Maximise Potential

Who wouldn’t want to become Smarter, Faster and Better? Considering the number of time management books published every year it seems like the biggest preoccupation with people is how to get control of their lives by managing their time better. As Peter Drucker said a long time back don’t manage your time. Instead manage yourself.  Charles Duhigg is obviously an excellent writer and his journalist background shines through in this book titled "Smarter Faster Better." When you pick up a book like this you want concrete steps to become smarter, faster, better. This book may not be for those who want straightforward point by point tips for higher productivity. However if you want to learn something and at the same time be entertained with stories then this book does work big time. His earlier book “The Power of Habit” was a massive best seller and was also very well written.  Here are the 8 principles with a brief summary. Motivation  –The author mentions Atul Gawand...

Peak by Anders Ericsson and Robert Pool is an absolute gem on how we can all become exceptional performers. If you have read Outliers or Talent is Overrated you know the 10000 hour rule. Well this is based on the research Anders Ericsson did in 1993. His basic argument is 10000 hours was only an average and it was based on his study of great violinists. The point he makes is this was the amount of hours the best violinists in his study put by the time they reached age 20. However he cautions that this was only an average which means there were people below and above that number. He says that Gladwell mentioned that all of them in his study put in 10000 hours which is not correct. He also says this doesn’t mean they were experts based on his observations. In fact he said they still had scope for improvement. His other major point is it is only by age 30 most pianists reached expert level and became internationally acclaimed which means it would have taken them...

We just had one of our most relaxing vacations last week in San Juan, Puerto Rico.  I thoroughly enjoyed it and it created a nice shift in perspective for me on life in general. I thought I would jot down what I liked and learnt. Here are my lessons from the trip. Don’t cram too many activities  – It was a refreshing change and one of our best vacations because we decided that there was no schedule and we are not going to cram activities. It was a vacation from the schedule and it was refreshingly relaxing. Letting go of schedule pressures and just being in the moment is pure joy.  Don’t be in a hurry  –I confess I needed a reminder on this. Our informal tour guide reminded me that it is island time here even a coffee might take time to be served. He just told me to relax. I guess this is a great lesson for me. Sometimes we are in a hurry to get everything done and then do even more. However this was a good reminder to just let go.  Be present ...