Can you give these 4 gifts only to YOURSELF today

Our Intention is to be happy & peaceful,

But we lead a life In-Tension only.

Because we are always focused outward. 

We ignored our true self.

Today, let’s focus only on our own self.

Let’s Give ourselves the best gift possible.

Those GIVE realize true happiness.

Allow me to suggest 4 gifts for the day. You can pick and choose all the 4 or any one. The key is to take action.

1) Gift your Body with Restfulness - Take 10 minute body relaxation break every 90 mins. Get up from chair or seat, stretch yourself, go for a gentle walk.

2) Gift your Mind with Mindfulness - Whenever time permits, shift your focus to your feet touching the ground. Feel the heaviness of your body, feel the chillness onto your feet. With that focus, go for a small walk with around your work-spot. Mind will wander. Never mind, bring it back to your feet.

3) Gift your Emotions Statelessness - Once in a while check how you felt in the last one hour. Dump all your negative emotions by accepting people or situations which happened in the last one hour. 

4) Gift your Life Energy with more Awareness - Key to life is become more Aware of what’s happening within you and around you. Shift your focus to the tip of your nose, take a nice deep breath. Allow your breath to heighten your awareness.

No one can gift you the above. Only YOU can!

Your Life, Your day, Your Choice, Your Gift.

New Year Message 2014

My New Year 2014 message to this world. One great secret and a technique to Happiness & Success for 2014 revealed in this audio. Invest 5 mins and reap the benefit for the whole year.



Audio Transcript:

My Heartful New Year 2014 greetings to you and to your family.

Let me tell you one great secret regarding new year - Come closer...2014 will be your best year so far in your whole life. I can promise you that.

When you look back in 2013, you will realize that all your problems, issues & challenges were not caused by the educational system, political system or even by your family members or friends. Almost 99% of your problems were created by your own mind.

Happiness is an inside job and we will dedicate this year for our inner happiness.

The natural alignemnet of the universe are so precise that we are getting into you a new timeline where spiritual energies are upsuriging naturally.

We just have to align yourself to this  universal frequency.

All we have to do is to drop our worries, issues, problems of our past and all the anxieties of the future to tap into this natural or spiritual energy.

Your awareness will become more active & You can double or even triple your profits this year. Anything you start this year will flourish naturally.

To make the best use of this time and energy in 2014, we have to become aware of the present moment. We should learn how to live in the Here & NOW.

This is the year for Heartful living - living from your heart. Or in otherwords this is the year for Mindful living. In ancient indian language "Pali" - heart and mind represented by the same word. In tibetian psychology, the heart is synonymous with mind.In yoga psychology, we call that the heart is the switchboard of the mind.

To lead a Happy, Successful & Profitable 2014, Our focus for this year should be heartful or mindful living. Let this be your theme for 2014.

Allow yourself to live mindfully - completelely present in whatever action you are going to take in 2014.

For example,

If you are brushing your teeth, be with your teeth, brush & paste. Do not allow your mind to wander.

If you are bathing, just be with the water falling onto your body.

If you are eating, only be with the food.

If you are listening to your colleagues, just listen to them mindfully. Do not allow your mind to think what to talk next once they finish. 

If you are walking, enjoy every step of your walk.

If you are breathing, feel every breath going in & out. 

Taming the mind to be in the present moment starts with our daily mundane tasks and this is the  most important step that I request you to take in 2014. This requires consistent practice. Because Mind is like a monkey which keeps jumping from Past, future or the fantasy world.

Even if you were able to hold your mind in the present moment just for 2 seconds, that's ok....it's like adding two dollars into your bank account. Every time you become aware of your present moment, you keep adding 2 dollars into your mindful account.

One simple techique you can adopt is to set an alarm or a reminder once in 15 mins or 1 hour. You can use the mindfulness bell available in the play store or istore. Download this app. Set the timer to ring either once in 15 mins or 1 hour.

Mindfulness Bell

Whenever you hear the bell or the alarm you set, become aware of:- 

1. Posture of your body sitting or standing. 
2. Adjust your body. Sit erect. Upright your spine.
3. Bring your awareness to the tip of your nose.
4. Take one nice deep breath
5. Feel the chill air as you breathe in
6. Feel the hot air as you breathe out.

Just become fully aware of one deep breath. That's it.

