HAPPY BY DEFAULT VIA "MINDS"

HAPPY BY DEFAULT VIA MINDS^TM

(Life Coaching Series)

In the arena of self-improvement, one can find myriad solutions to suit everyone’s needs and interests. Beginning from the 1930s with concepts like “Pragma-Psychics” to “Psycho-Kinesis” and advancing to the 1970s with new age theories like “Holistic Medicine” to “Transcendental Meditation” and almost reaching a dead-end by the 1990s with newer techniques like “Silva Mind Control”; mankind has witnessed a great leap forward in the awareness of the human consciousness. The sole purpose for any individual is “to be happy” and with the dawn of realization and to achieve this one goes about seeking for solutions and guidance everywhere.

Of course, we have witnessed three industrial revolutions and are in the midst of the fourth one. Though, the manner in which we lead our lives has been made far easier than the pre-modernization era with the advancement of technology and growth of civilization; we are still at loggerheads with our own being. We seek for external pleasure rightly so as part of our innate nature but forget that such pastures cannot be permanent. When we are hindered on our path, we search for quick-fixes and get back to our rudimentary ways of living. If we are to find any concrete solace, we need to understand that our existence is pre-occupied by our own sensory perceptions. A brief description of the same is provided below:

💢👀  Visual:

What do we see day-by-day? How do we make sense of it? Are we influenced too much by visual experiences? Do we crave to see something specific? What usually occurs is that we may indulge in binge-watching while totally ignoring our real life surroundings. We might cry with the actor in a series but forget to notice the sadness on the face our child.

💢👂  Auditory:

Whatever a human being speaks or hears i.e. words affect our mental health and performance. Generally, we constantly keep filtering the words that we hear i.e. whatever others say; all the while ignoring whatever comes out of our own mouth. The difference in the level of filtering between the input and output, leads to conflict in our minds.

💢🤚  Kinesthetic:

One of the most ignored sensory inputs is what we feel through touch. How comfortable our immediate environment is? Do we abhor being near someone? Do we crave to be physically near someone? Is the chair that we sit upon conducive to our health? What about our posture? Are we physically active or leading our lives as a couch potato? These are some of the critical questions that we need to ask ourselves.

💢👃  Olfactory:

Aroma affects our mood and can be used for healing too. Whatever we smell does affect our overall sense of comfort. From exhaust pollution to exquisite perfumes, we face a wide range of possibilities in our day-to-day lives. Our disposition can get changed with a slight change in the atmosphere.

💢👅  Gustatory:

Last but not the least; our taste buds trigger certain feelings within us. One must know that, our tongue tastes all the time and not just when we open our mouth to eat. It is not an exaggeration but a fact that even a slight change in the external environment can be felt through taste. Just like smell, our mood can get affected by taste even when there is no emanating smell. 

All of this leads to one major problem of the 21^st century i.e. “Emotional Bankruptcy”. We spend a lot of time each day with negative feelings either directly or indirectly. On one hand our negative emotions require adequate venting while on the other hand our mind craves for more emotional experience which we try to satisfy through addictive habits. When we are unable to achieve this, feelings of depression, frustration, irritation, anger etc. take shape. These are on the rise in this modern world. In the wake of COVID-19 era, the same has been amplified.     

A list of new age problems is provided below:

💢  Stress

💢  Anxiety

💢  Depression

💢  Fear

💢  Irritation

💢  Anger

💢  Frustration

💢  Procrastination

💢  Overwork

💢  Information overload

💢  Performance pressure

💢  Peer pressure

💢  Interpersonal conflicts

A few statistical charts are provided below to make you aware of the prevalent scenario:

The questions that we all need to ask ourselves are:

💢  Are we productive 24x7?

💢  Are we calm 365 days a year?

💢  Are we stress-free most of the time?

💢  Do we manage our engagements with zero conflict?

💢  Do we conduct regular self-introspection?

💢  Do we effectively manage our time?

💢  Do we spend all of our energy on productive tasks?

💢  Are we performing to the best of our abilities?

💢  Is there no room for improvement?

💢  Do we not ponder in hindsight on how things could have been better?

This is a universal problem that needs to be addressed immediately if we are to lead our lives with full potential. Try to answer the below questions honestly for your own self-assessment:

💢  When was the last time you were really happy…happy from inside out (not that smiley face with grumpy feelings within)?

💢  When did you last feel real empathy for a person or situation (no diplomatic answers please)?

💢  Do you remember your last best performance (not referring to acting skills)?

💢  Have you ever counted the number of times you get put-off each day for petty reasons (22 seconds attention space to 14 minutes attention span..did you know)?

💢  Have you ever tracked your rate of procrastination (well, no one is productive for 8 full hours everyday..but)?

💢  Have you ever noticed how a child remains happy for no apparent reason (no, you are not a child anymore..but)?

