Self and Social

Are you starting to contemplate your New Year resolutions? Or have you resolved never to make a New Year's resolution again? If the latter, you're not alone. Many people get demoralized when, year after year, they make resolutions that they keep for only a few weeks. Why is this? After all, we all have the best intentions, and the timing (New Year, new start) couldn't be better. A key problem lies in the fact that we place a huge amount of pressure on ourselves. During the last week of December and the first week of January, it can seem that all you hear is, "What are your New Year's resolutions?" "What are you going to work on this year?” Make resolutions that matter to YOU. And the focus is on the "what" not the "how." When you are more concerned with the goal you set than on the specifics of how you are going to accomplish it, this can quickly lead to failure. So, if you resolve to set successful New Year resolutions, read ...

Dear All, Merry Christmas (25th Dec.2009) & Happy New Year - 2010 to you, colleagues, friends and family members. “Somehow, not only for Christmas, But all the long year through, the joy that you give to others, is the joy that comes back to you. And the more you spend in blessing, the poor and lonely and sad, the more of your heart's possessing, returns to you glad”.                                                                                                        ...

Don’t just have career or academic goals. Set goals to give you a balanced, successful life. I use the word balanced before successful. Balanced means ensuring your health, relationships, mental peace are all in good order. There is no point of getting a promotion on the day of your breakup. There is no fun in driving a car if your back hurts. Shopping is not enjoyable if your mind is full of tensions. "Life is one of those races in nursery school where you have to run with a marble in a spoon kept in your mouth. If the marble falls, there is no point coming first. Same is with life where health and relationships are the marble. Your striving is only worth it if there is harmony in your life. Else, you may achieve the success, but this spark, this feeling of being excited and alive, will start to die. ………………. One thing about nurturing the spark - don't take life seriously. Life is not meant to be taken seriously, as we are really temporary here. We are like a pre-pai...

Innovation is all about research and development turned into an application, and needs to come from all levels within an organisation. It should not be limited to new product development, but be applied to systems, processes and day-to-day operations, pointed out experts on the second day of the 36th National Management Convention organised by the All-India Management Association (AIMA), here. Dr J.J. Irani highlighted how hierarchy can kill innovation in a company. Citing the example of how the Tatas, in their bid to encourage innovation, had instituted the Innovista Awards which recognised people with out-of-the-box ideas, he said constant innovation is important to any organisation. Mr D. Shivakumar, Vice-President and Managing Director of Nokia India, spoke on the innovative culture within his company. Nokia is where everyone needs to be innovative – innovation is not the responsibility of only the top management but a work culture, he said. While price is important, value is even ...

On this United Nations Day and every day throughout the year, the United Nations is at work — for the planet, for jobs, for “we the peoples”.We deliver more humanitarian aid than anyone — and to the toughest places. We vaccinate 40 per cent of the world’s children. We feed more than 100 million people and are helping more than 30 million refugees, most of them women and children fleeing war and persecution. We are deploying more peacekeepers than ever — more than 115,000. In the last year alone, we provided electoral assistance to almost 50 countries. And the entire UN system has mobilized to face global economic turmoil and the social unrest it threatens.People look to the United Nations to defeat poverty and hunger, to keep the peace, to expand education and stand up for human rights in every corner of the globe. They look to us to stop the spread of deadly weapons and disease, and to protect people and families hit by disasters. In December, they will look to us to seal a comprehens...

In this exclusive excerpt from the new book by Subroto Bagchi, co-founder of MindTree Ltd., the author differentiates between a 'professional' from a 'professionally qualified' person What are the chances that you work in an entry level position or even a middle level job in a hotel, a hospital, a software company, or a government organization? Or, for that matter, you could be a self-employed professional like a doctor, a lawyer, or a journalist. In all probability you are educated, know English, and are working in (or have interacted with) the corporate sector. Perhaps an MBA, or a student at an engineering college? You probably consider yourself a professional, or on the road to becoming one. Definitely your station in life is well above someone whose job is to bury unclaimed corpses from city hospitals. I want to introduce the idea of who a professional is through a man whose life is dealing with dead bodies. Unclaimed dead bodies. This is not someone who is convent...

“Great leaders are almost always great simplifiers”. – General Colin Powell “If you judge people, you have no time to love them”. – Mother Teresa “Every exit is an entry somewhere else”. - Tom Stoppard “Every business is built on friendship”. - J. C. Penney. “A happy marriage is the union of two forgivers”. - Ruth Bell Graham

We are living in a time and space where things are changing frequently and rapidly. There is nothing permanent in nature except change. Change is inevitable. All changes are not bad. Many changes bring advancement in science and technology, prosperity, growth and development in the society. There will be always changes in economic, social, technological and environmental aspects in everywhere in the world. Many changes make things complex and our lives complicated. We may not stop changes but we can learn and prepare ourselves to face the challenges of changes. We can simplify our lives. There are always simple ways to solve complicated problems. There are always simple answers to serious questions. We should explore it using our common sense and wisdom. Experience is the best teacher for us. We should learn from ours’ as well as others’ experiences and apply these to the changing situations accordingly. We should find out simple ways to enrich our lives. Beware of over-simplification...