HOW TO ACHIEVE GREAT THINGS

Future belongs to those who believe in the beauty of their dreams.

- Eleanor Roosevelt

All our dreams can come true, if we have the courage to pursue them.

- Walt Disney

Don't mistake activity with achievement.

- John Wooden

If you can't do great things, do small things in a great way.

- Napoleon Hill

THE BEST ANTIDOTE TO CONFUSION

 Different emotions like love, friendship, hatred, etc., control human beings at different times. 
According to the great psychiatrist and Transaction Analyst Eric Berne, our personality consists of Parent, Adult, and Child ego states. Many a time we are controlled by Child ego state. We enjoy childlike activities. When we are controlled by Parent ego state, we repent for some of the acts done by us in Child ego state. Sometimes we are in Adult ego state and take rational decisions with an open mind.

Our mind is a best audio-video recorder. It continuously records everything, we see or hear. During our childhood, our different parent figures give us different instructions such as

Work Hard.

Never touch wine.

The profession of Business is right.

The occupation of Service is good. 

Honesty is the best policy. etc.,

Our mind remembers these instructions. The tapes reproduce Parent figure's instructions at appropriate times. Often our different parent figures give us conflicting instructions. So our brain reproduces conflicting voices creating confusion. Our father might have taught us to be courageous and take a risk. Our mother might have taught us not to put ourselves in trouble. The Child in us might be wanting to enjoy life at some parent figure cost. So when we want to start some big project. We would like to be courageous like our father at the moment. At another moment we would be afraid and shun taking any risk as taught by our mother. The teachings of other parent figures such as grandparents, uncles, teachers, etc., may also come to our mind. Yet at another moment we may think our parents have left a significant legacy so we should enjoy life like a Child. So different thoughts come to our mind, and we become confused.

The best antidote to the confusion is to write all our thoughts on paper & rationally decide which thought best suits us. We may also take the help of our friends in Adult ego state in making right decisions. Once a decision is taken after doing due diligence, we must stick to our decision through thick & thin. We must realize at this juncture that no decision can be perfect but if we stick to a well thought rational decision, results will always be above par & there will be no room for confusion too.

MAKE PLANS TIMEBOUND

My friends often tell me about their big plans, but they have no time frame to execute their cherished plans.
 An age old proverb says, "Any time means no time." So most of their plans are never executed. 

If one is serious about making one's plans successful, he must ensure to work daily and consistently to achieve his goals. He must also create a roadmap with time tags attached to it & work hard to travel on the road to success. Only then it can be called plan. Otherwise, it will be called nothing but daydream.

"TimeBound." is one of the passwords made by my son Adwitiya to imbibe upon his subconscious mind indelibly about the necessity of time-bound plans

KEEP AWAY FROM ALLURING DISCOUNT SALES

 I often solved following kind of questions in my student life.

 A trader purchased a shirt for eighty rupees. What price tag will he put on the shirt to earn 25% profit after giving 50% discount?

Discount sales are often organized to bluff us. A large number of companies and shops offer discounts round the year to offload old goods. We often buy things prematurely and in bulk after getting caught in alluring discount sales.
 These purchases upset our budget.

A car salesman approaches a potential customer and informs him with urgency," Sir, our car manufacturing company is giving massive discount this December. Don't miss this great opportunity." Many prospective customers jump on the bandwagon without giving a second thought.
  To take advantage of so-called discount sales, we often buy four trousers instead of one. This purchase upsets our whole month budget. 
Many times we visit a fixed price shop and discover that goods, being sold there, are cheaper than the cost offered in discount sales after giving a hefty discount.

Please ponder, which businessman will be so much benevolent to give actual huge discounts on his merchandise. If he does it in the real sense, will he survive financially?
 Don't purchase even dirt cheap commodities in discount sales, if you don't require it shortly, any money spent on a useless thing is a pure waste.

USE ALL RESOURCES SKILLFULLY

For remembering something, use all your senses; touch it; look at it and read it. Write it, Repeat it loudly. Share it with others. I can bet that you will not forget it for a long time.

The person, who uses all his resources skillfully, becomes super successful.

Our mind has a vast capacity. Even great scientists use a small portion of it. Attempt to use mind's big part.

Let's us spare a few minutes daily to plan how we can use all our resources such as our time, our manpower, our money, our other resources skillfully & optimally for doing important tasks.

