Word

The magic,

The shock,

The awe,

The charisma,

And the drama,

Of the,

Written Word.. 

The Friend in Me

Matching dance steps,
Pictures clicked,
Gleaming with joy,
Loads of messages,
Hours of calls, 
Laughing till your eyes tear up,
Secret jokes,
Mysterious humour,
Selfless appreciation,
Leg-pulling and of being un-hurt, 
Eager wait for the next meet up...

All these facets,
Of friendship and togetherness,
Leave me uneasy, unhappy and quiet. 
It's strange unfamiliar territory. 
Either it takes a lot to be,
Or may be,
I don't have a friend in me.

Think About It - 2

Planning to do everything? You will get nothing done. Take baby steps. Concentrate on the most important things first.  

Think About It - 1

Ownership is more of a responsibility than a right. Similar to how your iPhone has a scratch guard but daddy's car still has a dent from last weekend's long drive with your friends. 

How to Deal with Anger?

When you are angry: 

- Pause before speaking. (This one is the toughest because the most defining characteristic feature of anger is "out of control")

- Change your location. (This could be as simple as going into the next room which is empty. The point is going away from people)

- Tell yourself "I will regret this outburst. This is pointless." (Self-talk is under-rated. Make the most of it. You watch out for yourself)

- Countdown. Higher the intensity of anger, higher the number you countdown from. (This really helps!) 

- Look for alternative expressions. (Writing, gardening, kickboxing, etc. You can also take it out on a pillow or a stress ball. Things are immaterial. Relationships are priceless.) 

- Drain it.  (Anger does not prove your strength. Rather it shows a weak will power and shaky character.  At the same time, tears do no make you weak. Be a "no non-sense" guy. Cry it out alone. You are strong when you do not show your tears.)

The points mentioned above are not so easy. 

When angry all we think of is taking it out on the first person who comes in front of us. Sometimes somebody totally innocent gets to feel the brunt of it.  

When we are angry, all we think of is to cool ourselves down by saying and doing things which we do regret later. 

So it's definitely a challenge to deal with anger, especially when we are the ones angry. 

More than these quick tips, what would help us most is a change in our lifestyle. Research has proven that people who do the following are found to have fewer episodes of anger. 

- The ones who hang out with friends quite often. 

- The ones who laugh a lot. 

- The ones who exercise or play a sport. 

- The ones with a hobby like dancing, reading, writing, singing, gardening, knitting, swimming etc. 

- The ones who have bigger dreams in life. 

- The ones who value relationships more than trivial things. 

I agree that all this is easier said than done but ones put in practice, life becomes much easier, more calm and to top it all, FUN!! 

How do you deal with your anger? What is your secret key that brings the smile back and defeats that sudden rush of rage? Tell me about it in the comments section. 

Striving for a better day, each day. 

Aparna Gautam 

4 Reasons Why You Should Start Fresh

What if this was Day 1 of your life? Think about forgetting all the garbage that we keep stuffing our minds with. All the ashes of the past; dust of inactive thoughts etc. All vanished. Only if we genuinely believe that today is the first day of our lives, we can know our true selves. Now the advantages of this thought are many. 

Firstly, this day comes to us as a breath of fresh air. We feel free. We feel light.

Secondly, this day has come to us where we welcome it with our experienced beings. We are intelligent, wise and full of knowledge gained over the span of our entire lives. Now you would blame me of giving a contradictory statement right here. But then even if you try hard, you can never forget your knowledge, wisdom and intelligence. No matter how badly you want to forget, you could never forget how to eat, how to trust wisely, how to be alert, how to speak, how to weigh our actions and thoughts etc. Try. Go try. I challenge you. You can not forget. But when you call this day a new day, you automatically free yourself from the chain of negative thoughts and past memories. 

Thirdly, now your mind has a lot of free space. Millions of GBs *wink* to be precise. So what are you going to do with it? You will make new memories. Generate new ideas. Constructive views. Its like cleaning your house and then lighting a scented candle or to spray a room freshener if you are a little tired of the cleaning ;). But on a serious note, cleaning your mind does not leave you tired. Rather it leaves you energized and full of life. 

Fourthly, now that you know it is a new day, you will see everything in a new light. The same people, situations and things around you, will become pleasant. You would feel grateful for what all you have. Remember you have forgotten your negative past. You have the learning but you do not have hard feelings against anyone. Now how is that for a change? Everything will suddenly feel lovely. 

(The rest of the advantages are for you to explore. Do come back and share your experience in the comments sections. I will be delighted to hear from you.)

Now you are packed with so much energy and positive spirit. Go conquer the world. Achieve your dreams. Make a difference. Go live your life today!!

High Five!

Aparna Gautam

To LinkedIn, From A Newbie

I was starting to have sleepless nights thinking about my LinkedIn profile. With only 2 and a half years of work experience, I was feeling doubtful whether I would have any solid content to go to a profile which shares the same online platform with the "biggies" of all industries. 

But nevertheless, I decided to give it a shot. I signed up. From the first step on-wards, all my doubts slowly started to vanish. It all seems so easy. Its like a mini interview wherein you just keep answering facts about your work experience, education etc. 

The catch was the "skills" and the "summary" section. I was staring at the screen. One does seem to wonder that at such an early juncture in your career what skills does one have to be qualified as a skill mention-able in your LinkedIn profile. But then one starts to think slowly. MS Office, Communication, Public Skills..... Words started to pour in my mind and I got to typing. Skill is simply defined as something you are good at. A little bit of thought could give you quite a list. I myself ended up mentioning 15+ skills. Quite an achievement, where I thought I could go blank. 

Then came the summary section. This one was another rocky ride. I turned to Google to look at few examples. Felt a little confident. Read it somewhere --- "Your LinkedIn Summary should describe why you do what you do and it should make someone want to read it, even if the reader has only 10 seconds". Sounds quite tricky. What could one write so interesting that someone in a rush would also want to stop by and have a look. Gave it a thought too and ended up writing a small note about my professional self. I am sure I will keep going back to my profile and keep updating the summary and skills. 

As I was finishing section after section, I kept feeling as if I am accomplishing something outstanding. Your skills, education, achievements, outlined in black and white could give you quite a high. It does not matter even if it is small compared to the world around you. You get to know a lot about yourself and that heart-warming feeling of pride comes in. 

Once you have filled out all the sections, LinkedIn provides a level of completion to your profile. Now ask me what level have I been conferred upon. Ask me. Ask me. Come On. Okay I am dying to tell you. "Expert". Yes, somehow LinkedIn feels that my profile has been completed till the "Expert" level. I don't know how to interpret it. But the word itself brought a big grin on my face.  

I did not stop there. I slowly started searching for people I know and out came a plethora of known faces. I was sitting for hours inviting people to connect. And now slowly notifications are coming in as invites are getting accepted. 

I don't need to mention that EVERYONE  is on LinkedIn. Now I am too. (It has surely excited me enough to come back and blog about it.) It is a wonderful platform to share, learn and grow. It is nothing like the usual social networking sites. It is carved out for professionals and there is space for everyone and it is all FREE FREE FREE! 

This post might seem trivial to all the LinkedIn members, because presumably it is a must to have this profile. But my sole purpose of writing this post would be achieved if I am able to get even one more person to come on to LinkedIn as a new member and experience being "Linked". When there is so much to learn and information/inspiration is available at the tip of your finger then why wait. 

I end my day now with a feeling of content and pride. Go register yourself to know what I am talking about. 

Thrilled and Excited.

Aparna Gautam