Moving out of comfort Zone is must for Performance

Once there was a king who received a gift of two magnificent falcons. They were peregrine falcons, the most beautiful birds he had ever seen. He gave the precious birds to his head falconer to be trained.

 Months passed, and one day the head falconer informed the king that though one of the falcons was flying majestically, soaring high in the sky, the other bird had not moved from its branch since the day it had arrived.
The king summoned healers and sorcerers from all the land to tend to the falcon, but no one could make the bird fly.

He presented the task to the member of his court, but the next day, the king saw through the palace window that the bird had still not moved from its perch.

Having tried everything else, the king thought to
himself, “May be I need someone more familiar with the countryside to understand the nature of this problem.” So he cried out to his court, “Go and get a farmer.”
In the morning, the king was thrilled to see the falcon soaring high above the palace gardens. He said to his
court, “Bring me the doer of this miracle.”

The court quickly located the farmer, who came and stood before the king. The king asked him, “How did you make the falcon fly?” With his head bowed, the farmer said to the king, “It was very easy, your highness. I simply cut the branch where the bird was sitting.”

We are all made to fly — to realize our incredible potential as human beings. But at times we sit on our branches, clinging to the things that are familiar to us. The possibilities are endless, but for most of us, they remain undiscovered. We conform to the familiar, the comfortable,
and the mundane. So for the most part, our lives are mediocre instead of exciting, thrilling and fulfilling. Let us learn to destroy the branch of fear we cling to and free ourselves to the glory of flight!

Professor and Students

http://www.slideshare.net/rooprajinder5ingh/berni-13500496

THE SPLIT MILK

This is  a story about a famous research scientist who had made several very important medical breakthroughs. He was being interviewed by a newspaper reporter who asked him why he thought he was able to be so much more creative than the average person. What set him so far apart from others?

He responded that, in his opinion, it all came from an experience with his mother that occurred when he was about two years old. He had been trying to remove a bottle of milk from the refrigerator when he lost his grip on the slippery bottle and it fell, spilling its contents all over the kitchen floor  a veritable sea of milk!


When his mother came into the kitchen, instead of yelling at him, giving him a lecture, or punishing him, she said, 'Robert, what a great and wonderful mess you have made! I have rarely seen such a huge puddle of milk. Well, the damage has already been done.

Would you like to get down and play in the milk for a few minutes before we clean it up?'
Indeed, he did. After a few minutes, his mother said, 'You know, Robert, whenever you make a mess like this, eventually you have to clean it up and restore everything to its proper order. So, how would you like to do that? We could use a sponge, a towel, or a mop. Which do you prefer?' He chose the sponge and together they cleaned up the spilled milk.

His mother then said, 'You know, what we have here is a failed experiment in how to effectively carry a big milk bottle with two tiny hands. Let's go out in the back yard and fill the bottle with water and see if you can discover a way to carry it without dropping it.' The little boy learned that if he grasped the bottle at the top near the lip with both hands, he could carry it without dropping it. What a wonderful lesson!

This renowned scientist then remarked that it was at that moment that he knew he didn't need to be afraid to make mistakes. Instead, he learned that mistakes were just opportunities for learning something new, which is, after all, what scientific experiments are all about. Even if the experiment 'doesn't work,' we usually learn something valuable from it.

GOD’S COFFEE

A group of alumni, highly established in their careers, visited their old university professor. Conversation soon turned on the stress in work and life. Offering his guests coffee, the professor went to the kitchen and returned with a large pot of coffee and an assortment of cups – porcelain, plastic, glass, crystal, some plain looking, some expensive, some exquisite – telling them to help themselves to the coffee.



When all the students had a cup of coffee in hand, the professor said : “ If you noticed, all the nice looking expensive cups were taken up, leaving behind the plain and cheap ones. You want to have only the best things for yourselves. That is the source of your problems and stress.


Be assured that the cup itself adds no quality to the coffee. In most cases it is just more expensive and in some cases even hides what we drink. What all of you really wanted was coffee, not the cup, but you consciously went for the best cups … and then you began eyeing each other’s cups.


Now consider this : Life is the coffee; the jobs, money and position in society are the cups. They are just tools to hold and contain life, and the type of cup we have neither define, nor change the quality of life we live.


Sometimes, by concentrating only on the cup, we fail to enjoy the coffee God had provided us.”


God brews the coffee, not the cups…… Enjoy your coffee !


“The happiest people don’t have the best of everything. They just make the best of everything.”


Live simply. Love generously. Care deeply. Speak kindly. Leave the rest to God.

Not to Worry

I used to worry. A lot. The more I fretted, the more proficient I became at it. Anxiety begets anxiety. I even worried that I worried too much! Ulcers might develop. My health could fail. My finances could deplete to pay the hospital bills.

A comedian once said, "I tried to drown my worries with gin, but my worries are equipped with flotation devices." While not a drinker, I certainly could identify! My worries could swim, jump and pole vault! To get some perspective, I visited a well known, Dallas businessman, Fred Smith. Fred mentored such luminaries as motivational whiz Zig Ziglar, business guru Ken Blanchard and leadership expert John Maxwell.

