Continuing from where I had left in the last post, I had closed that post with a question – Do Motivational lectures help.
Every teacher or trainer has his favourite teaching aids. Mine is Mnemonics. It is a device such as a pattern of letters, ideas, or associations that assists in remembering something.
Acronyms form an important part of Mnemonics. I sprinkle my lectures generously with acronyms. They not only help the students in remembering, but also bring some levity in a serious discussion.
Just when the audience settles down bracing themselves for a three hours of boredom, I start with a slide which has just one word ‘ KISS’. Expectedly there are giggles. Now KISS is an acronym for “Keep it simple, stupid”. It was used as a design principle by the U.S. Navy in 1960. The KISS principle states that most systems work best if they are kept simple rather than made complicated; therefore simplicity should be a key goal in design and unnecessary complexity should be avoided. I find this principle useful in real life too.
Often our problems seem complex when we look at them in totality. The trick is in breaking them down. Then the problems look smaller and in control. Imagine you lost some money say Rs One lakh. Now it need not necessary be that you lost it. May be you over spent it. But it has created a big hole at least temporarily in your pocket. You do not know how to cover that loss. One lakh looks like a big amount. Now try to break it down. Plan to cover it in two years. If you break it into monthly installments, it comes down to a measly Rs.4000 which doesn’t look that bad. You can now plan to sacrifice your weekly pilgrimage to DeeTee or movies or any other entertainment.
There can be other situations too. The trick is always in bringing it down to the smallest unit. It is up to you to break it down as small as you can.
We often think that setting goals is only for our career. Setting goals is important in our domestic life too. For example, it helps if we quantify our dreams. Instead of dream of having a fancy apartment in a posh locality, we can dream of having a 3BHK in La La Land. We have quantified our dream. Now we can work out the cost of our dreams and tell ourselves how much do we have to bust our ass!
I have an acronym for setting goals too. It is the SMART way.
S – Have specific Goals. They should never be vague.
M – They should be measurable.
A – your goals should be achievable.
R – Make your goals realistic.
T – Your goals should never be open ended, make them Time bound.
I wanted to be an author. But I had no time limit. It took me 50 years to write my first novel. You guys are a lot smarter than me. So always set a time limit. You do not need large sacrifices in life to succeed. Just some simple tweaking here and fine tuning there. Give it a try once. You will realize how simple it is.
Don’t thank me when you succeed. I am old fashioned. A simple cheque would be enough!
It will also help you keep away stress. Imagine holding a half filled water bottle in your stretched left hand. Initially it doesn’t seem hard. But as time passes, the hand starts aching. Stress is similar to this light bottle. Kill it initially itself before it makes your life miserable.
Yes, Keep it simple Stupid.
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