Key Ones I Learnt From Covid-19

 

Employees - Priority 1

PRIDE MAKES US ARTIFICAL AND HUMILITY REAL, PRACTICE HUMILITY

Humility and inner peace go hand in hand. The less we try to prove ourselves to others, the easier it is to feel peaceful inside. People who practice humility are optimistic and cheerful. They have a habit of ignoring the wrong things, be it about the environment, the office they are working at, the boss with whom they are working, or the family they have. They always focus on looking at the strengths around them and concentrate only on the positives. Humble people always think, if not this time, maybe next time. They believe everything that happens happens for good and does have God’s signature. Humble people don’t expect good things to come to them without any effort, but they believe that good things will happen if they work hard enough. “Next time, keep them alive.”

Humble people do not spend time and energy proving themselves. Instead, they spend this energy looking at how I can contribute. Humble people do not get disappointed by any external factors; disappointment is always attributed to self and thinking about how I can improve and how I can do better. Humble people know they are not the best at everything. While others see a lot of merit in them, they always think there is always someone more knowledgeable than them and can learn from them. While they know what needs improvement, they also understand what they cannot change about themselves. Therefore, they consciously do not put effort into changing those characteristics as it will change their fabric. Humble people, at times, are taken for granted, and others feel it is easy to get over them, but the fact is that it is the humble person who gives them the way and allows them to be happy.

Humble people have a sense of gratitude, and they always thank God for what they have. They find beauty in the world around them. Humble people never leave their base, nor do they leave the ground. They know how many hardships and difficulties they have faced with being where they are and the person they are today. They do not compare themselves with the materialistic world but do compare within. A humble person knows they will recognize their accomplishments. If they are an impressive person, people around them will get a sense of it without being talked loudly. Humble people always appreciate other people rather than talking all the time about self-accomplishments.

I remember I had purchased the shoe with lights glowing for my son when he was three. The lights would illuminate whenever he wore it, and I thought he would be happy. However, after wearing it two times, he refused to wear it. When I asked him why he would not wear it, he said that when I play in the park with my friends, all my friends look at my shoe and I do not like it. It seems like I am doing a show-off and driving attraction. So I understood it and felt sorry too that it was not required.

Practice humility; listen to your inner self. Hold yourself from talking about yourself. “Humility is not thinking less of yours, but thinking of yourself less.”

FOLLOW YOUR BELIEF, NOT SOMEONES PERCEPTION

It is not essential to follow someone's perception; following your own beliefs does not matter if they are true or false. Over time, we made them out of trust, faith, and experiences.

In life, we come across many people who carry some perception about us. As humans, we spend a lot of time living through that perception. Is that important. Others' perception of us changes concerning time, situation, and mood. Since we follow that perception, we keep revising our course of Journey and work hard to live up to that perception. But, look what happens to our inner self, we lose our individuality, and we forget our fabric and our core strength.

I have many examples in my life where I saw people changing my perception of me in different situations. Therefore, I ensure my beliefs are intact and try not to get shaken by any external factors.

Incorporate life, we follow the appraisal process, which defines a career for you in the organization. I remember a few such incidents. I was sitting in one of the appraisal cycles a few years back, and my supervisor rated me low for that cycle and said I needed to improve. During the 2008- 2009 timeframe (US recession), the economic conditions were not favorable and severely impacted Indian firms, and so was ours. I respected his decision and walked off from the room. However, my belief and inner conscious said, "this is perception and not the truth ."I continued my job the way I had been doing it for years, with absolutely no change.

After six months, I got a chance to sit through the next appraisal cycle with the same supervisor. This time my rating was in the Top 20. He commented, "YOU SHOULD WALK AS PROUD LADY," from the room. You have improved your performance from the last appraisal cycle. The statement was not convincing to me. I stopped by and asked what makes you think like this. Trust me. I changed nothing in the last six months. My way of working has not changed in the previous 15 years. The only change I bring every day is adding my experience while working. I have accumulated experience with every step. This experience has turned into my beliefs. As I moved on with life, my thoughts got stronger. I know where I stand, how much I know, and how much knowledge gap I have. Situations keep on changing, corporates make decisions based on the external market, but should they affect your beliefs.

Do not get me wrong that I do not respect the feedback, had my boss given me the feedback on the gaps with facts, I might have thought it through. However, my performance was rated basis the supervisor's perception and industry influence.

