Author: alearningaday

In Fergie we trust..

Football alert!

The Man United fan in me couldn’t help but dedicate this post to the latest saga involving Wayne Rooney (I guess you’ve heard of him.. :)).

Legendary manager, Sir Alex Ferguson revealed today that Wayne Rooney has been refusing to sign a new contract and wants to leave. This is shocking primarily because of the number of times Rooney has pledged his future to the club and also because he was our star last season. After having lost Cristiano Ronaldo to Real Madrid and Carlos Tevez to Man City, Rooney was the next club talisman..

Except he’s seemingly decided otherwise. Never say never, would be my point of view. I guess we will know by the end of the season if his decision stands. (If he continues in his current vein of form, I’m sure he will leave.. but again..)

Anyway, the point of the post is that Ferguson ended his press message with a plea to all to ‘Trust’. I sure do.. In the last 7 years I’ve followed the club, there were 2 horrific years when it seemed like it was heading to decline but then went on a run of 3 years of trophy collection that is stuff of legend and this is possibly just another blip. That’s hope though – with financial troubles plaguing the club, you could argue that the club is on a slow decline and if I look at it logically, that does seem to be the case..

But not all things in the world follow logic, and as long as Sir Alex Ferguson is still at the helm, I will trust..

Trophies are handed out only in May after all..

Break the day into segments..

The last week or so on project in the middle east has been pretty intense. We typically wake up in the morning around 6:30, are in the office by 8 and are only back around 7:30.

So, all in all, the day can get pretty daunting as it is it typically without any ‘regimented’ breaks. You take breaks when you have to, or don’t at all.

I’ve decided to do it differently though breaking the day into 1 and half hour blocks which look like this –

8-830: Meet, plan etc
830-10: Action time 1
10-1015: Break..
1015-11:45: Action time 2
1145-12: Break

And so on until the end of the day.

I’ve suddenly found a rise in productivity today simply because I take the day segment at a time and I’m trying to maximize my productivity during these short sessions.

Think of it like having 5 deadlines in a day instead of 1 deadline. And voila, it feels so much better!

140 countries done, 52 to go..

Today, I learnt how different people are, as it was my pleasure to get to know a colleague who has been to 140 countries. And this is by no means 1 day in and out, he’s spent 5 out of his last 10 years traveling (i.e. he spends half his year as a management consultant and the remaining half traveling). And he is only 33..

I found this extremely inspirational – not the fact that he had gone to 140 countries but the fact that he had the courage to come out of his lucrative full time consulting gig, start out as a freelancer and live his dream. That takes a lot of guts and courage and that is once again, truly inspiring! He plans to write a book about his travels everywhere (literally) when he finishes the list in 2012.

He promised to show me his map where he’s marked the countries he’s traveled and I’m looking forward to taking a pic and posting it here. Coming soon..

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On a slightly different note, having a travel friendly passport definitely helps as well. For example, being German, he takes many a weekend trip that I (having an Indian passport) can’t quite take. So, well.. it helps being born in Western Europe if you have travel around the world goals. But again, taking nothing away from his tenacity.. :)

Proactivity – The difference

between work and opportunity..

between hard work and BIG opportunity.. :)

between getting bogged down and pulling yourself together

between negativity and positivity..

between slave-behavior and leadership..

between being ordered and taking the initiative..

between growing old and staying young (in heart, mind and spirit)

And in my opinion, the difference between adding years to life and adding life to those years..

Here’s to proactivity – no matter how adverse the circumstances. It takes only 7 muscles to smile.. or so I’m told!

What hides behind laughter – yours and mine..

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This is a personal observation as I find myself stuck still in transition between tier 2 and tier 3.

What is very encouraging is that we are in full control of what we laugh at. The tough part, to me atleast, is to transition to the point of laughing at myself. While I’m out of tier 2, I’m definitely not into tier 3 yet.

Not there yet, but will get there.. :)