I heartily welcome you to my blissful blog dedicated for Motivation, Inspiration, Positivity, Manifestation, Mediation and Spirituality. If you get good health, happiness, peace, harmony and love by visiting this page, it will be considered as the best recognition for my wiritings. Thoughts become Things. Be Good. Do Good.Think Good. Be Positive as faith can move mountains. All proud to God. With Love & Light,Prem.
"Success is not final, failure is not fatal; it is the courage to continue that counts - Winston Churchill" Anyone who have failed continuously can get inspiration from the team Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB). In the IPL Season 2019, from the match one, the stars are not in favor of RCB. Yes, RCB have lost many close matches. They are in the last position with six continuous Losses.
Courtesy - iplt20.com
However, in the match seven against King XI Punjab, they have bounced back like a Super Hero. King XI Punjab have batted first and scored a massive 173/4 in 20 Overs. Gayle (King XI Punjab) have attacked all the bowlers mercilessly and scored 99* runs in 64 balls.
RCB started their batting with a positive note, with no trace of past failures in their mind. A special note of appreciation to the talented ABD and Kohli, who have kept the RCB fans hope alive throughout the match. RCB have a last smile, and won it comfortably by 8 Wickets in the last over. Next time when you are failing continuously, think about RCB, you will surely get inspiration from these Men in Red. As Jaime Escalante once said "Life is not about how many times you fall down. It's about how many times you get back up"
It's not your Salary that makes you Rich, it's your Spending habits - Charles.A.Jaffe The outside world thinks that Software Techie's earn a lot of money. Yes, we earn a lot, however, no one talks about the amount of money we spend. Special thanks to those dozens of banks who offer us a free home loan, car loan, and personal loan to make us live in cloud nine, to feel that we are rich. But the harsh reality is that most of the software engineers live in the debt. Software Techie's Weekend Spending : Most of the software engineers spend their weekends with families in Malls, Restaurants, Children's Gaming Zone, Cinema's and Popcorns. Yes, Popcorns costs more than cinema tickets. I have visited the Children's Gaming Zone in a famous mall, with my Son recently and after that, I have safely thrown that Membership card in the trash. I am surprised to see the amount that it has costs for minutes of the game. I'm so glad, that I had a beautiful childhood before technology took over. Special thanks to the Credit Cards with lakhs of rupees loaded on it. No one realizes, how much they spend. Vicki Robin in her best selling book "Your Money or Your Life" says “Money is something we choose to trade our life energy for” Watch the below video to understand this beautiful quote.
Software Techie's Spending Habit : Below is the extract from the book "Confessions of a Software Techie" written by Ramakrishna Reddy. I bow to the author for writing this brilliant book. "We earn enough money to visit high-end restaurants, buy Levi’s jeans and Nike shoes, go for a vacation to the Himalayas or Hawaii, and drink vodka during the weekends. We can also get a car from Hyundai or Honda. But, how will you buy your dream house? We have a solution—a mortgage! We techies seem to be the cash cow for multiple industries and the government. They don’t just milk money in taxes taken out of our paychecks but feed us junk food, get us to buy unnecessary stuff in super-sized malls, lock us in heavy mortgages, lure us into expensive vacations, hit us with heavy hospital bills, and still collect taxes on all these expenses. Nice. Finally, we look like a superhero with a huge credit card bill. And end up being poor" You are requested to read theConfession of a Software Techie - Book Review. This book is a must-read for all software Techies. I have fine-tuned my spending habits, after watching the below TED Talk "A rich life with less stuff" by The Minimalists.
"These days, technology and systems encourage impulse buys. Things that we buy based on wants rather than needs. The world wants you to spend more money on your wants. But, you'll be smart if you spend money on your needs" - Ramakrishna Reddy need (Verb) - Require (something) because it is essential or very important rather than just desirable. Want (Verb) - have a desire to possess or do (something); wish for.
