In childhood, once I happened to watch Lucky Irani Circus. They’d come to our village on the eve of annual fair. I was very excited to see a giant elephant but I was surprised that the giant animal was just tied with a small chord which even a goat could break. It was very intriguing. I kept on thinking but didn’t find the answer. At a very later stage, I came to know that there was an interesting method of training the elephants. The mahout attaches a small chord with the leg of baby elephant; the chord is a little stronger than the inherent strength of baby elephant. Initially the baby tries to break away but is checked by the chord. Slowly the baby ‘learns’ that it can’t break away from the chain it’s tied with. And he retains this learned helplessness for ever and hence never tries again to break away. That’s the reason you see big elephants tied with small rope and completely ‘in control’.

Like elephants, we also learn helplessness and remain tied to the crippling chains of past experiences and events. Our mahouts-----our parents, friends, associates, colleagues and spouses tie us with the chords of their opinions and suggestions and then we remain tied with them for ever, little realizing our inherent potential to perform miracles. The grown-up elephant can dismantle iron chains with little exertion, but he never tries. Similarly we can do wonders but we never try.

From The Craft of Selling "Yourself"

IMAGE: The word ‘IMAGE’ represents the qualities of a confident professional: ‘I’ is for Impression, the first and lasting impression you make on people; ‘M’ is for Movement, basically how you carry yourself including your posture and body language; ‘A’ is the most important ingredient and it stands for Attitude, the thoughts you feed your mind with; ‘G’ goes for Grooming, your dressing and personal hygiene; and ‘E’ is for Etiquette.

As an interviewee, you must be exceptionally sensitive to the dress codes. As a serious and success-conscious potential corporate executive, you must broadly know the dress codes of different companies and industries. You must know that if you’re going to Levi’s for an interview, you better dress yourself in Levi’s.


From The Craft of Selling “Yourself”..

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When you try, you risk failure. When you don’t try, you ensure it.

“There is only one thing that makes a dream impossible to achieve: the fear of failure.”

“The secret of life, though, is to fall seven times and to get up eight times.”


“Tell your heart that the fear of suffering is worse than the suffering itself. And that no heart has ever suffered when it goes in search of its dreams, because every second of the search is a second's encounter with God and with eternity.”

“When you find your path, you must not be afraid. You need to have sufficient courage to make mistakes. Disappointment, defeat, and despair are the tools God uses to show us the way.”

“Don't give in to your fears. If you do, you won't be able to talk to your heart.”

“People are capable, at any time in their lives, of doing what they dream of.”

“What's the world's greatest lie?... It's this: that at a certain point in our lives, we lose control of what's happening to us, and our lives become controlled by fate.”

Paulo Coelho

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Prejudice is an opinion without judgment. Voltaire my hero

There Are Two Types of People!

One, complainers, grumblers, naggers, negaholics, cynical, whiners and weepers. They emit negative energy. They sap positive energy. They are eternal pessimists. They are the Cassandras of life who always prophesy dooms and disasters. They indulge in negative thoughts and wallow in miseries.

Second, you see people who bring sunshine where ever they go. They encourage others. They uplift, inspire, fire up, rejuvenate whoever comes in their orbit. They are the gods of inspiration. You sit in their company you feel reborn.

You find both of the them everywhere, in markets, in offices etc. Whenever you come in contact with them, you are subtly influenced. You may not feel their influence, but you cannot escape.

All you have to do is to put strong firewalls against first type of people. If you allow their malicious content to execute in your system, your performance will slow down and ultimately you might crash in life.

Consciously network with the people who encourage and inspire and bring smiles on your face; who make you believe in your dreams.


From: book-- The Craft of Selling "Yourself"

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When you try, you risk failure. When you don’t try, you ensure it.