Thought of the Day

A single day is enough to make us a little larger.

           -- Paul Klee

Thought of the Day

A man can do all things if he but wills them.

           -- Leon Battista Alberti

Thought of the Day

"If you're not failing every now and again, it's a sign you're not doing anything very innovative."

--Woody Allen

Thought of the Day

"We can have more than we've got because we can become more than we are."

--Jim Rohn

Thought of the Day

Life is like an ever-shifting kaleidoscope - a slight change, and all patterns alter.

           -- Sharon Salzberg

Thought of the Day

One man practicing sportsmanship is better than a hundred teaching it.

           -- Knute Rockne

Thought of the Day

"You can't have a better tomorrow if you're thinking about yesterday."

--Charles Kettering 

Thought of the Day

"Don't let life discourage you; everyone who got where he is had to begin where he was."

--Richard Evans

Thought of the Day

"When it is obvious that the goals cannot be reached, don't adjust the goals, adjust the action steps."

--Confucius

Thought of the Day

"Success is a state of mind. If you want success, start thinking of yourself as a success."
--Joyce Brothers

Thought of the Day

"Nothing is Impossible, the word itself says, 'I'm Possible'!"

--Audrey Hepburn 

The Hare & The Tortoise: Old story New Learning

Once upon a time a tortoise & a hare had an argument about who was faster. They decided to settle the argument with a race. They agreed on a route and started off the race. The hare shot ahead and ran briskly for some time.  Then seeing that he was far ahead of the tortoise, he thought he'd sit under a tree for some time and relax before continuing the race.      
                                                                       
He sat under the tree and soon fell asleep. The tortoise plodding on overtook him & soon finished the race, emerging as the undisputed champ. 

                                                               
The hare woke up and realized that he'd lost the race.                
                                                                       
The moral of the story is that slow and steady wins the race.          

This is the version of the story that we've all grown up with!!       
                                                                       
But then recently, someone told me a more interesting version of this 
story. It continues............                                                   
                                                                       

 

The hare was disappointed at losing the race & he did some soul-searching. He realized that he'd lost the race only because he had been overconfident, careless and lax. If he had not taken things for granted, there's no way the tortoise could have beaten him. So he challenged the tortoise to another race. The tortoise agreed.         
                                                                       
This time, the hare went all out and ran without stopping from start  
to finish. He won by several miles.                                   
                                                                       
The moral of the story? Fast and consistent will always beat the slow 
and steady. If you have two people in your organization, one slow,    
methodical and reliable, and the other fast and still reliable at what
he does, the fast and reliable chap will consistently climb the       
organizational ladder faster than the slow, methodical chap.          
                                                                       
It's good to be slow and steady; but it's better to be fast and       
reliable.                                                             
                                                                       
But the story doesn't end here.                                       
                                                                       
The tortoise did some thinking this time & realized that there's no   
way he can beat the hare                                              
in a race the way it was currently formatted. He thought for awhile,  
and then challenged the hare to another race, but on a slightly       
different route.                                                      
                                                                       
The hare agreed. They started off. In keeping with his self-made      
commitment to be consistently fast, the hare took off and ran at top  
speed until he came to a broad river. The finishing line was a couple 
of kilometers on the other side of the river.                         
                                                                       
The hare sat there wondering what to do. In the meantime the tortoise 
trundled along, got into the river, swam to the opposite bank,        
continued walking and finished the race.                              
                                                                       
The moral of the story? First identify your core competency and then  
change the playing field to suit your core competency.                
                                                                       
In an organisation, if you are a good speaker, make sure you create   
opportunities to give presentations that enable the senior management 
to notice you.                                                        
                                                                       
If your strength is analysis, make sure you do some sort of research, 
make a report and send it upstairs. Working to your strengths will not only get you noticed, but will also create opportunities for growth & 
advancement?                                                          
                                                                       
                                                                       
                                                                       
The story still hasn't ended.                                         
                                                                       
The hare & the tortoise, by this time, had become pretty good friends 
and they did some thinking together. Both realized that the last race 
could have been run much better.                                      
                                                                       
So they decided to do the last race again, but to run as a team this  
time.                                                                 
                                                                       
They started off & this time the hare carried the tortoise till the   
riverbank. There, the tortoise took over and swam across with the hare 
on his back. On the opposite bank, the hare again carried the tortoise and they reached the finishing line together. They both felt a greater 
sense of satisfaction than they'd felt earlier.                        
                                                                       
