Danke Schoen ( German : Thank you very much )

Danke schoen, darling, danke schoen,
Thank you for all the joy and pain.
Picture show, second balcony, was the place we'd meet,
Second seat, go Dutch treat, you were sweet.
Danke schoen, darling, danke schoen,
Save those lies, darlin' don't explain.
I recall Central Park in Fall,
How you tore your dress, what a mess, I confess, that's not all.
Danke schoen, darling, danke schoen,
Thank you for walks down Lover's Lane,
I can see, hearts carved on a tree,
Letters intertwine, for all time, yours and mine, that was fine.
Danke schien, darling, danke schoen,
Thank you for seeing me again.
Though we go on our separate ways,
Still the mem'ry stays, for always,
My heart says, danke schoen.
Danke schoen, Oh darlin' danke shoen,
I said thank you for, mmmm, seein' me again.
Though we go on our separate ways, Still the mem'ry stays, for always,
My heart says, danke schoen. Danke shoen, auf weidershein, Danke shoen.




Note: (German)
Danke Schoen : Thank you very much
auf weidershein: until we see again , German - goodbye


-Vish

Rich Dad Poor Dad

             - By Robert T. Kiyosaki

This is my first book on Financial Intelligence. I wish, I would have read this book before purchasing of my Flat.

The author uses very simple words to explain complex financial terms. For example, 
Asset 
- Is which puts money into your pocket and Liability is which takes money out of your pocket.
Wealth 
- Is a person's ability to survive without working, i.e., If I stop working today, how long can I survive?


Cash flow diagram described in this book is a simple and effective way of understanding your financial status.There are many online video presentations of Robert. Google to know his perspective better.


Quotation excerpts from this book are -

• Rich acquire assets and the poor and middle class acquires liabilities, but they think they are assets
• More money seldom solves someone's money problems. Intelligence solves problems
• If you find you have dug yourselves into a hole... stop digging
• Do not say " I can't afford it". Instead say "How can I afford it? ".
• An intelligent person hires people who are more intelligent than they are.
• The greatest losses of all are those from missed opportunities
• Your business revolves around your assets column, as opposed to your income column.
• Keep your daytime job, but start buying real assets, not liabilities or personal effects that have no real value once you get them home.
• An important distinction is that rich people buy luxuries last, while the poor and middle class tend to buy luxuries first
• We all have tremendous potential, and we all are blessed with gifts. Yet, the one thing that holds all of us back is some degree of self-doubt
• Often in the real world, it's not the smart that get ahead but the bold
• Financial intelligence is simply having more options
• If you are a person waiting for the "right" oppurtunities, you might wait longer.It's like waiting for all the traffic lights to go green for five miles before starting the trip.
• If you can grasp the idea that money is not real, you will grow richer faster.
• It is what you know that is your greatest wealth. It is what you do not know that is your greatest risk.
• Work to learn. Do not work for money.
• Workers work hard enough to not be fired and owners pay just enough so that workers won't quit.
• You can't teach an old dog new tricks
• Important law of money : Give and you shall receive
• For winners,losing inspires them. For losers, losing defeats them
• To make progress, you must first go unbalanced
• Cynics criticize and Winners analyse
• Chickens of a feather agree together
• The easy road often becomes hard, and the hard road often becomes easy
• Whenever you feel "short" or in "need" of something, give what you want first and it will come back in buckets
• God does not need to receive, but humans need to give
• All you need to be is generous with what you  have, and the powers will be generous with you
• You need to know what you're looking for and  then go look for it!

Hmm.. this book seems very rich in quotes.The one I like more is in bold.

-Vish

Principle of Reciprocity - Give To Recieve

I have encountered this principle in the book - "Rich Dad Poor Dad" and I completely agree with it after I gave a little thought to it. What it states in simple words is as follows -

Principle of Reciprocity :  Give what you want and what you give, comes back in multiples

For example, give love to be loved, give a smile to get back a smile and give money to get back money.
Help someone in need if you are expecting help. The law or principle may not act back immediately but surely will.I find this true as for every smile i get back smiles by a factor of 10 or more :)
By same analogy, if you want to get rich , think ways to make other rich through you. Money will automatically flows into your life. The scope of application of this principle is unbounded.


