Monday Blues: A forest to reap

                        

This Monday, I want to encourage you to dig deep into your core competency, your best skills and use that to build your brand. When things don't seem to go in your favour or, when everything you know looks like it is dead, when you can't see further, have hope on the Lord and he will help you to reap a forest. This happens when the spirit is poured on you from the high. You need to sow your faith, do your work, dig in deep and confess. Move forward, move ahead, keep running. Don't give up yet. You have a forest to reap.

Isaiah 32:15 - Till the Spirit is poured on us from on high, and the desert becomes a fertile field, and the fertile field seems like a forest.  

#TalktoTiger #PositivePsychologist
#Sownow #BuildtheBase #BuildyourBrand
#MondayBlues

Hello, 2022!

One of the most interesting things that happens with us is how we celebrate birthdays, anniversaries and things like the new year.

While we must be thankful that we are given yet another chance to be on this planet, we must also recommit ourselves to follow the resolutions we kept pending. Time waits for none.

As we step into the new year and are back to the grind, here is what I feel we can be doing.

Pick the top 3 things from the resolution list you made last year and go at them with double force.

Here are the ones I picked -

• Spend time with God - The Holy Bible, prayer
• Spend meaningful time with family
• Eat healthy - Hmmm
• Walk more - can I touch 500 kms?
• Write more - 150 blog posts, 2 books at least
• Read more - Close all pending books on my shelf
• Be kind - Every time
• Control my anger - shift to assertive mode

What are yours?

If they are similar, tag me and we will journey together, compare notes and learn.

#talktotiger #PositivePsychologist #newyear #resolutions

Time Is Running Out

Our days on this planet are numbered. What are you going to do today? How about tomorrow? Are you sure you can do that?

What legacy are you going to leave? Work towards that today.

As humans, we have the greatest opportunity to create a history, a legacy that will stand the test of time. Start working. Build your legacy.

Comment if you agree.

#TalktoTiger
#PositivePsychologist
#ConsumerPsyche
#MondayBlues

Take time to unwind

Unwind on the weekend: Make sickening plans to enjoy your weekend. This is to ensure all your pressure weans off once you finish your weekend and come back recharged when you come back to work.

Maybe it means you are just sleeping or reading a book. Maybe it means you are cleaning your entire house. Maybe you are washing your clothes while watching a movie.

Come back with passion.

Do it well and plan to beat Monday Blues with a bang.

What is your plan for this weekend? Mention in the comments. The best 3 would be pinned!

#TalktoTiger
#PositivePsychologist
#WeekendPlans
#MondayBlues

Why weekend is loved so much!

 

Isn't it is an amazing cycle?

You struggle, strive, keep running, and then comes Saturday.
What are you doing this weekend?

Relax, rejuvenate and rebound. Sometimes rest is needed. Ignore everything around you and try to catch some sleep and connect with your inner self, family, friends, and food :)

Tell me what you are doing this weekend?

For entrepreneurs, where does the sky end? Where does the sea begin?

This pic was taken somewhere over the Indian Ocean.
#talktotiger #PositivePsychologist #Weekendplans

What's our communication strategy?

For all my friends who are starting out their ventures, marketing professionals handling a brand here is an interesting thought. 

As a professional or a brand, what is the expectation you are setting? Can you afford to have an expectation that signals that you are not trustworthy? Can you repair it now? Can you start monitoring your communication? 

If you are a brand, sit with your communication/social media team now and set the course for the next 3 months and see how you can create a better narrative. Trust me, you cannot afford to not have a communication strategy. 

The best thing that can happen to you as a brand or as a person is that you are clear about what you want to communicate. You address the challenges you are going to face - seen and unseen. You pick which battles you are going to fight and what you are going to let go of. The worst thing that can happen is that you are clueless and are doing everything impromptu. What a bad state to be in!

With growing cacophonous clamor fighting space in your consumer's mind, it is eternally difficult to occupy a meaningful space to convey your message. It becomes even more difficult if you don't have a plan in place. 

Here are a few things you can talk to your audience in the last leg of this year to make a positive dent in their consumer psyche.

1. What are you going to do in the next few months - product, service, research...
2. What you are planning for the next year
3. Exciting upcoming things for your audience to look forward to
4. Reasons why they should work with you & how can you help them - could be financial, technical...
5. What is your brand promise? Why should your audience move down the sales funnel to engage with you?
6. Are you fun to work with, to engage, to problem-solve? Tell them that.