The more you are consistent with this one simple action, you are programming yourself to be in the present moment. Your life becomes magical & spontaneous.

Being Mindful of your breath is the action for the year 2014. This is like nurturing your roots of inherent potential. After some time you will reap the fruits of happiness, peace, calmness, focus, clarity in thinking & faster problem solving capacity.

I can promise you that you would become more productive and better in whatever would be doing.

My best wishes & greetings to you for a Mindful New Year 2014.

Namaste!

Thank you Chennai - 16th Nov 2013

My humble thanks to the people of Chennai, India for participating with full energy &enthusiasm in-spite of the heavy rains. You people are awesome.

The difference between Successful People & Un-Successful People is that the former takes ACTION.

Now, it is time for action. One technique out of many techniques learnt in yesterday workshop has the potential & possibility to transform your whole life. Take ACTION.

I take this opportunity to thank the organizer Mr. Venkatesh, CEO of Innovative Services for organizing the event successfully. A special word of thanks to all the sponsors & a great friend Surendran, CEO of Success Gyan( www.successgyan.com ) for the inspiration & support. 

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Simple, Easy & Easier way to Increase your Happiness@Work

Are you Happy@Work?

Allow me to share with you three techniques (simple, easy & easier) which you can apply in your work-spot. These techniques will increase your happiness and thereby your productivity & relationships with your peers, supervisor & colleagues.

Simple Technique 1:- 
Before you leave office, take a sheet of paper (or even on your comp), list down 5-10 good things that happened on that day. Talking nice to your colleagues, had a healthy or sumptuous lunch, got a new sale, solved an issue, meeting a deadline, successful client servicing, able to inspire one colleague, appreciated somebody & felt happy etc.

You can maintain this as a happiness log or happyness@work journal also. Since many of us have the tendency to remember the negative experience, it's better to remember the positive one by writing in this journal.

Writing at-least 1 positive experience per day means, 22 in a month & 250 plus positive experiences in one full year. This list will pep you up, motivate you and above all help you during your half-yearly or annual appraisals.

Remember, the last 5 minutes of every single work day will determine your happiness at work.

If this exercise sounds boring, then let me share with you an easy way & an easier way.

Easy Technique 2:- 
Can you invest just 8 seconds of this easy way.

That’s all I am going to ask you now.

Bring your entire attention to the tip of your nose & take just one full deep breath mindfully. Feel the chillness of the air as your breathe in for 4 seconds & feel the hot air coming out as you breathe out for 4 seconds. You can mentally count 1-4 for inhale and 5-8 for exhale.

Can you do this without getting distracted? 

One mindful breath & you are done with today’s meditation. 
Nevertheless, One mindful breath a day, keeps your unhappiness away!  

Easier Technique 3: - 
Everyday, when you enter your work-spot, at random look at any two people and mentally tell “I want this person to be happy”. Start doing this exercise, you will suddenly find that you are filled with lots of happiness & good things happen in your life.
If you like any one of the above 3, then, pick that one & start the practice for the next 21 days till it becomes a habit for you.

Practice promotes habits and habits deliver results.

Happyness@work = Super charged, Exciting, Rewarding, Energizing, Fun.

Power of NOW - Quotes from EckHart Tolle

Have you read this book?

Here are some interesting quotes and some best lines from this mind blowing book by Eckhart Tolle!

Just read one by one slowly & digest the essence of this pearl of wisdom.

Quotes & Wisdom from Power of NOW:-

“There is one certain criterion by which you can measure your success in mindfulness practice: the degree of peace that you feel within.”

***

"I would say about 80 to 90 percent of most people’s thinking is not only repetitive and useless, but because of its dysfunctional and often negative nature, much of it is also harmful. Observe your mind and you will find this to be true. It causes serious leakage of vital energy.

***

"Just as you cannot fight the darkness, you cannot fight the pain-body. Trying to do so would create inner conflict and thus further pain. Watching is enough. Watching it implies accepting it as part of what *is* at that moment"

***

"The reason why you don’t put your hand in the fire is not because of fear, it’s because you know that you’ll get burned. You don’t need fear to avoid unnecessary danger—just a minimum of intelligence and common sense"

"If it is the quality of your consciousness at this moment that determines the future, then what is it that determines the quality of your consciousness? Your degree of presence. So the only place where true change can occur and where the past can be dissolved is the Now.”