-Vish

The Monk Who Sold His Ferrari- Robin S. Sharma

You will only understand and like this book if you are searching for meaning of your life or looking forward to create a purpose for your life and tools to achieve your life goals and objectives.This book is not just to read but importantly to follow. Apply at least few of them in your life and see the miracles that follow.


The 7 Time less virtues of Enlightened Living are summarized in the link below
http://www.esnips.com/doc/41489079-0e42-4e91-9a67-11f8e2db077b/The-Monk-Who-Sold-His-Ferrari1_ppt


Some great words from this book


"There are no mistakes in life, only lessons. There is no such thing as a negative experience, only opportunities to grow, learn and advance along the road of self mastery. From struggle comes strength. Even pain can be a wonderful teacher"


"When you are inspired by some great purpose, some extraordinary project, all of your thoughts break their bonds: your mind transcends limitations, your consciousness expands in every direction and you find yourself in a new, great and wonderful world. Dormant forces, faculties and talents become alive and you discover yourself to be a greater person than you ever dreamed
yourself to be"


"The boundaries of your life are merely creations of the self"


"The secret of happiness is simple: find out what you truly love to do and then direct all of your energy towards doing it"


"If there is a lack in your life it is because there is a lack in your thoughts"


"'There is nothing noble about being superior to some other person. True nobility lies in being superior to your former self"


"Never get into the petty habit of measuring your self-worth against other people's net worth. Every second you spend thinking about someone else's dreams you take time away from your own"


"you will never be able to hit a target that you cannot see. So set your life goals clearly"


"The point is simply that when you train your mind to associate pleasure with good habits and
punishment with bad ones, your weaknesses will quickly fall by the wayside."


"There are three mirrors that form a person's reflection; the first is how you see yourself, the
second is how others see you and the third mirror reflects the truth. Know yourself. Know the truth."


"Never do anything because you have to. The only reason to do something is because you want to and because you know it is the right thing for you to do."


"A burning sense of passion is the most potent fuel for your dreams"


"People grow the most when they enter the Zone of the Unknown.The
only limits on your life are those that you set yourself."


"Make a written inventory of your weaknesses"


"Happiness comes through the progressive realization of a worthy objective"


"Sure I am that this day we are masters of our fate, that the task which has been set before us is not above our strengths; that its pangs and toils are not beyond my endurance. As long as we have faith in our own cause and an unconquerable will to win, victory will not be denied us."
Winston Churchill
""Act as if failure is impossible, and your success will be assured.Wipe out every thought of not achieving your objectives, whether they are material or spiritual. Be brave, and set no limits on the workings of your imagination. Never be a prisoner of your past.Become the architect of your future. You will never be the same."


"The quality of your life comes down to the quality of your contribution to the world"


"When I admire the wonder of a sunset or the beauty of the moon, my soul expands in worship of the Creator."
Mahatma Gandhi

"Happiness a journey not the destination."


-Vish

Now or Never - Vedam 2010

"Now or Never" Song Lyrics
Singers : Ranjith, Deepu, Geetha Madhuri, Chaitra
Lyricist : Sirivennela Seetha rama sastry 

one.. two... three..
pada pada pada pada pada ninnu nuvu tharumuthu pada..
pada pada pada pada pada ninnu nuvu tharumuthu pada..
ippudu kakunte epudu kanatte
ikkadane unte unna lenatte....
now or never... now or never..
now or never... now or never..

