Simple Lessons from Other's Experience

1.

What do you wish you had known at the start of your career?

Writing notes to yourself about what you hope to accomplish this week, this month, and this quarter, and periodically checking against that is a very useful process. Otherwise, other people dictate your agenda. You still do a lot of things that are useful, but your priority items get neglected, and you can lose focus and the discipline to do your own tasks.

Excerpts Contributed from http://www.chicagogsb.edu/news/daa2006/01-rao-5min.aspx.

2.

Story: Work hard and smart..

Perhaps the ingenuity award goes to the fellow who came to the Canadian border on his motorcycle, carrying two saddlebags strapped across his seat. The border guards asked the obvious question, "What's in your saddlebags?" "Rocks," was the reply. So the guards emptied the bags to check out his story. Sure enough, all they found were rocks. So they sent him on his way. The next week, the same fellow came to the crossing, again on a motorcycle, again with the same payload. The guards checked once again, and found more rocks. Off he went. The scene repeated itself weekly for several months, until finally the guards couldn't stand it any longer. "We know you are smuggling something across the border, but every time we inspect your saddlebags we find only rocks. Please tell us what you are up to, and we promise not to turn you in." "Well," the fellow replied, "It's really very simple. I'm smuggling stolen motorcycles."

Moral of the story: It's good to work hard. It's great to work smart. But it's best to work hard and smart.
http://pastortea.blogspot.com/2007/10/work-hard-work-smart.html

Good one..

Act Without Expectation: It Relaxes & Rewards

It’s often believed that if people become spiritual and dispassionate about the outcome of their actions, they will stagnate; there will be no progress. In fact, the opposite is true. Creativity and enthusiasm can spring only when you are well rested; and you cannot rest if you are anxious about the outcome of your actions.

When we perform every action with an eye on the end result, we get lost in the end and don’t enjoy the means of getting to the end. But when we perform some actions as an expression of joy and do not bother about the result, the action itself brings fulfillment.

When we act expecting joy, the action becomes inferior. For example, you want to spread happiness, but if you try to find out whether the other person has become happy, you get entangled in a vicious circle. In the process, you lose your happiness.

Anxiety about the outcome of your action is what pulls you down. At the beginning of a project if you start worrying, then your whole enthusiasm for the project gets dampened. When you are aware of your potential, just jump into action without bothering about the result.

When you are in doubt, any activity you do will bring more doubts. When you have a choice, the grass on the other side will look greener and this prevents you from enjoying what you have in your hand. When you are bothered by a choice, relax.

The choice is never between good and bad; it’s always between bad and worse or good and better. Choices bring conflict and there is freedom in ‘choicelessness’. How can you be centered when there is conflict? There is a Chinese saying that when you are in doubt, take a pillow and go to bed.

In Narada Bhakti Sutras, Narada says, “Karmanyapi Sanyasyati”. Take a break, not just from activity, but also from the fruit of the activity. It will bring deep rest from doubts and conflicts. One who is not concerned about the outcome and is centered on the action, goes beyond dualities, beyond conflicts.

The wise one is beyond all actions. Yet he continues to engage himself in action. You can only let go of what you have. So to let go of the fruit of action, you need to have the fruit and to have the fruit, you need to act!

This is so beautiful. If you have never acted, then how can you drop either the action or the fruit of action. So be active. Keep doing your work, and drop the fruit of action. The fruit of action is there as the motivation for you to start acting. Krishna used the fruit of action to motivate Arjuna to fight. He told Arjuna that if you die in battle, you will attain heaven and if you win, you will rule the world. Jesus did the same.

When you are bogged down by laziness, you need motivation to do something and the expected fruit of action acts as the motivating factor. But once you start acting, let go of the expected result. Just focus on the work on hand. This is the way of the wise!

When do we need committment?

When we dont like something, no interest, and when we know it is good to do,
then we need committment.
What we like or love, do we need committment? Nopes :)

Share and Grow - Part III - 'Social Entrepreneurship'

When: Sat Mar 15 @ 6:30pm
Where: 52 Highwood Terrace
Weehawken NJ 07086
Topic: "What is Social Entrepreneurship" by Nitin

On current affairs, we will discuss "Indian Budget, Challenges and letting gos in Budget Preparation - how would you do it"? If you wanna engage on budget, checkout links:

http://www.ibnlive.com/budget2008/budget360
http://ia.rediff.com/money/budget08.html

Happy Shivratri to all of you!!

Knowledge(from Sri Sri):
link: http://guruvaani.files.wordpress.com/2008/02/gurudev_says.pdf
http://www.artoflivingpune.org/aolnew/sitefiles/Q&A.asp

Why judge ?
Do not see intention behind somebody else's
mistakes.
You want to know the mind of another person-
--how is it? You don't even know your own
mind, and you want to know somebody else's
mind! And it's impossible to know anybody's
mind just by their words, or the movement of
their lips and tongue. The tongue has no bone,
so it can just move in any way it wants!
Let things be the way they are. Who cares? Right or
wrong---no judgement.
If you are against someone, you have no
freedom from them. If you find fault in
someone, and your mind is set against them,
know that you are stuck with them, glued with
them! Super glue!
See the possibility that people and things can
change at any time and don’t hold on to
judgements.

------------------------------------------
few more quotes from him:
Judgements are inevitable but keep them loose,at surface, very light and not holding on to them(as events change, people change, situations change).
Feelings are more difficult to hide than thoughts.
Emotions are 10 times stronger than thoughts.

Sri Sri ravi Shankar

In life you will never have to face a situation where you have to make a choice between the bad and the good. The choice is always between the bad and the worse, good and the better, the better and the best.

Question: Guruji logically there is no reason to be happy. But happy state of mind doesn't follow any logic. Is happiness related to logic?

Guruji: (laughter) The whole exercise in life is to balance the head and the heart. When you are too much into head, u should just let go, and relax, sing and dance. You know your sleep is a gift to you. Do you know that? During sleep the mind gets so much of rest! But meditation is the ultimate rest to your mind.

Question: Guruji how can I eliminate conflict with my wife. I want to make her happy at the same time cannot agree to everything she says. Can you help?

Guruji: Why do you want a bland life? (laughter) Life should be spicy, interesting. Its absolutely ok to fight! You just tell yourself, today let her scream, I am not going to get angry on her!! You stand like a rock and keep smiling!! See how things turn around! Just one day you do that, and you will see you are so potent to end a conflict or may be begin a new one!! (laughter)!!


Link: http://aolseattle.blogspot.com/search?updated-min=2007-01-01T00%3A00%3A00-08%3A00&updated-max=2008-01-01T00%3A00%3A00-08%3A00&max-results=39

India won CB series in finals. pic worth sharing

India U19 won world cup, India bt Australia in 1st final