Examples : I need a car. I want a Volkswagen Vento. I need a home. I want a Villa with all the amenities. I need a vacation. I want to go to Switzerland. Once I became 'The Happy Zen', I started feeling happy with everything I have. Yes, I am grateful for my Maruti Zen 2004 model. It has saved me and my family from Bangalore rains and colds multiple times. I haven't upgraded my car, after reading the book "Rich Dad and Poor Dad", written by Robert Kiyosaki, even though there are dozens of banks who are chasing me daily to take a car loan. Yes, I do my BEST to follow as much as possible from the books I read. As Mahatma Gandhi once said, "An ounce of practice is worth more than tons of preaching".
I also got the inspiration from my beloved master Warren Buffet, who still drives a 7-Year-Old Cadillac. One day, I will become a Warren Buffet of happiness.
A Request from Author :
Let's pause our spending habits and check are we going in the right direction. Postone your buying spree for a week and if you still have the thirst for buying, please go ahead.
I would heartily appreciate if you could share it with your friends and colleagues, who are still in the spending illusion. I want you to get rid of the rat race and live a financially free life filled with happiness, peace, and harmony. Wish you success and Good Luck.
Don't forget, a
person's greatest emotional need is to feel appreciated - Jackson Brown
Baby cries for Milk,
whereas Man cries for appreciation. Yes, it is so true that, everyone in
this world would like to feel appreciated and important.If someone tells me that, I don’t like
appreciation, then I can tell confidently that, he is lying under the midday sunlight.
Below is the extract from my favorite book, "One small step can change your life - The Kaizen Way" written by Robert Maurer. "Try asking your co-workers or friends: 'What makes you feel appreciated?' The resulting list is usually studded with free or low-cost items such as hearing the boss say “thank you,” receiving a compliment from a superior, or having someone bring them a cup of coffee when they’re working late".
Do you remember, when is the last time you have appreciated the person, who have helped you ? Most of us feel grateful, for the person who helps us, but
we never express it. William Arthur Ward once beautifully said “Feeling
gratitude and not expressing it is like wrapping a present and not giving it”.
Have you appreciated
your wife, for giving you a hot cup of coffee, when you are busy working in
your laptop ?
Have you appreciated
your husband, for spending hours of his valuable time, in shopping to select a
beautiful dress for you ?
Have you appreciated
your children, for coming in your life to give immense happiness ?
Have you appreciated
your parents, for all their sacrifices ?
Have you appreciated your brothers / sisters for their care and affection ?
Have you appreciated
your friends, for giving his strong shoulders whenever you needed support ?
Have you appreciated
your maid, for keeping your house clean ?
Have you appreciated
your Apartment Security, for keeping your family secure ?
Have you appreciated
your colleague, for sharing your work load ?
Have you appreciated
your mentor, for guiding you in the proper direction ?
Have you appreciated
God, who is Divinely protecting you ?
Have you appreciated
“You”, for being unique ?
If the answer for any or all of the above questions is “NO”. It is never too late to show your
gratitude to your beloved ones for coming in your life. Please pick your smartphone and send a “Thank you” note. Yes, we
can use our Smartphone for something good also.
I am thankful to all my beautiful readers, who reads my blog in their busy schedule and appreciates my work. It is because of You, I write. Thank you. A Request from Author : You don't need to share this article with anyone. I kindly request you to take sometime and share a sweet "Thank you" note to the persons, who have done a positive difference in your life.
Most of the time, I get requests from my friends to recommend a book, which can change their life positively. I jokingly tell them that, no need to read any book, Just read my blog daily and it will do the magic. Yes, if you don’t have the habit of reading, I bet that you will sleep on the book within five minutes of opening the book. Please don't ask me, whether you won't sleep, while reading my blog. Even, I get sleep sometimes while writing my blogs. Some are very busy that they don't have time to read my blog also. For all those super busy people, I will give them the Youtube channel by my beloved masters Gaur Gopal Das and Jay Shetty. Even, I get the daily dose of inspiration from them. Gaur Gopal Das - A Lifestyle Engineer : He is an Electronics Engineer, who had graduated from College of Engineering, Pune. He have quit his Job from HP, to become a "Brahmachari" at Radha Gopinath Mandir, ISKCON Mumbai in the Year 1996. He is also a motivational speaker and lifestyle coach. He simplifies the complicated philosophies of life, with humor and real life examples. His talks are so addictive that it will help you to live a happy and peaceful life.
