Do Good and Be Good

The third law of Newton's Laws of Motion state that for every positive force there is an equal negative force, or words to that effect. It makes sense, really. If that didn't happen then the whole Universe would get out of kilter pretty quickly. So it is with life. So it is with good and bad.
If you think of yourself as a set of scales, when you do good for others, then you create an imbalance. Some goodness has left you. That creates the gap for good things to happen to you. This is the law of Karmic return. The really interesting thing about all this is that you can do good to person A and get good back from person Z. In the end, it all balances out. Now, don't expect an instant return. The Universe does not work like that and will not be hurried. But trust me. Do good things and good things will happen to you.
The reverse is also true. Do bad things and bad things will happen to you. Now of course, all this sort of stuff doesn't all get balanced out in the course of a month, a year, or even a lifetime. Some people do so much good that they sometimes leave the planet before that good has had a chance to come back to them. Maybe that 'goodness' gets paid back in another realm? Or maybe that left over goodness is used to balance the books of someone not so angelic. Who knows?
What I do know (for certain) is that if you do good things, then good things will follow. In many and unimagined majestic ways. Don't believe me? Try it and see. Go on. Do something 'good' every day for the next month and see what happens. Here's a starter list for you, but please feel free to add your own:

• Do a good deed for a neighbour, friend or stranger.
• Start a conversation with a homeless person. Buy them lunch.
• Recycle. Compost. Burn less carbon. Use less water.
• Donate to a worthy cause.
• Smile at a stranger.
• Start a conversation on a train or a bus.
• Give someone a hug.
• Offer unconditional friendship to someone who needs it.
• Do not kill things (including non malarial mosquitoes, cabbage, white butterfly caterpillars etc. etc.)
• Throw a dinner party. Invite friends and someone who needs some company.
• Volunteer
• Tell someone that you love them
• Bless someone
• Say thank you
• Cherish YOUR body
• Help someone in trouble

It's all good.

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Important Values in Life

Life comes with its ups and downs. Yes, we all know that. But there are certain mindsets that affect our life for the better and some that affect it for the worst. These mindsets that affect our life for the better can be called values. Whilst it stands true that all people have different values in life, there are some important values in life, that in my opinion, should be considered by all. Not because these are the values that I follow, but because it could truly make this world a better place. Here is my list of important values to have in life.

Love: The first of the most important values in life is love. It is an important personal value to open your mind to the concept of love. I don't mean this in a fairy tale kind of way. That is not the only kind of love. The way in which you love your family, and friends, you can love everybody. Love is the bringer of compassion. Once, we are led by compassion, we see the best in others, while they see the best in us. We can have more faith in the world. This will help us to refrain from being suspicious, keeping us more at ease.

Understanding: This is the second important value in life. I see a lot of people around me holding grudges and keeping tempers. They know at the back of their mind and in the depths of their heart that the other person had a reason for doing what they did. Yet, they let their anger take over. Understanding is the key to a happy mind and a caring heart. If you are ready to understand and accept people and circumstances for what they are, you can gain control over it. Understand that people are doing their best, and instead of questioning it, try to find out ways to help them out.

Respect: The third of the important values in life is respect. It is very important to have respect for people. This not only allows you to get inspired by their positive aspects, but also allows you to notice their negatives. Nobody is perfect, neither you, nor me. Respect is the only way we can adopt the best of all that is around us, in the process, making us a better person everyday, every moment. A very important fact about respect is that the more you give, the more you earn. It is in fact one of the most important values in society.

Discipline: The fourth of the important values in life is discipline. Sadly, many people confuse discipline for routine and avoid it. Well, routine is the act of doing the same thing over and over again, due to lack of opportunity or imagination. On the other hand (and far better), discipline accepts the absence of routine, on the condition of responsibility. A disciplined person will have a lot of fun, but will make sure that he completes his duties. He will go out and have a blast, but will ensure that he is back at the decided time. A disciplined and responsible person will respect his as well as other's time. As such, he will always be punctual.

Honesty: The fifth important value in life is honesty. You must be wondering why this value in mentioned at the end. Well, that is because it is the base on which the other values stand. It is the most important value to have. Honesty does not only mean telling your parents when you goofed up. Or admitting to your partner that you made a big mistake. Honesty is admitting to yourself that you are not perfect. It means avoiding to make a mistake. An honest person will try his best to not goof up, but if he does, he will not only admit it, but will willingly accept the consequences. All the other values that are mentioned need to be accepted and followed with honesty. That is the only way in which they will affect your life for the better.

Important values in life differ for different people. Nonetheless, no matter which culture you belong to, certain values help make your life a whole lot better. These are the values that I have known and followed throughout my life.

