Handling Criticism

This is a newsletter of HareKrishna movement and worth sharing it. This is how it reads...

To become a top performer, you’ll need to open yourself up to feedback from those around you. Here are some steps you can take to ease the sting of criticism and begin to make it work for you, instead of against you.

1.Hit the Pause Button - It’s important to maintain your composure and not lash back or respond defensively to criticism. Take a breath. Don’t do or say anything. This brief pause not only helps you compose yourself and prepare to listen to what the other person has to say, it demonstrates your poise and self-confidence. Maintaining your composure when criticized shows that you’re in control.

2.Turn On Your Brain and Turn Off Your Emotions - It’s important to disconnect your automatic emotional response to criticism. Otherwise you won’t be able to objectively consider the value of the information. Focus on the words and facts, not on the feelings they generate within you. Regardless of how undiplomatic the other person is in delivering the feedback, tell yourself that it is designed to help you improve, not to tear you down.

3.Listen Carefully - Listen intently to what the other person is saying. If you’re busy formulating your rebuttal, you may miss some valuable information that can help you avoid errors in the future or improve your overall performance.

While any criticism can be discouraging, it’s important to keep in mind that negative feedback can contribute significantly to faster growth and higher performance.

Business - Poultry Farming

This is the first business i have invested money in.
I did this with out having much knowledge and data regarding the business and went ahead investing Lakhs.
There were many parameters which i had no control over.
If I had to list them

1. Selling price - I realized that Poultry business is not actually a business but farming. And as every farmer I had no control over yield and price.
2. Perishable Aspect - There is always a risk involved if you are producing some perishable goods. You have to sell it even at losses otherwise you loose your entire investment. My target was Dec25 and Jan 1st and 14th  market where the price of chicken will be normally high but to my hard luck, 2010 dec25 -Jan has seen the worst price. To add to the fuel,  diseases and mortality of chicken has further eaten away my investment
3. Labor issues - After I entered into this business, I realized how difficult it is to get a trustworthy labor and to handle them. I guess this is the most boiling issue of many businesses and I hats-off to the one who can contain these
4. Leasing a land - This is the most irritating aspect I found with this business. Unlike any office space or  outlet, leasing a land has an issue of owner intervention at every point. 
5. Rural Aspect - The environment and the people around the cities are way different than from the rural. Connectivity, lack of skilled people and security are to name a few concerns I had.

After above discussion one can easily guess what could have been to the investment and yeah , you are right! The business simply sucked the money as the ground sucks infinite amount of charge with out changing its voltage potential. The worst part of it is that I had convinced two of my friends to invest in it and they contributed half of the investment. As a part of good gesture and friendship I said I will return the money coz money comes and goes, but friends would not!

Now I am burdened with this loss and god knows when I will be out of it !
But I know I will be out of it soon and start afresh on some solid idea. :)

My only advice to enthusiastic people is to beware and not to burn your hands with the manufacturing sector producing perishable goods ( yeah i know I am generalizing a bit )

-Vish

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