12 Pillars for Happiness!

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In the month of December, I had the privilege of visiting Indian Institute of Management (Bangalore) for attending a 5 day residential leadership program. Needless to say, it was absolutely brilliant. After 10 years in the corporate world, the academic program was a breath of fresh air and revitalized me and most of my fellow participants. We had a range of sessions in the program, covering the topics of Corporate Entrepreneurship, Personal and Interpersonal Effectiveness, Leadership, Strategy, Branding, Execution, Negotiating etc.

In one of the sessions, we had a spirited discussion on Happiness & Passion. Our faculty for the session, DVR Seshadri, gave us the following 12 pillars for achieving happiness :-

  • Rise to your full potential
  • Set your own metric for success
  • Give rather than take
  • The only reality is now
  • This phase will also pass
  • Have an attitude of gratitude
  • Everything happens for good
  • The last shirt has no pocket
  • Strive for balance
  • Respond, not react
  • What we know is a small part of what exists
  • Change, and the world around you changes

These are the 12 pillars for a happy life for your body, mind, heart, soul & intellect, based on the foundation of your core values.

Brilliant!

Invictus!

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(A little bit of inspiration for all of us from William Ernest Henley) Out of the night that covers me, Black as the Pit from pole to pole, I thank whatever gods may be For my unconquerable soul.

In the fell clutch of circumstance I have not winced nor cried aloud. Under the bludgeonings of chance My head is bloody, but unbowed.

Beyond this place of wrath and tears Looms but the Horror of the shade, And yet the menace of the years Finds, and shall find, me unafraid.

It matters not how strait the gate, How charged with punishments the scroll. I am the master of my fate I am the captain of my soul.

William Ernest Henley

Shining eyes!

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How do we define success? Ben tells us that the definition of success is not about wealth, fame or fortune. Its about the shining eyes. Find below an amazing talk given by Benjamin Zander. It taught me a lot in a mere 20 minutes than all I have learned till date from my education, my books, music and you.

It teaches us about passion, leadership & motivation. It talks about contributions and conversations.About thinking big. About loss and dreams.

And, most important thing he tells us is to make somebody's eyes shine today. The true measure of your effect on this world and everybody around you is the shine in there eyes, and nothing else!

Thanks Chopin & thanks Ben!

Cover to cover...

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Google, Amazon, Wikipedia, YouTube, Flickr, Facebook, Yahoo, Twitter, Myspace, Wordpress, LinkedIn, Skype, Netflix, Craigslist etc etc... The list of successful products on the web is huge, but what will be the next big thing?

Given above is the table of Top 10 sites for the month of October 2009 in terms of unique visitors (Source : compete.com). Lets see if we can get some pointers from this table.

Google, Yahoo, MSN, Live, Wikipedia provide answers to questions, give information, provide relevance and authenticity and are a generic starting point for our online endeavors.

Facebook is our online network of friends. Youtube solves the need of video in our lives. Amazon is a bookstore and ebay is an auction house, only bigger, better and far more democratic.

And of course, Microsoft had a bigger hand than most in making all of this possible. You can go on and map most of the items on the first list with what we do, or used to do in our daily lives before it became digital, networked, interconnected and mobile.

Friends, Family, Pictures, Audio, Video, Entertainment, Voice, Encyclopedias, Music, Auctions, Classifieds, Conversations, SMS, Business & Productivity Applications, Movies, Bookstores etc etc...

However, books still remain in a cocoon. You can get them delivered to your door step, read or write one online, but for the most part, books still remain analog and disconnected from the rest of what we are up to.

The wealth of information and the strong foothold books have in our lives cannot be ignored.

eBook readers, especially Kindle and Nook as well as things like Google Books, are steps in the right direction. For example, the need to have books in the traditional medium of paper is going to go away soon. The barrier to entry (actually holding a book or having access to it) is going to dissolve.

Information already available in existing books will become more and more accessible. Contents from books will start showing up in our searches. Authority on subjects and topics will become referenced. But most important of all, the true potential of this traditional and age old habit of human beings will be brought to the forefront, just like search, music, entertainment and news.

This place is only going to become hotter, more competitive and digitally networked as we move ahead. But what about Newspapers & TV? Lets discuss next time...

Smartphone Apps!

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Like many of you, I carry a smartphone (Nokia 5800) in my pocket. Whether you have a Nokia, a Blackberry, an iPhone or any other smartphone in your pocket, you will find these applications useful : 1. Mail for Exchange 2. Opera Mini 3. Gmail Client 4. Google Search 5. Google Maps

[I have purposefully left out games and social networking related apps here.]

Google provides three of the five applications in my list, but Microsoft's Mail for Exchange simply rocks. Another interesting fact is that although Opera has very little share in the regular browser market, it has created a following in the mobile browser segment.

Some gripes though:

1. Would really like a Google Reader application, better still if it is integrated in the Gmail application. Also, the Gmail team should really provide a proper resolution icon, as currently it is the worst icon on my Nokia 5800 menu screen.

2. Opera should provide seperate applications for touchscreen and regular smartphones as I find the buttons too small for fast and accurate use on my touchscreen Nokia 5800.

3. Maps loading and routing can be improved a thousand times.

4. Mail for Exchange rocks, but when will we have the capability to read HTML emails properly? And folders support? Maybe RSS can be added here as well, like in Outlook 2007.

Future mobile/cell phones!

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The mobile/cell phone is the hot thing right now as far as software and hardware is concerned. The recent spate of high profile launches by Google (G1 and Android), Apple (iPhone & SDK), Palm (Pre & WebOS), Blackberry (Storm) and Nokia (X6) tells the action is in this market. With the success of the App Store and the launching of similar channels by Nokia, Palm, Blackberry and Google, this has also become the hottest platform for application developers and service providers right now. And we all know that the success of a device or a platform is almost entirely dependent on the number of third party developers/partners it has. One more thing that makes it attractive is the ease of development and deployment. Many of the current computer accessories and gadgets that are increasingly being found in our houses do not stand a chance to survive if the hardware manufacturers and perhaps the network operators can handle this growth properly and provide proper service.

Some gadgets the cell phone can replace (or has done that already):-

0. Your landline or wired phone 1. GPS devices 2. Digital Cameras 3. Video Cameras and Webcams 4. Netbooks 5. iPods and other music players 6. Kindle and other eBook readers 7. USB Drives 8. Wireless routers and hotspots 9. Remote control, smart keys and your wallet

(Left anything from this list? Let me know through comments below)

One issue with the cell phone is that connectivity to your computer depends on proprietary hardware and varies by the manufacturer. Also while the battery life on these gadgets is improving day by day, carrying around a charger is still an issue. Hopefully we will see a standardization on the USB as wired and Bluetooth/WiFi as the wireless means of communication between the phone and the computer. And charging by USB will be icing on the cake.

Yeah, lets hope for that!