Editor’s Note

In today’s mad rush of competition and success, we have less or no time to enjoy the beauty of simple things in life. We don’t have time for food, leisure, family or anything that keeps us away from work. Do we call it life? Why do we need such a colorless life? It is high time that we organize ourselves before it is too late.

Personal Excellence March 2018 Advertisers

The ‘Circle of Ambition’

What’s your ambition in life? What do you hope to achieve in the next five to ten years? Does it feel like you are in a driver-less car with the destination constantly getting hacked? These questions are irksome to many. However, ambition could offer the necessary direction to your thoughts and actions. Further, it ought to dictate your priorities. Whether you consider it a guiding light, an aspiration, or a life goal, ‘ambition’ breathes purpose into existence and its presence or absence should be acknowledged.

Does Your Soft Side Measure Up?

Given our addiction to measurement – and its value – you would think that we would be more attuned to measuring “soft-side” values. For instance, how often we’re rude or polite to people, how often we ask for input rather than shut people out, how often we bite our tongue rather than spit out inflammatory remarks. Even though soft values are hard to quantify, they are as vital as any financial number. I can guarantee you that most of the people in your office don’t measure the “soft side”. And, if they did, they might change from “jerks” to wonderful and fun people!

Balance Is A Myth

My kids are on their electronics as I type this and wonder what time is appropriate to open a bottle of wine on a Monday night (It is only 1:57 pm). We are into our third week of no school during the ‘holiday break’ and with my clinical schedule, school schedule, other ’work’ schedule and mom schedule I am silently laughing at the word balance.

Dread Meetings?

Sure, there are some widely known recommendations for improving meetings – e.g. set an agenda, start on time, invite the right people, even hold standing meetings (where participants are more likely to hustle through their material) – but those are band aids. While experts in time management and leadership skills spin their wheels offering advice to cure the common meeting, I’d like to propose that we look at the root cause: Communication.

The Idol Of Certainty

You eat right, exercise every day, work hard, respect others, save routinely, spend wisely etc. and you assume with these "right" behaviors you will have a long, prosperous and healthy life. Wrong. Yes, these behaviors improve your chance of a long, successful and worthwhile life, but let me ask you - do you think there are thousands maybe even millions of people who have followed these rules who suddenly had a traumatic situation in their life they didn't expect or see coming?

Leadership Rapport Skills You Want To Know

Remember those moments in your childhood between not knowing how to do something and then jumping in and instantly gaining a new skill? Diving off the diving board; riding a bike; taking your fist step are all life-changing moments, which required you to feel the fear and go for it anyway. Actually, the younger you were, the less fear you had

Fear Of Failure

The list is lengthy and includes college dropouts, such as Bill Gates, Steve Jobs, and Mark Zuckerberg. Why? There are a lot of reasons. Most stem from the fact that they are (1) willing to try new things, (2) not afraid to “rock the boat,” and (3) they are able to take a bad situation and turn it into a positive and learn from their mistakes