Maximise Potential

The following books have a lot of valuable information which can help our personal and professional lives. Here are 5 terrific books I liked reading in February. Thinking in bets by Annie Duke –  This was an informative read. If you have read Thinking Fast and Slow this might sound familiar. Basically, the thesis is the quality of your life comes down to the quality of your decisions and luck. Don’t assume that a bad outcome means it is a wrong decision. Involve others in decision making, create a decision matrix (for example never accept if someone says I am 100 percent certain), and finally say I am not sure. The basic point is uncertainty is the name of the game and you can never really know if your good decision will always lead to good outcomes. There are lots of examples like Pete Carroll the Seattle Seahawks coach making a decision for which the outcome didn't turn out as expected. However, the author successfully argues that the decision was correct even if the o...

All of us have moments of stress. It is prevalent in all areas of our lives. Stress can be caused by anxiety and it may also lead to it. Stress is generally due to a perceived lack of control. It is also prevalent when we feel we don’t have any time. One of the things I have learned is when stress is about to show up just stop everything you are doing and really understand what you are trying to do. Here are some musings on how we can nip the bud of stress. Do something physical –  I have heard a lot people say when you are stressful do some exercise. When you are under stress it is very difficult to motivate yourself to exercise. That’s the reason you are under stress. I would rather try to prevent stress by making physical activity a daily habit. This way it is a habit and since it is daily your chances of staving of stress is far easier. Get a good night’s sleep – If you sleep through 8 hours you are generally more relaxed. So again, prevention is better than cure. Make su...

What makes some people very successful? What are their thought patterns which make them super successful? This is an interesting area I would like to analyze and deep dive. Here are the 12 ways the super successful think and act. As the cliche holds successful people don't do different things they just do things differently. They define what success means to them – This is truly the most important step for anyone to take. Without defining what success means to us it will be very difficult to be content or happy. One of the best definitions of success I have come across is by Earl Nightingale "Success is the progressive realization of a worthy ideal." This means that as long as you are moving forward towards something you want you are successful. It doesn't matter if others think that is success. Only thing that matters is if you are happy with this definition of success. Comparing with others usually doesn't work because we don't know what their definiti...

With 2018 in full swing we all have resolutions and goals we want to achieve. We also want to make sure this excitement doesn’t just last for two weeks but lasts for the entire year. So how do you keep this excitement going for a long time? For me one of the ways to keep this motivation ongoing is to keep reading. Reading is one way to be positive about your future and it is also relaxing for me. It also provides a great relief from the negative news cycles. So here are 5 books I enjoyed reading on leadership, culture, happiness, productivity and entrepreneurship. Lincoln and Churchill by Lewis E. Lehrman -  I think we can learn more from real leaders than leadership theorists. This is a well-written book. The main thing I learned was both had an indomitable will. They also worked crazy hard. Churchill was great at writing but that was not due to innate talent it was due to relentless hard work. Lincoln was a great listener, was humble and at the same time had a desire to suc...

Organizations are the life blood of humanity. Organizations provide all of us a reason to find meaning in our lives. They also impact the world in a positive way. So, it is pertinent that organizations survive and thrive in the future as well. We need both closely knit families and organizations to ensure solid lives for future generations. Here are my musings on what it takes to build the 21st Century organization. Eliminate red tape –  There is no room for red tape in a thriving organization. Bureaucracy no longer works and organizations that want to win should minimize this as much as possible. Reduce friction – Reducing barriers to communication is the key to unleash the imagination of your workforce. Ensure everyone has access to all the information needed to succeed. The only way to overcome friction is to reduce barriers and ensure everyone has a voice. Increase transparency –  As they say beat the news home. It is better to be transparent about substantial chan...