fun

There are 8 posts tagged fun (this is page 2 of 2).

5 Ways to Love Yourself

Loving ourselves could be one of the most difficult task for many of us, yet it is very important and significant in our lives. All of us are unique in some talents and skills, and it is our duty to discover our talents and love ourselves for having them. Loving oneself is also related to self-esteem, self-confidence and self-respect sometimes. But it is not about loving oneself as an object, it is not about loving our body or anything physical. Loving oneself comes from within, so in that sense, self-love is more like an attitude and feeling.

The art of loving ourself begins with acceptance of what we are and what we are not. We then no longer seek happiness and fulfillment from people and objects in the outside world, but from within ourselves. It also does not mean being arrogant or over-confident or feeling better than anybody else. It means having a self-respect for ourself as a human being, a self-respect which is not dependent on external factors. Below are 5 simple ways to love oneself daily –

1. Acknowledge your efforts

When we do something good, very often we seek acknowledgement from others (normally higher authority) but often forget to acknowledge ourself for the wonderful work we have been putting in. So do it now, and do it daily. Acknowledge yourself for the effort you have been putting at work, acknowledge yourself for performing your duties as a son, father, mother, brother, and so on. Feel good about the good you are doing to the world.

“To love oneself is the beginning of a life-long romance” - Oscar Wilde

“To love oneself is the beginning of a life-long romance” - Oscar Wilde

2. No worries

There is never any point worrying about the past or the future. We all know this fact, yet sometimes we can’t stop ourselves from worrying. If we truly become independent of others’ behavior and how situations turn out, we will cease to worry. By worrying we loose the only moment we really have, the present moment. We should aim to enjoy the current moment to the maximum rather than worrying about what is not in our hands.

3. Forgive your mistakes, trust your abilities

We all are human beings, and we have all made mistakes. We might have lost a business opportunity, or we might have hurt some loved ones by our words. While it is human to make mistakes, it is also human to forgive ourselves and not feeling guilty about them, and move on with life. Because life moves ahead and not backwards, we should take the lessons from our past mistakes and trust our abilities to make better use of our time and opportunities that will come our way in the future.

4. Take breaks, relax

Life has become so fast paced these days that quite often we found ourselves so busy in our day to day activities that we loose track of time. Days turn to weeks and weeks to months before we realize the whole year has passed by. All this also leads to stress, tension and diseases due to an unhealthy lifestyle and habits like smoking and drinking. It is very important to take regular breaks to relax and just have some fun, either alone in reflection or spending some light moments with our friends and family. So take a leave every few weeks, just for relaxation, go out for a vacation once in a while, irrespective of how busy you are or how much your work demands of you.

5. Fun Fun Fun in everything you do

Life is one short journey, and yours will end too as it ends for everybody else. And everything you do revolves around people, whether at home, work or on the streets. So have fun at home by playing around with your kids. Have fun at work by not taking things too seriously. Spread smiles on the road by wishing everyone a good day. Count how many times you smile and laugh, and plot it on a graph. The upside of this graph is more important that the graph of your revenues and bottom lines.

What I learned when Deepali said “Theek Theek Laga Lo” :-)

It was sometime in 2007, or 2008, when I was the team leader of the 99acres team in Noida. This incident happened during a planning meeting for future projects in 99acres which was attended by many senior people in the company. Product Managers, Sales Heads, Business Heads of 99acres and Jeevansathi, and I think even our COO was present during that meeting, not sure about him though. Being the one handling the tech team, I was giving time estimates for the different ideas / changes the top guns had on their list. It was one such idea for which I suggested a time estimation and somebody said that he thinks it should be done in these many days (obviously less than mine). As it was only an estimation, I thought about it a little more and reduced my estimation by a few days. At this point, Deepali Singh, who was the business head of 99acres said “Theek Theek Laga Lo”. The whole room burst into laughter at that point and it was a moment I still remember to this day. (“Theek Theek Laga Lo” is a Hindi slang for “Give me a right price” which is commonly used while bargaining for price while shopping in local markets of Delhi)

What I learned from this incident is that having fun and keeping a light atmosphere is very important, even when discussing the most serious of issues and problems. It was the same that day, I was a little nervous and was taking things too seriously. After this incident, the whole mood in the room lightened up and I was lot more relaxed which indeed helped me to do my job better, in this case, giving better estimations.

