ARE YOU GOING WITH THE FLOW?

“Only dead fish go with the flow.” Dead fishes simply go with the direction of flow of the water body. They have no life in them to go otherwise. How do we differ from dead fishes if we allow our lives to be patterned with what’s the norm?

Image Courtesy: contrarian.ca/2009/07/04/going-with-the-flow

Most of us like to take the path of least resistance. We don’t want to be termed the odd one out. We don’t want to be seen as been ‘different’ even though we’d like to be different but not ready to pay the price of being different: Courage.

How do you know if you are going with the flow?

A very simple way to know if you are going with the flow or not is the decisions you take on a daily basis. For instance, if you just resumed in an office where you resume by 8am and you decide to resume one hour earlier to get started with your day, you will be noticed and possibly mocked (I have seen that happen too many times); that’s not a problem. But when you drop your guard to go with the flow of prompt resumption or late resumption, you will notice one thing: your productivity will drop. You are down with the flow; struggling for survival. One mark of truly successful people is continually doing the inconvenient but necessary things without losing enthusiasm.

How do you deal with this: decide everyday you breathe to be different. Don’t take the path of losers. Don’t just do the convenient; do the necessary.

(A word of caution: By any means, being different does not mean you should neglect sound principles or good examples from mentors or role models.)

Dead fishes don’t swim. The water body carries them and sooner than later drops them on dry land. You have life in you, a great opportunity to be different and an example unto others in every good works. You’ve got no business going with the flow. Only those who stand out are outstanding.

Share and inspire a friend. Have a great working week.

GROWTH is NOT automatic!

You’re only young once, but you can be immature indefinitely. Each year the Lobster is forced to shed its shell; it’s a pity we aren’t! If you don’t make personal growth your responsibility it’ll never happen. The road to anything worthwhile is always uphill, so the sooner you start climbing the closer you are to reaching your potential.

Growth is your responsibility. When you were a child, your parents were responsible for your growth; now YOU are! Robert Browning wrote, “Why stay here on earth except to grow?” Yet not very many people dedicate themselves to the process of growing. Why? Because growth requires change and most of us are quite uncomfortable with change. Gail Sheehy writes, “if we don’t change, we won’t grow, and if we don’t grow, we’re not really living. Growth demands the temporary surrender of security. It means a giving up of familiar but limiting patterns, safe but unrewarding work, values no longer believed in, relationships that have lost their meaning. Taking a new step is what we fear most, yet our real fear should be the opposite.”

How do you grow? Physically, we all grow by eating well, sleeping well, exercising well. Mentally, we grow by reading, studying, learning and applying. Spiritually, by reading The Word, praying and applying the principles.

What you sow today determines what you reap tomorrow. Oliver Wendell Holmes noted, “Once stretched by a new idea, a man’s mind never regains its original dimensions.” So what are you doing today to become MORE successful tomorrow? Can you think of anything worse than living a life devoid of growth and improvement?

CREATE YOUR WAY WITH DETERMINATION

In a situation, the views of all present decision-makers are paramount for the leader. Now you may not have the privilege to make the last call, but you can channel your view and stand out anywhere in life.

More than a century ago, Edwin C. Barnes discovered how to make a point in a maze of successful folks and created a niche for himself. He engineered his ways with his thoughts into a booming partnership with the 20th century genius, Thomas Edison. When the thought flashed across his mind, he was in no position to act upon it. Two difficulties stood in his way. He did not know Mr. Edison, and he did not have enough money to pay his railroad fare to Orange, New Jersey. Those difficulties were sufficient to have discouraged the majority of men from making any attempt to carry out the desire. A lot of people decide to shy away from responsibilities in the light of making peace at all costs. This is a mirage. There is a price for peace. You have to pay it else you stand the risk of paying more with false peace. Mr. Barnes had a strong desire with a focus and went to East Orange on a freight train.
discovered how to make a point in a maze of successful folks and created a niche for himself. He engineered his ways with his thoughts into a booming partnership with the 20

