The Joys of Teaching

Deepest Passion, Common Sense and Uncle Google

2012-02-29T17:16:00.001+05:30

A Story of Mega Success with Google Global Searches

Many of my blog readers have been requesting me to share thesecrets of why my posts get such high rankings on Google search often.

Let me explain in a very short post, the two reasons for this viz. deepest passion and common sense.

Deepest passion

The first thing I did before becoming an entrepreneur was todiscover my own deepest passion. It took time and I finally realized my deepest passion was to inspirepeople to achieve their peak potential. I can do that by a variety of tools like coaching, writing,speaking, training and so on. Personal branding and meditation are the two most powerful tools for mega success.

Even when I checked the global search results for 'deepest passion' keyword/phrase yesterday (after signing out of my Gmail of course), the first pageitself had 3 articles/PPTs from me.

Google check

My articles on Deepest Passion

Common Sense

"Common sense is not common anymore" Anonymous

Google Uncle has become smart and keyword stuffing actuallyirritates Google (and other search engines too). Writing passionate content and using common sensein titling your posts are the most critical elements to rank high on Google. In fact, the kind of pressures weare living with, in the materialistic society of today, we are losing our verycommon sense and many of us have developed clouded thinking. In fact few minutes of silence everyday is the best way to get back your common sense and activate your sub-conscious mind.

Always think from the surfer’s point of view, 'what and why' willhe/she search for. What do you search for on Google will give you a goodidea. People are looking for solutions on Google and you must keep in mind the current problems in society. A good example is, “How to become courageous”

Here are the keywords for which my Blog (and Merinews articles/Slideshare PPTsrank in first 3 pages of Google global search results).

Passion

Deepest passion

Discover your deepest passion

Personal Branding

Personal Branding FAQ

Personal Branding Basics

4Ps of Personal Branding

Good manners for social media (Slideshare)

Recession and personal branding

Softer side of social media

Image management and personal branding (blog and htcampus)
Steps to Global Success

Miscellaneous

Fame, money and power

Emotional Fool

How to become courageous

Mastering self (Facebook page)

Meditation

Meditation FAQ

Meditation charisma

Why people fail at meditation

These techniques are likely to be more useful in personal branding rather than corporate branding. On a lighter note, people are using less of common sense and hardly have passion at the workplaces, so corporates may not benefit.

Note-Google search results keep changing and it is possiblethe results may not appear in 2-3 odd cases, especially after few days ofwriting this post.

So are you ready for Global Success?

Brief Profile
Dr Amit Nagpal is a Personal Branding Consultant & Social Media Trainer. He is based in New Delhi, India and specializes in personal branding with a holistic touch. His philosophy is, "Enlarge as a Human being, Excel as a Social Media being and Evolve as a Personal Brand(ed) being”

Write to him at amitknagpal@gmail.com

Are Japanese and Indians effectively using Twitter? Two Angles

2012-02-28T16:17:00.003+05:30

Japan and India; Personal Branding across Two Cultures

Peter Sterlacci from Japan

Is Japan the Twitter Nation?

Last year I read an article calling Japan "The TwitterNation". Recent data clearly supports this. The number of Japaneseinternet users who tweet is close to 17% surpassing Americans at about10%. Twitter also estimates that Japanese write nearly 8 million tweets a day,which is close to 14% of the global total! Twitter reallygained credibility in the country after the massive earthquake and tsunamidevastated the Tohoku region on 3/11/11. New users flocked to the networkfor real-time information about the nuclear crisis, blackouts, and aftershocks. Now with the huge number of users in Japan, workshops are cropping uphelping individuals to learn the tricks of the tweet as well as companies touse the platform to reach consumers and get feedback.

Clearly the personal and corporate branding potentialfor Twitter is huge in Japan. Here are 5 quick Twitter tips I sharewith my clients in Japan.

1. Use your real name

Japanese originally gravitated toward Twitter as it does notrequire the use of a real name. For personal branding however, Japaneseneed to break away from their preference for anonymity and proudly use theirreal names. Twitter is highly optimized and using your real name ensuresyou show up on Google searches. When using your real name you canlink your Twitter profile to LinkedIn, Facebook, and Google+, all of which havea real name policy, and maintain a consistent and constant presence across allsocial media channels.

2. Create your 160-character story

On Twitter you only have 160 characters to work with onyour profile. For those who write their profiles inthe Japanese language, this is actually a lot of real estate asmuch more meaning can be conveyed with Japanese characters than with English.For example, the 11-character word "information" only requires twocharacters in Japanese. However, the trap people fall into is notcapturing their brand in their profile. Your profile needs to engage people towant to follow you. I recommend a 3-part equation: Tell peoplewhat you do, show some personality, and reveal something personal (but nottoo personal!). Your profile also allows you to add a URL that is notpart of the 160-character limit so make sure to use this for your website,blog, YouTube channel, about.me page, videoBIO, etc.

3. Do not be an "egg head" or pet orcartoon character!

Your actual photo and preferably a professionally donehead-shot is the ideal way to portray your brand on twitter! Twitter isall about human connection. People want to engage with an actual person and notthe infamous "egg" when you do not upload a photo. Japanesetend to like "cute" images and often use a pet or anime (animation)character as their profile photo. If you want to be remembered then beyourself! Also, try to avoid changing your profile photo frequently aspeople remember a consistent image more easily. Remember, a picture says athousand words!

4. Give credit where credit is due

Nowadays, blogs, eBooks, and social media have enabledany one of us to be 'published'. For 2012 William Arruda seespersonal publishing as an important trend for demonstrating thoughtleadership and extending your personal brand. With this increasing trend,it is now more important than ever to share the resources where you havegained your insight, tools, and knowledge. When tweeting andretweeting content always remember to credit the sourcewith '@twittername'. By doing this you are helping to build both yourvisibility as well as the source you are crediting.

5. Avoid "mumbling" and add to thoughtleadership

Interestingly, 'tweet' has been translated as''mumble" in Japanese. This seems to be appropriate for theoften soft-spoken Japanese. However, one of the greatest values ofTwitter is learning from thought leaders and sharing your thought leadership aswell. Nobody really cares if you mumble about just having a cup ofcoffee at Starbucks, but tweeting a link to a great article that helpsothers will build your influence and engagement. Also, avoid retweetingsomething without reading it first yourself! Just because the titlesounds good you may run risk of damaging your thought leadership by tweetingsomething at face value. The objective is not to tweet just to get out'x' number of tweets per day. Quality will always trump quantity!

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Brief Profile
Peter Sterlacci has handled many senior roles including Director-International Outreach at San Jose State University and corporate training before venturing out into Personal Branding in Japan. He specialises in Intercultural Personal Branding and his philosophy is "Empowering you to Believe, Become and Be your Brand"

To know more:-
http://petersterlacci.com/

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Dr Amit Nagpal from India

Indians and Twitter

Have Indians becomeTweeps in real sense of the term?

Twitter still remains more of a celebrity tool in India. Fewpeople use it (mostly to gather news) and out of those, very few use it in thereal sense of the term. Facebook has become extremely popular among all agegroups, Linkedin is becoming very popular among all professionals but Twitterstill faces a question mark. If you ask Indians using social networks, thetypical answer would be, “Who is going to follow me and read my tweets? Whatadvantage will I get by tweeting, after all I am not a celebrity?”

Probable Reasons whyTwitter is not as popular as Facebook is

Many people wonder if the second largest Facebook users arein India (after US) why does India rank 6 on Twitter? Why does Twitter remain amystery to most of the net savvy Indians? Here is a list of probable reasons:-

Indians don’t like to broadcast where we are and what we are doing and in fact use Twitter more as a news gathering tool.
Tweets are being monitored by employers, hence the risk is higher. Facebook is safe for outburst of emotions since it is not public and is restricted to friends.
Language barrier exists as Facebook posts can be done in Hindi also, while not on Twitter.
You can find a Facebook app on every other phone sold in India but twitter apps are not there.
Twitter is more of a broadcast network and doesn’t work well with how Indians perceive social.
Facebook allows you to connect to your friends’ friends a much longer drawn out process using Twitter.
On Twitter where you are exposed to people as individuals – not like groups of people with common interests – or with a feed that is rich in media content.
Most active twitter accounts in India are by mainstream journalists, Filmstars and Cricketers only.
Indians don’t find Twitter appealing also because 140 character limits is not suitable for Indians who like to talk for hours on end together.

Let us understandTwitter

Here are some interesting features of Twitter which very fewpeople use:-

Marking Favourites-You can mark tweets as the favourite tweets, so that they are easily searchable in future.
Direct message-A direct message can also be sent to your followers.
Texting to Twitter via mobile-With Airtel, you can tweet via mobile and also get notifications (mentions and direct messages)
Hashtags- Hashtags (#) serve two purposes viz they categorise your tweet and also become links. They can also help you in participating in Twitterchats.
Follow Friday (FF)-It means you are recommending others to follow the person (or twees of the person).
Twitter Lists-The more popular you become on Twitter, the more you are included in reputed or Tweeple’s lists (of categories).
Mention-It means someone has mentioned your Twitter ID (also called handle). The mention can come in the form of RT (Retweet), FF or someone messaging/replying to you.
Trending-Trending means the popular topics (or hashtags) which are currently being tweeted in a region/country or across the globe.

Twitter tools

There are many Twitter tools for advanced applications viz Twitterfeed,Twellow, Tweetdeck and so on. With the help of these applications, you can scheduleyour tweets, shorten links, check mentions and so on.

Final word

Here are some more suggestions to have an excitingexperience on Twitter:-

With practice, you will learn to communicate and attract attention in 140 characters, though initially it may be difficult for some.
Twitter is highly sophisticated and attracts the cream of social media users including the international and national media. You can search for the best stories and make your story reach the best.
To get Retweeted, you must understand the pulse of the tweeple and generate excellent content or provide excellent links to your followers. Those who do not follow you can also retweet you if they find your tweet through hashtags/search (and like it of course).
You need to learn the twiietr culture and manners. For example it is a good practice to thank people for the Rt of your tweet.

Bestof tweeting.

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Brief Profile
Dr Amit Nagpal is a Personal Branding Consultant & Social Media Trainer. He is based in New Delhi, India and specializes in personal branding with a holistic touch. His philosophy is, "Take charge of your life and your brand.” He writes a blog, ‘The Joys of Teaching’

Interview with Mr Goodnews Cadogan, Executive Leadership Coach, South Africa

2012-02-28T14:07:00.000+05:30

Tell us something about Centre for Courageous Authenticityin leadership.

The Centre for Courageous Authenticity in Leadership wasborn out of my experience (shared with that of my co-directors, MsVuyokazi Menye: CIO at the Mondi Group & MsNtombekhaya Dayimani, Supply Director at Sandoz Pharmaceuticals) with manyleaders displaying lack of courage to execute their mandate, in the face ofresistance. On the other hand, they fail to ‘come-out’ and be who they are, anddecide to blend-in with the dominant systems of their organisations, howevertoxic they may be.

Our mission at the CCAL is, through our quarterly advocacyseminars, to raise the level of awareness of the contribution of lack of leadershipcourage, to the ineffectiveness of leadership in organisations, whereby theylimit the growth potential of organisations they serve. The second aspect ofthis opportunity gap lies in the opportunity to transcend currenttransformational challenges at an individual level and at other levels ofexistence in their organisations (team, clusters, business units andenterprise-wide). In South Africa, organisation transformation, in the contextof our divided past, in the form of selective access to opportunities, on thebasis of race, gender and other socio-economic factors, including adverseconditions for the disabled.

Economic development at both micro and macro levels is stilllimited by the subtle filters through which the large population of previously disadvantaged(and most would argue, that they are still disadvantaged) is viewed by thosewho still play a major role in decision-making, and choices large organisationsmake regarding product and service offerings. The few who make it to the top ofthese influential organisations, still do not emerge unscathed, for they losetheir own authenticity, in their quest to fit-in. The sum effect of this, youhave a large number of leaders who lack the courage to take the calculatedrisks to grow their businesses. They even lack the courage to take the peoplerisks that would allow emerging leaders to operate to their full potential ~ noone is ever ready, according to this status of affairs!

Apart from raising the level of awareness regarding lack ofcourage and authenticity in leadership, we are busy designing programs thatwould allow the current crop of leaders, both experienced, and the new-comers,to own and transcend the debilitating fear that they have, so they can operateat full potential, and never fear to come out, for the benefit of theirorganisations. This applies equally to private sector (profit-driven)organisations, public sector (public and social services delivery-driven),non-profit organisations, as well as co-operatives, including government in itsvarious forms.

It is our aim to be a fully-fledged private Universitywithin the next five years, offering advanced studies in courage &authenticity, and offering Research Fellowships sooner, to practicing andretired leaders and professionals.

How do you facilitate change at an individual level?

The way I facilitate change at an individual level isthrough intimate support to executive leaders and young professionals(leadership coaching). This is driven by a 360 degree leadership assessment,with contributions by the leader, peers, team members they lead, the boss andthe boss’s boss. Through conversations and these results, I am able to guidethe leader to look within for solutions to their challenges. Furthermore, Iguide the leader to look deep into their preferred leadership behaviour, aswell as their underlying assumptions about self, people, systems and the taskachievement capability.

Over a period of 12-18 months, I am able to work with theleader to overcome some of the hurdles that prevent them to be who they can be,in dealing with both people (relationships) and (task) achievement challenges.I encourage them to read widely, and communicate their intentions for theirjourney openly, so as to be able to create an enabling environment wherefeedback becomes fuel for their personal transformation journey.

Share some interesting experiences you had with clients especiallyin individual change and conflict resolution.

It is the shock with which the leaders receive the feedbackthat comes from the environment in which they operate, and the way they reactto it, that fascinates me. Most want to give up & externalize thechallenges thrown at them via the structured feedback I give, by attributingmost of what does not work, to others. They go through the various stages, similarto those that human beings go through when faced with a terminal condition ordeath (Elisabeth Kubler-Ross):

Denial & Isolation

Anger

Bargaining

Depression

Acceptance

My facilitation process involves getting them to theAcceptance stage, and accepting that what they go through at that point, ispurely human, and for them to get through to being High Performance Leaders,they have to transcend the feedback from the environment, and go for whom theycould be, based on their human potential.

