Be A Brand !

 Be a brand and put your best foot forward as a star performer in this purely professional world.

Star performers are such professional performers who are branded as the true assets of each and every organization. Without these go-getters, no organization can even survive or function, let alone progress. Let's become a brand...And get your game on...now!

Be A Brand!

Surprised?!! Don’t you want to be in the limelight at your workplace? Don’t you wish to impress the bigwigs around you for your extra ordinary contribution to the company? Don’t you dream of being mobbed by your die hard fans for the star performer tag you got rewarded with recently? Don’t you desire to be the centre of attraction as well as attention specially for your amazing performance for fulfilling the targets and overachieving them? Don’t you derive pleasure when people pour their jealousy into others’ ears for your smouldering X-factor-celebrity-sort of-personality with a huge fan following?  …and there is a long snaking line of such feel good questions. 

I hope you do want, you do wish, you do dream, you do desire and you do derive immense pleasure while encountering these overwhelming personal-interview-sort-of-questions. Even if you don’t reply in affirmative for most of the aforementioned remarks still somewhere deep inside you secretly shelter these tempting thoughts and enjoy yourself every time you visit these emotions and feel great about them (and also simultaneously wishing somehow they turn true). Can you make out what I’m alluding to…Hang On ! Let’s clear this clutter and don’t get confused. Yes, here I’m talking about being a brand and putting your best foot forward as a star performer in this purely professional world. And such professional performers are branded as the true assets of each and every organization. Without these go-getters, no organization can even survive or function, let alone progress.   

Just Do It!   

Perhaps talking about a few product brands and relating them to the idea of self branding could seem a bit senseless.  But conceptually, branding doesn't have the dividing line. Brand building is an exercise symbolising ‘Survival of the Fittest’ philosophy. Take any one them and have a quick look the way they are in demand. Be it NIKE, Be it REEBOK, Be it Levice. Doesn't matter how expensive they get, what matters most is their ‘Value for Money’ attribute. And when we talk in terms of industry perspective, one must take it not as a very different ballgame. In the light of our corporate culture, what companies are looking for are the pure professionals who could make a huge difference through their superb ‘role play’ which helps them in fetching an amazing career.

Companies are looking for are the pure professionals who could make a huge difference.

Be Better Than The Best

Star performers are never short of their confident best. However, they are not a ‘perfection freak’, but they do remain spick and span particularly about their public appearance. Their positive outlook speaks louder than their words. And their bang on body language is always fired up with enthusiasm. Their effective verbal communication and impressive non verbal communication are their real high points. Their attitude proves to be a big factor. They greet every upcoming task with gusto. They know by the time they step onto the field for their game against the twists and turns of the corporate life what they need to do. In fact, the secret of their ability to outshine others lies in their habit of being with optimistic mind set and always seeing the brighter side. In all probability, such performers score brownie points in the long run,  translate into a higher role, better grade and of course an attractive pay packet. 

 Your positive outlook speaks louder than your words.

I Mean Business

These much sought after professionals who really mean business, not only believe in acquiring skills, but also put in efforts to augment their skills. As they say, ‘Rest is Rust’. Being a voracious and very keen learner, they seek learning as and when the opportunity comes. They don’t really miss out any chance to learn and get ahead. They believe in giving it a try and thus they go on to win. They round up their learning cycle by sharing it with others. This way they keep expanding their knowledge pool as well. They don’t announce, “I want to do so and so.” With such long laundry list of wishes they don’t dive in with closed eyes. They don’t shoot in the dark. They neither cram too many things nor they give all the replies at one go in five minutes flat.  Instead before taking any action, they take a closer look, they remain mindful about the possible solutions, they plan out their way and stick to it. They perform their task with diligent intent and save their words to be used wisely. 

