Category: Habits

Another’s Viewpoint

Title: Another’s Viewpoint
Location: Chamonix Mont-Blanc

The last few months, I have been reading quite a bit about Emotional Intelligence (EI) for professional development. An important aspect of EI is the ability to see & understand the situation from another’s viewpoint. This picture, for me, captures the essence of this aspect from a photography perspective. Walking through the icy tunnel, this fantastic framed view of the Alps with the silhouette of the couple enjoying the view, was a compelling click.

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Related Posts:
~ Photo Feature – Old Geneva Town (Part 3)
~ Photo: Man & Peace
~ Photo Feature – Linger At Balur Estate

Runner Extraordinaire

Most of the times, we give excuses (to ourselves, more than anything else) why not to do certain things. Bad knees, lack of stamina, no running track, too old to run, etc. – have all featured in my excuse list for not running. But, it is precisely the act of overcoming some of these debilitating voices inside our heads that takes us places.

Simon Wheatcroft – Ultra Runner With A Twist

Read more from this inspirational runner at his blog Adapting To Going Blind. 

Matt Cutts | The 30 Day Challenge

matt_cutts      MattCutts_30DayChallenge

Matt Cutts is the Head of Google’s Webspam team. Apart from taking the Google story to the world, he also talks about an interesting method to achieve more in your personal life – the 30 day challenge. Check out this 5 minute YouTube video where he introduces this concept & shares his experiences using the same. Could be an effective personal kaizen tool.

The entire video with a lot more ideas is on YouTube (~60 mins).

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Related Posts:
~ The Next Step
~ Top 10 Productivity Habits
~ Why Should You Blog
~ Ric Elias – Lessons From A Plane Crash

Roadblocks To Achieving Goals

Obstacle(Photo Courtesy flickr|thomas.hahusseau)

There are six roadblocks to achieving goals. Knowing them will help you set & achieve goals betters – for yourself & for others you are trying to help.

1. Ownership: Only YOU can make YOU better. In goal-setting, you need to ensure that you own your change objectives – because they are yours. You are responsible for your behaviour.

2. Underestimating Time Involved: Positive change in perception does not occur overnight. Habits that take 30 years to develop won’t go away in a week. And as they change your behaviour, others may not recognize it for months. Ultimately, changed behaviour will lead to changed perceptions and more effective relationships.

3. Underestimating Difficulty: The optimism bias of goal-setters applies to difficulty. Your challenge in achieving goals  is not understanding what is to be done, but in actually doing! Real change requires real work.

4. Assuming Lack Of Distractions: Assume that there will be unexpected distractions and competing goals. By planning for distractions, you are less likely to give up on the change when problems or opportunities appear.

5. Expectation of Rewards: While you do the “what’s in it for me” analysis, realize that the fruits might take a long time in coming. Its important to see personal change as a process that will help you become more effective over time. Short-term price is to be paid long-term gain.

6. Maintenance Effort: Personal kaizen is a perennial “getting there” process as compared to an “arrived” state. Changes & goals also need to be maintained with the “sharpening of the saw”. Especially when relationships are involved – people change, relationships change – and maintaining any positive relationship requires ongoing effort over time.

This post is inspired by Achieving Goals by Marshall Goldsmith.