THE HIGHJACKER TOOL BAR

On the 27th October I was trying to free download latest version of Java from the internet.  I searched it on the Google and started to download Java from an unknown site. After completion of the download, I clicked on the Google Chrome. To my utter amazement, I saw one unknown toolbar & search engine on the screen. I became horrified after seeing the following message at the bottom of the screen.

Your computer will crash in a few minutes. Please click on OK to fix the problem.

First I decided impulsively to click OK. But I decided against it within fractions of second since the message looked unusual & ominous. I searched Google again restlessly and found that actually one highjacker toolbar was somehow downloaded in my computer while free downloading Java from an unofficial site. This nasty toolbar was trying to divert me to some malicious site. I was very puzzled. I racked my brain to find a solution and opened control panel to uninstall the programme. But I found it very difficult to uninstall it. I shut down the computer and restarted it. After that I could uninstall the devious highjacker toolbar.

 I again clicked on the Google Chrome Icon and found to my dismay that the nasty highjacker toolbar and search engine was present even now. So I decided to fully scan my computer with the antivirus already installed in my computer.  One spyware was also detected.  The antivirus cleaned the spyware.  I uninstalled Google Chrome also. After that I downloaded Java from www. java.com and re-downloaded Google Chrome afresh from official site.

  The problem was finally solved. Then I took a vow that I will never download any software from an unofficial site. 

THE MAGICAL REPETITION KILLED MY BAD HABIT

Once I wrote a beautiful article, "EXPLOIT THE MAGICAL EFFECTS OF REPETITION."

I put the theory into practice to forsake Pan chewing.

 I made a slogan, "Avoid Pan & Brush every night to live 100 years healthy, hearty & wealthy." I didn't force myself too much to give up this dirty habit. I just used to repeat the slogan with full force.

  Soon, I became indifferent to Pan chewing. I restricted it to once a day.  Gradually I began to dislike Pan Chewing.

Earlier I used to take Pan when I was very tense or jubilant. Now whenever I feel nervous, I take five long deep breaths to relax. When I feel euphoric, I celebrate with something else.

 There was a significant obstacle; a good number of my friends take Pan, therefore, it is etiquette to offer them, Pan.

 They often insisted upon me to take Pan. I replied them politely, "I take only one Pan daily, and my quota stands exhausted for today."

"Just for now." syndrome was also the biggest obstacle in my mission.

 Earlier I used to assure myself that I shall take one Pan just now and after that, I shall never touch it in my entire life. But, Alas! Again and again, I fell prey to "Just for now" syndrome.

 Now I remind myself, “The chain of vice will become more strong if I succumb to the temptation of taking a Pan just for now, and the desire to take Pan will weaken  if I kill the temptation in no time.” Benjamin Franklin rightly said," It is easier to suppress the first desire than to fulfill all those follow it."

I also shared the whole story with my canteen boy and other staff who used to take Pan for me. Now I can’t afford to belittle myself before them by ordering Pan.

However, I assiduously avoided telling my Pan Chewing friends about my plan to give up Pan. They would have certainly discouraged me. So, Pan free days are going smoothly. I have not taken any Pan since two years and eleven months. However, I offered Pan to those friends who liked it. Now I offer them cardamom or clove bud.

My one friend was immensely impressed with my story of forsaking Pan. He also tried half-heartedly to give up this nasty habit but could not succeed due to lack of a well-charted plan and 100% commitment.

GOD HELP THOSE WHO HELP OTHERS

He that does good to another, does good also to himself, not only in the consequences but in the act; for the consciousness of well-doing is, in itself, ample reward - SENECA 

 The great poem, Abou Ben Adhem, written by James Henry Leigh Hunt decades ago, is relevant even now. It exhorts, "God loves those who love and help his children."
After reading the poem in my high school, I decided to help anybody who approaches me for any work. This system helped me a lot; I was often supported by unknown & unexpected sources whenever I was in trouble.

 My good friend Shri Anil Kumar was in Muzaffarpur on the 7th August 2013. He had some work at the University Police Station. I telephoned him in the morning and offered to help since I knew the SHO of the police station.
 I always crossed the University P.S. twice daily.  That day I reflexively looked at its entrance gate. I became overjoyed to see my stolen bike parked there. I entered into the P.S. and knew that my bike was recovered by the police more than one month ago and was unclaimed since then. But, I knew about it only after I offered to help my friend.

