One of my friends is very good at making acquaintances. He takes only minutes to know someone and then remember them for a long long time. He doesn’t work well in excel though.

Another friend I know is very good at learning new languages. He already knows some seven local and international languages. He is still learning some new ones last time we met. But he is very weak when it comes to report writing.

We would all be able to recall many of our colleagues and friends who are very good at one thing while being moderate at other. The question then arises, with one’s strengths and weaknesses, how can one be effective. This is what we are going to discuss!

While there are many techniques for measuring effectiveness, I find the one that I am about to describe, one of the simplest and very powerful. This is a really simple technique that does not involve using complex charts and graphs.

So are you ready to know it? It is based on two simple questions:

1. What is that one thing which would have a tremendous impact on my life. There can be 3 or 4 things depending upon whether the question relates to office, home, social or personal goals.
2. How much time am I devoting to that most important thing?

The time measure is a really great measure. Once noting down the time spent, it is usually a surprise that the things we normally perceive as taking most of our time, are in fact not taking as much time as the minor-many-other-things. These minor things are the enemies to our effectiveness.

So here is a simple suggestion for all of us. We should write down our goals, those 20% tasks that have the 80% impact, and commit to spending not less than 80% of our time on those goals. I can promise that the difference we note would be worth the effort.

Your thoughts are welcome!!!

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All of us have different moods at different times. Sometimes we are happy. Sometimes sad. Sometimes we feel so energetic we plan to conquer the world. Sometimes we are so lethargic we don’t want to move a figure. So what does this have to do with a table top without legs? That’s what I am going to tell you today.

Anthony Robbins a great motivational speaker. He refers to the “beliefs” that we have as the ‘table top’ and the references that we use to support those beliefs as the ‘legs’. He says when we feel energetic there are certain beliefs associated with that feeling and those give us the reason to feel so.

I will try to explain it more simply. What makes us think that we can pass an exam? What makes us believe that we can achieve something? What makes us believe that we can turn our dreams into reality? Well, when answering all these questions positively, our belief is something in the past, some event, some achievement, some accomplishment that we know of, that we recall and think that since we had done it before, we can do it again.

Now take the opposite example. Sometimes we feel like we are going to fail? Sometimes we feel like we have lost? Sometimes we feel like we wont be able to make it. In all these negative feelings, again there are experiences and events that happened somewhere back in time that lead us to think so.

So what to do?

Tony Robbins says, we should find the ‘legs’ of table and cut those and the ‘table top’, ‘the belief’ would fall down. So if we feel we would not be able to make it, we should ask ourselves, why we think so, and once we get the answer we should substitute the negative belief with a positive belief. For example, if we think we would not be able to deliver a good presentation, and we ask ourselves why, the answer might come as, cause we failed in a certain presentation. We should substitute it with a positive belief and try to remember those times when we were successful and we achieved what we intended. This would strengthen our thoughts about our ability to accomplish. Repeating the same exercise with other beliefs is like scratching a CD. It would not be able to play the same song again and we would be relieved of the ‘dis-empowering belief’.

One of the most wonderful affects I felt were acting upon Tony’s advice to write down 5 of ‘dis-empowering beliefs’ and 5 of the ‘empowering’ ones. Then think about why we think the way we think and in that process we would begin to doubt our ‘dis-empowering beliefs’. I did it and though it sounds so simple, it felt great.

I would invite you to try the experience yourself and let us share how we felt.

Have a wonderful week!

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Does this sound like a threat to you? A ransom maybe! Not at all. Read on and you will know why.

It is said that the world is becoming – rather has become a global village. Look around in your room and no matter which country you live in, you will find things from all around the world. Go a step further and think about how all of these things were made and are working and you will wonder at the sophisticated and precise systems that are behind all this. Just take the example of a TV and the channels you watch. In few minutes you will be able to tune into hundreds of channels with thousands of reporters reporting all around the globe and if you think about the hotels where they stayed, communication equipment that they use, transportation and logistic arrangements – and the fact that each of these persons trained for years before going “live”,  you will be simply overwhelmed.

So what does this mean for us. Well, that’s not what I am going to discuss today. What I am going to discuss is that all of this globalization has turned the world into one big market and there are people who are very smart on benefiting from this opportunity.

This is where they say, “If you love them, pay us”, though not the same way I put it!