Fred listened as I poured out my concerns and then said, "Vicki, you need to learn to wait to worry."

As the words sank in, I asked Fred if he ever spent time fretting. (I was quite certain he wouldn't admit it if he did. He was pretty full of testosterone-even at age 90.) To my surprise, he confessed that in years gone by he had been a top-notch worrier!

"I decided that I would wait to worry!" he explained. "I decided that I'd wait until I actually had a reason to worry-something that was happening, not just something that might happen-before I worried. "When I'm tempted to get alarmed," he confided, "I tell myself, 'Fred, you've got to wait to worry! Until you know differently, don't worry.' And I don't. Waiting to worry helps me develop the habit of not worrying  and that helps me not be tempted to worry."

Fred possessed a quick mind and a gift for gab. As such, he became a captivating public speaker. "I frequently ask audiences what they were worried about this time last year. I get a lot of laughs," he said, "because most people can't remember. Then I ask if they have a current worry - you see nods from everybody. Then I remind them that the average worrier is 92% inefficient - only 8% of what we worry about ever comes true."

Charles Spurgeon said it best. "Anxiety does not empty tomorrow of its sorrow, but only empties today of its strength."

A TEACHER AND A STUDENT

A teacher teaching Maths to seven-year-old Arnav asked him. “If I give you one apple and one apple and one apple, how many apples will you have?” Within a few seconds Arnav replied confidently, “Four!”

The dismayed teacher was expecting an effortless correct answer (three). She was disappointed. Maybe the child did not listen properly, she thought. She repeated, Arnav, listen carefully. “If I give you one apple and one apple and one apple, how many apples will you have?”

Arnav had seen the disappointment on his teacher’s face. He calculated again on his fingers. But within him he was also searching for the answer that will make the teacher happy. His search for the answer was not for the correct one, but the one that will make his teacher happy. This time hesitatingly he replied, “Four¦”

The disappointment stayed on the teacher’s face. She remembered that Arnav liked strawberries. She thought maybe he doesn’t like apples and that is making him loose focus. This time with an exaggerated excitement and twinkling in her eyes she asked, “If I give you one strawberry and one strawberry and one strawberry, then how many you will have?”

Seeing the teacher happy, young Arnav calculated on his fingers again. There was no pressure on him, but a little on the teacher. She wanted her new approach to succeed. With a hesitating smile young Arnav enquired, “Three?”

The teacher now had a victorious smile. Her approach had succeeded. She wanted to congratulate herself. But one last thing remained. Once again she asked him, “Now if I give you one apple and one apple and one more apple how many will you have?”

Promptly Arnav answered, ”Four!”

The teacher was aghast. “How Arnav, how?”, she demanded in a little stern and irritated voice.
In a voice that was low and hesitating young Arnav replied, “Because I already have one apple in my bag.”

When someone gives you an answer that is different from what you expect don't think they are wrong. There maybe an angle that you have not understood at all. You will have to listen and understand, but never listen with a predetermined notion.

All you need is a positive attitude.

Let me start with this quote " People are just about as happy as they make up their minds to be" Abraham Lincoln.

I am convinced that ATTITUDE is everything! It is your choice either to be negative OR positive- it is as simple as that. We all have this power to control our happiness in life because happiness is NOT determined by situations but by attitude. Our attitude about a situation not the actual situation itself, determines whether we view state of affairs as good, bad or ugly.

Let me very candid when I give currency that there is tremendous power in positive attitude. Let us not get into doom or despair in a situation. The formula is to have Faith, Hope, Courage, and Strength. And these components add to the positive attitude. What hinders is the emotion of Fear, Self doubt, Bitterness, and Defeat.

Even if there is lot of temptation to think negative, look it more deeply, you can always find "gains" of positive things in and around your thinking! The best cure for unhappiness is to really start to Count your blessings! Yes, now this will start the reverse gear technique and feelings of frustration and despair will vanish and a positive "thinking:" will start emerging. Now is the time to say "I had the "blues" (note the past tense!) We all have within us, the power to convert any negative thoughts into a positive one with joy and satisfaction.

We have to; transform our thinking set some realistic goals. Here the "Yes I Can" attitude has to be cultivated. ( 24 x 7 ) Let us say that you want to lose 30 kgs just believe that you can do it! May be some of you wants to win a marathon- start dreaming that you have WON it!!! Yes, in the beginning there could be some pain, sweat and endless runs, but that is only in the beginning- but at the end of it, you have reached your mark!!
We all know that "as the day unfolds" it brings its own agenda, however why not get up in the morning with a determination that you are going to have a great day! It is a magic- sure enough you are going to have a productive meaningful efficient day. But if your morning wake up yawn is going to echo " hey! Looks like it is going to be another awful day" mate sure enough you are going to end up the way you have "thought" in a negative way.
This is one of the quotes I always remember when I take a self audit every week! Charles R Swindoll, American philosopher, author, educator, pastor once said, " Attitude keeps me going or cripples my progress. It alone fuels my fire or assaults my hope. When my attitudes are right, there is no barrier too high, no valley too deep, no dream too extreme, and no challenge too great for me"

So dream big!

All you need is a positive attitude.