Reflections from my bedside

We seem to be clueless about questioning, thinking and reflecting what keeps us having fun, enjoying life and successful for most of the life, by just focusing on present day  or near term goals.  

Resting on bed for a month due to fracture to my bones on the polio leg gave me time to reflect back towards all the items that I missed in otherwise a successful  life and career. I realized that I did not think of taking medical insurance for me and my family when I’m still working.  “Big Mistake!!!”.  I paid the penalty with a huge hospital bill now. One reason was that when I joined NFC in India or a company in USA there was always medical insurance policy that covered me and my family. I didn’t predict that I will become independent consultant on international ERP Projects early in my career and that I need to take care of all insurance needs myself that time because I maintain good health and still fortunately able to do so with one weakness of this polio to my left leg.

Predicting the nature of what kind of jobs you will be doing till your retirement life is very uncertain but what is certain is keeping body and mind in shape requires maintaining good health and covering the medical and financial needs of your future.

 So coming back to the main topic, for a great present and wonderful future you have to seriously rethink your situation and reflect on what’s best for you today and your secured future.  Here are my tips in the form of questions you need to ask your selves.

 By the way these tips should be used even for your daily activities at your college or your personal life.

Why. Most of us start our plans with ‘HOW” Example is: How to become expert in English language within a day (Just kidding on the day part). How to achieve employable skills before interview? How to make our cities clean and green?

The more productive, provocative question to start with, is: Why are we doing whatever we are doing ? Here’s an example of a “why” reflection item:  I know that many of our students are trying their best to conserve nature and formed a carbon credit club (http://carboncreditclub.org/ If you are not part of it I recommend you to join it and help support the noble cause of protecting our planet). In order to sustain this movement for several years successfully everyone of the active participant should go back to basics of the idea and start asking Why questions.  May be this will help in more ways then what is envisioned for this movement.

Same ways just question your present skills for employability and see what you are missing.

What. After WHY is successfully answered then the next question to look for answers is ‘What?’.Does your current “what” support your desired “why” — or not? For example, If carbon credit club is only for students of present engineering graduates of JNTUK or local college students; then just actively involving them is good enough of a answer to your WHY. But if you want to sustain this movement long term and your WHY’s answer is a great vision of successful movement then you have to rethink the club’s future.

Another example: if just getting whatever job comes your way thru campus interviews and you depend on luck or wish to gamble with your career  then just banking on luck is enough but if you are looking for bright career then you should seriously re think the ‘WHY’ and ‘What” to acquire the right interview answering skills and good employable skills.
Which. After “Why”, and  “what”, you need to think of WHICH.  Does your “WHICH” question  answer your “What”?
Example:- Which Institute gives me the required employable skills? Which daily routines I need to change to change my lifestyle? Which actions or personality traits those are bad in me.

Coming back to carbon credit club example same rule applies. Which Innovative way helps me to sustain the carbon credit club movements? Which action helps to bring the attention and funding needed for the movement to continue forever and scale to national or global levels and really bring the much needed awareness to all citizens and industries?

These aren’t, of course, the only questions worth reflecting on — nor perhaps even the best ones. You can ask yourself who, when, and where questions, too — to name just a few.  

Remember one thing. innovative, creative, simplicity, transparency and best practices in what ever you do takes you to great heights in life