Some reference links
http://eqcode.com/wiki/Main_Page
http://cw.tactileint.com/
http://eqcode.com/wiki/Main_Page
http://cw.tactileint.com/
Wednesday, October 29, 2014
Sunday, October 19, 2014
The Difference of Just A Little More Effort :: Training Principle – The 1.01 Law
Ref:
The people who work just a bit harder than you have actually already flung you far away [are actually already far ahead of you]! Good morning!
A rough translation of the plaque reads
| The law of 1.01 : 1.01365= 37.8 The law of 0.99: 0.99365 =0.03 |
In layman’s terms:
- When we eek out 1% more effort every day, our abilities can grow almost 38 times over the course of a year.
- When we slack off 1% every day, our abilities diminish greatly over the course of a year. (to 0.03 of our original ability)
Is this principle literally true? Probably not. You are not going to be climbing 38 times harder from spending 1% more time training everyday, and you’re not going to be a weakling a year later if you slack off 1% of the time.
However the general principle holds — pushing yourself just that 1% more beyond your previous limit every day, can have a huge exponential effect over time — and the reverse holds if you slack off!
Friday, October 10, 2014
8 Ways to Stay Calm During a Crisis
When a serious situation arises at work, your first instinct may be to panic. Unfortunately, severe anxiety and stress can result in a complete meltdown. This response can cause long-term damage to your health and lower your ability to perform optimally.
Many of the world's greatest achievers, including entrepreneurs, athletes and artists, could not have reached their level of success without learning how to stay extremely calm under pressure. They have the ability to develop and maintain a particular state of psychological readiness, a mental preparedness they summon on demand.
Whether you’re an athlete or own your own company, poise is a prerequisite to peak performance. When you’re composed, sufficiently practiced and self-assured (strong enough to move mental mountains), you are poised for success.
Here are eight tips to help you keep your cool in stressful situations:
1. Slow down.
If possible, don’t react immediately. Instead, be patient and collect as much information as possible. Ask yourself, Is this really going to matter a year from now? If the answer is yes, step back to remove yourself somewhat from the situation. Instead of seeing yourself as an active participant, try to view yourself as a representative of your company. This perspective will help you remain less emotional and improve your ability to make decisions.
2. Stay positive.
When stressful situations occur, your mind may go in a thousand directions and some of your thoughts may be negative. The more your mind wanders, the more difficult it will be for you to remain calm. Stop yourself from beginning to imagine the worst-case scenario. Instead, let go of negative thoughts and refocus your mind on something positive, no matter how small.
3. Never ask “what if?”
This worst question you could ask yourself or others in the middle of a crisis begins with "what if." This line of questioning induces sheer panic and forces you to process situations that have not occurred and may never happen.
“What if” questions compound the fear and escalate the problem. Say your company has failed to deliver a project on time. Your first instinct may be to think, What if my client decides to hire someone else? That thought could easily lead to the question "What if I don’t make payroll this month?" Instead, focus on the facts and work on a solution.
4. Take care of your body.
If you make your personal health a priority, you’ll be better equipped to handle a crisis. Eat a balanced diet, exercise regularly and receive plenty of sleep. Exercise lowers the level of stress hormones and helps the body function at its highest level. By improving your health, you’ll increase your self-control, memory and emotional intelligence -- important characteristics that will help you respond well to an emergency.
5. Limit caffeine.
When you’re in the middle of a dire situation, you might be tempted to run to the break room to grab a cup of coffee. Caffeine may trigger a release of adrenaline, giving you a quick burst of energy and physical strength, only to be followed by a crash marked by fatigue and irritability in some cases. Instead of reaching for that cup of coffee, soda or an energy drink, hydrate yourself with water.
6. Call a trusted friend or mentor.
Use your support system and don’t be afraid to ask for advice with a stressful situation. Someone who isn’t emotionally invested in the situation will be able to see the dilemma from a different perspective and can help you arrive at potential solutions. When you reach out to people you trust and respect, you’ll feel more grounded. That security will help you control your stress and anxiety. As you explain the situation, you may even start to share your thoughts out loud, which might prompt you to discover a new approach or solution.
7. Disconnect.
Pull away from the situation for a while, even if only for an hour or two. When you give yourself time to process a dilemma and the surrounding emotions, you’ll be able to approach the situation with a fresh perspective.
