Ravi Pratap Singh

What's On Your "NOT-TO-DO" List?

India just trounced Australia 4-0 in the recently concluded Tests... in the bargain, they handed the Aussies their most comprehensive series defeat in nearly half a century!

The architects of the Indian team's victory were its young guns - Ravichandran Ashwin, Murali Vijay, Cheteshwar Pujara, Ravindar Jadeja, Shikhar Dhawan, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, and Virat Kohli - each of whom came up with spectacular performances. Among these names, the one player who took me most by surprise with his showing was Murali Vijay.

Now there's never been a doubt about Murali Vijay's stroke-making capabilities and his sound technique. But he has always been a "dasher", supposedly more suitable for the shorter versions of the game - ODIs and T20s - rather than test matches. So seeing him bat for long periods of time in the five-day games and also emerging as the highest run-getter in the series was both praiseworthy as well as inspirational. So what did Murali Vijay possibly do that brought about this sea change in his batting style?

Well, batsmen who have a wide range of strokes invariably get out trying to play one shot too many. Therefore, the key to their success in the longer version of the game primarily lies in their ability to cut out the risky shots from their arsenal. So more than having a "to-do list", these players need to chalk out a "not-to-do list" to succeed - like, not to try and score a boundary off every ball, not to loft the ball in the air early in the innings, not to chase balls wide outside off-stump, etc. Obvioulsy, Murali Vijay got his "not-to-do list" right. And the results show!

Infact, this is true for all of us.

What "NOT-TO-DO" is as important as what "TO-DO".

Personally, I maintain a "not-to-do list" as passionately as a "to-do list". This includes stuff like trying NOT TO jump in and solve issues even when I know that I could do it faster than a team member. By doing so (or rather, not doing so), I give an opporunity to the team member to learn and become independent faster.

Do you have a NOT-TO-DO list? If not, what would you like to put on it???

Protect Your Dream!

Recently I caught up with "The Pursuit of Happyness" on television. Starring Will Smith and his son Jaden Smith, this 2006 film is a biopic based on Chris Gardner's struggle with homelessness while raising his toddler son.

In one scene, Gardner (Smith) manages to find some time before work to play basketball with his son. The kid is really excited and declares that he wants to go Pro. Gardner discourages the boy saying that since he himself was never good at basketball, it was unlikely that his son would excel in the game either. Therefore, he shouldn't be wasting too much time chasing something that he's never ever going to achieve.

And then realising that he has upset his son and shattered his dream, Gardner says:

"Hey, don't ever let somebody tell you, you can't do something. Not even me. Alright? You got a dream, you gotta protect it. People can't do something themselves, they wanna tell you you can't do it. You want something, go get it. Period."

What a powerful life lesson!!!

Watch the video.

 

 

Light of Dawn

Just before dawn is always the darkest hour,
So don't lose hope and let dreams turn sour.

Want the strength of steel? And a diamond's sparkle?
Then walk through the furnace and face cuts with a chuckle.

Darkness is temporary, so keep trudging on,
A few more steps, and you'll see the light of dawn.

 

Back to University - Thanks to MOOC

I just enrolled for a course with the University of Virginia. Sounds cool? But here's the "cooler" part... for company, I will have over 83,000 classmates from across the globe. Yes, you read that right... over EIGHTY THREE THOUSAND!!!

That's the power of a MOOC (Massive Open Online Course). 

A recent development in the distance learning space, MOOCs are increasingly being touted as the future of higher education. Here are the two key reasons that make me too believe in this prediction:

1. MOOCs are delivered online through the web medium and therefore the number of participants for a MOOC is not limited by the size of a brick-and-mortar classroom. No wonder the University could sign up 83,000+ students for a single course. And for us participants, we do not have to travel to campus to undergo the program.

2. Now here's the killer blow. MOOCs are FREE!!! Though participation and assessement methodologies for a MOOC may be similar to that of a regular College/University course, MOOC participants are not required to be registered students of the College/University, and are therefore not required to pay any fee.

Unbelievable? Believe it!

Top-notch Universities like Harvard, Princeton, and Stanford have already jumped on to the MOOC bandwagon. So when are you getting back to University? :)

 

2012 ~ In Six Words

Recently I caught up with the eighth book in the "Six-Word Memoirs" series - "Things Don't Have To Be Complicated: Illustrated Six-Word Memoirs by Students Making Sense of the World".

