What is the source of your energy?

Lots of people ask me the common question, “how do you get the time to write blog, column in newspaper & magazines, going to colleges for interaction. How you do all this stuff?”. My simple answer is “I received the tremendous energy by doing so. This energy is necessary to do my job effectively at office. So by doing this, if I am gaining something, I have to take out some time. Perhaps, I manage my time effectively to accommodate such activities.”

People need energy to live the life fulfilling. Energy doesn't mean only physical energy, it is also related to mental energy. The status of mind created to do the tasks effectively. How many times, we think on our energy source?     

Sources of energy are different for different people. These energy sources may be as under:

1. Goal achievement: Some people are very happy when they achieve their targets /goals in their life or at job. For them this sense of achievement itself is a source of energy. 
2. Hobbies: Some people focus on their hobbies. I know few friends who are pursuing their hobbies further like music, dancing, acting, gardening, tracking, mountaineering  etc. One of my colleagues, teaches Persian Language in Universities. People get the energy by doing this and they are happy to do so. When they come at the office, they equally focus on their tasks.
3. Interacting with people: Some people are very extrovert. They like meeting new people, networking, associating with people. Meeting and interacting people is the solid source of network for them. 
4. Touring, vacations: Some people like to go on vacations regularly. This may be one or two time activity for them, but this lasts for next 6 months for them. 
5. Social Work: One of my friends is associated with NGO. He spends his time with social activities. He usually tells that he gets satisfaction by doing so and whole week he is energized. 

There are people whose energy sources is partying, gossiping etc. This helps them to be energetic during the whole week or month. 

Sometimes, we are not much aware about our energy sources, in that case, it is the time to just relax  and think… “What are that few things… by doing that, I get the sense of satisfaction, rewarding feel and by doing so I get energized?” I am sure you will definitely get some source of your energy… then?…Just do it… 

Organizational Context: In organizations, you will find different people whose energy sources are also different. If they get some energy from something and if it is aligned with your organizational values, you can also design the talent management plan & employee engagement plan as per the energy sources of people. As a line manager, identify energy sources of your team and encourage them to follow the sources… you will definitely get more productivity from your employees.  

I know the Vithhal…

There was once a famous singer who was known everywhere for his excellent & passionate singing. He used to sing light music and mainly devotional songs. He would always end his performance with a dramatic song of widely worshipped  God in Maharashtra, Vithhal.  

Each night, without exception, as the singer began his signing - "माझे माहेर पंढरी, आहे भिवरेच्या तीरी बाप आणि आई, माझी विठठल रखुमाई माझे माहेर पंढरी ..."..the crowd would listen attentively. And then, at the conclusion of this devotional song, they would rise in thunderous applause in appreciation of the singer's incredible ability to bring the verse to life. 

But one night, just before the singer was to offer his song, a young man who was came from nearby village from the audience spoke up. "Guruji, do you mind if tonight I sing this song?" The singer was quite taken back by this unusual request, but he allowed the young man to come forward and stand front and center on the stage to sing the song, knowing that the ability of this unskilled youth would be no match for his own talent. With a soft voice, the young man began to sing the song. 

When he was finished, there was no applause. There was no standing ovation as on other nights. All that could be heard was the sound of weeping. The audience had been so moved by the young man's passionate singing that every eye was full of tears. 

Amazed by what he had heard, the singer said to the youth, "I don't understand. I have been singing this song for years. I have a lifetime of experience and training - but I have never been able to move an audience as you have tonight. Tell me, what is your secret?" 

The young man quietly replied, "Guruji, you know the singing... I know the Vithaal."

(Please refer more about the Vithhal on  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vithoba. Also read http://vinodtbidwaik.blogspot.in/search/label/varkari)

The last ride

I arrived at the address and honked the horn. After waiting a few minutes, I honked again. Since this was going to be my last ride of my shift, I thought about just driving away, but instead I put the car in park and walked up to the door and knocked.

'Just a minute', answered a frail, elderly voice. I could hear something being dragged across the floor. After a long pause, the door opened. A small woman in her 90s stood before me. She was wearing a print dress and a pillbox hat with a veil pinned on it, like somebody out of a 1940s movie. By her side was a small nylon suitcase. The apartment looked as if no one had lived in it for years. All the furniture was covered with sheets. There were no clocks on the walls, no knickknacks or utensils on the counters. In the corner was a cardboard box filled with photos and glassware.

Husband’s love & the tiger's whisker

Once upon a time, a young wife named Rama Devi was at her wit's end. Her husband had always been a tender and loving soulmate before he had left for the wars but, ever since he returned home, he was cross, angry, and unpredictable. She was almost afraid to live with her own husband. Only in glancing moments did she catch a shadow of the husband she used to know and love.

When one ailment or another bothered people in her village, they would often rush for a cure to a hermit who lived deep in the mountains. Not Rama Devi. She always prided herself that she could heal her own troubles. But this time was different. She was desperate.

As Rama Devi approached the hermit's hut, she saw the door was open. The old man said without turning around: "I hear you. What's your problem?"

She explained the situation. His back still to her, he said, "Ah yes, it's often that way when soldiers return from the war. What do you expect me to do about it?"

"Make me a potion!" cried the young wife. "Or an amulet, a drink, whatever it takes to get my husband back the way he used to be."

The old man turned around. "Young woman, your request doesn't exactly fall into the same category as a broken bone or ear infection."

"I know", said she.

"It will take three days before I can even look into it. Come back then."