Notable Quotes : "Valuables have become more important than values". “Gucci suits won’t bring you satisfaction till you bring a smile on someone’s face. The good wishes of the person can do more for you,” “Life is like surfing, sometimes waves will toss you up; similarly, people will respect and honor you and sometimes there will be failure, neglect and rejection. Those who only surf will be affected by the ups and downs of life, but there are divers who swim beneath and no matter what the ups and downs they are not affected by the turbulence.”
Gaur Gopal Das - Youtube Channel : https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCz22l7kbce-uFJAoaZqxD1A Jay Shetty - The Millennial Monk : Jay Shetty is a Stoyteller, Vlogger, Moitvational speaker and life coach. He is from United Kingdom with root in India. When he was 18, a lecture by a monk in London have changed his perspective about life.
At the age of 22, he came to India to learn Meditation and lived in a monastery for 3 years. He returned back to UK and started spreading the wisdom about life. He is widely known as Urban Monk all over the world. His favorite book is Ramayana. Now, you might got the clue, why I am following Jay Shetty.
Bonus : If you are a bookworm or Kindleworm, who likes reading books. You can visit My Favorite Books page. I will be updating the books list on a regular basis. I recommend only the best of best, rest assured that you don't waste your precious time. Happy Reading Folks. A Request from Author : Both my masters are available 24x7 to inspire you, to live a positive, meaningful and purposeful life. If you like this article, please share it with your family and friends. It might en(ligthen) their life also. You are kindly requested to join my mission of Donate a Meal to start making a positive difference is someone's life. You are born with the ability to change someone life positively, please give your life a chance.
I entered my Office bus and occupied a comfortable front seat. I have opened the book "Think and Grow Rich" written by Napoleon Hill and started reading it. It is the seventh time I am reading this book. Each and every time I read this book, I learn something new.
Within couple of minutes Sundar came near me and asked pointing the empty seat near me "Prem, can I take this seat?"
"Sure. I have secured this seat only
for you" I said with a mischievous smile on my face.
He burst out laughing, as the timing was good.Before you hit the face on the wall, wondering what is the Joke, I will clarify it. In our company, Sundar is working on fourth floor in Television division. However, I am working in Mobile Division in the third floor. We have worked together on a project before a decade and rarely do we meet each other in the 7.30 PM evening bus. He usually goes home by 5.00 PM Office bus daily and today he is late, might be due to some important work. I hope now you could digest the joke. "Prem, I want to meet you personally for a long time" he kick started the conversation.
"Really. Please let me know how can I help you?" I asked him as if I am the Aladdin’s Genie.
"I am totally depressed due to poor appraisal this year and my marriage life is also not good and I am worried a lot about money, as I have lakhs of home and car loan and my health is also derogating" he said emotionally with a gloomy face. "I completely understand your problem. You are not alone. Almost 80 percent of the Software engineers have the same problems" I replied.
"I have attended one of your motivational sessions in our office and found it useful. So I thought you can give some good advice" Sundar asked, inquisitively.
“Sundar, I stopped giving free advice" I giggled and winked my eyes.
"Prem, I am ready to give half of my assets to you, if you help me to overcome the current situation" he said, concerned.
"Half of the Assets ? I will write it in my Dairy" I laughed.
“I Swear. Please help” he said concerned.
I usually use my mentalist skills
to check whether the person is really serious about what he is asking. I could read from his Voice tone, eye movements and the body
language that he is true. I started giving the wisdom, which I have gathered from my beloved masters.
"You are seeing only the things that you don't have in your life. Instead, you should be thankful for all the things that you have in life" I said.
"What do I have, other than the loan, not good appraisal, not good health and a complaining wife ?" he asked frustrated.
"You have food on your plate, roof on your head and colorful dress on your wardrobe and loving friends and parents. I know that you love your daughter more than anything else in this world" I cleverly touched his positive emotions.
If you are wondering how I know that he loves his daughter, I will give you the clue. He
usually keeps his daughter photo in the office desktop wallpaper. I have
observed it multiple times, while we are working together in the project, before a decade.
"Yes, you are right" he answered
"It is normal human nature to compare with others and complaint about the things that we don't have, you need to shift your focus and start appreciating the things you have" I said positively.
