You Are Conditioned By the Past ...

                                                                                                          By :Deepak C.

                                  ... But You Don't Have to Be Its Victim

 

By any definition of the word "success," it requires good decision-making. Knowing this, business school and university departments of political science spend much of their time trying to teach the difference between a good decision and a bad one.

  But rational approaches to decision-making have their limits. The two biggest obstacles are well known. The first is that the future rarely repeats the past so exactly that old solutions perfectly apply to new situations. The second is psychological. The person making the decision is never perfectly rational.
It's this second obstacle that proves the most troubling (although fascinating to historians when they chronicle the horrible or triumphant decisions made by leaders in the past), because the human psyche contains mysteries that seem impenetrable to itself. How much do you know yourself? With complete knowledge, you'd be able to take your own quirks, biases, and weak spots into account. Then decisions would be much easier to make. You wouldn't wind up in a job that looked great on paper but turned out to be miserable after a year.
When it comes to the workplace, the most basic level of self-knowledge must be applied. At every level, the following questions are germane, no matter what kind of work you do:

• Can I tolerate repetitive tasks, or am I too easily bored?
• How well can I handle conflict with coworkers?
• Can I focus in a busy environment or am I easily distracted?
• How do I handle everyday stress?
• Do tight deadlines bring out the best or worst in me?
• Can I stand up for myself around people with strong personalities?
• Am I a loner or a team player?
• Do I need a creative challenge to be happy?

For most people, sadly, the answers to these questions are learned through the hard, slow process of trial and error. Once learned, the lessons become part of the person's story. "I'm a team player" or "I hate deadlines" becomes a personal trait. Countless careers are limited, however, by applying these traits as if they are fixed, like having blue eyes. Probably the most dominant feature of great success stories is the opposite — an ability to be resilient and flexible. It's not either/or. Rather, the person's psychology is open enough and resilient enough to adapt to life's constant changes.
If you can't make a decision unless it matches your psychological profile, you will be trapped when your weaknesses, blind spots, and prejudices are challenged. This trap isn't built into the situation; it's built into your past. The horrors of World War I were so scarring psychologically that European leaders couldn't make rational decisions in the face of Hitler — it was an extreme case of past conditioning overshadowing the present situation. But all of us know the little voice inside that says, "I've been here before. I know what to do and what not to do." The difference between a good and bad decision usually comes down to how much this voice influences you.
It can be too much, too little, or just enough. Which means that you need another voice, one that comes from self-awareness and not just the past. In a stressful situation, you cannot evade self-awareness, because otherwise the stress will drive you forward, not your mind. In army training, knowing that combat is incredibly stressful, drill sergeants exist to pound into their recruits an immunity to noise, confusion, and fear. The mind of a young infantryman can't be relied upon, so for everyone's safety, he should act as much like a robot as possible, doing exactly what he was trained to do.
The equivalent of a robot in everyday life is someone who rigidly applies his past conditioning in every situation. In the economic downturn of 2007, large cohorts of Wall Street traders, banking institutions, lenders, and stock analysts made horrendously bad decisions for the simple reason that they acted by habit and conditioning. "The way I'm doing this has always worked in the past, so it will work now." Crises expose how much this mode of robotic thinking dominates in every areas of business. Media advertising masks this reality by using terms like creative, innovative, meeting the challenges of the future. If only that were true.

To actually be innovative, creative, and capable of meeting the challenges of the future, no one is perfectly rational, or should be. A computer can be programmed to make rational decisions, but its error rate will be high, since its input will come entirely form the past. In the next post we'll discuss how to avoid robot thinking and what it means to be resilient in the face of unknown challenges.

(To be cont.)

