Are you dealing with a big enough problem in your life right now? Does this question sound absurd, that too in this season of global economic slowdown? Still, it’s worth answering and I hope your answer is a YES. If you either think you don’t have any problems, or think you have big problems then there’s one thing you could do…TAKE UP A WORTHY ENOUGH PROBLEM THAT IS REALLY MUCH LARGER THAN YOU AND SOLVE IT. I am willing to bet, your existing problems will become insignificant and you will become significant.

My colleague Sundeep Dasa shared a case study with me today of how Japanese Fishermen dealt with their Problem. In the context of this topic I find it quite appropriate:

The Japanese have always loved fresh fish. But the waters close to Japan have not held many fish for decades. So to feed the Japanese population, fishing boats got bigger and went farther than ever.
The farther the fishermen went, the longer it took to bring in the fish. If the return trip took more than a few days, the fish were not fresh. The Japanese did not like the taste.
To solve this problem, fishing companies installed freezers on their boats. They would catch the fish and freeze them at sea. Freezers allowed the boats to go farther and stay longer. However, the Japanese could taste the difference between fresh and frozen and they did not like frozen fish.
The frozen fish brought a lower price. So fishing companies installed fish tanks. They would catch the fish and stuff them in the tanks, fin to fin. After a little thrashing around, the fish stopped moving. They were tired and dull, but alive. Unfortunately, the Japanese could still taste the difference. Because the fish did not move for days, they lost their fresh-fish taste. The Japanese preferred the lively taste of fresh fish, not sluggish fish.

So how did Japanese fishing companies solve this problem? How do they get fresh-tasting fish to Japan?
To keep the fish tasting fresh, the Japanese fishing companies still put the fish in the tanks. But now they add a small shark to each tank. The shark eats a few fish, but most of the fish arrive in a very lively state. The fish are challenged.

If you have realized that you are living in a pond, playing it safe or being secure, or most of the time tired & dull, lacking interest in things/life, then you need a Shark in your life to keep yourself awake and moving!! Basically in our lives Sharks are new challenges to keep us active, going and growing…

Way back in 1994, it was a bright sunny evening. I was seated with a carrot juice in a street side stall in Kula Lumpur with my coach Rajesh Setty. Rajesh was talking about the characteristics of money and it was a wonderful discussion we had. He shared about Robert Anthony’s writing about money in his book in which Robert Anthony says, Money is like a river, it’s in abundance and it flows. It’s up to us to go to the river and drink as much. Some people not only drink but also fill a cup and take it along with them. Someone else may bring a jar, fill it and carry it along with them apart from just drinking there. Someone else might bring a barrel…

I got a chance to share this same thought with my then chairman Mr.S.A.Chandran, in 1999 and my thought had expanded then and I extended from the barrel to a truck. Mr.Chandran liked the thought and said “how about building a canal to divert the river to our office”. He smiled and I smiled listening to his powerful thought process.

This week, I was part of Landmark Education seminar. I heard the same message from the leader there. He said, “money is in abundance but we think it’s a highly constraint one, hard to get it and hence making it difficult to get it”.

I agree and align with what I have learnt about money in the last 15 years ‘MONEY is in ABUNDANCE’.

Today, it’s the summer season (recession time). The water (money) might have dried up in many parts of the world. But let me remind you, summer is when abundance water gets generated as the summer heat melts the great Himalayas and many other regions covered by ice which is the source for water that generates large volumes of fresh water. What’s important is to be there, where the fresh water flows and tap into it…

Money! Money! – It’s summer season, begin your journey to tap into the ice that just melted…

Once upon a time a very strong woodcutter asked for a job in a timber merchant, and he got it. His salary was really good and so were the working conditions. For that reason, the woodcutter was determined to do his best. His boss gave him an axe and showed him the area where he was supposed to fell the trees.
The first day, the woodcutter brought 15 trees. “Congratulations,” the boss said. “Carry on with your work!” Highly motivated by the words of his boss, the woodcutter tried harder the next day, but he only could bring 10 trees. The third day he tried even harder, but he was only able to bring 7 trees. Day after day he was bringing less and less trees.
“I must be loosing my strength,” the woodcutter thought. He went to the boss and apologized saying that he could not understand what was going on.
“When was the last time you sharpened your axe?” the boss asked.
“Sharpen? I had no time to sharpen my axe. I have been very busy trying to cut trees…”

This story sounds very logical, but how many times have we asked these very relevant questions. Most of us never update our skills. We think that whatever we have learned is very much enough. But good is not good when better is expected. Sharpening our skills from time to time is the key to success.
Simple formula that Leaders follow:

Leaders never stop Learning, they find every opportunity to apply their learning and real leaders learn a lot by teaching what they have learnt. They also ensure one thing at all times, to ENJOY the whole cycle.
Make sure time to time there is some time spared for structured learning while unstructured learning is like breathing…

“Worrying doesn’t reduce yesterday’s sorrows, but it empties today’s strength”. So, don’t worry be HAPPY…

Source: Anonymous
Shared By: Gowri Lakkur

A little lamp can do which the big sun cannot do! …It gives light when it is night. No one is superior by size, but by purpose.

