4 Habits To Succeed At Anything

I found this picture on Instagram. A simple illustration - a powerful advise.

We can be successful at anything, if we keep at these 4 habits day in and day out. I have sticked with this for few weeks now, and I am already seeing improved results in work. So it's needless to explain why I am writing this post.

1) THE HABBIT OF GETTING STARTED

This is where we most of the time, get no where. We need to get started with a simple plan in hand. Then plan in detail as things move on. This saves time and give valuable brutal feedback on your idea which you think is great, yet no one else knows. ( Also read Fear of loosing )

2) THE HABBIT OF APPRECIATING SMALL WINS

With out this habit, even a big win won't make you happy. Thing is, we are so sensitive to negative things. We take positives for granted. Society is full of negative stuff. Hence small wins seems trivial, and attract no potential.

What matters is few small wins in few days.

To start the process, first appreciate your self. Write small wins each day. (Also read Every day before you leave office )

Then start appreciating your peers for smallest of things. This may seem foolish, yet with out doing this, you might never know the power of it.

3) THE HABBIT OF NOTICING TRIPPING THINGS

This is absolutely critical. If we see cracks opening up, and leave unattended, we will be in to rude shocks. At those points, we need to relax and practice patience. Active listening skill is of utmost importance. ( Also read An inconvenient truth )

4) THE HABBIT OF GETTING BACK UP, AND NOT FEELING BAD.

When things get tripped, we all get upset. Doubts about what we intended to do, clouds sound judgment. Worry creeps in, and we get caught up in emotions.

" Worry is like a rocking chair - It gives you something to do, but it doesn't get you anywhere "

We make mistakes. Each day. Sometimes we know it, sometimes we don't know.  Trick is, when you know it - learn and move forward.

" Life is like riding a bicycle.  To maintain your balance, you must keep moving on " ~ Albert Einstein

What My Uncle Showed Me

Wednesday morning, 630 am. Received a text from my sister "Uncle passed away, heart attack"

I visited a close relative a week ago, who was terminally ill. Thought this might be him.

Yet sooner I found out it was my mother's brother - maama.

50 years. Heart Attack. With out a warning.

uncle with his wife and younger son.

I came to office. Many things to do. FEAC 2012 is next week. Indonesian embassy is trying hard to reject my visa to attend Tech4Good summit the week after.  ( Embassy has its reasons. Hope fully the trouble will change this year)

Memories of my uncle started clouding my already wrecked nerve system. How ironic life is.

Only just a week ago, I blogged This too will pass. And this week I am tested.

I lived in Ampara until I was 5. My father worked at Ampara Department of Irrigation.

I remember how my uncle helped my parents to raise me. Only photographic memories from Ampara to me is the evening walk I had with my uncle everyday around a lake in Ampara and subsequent visit to a friendly grocery store, where I would sit on the counter and consume toffies to my heart's content.

I would savor all these, yet to return home and complain my mother that my uncle smoked 2 cigarettes.

He never grudged. His love for me was a constant.

Then time passed. My family came to Galle. Uncle also. Yet I started schooling, then to Uni, and jobs. Uncle employed him self in Saudi Arabia, came back and married. Our lives drifted. A normal thing in every family.

First thing stucked me when I heard of his demise was that I should have communicated more with him.

Last time I talked to him was in April, on new year's eve. I felt guilty.

I contemplated on " This too will pass"

Then I understood that we all are here on earth with a hidden expiry date.

We can't predict who will die on which date, yet death is certain.

Brushing my guilt aside, I managed my next 24 hours to complete and/or delegate pending stuff with team. Next day morning I went to Giriulla. 9 km from Giriulla, there lies a calm and sedate village called " Narangoda". It lives to the true spirit of a village in terms of scenery and human qualities.

There were 4 houses on the plot of land where my uncle lived. There were no separating parapet walls. Caring, sharing and warmth trickles down with no borders. Houses around, took care of meals, accommodation etc. The whole village engaged in all aspects of the funeral. I've never seen a ordinary man's funeral with that much of people pouring in. Hundreds of people paid visit, even around 2 am.

For 2 days, I connected dots of my uncle's life through conversations of relatives, neighbors, villagers and his office colleagues. I understood my uncle has died with a reason to connect minds dispersed for no apparent reason than the crazy busyness we scapegoat.

I did my first funeral speech in my life, to a gathering of over 400, with a microphone. Though I rehearsed for several times, half way through tears swelled and I almost cried. With a clenched fist I ended my speech, by which time, I managed to make even villagers cry. I felt awkward, but also released.

Maama...May you attain Nibbana...

Real Team Work

Team work is not about getting a bunch for a meeting or working late night with pizza servings.
It helps, to get things started.


Real team work, happens when some one with in team picks things up, when a peer is down and stuck.
Work happens effortlessly, and team members are taking care of each other in work, and in personal dilemmas.

Real team work is not about always working together. It is definitely not about constant supervision.

Real team work does not wait for review meetings to pop up issues. Rather issues are welcomed everyday and treated as opportunities to grow.


Pic credit: STOCK4B Creative