8. Develop a coping strategy.
A crisis may require you to put in long hours at the office or spend weekends working at home. If you remain in a prolonged state of stress, you may cause long-term damage to your health and undermine your ability to make rational, informed decisions.
To better cope, develop a ritual you enjoy. Perhaps you'll choose to meditate in the morning. Take regular walks or sign up for an exercise class. Short exercise breaks can increase stamina. These techniques can help you feel more empowered to handle many situations.
Wednesday, October 8, 2014
How Successful People Deal With Stress
Ref: http://www.techgig.com/readnews.php?category=Hiring&tgnews_link=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F~r%2Fentrepreneur%2Flatest%2F~3%2FmROO1ehIOuI%2F237861&tg_type=rss&tgnews_id=50434
A survey by TalentSmart showed that 90 percent of top performers know how to manage their emotions in times of stress so that they remain cool, calm, and able to do what needs to be done.
That’s an important lesson in and of itself for all of us - because all of us experience stress in our lives. Research has shown that some stress is good for us: it helps us perform at optimal levels. Too much stress, however, can have serious psychological and physiological repercussions.
Since we can’t necessarily avoid most stress - especially in our work environments - it’s to our benefit to learn how to deal with it, and learn from the examples of those who are already successful.
According to surveys and other research, successful people have some strategies in common when it comes to managing stress.
They practice gratitude for what they have.
It may sound a little Oprah to you, but developing a gratitude practice is a psychologically proven way to reduce stress and maintain a more positive outlook on life. When you have a more positive outlook (and less of the stress hormone cortisol) you are happier and more productive, too.
They stay positive.
Easier said than done? Sometimes. But successful people tend to be those who see opportunities for growth masquerading as failure, and who look for the lessons learned when something goes awry, instead of wallowing in what could’ve/should’ve been. Maintaining a positive outlook. It’s a popular and proven stress management tool. If affirmations aren’t exactly your thing, try reframing negative thoughts. If you find yourself dwelling on something negative, try adding, “But what I can learn from this is…” Even just noticing that you’re stuck in a negative thought can help you move away from it.
They focus on progress, not perfection.
No one is perfect. Not even the most successful people on the planet are perfect - and they would almost certainly tell you the same. Richard Branson, for example, has had some well known failures in his time, yet has always been blunt about his belief that you fail quickly, fail big, learn from it, and move on. Many of us worship the cult of perfection, but letting it go may release us from a heavy burden of undue stress.
They practice self-care.
Successful people often have the presence of mind to realize that they must care for their most important asset - themselves - in order to continue to be successful. They prioritize healthy habits like getting enough sleep, limiting caffeine and alcohol, getting proper exercise, and switching off from technology periodically. Being overly tired, hopped up on chemicals (like caffeine and alcohol) and constantly monitoring our digital lives puts our adrenal glands into overdrive, and our stress levels through the roof. A truly successful person will strive to find balance to help moderate his stress.
They rely on routines.
One major cause of stress is the number of decisions we have to make in a day. Every decision from whether to have the sandwich or the salad all the way up to hiring and firing decisions weighs on us and causes us stress. Relying on simple routines like having the same lunch every day, answering emails at the same time, or even simplifying your wardrobe can help save your stress and sanity for the bigger decisions that really matter. President Obama (who undoubtedly knows a great deal about stress) mentioned this in an interview with Vanity Fair:
"You need to remove from your life the day-to-day problems that absorb most people for meaningful parts of their day… You’ll see I wear only grey or blue suits. I’m trying to pare down decisions. I don’t want to make decisions about what I’m eating or wearing. Because I have too many other decisions to make. You need to focus your decision-making energy. You need to routinize yourself. You can’t be going through the day distracted by trivia."
They keep the big picture in view.
Finally, successful people are able to keep the bigger picture in view, rather than focusing on minutiae. This is about focusing more on the “why” behind what you do than the “how.” For example, you might feel yourself getting stressed out about the fact that you have to work out every day for an hour (the how), but if you focus on the reason you want to work out - to be healthy and live longer - you may find the actual task less stressful.
I hope you find these strategies useful. As always, I am keen to understand how do you manage stress in your life? I’d love to learn your most successful stress-busters in the comments below.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
