STAY HUNGRY, STAY FOOLISH

 

There is no straight-jacket formula for success. It is an assortment of strategies combined with precision, and of course luck and destiny play  their roles.

When we see the lives of great leaders, it looks that they have not been extra-ordinary to reach to that level.   Only their passion drove them insanely great.           

 

Steve Jobs falls into  this rare category of unconventional leaders. The world is abyss to carve out his difficult lessons. His biographer Walter Isaacson says that he acts as if the normal rules don’t apply to him.

          Jobs’ life is a story of rags to riches. The reason behind why people attentively listen to his words is  that he brought passion, intensity, and extreme emotionalism to everyday life that helped to shape his products viz. iMac, iPod, iPod nano, iTunes Stores, Apple Stores, MacBook, iPhone, iPad, App Store, OS X Lion.


            For me he is an essence of arduous spiritual practices doing silently behind scenes. He abhors the idea of ''market research'' to see what customers wanted. He says that customers don't know what they want until we have shown them. He invoked Henry Ford's line " If I had asked customers what they wanted, they would have told me, Á faster horse !

           His earthly sojourn of 56 years is worth to be remembered. He redefined the way we do personal computing. Now computers not only shrank their size, but envious features were injected  into their circuit boards   making sharing of data & multimedia an effortless spool across all devices and platforms.

          The company, Apple he co-founded in his parents’ garage in 1976 rose as the world’s most valuable company. When asked why he has a tendency to be rough on people, he replies that “look at the results”.   His inspiring leadership could be emanated from the fact that each year he takes his top 100 people on a retreat so as to indoctrinate them with his philosophy. He loves white-boards because they give him complete control of  situation and they engender focus.

         The ads of his products are always unique in a sense that they give much larger meaning. Take this ad appeared in his first marketing brochure : “Simplicity is the ultimate sophistication.”

       His product launch sessions are worth to be watched. Even being in the midst of provocative technological aids, he hates power-point presentations.  His argument is palpable. He says that ‘I hate the way people use slide presentations instead of thinking. People would confront a problem by creating a presentation. I wanted them (his team) to engage, to hash things out at the table, rather than show a bunch of slides. People who know what they are talking about don’t need Power Point.’

           One would never forget his immortal words at Stanford University on June 12, 2005 ”Remembering that I will be dead soon is the most important tool I have ever encountered to help me make the big choices in life. Because almost everything – all external expectations, all pride, all fear of embarrassment or failure – these things just fall away in the face of death, leaving only what is truly important. Remembering that you are going to die is the best way I know to avoid the trap of thinking you have something to lose. You are already naked. There is no reason not follow your heart.”

         At another occasion, he says that “your time is limited, so don’t waste it living someone else’s life.” Though, the fate has mercilessly taken away jobs from the world 5th October 2011 by pancreatic cancer, his pragmatic approach to life continues to inspire succeeding generations.

EMPATHY - THE ESSENTIAL INGREDIENT TO LIVE LIFE AT GROUND ZERO

When you  see people in destitute, you show  sympathy to them which will not mitigate their miseries as they  need the required help for which you must have empathy.

Empathy means step into other’s shoes. It is just like reading their mind and thinking from their perspective. Unless you are at ground zero, you can not think at their level. The moment you think at their level, then you could establish a divine contact with them and whatever the little act of kindness you do,  not only soothe them but  also brings them a tremendous inner joy.

Understanding the problems of others and giving a  lending ear are some of the noble acts which will rise you above beastly existence.

In fact, sensitivity and creativity are twin sisters. The moment you have one, the other comes naturally to you. Having empathy reflects your degree of sensitivity and concern on fellow beings/creatures.  So you must come out from the pre-conceived mindset and start responding in a more constructive way which will leap the otherwise foggy relationships,  whether it is within family or society.

