HOW TO MAKE OURSELF MORE EFFECTIVE

In this fast growing world time is the most scarce resource which we have. When I start thinking about this statement I always ask a question to myself. Is this statement a truth or is it a myth which we have inherited from our forefathers. One side if I see my daily routine I hardly find any time to put one additional activity in my daily activity schedule. We will always find ourselves frequently making this statement that we dont have time. Is it not a fact that we normally we carry lot of expectations without knowing or understanding that can we manage these expectations. Everybody is moving with his full capacity in a blind race where they dont know where we will go. At the end of day if we sit and analyze the things that what we have done during the day, we may come to the conclusion that either we were trying to hold sand in our fist. Some times I think that during the whole life till now I was sitting on the side of river and continuously trying to put a line on the river water and at the end I find nothing there. Some time I compare myself with a child who is trying to build a small house of sand on the sea beach with full of expectation and enthusiasm, he is continuously putting more and more effort to make it more and more beautiful. With his each effort he gets a new expectation and is trying to put his dream in his sand house. But suddenly a large wave comes towards the bank I can see it, but the little boy is still busy in his actions oriented towards his house construction, till the end he cannot see that wave, which is going to ruin all his efforts, and ultimately the trauma happens, the wave gets the success in destroying the little boys dream. Now the boy is crying repenting on this past. Is it not that this small story is our story? Is it not that we waste most of our time and effort without knowing the end result and creating lot of frustration and depression in our life. The question I would like to keep UNANSWERED to initialize to process to thinking. But on the other hand when I observe the life of successful persons like Mahatma Gandhi, Pundit Nehru or Abraham Lincon I have found that they have successful done what they wanted to do. Why is there difference in their life and our life? We have pride on their life and cry on our life. Is it because god has added some extra hour in their twentyfour ours and he has made our twenty-four hours bit lesser? Again I would like to put this question unanswered. When I see their life and our life the most common thing that I find in their life and our life is the world problem. Its a very common word which always comes in every bodies life Which is trying to divert our action from the desired one to the direction where everything is unknown and unforeseen. Here we find two personalities, some of us are able to ding the way to come out of these recurring unwanted and unexpected virus of our life and some of us get diverted from this fall in a path were at the end they become the victim of this resulting in frustration, depression and suicide, mental or physical. If we will
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try to find why it is happening many of us will come to a conclusion that more or less we have become ineffective in our life we are getting guided by our life rather that we are trying to get our life guided by us. One of the way to come out of this situation is to develop certain habits in our personality were we can be more effective, capable of influencing the enviournment, rather than getting influenced by environment. Again the word effective is quite subjective in nature. It depends on the perception of the person and the environment where the word is used. For some one effectiveness is a mean to achieve more and more material resource, for some else it a mean by which he can earn happiness of his life, he can move in an enviournment that pleases him to be loved and cared by everyone. It brings the stage where we confront with gratitude not only from other towards us but our outer self to ourselves. Whatever objective we are having we have to work out on the patterns of behaviors, which we call, habits and which consists of three overlapping components, Knowledge (we know what to do), Skill (we know how to do), and the attitude (we want to do). These are the three things, which we will find in all the human beings differing on the percentage of intensity. In case of failure we find a lower combination of three and in success we find it higher combination. But one thing we can make sure that the habits of effectiveness can be learned and habits of ineffectiveness can be unlearned. If we see the life of few successful people we will find certain things common. 1. They have a dream 2. They have a plan 3. They have a specific knowledge or training 4. They are willing to work hard 5. They dont take no for an answer. Here I would like to tell the reader of this article that effectiveness begins with a state of mind, which is very dynamic in nature. But you must believe youll be successful in order to become a effective. Some of the points, which can make our life more effective, are-1.We have to be Proactive: we have to develop the habit of personal vision Normally we will find the proactive people producing results and reactive people producing excuses or explanations. The reason for this is that the circle of concern rather than influencing it by their circle of influence influences the reactive people. If we will be influenced with the external factors then normally we get diverted from our aim and we start making excuses and blaming our fate. In this context the story of Marilyn Hamilton is relevant. When she was of twenty-nine she fell down a rocky cliff in a hang gliding accident that left her in a wheel chair paralyzed below the waist. Think what would we have done at this stage of our life. Is it not the fact that at this point of life, we will start blaming our fate or god that it has made our life hell. At this point of time we would definitely search for some sympathy and help from our near and dears But as normal person she has not
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wasted too much time in collecting the sympathy or blaming the luck. She managed to see the opportunity in tragedy. From the start she was uncomfortable with her wheel chair. So she got an idea for designing a more comfortable wheel chair. She engaged herself for designing a uniquely equipped wheel chair with her two friends. The three went on to form a company called Motion Design. Which is today a multimillion-dollor company? It is the Proactiveness has brought an unexpected success in her life by transforming her from a handicapped person to exemplary corporate planner. 2. Begin with the End in Mind: Have you ever seen a carpenter cutting a piece of wood. He measures the wood twice before he cuts it , because he knows that once he will cut it will not be corrected. Therefore it is always better to plan our work properly before we execute otherwise the unplanned action will create the reverse result for us and at the same time it will waste our time and effort. That is the reason we will find it common with almost all-successful person that they were having a unique habit of diary writing. One more thing I would like to say that no one likes the trauma, pain, discouragement or feelings of hopelessness when they fail at something. But is it not the fact of everyones life it happens with us. The only way to come out of this situation is to foresee the unexpectation and plan our action so that these things can be minimized. Try the habit of writing personal mission statement for making future decision. We will have to concentrate on our main goals and objectives. We should not get sidetracked. We should try to work on the projects that are important, and don't allow those projects to sit until the last minute. We have to be productive, not just busy. 3. Think Win Win: It is the normal tendency of human being to repent on failure and waist our time on making questions as if would have done this or that the result would have been different. Our most of time we try to loose in this unproductive discussion resulting in wastage of the time and resources. But we have to understand that although almost all of us are having some sort of fear for failure but one have to believe that there is nothing such as failure it is only the result. People always finds successes in getting result irrespective of the fact whether you like it or not, but we have mange this in such a way so that each such event will bring our actions more near to our expection. If it would not be then how, after facing 10 successive major failures in his life , Abraham Lincoln became the President of US. How Thomas Edison faced 9999 failures to get one success of inventing perfect light bulb? In this context when some body made a comment that whether he is going to have ten thousand failures? He replied I didnt fail. I just discovered the another way of not inventing the electric light bulb He had discovered how another set of actions and produced a different result. In this context I would like to quote William Shakeshpeare Our doubts are traitor, And make us lose the good we often might win, by fearing to attempt.

