Saturday, January 31, 2015

LEARNING FROM MISTAKES


Thomas Edison tried two thousand different materials in search of a filament for the light bulb. When none worked satisfactorily, his assistant complained, “All our work is in vain. We have learned nothing.”
Edison replied very confidently, “Oh, we have come a long way and we have learned a lot. We know that there are two thousand elements which we cannot use to make a good light bulb.”
EVERYONE DO COMMIT A MISTAKE...BUT LEARNING FROM MISTAKE LEADS TO SUCCESS..SO WHAT YOU HAVE LEARNT FROM YOUR MISTAKES???

Team building exercises can help relieve stress


Work related stress is a common complaint. The latest figures from the labor force survey (lfs) show that the total number of cases of stress in 2011/12 was 428, 000 (40%) out of a total of 1, 073, 000 for all work-related illnesses. Team building exercises can help combat some of the reasons and symptoms of stress in the workplace.
While a little stress can push people to achieve – too much stress can have damaging and far reaching effects not only on the individual suffering but for the company and other team members.For instance, here are some examples of the impact on a business from work related stress:
  • Days off work may be taken.
  • The company image can suffer.
  • Staff retention and recruitment may be affected.
  • Customer satisfaction can be damaged.
  • Productivity and performance can suffer – errors may occur.
  • Conflict between staff members.
What’s more, there are legal obligations for employers, to minimize the risk of stress-related illness or injury to employees, under the Health and Safety at Work Act 1974 and Management of Health and Safety at Work Regulations 1999.
Whilst a team building exercise is seen simply as a fun day out of the office by some employees, there are important lessons that can be learned on an away-day hosted by a professional events company, which can help reduce stress.
The benefits of a team building day for a staff member can be:
  • Improving problem solving skills.
  • Improving communication techniques.
  • Developing leadership and managerial skills.
  • Identifying strengths and weaknesses.
  • Breaking down barriers with colleagues.

Friday, January 30, 2015

Is texting ruining the English language?


" Omg ....isn't it awsum?" ......"Howz lyf" .......... "lol...datz kewl!" 
Ever so often, I have had my associates turn in an assignment, in which the new generation texting language makes an appearance. Although I always remember to mention that these assignments are formal documents and so they should have a very formal tone. 

I have been training people in communication skills for years now and it irks me no end when I have an associate deliver his assignment where the “you “ becomes “u” and the “that” goes ”dat”.

But who can blame them? When they spend endless hours chatting on whatsapp or wechat using this style of writing, isn’t it obvious that this language would quietly find its way into formal documentation. 
I do understand that today’s world of communication is technology driven. It’s a fact that, texting has become the most popular mode of communication today. At work, at meetings, at home, and with friends, texting is making its presence felt almost everywhere.
I am a witness to this ongoing transition. As part of the ILP curriculum, the new entrants to TCS, have to develop a mini project in whichever software language they are getting trained in. These days, I have seen Java project UIs saying “u have been registrd succssfully......!!!!” or a CPP project UI go “do u wnt to proceed furthr?” Whatever happened to the good old vowel sounds? Texting has almost made the vowels obsolete. The sounds that have enabled us throughout the ages to express our emotions and feelings, suddenly find themselves left out. Aren’t we taking a lot of liberty with a language that is known for its refinement. It is almost as if, we have become too lazy to even type our words correctly. And what about the punctuations? “It is just fine to put a few extra exclamations and interrogative marks, they help to create an emphasis”...they say. 

Or is it all a new way to make sense between writing and speaking? Much like the way Phonetics does. Is it a search to write the way we speak? One thing that we all have to agree is that ”English is a funny language”. We never write the way we speak it. At least, the new texting language is doing its bit to make some sense of the written sounds.

On the other hand, it also reminds us that English language is alive and thriving. Probably, this is the way language evolution happens. Every language has been making comprises to suit human needs and requirements, and language changing, in itself, shows the evolution of a society. I am sure that the language we think of as correct English, must have gone through years of similar transformation to be what it is today.

The purpose of any language is to effectively communicate ideas from one to another. And texting enthusiasts argue that our ability to do that is greatly hindered with so much pointless complexity and inconsistency in our language. Hence, simplification is exactly what our language needs and that is what the modified text English is offering us. If we just let go of institutionalized language and let it naturally evolve like it's meant to, we may just have the perfect language in the near future. Probably it would be good to let language evolution take its natural course and grow into something much more effective.

Personally I find it a bit concerning that people are no longer thinking about speaking correctly and that their ability to write correctly is restricted by the limitations of buttons of their phone keypads, or perhaps more significantly, laziness.

