There is a “CAN” in Cancer April 17, 2012
Posted by aglakadam in aglakadam, Motivation.Tags: aglakadam, cancer, Motivation, success, will, yuveraj singh
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There is a “CAN” in Cancer
Did you notice? There is a very positive and a very powerful CAN fused inside the word ‘can’cer. Yuvaraj Singh is the most talked about sports icon as on date. This time not for the reason of the power of his bat but for the way he hurled the discomfort, of being diagnosed with cancer, outside the boundary. He has really proved it that one CAN win over the biggest hurdle in life, provided one has the will to look beyond. Yuvaraj Singh is not the only player who defeated cancer. Mathew Wade got hurt on the playground and was diagnosed with cancer at the age of 16. It was tough for him to believe that his injury was not the one which could be cured by way of medicines or at best an operation. He went through all kinds of possible treatments and it took him 2 years to float across the sea of sickness. At 19, Wade came back on field and started practicing cricket. Eventually he got into playing national level games. Today, after Adam Gilchrist and Brad Hydin, Mathew Wade is the most preferred choice as a wicket keeper in the Australian Cricket squad. Mathew Wade is now determined to represent the country in 2015 world cup. From cancer to international cricket has been possible for Wade only because of his strong willpower, unfathomable positive self belief and indefatigable self confidence.
Late Dr. Sharad Raghunath Ingle, when he was on the verge of retirement from his professional career as a Principle of a Government Science College, was diagnosed with lung cancer in its final stages. Within a week of being diagnosed with cancer, one lung had to be removed and he was immediately pushed into the laps of chemotherapists and radiologists. Two months ordeal dealing with the disease did not put him into any apparent dis-ease at all. Dr. Ingle rejoined his college for a few weeks before retirement and in his first address to students he narrated the benefits of being diagnosed with cancer! Yes you read it right : BENEFITS from Cancer. The list he presented could be a prescription only from a man with exceptionally positive outlook. A few items from the illustrative list are :
* Benefits from Indian Railways for Cancer patients, discounted tickets, free travel for attendants etc.
* Sympathies and empathies visit your house in truck loads; You rarely have to purchase fruits!
* You get priority when standing in long queues.
* Your long lost relatives pay you a visit and relations get rejuvenated.
* You get to know yourself better since you start communicating with yourself more.
* You finish doing things you always wanted to do in life but somehow either procrastinated or hesitated doing those.
Post retirement Dr. Ingle started counseling & care services for cancer patients and their relatives. A teacher in him was always keen to educate. He used to teach them how to not to address sufferings. Cancer is just another disease and like one treats a blood pressure or a sugar, similarly one is required to take care of his physique and manages heath. At the time when he was diagnosed with cancer, doctors were not sure if he might survive for a few days or weeks! Good news is Dr. Ingle enjoyed every moment of his life for the next five years!
Your attitude plays the biggest role in addressing your issues. I read a quotation on the front door of a physician which said, “I will be able to cure you only if you believe in me”. You need to imbibe an extremely positive self belief even in the most difficult situations. Unfortunately belief is lost when it is required the most. This is a vital charachter which should be taught to us in early childhood. As a child we get taught certain wrong lessons by parent’s, though unintentional but sometimes fetal. When a kid lands up in a difficult situation elders invariably rush to get her out into a safe zone. This sounds humanly desirable but at times children should also be allowed to take on difficulties on their own. Parent’s cannot be life time guardians and life will not be smooth always. Sometimes hurdles are just unavoidable. Say for example if you are on your way to work / school and you meet with an accident. This might be a completely unavoidable state of affair. If you are stuck into an unfair and most unlikely situation, the first thing you need to do is to accept the situation as it is. Crying over an unhappy and uncalled for situation has never helped anyone to transcend. Once the total acceptance sinks in, you are then better prepared to look for solutions. Accepting a tough situation should not be confused with surrendering to it. While surrender is the end of efforts, acceptance is a new beginning.