 Source: http://www.linkedin.com/today/post/article/20130810012529-75054000-you-are-conditioned-by-the-past?trk=mp-details-rr-rmpost

The Path to Joy

By Dr. Deepak Chopra on Aug 16, 2013 in Lifestyle, Meditation

Joy is a divine quality of our true self, which is inherently lighthearted, playful, and free.  You can see the full expression of this joy in young children who haven’t learned to worry or take themselves too seriously. They play and laugh freely, finding wonder in the smallest things. They are infinitely creative because they haven’t yet built up the layers of conditioning that create limitations and restrictions. They are in touch with their intuition, which is a form of intelligence that goes beyond the rational mind. Far from being superficial or trivial, joy is an experience of our deepest spiritual nature.
The path to joy is a return to wholeness. It is about shifting our perspective from ego to spirit. Our ego’s fear and insecurity cause it to puff up with self-importance and attempt to control the uncontrollable, while our spirit, knowing it is eternal and infinite, simply allows life to unfold. This creates a natural state of ease, which predisposes you to lightheartedness, joy, and laughter.
If you want to cultivate more joy, creativity, and love in your life, the principles that follow will help you shift your internal reference point from the limitations of the ego-mind to the freedom of spirit.
Laughter Is the Healthiest Response to Life
While we all experience loss and sorrow, in the end, joy and laughter dispel suffering like so much smoke and dust. When you feel momentary happiness, or you want to burst out laughing, or you smile for no apparent reason, you are glimpsing eternal reality. For a fleeting moment, the curtain parts and you experience something beyond the illusion. In time, these moments of joy will begin to knit together. Instead of being the exception, the primordial state of joy will become the norm.
There Is Always a Reason to Be Grateful
The purpose of gratitude is to connect yourself to a higher vision of life. You have the power to choose where you focus your attention, and whatever you focus on will grow in your experience. If you pay attention to those aspects of spirit that demonstrate love, truth, beauty, intelligence, and harmony, those aspects will expand in your life. Bit by bit, like a mosaic, disparate fragments of grace will merge to form a complete picture. Eventually this picture will replace the fearful or limited images created by your ego.
Your Soul Cherishes Every Aspect of Your Life
Your worth is absolute, and everything that happens to you − whether it feels good at the time or not − is part of a divine plan unfolding from the level of the soul. In the conventional view, self-worth comes down to having a strong ego. People who possess strong egos feel self-confident and enjoy asserting themselves against obstacles. They meet challenges and in return life gives them money, status, and possessions – external rewards for external accomplishments. Yet in reality, your worth is the value of a soul, which is infinite and never varies. Since every event in your life isn’t happening just to a person but to a soul, everything in life should be cherished.
Your Life Has a Purpose
Even when you feel lost or confused, your life has a purpose. You determine that purpose at the soul level, and then that purpose unfolds in daily life as part of the divine plan. The more deeply you are connected to the plan, the more powerful it becomes in your life. Ultimately, nothing can stop it. As you spend time meditating and engaging in other practices that expand your awareness, you will become more and more certain of your true purpose.
You Are Safe
Many people live in a state of chronic anxiety, feeling isolated and threatened by all the potential threats of modern life. While fear feels very real, our true self can never be hurt or threatened. That’s why the ancient sages said that all fear is born of duality. When we know ourselves to be one with the ground of all existence, then nothing is separate or foreign to our nature and therefore nothing can truly threaten us.
You can gradually begin to let go of unhealthy fear by questioning your thoughts and opening your awareness. When fear arises, just observe yourself. See yourself, notice what your body and breath are doing, watch your behavior, your tone of voice − all of it. Then ask yourself, “Who is it that is observing all this?” The observer is your core self, your quiet center that exists outside of and independent of your fear. Shift your center of identity to that authentic self, and from that place you can be with fear without being in its grip. The fear is then only a disturbance within your larger field. This settled presence of your awareness will allow your fear to dissipate as you experience the joy and peace within.
Obstacles are Opportunities in Disguise
Obstacles are signals our true self sends us to let us know that we need to change directions or take a new tack. If your mind is open, it will perceive the next opportunity to do so. The secret is to abandon rigidity and trust in spontaneity. You can’t plan in advance how to meet the next challenge, yet most people try to do just that. They cling to a small repertoire of habits and reactions and they narrow their lives.
Sticking to the familiar may feel comforting but it will completely shut out the unknown, which is the same as hiding your potential from yourself. How will you know what you are capable of if you don’t open yourself to life’s mysteries or usher in the new? Whenever you catch yourself reacting in an old, familiar way, simply stop. Don’t invent a new reaction; don’t fall back on the opposite of what you usually do. Instead, ask for openness. Go inside, be with yourself, and allow your next response to come of its own accord.
There Is a Creative Solution to Every Problem
Every question includes its own answer. The only reason a problem arises before its solution is that our minds are limited − we think in terms of sequences, of before and after. Outside the narrow boundaries of time, problems and solutions arise at the same instant. While you might think that heroic efforts are required to face the problems that face us and the world, in fact the reverse is true. When you’re living in a state of expanded awareness, you act without effort, you feel joy in what you do, and your actions bring results.
You Are a Co-Creator with the Universe
You are a co-creator with the universe and infinite energy is available to you. To claim your creative power, you need only connect with the primal energies that play within you. The kind of energy you can call upon at any given moment depends on your level of consciousness. Most people rely on the superficial energies generated by the ego: anger, fear, competitive drive, the desire to achieve, and the yearning for approval.  There is no right or wrong in the domain of energy, but the ego falls prey to the illusion that only anger fear, the drive to achieve, and so on are real.  It ignores the higher energies of love, compassion, truth.
On the path to joy, we proceed to subtler and subtler realms of the mind, and with each step, new levels of energy become available. At the highest levels of consciousness, all energy becomes available. At that point, all of your wishes and desires are in alignment with the universe, God, or spirit. You are able to create with effortless ease and you experience the spontaneous fulfillment of your desires.

