The Power of Giving

Hello, mates! Long time no see from my side? Yeah! October kept me very busy. Okay then here I am with another useful share for you. This time it’s a very simple yet logical post for my readers. This post is NOT written by me but actually, I have read it somewhere and it is so beautiful and mind-blowing that I just want to share it as it is. So here it goes. Chapter Eight, Point # 10, Book: Rich Dad Poor Dad by Robert Kiyosaki.

Both of my dads were teachers. My rich dad taught me a lesson I have carried all my life, and that was the necessity of being charitable or giving. My educated dad gave a lot of his time and knowledge, but almost never gave away money. He usually said   that he would give when he had some extra money but Of course, there was rarely any extra.

My rich dad gave money as well as education. He believed firmly in tithing. "If you want something, you first need to give," he would always say. When he was short of   money, he simply gave money to his church or to his favorite charity.

If I could leave one single idea with you, it is that idea. Whenever you feel "short" or in "need" of something, give what you want first and it will come back in buckets. That is true for money, a smile, love or friendship. I know it is often the last thing a person may want to do, but it has always worked for me. I trust that the principle of reciprocity is true, and I give what I want. I want money, so I give money, and it comes back in multiples. I want sales, so I help someone else sell something, and sales come to me. I want contacts and I help someone else get contact, and like magic, contacts come to me. I heard a saying years ago that went, 

"God does not need to receive, but humans need to give."

My rich dad would often say, "Poor people are greedier than rich people." He would explain that if a person was rich, that person was providing something that other people wanted. In my life, whenever I have felt needy or short of money or short of help, I simply went out or found in my heart what I wanted, and decided to give it first. And when I gave, it always came back.

It reminds me of the story of the guy sitting with firewood in his arms on a cold freezing night, and he is yelling at the pot-bellied stove, "When you give me some   heat, then I'll put some wood in." And when it comes to money, love, happiness, sales and contacts, all one needs to remember is to give first.

Often just the process of thinking of what I want, and how I could give that to someone else breaks free a torrent of bounty. Whenever I feel that people aren't smiling at me, I simply begin smiling and saying hello, and like magic, there are suddenly more smiling people around me. It is true that your world is only a mirror of you.

So that's why I say, "Teach and you shall receive." I have found that the more I teach those who want to learn, the more I learn. If you want to learn about money, teach it to someone else. A torrent of new ideas and finer distinctions will come in.

There are times when I have given and nothing has come back or what I have received  is not what I wanted. But upon closer inspection and soul searching, I was often giving to receive in those instances, instead of giving for the joy that giving itself brings.

My dad taught teachers, and he became a master teacher. My rich dad always taught young people his way of doing business. In retrospect, it was their generosity with what they knew that made them smarter. There are powers in this world that are much smarter than we are. You can get there on your own, but it's easier with the help of the powers that be. All you need to be is generous with what you have, and the powers will be generous with you. 

We Rise by Lifting Others

Hello mates! I hope you all are reading this article in the best of your health. I was badly stuck in some of my bad habits and still trying to recover from it, meanwhile, I am writing this article after a very long time. I feel really glad that some of you asked about the next article which keeps me motivated. I feel like if I am helping a single person in this world changing his lifestyle or habits, or bringing any positive change in any person’s personality or in the society, then I am playing my part and I want to take this to next step to help bring a change in the society/community.

The way we are is the way we see the world.

Successful people are always looking for opportunities to help others. Unsuccessful people are always asking, 'What's in it for me?' - Brian Tracy

There always comes a time in our lives when there comes an opportunity and just when the time ran out we get to know about that opportunity and then we ask ourselves why anyone didn’t tell me about this opportunity, whether it be a job opportunity, participation in any competition, registration for any startup, showing up for free course or seminars etc.. But do you know the pity part? Most of the time, a friend of ours, sitting next to us, partying with us whom we consider our BFF buddy, ditch us and don’t let us know that an opportunity came and he/she applied or cashed in the opportunity. I know you must be smiling and remembering those friends and people around you who have habits of this genre. But trust me, in this competitive world, it is so common in our daily lives, everyone is competing against each other for no reason, we are in a race that will take any of us nowhere. We need to believe that we only rise by lifting others. We need to share, share and share whether it be a smile. We are so wicked and hateful people that we can’t see someone taking the success steps. All we love to do is to drag every other person, whom we fear will get ahead of us.

