Habits....

"Do everything that you don't like doing' - that's what he said. That the only difference between the successful and the unsuccessful was that the former did EVERYTHING that the latter did not like to you. He talked about a purpose at all times in your life. And then he talked about "habits" - success is all about the habits that you form. Suresh Nair - a trainer said all this in an ICICI training session...not to dwelve any deeper than this..he was fantastic in the first dvd that I watched in Daman...atleast was successful in making me feel miserable at the end of it all...but I am happy because he really ripped me apart from within...so much so that I am now actually ready to do a lot more than what I was doing. Good. Thank you God. Coming back to what I learnt from him...'Successful men make a habit of everything that they don't like to do so that they don't end up 'not' doing it'. It will take an effort to do somthing for 5 days, probably also for the 6th day but not after it has become a habit. It is so very easy to form habits..isn't it? Keep on doing something over and over again until you get used to doing it...and then there is no more effort from your side..it just goes as mechanical as you would want it to be. Just as you want. Just as you started. Until the time it became a 'Habit'.

Let me do a sense check now...

How many times do I like waking up early in the morning at 5 in winters?

How many times do I want to sit till late in the office and work and plan for the next day?

How amny times do I want to actually get into the problem solving mode and take everything that comes in the way of my project as a problem and solve it as if it was my own life's problem?

How many times have I thought of reaching office at 6.30 in the morning and complete the pending work that has been there?

How many times have I set up calls amongst all stakeholders to get everyone on the same page when things seemed to go wrong?

How many times have I been a part of the hiring process to actually make sure the people hired are with the right skill set for my project?

How many times did I go and sit in the training room to check if the trainers were good enough to train my team for the work they are hired for?

ZERO TIMES.

Well, digging deep is fine. Acting upon is important. All the best to me.

And to all you guys out there who want to get down one level deeper into your work, if you haven't already. And if you already do, then well...probably I was not close enough...but what the heck..am coming there....:) soon! And you know what, I better do. I will first begin with saying this over and over again so that I have that mind to always do a sense check..been long actually...you realize when things go wrong, you realize when you don't come up to your expectations, you check when you falter...why always only then? Why not much before..why not everyday? I am yet to live on that edge when I have a purpose everyday at work. Talking of purpose...well..let's dig further....my purpose, like so many other people is pretty subjective and not always monetory. This was one point where I did not agree with Suresh nair completely. You cannot go on and on only with a single track mind of a monetory purpose or goals in life that only revolve around what car have you upgraded to or what plot have you bought recently. While I am really passionate about my work, I am equally engrained to my other life. Its not about money always - its about the peace you get and how you get. The contentment that you get out of doing small things in life. ACtually contentment of doing what your heart wanted you to do. That's bliss.

Two completely different mindsets? Not really if you ask me. One leads to another. Atleast I think so.

Surprises

....sometimes my boss really gives me surprises..the whole day we discussed an excel sheet - digging it to the core...talking of numbers and plans and everything else - all because we wanted to figure out a way to procure 20 systems for the next batch that begins in october....he called up in the evening to start my day at 5 am in the morning (by the way, am anyway starting my day at 5.00 am these days because i have a call to attend at 5.30 am) - and a while back, I get a message from him which reads - you will either have a good night sleep or a great start tomorrow morning because we have got all those 20 systems blocked.

Well, sometimes your boss is the sweetest person you know. :) cheers!

Panick button ON

My panich button is on now - I leave tomorrow and I have not started packing. Melbourne is pretty cold - 1-2 degrees these days, which means I have to be packed with winter clothing. All I did in so many days was get my business suits dry cleaned. The real fight begins when I have to pack them. For a limit of 20 kgs as the weight, I can't do justice to my ward-robe. Anyway, we will see - still some hours before I begin packing.

Last two days in Jaipur were hectic - working for 8-10 hours at work and then travelling to and from (Delhi-Jaipur). It is fun to be busy but not at the cost of physically draining yourself to a point when all you want to do is crash. And then managing the travel of so many people in the team was a challange too. The first batch of 8 people flew yesterday, some 9 fly today and remaining of us - a count of 9 fly tomorrow night. Pooh....

