A Motivational story about Positive Thinking

source:::Unknown….But an interesting read ….

Natarajan

Read this, and let us think it over… Then, let us see how we all start our day tomorrow!!!!!!!!!!!!

Jerry is the kind of guy you love to have his friendship.. He is always in a good mood and always has something positive to say. When someone would ask him how he was doing, he would reply, “If I were any better, I would be twins!” He was a unique restaurant manager because he had several waiters who had followed him around from restaurant to restaurant.

The reason the waiters followed Jerry was because of his attitude. He was a natural motivator. If an employee was having a bad day, Jerry was there telling the employee how to look on the positive side of the situation.

Seeing this style really made me curious, so one day I went up to Jerry and asked him, I don’t get it! You can’t be a positive person all of the time. How do you do it?” Jerry replied, “Each morning I wake up and say to myself, Jerry, you have two choices today. You can choose to be in a good mood or you can choose to be in a bad mood.

I choose to be in a good mood. Each time something bad happens, I can choose to be a victim or I can choose to learn from it. I choose to learn from it. Every time someone comes to me complaining, I can choose to accept their complaining or I can point out the positive side of life. I choose the positive side of life.

“Yeah, right, it’s not that easy,” I protested. “Yes, it is,” Jerry said. “Life is all about choices. When you cut away all the junk, every situation is a choice. You choose how you react to situations. You choose how people will affect your mood. You choose to be in a good mood or bad mood. The bottom line: It’s your choice how you live life.”

I reflected on what Jerry said. Soon thereafter, I left the restaurant industry to start my own business. We lost touch, but I often thought about him when I made a choice about life instead of reacting to it.

Several years later, I heard that Jerry did something you are never supposed to do in a restaurant business: he left the back door open one morning and was held up at gun point by three armed robbers. While trying to open the safe, his hand, shaking from nervousness, slipped off the combination. The robbers panicked and shot him. Luckily, Jerry was found relatively quickly and rushed to the local trauma center. After 18 hours of surgery and weeks of intensive care, Jerry was released from the hospital with fragments of the bullets still in his body.

I saw Jerry about six months after the accident. When I asked him how he was, he replied, “If I were any better, I’d be twins. Wanna see my scars?” I declined to see his wounds, but did ask him what had gone through his mind as the robbery took place. “The first thing that went through my mind was that I should have locked the back door,” Jerry replied. “Then, as I lay on the floor, I remembered that I had two choices: I could choose to live or I could choose to die. I chose to live.”

“Weren’t you scared? Did you lose consciousness?” I asked. Jerry continued, “…the paramedics were great. They kept telling me I was going to be fine. But when they wheeled me into the ER and I saw the expressions on the faces of the doctors and nurses, I got really scared. In their eyes, I read ‘he’s a dead man.’

I knew I needed to take action.” ” What did you do?” I asked. “Well, there was a big burly nurse shouting questions at me,” said Jerry. “She asked if I was allergic to anything. ‘Yes,’ I replied. The doctors and nurses stopped working as they waited for my reply. I took a deep breath and yelled, ‘Bullets!’ Over their laughter, I told them, ‘I am choosing to live. Operate on me as if I am alive, not dead.'”

Jerry lived thanks to the skill of his doctors, but also because of his amazing attitude. I learned from him that every day we have the choice to live fully. Attitude, after all, is everything.

Source::::bbc news net…. Natarajan

“The loser’s guide to getting lucky”
By Professor Richard Wiseman
University of Hertfordshire

Why do some people get all the luck while others never get the breaks they deserve? A psychologist says he has discovered the answer.
Ten years ago, I set out to examine luck.

I wanted to know why some people are always in the right place at the right time, while others consistently experience ill fortune.

I placed advertisements in national newspapers asking for people who felt consistently lucky or unlucky to contact me.

Hundreds of extraordinary men and women volunteered for my research and, over the years, I have interviewed them, monitored their lives and had them take part in experiments.

Professor Wiseman’s top tips

The results reveal that although these people have almost no insight into the causes of their luck, their thoughts and behaviour are responsible for much of their good and bad fortune.

“Those who have succeeded at anything and don’t mention luck are kidding themselves”….Larry King

Take the case of seemingly chance opportunities. Lucky people consistently encounter such opportunities, whereas unlucky people do not.

I carried out a simple experiment to discover whether this was due to differences in their ability to spot such opportunities.

I gave both lucky and unlucky people a newspaper, and asked them to look through it and tell me how many photographs were inside.

Professor Wiseman’s formula came too late for some…
I had secretly placed a large message halfway through the newspaper saying: “Tell the experimenter you have seen this and win £250.”

