Attitude Of Lucky People - I Would Rather Regret Things That I Have Done Than The Things That I Have Not Done

Satya Narayan Nadella was named CEO of Microsoft in 2014. In a letter to all Microsoft employees, he said, 'Many who know me say that I am deifned by my curiosity and thirst for learning. I buy more books than I can finish. I sign up for more online courses than I can complete. I fundamentally believe that if you are not learning new things, you stop doing great and useful things.' This is how successful people make their luck. This is the fundamental attitude of lucky people. Their focus to learn new things increases the number of opportunities that come in their journey of life.

Taking inspiration from the above, I am sharing some of the things that I tried in last few years. These are examples of small things where I have tried to develop the attitude to 'do more'.

1. I had a good job, but still few years ago I asked myself what more can I do? Looked at the options and started with trainings. Within few years I got good hold over Oracle trainings and earned a good name as a corporate trainer within the company.

2. After few years, I asked myself the same question, what more can I do? Looked at the options and started my own blog The Tomorrow Beckons, published one article after another and today I have 148 article published on my blog with over 275982 pageviews. My movie review blog YourWeekendMovie also got a comment from the Kahaani 2 director Sujoy Ghosh.

3. The clock ticked, I moved on and yes in few years I asked the same question again, what more can I do? This time the opportunity came in the form of Toastmasters Club. I joined the club as a member and within a year got elected as President of the club.

4. While all of this was happening I started to contribure on Quora and till date I have some 808 Answers, 38 questions, 29 questions resulting in…

Now, I know that by no stretch of imagination these things can be considered on a yardstick for success but the point I am trying to make is how the attitude to do more has taken me into territories I never imagined I could venture into. I strongly believe if you think you are successful and have achieved a lot and that you don’t want to do anything more then it may just be the beginning of your downfall.

Lot of talented people don’t succeed either because they are laid back or because they are a victim of self doubt and fear. Developing an attitude to do more or newer things may help you achieve a lot more than you could have ever imagined. 

I will leave you with these two quotes…

and…

Hope this helps you get out of your comfort zone.

Saying No Is Like Farting In The Grocery Aisle

Someone asked me How do I become bold, so that others will not take advantage of me anymore?

Short answer to this question is 'Learn the habit of saying No'.

You will not only need to become bold but also become smart and sensitive of human behavior to avoid others taking advantage of yourself. Saying No is first step in the right direction.

For example, if someone asks you “What is your salary?” and you feel uncomfortable to answer this question by saying a direct 'No, I don't want to tell you my salary' then take a deep breath, put a smile on your face and instead of an answer respond with a question “Why do you want to know?” This way you will pass a message that you are not interested in answering this question.

I think there are respectful ways to say no. I read this interesting incident on social media...

"I work in retail while I'm studying, the other day I was working with my assistant state manager we were doing some tidying up and she asked me to hang a string of balloons up quite high.

I just told her I would respectfully do anything else asked of me but they were too high and I wasn't comfortable doing it. She got somebody else to do it. We worked a couple more days together and my my manager received a glowing report once he was back."

Clarity of communication can go a long way. Speaking louder, more concisely and explaining your point of view can really do wonders for getting aggressive people to back off. Your success is dependent in the understanding and mastering of following skills pertaining to human relations:

• Understanding The Human Ego
• Making People Feel Important
• Creating a Good Impression
• Criticizing Without Offending

Not everyone is born with these skills, but the good news is that these skills can be developed over time by continous practice in day to day life interactions.

To conclude I would highly recommend you read these couple of bestsellers to develop these skills…The Art of Dealing with People and Questions Are the Answers

Remember Assertiveness is not anger. Decisiveness is not anger. Saying no is like farting in the grocery aisle. Do it quickly, respectfully and sparingly and you wont offend anybody.