The moot point here is that – “STRESS” does not build up in a day. STOP the domino effect now!

Before trying to attack the problem, one needs to understand the root cause of it as shown below:

The core philosophy behind my method is:

Here, I present you with a method called MINDS^TM that can make you “HAPPY BY DEFAULT”:

💢 Mindfulness

It is a natural state of heightened awareness of the present moment without being judgmental, overly reactive or overwhelmed by one’s environment. It is about being in a state of calm by gentle observation of one’s own behavior, thoughts and feelings. What should be natural to us becomes alien with all the pre-conditioning we go through at various stages of life. This state can be brought back through certain techniques borrowed from Tibetan Zen, Buddhism and Vedic Dhyana.   

💢 Ingenuity

This is a skill of being resourceful and original through cleverness, being imaginative, inventiveness, etc. Most of us develop pre-conceived notions or are conditioned to accept things from someone else’s point of view. This leads to us being in constant conflict with ourselves and lose our originality. It can further make us incapable of solving problems and not being able to see reality as it is. The good thing is that it is a skill and can hence be developed via training. 

💢 Neuroplasticity

It is the brain’s capacity to continue growing and evolving in response to life experiences. Everyone has it, but not all can do it willfully. Some become too rigid after a certain age and are averse to change. Some are too fluid and too fickle to be able to form strong neural connections. Both are extremes and most of us fall somewhere in between. Higher the neuroplasticity, higher is the adaptability to different situations. One can with focused effort learn to develop their own neuroplasticity and strengthen their mind. 

💢 Detoxification

In the name of clearing the negativity around and detoxification of your mind, what you are being fed with is more of intoxication. Whatever is being served to you, you consume it with the very same mindset that got you into the problem first. This does not lead to emptiness or clearing the clutter. Detoxification is not a relaxation technique but a conscious effort to develop your internal filters. Your mind is equipped with natural filters that help you in discernment and decision-making. If these filters are too weak, you start making mistakes and jump to conclusions. In this modern age where information is bombarded 24x7, one needs to effectively practice detoxification, in order to lead a fruitful life.

💢 Self-Awareness

It is a lifestyle design tool that enables one to have good knowledge and judgment about oneself. It is a form a leadership too that helps you lead an extremely fulfilling life. Most of us are subliminally influenced by various messages throughout our routines. Being unaware we toe the line and try to conform to whatever the majority does. Self-Awareness is all about breaking those very shackles that bind us from realizing our true potential. It is an invaluable tool towards self-actualization. The best part is that even this can be learnt and practiced easily.  

How does MINDS^TM work?

It utilizes the V-A-K-O-G model to train your mind and optimize your performance thereby increasing the overall quality of life. It is aimed at making you “HAPPY BY DEFAULT”.

 As shown in the above image, each method is mapped to one or more senses where one’s mind can be trained to develop specific sensory experiences to trigger the required emotional experience and vice versa. It is a very fluidic process that first breaks down our mental constructs and then rebuilds it the way one wants. Mind you, it’s not magic and requires a great deal of commitment from you. After all, it is about YOU taking charge over yourself!

 

Please contact the author to know more about how you can benefit from it.

"TOPS" METHOD FOR BUSINESS TRANSFORMATION

TOPS^TM METHOD FOR BUSINESS TRANSFORMATION

 

All business is a “going concern” and everyone wants the going to be smooth. In an ever changing world where Moore’s law, Butler’s law and Kryder’s law seem to be inversely proportional to customer perception; staying ahead of the competition becomes a matter of survival. But apparently, as Hector Berlioz has said “Time is great healer, but unfortunately it kills all its pupils”; one does not have all the time in the world to learn, apply and wait for the long run. Results are expected from day one and most leaders do not realize that concrete outcomes are fructified only after deliberate attempts are made to obtain them. If all of this sounds like Greek or Latin, then let me spell it out directly – “Business Transformation” is the need of the hour if one has to maintain their operational resilience amidst the fourth industrial revolution.

In my two decades of career, I have been able to witness world class manufacturing, best-in-class productivity, industry best practices and several innovative methods to achieve overall improvement. As a Management Consultant, I always insist on remaining a skeptic with an open mind without which it is practically impossible to either learn from or advise your clients effectively. For any organization, business transformation means management of change at its core. The more rigid the organization, the more difficult it becomes. Let me clarify here that I’m not pointing towards agile methodology, as in the current context even an agile organization is deemed to be rigid. Given the innate nature of mankind, a definite structure appeals to us more than a formless manner of functioning. Hence, resistance to change is imminent and how do we manage this resistance is critical to success in modern times. A simple IFTTT (If This Then That) approach can be as disastrous as the ITTYTWIT (I Thought That You Thought What I Thought) error that most of us are prone to. In general, without mincing my words - most of us have witnessed that organizations, enterprises, programs and projects are driven by HiPPOs (Highly Paid Person’s Opinion). While the matter of fact is that opinions don’t matter, actions do. I have personally witnessed leaders in pretty good organizations toying with ideas like “Thought Leadership” and “Design Thinking” and thereby costing the organization huge amounts of wasteful expenditure by attempting to engage in miscalculated or misleading steps and activities like using “post-it notes for process mapping” involving entire top and middle management team for weeks altogether, where it could have been easily executed by an outsourced expert at a fraction of the cost or like moving from one legacy system to the other before ending up with budgetary constraints for a real digital transformation project.  

