NARA'S NOTEPAD

VOLUME 17

FEBRUARY 2021

NUMBER 2

 NARA'S NOTEPAD

IS 

SUPPORTED BY READERS LIKE YOU

 

LIFE IS A COMBINATION 

OF 

IGNORANCE AND KNOWLEDGE

SPONSOR

 

Prof. S. Thamburaj Ph.D

Former Dean, Faculty of Horticulture, TNAU, Coimbatore

11, Vaiyapuri Illam, Sabapathy Road, Saibaba Colony

Coimbatore 641 038, ph. 96007 39443

SENSE OF COMPLETION

 

“Success is completion. Success is being able to complete what we set out to do – each individual action, each specific step, each desired experience whether a big project or a very small errand,” said Susan Collins. I do not know who this person is. However, the quotation illustrates the importance of completion or finishing.

 Yes, when we complete an activity or task we reach a stage of success or failure. It is very evident in the field of sports. Before entering into the competition, one has to do hard work of practice for which coaches are engaged for training. Any game starts between two individuals or teams. One of them wins and becomes successful and the other one loses and gets defeated. In fact, both teams completed their tasks to their full ability, but both cannot win at the same time. In a running race or cycling the sports-person tries to complete the race whether they come first or tenth because the sense of completions is the satisfying success.

Similarly, a big or small project is started with an aim to complete. Projects like the construction of buildings, roads, railway lines, bridges, aerodromes, etc., etc. are initiated with a goal to complete in a stipulated time period – may be in months or years. Delays may occur due to various reasons. Such delays may cause inconveniences to common people. There are many cases like that we see with our own eyes in everyday life. Complaints are filed; sometimes the complaints even go to courts to find a solution. So the sense of completions is defeated by the incompletion.

Although incomplete works always nag at us, some people do not bother about them. Still, they live a happy (?) life. It is not true. Internally they are unhappy and worried. On the other hand, if they planned properly they could complete the tasks and be happy and satisfied. Reading a book, hearing a song, writing a letter, painting a picture, seeing a film – are some of the simple tasks we undertake in our life. Some of us start reading a book and leave it in the middle and fail to complete it. Similarly, we start hearing a long song and will not hear it till the end. Writing a letter or e-mail is left incomplete due to some reasons or other as a result those activities not done fully. Even many unfinished paintings are seen everywhere. We do see films but sometimes we will not sit through the end of it. Therefore the sense of completion is not felt in these cases.

 It is always advised that something one starts should be completed so that we get satisfaction and a sense of success and job. Completing an activity or a task or a project is considered the best policy in one’s life. Procrastination is one of the handicaps for completing tasks. Multi-tasking is another factor affecting the completion of activities. One has to, therefore, be careful in these factors to get the sense of completion. However, much we try to complete our work; at times it remained unfinished and incomplete. Hence, if we understand the advantages of completing a task then we will be able to succeed and progress in our lives. - NARA

TRAITS OF EFFECTIVE PEOPLE - STRENGTH AND WARMTH

 

Strength is a person’s capacity to make things happen with abilities and force of will. When people project strength, they command our respect. Warmth is the sense that a person shares our feelings, interests, and view of the world. When people project warmth, we like and support them...People who project both strength and warmth impress us as knowing what they are doing and having our best interests at heart, so we trust them and find them persuasive. They seem willing (warm) and able (strong) to look out for our interests, so we look to them for leadership and feel comfortable knowing they are in charge. Strength and warmth are the principal criteria on which all our social judgments hinge.

Strength and warmth are in direct tension with each other. most of the things we do to project the strength of character – wearing a serious facial expression, flexing our biceps, or flexing our vocabulary – tend to make us seem less warm. Likewise, most signals of warmth – smiling often, speaking softly, and doing people favours – can leave us seeming more submissive than strong.

 

The ability to master the tension, to project both strength and warmth at once, is rare – so rare, in fact, that we celebrate, elevate, and even have special name for this ability. The ancient Greeks called it ‘the divisive gift,’ from which we get the word “charisma.” Today it goes by different names in different circles. It is called ‘leadership potential’ and in the modern workplace, ‘cool in social settings.’ -  John Neffinger and Mathew Kohut

 

BEING FRIENDLY

 

1.      Smile and laugh to try to put others at ease.

2.      Avoid distractions like constantly checking your phone.

3.      Keep your body language open so you seem approachable to other people.

4.      Ask open questions about the other person.

5.      Listen properly, and show an interest in what’s said.

6.      Maintain a comfortable level of eye contact.

7.      Practice making small talk and stick to positive topics.

8.      Compliment others and comment on their strengths.

 

MAKE RELATIONSHIPS WORK

 

1.      Don’t create stories in your head about what might be happening between your partner and somebody.

 

2.      Don’t snoop on your partner.

 

3.      If you love your partner, focus on your partner’s happiness. Put your partner’s interest before yours. If you do this, he/she will do so too. In relationships and in life, you get what you give.

 

4.      There is a difference between what you see and what is – they’re never the same.

 

5.      Remember, the mind is negative by default. It is normal and human to feel jealous. You can consciously work on your mind to think positive and get rid of jealousy.

 

SELF PRESENTATION

 

How we present ourselves to others is a very important aspect in physical interactions. In fact, most people are overly concerned about the image they display to those around them. Marketers have exploited this kind of consumer behaviors and this explains the abundance of fashion industries, cosmetic counters, diet centers, gyms, as well as drugs and products that grow hair, whiten teeth, freshen breath, remove wrinkles, fade blemishes, whiten skin, and inhibit aging.

GREEN GOALS

 

1. Pledge to make a difference.

2. Buy environment-friendly products.

3. Plant a tree.

4. Reduce electricity and water consumption.

5. Install flow regulation in taps.

6. Manage waste properly.

7. Recycle.

8. Turn off the lights when you leave the room and water while brushing your teeth.

9. Try to go vegan.

10. Do not waste food.

11. Create a vegetable and herb garden.

 

TO QUOTE

 

Civilizations do fall. We have never yet seen one that hasn’t. The difference is that the torch of progress has in the past always passed to another region of the world. But we’ve now, for the first time, got a single global civilization. If it fails we all fail together. – Tim O’Reilly

The people sensible enough to give good advice are usually sensible enough to give none.    Eden Phillpotts

JUST TO LAUGH

 

I was sprawled on the living room couch watching my favorite show on the Food Network. When my husband walked in and saw what I was watching. “Why do you watch these food shows?” he asked. “You don’t even cook.” Looking back at him, I asked innocently “And just why you watch football.”

 

In prison, you spend the majority of your time in an 8' X 10' cell.

At work, you spend most of your time in a 6' X 8' cubicle.

 

In prison, you get three meals a day.

At work, you only get a break for one meal and you have to pay for that one.

 

In prison, you get time off for good behavior.

At work, you get rewarded for good behavior with more work.

LINES I LIKED

 

Ø  In a court system one side wins and the other side loses.

Ø  In a creative field like writing, having a difference of opinion is natural.

Ø  In a democratic country the power flows from the people to the government.

Ø  In a knowledge-intensive world, the only way you can remain ahead is by learning.

 

In a way, we are slaves of our habits!

Meet you next month –2021

Professor A. Narayanan, Ph. D., FISPP

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E-mail: arumugakannu@gmail.com

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www.nara2007.blogspot.com

(NARA’S NOTEPAD)