This message took up half of the page and was written in type that was more than two inches high.

Anxiety

It was staring everyone straight in the face, but the unlucky people tended to miss it and the lucky people tended to spot it.

“Everything in life is luck “……Donald Trump

Unlucky people are generally more tense than lucky people, and this anxiety disrupts their ability to notice the unexpected.

As a result, they miss opportunities because they are too focused on looking for something else.

They go to parties intent on finding their perfect partner and so miss opportunities to make good friends.

They look through newspapers determined to find certain types of job advertisements and miss other types of jobs.

Self-fulfilling prophecies

Lucky people are more relaxed and open, and therefore see what is there rather than just what they are looking for.

“Luck is believing you’re lucky” …. Tennessee Williams

My research eventually revealed that lucky people generate good fortune via four principles.

They are skilled at creating and noticing chance opportunities, make lucky decisions by listening to their intuition, create self-fulfilling prophesies via positive expectations, and adopt a resilient attitude that transforms bad luck into good.

Towards the end of the work, I wondered whether these principles could be used to create good luck.

I asked a group of volunteers to spend a month carrying out exercises designed to help them think and behave like a lucky person.

Dramatic results

These exercises helped them spot chance opportunities, listen to their intuition, expect to be lucky, and be more resilient to bad luck.

” I am a great believer in luck, and I find the harder I work, the more I have of it”…..Thomas Jefferson

One month later, the volunteers returned and described what had happened. The results were dramatic: 80% of people were now happier, more satisfied with their lives and, perhaps most important of all, luckier.

The lucky people had become even luckier and the unlucky had become lucky.

Finally, I had found the elusive “luck factor” .

Here are Professor Wiseman’s four top tips for becoming lucky:

1.Listen to your gut instincts – they are normally right
2.Be open to new experiences and breaking your normal routine
3.Spend a few moments each day remembering things that went well
4.Visualise yourself being lucky before an important meeting or telephone call. Luck is very often a self-fulfilling prophecy

SOURCE: ::::::::::: SILICON INDIA NET. A MUST READ FOR ALL SOFTWARE AND COMPUTER PROFESSIONALS IN THE PRESENT DAY CONTEXT…
ARTICLE CREDIT …..
By Dr. S. Ramesh Kumar & N Bringi Dev…

Natarajan

Bringi Dev is Adjunct Professor and Head- Communication at IIM Bangalore. Dr. S. Ramesh Kumar is Chairperson, Post Graduate Programme in Software Enterprise Management & Professor of Marketing at IIM, Bangalore.

Thousands of software engineers aspire to transition to the management domain a few years into their careers. At the root of this need is a desire to develop themselves as a ‘brand’, and to differentiate themselves from the large mass of techies. One of the popular routes to achieve a unique brand position is to make a transition to the management side, and many see the acquisition of an MBA or similar qualification as the best route to becoming a more differentiated ‘brand’.

There are several routes available to these engineers to pursue management education: some join full time regular two-year programmes; others a one-year executive education program at a foreign university whilst some opt for a part time management program that provides the benefit of earning a degree while continuing to work.

Know your dilemma
While those who choose to go for a full-time programme of management study face fewer doubts about their choice of path, they know it is the high-risk option. The part-time alternative is a good one to balance the need for a continuing stream of income while preparing for growth. The decision to opt for a part-time programme could give rise to doubts and concerns, and part timers tussle with several professional concerns that arise before, and even after they are well into their studies. Some of these typical questions are:
• Will I get the same level of recognition that full time MBAs get?
• Will my present employer see value in my management degree?

• Will I be able to change over to a managerial job that does not involve software at all? Might I have to take a pay cut?

Know They Self
Young professionals are very serious about working out their career prospects and scenario building but rarely do they contemplate and deliberate about their strengths (and weaknesses), a factor that is critical to achieve internal consistency and realistic goal setting. We need to select a branding strategy that is in tune with our perception of ourselves (self congruency) but do not seriously apply this aspect while planning and choosing our career trajectories.

The greatest barrier to developing a sound branding strategy is the extrinsic pull in the environment namely-the lure of fast track growth, attaining a “state of the art” job profile and the supposedly large salary packets that go with these ‘hooks’ to name a few factors. In many cases, peer pressure and financial needs make sound and rational decision making difficult.

The first prerequisite for a software engineer is to find his or her calling, based on a realistic assessment of oneself. One needs to ask (and provide honest answers) to questions such as ‘Will I be comfortable working in an organization that offers a culture which is likely to be very different from what I have come to expect?’ or ‘Am I really passionate about management? Does my present job offer me avenues to put together the managerial concepts I will learn and can I move up in the same organization by using my enhanced knowledge?’ This is a key question – Can one make the switch to management within one’s current organisation or domain, without the need to give up experience or having to re-establish oneself in a new domain, market and organisation.