It' All About 'We' (Not Just ‘Me’)                     

Star performers are the true team players. They appreciate the fact that the success of any project can go for a toss if you don’t have the ability of working in a team. And this understanding really comes in handy to execute their mission. Their hopes are pretty high with their folks. They don’t complicate matters even when dealing with difficult people who commit wrongs, showcase themselves stainless and never feel shy or shameful of their great disservice to the organization. Such cheapskates who don’t care about propriety and act beyond the limit of common sense, sometimes jeopardise the project itself. By the way, star performers realize that their opinion could differ from those who feel complicit, still they show their best colours with these atrocious breed of team members. They are expert in maintaining their cool in pressure moments. And in times like these, the biggest thing that matters most is their temperament which determines how they respond. They do know how to gather courage and when to speak their mind. They are not like those weaker souls who get annoyed, irritated and frustrated in complex circumstances. And their mastery over their minds works like a stress buster for those also who come in contact with them. One can deduce with their professional relationships that they seem competitive definitely, but they don’t get acrimonious in any way.  

Let's Face It Head On !

Our star performers usually don’t get miffed if encountered with some bottleneck or brainteaser. As in a professional set up, some challenges show up or some problems crop up in a workplace out of nowhere. While others do nothing and see the other way or are always on a blind run, our star performers make the best of the situation. They don’t moan or fuss about such rubble around them. Even if they face failure and hit the rocks, they have an understanding that this is not the end of the world. And every problem is worth a try. They don’t rail, they don’t rant, and they don’t sulk. Nor do they get carried away.  They don’t follow the lame tendency of ‘once bitten twice shy’, instead they catch up fast, pick up quickly, spring a surprise and always make a stronger comeback. They dig deep for motivation whenever they go through the rough patch. They keep moving forward with strong reminders of their goals in the back of their minds and everything else takes care of itself which is not surprising.  

Catch up fast, pick up quickly, spring a surprise and always make a stronger comeback.

Stay Strong !

Sometimes people have a tendency to turn back the pages of their life and revisit their painful and pervasive past again and again. As a result, they feel morose, depressed and tired. And this practice really proves to be an emotional waste as well as an energy zapper of high order which in turn gives rise to a host of other extreme emotions. On the other hand, star performers don’t have a permanent love affair with their sorrows, regrets and failures of the past. They don’t hold on to their bitter memories. They don’t keep dragging their old defeats which might have been their bane for far too long now. In other words, they don’t repay old debts that have already been settled long ago.  They just refuse to allow their spirits to be dampened by the delay of their winning moments. They act as real brave hearts even if they loose quite a bit in this bargain called life at one point in time. Because deep down they know that there is always light at the end of the tunnel. However, the road towards the tunnel may not be devoid of roadblocks. As a result, their success train doesn't halt at one station only and their journey is destined to meet its destination. 

 Don’t have a permanent love affair with the sorrows, regrets and failures of the past. 

And Finally…

See yourself in a new light. Believe in the brand ‘YOU’ and see the sense in becoming so. You are a born star and deserve to be the star performer of your organization. More than anything, in the face of any challenge, just show your guts, introduce yourself to the problems around and say boldly “The Name’s Bond, James Bond!” [and mind you, It’s not just a cheeky one liner remark; It's an ATTITUDE.] 

Be Your Own Godfather !

Be Your Own Godfather!

Hmmm…So this title could sound a little wired. Perhaps a few of us have gone through the great writing called ‘The Godfather’. Yes, I have borrowed my title from the same classic, as they say, 'NAKAL BHI AKAL SE KI JAATI HAI'. So following the same saying, here is all brand new title to this blog post. This particular post is meant to celebrate the emotion of being alive. This post is meant for those who believe in a Can-Do attitude. This post is specially for the ones who have faith in themselves and never say die. 

There is a popular dialogue in a Hollywood movie ROCKY IV where a concerned father speaks of the reality of life to his desperate son. And it occurs to me that all the best lessons about life are right here.  

"...Let me tell you something you already know. This world is not all sunshine and rainbows. It's a very mean and nasty place and I don't care how tough you are and it will beat you to your knees and keep you there permanently if you let it. You, me, or nobody is gonna hit as hard as life. It is not about how hard you hit, it's about how hard you can get hit and keep moving forward. How much you can take, and keep moving forward...That's how winning is done. If you know what you're worth, Go out and Get What You are Worth...But you gotta be willing to take the hits, and not pointing fingers saying you aren’t where you wanna be because of him or her or anybody. Cowards do that and you aren’t a coward. You're better than that!"