One has to believe the message of Bhagvat Gita -- You act and act without thinking of results. They are certain and will definitely come. 4. Put First Thing First: Time is a most precious and scarce resource. It has been seen that all the successful person have done the mastery in time management. Therefore it is important for us to respect the value of ones own as well as others time and design ones work schedule accordingly.

6.What ever happens take responsibility: Normally what happens if we get failures, is it not that we start blaming for the result without understanding our responsibility for the act. This is the worst habit with us by which we lose the valuable time as well as the people who have contributed their action the achievement of the desired goal. Think what will happen if we do it on continuous basis is not we will be left alone in this world. Therefore we should try to take the responsibility of our acts. This will not only help us to make our relation good with other but it will also make us to learn to shoulder down the responsibilities. One can find one of the greatest attributes to the successful leaders that they create their world. We will often find them saying that I am responsible .I will take care of it. They are having a faith that whatever happens they have created it. If we dont believe in creating our own world whether it been success of failure then we will find our self on the mercy of circumstances and will find our self guided by these factors rather then guiding these factor and at last we will find our self on the mercy of fate. Kennedy was transformed as real matured leader from a young politician only when he took the responsibility of tug of war.

Tim
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7.Seek First to Understand Then to be understood: It is a common phrase used that to be a good speaker you have to be a good listener. Almost all of us want to be listened without listening to other. We always try to find some one who can listen them. We want to exert our frustration by sharing their feeling to someone who can pacify us. But have we ever thought that others are also expecting the same to you. In such a case is it not that we are creating trouble for our self. Imagine of a person who has got tired after facing lot of failures and frustration from his life. He is searching for a person who can listen him, sympathies him. Ultimately he wants to be listened, if at that particular point of time you present your self to listen him. Is it not that He will get obliged with you and you will win that person for the whole life. If we observe the life of few effective leaders we will find that in most of the cases they were having time to understand the problems of the common mass. Here one more thing I would like to quote that successful people are successful because they believe that they dont know everything rather something in order to use it. 8.Synergize: It is a well-known fact that people who have performed in outstanding way were having a strong respect and appreciation for others. One man may not produce the outstanding result; it is the team, which wins the battle. None of the great revolution got success only because of one its leaders whosoever it may be either the great Gandhi in India or Nelson Mandela in South Africa. One thing was common among all the great leaders were that first they tried to take the support of people. They were having the belief on synergy rather than moving aloof. But with us we carry lot of attitude such as discrimination on caste, creed or the social status due to which we are loosing our people. But it is a suicidal act To be effective we would have to take the help of others and always try to add member to our team on geometrical basis. These people around us are the greatest resources available to us and it can be used free of cost if we practice to handle. Although these suggestion are not going to produce the results as the formula of maths but we have to make a strong belief that if we start practicing it on continuous basis it will definitely dilute some of the reasons of distress in our life and will add few more productive hour in our twenty four hours of our life.