Make sure our belief does not shake by others' perception and does not fluctuate with the market condition. If our thought process gets surprised with time and with the situation, we unknowingly follow someone's belief, behave as per others' perceptions, and follow someone else's path.

It's always good to learn from others' experiences. However, one should know the difference between the beliefs from the incident and thoughts from the past.

 "Standing up for your beliefs builds self-confidence and self-esteem."

ONE PERSON CAN MAKE A DIFFERENCE

A famous quote from John F. Kennedy- "One person can make a difference." We have been brought to this world to make a difference, but we wait for someone else to make that difference and not initiate it ourselves. We remain in the thinking queue at times when I want to make a difference, and life passes on without action. Some people make a positive difference, and some make a negative difference. That is why I say one man can make the difference this way or that way.

Leaders who made that difference:

Mahatma Gandhi: He was a Primary leader of India's independence movement and the architect of a form of civil disobedience that influenced the world. But we all remember him for his non-violence and his belief in simple living-making his clothes, eating a vegetarian diet, and using fasts for self-purification and means of protest. We practice this so much in our country to fight for our righteousness. Anna's followed the same principles in his agitation. 

Nelson Mandela: He touched almost all the people's lives, especially in the States and South Africa. His mission was to end injustice and inequality and end the country's apartheid system. He proved he could achieve goals like the freedom of his people without violence and without hurting other people. Reply of racism was not racism. He is remembered from apartheid fighter to president to unifier-bringing people together for a common cause.

Mother Teresa: She summed up her life by saying, "By blood, I am Albanian, By citizenship, an Indian, By faith, I am a Catholic nun. As to my calling, I belong to the world. As to my heart, I belong entirely to the Heart of the Jesus". She had devoted her life to caring for the sick and poor. She had established centers for the blind, aged and disabled, and people suffering from leprosy. She is a Nobel Peace Prize winner for her humanitarian work.

Charlie Chaplin: One of the greatest filmmakers in American cinema history, whose movies are popular throughout the world. Through his films and acting, he passes the message of how to remain positive in life while the world is full of chaos. He's one of the famous quotes was, "The saddest thing I can imagine is to get used to luxury."

They were ordinary people like us but had a fire in them to make a difference in the world.

Corporate Leaders that made a difference:

Bill Gates: Philanthropist and the founder and chairman of Microsoft Corporation Ltd. His vision was a "Computer at each desk and in every home ."He worked for 30 years on his dream, and it is fantastic to see that dream become a reality. He was able to turn his small 30-man operation into 80,000 employee organization, leading innovation and securing the future. He made a difference in the corporate.

Dhirubhai Ambani: "Think big, think fast, think ahead. Ideas are no one's monopoly." He built Reliance from scratch, and today it is counted on Fortune 500 list. He grew the organization organically in 25 years, focusing on technology and productivity. He started with the Polyester business in 1965, and the corporation is diversified in Retail, Digital, Life sciences, Logistics, Solar, Telecommunication, Petrochemical, and more. He created jobs for 23000 plus people. He was not educated but was able to make a difference.

 Steve Jobs: Single-handed interrupted three multi-billion dollar industries: computing, telephony, and music, influencing society positively. He attempted to bridge the gap between the poor and rich by getting internet and information access through pockets. His dream started from Garage and grew to a $351Million organization, co-founder, chairman, and CEO of Apple Inc. When it comes to touch screens, we all prefer apple products. Apple has sustained its Quality. In a sea of products available in the market, Apple products knock out on Quality. He'sOne of the quotes I like is, "Quality is much better than quantity. One home run is much better than two doubles." We all know he made a difference in our lives by giving us the best smartphones

Parents that make a difference

Parents are trustworthy guides in our lives. They devote all their time to bringing us up in society. They sacrifice time and treasure for us and make us a complete person. No one ever has grown up in the community without parental guidance. Parents do not have a solution for every problem, their pockets will not allow them to fund us always, but they do set the right directions, give us the correct values and build our character. They play a crucial role in building the emotional, social, intellectual, self-confidence, and other matters that describe us. Although we have specific characteristics that are either positive or negative by birth, it is the parents who invest time in us to weed out the negative and develop more and more positive in us. Despite their schedules, they do get time to raise us well. They are the first ones who create the leadership skills in us so that we can become people like Gandhi, Charlie Chaplin, Steve jobs..etc.

