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3 Easy Ways To Adopt A Sustainable Lifestyle

Are we seeing a change in the culture of India? Zero waste weddings, dedicated cycle tracks, no vehicle zones, celebrities supporting mindful fashion? Sustainable living is the latest trend and I am glad that the society is fast catching up.

Living sustainably is a choice. The transformation from consumerism to sustainability is gradual and beautiful. Why beautiful?

Because it places power in your hands. The power to find more in less. Following are some simple ways by which common people can easily adopt a sustainable lifestyle –

Repeat

Alia Bhatt repeated her wedding outfit and the impact on commoners was phenomenal. When celebrities promote an idea, the message hits different. If we do a similar act, the influence will be on a smaller group but will definitely lead to a stir. The real difference is, in how comfortably and confidently you repeat.

Repair

The Japanese follow Kintsugi, a practice where they mend the broken ceramics by fixing the cracks with gold. In Indian culture also, the idea of repair and reuse is not new. In the last few years, with fast fashion and social media intimidation, the privileged section may have lost the patience to mend, but a larger group still believes in maintaining the old. Not disposing things for the smallest of the reasons is the easiest way to begin living sustainably.

Value experiences

If you analyze closely, most of your shopping is driven by impulse. Good offers, social media trends, the displays and pop ups. The root of sustainable living lies in finding joy in experiences and not possessions. Be it a celebration or an achievement, keep your focus more on living the moment rather than on decking up for the event.

Sustainable living is a habit that can be consciously developed. An important thing to keep in mind is to internalize the habit by not being boastful about it. It is a modern, subtle choice that one makes for self. If others find it inspiring its good else one can continue for self-sake.

Trust me, living sustainably gives you a super feeling because the lack disappears and all that remains is just ENOUGH.

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5 Ways to Build a Happy Team

An organization that is successful in creating an enthusiastic team is poised for organic growth. We were exposed to the idea of team work in our early schooling years, when we were given group projects. Professional education also lays emphasis on working in teams.

What makes a team work? What binds them in an unmatchable spirit to do the best? What leads them to believing that their team work will ultimately culminate into organization growth? Here are a few points that can be of help in developing a healthy team culture –

Define clear work flow

The timeline has to be specific and there should be absolute clarity in roles. Research, designing, content, presentation, proposition and other elements should be clearly allotted with a deadline. While doing this all the team members should be involved so that the outline receives better acceptance. This also improves the proactiveness of the individual members.

Avoid small talk

Stereotyping and gossiping are detrimental to the health of the team. You may think that the person does not know, but the vibe catches faster than words. Do not speak that, which you cannot say in the face. Choose your words wisely and do not let negative communication spread.

Trust the process

Don’t be too quick to opinionate on the others methods. Every person works the best, in their own form. You try to be interfering and you harm the spirit. Be concerned only with the outcome and as far as the process goes, just trust and accept.

Continuous re-evaluation

As a team you have designed a strategy and you all are working by it. Now, you notice some flaws. In such a scenario please re-evaluate the plan of action. Shying away from it will only complicate and lead to an indefinite blame game within the team.

Take time out to enjoy

This is personal choice but you definitely bond better over coffee or a drink. However, the moment also becomes perfect for useless banter so, make sure you keep the exchange positive. Explore the non-work side of each other during such times.

Yes, you feel you work best when alone but, the world does not work this way. Make an effort not to be the best in the team but to be a happy team player.

#teamwork #teamplayer #teamspirit

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A story of how Kumar Mangalam Birla balanced the new and old

Life is all about creating a balance. If you observe closely, you constantly balance, expectations and reality, conflicts and camaraderie, hopes and disappointments, old and modern. Creating a balance is a vital skill of life. The more adept you are at this, the better is your progress. Let us learn more about this with an example of Kumar Mangalam Birla, Chairman, Aditya Birla Group (ABG).  

Honored with the Padma Bhushan in January 2023, Kumar Mangalam Birla’s success story is inspirational on many levels. But in this article, we will only explore how he created a BALANCE.

Kumar Mangalam Birla assumed leadership at the young age of 28, after the death of his father Mr. Aditya Birla.

He inherited a successful business, being run in a closed traditional Marwari setup. A mark of the system was that positions were naturally filled by the children of the older employees, irrespective of their abilities. Kumar Birla recognized the inadequacy of this system, and embarked upon the arduous journey of developing a system based on meritocracy.

Do you think it was an easy task for him?

It is difficult to explain the need for professionalism when the business is already well-established. But being a visionary, Kumar Birla had gauged that he had to bring about this change. He hired managers from multinational companies, putting an end to the tradition of employing ageing staff.

A retirement age of 60 was set. The group explained it in detail and made sure that it was not sprung as a surprise, with those close to retirement getting a two-year grace period and some extra cash.

He infused fresh blood into the group, but also retained many seniors such as Askaran Agarwala and Dwarka Das Rathi, who continued to lead group companies.

One of the key roles created by Kumar Birla was that of people who would determine strategy and today ABG is a multinational conglomerate with presence in 36 nations and a combined annual revenue of $65 billion, over 50% of which is derived from its overseas operations

Kumar Birla says: “Very often people get so caught up in running the businesses that they have no time left for spotting opportunities.”

Have you been postponing an important change in your personal or professional life for the fear of IMBALANCE?

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Steve Jobs explains the secret to focus:

“People think focus means saying yes to the thing you’ve got to focus on. But that’s not what it means at all. It means saying no to the hundred other good ideas that there are. You have to pick carefully. I’m actually as proud of the things we haven’t done as the things we have done. Innovation is saying no to 1,000 things.”

Source: Worldwide Developers Conference 1997

It often happens that you read something amazing and your anxiety is relieved instantly.

Since the last few hours I was brooding over something that I did not do. And now as I write this short article, I know the reason?

Simply, because I wanted to spend my energy elsewhere.

We always push ourselves, plead guilty for not having done X,Y,Z…. the list is never ending.

What we don’t see is what we did otherwise.

You don’t party, you get to rest. You drop the argument that you just had, you get involved in the task in hand. You don’t access social media, you have surplus time…

Let us stop feeling bad about the trade offs that we make.

Let us acknowledge the strength that you showed in saying a NO.

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Resolutions are overrated

This new year I have made no resolutions. I am in complete acceptance of my current state. Yes, I do wish to achieve but I don’t need resolutions to determine my genuineness. I took 1st January as easily as I took the period from 25th – 31st December. After all what changes in a night.

The start of the year has definitely filled me with a renewed zeal and I am loving the vibe of good change that surrounds me. My sleepyhead friend is jogging at 7 am, my mother in law ate a fruit platter first thing in the morning, my sister has kept a book by her bedside, a friend has enrolled for dance class… yes, they have all resolved.

I am happy for them, but this year for a change I have made no resolutions. Starting 1st Jan, I have only become mindful of my thoughts and actions. The agenda is simple

  1. Judge less, connect more
  2. Keep only ONE important task in a day
  3. Break free from set comfort zones
  4. Uphold your choices
  5. Be in the flow

Do the above read like resolutions? No. Because they are loosely stated giving me ample room to err. As long as I am there most of the times, I am happy. I don’t want my resolve to choke me.

I am not sure as to how many of my readers will agree with me, but I have chosen my course.

I believe that water is an epitome of natural beauty when it flows in the form of a river and the same water becomes one of the resources when it flows in contained steel pipes. I want my resolve to be free flowing and remember, even then, there is momentum, there is progress, there is happiness…