A special message from Darren Hardy:

English: (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Saddle-backed Rodrigues giant tortoise (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

“It’s cool to be a tortoise!”

That is what my friend’s son said when asked by his father what he learned by reading The Compound Effect.

“That’s neat,” I replied. My friend quickly corrected me, “No, it goes beyond neat. Let me explain. Dillan is constantly seeking shortcuts. If he doesn’t see results almost immediately, he gets frustrated, bored and usually gives up. I believe The Compound Effect changed a critical and fundamental philosophy that will alter his future, in my opinion.”

I admitted, “You are right, that’s way more than ‘neat’!”

How many times have you been like Dillan… or the hare?

How many diet books, programs, creams, or pills have you bought that promised overnight results with little effort?

How many Internet riches, day-trading, get rich quick books have you bought?

Do you leap to a fast start but quickly get distracted and off track, if not even drop out of the race entirely?

The tortoise always wins. Why? Because he or she is relentlessly consistent. It’s not how fast you start; it’s how long you endure. Consistency is one of the core fundamentals of success.

So then, how do you keep yourself constantly motivated and steadfastly consistent?

That is just one of the important success strategies I will teach you inside The Compound Effect.

Here are just a few of the other “cool things” (as Dillan would call them) you will learn inside:

• Identifying and eliminating the bad habits that derail progress or cause failure… some you might be completely unaware of.
• Painless and foolproof ways of installing new success disciplines needed to excel in building your business or any area of life.
• Developing success behaviors into daily routines so they are concrete
• How to develop a productivity rhythm that leads to catching momentum in the building of your business as well as every other aspect of life
• Acceleration secrets of superachievers; how they get an unfair advantage… and how you can too!

Close your eyes. You are at the starting line; the gun is about to sound. Decide now: tortoise or hare?

OUR $10 WAGER

My wife and I were at our first stop on our annual Christmas shopping day, making our purchase at Bath and Body Works. After Nadia completed the transaction, I told my wife, “She was the nicest person we’ll meet all day.” My wife was skeptical, as we had a long day of shopping ahead of us and would interact with more than a dozen clerks, associates and wait staff. I suggested that we “make it interesting,” so we put a $10 wager on my prediction.

As the day went on, we visited a number of stores. Some associates were helpful, while others ignored us or brushed us off. By mid-afternoon, we had come full circle geographically and returned to the first mall for a late lunch. As we ate, my wife admitted that I had been right about Nadia and that I had won the bet.

Then, she had a brilliant idea. “You don’t need the ten bucks,” she told me. “Why don’t we walk over to the coffee shop across the street, but a $10 gift card and present it to Nadia?”

Brilliant!

We purchased the card and returned to Bath and Body Works. Nadia, who was ringing in a customer’s purchase, saw us and immediately asked, “Oh, no, what did I do wrong this morning?” I replied, “Nothing. We just want to speak with you after you’re done with that customer.” During the next five minutes, as she completed the customer’s transaction, Nadia looked nervously at us periodically and her co-workers looked at us suspiciously. When the customer was finished, she remained out of curiosity to see why we had returned to the store.

With Nadia’s undivided attention, we told her about the bet and presented her with her $10 gift certificate. She was overwhelmed and nearly broke down in tears. Nadia is a single mother of two teen-age boys, balancing family life, a full-time job and school. She told us that no one had ever done anything like this for her before.

Afterwards, my wife and I agreed that it was the best $10 that we had ever spent. And now we've started a tradition that we’ll continue not only on our annual Christmas shopping day, but on other occasions as well.

Imagine – a mere $10 gift card can boost a person’s confidence and make her feel really good about herself. It doesn’t take much of an investment to make an impact on someone’s life. I can’t believe that we didn’t think of this years earlier – but I’m grateful that it didn’t take us years longer to realize this simple truth. And I’ll never walk around again without a $10 coffee gift card in my wallet to recognize someone’s kindness or effort.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Bill Stuart, a health insurance executive and writer, and his wife Chris, a rehabilitation manager and small business owner, live south of Boston with their four children. They travel, though, so they could run into you any time, anywhere. Will your random interaction with them be worthy of a token of appreciation?

Bill we certainly hope so. You inspired us!
Bill can be reached at wstuart_41@yahoo.com

source: here

Friend or Foe ..(Inspirational) ..!!

Image by Lutz-R. Frank via Flickr

How many of you have had bad feelings of dislike or good feelings of attraction towards a complete stranger, for no reason?