  I was returning from Patna by car in 2005. Satpura railway crossing was closed. As soon as the gateman opened it, a massive traffic rushed forward. A teenager, at once, came driving his scooter fast and dashed against my car. He fell in the nearby muddy ditch with his bike.

 I immediately jumped from my car and dragged him.  His vehicle was invisible in the ditch. I was apprehending that he would blame me for the mishap. I put my right hand on his shoulder and asked coolly," Son, are you O.K?" The teenager started shouting," Uncle, it was not your fault."
 In the meanwhile, a crowd began gathering. One tough looking young man came near me and whispered into my ear, "Sir, what are you doing here? Please start your car and go away."  I complied with his advice immediately & ran away silently.

 Dale Carnegie, in his best-selling book 'How To Stop Worrying & Start Living' advocated,"One can get rid of depression by exploring the ways and means to help others." 
All the great leaders like Mahatma Gandhi, Abraham Lincoln, Jawahar Lal Nehru, Atal Bihar Vajpayee became great because they always strived to help and support others. They did their best to help masses to get rid of their hardships.

Will it not be an excellent idea to resolve every day to bring a beaming smile on at least one face?

TAKE SUITABLE REMEDIAL STEPS ON THE FIRST DANGER SIGNAL.

A small leak will sink a great ship.

--- Benjamin Franklin.

 Sage Dhaumya had a disciple named Aruni who stayed in the Gurukul. Once Aruni was crossing a nearby field of Gurukul and observed that a substantial amount of water was sipping from the field's embankment, he desperately tried to stop the flowing water with mud and wooden logs but couldn't succeed. Finally, he lay down on the broken embankment, the sipping of water stopped immediately. Later on, the sage Dhaumya and his disciples came to the crisis point and repaired the broken dam.

One must be continuously looking for small danger signals to stop mind boggling damages.

 A small tumour ignored initially converts itself into life-threatening cancer and gives great agonizing pain. A wisp of smoke, when ignored, turns into a ravaging fire. A little increase in cholesterol, if not controlled, blocks the arteries and causes a heart attack.

 Train your eyes to identify first danger signals which are usually very small. Take immediate remedial steps to neutralize the ominous signal. You will save yourself and others from many devastating damages.

MAKING PLANS & EXECUTING THEM IS NATURAL & EASY

Mr. M. R. Kopmeyer was the president of eight corporations. Now he is retired and success counsellor of more than one hundred companies. He advocated in one of his books,” If you want to master something, please imagine that doing it is natural & easy.”

 So I always assume that making plans & executing them is natural & easy. 
Actually, we continue to make and execute plans all our life.

 What do we while getting out from our house? We plan to go to the office to earn our lively hood. We plan to put our children in school. They plan to get best marks in their exams for getting good jobs. We plan to build houses, get promoted and do a lot of other things. We invariably get what we plan. 

 Let's spare a little time for doing

Conscious planning and work diligently for its timely execution.   

EUPHORIA TAKES ITS TOLL

Euphoria is an intense feeling of happiness.
The wise exhort,"Excess of everything is bad." Therefore, an excess of happiness, too, is not an exception.

 My cousin, Shri Uday Narayan Sinha, Advocate, is a lean and thin old man. Once he got a breakthrough in a tricky consumer forum case, therefore his happiness knew no bounds.
 While walking on the foot that day, he lost his balance in one of the dreaded potholes and fell down. His lips & front teeth were badly damaged. His family members immediately rushed him to Shri A.K.Das, a reputed surgeon. Shri Das put more than ten stitches to fix the wounds and advised him bed rest for one week.

I become extra cautious, whenever I am too happy, and try to become normal at earliest. In the meanwhile, I continuously remind me that   I am vulnerable to mistakes in the euphoric state.

One can't avoid euphoria completely. But an identified enemy becomes less dangerous.

BURN ALL THE ROTTEN THOUGHTS

 We cremate the dead bodies of our nears and dears promptly after their demise to avoid rotting and stinking. 
But unfortunately, we keep old rotting thoughts close to our hearts and permit their nauseating stench making our lives hell.

Our mind learns to react reflexively in a particular way to a given situation.

