THE JAR CALLED LIFE!!!

One day an expert in time management was speaking to a group of business students and, to drive home a point, used an illustration those students will never forget.

As he stood in front of the group of high-powered over-achievers, he said, "Okay, time for a quiz." 

He then pulled out a one-gallon wide-mouth mason jar and set it on the table in front of him. Then he produced about a dozen fist-sized rocks and carefully placed them, one by one, into the jar. When the jar was filled to the top and no more rocks would fit inside, he asked, "Is this jar full?" 

Everyone in the class said, "Yes." 

Then he said, "Really?" He reached under the table and pulled out a bucket of gravel. Then he dumped some gravel in and shook the jar, causing pieces of gravel to work themselves down into the space between the big rocks. Then he asked the group once more. "Is this jar full?" 

By this time the class was on to him. "Probably not." one of them answered. 

"Good!" he replied. He reached under the table and brought out a bucket of sand. He started dumping the sand in the jar and it went into all the spaces left between the rocks and the gravel. Once more he asked the question. "Is this jar full?"

"No!" the class shouted. 

Once again, he said, "Good!" Then he grabbed a pitcher of water and began to pour it in until the jar was filled to the brim. 

Then the expert in time management looked at the class and asked, "What is the point of this illustration?" 

One eager beaver raised his hand and said, "The point is, no matter how full your schedule is, if you try really hard you can always fit some more things in it." 

"No", the speaker replied, "that's not the point."

THE FINE ART OF BALANCING!

The truth this illustration teaches us is this: If you don't put the big rocks in first, you'll never get them in at all. What are the big rocks in your life? Your children, your spouse, your loved ones, your friendships, your education, your dreams, an worthy cause, teaching or mentoring others, doing things that you love, time for yourself, your health. Remember to put these BIG ROCKS in first, or you'll never get them in at all. If you sweat the little stuff (i.e. gravel, the sand) then you'll fill your life with little things you will never have the real quality time you need to spend on the big, important stuff (the big rocks)." So, tonight, or in the morning, when you are reflecting on this short story, ask yourself this question: What are the "big rocks" in my life? Then put those in your jar first.

THE SYNDIAN FOOTNOTE

The anecdote that you just read underlines the need to prioritize in life and have a healthy work-life balance. This particular story might not be new to you. In fact, there are numerous versions available in multitude forms and languages across the web-o-sphere. This edition is an adaptation from http://kanalpakkangal.blogspirit.com/

Wishing you a healthy work life balance. Till the nest time we converse, Jai Hind! Jai Synd!

IMAGE SOURCE: GOOGLE IMAGES

DONKEY'S DAY OUT!!!

One day, a farmer's donkey fell into a well. The animal crid sorrowfully for hours as the farmer tried to figure out what to do. Finally, he decided that since the animal was old and unable to perform his job well, it was just not worth taking the trouble to rescue the donkey.

He invited all his neighbours to come over and help him cover the well that was dry. It needed to be covered anyway. They grabbed a shovel each and began to throw earth into the well.

The trapped donkey realised what was happening and brayed piteously. Then, he calmed down. After dumping a few shovel loads, the farmer looked down the well. He was astonoshed at what he saw. With each shovel of dirt that hit his back, the donkey was doing something amazing. He would shake it off and take a step up.

As the farmer's neighbours continued to pour in the earth, the animal would shake it off and take another step up. Pretty soon everyone was amazed as the donkey stepped over the edge of the well and walked away happily.

THE SYNDIAN FOOTNOTE

Krishna said: "Don't get bogged down by problems in your life and don't beg enemy for mercy. Steel your nerves, strengthen your will-power and you are bound to win the battle of life......"

The above anecdote has been adapted from an undated column 'The Speaking Tree' in The Times of India, authored by L R Sabharwal.

Let us face the problems in our life just like the prudent donkey!!!

Jai Hind! Jai Synd!

ACRES OF DIAMONDS!!!

HAFIZ,  THE FARMER

Hafiz was a farmer in Africa who was happy and content. He was happy because he was content. He was content because he was happy.

THE WISE MAN

One day a wise man came to him and told him about the glory of diamonds and the power that goes along with them. The wise man said, "If you had a diamond the size of your thumb you could buy your own city; you had a diamond the size of your fist, you could probably own your country". And then the wise man left.

That night Hafiz couldn’t sleep. He was unhappy because he was discontented. He was discontented because he was unhappy.

The next morning Hafiz made arrangements to sell his farm, took care of his family and went off in search of diamonds. He looked all over Africa and couldn’t find any. By the time he got to Spain he was emotionally, physically and financially depleted. He was so disheartened that he committed suicide by throwing himself into the Barcelona River.

Back home, the person who had bought his farm was watering the camels at the stream that ran through the property. Across the stream the rays of the morning sun hit a rainbow. He thought the stone would look good in his living room. He picked up the stone and put it on his mantle piece. That afternoon the wise man came and saw the stone sparkling. He asked, "Is Hafiz back?" The new owner said, "No, Why do you ask?" The wise man said, "Because this is a Diamond. I recognize one when I see one". The man said, "No, that is just a stone. I picked up from the stream. Come I’ll show you. There are many more". 