It is when they arrive at the point of acceptance, and startto reflect on some of their own experiences, and revelations, that I get themost joy out of my work. In quoting one leader, they said: “In the whole of mycareer life, I have never had to look at my leadership journey in this way- Ithank you Goodnews, for helping me to see”.

I have started to work with dysfunctional teams, and throughthe process of discovery, they emerge to be one of the best executive teams,being brutally honest with each other, without harming each other’sself-esteem. It is when the team gels, and starts to deliver beyond the constraintsof their individual egos that I get to feel overjoyed for the role I haveplayed in facilitating their transformation. It is even higher levels of joywhen they get to value the role they play in both their organisations, and thecommunities they serve.

What exactly does Village Leadership Consulting do and whatis your role in the organisation?

At The Village Leadership Consulting we consult in the areasof leadership development, change management, organisation transformation anddiversity management. We have structured & semi-structured leadershipdevelopment programs that we offer to our client organisations. Furthermore, wealso offer individual and team coaching, in our quest to create highperformance leaders and organisations.

My role is to offer all of the abovementioned programs andsolutions to our clients, at various levels of organisation existence, fromindividual coaching to enterprise-wide program management initiatives. It is myrole to perform business development initiatives, as well as public speaking,writing of articles, and representing my company in professional organisations.

What are the primary activities of Asian Foresight Institute?

AFI- As a second generation foresight institute the AFIconsciously integrates philosophy, foresight and strategy and fostersrelationships across a broad spectrum of individual futurists, private thinktanks and academic establishments.

This extensive network of strategic foresight practitionersenables us to advise governments and business leaders and to inform the publicabout future patterns, trends and choices from inclusively global (ratherthan exclusively Western) perspectives. Thus the work of the AFIattempts to counterbalance the prevailing Eurocentric paradigm ofcivilizational progress pursued within the guise of industrial economism (includingits associated beliefs, ideologies, values and assumptions) that stillunderpins most global policy initiatives and which we believe to befundamentally flawed.

Tell us something about your interest and contribution inclimate change.

Climate Change became part of my interest as a result ofsustainability being one of the most important parts of leadership. I built astrong network with various experts who contribute one way or the other, toglobal climate change thought-leadership.

I advise my clients and link them up with sources ofbusiness intelligence, to inform their long-term strategies through the work Ido with the Asian Foresight Institute. Locally, I participate in the structuresand coalition organisations, to add to the national debate on climate change.

Thanks a lot Goodnews for sharing your wonderful knowledge and experiences. It was a pleasure interacting with you.

Brief Profile

Goodnews is an executive leadership coach and helps hisclients to focus on finding solutions within, rather than finding fault withthe environment. The ultimate goal for him is to create high performanceleaders, teams and organisations that contribute to the transformation of theSouth African economy.

To know more:-

Facebook page

website

blog

Twitter, @ndaba

Twitter2,@forcourage

Asian Foresight Institute

COMENSA

YouTube

Interview with Paul Copcutt, Personal Brand Architect, Canada

2012-02-24T13:51:00.000+05:30

1) I saw two unusual terms on your Linkedinprofile viz. new world of work and authentic networking. Please explain them inbrief.

New world of work - Dan Pink wrote aboutthe new world of work in his book A Whole New Mind several years ago. The factthat if your job can be done faster by a machine or software or cheapersomewhere else in the world, you need to differentiate now or that job will notexist. We saw a rush of this ‘outsourcing’ prior to the global economic crisis.But now what we are seeing as companies come out the other side is the realimpact of this. Companies are not re-hiring at the same levels or positions asthey were pre-recession. They do not need to and have found other ways to getthe work handled, be it outsourcing or the remaining employees doing more withless. This makes the need to personally brand even more critical as the jobmarket becomes even more competitive.

Authentic networking–technology has enabledus to connect much more easily and readily. But with that comes responsibility.Just because it’s easier does not mean we should lower standards or forgoe theultimate reason for networking – to give. You still have to approach networkingwith an authentic mindset, not what’s in it for me but how can I best help?

2) How can corporations use personal brandingwith employees as an engagement and retention tool? How do you help them inthis area?

Almost every organization is acutely awareof the challenges it faces over the next few years with regards to talent acquisitionand development – ensuring that their future leaders are being stimulated andretained within the organization.

Very few however have made the connectionbetween the use of personal branding and employee engagement. This is in partdue to the mis-conception that personal branding is going to be used by theemployee to develop the necessary visibility and credibility to make a moveelsewhere.

In fact the use of personal branding insidean organization is the perfect match for the direction that the market isheading and with where the demographics of the future talent pool lies. Boomersare retiring at increasing rates and those that are sticking around to worklonger in many cases seek many job variables that cannot be satisfied bytraditional approaches, for example even though telecommuting has been shown toincrease productivity and retention in North America it’s adoption isstagnating in terms of percentage of the workforce being allowed even one dayof remote working.

The talent pool of future leaders lies inthe under 35 year old age group. The most technologically advanced,non-conformist and individual generation (yet!). They shudder at the thought ofbeing the same as others, they want challenge and variety, whilst still findingan employer that understands that their values and causes are important andsupported and that they can connect and communicate at all levels internallyand externally with openness (see the rise of corporate sponsored blogging asan example). And they are not afraid to ask for what they want and move on ifthey do not get heard.

Enter personal branding – built aroundbeing authentic and from a strong foundation of building on unique strengthsand skills it is a natural fit for the employee that wants control over thedirection of their career, but still stays true to what they believe and standfor and encourages them to be themselves.

In our work with many organizations this isthe first opportunity to design what their work should look like and employeesthat go through the personal branding process recognize and appreciate theinvestment in their future that their employer is making. It’s not just anothertraining session, but something that provides them with a concrete career planthat can be followed and they were responsible for creating – the ownership andaccountability is the employees.

Corporations that have embraced the conceptfully, now take it to the next level and incorporate the personal brandingreview as part of any other annual review process, and even drill down toquarterly ‘check-ins’. Others have eventaken the branding approach to the team stage and looked at creating teambrands and messages that can be understood internally, helping everyone toappreciate each others part in the company’s success.

3) You believe, “Your leadership brand is whatothers say it is” How do we ensure that others validate us the way we want?

By ensuring that in every interaction,every touch point, every time someone comes across you in any form or mediumyou deliver on what you say and want your leadership brand to be.

4) What are the 8 pillars of Personal BrandLeadership?

The 8 Pillars of Personal BrandingLeadership

Persona – identifying how you interact andbehave with others.

Emotional – being aware of your values andpassions. What is at your core.

Reason – defining why you do what you do.Your vision and purpose, what drives you.

Strengths – leveraging what you do best.Yourunique skills and greatest strengths.

Others – listening to what others perceiveof you. Knowing who to reach, your target audience.

Network – managing your relationships.Building,maintaining and saving.

Action – putting it all together and movingforward.

Leadership – the sum total of all thepoints. What others say is your leadership brand.

5) Tell us about your current projects.

My work is split fairly evenly betweenspeaking on the latest developments and interpretations of personal branding atconferences and events. I am also regularly delivering workshops and keynotesinside organizations and then working with teams and individuals in a coachingcapacity to help them develop and build their personal brands.

6) Tell us how is the field of personalbranding changing and evolving in the eastern and western parts of the world.

When I first got involved in personalbranding almost a decade ago it was very much viewed as a North American approach.Even more so the Canadians and Europeans while open to the concept were morereluctant to embrace it with the same vigor that Americans were.

As opportunities have become much moreglobal and the movement of people more common there has been more interest fromthe East in the approach and how it can be used to manage careers. I am gettingmore client interest from Asia and a slow realisation that the more traditionalways of finding work do not apply as well and that an extra level of knowledgeand edge needs to be reached.

Social media has helped to amplify this.However this is a double edged sword. There are far too many ‘experts’ runningaround telling us that Social Media = Personal brand. It doesn’t. Just the sameas the fact that marketing via social media is not the complete answer forproducts and services, it’s another medium, but not a replacement forestablished brand foundation and development.

Thanks a lot Paul for sharing your wonderful insights and experiences.

Brief profile

Paul Copcutt first aligned with personalbranding after reading Tom Peters 'Brand You 50’ in 1997. Described as ThePersonal Brand Architect he is fiercely committed to helping people takecontrol and build their careers and businesses by design not chance. Now asought after speaker and media resource he has been featured by Forbes,Reuters, the Wall Street Journal and Elle. He speaks, writes, coaches andconsults on the subject of personal branding with corporations, organizations,conferences and individuals across the globe.

Facebook www.facebook.com/personalbrand

Web: www.paulcopcutt.com

Blog: www.justmytooniesworth.com

I am not Smart Enough to Quit

2012-02-23T14:33:00.001+05:30

A Guest Post by Bob Rees, The Innovator -Bubble Bob

It's kind of funny, I was out in my garage working onanother idea and that one didn't work the way I wanted it too (not good enoughto impress), and the bubble toy (garage built version), sort of just clicked in my brain. I made one and tested it in my garage..then I waiteda few minutes to try it again, to see if the results were the same (making surethe first time wasn't just pure luck)..and it still worked..then I thought tomyself, well I have two sons, I better make two of them.. :)

I took them (bubble-worms) into my house (dining room) and placed a towel on mykitchen table, wife and boys didn't know what I was doing.. I let my boys playwith them, and I still remember to this day..my oldest boy who was only 8 yearsold at the time...said "Dad..the grill's ok..but this is going to make youmoney"..so what did I do..continue making the grill better because thatwas in my world (camping, outdoors, etc)..

Note: The grill was just prototype 1 of thegarage built that he was comparing to. :)

I finally made an appointment with a patent attorney..to show my portable grilland collapsible charcoal chimney (garage built versions), and for some reason Idecided to take one of the bubble-worms with me (garage built)...so afterspending about 1 1/2 hours talking about my grill, I finally asked my patentattorney if I could show him another idea (bubble-worm) So I did..hiseyes lit up and he got up from the table and said "That's it"...I didn't know what he meant but it felt great...andit was a Friday also. :)

There are many more parts to the story..but that is basically how it started. Once I sell my Bubble-Worm, LLC which owns the patent/idea..I plan onpursuing my other ideas. I have more. However, the commercialization process is quite hard I am finding out. I now knowwhy people give up..the "idea" is the easy part..the "follow through"can wear a person out. But I'm not smart enough to quit.

I just try to imagine different "things" andwith a lot of luck and persistence..hopefully I have a marketable idea. I'm not sure if my main goal is "innovation",I just remember reading a poster that stated "Ideas" are the currencyto "Success". And usually successful ideas will create somejobs. I am probably a little naive to think that way, but that's just me.

It's fun identifying problems and then seeing if thesolution is marketable.

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Bob has worked as President and Chief Invention Officer at ROPED, LLC and as Inventor and President at Bubble-Worm, LLC. Presently Bob stays in Iowa, USA and works with Z Line Fashions.

Joy Comes From.....

2012-02-22T17:38:00.001+05:30

A Guest post by Preeti Subberwal

For me, joy comes from

1. Joy of lovingmyself – Accepting yourself the way you are, not being judgmental of yourself,be able to connect to our soul instead of getting bogged down by our physicalflaws and appreciating our talents.

2. Joy of giving –joy of making contributions to the people around me, to the society and theworld at large…joy of gratitude..always being in ‘Thank you’ mode – we cravefor appreciation and gratitude as humans, so lets give that so that we are ableto attract it as much as we can.

3. Joy of being ina passionate relationship – whether its with your partner..or with yourfriends..or children.

4. Joy of giving a100% to all my activities – when I am sure, I have given my best…putting mybest foot forward always.

5. Joy of lookingat my best – feel fit and look good…well groomed.

6. Joy of revival –getting a head massage or a spa…relaxing completely..yoga and meditation.

7. Joy of beingwith kids – who are so pure, give selfless love, their curiosity, theirgenuineness.

8. Joy of beinghuman – with infinite capacity and potential, and only mammal with emotions…nolimitations.

9. Joy of sowingthe seeds of peace, harmony, love, happiness…in my subconscious mind…and notgrow weeds being influenced by the negative forces…Garbage in..Garbageout…feeding the subconscious with positive affirmations, the positive memoriesand experiences and rejecting the negative ones.

10. Joy of emotional housecleaning – noclutter in the form of ..emotional baggage etc.

11. Joy of being in my most resourcefulstate most of the time – high life condition – when I base myself on my greaterself.

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Preeti is a Sr Manager with Comviva Technologies (A Bharti Airtel group company) and also conducts life skills training programs for her organisation.

If you would like to share your story of where you find joy, write to me at amitknagpal@gmail.com

Influence Makes us Great-Two Opinions

2012-02-22T15:25:00.003+05:30

'Moving up from Good to Great' is a monthly column on becoming a great human being and has two opinions on the subject from western and eastern part of the world viz. Michael Thallium from Spain and Dr Amit Nagpal from India.

Michael Thallium, Spain

Michael Thallium is a global and greatness coach based in Spain. Michael has spent many years of his life traveling around many countries and continents, sailing the seas, flying the skies all over the world. Since 2008 he is dedicated to his passions viz. coaching, language & communication and music.

I sometimes think that “influence” is a consequence of otherfactors such as trustworthiness and commitment, but I also think influence is apersonal value which makes us great... as long as it is a “positive” influence.Both Hitler and Gandhi were influencers at the time, but think of theirdifferent kind of influences. So, how can you influence people in a positiveway? This was and still is “the” question I want to find an answer for. And thedeeper I go into the waters of influence, the larger the ocean of influencelooks like.

One of the main reflections, I started with was on formalauthority and moral authority. Both can have an influence on people, but onlythe moral authority has a lasting effect. You can be the formal president of abusiness company, but people will not authentically follow you until you gainthe moral authority. I think one of the authors who best approaches this matteris Stephen R. Covey in his book “The 8th Habit”. However, this thing aboutinfluencing people is nothing new at all. The Greek philosopher Aristotlealready dealt with it when he described the three main forms of rhetoric, theability to see the available means of persuasion: pathos, ethos and logos.

