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	<title>Exploring uncharted waters &#187; life skills</title>
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		<title>Poverty and inheritance</title>
		<link>http://www.karthikrajg.com/2010/02/poverty-and-inheritance/</link>
		<comments>http://www.karthikrajg.com/2010/02/poverty-and-inheritance/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Sat, 13 Feb 2010 21:04:10 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>admin</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Well being]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[life skills]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.karthikrajg.com/?p=898</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[Fact 1: According to a recent census, there were 793 billionaires and close to 8 million millionaires in this world &#8211; that is less than 0.2% of the world population. Between them they own assets close to $50 trillion. Fact 2: Everyday about 25000 people die because of poverty and according to 2001 census, about 2.7 billion people lived with an income of under $2 a day- that is close to 40% of the world population. So from the first fact, it is very clear there is enough money in this world. And from the second, it is clear that money alone cannot abolish poverty. Traditionally money was passed from one generation to another &#8211; from one person to a few. Then each one of them used the money to make more, only to pass on even more to another few. In the meantime, whoever struggled to find some food were long gone and their family chain has been eradicated. If we entered this scenario to a logical computing machine, with a condition of perpetual happiness to all, it would spit out a result we might term communist. Though economical growth and standard of living can only be raised by a socialist society, i think the idea is oversold and is done in the cost of other lives -lives of both humans and their ancestors. There are a plenty of clues that nature provides to aid us understand life. It is a shame we don&#8217;t care about them. The whole idea of birth and death is to make us aware nothing is permanent and we don&#8217;t own anything. It is such a pity that humans invented money to prove their power and existence in that short span of time called life. Even such an everyday reality cannot keep our greediness and ego at bay. I had a chat with a friend of mine on wealth and about passing on wealth to the next generation. He said he would definitely pass all his assets to his children while i was interested to know why. His reasoning was the assets that he passes will help them in times of trouble. Fair enough. But what about the thousands of children that live a troubled life everyday? Whose is going to take care of them? An educated mind would say, life is about the survival of the fittest. But why are humans creating a false elevation to a selected few to thrive? Though we have the sixth sense to reason, most of us are bound by our ancestral traits. We have the gift to understand the sufferings of others. Why don&#8217;t we use it? What good is money left in the bank when millions die of hunger. I try and fast once every month and i know how badly i need food by the end of the day. I know i would be not be precise even if i extrapolate that feeling of mine to the suffering many face due to lack of food. I say this, but when i ask myself if i can give away all my money to charity today, i will shamefully admit, i wouldn&#8217;t. I am scared of losing in this life and i am scared i might give a bad future for my family i care about. But i sincerely hope one day i can get rid of all the money i earned. I hope i can get out of this rat race. Being a person who believes in fate, i have to say, i am just waiting for the signs to guide me do this. But this is not a one man job. There are already thousands of charities in this world and i am telling you that is not enough. We need many more thousands who can unite with a single vision &#8211; TO ERADICATE POVERTY. So, think about it, you. We may just be able to do this. We may just eradicate hunger and poverty. But only if we unite. Only if we decide to give more to charity and less to our children. Only if we see the world to be a temporary place. Only if we understand we don&#8217;t own anything. Only if we see around us and be content with what we have. After-all, there is nothing much we can carry to our death bed than some self satisfaction. Related posts:How far would a Million pounds go?Living a worry free lifeA simple investment lesson for all


Related posts:<ol><li><a href='http://www.karthikrajg.com/2010/06/how-far-would-a-million-pounds-go/' rel='bookmark' title='Permanent Link: How far would a Million pounds go?'>How far would a Million pounds go?</a></li><li><a href='http://www.karthikrajg.com/2010/08/living-a-worry-free-life/' rel='bookmark' title='Permanent Link: Living a worry free life'>Living a worry free life</a></li><li><a href='http://www.karthikrajg.com/2010/05/a-simple-investment-lesson/' rel='bookmark' title='Permanent Link: A simple investment lesson for all'>A simple investment lesson for all</a></li></ol>]]></description>
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		<title>One thing at a time</title>
		<link>http://www.karthikrajg.com/2009/12/one-thing-at-a-time/</link>