Yuvaraj Singh had the access to the best of the medical care but it would not have been possible for him to come back cured if he had zero stock of belief. On the backdrop of such hero’s and warriors who fight strongly and win over the most challenging ordeals in life I look at common man who gets into the garbage of depression just on the knock of minor ailments! People are as strong as they think they could be. Excessive emotional indulgence into an ailment makes one weak. The only alternate is to take on the disease logically and pursue with ambitions in life emotionally. Let the right brain not know what the left brain is dealing with. If you think you CAN, even a cancer will not stop you from getting your dreams fulfilled, the need is to believe that you CAN and hence You MUST!
LESSONS FOR EXCELLENCE :
•A disease should be looked at only as a roadblock, not the end to it.
•An unsurmountable courage is the first tool to deal with difficulties.
•Irrespective of constrains if you CAN think “I CAN”, you WILL.
•It pays to be an optimist, be so always.
•If it is to be it is up to me to do it!
Feedback : Ajit Varwandkar
Email : md@fsindia.in
FOR MORE INSPIRATION : PLEASE READ :
1. You can still win …. http://bit.ly/zTLuXB
2. It’s possible to get what you want� http://bit.ly/z3QmOF
Current Success is always Small February 18, 2012
Posted by aglakadam in Children n Students, Management.Tags: aglakadam, inspiration, lesson, life, Management, Motivation, success, win
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Current Success is always Small
National Talent Search Examination, popularly known as NTSE, has always been an aspiration mark for school students. Recently results were declared for the first level examination of NTSE 2011. Approximately 13,000 students appeared for this test in Chhattisgarh. My daughter Mahima, who is a Class VIII student at Krishna Public School Raipur also appeared for this examination and secured a slot in the first 90 odd students to get through. We all in the family were overwhelmed with this success and surely this was an occasion for celebration.
Immediately after the results we went to meet the director of her school, Mr. Ashutosh Tripathi to convey our gratitude for extending the best academic support. He was elated with his student’s success and it was all showing on his face. He luxuriously lauded Mahima for the feet and expressed his happiness in smile studded words of praise. His words of wisdom were highly inspirational. What came thereafter from his coffer of knowledge is absolutely rich and valuable life skill. I take this opportunity to share his success sutras with all the readers of “The Hitavada”.
One step of praise and two stages of admonition was his strategy. Suddenly after the dose of appreciation the director made us wary and suggested no party for this success. We all were surprised, why no party when there is such a relevant occasion to celebrate! To elucidate further, Mr. Tripathi shared two success secrets with Mahima :
- Remember this for lifetime that “current success is always small”
&
- Make success a habit.
These are so powerful advises I feel every person on the universe should take cognizance of it. Let’s try and understand the depth of these sutra’s. Qualifying for NTSE Level is a recognizable achievement though it is just half the way through. The ultimate victory happens when the student qualifies in the final (national) level examination! Being selected in the first stage and becoming eligible for appearing in the national level NTSE examination is similar to having qualified in the league matches before the semi finals and the final match. When you have a larger goal in front of you, it is a vital success habit to always consider the current success to be small. Current success should be used as an inspiration to achieve bigger victories. Current success should enable an individual to steer aggressively towards higher goals.
It surly makes sense to target partying at a higher achievement point and not get complacent by celebrating the smaller success. Success at every stage should be treated as an investment bank account. To en-cash the current success you should only withdraw confidence from the bank of success. Where is the time to rest when there are bigger challenges to test! A cricket enthusiast once asked Sachin Tendulkar “How do you celebrate every six that you hit in a match?” Came the reply, “I celebrate by focusing on the next incoming ball!”
Success breeds success. Getting habituated to success is good but getting into the habit of failure is worst! One should have the passion to be successful. When you do not make success as a natural tendency it becomes tough to align the mindset even when you are close to success. Here is an illustration from the world of cricket to put forth the point. The national cricket team of Bangladesh was in a phase of poor performance. They had lost a few matches in a row and the overall moral was very low in the team. At such a juncture they had to play a match with the then world champion Australia. To the shock and surprise of the cricketing world one new find bowler in the Bangladesh team spelled doom for the rival batsmen. The Aussies somehow managed to be at the crease at stumps. In the evening television journalist interviewed both the captain’s. The Aussie captain said, “To be in the game and to WIN it we will have to add 250 more runs tomorrow”. In the same interview the Bangladesh team’s captain said, “ we will have to ensure that we take all the wickets before lunch if we have to save this match! Pl re-read the words… “if we have to save this match”!!! Where is the question of saving a match when you are in a favorable match winning situation? What went wrong with the Bangladesh team was that they got habituated to loosing matches. Due to this negative habit they missed to recognize the visiting victory. On the contrary the Australian team was in the winning habit and even in a stressful situation they were thinking of victory!