Set up your communication strategy to address these and more. If you want to talk/question/debate, write to me or comment here.

#TalktoTiger #PositivePsychologist #BrandingTiger #ConsumerPsyche 

Make A List

Every second, every hour, every day we are running. Running; From responsibilities, running from work, running from deadlines, running from people, running from goals, running from ourselves. And we keep running because we do not have reason to stay committed. Like I was running from my blog. I can give you enough reasons, but there is frankly none. So here I am back, on track.

Do you run away from your responsibilities and your goals and work? What about relationships? You must look up once in a while from your busy schedule and see if you are busy and if yes, are they for the right reasons. If you are busy, for the right reasons, nothing like it. If not, time to take a break and re-evaluate and make a priority list. Yes, make a list.

When you wake up from the rush, make a list of your priorities, make sure you have your family, your loved ones and caring ones with you on that list. Because you can earn as much as you want yet you can't eat three biryanis.

Life is what you make it, but the choice should make that happen. When you wake up in the morning to head to work, it should be with a smile on your face and a song in your heart.

If not, you are not doing it right. So, go brew a great cup of coffee, make that list and then press play!

First, on my list - lose the tummy.

This is a series of #MondayBlues posts.
#TalktoTiger #positivePsychologist

Everyday is a Sunday!

I am very practical about reviews. I need time to actually check the product, use it and feel good about it to write one. This is one product that I have used for almost a month before I put my pen to paper and here is the review of my pillow!

I found these amazing ads about the Sunday pillows and mattresses and wanted to check out their pillows. We are a family that loves pillows and there are hordes of them at home. When I say hordes, I mean pillows. Even after spending a decent amount on each pillow, I see that the fluffiness comes down within a couple of weeks and then there is nothing left but a small clumpy sheet that was the remnant of the pillow, like a zombie version. Not with Sunday. I am happy till date with the comfort it is offering me and it is a special favorite with the kids too. 

The USP of the Sunday pillow is that it consists of 0.7 Denier microfiber,which is the finest fiber available with 50% more filling than of a standard pillow. This ensures that the pillow is soft (because of usage of finest microfiber) but at the same time prevents the pillow from flattening out. Sunday Delight Pillow (Costing around Rs 2000) is labelled as Outrageously comfy pillows designed with Super micro fiber filling, and has 50% more filling. It has hypo allergenic 220 GSM microfiber fabric Super soft filling for extra comfort.  The royal blue piping makes it look classy. The packaging is good too. It comes in a sling bag that is reusable and has neat branding and a story built around it. 

In the words of founder Alphonse Reddy, says,"Ideally, a mattress has to be paired with the right pillow. However, pillows are sold as an afterthought and in most cases or cheaper pillows are given as freebies in the market. There was a gap here that we have tried to bridge.” 

Is the price tag of 2000 Rs expensive? I don't think so. You spend thousands of rupees on coffee, diesel for your car or other things that get over in a couple of days and are thinking about getting a good pillow? Well, rethink. We all need good sleep and good rest. When your body rests properly and you get to sleep well and wake up refreshed, every day is a Sunday.

Check out their website: www.sundayrest.com and next time you are searching for a gifting option, gift a Sunday to them!

Learn Teach Learn

 Once you learn something, make sure you teach that and add value to many people.

And keep learning. Teaching gives me joy. Learning keeps the fire alive. Keep learning and teaching.

#ConsumeMore #PositivePsychologist #TalkToTiger #LearnTeachLearn

Talk to me

Regardless of how you feel and believe, the amount of communication, verbal and written has come down drastically, thanks to the modern tech facilitators. Look what I found online.

The time spent on sharing a few things with the people you love to care about is more worth than the time spent in messaging, texting and drafting emails. No communication, nothing can replace the joy in listening to someone's voice and take off the pain, burden, double the excitement in happiness than when you do it personally.

Here is a chance to test it yourself. Today, call someone you know and have been communicating via the electronic mode and speak to them and see how it feels. Especially the family.

The same applies to your customer.

Be the light

Be a light in someone's life. When you can. Even if it is negligible. Shine on them. #TalktoTiger #PositivePsychology

10 leadership lessons you can learn from Dr. Abdul Kalam!

Ten leadership lessons you can learn from Dr. Abdul Kalam!

1. He was an early riser: Staff at his office and Rastrapathi Bhavan later had to change their timings to match his schedule. As an early riser, he had extra hours for thinking, planning and relaxing.
   
