Gandhi's Tips For Personal Success

Paradox of Time by George Carlin

The paradox of our time in history is that we have taller buildings but shorter tempers, wider Freeways, but narrower viewpoints. We spend more, but have less, we buy more, but enjoy less. We have bigger houses and smaller families, more conveniences, but less time. We have more degrees but less sense, more knowledge, but less judgment, more experts, yet more problems, more medicine, but less wellness. 

We drink too much, smoke too much, spend too recklessly, laugh too little, drive too fast, get too angry, stay up too late, get up too tired, read too little, watch TV too much, and pray too seldom. 

We have multiplied our possessions, but reduced our values. We talk too much, love too seldom, and hate too often.

We've learned how to make a living, but not a life. We've added years to life not life to years. We've been all the way to the moon and back, but have trouble crossing the street to meet a new neighbor. We conquered outer space but not inner space. We've done larger things, but not better things. 

We've cleaned up the air, but polluted the soul. We've conquered the atom, but not our prejudice. We write more, but learn less. We plan more, but accomplish less. We've learned to rush, but not to wait. We build more computers to hold more information, to produce more copies than ever, but we communicate less and less. 

These are the times of fast foods and slow digestion, big men and small character, steep profits and shallow relationships. These are the days of two incomes but more divorce, fancier houses, but broken homes. These are days of quick trips, disposable diapers, throwaway morality, one night stands, overweight bodies, and pills that do everything from cheer, to quiet, to kill. It is a time when there is much in the showroom window and nothing in the stockroom. A time when technology can bring this letter to you, and a time when you can choose either to share this insight, or to just hit delete. 

Warren Buffett's Advice on How to Be Happy: Get Turned On!

Warren Buffett has some advice for young people on how to be happy, and it has nothing to do with having billions of dollars.

During today's Berkshire Hathaway annualshareholders meeting in Omaha, 82-year-old Buffett and his 89-year-old business partner Charlie Munger were asked by a 30-year-old what advice they would give if they could communicate with themselves when they were 50 years younger.

Here's their response:

MUNGER: We're basically so old-fashioned that we're boringly trite. We think you ought to keep plugging along, and stay rational, and stay energetic. Just all the old virtues still work.

BUFFETT: But find what turns you on.

MUNGER: Yeah, you have to work where you're turned on. I don't know about Warren, but I've never succeeded to any great extent in something I didn't like doing.

BUFFETT: Charlie and I both started in the same grocery store and neither one of us are in the grocery business. 

MUNGER: We were not going to be promoted either, even though you had the family name. (Laughter.)

BUFFETT: My grandfather was right, too. If you're lucky, and Charlie and I were lucky in this respect. Well, we were lucky to be in this country to start with. But we found things we like to do very early in life and then we pushed very hard in doing those thing. But we were enjoying it while we did it. We had had so much fun running Berkshire it's almost sinful. But we were lucky. My dad happened to be in a business (he was a stockbroker) that he didn't find very interesting but I found very interesting. So when I would go down on Saturday there were a lot of books to read. You know, it just flowed from a very early age. And Charlie found ...

MUNGER: You've found a way to atone for your sins for having so much fun, you're giving all the money back .

BUFFETT: Yeah, but you give it all back whether you want to or not in the end. (Laughter.)

Culled from CNBC

What are you saying?

Many times kindest words are the mean words left unsaid. I am sure it does not come as a surprise  that many of us tend to remember the ugly words people have spoken to us and forget all the good ones. Words are powerful though they are like eggs,  once broken it cannot be put back together. It is better not to say anything in anger. Many people have lost significant relationships just because they spoke in the heat of the moment. Another extreme is not saying anything and bottling your emotions in. This is not healthy and will eventually lead to a break down in communication. If you are angry, take a walk, go the gym, change environment and think things through before communicating. If you have a tendency to bottle things up, speak up during good times and not while angry. Many people take the route of speaking with a third party, but this can also do more harm than good, if you do not eventually express yourself to the concerned party.

Your words can make or break, so speak responsibly.

Stop Selling Damaged Goods!

I am thinking about changing my old phone and am undecided between the Samsung Galaxy and the I-Phone. The Ad wars on TV is not really helping because of the bias information involved. One thing  that is clear is that each of these phone companies believe their products are the best and  market their strengths and uniquenesses. There is no doubt that Samsung and Apple products are good, but they are not perfect. I can't imagine buying a product if the sales associate tells me everything that is wrong about it. Likewise, it is important that we do not go around advertising our negatives and insecurities. A way we do this is based on how we think. If you believe you are not good enough or up to no good, there are certain opportunities, places or people you will not pursue.

I am not advocating we mislead or cover up our weaknesses, rather, discover what you are good at and strategically place yourself in environments and relationships that celebrate and value your uniqueness. This is where you will feel most valued and be most productive. If you are working with a manager who doesn't value your natural abilities, work always seems like a chore, but if you work with a manager that sees your assets as a benefit to the organization, you always want to be and give out your best. Too many times we focus on areas that we want to change in our lives and under value our star qualities, it is time to have a paradigm shift. If you are in an environment that makes you feel that you are average and probably doing you a favor, then it may be time to jump ship. You are not average, you are smart, beautiful, funny, you are simply the best. Someone/organization out there will see these qualities in you. You just need to discover them. Live from your power and not from your brokenness.

