Not really…but I’m taking a break from blogging for a short time. If you have enjoyed the blogs and have any feedback/comments/suggestions, feel free to send me a note at vishal.badiani@gmail.com.

In the meantime, enjoy summer!

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I said those words this week to a close friend and realized something….I don’t say it enough.

I realized that we have important people in our life who either help us, guide us or just listen and the people who are part of our lives on a daily basis often don’t know how much they mean to us. Even though you and I know how important they are, I forget that they don’t know how much they mean to me.

When was the last time you sent a thank you note, email, call or text to someone and to just say thank you….

Thank you for taking the time….

Thank you for listening….

Thank you for checking in on me…

Thank you for asking “how are you?”….

Thank you….

Make someone’s day.

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These are the words that everyone says….not to someone else but to ourselves.

It’s harsh. It’s reality.

But it happens and for some of us we say this on a daily or even hourly basis to bring ourselves down. Our internal conversation that we have is a powerful mechanism, one that can build confidence while also having the ability to shatter us.

A recent conversation sparked the thought process – why are we so hard on ourselves?

A random event typically triggers the negative thought process and the following occurs:

1. We tend to use words such as “I’m stupid”, “I’m an idiot” etc
2. We are very smart….in fact, we are so smart that our brain tactfully links scenarios together from the past and convincingly picks words and sentences to beautiful orchestrate how bad we really are
3. We downplay any positive thoughts. During this negative moment, in our mind, positive thoughts simply do not exist, even though they probably do exist.
4. Within seconds (yes, within seconds!) we have snowballed into a downward spiral and our mind and body wraps around these thoughts and it goes on and on….

Sound familiar?

My opinion is that everyone….. including billionaires, presidents, your boss, teacher, husband, wife or friend goes through this.

Everyone has these conversations.

But everyone manages it differently. Some people need to talk to a friend or anybody about it while others quietly manage it within the confines of their home.

Whatever works best for you, but look to come up with a method that works for you. Here is one:

1. Become aware of your thoughts. What does that mean? Literally, keep a mindful watch of what you are thinking and asking yourself why are you thinking that? Many of us are thinking but not consciously at what we are saying to ourselves. Imagine you are the producer of your own mind and you are watching each scene unfold and listening to every word.

2. Once you become aware of the negative thought, don’t ignore it. Instead, think about it and analyze it. Perhaps make a note of the thought or discuss it with someone safe. I often find that my thoughts are a lot worse in my head and as soon as I start the conversation, the issue is half solved. The point is to not ignore it but rather to pin point the key source of the thought process. Is there a root to the challenge?

We have high standards for ourselves and let’s be honest, your biggest critic is you. Next time you face a challenge like this, don’t be too hard on yourself.

You are much better than you think.

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On the summer of 1963, 250,000 people showed up to see Dr. Martin Luther King – there were no invitations sent out or website to view, how did that happen?

How do great leaders inspire action and how do some companies inspire some individuals to wait in line for 7 hours to buy a product even though the week after they could walk into the store and buy it then?

In the following video, Simon Sinek explains the golden circle:

1. Why – very few people know why they do what they do. This is not why you are making a profit but why your company exists and more importantly why you get up every morning
2. How – some know how they do it
3. What – every single person knows what they do

Inspired organizations regardless of industry and size, all think, act and communicate starting with 1 through 3 while majority of organizations currently work from 3 through 1. Hence only a few organizations excel in the marketplace.

This is the difference between why we think it would be odd to buy an MP3 player from a computer manufacturer like Dell, even though we buy an Ipod from Apple who is also a computer manufacturer.

The following 18 minute video explains this and more:

Simon Sinek

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Carmine Gallo recently wrote a book entitled “The Innovation Secrets of Steve Jobs” where he reveals the 7 principles that are largely responsible for his success.

Few people had identified these core principles and after Fortune magazine named Jobs CEO of the Decade, I found these principles revealing and very applicable.

Here is a summary of the 7 principles:

1. Do what you love – it’s difficult to come up with new, creative ideas that move society forward especially if you are not passionate about the subject
2. Put a dent in the universe – while passion fuels the rocket, vision points the rocket to its ultimate destination
3. Kick start your brain – creativity leads to innovative ideas and we should seek out diverse experiences
4. Sell dreams not products
5. Say no to 1,000 things – don’t spread yourself too thin, find the career that intersects your passion, skill and ability to make money doing it – once you find it, focus on it, work at it and dedicate to the excellence in that area
6. Create insanely great experiences – carefully review each customer touch point with your brand, and take the opportunity to create more meaningful relationships with your customer
7. Master the message – you can have the most innovative idea in the world, but if you can’t get people excited about it, it doesn’t matter – be a great storyteller

The book goes through details of each of these points and is worth a read.

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This was an interesting story I read about; 28 year old Brendon Moss desperately wanted to travel on Jet Blues unlimited travel pass but unfortunately had no money. He wanted it really bad, so he started advertising that he wanted someone to pay for his flight. Wired Magazine noticed his Ad on Craigslist and in exchange for a ticket, they asked him to blog about his experience for a month.

You can read more here: Wired Magazine

What I learned:
- Anything really is possible….
- After he started blogging, Jet Blue took the initiative to invite him to one of their board meetings to hear about his experiences on travelling with Jet Blue. Jet Blue was able to take some of his suggestions and implement them – that is impressive as they were able to receive free marketing from this initiative
- We often start something but never imagine how the world will react to it – I am sure Jet Blue didn’t think about the impact the 30 day unlimited travel pass would have with its customers but after terminal man, I also came across this story: 30 Days on Jet Blue

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I was recently asked the question, how do you become creative?

I realized that almost all business success relies on creativity, from small start ups to large organizations like Apple, however no one is ever taught on how to be creative. I don’t remember any University or MBA course or any specific training program on creativity.

I found one definition of creativity to be the use of imagination of original ideas.

Did you know that Walt Disney was fired from his first job due to lack of creativity? In my opinion, it just goes to show you, that no one can judge or state who is or can be creative.

I believe that everyone has their own unique way to engage in creativeness. For some, music helps with this process while other studies show that showers (yes, while many people sing in the shower, for some, it helps them become creative), wine, books and time pressure help as well.

I know that I am creative but often don’t realize what actions created the environment that helped me be creative. Creativity takes practice and active awareness to watch when you are creative helps with the process.

We definitely need artists right now who will find new answers and creativity is at its foundation.

I invite you, the next time you find yourself to be creative, watch what actions invoked this creativity and see if the process can be repeated over and over again.

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Composer Eric Whitacre leads a virtual choir of singers across the world.

It shows us the impacts of You Tube and creativity at its best – watch this 14 minute musical performance:

Virtual Choir of 2,000 Voices

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I have a problem, I am constantly running behind and late so I’ve been searching for strategies on ensuring that wherever I go, I arrive on time. It’s actually a good feeling to be on time and not be rushing and more importantly, it feels great when someone you are meeting is on time to meet you.

I usually figure that if someone is late in meeting me that means I may not be as important. My new strategy revolves around ensuring that I make the other person feel important by showing up on time.

My question to you; would you be late if you had a meeting with President Obama (or anyone you look up to)?

My guess, you may show up 15 minutes early…..

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I am learning that we have two ways to increase productivity that are inversions of each other:

1. Limit tasks to the important ones to shorten work time
2. Shorten work time to limit tasks to the important

Best solution is to use both together – identify the few tasks that are critical to complete and schedule them with short and tight deadlines.

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