Keeping these lines in mind, it’s true to say that we, in our life, have only a few people around who share a genuine concern for us. They are the ones who really want us to make it through. Hold on! There is also another category of people whom we encounter on daily basis. They are, in fact, the masters in flaunting their shallow thinking. And such experts have only one motive to make us feel down and out. Have you ever realized how gross you would have felt, had you given in to such fault finders. It’s better to turn a blind eye to their ‘unjust criticism’. Otherwise worrying too much about what they say or think about us, will only push our goals farther away from us. It’s just like swimming around as a homeless fish. And there is no sense in doing that because we cannot go on and on this way any longer. Better listen to your own 'Self' and follow your heart. Your self is pure and your heart is gold.

There is no doubt that our life is filled with moments of ups and downs, highs and lows, pain and pleasure. The daily grind of life bogs most of us down every minute, every second, every time. It is true that life is not a cakewalk; it’s not a bed of roses. Life is really hard. Many a times, we go great guns, everything seems promising, we put in efforts and do our very best but the end result is not always in our favour and we don’t find ourselves at the rightful place. Life just makes us feel as an ignored child. We get incredibly heavy boots about how worthless we are. We feel down. We feel hurt. We get kicked and criticized. And this world seems like acrimony in a madhouse. Every force in the world acts like pulling us off track. And we hit the distress button every now and then. We feel disappointed, disturbed, discouraged and what not. The mind kicks in and starts wondering what to do.It seems as if we are completely at a loss. And this all becomes a vicious circle all together. 

The point I’m trying to hammer home here, is that many of us hit a roadblock in this journey called life. Many a times, many of us find ourselves back to square one. In most aspects of life, we hit a standstill on our journey to the top and we really cannot seem to get past a sticking point. In a sense, life plays tricks on us and tests us at every step. And there are possibilities that we might just miss the mark in times ahead. Then some of us start blaming things, people, and sometimes even God for putting us in such a dilemma. In doing so, we somehow, knowingly or unknowingly become the part of the problem and the problem seems even bigger than before.  On the other hand, there are few of us, who shoulder the responsibility either to repair the damage or try to fix it up. In other words, some of us break down in some tough moments while the others of us stay upbeat with energized focus. Same tough moments actually stimulate their creative juices, get their adrenalin all pumped up and they patch up with all the troubles of life. Even if they learn a lot of life lessons the hard way, success comes about as a natural by-product of the process. 

  

The bottom line is that life’s battle is very easy to give in to, and near impossible to keep oneself at bay. But remember, your own self belief could serve to be your roadblock buster. It’s you who either break it or make it. Never fall short of your confident best. Deep down, sometimes you could feel badly hurt but remember that there is always someone with regard to look up to. You can take your life the way you want. Whether you give in or not, but if you look around, you will see for yourself that there are so many strong souls encountering their daily battles still striving, still surviving and still smiling. Take an about turn and stop indulging in an orgy of self pity. Be ready to face your fights without flinching even an eyelid. Try to answer your struggles thrown at you rather with a smile. Remember, your smile is contagious. Your life is spectacular. And you are your own Godfather. 

It’s More of a Mental Thing !

It’s More of a Mental Thing !

Recently I watched this amazing movie 'English Vinglish', and I must say that I got immensely impressed by the storyline of the movie. I feel that this movie is a 'treat to watch' to anyone who considers himself/ herself a learner in life. I know that my profession is of a Trainer and of an Educationist, and that makes me more inclined towards the 'passion of learning'. For, 'The more I learn, the more I acquire, the more certain I am that I know nothing.'

