I would speak, even when I’m not spoken too: I have had various bugs in the past. Once upon a Time it was the Toastmasters and Public Speaking bug. I would use every possible opportunity to speak in public. Toastmasters was a great platform for that. And when I joined Toastmasters, I was infected. I got the Toastmasters-bug. The spirit of the Dubai Toastmasters club was simply outstanding. You couldn’t come out of a meeting feeling excited and all-charged up. Man, I get a high just thinking about it.
But like all bugs, it comes and it goes. After several years of being an active Toastmaster, the magic wasn’t there for me anymore. The meetings were just as good. But something in me changed and I felt that I had to give my time elsewhere.
In the long run
i had been a chubby kid all my life. My trousers just kept getting wider and wider. I hated exercise. I would wonder why would anyone want to put themselves through hours pain and exertion. Yet I loved the image of being lean-mean exercise nut. Finally when I outgrew every possible trouser that I had with me when studying in London. While travelling on a London Tube, I came across this easy-peasy schedule that Nike printed. It said that just follow the schedule and I’ll be able to run 10 Kms by the end of three months. Wow. Me chubby, tubby Arif would be able to run 10 Kms at the end of three months. And all i needed to do was exercise like 3 times a week. I mean like, hey, why not, worth a shot. I hit the pavement the next morning and since then I’ve not looked back. I have run 100′s of Kms. I had got the running bug and it was AWESOME! I registered for races, and completed them. I paid huge bucks (while on my measly articleship salary), and subscribed to Running magazines all the way from UK and US. Would peer through every page statistic. I have run Bangalore roads in the dead of the night, and Dubai’s streets in the afternoon in the peak of summer. I ran so much that I injured my knee. Yet I continued running.
The bug is not as infected as it used to be. I am not consumed by the thought of running. And it’s several years since my subscription to international magazines have expired. Yet the hangover continues. Even today I do an approximate run of 5Kms almost every day. Whenever I travel, I always travel with my running shoes. Here’s a travel-tip, the best way to experience a city, is on runner’s foot at 6:00 Am in the morning when the city is waking up.
The GTD bug
This bug my blog-readers would be familiar with. I was obsessed with GTD. Every moment I was online, would read up about it. In my car I would hear all possible lectures and podcasts on it. And every possible chance I would get I would speak to others about it. I did not even spare the Maulana who accompanied us on Hajj. Even him I tried to convert him into a GTD enthusiast. I was not successful with the maulana, but to some extent I influenced my father, my brother and several of our staff at Vakil Housing. They didn’t much of a choice as I would stand behind them at their work desks and would be spewing the various processes of GTD, pushing them to implement it.
Other Misc bugs:
There was the blogging bug and the Spirituality/Sufi bug, each of which had taken my fancy for a significant time and then moved on.
and now it’s the Sketch Notes bug
We all take notes. We’ve done so from school. My note taking evolved from plain linear notes like this, to mindmaps like this. Yet I was always fascinated by sketch notes. Notes that involve both text and pictures. They look so cool, one wants to revisit them and most of all it’s so much fun just creating such notes. Each note is a work of art. I never knew how to take down such sketch-notes. Till I came across the following online seminars:
That was it. I had that all familiar feeling again. My heart began racing, I was getting feverish, it was like falling in love. Yup, I was catching yet another bug. Now every possible meeting that’s what I do, I sketch-note and it feels awesome. And here are some recent sketch notes that I have taken.
The Moral of the Story is You know when you’ve got the bug. It’s when every possible moment, that’s what you want to do. The good news is, a bug is a healthy thing. A very VERY healthy thing. It should be encouraged, nurtured, so that it blooms into a Virus, maybe even an epidemic, so that it has the maximum number of people infected.
Whenever I have caught the bug, I have emerged as a stronger, faster or simply a better me. And sure after a while the bug passes on, yet the after-effects linger infact they stick with you for a lifetime. Pay attention when something catches your interest which is beyond a mere fancy. Infact each time you have a bug, it’s a gift from the gods. Go all out. The energy that is generated with a bug, is beyond human strength. It comes from a realm that is beyond our five senses. It permeates into our world and it’s the chosen few that it reaches. Make the most of it. Cause it’ll last only for a short while. Invest every possible resource you have to make the best of that bug. It doesn’t have to be a hobby like the one I listed above. It can be a bug for family, entrepreneurship, and believe it or not, even your job. Thank the gods, load your weapon and go out your guns blazing.
