Shouvik Lahiri

6 affirmative sayings or positive thoughts to help you achieve your goals

Posted on December 18, 2012 by Shouvik

What differentiates achievers from non-achievers? It has been a subject of research for years. No denying that successful achievers are positive thinkers with faith in the power of affirmations. They hold some affirmations close to their heads and hearts from days before goal setting till the day goals are achieved. I am sharing with you some common positive thoughts or affirmative sayings. Why not try them to stay motivated, feel confident and look determined?

“I want it at any cost” – Didn’t we keep pressing our parents to buy us toys or balloons when we visited fairs in childhood? Hope, you do remember. I am sure; some of us were stubborn at that stage. You need to be as stubborn as you were, if your goal of life is the most desired thing to achieve. Being stubborn helps you stay motivated during the course of your journey to the goal.

“Why isn’t it possible?” – Have you ever argued with your teachers or friends over why something is not possible? Hope, you do have the same spirit as you had in those days. Be argumentative; be questioning; be aggressive. Ask yourself why it is not possible to achieve the goal that you dream of and have targeted. Keep saying to yourself, “Yes, it is 100% possible.”

“I deserve to get it” – How many times would you repeat “I deserve to get better marks” when the result was not satisfactory in school? Still, you deserve to get what you desire earnestly if you are determined and on the right track. These words are expressive of positivity, self-determination and confidence. You really deserve to get the best fruit of your best efforts.

“You have to do it” – Do you remember, your parents sitting in the auditorium shouted to you “You have to do it”, when you were about to perform on stage? Now the time has come to encourage yourself with repetition of this affirmation. It helps leverage the inner potentiality and explore the inherent qualities for the task of achieving goals.

“Every cloud has silver lining”- Highs and lows, ups and downs, failure and success are inseparable parts of every journey – career, professional, family or social. Do have faith in “there is no problem without solution.” If you stumble over a stone on the way, won’t you rise and stand on your toes again? Keep trying and look forward, because every cloud has silver lining.

“Learn from everyone and everything” – You will come across different persons from different backgrounds, during your journey to the goal. There is something to learn from everyone, either positive or negative. Both positive and negative lessons will help you in some or the other way. Some persons will guide you while some others will alert you. Such a rich experience is a good resource for any sort of achievement.

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Goal setting principles to follow today and achieve tomorrow

Posted on December 15, 2012 by Shouvik

Some of my readers are confused about how to set goals and keen to know what goal setting principles are. Self observation, behavioral regulation, emotional control, informed decision, strategy making and effective visualization are some of the goal setting principles. I have worked on important goal setting principles below. Hope, you will benefit from them.

Set specific goals

Be particular about your choice when it is a goal, related to career and business. Set a specific goal so that you can achieve it in a definite timeframe. Specific goals perform higher than general goals, as per research based studies.

Set goals with different terms

If you have more than one goal to achieve, then set goals with different terms – short and long. Short-term goals pave the way to long-term goals. Long-term goals stand for future. But, you can connect with short-term goals in the present. With the passage of today into yesterday, you will reach tomorrow. Long-term goals drive your focus to an indefinite time in future, while short-term goals draw your attention to ‘Now’.

Get trained to compete

Take part in competition and undergo some training to achieve the life goals. Whom to compete with? Compete with yourself, your shortcomings and flaws. How to emerge as the winner? Get trained under the tutelage of an expert (to say, a life strategy coach) to overcome your shortcomings and perfect your skills. Once you have won the competition with your negative self, you will be brimming with motivation. If the motivation level is high, your confidence level will go up and you live your goals in real time.

Make sure, goals are realistic

Goals may be challenging or not. But they must be realistic. For example, you have never played a football match, but you dream of being a football champion. If football is your passion and playing the game is your interest, the dream of being a champion makes a realistic goal. It is easy to visualize, plan and achieve realistic goals.

Document goals in words

Write your goal and the plans to achieve it down. A written account or document works as a reminder. The head is the busiest part of the body. It controls physical activities and communicates with other parts of the body. You may be oblivious of the goal, at times. Writing it down is many times better. It is just like marking a particular date on the calendar to remind ourselves of the day.