Read This If You Are 35 or 40 And Want To Reinvent Yourself

Bob was turning 35 this Sunday, his hair started to grow grey and he was not as fit as he used to be in his prime. He was bored with his regular work routine and worried about the fact that his career was not going anywhere. On a lazy Saturday morning his friend James asked him to join for a workshop on Public Speaking. Bob was in no mood to do any work on a Saturday morning but when James insisted Bob joined him reluctantly.

At the workshop, Bob was astounded to see very energetic and passionate speakers who had worked very hard to prepare and deliver their speeches. These speakers came from all walks to life: Engineering, Education, Technology, Law and Business etc. In his mind Bob started to compare himself with these folks. He started to feel a bit inferior because he was almost equivalent to them professionally but he was nowhere close to them when it came to public speaking. These folks were just outstanding.

For two days, Bob couldn't sleep peacefully, the thought of being inferior was lingering in his mind. He finally decided to do what he always does when he confused, that is, he called me up. We met the very next day, he narrated all the details and shared his state of mind. It didn't take me a lot of time to understand his mental state because we are good friends since childhood. After listening to him I realized that he was going through pre mid-life crisis. He was showing the signs of anxiety and stress. He was comparing himself with others and feeling frustrated. I told him that he was overthinking the entire thing and he needed to reinvent himself.

He exclaimed 'Are you kidding me? I am just 35 years old and doing well in my profession. What do you mean by reinvent?'

I replied ' Take a deep breath, relax! Don't get worked up. I am not asking you to leave your day job. All I am asking you to do is to Act outside the box'. Below is the excerpt of what I told Bob that day:

Confront your weaknesses and fears

Ask yourself what are you scared of? Make a list of all such things that you don't do because of fear of failure or because you think that it is your weakness. For example, it may be public speaking, making new friends, learning new technology etc. List these things down and then give yourself a challenge that you will learn and master these things one by one. Set a timeline for yourself and get started immediately.

Find out your biggest competitor and beat them

No matter what you do, you will always have competitors, find out who is your biggest competitor and challenge yourself to beat them. Set a timeline and create a plan of action. The competition may be at your workplace or in your friend circle or in your business. Give yourself a pat on your back and go for the kill and don't stop until you win.

Ask your spouse or girlfriend/ boyfriend this question

What do you think I am not good at? Or What do you think is impossible for me to achieve? Listen to whatever they say very carefully. Make a note of it, post that note in your bedroom and at your workplace. Promise yourself that from today you will not stop until you have reached your goal and proved yourself right. Take this as a challenge from your near and dear ones and go for the impossible.

The pre mid-life crisis hits you without any warning. When you are around 35 to 40 years of age you are generally content/ satisfied/ relaxed with whatever you have achieved in your professional career. Your work seems to be pulling all the energy out of you and it appears that there is no thrill left in life. During this time it is very easy to get depressed and demotivated like my friend Bob. To turn things around one really needs to give oneself a kick. Reinventing the lost charm is not easy but by taking up some uphill challenges one can recharge and re-energize the passion.

Give yourself that challenge today, confront your weakness and fears, challenge your competitors and dare to ask your spouse...What do you think I am not good at? 

Go for it.

11 Outstanding Life Hacks That Everyone Should Know

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Few years ago Tim and Jack graduated from the same university, both of them started to work for the same multinational company, both of them work equally hard but today it seems that Tim's rate of success is way better than that of Jack. Tim knows almost everyone in the office and almost everyone knows Tim. This year he has been nominated for the people's choice award in the best employee category and is one of the top contender for next promotion. On the other hand very few people know Jack, in spite of all the hard work he has never been nominated for any award, he often feels ignored and is clueless about his situation.
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The example illustrated above is very common these days. Many people find themselves in the same situation as 'Jack', they work very hard but have no clue of why things don't work out positively for them. They simply think that the other person is 'luckier' or the other person is always 'at the right place at the right time'. In this post we will look at some simple but powerful hacks that will help you understand how you can stop being a 'Jack' and get yourself in the strong and positive position as 'Tim'. Here you go...