Following story from a Sikh religious book illustrates one suh incident and teaches us how to counter such feelings and convert a foe into a friend.

In olden days when India was being ruled by Rajas (Kings), a merchant decided to get rich qickly and started a business of selling sandalwood hoping that people would prefer to use it in cremation of their dear ones. The things turned out to the contrary, as people could not afford to buy sandalwood due to its exhorbitant cost compared to ordinary wood. The merchant was in great financial difficulty and was hoping some rich person to die so that he could sell his sandalwood for his cremation.

It so happened that one day King of the State happened to pass by his shop with his Ministers and soldiers . A thought crossed the mind of merchant .. what if this King dies, then surely my entire stock of sandalwood will get sold out and I will recover my money.

On the other hand, King cast his look on merchant and for no reason felt hatredness with a thought of hanging the merchant to death. This thought disturbed King for several days. At last he called his wisest Minister and asked him to find out reason behind this.

The Minister disguised himself as an ordinary citizen and visited the merchant and in a friendly chat found out his wish and the reason for it. The Minister came and narrated it to the King and explained to him that it was because the merchant wanted him to die, the vibes of that thought created equal and opposite thought in the mind of King against the merchant. The King was himself a wise man and decided to put an end to this negative field between him and the merchant.

Next day he ordered that the merchant be presented before him.

Accordingly the Merchant was produced before him who stood with folded hands, trembling with fear. To the utter disbelief of merchant, the King expressed his desire to buy over his entire stock of sandalwood, ostensibly for a religious ceremony (havan). As soon as the merchant heard this, his negative feelings towards King turned into positive feelings, which in turn resulted the King's feelings towards merchant into positive ones.

Morale: You can win over a foe by taking an initiative yourself to do a favor to him, thereby weakening his feelings of animosity towards you.  

from my friends facebook wall 

‘One-minute silence can help you reinvent yourself’

      “It is human to react to situation that you would term as out of your control. You tend to get annoyed when things don’t go as you wish to. In doing so, you start distancing yourself from your goals and focus. The multiplication of such reactions develops a negative attitude. You charge your mobile phone today but don’t charge your mind. Your thoughts are constantly hovering over your mind that takes away peace from it. We can’t deny the fact that everyone is busy, but spare one minute during day’s work, keep silence in your mind and give it a break. It will delete unnecessary stuff from your mental frame and you will surely feel relaxed, redefined and be able to reinvent yourself. This is the charging of your mind that will also change your attitude and outlook.”
    
       Speaking on ‘Studying the Science of Attitude’ at AMA’s ‘All Round Grooming – Inspiration Lessons from Indian Wisdom’, Brahma Kumari Shivani said, “Every living or non-living thing needs a pause, which is a big process of rectification of future. In today’s world, what counts most is your attitude. It can make or break you. Your feelings follow your thoughts and the action is derived through your attitude that is your personality, image and future. What comes back to me is my destiny, but it came back from what I sent."
 
    She said, people tend to write everyone else’s scripts but never find time or even think to write their own script. When people don’t act according to your script, you react impulsively and rudely. You can’t change others.
 
    "I am not saying you shouldn’t try to change things for the good, but be objective. This will balance the equilibrium of your thoughts, action and attitude. Only we are responsible for what we are today. Don’t pass the blame on others. In the last one year, there are plenty of cases seeking solace and solutions from psychiatrists and astrologers. Why? These people did not read the process of recession and didn’t change their attitude and way of life. If you want to be happy, start focusing on what is in your control. Alcohol and anger add to the woes of the person whose situation arises out of his own action,” she said. 

source: here

Booming Gujarat

Image via Wikipedia

GUJARAT: 49 YEARS of SUCCESS
On August 8, 1956, the Central government merged Gujarat, Saurashtra, Kutch and Bombay with Maharastra. This triggered a major riot and many were killed in police firing. The Maha Gujarat Nagrik Parishad was formed to launch a movement for a separate Gujarat. Indulal Yagnik became the ‘mahanayak’ of this movement, lasting four years. Finally, the Central government split Maharashtra and Gujarat into independent states on May 1, 1960. 

