In this post, I share a few lessons learned over the years that I think have helped me tremendously. As I mentioned here, I don't claim to be any expert. I am a common person, trying to figure out how the world works and what should be my role.
Learning
Through my childhood years, learning anything beyond the coursework was discouraged. It was because such extra learning may take time, energy, and brain space out of what was needed to absorb in order to get good grades. So, I never developed the habit to read. My husband, on the other hand, is an avid reader and I admire this trait in him. Over the years with him, I have been able to cultivate this habit too. My childhood curiosity, that was stifled in the early years, has started to blossom and in the last five years I have become a sponge for new information. Oh! I love it! I have taken on subjects that I never used to work with earlier. I have read books of all kinds - biographies, self-help books, management books, art, crafts, fiction, cooking, technical, etc. I listen to audio books, so my long car rides are never boring. Thanks to podcasts, there is also a constant stream of audio knowledge. What's the plan forward? I intend to take up a new subject every two to three years and learn it. I have been learning management in the last few years and right now I have picked up accounting. These few years of study will by no means make me an expert, but I know it will enrich me and help me understand the subject matter more than I currently do. Above all, I think it will make me "Open and Willing" to accept new ideas and help me appreciate this beautiful world around me. I have a 'bucket list' of subjects I want pursue: economics, painting, writing, archaeology, music, psychology, photography, zoology, journalism, botany, film making,...... I think with this ongoing list, I will never age - the curiosity will keep me vibrant till the day I die. At least that's my age-defying mantra!
15 minutes-a-day Organizing
This was a hard habit learned. I am usually organized, especially at work. My desk is clean most of the time and I have a system to handle papers and other materials. But scheduling few minutes out of my daily routine and to just focus on this activity everyday has made a big difference in my productivity. When I walk into the office in the morning, cup of coffee in hand, I check my email first and then turn it off - Yes, I shut down the program. Then I spend the next 15 minutes going through my desk, then other piles on bookcases and tables, even the pen and pencil holders. I assign places where each item needs to go and put them there. No, I do not take action on the item at hand, I just categorize it and make it ready for action. This time is strictly for organizing, not for action. And yes, I have a timer going. The 15 minutes go by fast! Sometimes I spend a little more time, but NEVER less than 15 minutes. I think these 15 minutes are very useful minutes of the day. As you clear clutter and get organized, your world gets sorted - not only in the world right in front of your eyes (your office desk and the room), but also in your subconscious. I find that when I do this activity everyday, it clears out the mind and helps me focus more effectively. It's like a mini-meditation!
Ideas Journal
This started about couple months ago and I am loving the concept. I was chatting with a friend and we were discussing how our heads are full of all these ideas chatter. Every time I meet a person or read an interesting article or see something, my brain makes these 20+ connections to new and old ideas, projects, other people, etc. I used to keep all that in my head and so far it was going all right. But as my universe expands, I am sure I will not be manage all that effectively to produce credible results. So this Ideas Journal is my plan. It's simple - a cute bound notebook. Every time I have a light bulb that goes off in my mind, I write it down in this one book. Does not matter what topic its related to. Every idea starts with a new page. It's the Idea on top, followed by a few bullet points answering the following - Why, What, How, Who, and When. If I don't have all the bullet points answered right away, never mind, it's all right. It will come to me when I am ready. Later, say on a lazy Sunday afternoon, with a glass of my favorite red wine in hand, I sift through the journal. As I read, some ideas stick and I write a bit more about them. I intend to develop these ideas into projects, but I do know that every seed takes it's own time to germinate, so I do not force them. When they are ready, they will pop out and I will act on them. Well, as I said, I just started this exercise, check with me next year and see what worked. I have a feeling that this will be a good thing.
Note Cards
When I was in eighth grade, my English teacher, Mrs. Hariharan, had asked us to start this habit. I remember the instruction very clearly. She took out a small notepad out of her purse and showed it to us. She then read out one or two sentences that she had collected over the years from books she had read. She asked us to form this habit and said that it will pay off in the future. Well, I did not pick up that habit then. Neither did I pick up the habit from another mentor and teacher I had in college. He too carried a small notebook in which he collected tidbits of information for use later. I never saw the point of it then. Well, now I do! May be because I am now older and wiser(?). I buy a set of plain index cards from the local store and keep them handy with a pencil every time I am reading a book, surfing the internet, etc. If some sentence catches my fancy, I write it down. Later I organize them into categories of my choice - I have a few shoe-boxes set aside for these cards. Since I have now written these beautiful thoughts, I find it very easy to recollect later. Say I want to express a thought that's almost at my fingertips but I am having difficulty. Most often than not, I have an index card that inspires me. No, I do not copy from these cards, they are there to help me formulate the words and say what I want to say effectively. Some of these cards are indeed quotes and I use quotes generously too. These note cards are my inspiration.
Networking
You are probably going - Duh! We all know you need to network! Well, I did not. The first eight years of my career I hardly met with people outside my career group and when I did meet them, I did not know what to talk, what to say, and used to be a bit bored too. It's great that my husband is in a different field than me and has spent a lot of time in the university, so we did have a good social circle. I loved our friends and we had some great parties that I remember very fondly. But, our group was very homogeneous and lacked diversity of careers - most of our friends were either engineers like me or scientists like him. As a result, I feel our exposure was not as wide as it could be. Over the years this has changed and my circle has broadened tremendously. I feel so enriched by the perspectives from all the different people I have come to know. A lawyer, and accountant, a marketer, a real estate agent, a securities analyst, an IT developer, a social scientist, an economist, a non-profit manager, the list goes on and on. When we gather, the discussions are so much more interesting and views often so different. You get to appreciate where each person is coming from and what process frames their position. So what I have done very deliberately for the last couple years is to seek out networking events that are way outside my knowledge base. I routinely attend events hosted by life tech, clean tech, business groups, IT groups, production engineer groups, etc. I have found that they are very welcoming as well. Of course, this is just the beginning and my universe will only expand from here. Apart from the broadening perspective, the other benefit of this expanding universe is that you now get a big pool of people to tap into for expert knowledge and opinion when you need. It's a great resource!
I would be very interested to know what other habits have helped you. Please drop me a line or two. I am forever open and willing to learn and network!
The System is broken? What do I do?
The system is broken!
My colleagues don't seem to listen to the bright ideas I have to fix the system!
Why don't people just fix the broken system?!
Why don't people just listen and work out the plan!
I am appalled by the prevalent stupidity all around me!
How come no one gets the problem but me?!
How can people in important positions be so outright stupid! How come they get promoted there?!
How often have your thoughts been like this?
I don't know about you, I have been there and quite frequently. Till about a year and half ago, I was consistently in this exasperation and frustration bracket and my life was hell - a living hell. Oh yes, it is a terrible place to be. Yes, I felt a high because of the emotions - I was right and everyone was wrong, I was angry, I was better than the rest of them.....
I could not come to terms with the way the world runs and at every moment of the way I was finding the inefficiencies that drove me to the wall. I used to stand there with my back against the wall and shout loud as how retarded the people are and the system was, and how I had all the answers if only anyone would care to listen. It frustrated me to no end and I wondered why I did not have enough followers, why were only a few people following my drumbeat and not everyone? Why were most people acting contrary to the 'right way to do things'?
Does this sound familiar? Have you felt like this sometime in your life?
Early last year, I spent few days in retrospection. It was very hard to do this analysis - like wrenching out all the deep ingrained roots, studying them, and then throwing them out. Painful, very painful indeed. After that, I made one decision and one alone. I am going to be "Open and Willing". It's a concept of letting go of the emotions and looking at the elephant for what it is.
Once I moved away and stepped back, I began to get the perspectives of others and started to appreciate where each and every person was coming from. After I did this, I realized that I have only just begun to understand the problem for what it is. It was a very humbling step and very hard to digest.
Am I there yet? Have I figured it all? Oh no, I probably just crossed the threshold and there is a long path ahead of me. Here's my plan /understanding on how this 'changing the world' concept works:
My colleagues don't seem to listen to the bright ideas I have to fix the system!
Why don't people just fix the broken system?!
Why don't people just listen and work out the plan!
I am appalled by the prevalent stupidity all around me!
How come no one gets the problem but me?!
How can people in important positions be so outright stupid! How come they get promoted there?!
How often have your thoughts been like this?
I don't know about you, I have been there and quite frequently. Till about a year and half ago, I was consistently in this exasperation and frustration bracket and my life was hell - a living hell. Oh yes, it is a terrible place to be. Yes, I felt a high because of the emotions - I was right and everyone was wrong, I was angry, I was better than the rest of them.....
I could not come to terms with the way the world runs and at every moment of the way I was finding the inefficiencies that drove me to the wall. I used to stand there with my back against the wall and shout loud as how retarded the people are and the system was, and how I had all the answers if only anyone would care to listen. It frustrated me to no end and I wondered why I did not have enough followers, why were only a few people following my drumbeat and not everyone? Why were most people acting contrary to the 'right way to do things'?
Does this sound familiar? Have you felt like this sometime in your life?
Early last year, I spent few days in retrospection. It was very hard to do this analysis - like wrenching out all the deep ingrained roots, studying them, and then throwing them out. Painful, very painful indeed. After that, I made one decision and one alone. I am going to be "Open and Willing". It's a concept of letting go of the emotions and looking at the elephant for what it is.
Once I moved away and stepped back, I began to get the perspectives of others and started to appreciate where each and every person was coming from. After I did this, I realized that I have only just begun to understand the problem for what it is. It was a very humbling step and very hard to digest.
Am I there yet? Have I figured it all? Oh no, I probably just crossed the threshold and there is a long path ahead of me. Here's my plan /understanding on how this 'changing the world' concept works:
- Accept that it will be a LONG drawn-out process, no quick-fix and sometimes no fix in my lifetime.
- Develop an Atticus Finch personality.
- Make a difference in my own little way in spite of the system and the people around me. And I am NOT expecting any accolades for it.
Let's see how this pans out. My life is now a wonderful experiment that I am devising as I go. But, you know what, I am very happy these days. Deep down inside I am at peace, and that helps me keep this experiment on track.
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