5S – organise your way to success.

Your important files are never where you kept them last.

Finding a uniform for your kid to wear tomorrow is pure luck.

The snack you want to eat right now got finished last week.

We deal with this every day, don’t we?

Dis-organisation takes a lot of precious time away from being productive.

Being organised has many benefits:

1. Increased productivity

2. Improved focus

3. Less stress

4. More calmness and peace

5. Better performance

6. Greater success

7. Good feelings

Having lived in Japan, I have incorporated many habits that has helped me over the years in building an organised home and office.

For example, a whiteboard on the fridge that reminds that the particular food is over and need to be ordered. When someone uses the last bit, the jar stays on the slab till it is marked on the board.

Here’s 5S method which is great way to bring effectiveness and efficiency in the organisational structure of a workplace or home.

Last but not the least stay flexible, be ready some days will be more taxing than others.

Our physical experience colours our emotional experience, and when my body is in a place that’s orderly, my mind becomes more serene.

Gretchen Rubin

Freedom

How free are you?

When we are living in pain, fear, conflict and disillusion; we may feel imprisoned with:

1. Lack of confidence

2. Less creativity in our day to day tasks

3. Reluctance towards new changes and opportunities.

4. Least motivation towards actions that we are supposed to take.

Till the time I felt I am not good enough, I kept working hard, making long to do lists and stressing myself with work that could be outsourced. The day I decided to break free myself from that belief things changed.

We all can claim that freedom towards our happiness.

Along with less stress and minimal efforts we could feel:

1. More confidence

2. Enhanced creativity

3. Open towards new experiences and opportunities

4. Intrinsically motivated towards goals and actions.

Freedom is an ability to self express.

Self expression comes from emotional freedom.

Here’s some ways that helped me to achieve that freedom:

1. Self acceptance: Our needs, values and beliefs make us who we are. Accepting, acknowledging and standing up for our rights will give us the freedom to live upto our best potential.

2. Self love: Just as we accept little children with all the imperfections, we can try and love ourselves for who we are. Resentment and anger towards self or others is only detrimental for our health and well-being.

3. Self responsibility: We are adults and now we can not depend our happiness on our parents, partner, boss, team or friend. We need to take responsibility for our actions and situations we choose to be in.

“I claim my freedom to be happy.”

Just do it!

You are capable.

You are amazing.

You hold the resources within to make you a winner.

You are whole and complete.

Is there any reason to play small?

Everything that you desire and deserve need your action. So just do it!!

I used this mantra at the beginning of my coaching journey. Every time I had a doubt, fear, a feeling of procrastination, comparison or negative self talk; I reminded myself to just do it.

Do it because I love, I care and I am compassionate about what I do.

The journey wasn’t easy there were setbacks and failures. Every setback was a learning. I improved on the skills, learned new ways to bring positive transformation in my clients life.

Soon action became:

A – Adapting

C – Changes

T – To

I – Improve

O – Outcomes +

N – New skills

Just the willingness to take the action is half the battle won. The fear of failure looms over when we think too much about the consequences and overpowers our ability to take actions.

So take that plunge and think of what helped you in the past in overcoming doubts and fear. We all have those little achievements which we fondly remember, isn’t it?

Like the exam we cleared, trek we managed to climb, first promotion or overcoming health challenges.

Who did that for you? No one but you!

No one can tell you what’s right for you but you. No one can control how you think and what you do but you!

Take the responsibility of self. It’s a mindset to proactively work on your goals and actions instead of following others and waiting for others to change.

Use this powerful slogan/affirmation and take some action towards a better life.

What’s on your do it someday list? – Now is a good time so JUST DO IT!!

Little things that make a difference.

Hey do you know this nostalgic feeling?

When we meet someone who acknowledges us OR we enjoy the conversations with them.

Most of the time we keep reminiscing the talk in our mind.

The words float every now and then, the bio chemistry of body changes, we smile within and notice the heartbeats go a notch faster.

These are mainly thoughts of appreciation. It means recognising and acknowledging the qualities of someone or something.