He presented himself at Mr. Edison’s laboratory, and announced he had come to go into business with the inventor. In speaking of the first meeting between Barnes and Edison, years later, the inventor said, “He stood there before me, looking like an ordinary tramp, but there was something in the expression of his face which conveyed the impression that he was determined to get what he had come for. I gave him the opportunity he asked for, because, because I saw he had made up his mind to stand by until he succeeded. Subsequent proved that no mistake was made.” It is always true that if you look long and hard at an object, you will see the flaws as well as the pearls. This implies that if you determine to get the best out of a situation, you must be ready to stand by your focus until there is the desired success. Barnes did not get his partnership with Edison on his first interview. He did get a chance to work in the Edison offices, at a very nominal wage, doing work that was unimportant to Edison, nut of utmost important to Barnes, because it gave him an opportunity to display his “merchandise” where his intended partner could see it. Psychologists have correctly punctuated that, “when one is truly ready for a thing, it puts in its appearance.” Barnes was ready for a business association with Edison. He did not say to himself, “Ah well, what’s the use? I guess I’ll change my mind and try for a salesman job.” But he did say, “I came here to go into business with Edison and I’ll accomplish this end.”

When the opportunity came, it appeared in an entirely different work clothes than Barnes expected. Mr Edison had just perfected a new office device, known as the Edison Dictating Machine (also called the Ediphone). His salesmen were not enthusiastic over the machine. They did not believe it could be sold without great effort. Barnes saw his opportunity. It had crawled in quietly, hidden in a queer looking machine which interested no one but Barnes and the inventor.

Barnes knew he could sell the Ediphone. He suggested this to Edison, and promptly got his chance. He did sell the machine. In fact, he sold it so successfully that Edison gave him a contract to distribute and market it all over the nation. Out of that business association grew the slogan, “Made by Edison and installed by Barnes.”

Mr. Barnes made his mark with a successful man creatively and genuinely. He built a great fortune for himself in the process and for his partner. He desired, planned it, prepared for it and stood by until he got it. He didn’t quit halfway. He didn’t shy away from the responsibilities attached to his greatness. He chose to respond well despite the odd cards life dealt to him. He had no money to begin with. He had but little education. He had no influence. But he did have certain virtues like faith and perseverance. With these, he created a world for himself.
You also can create your way with strong determination and achieve greater results in this present times.


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Live Beyond Yourself

When you are eighty or ninety, and you’re sitting on the porch rocking and looking back on your life, how will you feel about it? You won’t have to answer to anyone to fulfill their expectations – nor your parents or your business associates or your spouse. What would you have done with the gift of life? The answer will be important to you then, so the question should be important to you now.

The course of your life is determined by:

-       the RELATIONSHIPS you FORM

-       the DECISIONS you MAKE

-       the ACTIONS you TAKE

Each has the potential to change the course of your life.

If you’re not doing something with your life, it doesn’t matter how long it is. If you are doing something with your life, it doesn’t matter how long it is. Life does not consist of years lived, but of its usefulness. It's not duration but about donation. Your focus must be beyond yourself. If you are giving, loving, serving, helping, encouraging, and adding value to others, you are living a useful life. 

George Bernard Shaw has this to say: "This is the true joy of life, the being used for a purpose recognized by yourself as a mighty one; the being a force of nature instead of a feverish, selfish clod of ailments and grievances complaining that the world will not devote itself to making you happy. I am of the opinion that my life belongs to the whole community, and as long as I live it is my privilege to do for it whatever I can. I want to be thoroughly used up when I die, for the harder I work the more I live. I rejoice in life for its own sake. Life is no brief candle to me. It is a sort of splendid torch which I have got hold of for the moment, and I want to make it burn as brightly as possible before handing it on to future generations."

That is significance!

Using Effective Planning

An idea is a thought to be presented as a suggestion in an organized environment.

Team planning helps gather several ideas for better productivity. No man is an island!

Discussion is an exchange of knowledge while argument is an expression of foolishness. Discussion facilitates adequate planning and enhances faster implementation of projects or tasks. Avoid arguments as much as you can in any project, program or events planning.

Intuition, in philosophy, is a form of knowledge or cognition independent of experience or reason. The intuitive faculty and knowledge are generally regarded as inherent qualities of the mind. Intuition helps improve systematic planning.

To get better output in terms of executing a certain task or project, basic behaviors are important to put to mind to achieve desired result. Detailed list of goals to be accomplished should be made; deadline should be set for team members; appropriate logistics should be recommended; financing procedures and budgeting should be prepared. All these encourage appropriate decision-making for quick task completion.

If you have a small project, you will be tried in a small way; if you have a big project, you will be tried in a big way. Get started today to begin planning for smaller projects. Get into a team and prove yourself and you will find yourself handling bigger project soon enough.