Nindunoo... rellapaatu...
nindu noorella paatu prathi roju edo lotu
ade madilo repuki chotu
nindu noorella paatu prathi roju edo lotu
aa lote lekunte madilo repatikedi chotu
idi saripodantu edo sadinchalantu...(ya.. yaaeeyeey.. ya.. yaaeeyeey..)
yeduta leni marunatini nede kalala kallatho chusthunna
now or never (pada pada pada pada pada)
now or never (ninnu nuve tharumuthu pada)
now or never (pada pada pada pada pada ninnu nuvve tharumuthu pada)
pada pada pada pada pada ninnu nuvve tharumuthu pada pada pada

Neetho nuvu pravahisthu.. nityam ninu nuvve gelipisthu
samayam pai chirakalam cheragani santhakanni pettu
nuvvu agina chote kaalam aaguthundi antu (ya.. yaaeeyeey.. ya.. yaaeeyeey..)
lokam chadive nee kathakipude srikaram chuttu...
now or never (pada pada pada pada pada)
now or never (ninnu nuve tharumuthu pada)
now or never (pada pada pada pada pada ninnu nuvve tharumuthu pada)
pada pada pada pada pada ninnu nuvve tharumuthu pada pada pada

Books to be read

This post is to monitor my reading habit and list the important books which I come across.

The following are the Books I would be reading in near future (topic wise)

       Get stuff done

• The Monk who sold his Ferrari  - Done
• 7 Habits of Highly Effective People- Bought Book- Feeling bored to read
• Awaken the Giant Within- Bought book - To be read
• The Speed of Trust

• We Have Met the Enemy: Self-Control in an Age of Excess

Make money

• Rich Dad, Poor Dad - Done
• How to Get Rich
• Think and Grow Rich - Bought book - To be read

Understand people and mindsets

• How the Mind Works
• What Every Body is Saying
• The Mating Mind
• Listening with the third Eye - Theodor Reik

Build a business

• The E-myth Revisited
• Good to Great
• Losing My Virginity

Others

• The Story of My 
  

  Experiments with Truth - 

  
  
  

  Mahatma Gandhi's autobiography

• Autobiography of Benjamin Franklin
• • 
    
    

    
    
    

    Siddhartha

    • • 
        
        

        by Hermann Hesse

    • • • • • 
              
              

              
              
              

              Think and Grow Rich by Napoleon Hill 
      Bought book - To be read

Regards,

Vish

The Secret to you !!

This is a secret to you describing the positive thinking and gratitude :)

-Vish

What is Dream of my life?

Dream of my life - What is the most important thing I want to achieve or own or accomplish in my life., in other words.... what is my dream of life?

In my childhood I used to dream of becoming a scientist. Now I chose to become an Engineer instead of a scientist (because scientist are paid less?)
I am not sure if that is the reason behind why I am an engineer today.
But the point here is, the childhood dream is no longer a dream now and I am not attached to it anymore.
It may be because to become a scientist was not really what I intended.May be  I wanted to do challenging work and innovate something and I wanted to love what I do. I have learnt in these years that there are other job roles where you can do innovative work. May be that could be a reason.
It may seems to me sometimes that I have traded my dream with the money or it may be that I am an engineer now just by chance and I did not put any effort to realize my dream to become a scientist.
Am I just another bloody rat running in the rats race of making money.
Is money everything?
Is this getting me anywhere ?
It is nothing wrong that the dreams change. Everything in life changes. But we should have one or other dream to go after.
So, what is my dream now?
The honest answer to myself is I don't know. I don't have a dream now, but have some goals.
When you say goals, they are not as craved for, as you do for your dreams and the real passion is missing with the goals.
I also have a wish- " To step on Moon  and see Earth from moon's surface :) ". What I hope is, in next 10 year or later,  the space tourism will pick up and I earn enough to afford a ticket.
The passion is missing in me now, I hope I will eventually pick up one in the due course of my life.

PS:  It's just an attempt to find other confused souls :)
Guys, I would love to hear  your similar conflicting emotions on any  thing in your life.



-Vish

Inspirational Videos

Don't Quit - Its when things seems worst You must not Quit

I'm Alive- Truly inspiring video

Thoughts become things- So watch out your thoughts

-Vish

tuesdays with Morrie - Mitch Albom

It is a handy book with life's simple effective thoughts and gives enough learning for a lifetime.I don't say it as death literature, but as one of the priority/time management book for extracting the maximum out of one's life. 

