Different Strokes For Different Folks -
What Motivates Us Truly …….

The amusing part of motivation is that it does not come in as standard best practices which can be followed across the board. It is a custom made to order activity.

As a young working professional it becomes a challenge to motivate oneself over and over again to do the same repetitive tasks with a new fervor every time.

It is a matter of perspective, self evaluation of capabilities and deep understanding of what truly motivates us to do our daily tasks with enthusiasm, passion and dedication.

I am truly touched by the following story on motivational truth ….

A mother was waking her child up in the morning, urging him to get ready for school. The child lovingly curls into his mother’s lap and says, “Mommy, I don’t want to go to school any more, the teachers are teaching the same syllabus over and over, the students tease me and call me names behind my back, and no one really appreciates me”. The mother replies “ I understand you my son, the teachers are doing their work, the children at school will tease you all the time and call you names behind your back, Yet you have to endure and go to school every day , because you are the Principal of the School, Your responsibility is to Mould Minds and Shape Futures. You may not feel appreciated now, but your daily work is a reward in itself”.              

Every action however insignificant it may seem at the moment, if undertaken with full dedication is going to bring fruits in the near future. So one has to choose and keep on doing their bit in full awareness of this simple reality.

If you have a task at hand, do it to the best of your ability and then leave it to the Universe to respond.

Motivation is not an easy exercise, one has to spend time, creative effort, and above all keep rock solid faith that all right things will happen in due course.       

I am Depressed - My Team Lead Doesn't Like Me……

One day a young married HIV infected person shared with me that she was depressed and wanted to end her life as people around her thought that she was unfaithful to her spouse. The real reason we found out later was that she had undergone multiple surgical procedures in the last 4 years to conceive a baby.

Her  Depression was real.

The same evening, I met a young working adult who also shared being depressed and wanted to end his life. The reason being his team lead did not like him and spoke sternly to him as he had missed meeting his target consistently for the last 3 days.

His Depression was also real.         

A little paradoxical as it may sound the reasons may be diverse however the manifestation is real. Being Sad, Unhappy or Depressed especially in young working adults is very a common complaint with phraseology “I am depressed because……… Sometimes the reasons are manageable and sometimes they are not.

As a mental health expert, I can vouch that the symptoms of this modern day epidemic called Depression impacts the person suffering from it, his family members and indirectly his workplace.

Scientifically speaking a person is considered clinically depressed if he/she has lost interest in activities which were previously pleasurable like watching movies, socializing, clubbing, shopping, surfing, outdoor sports or simply watching nature etc, Other important signs are loss of appetite for food or sex, lack of self care, personal hygiene, disturbed sleep, weight loss or weight gain, persistent low mood or feeling blue, a feeling of helpless in the current life situation or hopelessness for the personal future lasting for a period of more than 3 weeks, The associated symptoms are irritability, crying spells and an increased consumption of alcohol,smoking or drugs.

Additionally in young working adults the probable early symptoms of depression could be lack of attention to details and persistent errors at work in spite of repeated reminders, constantly speaking negative about self and others, irritable, argumentative,being late for meetings, distracted during important conversations , complaining of exhaustion all the time. These take a toll on the young person’s morale, self-esteem, performance rating and ultimately his career progress.   

The amazing part about this psychological problem in the context of work place is it can be corrected by simply getting back your earlier rhythm ie a regular schedule to eating, sleeping and exercising. By sharing emotional concerns or talking with significant people in one’s life, talking to a senior at work, or a counselor, a spiritual guru or an elder also does wonders in a few cases if complicated by other illness or life event meeting a health expert for therapy will be prudent.  

An Emotionally Healthy Life is a gift of a responsible individual to himself.

    

The Grass Is Green On The Other Side- Are We Cows!

I felt  kind of strange when I overheard this phrase at an airport where a fellow passenger was giving this advice to someone on the phone that it was better to move on to another job as they were offering a better pay and other benefits like good work life balance.

It set me thinking, why we crave for a better condition, better pay, better life style, less stress and more free time to spend with our significant people. Do we really want that or are we doing this because there are herds of people speaking the same, wishing the same, complaining the same, not doing enough to change their present.  

Grass (here it refers to work) is of the same color everywhere on this planet (Corporate World), everywhere we would have targets to meet, perform better then the last time , cost less , save more , bring in efficiency.

A  Cow in the Indian context is a life saver, because it gives milk and sustains a family. A working   individual to certain extent behaves in a similar way, meek, humble and obeying what is told to do. Once the pasture dries up, he/she moves on to a different location and continues grass eating behavior only this time the pasture is different.

But wait a minute if we ruminate a bit more (a Cow behavior) and think we are Not Cows, a paradigm shift is bound to occur, instead of seeing our work place as patch of green grass, the canvas opens up to imagination, to limitless opportunities, making Work/Life an enjoyable experience every minute of the day.

One may like it or not, no two minutes over lap each other, every minute has to be lived fully before the next minute arrives though there is full possibility that we are completely unaware of the minutes passing by. All of us are gifted with the same time irrespective of how we spend it, with whom we spend it and for what activity we spend it. Happiness/Unhappiness thus derived is an internal business. Work or Life are not 2 ends of a spectrum but are in continuum like a zero forever.              

The choice is ours, to run behind a greener patch of grass or nothing which paradoxically is a canvas full of opportunities to create……