Let me bring you back to the current topic, where I wish to present a proprietary method for achieving business transformation with the least resistance as shown below:

As can be seen from the above image, one can drive transformation using any of the four paths viz. Technology, Operations, Process and Strategy. However, the stars provided for each indicate the weightage or importance of that particular aspect w.r.t to overall improvement in the organization. The stars also are an indicator of the level of paradigm shift and ensuing resistance to change that can occur while bringing about the transformation. Hence, if an organization is geared up for operational resilience right from the beginning, then it would be ideal to follow the steps as described below:

§  STRATEGY:

Irrespective of the vision, mission and goals of the company; the strategic direction must be formulated after a careful consideration of the overall context to successfully manage the stakeholders. A risk based approach is required to envisage unforeseen circumstances and be prepared for accommodating major tweaks in the future.

The more flexible the strategy, the more resilient is the organization as opposed to a robust strategy that harbors enormous internal resistance and does not provide enough space for management of change. In pure layman terms, your strategy is your bulletproof vest – it has to be soft enough to allow you to breath and hard enough to be impenetrable. 

Strategy can neither be run through bias nor is it a mere thought experiment. From strategy emanates tactics and from tactics flow maneuverability and from maneuverability comes victory.

§  PROCESS:

Once the overall strategy has been established, a clinical approach to process management is required. Without a process approach, an organization cannot achieve its intended purpose. To do this effectively, one has to sift through layer upon layer of existing dogmas, norms and practices. One must not hesitate to question the adequacy of the existing procedures and rethink the alternative possibilities of getting the job done.

Consider process as the battlefield formation, where it must work with synchronicity and swiftness to enable one to adapt to ever changing requirements and newer environments. However, one must be smart enough to not to reinvent the wheel when not required and diligent enough to dive deep to uncover hidden treasures, if the need be.   

Process transformation is one of the toughest nuts to crack and it really does pay in the long run.

§  OPERATIONS:

Now that an excellent process has been set up, one can look into transforming operations. One must note that both strategy and process are enabling functions while operation is an execution function. Here, one must have a hands-on approach to solving everyday problems. A cursory glance here and slight nudge there will only lead to weakening of the pipeline. A thorough systems approach is required to identify opportunities for improvement and close the gaps if any.  

Allegorically, operation is the weapon without which any enterprise is rendered unviable. So, to bring about operational transformation it is imperative to get your hands dirty and perform a microscopic examination of all the corners involved.   

§  TECHNOLOGY:

Technological advancement is inevitable in the current times and organizations need to either adapt to this change or adopt newer ways of working. But it must be noted that, any kind of technological transformation must not be attempted if the underlying foundations of operations, processes and strategy are not strongly resilient; unless one has the willingness and capacity to change the entire landscape solely on the pillar of technology.

Technology can be either an enabling function or an execution function or both depending upon the context, scale of operations, and complexity of processes. Mere shift from legacy systems to latest technology does not constitute digital transformation. Business transformation that leverages technology to build upon its operational resilience in accordance with the strategic direction is the preferred way to go.

 

Technically speaking, technology is like a telescope that helps you aim better and hit the bullseye with ease. However, it can be of no help to the one who is blind. In the current context, what is implied is that going gung-ho with a haywire approach to whatever is the latest will not work. A careful and holistic take is required to undergo transformation at the technological level which must also be supported by the other three levels described earlier. 

An organization can survive without technological transformation as this can be achieved later if not imminently. Similarly, operational transformation may or may not affect the overall performance of the organization in the immediate future but is important in the long run. In a competitive scenario, revamping operations is a must in order to survive and stay ahead. On the contrary, process transformation is a critical factor that can decide the bottom-line of the organization and define its growth. If this is overlooked, things can go wary with the slightest of change in market dynamics or the business environment. Under stable conditions, most organizations assume that their processes are performing to their optimum values while the reality is otherwise. The greatest risk in times of change or turmoil is that a company might cease to exist if processes are not reviewed periodically. Lastly, strategic transformation is needed when there is massive change or advancement in the industry. If there is rigidity and resistance at this level, then the existence of the company itself can be questionable.

No matter which framework one may choose to adhere to or follow, the TOPS^TM method for business transformation ensures a smooth transition with the least friction.