 I was a naughty child. So my mother often complained my father about my mischiefs. Sometimes my dad thrashed me black & blue. Therefore, whenever I made a mischief, my mother warned wryly, let your dad come. Now I started guessing what my dad would do. The imagination ran wild regarding dangerous things. 

Now, father figure has notionally changed. But even now when I rationally decide to do a daring act, my imagination starts running wild, how the present controlling characters will react. So to overpower the bad thoughts of childhood, I repeat continuously," Burn all the rotten thoughts." I found after analyzing my mind that I have been a slave to many wicked thoughts.
 I was frail in my childhood, so I used to tell school bullies," Ham apnee azadee ko hargeej mita sakte naheen, sar kata sakte hain, par sar jhuka sakte nahin( I shall rather get my head chopped off to maintain my freedom.
Once a veteran war general said, " He loves his enemies, so he always sends them quickly to heaven." This was a new thought.
 However, these things only have symbolic meaning in our lives. The first thought implies that I shall incur any loss to ensure my freedom. The second idea means that I shall make my opponents sustain the maximum damage if enmity becomes inevitable. However, we are firm believers in Win-Win theory.

A few days ago, I drove away evil thoughts by using simple methods. When I awoke, I felt,"Nothing was going right." I was deeply frustrated. I recalled,"Last night I was very satisfied with all the affairs of my life. I was euphoric while going to bed."
 I wondered what happened during my sleep.  I left the bed and found that I forgot to open some windows. So obviously there was a shortage of Oxygen in the room. I opened all the windows and started to repeat motivational slogans, took a few glasses of water and went in the veranda to start cycling on the exercycle. After half an hour I was again to the best of my moods.

 Analyze and identify your bad thoughts, bid them goodbye and cremate them at earliest with all regard. You will find a new you marching rapidly towards your cherished dreams.

ALWAYS HIRE AN EXPERT

Hire an expert in his profession.

 His high fee proves cheap in the long run.

 My car's battery often discharged, and its engine stopped abruptly in the midway. I used to desperately request others to push the stopped car on the side of the road. Some of them suggested jokingly," Why are you driving this old model. Sell it and buy a brand new car." The car mechanics groped in the dark.

Once I went to Darbhanga to attend a marriage ceremony. To my utter dismay, my car's engine at once stopped in Kaidrabagh at around 8 p.m. All the specialized workshops were closed. Many quack mechanics came and tried to start the vehicle but in vain. At last, with a heavy heart, I left the car in Darbhanga and returned by bus. One good mechanic attended the car but repeatedly wondered," What drained the battery so low?"

The problem persisted even then. A friend advised me to consult a good electrician; he concluded that car's alternator was faulty. He advised me to change the alternator. I complied immediately. Now the problem is over and the 2001 model Maruti 800 is running fine.

There are specialists in every profession. There are gynecologists, cardiologists, urologists, dentists, gastrologists, etc. in the medical profession. There are civil defenders, criminal advocates, company affair advocates, income tax advocates in the legal profession. There are denters, painters, electricians, etc. in car repairing business. So when you need to consult someone, ensure to consult an expert. This will save your time, money & mental peace in the long run.

Make sure to hire an experienced expert in complicated matters. A novice sails smoothly when things are nice but collapses in complex cases. This is why junior advocates work under their seniors & interns practice under top doctors.  

MAKE JUDICIAL SYSTEM PEOPLE FRIENDLY & TRANSPARENT

It is high time that the delivery of justice is made people friendly.
 My bike was stolen and was recovered by the Police. I had to spend nine days with advocate, court and police officials altogether to get the bike released. Everybody agreed that the bike was mine. Even then it took nine painful days. In such cases, when ownership is not disputed, should not the Police be authorized and instructed to hand over the bike to its owner immediately after taking bond?

One of my friends, Shri N.K.Mehta, told," He was a government witness in a criminal case. He did not receive any summons or bail able warrants to testify in the court. One beautiful morning an ASI of Bihar Police called on him with a non-bailable warrant. You may just guess, " How a common man might have felt?" How will anyone dare to volunteer himself to help the law enforcing machinery? This is why people express," Only unfortunate persons get involved with the Police, the court or the hospital."