Back to travel readiness, still some things that I gotta buy today - one more SD card, a muflar (where do I get that in peak summers), silk scarfs for my customer, serum for my hair, and small bottles of shampoo and conditioner - guess that should be it.

Folks, am gonna catch up soon...until then be good.

Delhi-Jaipur-Delhi

After my last trip to Singapore 5 years back, this short official trip to Jaipur was the first of it's kinds for me. It is tough to be among so many people but at the same time, it is tough to be alone as well. With that note, let me tell you my experiences.

Monday morning I woke up at 3.15 am to be ready at 4.00 am - I was a zombie because I had slept only around 12.30 the previous night. The cab was right outside my door around 4.15 am. Picked up my boss from his place near east of kailash and off we were on the Delhi-Jaipur highway. The next 5 hours went by in discussing work and working on our respective laptops (it ain't greatest of ideas to travel with you boss!) - we hit jaipur around 9.30 - went to the hotel for a shower and change and were back in office at 10.30 am. The grilling began then. Until 4.30 in the evening, there were meetings one after the other. A quick lunch at 4.45 pm and back for workouts, training session and by the time, it was 7.30 in the evening, I almost felt I will crash. With my tummy not in the best of health, I had to be very particular in what i was eating. After ordering food in the room, eating it half heartedly, popping the 2 medicines which are a routine now for last one week; I finally crashed into bed around 9.30 only to wake up at 5.15 am next morning. I hate it when I am up that early..and I am usually up early, real early. Skipped my breakfast and reached office at 7.45 am again. Until late afternoon, we were busy in meetings. Around 5, my boss comes and tells me that he intends staying for another day. I panicked. The roads to Delhi were blocked some places and I couldn't have taken a chance alone since he wasn't travlling alone. In lfat 5 minutes, I booked myself in IA and reached delhi at 7.00 sharp. People, it is sometimes a bad idea not to carry your camera with you...you come across such brilliant frames...the sky was exceptionally beautiful yesterday..with a silver lining. I did carry my mini cam but could not capture what I wanted to...will post the pictures sometimes soon...you know how my schedule was so all I could click was the view outside my room's window and some things within the room...can you imagine going to a place like jaipur and coming back without shopping? Do that because I just managed to do that. And needless to say how much I hate it.

Updating Myself Today...

Someone wrote to me - WRITE, the Net misses you!

And I realized how irregular I had become in writing posties for my blog - a place I created with so much of passion to just write anything and everything I wanted to. Guess my focus shifted on photography for some time but that definitely is no excuse. I guess I just was trying to make peace with myself through my hobbies. I do that most often. Why peace with myself? Don't ask - there is nothing yet there is something. Experiences of all kinds leave me thinking so much more than I should.

On the work front, things have become crazily hectic - am onto a new account...I guess the day I wrote the posty on 'Hanging on'...God heard me and loaded me with what i wanted to do. Just that when I have it with me, I fear if I will focus 100%. I have been, so far! Don't want to fail, don't want to be a mediocre, don't want to just do something for the heck of it. I know I have invited trouble big time by writing this here. Ye people, am ready. I want to write and so I write. So with banking deep-dive, am hoping I will hold the fort for long and with confidence.

Personal front, very little time to myself. Lot of time to my hobbies. Physically unwell - stomach infection for last 2 weeks - finally having medicines given by my Doc.

So many things still that I need to take care of.

Priority # 1 - get ***** out of my life completely and all. It sucks. It actually does.

Priority # 2 - March 20th deadline long gone - its May. Shame on you Mona. Next week on, I should atleast be going 3 days a week to the gym. Saturday, Sunday and Wednesday.

Priority # 3 - Get Mishi to do her holiday homework and set up a routine for her. She just is in the middle of nowhere these days...watching tv and roaming around and playing...

Mix of GOODIES!

I don't even feel like mentioning the schedule that is ON for me since monday...hoping I will find sanity in some days. But the weekend was great.