We all know that it takes no time for the current to become past. With every passing moment, the current success tacitly gets buried into history and future unfolds with more demands for success. Winning should then become a way of life. We should allow our thoughts and design our actions to be governed by the habit of success.
Lessons for Excellence :
- Like failure, success should also not be counted as final
- Milestones of smaller success should never tempt you to rest till you achieve the bigger targets.
- Make wining a habit and you will never get distracted on the way.
- Current success should lay the carpet to welcome the next success.
- Always think success, to achieve success.
Feedback : Ajit Varwandkar
Email : md@fsindia.in
Stress is the shadow of wrong imagination February 6, 2012
Posted by aglakadam in Management.Tags: aglakadam, guidance, inspiration, lesson, life, Management, Motivation, stress, success, varwandkar
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Imagine this situation:
You are in a happy holiday mood. You plan to have a joyful day with your family as such you decide to go on a long drive. You start driving your car on a highway where there is almost no traffic. You are tempted to explore the odometer and you press hard on the accelerator. The madness of speed invariably brings obnoxious consequences. As you approach a traffic signal square, you do not stop at the ‘red traffic signal’ but zip past it since there is no other car on either side of the four-way. All of a sudden you get alerted by the sound of a police car siren. You see in the rear view mirror that the police car is approaching you at a still faster pace. You know that you have just committed a mistake and somehow the traffic police might have taken a note of it. The police car is at a distance where it would soon overtake you and ask you to stop. You feel stress mounting inside. You start imagining the consequences. What if you do not stop and rush at a still faster pace? Oh but the police might ask for more troops to stop me at the next turn! If they ask me to stop, I should obey them, says your inner voice. I am sure I will be fined for trespassing the traffic rule as well as for the rash driving. Oh God, please help me, they should not take me to the police station, I have no wrong intentions for sure. Your heart rate has increased and the effect seen as sweat drops on your forehead. You loose focus on the road and you’re only concentrated on the incoming harassment from behind. By now the police van is almost parallel to you. You have already started feeling very low, restless and insecure. Suddenly what happens is unbelievable for you. The police over took your car and went ahead, probably they were chasing a different target. Oops, all the while you were thinking that the police was running after you!
When there is ‘terror alert’ announced by the intelligence agencies, the overall administration & police is on its toes. What happened with you in the above illustration was something similar, your mental mechanism was all of a sudden put on high alert. There was a temporary phase of worry, stress and shock for you. Did you realize that all this was fictitious and hypothetical? Nothing of what you had imagined was actually true? You were not the target of the police van and they never intended to put you behind bars. However it was you who negatively extrapolated the imaginary consequences and started palpitating.
Can you get back to the first few words of the above imaginary situation. You were in a happy welcome mood which eventually translated into anxious and nervous state of affair for you. All this happened only because of you. It was you who instigated the negative thoughts in your mental backdrop. The world outside was the same even when you started the day in a happy mood and when you got into the stressful situation.
I share yet another situational example for you here. There was one family which was on to start a holiday tour. They had to board the train at a particular scheduled time known to them in much advance. Due to certain household chores they got delayed to start from home. Unfortunately for them, that day, the train was scheduled to arrive on time. Father – mother and their kids were tight-fisted and had their fingers crossed while they were rushing to the railway station in the car. The angry husband was all the way shouting at his wife & scolding her for being slow in arranging travel preparations. Although they intended to be on a holiday mood their journey started with stress. The poor children were close-lipped somehow wanting that they should be able to board the train. Finally, it was a touch and go situation and they somehow managed to get into the train. Friends, wasn’t it true that even if the gentleman had not behaved in a stressful manner they would have been able to board the train? What actually happened was the head of the family imagined all negative consequences and got stressed out.