What I mean to say is that for each occasion and each celebration, there are gifts associated with that event and those gifts are the expression of love – so much so that if those things are taken out of that event, if feels as if the event hasn’t been celebrated.

Now I am not against gifts, and I don’t mean to say that these shouldn’t be part of our lives: but I just want to say is that we should give more preference to the emotions and feelings behind those gifts. And even if the gifts are taken out of the picture, those pure emotions remain and they make our lives fulfilling.

Human behavior and psychology has been studied in great depth. There are people who are paid very high to come up with commercials and advertising campaigns to associate certain feelings to certain items. Movie and sports celebrities are associated with cosmetics and food and beverages that they themselves never use and so on. And this is done in a perfect way so that our subconscious never takes time to think that its being tricked.

Look at this this way. If someone kidnaps our loved ones and asks for ransom, we are frightened and also feel being manipulated. We also think that in order to show our love we have to arrange that money. So how would we think of those who lead us to believe that if we do not buy their products to celebrate our occasions, we are not loving our loved ones. Arent our relations and loved ones hurt then? I would not say its same, but its definitely similr, with a capital S!

I think while making a decision to do something, one of the questions we should ask ourselves is, “am I doing it because its necessary or am I doing it because I have been programmed to think its necessary?” This question, I believe, will give us a wonderful insight into ourselves and help us in two ways; first to express our unconditional love in unconventional ways, and second to look more at the feelings behind actions rather than only the apparent actions.

Have a wonderful time. And happy mothers’ day to all of you!!

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Pakistan is blessed with wonderful people. These people rank very high in talents. Their professional excellence in various fields is accepted all over the world. Engineers, medical professionals, accountants, construction workers are just few of those who represent Pakistan. Reasons for leaving Pakistan, in most cases, include financial hardships that are at Pakistan and the comforts that living abroad brings.

Although I don’t have any exact statistics, looking at my facebook fellows, more than 50% of them are working abroad. And this is the just one class of professionals that we are talking about.

While living abroad has its benefits, there are greater challenges too. Getting used to a different culture, at times finding it difficult to act upon religious beliefs, being the target of bias that is prevalent in many countries around the world who don’t have positive connotations for Pakistani are just few to name. However, despite all these hardships and challenges, people manage to live and prosper.

Now comes the part that led me to write all this preface. While for some living in Pakistan is very difficult due to: poverty; lack of education; lack of health facilities; lack of infrastructure; too much corruption; leadership and so on, the same things can be looked upon in another way.

If we want to work in health, we could spend our lives helping people across Pakistan. If we like to teach, we would be able to find people whose lives we could change by our teachings. If we think feeding hungry people is a noble act, we would be able to do so in Pakistan. What is meant here is that same things, the lack of which makes Pakistan a “miserable” state, are opportunities for those who love humanitarian work and who want to impact and change the lives of those around them.

There is an old saying, “Ask not what your country did for you, but ask what you can do for your country”. I think this saying hold more than true in case of Pakistan.

My request to all of us is to include improving Pakistan as one of our priorities. We could spend our energy, our resources, our finances and our experience to come up with ways that include the betterment of Pakistan. In these tough times today, the need for such efforts is greater than ever and we are all open to chose as we please.

I would like to say more on this topic, but I think I conveyed what I meant to say. I would request us all to make Pakistan a priority among other priorities – and start with remembering it in our prayers. I am a very strong believer that when our intention is true, we start finding ways of doing what we intend.

Do share your thoughts. Have a wonderful time!

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Last year I had started a blog. It was called contribute. I had decided to write it with a view to share what normally inspires me. I have been in the habit of listening to audio books recently and reading has been a passion since long. During these listening and reading activities I usually come around stuff that leaves a mark.

Sometimes it’s a simple thought, sometimes some beautiful words and then sometimes it’s a plain blunt fact that hits me in the head and I say to myself – how come I never thought of it.

Well, to cut short, I wrote about few things and persons I liked and then I got a new job and then my website expired and since then, it was a period of absence and for me – a period of emptiness. The good news is I am back on track now. I shall be writing more and I shall be sharing more. There is lots I think I need to share with you all and this would be a fresh start.