But verbal persuasion or influence is in most of cases notenough. How are you going to convince a criminal not to commit a crime when heor she has become an expert at what he or she does? Well, I recently studiedthe work of different authors such as Al Switzler, Kerry Patterson, DavidMaxfield, Ron McMillan and Joseph Grenny. They are the co-authors of two very interesting books which I recommend toanybody who would like to know a little bit more about influence and change:“Influencer” and “Change Anything”. You will discover that this topic isnothing new. However, what I find interesting about their work is the way theypresent their influence paradigm. The first question you have to ask yourselfis “What do I want to achieve?”, then you will have to clarify measurableresults. To do that, you need to answer this question “Which behaviors willlead to the greatest amount of change?”, so you will have to find the vitalbehaviors. But “How will you motivate and enable change?”, then you will haveto act upon six sources of influence: personal motivation & ability, socialmotivation & ability and structural motivation & ability. Have you everheard of Grath Japhet, who positively influenced the health of thousands of people in SouthAfrica? What about Dr Mimi Sibert whochanged the lives of thousands of drug addicts and criminals in San Franciscothrough The Delancey Street Foundation? Or what about the work of SunithaKrishnan in India to help women escape prostitution by giving their childreneducation and career opportunities and fight AIDS?

In my opinion, you need to get rid of your ego andself-importance to become an authentic positive influencer. Money is important,but you do not need a lot of money to become a positive influencer or changeagent: I recently had something happening to me that levered my awareness about theinfluencer I can be. I was at an event with young entrepreneurs and one ofthem, who had been in one of my talks more than one year ago, said to mesomething like: “I would go anywhere in the world with you, just tell me whereand we go.” At the beginning I felt “important” and said to myself, “yeah, youcan influence people without even knowing it!” But then I felt a bit concerned,because I pondered over the enormous responsibility which came to me.

This is why I love “coaching”: to lever self awareness andself responsibility. And to start to influence people, you do not need toinfluence hundreds, thousands or millions of people. Just start with the peoplearound you, with yourself, your family, your friends, your neighbors, yourschool mates, your work mates... How can you motivate and enable change?

When are you going to start?

___________________________________________________

Dr Amit Nagpal, India

(Dedicated to John C. Maxwell, Leadership Guru)

Dr Amit Nagpal is a Personal Branding Consultant & Global Success Coach. He is based in New Delhi, India and specializes in personal branding with a holistic touch. His philosophy is, "Enlarge as a human being, Excel as a Social Media Being and Evolve as a Personal Branded being.

The Universe has a perfect timing for everything and whenMichael suggested writing a post on Influence, I was reminded of the fact thatthe next person on my gratitude list was John C. Maxwell who taught meinfluence in the real sense of the term. So the perfect timing has come toexpress my gratitude to him, by dedicating this post to him.

Early lessons in influence (and personal branding)

There was a role model (of influence) for me right in thechildhood days i.e. my paternal grandfather. He was highly respected and wellknown figure in the town (near Delhi) where I was brought up. He was well respectedfor his generosity, the way he treated his staff (including agriculturallabour), his interpersonal skills, his character (no alcohol &non-vegetarian food) and so on.

Personally he always motivated me, came to my rescue (whenhe noticed that I was an underdog in some ways) and showered me with prizes formy academic achievements. Today, thanks to him, I try my best to help at leastone or two people who are underdogs in my view. After my mother, he was thesecond strongest influence on me.

The better human being you are, the more Influence you willhave

Power, position and money do make us influential but themoment they are gone, the influence is gone. If you are a genuinely good humanbeing, you will be influential in the real sense of the term.

Circa 2007

A neighbor of mine, Sindhuja Rai introduced me to JohnMaxwell’s books and gave me a copy of “Becoming a Person of Influence” nearly 5years ago. I read it, liked the quotes and anecdotes and soon it ended on mybookshelf like a host of other books. The book had superficial influence on mebecause I was not ready to truly grasp the concepts in the book. How could aperson focused on filling his own emotional and ego tanks, enlarge others? Howcould a person nurture others when the child in him was still wishing to benurtured?

But for the universe it was only a signal. I began my innerjourney around the same time and made a conscious decision to change myself. I hadposted on Facebook once, “When you reach the rock bottom, the time has come tolook up.”

I began the journey of knowing and connecting with myself.

Circa 2011

After 4 years of regular meditation and clear thinking(probably an activated sub-conscious) I was still feeling there was somethingmissing somewhere. Right in those days, a friend of mine told me, “You alwaystry to connect through your writings, why don’t you speak to people to connectwith them?” Oh my goodness, she had hit me right there.

I picked up “Becoming a Person of Influence” book again.Every sentence in the book had a new meaning for me. Every sentence I read,transformed me as a person. I was able to look beyond the interesting anecdotesand I really looked at what I needed to do to become a person of influence.

I was having a rebirth of sorts.

Lessons Learnt

The primary lessons learnt during these 4 years were;

The more good you do, the more goodness you will see aroundyou.
Stop trying to become a person of influence, instead trybecoming a person who shares and cares.
Be sensitive to the energy around yourself, stay surroundedwith positive energy.
Silence the conscious mind to listen to the voice ofsub-conscious.

But the most important lesson learnt was to look around andtrying to help people with solutions (to their problems). If there ishopelessness, I should give inspiration, if there is negativity, I should bringpositive energy. If they wish to become more successful, I should help themrealize their goals.

If people still misbehave, I should try to forgive them forthey are unhappy and frustrated.

Basedon the lessons learnt, I have also developed my own coaching/training philosophy,“Enlargeas a human being, Excel as a Social Media Being and Evolve as a PersonalBranded Being.” I do not wish to become a person of influence, but I dowish to bring positive change around me and for that I seek your good wishes.

Problems with Meditation; Why do Most of the People Fail at Meditation?

2012-02-22T14:50:00.000+05:30

Before you meditate, you need an attitudinal shift

People often ask me, “I tried meditation for few days or fewweeks and then stopped. Where am I going wrong? I am not getting the desiredresults.” What is the problem with meditation? Why do some people find completeenlightenment and some people fail to find even peace? Why people find it sodifficult to concentrate during meditation?

My usual answer is, “Meditation is a practice to findperfect peace for those who have already found peace.” We tend to haveunreasonable expectations from meditation and fail to do the attitudinal shiftwhich is a pre-requisite for meditation.

Meditation can bring you amazing results when you havedeveloped a calm mind and a sense of gratitude. Or I would say you havedeveloped a calm mind because of an attitude of gratitude. Here are 3 steps toperfect gratitude and even if you cover the first two steps you will findamazing relaxation with meditation (specially chanting which is a more crudeform of meditation but can be easily used by an average person)

3 Steps to Gratitude

1 Start with 'Thank Yous'

Start saying thank you to people around for all the good deedsthey do for you. Expect less from relationships and develop a habit of sayingthank you, when required.

2 Express Deep gratitude to the people who brought joy in yourlife

Give thank you cards to people who have brought immense joyin your life; be it parents, friends, relatives or even colleagues. Do it withsincerity and not with an expectation of quick returns. Initially people mayeven feel surprised and even doubt your intentions, if you have never expressedgratitude. But slowly they will start feeling your vibes and body language andwould be able to notice your sincerity.

3 Express gratitude to the Universe (for the people whobrought suffering to your life). Remember, I am saying gratitude to the universe (not to the person) for suffering also teaches us lessons. On a lighter note, I advise you not to express gratitude to the peoplewho caused suffering lest they cause even more suffering to you to get more gratitude.I understand this step is very difficult and some of us will fail to reach thisstep in our life time. But remember one thing, letting go is hard butholding on can be even harder and more painful.

The Science of Gratitude

Gratitude releases the negative energy from the mind. Whenthere is no negative energy (grudges, guilt, suppressed anger and so on), it iseasier to meditate and find that peace or desired results. In your own interestforgive and bury the past.

Final Word

Two categories of people are successful with meditationresults. First category has immense patience and self-discipline and they keeppracticing it for few months and become meditation-addicts after getting thebenefits. As they say, the proof of pudding is in the eating.

Second category of people know they have limitedself-discipline and patience and decide to take the help of a spiritual coach(an increasingly popular practice in western countries).

Most of the people waste and diverge their energy by attachment with resultsand its funny but true that results come when we get detatched with them.

The trouble is worth it. For when you are able to successfully meditate, you can connect with the best in you and discover your deepest passion and your innermost desires.

Meditation FAQ

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Dr Amit Nagpal is a Personal Branding Consultant based in New Delhi, India. His philosophy is, "Enlarge as a Human being, Excel as a Social media being and Evolve as a Personal Branded being."

Digital is Magical...and I am loving it

2012-02-19T18:43:00.000+05:30

World Wide Web or World Wide Wow

Reverse Your Fortuneby

Marketing Yourself on the Internet

We need to quickly understand the power of internet marketing because it willbe the early birds who will get the prize.

"In the future, everyone will be world-famous for15 minutes."

Andy Warhol

I am loving it!

3 days back, I received an email from the Acquisition Editorof a reputed German academic publishing company expressing interest inpublishing my PhD thesis. That set me thinking, “How easy it has become tomarket yourself globally on the internet today! Wow! Just one year of passionate hardworkon the internet and I have started getting international recognition. Has myfortune finally reversed in a hyper-competitive country where professional mega-success is possible only for IIM/IITbranded guys or the ones with the powerful family connections?” Yipee! Onlinebranding works, internet marketing works not just for the products but for people too.

In fact, today marketing yourself on the Internet has becomedamn easy. When we talk of internet marketing of people, the term which immediatelycomes to our mind is Personal Branding. The concept of Personal Branding wasintroduced by Tom Peters way back in 1997. Though personal branding canbe done offline too through TV and other mass media but is tooexpensive and through a tool like books is too time consuming.

The popularity of social media and networking tools likeFacebook, Twitter, Blogs, Youtube and Linkedin in the past few years hasbrought the concept of personal branding to the developing countries and madeit affordable for the middle class also to build personal brands.

One pleasant shock after another

In fact, in one of my recent talks, I used the term, “Digitalis Magical”. Internet and digital marketing have pleasantly shocked me time andagain. At the most, I had expected national recognition to come fast, personal branding being a new industry in India. But yo, I keep on getting one surprise after another. If Alltop.comsurprised me, by listing my blog (in less than 6 months of its launch), Forbes.comwas not far behind and linked to one of my articles, “Discover your deepest passion” on its website.

If Spiritual Networks (world's largest spiritual organisation) surprised me by consistently tweeting my blog articles on meditation and spirituality, HT (Hindustan Times) journalist added to my surprises by calling me fromMumbai to interview me for a story on personal branding (the interesting news is that she found me through Google). If LinkedStrategies included my article in their Best of Best List on Linkedin resources, Slideshare added to the wow by sending me a mail that my presentation on Latest and Innovative Training Methodologies (2,000 + views) is being featured on Homepage.

In fact Google has been throwing surprises at me too. My blog, which is being read in 100 plus countries is getting ranked in first 3 pages (global searches) for so many terms like deepest passion, emotional fool, meditation charisma, the joys of teaching & of course personal branding in India (and related terms) and so on.I am yet to use SEO tools and the results are already awesome (I use my common sense with deep passion though). What if I do use SEO, PPC and innovative ads on Facebook and Linkedin?

Personal Branding isdamn easy

Let us look at some of the key features of these tools whichmake it easy to build personal brands.

· User-friendliness of computers and internet has encouragedeven techno phobic people to adopt internet and you can even find 75 year oldson Facebook etc.

· Most of these tools (basic versions) are free and anyonecan make a Facebook Page, a Blog or create a Linkedin or Twitter account.

· New free online tools are coming up every day and theyinclude sites like Profiled.com, Referral Key, Visual CV and so on.

· Several tools are available to share your knowledge andbuild your brand as a domain expert including Linkedin groups, Quora, forumsand so on.

· Newer services are available like media monitoring fromProfiled.com which monitors your online coverage besides Google alerts ofcourse.

· More and more niche sites are coming up, such as ecademyfor networking of entrepreneurs.

· Google+‘s idea of segregating what youshare with friends, family and professional relationships is also wonderful andremoves the biggest weakness of social media.

Networked Televisionwill bring more miracles

In future, TV will get completely integrated (rathermerge) with internet (networked television) and those who are experts in onlinemarketing will receive a huge benefit in this new world.

Three cheers for internet marketing!!!

So discover your passion and leave the rest to the world of digital which is magical.

------------------------------

Dr Amit Nagpal is a Personal Branding Consultant based in New Delhi, India. His philosophy is “Enlarge as a human being, Excel as a Social Media Being and Evolve as a Personal Branded Being.”
Still have doubts, write to me at amitknagpal@gmail.com

Picture courtesy-successsign.com

Interview with Ms Kimberly Bordonaro, Personal Branding Consultant, USA

2012-02-18T17:42:00.001+05:30

Creating A-ha moments for her clients

1) What are the advantages of personal branding in developingand developed worlds?

The advantages of personal branding are fairly universal and(depending on one’s desired goals) include:

Confidence in knowing what sets you apart from others
Notoriety as a leader of your industry
Ability to charge higher premiums for your services (orsalary compensation)
Attract more clients you enjoy working with
Higher levels of goal achievements
Gain larger market presence over your competition

2) What is unique about your personal branding approach?

Branding is about creating an experience for your audienceand the experience that I create is derived from my personal philosophy that Icall BrandspirationTM. I draw on lyrics and pop culture to explain branding andmarketing concepts. This helps break complex thoughts into “a-ha!” moments formy clients, and it makes the experience fun.

3) Share some interesting experiences you had with yourclients.

I specialize in working with Gen-X creative entrepreneursand professionals, and a majority of those clients are from the branding andmarketing industry. I get a lot of surprised looks when I mention this but itactually makes a lot of sense because it is hardest to do for ourselves what wedo so well for others. We all need an honest, fresh opinion when it comes todefining ourselves. People in the branding world are no different and trulyappreciate the guidance I provide when developing their personal brands.

4) How can we monetize our personal brand?

Monetizing your personal brand begins with having a clearvision of what you want to achieve and then laying out the framework andspecific goals that will get you there. In a recent blog post, I outlined 7Ways to Monetize Your Personal Brand for entrepreneurs that break down someof the common products, services, and events that one could create to monetizetheir personal brand.

5) Tell us about your career journey and how did you becomePersonal Branding consultant?

From an early age, I’ve experienced a number of setbacks andtribulations in my life that could have held me back, starting with theunexpected death of my father when I was 15 years old, but I have a very determinedand optimistic personality that I’ve used to motivate me towards successinstead. I created my first personal branding campaign for myself and that leadto me becoming the youngest public relations director for the Miami BeachChamber of Commerce when I was 21 years old.