		<comments>http://www.karthikrajg.com/2009/12/one-thing-at-a-time/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Thu, 17 Dec 2009 04:56:16 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>admin</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Self Development]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[life skills]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Personal Development]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[successful life]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.karthikrajg.com/?p=741</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[Life has taught me over and over again that sticking to one thing at a time can be much more fruitful. Many of us lack the killer instinct, that keeps us motivated onto one thing at the worst of situations. When we hit a problem, most of us would want to move away from it and start doing something else. It is very easy to get drifted away from a task in hand, particularly when it doesn&#8217;t go very well. When i was in primary school, I was interested in studies and in athletics. I concentrated equally on both and for that reason i was mediocre in both. I was a successful athlete in school and district level events, but did not get any further than that. The same was with studies. I was just a mediocre student who did OK in school but not great. When i got into my final years in school, i decided to give up athletics and got into studies completely, which i think is one of the best decisions I have made till date. By focusing all my energy into a single activity, i was successful in school and got into one of the best universities for my graduate course. But i have had my share of trying to do too many things at a time. I distinctly remember that i was not successful in many things i did during my time in university &#8211; just because i did too many things at a time. Over a period of time, I wanted to learn to play the keyboard, learn to speak Sanskrit, worked with two professors on two different research projects, worked with my mates to design a website, taught lessons on computer languages, learnt other computer languages, worked on two different technical projects with friends, organised and co-ordinated campus placements and of course studied for my graduation. This failure made me form the saying &#8220;One thing at a time&#8221;. Nowadays, though the thought of dipping my hands on to many things and juggling between different activities feels interesting, i try and prioritise activities and concentrate most of my energy onto one activity that is a necessity. It is not just me, who has tasted success by following this philosophy. Gordon Ramsay, a professional chef ranked 3rd in the World, had a very difficult young life. He wanted to become a footballer but due to various reasons was not able to become one. So he gave up football completely and started concentrating on shaping his culinary skills. It is this approach of just concentrating on one thing at a time, that made him utilise his potential and to be successful in life. Like Gordon there are hundreds of great people who have given up other interests to concentrate on one particular interest and have been very successful. All it takes is to be aware of the things we like to do and prioritise them at the right time. Related posts:Crazy ideas &#8211; successful productsDealing with failureWhy many leaders dont succeed


Related posts:<ol><li><a href='http://www.karthikrajg.com/2010/01/crazy-ideas-successful-products/' rel='bookmark' title='Permanent Link: Crazy ideas &#8211; successful products'>Crazy ideas &#8211; successful products</a></li><li><a href='http://www.karthikrajg.com/2009/10/dealing-with-failure/' rel='bookmark' title='Permanent Link: Dealing with failure'>Dealing with failure</a></li><li><a href='http://www.karthikrajg.com/2009/12/why-many-leaders-dont-succeed/' rel='bookmark' title='Permanent Link: Why many leaders dont succeed'>Why many leaders dont succeed</a></li></ol>]]></description>
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		<item>
		<title>The art of Procrastination!</title>
		<link>http://www.karthikrajg.com/2009/11/the-art-of-procrastination/</link>
		<comments>http://www.karthikrajg.com/2009/11/the-art-of-procrastination/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Sun, 01 Nov 2009 19:55:37 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>admin</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Self Development]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[life skills]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[procrastination]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.karthikrajg.com/?p=445</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[Not so long ago, i was a master procrastinator. By that i do not mean, i blindly kept pushing things to a later day. I was a sort of a person who would take 80% of the time to prepare and sport my mind to be set on a task and 20% of the time to do that task. Though this cannot be called procrastination, sometimes because my mind was not willing to do a task, i ended up wasting more time to &#8220;cool my mind down&#8221; which eventually delayed the whole task and i ended up procrastinating. Nowadays, though i try hard not to procrastinate, it is not so easy to get rid of the habit completely. But I, definitely, have got better and no longer just postpone things just because my brain doesn&#8217;t feel like doing it&#8230; I should admit this was a tough habit to break, but there are a few ways to actually break it. Earlier, i even had a saying (a bit like a principle) that went &#8220;why do something today that you can do it tomorrow?