The moral of the story? It's good to be individually brilliant and to 
have strong core competencies; but unless you're able to work in a team
and harness each other's core competencies, you'll always perform     
below par because there will always be situations at which you'll do  
poorly and someone else does well.                                    
                                                                       
Teamwork is mainly about situational leadership, letting the person   
with the relevant core competency for a situation take leadership.    
                                                                       
                                                                       
                                                                       
There are more lessons to be learnt from this story.                  
                                                                       
Note that neither the hare nor the tortoise gave up after failures.   
The hare decided to work harder and put in more effort after his      
failure.                                                              
                                                                       
The tortoise changed his strategy because he was already working as   
hard as he could.                                                     
                                                                       
                                                                       
In life, when faced with failure, sometimes it is appropriate to work 
harder and put in more effort. Sometimes it is appropriate to change  
strategy and try something different. And sometimes it is appropriate 
to do both.                                                           
                                                                       
The hare & the tortoise also learnt another vital lesson. When we stop
competing against a rival and instead start competing against the     
situation, we perform far better.                                     
                                                                       
When Roberto Goizueta took over as CEO of Coca-Cola in the 1980s, he  
was faced with intense competition from Pepsi that was eating into    
Coke's growth. His executives were Pepsi-focussed and intent on       
increasing market share 0.1 per cent a time.                          
                                                                       
Goizueta decided to stop competing against Pepsi and instead compete  
against the situation of 0.1 per cent growth. He asked his executives 
what was the average fluid intake of an American per day? The answer  
was 14 ounces. What was Coke's share of that? Two ounces. Goizueta    
said Coke needed a larger share of that market. The competition wasn't Pepsi. It was the water, tea, coffee, milk and fruit juices that went  
into the remaining 12 ounces. The public should reach for a Coke      
whenever they felt like drinking something.                           
                                                                       
To this end, Coke put up vending machines at every street corner.     
Sales took a quantum jump and Pepsi has never quite caught up since.  

-!~!~!~!~!~!~!~!~!~!~!~!~!~!~!~!~!~!~!~!~!~!~!~!~!~!~!~!~!~!~!~!~!~!~!~!~!~!~!~!~!~!~!~!~!~!~!~!~!~!~!~!~!~!~!

                                                                       
To sum up, the story of the hare and tortoise teaches us many things. 
Chief among them are;                                                 
 

Fast and Consistent will always beat Slow & Steady;              
Work to your competencies; pooling resources and working as a team will always beat individual performers;                     
Never give up when faced with failure; and finally,              
Compete against the situation - not against a rival.             

 

 

Thought of the Day

"If you think you can win, you can win. Faith is necessary to victory."

--William Hazlitt

Thought of the Day

"If it is peace you want, seek to change yourself, not other people. It is easier to protect yourself with slippers than to carpet the whole earth."

--Anthony De Mello 

Thought of the Day

"Become a possibilitarian. No matter how dark things seem to be or actually are, raise your sights and see possibilities -- always see them, for they're always there."

--Dr. Norman Vincent Peale 

Thought of the Day

A person's abilities are tested best when defending rather than attacking.

           -- Takayuki Ikkaku

A to Z of Motivation

Avoid Negative Thoughts, People, Things and Habits.

 

Believe in yourself. 

 

Consider things from every angle and others points of view.

 

Dare to Dream and Dream Big

 

Energy, Excitement and Enthusiaism is in your blood.

 

Family and Friends are hidden treasures ; enjoy these riches.

 

Give more than you planned to.

 

Have a good sense of humour.

 

Ignore Critisism, Ridicule and Discouragement from others.

 

Jump on Problems because they are Opportunities in disguise.

 

Keep up the good work however hard it may seem.

 

Love yourself, just as you are.

 

Make Impossibility a Possibility.

 

Never lie, cheat or steal, always strike a fair deal...

 

Open your eyes and see things as they really are.

 

Prefect Practice makes you perfect.

 

Quitters never Win and Winners never Quit.

 

Reward yourself for every small success and achievement.

 

Stop Wasting your Time and Procrastinating important Goals.

 

Take control of your Life and your Goals.

 

Understand so that you could Understood.

 

Visualize your Goals and Dreams everyday.

 

Win over your own weaknesses and make them as your Strengths.

 

Xccelerate your efforts

 

Yes Yes Yes, Yes you Can and You Will

 

Zap your Stress and Enjoy your Life..