One of the observations I made is that the western world does not have enough spiritual element in their societies[ I may be wrong ] and they should eventually crave for the spirituality , where as we the eastern part of the world filled with spirituality, ignore our values/culture and is going after the western culture.How riduculous !

This book is about the experiences of an old man who is going to die due to a deadly neurological disease called "ALS" which eats away the strength of human body part by part making them inactive. This book brought me to verge of crying when going through it. The aphorisms quoted in this book has profound thoughts embedded in simple words.

Few of them are -

• Accept what you are able to do and what you are not able to do
• Accept the past as past, without denying it or discarding it
• Don’t assume that it is too late to get involved
• Learn to forgive yourselves and to forgive others
• Love each other or perish

Some of the though provoking ideas/sentences –

#  Tension of opposites –

“Life is a series of pulls back and forth. You want to do one thing, but you are bound to do something else. Something hurts you, yet you know it shouldn’t. You take certain things for granted, even when you know you should never take anything for granted. “A tension of opposites, like a pull on a rubber band. And most of us live somewhere in the middle. “

#  Morrie’s  understanding on aging –

As you grow, you learn more. If you stayed at twenty-two, you’d always be as ignorant as you were at twenty-two. Aging is not just decay, you know. It’s growth. It’s more than the negative that you’re going to die, it’s also the positive that you understand you’re going to die, and that you live a better life because of it

#  Morrie’s take on Money

There’s a big confusion over what we want versus what we need. You need food, you want a chocolate sundae. You have to be honest with yourself. You don’t need the latest sports car, you don’t need the biggest house.You don’t need the money but the attention/love you get, possessing the substitutes like money. The truth is, you don’t get satisfaction from those things. What really gives you satisfaction is the offering others what you have to give like offering your time.

If you’re trying to show off for people at the top, forget it. They will look down at you anyhow. And if you’re trying to show off for people at the bottom, forget it. They will only envy you. Status will get you nowhere. Only an open heart will allow you to float equally between everyone.

# Making a meaningful life

Devote yourself to loving others, devote yourself to your community around you, and devote yourself to creating something that gives you purpose and meaning.

Do the kinds of things that come from the heart. When you do, you won’t be dissatisfied, you won’t be envious, you won’t be longing for somebody else’s things. On the contrary, you’ll be overwhelmed with what comes back.

The simple points I will take away and use from this book are

• Be a good listener. Dedicate your 100% of the time you spent to listen someone to actually listen.No multitasking. Just concentrate on that moment and get completely attached to the speaker/topic.
• Think about your perfect day. Try make every day a perfect day

Signs off,

Vish

Jingle Jingle - Badmash Company

I hope one day I will get all the things which the lyricist wishes in this song :)

-Vish

Movie: Badmaash Company (2010)
Music Director: Pritam Chakraborty
Director: Parmeet Sethi
Lyricist: Anvita Dutt Guptan
Starring: Shahid Kapoor, Anushka Sharma
Song Title: Jingle Jingle
Singer(s): Mohit Chauhan

Jingle Jingle Lyrics

Kabhi to kismat hi-fi hamari ho
Kabhi to t-shirt se matching ferrari ho
Kabhi to bank mein currency karaari ho
Kabhi to apni madonna se yaari ho

Kabhi kabhi aisa lagey, yeh bhi kum hai khwaishein
Khuda mera poocha kare, raza meri and he’ll pay the bill
Jingle jingle sabki jebein, jingle jingle bell
Apne paas to sikka single, so what the hell
Jingle jingle sabki jebein, jingle jingle bell

Apne paas to sikka single, so what the hell

Jahan bhi jaye ek spotlight upar ho
Sensex niche phir bhi hum upar ho
007 James Bond wali ghadi ho
USA mein dus baaran kothian padi ho
Kabhi kabhi aisa lagey, yeh bhi kum hai khwaishein
Khuda mera poocha kare, raza meri and he’ll pay the bill
Jingle jingle sabki jebein, jingle jingle bell
Apne paas to sikka single, so what the hell
Jingle jingle sabki jebein, jingle jingle bell
Apne paas to sikka single, so what the hell

