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.

"LAW OF AVERAGE."- ONE OF THE BIGGEST WORRY BUSTERS

PRACTICE MAKES A MAN PERFECT.

The Law of the Average formula is one of the biggest worry busters.

 How?

 I visited holy temples of Maa Chandi Devi & Maa Mansa Devi in Haridwar by flying cab, popularly called, ropeway. I started to enjoy the beautiful scenery below, but my wife was very too nervous to relish anything. I casually informed her, “Hundreds of ropeways are operational all over the world.” Then I asked, “How many ropeway accidents are reported in newspapers?"  She thought for a while and replied,” No accident was reported in last many years.” I asked her immediately," Then why are you so nervous?" Her beautiful face beamed with a tension free smile in no time.

 The Law of average formula makes Insurance Companies earn big profits all over the world. They collect data regarding the average death from accidents or diseases. Then they price their products keeping sufficient margin. 
 They paint a gloomy picture of one's family members after death, get huge business & make big profits. However, the insurance is the need of the hour. Everybody must be insured sufficiently. However, you must give full disclosures regarding your health & family members. Otherwise, insurance companies may reject death claim on the ground of concealment of vital information & may also forfeit the premium deposited.

If you are spending sleepless nights regarding an apprehension, please ask yourself," What is the law of average regarding our anxiety to turn into reality? For example, if someone is reeling under the fear of diabetes death. Let him ask what is the total number of diabetics, and out of which how many die of diabetes. If our apprehension becomes real in one case out of 100000 cases, we are covering 0.00001% risk only & obviously there is no reason to spend sleepless nights. 

 One will be required to use the Law of Average formula repeatedly in the beginning. Gradually it will be inculcated in one's subconscious mind, and then he will be busting his apprehensions automatically by asking the question,"What is the law of average regarding this anxiety?"

USE VIBRANT VOCABULARY FOR GOLDEN FUTURE

A mafia shouts and hurls filthy abuses;" Kill," "Kidnap," "Ransom" etc. are parts of his vocabulary.
 The vocabulary of a saint is entirely different; he talks in a beautiful language." God bless you." " Beneficial to all." "Help others" etc. are part of his vocabulary.
 The poor say," We are poor because poverty is our destiny." Naturally, they remain poverty stricken till their death.

Late Dhiru Bhai Ambani was born poor, but he must have told himself," I am born poor, but I shall change my destiny. I shall become a billionaire one day." So he refused to be bound by the chains of poverty. His vocabulary & strong determination gave him indomitable strength. He worked harder & smarter to change his destiny. Consequently, he died as one of the richest Indian.

It is high time that we start identifying all the negative words we use. We must replace them with positive and powerful words. 
Also, ensure to keep negative persons at a distance to save yourself from their negativity.

 Negativity is more dangerous than dreaded cancer since cancer kills its victims altogether, but negativity converts him into a living corpse.

TREAT PEOPLE KINGLY.

A wise man said, "Treat people as if they were king & they will make you a real king."

 It is bizarre, "We can’t give anything away at all." 

  If we love people from our hearts, they start loving us more intensely. Good-Will & Love rebounds to us after being multiplied many times; this is why Gautama Buddha, Mahatma Gandhi, Tolstoy, Abraham Lincoln, etc., will continue to be revered and worshiped forever. 
I relate a small incident to prove my point.

On the pious eve of the Festivals of Colours, Holi, I called on a good friend of mine along with other friends. My friend has a fat, fair complexioned servant of average height named Vishwanath who served us mouth watering snacks with a tangy green sauce. A little sauce spilled accidentally over my left pant. Vishwanath immediately took a piece of clean wet cloth and wiped away the sauce with great care and plenty of smiles.
 He could have simply given the cloth in my hands, but he took pains to do the cleaning himself happily with all care. He apparently impressed me much with his positive behavior. You must not expect any prize for guessing what shall I do if Vishwanath comes to me for any favor.

Shower love, regard, good-will and friendliness, wherever you go.

 Love people and wish them the best and choicest things from the core of your hearts.

 Give them the best treatment with utmost care and comfort.

 Stop finding faults on trivials.

 Appreciate people's good works and good virtues.

 Help them in need.

 Sympathize with them in their hardships. 

You will become their darling, and they start treating you like a king.

IS SOMEONE LIVING HAND TO MOUTH ?

Get what you can, what you get hold;
It's the stone that will turn all your lead into gold.
                                               --- Benjamin Franklin.

Once upon a time, all my salary used to disappear around the 20th of every Month. I used to take loans from one friend or the other for the rest five days. I often spent sleepless nights figuring out how and from whom shall I borrow to meet the deficit?  I was a regular borrower of staff credit & thrift society's short-term loans and paid them heavy interest.

 I used to repeat the famous cliche, "Development Budget is the Deficit Budget."

 A man becomes what he thinks, so I was destined to stay in the deficit. My close friends used to lend me off and on. I repaid them promptly after getting my salary. I found nothing negative in this evil.
 Once a very close friend of mine flatly refused to lend me. That incident shattered my self-respect. I decided not to borrow from anybody in my life.

First, I decided to improve my vocabulary. I stopped repeating the cliche,” Development budget is the deficit budget.” 
I further realized," If I perceived something necessary, I purchased it even after borrowing.

Now I changed the criteria. I started buying only unavoidable things provided we had surplus money at hand. We began to keep Goddess Laxmi in our home as long as possible.

 My great grandfather Rai Sahab Bhulawan Lal used to exhort,” If it is necessary, make it short.”
  I started to comply with his dictum in real spirit. Mr. Dale Carnegie wrote one chapter on frugality in his famous book, ”HOW TO STOP WORRYING & START LIVING.” I found that section very useful to reduce most of my worries.
 I also read one excellent book, “LAW OF SUCCESS.” by Napoleon Hill. There is one full chapter in this book on the "Habit of Savings." Mr. Hill stressed that "Habit of Savings" is crucial for achieving stupendous success since one can't succeed in any endeavor without strong financial muscles.
 'CASH FLOW QUADRANT' (By Robert T. Kiyosaki & Sheron L. Lector) was also very helpful.

 Gradually I adjusted all high-interest loans. Now I am a proud man since I lend my friends selectively instead of borrowing from them.

THE GODDESS DESIRE

 In  the Pious Land of famous Poet Vidyapati, Mithila,it is believed that Goddess Desire continuously travels from one place to another. When the Goddess Desire visits a place, she fullfills all the wishes of people residing there. So it is always desirable to wish good & big things and work wholeheartedly for it. None knows when the Goddess  visits your place and  fulfills all your wishes.

I also wish that a Modern Cancer Hospital is opened in Muzaffarpur, the biggest city of North Bihar. This cancer hospital will serve the patients of the whole North Bihar and relieve the excess pressure on the   Mahaveer Cancer Institute, Patna which is the single cancer institute in Bihar having population of more than 8 Crores.

CONTRIBUTE YOUR BEST TODAY

The action is the real measure of intelligence.
                                                 --Napoleon Hill.

If you don't go after what you want, you will never have it.
- STEVE JOBS.

Lady Luck adores the Intelligent and the Industrious. 

 Continuously put more efforts in all your endeavors. Contribute your best today. Contribute your best every day.

 Sincere, whole-hearted and persistent efforts will award you durable success and happiness.

Make a vow to put more efforts in your projects today than what you put yesterday. 

Make a vow to put more efforts in your projects tomorrow than what you are putting today.