I went on to work in the mortgageindustry, training loan offers and real estate professionals how to createpowerful reputations through referral marketing strategies before leaving theindustry in 2008 after the loss of my mother, just one month before the birthof my firstborn child. That’s when I decided life was too short do what I loveso I became a Reach Certified Personal Branding Strategist and founded mypersonal branding company. In 2011, I founded ClubBrandspiration.com, aresource community that unites entrepreneurs with information and interviewsfrom experts in areas such as branding, marketing, PR, social media, and moreto help them build their personal brands.

Thank you Kimberly for sharing the interesting insights. I really liked your approach of creating a-ha moments for your clients

--------------------------

Brief Profile

Kimberly Bordonaro is a personal branding consultant and teaches creative entrepreneurs how to define their brand and rock theirsuccess. She is also the founder of Club Brandspiration, the premier resourcecommunity for entrepreneurial personal branding, and regularly blogs aboutbranding with a lyrical twist at KimberlyBordonaro.com.

Website:http://www.ClubBrandspiration.com

BrandspirationBlog: http://www.KimberlyBordonaro.com/blog

Twitter:http://www.Twitter.com/Brandspiration

Facebook: http://www.Facebook.com/getbrandspired

Flickr Slideshow

2012-02-17T14:52:00.000+05:30

Social Media Success through Personal Growth?

2012-02-15T14:01:00.001+05:30

Enlarge, Excel, Evolve

(Dedicated to my sister-friend Jennifer Sertl who inspired me to refine my philosophy and helped me connect, enlarge, excel and evolve. Like an elder sister she has held my hand from the beginning of my social media journey in 2008.)

When I talk of the necessity for personal growth to be successful on social media, my audience often gives me a puzzled look. Then I give a naughty smile and begin the explanation of my approach and philosophy, “Enlarge as a human being, Excel as a Social Media Being and Evolve as a Personal Branded Being.”

Step 1-ENLARGE as a Human Being

We need to understand that life is a journey of personalgrowth and it becomes all the more critical on social media, which is a platformfor collaboration and relationship building. The more unselfish you become, themore you are rewarded for the large-heartedness. The more you promote yourself,the more you are seen as a navel gazer and a person trying to prove himself/herself.

Keep looking for areas of improvement, keep looking insidefor things gone wrong and keep looking at the positive side of people. Insteadof filling your emotional and ego tanks, fill the tanks of others. Enlarge andnurture your network too and you will end up getting enlarged yourself. I once posted on Facebook, "People believe it, when someone else is appreciating you & God comes to your rescue, when someone else is praying for you."

(Personally meditation has been very helpful to me, in creating clarity of thought, activating sub-conscious mind and aiding me in the discovery of my deepest passion.)

Step 2-EXCEL as a Social Media Being

Social media is a glasshouse in terms of transparency. Itcan be very difficult to hide your true personality for long. People lookingfor quick results and immediate benefits out of relationships do not succeed onsocial media in any case. Unfriend and remove connection options are easy touse. After all social media is primarily for sharing and not selling.

Some youngsters deprived of emotional support systems often use platforms like Facebook as an emotional gutter. We should not forget social media is media too and we need not cause permanent damage to our reputation because we are temporarily upset.

As you start growing as a person, the results are visiblesooner or a little later. Your network starts respecting you for your traits beit wisdom, knowledge, caring attitude or generosity. Now begins the journey ofexcelling on social media. (We also need to look at the ethical dimension and long term perspective involved, tofully utilize the benefits of social media.)

Step 3-EVOLVE as a Personal Brand(ed) Being.

Once you have enlarged yourself and become successful onsocial media, you have already created a personal brand to a certain degree.Now the brand needs to evolve and grow and the time has come to communicate andrefine the brand. Become what you aspire and communicate what you are.

Ask your connections and friends to give feedback for yourideas and business concepts. On a lighter note, growth and evolution never stopuntil you become the Buddha. As we grow and evolve, we also get an added responsibilityof helping others grow and evolve.

Once I posted on Facebook, “I began with learning to teach,then I was teaching to learn and now I am learning to learn. I remain alifelong seeker.”

So my dear friends; Enlarge, Excel and Evolve and if I canbe of any help, do let me know.

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Dr Amit Nagpal is a Personal Branding Consultant and Social Media Trainer with a holistic touch. He is based in New Delhi, India.

What Matters Most? Two Perspectives

2012-02-10T13:32:00.002+05:30

Two Perspectives on 'What Matters Most?'

Two different perspectives on the same topic

from two different continents, cultures, and genders viz.
Janet Smith Warfield, J.D. from Florida, USA and
Dr. Amit Nagpal from New Delhi, India

Janet Smith Warfield's perspective

Well, what does matter most? Things? People? Love? Livingyour values?

What if we simplify the question. What if we ask instead,“What matters most right here, right now, in this moment? And what if we add “Whatmatters most right here, right now, in this moment, to you.”

Not always easy to answer, even when we narrow it down tothe present moment and you. But it is far easier than asking the generalquestion we started out with, “What matters most?”

So many things matter: our homes, our families, our pets,our jobs, our cars, our lawns, our communities, our churches.

And what about love, peace of mind, non-violence, freedom, courage,truth, honesty, accountability, gratitude, service? Don’t these matter, too?

You are the only one who can answer the question whatmatters most. Yes, you can simplify the question by limiting it to right here,right now, and to you personally. Please do that. Why? Because life is alwayschanging and what matters most today may not be what matters most tomorrow.

You do need to decide on your priorities - for yourself -right here, right now. Which is more important to you, right here, right now?To wash the car or play soccer with your son? To watch the football game on TVor spend quality time with your wife? To paint the house or call your parentsto say ‘hello?’ To rest or work on that job for the office? Only you candecide. Go with your gut. Do what you want to do or need to do, not what youought to do.

As you choose your priorities moment by moment, you’ll seepatterns emerging. What activities do you choose to do most? This tells yousomething about your overall values.

If you spend your life working at a job you hate, come homeangry, shout at your wife, and slump into a chair to watch TV, perhaps whatmatters most is simply physical survival - earning enough money to pay forfood, shelter, electricity, water, a car, and other physical items. But is thatall that matters?

What about your emotional and spiritual needs? Do you need less stress and more joy? Do youneed to take action to improve your self-esteem? Do you need the motivation,discipline and intention to look for a better source of income that pays moremoney, requires less work, and brings you joy and challenge? Are you willing todo what it takes to go back to school and get that degree that didn’t matter atall when you were sixteen?

Whatever you decide, you’ll be able to do more things thatmatter if you organize your time and resources. Get all your errands done inone trip. Plan ahead so you don’t have to retrace your steps.

You’ll also be more effective if you pace yourself throughyour tasks and finish each one before you begin another. That way, you don’tpressure yourself and put yourself under stress. What you don’t finish todaywill be waiting tomorrow for your time and attention.

Block out time for each thing that matters. Even ten minutesof quality time with your wife is better than a day of arguing because you’reoverstressed.

Simplify your life. There are many things you are doing thatdon’t need to be done, right here, right now, by you. What are they? Let themgo and simply do what matters most.

Most important, make sure you take time for yourself. Sleepwhen you need to sleep. Eat when you are hungry. Meditate when you need to getcentered. Be open to receiving gifts and support systems that are all aroundyou when your eyes and heart and mind are open to receiving them. Then watchthe miracles happen.

When you take time to re-center yourself, all your tasks andrelationships work more smoothly. What matters most emerges in each moment.What emerges that truly matters most is the strength, clarity, intention, focus,and motivation to bring about your deepest desires.

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Janet Smith Warfield serves wisdom-seekers who wantunderstanding and clarity so they can live peaceful, powerful, prosperouslives. Through her unique combination of holistic, creative, right-braintransformational experiences and 22 years of rigorous, left-brain law practice,she has learned how to sculpt words in atypical ways to shift her listenersinto experiences beyond words, transforming turmoil into inner peace. To learnmore, see www.wordsculptures.com, www.janetsmithwarfield.com; and www.wordsculpturespublishing.com.

__________________________________________________________________

Dr Amit Nagpal's perspective

Do we really know what matters most to us? Just give it asecond deeper thought, “Do we?”

I came across something very touching in this regard onFacebook recently. It was a photo with the message, “The greatest discovery inthe world is to discover yourself.” Very often we are running the rat race orliving a life dictated by society because we do not even know what matters mostto us and what do we truly want or value in life.

After observing many people over past 10-15 years, I have reacheda conclusion that most of the people chase money or love during their entireadult life depending on what they lacked the most in childhood. If one was bornin a rich family where parents hardly had time and one was starved of affectionas a child, one often becomes affection-centric . On the other hand, if one wasborn in a poor family and always saw a shortage of money and material, onetends to become money-centric. We need to realize these imbalances in ourpersonality and try to develop a holistic attitude towards life. A balance ofmoney and material is necessary for true happiness.

Very often we run the rat race thinking that we are makingall this money for our family, while family is no more interested in money andwants our time and affection. We think what we want the most is money but ondeeper reflection, we realize what we want is a happy family (and of course aclear conscience that we are providing the best possible to your loved ones.)

We should not assume our own needs or the needs of others.We need to rather reflect deeply to understand what matters most to us. To anaverage human being what matters most is the emotional and financial securityor in other words the need to be loved and have sufficient material to meet ourneeds.

No wonder we often feel so empty inside even after becomingmillionaires and billionaires. I once posted on Facebook, “The rats are runningthe rat race while the cool cat enjoys the tamasha from the sidelines.” Once wehave understood what matters most to us then we need to balance between our ownneeds and the needs of our loved ones.

Only such a delicate balance can bring us true happiness andjoy. At times, such a balance can feel like walking a tight rope but I assureyou it is worth the trouble.

After all anything worth its salt comes at a price.
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Dr. Amit Nagpal is a Personal Branding Consultant, passionate Blogger, and Motivational Speaker based in New Delhi, India. He specializes in personal branding with a holistic touch. His philosophy is “Take Charge of your Life and your Brand” He writes a Blog, “The Joys of Teaching”

From Mere Passion to Deepest Passion-My Journey

2012-02-09T16:24:00.001+05:30

In this article I have shared my own evolution as a person and how I moved from mere passion to my deepest passion. It tells my story of how and why I moved from corporate world to teaching, teaching to training and finally from training to coaching.

I thought that Teaching/Training was my deepest passion, and then I dug deeper and found that Coaching was even deeper passion. And then I dug deeper and found Inspiring people to achieve their peak potential was my deepest passion (good news is I have stopped digging). Then one fine day I realized that teaching, training and coaching all fitted into the picture of inspiring others.

To read more, click here:-

From Mere Passion to Deepest Passion

Asking for Help is a Strength

2012-02-08T14:18:00.000+05:30

A Guest Post on Asking For Help by RoryKelly Connor

Somewhere along theway, we have collectively picked up the belief that each one of us should beable to do it all, know it all, have it all, and be it all. Whether at work orat home, we have accepted the premise that we should be indomitablemulti-tasking forces of productivity. We should be perfect in our careergrowth, our work, our dress and our fitness quotient, while also beingformidable in our children, our homes, our relationships, our recreational andsocial schedules, and our love lives. At least, that’s how many of us want itto appear.

The truth is oftensomething very different. Many people are struggling. In a challenging economy,people are being asked by employers to do more work and toil longer hours withno added pay or incentives. People are losing jobs, homes, marriages, relationships,and security. Many more are struggling daily to stay positive while working atjobs they loathe deeply, yet feel trapped doing to make ends meet. It is allaround us, everywhere, in every country in our world.

Bottom line, people need help. Now more than ever. Yet,more often than not, people choose to keep a good “game face” on about theirfamily situation, their businesses, their jobs, their relationship statuses,and their financial situations, among others, rather than ask for help.

Ask and You Shall Receive

Every day, in mywork with clients and in the world, I see confirmation that we have equatedneeding help with weakness. We think needing help means we are not strong. Weavoid the vulnerability of admitting we can’t do it alone like the plague. Wework hard to hide any bleeding until the wound is so infected we may need toamputate. And sometimes it gets that bad. I’ve seen this happen, and it isn’tpretty.

Instead, we workharder, forge on, let stress build up, smile and pretend everything is “fine.” We buck up and give ourselves a daily peptalk, telling ourselves to “grin and bear it.” We turn to something outsideourselves to “medicate” the increasing panic and pain. Of course, most of thetime this makes whatever it is worse. And we pray. We pray harder and harderfor relief, for an answer, for it all to work out perfectly, for a miracle. Wepray for any relief just so people won’t know that we failed, that we, in fact,couldn’t do it all, that we needed help.

I know you knowwhat I mean. Been there, huh?

Allowing Yourself to “Receive”

So let me ask you,how many times have you heard the phrase, “Askand you shall receive” in your lifetime? Almost cliché, it is derived froma passage in the Bible that reads “Ask, and it will be given to you;seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you” (Matthew 7:7). Injust these five little words lies a wealth of wisdom. And it requires strengthto see that and act on it.

Many people think this directive – ask and you will receive- only pertains to prayer, to help requested from heaven. When we pray forhelp, it is as if we imagine an answer will drop out of the sky into our laps,and we will be able to fix our problems without any other hand or intercession.In a way that no one will know thetruth of our situation, that some or all aspects of our lives are failing or ina mess, needing assistance.

Yet, the directive is also meant to apply to the people andresources available in our lives. We are being directed to actively ask othersfor help when we need it. We are being shown that we are not meant to be anisland, separate and alone, single-handedly managing our challenges, ourcrises, our devastating circumstances. Human beings are meant to work togetherto create solutions and solve problems. Because we are all in this together.

In asking for the help of other people – for instance,family, friends, coaches, mentors, community members, and even strangers - youopen the doors in your life to receive.And you make very clear what help you need. After all, people can’t know youneed help if you don’t tell them what’s going on in your life.

Asking for help, allowing people to see your weakunderbelly, the sore spots, takes great strength. Some may reject you and refuse to help. I amhere to tell you that many more will surprise you with their kindness and generosity,whether of talent, time or resources. Why? Because people relish the amazingopportunity – the gift - of being able to help another person. It feels good.It is good.