Set individual and team goals

Besides individual goals, you need to set team goals if the purpose is organization development. Business or organization development demands for team work in alignment with individual efforts. Being part of a team or an organization, you are required to work towards reaching individual goals as well as team goals.

Strategize for goal achievement

No goals can be accomplished without practical strategies at work. Being at the helm of administration and management, you are responsible to achieve organization development goals. You need to define work strategies for individuals on the team, set performance goals for them and delegate the work to them timely.

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Sharing with you my secrets to stay focused on the goal

Posted on December 12, 2012 by Shouvik

Achieve your goals one by one

Are you juggling between so many goals? If yes, it does not help. If the goals are not interlinked, you won’t be able to stay on track in a particular direction, simply because each of the goals pulls you towards itself. If not blessed with extraordinary qualities, you won’t be able to put in the best effort for all of the goals, different in kind. Pick the most important goals, unique to your purpose and stay focused on them.

At present, my goal is to guide you on goal setting, planning and achievement, through my blog. I take a good amount of time off my schedule to plan and pen posts on goal-related topics, with a view to keeping you in line with your goals. If something else gets hold of me and keeps me away from blogging for you, my goal will move away from me.

Let vision board inspire and guide you

“How to stay focused on our goals?” I have faced this question, several times, from my die-hard readers. Vision board is the best possible answer. Let me tell you what a vision board is, first. A vision board is a concrete representation of your abstract goal (a goal to be achieved is abstract). It is a board which is made a collage of with a number of pictures or images that help you visualize the goal. A vision board helps you in many ways. It lets you visualize the goal, compels you to decide on the action and reminds you of the action to be taken.

I personally follow the “vision board” method to stay focused on my goal. It is the vision board that provides me with innovative ideas about what to write on for my blog so that you can keep in touch with me; you can connect with my thoughts and feel inspired.

Take steps one by one to reach you goal

Do you know the magic to move from one place to another in a blink of an eye? No, if I am right. Likewise, there is no magic to let you achieve your goal at the very next step, or at one go. If your goal is a huge one, break it into a number of milestones. Write down the milestones, and put in efforts to achieve each of them. You can measure your reach to the goal by means of these milestones. It is just like taking stops on the way during a long drive.

Making my blog a complete guide on goal setting, goal planning, laws of excellence and laws of attraction for you is my goal. It requires lots of content strategy and planning to reach this goal. Each of the posts that I am updating the blog and sharing with you is my step toward the goal.

Let your diary help you stay focused

Reaching a goal is a journey. You will experience many things (positive and negative, to say for example) during the journey. Writing out your ideas, experiences, thoughts and issues in a diary helps you focus on the goal. So, keep a journal or diary to document your efforts. It is one of the good tips to stay focused.

I do the same. I maintain a diary which records my ideas and thoughts. It helps me to think and decide what topics to choose and write on for my blog. Like a close friend, my diary accompanies me on the way to my goal.

Posted in Goal setting, How to tips | 1 Comment

Discard myths and accept realities for successful goal setting

Posted on December 6, 2012 by Shouvik

You may take goal setting as an easy task that can be done any day and any time. It is nothing but a myth, far from reality. There are many such myths or wrong conceptions. We often go with myths and ignore realities. Here, the wide difference between myths and realities with regard to goal setting and achievement is distinctly drawn to help you out.

Setting goals is not so important to achieve success –

Success is not a magic. It neither comes overnight nor by accident. A life of purpose has its own tempo which does not cease. A purposeful life has goals to achieve, and so does it have reasons to celebrate success. In brief, goal setting is a key to success.

Setting goals is a time-consuming task -

Setting a goal or goal is not a time-consuming job. Undoubtedly, it takes time to achieve the set goal. To say precisely, career planning is like goal setting. But to build your career in a specific niche takes lots of time and preparation just as it takes to reach the dream goal.

The time is not right now for goal setting -

Why then? Why not now? There is nothing wrong with goal setting to better your life and career now. If you set a goal today, you will achieve it tomorrow. Keep in mind, there is no tomorrow without today. Delaying in setting a goal helps in no way.