Yes, this is the title for my present blog post here. Now, you may be wondering why it’s like this. Well, to decode your puzzle, here are some clues which would help you figure out the right answers. First and foremost, this post is exclusively dedicated to Lifelong Learners who perceive 'The Passion of Learning' as interesting as well as challenging at the same time. It’s true that learning anything new demands your sincere attention coupled with pure passion. On the personal front, I believe that successful people are the passionate learners. One of my favourite punch lines is, “DO YOU HAVE IT IN YOU?” And I would love to quote the same in some other words, “Do you have the same passion of learning new things in your life?” Simple & Straightforward ! And if your answer to this question is a big ‘YES’, I must say that you’ve landed at the right place.

As a matter of fact, learning happens at every step of your life. You just need to have 'the right attitude' and 'a big appetite'. You need to be on your toes right through. And in the process, you really enjoy every bit of it. And this is not just true in case of learning English language (as depicted in the movie). It’s true in each and every aspect of life. Every time you learn something new and then to your pleasure and others’ surprise, you find yourself at the next level. You see a great positive change in your equations with the people around. You are regarded as a ‘Performer’, you keep performing and you keep moving on. But once you take a break and stop learning, by default your tag of a ‘Star Performer’ wears off very fast.

         

If you wish to set an example for others, sometimes you need to act offbeat and behave upbeat, 'Offbeat' in the sense of initiating and daring the tasks, charting out into unknown and taking pains to learn. Many moments come and go where you feel like giving up, but in spite of all that, you neither give up nor you give in. Yes, you just stand by your choice. You stand by your decision. You stand by your side even when others don’t show faith in you and march ahead to be an example for others.

         Many a time, you feel like doing, daring and making your dreams turn true. But at times, you go through some rough patch and find the going tough. You just end up utterly lonely and isolated. Life imposes restrictions and circumstances become quite demanding. Pressure of unfulfilled expectations starts building up. In the middle of all this, you compare yourself with others and feel low about yourself. And you feel bogged down under the same pressure. But remember, nobody’s life is problem-free. Problems are the part and parcel of the life of a ‘Champ’. When you feel dissatisfaction and agitation deep inside, that’s where your passion and your attitude together come in handy and they decide your destiny.

          Believe me, there is no point discussing the problems and looking back every now and then. You need to assure yourself that you will work really hard regardless of circumstances, situations and other factors. As they say in the language of cricket, an opener is just supposed to go out there in the field and figure things out himself. And what he does out there is all that matters. In other words, understand how to deal with life and work your way yourself. If there's a roadblock, you jump over it, walk around it, crawl under it. You just do it. This way you not only work an uphill battle, you also motivate others to move in the forward direction. This way you demonstrate and surely set the right example for others who may be watching you out of the corner of their eye during their workouts of life. Gradually, people start reposing faith on you. This comes as an added advantage in form of additional responsibility when you put in a lot more efforts to repay the same faith.

Be pretty clear in your head about one thing. You have to focus on your game of life 'right now'. Never regret the time you foolishly wasted and do not fuss over the fact that you would have made a comeback way earlier. Some comparison is bound to happen. But don’t allow any negativity to seep in. Stop reflecting on who you had been and start working on what you can become. In fact, thinking too much sometimes only piles up more pressure. Nobody can drive a car just by looking at the rear-view mirror. Remember, this is the time. This is the moment. Seize it. Make the most of it. And this is a surefire strategy to ignite success in your life. Be it any challenge you have been facing for a while now. Mind you, the passion, the attitude you inculcate over time, it stays with you lifetime.

            

This is a journey ‘from Nobody to Somebody’. Never doubt your potential. Your passion is the key. Your passion pumps you up and gives you a kick. Don't bother about the chatter around you. And also, don’t get confused which direction to head. Remember, you have to uplift yourself. This is why if ever somebody asks you the same question, “Do you have it in you?!!” Give it a serious thought. It’s more of a mental thing. Now it depends what ‘mettle' you are made of. 

If you like this blog post and wish to share your experiences/ remarks/ views with me, you are most welcome. Write to me at pdpbygauravmisra@gmail.com. Like on facebook.com/PDP by Gaurav Misra. Follow on Twitter@pdpbygm.