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Business Leaders should Learn From Steve Jobs

Every speaker these days refers to Apple. They cite Apple case studies and constantly quote Steve Jobs. If we were to allow every speaker free rein to talk about Apple, we might as well rename our events 'Apple this' or 'Apple that'.
9 out of 10 speakers cite Apple. Of course, the brand didn't achieve such universal reverence without reason. So let the following advice, inspired by Steve Jobs, form the blueprint for any company with serious brand ambitions.

1. What industry category do you operate within? Break out of it.
   If you had to choose one option, what industry would you say Apple operates within? Computers, music, telephones, or retailing? In terms of revenue, the answer is phones. However, the name Apple first came to be associated with computers. When Apple released the iPod, Walt Mossberg, a product reviewer for the Wall Street Journal, interviewed Steve Jobs. Mossberg spoke to Jobs about his reasons for venturing into the music industry. Jobs explained that Apple is a digital products company, not simply a computer company.
   Had Apple defined itself as a computer company, it would wave goodbye to 2/3 of its current revenue. Is this where your company is heading today?
2. "When you reach for the stars, you might not quite get one, but you won't come up with a handful of mud, either."
   So said the legendary advertising man Leo Burnett, although Steve Jobs could just as well have uttered these words. When attending a board meeting of what shall remain an unnamed Fortune 100 company, the chief of innovation announced 31 new revisions to their existing product portfolio. After his presentation, he felt best represented his iPad moment. "Two perhaps," he replied. Wrong answer. There's only room for one. Neither you, your company, nor the world has patience for 31 tweaks these days.
   Will your next product release represent your iPad moment? If not, go back to the drawing board.
3. Even if you predict the future just one minute before it happens, you're still in good time.
   In San Francisco during the late 1990s. Steve Jobs made a surprise visit on stage. That was the moment he threw the new Apple Newton message pad into the iconic Apple bin on stage. Apple was too early in the game and once the game began, they were too late. This was a lesson Steve Jobs learned the hard way. The Walkman came before the iPod, Microsoft's tablet arrived before the iPad, and the Blackberry arrived before the iPhone--though Apple's impeccable timing managed to beat them all.
   Being first isn't necessarily best--understanding timing is the essence of a breakthrough.
4. "What do you want the stores to say to people when they walk in?"
   Steve Jobs questions to Bob Iger, the CEO of Disney, when he was asked for advice on the redesign of Disney's retail stores.
   If your storefront, product, service, website, store fit-out could talk to the customer, what would it say?
5. Identify and attack your enemy in public.
   When Apple's iTunes program was already well ensconced on millions of PCs, Steve Jobs was asked what it was like to be a major Windows developer. He replied without hesitation, "It's like handing a glass of ice water to someone in Hell." Jobs never shied away from pointing out Apple's number #1 enemy in public. CEOs could learn from this.
   Often behaviour that's too self-consciously politically correct can lead to a watered-down focus and profile, both internally and externally. An enemy can define who you are, and who you're not.
6. Don't read about your competitors to learn more--visit them.
   However, it is probably a good idea to conduct such a visit before they've become your competitor. During Steve Jobs's early days in the business, he did, in fact, pay a visit Sony. He wanted to learn about the Walkman, as well as get a sense of Sony's well-oiled operation. Jobs was heavily inspired by both. Indeed, many companies can boast of Jobs visiting them in the past--providing Apple with inspiration.
   When did you last pay a visit to a potential competitor?
7. Don't take your success for granted--reset your watch every time.
   I've always been amazed by how some of the world's most successful organizations continue to work as tirelessly as they did when they first began. For example, take the rock group U2. Their most recent promotional tour was as intensive as the first one they embarked on 15 years ago, impressing even the most jaded rock journalists both then and now. Steve Jobs's unwavering enthusiasm for Apple was the same. Walt Mossberg recalls first seeing the iPad at Jobs's home, because, as Mossberg explained, "He was too ill at the time to go to the office."
   Act entrepreneurial. Assume you have no equity--fight as hard for your product as you did the very first time you promoted it.
8. Every company should learn from their own mistakes and success stories.
   In reality, all companies experience a regular turnover in staff. So, the filing of experiences and the internal education often fail to capture invaluable knowledge for future reference. Apple managed to circumvent this by entrusting their HR department to employ academics and historians to document events (both good and bad), publish internal papers, and systematize the transfer of information to new Apple employees.
   Have you systematically captured and transferred the good and bad experiences within your organisation?
9. Make your brand sticky.
   Gillette is the master of the "sticky" brand. Once you buy a Gillette razor, you are forced to buy Gillette's blades. Similarly, once you've installed Windows on your PC, it's almost impossible to avoid installing Office. True, you can buy an iPod shuffle for not much more than $100 but, beware, this is just the beginning--the chances are you'll soon be buying anything and everything that starts with a small "i."
   Have you made your product or service sticky?
10. Treat your brand as a religion.
    If you've read any of my blogs or articles, you'll know all about my obsession with the parallels between religion and brands. 

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