What is a grain? It is the companionship of the virtuous.
What is grief? It is the company of fools.
What is loss? It is the dissipation of time.
What is prudence? It is devotion to virtue.
What is valour? It is the conquest of the senses.
Who is the beloved wife? One who is devoted to her husband.
What is wealth? It is knowledge.
What is happiness? It is to remain settled in one’s own country.
What is rulership? It is to command obedience
* Subhashita

If spring came but once a century instead of once a year,
or burst forth with the sound of an earthquake and not in silence,
what wonder and expectation there would
be in all hearts to behold the miraculous change.
* Henry Wadsworth Longfellow

When you do the common things in life in an uncommon way,
you will command the attention of the world.
* George Washington Carver

Habit is a second nature which prevents us from knowing the first,
of which it has neither the cruelties nor the enchantments.
* Marcel Proust

Nothing of any importance can be taught.
It can only be learned, and with blood and sweat.
* Robert Anton Wilson

It is said that when the world ends, even the moutains start moving
due to the force of the wind.
But even when such a thing happens, the mental state of the brave
does not waver since it is very clear.
Clarity in thoughts gives you the strength to withstand anything.
* Subhashita

The way to build a nation is to build a good citizen.
The majority of the citizens should be efficient,
of good character and possess a reasonable high sense of duty.
* Mokshagundam Vishveshwariah

Put this restriction on your pleasures;
be cautious that they injure no being that lives.
* John Zimmerman

Visit www.Inspiration.RightAttitudes.com for my compilation of inspirational quotations by author and topic. You may also subscribe to the weekly newsletter of inspirational quotations by sending a blank email to iqml-subscribe@yahoogroups.com.

*Keyword(s): Inspiration, Quotations

The fact that I can plant a seed and it becomes a flower,
share a bit of knowledge and it becomes another’s,
smile at someone and receive a smile in return,
are to me continual spiritual exercises.
* Leo Buscaglia

Some men have thousands of reasons why
they cannot do what they want to,
when all they need is one reason why they can.
* Willis R. Whitney

High station in life is earned by the gallantry with
which appalling experiences are survived with grace.
* Tennessee Williams

Hope is the thing with feathers that perches in the soul -
and sings the tune without words, and never stops at all.
* Emily Dickinson

If you want to make good use of your time, you’ve got to know
what’s most important and then give it all you’ve got.
* Lee Iacocca

The life that is unexamined is not worth living.
* Plato

The quality of expectations determines the quality of our action.
* Jean-Baptiste Andre Godin

A challenge gives you the opportunity
to flex your spiritual muscles.
* Unknown

Each of us is given a pocketful of time to spend however we may. We use
what we will. We waste what we will. But we can never get back a day.
* Roger Wilcox

Visit www.Inspiration.RightAttitudes.com for my compilation of inspirational quotations by author and topic. You may also subscribe to the weekly newsletter of inspirational quotations by sending a blank email to iqml-subscribe@yahoogroups.com.