(bouncing)
Mera check book lelo , they don’t accept cards
What to do, Dinar, Dollar, Euros, Francs
What’s with the money of the world in bank
Crorepati but my pocket is khaali
Pretending that I’m living on milk and honey
Who wants clothes and cars, diamonds and gold bars
I’m living off love but I’m looking like a star

Hazratein hai badi, full full hai tadi
Qaynaat chahiye, taaron se jo ho jadi
So what if sab (what if sab), chahiye (chahiye), muthi bar sahi
Jo seedhay se haasil na ho, cheen lo

One day jacuzzi wale do teen hotel ho
Apne bhi naam ki beer ki bottle ho
One day versace ka wardrobe total ho
Foreign ki ladki par rate yaar local ho

Kabhi kabhi aisa lagey, yeh bhi kum hai khwaishein
Khuda mera poocha kare, raza meri and he’ll pay the bill

Jingle jingle sabki jebein, jingle jingle bell
Apne paas to sikka single, so what the hell
Jingle jingle sabki jebein, jingle jingle bell
Apne paas to sikka single, so what the hell
Jingle jingle sabki jebein, jingle jingle bell
Apne paas to sikka single, so what the hell

Behne de [Lyrics] - Raavan

Written by Gulzar saab

Arre aankh se boond gira koi
Chingari ka tukda jala koi
Umeed ko aag laga zara
Sehra ki pyaas bujha zara..

Umeed ko aag laga zara
Sehra ki pyaas bujha zara..
Ghan itna baras ke galne lagoon
Main paani ke upar tarne lagoon...

Behne de mujhe behne de mujhe behne de
Behne de ghanghor ghata behne de paani ki tarah
Saagar mein jaa girna hai behne de nadiyaa ki tarah
Shart lagi hai mar jaane ki jeena hai toh pyaar mein...

Deh kahi bhi ho mera, jaan rakhi hai yaar mein,
Beh jaa beh jaa, hai saagar ka kehna,
Beh jaa beh jaa, hai nadiyaa ko behna,

Patte se tapakti boond ki aawaz sunai di thi
Nadiyaan mein tapk aur gum ho jaa, beh gaya beh gaya.
Jo rah gaya rah gaya.

Behne de mujhe behne de..

Mera pal pal ang ang bhar diya,
Tune jaan pe junoon sa kar diya,
Mera hai kya jo main haar doon,
Jaan teri hai tujh pe vaar doon.

Doob gaye jo suna hai saare
Tere dere aate hai,
Dil ke chullu mein bechare,
Doobkiya gote khaate hai,

Beh jaa, beh jaa, Chal tod kinaare ko,
Beh jaa, beh jaa, dhar le majdhaare ko,
Chingaari uda ke raakh se, ek boond gira ke aankh se,
Chalne ka ishara kar gaya
Kar gaya kar gaya
Sab bhar gaya bhar gaya...

Encounter with a Roman philosopher - Juvenal

           My appetite for philosophy aroused once again when I came across the words of a great Roman philospher-cum-poet Decimus Iunius Iuvenalis (known as Juvenal in English) describing what a man should pray/wish for.This brought the fight between my inner voices on the topic "Should a man crave for wisdom or money?" to the forefront.
When you give this a little thought,you will definitely say, a wise man would be more happy and satisfied compared to a wealthy man who would have no peace of mind being vigilant all the time to check if his possessions are safe and hence wisdom should be craved for and not the money. When my inner voices debate on what I should go after in my life and what should I become after say 10 to 20 years from now, a third voice arouse in me saying - "Go for a blend of them in your life".
It is natural that every man strives for a better living for himself and his family and hence he should think about the ways of earning more.The question here comes is, how much money will be enough?
At this juncture, the wisdom should step in.
One should not only focus on earning a better life but also focus on spreading their horizons in the domain of wisdom to attain the real happiness.
I guess only time will teach me these lessons along my journey of life.