11 Outstanding Life Hacks That Everyone Should Know...

Hack#1 Remembering and calling people by their name. You are at a party with your friend and you got introduced to 8 new people whom you have not met before. The best thing you can do is remember each one of them by their name. Memorize their faces and their names. Next, time you meet them call them by their name. Knowing that a person remembers your name is a great feeling and hearing it from someone whom you have just met once is music to ears. This is a great way to create contacts in personal and business circle.

Next best thing: In addition to their name, (Hack#2) remember one unique or peculiar thing about them. So next time when you run into them you can call them by their name and also mention about their unique liking/ hobby/ activity etc. For example, Hey John, Glad to see you again. How was your trip to Utah? Guess what, John will be amazed at your memory and he will be very comfortable talking to you. You just won a friend.

Hack#3 Be Lavish In Your Praise. Suppose you visit someone’s house/ place. Within the first 5–10 minutes look around the living room/ garden carefully and find out one thing that stands out. Now, openly praise that one thing in front of your hosts. Be lavish in your praise. This will ease out a lot of nerves/ serve as an icebreaker resulting in a very open and positive conversation.

Hack#4 Anchor high, and don't give up. The more you ask for, the more you get. It's as simple as that. Suppose you think you deserve $100k salary per annum salary so when you discuss with the recruiter ask for $130k or $140k, this will give you room for negotiation and will definitely get you more than $100k.

Hack#5 How to increase affinity? While responding to someone in a conversation: Repeat a portion of what the other person just said, for example, if you ask someone "What is your favorite sport"?  And they respond "it's football". So you should respond like "Oh okay, great, so your favorite sport is football". This helps increase the affinity and the other person feels that you are really listening to him/ her.

Hack#6 Importance of Eye Contact. In one on one conversations: It is simple to keep eye contact when you are listening but it is difficult to keep eye contact when you are speaking. Get into the practice of maintaining the eye contact when you are speaking, this will allow you to have control on the conversation.

Hack#7 Connect with more and more people and build good relationships. It really helps if you have a huge power network of people. Develop an attitude to help people generously. More connections will result in more experts in your circle, you can learn a lot from them or have them help you when needed.

Hack#8 Stop reacting, start responding. You may be in a tight spot when your boss is really angry, hold on your nerve, don't be in a hurry to react. Think once, think twice, think thrice and then respond. Act wise. Don't act on impulse.

Hack#9 Don't argue with Idiots. The problem with arguing with an idiot is that there are soon two idiots: you and the person you are arguing with.

Hack#10 Learn to say 'Please' and 'Thank You'. Don't take anyone for granted and don't underestimate the power of 'Please' and 'Thank You'. If possible, learn to say Thank You in different languages, this will help you make good rapport with lot of people worldwide.

Hack#11 Share the credit. Be a team player in the right sense. Share credit of achievements with your team members and co-workers. Don't shy away from appreciating good work in public forums. This will help you build a great reputation in public.

Getting ahead of the competition is not a one-time activity. It has to be a way of life. The tips and tricks shared above can be learnt by anyone and everyone (these life hacks are equally useful for students and professionals). In order to master this art one needs to follow continuous practice and bring small changes in the way we operate and interact with people around us. Hope you find this article useful. Let us know your comments and experiences. Thank You!

Are You Limiting Your Success By Being A Circus Elephant?

Tom is extremely talented but for some reason he lacks in self confidence and always keeps a low profile. He always doubts himself and is never able to perform to his potential. I always used to wonder, Why? And recently when I attended a seminar I heard about the circus elephant syndrome, I quickly realized what is wrong with Tom. I am sure you might have heard about this elephant story too, but if not, I am summarizing it below: 

This is the story of a baby elephant who is chained by its leg so that it can't run away from the circus. The chain is heavy and strong for the baby elephant to break, whenever the baby elephant tries to break the chain it cuts through its skin which results in severe pain. After few failed attempts to break free, the baby elephant finally gives up. Gradually the baby elephant grows up, but inspite of being a huge creature it continues to believe that the chain is strong and never makes any attempts to break free. As a result it continues to be chained at the circus for its life.