What need to write down goals? Just keep them in mind –

Writing goals is like learning, cramming and living them in real time. Something is better than nothing. Hope, you do remember this proverb. The mind hardly gets a scope to free itself from junk thoughts. Why clutter it more with goals and plans? Apart from this, written goals are easy to meditate on.

Long-term goal setting is no use of time –

The pillar of future stands on the foundation of present. Future is dream whereas present is reality. Dream is far from reality. Then, why do we dream? Long-term goal setting gives insight into the future course of life.

Goal setting and planning is enough to achieve success –

Since the wheel of time is active, the cycle of life is active. Evidently, nothing can be achieved in a passive way. Whether your goal is career building, financial investment or marriage, you need to chalk out a plan and work accordingly. Just setting a goal is not enough. It requires actions now and then.

I don’t need anyone’s help to achieve my goals –

Nobody lives alone nor stands alone, as we live in society. Like other decisions goal setting is a decision too. Taking an informed decision is not easy. It is influenced by several different factors, associated with our daily life and the surrounding. You need guidance, advice and a plan to reach your goal. A life strategy coach can better guide you.

Posted in Goal setting, How to tips | 2 Comments

Goals and objectives – are they different or related?

Posted on December 1, 2012 by Shouvik

“Do goals have anything to do with objectives?” Or, “are they same or different”? You are pondering over these two questions out of confusion. To help you get out of the riddle, I would say that goals and objectives are two sides of a coin but with difference between them. You need to have both, if you are on a mission since they are interdependent. Your goal is the destination that you want to reach. Objectives are the steps in the right direction that take you closer to the goal.

How are they different? An example would suffice to illustrate the difference. You aim to be a successful writer. Is it possible to wear the crown of success and fame overnight? No. Do remember, Rome was not built in a day. Writing a poem or a short story or a novel is the first objective. The second objective is to get it published. Planning what to write next is the third objective. And, reaching out to the mass is the fourth on.

Thus, a series of objectives and a calculated approach to fulfill them pave the way to reach the goal. Hope, you got the point.

Objectives are short-term achievements while goals are long-term attainments. Objectives may be small efforts, but the collective strength of efforts put one by one, results in the achievement of goals. A day-long work or a single step may be an objective but it can’t be a goal.

It is not necessary to visualize objectives since they are very concrete. Goals are somewhat abstract; so visualizing goals or the goal is fundamental. The word ‘object’ in ‘objective’ refers to something visible and accessible. Goal is absolutely different in this respect. Try goal visualization tips to feel and live the abstract.

Goal is broader a concept than objective. It is more difficult to define a goal than an objective. It is because, when you will achieve your goal or if you will be able to achieve it depends on your objectives. If the objective is present, the goal is future. Evidently, it is not easy to predict the goal. However, you can develop a vision of the goal by dating it on the subconscious space of your inner self.

Whatever the difference be, proper objectives are the principal conditions to reach a goal. If you are on the way to your dream goal, objectives will help you measure the distance.

Posted in Goal visualization | 4 Comments

Tips on how to get favored by the Law of Attraction

Posted on November 26, 2012 by Shouvik

For some the Law of Attraction is an illusion while the same is a reality for others. What is the reason for this dual perception of the Law of Attraction? It is just like the Omni presence of God which some accept and which some deny. The Law of Attraction does not work for those who are more concerned about how they will achieve the goals than how they will connect with the Universe. Those who connect with the Universe through their inner self are favored by the Law of Attraction. If you belong to the second group, I have a few powerful tips to share you. The following are three of the Law of Attraction tips with focus on them:

Love the Universe to activate the Law of Attraction

Do not be anxious about ‘when’ and ‘how’ the desired change will take your life to a new high. Too much concern or consciousness does not help. Life on earth is a micro entity in the Universe. Evidently, you are no one to instruct the Universe about what should be done or not with your life. What you can do is to feel the vibe of the Universe and get your subconscious self aligned with it. Since your surrounding is not excluded from the Universe, do absorb energy from the flow of life around you. You can better practice it by cheering up the pale faces with your smiles, listening to the unheard voices and considering everyone or everything a part of the universal existence. When you begin to love the Universe this way, the Law of Attraction is activated and set in direction towards your goals.

