Living a decorated life!!

Who has gone for a journey by road to a some beautiful and exotic location that takes around 8 hours to reach ? I am sure each of us at some point of time.

Now the question is during that 8 hours journey are we just interested of what is in destination or we enjoy during journey? Like stopping over for nice coffee and break fast, taking some nice pictures on the scenic spots on the road, taking a break for lunch in service area to just try something that you normally don't choose.

Well, all these forms the sweet memories to our point of destination. And of course at destination we have the best fun ever to remember for long time to come.

The idea is journey of life gets more exciting, joyful and worth living if you start celebrating small but significant events along the way. It is about making a note of events that was happy or sad, success or failure, good or bad, positive or negative.

This forms your personal memory lane which you can always visit down the line and get valuable insights. If it failure event, then could be a learning experience to use in current situation if need be. You can go to a happy space of an happy event. And if you are going through rough patch, then recalling bad event realize that this bad time shall also pass knowing that some sad event was eventually overcome with happy times.

Life is not about just living but living it decorated. This helps us to realize the fact that there is nothing like happiness or success only once final goal is reached but living in moment and celebrating significant events along the way. This makes living a living with essence and purpose.

It can be easily related to a decorated marine commandeer who starts as cadet, then in national reserve force and then rise in ranks with marine training and deployed at various combative assignments. At every instance that marines keeps decorating with stars, badges of recognition, medal of honors, and so on. It then reflects on his dress, display at home and overall his persona.

I also haven't  been living a life decorating in a way that you can travel down memory lane, but now I am. In fact, I plan to back fill significant events like writing a biography till the current state. And the going forward decorate  life with life events that make a difference now to play it back as DVR down the road.

With advent of social media giant Facebook, this become even more easy since concept of decorating yourself with life event in any area of interest is built in feature and we just have to make use of it.

Once you do this, you will never find yourself alone, intimidated with unknown issues or feeling missed living. I am sure we all at least couple of significant events every six months to decorate our life with...so lets pledge to do it. It will change your perspective to celebrating life instead of living life.

You are...is what you come with. (prarabdha)
You become...is what you make of life (+ purushartha)
You shine...is how you decorate your life. (+ celebrate)

Live a decorated Life....Celebrate Life!!

Roopak Desai
http://www.facebook.com/coachroopakdesai

Charisma ....that illumimates Character!!

Charisma is something you develop, nurture and expand which illuminates your character that defines you and your brand image!!

By definition, it is a collection of traits and behaviors that make you appeal to other people. The word comes from the Greek word "charis," which means "grace" or "gift."

The one extraordinary example that strikes me is Bill Clinton when we talk about Charisma. He is a Charismatic leader with qualities that lures you to him once he steps up the podium, walks on the stage or utters one word.

Why charisma is so important? What makes it illuminate your character?

A person who is charismatic is exceptionally engaging, likeable, trustworthy, and, in many cases, a bit "magical." 

  Larger-than-life personalities like Marilyn Monroe, Martin Luther King, Jr., Oprah Winfrey, and    Sir Richard Branson, Amitabh Bachchan have all been known for their charismatic personalities.

People with charisma are assertive, confident, inspiring, and warm. They make a point of listening to others, and they have an innate grace that often stops people in their tracks.

  When you have charisma, people want to work with you. They're drawn to your ideas, they trust     your opinion, and they're more likely to be influenced by you.

How do you develop Charisma? 

  Charisma is nothing more than a set of traits and behaviors that, when put together, turn you into a magnetic, engaging personality. 

   The Body language and "presence" are important  aspects of charisma. Without saying a word, the right body language can transmit strength, warmth, and likability.

Start by standing up straight, with your shoulders back and your head up. Good posture not only makes you look confident and in control, but it also makes you feel this way!

Research shows that charismatic people tend to be very positive, so do your best to maintain a positive outlook.

Next comes to have presence when you interact with one person or crowd or in a social setting.

To develop presence, start by learning active listening skills. When someone is speaking, make sure that you devote your full attention to what the person is saying, and don't worry about what you're going to say next. Do your best to stay in the moment and stay aware. You may be surprised by the impact this has on your 

How charisma illuminates character? 

 The biggest factor that differentiates a good leader and charismatic leader is "feel good factor". The charismatic personality make the other person feel good, motivates, excites, inspires in the right direction.

It happens via transmission of positive energy which again is contagious so gets caught on with the other person. 