***

"Ask yourself: Is there joy, ease, and lightness in what I am doing? If there isn’t, then time is covering up the present moment, and life is perceived as a burden or a struggle.”

***

"Are you stressed? Are you so busy getting to the future that the present is reduced to a means of getting there? Stress is caused by being ‘here’ but wanting to be ‘there,’ or being in the present but wanting to be in the future"

***

“Watch any plant or animal and let it teach you the acceptance of what *is*, surrender to the Now. Let it teach you Being. Let it teach you integrity—which means to be one, to be yourself, to be real. Let it teach you how to live and how to die, and how *not* to make living and dying into a problem.”

***

"The present moment is all you ever have. There is never a time when your life is not ‘this moment.’ Is this not a fact?”

***

“There is nothing wrong with striving to improve your life situation. You can improve your life situation, but you cannot improve your life. Life is primary. Life is your deepest inner Being. It is already whole, complete, perfect. Your life situation consists of your circumstances and your experiences. There is nothing wrong with setting goals and striving to achieve things. The mistake lies in using it as a substitute for the feeling of life, for Being. The only point of access for that is the Now. You are then like an architect who pays no attention to the foundation of a building but spends a lot of time working on the superstructure.”

Tele-Happiness - Simple & Powerful 1-2-3 Technique

 

Tring...Tring...Tring...

Hello....

Good Morn Sir, I am calling from ABC Bank.
Hi Honey!
Why did you do this do?
I didn't expect this from you.
I want this job to do done now.
Can I ask you for a favour?
Sir, do you want personal loans?

etc, etc...

Everyday we attend different varieties of phone calls viz, cold call, conference call, phone call, boss call, courtesy call, service call etc

Everyday we dial our iPhone or smart phones many times to interact with friends, supervisor, colleagues or family members.

Some calls are productive & profitable, some are depressive, some are addictive & some are empowering & happy.

I know many people who keep thinking about their phone calls. The dialogues continue to run in their head in auto-pilot mode. Negative talks persists & the happy talks vanishes faster.

Am I right in saying!

Let me share with you a simple technique which can empower your tele-happiness.

The more your practice this technique, you will increase your

1. Profitability
2. Relationships
3. Attention capabilities
4. Calmness & Clarity in thinking

and you will decrease your

1. Emotional Stress
2. Negative thinking

1-2-3 Phone Meditation:- Simple & Powerful technique

1) Every time the phone rings, just take ONE nice deep breath before attending the phone call. Yeah, any caller can wait for your one breath.

2) When you are going to make a phone call, take TWO deep breaths and mentally say the following - "I want this person/caller to be happy".

3) When you have to take a decision over phone, when you are in a conflict or argument over phone, when you are influencing or convincing someone over phone, then take THREE deep breaths and then respond accordingly.

Remember, it's all about the space between the stimulus and response. The higher the space between them, higher will be your happiness & peace of mind.

More you practice and become aware of this space, more your life is under your control. Otherwise, the other person takes over your life.

Your phone, Your Space, Your happiness!
 

Four minute happiness technique

Can you invest 4 mins for your happiness? 

Then, let me share with you two 2 minutes technique. You can’t strengthen your muscle just by reading a fitness book. You have to do it. Similarly you can’t become happy just by reading this status update. You have to do it, build your happiness muscle.

First 2 mins - Without break for continuous two mins, bring your awareness to your breath. Feel the air going in and coming out. Just be only with the breath for 2 mins. As simple as that.

Next 2 mins - Sit for the next 2 mins without any agenda and do nothing. Just simply sit without any agenda or thinking. Just observe things or events or people as it is without any judgements.

You can mix and match both the techniques and you can practice at any time of the day. You can even do it each for one minute also. More you practice it, more you will be happy.

Every time you practice this, happy chemicals are released in your brain which keeps your calm & clear.

Say thanks even for negative things in your life

When things go wrong, when we’re not happy, when people are mean to us, when we are torn down by the dozen poisonous arrows of everyday life … we don’t want to say thank you. But in truth, this is the time when it matters most. 

When life gets you down, when you are hurt or angry or confused or frustrated, take a moment to stop and close your eyes and find things to be thankful for. Your health, your family, your job, the house you live, the fact that you’ll have a next meal, the beauty of the world around you, the good people in your life. Whatever you can think of, be thankful for them … and express that gratitude somehow. Realize that all is not bad in this world, and be happy for that.