While I like to write and share as much as possible, I know when we join hands, the impact grows many times. I would request you all to share your views and thoughts. At times there may be something you think we should talk about, but don’t find the time to say it. At times you have something on your mind. I would request to take a moment and write it to share. If not possible, just share the topic and your perspective with me and I shall try to include it.

You can visit the new blog at www.intiha.com and read what I shared earlier.

You are welcome to share your thoughts and I shall be looking for guidance and I am very hopeful that this would be a wonderful journey together!!

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Has it ever happened to you that you went to pick the print outs you sent and you had to sort through a pile of print outs that had been sent by some unknown users and are now without an owner?

Has it ever happened to you that when you went to pick the print outs, you came to know that the input tray was empty and then when you put papers therein, a long que of prints started that nobody was there to claim?

Has it ever happened to you that while you sent a print in a hurry, only after picking it up you realized that a single text  line had over-flown to the next page and that the whole document would have to be reprinted?

Well, this happens to me every day, and I thought, this must be happening in all offices all the time. This prompted me to write this blog entry and to share with you some tips that I found useful.

First of all, we print of paper, and papers are made of trees and any paper we are able to save is a step towards greener world. So we should look upon this not as a mere skill but as a responsibility. With this attitude we would be able to have a conscious approach towards handling the printouts.

So, here are few tips:

• Ask yourself, is this print necessary. Does anyone would have a copy that probably wouldn’t be read again and just filed and can I get that copy?
• Whenever sending the printout, have a look how it would print (print preview). This saves the last row of text from flowing into next page and also help us columns printing separately.
• Use headers and footers in documents. This helps in relocating the documents if the paper gets stuck in printer and the print has to be re-sent. It helps us find the owner of document in most cases and arrange the papers if they get mixed up. (trust me, in offices such thing happen daily). Using document title, page number, total number of pages and print time and date is a very good exercise.
• Use both sides of paper to print whenever possible. While printing on both sides (duplex printing as is called in many cases) use mirror margins which help align the printouts.
• Convert the text to adobe readable format for online reading. There are many free software that let you convert your documents into PDF files which are easy to read and do not have to be reformatted if page setups differ from PC to PC.
• PowerPoint presentations should be printed using handout view and 4-6 slides per page. This helps in identifying any inconsistencies that might be there. Many people take full printout as one slide per page which can be avoided.

I hope you will find this useful and share with others – for a greener tomorrow!!

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Speed Reading

We all live in an information age. Lots and lots of information being thrown at us. Lots and lots of stuff coming to us at an astounding pace. We have the option either to let it all just pass or sift and sort and gain as much as we can. And of the tools to doing that is Speed Reading. In this article we shall talk a little about that and share some tips.

The first thing we need to realize is that not all publication can be read speedily. Great works of literature need some calm pace to enjoy it to full extent. Feeling as the writer felt needs a sense of calm and inner peace that demands rather deliberately slowing the pace. Its just like when we drive on the highway, we are at full throttle but when we are in greenery and scenic views we deliberately slow down and enjoy.

So the first step is to identify the things that need our attention and to see how much attention needs to be devoted to it. Is is something in particular that we are looking for (sort of scanning for particular word or phrase); is it something that we would like to comprehend in detail (something for critical analysis perhaps); or is it something that we are reading just to enjoy (some literary piece or novel or maybe poetry).

After we have identified that, we can proceed to next step, to familiarize with the content. It involves asking ourselves what we already know and what we hope to gain by looking at the table of contents or the main headings and titles. This creates an overall image to which we plan to add colors later.

Third is to skim over the article. This is reading fast without trying to understand each thing to the fullest extent. It adds a layer of understanding to the already formed image and gives it some clarity.

Final step involves reading in detail. By this time we have an overall idea of what the article is about and we can prioritize. We know what is important and we can focus on that. We might want to re-read some of the important stuff.

Following are 3 of the Best Practices in this regard:

1. Set a time period for reading. Our brain works superb when we tell it that it only has a Definite time to work. This is shown in exams when we write in half hour what normally takes days. So if we set a time and keep it in front of us, our brain increases its pace to reach this target.
2. Reflect at the end of a reading session. Ask ourselves what have we learned and add the jest, in the form of few points, to the article so that we can recall it easily later. A few questions at the end of a session would help us identify what we have learned and we might need to revisit some portion of our reading.
3. Read as thought you plan to teach someone. This way we would be constantly viewing as if someone were to ask us, what would they ask? And such attitude helps build tremendous focus and attention.

