act - from http://www.actspot.com/ is focused on -

Powering your Spirit to ACT Now.

You are also invited to visit our DAILY inspirational and motivational blog http://www.actspot.wordpress.com/

DOUBTS

Almost every day each of us is guilty of harboring DOUBTS which in effect means Dicey Opinion Uncertain Belief Truth Suspect. Doubts can be both external and internal in nature. While external doubts are all about our own suspicion about the intent, credibility and motives of people and situations we are exposed to, internal doubts are a result of lack of self belief, fear of consequences and inability to cope with pressures of life. Either way, we end up being uncomfortable, wary and untrusting which obviously leads us to living with a feeling of inadequacy and insecurity.

Those who have a compulsive feeling of insecurity, fear and suspicion are prone to harbor doubts far too often in all their interactions. While some of these negative traits are a result of unpleasant experiences most of it could be due to inappropriate scripting in the formative years either by parents, teachers or authoritative influencers. When doubts overshadow our relationships, trust is the first victim. Imagine being hauled up for cheating in an exam when you definitely did not do it. It violates your sense of fairness. If in addition you are penalized and your family does not support you, then the humiliation is complete and worse still you mistrust of those closest to you is fueled. Random events that may have shades of such injustice can then pummel you on to the path of extreme doubt and suspicion.

Similarly, when you have experienced some sort of failure; perhaps messing up your lines in a school play or being publicly reprimanded for a minor misdemeanor, in which you accidentally happen to be caught up, can flare angst at authorities and dent your confidence. Thereafter, doubts dominate your psyche and you tend to cover all your bases before making commitments and it can also include avoiding all forms of responsibilities. The down side of doubts is that we postpone, oscillate and avoid decisions. In effect we remain unsure, tend to be risk averse and lack the critical leadership skill of decision making. This in turn will reduce our effectiveness, truncate our growth professionally and personally and possibly limit our sphere of influence.

The fillip side of harboring doubts is that we become more careful, do not let prima-facie evidence sway our decisions and enable us to choose carefully reasoned outcomes with a much higher possibility of success. Doubts play a vital part in protecting us from impulsive, emotional and irrational acts but at the same time it should not become a weapon of self destruction when we fail to act on time simply because Dicey Opinion Uncertain Belief Truth Suspect becomes our daily mantra and we let our DOUBTS engulf our thought process.

Action Points:

1. Make a list of 5 people who you are uncomfortable with. Now ask if one of the reasons for you being uncomfortable is that you doubt their intentions, do not trust them to tell the truth, feel they are holding back information or doubt their actions and words are not congruent. Do you have any proof to back your feelings? For a month can you suspend judgment about them and try to remove all doubts about them and notice if your initial assessment about them is wrong.
2. Can you list out 3 events in your life where your doubts proved right and you went ahead and took action based on your hunch and so the unpleasant after effects were controlled. Also list 2 events where your doubts proved completely false and you were embarrassed or almost ruined a relationship because of your irrational doubts. Ask why did this happen and how or where did you go wrong.

Power Act - from http://www.actspot.com / is focused on -

Powering your Spirit to ACT Now.

You are also invited to visit our daily inspirational and motivational blog http://www.actspot.wordpress.com/

FRIEND

Look around and you will find plenty of people. However not all of them appeal to you and after interacting with some, you will definitely chose just a couple of people to spent more time with. As the interactions increase, there are threads of commonality and yawning chasms of differences between the individuals yet there is bonding with some individuals that defies logic and reason. Suddenly you have discovered a Fascinating Rare Individual Eternally Near & Dear whom you call a FRIEND.

No one goes around consciously identifying a friend, although it is possible that we are seeking company when amongst strangers. Take the first day of school or the first day in college or at work. There is need to interact, be accepted, have another person to lean on etc. all traits of the man being a social animal theory. In the ensuing search we seek someone with a friendly disposition, a familiar face if possible, a non threatening personality and hopefully someone we can gel with. Strangely enough the entire process of identifying such a person is largely visual, definitely perceptual and invariably fateful; some bond lifelong and most fizzle over time

It often transpires that when we see some combination of friends, we are dumbstruck as to how two diametrical opposite individuals can ever gel let alone be friends. There could be intimate friendships between people from completely divergent backgrounds culturally, financially, educationally or temperamentally. The beauty of friendship is that it transcends logic, rational and instead embraces mental bonding and emotional vibes. This can also be the reason why there are times when a friend’s friend is a complete antithesis to our expectations and we just can’t figure out how our friend can have a close friendship with a person we disapprove off or detest or loathe. Perhaps this also explains how friends become partners in crime. Somehow they seem to be in sync when it comes to their interests, passions, pleasures and they seem to believe that the end justifies the means.

It is empathy that is the corner stone of friendship. We may not approve of all that our friends do. We may in fact actively discourage them from what we perceive as illegal or undesirable activities. We may even threaten to cut of our friendship but we rarely do it except when the other party has in our view gone beyond redemption. We empathize when despite our greatest reservations, despite societal pressures and in spite of being let down by our friend, we still extend our hand of friendship simply because he/ she is a Fascinating Rare Individual Eternally Near & Dear whom you choose to call a FRIEND.

Action Points:

1. Can you remember the earliest friendships from school days? How many of them still remain your friends. What is it that binds your friendship? Can you reach out to some friends whom you have lost touch with but would cherish reconnecting with? Use social networking sites and the like to reconnect.
2. Do visit http://www.poweract.wordpress.com/  and go through the links on Friendship on the right of the blog. You will get more insights into friendship and a variety of other action points.

 Power Act - from http://www.actspot.com/  is focused on -

Powering your Spirit to ACT Now.

You are also invited to visit our DAILY inspirational and motivational blog http://www.actspot.wordpress.com/