This same concept applies to humans as well and this is exactly what is happening to Tom. By direct or indirect influence of others we tend to form our beliefs from a tender age. Our mental conditioning (by our parents, relatives, neighbors, friends, teachers etc.) puts constraints and limitations on our thought process. With the constrained thought process we achieve very limited success and never realize our own true potential. 

Here are some signs that will help you identify if you are limiting yourself by circus elephant syndrome...

• Your instinct tells you that you should go after a dream but your current job, situation, education, circumstances don't allow you to go after it as a result you give up and continue to be happy with what you have in hand
• You have people around you who tell you that 'You can't do it', 'You have already got enough and you should be happy with what you have, don't be greedy'
• You always hesitate to take the next big step even though at the back of your mind you know that you have the skill and potential to take that step
• You admire successful people, you want to become like them but you run away from their company. You always hang up with people who are in the same boat as you are
• You find one excuse or another to tell yourself why you can't do a certain thing

Now that we know the signs of an elephant syndrome, let us look at some of the steps that we should take to get out of the rut:

• Everyone has a dream, but very few are able to convert the dreams into visions and visions into reality. The first step towards breaking free is converting the dream into achievable goals. Take a paper and pen and write down what you want to achieve and by when.
• Get rid of the negative people around you. Get into the company of positive people, who can support and motivate you to achieve your goals. You need people around you who can tell you why and how you should achieve your goals. Stay away from people who pull you down.
• Never hesitate. Don't doubt or second guess yourself. Go and talk to people. Take the necessary steps. Stop overthinking and give no room to worry and anxiety. Throw them out of the window.
• Don't just admire successful people but study and follow their habits. Find out how are they different from the average people and try to learn from their success stories.
• Every time you come up with a excuse for not doing a certain thing: Stop yourself from giving up. Ask yourself that one reason why you wanted to do this thing. Remind yourself why it is so important for you to achieve this goal. Don't give in to excuses.

So here the message is: Sky is the limit, if you break free from your own mental shackles. Try to be the best version of yourself. Remember it is not you V/S someone else, it is always you V/S you, so make sure your best version wins. Benny Bellamacina has beautifully summarized this in her quote: 'You are limited by your own imagination'.

Online Presence: 15 Seconds Of Fame Or Your Personal Brand?

Usage of social media is very different for businesses and individuals. Organizations have their digital marketing strategies in place to promote their content on social media; on the other hand, for individuals, the usage of social media is mostly centered on sharing their personal memories, experiences and feelings with their near and dear ones. Most individuals are able to utilize the social media in the right way but for some individuals social media platform has become an addiction that they can't get rid of. Unknowingly they are damaging thier lives by not knowing how to use the social media in the right way. Here let us look at one such example:

Jennifer is excited today!
Well excited sounds a bit trivial, she is actually delirious with joy. Her mother Maria isn't really sure why her daughter is so happy? Is it because her boyfriend proposed her to get married? Well, that's not possible, because Jennifer doesn't have a boyfriend yet. So is it because Jennifer was just awarded her Ph.D.? No, that's not true either because Jennifer just turned 16 last month, Ph.D. sounds a bit too much for this school going youngster.

Then what is the reason for Jennifer's great mood today?

Would you believe that the real reason for Jennifer's excitement is her latest Facebook profile picture!!! Yes, she posted her latest selfie on Facebook 2 hours ago and it has got her around 247 likes, 38 comments and 19 shares. Jennifer is so happy with the reaction she got on social media that she is monitoring the likes, comments and shares on her profile picture every 10 minutes. This is one example of addiction to social media.

