Testing the Wind

That first leap...

Feet outstretched, sitting on the steps

I look up at the blue, searching

The cloud farthest from my perch

No end in sight, I feel petite

In nature’s vast mystery

Endless hours I’ve burdened

These steps with my being

First when I’d seen no more

Than half a score summers

Today I’m lost, wondering

If this is the last moment to be

Will my flight across the oceans

Make me lose my tree?

I’m nervous, I’m scared

Never flown in the open sky

Always sheltered, I’ve lived

A fairy tale life

Yet the welcome drops

The gentle breeze

Spraying me with delight

Hold out hope

A little optimism

For the glories of this flight

A little smile plays across my lips

As I think of the days to come

I dream of the life

I hope to have

Dream of the things that will be

Emboldened, encouraged

Honest and brave

I’m taking that step

Towards the edge

From where I’ll test the wind

For the first time

Looking down in the depths

Apprehensive, but not unaware

Of the challenges that lie ahead

I flap my wings free

Looking back at the home

I’m leaving behind, I say

I’ll make a mark

In nature’s beautiful history…

Meeting Mrs. Deepika Bhattacharya

You want it to go left, it’ll go right. You want it to slow down, it’ll go blazingly fast. You want it to be easy it’ll be tougher than fighting a bunch of gun-wielding goons blind-folded. Such is life. A life which isn’t always fair….

Yet fighting against all odds and taking the sudden surprise turns in our stride has always kept us going. We might not know exactly where we are headed, but we’re definitely progressing…each day, each moment.

Embodying this philosophy is Mrs. Deepika Bhattacharya, Vice President, Accenture whom I met at a college event. When she took the stage, she had her audience entranced. But I dare say that even she didn’t know destiny’s plans for her.

Though she’d dreamt medicine-dreams while in class 8, she ended up pursuing commerce, thus, becoming the first female in her family to venture into this line of study. She then planned to do Economics and landed up with Bachelors of Commerce and later wanted to become a Chartered Accountant and ended up doing Masters in Business Economics. Her life almost never obeyed the choices she made.

Undaunted by the lows that life sent her way, she persevered. Working with some of the top-notch firms like Dabur, NIIT, American Express, GE and now Accenture. She went from a ‘Can she fit in here?’ girl to the ‘I really admire her!’ lady. Her twenty-three year journey in the corporate sector is testimony to the fact that through sheer hard-work, grit and determination seemingly ordinary people can transform themselves into big achievers.

She left us with such valuable lessons as can only come with experience. One particular idea that had a deep impact on me was this: Work towards your strengths.

Is it not very logical? Do what you are good at, do it better than anyone else ever can. Yet we always work in the exact opposite direction, slaving with skills which aren’t really our cup of tea. True, it helps us diversify but wouldn’t we be much better off if we knew one trade like the back of our hands…instead of being jack of all trades and master of none?

While dealing with questions regarding problems working women face, she emphasized on the fact that you always have to stand by the decisions you take. I couldn’t agree more. If I myself do not support the decisions I take, how can I expect anyone else to do it? How can I achieve my full potential if I have a trunk full of regrets weighing me down?

Her closing thought was “Don’t be too hard on your own self.” I think that directly translates to my philosophy of loving one self. True, you are your best critic. But when this self-criticism starts to put you down, when it starts to have a negative impact on your personality, it is best to stop. Love your flaws. Were you perfect, life would’ve been considerably more difficult.

Her words gave me food for thought and I sure am munching away to eternity.

P.S. I later discovered we’re from the same school. Awesome! Right?

Newton's Laws- Part 2

Hard job= More Effort

This week we’ll be talking about Newton’s Second Law of Motion:

The acceleration of a body is directly proportional to, and in the same direction as, the net force acting on the body, and inversely proportional to its mass. Thus,

F = ma, where F is the net force acting on the object, m is the mass of the object and a - the acceleration of the object.

How does this law apply to our life? Ever wondered why, despite your best efforts, you don’t get any closer to your goal? Or why sometimes, you barely feel like you’ve moved a finger, and the work gets done? These little absurdities of life are explained through Newton’s Second Law.

It determines how fast/slow we can achieve our goal or how much effort we need to put in, to reach our destination. The equation is very simple:

                                                F=m*a

Where,

F is the effort required of us to taste success.

m is the size of our goal.

a is the speed at which we attain that goal.

For those of you familiar with basic proportion and variations, it is clearly seen that the effort required is directly proportional to the size of the goal.

Now that was easy? Wasn't it?

Take an example, say you have an exam tomorrow and you’re left with only one chapter to study… easy right? You can do it with a blink of the eye. Here, the size of goal (one chapter) is pretty small and so is the effort. On the other hand, say, you hadn’t even started preparing. Big mess!!! You’ll be fretting, sweating, getting anxious and tensed over it. If you want to have even the slightest hope of getting through the exam, you’ll need to burn the midnight oil (well… at least that night). Hence, if the task is big, so is the effort.

Big success needs great efforts… it demands diligence, hard work and never-ending patience. You miss out on any of them, you lose it all. Maybe this is why our parents always want us to imbibe these values… for they know their worth.