Three days later, Rama Devi returned to the hermit's hut. "Rama Devi", he greeted her with a smile, "I have good news. There is a potion that will restore your husband to the way he used to be, but you should know that it requires an unusual ingredient. You must bring me a whisker from a live tiger."

"What?" she gasped. "Such a thing is impossible!"

"I cannot make the potion without it!" he shouted, startling her. He turned his back. "There is nothing more to say. As you can see, I'm very busy."

That night Rama Devi tossed and turned. How could she get a whisker from a live tiger?

The next day before dawn, she crept out of the house with a bowl of rice covered with meat sauce. She went to a cave on the mountainside where a tiger was known to live. She clicked her tongue very softly as she crept up, her heart pounding, and carefully set the bowl on the grass. Then, trying to make as little noise as she could, she backed away.

The next day before dawn, she took another bowl of rice covered with meat sauce to the cave. She approached the same spot, clicking softly with her tongue. She saw that the bowl was empty, replaced the empty one with a fresh one, and again left, clicking softly and trying not to break twigs or rustle leaves, or do anything else to startle and unsettle the wild beast.

So it went, day after day, for several months. She never saw the tiger (thank goodness for that! she thought) though she knew from footprints on the ground that the tiger - and not a smaller mountain creature - had been eating her food. Then one day as she approached, she noticed the tiger's head poking out of its cave. Glancing downward, she stepped very carefully to the same spot and with as little noise as she could, set down the fresh bowl and, her heart pounding, picked up the one that was empty.

After a few weeks, she noticed the tiger would come out of its cave as it heard her footsteps, though it stayed a distance away (again, thank goodness! she thought, though she knew that someday, in order to get the whisker, she'd have to come closer to it).

Another month went by. Then the tiger would wait by the empty food bowl as it heard her approaching. As she picked up the old bowl and replaced it with a fresh one, she could smell its scent, as it could surely smell hers.

"Actually", she thought, remembering its almost playful look as she set down a fresh bowl, "it is a rather friendly creature, when you get to know it." The next time she visited, she glanced up at the tiger briefly and noticed what a lovely downturn of reddish fur it had from over one of its eyebrows to the next. Not a week later, the tiger allowed her to gently rub its head, and it purred and stretched like a house cat.

Then she knew the time had come. The next morning, very early, she brought with her a small knife. After she set down the fresh bowl and the tiger allowed her to pet its head, she said in a low voice: "Oh, my tiger, may I please have just one of your whiskers?" While petting the tiger with one hand, she held one whisker at its base and, with the other hand, in one quick stroke, she carved the whisker off. She stood up, speaking softly her thanks, and left, for the last time.

The next morning seemed endless. At last her husband left for the rice fields. She ran to the hermit's hut, clutching the precious whisker in her fist. Bursting in, she cried to the hermit: "I have it! I have the tiger's whisker!"

"You don't say?" he said, turning around. "From a live tiger?"

"Yes!" she said.

"Tell me", said the hermit, interested. "How did you do it?"

Rama Devi told the hermit how, for the last six months, she had earned the trust of the creature and it had finally permitted her to cut off one of its whiskers. With pride she handed him the whisker. The hermit examined it, satisfied himself that it was indeed a whisker from a live tiger, then flicked it into the fire where it sizzled and burned in an instant.

"Rama", the hermit said softly, "you no longer need the whisker. Tell me, is a man more vicious than a tiger? If a dangerous wild beast will respond to your gradual and patient care, do you think a man will respond any less willingly?"

Rama Devi stood speechless. Then she turned and stepped down the trail, turning over in her mind images of the tiger and of her husband, back and forth. She knew what she could do. 

Transactional Analysis:- Understanding & Managing Human Being...

In the last blog, I have given the analysis of personalities and their interaction, communication style of Bigg Boss, participants. This blog has got almost 500 hits in a day and there were different comments. I had to delete few of comments because of abusive language. This is also funny, how people respond, when something goes different from their expectations. I wanted to put the exact point of this theory here. I thought to explain what this theory is and how it works in our day to day life.

Transactional analysis or TA is a branch of psychotherapy developed by Eric Berne.  His definition of it is “a theory of personality and a systematic psychotherapy for personal growth and change”.  Based on this theory Thomas Anthony Harris had written a beautiful self-help book, “I am OK, You are OK.”   It is about how people interact with each other especially which ego state of the person is interacting with which ego state.

Knowing about TA can be very useful for improving our interaction/communication skills.  TA is about how people are structured psychologically and is both a theory of communication and a theory of child development.

The attached presentation will help you to understand more about this theory and model… 

Dedication, commitment, passion and emotions….

With heavy heart, we bid adieu to the Ganapati Bappa, the god of wisdom on Thursday. Every idol of this God is very cute. When you see in his eyes, your mind relaxes.

Idol maker puts his heart to make the beautiful idol. He does not make the idol only for earning money. Making the idol is life for him. He pours the passion and emotion in it and give the birth to the mind-blowing art. Importantly, he loves to do that. That is the only reason, when the idol is immersed, he looses their heart.

When I saw this picture in daily Sakaal, prominent Marathi daily in Maharashtra, I was amazed by his dedication and commitment.

Seen in the picture is Prashant Nimaje, an artist who created the Ganapati idol. He could not stop tears when the idol was taken for immersion. (Picture http://72.78.249.124/esakal/20100924/5335570864766035285.htm)

He deserves applaud for his passion.

Don’t you think that we are also like this artist in professional life? However we do not break our heart when we dedicate our work to the organization. The question is about passion, dedication and commitment.

Are we dedicated, passionate, committed to our craft?