‘I am not bothered as long as I find the best paying job,’ may be another thought. In such cases they need the personality profile to withstand the stresses and strains that accompany the pursuit of such goals.

Work smart to build your brand while in B-School
Several decades ago Alvin Toffler, a pioneer in the field of cybernetics, emphasized the power of knowledge for future generations. While knowledge per se helps, its importance to managers is exemplified in today’s digital era. Gone are the days of fire fighting and getting things done through the lower rungs of management. In today’s context, a manager needs to be a role model by adding value through one’s experience based on knowledge. Models, processes and finding unique solutions that fit in with her own organization are a prerequisite for anyone who says and claims that she has mastered managerial concepts.

Through careful planning of your educational options, you can develop yourself into a well-rounded, balanced professional, capable of moving forward in your career with ease as well as confidence. How can this be done? Customizing the elective courses that you choose to take is a vital step. Doing projects in these subjects is another. These are prerequisites to the completion of the academic commitment and offers unlimited avenues for a student to show case her best.

There are two approaches to branding oneself – choose an area (for instance data-mining) that is emerging (even in emerging markets) and publish several papers that deal with the practical problems in this domain. These projects should incorporate a judicious mix of academic concepts and real-life experience, thus making a very strong statement about your ability to assimilate theory and apply it to real-life situations – a hallmark of a great manager.

Another approach is to get actively involved in issues and problems that are known but are not being addressed by managers in your current organization. By doing so, you will not only come up with solutions that will add value and help your company do better, but will build your credibility as a committed team player with clearly differentiated skills that will be an invaluable asset in the near future. Transforming your Brand from being a software person to a professional manager is not just about creating artistic profiles on social media or exaggerating one’s knowledge set with a slew of buzzwords: it is about assessing and building upon your intrinsic strengths in a planned and systematic manner.

SOURCE:::::::::::: UNKNOWN… But found very useful and appealing….

Natarajan

Communication is arguably one of the most important business skills, no matter what your industry. Yet so many of us haven’t been trained in how to communicate with co-workers and clients. Here are some tips to help you become a better communicator:

1. Listen.
Most of us are terrible listeners. Instead of truly listening to what the person is saying, we interrupt, prepare our response, or think we already know what the speaker is going to say next. It’s impossible to understand what someone needs or wants if we don’t give them our undivided attention.

2. Pay attention to body language.
Body language can tell you just as much as what a person says, if not more. Observe how they act when they talk. Is your co-worker saying she can meet a deadline, but wringing her hands while she says it? She might be afraid to tell you it will be hard to make the due date

3. Consider communication preference.
Not everyone likes to communicate the same way. Email works for some, but others would rather pick up the phone and talk, text, or even use social media or instant messaging to relay something. Respect the person you’re trying to contact and use the method she seems to prefer. If you’ve called a client several times and always get her voicemail, but she’s always quick to respond to email, switch to email instead

4. Consider your tone.
The problem with email and social media is that it can be difficult to determine the tone. You may mean something as a joke, but if it comes off pushy or angry, you could cause an unintended reaction from the recipient. Make sure your language is clear, and if you are angry, take a few minutes to cool down before you type. Better yet, meet in person so nothing is misconstrued.

5. Don’t be too casual.
Getting along with your work colleagues can help you do your job better, but don’t take it too far in your communication on the job. Keep the cursing for after hours, and make sure your emails, meetings, and phone calls are professional. Being too casual on the job may make others feel uncomfortable

6. Check your grammar
Spell check is your best friend on the job. Always proofread anything you type–be it an email, Tweet, or letter. If you’re not great at catching errors, ask someone else to proof it for you.

7. Keep criticism constructive.
If you manage others, you want them to do their best. Work to ensure your comments aren’t emotionally charged, and that the person you’re speaking with grasps what you’re trying to say when giving feedback. Provide positive reinforcement when a job is well-done, and find ways to add in tips for improvement without being “that boss.”
8. Restate what you hear.
Rephrasing what your co-worker or boss says to you by repeating the important points shows you are listening and understand what you were told. It gives both parties a chance to clarify if there is any confusion, and by repeating it, you’ll remember

9. Get a little personal.
People let their guards down when you talk about their lives outside of work. Ask about a co-worker’s kid’s soccer tournament. Find ways to interact on a personal level without going too far. You’ll go a long way toward building trust

10. Never stop improving.
Effective communication is a skill you must practice. Observe how others respond to your communication to clue you in on areas for improvement.