GUJARAT: Facts n Figures

• Latitudinal Location: 23.00 N  Longitudinal Location: 72.00 E
• Quick Facts on Gujarat Total Area: 1,96,027 square kilometers
• Quick Facts on Gujarat Ecosystems: Gujarat exhibits a great diversity of ecosystems ranging from deserts, scrublands, grasslands, deciduous forests, and wetlands to mangroves, coral reefs, estuaries, and gulfs.
• Literacy Ratio: 61.29
• Best Time to visit: October to March
• Languages Spoken: Hindi, Gujarati, English
• Gujarat is one of the most prosperous states of the country, having a per-capita GDP 3.2 times India's average.
• The world's largest ship breaking yard is in Gujarat near Bhavnagar at Alang.
• Gujarat ranks first nationwide in gas-based thermal electricity generation with national market share of over 8% and second nationwide in nuclear electricity generation.
• An average income of a Gujarati family in North America is three times more than the average income of an American family.
• Gujarat is having the longest sea shore compared to any other Indian state
• Gujarat is having highest no. of vegetarian people compared to any other state in India.
• The first ALL VEG PIZZA-HUT was opened in Ahmedabad.
• Gujarat is having the highest no. of operating airports in India (Total 12)
• Surat is the fastest growing city in the world
• Gandhinagar is the Greenest Capital City in whole Asia
• Indian Institute of Management, Ahmedabad(IIMA) is Asia's 1 st management college located in Ahmedabad, Gujarat. 

JAMNAGAR: PETROLEUM HUB

      This region gave Indian cricket its dark knight. Decades later, Jamnagar has put Gujarat on the global refining map. Together Reliance and Essar refineries in Jamnagar have made Gujarat the world’s refining hub. While Reliance Petroleum Ltd. has put up the largest refining complex with an aggregate refining capacity of 12.4 lakh barrels of oil per day in any single location in the world and Essar has come up with 6.80 lakh barrels a day project.

SURAT: DIAMOND SPARKLES
    It was in the 1960s that famine drove Palanpuri Jains from north Gujarat to Surat. Gems and jewellery exports were then a miniscule Rs 5 crore. Patels from Saurahstra followed suit. In 1980s, as business grew, Gujarati diamantaires moved to diamond hub of Antwerp, where Jews controlled the trade. Today, India’s diamond exports are Rs 67,000 crore — majority of them cut and polished in Surat. Gujaratis control over 60% of trade in Belgium. 

PHARMA: HEALTHY NATION
    Starting with Alembic, makers of good old Glycodin, in 1907, Gujarat’s pharma sector today contributes the highest - 35 per cent - among all states, to India’s total output. Home to some of country’s pharma biggies like Zydus Cadila, Alembic, Cadila Pharma and Torrent Pharmaceuticals and close to 3,500 drug manufacturing units, the capital investment in Gujarat’s pharma sector has witnessed a CAGR of whopping 54 % in the last 3-4 years. 

MUNDRA & PIPAV: PORTS
    From Lothal in 2400 BC to Mundra in 2009 AD, it has a been successful voyage for Gujarat as far as port development is concerned. Two private ports - Mundra and Pipavav, country’s only two LNG terminals at Dahej and Hazira and a string of ports along its 1,600 km coast line, has enabled Gujarat handle at least 250 million tonnes cargo a year, the highest among all maritime states.

AHMEDABAD: WEAVING SUCCESS
    Within decades of Gujarat was born, its financial capital Ahmedabad emerged as the Manchester of the East. Legendary mahajans like Kasturbhai Lalbhai brought the city on the global map. The sector witnessed a decline in the 1980s, leaving thousands jobless. But, a revival was scripted in the late 1990s, with the city reclaiming its lost glory by turning into the denim capital -- manufacturing over 200 million metres of denim in a year.

ANAND: AMUL
    This billion dollar brand is Gujarat’s gift to Asia’s co-operative sector. Asia's largest milk brand, Amul’s foundation was laid in 1946 at Anand with inspiration of Sardar Patel. If Tribhuvandas Patel as chairman laid foundation of Kaira District Co~operative Milk Producers Union Limited, Father of White Revolution Verghese Kurien laid foundation of NDDB in 1965 and GCMMF in 1973. 13 dairies and GCMMF clock a collective turnover of Rs 10,000 crore. 

AHMEDABAD: NANO (world's most economic CAR)
    A landmark in the history of Gujarat’s business. Nearly a decade after General Motors drove in to Gujarat, the state changed gears with Nano. Investment of more than Rs 2,000 crore, Tata Motors shifting its small car project from Singur to Sanand helped the state wash away the taint of 2002 to some extent and paved way for Gujarat’s journey to become an auto hub.

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• Indian firm launches 'world's cheapest car' (guardian.co.uk)
• Gujrati Valentines Day (History) (myhugs.blogspot.com)

One man's waste is another's Resource

A creche, second home for toddlers, is recycling haven.