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About the Author
Deepak Chopra, M.D. is a best-selling author and the co-founder of the Chopra Center for Wellbeing in Carlsbad, California. The Chopra Center offers a variety of signature programs and events, including the Seduction of Spirit meditation and yoga retreat, the Perfect Health program, and the Journey into Healing workshop.
Attend a new workshop led by Deepak Chopra!
This October 3-6, Deepak Chopra will lead a brand-new workshop called Spiritual Solutions, featuring special guests Michael Beckwith and Arielle Ford. To learn more, please visit www.chopra.com or call 888.736.6895.

Web Design Tips To Build A Better Site

Source: http://www.upcomingentrepreneurs.com/web-design-tips-to-build-a-better-site.html

 

Regardless of how many websites you’ve designed, how your site looks when you are done is an important element, perhaps the most important. Seeing that the site meets certain standards of excellence in usability, content quality, and aesthetics will surely keep visitors coming back. Read the tips in this article to assist you in creating an effective and attractive website.

Speed is king on the Internet, so you need to make sure your web pages load quickly. No visitor is going to wait more than a few seconds for your page to load, so ensure they get what they want quickly so they don’t go to your competition’s website instead.

Choose your color scheme wisely. It is important to have text that is easy to read on your chosen background color. The better choice is using darker fonts against backgrounds that are lighter. If you can’t decide if the colors are right, ask someone you know for feedback.

TIP! Keep your site fresh and up-to-date, and promptly remove any outdated content. For example, if your webpage is filled with advertising for something that happened months ago, viewers will turn away.

A good website should display and function in any type of web browser, so it is vital that you test your website in every browser currently on the market. If something works in Chrome it might not work in Firefox, for example. Test every page in each browser before you let your site go live.

Never allow dated or irrelevant content to remain on your website. If someone visits your site for up-to-date information and find that it’s discussing the latest event – which happened a year ago – they’re leaving. Users want to spend their time on sites that are cared for, and leaving up old information shows a lack of attention to the site. Set yourself a schedule for reviewing your site and removing anything that is outdated.

Refrain from the overuse of Javascript. JavaScript is helpful in the development opportunities it provides, but some users may experience problems with it. Each of the many popular web browsers out there are frequently updated, leading to many different versions being in use at the same time. Everyone who visits your site will not always have an up to date browser. Also, not every person will keep JavaScript set up in their browsers. If you choose to use JavaScript every time, you will prevent some users from being able to effectively use your site.

TIP! When designing a large website, include the ability to search throughout the site. Place a search box visibly on your homepage that helps your visitors search single terms that may appear anywhere on your site.

 

Elicit feedback from your visitors. This will clue you in to ways that your website falls short of their expectations or doesn’t work properly, enabling you to make the necessary changes. One way to make sure that visitors re-visit you site is to give them a feeling of involvement.

Make sure to check whether your site works on all Internet browsers. Every device, browser and platform will change how your website displays, which could create a bad user experience. You should find out the top five to ten browsers. It is very crucial that you test your website with all of the browsers, and that will include all of the main mobile web browsers.