Everyone loves recognition for what they do, including young kids. But here’s why leaders use appreciation at workplace:

1. Appreciation enhances engagement and commitment.
2. Appreciation increase productivity and builds intrinsic motivation.
3. It creates happy workplaces, with ripple effect of smiles and good thoughts.
4. It builds loyalty and reduces attrition.

Recently I worked with a client who used appreciation techniques at work, what worked best for him was not only the workplace environment improved but the good energy flowed into his personal life as well.

Employees feel happy to come at work and go back energised to their personal relationships.

Let’s make gratitude and appreciation a daily habit. But remember there is difference between a thank you note and a sincere expression of timely and relevant appreciation.

Best part it’s free!!

So would you like to appreciate someone or would you like to acknowledge someone who appreciates you? Let’s chat in the comments section below.

E-motion

Emotions are energy in motion!

What do I mean?

Louise Hay in her book “Heal your life” talks about how feelings and emotions can cause various “dis-eases” in our body.

Feelings are what we experience and label as anger, sadness, joy and fear. The thoughts and interpretations that carry these emotions give it meaning.

When we understand emotions as energy, we can hold, release, suppress or ignore them.

The suppressing and ignoring of emotions can be the reason for stress, anxiety and burnout.

Being aware of the sensations in our body can be helpful in dealing with limiting patterns, bringing in positive transformation and lasting happiness.

In a safe and supportive environment this emotional energy can be channelised towards intelligence, creativity and discovering new path ways for expansion and fulfilment.

One of the tools to manage our thoughts, feelings and actions is meditation or mindfulness. It allows us to access our emotional centers of the brain and rewire patterns of stress. When practiced regularly it can create emotional balance and inner peace.

Our mind is capable of producing joy, agony, ecstasy and fear. So either we can use it to create miracle or misery.

Try this Meditation. Share your feedback on how it helped you deal with your emotions.

Stressed and still happy?

Can you be stressed and yet happy?

The answer is YES!

But it has to be the right amount of stress towards a meaningful purpose.

According to the research published in Journal of Happiness Studies, people who work hard at improving a skill or an ability do tend to experience stress but also greater happiness in the long run.

Working on new goals can be tough, creating new habits requires lots of effort, learning something new is hard and dealing with people with different mindset and volatile emotions can be stressful.

That’s why many organisations came forward and created a space for employees to talk about and learn ways to deal with stress during April, being the awareness month.

Stress has many beautiful attributes. We stress about things we care for, like our career, raising children and relationships at work and home.

So what tools and techniques help you deal with stress?

1. Meditation / Mindfulness

2. Nature walk

3. Journaling

4. One step at a time approach

5. Reading good books

6. Watching videos

7. Listening to music

8. Sleeping

9. Meeting friends

10. Yoga / Gym

Let’s remember “Happiness” is a choice and so is “Stress”!!

It’s not what you say, it’s what people hear.

My dad is suffering from Parkinson’s and needs help with some of the basic activities which we otherwise take for granted. 

My mom is his primary care taker on a day to day basis and due to her age and responsibilities, at times gets tired.

They both manage their lives well, with a disciplined routine, laughter yoga, meditation and gratitude practice. They never bother us with anything and always inspire us with positivity.

As I visited them last week I was observing them both. Dad always wants to be in control due to his strong personality he had while we were growing up. Mom being a caring soul would stop him from doing anything that might result in his or kids discomfort.

The intention is mostly right but how the other person perceives the same information is through his/her own lens of emotions, beliefs and pre existing thoughts. 

Emotions are the guiding light towards acceptance or avoidance of people, objects or experience. If you are happy you will be readily accept new ideas and experiment with things whereas an unhappy mind will judge, criticise and avoid the same.

So today observe yourself when someone says 6 do you see 9 or when you show them 9 others see it as 6.

Build better together

It’s heartening to see how organisations are taking an initiative to introduce “happiness at work.”

According to the UN, the universal aspiration in the life of an individual should be happiness.

This year India saw a marginal improvement in it’s happiness ranking, jumping up three spots to 136 from 139 as per the World Happiness report 2022.

The lesson of the world happiness report over the years is that social support, generosity to one another and honesty in government are crucial for wellbeing says report co author Jeffery Sachs.

