Reading a blog by Shekhar Kapur "Why the G20 will fail", I couldn't agree more with him.
http://www.shekharkapur.com/blog/archives/2009/03/_the_g_20_talks.htm,
My thoughts on this are that when the economy recovers in 2 years, will people remember this recession or the lesson from it? They will again start chasing money, wealth and riches at the cost of personal development and improvement of community, environment, etc. The cycle of recession will repeat itself in 7-10 years as it has done in the past.
There is a general lack of Collective wisdom out there. That is why the wise are so rare while fools abound. Not that I am claiming to be wise but the fact remains that vast majority of us measure success in terms of wealth. That is what the whole world is all about - isn't it? Whether free trade or G20 or anything. Even when GreenTech or CleanTech is hot these days, the lines are divided between the true believers and the big corporates. The corporates want to make huge money out of the Wind Energy movement - thats all there is to it.
The last week had brilliant sunshine and I was looking forward to the weekend. My 4 year old had sweet talked me into putting up a vegetable patch in our garden. The grand plan was to plant spinach and tomato. Not endowed with "green fingers" I was especially fearful of the activity. But with my wife and daughter joining in the task made it simple and enjoyable: a real example of "we" working together.
As I was digging up the square patch with all its roots, pebbles and sticky soil, a flash of clarity struck me. In our lives, when we set out to make changes whether in ourselves or the way we live, we face the daunting task of changing old habits, mindsets, thoughts and the ingrained ways that we work. These are like the roots in the vegetable patch that are difficult to rid of. I had to work extra hard to dig them up and throw them out. Preparing the patch with compost and filtered old soil and planting new seeds was analogous to introducing new thoughts, ideas and actions in our daily lives to improve ourselves. The job is not done with simply planting the seeds.
I will need to water the patch, add liquid feed and keep the neighbour's cat at bay to ensure the seeds have a good chance of sprouting into saplings and finally plants that will bear fruit. In the same way, we need to continually reinforce the new ideas and habits that we incorporate to ensure that the changes are long lasting rather than one-off attempts. We will need the help and support of family members and loved ones as well in the process. This is similar to the 21-day repetition that Robin Sharma mentions in "The Monk Who Sold His Ferrari" before a habit is formed. I look forward to the next 7-14 days for the saplings to sprout in my garden!
An article from Knowledge@Wharton. A well-established principle of product development holds that a small group of early adopters can spur mass-market acceptance of a new product. What is less well understood is how those early adopters react when that product or its brand is accepted by the mass market. As Wharton marketing professors David Reibstein and John Zhang explain in this video, the company could experience a backlash as early adopters move on to other new products. A case in point: Porsche saw a decline in sports car sales after it entered the SUV mass market. Research by Reibstein and Zhang discusses reasons for the backlash and suggests a strategy for dealing with it. http://knowledge.wharton.upenn.edu/article.cfm?articleid=2189
Speaking with a friend living in Iran, I learnt some thing new about Iranian traditions. Apparently, my friend got married in Dec 2008, but his wedding ceremony will be conducted either in May or September 2009.
I was so curious that I had to ask him to explain. It so happens that Iranian weddings are spread across 3 ceremonies. The first one is the engagement ceremony. The second ceremony involves official confirmation of the wedding contract. Both these ceremonies are attended by the main family members and tribes of the 2 families.
Finally, you have the wedding ceremony that is attended by all friends and tribes of the 2 families. An elaborate but nevertheless enjoyable experience.
Every personal goal you set can be evaluated in terms of the following 4 parameters:
1. Money = how much money you think will be sufficient to lead your life comfortably?
2. Ego Food = self esteem achieved through the work you do and the success you achieve
3. Love = family, wife, kids. Don't ignore this important aspect of your life. This is what is meant by attaining a work life balance.
4. Health = whatever you set out to achieve should not take a toll on your health. Take steps to keep yourself in good shape and good health.
In order to achieve your goals, you also need to consider the following:
1. Desire - do you have the desire to achieve the goal?
2. Ability - do you the ability i.e. skills, qualification, strength, etc?
3. Human Relations - do you have the emotional capacity to handle the emotions of family, friends, colleagues as you move along the path to achieve these goals?
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