It’s hard to go wrong with a simple color like white for the background of your website. Using white helps visitors be able to read your website, and gives your site a more professional look. You will come across as an amateur if your site design is cluttered and distracting. It is usually best to keep a simple background.

TIP! See how your design does on different web browsers. Different browsers will read and display a site in different ways, which can have some unintended results for site visitors.

Even if you invest a bunch into your site, hosting yourself isn’t wise. Designing the site yourself is a good idea, but when it comes to hosting, it’s usually better to use a third party. This will free up your time to concentrate on more important things.

After you have learned new programs, such as Dreamweaver or Photoshop, check with colleagues or friends to confirm that you have not missed anything. You need to be sure that the information you have is ingrained and you don’t need to find yourself making a site when you suddenly get confused or lost.

Learning new website design strategies is something that becomes simpler the more you practice doing it. Start with simple pages of HTML until you have a handle on the fundamentals. Practice is one of the most reliable ways to improve web design skills; start practicing early and often to get the maximum benefit.

TIP! Do not clutter your website by using every square pixel of space that you have available. You will make your visitors feel overwhelmed if you use all the space available.

Apply these tips to create a website your potential customers will find appealing and interesting. Remember that your online business greatly depends on how you present yourself and your company online.

10 misconceptions about alcohol

Source:http://articles.timesofindia.indiatimes.com/2013-08-11/drinks-corner/29769539_1_alcohol-abuse-brain-cells-alcohol-concentration


We put together the top 10 misconceptions you might have heard or told an ignorant other...

"She's a gone case... two beers and she's down!"
Truth : Women get drunk faster than men
A woman's body processes alcohol differently than a man's. Women's systems generally have less body water to dilute the intoxicating effects of alcohol. Moreover, women metabolise (burn up) alcohol slower than men as the alcohol-metabolising enzyme present in their stomachs is 25 per cent less active in females than males.

"You look so hung-over... why don't you have a cold shower and hot coffee..."
Truth : Neither will work
A cold shower or black coffee won't reduce the alcohol concentration in your blood. Cold showers simply awaken your senses and tend to make you more alert; as does some fresh air. Hot coffee is the worst cure as the caffeine will only aggravate your hangover.

"This one's my last. Drinking kills brain cells!"
Truth : One more drink won't kill more brain cells.
Any form of alcohol abuse for several years can cause neurological damage involving impairment of learning and physical co-ordination.
But there is no direct evidence to suggest that alcohol kills brain cells. In fact, you may have now seen several health studies on our pages that say moderate drinking helps the brain function better, improves cognitive skills and memory. That said, humans have not yet been tested directly for positive brain effects.

"Beer is less intoxicating yaar... Call for another pint!"
Truth : True, but more beer = more alcohol, right?
Alcohol intoxicates you and it is present in different volumes across drinks. How much volume of alcohol we consume determines our level of intoxication. Although beer has relatively less alcohol volume as compared to wine or vodka, we tend drink beer in much larger quantities, and end up consuming much more alcohol after all. A 330-ml can of beer, one 110 ml glass of wine or one normal mixed spirit drink are all equally intoxicating.

"Let's switch between beer, wine and vodka, and get drunk ASAP!"
Truth : Drunk, maybe. Sick, for sure.
The level of blood alcohol content (BAC) determines sobriety or intoxication. Mixing drinks can upset the stomach and make you feel sick, but doesn't necessarily lead to more intoxication.

"Pop a pill dude, you've got to go to work tomorrow."
Truth : It may work for you... but be cautious.
One must be very careful taking tablets such as aspirin and dispirin as they can cause internal bleeding of the liver which has already been attacked by alcohol. In extreme cases, medication taken on alcohol can be fatal too. Also, the next time your know-it-all friend offers you a headache pill at the after-party, be very scared.

 "Eat more, you've got to be sober tonight."
Truth : A big meal before drinking will only delay getting drunk
Eating a full meal before you head to the bar or having teeny bites of food while drinking will only delay the absorption of alcohol into your bloodstream, not prevent it. Ultimately you do consume the alcohol and face its damaging effects.

"Do you feel fine? Then you ARE fine!"
Truth : You're not!
You might be able to count the fingers your friend is holding up, but that doesn't mean your liver is alcohol-proof. Your not 'feeling' drunk is because the alcohol has been spaced out within your system but if there's enough of it to reach your brain, you may conk off any moment.