“Build better together” theme of the year 2022 emphasises the fact that we need to encourage skills like resilience and adaptability to create happy workplaces.

Here’s three ways organisations and leaders can enhance happiness at work:

1. Rethink strategies for overall development of yourself and your organisation. From “should” do to a “could” do approach. It helps teams to innovate new ways of overcoming challenges.

2. Review policies and limitations. Find the gaps and create “Learn it all” culture instead of “know it all”; so that there is openness to ask for help and support.

3. Good relationships at work helps improve productivity. Find ways to reconnect. Create awareness sessions, talks, coaching for leaders and promote well-being. Hybrid work has emphasised the need to understand digital body language and communicate effectively.

We are witnessing a crisis situation in the world. The Russia – Ukraine war is costing human suffering and economic losses. So let’s pledge today on this international day of happiness to create an awareness towards building a compassionate world.

Each one of us adds to the peace and happiness of this planet as we learn ways to manage our stress, keep calm and show kindness.

Tag someone in the comments who has been your guide to happiness this year. It could be your organisation, leader, coach or friend. This small act of appreciation or gratitude can boost your positivity.

Be kind to your mind.

I noticed this bright colourful bus stop while waiting at the traffic signal. The words written in bold were eye catchy and heart soothing at the same time.

I quickly reached out for my phone and clicked a pic. Thanks to #Headspace for such a wonderful way to remind us to be kind to our mind.

Research has proven that acts of kindness when practiced consistently reduce anxiety, create better health and increase life span. Kindness creates a cycle of long lasting happiness and altruism.

The researchers also found that people who were kind tended to be higher in “eudaimonic happiness” (a sense of meaning and purpose in life) more than “hedonic happiness” (a sense of pleasure and comfort).

“If you want others to be happy, practice compassion. If you want to be happy, practice compassion.” – Dalai Lama

You may wonder that how does this kindness help us in our day to day life of work and long to-do lists?

1. Being kind to our mind helps us in goal pursuit by promoting a growth oriented mindset and belief in our ability to change.
2. Being non-critical to self and being aware of our thoughts helps in dealing with negative emotions and stress rather than exaggerating them.
3. Self kindness triggers self awareness that can reduce unhealthy habits, helps to stay focused on routine and promotes good health.

Everything we do from our goals, performance at work, relationships or health it is deeply associated with the way we communicate with self. That’s why being kind to our mind is not self indulgence but an act of survival. So here’s a few ways to build that kindness into our daily life:

1. Few minutes of Meditation or mindfulness practice.
2. Journaling thoughts and being authentic about feelings.
3. Monitoring self dialogue few times during the day.
4. Giving physical body some activity and mental body, time away from digital space.
5. Using affirming statements such as “I am peaceful.”
6. Shift to internal locus of control instead of external locus of control.
7. Seek support, read, join communities and learn from those who inspire.

Being kind to self is a way of recharging our own batteries before helping others. We need to take care of our thoughts, feelings and actions so that we operate from a place of surplus and are always abundant to enrich others.

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Think your way to happiness

How do you feel right now?

Knowing how you feel is the first step towards making a connection with your emotions.

Our feelings and emotions determine the quality of our life. It can make us either miserable or magical!

When we feel good everything seems great, tastes better and energy for any task is high. Whereas when we feel low, we feel demotivated and lost.

Emotions are a powerful guiding mechanism. It can help us to become aware of the changes we need to make in our health, relationships or career.

Most of us were never taught on how to manage emotions and channelise them in the right way.

Here’s a quick checklist for you to connect with your emotions.

1. Identify which are the top 2 to 3 feelings, currently you are experiencing. (Ex: anxious, sad, tired or overwhelmed)

2. Notice your body, become mindful of the sensations in your physical body. ( Ex: Notice your breath or tightness in the body)

3. Once you identify the emotion learn ways to overcome them. (Ex: Journalling, walk, coaching, EFT etc)

4. Be consistent, if need be practice daily, you may be surprised how this simple awareness exercise brings a conscious positive change.

You are not a helpless victim of your thoughts, rather a master of your own mind.”