And then, when you’ve mastered that skill, think of the negative things in your life … and give thanks for them. 

That person who was mean to you? Thank them for teaching you patience and understanding. 

That person who hurts your ego? Thank him for teaching you humility. 

The natural disaster you went through? Thank it for reminding you of what is important in life. 

The illness you are going through? Thank it for making you stronger.

Anything negative in life is teaching you something. Just say thanks to negative things in life.

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• STOP and be Happy, Peaceful & Useful
• 46 ways for Happy Living
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Next Billion Speakers - TEDx Event in Chennai, 18th Aug 2013

It is time...

It is time to live life on our terms...

It is time to take back the remote control of our lives from others...

It is time to take our lives from good to great...

Meet the NEXT BILLION Speakers on the TEDx platform on 18th Aug 2013.

This one event will change your life...

This one program is equal to reading at-least 100 books...

The learning's from this one event will save you 2-3 years of your personal life experience...

Any one idea, one strategy or philosophy shared by any one speaker will be your next billion dollar idea.

When opportunity knocks, take action!

The only difference between successful and unsuccessful people is their ability to TAKE ACTION!

Download the entire talk as an eBook for FREE here...

https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/352578

Happyness@Work - Present & Future of your Organization

Happiness is not a joke in management. I am damn serious. 

Happy companies will succeed. Happy companies will grow and happy companies will innovate new products. 

The present & future of any organization lies in the happiness levels of its employees.

Performance & Happiness are deeply connected. Read more to understand the power of happiness@work...

Can you answer this question?

Which of the following types of persons would you prefer to have in greater numbers in your organization?

A. Happy Low Performers
B. Unhappy Low Performers
C. Unhappy High Performers
D. Happy High Performers
E. All of the above.

I am sure, you would choose "D".

Look at this at this matrix by Dr.Charles D Kerns which reveals the happiness & Performance matrix.

Higher the positive experience, higher is the performance.

Happiness at work is that feeling you get when you:

• Enjoy what you do
• Do great work you can feel proud of & tell others what you do
• Work with amazing people/mentors
• Know that what you do is important
• Are appreciated/recognized for your work
• Get to take more responsibility
• Have fun at work
• Learn and grow
• Make a difference in lives of customers, colleagues & family members
• Feel motivated and energized 
• Feel part of something larger than life

Most of us already know that feeling. We have been there at least some of the time in our working or business lives. The question is: How to get MORE of it?

Just Imagine the other way...

You wake up early on Monday morning and feel it's going to be a wonderful week. You are going to have one full week of fun, happiness & productivity at work without getting stressed.You eagerly look forward to work with your boss, co-workers, colleagues whom you admire a lot etc.

You are ready to make a positive difference in everybody's life out there at work-spot. Best part is you come happily & satisfied to spend quality time with your family & kids.

WOW! Amazing way to balance work & life.

So, the key question here, why be happy at work? What's in it for me...

Because happyness@work ensures

• More drive and motivation.
• Have clear sense of direction
• Better relations with co-workers
• More success
• More creativity and good ideas
• More energy
• Better health
• Less stress
• Much more fun
• More meaning & purpose in work
• Achieving desired results
• More positive experiences than negative experiences
• More grateful and not carry grudges on the past events or people
• Become more optimistic
• You Talk, act & behave in ways which promotes performance & happiness
• More happy feeling about the workplace

And it’s not just good for people. 

Global Organizations have understood the importance of inner well-being & happiness at the work-spot. More and more businesses are finding that things go better with happiness and that happy companies have:

• Higher productivity—happy people achieve better results.
• Higher quality—because happy employees care about quality.
• Lower absenteeism—people actually want to go to work.
• Less stress and burnout—happy people are less prone to stress.
• The best people—people want to work for happy companies.
• Higher sales—happy people are the best salespeople.
• Higher customer satisfaction—happy employees are the best basis for good service.
• More creativity and innovation—happy people are more creative.
• More adaptability—happy people are much more adaptive and open to change.
• Better stock performance and higher profits—for all of the above reasons.

Simply put: Happy companies are more efficient and make more money. And they make people happy, which is of course a goal in itself.