2. He was meticulous: His planning was perfect. He was always ahead of his schedule and finished his tasks to perfection. He also had small breaks to ensure there is enough space if there needs to have overflow.
   
3. He was a leader: In thought, ideas, plans and execution. He was always ready to shoulder responsibility. It is rumored that Atalji wanted to speed up the nuclear programme that PV Narasimharao started and despite being low on resources, Kalam accepted it as a challenge and fulfilled it.
   
4. He could see ahead of his time: This was essential to set goals. Dr. Kalam could see much ahead of his time. While all the new world and Asian countries were looking to send satellites to the moon, Dr. Kalam looked beyond and set his eyes on Mars - Hence Mangalyaan.
   
5. He helped solve simple problems: While this is a famous story about Abdul Kalam and his team made lightweight crutches, he was ready to spend time in solving simple, everyday problems to common people. Being extremely busy with his work at the Nuclear research and working on rockets, he was able to take time and motivate his team to come up with a cost effective, easy, usable solution to many people.
   
6. He was a voracious reader: Tea and books were his companions till the end. He read a lot of books. I was told that he spent most of his free time at Rastrapathi Bhavan at the huge library or in the park reading and thinking. At 84 years of age, he was far more smarter and knowledgeable than many youngsters.
7. He loved youth: He was always thinking and working with young men and women to help them achieve their goals. Most of the people who spoke to him had the privilege to cherish his ideas and his thoughts all their life. He believed in coaching, motivating and setting goals and achieving them.
8. He was humble: One of the most important factors we could see about him was that he was very humble and down to earth. He always had simple tastes and choices and lived frugally. I was told that the first day at Rastrapathi Bhavan, he chided the people not to waste so much food and wait on him as he would love to have two idlies and one wada in the confines of his room. Simple man, simple choices, humble lifestyle and extraordinary vision.
   
9. He skipped protocol: Many a times, he broke protocol and mingled with children, youth and common people. He was more of a people's man than to follow the rules. He always had a jig in his step and was very spontaneous.
   
10. He was a great communicator: He conversed mostly in small sentences carefully worded with simple easily understood words. Though he has an amazing arsenal of languages, he was true to his diction of Tamil, Malayalam and Hindi and could quote many verses easily. He told so many stories and anecdotes in his speech that people would remember what he said clearly.
    
11. He was a great teacher: As his twitter handle says, he is a teacher forever. Once you learn something, make sure you teach that and add value to many people. He was a great man and could just relax in his retirement years. He chose to teach and as you saw, he was teaching even a second before his death.

May his soul rest in peace. No. May he make more shooting stars and send them to many unknown planets.

Pic is from here.

Human ego

 This beautiful little planet is home to numerous species who co-habit with us. Your small contribution is important to make it a better place and to ensure a safer, secure and sustainable future to your children.

As in the words of Garvit,

Will human ego sacrifice the world

To satiate its lust for pompous homes?

Will distant space look down on orb that’s bald.

I now can hear the mother say,

“I was once called Earth.

But now , bereft of mirth, I weep. 

That treeless orb’s no longer Earth”

To the Women of India

“To call woman the weaker sex is a libel; it is man's injustice to woman. If by strength is meant brute strength, then, indeed, is woman less brute than man. If by strength is meant moral power, then woman is immeasurably man's superior. Has she not greater intuition, is she not more self-sacrificing, has she not greater powers of endurance, has she not greater courage? Without her, man could not be. If nonviolence is the law of our being, the future is with woman. Who can make a more effective appeal to the heart than woman?"

[To the Women of India (Young India, Oct. 4, 1930)]” 
― Mahatma Gandhi

Monday Blues: Be neat

In your work, in your dressing, behaviour, language and style. Show that you care. Show that you have spent time in designing and composing that mail you are sending out, in that response you give. Show that you know how to behave. Be neat. Not just today, every day.

#MondayBlues

All that I am...

All that I am, all that I have 

I lay them down before you, oh Lord 

All my regrets, all my acclaims 

The joy and the pain, I'm making them yours 

(Chorus) 

Lord, I offer my life to you 

Everything I've been through 

Use it for your glory 

Lord I offer my days to you 

Lifting my praise to you 

As a pleasing sacrifice 

Lord I offer you my life 

Monday Blues: Explore, dream, discover

Toda, explore, try and discover.

Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things that you didn’t do than by the ones you did do, so throw off the bowlines, sail away from safe harbor, catch the trade winds in your sails. Explore, Dream, Discover.

–Mark Twain


All pics displayed here can be downloaded and used for free. Just give a link here. You can find more pics here: t3i photography.

Aim, Lock, Shoot

Admitting it here that aiming a heavy rifle and hitting a target is not at all easy. Doing it alone in a personal arena, when there was no one rushing me and a very good friend helping me handle the equipment and practice at my own pace was a dream come true. Though the pellets were small, they reached incredible speeds and blasted through the bull eye.

Shooter Avani Lekhara became the first Indian woman to win gold at Paralympics and that too carrying the hopes of the entire nation on her tender shoulder. Wait! Did I say tender? Not at all. She is a strong woman who breezed through with a score of 249.6!

What a glorious day this is when we have our contingent win multiple medals. I am super proud. Thank you, winners.

What is our takeaway from Avani and others on the Indian contingent? When things don't go your way, when you are physically hurt, mentally drained and cannot see hope, these superheroes have shown us that with determination and commitment, nothing is impossible.

Let us take that from them.

About my score that day? Let us say, it was pretty decent. Tiger is good when hunting.

#TalkToTiger #PositivePsychologist #Motivation

About me

Hi... Thanks for visiting. I am Dr. Vamshi. I am currently the Director, Global Sales and Growth at 5C Network. At 5C Network, we are building the best AI Driven Digital Diagnostic Platform in the world.

I am a Sales Leader with a passion to build communities, expert in content and communication and have been involved in many startup brands, products. I run a series of posts on positive psychology and self help that has been a hit. I have an active audience of close to 1 lakh people who follow my content and thoughts.

I won many awards including Rising Star Marketer of the year @ National Business and Service Leaders Summit 2015 and the Social Media Leader of the Year 2015 at the National Awards for Excellence in Digital Marketing & Social Media 2015.

College saw me graduate with a Post Graduate Program in Marketing Management from Alliance Business School, Bangalore,  Masters of Arts in English Literature, Master of Arts in History, Master of Arts in Sociology. Thanks to these, I am listed in the Limca Book of Records for having the highest number of Post Graduate degrees at the youngest age in India. I completed 3 Ph. Ds in Christianity (Leadership lessons for the marketplace)have done another Masters in Business Economics, Masters in Theology, Masters in Divinity (religious studies) and I am presently working on a doctoral thesis in counselling.

My biography is listed in the prestigious ‘Marquis Who is Who in the World twice in 2010 and 2012 editions. I am also the recipient of the prestigious 'Prathiba Award' by State Government (AP, India) & 'Meritorious Student award' by Board of Higher Education (AP, India) among several other accolades.

I walked the streets as a salesman, interacted widely from fan followers to irate customers(turning the later to the former), distributors to resellers, manufacturers to CEOs, sold a variety of products & services... software to insurance, credit cards to sexual supplements. The diversity in my knowledge and experience makes growth my passion. In my career spanning one and a half decades, I cofounded a pro-tech firm - Estate.One and was associated with brands like Samskruti Builders, Herbz International, The Indian Partner, Don't Bite Me patch, Pukka Herbs, Solepads, Sparklehearts,  DHL, ICICI Bank and Veekay Computers. In each of these roles, I led various team including sales, strategy, marketing and growth.

I can sit and do anything I like for hours without getting bored. I love traveling, reading books, mags, old literature, writing articles (both here and research articles), poems, listening to music and photography (Yes, multitasking is in my blood). All this only when I am not sleeping or trying to play Dad to my little angels.

Reach me @

•  +91 9742 234567
•  Mail: write2tiger@gmail.com
•  LinkedIn: Vamshi
•  Follow me on Twitter: Vamshiavk
• Instagram: TalktoTiger
• Facebook: Vamshiavk

If you like what I post, please comment & TELL others.

Get it done

"Sorry your work cannot be done! 

Why? The rules won't agree!"

You must have heard/said this many times. Most of the meetings, plans, proposals and daily activities often hit a dead end as some stupid stubborn rule exists. Why is it there? Who put it there? How to overcome it? 

No one knows or wants to. 

Defeatist people close their eyes and let the rulebook rule and ruin. 

Winners make/move things Sometimes its not the rule book is not the only problem, people in positions are. They strictly follow the clock, time table, rules and regulations and come across as the most sincere person on the planet. 