Get close to yourself and feel draw to the Universe

Many do have no idea of what they want but they are confident of their ability to get it. Sometimes, idea is stronger than ability or vice versa. Suppose, you are blessed with qualities and virtues but you lack the idea how to start and what to do exactly in order to achieve your goals. If the lack of idea overpowers you, you will be at war with your inner self over the troubling thoughts – ‘what to do’ and ‘how to do’. Rather be at peace with the inner self and accept the truth of not having any idea. It is because, if you distance yourself from the inner world, the Universe will distance itself from you. So, get close to yourself and feel drawn to the Universe.

Know yourself and feel the presence of the creator in you

Being a creator and wishing to create something are not same. What you dream of at night cannot be true in the broad daylight. Dreaming or wishing can charge you with creative energy but cannot bless you with the power of creation. Who is the creator, then? It is the heart and the soul that continuously connect with your surrounding as well as the Universe at the subconscious level. The heart and the soul combined together make the creator in you. You need to be aware of the creator that is free and boundless like the Universe. That is why it is said, “Know yourself and knowledge of the self is the greatest knowledge in the world”. Once you have felt the presence of the creator in you, the Law of Attraction is set at work to your benefit.

Posted in How to tips, Laws of attraction | 2 Comments

How can a purpose of life be a cause of excellence

Posted on November 17, 2012 by Shouvik

What is the goal of human life? Achieving excellence is the answer in brief. What is Excellence exactly? Or, how can it be defined? On surface, excellence can be anything – abstract or concrete, minor or major, small or big, divine or earthly, spiritual or materialistic. The cause of excellence is the purpose that drives us to achieve excellence. The purpose of life and existence needs to be identified rightly. What is your purpose of living? Living a king-size life, leading a holistic lifestyle, traveling around the globe, being popular, earning fame, working for the downtrodden, serving the poor, writing a book, or something else? Is it necessary to have a purpose that is a cause of excellence? Go through the rest to know – yes or no.

Cause of excellence or purpose brings fulfillment

Primarily, a purpose adds meaning to life. The purpose or cause of excellence gives rise of your desire to live through honest and right pursuits. A life of purpose or a purposeful life is fulfilling in all aspects. Purposelessness or futility of life is often the reason that drives a person to take his own life. The fulfillment that the cause of excellence brings, once it is identified, is simply incomparable.

Purpose fills life with energy and enthusiasm

It is the purpose that fills one’s daily life with enthusiasm. Your purpose of life will make you love life and relive it with passion every time. If you make efforts to realize and fulfill the purpose of your life daily, your morning will be energetic, day with be active and the night will be sleepy. Make the cause of excellence the base of your existence, and then feel the difference.

Have you ever read Alfred Tennyson’s The Lotus Eaters? This immortal literary piece depicts the drab and dull existence of weary Ulysses and his fellows on the land of lotus eaters when their lives became purposeless after war. In order to live your life fully and happily, do make sure to identify the purpose of life or discover the cause of excellence.

Purpose helps identify important things in daily life

You may find yourself caught up with many things – some important and some unimportant. Sort out the real purpose out of those things. Living out one real purpose is many times easier than doing several things simultaneously. Chasing the cause of excellence is like living a life of freedom with freedom. Take it up as a guiding principle and follow it with single minded devotion. Think of it in your subconscious inner self that will help you explore the underlying meaning of the purpose of life. Whether the cause of excellence is an escalating career or a simple life, be committed to the core of your heart.

Purpose brings success through mission accomplishment

Who does not love success? Who does not desire success? Realizing the purpose or cause of excellence is a mission in itself. The success of this mission is the ultimate goal of life. Having a purpose in life makes your restless and drives you mad to achieve it. And, achievement is synonymous with success. An overwhelming desire for success leads you to accomplish the mission that is excellence. It brings life alive as a happy journey.