I did a google on the greatest philosophical books and learned that the book "Tuesdays with Morrie: An Old Man, a Young Man, and Life's Greatest Lesson"
by Mitch Albom, is one of the best philosophical books. I should buy a copy of the same for me and start learning to swim in the Ocean of wisdom :)

The english translation of the words by Juvenal which I said, I came across is

"It is to be prayed that the mind be sound in a sound body.
Ask for a brave soul that lacks the fear of death,
which places the length of life last among nature’s blessings,
which is able to bear whatever kind of sufferings,
does not know anger, lusts for nothing and believes
the hardships and savage labors of Hercules better than
the satisfactions, feasts, and feather bed of an Eastern king.
I will reveal what you are able to give yourself;
For certain, the one footpath of a tranquil life lies through virtue".

-Vish

Ekkadunnavu Neevu.....

Nee kosame ee nireekshana..... 

Ninu Cheralane ee tapana.........

yee kshanamaina,  nuvvu edurupadochu ani,

prati kshanam nee rakakai vechi vunnaa.........

Kaani ninnu gurtupattedela priya? .........................

Nuvvu eduru padina kshanam challati gaali veestundani.... 

joruna varsham padutundani.............................................

ningi lo merupulu pudatayani............................................ 

Aaa nimisham kosam eduru choostunna.............................!!

Dedicated to my Soulmate

-Vish

Recession is fading out :)

Recession- This term literally shook every employee in the world. Many had a nightmare (including me :P)  about losing their job because of the worst recession that hit the world.I am not fully aware of what the subprime crisis is, who is the mother of the monster, but one thing I know is it had a vandalizing effect .Many of the banks shut down, many companies closed and many acquisitions taken place.
To me it altered the general employee benefits such as transport service, cafeteria and importantly Hikes and Promotions.The companies took up these steps, saying that these are vital steps to withstand the monster which I believe is only a half-truth.Typically companies love to reduce their operating cost by cutting the employee benefits.
After about an year, I am hearing some good news that the recession is fading out. I am still awaiting this positive wave to hit me.Companies are not so active in restoring the benefits as they were in cutting down.
The result is the increased attrition rate :)
Unless the attrition is showed up in your company, it will not bother to provide hikes and promotions and restore the pre-recession conditions.
Infosys has taken up the corrective measures in the wake of increased attrition rate in the company and trying to woo the employees now.I am waiting for my company to recognize it before I switch over to some other company :)

Signing off,

Vish :)

One night @ call center

One night @ the Call Center

By Chetan Bhagat

I love this author. The way this guy describes a girl and every minute detail about her attire is simply awesome. This book is fun to read with a moral about “inner call”. The characters described in this novel are a common face in every office and you will identify yourself with one of the characters.

The dates described in this book are a start point to every boy and gives ample information about shades of a girl. One point I would like to highlight from this book is “The guys are happy before getting into a relation and lose their happiness after getting into relationship”. Just kidding  :D

 

The summary of it is series of  following questions –

 “Are you happy with your life, your job?”

What would you do to make yourself happy?  Think and work towards it.

Listen to your heart and understand what it wants.

Realize no one is perfect and never underestimate yourself. 

 A very contemporary novel and a must read if you have worked in a BPO.  :D

Yours,

Vish

Swot analysis

SWOT analysis of Santa :D

1. Strength : My Wife
2. Weakness : Banta's Wife
3. Opportunity : When Banta is on tour
4. Threat : When I am at tour

The Alchemist

The Alchemist is a journey of a young shepherd named Santiago, who goes after a treasure he sees in his dream and about the life lessons he learnt along the path to his life mission.The human emotions and thoughts when one have to lose one's possession for the achieving greater heights in life is well captured by Paulo Coelho.

I have heard about the law of universe before, but any law is well understood when it is illustrated with an example.

In this book, the author describes how the universe helps a young boy in understanding his dreams and to reach his destiny. 