Before You Quit

Quitting like winning is a skill,  which ever one you exercise more is what develops and influences your choices. Tough times never last but tough people do. Anyone can start but only the strong finish. It takes the hammer of persistence to drive in the nails of success. Keep keeping on, you've got what it takes. 

W's of Life

My favorite W is "why". I learned a long time ago that the person who knows what about a problem gets a job, but the person who knows why it is done becomes the boss. It is important that we know why we and others do the things they do in order to make a difference and have an impact in your circle of influence. Many people saw an apple drop from a tree but it was Isaac Newton that asked why? His curiosity led to the Newtons laws of motion. Identifying a problem is never good enough, you have it own it and solve it. The questions you ask (why) and the actions you take can lead to a turning point tomorrow.

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How to have an Amazing Personality!

There it is Folks! Life  is a journey and to get to your destination, you need to take one step at a time. Which of these characteristics are you going to start working on this week? No excuses, just do it!

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There is No Progress Without Change (2)

Continued from previous post

How you react to getting scooped says a lot about you as a student, scientist, and person. Some people leave their group. Some leave grad school altogether, hoping to find something less stressful. People might overreact to getting scooped whether it was their fault or not. The trick is to make sure your getting scooped wasn’t your fault. Those who are at risk of getting scooped must always be one step ahead of the game: thinking of new reactions, different approaches, more efficient techniques. If they do not constantly adapt, they may get scooped, and it will be because of their laziness. They will be forced to change after the fact. And who’s to say the change they make will be a good one? They may end up leaving school. What a waste.

Sadly, I can’t give you any good examples of people changing on their own because I don’t feel comfortable calling people out. And those people are few and far between anyway. There are many more who have been forced to change out of necessity, myself included. Now, I didn’t get scooped (although it would have been my fault if I did) and I didn’t quit grad school, but have had to scramble to pick up the slack that my laziness over the past three years left behind. I am in my fourth year and have published one review paper. I have a handful of papers to write still and I am trying to pull it all together so I can graduate with my wife. If I was a more diligent student and better scientist, I know I would be having a much easier time right now.

But alas, I have adapted. I am doing much better now and I recognize the difference in my work now compared to when I was lazier. Even while writing this, it is four in the morning and I am running experiments. I wish I could be at home with my wife and dogs, but I’m doing this because I am a better scientist and I know I am ahead of the game. So if I get scooped, I know it won’t be my fault. Because I am always making small changes everyday to make sure I don’t fall behind or get into a rut.

So I urge you to make changes, even if you don’t want to. Be sure to not put yourself in a position to get scooped, no matter what your profession is at the moment. And if you still get scooped, make sure you did everything in your power so that it wasn’t your fault. Those who make mistakes need to learn from our mistakes, just as I did. But, we should be striving to not make those mistakes. And for goodness sake, make a full stop at stop signs.

There is No Progress Without Change (1)

Hello dear friends,

I am pleased to introduce you to my friend, Sean, my guest blog contributor today. Sean has a passion for writing and has a unique way of inspring his audience. Enjoy! 

Admit it. You hate change. It’s ok. As humans, it is our natural instinct to resist change. We resist, usually, until a change is forced upon us and we must adapt. That jerk on the road will keep rolling through stop signs until they are pulled over and given a hefty little ticket, forcing them to change. Or at least we hope they will consider modifying their driving habits. We aren’t really flawed in this way. It’s our own personal version of evolution. The environment forces us to adapt. It can also be easily related to basic physics. A body at rest will tend to stay at rest and a body in motion will tend to stay in motion, unless acted upon by an outside force. Of course, wouldn’t we rather have it not come to the point when that outside force pulls us over and gives us a citation, advising us to change?

The truth is we all would love to change certain things in our lives, right? Better job, better pay, nicer car, place to live, etc. But we want all those things to just come, no sweat off our backs. It’s a nice dream, but it’s stupid. We cannot expect to have these things given to us without changing something about ourselves. We have to put the work in. It’s the first law of thermodynamics. This is all science. Those who don’t see this as true are touched in the head. After all, the definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results. Yes, that was Einstein. Science. The point here is that the only sane thing for us to do as human beings is to embrace change. Things won’t get better unless you make them better. If we initiate the necessary changes in ourselves, we can better ourselves and avoid the horrible feelings associated with the changes that are forced upon us by our environment.

I am a chemistry graduate student, so I get to see my colleagues succeed and fail all of the time. And while I would prefer my friends to continuously do well, it’s always interesting to see how they deal with disappointment and face challenges. One of the most devastating things that can happen to a scientist is being scooped. If you had been working on a project for a long time and brought it to completion, only to have an opposing lab publish their identical results days before you submit your project, you have been scooped. All that work down the tubes.

Stay tuned for part 2 tomorrow!