"You said it very easily. But how can I do it ?" he questioned.
"It is a good question Sundar. In your Smartphone notepad, start writing the things that you are Thankful. For example, next time when you have a cup of freshly brewed coffee, you need to write as "I am thankful for my Coffee" in the notepad. You need to write even the small things that you like about
your wife, health, finance and work. Moreover if someone does a favor or help, express it to them with gratitude” I said.
“Does this really work ?” he asked, with a question mark on his face.
“It works, if you work on it.People always underestimate the things
that are simple and easy. Give this a try for 90 days and stop following it, if
you don’t get any positive results. Anyway, you are not going to lose even a
single penny by following this” I said
“Yes, you are right. I will give it a try”
he said with little hope on his face.
“I need to
get down, as the bus have reached my stop. It was nice talking to you. Good Luck” I said with a smile on my face. I have deboarded the bus
and started walking towards my home with the earphone on my ears, hearing the "Attitude of Gratitude" Gyan from my beloved master
Gaur Gopal Das with the support of LG G2 Smartphone.
Let's fast forward five years, me along with my wife and son was attending Sakthi’s, my colleague Hari’s daughter, first Birthday party. We are sitting in a table and enjoying the tasty Dinner. Sundar came to our table, along with his wife and daughter with a beaming smile on his face . He introduced me, as his
Mentor, to his wife and daughter.
Sundar is completely changed now. He is radiating with full of positive energy and enthusiasm. I have
taken him to corner of the room to know the secret for his positive transformation.
“Sundar, I haven’t seen you after our meeting at the office bus. Where are you? ” I questioned.
“I got a good offer from Qualcomm within 3 months of our
meeting and I have resigned our company. I came to meet you on the last day.
But I heard from your teammate that you have gone to France for a business trip”
he said.
“How is your
life going on?” I came straight to the point without wasting time.
“I am appreciating each and every moment of my life” he said with a sense of pride and achievement.
“That sounds good” I replied.
“Meeting you in the office bus have transformed my life positively”
he said.
“Really, Can you please explain me how ?”
“I started appreciating all the good things in my life"
“Awesome. So you have followed what I told ?”
“Yes, Exactly like a baby duck follows their mother”
“How is your corporate life ?”
“I am working as a successful program manager and I got the Best Employee Award last Year”
“How is your marriage life ?”
“It is Awesome. After our meeting, once I thanked my wife for
the tasty chapatti she have prepared for me. On hearing this, her eyes become moist
and she hugged me tightly. I have understood that she was craving for my
appreciation until now. After knowing this secret, I started hitting sixes all
over the ground like MS Dhoni” he smiled.
“What about your home and car loan?”
“Daily, I thanked the universe for the money I have. Like
a magic, my father and father-in-law came forward and gave their PF amount to close my pending loans. I
have closed my car and home loan last year. I am currently in the path of achieving Financial freedom”
“What about your health ?”
“I have thanked all my
body parts whole heartedly daily for functioning effectively. Like a miracle, my health improved a lot and I a glowing with good health.”
“Wow. I am glad to hear your story”
“I came to this party to personally thank you for the
wonderful piece of advice, you gave me on thee bus, about the attitude of gratitude” he said.
“I don’t want your thanks. As promised, please give half
of your assets” I said jokingly.
“Sure. You deserve it” he said seriously.
“I am just kidding. You need to do me a favor” I requested.
“Please tell. I am waiting to pay you back in some way” he said in a serious tone.
“Next time when you see a person who is depressed, please request
him to be grateful for all the good things in his life” I requested.
“I will do it for sure” Sundar said and hugged me for the help. He left the party after
bidding a warm Good bye.
On seeing the sky, I thanked the God and my masters for
giving me the opportunity and wisdom to change Sundar’s life positively.
I was still sitting in the table with my wife and son enjoying
the Amul Butterscotch Ice-cream. During that time, Praveen, one of my office colleagues came to me.
"Prem, I want to meet you personally
for a long time" Praveen kick started the conversation.
"Really. Please let me know how can I help
you?" I asked him as if I am the Aladdin’s Genie.