Back in October 2014, I published an article on my LinkedIN profile with the name of IMEI awareness for smartphones because I was quite into gadgets thing at that time and my network used to consult me for that so I thought of writing an article to help people. Now today I got a notification and according to stats, that article has been viewed 141,000 times. And yes! I feel satisfied, obliged and contended. How come any of you not feel it helping others?

When I got to know about Google Local Guide a few months earlier, I started posting pictures and reviews on the google maps, I started adding missing places that were not on the map. Yesterday I got a notification that your pictures have helped over 50,000 times. You start by doing small things that what I believe. You start by helping others

What goes around comes around! Easy peasy rule. Sooner or later, this society gonna pay you back no matter what you have done for it. Whether the good you spread or was a part of conflicting motives, at the end it is coming to you. Certainly, I am not bragging about myself, I am just letting you know how little things can make a difference in other’s life as well as in yours. I want to shift the paradigm and change the lens through which we see and think.

Let’s pick a name, Bill Gates, Steve Jobs, Jeff Bezos, Mark Zuckerberg, Larry Page. We don’t know them personally, but yet we know them. Do you know why? Because they have done something for us, they have given this society what no one had. We use Skype, Facebook, Amazon, Windows and all the products that they made. Have you ever paid a single penny to them? At least I never did. They are successful, you know why? Because they have done something for the humankind and that is how you leave your impact in this world. I think everyone wants to be remembered. Right? Then, in this case, I would recommend start by changing people lives. Start by small things that make a difference for others, things that matter for others. You will feel satisfied and the best part is you are helping yourself and this world will remember you. J

I am going to share with you some of the opportunities that I get to know about recently and rush towards writing this article to share it with you guys before the time runs out. These opportunities are about fully funded Masters in the UK. Yes, you got me right! I am talking about Full Scholarships for Masters in UK/US.

Following are the scholarships are available and currently open to apply:-

·         Melbourne Human Rights Scholarships

·         Louis Dreyfus-Weidenfeld and Hoffmann Scholarship and Leadership Programme at Oxford University

·         Gates Cambridge Scholarships for International Students

·         Clarendon Fund Scholarships at University of Oxford

·         British Chevening Scholarships for International Students

·         Oxford Pershing Square Graduate Scholarships

You can find all the scholarships details on the website scholars4dev.com. All the new scholarships listing from all the world renowned universities are updated on this site weekly. 

What determines your future is what you do in your spare time, not what you do in office time!

Hello, colleagues! Good Evening! I hope you’re doing good and spending life at your best. So, how are your weekends going? Healthy, productive or just into bed all day long? To be very honest with you, I faced a lot of time management issues few months back because I have been managing my time very pathetically and it was like eat-sleep-office-repeat and then I worked on my time and found the thing that induced me to quit habits that I was doing irrelevantly and without any purpose. And this is what I want to share with you today. Time is a precious resource and unless time cannot be managed, nothing can be managed.

Too many people believe that career is determined by the 8 hours of hard work and effort we put into the office and our future and career progression depends on the boss and the company. But the reality is a bit harsh, you are on your own. Let’s discuss another matter! You finish your work at 6pm and go to bed at 12am midnight, how do you spend these six hours. Let me guess, watching TV/movies, playing sports, gaming, or just into bed? What if I say, the activities you do within these six hours are the most crucial and important beyond your imagination. “Cultivation” is forever dependent upon yourself, if you find yourself not progressing in life, you cannot blame and put the responsibility on your company for not grooming you. Solely, you are the one who is responsible and accountable for your life!

1.       What you do after office is important

Clearly, we need to have work life balance. If you have a family, you have to spend time with them. Even if you are single, you also need a reasonable allocation of time to go to gym, to meet with friends, or be alone to meditate and so on. Of course, watching movies, playing games are good. But there are things you do not need to do. For example, watching new Netflix season, 10 hours per week (average time watching TV season), the time spent on playing the game Candy Crush, or spending time stalking your friends on Facebook, it does not seem to be good or productive.