I was awe-stricken when eminent Hindi film hero Aamir Khan who hosted the famous TV show " Satyamev Jayate " started crying while hearing the heart-wrenching stories of a victim in his show. In fact, my eyes were welled up with emotion when I watched the episode titled "domestic violence'. But the cynical media accused him of 'acting' and the director of program Satyajit Bhatkal brushed aside such claims and said that Aamir is a sensitive person. He cries on  regular basis even for the smallest of small things. Like Bhatkal said,  any sensitive person will be moved when he or she listens such heart touching stories

After all, we are all humans blessed with the divine quality of empathy and those who indulge in acts of cynicism should be taught a lesson, of course with more empathy !

BEWARE OF DEHYDRATION

 

The familiar scene in most  of the Indian homes is that water is served only on demand. So it becomes increasingly the individual’s lookout to gauge his/her daily water needs. Neglecting this important fuel crams the body processes.

Water is, in fact, the most important liquid which is  the primary transporter of nutrients in the body. About 70% of human body is water. Health experts say that we could survive without food up to 5 weeks but not more than 5 days without water.

Lack of water in the body immediately affects  the blood volume and thereby burdens the heart and kidney with over-work.

A 2012 study by a team of health scientists led by Lawrence E. Armstrong, Professor of Physiology at the University of Connecticut (U.S) brought out some chilling facts before the world. The research finds that even mild dehydration can alter a person’s mood, energy level and ability to think clearly. The ill-effects of dehydration are equal both in high-energy consumed treadmill walker and a person sitting at rest.

Health experts define mild dehydration as less than 1.5% of water volume in the body. The tests further reveal that our thirst sensation does not really surface until we are 1 or 2% dehydrated.   By that time dehydration  already sets in and shows its impact on our mind and body’, says Prof Armstrong.

When it comes to the cognitive tasks that affect due to dehydration, scientists find that it affects the areas of vigilance and working memory.   Some subjects also experienced fatigue, tension and anxiety when mildly dehydrated.  The impact was found more on females than  males.

When dehydration occurs, the neurons in the brain detect it which signals to other parts of the brain regulating mood. So the solution lies in hydrating the body on regular  basis.

The daily dose of water that our system needs is 8 glasses or 2 liters. The barometer for our hydration level in the body is to check the colour of urine. Healthy urine colour is ‘very pale yellow’. If the urine colour is dark yellow or tan in colour, it indicates a greater dehydration. The study cautions proper hydration for high-risk groups such as elderly people with diabetes and children.

Considering the profundity of the issue, one should not water down this caution !

 

DON'T SKIP THE BREAKFAST !

 

The myth that body is a structure should be removed from the mind before you  ritualize any fitness regimen.

Health experts say that it is not what we eat, but when and how that matters a lot in any weight-loss programme.  It looks a difficult task to control our cravings on what we eat rather than what we should eat.  It is also the timing that plays a crucial role as digestion rhythms are in symphony with nature's cycles.


After a night's dinner, when you wake up in the morning, it is very essential to stuff your system with some food. It means that the fast should be broken soon enough to maintain secretion of digestive juices so that the body maintains optimum level of energy.

But a working day morning is like a sprint for most of us and some of them prefer to skip breakfast to manage their time which is totally foolhardy. This can have a devastating effect on their bodies and sleep rhythms.

Experts say that people who eat breakfast produce more melatonin, a hormone produced by pineal gland and therefore sleep better.

Fitness experts recommend to eat breakfast, preferably fruits. If you are on weight-loss programme, better to start your day with fresh fruit juice - orange, apple, melon, pineapple which supplies the water content, the essential fuel to your body for detoxification.

In an interesting study undertaken in 2011 by a market research company, about 18% of males and 13% of females between the ages of 35 and 54 are breakfast skippers. The research also finds that skipping breakfast may increase a woman's diabetic risk. Another study found that skipping breakfast was associated with hypertension, insulin resistance and elevated blood sugar levels.

The better way to take a leisurely breakfast is to wake up a little early so that the most important food of the day is not fanatically gulped into throat due to paucity of time !