They went and picked some samples and sent them to analysis. Sure enough the stones were diamonds. They found that the farm was indeed covered with ACRES OF DIAMONDS!!!

SIX MORALS:

1. When our attitude is right we realize that we are all walking on acres and acres of diamonds. Opportunity is always under our feet. We don’t have to go anywhere. All we need to do is recognize it.
2. The grass always looks greener on the other side. 
3. While we are eying the grass on the other side there are others who are eying the grass on our side. They would be happy to trade places with us. 
4. People who don’t know how to recognize opportunity complain of noise when it knocks. 
5. Opportunities are easier recognized when they are leaving rather than when they are coming. 
6. Opportunity only knocks once. The next one may be better or worse but never the same. That is why it is so crucial to make the right decision at the right time. A right decision at the wrong time becomes a wrong decision.

THE SYNDIAN FOOTNOTE 

 

The cyber-world is replete with such anecdotes and we receive, forward, delete, read, ignore them through emails. The present story was stashed in a folder titled 'Gyan' in the E: Drive of my Lappy. I happened to read it and thought of sharing with you! 
Would like to hear from you, and also seek contributions from the Syndians for THE SYNDIAN in form of anything that they would want to share with all of us.   

IMAGES: GOOGLE.

MAHATMA'S MUSINGS

'A customer is the most important visitor on our premises; he is not dependent on us. We are dependent on him. He is not an interruption in our work. He is the purpose of it. He is not an outsider in our business. He is part of it. We are not doing him a favor by serving him. He is doing us a favor by giving us an opportunity to do so.'

MOHANDAS KARAMCHAND GANDHI

THE SYNDIAN FOOTNOTE

 

Today's post on THE SYNDIAN coincides with the death anniversary of Mahatma Gandhi. The best tribute that we can give to this great son of Mother India and Father of the Nation is to follow verbatim the above quoted dictum.  

Readers who wish to brush up their comprehension of Gandhi, can click on this link: MAHATMA GANDHI'S LIFE HISTORY . 
Jai Hind! Jai Synd! 

IMAGE SOURCE: WIKIPEDIA

TORTOISE AND HARE: LESSONS IN SYN(D)ERGY!!!

STORY 1

Once upon a time, a tortoise and a hare had an argument about who was faster. They decided to settle the argument with a race. They agreed on a route and set off. The hare shot ahead and ran briskly for sometime. then seeing that he was far ahead of the tortoise, he fell asleep under a tree.

The tortoise overlooked the hare and soon finished the race, emerging as winner. The hare woke up and realized that he had lost the race.

Moral 1: Slow and Steady Wins The Race.

STORY 2

The hare was disappointed at losing the race and did some introspection. He realized that he had lost the race only because he had been over-confident, careless and lazy. If he had not taken things for granted, the tortoise could not have beaten him. So he challenged the tortoise to another race. The tortoise agreed. This time the hare went all out and ran without stopping from start to finish. He won by several miles.

Moral 2: Fast and consistent will always beat slow and steady. So while it is good to be slow and steady, it is better to be fast and consistent.

STORY 3

Now it was the turn of tortoise to do some introspection. He realized that there is no way he could beat the hare in the race the way it was. He thought for a while and then challenged the hare for another race, but on a slightly different route. The hare agreed. They started off. In keeping with his self made commitment to be consistently fast, the hare took off and ran at top speed until he came to a river. The finishing line was a couple of kilometers on the other side of the river. The hare sat there wondering what to do. In the meanwhile, the tortoise got into the river, swam across to the opposite bank, continued walking and won the race.

Moral 3: Identify your core competency and change the playing field to suit your core competency. Working on your strengths will not only get you noticed, but will also create opportunities for growth and advancement.

STORY 4

The story continues. The hare and tortoise had by now become good friends and did some introspection together. They decided to run the race again, but this time the hare carried the tortoise till the riverbank. The,n the tortoise took over and swam across with the hare on his back. On the opposite bank the hare carried the tortoise again and they reached the finishing line together. Both of them felt great sense of happiness, satisfaction and success.

Moral 4: It is good to be individually motivated and to have strong core competencies, but until and unless you work in a team and harness each others' core competencies, you will always perform below par because there always are situations in which you would do poorly and someone else would do well. Teamwork is mainly about situational leadership.

Please note that neither the hare nor the tortoise gave up after failure. Failure is an event, it is never permanent.

Moral 5: The tortoise changed his strategy because he was already working as hard as he could.

Moral 6: When we stop competing with the rival and start competing with the situation, we perform far better. In life, when faced with failure, it is sometimes appropriate to work harder and put in more effort by working smarter. Sometimes you just need to change strategy and try something innovative. And at other times, it is appropriate to do both.

THE SYNDIAN FOOTNOTE

The current post is an adaptation of a presentation that took place at an AICTE sponsored Faculty Development Programme held in 2008. The person behind these stories and the consequent morals in management is unknown. THE SYNDIAN wishes to acknowledge the effort of the anonymous and does not in any sense wishes to appropriate the credit of the same. The intent of using this content is to benefit  the fellow Syndians become better hares and tortoises; and accelerate the process of Nation-building by Syn(d)ergizing their efforts.

Jai Hind! Jai Synd! What Else!?!?!?!