&#8221;. My wife on the other hand is completely opposite. She wants to complete everything as soon as possible while i would like to push it to the final moments. I would say both policies are not very good. Because of my attitude of pushing to the last minute, i have felt i didn&#8217;t quite have the time to do things to my complete satisfaction. I probably would have done much better if i had gradually progressed on a task instead of just pushing them to a later date. On the other hand, the attitude of  &#8217;do it now&#8217; comes with a &#8216;free-unlimited-stress&#8217; package. I have seen people who want to complete things immediately take things too seriously and get easily stressed when things do not go to plan. And, this can happen very easily, for example, when working with a colleague who procrastinates all the time and because of that your schedules get affected and puts you under unwanted stress. So, how to break this habit of procrastination? These are some of the steps i took&#8230; 1. Be Aware Procrastination, I think, is very much a psychological thing and that can be fixed to a reasonable level by showing interest in getting the problem fixed. So, the first and foremost thing is to be aware of the fact that you are indeed procrastinating. Being aware of it eventually would help you feel &#8220;oh, i shouldn&#8217;t do that!&#8221; 2. Set simple goals &#8211; first! I was aware of the fact that i was procrastinating (big time) and i wanted to stop doing that. My only reason was i did not want my colleagues at my job to form an idea that i always procrastinate. So I decided not to procrastinate anything for just one day, even if that means not being able to deliver 100% . I tried and i succeeded &#8211; but i was mentally drained by the end of the day. 3. Get a grip of the situation &#8211; Important/Urgent Matrix Then i decided to take this further and try it out for a week or so. But there were a few problems. We all have minor relatively un-important tasks that might be urgent or tasks that might not be very urgent but are very important. Each of these would assume varying levels of priority and some tasks need to be pushed to a later date to get the others done. To solve this, i used the important / urgent matrix, which is a four-quadrant chart that has 1. Important and urgent tasks on the first quadrant 2. Unimportant but urgent tasks on the second quadrant 3. Important but non-urgent tasks on the third quadrant 4. Unimportant and non-urgent on the fourth quadrant Whenever a task came up, i assigned it in one of the four quadrants. At first there were too many and i had to work harder to get it all done. I concentrated on the items in the first quadrant before moving on to those in the second quadrant. Then came third and fourth. I actually found reasonable success with this method. 5. Get a grip of the situation &#8211; Task Lists The yet another change i made was to come up with a task list. I would simply list all the tasks in a file (or you can write it down in a piece of paper) whenever they come up. Every morning, before i start my day at work, i spent 5 minutes going through the tasks and organising them into the important/urgent matrix. I tried and broke tasks that are very long term into intermediate milestones, so that they don&#8217;t slip out of view and suddenly appear when the deadline came closer. 5. Be organised Being organised is a mindset again. People who are extremely organised have partitions in their head that are like rooms in a house. They can switch from one task to another very quickly- just like moving from one room to another. Some people are naturally organised while some are not. But learning to be organised is not that difficult. Being organised, makes you want all things to be under control and that means not letting yourself procrastinate. 6. Be 99% perfect Whenever i did something, i always wanted it to be presented to my perfection. When the outcome did not satisfy me, i would then think, &#8220;Alright, let me have a think and complete it tomorrow&#8221; and push it by another day. And as they say, tomorrow never dies!! Part of it could be my capability to deal with criticism from others for my work. I never wanted anyone to criticise my work and hence did not deliver until i made sure no one will criticise. But, i wanted to change this habit. I started adding comments like &#8220;draft&#8230;subject to change&#8221; whenever i delivered something. That made it 99% perfect and i can always update when i have new ideas. 7. And finally, wind down A lot of research shows that work-life balance is such an important factor to lead a happy life. If we are too stressed with things and have a lot of stuff lined up to do, then we will end up procrastinating. Take regular breaks and stop thinking about the tasks in hand for a while and then get back to it. You will see your productivity increase and you will find enough time to do your tasks and not procrastinate them. Getting rid of procrastination, unfortunately, takes time. But once you are aware of it and have streamlined yourself to deal with it, you are sure to taste success. Related posts:One thing at a timeDealing with failureFour phases of success


Related posts:<ol><li><a href='http://www.karthikrajg.com/2009/12/one-thing-at-a-time/' rel='bookmark' title='Permanent Link: One thing at a time'>One thing at a time</a></li><li><a href='http://www.karthikrajg.com/2009/10/dealing-with-failure/' rel='bookmark' title='Permanent Link: Dealing with failure'>Dealing with failure</a></li><li><a href='http://www.karthikrajg.com/2010/07/four-phases-of-success/' rel='bookmark' title='Permanent Link: Four phases of success'>Four phases of success</a></li></ol>]]></description>
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