Organisations and You

Organisations have visions.

Effective organisations lay out mission statements, targets, and objectives in their corporate and business plans. They set goals, develop measures, and identify challenges. Each year they review these in annual reports.

I raise the question, if people work so hard in developing an organisation's future, what are they doing for themselves? Do we set the same targets and objectives in our lives? How much effort are we putting into developing and reviewing ourselves when our life is our most important asset?

For The Love Of Quotes

This year I have developed a love for the art of quotations. Quoations are simple, eloquent ways of capturing an ideal, an essence, or a whole movement. This entry will list notable quotes I have come across.

• "Utterly meaningless! Everything is meaningless." - King Solomon
• “Those who have knowledge don’t predict. Those who predict don’t have knowledge.” - Lao Tzu
• "Be who you are and say what you feel, because those who mind don't matter, and those who matter don't mind." - Dr. Seuss / Bernard Baruch
• "Be the change that you wish to see in the world." - Mahatma Gandhi
• "Life is short, break the rules, forgive quickly, kiss slowly, love truly, laugh uncontrollably, and never regret anything that made you smile. Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things you didn't do than by the ones you did. So throw off the bowlines. Sail away from the safe harbor. Catch the trade winds in your sails. Explore. Dream. Discover." - Mark Twain
• "Knowing others is intelligence; knowing yourself is true wisdom. Mastering others is strength; mastering yourself is true power. If you realize that you have enough, you are truly rich." - Lao Tzu
• "Keep your thoughts positive because your thoughts become your words. Keep your words positive because your words become your behavior. Keep your behavior positive because your behavior becomes your habits. Keep your habits positive because your habits become your values. Keep your values positive because your values become your destiny." — Mahatma Gandhi
• “Love all, trust a few, do wrong to none.” ― William Shakespeare
• “People are often unreasonable and self-centered. Forgive them anyway. If you are kind, people may accuse you of ulterior motives. Be kind anyway. If you are honest, people may cheat you. Be honest anyway. If you find happiness, people may be jealous. Be happy anyway. The good you do today may be forgotten tomorrow. Do good anyway. Give the world the best you have and it may never be enough. Give your best anyway. For you see, in the end, it is between you and God. It was never between you and them anyway.” ― Mother Teresa
• "Ever tried. Ever failed. No matter. Try Again. Fail again. Fail better." - Samuel Beckett
• "I was never afraid of failure, for I would sooner fail than not be among the best." - John Keats
• "Never look back in regret but to move on to the next thing. The amount of time people waste dwelling on failures rather than putting that energy into another project always amazes me. I have had fun running all of the Virgin businesses, so I never see a setback as bad experience; it is just a learning curve." - Richard Branson
• "Realize deeply that the present moment is all you ever have. Life is now. There was never a time when your life was not now, nor will there ever be." - Eckhart Tolle
• "Things may come to those who wait, but only the things left by those who hustle." - Abraham Lincoln
• "The only thing I must remember is my self worth (and that my time is my most precious and least renewable asset)."

All About Confidence

Confidence is the magic word. It is a key ingredient in success but missing in a lot of people. It is essential to climb the corporate ladder but difficult to apply. It is a powerful trait. It is masterful.

------------------------------------

To understand something well takes research. One of the first steps is understanding the definition.

According to the Collins, Oxford, Merriam-Webster, Webster, American Heritage, Encarta, and Wiktionary dictionaries, the most often mentioned definitions about confidence are self trust and assurance.

What is confident behaviour?

1. It is doing what you believe to be right, even if others mock or criticise you for it.
2. It is being willing to take risks and go the extra mile to achieve better things.

These can be measured by:

1. Willingness and comfort to make a point that may draw attention to yourself.
2. Willingness and comfort to step outside your comfort zone or try new situations.

How do you become confident?

1. Emphasise strengths: look at your achievements, strengths, goals, and commit to them
2. Take risks: build knowledge, focus on the basics
3. Self talk: manage your mind by positive thinking
4. Self evaluate: set goals and achieve them, celebrate successes

Importantly, you gain confidence from doing (experience) by not being afraid to go outside your comfort zone, make mistakes and learn from them.