Keyboards on the ceiling, bicycle pedals to play with on the door and a second hand bath tub to splash in!

Mixed & matched odd-shaped pieces of Kota, Jaisalmer, Dholpur, Granite and mosaic to create a trendy flooring! these have been picked up from construction sites declared waste...

The floor also has motifs of Sub, Moon, Flora and Fauns while a dash of local mud  mirror craft makes a wall glitter!

The ceiling is a collage of glass bottles and clay bowls stuck into concrete while door has cycle parts, wheels, axles, chains, handle and pedals set in a grid of scrap iron bars.

A colorful rooftop pavillion is made od cloth rags and torn bamboo mats sandwiched in fiber reinforced plastic.

Fly ash bricks, a waste product of thermal power plants have been used in construction. They also keep the rooms Cool...

"We've tried to bring beauty with what was available" says Yatin Padya, architect and urban planner the master mind behind the Creche for slum dwellers in Ramapir no Tekro in Juna Vadaj, Gujarat, India.

Source: Report in TOI on 22 Apr 2009

Thoughts for Meditation

• "The ever-moving is a continuous cycle of change, moving in a smooth and rhythmic motion. I am in the center, steady aware."
• "Let me watch the circumference from the center. Let me observe the kaleidoscope of changes from that point which views all points."
• "Each turn of the wheel can be either a cause of my bondage or a cause of my freedom. With awareness, I can use each turn as a challenge, to free myself from karmas, to bring out transformation, to feel new life, and to lead me closer to my reality."
  

Earlier thoughts for Meditation:

• On Apr 09th 2009 here
• On Apr 10th 2009 here
  

Bless or Curse?

"In order to gain the most benefit from blessing, you will have to give up or cut way down on the one thing that negates it: cursing. This doesn’t mean swearing or saying “bad” words. It refers to the opposite of blessing, namely criticizing instead of admiring; doubting instead of affirming; blaming instead of appreciating; and worrying instead of anticipating with trust. Whenever any of these are done they tend to cancel out some of the effects of blessing. So the more you curse the harder it will be and the longer it will take to get the good from a blessing. On the other hand, the more you bless the less harm any cursing will do."~ Serge Kahili King

Rethinking Complaining

Image by aturkus via Flickr

We all know someone who has elevated the process of complaining to a high art. Sometimes funny, sometimes exhausting, these people have the ability to find a problem just about anywhere. In its more evolved form, complaining is simply the ability to see what's not working, in one's own life or in the external world, and it can be quite useful if followed to its natural conclusion—finding a solution and applying it. However, many of us don't get that far, and we find that complaining has become an end in itself. In small doses, this is not a big problem, but if complaining has become a huge part of our identities, it may be time to take a good look at how we are spending our energy.

Complaining is a person's way of acknowledging that they are not happy with the way things are. In a metaphorical way, when we complain or criticize, we are tearing down an undesirable structure in order to make room for something new. But if all we do is tear down, never bothering to summon the creative energy required to create something new, we are not fulfilling the process. In fact, we are at risk for becoming a stagnant and destructive force in our own lives and in the lives of the people we love. Another issue with complaining is that we sometimes tend to focus on other people, whom we can't change, as a way of deflecting attention from the one person we can change—ourselves. So transforming complaining into something useful is a twofold process that begins with turning our critical eye to look at things we can actually do something about, and then taking positive action.

When we find ourselves complaining, the last thing we need to do is get down on ourselves. Instead, we can begin by noticing that we are in the mode of wanting to make some changes. But rather than lashing out at somebody or an organization, we can look for an appropriate place to channel this energy—not our neighbor's house, but possibly parts of our own. Finally, we can ask ourselves the positive question of what we would like to create in the place of whatever it is we want to tear down. When we do this, we channel a negative habit into a creative process, thus using our energy to change the world around us in a positive way.

source: here

Sharpen the Saw ~ Balanced Self Renewal

According to philosopher Herb Shepherd our healthy balanced life resolves around for values i.e. perspective (spiritual), autonomy (mental), connectedness (social) and tone (physical). Sound motivation and organization theory embrace these four dimensions or motivations-the economic (physical), how people are treated (social), how people are developed and used (mental), and the service, the job, the contribution, the organization gives (spiritual).