Happy reading!!

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Compass

Stephen Covey explains an exercise during his training sessions. He says he tells the participants to close their eyes. Then he tells them to turn their face towards North. Then after everyone has done so, which hardly takes few second, he tells them to open their eyes and when people open their eyes, they are surprised to know that people have turned their faces in almost every direction. Some even have turned towards the roof.

So, he asks the participants a question, “If we are 50 people here and 30 are looking in one direction and the remaining 20 in other, will North be in the direction of 30 people?”

Well, direction of North does not depend upon the choice of people. It does not depend upon democracy. It does not depend upon majority’s choice. Its something Universal. Its something that is divine. Its something that Nature has.

Well – we would ask, “Okay, but whats in it for us”.

Here is where the fun begins. Covey says, at times, we are acting against Universal Principles. We are not in harmony with the Nature. We are not respecting the fundamentals and that’s when, we DO NOT succeed. Its not a matter of choice or majority. Its simply a matter of choosing the right things. Unless we are clear in choosing what’s right, and we choose it, we are bound to fail.

Have a wonderful weekend!

P.S. you can read more about Stephen Covey and this article at www.the8thhabit.com.

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This week while I was thinking about what to share, I had this idea that probably its time for the most commonly used (and underused) software, MS Excel. While a post on this topic would have shed some light on some of the things, I felt that there is much more to Excel that could be covered  in simply a post and so dedicated a full page to it.

You can read more in Excel Corner.

Happy reading and stay in touch. Do share your views as I believe that only when we start sharing what we have, we know how wealthy we are!!

(This post does not have comments section. For comments please use the Excel Corner Page.)

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Jamal is having a long day, rather looong day as he calls it. He started early and there are tasks he had to catch up and there are still things he wants to do but he just doesn’t feel like he is performing at peak today. He wonders that the same day last week, he got so much done in a single day. So why not today?

Does this sound familiar? One day we are bored to death in tasks and can’t seem to get a word written and there are other days when we surprise even ourselves!!! That’s what we shall talk about this in this post.

I read once that Taxi drivers can earn upto 15% more by working longer hours the day they are earning more and quitting early the days that they get few passengers. The same study showed that they could earn upto 8% more if they worked the same hours every day irrespective of the number of passengers that they got. BUT what they do is that they quit early the day they get more passengers and work late the days when passengers are less - not a wise approach!

Same goes for investing strategy of few people. They invest in shares, then hold on to the ones that are not performing well, wishing that one day they will turn profit and sell the good ones for short term gains; again – not a recommended strategy!

So what do the above examples have to do in how do work at our best?

Well, the key is recognizing how well we perform what time of the day and also in how well are we feeling on a given day. Some of us are early birds – the ones who are able to get up early and do their best; and some are night lovers – who love to burn the midnight oil. If you don’t know which type you are, just imagine that you have to prepare for a test tomorrow and you have time to prepare – 24 hours. What will you do then? Will you rest till night then study all night or will u study a while, rest all night, then rise up early and prepare. This is a simple way to identify our peak potential.

Now what if an early bird couldn’t get the 8 hours sleep; Well, probably not perform as well! And what if the night lover is asked to do something early morning; again, not a good thing. So this is how we should allocate our work. What people normally do is to leave early the day they are full of energy when everything seems to be getting done. The same people try to work late hours when they are restless and tired and assignment seems to getting longer and longer. In first case, when full of energy, sitting as little as an hour extra can get lots of work done.

In the second case, the suggested approach is to first identify the energy level, and if uncomfortable and not able to concentrate – take a nap. Even as few as half hour nap can really energize and change our efficiency level.

Another way is to take a short break and instead of taking tea or coffee, just take fresh water and walk few minutes. The difference between the two approaches is that if our energy is low due to lack of rest or sleep, walking would just make it worse and we would have to take a nap anyway. (Normally lack of sleep is identified by irritability and unable to concentrate).

This also applies to the people we manage. Sometimes a boss would demand all staff to be at office early not recognizing that being punctual doesn’t necessarily mean being efficient. Recognizing individual differences can help us be more effective with people. Giving some leverage in timings might be a step towards bringing out the best in people, and ourselves!!

So those were my thoughts today. Do share your views.

Have a wonderful week.

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