Habits die hard

In olden days grand parents used to tell bed time stories to children instead of watching television serial. These stories carried some moral values, some learning and some dreams to build the future ambitions. These bed time stories were playing major role in building character of the person as he or she grew later.
Same is applicable on the professional life of a person, it is the training and handling of the person in their early part of the career which moulds them to creat a leader or a follower. The habits of resposibilty, discipline and sicereity is groomed in a person by the initial mentor at the work place. Following story tells us how strong is the effect of the habits.
An old man lived in a certain part of London, and he would wake up every morning and go to the subway. He would get the train right to Central London, and then sit at the street corner and beg. He would do this every single day of his life. He sat at the same street corner and begged for almost 20 years.
His house was filthy, and a stench came out of the house and it smelled horribly. The neighbors could not stand the smell anymore, so they summoned the police officers to clear the place. The officers knocked down the door and cleaned the house. There were small bags of money all over the house that he had collected over the years.
The police counted the money, and they soon realized that the old man was a millionaire. They waited outside his house in anticipation to share the good news with him. When he arrived home that evening, he was met by one the officers who told him that there was no need for him to beg any more as he was a rich man now, a millionaire.
He said nothing at all; he went into his house and locked the door. The next morning he woke up as usual, went to the subway, got into the train, and sat at the street corner and continued to beg.
Obviously, this old man had no great plans, dreams or anything significant for his life. The habit of begging in him was so deep rooted that the wealth generated could not distract him. Had some one guided him in the early days on how to meaningfully invest and use money he might have grown as an investment guru or a finance company director.
He remained focussed to what he had learnt and was enjoying the same. It might have been a bad work from our point of view. But we learn a lesson develop a hibit in the team mates, let them enjoy it rest comes on its own. As a trainer be commited to develop right habits. All credit or discredit in success or failure of a person should be given to the person under whom a professional starts his career and idenfies its role model.
It is not important what people would achieve, important is how they get satisfied. Money ofcourse, is not everything in the life. Not even for a begger.


Quote of the Week :

Leadership is not about the size of your office or title on your business card, its about the depth of your commitment & your passion to get things done.

Who knocked at the door?

One day in the office all were tense and unhappy. This was the day when yearly increments were announced based on the performance appraisals of the previous year. Some were sad because after the hard work all 365 days management did not reward them. There were those who were given handsome rise and yet they were unhappy as the announcement was far below their expectation. Some of these decided to put up their papers next day. Atmosphere was heavy all over. Every body was busy cursing the non professionalism of the management, but hardly any one was willing to analyze their attitude. This cycle of action and reaction can be traced all over the world since ages.

There was a farmer in Africa who was happy and content. He was happy because he was content. He was content because he was happy. One day a wise man came to him and told him about the glory of diamonds and the power that goes along with them. The wise man said, "If you had a diamond the size of your thumb, you could have your own city.

If you had a diamond the size of your fist, you could probably own your own country." And then he went away. That night the farmer couldn't sleep. He was unhappy and he was discontent. He was unhappy because he was discontent and discontent because he was unhappy.
The next morning he made arrangements to sell off his farm, took care of his family and went in search of diamonds. He looked all over Africa and couldn't find any. He looked all through Europe and couldn't find any. When he got to Spain, he was emotionally, physically and financially broke. He got so disheartened that he threw himself into the Barcelona River and committed suicide.
Back home, the person who had bought his farm was watering the camels at a stream that ran through the farm. Across the stream, the rays of the morning sun hit a stone and made it sparkle like a rainbow. He thought it would look good on the mantle piece. He picked up the stone and put it in the living room.
That afternoon the wise man came and saw the stone sparkling. He asked, "Is Hafiz back?" The new owner said, "No, why do you ask?" The wise man said, "Because that is a diamond. I recognize one when I see one." The man said, no, that's just a stone I picked up from the stream. Come, I'll show you.
There are many more." They went and picked some samples and sent them for analysis. Sure enough, the stones were diamonds. They found that the farm was indeed covered with acres and acres of diamonds.*
We always find a wise man pointing us a greener grass on the other side. They influence our attitude and we get confused in identifying whether the sound is of an opportunity knocking our door or some miscreant causing a noise. We run away from the scene leaving behind acres of diamonds. Opportunity is always under our feet. We don't have to go anywhere. All we need to do is recognize it, act on it and not get sailed by some over wise person.
Professionalism needs consistent efforts to excel. Rewards come on its own they should not be set as benchmark of performance. Accept responsibilities with the right attitude, you need not to go any where diamonds are right under your feet.

THOUGHT OF THE WEEK
"Excellence is to do a common thing in an uncommon way." -- Booker T.Washington