Thought of the Day

Every moment is a golden one for him who has the vision to recognize it as such.

  -- Henry Miller

Thought of the Day

Dream as if you'll live forever, live as if you'll die today.

--James Dean (American motion picture actor, symbol of rebellion, 1931-1955)

 

Thought of the Day

No one can arrive from being talented alone. God gives talent; work transforms talent into genius.

--Anna Pavlova.(1881-1931), Russian ballerina

Thought of the Day

A successful man is one who can lay a firm foundation with the bricks that others throw at him.

 --Sidney Greenberg

Thought of the Day

Dare to be remarkable.

 --Jane Gentry

Thought of the Day

Vision gives you the impulse to make the picture your own. 

--Robert Collier

Thought of the Day

Nobody who ever gave his best regretted it. 

--George Halas

Thought of the Day

Don't bother just to be better than your contemporaries or predecessors. Try to be better than yourself.  

-William Faulkner

Thought of the Day

The greatest discovery of my generation is that a human being can alter his life by altering his attitudes.

--William James (1842-1910), American Philosopher

 

Thought of the Day

There are no great people in this world, only great challenges which ordinary people rise to meet. 

 -- William Frederick Halsey Jr.

Thought of the Day

We cannot become what we need to be by remaining what we are.

--Max Depree

Thought of the Day

Take a chance! All life is a chance. The man who goes furthest is generally the one who is willing to do and dare. 

-- Dale Carnegie

Thought of the Day

A minute's success pays the failure of years.

-- Robert Browning

Thought of the Day

Challenges are gifts that force us to search for a new center of gravity. Don't fight them. Just find a different way to stand.

 -- Oprah Winfrey, O Magazine, October 2002

Thought of the Day

If better is possible, Good is not enough.

Thought of the Day

No one can arrive from being talented alone. God gives talent; work transforms talent into genius.

--Anna Pavlova.(1881-1931), Russian ballerina

Thought of the Day

He who hesitates is lost.

--Proverb

Thought of the Day

If you do not hope, you will not find what is beyond your hopes.

--St. Clement of Alexandra

Thought of the Day

Our greatest glory is not in never falling but in rising every time we fall.

--Confucius

Thought of the Day

Knowing is not enough; we must apply.
Willing is not enough; we must do.
--Johann Wolfgang von Goethe

Thought of the Day

"To be a great champion you must believe you are the best. If you're not, pretend you are."

--Muhammad Ali

Thought of the Day

"The world is round and the place which may seem like the end may also be only the beginning."

 -- Ivy Baker Priest, in Parade, 1958

Nice Thoughts

Thought of the Day

"The activist is not the man
who says the river is dirty.
The activist is the man

who cleans up the river."

~ Ross Perot

Thought of the Day

"It is difficult to say what is impossible, for the dream of yesterday is the hope of today and the reality of tomorrow."

Robert H. Goddard 

Thought of the Day

"The bravest thing you can do when you are not brave is to profess courage and act accordingly."
           -- Corra Harris

Thought of the Day

"Be changed and the world around you begins to change."

Gerald Epstein

Thought of the Day

"I couldn't wait for success, so I went ahead without it."

Jonathan Winters

Thought of the Day

"Only as high as I reach can I grow, only as far as I seek can I go, only as deep as I look can I see, only as much as I dream can I be." Karen Ravn

Thought of the Day

Failure will never overtake me if my determination to succeed is strong enough.
           -- Og Mandino

Thought of the Day

"The only place where your dream becomes impossible is in your own thinking."

Robert H. Schuller 

The Secret : Law of Attraction

Thought of the Day

"Mistakes are the portals of discovery."

James Joyce

Thought of the Day

"Life's challenges are not supposed to paralyze you; they're supposed to help you discover who you are."

Bernice Johnson Reagon

Thought of the Day

"The best way to escape from a problem is to solve it."

Alan Saporta

Thought of the Day

Don't be afraid to give up the good to go for the great."

John D. Rockefeller

Thought of the Day

"There are two ways to live: you can live as if nothing is a miracle; you can live as if everything is a miracle."

Albert Einstein

Thought of the Day

"Some men have thousands of reasons why they cannot do what they want to, when all they need is one reason why they can."

Mary Frances Berry

Thought of the Day

"It's not that some people have willpower and some don't. It's that some people are ready to change and others are not."

James Gordon