A robbery was committed in Motihari branch of our bank. All the present staff members were made government witnesses. All had the same oral complaints that they did not receive any summons or bail able warrants. The Police approached them when nonbailable warrants against them were issued by the court.  However since this issue involved many staff members, so the Police was lenient, they just advised them to testify in the court and get their nonbailable warrants withdrawn.

Once a Magistrate in Gujrat issued warrants, in a false and fabricated case, against the then honorable Chief Justice of the Supreme Court, Justice V.N.Khare and the then honorable President Mr. A.P.J.Abdul Kalam.

 Should there not be a grievance redressal system in the courts also to fix responsibility on delinquent employees and punish them?

Once The then Honourable Chief Justice of the Supreme Court, P.Sathasivam, the Chief Justice of India expressed concern over the steady decline of the reputation of Judiciary and legal profession while addressing Judges, Advocates and other eminent persons in Chennai.

It is high time for taking concrete actions to address the issue.

ONE MINUTE MANAGER REPEATS ITSELF

"One Minute Manager" is a bestselling fable book by Management Guru Kenneth Blanchard and Spencer Johnson. The great authors described three simple techniques of effective management. "One-minute Praising" is one of them. Learned authors mentioned in the book that when you start giving "One Minute Praising" and forget to deliver it on a particular occasion, your colleagues will remind you about it.

I knew till now that one may become addicted to smoking, drinking, opium, brown sugar, etc.,  But the following incident made me realize that people may become addicted to sincere praising also and if not given they may confront me to ask for it.

            In my other article," Change The Environment, Make Dinosaurs Extinct Species." I informed that on the interval of 2-3 months, I call staff meetings and give token gifts to the best performing staff members with many words of sincere praise. But due to some pre-occupations, I forgot to call staff meetings. One of my best colleagues Rajesh Jee confronted me and complained in a sweet voice," Sir, You have forgotten to call the staff meeting to deliver your sincere praising to the best performing staff member. So on the same evening, I called the meeting.

Many learned colleagues express frustration about management books by calling them mere theoretical. But I bet, "They are useful beyond doubt if we put the theories into practice."

OVERCONFIDENCE KILLS

There are lots of articles in motivational literature to cure under-confidence. However, the danger of overconfidence is utterly ignored.

 I purchased a green Hero Honda Splendour Pro bike in October 2011. I loved it immensely. I took as much care of my beautiful bike as Baba Bharti took care of Sultan.

I got an alarm system installed on the motorcycle, and  I always put the alarm system on after parking it. However, I did not bother to put on the alarm in my branch premises.  I used to tell my staff that everybody in this locality recognizes my bike. Therefore, no thief will dare to take it from the office premises. However, to my utter disappointment, a thief stole my bike on one fine Saturday. The ATM guard was dumbfounded, but he could not even describe the bike's color.

Drunken drivers commit accidents because alcohol boosts their confidence unnecessary. Consequently, they take precious lives of others. Sometimes they make their children fatherless and put their family in great hardship. 

One Shayar wrote, " ना मुझे जीत की खुशी थी, ना मुझे हार का गम था, अफ़सोस मगर मेरी किश्ती वहां डुबी जहाँ पानी कम था। "(I was neither pleased to win, nor depressed to lose. But, alas my boat capsized in shallow waters.) So one must be suitably vigilant even in shallow waters, else overconfidence will make him careless enough capsize his ship.

N.B. Philip Guedalla said," History repeats itself." So "Haar Kee Jit" of Sudarshan also repeated itself. The wisdom prevailed on the unknown thief as it prevailed on the robber Khadag Singh. He left my lovely bike near my office. I got it back after completing legal formalities.
 May God bless everybody with wisdom, peace of mind, happiness and success in noble causes. Amen.

DEVELOP YOUR FORESIGHTEDNESS

Rudyard Kipling's best friends were What, Who, Why, Where, When & How? Exploring a problem by asking six fundamental questions was also called Kipling Method.

However, we may develop our foresightedness tremendously by asking one simple question, “What if?" Many Scientists must be expert in asking, “What if?"  They must always be asking during their experiments what if I tried this or what if I tried that. Our Father of Nation, Mahatma Gandhi must have asked himself," What if I used Satyagraha with non-violence for fighting against the mighty British Empire where the Sun never sets.

Many years ago on one beautiful Saturday evening, I forgot the duplicate keys of my office in the drawer. Later on, I found that the duplicate keys were missing. My mind started to race fast.

