Topics

16

Emotion growth, Body Language and Personality / How are personality traits reflected through body language?

« on: June 20, 2020, 06:10:06 PM »

By Priyanka Goswami, Associate Professor (Pharma)

Body language is the language of gestures and postures.
Studies of body language analyze the emotions transmitted through movement, such as
facial expressions
movement of eyes
hands
legs
feet
the whole body

Hold eye contact: Interest or insistent curiosity
Show the palms of the hands: Inviting trust
Cover one’s mouth with a hand while talking: Uncertainty
Hands on waist: Challenge
Eyes up and to the right: Imagination
Eyes down and to the left: Searching one’s memory
Evading eye contact when talking:  Not wanting to show one’s feeling
Strong handshake: Wanting to show dominance
Weak handshake: Insecurity or fear
Stiffness in the body: Stiff personality or difficulty in showing emotions
Drooping shoulders: Emotional burden
Head to one side when listening: Attention
Arms folded in barrier posture: Calm or reserve
Arms folded in front body: Fear or insecurity
Rocking or swaying from one foot to another when in a group: Anxiety or insecurity
Eyebrows raised: Arrogance or incredulity
Ample gestures with arms: Self-confidence or generosity
Lips closed without tension: Open, willing posture
Lips closed tight: Decision, aggression, or concentration
Head thrust forward Aggression

Extraversion: excitability, sociability, talkativeness, assertiveness and high amounts of emotional expressiveness.

Agreeableness: attributes such as trust, altruism, kindness, affection, and other prosaically behaviors.

Conscientiousness: high levels of thoughtfulness, with good impulse control and goal-directed behaviors.

Neuroticism: tend to experience emotional instability, anxiety, moodiness, irritability, and sadness.

Openness: imagination and insight, and those high in this trait also tend to have a broad range of interests.

Source: https://www.quora.com/How-are-personality-traits-reflected-through-body-language

17

Transforming Failure into Success / How to Transform Failure into Success

« on: June 07, 2020, 12:43:01 PM »

By Suzanne Kane

If you’ve lived a few years, you’ve experienced failure. More than once, most likely, and probably many times. For every success, the backstory usually involves a string of different approaches of varying degrees of promise before arriving at one that worked. While some are cowed by failure and cannot see beyond it, others find ingenious solutions arising from failure. How do you transform failure into success? Here are some thoughts.

The Benefits of Failure:

“Remember the two benefits of failure. First, if you do fail, you learn what doesn’t work; and second, the failure gives you the opportunity to try a new approach.” – Roger Von Oech

Nobody immediately thinks failure is good. Yet, failure holds valuable lessons for those who choose to examine it closely. The most obvious benefit is that you know what didn’t work this time. Will the same approach work another time? If you carefully analyze what happened and how your actions either contributed to failure or helped sabotaged success, you may be able to modify or revise your strategy.

For example, look at why you didn’t complete a work project on time. Maybe you didn’t allow enough time to do the job right. Perhaps you required more resources that you forgot to or intentionally didn’t obtain. You might have needed the assistance of others, but didn’t ask until it was too late. Whether arrogance, over-confidence, short-sightedness or improper time management, the lessons you learn from this failure can prove beneficial in the long run.

The next benefit of failure is the opportunity to try something new.

Perhaps the most important thing to remember about failure is that it is never permanent. There are always lessons to learn from mistakes and opportunities to try different approaches the next time. Failure does not characterize who you are. You are not a failure, you’ve just made some mistakes. It’s what you do about them that matters most.

Fall Down, Get Up:

“Just because you fail once doesn’t mean you’re gonna fail at everything.” – Marilyn Monroe

Everyone fails sometime. It isn’t the fact that you fail that’s the determining factor, but what you do about it. Many people say that it’s only by making mistakes that you learn anything truly valuable. Instead of fearing failure and doing everything you can to avoid it, accept that failure will occur. Then, figure out what happened so you don’t make the same mistake twice.

In other words, if you fall down, get up. You will make progress if you maintain determination, keep a good attitude, try different approaches and enlist the support of those who encourage your goals.

Still, failure hurts, especially when you’ve worked so hard to succeed. Put aside counterproductive emotions, pick yourself up, and get back to the task at hand. Life may be telling you something you didn’t want to hear. Maybe you need repeated instruction in certain life lessons before the reality begins to sink in. Now is the time and this is the place to begin.

You’ve fallen down, now get back up and get to work. In the end, this is the only approach that will revitalize you, marshal your motivation, and fuel your determination to succeed.

