Category: Habits

Ric Elias – Lessons From A Plane Crash

Ric Elias had a front-row seat on Flight 1549, the plane that crash-landed in the Hudson River in New York in January 2009. Through this TED talk, he shares what went through his mind as the doomed plane went down & the invaluable lessons he learnt from the experience.

Lesson #1: It all changes in an instant. I no longer want to postpone anything in my life.

Lesson #2: Decided to eliminate negative energy from my life. I no longer try to be right, I choose to be happy.

Lesson #3: I was given another gift, to be able to see into the future and come back & live life differently. How would you change to be the man you want to be? What would you change today to live the life you want to live? What would you get done today that you are waiting to get done because you believe you will be here forever?

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YES To News, NO To Paper

Newspapers_Jaymi Heimbuch(Photo courtesy Jaymi Heimbuch)

A lifestyle experiment brings in an era of no newspapers at the Shub household.

It first started with my early-to-office routine to beat the dreaded Bangalore traffic. The start was so early, that I missed the arrival of the day’s newspapers on most days. The news reading routine got relegated to the evening. Though I found myself in the dark on some topics over coffee table discussions, I didn’t really miss the newspaper much. 

Another phenomenon that enhanced the disillusionment with newspapers was “commodity journalism”. Non-newsworthy items becoming front page articles. Lack of expertise & perspective in reporting. Internet articles making it to print 2-3 days later. More & more items are worth skipping (amongst the newspapers I read, Mint was an exception).

Finally, the pain of storing old newspapers in a small metro apartment was the clincher. Space & cleanliness issues (roaches love the old paper storage area) were just not worth it. Good riddance. 

So, the beginning of the new year witnessed an astonished newspaper vendor being told to stop the delivery. It is an experiment yet. During this time, we will switch to laptops, iPhone & the Kindle to access our news. Through these channels, news is more current, we get to pick & choose what we want to consume, and maybe save a few trees being felled to print “Page 3” kind of a crap. We sure will miss the weekend routine of reading newspapers over a lazy cuppa. But I am hoping we will get used to the switch. 

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5 New Year Resolutions To Be More Innovative

Innovator

In this post on Fast Company, the author Kaihan Krippendorff suggests the 5 new year resolutions that could make you more innovative.

  1. To be more innovative, you need more diverse sources of information and inspiration. Resolve to read magazines you’ve never considered, watch movies you think you’d hate, and attend lectures of topics apparently unrelated to what you do.
  2. Innovators are “intense observers” and so are able to spot customer needs and emerging “weak signals.” This year put up your antenna. Pretend you are the producer of Jon Stewart’s The Daily Show and need to know which issues and topics people care about this week and this month.
  3. Innovators try things just to see if they work while others want to know if they will work before they try them. Decide that this year you will start taking small risks. Force yourself to conduct, say, five low-risk experiments in your business this year.
  4. Innovators are curious, and they ask questions not just because they are after something but because they enjoy the journey of discovery. This year find yourself continually asking “why?” and “how?” Read the newspaper, not just to absorb the decisions CEOs and other leaders make, but to challenge them. Ask “Why should CTS focus on growth & not margins?” and come up with three reasons why they should.
  5. Innovators are great networkers and they network without a precise goal in mind. This year thrust yourself into new networks. Join a club, pick up a hobby, and plan lunches that will put you face-to-face with people who have no obvious networking value for you. You will be surprised by serendipitous opportunities they open up.

Read the full post here.

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Why Should You Blog

Blog_alamodestuff 
(Photo Courtesy alamodestuff)

#1: To Share

The original purpose of my creating Muses of the Gleep was to share useful information. Sharing is fun, satisfying & builds camaraderie. I once did some research on brand taglines and shared my research results as a post. Brand Tagline is one of the most viewed posts on this blog today. You could also share your ideas, learning, experiences, insights or opinion on any topic of interest. 

~ Quotes To Live By – Life Lessons from Richard Branson
~ Links of Interest – 27Oct2010
~ Intrapreneurs – Engaged Employees
~ Difference Between Mars & Venus

#2: To Learn

If you are a learner for life like me, blogging is a tremendous learning platform. Whenever learning is done with an intent of passing the knowledge to others, the learning process & resulting internalization tends to be richer. Apart from the additional research & the change in learning perspective, there is also the “meta-cognition of thinking of what you’re going to say, explaining yourself & expressing yourself” – an effective way to to formulate your thought processes.  Finally, there is the humility that comes along with writing.

~ Plan Your Presentation
~ Thinking of becoming an entrepreneur?

#3: To Spread Ideas

The internet has democratized publishing. With a blog, you can spread your ideas & those of others that resonate with you, much faster than was imaginable just a few years ago. Your blog can be your stage for 15 minutes of fame.  If the ideas are good, they will be consumed by netizens across the world. Else, as the saying goes, you create something that makes you famous amongst the 15 people who matter to you. 

~ Best Friend At Work
~ Being Authentic While Competing

#4: To Market

When it comes to personal branding or marketing on the internet, no other medium comes close! It is free, easy to update & has a tremendous reach. If any brand (including & especially you) is not using a blog for internet marketing, it is for you to loose.

~ Top 5 Personal Branding Resources
~ Measure of what you believe, is what you do!

#5: To Build Accountability

One way of building personal accountability is to announce your intentions (life goals, yearly resolutions or your bucket list) to the world. This way you hold yourself accountable to a larger audience, that (I believe) increases the chances of you achieving the same. Increased possibly comes in the form of a helping hand, or a nudge forward, or additional internal motivation to deliver on your public claims.

~ Reinforce The Positives
~ Are You Doing Your Part?
~ The Most Effective Habit

People have varied reasons to blog. I have listed below a few others that might tickle your interest.

#  to use it as an autobiography of sorts
#  to give your kids a peek into your world
#  to improve writing skills
#  to create conversations 
#  to add to the voice / cause on the internet

Find your reason to blog!