It was simply BRILLIANT!!!

For those of you who are unfamiliar with the "Six-Word Memoirs" phenomenon, it is a project founded by Smith Magazine that asks readers to tell their life story in just six words. The concept was inspired by the legend that Ernest Hemingway was once challenged to write a novel in six words. He came up with a heart-wrenching “For sale: baby shoes, never worn.”

Containing illustrated six-word memoirs of students from grade school to graduate school, the latest book offers an insightful glimpse into the hearts and minds of young Americans. They tell tales that are innocent ("This school is oh so cool."), romantic ("Spending my day thinking about you."), funny (“Wasn’t born a redhead - fixed that.”), painful (“Said he loved me, he lied.”), profound ("One day it will all end.") and moving (“I’m a Muslim, not a terrorist.”).

Taking a cue from the book, I thought I'd give a shot at encompassing my journey in 2012... in six words each. Here goes:

"T'was one helluva roller coaster ride."

"Conquered more challenges than ever before."

"Steve Jobs' biography kept me inspired."

"Team C2 made me proud... again."

"Travelled less. Read more. Continued blogging."

"Enjoyed playing cricket with my son."

'"Thankful for the people around me."

And finally...

"I'M RARING TO TAKE ON 2013."

So what was your story in 2012? Can you say it in six words??? Go for it... :)

 

Happy New Year!!!

May you soar higher than ever before in 2013... Happy New Year!!!

 

Wishing You A Joyous Ride Ahead... Merry Christmas!!!

 

Raze The Old To Raise The New

New beginnings are almost always traumatic... be it with regards to our lifestyle, career or relationships. So most of us prefer suffering with the known rather than risk starting anew.

This is because the human mind loves the "status quo". It is comfortable with the "routine". And addicted to the "familiar".

While on the other hand, the mind fears the "unknown". It is suspicious of the "unseen". And wary of the "unaccustomed".

Simply put, the human mind is mortally scared of CHANGE!

As a result, even when stuck in the most hopelessly unreasonable position, we seek the safety net of a "compromise" rather than risk failure due to "change". We refuse to see reality even when it stares us in the face. We continue to mend a situation even when we know that things are well beyond repair. We hang on to the rope long after we have crashed to the ground.

Why? Because the mind does not want us to venture into unchartered territory. It makes us believe that a known devil is any day better than an unknown angel. What's worse, it trains us to become comfortable with our uncomfortable situation!

In reality, the cave we most fear to enter may actually hold the treasure we have been looking for all along. Therefore, all we need to get our life back on track is to summon the COURAGE to step out of our "comfortably uncomfortable" present and take up the challenge of building a better (though uncertain) future from scratch.

To achieve this goal, we need to RAZE THE OLD TO RAISE THE NEW. Because every ending heralds a new beginning.

As Lao Tzu said, "What the caterpillar calls the end, the world calls the butterfly."

 

Your Associations Determine Your Destiny

Here is a wonderful post from Seth Godin.

Taking this thought a step further, it can be safely argued that it is not only the people that we are associated with that determines our future. Some of our other associations too play key roles in what we eventually become... like Dave Johnson said, “Where you will be five years from now will depend on the books you read, what you listen to and the people you associate with.”

Words worth delving upon!

Visual Goal Setting

I am a visual person. Which basically means that I am most comfortable when concepts, ideas, knowledge, information and data are presented to me (or, by me) visually.

To give you an example, when I get an idea for a new blog post, the first thing I do is to actually select/purchase a suitable image for the post. And ONLY THEN do I write my first word!

Not surprising, therefore, that even the goals I've been setting for myself over the years have always been put together in some kind of a visual format (charts, diagrams, scrapbooks, vision boards, powerpoint presentations, etc).

I will write another post some day on the virtues of "Visual Goal Setting". Today I'd like to introduce you to a Visual Goal Management Software that I accidentally chanced upon last night - Goalscape.

I downloaded a trial version of the tool to play around with, and must confess, that I am completely hooked. The features are cool; the benefits are immense; and the price is attractive. What more could one ask for?

So all you people out there who would like to set and chase down your goals "visually"... do give Goalscape a try. You could be as impressed as I am.