Author Speaks :
"Being Grateful" is the Aladdin Genie within everyone of us, that can do magics and Miracles. Be thankful for all the good things in your life. If you like this article, please share it with your family and friends. It might help them to awaken the Aladdin Genie, that is sleeping within them.
If you like this article, You are kindly requested to join my mission of Donate a Meal to start making a positive difference is someone's life. You are born with the ability to change someone life positively, please give your life a chance.
Fools learn from their mistakes. However, successful people learn from others mistakes - Unknown "Confession of a Software Techie" book is a must read for all the Software engineers, who are struggling to find the corporate ladder. Yes, there are many of the Software engineers out there, who still doesn't know where is the corporate ladder. Some of the blessed ones, who have found the corporate ladder, work very hard 24x7 compromising their health and personal life to climb it. However, it takes years to move even a single step in the corporate ladder, if you follow the traditional path of working hard.
As Stephen.R.Covey said, "We must never be too busy to take time to sharpen the saw", reading this brilliant book will surely help you to sharpen your Saw. It is time to shift our focus from doing hard work to Smart Work. This book gives lots of techniques and insights, that will help you to know the blueprint of Corporate Success. As a bonus, the author have also given lots of insights about maintaining a healthy relationships, Financial Planning and how to maintain a good health. Yes, I too agree that a person can be called as Success, only when he is successful in all the four important aspects of life, namely health, career, relationship and finance.
Ramakrishna Reddy, the author have done a thorough research with all leading self-help / Management / leadership/ Productivity books and implemented it successfully in his corporate life and have written this book. Special Thanks to Ramakrishna Reddy, as he have saved lots of my time. Yes, I too want to write a similar book, which I have learnt in the IT industry for the past 14 years.The author have written exactly that is in my mind. Now I can focus my energy to a different subject that adds values to people life.
Key Highlights of the Book :
How to write effective Emails?
How to speak in public ?
How to conduct useful meeting ?
How to deal with people and politics ?
How to get more done with less ?
How to handle your boss, colleagues and Subordinates?
How to manage money effectively ?
The power of habits.
What does a woman want ?
Five keys to unlock your creative potential.
John Thomas, the author of 'The Big Switch', quotes that "The destination is just an illusion. It is the journey that matters". Yes, we need to enjoy each and every moment of our journey, even in office. This book will make your working hours in office as happy hours. Even If you ask me in the middle of the night, during my deep sleep, to recommend a book for the software engineers, with no doubt I will point this book. This book can be rightly called as the Bible for a Software Techie.I still wonder, why such a book doesn’t exist, when I enter the corporate world. You can play your cards better, if you know the rules of the game. Following the principles written in this book will take you in the corporate lift instead of the corporate ladder. Wish you success and good luck in your corporate life.
Click Image to buy this book in Amazon India
Note of Advice - In Amazon India, the hard copy costs little higher. However Kindle edition costs only Rs.99. You can download Kindle App in your mobile or PC and start reading it in a jiffy. [Inspired by our beloved author Ramakrishna Reddy who advice's us to spend the money wisely]. A Request from Author : If you are working in an IT industry, you should read this book without further thought. You are also welcome to share it with your Boss, colleagues and friends who are struggling to find some light in the IT industry. If you like this article, You are kindly requested to join my mission of Donate a Meal to start making a positive difference is someone's life. You are born with the ability to change someone life positively, please give your life a chance.
Appreciation can make a day, even change a life. Your willingness is to put it into words is all that is necessary - Margaret Cousins After finishing my engineering (Information Technology) in May 2004, I have boarded the train from Madurai(Tamil Nadu) to Bangalore with lots of dreams to become a successful software engineer. In Bangalore, me with some of my college friends have rented a house in Indiranagar and started our job hunt. By God's grace, all of our batch mates have got a good job in a reputed IT Industry within 3 months. I am blessed to get a Job in a South Korean IT company, Bangalore. I have joined the South Korean MNC Company as fresher on 18th October 2004. As I am from Rajapalayam, which is a small town in Southern Tamil Nadu, I struggled a lot with the environment inside and outside the company. During the early days of my career, If you see me speaking in-front of five people in the meeting, I bet that you would roll out laughing on the floor. Luckily, WhatsApp was not there during that time, or else my official emails will be circulated all over the world as Joke for the day. I still remember the day, when I asked my colleague Hari to chat with our European client on messenger on my behalf.