The problem arises when we put in inappropriate effort for our targets. Working extremely hard for trivial tasks or barely working for a life-defining opportunity… both amounts to waste. It leads to frustration, low self- confidence and ultimately a loss of capability. 

What can we do about it?

#1 Define your vision: You can work right only if you know exactly what you want. There is a phenomenal difference between saying “I’ll study today” and “I’ll finish the first two chapters of Mathematics today.” Being specific and clear about your goals can be the difference between success and failure..

#2 Keep your expectations low: Heard the saying “Rome was not built in a day”? Remember it. Do not expect miracles right at the commencement of any project/activity. Success is the most elusive of all things, which brings me to the next point…

#3 Be patient: Let things progress naturally… give your best but don’t get disheartened if the results are not as expected. Stay positive about failures- they’re just ways of how not to do a particular thing. Learn from them and keep your cool.

#4 Evaluate your current position: Where are you with respect to your goal… within an arm’s reach or miles off? Calculate the work you still need to do. Find out the effort needed and ask yourself… are you willing to do it?

Life, in short, is nothing but this equation between efforts and success. The more time you spend working for your goal, the closer you get to it. Your vision becomes a reality only when you forget sleep, food and other luxuries life has to offer. It is especially difficult in today’s distraction-friendly world… but then we do hear miracle stories… don’t we?

Newton's Laws- Part 1

New day, New start!

Newton’s Laws of Motion- Ring any bells? Well…obviously, they do. Irrespective of the line of work you chose or the place you studied, you would not have been able to escape Sir Isaac Newton! But how many of you have thought about the relevance of these laws to general life? How do they work outside the constricted domains of physics?

Just to remind you:

Newton’s Laws of Motion

First Law: If there is no net force on an object, then its velocity is constant. The object is either at rest (if its velocity is equal to zero), or it moves with constant speed in a single direction.

Second law: The acceleration a of a body is parallel and directly proportional to the net force F acting on the body, is in the direction of the net force, and is inversely proportional to the mass m of the body, i.e., F = ma.

Third law: When a first body exerts a force F1 on a second body, the second body simultaneously exerts a force F2 = −F1 on the first body. This means that F1 and F2 are equal in magnitude and opposite in direction.

In this post, I’ll be talking about the first law. It basically states that an object in motion continues moving in a single direction unless it is acted upon by a force. Now think of a day when you wake up and have an argument with your parents/spouse/sibling. What happens?

After the exchange of angry colorful words you might:

1) Not be able to get ready on time.

2) Not be able to eat a proper breakfast.

3) Forget essential items, like keys to your cabin/ lab files, at home.

4) Mess up any important exam/viva/meeting you had.

5) Feel as if it is taking longer than usual on the road. Read Road Rage.

6) Be irritated with anyone and everyone around you.

The list is endless. But what is common to all these possibilities? You are having a bad day.

One thing leads to the other… spoiling the whole day. Coming back home provides no solace. Hence, a bad day turns into a bad week… a week into a month. Slowly, you transform into a grumpy man/woman. See the result of just one fight?

You must be wondering where does Newton step-in? Well, that fight, it was like rolling a marble on a friction-less floor, in the wrong direction. It will keep on moving in that negative direction till you, the force, intervenes. You have to stop that one bad moment from ruining your day. How can we do it?

Think...look ahead...find the right direction!

Suggestion 1:

Talk to yourself.

Everything we say or think has a huge impact on our subconscious. Our words are both a reflection and a formative factor for our own self. What we say reflects our values and the way we appear to others further goes on to reinforce our identity to our own self.

Talk positive to yourself. Tell yourself that you are the best… that you can do things if you set your heart to them… that accepting and apologizing for your mistakes does not make you smaller… that forgiveness is the best gift.

If these high-flying ideals do not work for you, start small. Just a simple “I am looking good today” will see you through the day with a smile. When you talk so much to others, why not talk to yourself?

Suggestion 2:

Know your goals.

To be able to roll the marble in the right direction, you need to know one quintessential thing: the right direction. Think over what you want to do. Do you want to complete all that pending work… or enjoy a day out with your family… or make the day special for a friend… what do you want to do?

Being clear about your targets, whatever their nature may be helps a lot. You do not end up getting lost in the maze that is your mind.

Tell your mind your goals, it will find the right direction. Once found, don’t lose it.

Suggestion 3:

Part from the usual routine

If you feel like you’re always working behind schedule, always waking up a few hours after the alarm goes off… or in general, you’re unhappy with the way your life is progressing…STOP!!!

Try to do things differently. You will realize what you were doing wrong. It might be something as simple as eating your dinner early which might fix the problem (eating late does not give our tiny stomach and long intestines the time to digest it… sleepless night… waking up late and so on). At the end, it is all connected. That is why when we see successful people we find them good at everything… from entertaining people to finding complex business solutions.

Break free from the rut. And enjoy a happy and fulfilling life.

Remember... every new day is a new start! 

One last word:

I know this was a lengthy post… but those of you who are reading these words… I hope you will make the most of them. It was only my explorations on the internet which gave me the idea for this series. If you like it, share it J

Till next week, keep the marble rolling (in the right direction)!