The following are the wise thoughts on which the story of Santiago is based.

Law of Universe

"When you really want something deep down from your heart, all the universe conspires in helping you to achieve it".

Personal Calling

It is the path that God chose for you on this Earth and the traveling on which your soul fills with enthusiasm and happiness.

Four Obstacles

1.  Traditional thoughts, prejudice, fear and guilt
2.  Thought of hurting the loved ones in search of one's destiny
3.  Fear of Defeat
4.  Fear of Realizing the dream i.e., losing a purpose for life after achieving it

Few drops of wisdom from this novel

" We are afraid of losing what we have, whether it's our life or our possessions and property. But this fear evaporates when we understand that our life stories and the history of the world were written by the same hand. "

" Tell ur heart dat the fear of suffering is worse than the suffering itself. And that no heart has ever suffered when it goes in search of its dreams, bcoz every second of this search is an encounter with God."

" Every search begins with beginner's luck. And every second ends with the victor's being severely tested."

" The darkest of the night came just before the dawn."

"When u possess great treasures within you, and try to tell others of them, seldom are you believed."

"Eyes shows the strength of the soul."

" If a person is living out his destiny, he knows everything he needs to know. There is only one thing that makes a dream impossible to achieve: the fear of failure."

" Do not say wat you got is more than you deserve. Life might be listening, and give you less the next time."

This book is so compelling that I finished it in a day. 

But now I feel that I should reread this book to gain more wisdom from it.

This is an ideal book for a person who is in search of his destiny, willing to explore his inner self and importantly listening to his Heart.

Yours,

-Vish

Who will cry when you die?

Yesterday i've completed reading a book called "Who will cry when you die? " by Robin Sharma.By the name it sounds cynical, but contrary to that, this book shares authors opinion on how to lead a purposeful life and discuss various life or personality improvement techniques.

Few points I would like to highlight from this book are:

1. The more you ask, the more you get
2. When you wake up, spend few minutes planning the day how happy and achieving you can make it
3. One is compensated for the amount of value he/she adds to the world, not by amount of hard work they put in
4. If you don't act on life, life will act on you
5. Say to your self- " If it's going to be, it's up to me"
6. Try the technique  " act like that which you most wish to become"
7. Nurture your mind with great thoughts, for you will never go any higher than you think
8. It is not because things are difficult that we do not dare, it is because we do not date that they are difficult
9. Youth is not a time of life; it is a state of mind. People grow old only by deserting their ideals and by outgrowing  the consciousness of youth. Years wrinkle the skin, but to give up enthusiasm wrinkles the soul.... You are as old as your doubt, your fear, your despair. The way to keep young is to keep your faith young.Keep your self-confidence young. Keep your hope young - L.F.Phelan
10. Be an Adventurer
11. When you love your job, you discover you will never have to work another day in your life
12. You cannot pursue success, success ensues.
13. Happiness is not a place you reach but a state you create
14. The purpose of life is a life of purpose

Over all, this book is a good source of inspiration with lot of quotations and is worth reading.

Finally I would like to end this review with the summary on the art of living by novelist James Michener as quoted by author

   "The master in the art of living makes little distinction between his work and his play, his labor and his leisure, his mind and his body, his information and his recreation, his life and his religion. He hardly knows which is which He simply pursues his vision of excellence at whatever he does, leaving others to decide whether he is working or playing. To him, he is always doing both. "

Yours,

Vish

Random Thoughts

Habit : To be an Early Bird

                                                                                                                     24th Jan 2010       
            
One habit I would like to create immediately is to wake up at 5.00AM in the morning. I attempted to create this habit many times but could not succeed. May be I was not serious about it.
The reason I would like to wake up early in the morning is to see the sunrise everyday (hmm.. what a pleasant sight) and feel the cool breeze of the morning. This habit gives me enough time to plan my day and helps me to be happy and focussed.

Recently I have learnt from a personality development book that it takes 21 days to create a habit or get rid of a bad habit. Let me work for 21 days to prove that the author of the book is indeed right :)

-Vish