Contemplations

Time management has been one of the focal points in management literature for a while. With ever-increasing awareness, most people, rightly look for ways to improve their time management skills. Time along-with health are our most critical resources. If we have both, we can always find ways to meet other needs healthily. We need mastery of two skills for time management -  1. Ability to prioritize tasks 2. Ability to complete the tasks on time! (I will re-write this by the end of this post) The Theory of prioritization There are numerous YouTube videos which explain how to prioritize tasks. The Eisenhower matrix provides a solid framework for prioritization. It decouples importance and urgency. In very simple words, it says prioritize important but non-urgent things over unimportant things. It is theoretically sound, however it is not motivational enough to get you to complete the tasks. Take the example of taxes, a lot of people wait for the last moment to file taxes even though t...

  I have always been fascinated by symbols. A corner of my brain is occupied interpreting meanings of symbols, equations, etc. Something simple could reveal a lot, it is largely a matter of perception.  Take the example of  the compounding equation. It says A = P*(1+r)^n. This is probably the most famous expression used in finance. A is the amount, P is the principal, r is the rate, n is the number of years. It does indeed mathematically produce a result that is much higher than the principal. However, Is this just a matter of an algebraic expression ? The problem with this approach is abbreviation. I have never been a fan of abbreviation, one - it keeps everything open to interpretation, two - different valid interpretations can have very different meanings.  Let me re-write the equation to simplify it; Result = Input*(1+ rate of interest)^time factor. Doesn't that widen the scope of understanding a little bit ? Input = Effort Interest = Attention Time factor = Pati...

I did feel some amount of stress last week, the reason was not clear to me. By stress I mean, a physiological perception of uneasiness. Everything organically is okay, but certain situations make us react different to our normal selves. There was a lot going on at work and at school, but I was mentally prepared, and it typically has not stressed me before.  I had to resort to my own method that I had written about it previously here -  Getting a Reset  - to figure out.   When I sat down and had my contemplation, I realized that I did not handle some difficult situations with my normal humility. Small traces of which slipped into my casual conversations as well. Everyone has a different reference point because it is subjective, but I did breach mine. That was keeping me uneasy. Once I realized it, and had knowledge on  how to fix it, I became peaceful again. You can't buy peace, it is manufactured within!  Two of the antidotes to stress are - (i) fearle...

  I had a soft banter at work a few weeks ago! Is calmness important or activity important ?  My nature is to lean towards a more laidback approach when given a choice, but for the joy of wordplay, and the arguable habit of mildly annoying another (anyone with siblings will understand) with good intent though, I said activity. On a more serious note, both are important. One complements the other. Being able to stay calm is a superpower. If you are spending energy on an activity, but restless in the mind, you will not be efficient.  In fact most people do not even know how restless they actually are. One of my teachers told me, "you will know how restless you are when you start meditating." I did not believe at the time, but he was so right! I could not sit for more than 2 minutes! It took me almost a year to have some level of confidence to say I can sit in silence for 10 minutes. (And honestly, 10 minutes of deep silence has more benefits than what I expected) You can se...

  We hear a lot about "being grounded". They say, one should be grounded, but most people do not explain what they mean. Others assume being grounded is the same as being humble. Humility is important, being grounded is very different from humility.  Its not an abstract concept. Examples and analogies simplify the task of explaining. Imagine an electrical circuit with a positive terminal and a negative terminal. The circuit works when current flows from positive terminal to the negative terminal.  The head, where the ideas for our actions originate is the positive terminal, the heart, the place of satisfaction is the negative terminal. We are grounded when the actions we take satisfy the desires of our heart. The link between these two is our will.   The principle is when you act using your will to satisfy the legitimate desires of your heart through agreeable methods, you are grounded. In other words, your actions should be in accordance with your will. Your he...

The quality of love when received and given in an authentic way directly leads to a sense of peace and satisfaction. But there are conditions under which love can be shared for the true effects to come through! Only a heart that is free from the blemishes of anger, fear, hatred, resentment, jealousy and pride of pedigree can radiate true love. When the heart is free from these imperfections, it can act as a perfect instrument of receptivity and right action with everything and everyone.  I want to share an incident that showed me love can be developed and experienced through serving others! in our own unique way within our capacity. I was in Vancouver on an extended trip. One rainy-drizzly night, I was waiting for the bus to go to the restaurant. A woman approached me and asked me for money for food. I was arguably suspicious and refused. She persisted, eventually I gave her 20 dollars. I saw instant relief on her face,  she hugged me, then ran to the burger king eatery that w...

They teach us that the ideal goal of a business should be to create value. But, is that translatable to our regular living ? Some business entities do not care how they make money. Is that useful ? When someone acts selfishly to serve their purpose, it causes some rift. When a collection of people act selfishly to earn money, they unknowingly push the world into periodic patterns of economic depression. How then are we supposed to manage ? I think the answer is a change in mentality at both the micro level and the macro level.  At the macro level, businesses should be based on the foundational law - "greatest good for the greatest number of people possible." Using psychological advertising tricks to make someone buy something they don't need is not good. They will go to competition when they realize this and the acquisition cost of getting a new customer in the door is much higher than the cost to maintain an old customer.  At the micro level, as humans, we should strive ...