Now, ask yourself

Are you happy@work?

Take this simple self assessment survey to find your happiness levels at work-spot.

Instructions: Use this survey to assess your performance and happiness in your current work place on the dimensions cited below. Rate yourself on a scale of 1 to 10 (“10″ being the highest or “very true”) for each dimension.

Dimension	Self-Rating
1. I have a clear direction.
2. I am motivated by that direction.
3. I am focused on what is important.
4. I am focused on what I can influence
5. I am linked to the necessary resources to execute key actions.
6. I act in ways that promote performance.
7. I achieve agreed upon results.
8. I act in ways that promote positivity.
9. I am significantly engaged in my work.
10. I find meaning/purpose in my work.
11. I have more positive than negative experiences at work.
12. I look at the past gratefully.
13. I practice forgiveness.
14. I look into the future with optimism.
15. I am happy about my work place.

© Copyright, 2007, Charles D. Kerns, PhD

Score of 8 or above indicates higher performance & happiness levels. Score of 5 or below indicates opportunity for development or change.

Action Plan:

From today on-wards, let's follow this simple technique.

Before you leave office, take a sheet of paper(or even on your comp), list down 5-10 good things that happened on that day. Talking nice to your colleagues, had a healthy or sumptuous lunch, got a new sale, solved an issue, making a deadline, successful client servicing, able to inspire one colleague, appreciated somebody & felt happy etc.

You can maintain this as a happiness log or happyness@work journal also. Since many of us have the tendency to remember the negative experience, it's better to remember the positive one by writing in this journal.

Writing at-least 5 good things means, 100 in a month & 1200 positive things in one full year. This list will pep you up, motivate you and above you will surely even help you during half-yearly or annual appraisals.

Remember, the last 5 minutes of every single work day will determine your happiness at work.

Remember,

Happyness@work = Super charged, Exciting, Rewarding, Energizing, Fun.

Job satisfaction = Booooooooring!

Related articles

• 46 ways for Happy Living
• Positive Values@Work-Spot - What's your VQ
• How to create a new HABIT - Step by Step Plan

How to Simplify Life & Stay happy

Life is not complex, we are complex. Life is very simple & beautiful. Leading a simple life is one of the easiest way to be in a happy state. There is no one single definition for simplicity and it varies from people to people, culture to culture or even within the same family. Here are few ideas to simplify one day. Happiness is happening in the present moment and not next week or next month. When you learn to simplify your day, you can simplify your whole living and live a peaceful & contended living.

Some simple techniques to simplify life:

1) Prioritize. Before going to sleep, determine what is your most important tasks of next day. (1-3 tasks or priorities). If the list is big, identify the important tasks and eliminate the rest.

2) Accept that you can’t do everything, know that you want to do what’s important to you, and try to eliminate the commitments that aren't so important.

3) Do less each day. Don’t fill your day up with things to do. You will end up rushing to do them all. Instead of trying to do 7-10 things & fail in 5, do 3 important ones instead. This will give you time to do what you need to do, and not rush.

4) Give space between every task and meeting for you to relax. There are many mental or emotional loops opened simultaneously when we participate in the world. You should give some time to close all these loops. Relaxation and doing nothing helps you to complete many mental loops and thereby avoiding stress in life.

5) Enjoy doing every task. Don’t rush. Be slow. Do only one task at a time. Avoid multi-tasking. Be with the process and not on the outcome.

6) Stuff or Experience. When you have to buy something, ask whether it is really needed for life. Remember, happiness doesn’t lie in the stuff we buy. Do a scan of your environment where you are living. See all the stuff you have acquired. Instead of seeing as stuff/material, observe them as your hard earned money/time over there. Time & Money worth invested on experiences stays for ever instead of things & materials. They depreciate & diminish. Stuff is impermanent, but experience lives longer in memory

7) Be frugal & economical. There is nothing wrong in thinking economically. It helps you, your family, society & the nation.

8) Breathe slowly & deeply. Simple living comes by mastering over your desires or your breath. The former takes long time, the latter is easy & simple with little efforts. Be mindful of your breaths and do follow some simple techniques discussed in this article 108 Breaths to enlightenment

Now, just ask yourself this...

Related articles

• 46 ways for Happy Living
• How to schedule the first one hour of the day - My personal practice
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