Posted in Laws of excellence | Tagged How to achieve excellence | 7 Comments

Swami Vivekananda – an all-time model of positive & powerful leadership

Posted on November 12, 2012 by Shouvik

Leadership is of two types – positive and negative. The history of bygone days is filled with examples of negative leadership and positive leadership. Adolf Hitler, Robert Clive and likes are notorious for negative leadership. Macbeth a leader cum tragic hero in the Shakespearean world is a model of leadership but with negative traits: lack of vision, lack of decision-making skill, lack of insight into future consequences and impulsiveness. In my previous article titled “Macbeth – a contemporary study for leaders on mission to achieve excellence”, I have focused on Macbeth’s negative leadership traits emphasizing the need of positive leadership traits for future leaders.

Swami Vivekananda is a must mention among the greatest leaders in the colonial era of India and the modern period. His character and life is an eternal study on positive and constructive leadership. He is the most popular icon of powerful and influential leadership for the young aspirants. Needless to mention, Mahatma Gandhi and Jawaharlal Nehru are other two great leaders of that period. However, Swami Vivekananda is the only personality that the youth of all generations relate to. Let’s discuss what you can learn from him to be a successful leader at all levels – personal, professional and social.

Excellent oratory skill is one of the must-have traits of positive leadership. If a leader is a visionary, he should be eloquent enough to express his vision or view into convincing words. Word is the power to drive others towards the goal envisioned by the leader. According to the Bible, word is the chief source of power and means of conviction. You can exercise influence on your fellows and followers through elocution that is gift of the gab in the common speak. Swami Vivekananda was a motivating orator with soul-stirring speech power. He had won the hearts of the scholars in America and other parts of the world on strength of his word power. Through his burning speech, he had encouraged youths to engage in service to the nation, the poor and the neglected. The art of motivating a group to work for a common cause is a positive leadership trait.

The captain of an army is supposed to have no power when he is without the army. “United we stand, divided we fall”. This age-old adage is very true for the captain or leader. A leader should not keep himself away from the reach of his subordinates or followers. He can walk a step ahead of them, but not so far that they can’t keep pace with him. Gautam Buddha was a great spiritual leader. He never held himself above his devotees. He was close to them; he was amidst them. It was the key to his mass popularity. Swami Vivekananda too never thought of keeping away from the common lot. He identified himself with the common people and their collective force. This is a sign of being a true leader.

A leader should stay motivated and keep his followers motivated. Instead of referring to noble men as examples of great leadership, he himself should set an example for his followers by rising over trifles and all sorts of meanness. He becomes a leader not only because he designates a position higher than others. It is a set of specific qualities that set him on high as a leader. Swami Vivekananda emerged as a leader of the youth by dint of hard work, tireless effort, selflessness, and other noble traits. Law of attraction is a rare trait that a few leaders are known to have.

Posted in Leadership | Tagged Swami Vivekananda | 5 Comments

Macbeth – a contemporary study for leaders on mission to achieve excellence

Posted on November 7, 2012 by Shouvik

‘Leadership’ is a single word. At deeper levels, leadership is a harmonious blend of specific traits – vision, analytical skill, decision-making ability, self-control, self inspection and dynamic personality – which are needed to achieve excellence. A leader who lacks these distinctive traits cannot claim to have leadership quality. He can better be referred to as Macbeth, one of the Shakespearean tragic heroes. Macbeth’s character is a timeless model of leadership but with deadly drawbacks. Macbeth is an edifying study on the consequences that the lack of essential leadership qualities bring in, for today’s emerging leaders who are career aspirants with an overwhelming desire to achieve excellence.

A leader should not easily be influenced by others. He must have analytic bent of mind that helps take each and every step with discretion. He can listen to others, but should not allow them to influence him thought and action like a spell, if it is something beyond possibility or sounds negative. Macbeth’s thought is influenced his over ambition and his actions are influenced by the witches whose unnatural predictions drive him to the wrong way. By means of analytical skills, leaders can take the right action.