I certainly miss shopping in Delhi's markets

I certainly miss shopping in Delhi's markets

Though normally I am fun loving and keep on doing something or other for fun, I have often seen myself getting too serious during important meetings, specifically when there are people higher up in the hierarchy attending it. Deepali’s comment diffused the tension and put me at ease highlighting how important it is to have fun at the workplace. I have always believed that if you are having fun while doing your work, then you will be more creative, more productive, will be able to take better decisions and will get along well with co-workers.

A pleasant and happy work culture was one of the most important points that I saw during the three years I worked with InfoEdge. People were not colleagues there, they were friends. Now, even after 2.5 years of leaving InfoEdge, I am in regular touch with all the members of my team and many others too, and I make it a point to meet them whenever I am in Delhi. It wont be wrong to say that I got many friends for life from those three years of working there. All credit to the fun-filled work environment there.

Remembering what we used to do within our team for fun, we used to go out for informal team lunches quite often. Many times, we used to get out just for having ice-cream at the nearby Nirulas or for sipping a glass of juice at a roadside juice seller. There were a few dhabas outside the office which had become popular meeting points over tea and maggi noodels. Within my team we used to play a lot of pranks with each other. There were times when Poorva (a teammate) used to hear random screams from her laptop while coding (thanks to me taking an ssh into her machine and remotely executing a scream mp3 file I have put there), and there were times when I used to return to my seat to find my laptop missing as my teammates have hidden it for revenge 😉

Taking it one step further, I try to apply the same approach to life too. No matter what the situation is, how serious it is, it always helps to take it lightly and have fun along the way. Life is a series of ups and downs, and it is as important to enjoy the downs as it is to cherish the ups. It is all part of the game called life. I will end with a quote –

“When faced with a problem, don’t ask life ‘Why Me?’, Instead say, ‘Try Me'”

Don’t let anybody else decide what you can do and what you can’t do!

Obey the rules, Miss the fun

Obey the rules, Miss the fun

We come across conversations daily in our lives that are on the lines of “You can’t do it“, or “Nobody can do it“, or “This is impossible” or “Why in the hell are you doing this?“. We all live in societies and societies have rules. There are legal rules, there are religious rules, and then there are social rules. Everybody live their lives according to these rules. Over time, these rules becomes so intervined with our day to day lives that we don’t even think of doing something out of these rules. We even scrowl on anyone who talks about breaking these rules.

“What the mind of man can conceive and believe, it can achieve.” – is a popular quote by Napolean Hill. We all have infinite potential waiting to be tapped. I don’t believe there is anything one can’t do. A two year child can’t read and write, but we don’t say “This kid can’t do math or read books, and he is a failure”. We don’t say that because we know that we can teach and make that child better. Then why is it okay for such statements to be used for grown ups. Who said we can’t teach something to a young man, or for that matter, to an old man, irrespective of whether he is 50 or 70. When a 67 year old man can climb the Mount Everest and a 98, yes 98 years old man can run a marathon, who are we to say that a person can do or can not do something.

And isn’t it even worse to write off a person because of what they are instead of what they might become? People have started companies in their fifties and have passed school/college at four times the average age. Even our former President APJ Abdul Kalam learned Hindi while he was in office in his seventies. And when you have the desire, you can even make miracles happen.. Not being able to do something is simply a state of not knowing, which can be overcome irrespective of the current situation of the person. Who is anybody to judge and decide what a person can do or can’t do?

And more than judging or commenting, how does anyone but you control what you can do or can’t do? When you have to do something, it is ONLY you who can do it. When you decide to do something, it is very important that you stand by your decision. You need to be strong enough to discard the naysayers and prepare for the task ahead. It might not be easy, and not many people might have tried it before, but so what?? Anyways, what is the fun in doing something easy? If you think you are capable of doing it, then you are. Period. Go ahead and show the world what are you capable of. You are here living your life, not somebody else’s, so why take your decisions based on somebody else’s feedback. It can be summed up by this quote –
“Don’t base your decisions on the advice of people who don’t have to deal with the results”

Imagine how your life and those you impact would improve if you were to let no one else decide how you would act, but instead base your decisions on what you believe. The worst case scenario will be that you will not succeed in what you are trying to do. But that is not a failure, that will be a lesson on how to do it better next time. No task is a failure just because you did not get the expected result. It is not a failure if you are learning something. But if you don’t do it, you will always curse yourself for that one thing which you believed you could do but did not attempt only because of what others said or thought!