“An hour of effective, precise, hard, disciplined and integrated thinking can be worth a month of hard work. Thinking is the very essence of, and the most difficult thing to do in, business and life. Empire builders spend hour-after-hour on mental work… while others party. If you’re not consciously aware of putting forth the effort to exert self-guided integrated thinking… if you don’t act beyond your feelings and you take the path of least resistance, then you’re giving in to laziness and no longer control your life.” – David Kekich
What a brilliant Quote. The crazy lives that we lead these days leaves us so little time to think. Do you have thinking time marked out in your calendar? But even if you have taken your time out, what do you think about? Should you let your mind go racing behind whatever mental rabbit trail that it comes across or should you have a structured format through which you should apply your mind to? Here are some tips in random order to help you Think More and Think Effectively:
1.Take a Walk. Every once in a while, stroll alone. Be it the Mall, a Park. or just the High Street. Have no agenda, no friends, no nothing. Just you, yourself and 40 minutes of just allowing your mind to wander where ever it wants to.
2.The Write way to Think. Visit a cafe alone. It’s one of the most relaxing and therapeutic exercise you can do during a stressful day. Don’t take a book with you. And for Heaven’s sake don’t lug that laptop. However do take a notebook (once again not the laptop kind, but the old fashioned one with paper in them) with you. And liberally list out, whatever thought occurs to you. It might be something that you need to do today. It might be some strong hostility that you are feeling towards someone, whatever it is just keep that pen scratching that paper. While you are scribbling stuff out, build the thoughts already put on paper. So for example if you have put down the anger you feel towards somebody, think, why is it that you feel this anger? Put that answer down. Next you may consider, what is it that you can do about the situation, well then put down your options. The Rule here is not to write all this out neatly in calligraphic style but more about the quality of the answer as well as the speed in getting those thoughts down real fast. Keep at it, and an hour later of this thinking and you will emerge a much more focused, confident, stronger You.
3. Think about the Purpose of your Life.
This is my all-time favourite question. I just can’t get enough of it. Me and Ali are always thinking on this question.
Think on Why you are here? What’s the meaning of it all?
Think what is it that will give you the greatest fulfilment, meaning, satisfaction and happiness right now?
Then Think what is it that you need to do to today to move closer towards experiencing that fulfilment and meaning?
Think, How would you be leading your life if you had just six more months to live?
5. Think long term Goals. Where do you see yourself 2 to 3 years from now?
Where do you see yourself in your Professional Life? In your Career. Any new skills that you feel you should add to your arsenal that would be essential a couple of years from now? Any new experience that you should go through?
What about goals for your family life? For your Children? Skills that they should be acquiring now, that they’ll thank you for a decade later? (On that note, read this post on Six Wonderful Skills that I am glad I picked up after School.)
What about any new hobbies that you’ve been thinking of acquiring but haven’t got round to? Some sport that you always wanted to play or some classes that you wanted to attend?
6. Think through your short term projects If you are already in sync with your long term goals but it’s the out come of your Short Term Projects that are bothering you, take time to think through them. A Project is any activity that takes more than one step to complete. Projects could include getting your child to School, changing something that’s bothering you in your car, or getting a car, or getting that report out at work, all of these activities have more than one step to it. Take time to make a list of all the projects that you are currently handling and what do you next need to do about them.
7. Think of the different roles you are playing in your Life. Think through the different roles that you play in your life. Your role as a Father or Mother, your role at work as an Executive or an Administrtor, your role as a Husband and Wife. How are you doing in these roles? What changes would you like to bring?
8. Think about habits, thoughts processes that you want to acquire and change. This is another thing that I’m thinking about constantly. Think about how you are thinking. Are you mostly negative? Beating yourself up all the time? Regretting on how the Past should have been and Worrying how the future will turn out? You know you have complete control on your thoughts. You choose what to think all the time. A little bit of reflection and you can choose to think differently.