Source: Anonymous
Shared By: Devaraj Subramania

You can win life by all means…yes! If you simply avoid two things:
Comparing and Expecting

Source: Anonymous
Shared By: Devaraj Subramaniam

Never pray for an easier life, pray to be a stronger person.
Never pray for tasks equal to your power but for power equal to conquer your tasks.

Source: Anonymous
Shared By: Ashutosh Vaidya

Mind Tickler is a new series of short notes or quotes that reminds; follows up; chases or reinforce the purpose and/or aspects of life. They might be very simple and short, yet very powerful and thought provoking.
I keep receiving these positive short notes or quotes from many of my friends. These notes are so encouraging that it’s adding vitality to my life.  Thanks to all those friends who have been sharing with me the Vitamin L (Vitamin for Life) on a regular basis. I have been benefited out of this and feel everyone of you will benefit out of Vitamin L.

Mind Tickler #1

A PESSIMIST Says…”Erasers are for people who make errors!” But, AN OPTIMIST Says…”Erasers are for people who are willing to correct their mistakes”.

Source: Anonymous
Shared By: A.L.Pratheep

There are 3 elements in the above quote, (i) Arrow; (ii) Time and (iii) Words. It’s a no brainer that an arrow has the power to kill and it is common sense that there is a time span for everything and everyone. What do you think is the power of Words; will you believe me if I say even Words have the power to kill?

In the Solomon Islands in the South Pacific some villagers practice a unique form of logging. If a tree is too large to be felled with an axe, the natives cut it down by yelling at it. Woodsmen with special powers creep up on a tree just at dawn and suddenly scream at it at the top of their lungs. They continue this for thirty days. The tree dies and falls over. The theory is that the hollering kills the spirit of the tree. According to the villagers, it always works.

The Solomon Islanders may have a point. Yelling at living things does tend to kill the spirit in them.
So what did the natives in Solomon Islands used to kill the tree, it’s just the Words. Let me also illustrate the power of Words with the help of frogs…

Once a group of frogs were traveling through the woods, and two of them fell into a deep pit. All the other frogs gathered around the pit.  When they saw how deep the pit was, they told the two frogs that they were as good as dead. The two frogs ignored the comments and tried to jump up out of the pit with all of their might. The other frogs kept telling them to stop, that they were as good as dead. Finally, one of the frogs took heed to what the other frogs were saying and gave up. He fell down and died. The other frog continued to jump as hard as he could. Once again, the crowd of frogs yelled at him to stop the pain and just die. He jumped even harder and finally made it out. When he got out, the other frogs said, “Did you not hear us?” The frog explained to them that he was deaf. He thought they were encouraging him the entire time.

This story reiterates the power of Words that could kill a frog. And the same story also illustrates the power of Words when one of the frogs interpreted all the Words as encouragement and came out as a clear winner.

Every leader has used the power of Words to create possibilities and winning moments!

I understand that nature has strategically created the source of Words (mouth) in between The Brain and The Heart and now it’s our responsibility to use it most effectively to invent winning moments.

“Failure is the stepping stone to success” is probably the most common quote we would hear. Life is definitely not a bed of roses and failure is also an integral part of our life. Being afraid of failure and succumbing to it only worsens the situation. Though the quote is a common one, how many of us try to imbibe its meaning and really use failure as a stepping stone rather than a stumbling block?

There are times, when even the best of leaders face failure in spite of giving their best shot. What is important is what happens AFTER the failure. I recently came across a wonderful real life anecdote which was narrated by none other than the former President of India, Dr.Abdul Kalam. A question was posed to him as to how leaders can manage failure. Dr.Kalam narrated his own personal experience when he was working for the Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO). The anecdote is reproduced below.

In 1973 I was project director of India’s satellite launch vehicle program, commonly called the SLV-3. Our goal was to put India’s “Rohini” satellite into orbit by 1980. I was given funds and human resources — but was told clearly that by 1980 we had to launch the satellite into space. Thousands of people worked together in scientific and technical teams towards that goal. By 1979 we were ready. As the project director, I went to the control center for the launch. At four minutes before the satellite launch, the computer began to go through the checklist of items that needed to be checked. One minute later, the computer program put the launch on hold; the display showed that some control components were not in order. My experts — I had four or five of them with me — told me not to worry; they had done their calculations and there was enough reserve fuel. So I bypassed the computer, switched to manual mode, and launched the rocket. In the first stage, everything worked fine. In the second stage, a problem developed. Instead of the satellite going into orbit, the whole rocket system plunged into the Bay of Bengal. It was a big failure.