 What if a thief finds the keys, he will empty the whole office in the night?  The book value of all the computers, fans, coolers and furniture must be many lacks. The bank will recover the entire amount from me. The Police will also come into the picture. They will blame me that I knowingly gave the keys to someone to steal everything from the branch office. Thus, I may get involved in a Police case also. All these thoughts were trying to make me depressed.

 When the keys were with me, I used to keep them casually without understanding the implications of it being lost. Earlier I could have asked," what if" I missed the duplicate keys. This simple question would have saved peace & enjoyment of my weekend.

 So when you have blessings, ask yourself,"What will happen if I lose them, and hear the answers. Ask “What if? on every occasion." This simple method will help develop your foresightedness to a great extent.

CON MEN OFTEN FEIGN INNOCENCE

My experience endorses the famous Urdu proverb,” Bhole-Bhale Chehre wale, hote hain Qaatil bhee.” (Innocent looking faces are murderers also.) 

Swindlers and con men often feign innocence to win your confidence. They look too much innocent. They appreciate your good qualities. They show too much regard for you. You start thinking that this fellow is really nice. You start believing them & become careless.  Then they dupe you and become traceless.

When someone is ever ready to help you; when someone is too much appreciative of your good qualities; when someone is showing too much regard for you; when someone is looking too much innocent, be extra vigilant, he may be a wolf in sheep’s clothing. 

Now a day’s wolves are enrolling ladies in their gangs to exploit the general belief that persons with family can be relied upon surely. Real looking wolves scare us and make us cautious; wolves in sheep’s clothing often succeed in duping us. All nasha khurani Group and ATM fraud criminals approach their victims in sheep’s clothing. First they earn confidence then they loot.

BUILD AN IMPREGNABLE FORT AROUND YOUR MIND

Ancient kings built impregnable forts around their kingdoms. They made tall & strong walls so that the fiery darts of enemies became ineffective by crashing against them. The tough and trained guards defended the fort attentively, round the clock. They, promptly, attacked the enemy with full force.

Similarly, we need to build an impregnable fort around our minds, to protect it from the continuous attack of negative thoughts. We must read motivational & religious literature apart from associating with positive thinking people to build high & fortified walls of positive thoughts so that fiery darts of doubt & negativity become ineffective by crashing against them. We should be continuously vigilant against the devil that always attacks our minds with negative thoughts.Negative thoughts must be promptly torpedoed and bombarded by positive slogans.
 Many theists continuously repeat to themselves,” Dear God, You are almighty. I firmly believe that you will solve all my problems in due course.” This prayer helps them in maintaining their composure in rainy days.

I have made following super positive slogans to overpower the attack of negative thoughts. 

1.   Be a mighty bridge and practice to encash present opportunities only.

2. Meera me piya, vish ka pyala, vish ko Amrit kar dala. ( Meera, the great devotee of Lord Krishna sipped poison and turned it into nectar.

3. For every ailment under the sun, there is a remedy, or there is none. If there is one, try to find it, if there is none never mind it.

4. Be a burning candle and burn all the rotten thoughts.  

5. What happens, beautifully happens.

 While repeating these slogans, I use anchoring by gently touching one fingertip, reserved for each slogan. When I am busy talking to somebody and can't repeat slogans, I just hit the fingerpoint reserved for a particular slogan; my mind reflexively starts repeating the slogan. 

 Everybody uses some anchor. Have you seen old pictures of a happy occasion in your family? Did you notice that your mind automatically started recalling all the related happy events and, you suddenly started feeling elated?

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ALWAYS ASK FOR BETTER BARGAIN

In his bestselling book," Rich Dad Poor Dad,"  Robert. T. Kiyosaki exhorted to boldly quote the lowest amount for buying real estate.  He gave many tips to get goods and services at bargain prices.

 One evening I was roaming at Chandni Chowk, Delhi. The traditional Chowk was bustling with life. Scores of hawkers were selling their merchandise. I went to one stall and asked price of a briefcase just for pastime.

 The dark complexioned tall vendor showed his teeth with a charming smile and said," Only 200 bucks, Sir." I moved away without any reaction. The shrewd seller began to reduce the price. He yelled 180....160....140...120.....100.....80....60......40. You will be surprised to note that his last quote was mere 20% of his first quote. 