*Keyword(s): Inspiration, Quotations

1. Divide and conquer. Break up large projects into smaller tasks. If you think a task will take less than five minutes, get it done right away. If you can reply to an email in less than two minutes, reply immediately and file or delete the incoming email.
2. Fight procrastination. One of the easiest ways to fight procrastination is to focus on starting your task. Commit to your task for just ten minutes. Avoid distractions and interruptions and continue to work for just ten minutes. By the end of the ten minutes, you probably get absorbed in the tasks, build momentum and can choose to continue working towards completion.
3. Put things in their place. Designate a place at your home and office for everything — your keys, wallet, watch, clothes, electronic gadgets and all personal effects. Always put each item in its proper place. Being orderly prevents you from anxiously searching for these belongings the next time you want to use them.
4. Create checklists for all tasks. Consider preparing checklists for everything from cleaning the home to packing for travel. Checklists help you remember everything critical and thus reduce the persistent worry of forgetting something important.
5. Start planning your day on the prior day. Before you leave office or before you go to bed, plan the next day and prepare a ‘To Do’ list. Check your calendar for meetings, deadlines and commitments. In addition, put out everything you need the night before. Planning ahead not only helps you start the next day with purpose, but also gets things off your mind. You can thus enjoy your time away or sleep better.
6. Pick up after yourself and clean your home and workspace. From time to time, glance through all areas of your home and office for things that are out of place. Tidy up before the clutter gets out of hand. Use the wastebasket liberally. Realize that mess leads to stress.
7. Maintain a ‘On-The-Go’ folder. When you receive your copy of a subscription magazine, tear out all the articles that interest you and dispose of the rest of the magazine. Maintain an “on-the-go” folder and file such articles. Take this folder wherever you go and read these articles during transition times — when you wait for a doctor’s appointment or when your flight is delayed at an airport. Review this folder frequently and toss out everything that is older than six months.

Recommended Reading

• Self-assessment Quiz: how stressed are you?
• The “10-minute Dash” technique to overcoming procrastination
• You have a pile of reading material at your desk?
• Everyday reflections for effective time management
• Seven habits to beat Monday morning blues

***See other articles related to time management, personal organization, productivity, stress management, getting things done, work-life balance

Yahoo! CEO Carol Bartz offers a ‘puppy theory’ on timing feedback:

I have the puppy theory. When the puppy pees on the carpet, you say something right then because you don’t say six months later, “Remember that day, January 12th, when you peed on the carpet?” That doesn’t make any sense. “This is what’s on my mind. This is quick feedback.”

Immediate Feedback is Most Useful

I have previously discussed that effective feedback has three aspects: (1) initiate a personal conversation and make sure the other is ready to hear it, (2) explain his behavior, and, (3) help him understand the consequences of his behavior.

Do not neglect or defer feedback. Address problems while they are small. Immediate feedback ensures that the other accepts your feedback, understands his behavior and attempts to correct.

Recommended Reading

• Sandwich feedback technique and why it is ineffective
• Manager Tools’ feedback model
• Six steps to appreciate people
• Any excuses for not complimenting your people

***See other articles related to giving feedback, criticism, manager skills, interpersonal skills, praise

It takes a person who is wide awake to make his dream come true.
* Roger Babson

Do not spoil what you have by desiring what you have not;
but remember that what you have was once among the things only hoped for.
* Epicurus

You can’t behave in a calm, rational manner.
You’ve got to be out there on the lunatic fringe.
* Jack Welch

Make everything as simple as possible, but not simpler.
* Albert Einstein

The greatest good you can do for another is
not just to share riches but to reveal him his own.
* Benjamin Disraeli

Many people dream of success. To me success can only be
achieved through repeated failures and introspections.
* Soichiro Honda

Nearly all men can stand adversity,
but if you want to test a man’s character,
give him power.
* Abraham Lincoln

How important it is for us to recognize and celebrate our heroes and she-roes!
* Maya Angelou

It’s not what you are that holds you back, it’s what you think you’re not.
* Unknown

Visit www.Inspiration.RightAttitudes.com for my compilation of inspirational quotations by author and topic. You may also subscribe to the weekly newsletter of inspirational quotations by sending a blank email to iqml-subscribe@yahoogroups.com.

*Keyword(s): Inspiration, Quotations

A prudent question is one-half of wisdom.
* Francis Bacon

To be able to stand not knowing long enough for something alive to take shape!
* Lynda Barry

Chance favors the prepared mind.
* Louis Pasteur

A politician thinks of the next election
- a statesman, of the next generation.
* James Freeman Clarke

Practice no vice because it’s trivial…
Neglect no virtue because it’s so.
* Chinese Proverb

Fear collides with our most conservative self
and allows us to stop before we try,
dismiss before we think, mock before we imagine.
* Carol Lloyd