Turn Failure Into Success:

“The season of failure is the best time for sowing the seeds of success.” – Yogananda

Failure is so disagreeable that no one wants to think about it, let alone experience it. Yet, each of us goes through experiences that don’t always turn out as anticipated.

What can we learn from failure? Successful people know that within failure lies the opportunity to learn valuable lessons. Some even say their success today is because they failed on numerous occasions. Instead of seeing failure as despicable and to be avoided at all costs, they appreciated failure’s humbling experience provides. They also found the nuggets of wisdom inherent in each failure.

In other words, they were able to turn failure into success.

The key is to be disciplined enough to look for the lessons that failure provides. Indeed, the best time to work through priorities and rearrange them according to what is meaningful comes at the lowest point of experience. That’s when values crystallize and the insignificant and unimportant become apparent. Turning failure into success can be learned with practice, determination and a hopeful attitude.

Source: https://psychcentral.com/lib/how-to-transform-failure-into-success/

18

Mind Power / Subconscious Mind – How to Unlock and Use Its Power

« on: May 23, 2020, 08:51:53 PM »

The subconscious mind is the powerful secondary system that runs everything in our life. Learning how to stimulate the communication between the conscious and the subconscious minds is a powerful tool on the way to success, happiness and riches.

The subconscious mind is a data-bank for everything, which is not in our conscious mind. It stores our beliefs, our previous experience, our memories, our skills. Everything that we have seen, done or thought is also there.

It is also our guidance system. It constantly monitors the information coming from the senses for dangers and opportunities. And it would communicate that information to the conscious mind, which we want it to communicate.

The communication between the subconscious and the conscious mind is bidirectional. Every time when we have an idea, or an emotion, a memory or an image from the past, this is the subconscious mind communicating to our conscious mind. The communication in the other way is not so trivial and is achieved using the principle of auto-suggestion.

Communicating thoughts from our conscious mind to our subconscious mind is difficult because it should be done with emotions. Only the thoughts that are conveyed with genuine emotions make it to the back of our mind. And only the thoughts that are backed up by a strong emotion stay there.

Unfortunately, this is true both for the negative and the positive emotions. And also unfortunately, the negative emotions are usually stronger than the positive ones.

Our first step in harnessing the power of the subconscious mind is to eliminate the thoughts loaded with negative emotions. Also need to stop the negative self-talk or at least make sure that it is not loaded with emotions.

our fears often tend to come true, especially when we are very emotional about them. And this is why negative self-talk could produce such harmful effects. Eliminating these negative thoughts, or countering them as soon as possible is very important step towards success.

Source: https://thriveglobal.com/stories/subconscious-mind-how-to-unlock-and-use-its-power/

19

Style of Living & Mindfulness / The Art of Mindful Living

« on: May 12, 2020, 05:13:46 PM »

Mindfulness is a kind of energy that we generate when we bring our mind back to our body and get in touch with what is going on in the present moment, within us and around us. We become aware of our breathing and come home to our body, fully present for ourselves and whatever we are doing.

The energy of mindfulness helps us touch life deeply throughout the day, whether we’re brushing our teeth, washing the dishes, walking to work, eating a meal, or driving the car. We can be mindful while standing, walking or lying down; while speaking, listening, working, playing and cooking.

Mindfulness is not hard work. It’s very pleasant and relaxing, and we don’t need extra time to do it. There’s an art to finding creative ways to generate the energy of mindfulness, peace, and happiness in everyday life.

And when we practice mindfulness together with others in community, we generate a powerful collective energy that can help bring healing and transformation to ourselves and the world.

Source: https://plumvillage.org/mindfulness-practice/

20

Etiquette & Personal Behavior / Behavioural Etiquettes in Workplace

« on: May 09, 2020, 01:42:57 PM »

It is often said that one’s behaviour is the mirror to one’s character. Indeed, your behaviour speaks a lot about the kind of person you are. Your educational degrees hold little importance if you are not a well mannered person. You need to conduct well in almost every situation whether you appear for a job interview or pursue post-graduate degree, at your workplace or while dealing with your clients, in your school/college or while attending parties. Even at your home in front of your relatives, it is your good behaviour which counts the most. But behavioural etiquette is something which cannot be forced on anyone, it has to be cultivated and nurtured within oneself. However, remembering a few basic principles and applying them wherever required can undoubtedly be helpful.