So, the next time you are feeling stuck, facing a crisis,being overwhelmed, finding yourself trying to hide a bad situation, stop andask people for help. And do so before it gets worse. In humility, there isstrength. In vulnerability, miracles happen. In asking, we make room forreceiving. And amazing things are then possible.

And, by the way, who do you think the Universe sends toanswer your cry to heaven for help anyway? People.

Based in New York and New Jersey, andserving clients worldwide, Rory Kelly Connor is a Peak Potential Coach,Certified Life & Career Coach, and Global Business/Branding & PR Strategy Expert. For more information, pleasevisit www.canyouimaginelifecoaching.com.

Thought Leader in Thoughtless Leadership

2012-02-04T15:47:00.001+05:30

Yesterday, I was reading an article on thought leadership and I started pondering whether I am a thought leader in any field. My prime area of interest is 'Personal Branding' which is about Branding and Personal Growth. But personal branding is quite old to the western world (though new to India).

After reading the best of literature available on personal growth, I felt the most advanced tool (and tool of the future) for personal growth is meditation (or similar tools in spirituality).

After practicing meditation for 3 years, I could clearly feel a surge in intuition, alertness and wisdom (I am appreciating meditation and not myself) which comes from meditation.

Many universities in US have set up centers for spirituality, even in MBA institutes. The 'Center for Spirituality and the Mind' at the University of Pennsylvania is using brain imaging technology to examine and investigate how spiritual beliefs affect our health and behavior. Dr. Andrew Newberg, Director of the center says that they are looking at spirituality from a neurological point-of-view, from the brain-mind side.

The fact that meditation (and spiritual tools) can help us become better leaders and entrepreneurs is slowly getting acceptance. In fact, drawing the wisdom within, is the ultimate goal of every human being. Once I posted on Facebook, "If we practice meditation regularly, half of the problems we will not even create and rest half we will solve rather than aggravate." 'Leading with Wisdom' is a great book available on Amazon on the subject of leadership and spirituality.

Even when I talk about personal branding and social media, I always emphasize upon the importance of continuous personal growth to become successful on socal media. I call it the softer side of social media. Something, which really touched me recently was a photo on Facebook which said, "I can only give the best of myself to others when I am in touch with the best in me." Are we in touch with the best in us, call it soul or inner voice or sub-conscious mind or whatever (semantics do not matter to me) ? My friend, Peter Sterlacci talks of the fact that we always have 'To do" lists and not 'To be' lists.

So if you ask me, "Are you a Thought leader?" I would humbly reply, "Interested in becoming a thought leader in 'Thoughtless Leadership'." A truly thoughtful leadership, which comes with a state of thoughtlessness.

Articles on Thoughtless Leadership

Spiritual Tools for Matreila Success

Noisy Mind to Silent Mind-A PPT

MY BRAND tweet Book; Personal Branding is So Simple

2012-01-31T15:59:00.000+05:30

Many people are in awe of Personal Branding and yet feel its a complicated process. It is not necessary to read lengthy articles and spend hours to build your brand. But you must understand the principles of personal branding and make it a way of life.

My brand tweet book explains the concept of personal branding with simple 140 characters or less tweets. Yet the message is complete and hard hitting. Like the name of the publisher, once you read it, you Think Aha.

And once you start experiencing the magic of personal branding and want to dive deep, then take the help of a consultant and Yo you are all set to become what you aspired.

Here are some of the best tips:-
Personal branding is a celebration of who you are and if you want to be successful in your career, make your brand your life!
Dan Schwabel in Foreword

A brand is a promise you make—a promise of value, consistency, and expectations

You can mess up once or twice, but by the third time what is consistent is that you messed up.

#MyBrand is about who you are— your experience, expertise, and passion—not what you do.

Key stats:
- Title: #MY BRAND tweet Book01
- Subtitle: A Practical Approach to Building Your Personal Brand -140 Characters at a Time
- Author: Laura Lowell, Edited by Rajesh Setty
- Date of Publication: May 16, 2011
- Publisher: THiNKaha
- Price: Paperback $19.95, eBook $14.95

For more details, visit:-
Think Aha/Happy About

Are Japanese and Indians truly Linkedin? Two Angles

2012-01-24T15:20:00.000+05:30

Japan and India-Personal Branding from Two Angles

Peter Sterlacci from Japan

Are Japanese LinkedIn?

LinkedIn operates the world's largest professional networkon the Internet with a current membership of over 135 million. Close to60% of these members are located outside the US. The latest data shows thatprofessionals are signing up to join at a rate that is faster than two membersper second! Clearly LinkedIn has become an essential tool forprofessionals all over the world to network, share businessexpertise, find jobs, advance professional knowledge, and buildpersonal brands.

Recently, LinkedIn has set up shop in Japan with offices inTokyo and the inclusion of the Japanese language on its site from October 2011. For Japan, LinkedIn’s proposition is to focus on local professionals andstudents keen to build their true identities and personal branding for theircareers as well as the ability to connect with a global network.

Yet Japanese are still not that familiar with it. In arecent presentation I gave to business management majors at a universityin Japan I surveyed the room about their social media usage. Almost allstudents use Mixi, Japan's original social network. 75% are on Twitter, about50% on Facebook, maybe 15% on Google+, and absolutely 0% on LinkedIn. Outof a room of over 50 business majors, not even 1 person had a profile on themost powerful professional network in the world!

When I asked why, their answers ranged fromnot knowing how to use it to not even knowing what it is. Japaneseuniversity students about to graduate and currentworking professionals in Japan need to be on LinkedIn now more theever. Global companies are actively using LinkedIn to find new talent inJapan, and head hunters throughout the country are sourcing experiencedprofessionals on the network. My advice to these students was to sign upfor an account TODAY.

Once signed up, here are 5 tips I share for you toeffectively use LinkedIn to build and promote your brands.

1) Have a headline that sells an experience

When people visit your profile the first thing theywill see is your name and headline at the top of your "profile box". This is the most visible part of your page and you want people tocontinue exploring your profile. People often fall into the trap ofidentifying themselves in their headline by a job title ("Accountant") orlabel ("Business Major"). While this is a valid representation ofwhat we do, it actually groups us into the same category as everyone else doingthe same type of job or studying the same subject matter.

You have 120 characters to describe who you are. Thisis the first place to stand out. Consider your target audience and sell anexperience not a title or label. Instead of saying you are a"psychiatrist" tell others you are "The Shrink for Entrepreneurswho want freedom, wealth, and sanity.”

2) Get a Professional Headshot

Absolutely do not leave out a photo and make sure that thephoto you use is professionally done. Take the time to invest in highquality headshots as you will use them everywhere. Remember, LinkedIn isa professional business network. Your credibility is at stake so avoidphotos of you at college parties or with groups of people where it isnot clear which person is you!

3) Edit your LinkedIn URL to include your name

For example, www.linkedin.com/in/petersterlacci

Do not overlook this critical branding point. Beyondthe power of simply having a profile on LinkedIn is thefact it is highly optimized on Google. Once you adjust theURL to include your full name, your profile will always show up at the topor near the top of the first page of your Google results. This presenceon the first page of search results will reinforce your online brand identityso that opportunities do not pass you by.

4) Write your 'Summary' in the first person and tell a story

By using "I am...." or "My nameis..." you are speaking directly to those looking for you on LinkedIn. While the summary is not immediately visible unless someone views yourfull profile, it is probably the most important area on your profile. Treat this summary box as if it were your 'elevator pitch'. Convince the readers of your LinkedIn profile that you havesomething unique to offer. Differentiate yourself from everyone else who seeminglyoffers the same service or who have similar skills, experience, andbackground. Michael Margolis, founder of Get Storied, tells us that"character trumps credentials". There is plenty of space to show yourcredentials in the 'Experience' section of your profile. Use the Summarysection to tell your story and show your character!

Also, your name is a key word and by using it in yoursummary you are improving the appearance of your name and profile when othersearch for you online.

5) Ask for recommendations (and recommend others!)

Build your credibility and validation for your brand andexperience by having people who know you well write recommendations onLinkedIn. Once you start adding people to your network, LinkedIn makes it easyfor them to write you a recommendation. You also have the power to reviewthe recommendation someone writes and decide whether to add it or ask for editsor a different spin on what they wrote. As a student you can requestrecommedations from professors, classmates, internships or virtually anyonewith whom you have shared an academic experience. And make sure to returnthe favor and write a recommendation for those who have taken the time to writeone for you.

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Brief Profile

Peter Sterlacci has handled many senior roles including Director-InternationalOutreach at San Jose State University and corporate training before venturingout into Personal Branding in Japan. He specialises in Intercultural PersonalBranding and his philosophy is "Empowering you to Believe, Become and Beyour Brand"

To know more:-

http://petersterlacci.com/

__________________________________________________

Dr Amit Nagpal from India

Are Indians Truly Linkedin?

Are we really getting the best out of Linkedin in India? Ihave my doubts. Though Linkedin has been fast catching popularity withprofessionals of all age groups and industries, we are far from getting optimumresults from Linkedin. Remember, our potential clients, employers, partners andso on first check our Linkedin profile to verify our education, experience,interests, recommendations and common connections. Many people even post jokesas updates which hardly adds to your brand and may be more suitable for alighter platform like Facebook.

Here is my opinion on how Indians arecurrently using Linkedin and suggestions for what they can do to get the best out of Linkedin.

Getting the best outof your LI Profile

Linkedin profile has many features which most Indians arenot aware of and hence they are not using it. Some of the important featuresinclude Slideshare, Blog, Reading list, Events and Trip it. Through thesefeatures you can share your presentations, blog links, books read (or you wantto read), events attended and travel schedules respectively.

The profile is often incomplete, lacks keywords and israrely updated. People often make a Linkedin profile and don’t open the Linkedinaccount for months.

Getting the best outof groups

I find most of the groups hardly have discussions and peopleonly post their blogs and other links. The Group Managers and Moderators needto take some initiative here. I faced the same issue in my Linkedin group andafter several encouraging mails to members; the group has now become reallylive which also attracts more members to the group.

It may be impossible to participate in discussions in 50groups (or even 20 for that matter) but one can always choose 5-10 groups ofcore interest and be active there.

Courtesy and goodmanners

Whenever a person invited to connect, accepts your invite, acourtesy mail must be sent. Very few people take this effort which goes a longway in giving a good start to the new relationship. Remember first impressionis the last impression.

Many people also send bulk mails which can be irritating forpeople with large number of connections and they can even delete you from theconnections, if you do so repeatedly. Though people are more open-minded tosuch mails during festive occasions like New Year and Deepawali, it is not veryeffective to send a bulk mail. A personal message to fewer people works better.

Linkedin Answers

This is another feature which has very low usage and peopledo not know the power and potential of this tool. You can raise the rightquestions and come up with the right answers, in your domain to prove yourexpertise. If your answer is rated as the best answer, you have a provencredential which is reflected on your profile helping you build your brand.Reading the answers of course adds to your knowledge in desired/weak areas.

Balancing Quality andQuantity

People often give too much importance to quantity or numberof connections ignoring the quality aspect and interaction. The number ofconnections you have and the number of cities/countries where your connectionscome from do contribute in different ways to your brand but if you do not writea single mail during one year of making a new connection, the connection may beof no use.
Even a personal message of 2-3 lines is powerful in building andmaintaining relationships.

We need a more delicate balance between quality and quantityfor sure.

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Brief Profile

Become What You Aspire, Communicate What You Are

2012-01-22T14:15:00.000+05:30

We need to first become what we aspire to be and then communicate to the world the values we stand for.Personal Branding is not just about branding yourself and promoting yourself to the world, it is also about personal growth.

To read more click here:-

Become What You Aspire, Communicate What You Are

Humility Makes us Great-Two Opinions

2012-01-22T13:41:00.003+05:30

Two Opinions on 'Uncovering Our Greatness'

'Uncovering our Greatness' is a monthly column onbecoming a great human being and has two opinions on the subject from westernand eastern part of the world viz. Michael Thallium from Spain and Dr AmitNagpal from India.

Michael Thallium’s opinion

Michael Thallium is a global and greatness coach based inSpain. Michael has spent many years of his life traveling around many countriesand continents, sailing the seas, flying the skies all over the world. Since2008 he is dedicated to his passions viz. coaching, language &communication and music.

A couple of weeks ago, when my friend Amit Nagpal suggestedwe could write an article on Humility, I thought that was a good topic to writeabout. However, then I started to think about what I could write on humilitythat had not been written yet. And I got blocked! The deadline for the deliveryof this article was coming closer and closer and I did not start writinganything.

Then, three things happened to me that helped me make up mymind and, finally, write this article. The first one was a story I learnt aboutyesterday. Have you ever heard of Carly Fleishmann? Nope? Me neither... untilyesterday. I was having a look at the wall of one of my Facebook friends fromSwitzerland, Christina Weidmann, and saw a link to a really interesting videoentitled “Autistic girl expresses unimaginable intelligence.

Then I started researching online and found out about that girl. Carly is anautistic girl who is not able to talk but, surprisingly, things changed whenshe turned 11 and was introduced to a computer. Then she started typingmessages and finally found her voice. “Don’t give up! Your inner voice willfind its way out, mine did” she says in her weblog which I recommend you tohave a look at: http://carlysvoice.com. And what I learnt from her abouthumility is that you need to take time to know people before you forma an opinión…oneshould not jump to conclusions.

The second thing that happened to me was a conversation withmy friend Jeanie Flowers. When I told her I had to write an article on humilityshe replied: “That's an interesting topic, humility. I think for a lot ofpeople that doesn’t come naturally. When we are young we think we knoweverything, we have to be “the best” at everything or, at least, at something.For a lot of people it is difficult to come to terms with the reality that alot of poeple are going to be at least as good as you at whatever it is you do- and for some of us it isn’t until later in life that we realize, that’s okay.It isn’t a competition, but some people want to make life out to be that way.Being Rachel’s mom (Rachel is blind) taught me humility.” To understand herwords, I should add that Jeanie gave up her music career and does a full timejob to feed and take care of her two kids on her own

The third thing that happened to me was simple: time wasrunning out and I had to finish this article. No excuses!