That day, the chairman of the Indian Space Research Organization, Prof. Satish Dhawan, had called a press conference. The launch was at 7:00 am, and the press conference — where journalists from around the world were present — was at 7:45 am at ISRO’s satellite launch range in Sriharikota.

Prof. Dhawan, the leader of the organization, conducted the press conference himself. He took responsibility for the failure — he said that the team had worked very hard, but that it needed more technological support. He assured the media that in another year, the team would definitely succeed. Now, I was the project director, and it was my failure, but instead, he took responsibility for the failure as chairman of the organization.
The next year, in July 1980, we tried again to launch the satellite — and this time we succeeded. The whole nation was jubilant. Again, there was a press conference. Prof. Dhawan called me aside and told me, “You conduct the press conference today.”

It’s a clear demonstration of the words of Dr.Robert H Schuller “Never take success to mind, and failure to heart” Other important lesson to learn here is:

When failure occurred, the leader of the organization owned that failure.

When success came, he gave it to his team.

“Managing failure comes naturally to true leaders” - Naveen Lakkur

POWER is what strikes every mind when you say ‘Superman’;
FIST is what strikes when you say ‘Power’;
PUNCH is what strikes when you say ‘Fist’
IMPRESSION is what strikes when you say ‘Punch’
LEADERSHIP is what reflects in all of these…

If you really see, fist is an amalgamation of 5 simple fingers. These 5 fingers are analogous to 5 values of life Truth (Sathya), Righteousness (Dharma), Peace (Shanthi), Love (Prema) and Non-Violence (Ahimsa)

* The thumb is the first one denoting TRUTH - it’s important because thumb plays a key support role. All the other fingers are weak without the support of the thumb.
* The index finger denoting RIGHTEOUSNESS – it’s all about direction (rather it’s all about right direction) which is what the index finger shows.
* The middle finger standing tall and is the symbolic of PEACE - without having peace all effort is futile.
* The ring finger corresponding to LOVE – no wonder the marriage ring is put to this finger (the ring finger nerve directly connects to the heart which signifies love)
* The little finger is the embodiment of NON-VIOLENCE – Do you think it can harm anyone?

These fingers could be simple but when they all come together they give birth to the fist, which denotes power, a superman-like power! All the five values are equally important for our lives and each has a role to play in giving us a balanced, powerful, impact-making life.

Get your acts together and be a Superman…I learnt this from a real Superman - Sri Sathya Sai Baba.

Thomas Edison - I’m sure you’ve heard of Thomas Edison and all the inventions he created. He’s actually known as one of the most prolific inventors in history holding 1,093 U.S. patents as well as a lot of patents in the UK, France and Germany. When Thomas was 4 he was sent home from school with a note. The note told his mother that he was to remove his son from school because he was “too stupid to learn”. Thomas’ mother decided to teach him herself. He only had 3 months of formal schooling yet went on to create numerous inventions like the phonograph. He was also partially deaf in one ear.

Thomas Edison dreamed of a lamp that could be operated by electricity, began where he stood to put his dream into action, and despite more than ten thousand failures, he stood by that dream until he made it a physical reality. Practical dreamers do not quit! He learnt this watching a spider which fell several times but was persistent to stand up every time it fell eventually to build a wonderful web.

Tests and adversities are the part and parcel of our lives. What matters is what we become after we go through the tests. Will we burn away like paper? Or, will we become better and brighter like Gold? Which becomes more lustrous after passing the fire test?

They say, ‘it’s not about how many times you fall, it’s all about how many times you stand up’. While we agree with this completely, let us unearth another important dimension, “It’s not about how many times you stand up, it’s also about how quickly you stand up”

The next time you fall, your goal is just not to raise but to raise quickly as a very new person…

Sports is fun isn’t? How interesting would the game be if one already knew the results of the game even before it started? The thrill is because of the uncertainty which is there in the game.

The same applies to life. Life is a game, play it! The game of life is all about dealing with uncertainty to translate into certain terms. All successful people have enjoyed this process.

The curtain is going to rise soon over the Olympic Games to bring together the world’s athletes in a spirit of excellence, respect, and friendship. We stand inspired by the epochal motto of Olympics - “Citius, Altius, Fortius” (Faster, Stronger, Higher). These three words sum up man’s eternal aspiration for excellence. This excellence can be obtained if we dive deep into the spirit of these words to understand their significance in our lives:

…expect more than others think is possible (Faster)
…risk more than others think is safe (Stronger)
…dream more than others think is practical (Higher)

Let’s appreciate the discipline that produces winners - the courage that overcomes difficult odds; the character that creates champions in us and the conviction which helps us achieve.

You have got only one match to play in the game of life; play it well and be a winner.