The simple way to start is with smile, greetings, eye contact, positive words, and sincere appreciation!!!


We all have Charisma in us. It has to be dug out, polished and put to use. You have to first feel charismatic and then be charismatic to act with charisma.

This article is inspired by Developing Charisma - Career Development From MindTools.comi.

"Charisma is a sparkle in people that money can't buy. It's an invisible energy with visible effects." — Marianne Williamson

Being the best BOSS!!

Inc.com

Power Yoga and Fitness

Power Yoga- Yoga for New Generation | Yoga Divinity

How to fuel creativity and out of box thinking?

8 Techniques For People Who Don’t Think They’re Innovative | CEO.com

I have learnt that Richard Bronson, the flamboyany CEO of Virgin Atlantic applies these techniques to drive innovatuon and build tempo amonst employees to generate new idea!!

Evolution of Soical Business...

Ray Wang Surveys the Evolution of Social Business | MIT Sloan Management Review

My favorite area...social networking, crowd sourcing, gamifiaction and innovation through information!!

Are you a rational or intuitive problem solver?

For carrying any problem solving...it can be done by either adopting rational thinking or with an intuitive thinking process.

According to Brian Tracy, author of "How the best Leaders lead" - "Your entire success as a person and a leader is determined by your ability to solve problems effectively and well. Whatever title is written on your business card, your real job is problem solver"

Rational problem Solving Technique:

Brian Tracy suggests 10 steps for rational problem solving:

1. Define the problem
2. Ask yourself, What else is problematic?
3. Restate the problem in a way that is clear and helpful in solving the problem
4. Determine all possible causes of the problem
5. Determine a variety of possible solutions
6. Decide which solution to try first
7. Assign responsibility for the solution
8. Set a timeline
9. Implement the plan
10. Evaluate the outcome. If the problem isn't solved, go back to the first step.

This is analytic, deliberate, conscious and cyclic process.

In this methodology, it is important to take a decision on a particular solution based on information collected to act upon. If the action doesn't result in a solution, it still helps to gain information that may ultimately lead to a solution

"A weak solution vigorously carried out is usually better than a excellent solution weakly pursued" - By George S Patton, as quoted by Tracy.

The classic example is Bill Gates...who has used the rational style of the problem solving in leading Microsoft.

Intuitive Problem Solving Technique:

It is an automatic thinking process. It can produce "aha" moments for people how prefer it and are familiar with using it. 

The genius of Steve Jobs have been viewed by many and also in his biography by Walter Isaacson as a intuitive problem solver whose success was based on his unique style of thinking. He did different acquisitions, birth of Pixar Animation, birth of Mac and all his "i" inspired products (iTune, iPhone, iPad....) are based on his intuitive vision.

How does intuitive Problem solving work? 

1. Ponder the problem as a question in your mind during a quite routine time, such as before bedtime, on a walk or run, in the shower or when you doing some systemic chore like folding laundry.

2. Leave the question alone - unanalyzed and untouched.

3. Pay attention to dreams and random thoughts so when the answer pops into your mind you will see or hear it. 

4. Seek new experiences, such as starting a new hobby, making a new friend or talking a different route to work.

5. Engage in brief meditation. It enhances the  intuitive problem solving process.

In nutshell...you end up solving it with "eureka" moment either from a gut feeling or in middle of night you will get a vision or just while talking with your close partner/team or by your creativeness feeder.

An example that we all can relate to is "House, MD. (Hugh Laurie)" from the award winning medical fiction TV serial . He is a genius Doctor but does not follow rational path to diagnose and get a solution to a death nearing disease. He exactly follows to above intuitive process mentioned and guides his team through it. It surely seems eccentric to some who believes in book way of figuring out a cause of disease or medication for disease. Instead keeps all solution open on table, focuses intuitive process and thinking out of the box because obvious course of action does not help any how.

"I get anxious about a lot of things, that's the trouble. I get anxious about everything. I just can't stop thinking about things all the time. And here's the really destructive part - it's always retrospective. I waste time thinking of what I should have said or done." -- Hugh Laurie

Picture Credit: http://www.housemdquotes.com/

I certainly believe in intuitive problem solving technique to get a visionary ideas, solution and breakthrough diagnosis which may not be then possible with rational solving process.


Roopak Desai
http://www.facebook.com/coachroopakdesai

- This article has been inspired by Brian Tracy book "How the Best Leaders Lead" and article in Toastmasters International Magazine by Judith C. Tingely, DTM, Ph.D