There is nothing wrong with updating your profile picture on social media, the problem starts when one starts chasing fame and false sense of achievement through this medium. The above is just one example of how folks around the world today are engaged on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Quora and some other leading social websites in search of instant gratification and 15-20 seconds of fame. This mad rush for instant gratification does more damage than what appears on the surface. Incidents of people meeting accidents while clicking selfies are common these days. Some people have even lost their lives while clicking selfies. This 15-20 seconds of fame is not doing us any good, it is high time that we become our own critics and analyze how we use social media. Are we in control? Or have we become addicted?

Answers to these simple question will help you find out if you are addicted to social media:

• Do you post on social media and continuously monitor if people are responding to your post?
• Do you pick up your phone at night to check time but end up browsing Whatsapp, Facebook and Twitter?
• Do you feel a (false) sense of achievement if your social media post gets likes and upvotes?
• Do you have an abnormally high frequency of clicking selfies for updating your Whatsapp DP and Facebook profile?
• Do you follow/ watch content that is not relevant to you in anyways?

If your answer to most of these questions is 'Yes' then be warned, you are either addicted to social media or are about to get addicted very soon.

Here are some suggestions to get in control before it becomes too late:

• Regulate your usage of social media, that is, fix a time to check your Whatsapp, Facebook and Twitter messages. Don't use it every now and then because you are free.
• Don't follow people or topic that are not relevant to you. This will make sure that you get only relevant content in your feed.
• Be responsible when you upvote, like, comment or share any post. Note that if you are not responsible in sharing your content then it sends junk content into the feed of your friends and followers.
• Keep a close watch on your younger ones to see if they are using the social media in the right way. Your younger kids, siblings and friends may need guidance or parental guidance.
• Don't fall prey to cheap tricks and fast money making traps on the Internet.
• Subscribe to the right channels and RSS feeds to get the right content delivered to you in your inbox.
• Install aggregator apps on your mobile, this will save your time and you won't need to install multiple apps.

Conclusion:

Social media provides a great platform to build your personal brand. Your online presence and activity help you create your personal brand which has both tangible and intangible benefits. Your followers should be able to get the value by following you on Facebook or Twitter. Realize the power of social media, focus on the long term gain, don't just get hooked to the 15-20 seconds of fame. Number of likes and upvotes are not your achivements, they are just a source of motivation for you to do even better in future. So next time you click a picture make sure you click because it is a great moment to cherish not just because you want to update your profile picture.

How Being Action Oriented Takes You Way Ahead Of Competition?

Lets face it. Most of us have a problem with being action oriented. Most of us love to tell ourselves: 
I will do it tomorrow or I will do it after sometime or some other day. 

Most of us realize that few tasks are really important for our personal growth. But we always find one reason or another to postpone these tasks. Here are the most common reasons or lies we tell ourselves:

• I am physically fit, I don't need to exercise daily. I will do it when I need it.
• I am not yet ready for a job change or role change. I don't want to take additional responsibility as of now. I am happy with what I have.
• I know this certification is important for me but I will do it next month because the festive season has just started I have guests visiting my place and on top of that I have to attend my cousin's wedding this month.

Even though these are extremely important actions but still we are reluctant to do things for our future. Have you ever wondered why? Let us look at some of the top causes/ reasons:

• Undervaluing the future. The future prospect looks lucrative to you but is not exciting enough for you to act. In the back of your mind you probably undervalue it.
• You may also be overvaluing the present. That is the cause of being in the comfort zone. One day when you realize that the current comfort will not last forever, that day, action will happen automatically. Don't wait for that day.
• Not valuing at all. There is a possibility that you have not even understood the impact of inaction and not rightly valued the future. Probably you are ignorant. For example, look how small investments can grow by power of compounding. How To Make Rs 65 Lakhs By Investing Rs 12,500 Per Month?.
• Procrastination. You may have the habit of prioritizing the lesser important tasks over more important tasks because the lesser important tasks are more pleasurable.
• Plain laziness. There is a possibility that you are just plain lazy. You just love to be laid back. This is a difficult fact to face but be honest with yourself, check it out for yourself and fix it on top priority.