We get exposed to similar situations many times in our daily life. In the process we sometimes unnecessarily invite a lot of stress and sadness into our life. The difference between stress and sorrow lies in the man’s perception. When you think bad, you feel bad. When you start feeling bad, it turns out to be worst for you personally. Stress is like friction, it is a necessary evil. Elementary level of stress is in-fact necessary for human being to survive. Stress is an energy & enthusiasm catalyst. It provokes a person to get into action mode and perform. Like you can store only a limited volume of fuel in your vehicle, human body is also designed to store a limited quantum of stress. As the stress grows more than the defined limit, it starts spilling and warns danger. It is our responsibility to disallow stress to walk along our life as soon as it becomes a liability. Finally it is our judgment to decide till what stage we would allow Mr. Stress to walk along with us in our journey of life!
LESSONS FOR EXCELLENCE :
- Never allow stress to be blown out of proportion because of unrealistic imaginations.
- Stress is like a small stone found under the shadow of a huge mountain.
- Invariably stress is created inside the human mind, it should be cured there itself.
- We should learn to be good to stress and in return stress will always be good to us.
- A basic amount of stress is must for us to excel in our ventures in life.
Ajit Varwandkar
Feedback : md@fsindia.in
For SUCCESS : commitment is more important than speed January 21, 2012
Posted by aglakadam in Management.Tags: aglakadam, inspiration, lesson, Management, Motivation, success, varwandkar, win
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Efforts never die
Your commitment is more important than your speed
I retell the story of a few frogs which lived their life happily near a dairy farm. Once while they were in search of food, a few of them inadvertently jumped into a milk bucket. Milk bath was an entirely new experience for these frogs. Eventually they realized that the side walls were too slippery and it was not possible for them to jump out of the vat. They could do nothing but to swim around hoping for some help. They were unaware of the fact that help comes to those who try a way out on their own first.
God helps those who help themselves. Almost all the frogs that
………………….. Complete write-up in my forthcoming book…. for announcement on the book title and launch, pl keep visiting www.aglakadam.com ………………………………………
In the journey to success, your commitment is more important than your speed.
Ajit Varwandkar
Feedback : md@fsindia.in
Kites fly highest against the wind, not with the wind January 14, 2012
Posted by aglakadam in Management.Tags: aglakadam, मकर संक्रांत, kite, makar sankrant, Management, success, teamwork, varwandkar, win
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Kites fly high against the wind
When we see thousands of kites flying in the air demonstrating a kaleidoscope of patterns, shapes & colors, it surely spreads pure happiness and rejuvenation in the air. The galaxy of kites put you in an awe and you think if life could get any better? A deeper look into the sight of kites soaring high into the sky can instigate spirituality and give you lessons in life. It’s really amazing to know what a kite can teach us. If we are open to get lessons, anything around us can teach us – even a kite! I summarize few lessons that can be driven out of this festival of kites.
………………….. Complete write-up in my forthcoming book…. for announcement on the book title and launch, pl keep visiting www.aglakadam.com ……………………………………… Ajit varwandkar
Feedback : md@fsindia.in
PS. An appeal : It has been found that some birds get killed by the string of the kite. Request all not to apply sharp edge materials to the kite string. This might harm a bird. Also fly a kite in such open areas where the birds are less likely to fly low.
FDI – Future Deserves Innovation December 17, 2011
Posted by aglakadam in Management.Tags: aglakadam, change, fdi, innovate, innovation, Management, market, mnc, success
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FDI – Future Deserves Innovation
A lot has been talked about and discussed regarding the introduction of FDI ( Foreign Direct Investment ) in the Indian retail segment. A media research report states that out of 125 crore plus people living in India not more than 0.75% of this population is likely to be in the business of small size trading / grocery or retail store business. Almost 50% of the nation directly survives on agricultural revenue in our country. What farmers sell at rupee 1 gets sold to the end customer at about Rs.4/- on account of the long drawn delivery chain. If the multinational retail stores are allowed to operate in India (under strict monitoring & guidelines), they would help farmers get a better return for their produce and also the common man is likely to save a lot in terms of monthly grocery budget. However this is not happening now. There has been myriad reaction to the proposal and the government has suspended this decision for the time being. Please note that through this article I do not intend to either support or criticize the decision on multi brand retail FDI related policy. Sometimes resistance to change ultimately converts into compulsion to react. Idea is to read between the lines and understand the vital importance of change and innovation in today’s business lifestyle.