Characteristics of all the leaders are first developed at home by parents by giving them emotional, social, and intellectual upbringing. So I believe parents make that difference in our lives so that we can make a difference outside the world. 

SELF RESPECT

It is my motivation, and it is my belief

It is my confidence and it is my courage

It is my honour, and it is my virtue

It is the reflection of my thoughts, and It is my state of mind

It makes my mood, and it makes my day

It keeps my chin up, and I look through my eyes

No one can cut me down with words

No one can steal my possession

No one can make me feel inferior

No one can make me feel weak

I say no to disrespectful people

I turn my back to impolite people

I bring clarity to the people I want to be with

I bring more clarity to the people whom I do not want to be with

I define my group, and I define my circle

I work every day to bring self-respect up

I fight for my rights, and I work for facts

I define my standards, and I follow them too

I work through my consciousness, and I follow my soul

I take my decisions and stand by them too

I do not judge myself from someone else's eyes too.

It is my identity, and it is my individuality.

It is my predictability, and it is how I am perceived

It shows my righteousness, and it shows my worthiness

It is my value, and it is my worth

I do not care for beauty, and I may not be wise.

I do have an essential element and a protective cover too.

 

IT IS MY SELF RESPECT, AND I WORK EVERYDAY TO BRING IT UP

TOO BIG FOR YOUR BOOTS

"Too Big For Your Boots." I knew it was an idiom, but I never delved too deep to understand it. Recently, I observed and tried to relate it to a few examples and found that this idiom does have a lot of meaning. The dictionary says, "behaving as if you were more important than you are." Some say it means being arrogant. It looks like having an inflated perception of your importance. You start feeling you are better than others and different from others. You begin developing a superiority complex, thinking you are crucial and trying to boost your importance.

When do you start feeling more critical? When you receive something you do not deserve, when you get something you have not thought about, when you have a fear and believe it will not last long, when you know it was not due to your potential.

People of such a category are involved in the minutiae, and since they fear losing it, they want to enjoy this false power. What is this false power? It can be a promotion you received. You know you did not deserve it. You did not create the wealth you received, the authority you gained, but the conviction was not there. Small wins and gains make you think you have become a celebrity. Success starts with transforming your behavior. You are less likely to learn from the people around you, and you start losing respect from others. You get attracted to people in power, who have authority, and see that as a ladder to success. You start living a selfish life. One more thing about boasting about such behavior is that your value system is weak, you do not have a view of your capability, and you fail to see the big picture. Your acceptability within your family and friends has been low. You cultivate false relationships, so you do everything that attracts attention and makes you feel superior to others.

If you are modest, people love you for your modesty, your thoughts and statements are valued, and you are respected irrespective of your titles, wealth, or empire. People come forward to connect with you in some shape or form. People do not forget to greet you. People find you through Facebook, Twitter, blogs, etc. People try to develop their virtues and follow your value system. As a result, you are pleasant company, and people enjoy being around you. Consequently, you earn absolute and lasting respect from others.

Some modest people like APJ Abdul Kalam and Sachin Tendulkar exhibit virtues like humility and modesty. They never forget their roots, maintain the same behavior, and let success change their fundamentals while displaying their values. They live by example, and their simplicity and humbleness hold a special place in people's hearts. Unknowingly, they garner a lot of respect and love from those around them.

I watched one of the KBC episodes (The year 2014 series) hosted by Amitabh Bachchan. One of the contestants on the hot seat said to Amitabh, "Why do you work hard? You have done enough in your life. You should rest at least at night." Amitabh, with his modesty, replied, "I have to work hard and stay awake because of the love and respect I receive from people. People are waiting for me on my blogs and Twitter. If I am late in responding, people get worried and start tweeting, 'Sir, where are you? Why are you late today? Is everything well with you?' and so on. I cannot keep people waiting." Is this not an example of modesty?

On the contrary, when you lack modesty and don't know how to achieve it, you may misuse your wealth and position. You chase after honor and distance yourself from dignity unknowingly. You will always go for things that may not be right but will earn you accolades. But modest and virtuous people shun such behavior. You need to live a life without the greed to become big, without exhibiting arrogance, without portraying an untrue image of yourself; otherwise, you will earn the permanent title of "TOO BIG FOR YOUR BOOTS."