It is true that every working individual spend a large part of their life in their workplace.
So every working professional should follow some simple workplace etiquettes.

i.   Always be Punctual:

 A late comer is always look down upon in any organization and becomes the object of mockery. Also it shows laziness and irresponsible nature in front of others.

ii.   Be a rational person:

 Often we face some adverse situations which we do not like. We tend to lose our patience and as a result we say or behave harshly with our colleagues or seniors. Some situations are not in our control, for example less hike in annual appraisal, company losing out some key clients etc but we can control our reaction. Often it is our reaction rather than the situation which causes stress.

iii.   Follow the official dress code:

 It is very important how you dress when you are in office. Your dress can enhance your self-confidence or ruin it.

iv.   Have mutual respect:

 Respect your senior colleagues and you’ll earn it in return. Maintain a cordial relationship with your team mates, it does not mean that you get too much personal with them. Do not mix your private life with your professional one. Remember everyone in your office is your competitor, so it’ll be foolish on your part to become personal with anyone and disclose some invaluable information. So be polite but reserved.

v.   Maintain office decorum:

 Avoid speaking loudly, speaking out of turn or talking too much. If you want to be heard, you must let others speak as well. Keep your mobile phones in silent or vibration mode when you are in a meeting or on call. Also make sure that your ring tones are not very loud, which may cause disturbance to others.

vi.   Stay away from gossip:

 Refrain from gossiping; remember there is no place for gossip mongers in a professional work environment.

Source:https://www.successcds.net/Articles/Behavioural-Etiquettes.html

21

Peace of Mind / Peace Of Mind Vs. Give Someone A Piece Of Your Mind

« on: April 30, 2020, 08:08:47 PM »

Two expressions, peace of mind and a piece of one’s mind – they sound almost the same, but they are in fact very different!

PEACE OF MIND:

Peace of mind describes being calm, without worries, having a feeling of tranquility and security. We often talk about having peace of mind or things that give us peace of mind: For example-

   I’d rather make less money and have peace of mind than have a high-earning, high-stress job.
   Our home security system gives us peace of mind because we know our house is protected.

GIVE SOMEONE A PIECE OF YOUR MIND:

The expression gives someone a piece of your mind means to express your honest feelings, when those feelings are angry, criticizing, or negative in some way. When you give someone a piece of your mind, you don’t make your criticism more polite or diplomatic; instead, you express your negative feelings in strong and direct words.

For example-

After an employee was late to work for the third time in a week, the boss gave him a piece of his mind. (For example, he said something like “Lateness is completely unacceptable. If you’re late one more time, you will be fired.”)

Source: https://www.espressoenglish.net/peace-of-mind-vs-give-someone-a-piece-of-your-mind/

22

Happiness / True happiness isn’t about being happy all the time

« on: April 13, 2020, 11:40:39 AM »

Over the past two decades, the positive psychology movement has brightened up psychological research with its science of happiness, human potential and flourishing. It argues that psychologists should not only investigate mental illness but also what makes life worth living.

The founding father of positive psychology, Martin Seligman, describes happiness as experiencing frequent positive emotions, such as joy, excitement and contentment, combined with deeper feelings of meaning and purpose. It implies a positive mindset in the present and an optimistic outlook for the future. Importantly, happiness experts have argued that happiness is not a stable, unchangeable trait but something flexible that we can work on and ultimately strive towards.

Recent research indicates that psychological flexibility is the key to greater happiness and well-being. For example, being open to emotional experiences and the ability to tolerate periods of discomfort can allow us to move towards a richer, more meaningful existence.

Studies have demonstrated that the way we respond to the circumstances of our lives has more influence on our happiness than the events themselves. Experiencing stress, sadness and anxiety in the short term doesn’t mean we can’t be happy in the long term.

Growing from adversity:

Research shows that experiencing adversity can actually be good for us, depending on how we respond to it. Tolerating distress can make us more resilient and lead us to take action in our lives, such as changing jobs or overcoming hardship.

In studies of people facing trauma, many describe their experience as a catalyst for profound change and transformation, leading to a phenomenon known as “post-traumatic growth”. Often when people have faced difficulty, illness or loss, they describe their lives as happier and more meaningful as a result.

Unlike feeling happy, which is a transient state, leading a happier life is about individual growth through finding meaning. It is about accepting our humanity with all its ups and downs, enjoying the positive emotions, and harnessing painful feelings in order to reach our full potential.

Source: https://theconversation.com/true-happiness-isnt-about-being-happy-all-the-time-88600

23

Story, Article & Poetry / