Mr. A M Naik - A good CEO

Today's Economic Times had a special edition - Most Powerful CEOs. And I was at cloud nine. Wow, So many people to get inspired of. All of them are gems. I could consider Chanda Kochhar to me my icon as being a woman, she has made into top 5 of the most powerful CEOs. But the person who appealed to me the most was Mr.AM Naik, chairman and MD of Larsen and Toubro.

He appealed to me more because I have personally seen him and listened to him in an event. The event was spiritual, yet this big man, the MD of L&T  had come to share his views on it. It was like he was speaking straight from his heart, no show offs, no fake personality. Honestly not many knew him there as they were all ordinary people, many not so educated too. Yet he spoke and it was appealed to me. It sounded much more honest than the other film stars which had come there too to speak.

Today when I saw him in ET I was genuinely interested in knowing about him. I know only that much of him as much was mentioned in the paper. Which is that his father was not any corporate guy, but a freedom fighter and a school teacher. Yet he made it this far only because of his hard work which is evident from the fact that he never took a day off for the first 21 years of his career. Wow. Such dedication towards work is truly inspiring.
But his famous quote will give you the answer for his dedication, "L&T is my hobby, the rest is work."

Even today, when he is about to retire, at 70, he still works 14 hrs a day 7 days a week only to prepare the executives next in line to do the same great work he did. But even now, people in L&T say that the company wont be same without him.

I just hope, and inspire you too, that we enjoy our work just like him that we never feel like taking a day off. Obviously we have to give time to our family too but it would be better if we show even half of the passion he showed in his career. And I know its not possible for everyone to love their work but, we can try loving our work, taking it as a hobby. Its just a matter of perspective, how we look at our jobs nothing else. Because work is work, you make it interesting my your own input it wont make itself interesting.
After all what we make of our lives in in our hands.

Warren Buffett and concept of inner scorecard vs. outer scorecard

For those who don't know who Warren Buffett is, he is the world's most successful investor, second richest man in the world after Bill Gates.

The best part is, his personality is completely opposite to what should have been of the man who is so rich, he is very simple, lives in a small house in Omaha, the same house which he bought in 1955 for only $30,000. And yes he is only 81 yrs old. Still no plans for retirement.

I would like to share with you one of his beliefs. Yes this belief, I admit, I dont follow, I should follow. Ok ok, I am not a big Wise old woman, just another girl like you who is also on her path to learn things about life.

So his belief is as follows:
"If the world couldn't see your results, would you rather be thought of as the world's greatest investor but in reality have the world's worst record? Or be thought of as the world's worst investor when you were actually the best?"

Those who answer the latter have an inner scorecard. They'll have the ability to be a true contrarian, ignoring the world's judgment and focusing on long-term results.

Very simple sounding, but difficult to follow as we are constantly in the need of others approval, others respect. Its a subtle form of ego. We want to feed the self esteem based on others opinion, rather than developing it ourselves. How could we be great if we have such thinking. If i want to be Warren Buffett, since he is my ideal, I will have to let go of this ego. He works for the love of his work, and not to earn money. And the fact that he donated 31 billion dollars to Bill and Melinda Gates charity is the proof of it. Do we work for money, other people's approval and respect or for the love of it?

Micheal Jackson - The Legend

There is no need to introduce the legendary Micheal Jackson to you. I believe in terms of music he is most amazing person who ever existed. Its like he casts a magic spell when we listen to his songs. At least thats the case with me.

I am not going to discuss his personal life at all. Its just too messed up as it is. I just want to discuss Micheal Jackson - the performer. And what a performer he was. Greatness in action.

When I was a kid, I didn't understand a word what he sang. I didn't understand music as such, let alone western music. But I still remember watching his videos of Black or White, Remember the time, and my favorite back then was Will you be there, because it was from the Free Willy soundtrack and I liked that movie, and specially waited till the end to watch that song.

When I was a teenager, we had this collection of english songs which I got from my cousin. That was a very very rough time of my life and I remember listening to his songs which helped me deal with those rough days. I especially liked They don't care about us. Well in a way, it helped me to release my frustration.

When I grew up I had completely forgotten about him when suddenly we heard news about his death. All of the sudden, Micheal Jackson was the only name on everyone's lips. It was like all of a sudden everyone remembered him and his songs. Well that was a case with me too, to be honest. I started collecting more and more songs of him, and the more I listened to them, the more I got addicted to him. I suddenly realized his music was like no one else, because by that time I had listened to a lot of music. His music was like anyone could connect to it, wasn't a particular genre or something, just good songs.

I started collecting his videos too, and was mesmerized with his stage performances, marveled more on the audience reactions to it. And I thought there is something in this guy, really which is different from others. This thin frail looking guy can get the attention of the entire world, what was it?

It was the charisma, it was his stage presence, it  was the kind of energy he poured into every performance which very few performers do. When we see others performing, it feels as if they are doing it just for the money but when he does it, he does it for the performance itself. It is quite obvious because as you know, in every performance, he tried to do something more extravagant than its earlier one.

Then I saw the movie This is it. And I could see in it how much perfection he sought for in each and every song. From the tempo, to a single beat, to a single dance move, every thing he wanted to be perfect. Thats the way we ought to do our work right. I am not saying everyone to be a pop star. But whatever we love to do, we must do with the same amount of dedication. Right?

And behind the perfection in his performance, there isn't any luck or God's gift, but a tremendous amount of hard work. His personal life was messed up, as you know. But still his passion for his work never faded because of it. And as you know, at the age of 50 too, a frail, thin, weak man was going to do such a huge performance all over the world.

Do we have that passion for our work? Can we for once, just forget about our messed up personal lives, I am sure it isn't as messed up as his, and just concentrate on doing great work. Or are we still giving excuses that so and so things in my life is not ok. If we could do that I am sure we could get such a great success, fame and everything we wish for.

People don't become great due to their work, but they become great due to their dedication, will power and attitude towards their work, which obviously lead them towards doing such great work. Are we willing to have such dedication towards our work like Micheal Jackson???

Steve Jobs - Belief in yourself.

Steve Jobs.

I think every self help book will have this topic to be its first. Believe in yourself. Because thats the starting point.

I will discuss the same but I think it becomes easier to understand and apply this if we have someone real in front of us who has done the same to become great. At least that's what worked with me.

Steve Job's belief in himself was extraordinary to an extent it became arrogance. Well I don't suggest you to be arrogant and yes every great individual isn't perfect. But that extraordinary belief in himself and what he did made him what he was. He believed in himself and his ideas to such and extent that sometimes he would start believing what was not there in the reality. A phenomenon which they call as reality distortion. I believe some amount of reality distortion is necessary to motive ourselves. Because just looking at the reality, and looking at not so good conditions in out life in the present, you will be rather demotivated. And thats not we want to do.

Every thing which was ever invented in this world started with a thought. But just a thought was never enough. A deep belief in what you want to do, or to be specific what you can do, made you do wonders. If anyone who might have seen Kung Fu Panda, might know what the central theme, or the moral was in that movie. It was, "There is no secret ingredient, its just you." And your belief in yourself. We feel as if people like Steve Jobs or any other successful person has some secret ingredient that we don't have. But the line from the movie is 100% true in any case. There is no secret ingredient that made them do great things, there is just belief in themselves.

This belief can come only if we are 100% positive towards ourselves. Our self esteem should be high. No single line of negativity towards ourselves, whether in words or even thought must come. It is difficult, we might have to try again and again since we are so conditioned into thinking negative first. But whenever a negative thought comes in our mind, immediately replace it with positive. If it is "I cannot do that", immediately replace it with "I can do anything". Say it to yourself again and again " I can do anything" around 10 times each day. It would work more better if you keep the company of God with you in your mind whenever you do this exercise. You might add a line of being grateful to God for making you so amazing that you can do anything. People like Steve Jobs might be born with a high self esteem but even if we aren't, we can develop it anytime.

Firm belief in yourself, a big step towards reaching your goals. Once you have that firm belief, the further steps become a lot easier. 

A technique for reducing your mental weight.

I would like to share with you today a technique which will help you to reduce your burden. I had read somewhere, "If you want to fly, you got to let go of the shit that holds you down". And since this blog is dedicated to better living, this technique should be applied in order to let go of the burden, so that you become light and move ahead with more energy.

This technique is apologizing for your mistakes. I know I have not revealed some big secret. But these simple things which we were taught in the childhood too, but forgot to apply when we grew up, will help you to be better.

To know what you have to apologize for, you have to let go of any ego and be brutally honest with yourself. Come on, it doesn't even make sense to lie to yourself. You are already naked in front of yourself and that should be the way. Sit quietly with yourself. Talk to yourself as if you were talking to a very very close friend whom you can trust with any of your dark secrets. Don't be afraid of yourself its just you, You wont judge yourself.

Think of anything, any event of past, any behavior of yours which was hurtful to someone, and which you denied as your own fault but actually it is eating you away inside. It is our tendency to defend ourselves in everything and always put the blame on others. Thats why I said you have to be brutally honest with yourself. I am sure you will find more than one incident or behavior of yours which in someway or the other, hurt someone.

After you do find such things, please please do not go into the guilt of making that mistake. It is ok, first and foremost forgive yourself for those things. We are only human, we all make some or the other mistakes. It is a part of the past which you cannot change. You are a better person now. We just need to close that matter once and for all, forever. That is why we are doing this exercise.

Next step you do is, apologize that person for those things. It needs courage, but having that courage for that time is worth it, which will benefit you both, and make your life better from now on. Tell him/ her honestly about all the things you feel you did wrong to them, and sincerely apologize to them. In many cases, the person may no longer be with you, may be due to death, or any other reason. What you can do is, meditate, and while you do so, bring that soul in front of you, and in presence of God, apologize to him/ her. We all are souls, energy. And nothing, nor distance nor death can come between us in if we want to genuinely communicate. Your vibrations will reach that soul and will benefit you both. And that burden will be released.

Your job is over. You might wonder how that person will react, whether he/she will forgive me or not. Well thats their problem not ours. When we apologize, we are clearing out our burden and any negative energy we have for that soul. And whether that person will do the same for him/herself, rests on him/her. You are clear inside and ready to move on with your life with new energy. 

Steve Jobs, First Step - Find what you love.

Steve Jobs had this clear in mind what he wanted. Even after he was out of Apple, the thought of what he wanted to do in his life was crystal clear. He wanted to be an innovator, he wanted excellence. And he wanted that in the field of computers. which urged him to start NeXT after leaving Apple, to continue with his purpose.

He was so focused on that purpose, that money, or any other possessions didn't matter to him. In fact, he believed that the less possessions, the better which came from his buddhist philosophy. And it is true, since many a times we lose focus from our purpose, ours goals due to the need to have more possessions and more money. Mind you, if your focus is earning money, it wont work because thats not a good purpose. Everyone has a passion, and that passion should be based on your talent and your creativity. And it should be beneficial to all including yourself of course. That passion should be your purpose.

Steve Jobs was so focused on his purpose that at times he ignored his family. I would not advise you to follow him on this part because family is just as important in life as your work. Because it wont make any sense if you are the most successful person in the world and you don't have anyone to share that with.

Find your purpose in life. What makes you happy, what excites you? What makes you get out the bed and work? What makes you so engrossed that you lose track of time? What is it which you can do for hours and still don't feel tired of it?

Find that purpose, forget about whether I can do it or not, whether people will approve it or not. Steve Jobs never cared what people thought of him, whether they laughed at him or thought his ideas were completely crazy. Many of them were crazy when he first discussed about them but they did come true, iPad sounded crazy at first but it did came out and became such a big hit. Find your passion, without caring about what the world might think about it. And go ahead with it. Success follows excellence. And you can be excellent if you work with all your heart and soul. And that you can do only if you are doing what you love.