So, wat do u say abt dat? Do u think txting is ruinin' d English language... or r v jst bein' overly senstiv 2wrds dis topic?? 

3 Awesome Ways To Painlessly Increase Your Confidence


1. Take risks.

Confidence is a funny thing. You go out and do the thing you’re most terrified of, and the confidence comes afterwards. 
If you always do things as you have always done them of course you won’t feel confident.

2. Know your strengths and weaknesses.

As you learn who you are, you gain confidence in your strengths and also learn your weaknesses.
 For one thing, it can be hard to know which parts of you are you, and which parts are who you think you should be 
A good start is to identify your strengths and weaknesses and then weigh those against what you enjoy. (If you’re great in sales, but you actually can’t stand sales jobs, then it doesn't really matter if you have confidence there. 

3.) Trust your capabilities.

Confidence comes not from knowing you know everything, but from knowing you can handle what comes up. 
No one in the world knows everything. Everyone is good at some things and not so good at others. Don’t weigh your security against what you know or can do; weigh it against your willingness and capacity to learn.
If someone criticizes you, take it is an opportunity to improve. If someone does better than you, see it as an opportunity to learn from them. If you fall short at something, realize you can get closer next time. Don’t worry if you’re not confident in what you can do now—be confident in your potential.

Monday, January 26, 2015

A Leaf From One's School Diary!!!

     School days however uneventful always has a special locker within our hearts. The people we met, the people who guided us, the innumerable heavy subjects that we somehow managed to lift!! That place definitely changed us and has a vital role in making what we are today!!
       To those of who do not know My school... Udyogamandal school, the brain child of the visionary, Late Mr. M K K Nair, earlier CMD of FACT, is affiliated to ICSE board.
       Having studied there for 12 long years... This place definitely had a role in moulding me into the person I am!! So, by the time I left I knew how much I was going to miss this place.. Because it had been ingrained into my blood and its memories shall never perish!!
        Yet, as I entered into that building again after quite a few years... I felt so detached and misfit... The place had been recently renovated... It had been repainted... The cemented floors had been replaced with shiny white tiles... Quietly I admired the divine splendour that the cheap but cemented floors bore!!
I couldn't recognize the place.. All my memories were so attached to the place that I once knew!! The place had new students, new teachers.. The faces that seemed familiar were few!!
I felt like being lost in a once known land that suddenly became strange and unknown!!
       May be all these were my inertia to change!! Or is it inherently embedded in the human nature to not to change.. Even when changes are for good.. Human reflex is to say no to change!! Most of us are afraid to change... Is there anyone who've not thought- Would the change grab away everything I have now?? -
Have u got any idea as to why!! If so do enlighten me!!

The Coffee a Wonderful Story!

He met her at someone's wedding. He requested her to have coffee with him, she was surprised but due to being polite, she promised. They sat in a nice coffee shop, he was too nervous to say anything, she felt uncomfortable, and she thought to herself, "Please, let me go home..."
Suddenly he asked the waiter, "Would you please give me some salt? I'd like to put it in my coffee." Everybody stared at him, so strange! His face turned red but still, he put the salt in his coffee and drank it. She asked him curiously, "Why you have this hobby?" He replied, "When I was a little boy, I lived near the sea, I liked playing in the sea, I could feel the taste of the sea, just like the taste of the salty coffee. Now every time I have the salty coffee, I always think of my childhood, think of my hometown, I miss my hometown so much, I miss my parents who are still living there." While saying that tears filled his eyes. She was deeply touched. That's his true feeling, from the bottom of his heart. A man who can tell out his homesickness, he must be a man who loves home, cares about home, has responsibility of home... Then she also started to speak, spoke about her faraway hometown, her childhood, her family.
That was a really nice talk, also a beautiful beginning of their story. They continued to meet. She found that actually he was a man who meets all her demands; he had tolerance, was kind hearted, warm, careful. He was such a good person but she almost missed him! Thanks to his salty coffee! Then the story was just like every beautiful love story, the princess married to the prince, and then they were living the happy life... And, every time she made coffee for him, she put some salt in the coffee, as she knew that's the way he liked it.
After 40 years, he passed away, left her a letter which said, "My dearest, please forgive me, forgive my whole life's lie. This was the only lie I said to you---the salty coffee. Remember the first time we dated? I was so nervous at that time, actually I wanted some sugar, but I said salt. It was hard for me to change so I just went ahead. I never thought that could be the start of our communication! I tried to tell you the truth many times in my life, but I was too afraid to do that, as I have promised not to lie to you for anything... Now I'm dying, I afraid of nothing so I tell you the truth, I don't like the salty coffee, what a strange bad taste... But I have had the salty coffee for my whole life! Since I knew you, I never feel sorry for anything I do for you. Having you with me is my biggest happiness for my whole life. If I can live for the second time, still want to know you and have you for my whole life, even though I have to drink the salty coffee again."
Her tears made the letter totally wet. Someday,someone asked her,"What's the taste of salty coffee?" She replied, "It's sweet."
Its a little bit unrealistic story but the moral and the message of the story is wonderful :)

Critical Thinking! A useful way to success.