The delight we inspire in others, has this enchanting peculiarity. That,
unlike any other reflection, returns to us more radiant than ever.
* Victor Hugo

“Hate the sin & not the sinner” is a percept which,
though easy enough to understand, is rarely practiced,
and therefore the poison of hatred spreads in the world.
* Mahatma Gandhi

Those who are fired with an enthusiastic idea and
who allow it to take hold and dominate their thoughts,
find that new worlds open for them.
As long as enthusiasm holds out, so will new opportunities.
* Norman Vincent Peale

Visit www.Inspiration.RightAttitudes.com for my compilation of inspirational quotations by author and topic. You may also subscribe to the weekly newsletter of inspirational quotations by sending a blank email to iqml-subscribe@yahoogroups.com.

*Keyword(s): Inspiration, Quotations

You have not converted a man
because you have silenced him.
* John Lord Morley

If you want to test your memory, try to recall
what you were worrying about one year ago today.
* The Rotarian

We are fallible. We certainly haven’t attained perfection.
But we can strive for it, and the virtue is in the striving.
* Carlos P. Romulo

It is better to live richly than to die rich.
* Muriel Strode

Love is energy of life.
* Robert Browning

Everywhere in the Universe, what we call Life and Movement
results from a continual conflict of Forces or Impulses.
Whenever that active antagonism ceases, the immobility and
inertia, which are Death, result.
* Albert Pike

When we feel love and kindness toward others,
it not only makes others feel loved and cared for,
but it helps us also to develop inner happiness and peace.
* The Dalai Lama

The mind has to be empty to see clearly.
* Jiddu Krishnamurti

A person should contemplate the workings of the universe with reverence
and introspection. In this way expression is given to the effects of
these laws upon his own person. This is the source of a hidden power.
* I Ching

Visit www.Inspiration.RightAttitudes.com for my compilation of inspirational quotations by author and topic. You may also subscribe to the weekly newsletter of inspirational quotations by sending a blank email to iqml-subscribe@yahoogroups.com.

*Keyword(s): Inspiration, Quotations

Writing great email Subject lines is the single most important skill you can develop to improve your effectiveness with email communication. The Subject line is the first — and occasionally the only — element of an email that readers notice. By writing a persuasive subject line, you can help your readers identify the importance of your message and drive action.

Here are a few suggestions to write a great Subject line in every email:

• State the objective of your email in a meaningful Subject line. Give your readers a clue of what your email is about and the response you expect.
• The best Subject lines constitute the two key attributes of the email: [Context / Project] + [Action required / Message summary] E.g., “Need MATLAB help: how can I calculate 3D distance,” “Alternator repower: recommended solution,” and “Thank you for your insightful comments at the customer forum on Friday.”
• Avoid indistinct and elusive Subject lines like “Hi,” “One more thing…,” “FYI,” “Can you do this,” or, “Help, please???”
• Compose the Subject line after you compose the body of an email. The process of writing the body of the email will help clarify the key message you want to convey and the action you expect.
• Prefix the Subject with an ‘URGENT’ if the matter is urgent.
• Do not write the entire Subject line in ALL CAPS — this is the digital equivalent of shouting. Moreover, phrases in ALL CAPS are harder to read.
• For shorter quick messages, try composing brief, all-in-the-subject-line emails. E.g., “Friday’s lunch: rescheduled to 1:00 PM [eom]” or “Reminder: feedback reports due by noon. [eom].” Adopt a few standard conventions and abbreviations (e.g., EOM for end of message) in your team.
• When replying to emails, change the Subject line if the context of an email thread has changed during the course of the thread or if the Subject line in the original email was irrelevant or unclear.
• Avoid discussing multiple topics in a single email. Send multiple emails, each with its own, meaningful Subject line.