So we are our biggest competitors, more than the others the fight is within us to beat ourselves and become the best version of us.

Here are some of the tools/ techniques to get better and beat ourselves...

The reason why I am able to write some of the above points is because I have experienced some of these myself. Here is what I suggest we should do...

Be focused

A very effective way to get productive results is to be focused on one job at at time. Avoid patterns of Brownian motion in the way you think and act. Once you have decided your goal and chosen the path that you want to take then stick to it. Don't make frequent changes in your action plan. If you make frequent changes then there are chances that you may get lost in the path to success.

Utilize Short Spurts

Another idea is to utilize ‘Short spurts’ of energy and passion. Here is what I do…

Push myself to do a little more in my short spurt…

1. When I go for a walk or a jog. I keep a target and then push myself a little more to go for one extra lap.
2. When I give myself a target of writing 1 blog post per week, I push myself to write 1 or 2 extra blog posts for the month.
3. When I am about to finish my work I check the list of pending items and push myself to complete one more additional task for that day.

Pomodoro Technique

As per Wikipedia the Pomodoro technique is defined as below:

The Pomodoro Technique is a time management method developed by Francesco Cirillo in the late 1980s. The technique uses a timer to break down work into intervals, traditionally 25 minutes in length, separated by short breaks. These intervals are named pomodoros, the plural in English of the Italian word pomodoro (tomato), after the tomato-shaped kitchen timer that Cirillo used as a university student. The method is based on the idea that frequent breaks can improve mental agility.

Utilize this time management technique to be focused on your task and work on it for 25 minutes without any distraction. You can set a timer to record the time and take about 5 minutes breaks between consecutive pomodoros. While in a pomodoro you can note down any mental distractions/ thoughts on a paper but if the distraction is bigger then you may need to abandon the pomodoro and start over again because a pomodoro is 25 minutes of focused time where you can work on a task with full flow and with undivided attention.

Last but not the least, develop a habit of delayed gratification and try to get away from instant gratification. This will help you plan for a better future. 

The point I am trying to make is, (a) be focused (b) when you know that you are doing well in your short spurt then just push yourself a little more (c) Utilize time management techniques like pomodoro to get maximum results (d) Live life to the fullest, enjoy the present moment but make every possible effort for a better tomorrow. Because even before you blink, today will become yesterday and tomorrow will become today.

Conclusion:
Small is beautiful, lets us learn to appreciate the value of small efforts. This will help you become action oriented and be the best version of yourself. Eventually you will be able to finish more tasks than what your competitors do. As a result you will be able to draw that little competitive advantage which you can utilize to stay ahead of them in anything and everything you do.

Remember the quote: Success is the sum of small efforts - repeated day in and day out.

Is Your Smartphone Eating Your Personal Time?

How smart/ stylish/ trendy are you? These days a lot many people think/ assume that their smartness or social status is defined by the type of smart phone they use. Few years ago the social status was defined by the type/ size of house you own or by the brand of car you own. But these days the focus has shifted on smartphones. There is a huge misconception that the brand of smartphone defines your social status. For example, if you have an iPhone you are assumingly treated as grade A versus if you use any other smartphone then you are a B grader or uncool. The smartphone has really smart features, it has replaced your watch, camera, calendar, alarm clock and what not. But if it is not used wisely then it may have an adverse impact too. It is high time that we really re-look and find out if this smart gadget is impacting our personal life in any way.

Let us look at some of the smart applications that are eating into your personal time:

Whatsapp

This app has revolutionized the way people connect with their near and dear ones and old friends/ companions. However one needs to really bring in some sanity into the way one invests time in using this app. For example, ask yourself these hard questions:

• How much time do you spend forwarding jokes?
• How much time do you spend reading jokes/ forwards is it these really worth the effort?
• Are you a part of whatsapp groups which are completely irrelevant to you but you have to be a part of those groups due to social pressure?
• Have you become addict to checking your whatsapp status? or would you do something really fruitful with the time instead of forwarding or reading stuff on whatsapp?

