of the people, by the people, for the people…

Watching ‘Lincoln’ was a joy. Daniel Day Lewis and Steven Spielberg and their colleagues produced such succinct and inspiring art that moves hearts, nourishes minds and inspires souls.

My favorite part is at the beginning when the following excerpt of Lincoln’s Gettysburg address was depicted …

“– that we here highly resolve that these dead shall not have died in vain — that this nation, under God, shall have a new birth of freedom — and that government of the people, by the people, for the people, shall not perish from the earth.” Excerpt: The Gettysburg Address by Abraham Lincoln on 19Nov1863

My tears well up and flowed gracefully filling the ground beneath my feet, my land, with hope for nations, all nations, to rise up and focus on doing their jobs to serve as they are all respectively…….” government of the people, by the people, for the people, shall not perish from the earth “!

motivation & endurance

Motivation starts something; but Endurance makes it happen!

Endurance is the mother of all achievements…

Many advice based themselves on motivation or encouragement. They are good. However, they are good in their limited capacity to get us to start something. It may be to reduce weight. Announcing a change at the workplace or home-front. But it is the process of implementing all of these changes that caused people to give up when they face “distractions” of all kinds along the way.

That’s when and where Endurance must show up within us. It enables us. It strengthens us to stay the course; eg to better health, enhance relations, bigger goals or exciting future! Endurance is the ‘software’ for action which is the ‘hardware’. It is a matter of the mind and the heart, which is to me, main ingredients for our personal passions in living life.

Endurance is also a matter of commitment. We need to learn, commit and do the right things to be blessed in life…

So, lets us apply motivation and endurance for a happier and blessed living!

reaching out

Look around us and we’ll find people in our lives have needs and hurts that we can do something about to help them. If only we just reach out!

I belief that we are born with seeds of servitude. We cannot not serve others. Have you served people without reservations in you life? If yes, which I belief most of us have, remember how did it feel at the time. It felt good and blessed, isn’t it.

And lets turn the scenario around, how many of us watched someone being served and comforted and felt deeply touched eg the policeman who bought a homeless man a pair of new winter booths when he saw him lying on the streets begging with frost bitten feet and toes. Our tears well up to the brim of flowing with joy, won’t we. Another example is when we see a professor making the effort to bring education to the rural areas of India and educate the children who otherwise do not have the opportunity to be schooled to create brighter futures.

I saw an old lady begging on a pedestrian bridge. Instead of money, I bought her a food. She was stunned and smiled. I walked away. I still think of her…

It does something within us, it changes us in a very deep sense. I think it connects us all to the original plan when we were “made”. We were made to serve humanity. We made to serve. We were made to love…

So, reach out to someone in need and be a friend in’deed’!

don’t judge

What we see, or think we see may not be the actual picture…the map is not the territory. What I am sharing here is our perceptions of the world, our experiences and our interpretation of it all.

It is easy to judge. We judge when we see a deviation from what we know or expect. However, be open to deviations and difference. Find out more about these deviations and differences before passing the ‘death sentence’ on someone’s behaviors or performance. For example, when we see a colleague acting in a rude manner to a another colleague, don’t judge him (her). If it matters to you a lot, research that encounter by talking to the colleague who acted and the other who received the action privately. You’ll then know the truth and it shall set you free from judging them. What you can do next is maybe, if you so wish, to help them solve their differences.

It is very pertinent for us to remember, that we constantly filter all information (data) received through our five senses of sight, sound, feeling, taste and smell as each of these is received. Then, we generally interpreted each piece of the sensory information (data) in accordance to our own filters (existing thought, experience, values and beliefs, skill etc and analysis structure in the brain and mind) to make a summary of its meaning as a whole. The next set of filter occurs as we translate our understanding to words. And our translation is affected or determined by our range of words in our vocabulary to accurately explain it.

So, the point is, we filter lots of information of what we see, hear, feel, taste and smell. Lots of accurate information are lost during this filtering. Hence, what we perceived may not be accurate. The next best thing to do is to research and ask questions to recover, challenges and specify the ‘sensory facts’ that we received.

Therefore, I suggest that we stop judging and start recovering, challenging and specifying all of our sensory facts before we leap!

our true character is like tea; it taste best under hot water

True character, attitude or behavior is revealed under pressure or stressful life situations. It could be in our personal or professional area.

Most people (at times i dared say all people) live lives with masks. Portraying all things are okay when they are not. Its really very paradoxical in that if we say we are not okay, most people will back off (maybe they’d be thinking they have enough problems of their own).

However, if we say that we are fine, or okay or so-so; at times we’d say ‘could be better’, people may may patronize us or judge us in the wrong way ie their own way rather than gathering more facts behind our words and get to the real reason(s).

Lets be frank, life in general, living with people, family and colleagues for example, can be stressful at times. And one thing I have lived through also observed in my friends and colleagues, those of us have been working consciously and hard in developing a balance character based on strong values for life and principles for living have been able to sail through pressurizing and stressful situations.

Values for life and principles for living are like integrity and accountability; integrity that ensures we are honest and sincere in every dealings with fellow human being whereas accountability that ensures we mean what we say and say what we mean…

I’d like to excitedly encourage you to adopt your personal values for life and principles for living. Create habits of applying your own values and principles. In 1 week you’ll see the difference; in 2 weeks people will see the difference; in 3 weeks the whole world will see the difference!!!

unconscious inner voice

We will never know how resilient we are until we are stretched and tested. Hence, during an immensely challenging situation, soldier on bravely till the very end. We always come out on the other end better, braver, smarter and richer (experience). Motivation is the starter. Endurance is the fuel that enables us to finish the race.

My conscious mind normally would tell me to stop it, I can’t make it, it is not worth it etc. And I have learnt to replace these thoughts or ‘noise of distractions’ with my inner unconscious soothing, assuring and protective  voice that says ‘..go on, you can do it…you have always been able to…run the good race… Over the years, I have learnt to trust my inner unconscious voice. It is personal. It is me!

Get in touch with your unconscious inner voice. Let it guide you on your journey. It is very personal and you’ll love it!

leading people

One common trait I see in leaders over the years is that they all lead people and do not manage them.

There is a distinction between leading and managing people. I think the main one is that when we lead, we do so in a humanely manner and uphold our followers dignity and respect their personal dreams. We constantly keep our ultimate goals in mind whilst leading our followers in the best possible ways to move towards the goals for mutual gains and growth. With such leading approaches, followers give their all because they feel justified and passionate to contribute to a worthy leader towards a worthy cause and goal.

When leaders “manage” their followers, they’d be directing them as if they are fixed assets or ‘robotic’, people without feelings or aspirations. It is like the saying that goes ‘if we manage with a hammer, everything will look like a nail’. We can get much out of this style. We just get more frustrated and stressed.

As leaders, we need to be more psychologically savvy. Learn to understand people’s ways of thinking, feeling and acting (behaving). Learn how to build rapport with them to build our leadership trustworthiness and gain their trust. Always putting ourselves in their shoes, seeing, hearing and feeling things from their perceptions. Only then, we would enjoy the bliss of working with them and building lasting relationships.

Lets lead people in the right way!