"Drink water before crashing. It'll reduce the damage."
Truth : We have bad news if you've been doing this.
As with food, you are still absorbing the same units of alcohol you have consumed at the party or the bar. Drinking water before going to bed will only dilute your blood stream, not the damaging effects.

"I'm a tanki! Regular drinking has made my body alcohol-tolerant!"
Truth : There is no such thing.
If you've been consistently feeding your system with increasing amounts of alcohol, perhaps your system (effectively, your brain) is now tuned to an 'x' amount of alcohol to react. This doesn't necessarily mean your liver damage will delay itself too.

(Sonal Holland runs the Sonal Holland Wine Academy and is an approved educator of the Wine and Spirit Education Trust's courses in India)

7 Ways To Boost Your Creativity By: Anne Cassidy

Source: http://www.fastcocreate.com/1683427/7-ways-to-boost-your-creativity




Legendary ad creative John Hegarty is known for saying "do interesting things and interesting things will happen to you," and he walks the talk. Here, he shares some insight on getting, and staying, more creative.
Who better to go to for career advice than Sir John Hegarty, the cofounder of Bartle Bogle Hegarty, and one of the world’s most awarded creatives? The man behind some of the best advertising of all time, including Levi’s "Launderette" and "Vorsprung Durch Technik" for Audi, is still enjoying an illustrious career that has spanned six decades. And he’s lived up to his oft-quoted aphorism, "do interesting things and interesting things will happen to you" and has applied his creativity well beyond the ad game. He is a bona fide vintner, producing what’s been described as "a generous and powerful wine, full of fruit and joy" from his winery in the Languedoc region of France. Here, Hegarty offers tips on amplifying your creativity, extending your career as a creative, and staying on top of your game.

Stay connected (and lose the headphones).

The working life span of a creative can be brutally short. While artists and musicians can repeat the same ideas, creatives need to continually come up with new material. One way to turn a 10-year career, into 20 or even 50 years, according to Hegarty, is to stay connected. “You have to stay riveted to what is going on around you,“ he says. “And stay positive. Cynicism is the death of creativity.” Also, don’t be tempted to withdraw into your own world. “When I see people in the office walking around with headphones on, I tell them ‘you’re not seeing what’s going on around you--you didn’t see when that woman put her bag down and the car horn went off; you could use that in a commercial’.”

Be more like Paul Smith.

To illustrate the importance of staying connected, Hegarty points to fashion designer Paul Smith’s inspiring experience in the Milan airport. Smith had some time to kill as his flight was delayed, but instead of retreating to a quiet seating area, he took a stroll around. A lone bracelet charm which had fallen to the ground caught his eye. He picked it up and decided it would make a beautiful button for a shirt. Smith went on to make 30,000 shirts with that button detail.

Remember success can breed your failure
Getting recognition for your achievements can be a dangerous thing, Hegarty warns. With the awards comes the nice car, the personal assistant, and the big office, all of which can act like a fortress and prevent outside influences from coming in. “You become isolated, and creatives cannot become isolated because they have to be part of culture, “ Hegarty notes.
Be brave and dare to be different.

Taking big risks is easy when you are starting out, because no one knows you and failure doesn’t stick. When your reputation rises, being daring becomes difficult. “Your success really does eat away at your future opportunities, “ he says. “It takes great courage to break through.“

Every McCartney needs a Lennon.

Once you’ve achieved enough to be held in high regard, people may stop disagreeing with you. Don’t surround yourself with "yes" men and women. Stay close to people who aren’t afraid to tell you when you are wrong. “You need people around you that you can trust to say "that’s a shit idea," Hegarty says. “Every McCartney needs a Lennon.”

Expand Your Personal Circle.
Hegarty, who has his own vineyard in France, likes nothing better than spending time with people in professions different from his own--like his winemaker for example. “Talking to people in different industries about what they do is fascinating. “ he says. “It opens channels in your thinking you didn’t know were there. “

Look for inspiration in the unexpected and the difficult>
Hegarty is an avid reader of the Financial Times, though he admits he doesn’t always understand it. “You have got to read stuff outside your comfort zone, as well as doing things you love, “ Hegarty says. “You can pick up a business article, get a creative angle on it and find the solution in creativity.”