Youtube/ Voot/ HotStar/ Video based Apps

Video on demand apps are an integral part of smartphones. Few years ago television channels were the only source/ platform on which we depended to watch our favorite programs. Those days are gone. Mobile apps serving videos 24/7 have changed the game. However, as a user we need to caution ourselves by asking these questions:

• How much time am I spending watching the same video content over and over again? Is it really worth?
• How has this exposed our children/ young generation to a potential threat by providing them open access to adult content?
• Is it possible for me avoid watching unnecessary videos and instead spend some quality time with family and friends?
• Is it possible to be more organized by stipulating the time for watching videos?
• Each family member getting hooked onto his/ her own smart gadget for long hours is a common sight these days. Is this trend going to impact our personal relationships? Are we sacrificing our personal time unknowingly?

Games/ Dating Apps/ Entertainment Apps

A lot of people get addicted to playing games on the mobile apps, others get addicted to dating apps like Tinder. The widespread use of these apps forces us to ask questions like:

• Are our children moving away from playing real sports on the playgrounds? Are the mobile apps making them sluggish?
• Is our younger generation falling prey to dating apps? Do they have the maturity to understand the side effects of using such online tools and sharing personal information? 

Some people treat these mobile apps as stress busters, they have a counter argument that there is nothing wrong in using the smartphone apps once in a while. But what they need to figure out is "how to define and control the frquency of once in a while usage" and check whether the continuous use of smartphone is adding to their fatigue level/ draining their energy.

Here are some signals which indicate that you are overusing your smartphone:

• Your family members(parents/ spouse/ kids) have started to complain that you are always hooked onto your smartphone.
• You feel restless if you dont check your smartphone every once in a while. 
• You dont remember any phone numbers by heart, that is, if you lose your phone you will not be able to recall any phone numbers.
• You have started to use smartphone for shopping stuff which you could have avoided
• You keep clicking selfies just because you want to update your display profile picture
• Your phone is almost out of memory whenever you want to download any educational/ learning/ official video or app

While I am writing this post, I am asking most of these questions to myself and still trying to figure out the right way to use my own smartphone. I am not against the use of smartphones but my point is more on the smart use of the smartphones. 

Smartphones have changed our lives in multiple ways, it has changed the way we shop, book tickets, find directions, perform banking transactions, watch movies, watch live sports, connect with our family and friends etc. With continuous innovation more and more smart features will change the way we work and live our lives.

And yes, I have nothing against any brand, I took the example of iPhone just because it is one of the most widely used high-end smartphones these days. But yes, by no means does your smartphone define your social status, so going beyond your financial capacity and purchasing a high end smartphone like iPhone on loan or EMI is plain foolishness.

Everything has its pros and cons so does smart technology. It is in our hand to use the technology and not allow it to eat into our personal time and personal lives. Let us remember that all of us have only 24 hours in a day, smart gadgets are meant to help us utilize this time in a smart way so that we are able to achieve more. It should not be the other way round.

Other good reads:

The Making Of Olympic Champions
15 Powerful Techniques To Pay Attention In Meetings
20 Effective Work Life Balance Tips For Professionals
39 Key Critical Competencies Of Successful Business Leaders
Is The Digital Revolution Going To Take Away Your Job?

Is Digital Revolution Going To Take Away Your Job?

There is a breaking news making rounds these days.

IT sector to lose 6.4 lakh jobs to automation by 2021: HfS Research You can read the full article here.

This obviously has caused a panic in the IT sector specially amongst the folks who perform the so called "low-skill" job.

After reading this lot of questions come to mind: What will be the consequences when this happens? Am I going to lose my job? What will all these jobless people do? etc. 