Similar take time to reflect on your Habits. What habits you’re proud of and like to keep. Feel good about those and pat yourself on your back. Now what are those that can be done away with or can be changed? Make a note of it, and pick any one habit to start working on.
9. Think of the wonderful creation that our world is. A Quote from Hadith-e-Muffadal:
The sky is like a canopy; the earth is spread like a carpet, while the stars set in stratum upon stratum, appear as lamps alight in their places. The gems are treasured as if the house has lots of collections. Besides these, everything is readily available to meet individual needs. Man, in this world, is like the masterful owner of the house, having in his possession everything therein.
And there exist the different plant species available for meeting; individual needs – some as fodder for the animals, others as drugs for human beings; some merely for ornaments, some to supply fragrance to man for his recreation; some as drugs for animals, some as nutriment for man; some for birds only and others for the quadrupeds alone and so on. Different species of animals have been allotted functions for particular exigencies and interest.
10. And most importantly, Think of the Poverty, Oppression that’s there in the World today. What can you do about it? What ARE you doing about it?
We are the luckiest people that ever lived; we have abundantly and manifestly the capacity to address human problems if we care.
It is a matter of vision and courage and compassion.- RAMSEY CLARK, former United States Attorney General.
Watch your thoughts,
they become your actions,
watch your actions,
they become your habits
watch your habits,
they become your character,
watch your character,
it becomes your destiny.
~ Anonymous
Hmm..Should I have coffee or Fruit Juice. I am yawny, I’ve got a long day ahead of me, coffee would pick me up and ensure that my day starts with a zing. But fruit juice with it’s natural anti-oxidants is so much healthier. Besides I’m becoming addicted to caffiene and should reduce my caffiene intake. Aaargh! I can’t make up my mind. Okay, fine it’s coffee that I want. Not Fruit Juice. Yet, as I amble out of the food court with my cappuccino in my hand, I’m still kicking myself, “Damn it, I think I made the wrong choice. I would have been happier with fruit juice instead.”
Have you been there, done that? You have two equally inviting, tempting, rewarding choices in front of you and it is driving you nuts which one to pick. And the worst of it all is that, once you have made up your mind, you still don’t feel good about it. Isn’t it so paradoxical? We have more choice than ever anyone had before yet, we’re not happier. Not happy before the choices presented to us and not after we’ve made up our minds.
In other words lower your standards. Take it easy. You don’t have to Maximise every possible single moment of your existence. If you are gonna live you life Slamming that throttle, experiencing the rush, having all systems on go, every time, all the time, you’ll go through one heck of a burnout. So you didn’t get the best-deal. So you haven’t made the best possible choice, so be it. Be a satisfier, not a maximiser. Yes, a maximiser would walk out with the better deal. But choose to be the satisfier who walks out happier with the above-average deal that he’s got.
I’ve picked a lame example to beginning with choosing between two beverages. But this can be applied to every single choice, dilemma and regret that you face, in business and in life. You’re walking out of the negotiating room or the bazaars, wrenching your fists that you’ve not negotiated hard enough? Chill and be a satisfier, not a maximiser. Your day is not going out as you planned, the evening that you wanted to spend on your own couldn’t happen, well that’s okay. Be a Satisfier, not a maximiser.
So next time you find yourself beating yourself up for not choosing something else than what you had, tell yourself, “Hey, I’m a Satisfier, not a maximiser. I’ve got a pretty cool deal and I’m still gonna fly with it.”
Both the below talks are a must see and frequently listed among the Most Watched Ted Talks
Barry Shwartz:On the Paradox of Choice
Dan Gilbert: Why are we Happy? Why aren’t we Happy?
No matter what productivity methodology you use to be productive (GTD, ZTD etc), all of them involve making to-do lists. How well you make your to-do list is directly proportional to your productivity levels. Here are 2 key principles you need to know:
1. In in the task, identify the next action clearly.
I had a tendency to add Projects to my To-Do lists, as a result I would face a lot of resistance in taking that project forward. I had to learn to keep my Projects on a separate list, and only have Next Actions on my To-Do list. There’s a certain magic and a feeling of lightness that comes when you identify clearly in each task what the Next Action is to take. So ensure that you do not have any projects listed on your to-do list, but you have the next visible next action listed. If your project is “Prepare the report on impact of carbon emission on the environment”, your next action would be something like “Search Google for the latest news on Carbon emission”.
2. Always start the task with a ‘Verb’. Read, Email, Call etc
By starting the task with a verb it forces you to clearly define what you need to do to perform the next action. The more clearly you’re able to visualize the next action, the easier it will become to perform it.
Conclusion
Once of the main reasons why we procrastinate on our projects is because of the high resistance we face when confronted with huge projects to work on. But the reality is that we never work on the project, we always work on “Next Actions”. Any project that we work on, it’s always about making a phone call, drafting an email, meeting a person, installing software. Once the next action is clearly defined, it fizzles away the resistance allowing you to move forward on the project.
Other than blogs and podcasts that I read/listen, there are quite a few enewsletters that I am subscribed to. Most are free, some are not. Below are the ones that I get most value out of and have survived my ruthless email filters and unsubscribing-trigger-friendly finger.
Business: McKinsey Quarterly Top Ten Newsletter
The McKinsey quarterly emails me the best/most popular articles of McKinsey consulting for the past quarter. It’s something that I’ve subscribed to just so that I’m some what in touch with the best practices in the Corporate Circle. I have not got tremendous value from it yet. But since the newsletters are just once a quarter, it’s not that much clutter that I need to unsubscribe to it.
Verne’s Insights
I’ve found more handy information from Verne Harnish’s weekly newsletters. They’re shorter, punchy and let me know of what are the cool useful things that Corporates around the world are up to and if there’s anything that I can implement at Vakil Housing immediately.
Metaphor Minute
Some people are born with the Metaphor gene. The can put their point across to you in mere moments by explaining you what they mean with the most appropriate Metaphor or Similie. It’s a skill I have long envied. Anne Miller has written this brilliant book called Metaphorically Selling where she explains a methodology on how to come up with a Metaphor on the fly. I have read it and highly recommend it. In her monthly newsletters, Anne gives really good examples of metaphors that you can use and prods you to keep your eye open for them. This newsletter is probably one of my favourites and can be subscribed to here.
Entertainment: Go Comics
It’s the Comics and the TV pages that enticed me as a schoolboy to begin reading newspapers. Unfortuantely the comics I enjoy do not always appear in the newspapers I read today. I have recently renewed my subscribtion to Ucomics, by paying $11.95 for the year. Now Everyday I get emailed to me the latest Calvin & Hobbes’s imaginative world, or Jason’s latest tiffs with Paige in FoxTrot or Diane make obvious the nonsense of the political world in Non-Sequitur.
Personal Development GTD Connect
GTD Connect is premium membership service where one can get access to a whole range of Audio, Video, Text material to help enhance your personal GTD process. Click here to learn more about GTD. Being such a busy bee that I am, I don’t get much time to hand around the GTD Forums to see what conversations are taking place or what’s the latest Audio/Video material on GTD that’s out there. However, being a member of GTD Connect, I get an email of what’s the latest out there in the GTD World. If you are serious about implementing GTD, I highly recommend becoming a member of Connect, even if it’s just for a month or two. Give it a try, sample the Audio material that they have in store, specially the Tele-seminars by David Allen. It’s been worth my investment.
Productivity Principles Newsletter
For those who are not ready to be members of GTD Connect, but still want to gain traction on your practice of GTD, you may subscribe to the newsletter of David Allen himself called Productivity Principles, where he writes tips and reminders for all to stay strong in the GTD Wagon.
Emails by Vital Smarts Crucial Conversations and Crucial Confrontations are two brilliant books by the Vital Smarts team. Infact I’d say they almost the next best thing after GTD (and you all know how much I love GTD). One of my personal challenges in life is to be able to hold a Crucial Conversation and/or Confrontation with skill so that both parties come out as winners. What’s a Crucial Conversation? Well, common examples are possibly when there’s something you need to tell your collegue but he’s highly sensative about it, or you have a difference of opinion on an important business issue, or possibly even dealing with a customer complaint. etc.