Once I visited famous tourist resort Mussoorie, the Queen of Hills. I decided to hire a taxi for Dehradun. So during my morning walk, I went to the taxi stand of Mall Road and knew that they charge around Rs. 1000/-. I returned to my Hotel and casually asked the receptionist," What is the taxi fare for Dehradun." The lean & thin receptionist impassively replied Rs. 720/-. I became euphoric inside and just ordered to book the cab. The receptionist smiled slyly & talked with somebody on mobile. After talking for a while, he said," Sorry Sir,   they have raised the rate recently, now they are asking Rs. 810/-." I had no option but to caugh out 90 bucks more. Had I started bargaining with a lower amount initially, I might have paid either 720/- or less.

 90 bucks don't matter. But the attitude to save money by asking for better bargains may save you a big fortune during your lifetime.

So before making a final bid, please survey the market thoroughly. You may find different prices in different shops in the same market. Then please judge whether there is any bargaining culture in the area, if so, how much. You may then make your final bid and save lots of your hard earned money. Please don't show too much curiosity in purchasing else you may end up paying more.

However, if something looks too good and too irresistible to purchase. Please keep away, since there are high chances that you may be duped. 

ALWAYS BE DOUBLE SURE

Once I read one eye-catching article in the City Page of 'Hindustan' newspaper," Seven Bikes Stolen In Two Days." The newspaper claimed," On an average two bikes are stolen from our town. The Police are just a silent spectator." The town DSP claimed," The Police is doing patrolling in sensitive areas to curb the thefts." He also advised bike owners to use another lock, also, to handle lock, to double secure their motorcycles.

 The Banking system is one of the most reliable and trustworthy systems of the world. Why?

 We have maker & checker concept in banking to become double sure that all the transactions are entered correctly and hard earned money of our esteemed customers is not credited into the account of someone else by mistake.

When we use two mechanisms to secure our assets/actions, we become double sure. When one device fails or is broken, the other tool takes care.

Aways be double sure in all our actions and transactions. Even when one contemplates some action in future, it is always better to share it with close friends who will remind us even when we forget our contemplation.

The famous televangelist, pastor & motivational speaker Reverend Robert.H.Schuller went one more step ahead and talked about triple checking our position in his motivational book, “Tough Minded Faith For Tender Hearted People."

NEVER DELEGATE TO A JOKER

You must be thinking DELEGATION involves only serious professionals.
But every person manages problems and needs to delegate some job to others e.g. a homemaker delegates household chores to a maidservant.

 Now the crucial question is," Who is a joker & why should he never be delegated?"

A joker in a playing card is a man without loyalty or commitment to anyone. It mixes with two aces and becomes a trail. It combines with two running cards to become a sequence of 3. Trusting a joker with any task is futile.

Delegation is a delicate art. By delegating responsibility to a person, we make him our agent and give him controls, but the responsibility lies with us.

  Suppose we want to go to Delhi from Mumbai in 2 hours. We will buy an air ticket from an airline. The concerned airline takes responsibility to receive us safely at Mumbai and leave us safely at Delhi. It delegates this job to the Pilot of the Aeroplane, although responsibility for our safe travel lies with the Airline, the pilot takes controls to execute the job.

 However, a professional airline draws the detailed map on which the pilot will fly the plane and also gives detailed instructions in writing.

Will the Airline delegate the job to an inexperienced pilot?
Will the Airline delegate the task to a skilled but unwilling pilot?

Will the Airline delegate the job to a drunk pilot?

Will the Airline delegate the task to a pilot whose skin is not involved?

Will any professional airline entrust the job to even an expert pilot without giving him detailed instructions in black and white?

The airline does not delegate its responsibility to any Tom Dick & Harry but to the most suitable person after doing due diligence.

When a sick man decides to consult a doctor, he chooses the most appropriate doctor to treat his disease. Neither he will choose a heart surgeon for treatment of cold & cough nor will he select a simple MBBS to operate upon a malignant tumor. 

So when one has a choice to delegate someone, one needs to make it after doing due diligence. But the real challenge lies when one has no choice. One has the least choice as the head of a family. Whatever one wants to achieve, one has to achieve with the same family members. Brothers/sisters & sons/daughters can't be sacked and replaced. So one needs to remember the famous devotional song," Meera ne piya vish ka pyala, vish ko amrit kar dala".(Meera, the devotee of Lord Krishna, drank poison and turned it into nectar). The importance of proper training and motivational skills comes into the picture here.