Critical thinking is a type of clear, reasoned thinking. Critical thinking means making clear, reasoned judgement. While in the process of critical thinking, ideas should be reasoned and well thought out/judged. The National Council for Excellence in Critical Thinking defines critical thinking as the intellectually disciplined process of actively and skillfully conceptualizing, applying, analyzing, synthesizing, or evaluating information gathered from, or generated by, observation, experience, reflection, reasoning, or communication, as a guide to belief and action.
Major critical thinking skills includes observation, interpretation, analysis, inference, evaluation, explanation, and meta-cognition. It includes:
  • Evidence through reality
  • Context skills to isolate the problem from context
  • Relevant criteria for making the judgment well
  • Applicable methods or techniques for forming the judgment
  • Applicable theoretical constructs for understanding the problem and the question at hand
Having the ability to think critically is an important skill that many people lack. Critical Thinking is the best way to solve problems since it requires looking at an issue from several standpoints before reaching a final decision. In history, both Socrates and Buddha preached about the important role that critical thinking plays in an individual’s ability to reasonably reflect on an issue and subsequently decide what to do or believe.
Critical thinkers must take the contexts of every situation into account and think on a multi-level platform in order to come to just conclusions. Home-schoolers have an advantage for learning critical thinking skills because they can largely make their own curriculum and incorporate critical thinking lessons into it—as every educational system should do. Learning how to recite information from textbooks is not going to help a person achieve long-term success. Only when an individual is able to make educated choices on complex matters can they truly be considered intelligent and competent.
The Critical Thinking Community is dedicated to enhancing critical thinking. The Center for Critical Thinking and Moral Critique and the Foundation for Critical Thinking are two sister educational non-profit organizations associated with the critical thinking community. These organizations work closely together to promote educational reform and essential change in education and society through the cultivation of fair-minded critical thinking. Mostly, the organizations promote asking discussion-inducing questions in learning environments.

Hope Has Wings!


“I’m of no use. I can’t even support my family well enough. Oh Lord! Please have mercy!” Rudra heard his father weeping from the other room. He was the only child of his parents. His father was a farmer, his mother – a homemaker. It had been a tough time for the family as the monsoon hadn’t been fair enough and their whole ranch had been destroyed. 
“Don’t worry dear. Everything will be fine one day. Just have hope!” His mum was consoling his dad. Though the lingering poverty, his parents made sure that Rudra was able to get good education. Rudra felt terribly bad that he wasn’t able to pay off for his parent’s sacrifice.  He desperately wanted to help. He lay down on the floor, trying to get some sleep.
The next morning Rudra woke up at the crow of the rooster and saw his father engrossed in painting – something he loved to do and did regularly. It was a kind of get-away from his tensions. “It’s long for your school to start. Get some good sleep!” said an astonished father. Just then something struck Rudra. He went and sat besides his dad and held one of the several paintings that his dad had already made he said “Dad, do you know you’re the best artist we’ve got in the village! Couldn’t we use your talent to fetch us some money?”
“What are you talking about, son?”
“The town fair is up in the next week. I can frame up all the paintings and we could sell them!”
“But who would buy these rustic paintings? They aren’t modern enough!”
“Trust me dad. They’re more than marvellous!”
Seeing the sparkle of hope and excitement in his eyes his father eventually agreed.
Rudra worked day and night the entire week framing all the paintings. Finally the day arrived. Rudra and his dad bid bye to his mum and set off for the town.
It was a three day fair. Although the first day witnessed a low response; something special happened the next day. While Rudra was busy attracting buyers far away; his father was at the stall when his paintings caught the eye of a well established builder.
“How can I help you, Sir?”
“I have been searching for some great paintings for the past few months for my upcoming project and seeing your paintings I’m just awestruck! Every bit of your art screams perfection! I would like to sign a contract with you for all my future projects should you continue delivering these awesome pieces. ”
Not being able to believe what he just heard Rudra’s father simply said, “I’d be honoured, Sir!”
He was more than indebted to his son for having believed in his talent more than he did. Soon the days turned and the family lived a happy and satisfied life.
Moral: We all have got that spark within us. The only need is to recognize and believe it.