In all the above conversations the common elements are that:
- Both parties have conflicting opinions/interest
- Emotions run high
- Stakes are high.
Observe yourself it’s when these three elements are in place that you get a crucial conversation. When faced with a Crucial Conversation, there is a roadmap on how to get from tongue-tied, raging emotions scenario to a cool, slick, dialogue smart situation. The Roadmap is long, and that’s the topic for another blog post, however, to get started you may subscribe to the newsletter by Vital Smarts Team. In each edition they address they demonstrate how one can talk one’s way through seemingly impossible highly sensitive topics. Examples of Crucial Conversations addressed in their newsletters are:
- Conversation with an employee over mediocre Performance
- Conversation of a Parent with her daughter on being overweight
- Conversation with a sibling on a difference of opinion on a certain matter in their family business
You can access the above and further past newsletters in their archive here.
Continuing Education: Learn Out Loud free resource of the day email
It’s been a really long time that I was meaning to blog on the excellent material that Learn Out Loud has. Do browse this website. There is amazing education I have got from many of their Audio programs. In addition to those, you may also subscribe to their daily newsletter where they are continuously scanning the web to find inspirational/motivational/educational audio/video content.
BBC Breaking news alert and Documentaries:
BBC, is the best International news site there is. Period. They hit you with just facts, no exaggeration, as less biased as they can be, and provide you with sufficient analysis and history so that you can make your own opinion. To stay upto date on the latest breaking headlines round the world, I’ve found the BBC Breaking news alert really handy.
Furthermore BBC’s documentaries are also the most insightful in the world. To stay abreast of the documentaries coming up on BBC World in the coming fortnight I’ve subscrived to their BBC World New enewsletter here
Quotes by Dr. Mardy
I’ve recently subscribed to this quotation service, by Dr. Mardy. I’m generally quite conscioius of the number of emails I receive and if a newsletter I’m subscribed to doesn’t really add value to the subjects/topics I’m interested in, I’m quick to unsubscribe to it. The weekly quotes that I receive from Dr. Mardy have held my attention for the last couple of weeks. I admit I don’t read every single email I receive from Dr. Mardy. The days I have my inbox flooded, I am quick to delete the email without giving it a second glance. But the days that I have the time, I’m glad I have I subscribed to Dr. Mardy’s service. Here is an excerpt from his weekly email for the week ending 2 May 2009:
“I want to be thoroughly used up when I die,
for the harder I work the more I live.
I rejoice in life for its own sake. Life is no ‘brief candle’ to me.
It is a sort of splendid torch which I have got hold of for the moment;
and I want to make it burn as brightly as possible
before handing it on to future generations.” George Bernard Shaw, in a 1907 lecture
“I would rather be ashes than dust!
I would rather that my spark should burn out in a brilliant blaze
than it should be stifled by dry-rot.
I would rather be a superb meteor, every atom of me in magnificent glow,
than a sleepy and permanent planet.
The proper function of man is to live, not to exist.
I shall not waste my days in trying to prolong them.
I shall use my time.” Jack London, a remark made to friends in 1916
Misc. Baby Centre
As soon as my Sunshine gave me the “good news“, I began scouring all over the net for books, websites on pregnancy, babies etc, till I came across Baby Center. Baby Center provides this terrific service with their weekly updates, that let you know just the information that we needed throughout the pregnancy. Which was emailed to us just in time. It really saved me immense amount of time in researching the same online or in books. Furthermore the service continues till date guiding fledgling parents on the little nuances in bringing up children. I highly recommend parents and parents to be to subscribe to this service. The best part is that this service is also personalised for India, so get tips specific to the Indian context.
Top 5 ads from Adforum.com
Advertising. An old crush of mine. I used to be a subscribed member of Adcritic and keenly track the latest TV spots being released all over the world. Now I quench myself with the Top 5 Adforum weekly email that email me the most popular 5 TV ads over the week.
*Phew* that’s one hell of a long list.
I had no idea I was subscribed to so many enewsletters till I began compiling them. Any of the above enewsletters that you are glad you got to know about? Is there something else that you are subscribed to which you think I and other fellow blog readers would enjoy and look forward to. Do leave a note in the comments if so. Happy reading.