Vision or foresight or insight into future is one of the distinguished traits of leadership. Macbeth despite being a leader lacks this quality, which conspires with his other shortcomings to bring down his downfall. Vision helps foresee the results of a decision taken. A leader is a decision maker as well. The decision he takes is supposed to be an informed one, when he can foresee by means of his visionary power that the decision will help achieve the targeted results or goals.

When Macbeth decides to murder Duncan the king of Scotland so that he can sit on the throne, he turns blind to the grim future consequences of his wicked action under the influence of over ambition. A leader with the overall responsibility of an organization on his shoulders should weigh the pros and cons of every decision he takes. A single decision can pull the organization down or take it to dizzying heights of excellence.

A leader is a complete personality with both sides – hard and soft. He is authoritative on one hand and caring on the other. By means of his authority, he directs manpower below him in the hierarchical order of the organization. Exercising authority on subordinates does not mean barbaric indulgence which Macbeth practices in order to keep his sovereign power intact. The leader should be soft and caring enough to earn the trust and confidence of his subordinates.

After Duncan’s murder, Macbeth wears the royal crown and becomes king. Instead of winning the support of his subordinates by being caring towards them, he destroys the peace of the state in order to ensure his own safety. It is one of the greatest chinks in his armor which drives the last nail on his coffin. After all it is unity that brings in strength to achieve excellence.

Posted in Leadership | Tagged How to achieve excellence, Leadership qualities | 6 Comments

Laws of attraction – the makings of a true leader

Posted on November 5, 2012 by Shouvik

It is said that leaders are born. Such exemplary personalities as Bill Gates, Dhirubhai Ambani, Jamshedji Tata, Ghanshyam Das Birla, Azim Premji, N. R. Narayana Murthy and Lakshmi Mittal are a few to name among the born leaders. It makes the statement true to a great extent. Any corporate personnel too can grow into a leader through personality development coupled with experience and expertise in the industry. However, a person having the laws of attraction owns the distinction of being a leader. By means of the laws of attraction, a leader captures the imagination, rules over the minds and wins the confidence of his followers. Here the most crucial laws of attraction are outlined:

A leader is a responsible personality. Being responsible is one of the principles of law of attractions. By taking the responsibility of leading a team, driving the team towards achieving the goal, and getting the best of the team, he sets an example for his fellows and followers. It shows his strength of character that appeals to others. Taking responsibility means making things happen, and only a leader can do that.

Energy is a force that attracts, that pulls and that draws. Evidently, it is a law of attraction for leaders. The way an ideal leader looks, walks and talks oozes positive energy that spreads all around. A leader shakes hand giving the other a feel of his energetic vibes. The leader who looks frail and vulnerable cannot strengthen his team members with positivity. His energy quotient should be high enough to ignite the flames of energy in his team members.

A pleasant personality is like a freshly bloomed flower that attracts swarms of bees. As William Shakespeare says, “Beauty is skin-deep”, looking pleasant has nothing to do with facial appearance and complexion. Strength of character, thoughtful mind, energetic manner, and positive outlook make leaders look pleasant. This law of attraction makes others feel submissive to him. A leader having a pleasant personality can convince, motivate and inspire.

Communication is another law of attraction for a leader to make others feel drawn to him. A leader’s powerful, confident and expressive communication makes his presence felt. A writer wins the hearts of his readers through the communication of his feelings and thoughts; a politician wins votes by communicating his concern about public wellbeing; a teacher wins respect by giving lessons through effective communication. Similarly, a person’s leadership quality is felt through his powerful communication.

Emotional intelligence helps foster adaptability to various circumstances. One of the laws of attraction, it characterizes the persona of a leader. Having a grip over his emotions, a leader shows neutral reaction to different situations. More, he takes care of his followers or team members’ emotional health by cheering up their spirit and mood. It is emotional intelligence that makes him collaborate and cooperate with his team. Evidently, it differentiates a true leader from the mediocre.

A leader is not only a good speaker but also an attentive listener. People share their mind with or bare their soul to those who pay heed to them. A leader is supposed not to turn a deaf ear to the problems, queries and needs of his followers. Be it team members or common people, they keep faith in the leader who is always up suggestions and solutions for them. This law of attraction popularizes a leader.

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