You Can be Great If You Really Want To

Commit to Constant & Never-Ending Improvement

 

WE HAVE AN INNATE DESIRE TO ENDLESSLY LEARN, GROW AND DEVELOP. WE WANT TO BECOME MORE THAN WHAT WE ALREADY ARE. ONCE WE YIELD TO THIS INCLINATION FOR CONTINUOUS AND NEVER-ENDING IMPROVEMENT, WE LEAD A LIFE OF ENDLESS ACCOMPLISHMENTS AND SATISFACTION – CHUCK GALLOZZI

 

In Japan the word for constant and never-ending improvement is KAIZEN. Not only is this an operating philosophy for modern Japanese business, it is the age old philosophy of warriors, too – and it’s become the personal mantra for millions of successful people all over the world.

 

Human beings are born to achieve and achievement is what differentiates a man from the animal. Achievers – whether in business, arts, sports – are committed to continual and ceaseless improvement. If you want to be more successful, you need to ask a lot of questions to yourself.

 

Going about doing the job at the workplace how can I make it more interesting, better in terms of quality, quick in terms of efficiency, profitable in terms of fulfilling customer’s satisfaction?

 

How can I motivate myself and my subordinates to consistently accomplish superior results?

 

 

The Mind – Numbing Pace of Change

 

In today’s world, a certain amount of improvement is necessary just to keep up with the rapid pace of change. Change is inevitable. We need to keep pace with changing times or you are lost into the oblivion. New information, new technologies, new processes, new methods are being discovered and used more often. New words come into use anytime a trend or fad catches on. And what we learn about ourselves, about our health, and about the capacity for human thought continues almost unabated.

 

Improving is therefore necessary simply to survive. But to thrive, as successful individual do, a more dedicated and concerted approach to improvement is required.

Improve in Small Increments

 

Whatever you set out to improve your skills, change your behavior, or better your family life or business, beginning in small, manageable steps gives you a great chance and opportunity of long-term success. Even if you decide to improve 1% every day, in a year you are going to improve by 365%. Doing too much too fast not only overwhelms you (or anyone else involved in the improvement), it can doom the effort to failure – thereby reinforcing the belief that it’s difficult. When you start small, achievable steps you can easily master, reinforces your belief that you can easily improve. For example: If you have decided to climb 100 steps, you need to take incremental steps to achieve the feat.

 

Decide What to Improve On

 

At work, your goal might be for your organization to improve upon the quality of your product or service, your customer service program, or you’re advertising. Professionally, you might want to improve upon your computer skills, your negotiating skills, or your communication and decision making skills. At home you might want to improve upon your parenting skills, cooking skills. You could also focus on improving your health, fitness, your knowledge of investing and money management. Or perhaps you want to develop greater inner peace through meditation, yoga, and prayer. Whatever your goal, decide where you want to improve and what steps you’ll need to take to achieve that kind of improvement.

 

To keep yourself focused on constant and never-ending improvement, ask yourself everyday, “How can I / we improve today? What can I / we do better than before? Where can I learn a new skill or develop a new competency?” If you do constantly, deliberately, regularly on a day to day basis with a bull dog determination, you will embark on a lifelong journey of improvement that will ensure your success.

 

Do not Dare to Skip Steps

 

He who stops being better stops being good. One of the realities is that major improvement takes time; they don’t happen overnight. What you are today is the sum total of your personality which you developed over a period of time.  For example: If you want to be better in terms of leadership, communication at work place, you need to come out with a different set of thought process which ultimately sets a new behavioral pattern. In other words, you need to unlearn those things which you have learned in the past and put your new learning habits to set a momentum. Learning new things and making a commitment to get better each day, every day you eventually over a period of time become successful in achieving goals.

 

Becoming a master takes even more time. You have to practice, practice and practice! You have to horne your skills through constant use and refinement. It takes several years to have the depth and breadth of experience that produces expertise, insight and wisdom. Every book you read, every class you take, every experience you have, every mistake you correct is another building block in your career and your life.

 

Don’t shortchange yourself by not being ready when your big break appears. Make sure you have done your homework and honed your craft. Actors usually have to do a lot of preparation – acting classes, community theater, bit parts in movies and television, more acting classes, voice lessons, accent training, dancing lessons, martial arts training, learning to ride a horse until one day they are ready for the dream part that is ready for them.

 

Make a commitment to keep getting better and better every day in every way. In doing so, you will enjoy the feelings of increased self-esteem and self-confidence that come from self-improvement, as well as the ultimate success that will inevitably follow.

 

The author of this article / write up is Iyer Subramanian. He has been writing a number of articles in Business Manager, Hospitalitybiz, Express Hospitality. Can be contacted by e mail: iyerpdkgnm@yahoo.com

 

 

       

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We all believe that having a family that is spouse and kids is so wonderful. You start weaving big dreams for your child right from the day he/she is born. But just giving them food & clothing does not make you a good parent. You can spend money on your child endlessly but it is far more important to invest your time & emotions in them.

The children are like an encyclopedia of questions and you must face all their queries carefully else you might crop in some devilish idea in to their li’l but very mysterious minds.

One of the most important aspects of parenting is to build a self esteem in your child. This way, you child would be able to achieve success in regards of life, irrespective of the field they opt to go for. This task becomes utmost difficult when the child reaches the teenage as at this age the kids wish to make all their decisions by themselves but at the same time are most prone to make mistakes.

While the teenagers want the least of assistance, sometimes the parents tend to forget their child has grown up. Now they wish to learn from their mistakes & experiences, they want to face all their challenges themselves and while they have not become one, they believe themselves to be a ‘MAN’.

Here are some important guidelines for the teenagers and their caretakers in order to build their self esteem:

1. The students must take risks to boost their self esteem. They can form a varsity team or involve themselves in some art such as dance, music, painting etc. This way they would be able to discover themselves, that is, if they have an inclination towards any of these arts or not.

2. The teenagers must understand that life has its own ups & downs. If you become glued to any failure or down moment, you would never be able to grow higher. While we are not saying not to plan your future, but take every victory & failure as a lesson from which you absorb something for your future. But in terms of life, live it to the fullest and be happy for the moment.

3. At this age it is very difficult to handle rejection some times. For this the parents or the guardians of the teenager must give a shoulder to cry to the child and help them with their words of support & wisdom. They must encourage them to try all over again and take a lesson from the failure rather than regretting it.

4. Self esteem also boosts up if you share the happiness of others and yours as well. Thinking above your individuality, the teenager must share the happiness of those who are successful. This way they would themselves also feel that drive and get appreciation with the help of which they not only make their dream come true some day, but they can also help the others to meet their dreams.

5. Also knowing your strengths & weaknesses would boost your self esteem. This way the successful ones can help the others in the fields they are strong in and vice versa.

6. We all must be learners until the end of our lives. Knowing our strengths & weaknesses would help us learn some new things and also know what we are better at so that we can improve upon our strengths.

7. Your words & actions through out the life must show positivism else you would have problems always. Even the elders at times fail to see the positive angles of the problems at hand. You must train yourself right in the teenage to see the brighter side of the coin always so that in a long run you become a positive thinker.

8. Teenagers must make efforts to build their self esteem all by themselves as your parents are doing it since your birth and some day they would not be there to help you. Also the acquaintances like the teachers & friends who are praising you today would give the positive feedback only when they are able to witness excellence in some skills at least.

9. Dreaming to become successful and having the faith in yourself that you would be able to accomplish the goals of your life might not guarantee success but low self confidence & negativity surely guarantee failure. So you must invest in your future as a confident & self believing personality rather than worrying about the minor failures!