Some dictionaries define humility as the quality of beingmodest and respectful. This is something we can never forget. Me as a global& greatness coach, I coach people and I do not see any other way to coachpeople than exercising humility. You have to take time to know your coacheesbefore you forma an opinion. Precisely, “judgment” is what you have to avoid asa coach. You have to give up your agenda and follow the agenda of yourcoachees. And, of course, in coaching, deadlines are very important to achieveyour goals.

Recently, I have been listening to a very interesting audiobook by Jim Collins called “From Good to Great”. Jim Collins speaks about the“Level 5 Leadership”. In his research, out of 500 business companies from theForbes list, only 11 made the leap from good to great. And all these 11companies had something in common: “Level 5 Leaders”, who are characterized bytheir “humility” in comparison with some of the present business “gurus”.Actually, you may not have heard of these kinds of leaders. A Level 5 Leader ishumble, but do not be misunderstood: humility does not mean weakness. On thecontrary, level (Level) 5 leaders are determined to do anything they need toachieve their goals on the basis of the business sustainability and serveothers.

So, humility helps us to move from good to great, helps usto understand others by, as Carly Fleischman said, taking time to know thembefore jumping to conclusions, and humility helps us to give us away and dothings for others as Jeanie did for her two kids.

These were my humble words on humility. Time is over!

Dr Amit Nagpal’s opinion

Humility is one lesson while life has taught me throughshock treatment. Nearly a year ago, when I was asked to give a farewell speechby my College Director (Ms Dipti Baveja, who appreciated my humility), I was reminded of mychildhood days.

I began my speech thus, “The famous saying goes, ‘Everysaint has a past and every rogue has a future’. By no means have I claimed tobe a saint but yes I try my best to be humble. Though I have strived hard forpersonal growth throughout my life (rather than improving others), life had togive me a tough lesson to make me humble.”

I continued with the story of my childhood. I decided to bebrutally honest about my own lessons and failures. I continued, “I was always aschool topper as far as academics were concerned. Besides academics, I had ahuge range of accomplishments ranging from debates, writing election speeches,skits, poetry, moderating and so on. I achieved too much too fast which made mefull of pride. At the age of 12, I saw my name appearing in leading Hindi newspapersas ‘Balkavi’ (child poet). I became the uncontested school PM on reaching thesecondary level. It was a golden period in my life in terms of achievements butI was emotionally and spiritually blank. Being a child, I did not even realizeI was becoming haughtier and haughtier”

I was also too scientific in my thinking, had a chemistrylab right in my house and rejected God as unscientific.

There is a famouscouplet;

“As a rule, man is a fool, when it should be hot he makes itcool.

When it should be cool, he makes it hot, always doing whathe should not.”

I rather believed,

“As a rule, God is a fool, when it should be hot, He makesit cool

When it should be cool, he makes it hot, always doing whathe should not.”

I had recently posted on Facebook, “Life is a teacher and itteaches us through bitter experiences what we refuse to learn on our own. Keeplearning, keep evolving. Someone has rightly said, ‘If you learn your lessons,you don't have to go through the experiences’".

Since I had not learnt my lessons otherwise, I had to gothrough the experiences which forced me to do soul searching. As I received onesetback after another, I moved from being a bit narcissistic to a state of lowself-esteem. The trials seemed never ending and I decided to surrender to God’swill. Pride had hath a fall. As soon as I started to change myself, my lifebegan to transform in surprising ways.

Humility makes us great. So am I claiming myself to begreat? Well, we are all great already and we only need to bring out that greatnessby being in flow with the universe. Let your voice, body language, yourwritings and every cell of your body be filled with humility. Fill positivityin your mind, gratitude in your heart and faith in your soul. And get ready tobe surprised, blessed and even pleasantly shocked by the Universe.

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Interview with Sada Nam Kaur, Executive Coach, Spain

2012-01-20T19:20:00.000+05:30

Tell us about your journey as a coach.

I think my journey as a coach started when I was 5 years old & I arrived at the school gates for my first day of school. There was another first dayer waiting there with her mum. She looked at me, then looked at her mum, said I can go in now, took hold of my hand & in we went together. I continued to coach other children with their school work all through school.

This is such a great question; it has me reflecting that the main theme of my journey has been joy. The sheer joy of seeing people begin to believe in themselves & of them coming into their own.

Professionally, I began coaching about 20 years ago now in London, before anyone was using the term. We realized that we could use the same techniques that one of my colleagues was using with Olympic athletes to support our executive clients to reach peak performance.

After a while I longed to work at a deeper level with people to enable them to reach peak performance through realizing all of who they are. Enabling them to become multidimensional human beings leaving nothing of themselves out & this is where I now am with coaching.

What are the areas you focus on when coaching a client?
I am client led, so it depends on them. As coaches we have to be very careful not to delude ourselves into taking the position of rescuer or that we are wiser than the client & direct them from our agenda. I see each person in front of me as infinitely creative & the master of their destiny. I simply have tools & experience that will support them to unfold their potential. This requires me to get out of the way, listen profoundly & help them explore, so we both understand what is occurring for them & what they would like to create.

I support them in a number of ways, such as to:

Centre themselves deeply in who they are & what they most long to create in their life (professionally &/or personally).

Believe in themselves & their ability to create this, no matter how unchartered the water is.

Be able to manage their internal state & mind in any moment, so that it works for them rather than against them.

Align their subconscious so that all of them is moving in the same direction. This makes achieving their ambitions effortless or more accurately, it becomes flow.

Develop the habits that support this flowful achievement.

Develop the skills & abilities that high performers have (they can be summarized as emotional & social intelligence).

Define their ambitions & convert them into a “project” which is the clear steps they will take to make it a reality.

Initiate & maintain their motivation & passion as they realize themselves.

Tell us something about accelerated learning & social intelligence. How do you improve these skills in your client?
Accelerated learning is the process that I use to support people to learn & change in less than a tenth of the time that it would normally take. For instance, today I taught a small group of 8 people (who had never previously done any personal development) to have a new world view & to be able to control & shift their internal state at will. They learned it in just 2 hours. It uses a combination of our physical, interpersonal, intrapersonal, visual & auditory intelligences. It also includes facilitating people to reach beta & theta brain states to access the power of the deeper parts of the mind.

Social intelligence is the ability to understand others & to express yourself well. When someone has a high degree of social intelligence they give other people the space to be who they are & to express themselves at the same time as maintaining their own personal authority & charisma. It gives them good judgment to be able to express themselves & act appropriately in any situation. It is a skill, rather like playing a musical instrument & you become virtuoso in it by practicing it step-by-step every day. I have broken it down into easily learnable steps, which are in workbook that my clients can work through at their chosen pace.

Tell us something about the Art of Being a Woman program.

As I was reflecting how to answer this question, I received a wonderful article from Michael Gerber (E-myth & Awakening the Entrepreneur Within) which answered it so eloquently & with more credibility, because it is said by a man. He wrote:

“The essential something about women is understood by every man I have ever met. Women have more energy than men. Much, much more. They can do more things than men can do. They are accustomed, as mothers, as daughters, as workers, as wives, as sisters, as friends, to step in to get the dishes done, the dinner cooked, the shopping handled, the breakdown fixed up, the relationship nurtured, the bills paid, the son & daughter cared for & put to bed, as well as gotten up in the morning to eat breakfast, to go to school, to complete their homework, to handle everything that has to be handled, usually before it needs to be handled…women are immense, culturally, physically, emotionally, spiritually, socially, friendshiply…name me a man who can do what any woman not only can do, but has done, & will continue to do, & I will show you one man in fifty million.

I have never met that man. Never.

I have continually met that woman. I would say, most women I have met fit that picture.”

My Art of being a Woman program supports women to remember who they are & perhaps most importantly to trust in their vital perspective & approach to life & work.

Tell us something about Kundalini Yoga
Kundalini Yoga is the most rapid & effective method that I have found to create physical wellbeing & inner peace. It can also be used as an accelerated learning tool to develop emotional intelligence. For instance, how often is it people’s personal will & determination that lets them down? There is a Kundalini Yoga exercise called stretch pose that develops just this in as little as 30 seconds a day!

Everyone naturally has ease & joy in their centre, rather like a perfectly protected bubble of energy. However, over time & because of life experiences the bubble becomes a little dusty. Dust attracts dust, so that the shining light that we are is forgotten or at least we lose our abiding sense of it. When we just go through life or do our personal development work at a superficial level, we have the feeling that we are missing something. Kundalini Yoga cleans away that dust so that our radiant, joyful self can shine through, to be able to experience a deeper connection to joy, physical & inner well-being.

What exactly did you do at Industrial Society?
The Industrial Society dates from 1918 when the Reverend Robert Hyde who after visiting factories with appalling work conditions & also the Quaker shoe factories with good working conditions realized that industrial harmony had the capacity to create as much wealth as harsh taskmasters & conflict. Since that time it supported businesses to improve their profits through improving the quality of working life. It has evolved into the renowned think-tank the Work Foundation.

I worked for the Industrial Society as a management consultant, trainer & executive coach, mainly working with banks, accountancy & law firms.

Thank you Sada for the interesting answers and information.

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Brief Profile

SadaNam has worked in personal development & coaching for over 20 years. She is an expert in intelligent teams & organisations, NLP, accelerated learning, flow, Emotional & Social Intelligence & women´s development. She was one of the first people to develop coaching in the U.K.

Website: www.sadanamkaur.es

Facebook: http://facebook.com/sadanamkaur

Twitter: SadaNamKaur

LinkedIn:SadaNam Kaur

Two Perspectives-Moving from Fear to Compassion

2012-01-17T13:37:00.004+05:30

Two Perspectives on moving from fear to compassion

Two perspectives’ is a monthly column with two different perspectives from two different continents, genders and cultures on the same topic viz.

Janet Smith Warfield (based in Florida, USA) and
Dr Amit Nagpal (based in New Delhi, India).

Janet Smith Warfield's Perspective

Free Yourself From Fear Forever-A video by Janet Smith Warfield

As I walked into the personal growthworkshop, the facilitators asked me what I hoped to gain from the weekend. Iknew that answer. I desperatelywanted to release my fear.

I was afraid of what other peoplemight think, what other people might do, conflict, losing relationships, beingdifferent, making a fool of myself. I had been betrayed many times. I wasafraid to trust. Most of all, I was afraid of my fear.

As the workshop began, thefacilitators asked us to make four commitments: don’t chew gum, don’tinterrupt, be on time, and do whatever we were told.

I had no problem with the firstthree requests. I never chewed gum, I didn’t often speak in front of strangers,and being punctual mattered.

However, I had a problem with thelast request—doing whatever we were told. History had taught me that humans hadordered other humans to rape, pillage, steal, and kill.

I was conflicted. I didn’t wantto agree. On the other hand, I wanted to learn how to release my fear, and Iwas afraid of being different and losing the workshop I had paid to attend.Reluctantly, I said yes.

My decision nagged me all week asI waited for the second workshop to begin. I knew the facilitators would demandthe same four commitments. Was I going to cave in again and agree? I decided Iwas not. I was terrified.

Sleepless night after sleeplessnight, I tossed and turned. What would the facilitators say? How would theother participants act? How should I prepare? My what-ifs continued to tormentme.

Fortunately, I had had severalyears in NarAnon, a support group for families and friends of addicts. NarAnonhad taught me I couldn’t fix anyone else. I could only fix myself. NarAnontaught that I needed the help of a Power greater than myself. It suggested “Letgo and let God.”

I didn’t much like that word“God.” It always made me think of an old man with a long white beard, sittingon a thundercloud with a lightening bolt in his hand, waiting to strike me deadif I didn’t do some unclear thing he wanted me to do. I had always consideredmyself an intellectual agnostic.

I did like the words “Powergreater than myself” better than the word “God.” However, I had to deal with my terror somehow, Icouldn’t do it by myself, and I didn’t have time to engage in the niceties ofsemantics.

Tears streaming down my face, Ithrew myself to my knees on the living room floor and pleaded, “God help me!”

Suddenly, a magnificent calmflooded my body. Together, I knew we could handle it.

The second workshop began. Again,the facilitators asked us to make the four commitments. I refused to agree todo whatever I was told.

The room turned surly. Thefacilitators said the workshop could not continue until every one agreed.Ultimately, they walked out, leaving me alone with a furious group ofparticipants.

Billhad taken time off from work to attend the workshop. Jane was paying for ababysitter so that she could attend. Raymond slammed his fist on the table.Mary screamed in my face. John called me an uncooperative bitch. I felt nothingbut compassion and love.

The facilitators returned andasked me to leave the workshop. It no longer mattered. I had received exactlywhat I came to get—release of my fear.

__________________________________________________

Janet Smith Warfield serves wisdom-seekers whowant understanding and clarity so they can live peaceful, powerful, prosperouslives. Through her unique combination of holistic, creative, right-braintransformational experiences and 22 years of rigorous, left-brain law practice,she has learned how to sculpt words in atypical ways to shift her listenersinto experiences beyond words, transforming turmoil into inner peace. For moreinformation, see www.janetsmithwarfield.com;www.wordsculpturespublishing.com;and www.wordsculptures.com.

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Dr Amit Nagpal's Perspective

We stay in a state of fear most of the time-the fear ofhurting our body, the fear of getting hurt in love, the fear of failure, thefear of not meeting goals at work, the fear of losing our job and so on. Mostof the time our fears are expressions of emotional baggage because we expectthe past experience to repeat itself. ‘Once bitten, twice shy’ has a veryinteresting equivalent in Hindi which means the one who got burnt by hot milkdrinks even cold buttermilk with caution.

Someone has rightly said, Fear or F.E.A.R. stands for FalseEvidence Appearing Real. Most of the time our fears are imaginary. Sometimes wemay have deep rooted fears also, which we try to overcome very hard but failagain and again. Let’s say every time a blind person tries to walk on his own,he gets hurt. He has a very justified reason for fear. But still if onepersists, tries to learn from the experience and acts with determination, fearcan be overcome most of the time.

The well known book by Dale Carnegie, “How to Stop Worryingand Start Living” forces us to reflect. Firstly worry arises from fear and whenyou live with fear, you are not living fully. Secondly when you release thefear (after becoming aware of your fears), then only you can start living atruly joyful life.

How do we release fears and move from fear to compassion. Weneed to replace each thought of fear with compassion. Let us take few examples.Supposing you have a fear of dogs. Just remember that positive vibrations tendto invite positive vibrations in return. Look at the dogs with compassion. Asyou replace your fearful thoughts with compassionate thoughts, you will noticethat the dogs will stop barking at you or become less aggressive.