Before we analyze and attempt to answer these questions, let us first ask ourselves has a similar incident happened in the past? Let us look back in the history...

The Industrial Revolution

During the period of 18th to 19th century the Industrial revolution changed the world, starting from UK then subsequently spreading into rest of Europe and North America. Industrial revolution led to major changes in the sectors of manufacturing, agriculture, transport etc. Specialized machinery took over from the hand made, small basic machines, it resulted in mass production saving both time and engergy. The consequences of industrial revolution were many fold, it impacted social, economic, political and cultural life of people. 

So when this occured what happened to the people who were earning their daily bread by performing manual/ hand made jobs and using basic machines? Did they lose their jobs to the specialized machinery? Answer is Yes. Most of the regular manual jobs were taken over by the specialized machines, but at the same time industrial revolution resulted in variety of new job types. These new job types required the workers to be trained and skilled on the new machines. There was a learning curve but the new job types were exciting because they were backed by technology advancements and eventually the throughput, productivity and output improved a lot as compared to the pre industrial revolution period.

So similar to the industrial revolution we are now on the verge of the next big revolution and that is nothing but The Digital Revolution.

The Digital Revolution

Riding on the technology wave, we are right on the verge of a generation which will thrive on The Internet Of Things. An era where we will have...

• Smart refrigerators that will be able to check inventory and order vegetables automatically
• Smart devices monitoring our critical health parameters and sending alerts to us/ medical help
• Intelligent cars, intelligent homes etc. 

the future is full of imagination turning into reality.

All these changes will come into being only because the technology has advanced by leaps and bounds. This in turn also means that certain very basic level of work done today by humans will  also be taken over by means of technology. For example, consider the IVR, Interactive Voice Response System, earlier when IVR was not developed, companies needed human beings to answer each and every phone call that was received by customer support. But with IVR, all of that is automated and the basic queries of customers are repsonded by IVR and not by humans. So did people lose their jobs because of IVR? Ofcourse they did. But then that was not the last job on the planet. Development of IVR, Support and Maintainence of IVR are the new job types created. These did not exist earlier. So eventually everything got balanced out.

But the real worry some people have is that "IT" is going to automate "IT", that is one day artificial intelligence will be go strong that we will not need humans to write the computer programs. Programs will self learn and improve on their own. Phew! That sounds a bit too long way away as of now!

Having said the above, coming back to the original question, what will happen in 2021 when the Indian IT sector is predicted to lose 6.4 lakh jobs due to automation? What will these people do? or rather what should these people do now so that they are prepared, trained and skilled to take over another job type when the storm hits. Here are some important steps:

• Identify whether the job you do is candidate for automation. If yes, you are at risk.
• Find out what kind of automation is going to take over your job? Is it a third party tool? Is it a IT script based automation or simply a redesign of the system. 
• Now, because you have done some basic analysis in step 1 and step 2 you are better equiped to face the situation. Next logical step is to research and get reskilled. But be aware, reskilling involves lot of efforts and sometimes it requires investment too. However, it is better to be safe than to be sorry, so put that extra dollar and extra hour of effort to avoid a panic situation later.
• Now find out the potential employers. Mere reskilling may not help if you dont know who is going to hire you. So it is wise to find out about the potential employers and understand their hiring process.
• Also, keep yourself acquainted with the latest technological changes around the globe. For example, read this interesting article on Quora: What technological changes will create the most opportunities for new startups over the next 2-3 years? Making yourself aware of the these changes will give you the much required head start over others.

To conclude, whether it is The Industrial Revolution or The Digital Revolution, no one can stop it from changing the world. So all we need to do is to adapt and embrace the change. As mentioned by Charles Darwin in his famous quote: It is not the strongest of the species that survive, nor the most intelligent, but the one most responsive to change. So prepare for the change that is coming your way because change is inevitable.

Note: If you need change management lessons you may want to read the bestseller Who Moved My Cheese by DR SPENCER JOHNSON

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