How can I miss the goodies - last friday was a great day for me. The team went for an offsite to Club Western in Manesar. Had one helleva time - from playing treasure hunt to cricket (Ahem, I was the maximum scorer), tug of war, blindfold, Egg Bachao Andolan...etc. Nice resort, has lots of open space. I did some click clicks too - of people in different poses..am really keen on posting them after I am done with few edits on them. Evening the team decided to watch 'Dus Kahaniyan. Gawd..sleazy stories...not at all worth a watch.

Saturday was a family day out for us - me, manish and Mili spent almost about 6-7 hours in the mall..shopping for winter wear..followed by a great italian lunch, and then a movie 'khoya khoya chand'. This one was somewhat nice. Songs were nice too. (missed my music classes! :() Sunday was Mishi's annual sports day. It is amazing to see your kid on the stage performing..she had eye contact with me even from across the ground where she was dancing to the tunes. Mommy had tears in her eyes..my kiddo is growing up and she amazes me always. I am just so crazy about her and will once again reiterate the fact that motherhood has given me a feeling that I will cherish lifetime. It is so good to be a mom, so good that you actually are proud of yourself. Every mom should be proud of herself.
More on little Mishi. The other day she went on and on - mumma why did kuch kuch hota hai (Kajol) have two boyfriends? She apparently calls the leads of the movies with the title names..like for her ta ra rum pum is Saif, Shar rukh khan is Om Shanti Om etc...I adore her inquisitive self.

Ok, break...the goodies still going on..I got to know on Monday that I got a Gold award from one of the business leaders. It was a wonderful surprise. The year at work has been satisfying performance wise..bragged two silvers and one gold...if and only if that's the way you gauge how you performed...kind of a stamp to your hardwork and perseverence. Though I would never agree to it. It is much more than getting the recognition. But am glad i got it. As long as it makes a difference and makes you feel worthwhile.

Now the trip uphill - almost freezed on Monolith resorts in Bhimtaal. Seems like a nice place. Thanks for the recommendations folks. I know I will feel a lot at home there. ;-)
And yeah - gotta go to mountain trail, chauti, and that shiv mandir in mukteshwar. I hope I manage to go there - at a distance of 45 km from bhimtaal, don't think it should take more than 2 hours. Actually depends on fog and all a lot.

Time to break - gotta get back to work...actually no, let me be home. :-)

Submission Storm

.the silence here is only when there is storm elsewhere! Mmmmm….and you know where. Infact, people seem to know a lot more than I expect, which in a way makes you feel good. :D This is not the kind of post I would want to write..but just the sake of remaining connected, here goes….

RFP Submission time – it is back to 18 hours at a stretch. The only good thing that happened yesterday was that the guy I was working with late night decided to treat me with a good dinner from dana choga…so it was a nice kadai chicken, paneer masala, and butter naan. (Awright, I know how many calories!) But it subdued the pain that was beginning to rise..you know the usual hunger pangs when you don’t have lunch and until 11, there is nothing like food smelling anywhere around. To add to it, when some VP gives you a bull and tells you what you need to do as part of your job. And when you know your kiddo is alone at home, missing you. I tell you – it ain’t funny. Not easy either. And much as we would want to get away from such situations, you gotta do it because your job demands it. With the next role change, it is going to be so every day and I think I should prepare myself for it. At the same time, when the team you are working for is passionate, everything else really doesn’t matter. So, I look forward to another long day today. 

Catching up on the past weekend, did I tell you that my birthday party was a super duper hit. We danced until 3.00 am…and so very many people. Jlo, love you for making an effort…I know it wasn’t an easy day for you…Divsy looked rocking in the red T and newly rebounded hair…reminded of the lost times…and I would soon catch up on those one million thoughts that went by in you mind soon…not to forget the little divsy with her cute cap. Aawargi.....3 is her number…changed thrice for the party saying she din’t think she looked good enough. She is such a brat…her enthu spreads like fire. Bhai and Pinky danced a lot..it was good bonding with them…I was a little senti on bhai…after a long time, I saw him relaxed and enjoying….ok..now the booze…for starters we had cranberry breezer, followed by beer…and ending it up with tequila shots.

Another party this Friday at my place – looking forward to dancing and my submission will be done.