So what should you do? And how can you be more productive?

Let’s start with “why” factor. Why you need to play candy crush or stalk someone on FB, for sure you don’t know. I know most of us do many activities which are totally irrelevant and play zero role in our life so ask these questions before you move on and decide to spend your time. Mind you! Time is money!

·         Does it add any value to your skills?

·         Does it increase your productivity?

·         Does it help you ease your life or make it more complex?

·         Is doing that activity necessary to spend hours of your life into it?

·         Does it contribute towards your life goals or life’s mission statement?

·         Does it help you achieve your definition of success?

If answer to any of 3 to 4 questions is NO, then seriously, you need to re-think before doing that again. How can you stay productive and make the most out of it by staying productive is what I will write in my next article. Don’t miss it out!

2.       Read, Read & Read!

Reading can give you a good head start, this is often what your peers cannot obtain. Compared to others, you are more likely to know other industries strategies and tactics, and that may be helpful to you. You can transfer your knowledge within the organization or within your social network, create new possibilities for yourself, and learn about what and how’s happening in the world. Moreover, your conversation will become more interesting and will encircle around the things you’re reading. Anthony Robbins said, “If you spend one hour a day to learn about a topic, a year later, in this regard, the knowledge you gain will be more than 99.999% of the world’s people.” Even if you have 30 minutes every night, each week you can easily read a book. You may not be an expert, but I promise, you’ll know more than what your peers know.

I would suggest you to google advantages of reading and know yourself.

3.       Do some projects

You can apply the knowledge learnt to real work scenarios, this is only an ideal state. If your company did not give you this opportunity, create opportunities for yourself. Working with a team, you’ll understand how things work in the practical application of the industry, and how it ultimately affect actual customers. You’ll learn how to perform the task and meet deadlines and get feedback on what you are doing and benefit from it. When you are not strong enough, these experience may not have any value to you. But you are still a novice and these experiences are far more valuable than the pay you are getting if you can really convince others to spend on your product.

You can do some volunteer projects. Start doing some DIY projects, you can even make a product out of it. Like currently, as we all know Independence Day (14^th August) is coming, I am working to place my stall in Blue Area and you will see me standing there offering badges, flags, face-painting and all the other patriotic attractive stuff you see around these days. Do come and say Hello to me there!

So take the first step towards your volunteer project and try something new out of the office. But do not let these private jobs affect your work.

4.       Actively build your connections

In your career path, a strong network of connections will make everything accelerate. If you have not set up your own personal connections, you’ll need to divide a portion of your time to do this.

A strong network of relationships, can enable you:

• contact smart friends, and learn their opinions

• get information and knowledge that are difficult to obtain

• income generating opportunities

• help you see the world from different perspectives

• help you identify your strengths, weaknesses & opportunities

Go get to know your work colleague or boss. If you are an entrepreneur, your network connections will be your early customers, your staffs will be your source of capital so rather than going home you should find some inner circles. There are many small groups which are highly relevant to your career. You should try to integrate into these circles. Every week, you can drink coffee together with new friends, or having breakfast or lunch with new buddies will definitely help you expand your circle. 

You can also look into everyone’s career developments on LinkedIn and establish a network with mentors in those professional industries. Who knows they will be your next employers? Your connections will be your most powerful asset in the workplace. Since you have time to watch “Game of Thrones”, you have time to build a social network.

Let me suggest you a very useful yet very amazing social app, a lot of you may already know about it. An app named CouchSurfing. It can help you make friends from different parts of the world in different countries. If you plan to visit any country, you can ask for some local host there and stay with him or you can be the guest of any foreigner in your country. Would you believe, I have been able to make 132 international friends from 54 different countries with the help of this app.

  

      Your life change starts tonight

6 pm to 12 am, you go home, though physically and mentally tired but you are free to do anything. During this time, you can switch off like switching off your computer at your workplace and do something that aspires you, make you smarter, stronger, and have a wider network of people and stop doing those ridiculous things that play no part in your career progression.

From tonight, take an hour a day to do these things just for yourself! Company pays you monthly for 8 hours of daily work, what do you pay yourself for 6 free hours? You want to get paid higher from your employer, in return, how higher can you go to pay yourself in spare time? Decide yourself!