Recommended Reading

• ‘Inbox Zero’ for productivity with email
• Do not abuse exclamation marks
• 7-38-55 rule of personal communication
• What the deaf can teach you about listening

Keyword(s): email, email communication, effective communication

Man must cease attributing his problems to his environment,
and learn again to exercise his will and his personal responsibility.
* Albert Schweitzer

The time which we have at our disposal every day is elastic;
the passions that we feel expand it,
those that we inspire contract it;
and habit fills up what remains.
* Marcel Proust

As rain breaks through an ill-thatched house,
passion will break through an unreflecting mind.
As rain does not break through a well-thatched house,
passion will not break through a well-reflecting mind.
* Dhammapada

How can I be useful.
Of what service can I be.
There is something inside me.
What can it be?
* Vincent Van Gogh

One doesn’t discover new lands without consenting to
lose sight of the shore for a very long time.
* Andre Gide

To give real service, you must add something
which cannot be bought or measured with money.
* Mokshagundam Vishveshwariah

As a toy fruit or a toy elephant reminds one of the real fruit and
the living animal, so do the images that are worshipped remind one
of the God who is formless and eternal.
* Ramakrishna Paramahamsa

The first requisite of a good citizen in this republic of ours
is that he shall be able and willing to pull his own weight.
* Theodore Roosevelt

I have not failed.
I’ve just found 10,000 ways that won’t work.
* Thomas Alva Edison

Visit www.Inspiration.RightAttitudes.com for my compilation of inspirational quotations by author and topic. You may also subscribe to the weekly newsletter of inspirational quotations by sending a blank email to iqml-subscribe@yahoogroups.com.

*Keyword(s): Inspiration, Quotations

Last year, researchers at the University of Warwick found that the mental health of managers typically deteriorates after a job promotion.  Part of this anxiety is attributable to,

1. the loss of the security of a familiar role and the established relationships around the role,
2. perceived cognitive inadequacies concerning demands of the new position, and,
3. the uncertainty of transition and the innate human resistance to change.

The greater part of this anxiety is a common career mistake. Often, professionals take up new responsibilities for which they are not entirely prepared. Even when management judged them as qualified for the new role, without thinking through a new role before accepting the promotion, these professionals unintentionally position themselves for stressful transitions, bitterness, or eventual failure.

When Is It Time to Move On?

Do not assume that you are ready for a promotion just because you possess the right academic background, you look the part, you have the right contacts within the company, or, you have impressed your management with your capability to develop a few good ideas and articulate them well.

Here are a few questions to reflect on and assess your chance of a successful promotion or a horizontal transition.

• Are you enthusiastic about taking on a new role? Does the new role fit into your medium- and long-term career plans?
• Have you been performing your present duties well enough to justify a promotion?
• Do you have a successor in mind for your current role? Have you made yourself replaceable? Are you willing to entrust your current responsibilities to a successor without a significant interruption in pace of work?
• Are you qualified or experienced enough to do no less than, say, 40% of the new role reasonably well?
• Have you demonstrated eagerness to gain knowledge of the new responsibilities?
• Are you familiar with the responsibilities, autonomy, challenges, opportunities, and deliverables of the new role? Do you know how to get things done in the new role? Do you know where to get help?
• Are you proficient with the communication, networking and interpersonal skills needed to make it in the new role? Will you get along with your peers, subordinates, and management at the new role?
• Are you at ease with the demands on the new role: time, travel, pressures, and challenges? Can your family (or other aspects of your personal life) support this transition?
• Can you swallow your pride if you are rejected for the new role? Are you ready to seek honest feedback about how management values you, listen, and make yourself more promotable in the future?

The more questions you answer with a “Yes” to, the better your chances for a successful promotion. Reflect on the questions you answer with a “No” to. Create a growth plan, improve your professional profile, and, ask for feedback from management on what you can do deserve a promotion.

Recommended Reading

• How to write a job description for your present position
• Seeking proactive feedback from your manager
• Do you deserve a raise?
• Seeking proactive feedback from your manager
• Getting recognition to help career advancement

***See other articles related to promotions, job transitions, career planning, managing your career, career success