Attractions of Distractions...!

...u might have heard -" evil is more enticing than angel", "indiscipline is more comfortable than discipline" & terms such as 'couch potato', 'lazy as hell'; All these terms in some degree reveal the attractions of distractions; Infidelity of a faithful husband, detour of dreamers, inertness of an excited out-of-colledge grad after few years of work experience, general time-pass thingie are all manifestations of 'attractions of distractions'.

Common-sense - huh? Now, the million-dollar question is how do you guard yourself against such seemingly harmless distractions? As usual, My 2-cents follows -

Just imagine, what happens on a weekend morning when you've decided that you will get up at 5:00 AM? You bang the alarm because your body creaks and weeps and pleads you to continue your lethargy! I am a victim of this particular habit for centuries :) What I think I should be doing probably is to indulge in some punitive measures to at least minimize the power of distractions. The punishment should hurt you physically or emotionally to prevent further failures - I know I sound like an head master, but i believe that is a very effective measure - you can reward yourself big when you successfully complete your endeavor for 21 consecutive days !

Why 21 days? Because it takes at least 21 days for your body, mind, and soul to adjust to the new pattern in your life. So keep forming good habits by sticking to those at least for 21 consecutive days and watch your life change!

Tata..Satish

P.S: I am having quite a time in first few days of my 4th US trip - will share my ramblings in next few days!

Where the heck my Salary vanishes?

...ever wondered what's the plight of so called elusive 'high-salaried' IT professional in this hi-tech environment of high-inflation and high-interest rates? Inspired by a similar post of one of my alums and tried to analyze where the heck my salary vanished in the last year (May to April)

May: Education Loan
June: Engagement expenses
July: Tax on Income
Aug: Marriage expenses
Sep: Gift items for better-half!
Oct: Setting up 'new home' expenses
Nov: repaying short-term borrowings
Dec: High rents
Jan: More tax on income
Feb: Sister's marriage expenses
Mar: Inflation and Interest rates eating on household expenses
Apr: Share losses!

...now, getting ready for the new financial year with a new vision!

Expecting decent hikes or promotions, getting disappointed, hoping for a better future are the cyclical events in most people's lives! I honestly believe that no one owes you a better future than yourself. Your company, your HR, and your managers aren't thinking of your career day-in and day-out - you are the one who ought to be thinking and acting!

In career, like in anything else in life, you won't get what you desire or what you want or what you need - you will only get what you are ready for? I will elaborate on this sometime later :)

tata...Satish

Transitions....

....i am not just referring job/ leadership transitions or personal transitions; It is anyone's guess that transition scenarios are abound in one's life: philosophically, you transcend various life stages or incarnations to reach your ultimate - professionally, you transition to new roles, new firms, new countries etc, etc.. Ever thought about how to manage these changes and still remain sane!!

Transition periods are tricky times - more so because you are expected to perform fast and smart when you've limited or no information on ground realities of the new situation. Forget information assymetry - you have zero information as a newbie!

My 2 cents about how to get through these tricky times:

The key is to get as much information as possible about the people, programs, Org, culture -"way of getting things done in the new atmosphere", account/team influences. How to get this info in quick time? I believe the best way is to listen to people who are in the environment for quite some time; Most people love being listened to and they will tell you exactly what you need to do and what they expect of you. Ask open ended questions to elicit as much information as possible. Some people might not come out of their shelves to answer your questions - you might want to take the conversation from their personal front!

Another caution to heed: don't try to be a hero and do mass changes from day one; Don't fix things that aren't broken! Listen, absorb, get the buy-in and then start acting, armed with full-fledged information and people-support. This process is tedious, time-consuming, and passive - but it is a must to manage transitions smoothly!

Au revoir...Satish