………………….. Complete write-up in my forthcoming book…. for announcement on the book title and launch, pl keep visiting www.aglakadam.com ………………………………………
Ajit Varwandkar
Email : md@fsindia.in
If your child is at the career cross road December 3, 2011
Posted by aglakadam in aglakadam, career guidance and counselling.Tags: aglakadam, बच्चो, career, children, exam, examination, success, teacher student psychology
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If your child is at the career cross road
Recently I attended a marriage reception. These wedding parties sometimes give you the feel of getting stranded at a fuel station. You have to stand in the long queue near the stage and wait for your turn to greet the newlywed couple! It was 9.00 pm in the late evening and I was somehow killing time in the queue. I was anxious to dispose-off the bouquet at the earliest.
I realized someone was throwing a smile at me. It was the parent of one of the school student who had once upon a time appeared for a career guidance & counseling session with me in my office. On that very spot, standing in the queue, the concerned parents threw rapid fire round of questions at me. Sir, I want to see my daughter as an engineer, can you tell us which all colleges outside our state should we target? How should she be preparing for the examinations? Some study tips from you will really be helpful for my daughter to excel in her career, so on and so forth…..
I could see the agony in the eyes of the child. After a while I could even register a sense of embarrassment on the face of the kid. Definitely she did not want to be bothered on career selection and study tips while in the party. Any child will not like this. Parent of this student were a bit too concerned about her career. Excess concern borders paranoia.
Many parents complain about their child’s education & career consciousness in multiple variants. A few shared here: “My child does not share his interests with me.”, “I am ready to help him but he is never keen to take our support.”, “The child is introvert at home and extrovert in school.”, “He is so stubborn when it comes to career selection and does not give us a damn.”.
If your child is at a career crossroad she is at a very sensitive career stage. It is really rightful for the parent to be bothered about their ward’s career. It is also of utmost importance to respect the child’s individuality and give her space. I have observed that in the process of imparting right career directions to their children many parents intrude into their creativity and independence. Such attempts either miss fires or worst back fires. Such illegitimate intrusions are harmful not just for the child and the parent but also for the society.
Too much involvement in child’s career building process is equally harmful as too less involvement is. Some parents make an open offer to their children. They say, “Go ahead and do whatever you want to, we will support you”. This decision to respect the child’s decision is really good but not really fruitful. It is the moral responsibility of the parent to first suggest a few career options and then ask the child to make a career choice. It is vital to note at this stage that before making any suggestion, child should be thoroughly accessed on interest, aptitude and abilities. Careers matching with these parameters should then be suggested to the child. If required support of professional counselors should necessarily be sought.
As per one survey an average student in India spends not more than 4 hours throughout the school life planning for life’s career decisions. Majority of the students are simply not aware of the various career options available in the society! On the contrary they spend more than 20 hours on selecting the bike / scooty and about 50 hours selecting a house.
Career decision has a big significance in one’s life. Students should be encouraged to think on the following questions while they are crossing the middle school : “What should I do in my life?”, “what is my career inspiration”, “what are my most liked and most disliked career streams”, “How & when should I plan my career?” When the student starts addressing these questions, we can be sure that she has started climbing the ladder of career success.
I believe that every single student has the potential to become successful in life. Parents should play the role of a light house & a guide post. They should shower enough light for the child to take a leap and also warn when there is danger. Their support & guidance should enable the student to take informed career decisions & prepare well for future.
LESSONS FOR EXCELLENCE :
- Failing to plan for child’s career is nothing but planning to see your child fail in her career.
- In the process of guiding your child please ensure that you guard her self esteem. Irrelevant tinkering into her aspiration will only make her restless, insecure and insincere.
- It is important for the parent to be self aware about career choices and be confidant about happenings in life, only then the child will inculcate these attributes.
- Over indulgence by parent into child’s choices might display lack of trust. Beware.
- Law of career success states that the child should select the career which she is desperate for and not the one which her parents were ambitious for at some point of time.
By : Ajit Varwandkar
Feedback : md@fsindia.in
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