"Sharpen the saw" basically means expressing all four motivations. Exercising all these four dimensions of our nature regularly and consistently in wise and balanced ways. To do this we must be proactive. Most importantly, as it lies at the corner of circle of influence, no one else can do it for us. We must do it for ourselves.

The physical dimension involves caring effectively for our physical body. The spiritual dimension provides leadership qualities to our formal education and grooming patterns. The social / emotional dimension centered on the principles of interpersonal leadership, empathetic communication and creative cooperation.

All these dimension enhance our greatest asset we have-ourselves. The habit talk about taking time to sharpen to all these attributes for an enlightening living, joyous in every aspect.

Seek First to UNDERSTAND, then to be UNDERSTOOD ~ E Communication

Communication is one of the most important skill in life. We spend most of our waking hours communicating. If we want to interact effectively with others, to influence others, we first need to understand them. 'Seek first to understand' involves a very deep shift in paradigm. We often seek first to be understood. Most of us do not listen with the intent to understand, we listen with the intent to reply.
When another person speaks, we are usually 'listening' at one of four levels. We may be ignoring another person, not really listening at all. We may practice pretending. We may practice selective listening. Or we may practice alternative listening. But very few of us practice the highest form of listening, 'empathic listening'. By empathic listening, mean listening with intent to understand. According to communication experts in empathic listening, we listen with our eyes and with our heart. We listen for feeling, for meaning.

This habit is powerful because it exists right in the middle of our circle of influence. Many factors in independent situations are in our Circle of concern-problems, disagreements, circumstances, other people's behavior. And if we focus our energies out there, we deplete them with little positive results.

We can always seek first to understand. That's something within our control. And as we do that, as we can focus on our circle of influence, we really, deeply understand other people. We get to the heart, of matters. We talk with each other quickly. We give people the psychological air, they need so we can work together effectively.

• Educators take something simple and make it complicated. Communicators take something complicated and make it simple. ~ John C Maxwell

HAVE A PLAN ~ Systematic Endeavor

Most of us don't practice concrete planning methodologies for our works, and that is why we fail. To write success in our life or business, we must follow a definite course of actions - long terms or short terms.

Long term plans can be easy to narrate, they are sensible and workable. For example, if we intend having a career, it is wise to work out a long term game plan for our respective industry or profession. And only then it is possible for us to foresee the progression, needed to make it to the position we aspire to hold. Work out what it takes to make those objectives. Work out what we seek in each step-gaining experience, handling responsibility, learning new skills, acquiring people management, understanding that sort of things. Work out how we can materialize each step, it doesn't take much to work out what we need to acquire that how. Finally, we have to have an end game - the final goal. But it should be realistic and in tune with our capabilities, no more no less.

On the other hand, Short term plan vary according to our time span and urgency. For example we have short term plans of this month, this year, five years etc. Our one month short term plan includes our current work projects, our one year plan schedules, projects which are being formulated, our five years plan lists, our dreams, ideas, wishes goals etc.

All these plans should be devised in the light of our own practical cognition, so that we can proceed to put this into action and make them happen.

BEGIN WITH THE END IN MIND ~ Personal Leadership

Being a rational and disciplined being we plan everything at before hand. Because it gives us the edge to fulfill objectives according to our own pace and purpose. It gives us a sense of relaxed feelings when we can take the initiative and plan the infrastructure for establishing our movements in right direction.

We able to establish contact with our inner guidance system at the heart of our circle of influence. And thus starts the habit - to begin with the end in mind. Simply put it is to begin today with the image, picture, or paradigm of the end of our life as our frame of reference or the criterion by which everything else is examined.

To begin with the end in mind is to start with a clear understanding of our destination. It gives us the knowledge where we are going so that we better understand where we are now and so that the steps we take are always in tune with right perspective.

This habit is revolved around the principle of personal leadership, which means that leadership is the first creation and it is very much important to lead our own notion and actions ahead. This habit also demands to approach to our principle roles in the family, or in the business as well as our other roles in life, with our values and directions clear. So that the paradigms from which our thinking and attitude flow are congruent with our deepest values and in harmony with correct principles.

Welcome 2009!

Image by Toban Black via Flickr

• You need some thing when you are incomplete! you do not need anything when you are complete! "No desires" is the sign of all Attainments!!!

• If you keep waiting for just the right time, you will never begin. Begin from where you are, with what you have. It's life.

• A successful person is one who can lay a firm foundation with bricks that other throws at him.

• Out of the same piece of paper, you can make a book, ticket, boat or plane! Your destiny is not what you get, but what you make out of what you have.