Monday, January 19, 2015

Benefits of Laughter, here are some of them!

One of the best feelings in the world is the deep-rooted belly laugh. It can bring people together and establish amazing connections. Everything from a slight giggle to a side-splitting guffaw can change the temperature of a room from chilly unfamiliarity to a warm family-like atmosphere.
There is so much to love about laughter that it seems greedy to look for more, but that’s exactly what researchers Dr. Lee Berk and Dr. Stanley Tan at the Loma Linda University in California have done. These two doctors have researched the benefits of laughter and found amazing results. Get ready to get your giggle on!

1. Laughing lowers blood pressure

People who lower their blood pressure, even those who start at normal levels, will reduce their risk of strokes and heart attacks. So grab the Sunday paper, flip to the funny pages and enjoy your laughter medicine.

2. Reduces stress hormone levels

You benefit from reducing the level of stress hormones your body produces because hormone-level reduction simultaneously cuts the anxiety and stress impacting your body. Additionally, the reduction of stress hormones in your body may result in higher immune system performance. Just think: Laughing along as a co-worker tells a funny joke can relieve some of the day's stress and help you reap the health benefits of laughter.

3. Fun ab workout

One of the benefits of laughter is that it can help you tone your abs When you are laughing, the muscles in your stomach expand and contract, similar to when you intentionally exercise your abs. Meanwhile, the muscles you are not using to laugh are getting an opportunity to relax. Add laughter to your ab routine and make getting a toned tummy more enjoyable.

4. Improves cardiac health

Laughter is a great cardio workout, especially for those who are incapable of doing other physical activity due to injury or illness. It gets your heart pumping and burns a similar amount of calories per hour as walking at a slow to moderate pace. So, laugh your heart into health.

5. Boosts T cells

T cells are specialized immune system cells just waiting in your body for activation. When you laugh, you activate T cells that immediately begin to help you fight off sickness. Next time you feel a cold coming on, add chuckling to your illness prevention plan.

6. Triggers the release of endorphins

Endorphins are the body’s natural pain killers. By laughing, you can release endorphins, which can help ease chronic pain and make you feel good all over.

7. Produces a general sense of well-being

Laughter can increase your overall sense of well-being. Doctors have found that people who have a positive outlook on life tend to fight diseases better than people who tend to be more negative.
So smile, laugh and live longer!
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The Pond having Milk!

Once there was a king who told some of his workers to dig a pond. Once the pond was dug, the king made an announcement to his people saying that one person from each household has to bring a glass of milk during the night and pour it into the pond. So, the pond should be full of milk by the morning.
 After receiving the order, everyone went home. One man prepared to take the milk during the night. He thought that since everyone will bring milk, he could just hide a glass of water and pour inside the pond. Because it will be dark at night, no one will notice. So he quickly went and poured the water in the pond and came back.
 In the morning, the king came to visit the pond and to his surprise the pond was only filled with water! What has happened is that everyone was thinking like the other man that "I don't have to put the milk, someone else will do it."
The article can have so many different conclusions, here are a couple of them:
1- When it comes to help poor people, do not think that others will take care of it. Rather, it starts from you, if you don't do it, no one else will do it. So, change yourself to the way of God to serve him and that will make the difference.
2- Be honest in your actions regardless of thinking about others. Your honesty is related to your character.
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Get success. Don't just dream of it but start acting now!

Start now for better tomorrow!
What your life is today is a result of what you did…… or did not do….yesterday.
If you’re still dreaming instead of creating
If you’re still planning but not implementing
If you’re hesitating because you lack confidence
If you’re holding back in any way…..start now
If you want tomorrow to bear different results….start now.
And one day you will look back and realize you had it in you all along
All you have to do is start now.
NO matter how bad it is or how bad it gets, you just need to tell yourself.. "I am going to make it and i am willing to die for it".
Whatever you are today is because of your deeds done in past,whatever you do today will for sure decide your future. So,if someone is still sleeping,wake up,start rather than only thinking and dreaming,do,perform,be consistent and you would find magical results in the long way.
As it is said that "Do at once. If the moment lost, how the work will be done."

Monday, January 05, 2015

7 Dengerous Acts after having Meal

  1. Don't Smoke
  2. Don't eat fruits Immediately
  3. Don't drink Tea
  4. Don't loosen your Belt
  5. Don't Bathe
  6. Don't Walk about
  7. Don't Sleep immediately.