During my first year appraisal, my manager have a big list of areas that needs improvement for me, that includes communication, Inter-personal, E-mail, Presentation Skills, etc. To be frank, the improvement list is much bigger than my wife’s shopping list. Every year, my manager increased the improvement list for me, without any much improvement in my salary. Whatever I do, my manager was never satisfied with my performance, he always came with a new list of areas that needs improvement. Many times, I have thought of quitting my software job and going back to hometown. However, my father always motivated me telling that my salary is greater than his salary as a School teacher. Whenever he goes to see his friends, he tells proudly that I am working in a South Korean MNC. So, I have decided to stick with this company, atleast to make him happy. In the IT industry if you don’t perform as per your Boss expectation, you will be donated to some other team during the internal job rotation. Yes, as you predicted correctly, in the year 2007, I was also requested to change team and work under Guruprasad Baller. Guruprasad Baller was from Bangalore. He had a beaming smile on his face always. He was a man of positive energy and enthusiasm. He treated everyone in the team as his own family members. Whenever someone face some problem in the project, he was there to support them. He leaves office only after ensuring that everyone in his team have left and he comes early before everyone check-ins. He was one of the best employees at the company. So, all the Critical projects were assigned to him.
He loved his work more than anything else in the world. He respects the house keeping personnel, the same way he respects the president of our company. He is a humble, down to earth person. He is a servant leader and I have learnt lots of leadership skills from him. Whenever we work late night, we used to order food and Guruprasad used to serve everyone and start eating only after ensuring that everyone got their share. I am more than happy to move to a new team, under the leadership of Guru. Guru started appreciating all the small things that I have done. I liked him very much, as he is the first person to tell me that I can also be of some use to the IT industry. He slowly polished me and gave me a proper guidance. His motivating words and appreciation was like a water for a thirsty person in the desert. In parallel, I started reading books about Positive Thinking, Law of Attraction, Self Help, Personal Growth, Art of Public Speaking, Leadership Skills, Management Skills, Communication Skills, etc to upgrade myself. Guru motivated and inspired me, whenever I need energy. In the year 2010, I was awarded "Best Employee Award" from our company president during the Annual day function that is held at Palace Grounds, Bangalore. Me, Ranjith and Vijay worked together for approximately five years under the brilliant leadership of Guruprasad. It was one of the golden days in my corporate life until now, where we enjoyed each and every moment in office. All four of us have a special bonding that cannot be explained by words.
Ranjith, Guruprasad, Prem,Vijay
In the year 2012, Guruprasad has resigned from our company to pursue his goals of higher studies. However, the seeds of inspiration that he have implanted within me have already started bearing the fruits. In the year 2014, exactly ten years after I joined the South Korean MNC Company, during my appraisal meeting my new manager told me “Prem, your communication skills, Interpersonal Skills, Email Writing skills and presentation skills are Awesome. You are the BEST. You are one of the Valuables assets to the company”.
I have mentally thanked my (Guru)prasad for everything. Yes, his words of appreciation have changed my life positively. I have received multiple Star Awards, Project Awards, etc after the entry of Guruprasad in my life. I have personally told my current manager, not to include me in any of the Awards list, as I want it go to a thirsty Young engineer who is still waiting for that magical positive break. Guruprasad Speaks : I am humbled to see myself in your blogs. Thanks. I agree that, appreciating a deserving colleague is the least, first but most important thing for a manager to do. Most of the people are self motivated for achieving something. So the appreciation acts as that extra "Boost" which makes them feel they are on the right path. This is "Reverse Inspiration" case. Where the inspired is inspiring back the inspirer now. Well done Prem.. It was great reading your blog. Thanks for that and wish you all the best. A Request from Author : If you are a Boss, reading this article, please be informed that everyone is gifted with unique talent, please identify it and start appreciating it, instead of criticizing only about the areas of improvement. If you like this article, You are kindly requested to join my mission of Donate a Meal to start making a positive difference is someone's life. You are born with the ability to change someone life positively, please give your life a chance.