Let us take another example. Many people have a fear ofcrime in developing countries. Have you ever realized that when you sendvibrations of fear, you may attract more crime or thieves? After all the fearwill be often visible in your face/body language and will give hints to thewrong people that you are feeling scared. Once a client asked me, “If I becomea good human being, aren’t people more likely to misuse me?” I replied, “Firstbecome a smart human being and then become a good human being.”

Moving to compassion does not mean becoming compassionate tocriminals and thieves. (In fact that is also possible but at a very advancedstage.) But an average person needs to become smart enough so that the tendencyof fear of being cheated or fooled comes down. As a result it becomes easierfor us to be compassionate and even develop a strong sense of intuition and recognizingthe negative vibes in people.

Filling ourselves with positive emotions of gratitude forthe universe is very helpful in moving from fear to compassion. I once postedon Facebook, “The universe wants its abundance to flow freely. We only, blockit with negative thoughts, lack of faith and often due to lack of gratitude. Ifwe are not grateful to universe for what we have already received, what is theguarantee that we will be grateful, if we get more?”

Our attitude towards problems and challenges is critical tolet the fear go. We need to understand that ups and downs are part of life andlife cannot be a straight line. As the joke goes, “The only time ECG graph is astraight line is when you are dead.”

Here is a nice video on fear and worry from Robin Sharma,the well known leadership guru and motivational speaker.

http://www.robinsharma.com/how-to-defeat-worry/

So stop acting with fear and start acting with compassion.

_________________________________________

Dr. Amit Nagpal is a Personal Branding Consultant, passionate Blogger, and Motivational Speaker based in New Delhi, India. He specializes in personal branding with a holistic touch. His philosophy is “Take Charge of your Life and your Brand”

From Media Management to Personal Branding-My journey

2012-01-15T18:14:00.000+05:30

(Interview on Diginews regional TV channel at their Indore studio. The interview focused on my journey from media management to personal branding and also my views on media in India)

Excerpts from the interview

Q-How did news become infotainment?

Ans-In 1991 when the era of LPG (Liberalisation,Privatization and Globalization) began, it impacted every sphere of our lifeand business. Even TV news was impacted. Many years ago when I used to watchnews on Doordarshan (public broadcaster), there used to be no ad breaks, no ‘headlinessponsored by’ and such commercialization. News used to be a holy cow, something which should not be commercialized.

Slowly as private sector entered,the format of news began to change. Private sector runs anything like abusiness and has financial pressures also. Government can subsidize things butprivate sector has to ensure financial viability. Private sector slowly started commercializingand looked at things from TRP and advertising perspective. To some extentprivate sector has its compulsions.

Q- Do you think tamasha (melodrama) will become news again?

Ans-It is going to take time. TV news is a mirror of societyand if there has been a decline in values in society, it is going to bereflected in TV news. In every sphere of life there is a decline, we wanteverything fast, fast food, fast life, fast success and so on. TV news is only reflecting what is happening in our society.

Q- What is the future of local news?

Ans- Local news has a very bright future. During my PhD research I spoke to nearly 500people and found that many people preferred local news for different reasons.Females tend to worry about the husband and children and want to watch localnews to ensure that family members are safe. Shopkeepers want to know localevents which can impact their business. IAS and other bureaucrats, peopleinterested in local politics and politicians want to watch local news as localevents have a direct relationship with their profession. Though these categories have a higher interest in local news but even an average person has someimpact of local events which make him watch local news.

Q- Every news is local. Local is global and global is local.Even Ayodhya dispute was a local event which caught international attention.

Ans-In management there is a new term called 'glocal' which is acombination of global plus local. Even big companies say, “Think Global, ActLocal”. Both organizations and individuals must understand the localperspectives of an issue.

Q- Many newspapers are bringing out city based editions. Whyis it so?

Ans-It is again a reflection of the increase in demand forlocal news. A person living in Jaipur wants to know more about his city Jaipur for example and hence Jaipur edition.

Q- How did you become personal branding expert from mediaexpert? What is personal branding?

Ans- Personal branding has a close relationship with media.Personal branding has two components viz online branding and offline branding.Online branding has a relationship with social/online media while offlinebranding is related with books and mass media like TV,, newspapers andmagazines etc. If one wants to become a brand at national or internationallevels, or famous or an expert, one can take the help of both online andoffline tools.

Q-How is personal branding different from image building?

Ans-Personal branding gives lot of emphasis on personalgrowth which is not there in image building. In fact personal branding focuseson becoming a balanced human being first and then portraying that image to society.

Q- What is the current status of personal branding industryin India and what is its future?

Ans-India has played a critical role internationally incomputer technology relating to software, BPO etc. So an average (urban) Indian is already well versed with onlinemedia. In fact you can find that every youngster is on Facebook these days.

Though Personal Branding is a new industry in India butsince online media has made branding easy, it has a bright future in Indiaand more people will go for it in times to come.

Check out
Media Gallery Latest Achievements 7 Steps to Global Success

Related story, "A Brand Called Me"

The Softer Side of Social Media

2012-01-10T13:38:00.002+05:30

Do we give too much importance to technical knowledge of social media or the hard skills? In my opinion soft skills are more important for social media. The mass media is more of a hard (hardsell) media while social media is more of a soft media.

To read more, click here:-
The Softer Side of Social Media

Emerging Stars-Interview with Tanya Lloyd

2012-01-10T13:28:00.002+05:30

When I saw Tanya's Facebook page, I could feel that she is going to be a wonderful coach soon.The old head which she carries on her young shoulders has really impressed me.

1. Tell us something about your Facebook page, 'Chasing LaDolce Vita'.

In 2009, I visited Italy on a six week European adventure.From the moment I stepped on Italian soil, my heart found love. Love for aculture, people and essence of living that represented so much of my own searchfor something more meaningful. So began the quest for the infusion ofall things Italian, into my own life and home in Australia. Translated'Chasing the Sweet Life', inspiration for the name 'Chasing La Dolce Vita'arose after immersing myself in learning the Italian language, and aptlyreflected my own journey of seeking out the beautiful moments of grace in eachday. I have always been a reflective writer throughout my life, maintainingjournals of gratitude, recording the ebb and flow of life and in particularrecently, an avenue through which to express the array of emotions that life'svarying season brings. I first began sharing my inspirational quotes through myown personal profile on Facebook, and received much encouragement to expand andshare this with a larger audience. 'Chasing La Dolce Vita' is a celebration oflife, the journey and of all things that inspire and uplift.

2. A famous quote goes, “You can take the horse to the waterbut you can’t make him drink”. To what extent coaching can help our personalgrowth?

Ultimately, counseling/coaching is only effective if theclient is a willing participant, ready to make a difference in his/her own life.Each and every one of us are the drivers of our own change. We can all beassisted, aided and helped, but unless we want to help ourselves, effectivelong-term change will never occur. A counselor/coach can assist withfacilitating personal growth, by providing thought and heart provoking tools tocommence growth and a deeper search within. A counselor/coach can assist indeveloping ideas, brain-storming strategies and helping the clients to settheir own meaningful and achievable goals, and working collaborativelyalongside them in the achievement of those goals.

3. What should be the key attributes of a good counselor andcoach?

For me, the essence of counseling and coaching is assistingpeople to tap into their own ingenuity in helping themselves, to harness theunlimited potential contained within. The helping relationship is foundedon empathic understanding and presencing, rapport, the ability to listenand demonstrate this congruently-verbally and non-verbally. The helpingrelationship is collaborative, with the goals of the client in mind for boththe helper and the client. Authenticity is essential in both establishing andmaintaining the relationship between counselor/coach and client. If warmth andgenuine interest are not conveyed to the client, disclosure is less likely tooccur and the establishing of a relationship founded on the principles notedabove, will not occur.

4. In a fast changing world, how does one adjust especiallyif one prefers the status quo?

Although I am not a follower of status quo and never havebeen, I do feel that so many of the personal struggles thatpeople undergo, are because of being ill equipped to handle change. Ourown personal world and the world in which we live is constantly changing, andrequires us to constantly reassess our own values and position on much of whatwe are confronted with. Increased cost in living and unemployment, now see thedynamics of the family unit changing from what was once more commonly oneparent at home with the children and one working, to both parents working andchildren in care. Surviving in a sea of change requires one to establish one’sown values and priorities, so as to better assess new change and what it meansfor oneself.

5. Share your personal journey.

Nearly seven years ago, my mother was diagnosed with a rareearly onset Alzheimer's disease at the young age of 57. Within a matterof a few years, I watched the slow and painful loss of her identity, ofher independence and of the faculties that so many of us take for granted. Todate, there is no known cure for this debilitating terminal illness. Watchingthe life of someone you love dissolve before your eyes, makes you reflect uponyour own and upon the fragility of life itself. The past decade mirrors mysearch for a vocation of meaning, of purpose and one that matches my strengthsand what I feel I was brought here on earth to do. For many years, I have hadfriends, acquaintances and work colleagues tell me that I had a naturalgift of drawing out the best in people, empowering people and drawing uponmy own life experience to connect with people from all ages and walks of life ata deeper level.

Turbulent and difficult experiences encountered at a youngage, required me to grow up quickly and process many adult issues as achild. This life experience has reflected in many referring to me as having amaturity far beyond my years. In 2011 I commenced my Bachelor of Applied SocialScience degree. The study journey has proven to be richly rewarding beyondmeasure, and I have found myself immersed in a passion matching my heartfrequency. I aspire to establish my own professional counselling and coachingpractice in the future, with my passion for empowering people to finddirection, purpose and meaning in their lives. Currently, I work and studypart-time on my 'Chasing La Dolce Vita' Facebook page.

http://www.facebook.com/pages/Chasing-La-Dolce-Vita/186886374696312

All the best Tanya. I see a great coach emerging in you.

Best Quotes by Tanya from 'Chasing La Dolce Vita’

Infiltrate every atom of your body with belief. Believe inyourself, all that you are and all the magnificence you are yet to become.

If there were not foundations yet to be laid, our dreamswould already be realised. There is no value in holding answers to questions weare not yet ready to ask. Everything is unfolding just as needs to. Be patientbeautiful heart, your dreams are unfolding just as they need to and one day,you will look back and realize where you were, was absolutely necessary ingetting you to where you are.

Passion is discovering an all consuming and energizingpurpose. Passion is staying up late and getting up early. Passion welcomes eachand every new day, seeing endless possibility contained within it. Passion isyour heart not letting you settle for anything less than your highest visionand purpose.

The things that tear our hearts apart are the very thingsthat also make them whole.

Spiritual Tools for Material Success

2012-01-09T16:13:00.002+05:30

Spiritual Tools for Material Success

PET-A Formula for Mega Success

2012-01-07T14:09:00.000+05:30

PET stands for Passion, Effort and Time. If you are ambitious and want to succeed at national/international levels, PET is the formula for Mega Success. To know more click here:-

PET-A Formula for Mega Success

Multiple Pressures Lead to Clouded Thinking

2011-12-28T13:13:00.001+05:30

Pressure can be so damaging to us. We are not even realizing the damage caused by excessive pressures.

The aggregate burden of multiple pressures is making us unhappy, causing clouded thinking, disconnecting us from our deeper selves, killing our creativity and stopping us from living our dreams:-

For more:-

Various pressures lead to clouded thinking

A Brand Called Me

2011-12-21T16:54:00.001+05:30

Radhika Raj of Hindustan Times has come up with a good story on Personal Branding looking at both the pros and the cons.

The story also talks of the four pioneers of Personal Branding in India.

Link to read it online

Here are my answers to the cons or the objections raised by some experts against personal branding.

Criticism 1

“A personal brand has an impact on society and also createsan experience like Mother Teresa or Mahatma Gandhi” Nabankur Gupta

Answer

Yes, a personal brand should have an impact on society. But itis not necessary to have as big as an impact like Gandhi or Teresa. After allwe have global brands, national brands and regional brands in products too.

Interestingly earlier a person first became a regional brand, then national andthen went global. But today due to internet the scenario has changed. You canbecome a global brand in one year’s time though in a niche area without goingthrough the traditional path and becoming a regional brand first.

Criticism 2

“Most companies provide tools that promises visibility andpackaging not brand value. A brand is something that provides a specific idea.”Anand Halve

“It is important to be critical of these tailor madeservices because they help in image building not in substance development.”Gita Chadha

Answer

Yes only visibility does not create a brand. There is adifference between online branding and personal branding. Online branding isonly visibility but personal branding is visibility plus personal growth. Or insimple words Personal Branding means, “Become what you aspire, communicate whatyou are”

In any industry the professional and unprofessional playersexist side by side and so in this industry. But if a client is onlyinterested in online branding and not personal growth, the consultant cannotforce the growth down his throat. As the proverb goes, “You can take a horse tothe water but you cannot make him drink.”

Check out
Media Gallery Latest Achievements 7 Steps to Global Success

Music Makes us Great-Two Opinions

2011-12-21T13:49:00.000+05:30

'Uncovering our Greatness' is a monthly column on becoming a great human being and has two opinions on the subject from western and eastern part of the world viz. Michael Thallium from Spain and Dr Amit Nagpal from India.

Michael Thallium’s opinion

I had never written an article this way before. I am writingit at 35,239 feet high and about 7 hours from my final destination - this is atleast what the screen says, while we are flying somewhere over Greenland. Iwould have liked to start writing it earlier, when we were crossing the skiesover the Atlantic Ocean, but it has not been until now, that I opened my laptopand began to write. Anyway, it does not matter that much because while I amthinking what to write and looking around to observe the passengers around mein this Airbus heading for Los Angeles, the plane has come back to the skiesover Atlantic waters, somewhere between Canada and Greenland.

I thought that writing from the skies was the perfectoccasion to openly state that music makes us great and elevates us to greatheights. Music, in each of its multiple forms, is a universal language. I useit a lot in my talks, in the courses I give, in my coaching sessions, in mylanguage teaching. To me, for instance, a symphonic orchestra is a paradigm ofteam work and a great metaphor to explain what happens in the brain, in ourdaily lives, in the different organizations in which we work, live or relate toeach other. Every musician with his own instrument wants to express his voicein this orchestra.