 What are they actually doing? Creating a block, hurdle in the smooth functioning of the process. If you need to get things done think what the customer wants, smile and accept the application and check up with people who can do something about it. 

Empower your employees to think and use discretion in cases which can help your business. Plan, think and work in a way that encourages people not to walk but run, win and complete the unfinished tasks, dead plans, relieve the painful customer and get the process going. 

 Let me relate a story my Dad told me once. All the MPs in the Indian Parliament were postponing a particular bill for many days and kept on discussing for long. 

Lal Bahadur Shastri was the PM then. One day he came to office with a pair of old stinking socks in his coat pocket. No one knew where the dirty stench was coming from. After a long search and discussion Shastri revealed and put them on the table to much disgust of the MPs, especially ones around him. One of them asked him, "PM sir! You are supposed to dispose of the old socks and not carry them around as if they are something important!" "Exactly!" replied Shastri, "but I wanted to see how long can we carry dead weight as we are doing with this bill!" 

Needless to say the bill was passed before lunch. Move the dead weight over. 

Either finish it or cancel it. Read my earlier post on why sometimes it is better to kick the rule book. So what are you going to complete today?

Monday Blues: Be A Giver

 

Most of us reading this blog has been born into fortunate families where we are blessed to have a lot of things. Still, we find it easy to complain. Maybe we should not think so much about what else we can have and rather see how we can contribute to someone less privileged.

As a human, our biggest happiness would be when you are given a chance to experience gratitude. Explore those chances and build those memories. Donating blood is one such activity. So is sharing a couple of bread slices with someone who cannot pay you back. Saying thank you to someone who helps you and having an overall better attitude is always welcome. Be someone who gives more than you receive.

Be a blessing. Other things will fall in place. The last pandemic wave saw many heroes work silently to help others. Here is a salute to those heroes. Thank you. You are one of the reasons we are safe and sound as a community.

#TalktoTiger #positivepsychologist #mondayBlues

Pause

 Pause.

Rest.

Recharge.

Reset.

Restart.

Run.

Chase.

Win.

Pause.

#Talktotiger #motivation #mondayblues #Positivepsychologist

Monday Blues - Leap of faith

 How is your day treating you? Today, I am a bit early with my Monday Blues post to catch you off guard. I want to push you to take a leap of faith today. 

You will have many moments in life when your decisions are going to change your future. How will you know that? When I am in such a situation I can feel a ball forming in my gut and I can hear the beat of my heart in my throat. It is then that you either decide to go ahead or take a step back. 

I will share an experience in my life a few years back. I happened to be in Mauritius for a seminar and I had the opportunity to dive into the ocean (with all the safety gear). But here I am, scared of water! I didn't know how to swim. And this tour guide who facilitated my dive in the Indian ocean tells me to not worry and just jump as everything will be fine. Fine? What do you even mean I will be fine! I was hesitant. Here I was about 2 miles away from the shore, waiting for my ocean of doubt to clear and find mental peace that would help me decide. After a few moments, I took the plunge. 

Heck! I didn't know where I was for almost 30 seconds as things were going too fast or that is what I felt. I was breathing too fast, searching for air, to see something. After taking two minutes to calm down, I started to enjoy the dive and kept at it for 40 mins more. As I write this, I can still see the rays of the sun coming down through the waters and illuminate the world below as I bobbed up and down like a leaf in the currents of the mighty Indian Ocean. I was transported to the James Cameroon world, live! What an experience it was! Once in a lifetime opportunity and a memory forever.

When you are faced with situations you cannot fathom, and you are trying something new to change your attitude about life, learning a new trick, course, I am sure you would feel like I felt on that boat on that December afternoon. You can easily walk out, take a step back to let the status quo remain so. Do not let the fear of failure keep you away. Go for it (with all the safety precautions) and you will come back with an experience. 

I urge you today to take the next step up! 

Learn something new. 

Take up the challenge you have been postponing. 

Finish the assignment you stopped after finishing the half. 

Make that sales call you have been postponing. 

Reopen the negotiation. 

Call those cold leads and start a conversation. 

Take up writing, painting, music, reading, cooking, cleaning, recycling - whatever you wanted to do. 

We have one life - to learn, make memories. Take that up. Even if it is just one leap - take it.

Share your experience when you took a difficult decision and how it worked out.

#Taketheplunge #TrysomethingNew #Learnforlife #TalktoTiger #PositivePsychologistBangalore