I have explained my method of motivation & training in my article, "CHANGE THE ENVIRONMENT & MAKE DYNASAURS EXTINCT SPECIES." 

I learned much about training & motivation from "Situational Leadership" theory developed jointly by Mr. Paul Hersey, Professor & Author of the book, “Situational Leadership" and Keneth Blanchard, the Management Guru.

The crux of "Situational Leadership" theory is that while engaging a person for some work, please judge his knowledge and willingness to do the delegated job. Please give the concerned person detailed instructions and also make close supervision with lots of motivation in the beginning if the individual is new to the assigned job. Please recall how parents teach writing alphabets to their children. The level of instructions, supervision & motivation may be adjusted as the concerned person becomes more experienced & willing. 

Many Managers/Parents commit the blunder of adopting "Leave Alone & Rebuke Approach." They assume that their subordinates/children are magicians and know by magic what they are supposed to do. So after delegating the job they just forget about it, then on one day they call their subordinates/children and find that the poor fellows have not performed as per their expectations. The Managers/parents start yelling, the subordinates/children start sulking & cursing.

So before delegating any job, please make a list of things you want to get done & draw action plan how you want them to be done. Please discuss the action plan in detail with your subordinates and ensure that they understand it so that there remains no room for communication gap at all. Please judge their maturity level (their knowledge & willingness level) to decide the standard of supervision and motivation to be done and set the ball rolling for the spectacular performance by your able team.

FAMOUS KEMPTY FALLS VIDEO CLIP

Enjoy the serenity of Mother Nature. Refresh yourselves by listening to the soothing sounds of flowing water from famous Kempty Falls, Massurie (India).

PITFALLS OF BUYING INSURANCE

                                     

 The theory of "UTMOST GOOD FAITH" is vital in the insurance business.
 Under this theory, it is the duty of the customer to make disclosures about his health and his family member's health, etc. It is utmost important for you to reveal the diseases from which you are suffering or from which your family members suffered. There is one crucial question in the questionnaire of some insurance companies asking the details of sick leave availed by you. Please always give correct information. One of our colleagues posted at Motihari was sick. However, her agent informed the insurance company that she did not avail any sick leave. Agents often take your signature on the blank form and fill later on what suits them. After her unfortunate death, the insurance company asked the bank about sick leave availed by her, obtained necessary information and rejected the death claim on the ground of concealment of the fact and also forfeited the premium amount deposited by her.

Please note the travesty. The Insurance Company is not supposed to check any information supplied by you while selling insurance. They will happily accept the premium amount. But their surveyors will examine the information provided by you in the application form with the highest power microscope to find any small anomaly with sole motive to reject the death claim and  forfeit the premium deposited by you.

To make the matter worse, some insurance agents will advise you to hide that information which will hinder underwriters of the insurance companies to accept your proposal. The sole motto of such agents is to earn big commission paid by the insurance companies during first few years. If later on your family members are bereaved from the claim amount, it will not bother them at all.

 There are rumors that some insurance agents change the application form submitted by you to get the insurance proposal accepted by the underwriters. Please don't forget to check the photocopy of the application form annexed with the policy bond as soon as you receive it.  If you find any foul play,  please immediately take up the matter with the insurance company and with appropriate authorities.

 I myself became a victim of such malpractice. But I could not complain since I had not taken receipt while submitting the application form. Therefore I was not having sufficient proof. The travesty was that the concerned agent was son of  my good colleague. I simply didn't pay any further premium.
 Since paying any further premium was of no use. The policy bond was issued on the basis of false information. My  family members would not get even a single penny in  case some untowards had happened to me.

However insurance is the need of hour. Everybody must be insured sufficiently after giving full disclosures . One may also consider to buy a term insurance policy of a big amount at an early age when genral health of a person is  robust.  Thus there will not be any need to conceal diseases.The premium amount is also very small .

A good number of  Insurance Companies believe in giving a fair deal to their customers. You may compare claim settlement ratios of the different insurance companies. If claim settlement ratio of a company is high, it indicates its surveyors are not rejecting  claims on  filmsy grounds.