Antonio Damasio, in his book “When Self Comes To Mind” (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p0L_mfpYwIk),uses a beautiful symphonic metaphor to explain how consciousness emerges in thehuman brain. Consciousness, the conscious mind, is the result of the work ofmany different areas of the brain, not just one. And the same thing happenswith the performance of a symphonic work: it is not the result of one musicianor instrument, not even the result of a whole instrumental section, it is theresult of a whole orchestra. However, it is interesting to see that, in theearly stages of the interpreting of consciousness, the conductor is missingbefore the concert starts. But as the concert develops, then the conductorcomes to life.

The conductor conducts the orchestra, but it is the concert thatcreated the conductor -the subject, the Self-. The conductor himself improvisesthrough the emotions, feelings and the story telling of the brain. Creating amind which is able to remember its past and to anticipate its future and,moreover, that has the ability to reflect, is like interpreting a GustavMahler’s symphony. The 8th Symphony by Mahler, “Of a Thousand” (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KCblPVT5rZo), cannot be performed by just one musician, neither by a bunch of soloists. Yourequire a multitude. The contribution of each of the parts is important, butonly the whole of the instruments produces that great result. And there issomething similar about the conscious mind, the Self.

That is why, among many other reasons, I think music makesus great and bonds us all. I am talking about music as a language, not as abusiness where egos and fashions come into play. I have already mentionedRachel Flowers in some other articles. To me, she is a paradigm of greatness and how to overcome limitations throughmusic: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eXTZCxOBguU .

Michelle van Min, another very young singer and song writerfrom Holland, captivated me when Idiscovered via Internet her song “The Middle Path” (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zN_o7ma_0LI).Recently, Michelle has also written a song for this 2011 Christmas. You canwatch it on Youtube if you like: http://www.youtube.com/user/michellevanmin#p/u/1/G-SOkz4Cid0. And here her last song “When I look back”: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5tWkI4OwhrM&feature=channel_video_title. Great!

Hardly a week ago, through a friend of mine (she is apianist), I happened to learn about a 12 year old boy from New York, known asBlue Jay. He is another musical prodigy and has already composed severalsymphonies: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7J94fDSHuGI .Great!

Since I live in Madrid, I cannot help talking about an eventthat takes place every Wednesday at Café Teatro Arenal. This is another exampleof greatness. My friend Shahar Rosenthal organizes what he calls the“Wednesdays of Chamber Music”. If most of the people living in or visitingMadrid knew that they can enjoy artists such as Joshua Bell just for 10 €, I amsure they would attend this place every week en masse (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hoi_pcGHz4Y).But it is also true that without awareness, without our conscious minds knowingthat, greatness can be unnoticed, too.

Yes, music makes us great. When I started writing thisarticle, I was in a plane. That was three days ago. Now that I am finishing it,I must confess, dear reader, that I find myself in a room surrounded by thetoys of a 10 year old child. It is 06:00 am here in Oxnard, California. Theother three people in the house are sleeping. The toys belong to Vaughan, whois sleeping in another room close to his mum. In the other room, there isanother person sleeping. This is the person who made Steve Brant, David Presleyand myself among others feel great yesterday: Rachel Flowers. And yes, I cameall the way down from Spain to feel myself really great!

_____________________________________________________

Dr Amit Nagpal's opinion

"The task of leadership is not to put greatness into people, but to elicit it, for the greatness is there already."
~ John Buchan

Music makes us great. Sounds funny! If music makes us great,then all of us are already great. Most of us like some form of music;instrumental or vocal, playing or listening to a instrument, singing or dancingto the tunes of music, don’t we all have some association with music?

Firstly we all are great, but we need to bring out thatgreatness. We all have some skill, something special about us in which we allare world class. It is our own inner beliefs which limit us, it is our ownfoolishness that we do not have even time to think and discover our lifepurpose. Now you must be thinking, “What Amit, you sound contradictory? Are wefoolish and great at the same time?” Yes ladies and gentlemen, we are. We are abundle of contradictions; we have a wise subconscious mind covered with foolishconscious mind. We are great yet we refuse to accept and recognize our verygreatness. In fact, Michael Thallium has brought a slight shift in my thinking.Earlier I used to believe we can become great, now I believe we are alreadygreat, we only need to uncover it.

What better way to uncover our hidden greatness than throughmusic and the arts. If God is the Creator, all creative people must be godly.Can we create something better than music which is beyond language, somethingwhich stirs our very souls? I may have a personal bias towards music andcartooning because they are beyond language and connect us human beings sowell. If it were not so, why did the song ‘Kolaveri Di’ get world famous in sucha short span? This Tamil language song from Tamil Nadu state of India, whoselyrics are fully understood only in one state, partially understood in SouthernIndia and hardly understood in Northern India has got 17 million Youtube hitsand is making the world tap its feet. Music is truly something global and greatand so are the people who create it.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YR12Z8f1Dh8

Music can heal, it can inspire, it can make you laugh andcry, it can give companionship, and to me music is God, omnipresent, omniscientand omnipotent. Music is present in the sweet laughter of the babies, it knows andrepresents all our emotions, it is all powerful and can make the most heartlessperson shed tears. Music can move mountains or in other words bring people whohave become mental, physical and emotional rocks, out of their hard shells.

I can’t write more, music is ringing too hard in my ears.Here is my all time favorite Hindi song, “Yeh Dooriyaan”

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3EfX3kAM1Ks

(The rough translation of the song’s chorus, “Thesedistances, the distances of the roads, the distances between the life partners,the distances between the eyes, may these distances come to an end!” So you arealready missing your loved one, please don’t cry, I can feel your vibes.)

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Recession and Personal Branding

2011-12-19T16:55:00.000+05:30

Can we do something to safeguard our job during recession? Can we take some precautionary measures to avoid unemployment during recessionary stage? Can personal branding pay dividends during recession? Here are some answers:-

Recession and Personal Branding

Managing Your Online Brand's Reputation- Two Angles

2011-12-18T16:25:00.002+05:30

December #1
Japan and India-Personal Branding Across Two Cultures

Managing Your Online Brand's Reputation

OnlineBranding and Japan-Peter Sterlacci

Japan is considered one of the most wiredcountries and the Japanese are starting to jump on the web 2.0 bandwagon.Consider these facts:

· Facebook has more thantripled its user base in Japan in less than a year.

· Twitter estimates thatpeople in Japan write nearly 8 million tweets a day, about 12 percent of theglobal total.

· Japan's biggesthomegrown social networking site Mixi Inc. recently joined forces with Twitterto strengthen their ground against Facebook's expansion.

· LinkedIn added theJapanese language to its platform this Fall and is aggressively promotingthemselves as the only professional social media network in the country.

· Workplace solutionsprovider Regus found that close to 70% of Japanese companies agreed that socialmedia is an essential aspect of branding.

· Japan has the largestand most active blogging culture in the world. Close to 40% of the world's blogposts are in the Japanese language.

· As Japanese internetusers spend the most time visiting blogs worldwide, blogging has becomea crucial social media tool in Japan to promote their services and products.

· Google has announced alink-up with Japanese super-band AKB48 that will see the all-girl-group beginusing its Google+ social network to interact with their fans in the country andoverseas.

Clearly the Japanese are establishing theirpresence online and knowing how to manage their online identity is moreimportant than ever as Facebook, LinkedIn, and Google+ require usage of realnames. We are seeing the start of an online usage mind-set shift in Japan fromspending time mainly online in the 'interest graph' (looking for information)to embracing the 'social graph' (interacting with others or promoting oneself).As such online identity and reputation management is becoming more crucial inJapan's Web 2.0 economy.

5Factors to Manage Your Online Identity

If you are digitally present, are the results'on-brand' or 'off-brand'? Remember, whether you realize it or not, you AREyour Google results to people who do not know you. Knowing your place in thedigital world is more important than ever before.

Willam Arruda, founder of Reach PersonalBranding, says there are 5 factors in measuring your online reputation: volume,relevance, purity, diversity, and validation.

1. Volume: how much information exists onlineabout you?

2. Relevance: how consistent is this content withwho you say you are?

3. Purity: how much is purely about you and notsomeone else with the same name?

4. Diversity: how diverse is the content aboutyou including text, video, images, photos, etc.?

5. Validation: what are other people are sayingabout you in testimonials, comments, recommendations, likes, +1s, etc.?

Reach's free 'OnlineID Calculator' will measure these 5factors and help you to make sense of your Google results so that your onlineidentity is aligned with your real-world personal brand.

Tips to Enhance YourOnline Reputation

· Volume: If you need more results that are about you, set up socialnetworking profiles on many sites by editing your current branded bio andestablishing accounts at Naymz,Ziggs and other sites.

· Relevance: Write an article about your area of expertise and post it toan appropriate online portal. Find blogs related to your area ofthought-leadership, subscribe and comment when you have something valuable tocontribute. Review books related to your area of expertise at amazon.com and barnesandnoble.com. Publish relevant white papers to SCRIBD.com. To learn how to turn one real-worldcommunications activity into a year’s worth of online content, check out thisvideo: http://bit.ly/realvirtual.

· Purity: Sign up for an account at Vizibility. The service allows you to identify theGoogle results that are about you and create a “Search Me” button that you caninclude in your e-mail signature, your LinkedIn profile, on your blog, etc.This will help you to remove content that is unflattering or inconsistent withhow you want to be known.

· Diversity: Sign up for a Flickr account and post relevant images. Set upyour Google profile. Put your branded bio on an About.me or Flavors.me site. Create your channel on YouTube and Vimeo and startposting videos related to your expertise. Finally, set up your own VideoBIO.

· Validation:See what others are saying about you by setting up alerts on all searchengines, but specifically on Google. ForTwitter set up alerts on TweetBeep.Every time someone uses your names you will be alerted to that you can monitorhow others are validating your brand.

-------------------

Brief Profile

Peter Sterlacci has handled many senior roles including Director-International Outreach at San Jose State University and corporate training before venturing out into Personal Branding in Japan. He specialises in Intercultural Personal Branding and his philosophy is "Empowering you to Believe, Become and Be your Brand"

To know more:-
http://petersterlacci.com/

_______________________________________________________________

Online Branding and India-Dr Amit Nagpal

Reputation of a person is an opinion about that entity,typically a result of social evaluation on a set of criteria (Wikipedia).Reputation is broader than image. We can manipulate our image by presenting thepositive side and suppressing the negative side (negative information) butreputation is the sum total of our impression and others’ opinions and it is comparativelydifficult to manipulate.

Online Usage andReputation in Indian context

India has 121 million internet users and in past one year 25lakh new users have been added. Pavan Duggal, Supreme Court Lawyer rightly saysabout the social media and vomiting revolution in India, “Indians today onsocial media are vomiting everything about their lives, social, personal,professional, otherwise. It is only a matter of time before people realize whatthey have said could impact them for times to come.” According to a recent IMRBsurvey carried out in India, nearly 30 % internet users utilize social media.According to the agency offensive web content in India primarily includesabusive language, slander, jokes about religion/community, degrading women andchallenging the authority of government/state.

Indians (like the eastern cultures) are often emotional,judgmental and can quickly jump to conclusions. The sense of duty can be verystrong (when it comes to family especially) and emotional outbursts (bothpositive and negative) are more likely to appear on social media. The long termimpact of such outbursts on the online reputation of the person need to beunderstood.

How do we build orspoil our online reputation?

We build and spoil our online reputation by writing,commenting and posting the wrong, biased or negative stuff. This is what we cancontrol. Others also write about us, comment on our writings and thuscontribute to our reputation. This is partially controllable only. If you arebasically a mature person, it is likely that people will write positive stuffabout you. But it is also possible that your professional competitors or peoplewith whom you had major differences of opinion or clashes of interests maywrite bad stuff just to malign you. This is also technically controllable tosome extent as you can use SEO or OR management companies to suppress thematter so that its page ranks go down.

On one hand, when negative stuff starts appearing about you,it may mean you are catching lot of public attention because of your successand negative content may be the reflection of the jealousy which has begun tospring up. The way you handle that jealousy is very critical and will show yourtrue self and maturity to the world. Here is a brief description of theactivities which build or spoil our online reputation.

What we write(microbolgs and blogs)?

All that we write on the social media and other internetsites becomes permanent or semi-permanent in the digital world. Media is media,even if it is social media. So be careful what you are posting.

What we comment(comments on the microblogs and blogs of others)?

Comment to share your knowledge but not to boast. Comment toshare your perspective but not to show your superiority (or put someone elsedown). Comment to promote yourself but also promote and encourage others. Insimple words maintain a delicate balance.

What we post (photos, quotes,questions and so on)?

A picture says a thousand words. So what do your picturessay about you? What do your questions and quotes say about you? Do you postsarcastic, stingy and negative quotes all the time? It certainly brings out thenegativity inside you.

What we reveal(between the lines) about ourselves?

Sometimes you try to act smart and try to be politicallycorrect by not saying something, but your incomplete sentences, tone orsomething else can be easily read between the lines. Sometimes you want it tobe read; sometimes you don’t even realize what you have told indirectly.

Remember employers are checking social networking profiles ofcandidates on sites such as Facebook and Twitter, to gain insightinto how you will fit into their business.

What if I have anegative past?

There is a famous saying, “Every saint has a past and everyrogue has a future.” An average person is neither a saint nor a rogue though.But the point is if you have made blunders in the past and they are presentonline for the world to see, treat it as a pressure to grow and transformyourself. Indian literature has scores of examples. There was a dacoit Unglimalwho would cut the fingers of people he had looted and hanged them in his neckas souvenirs. Even such a hard hearted dacoit transformed himself and became areputed saint later.

If you manage the transformation inside you, it would beeasier to portray it outside and the good news is that Google is going to givemore and more importance to the latest content. The newer self of yours caneasily replace the older persona online.

So what do I do tobuild a good reputation?

Just try to grow as a person all the time and whatever yourtrue self is, will be out in the social media sooner or later.

Be humble
Accept your mistakes
Monitor your reputation
Analyze the comments and check whether you need to improve yourself

Accept that you have made mistakes in life and you still doand it is part of being human. Try your best not to repeat them and always makea sincere effort for personal growth.

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Brief Profile
Dr Amit Nagpal is a Social Media Trainer and Personal Branding Consultant. He is based in New Delhi, India. To know more about him, click here:-
http://www.dramitnagpal.co.in/p/about-us.html

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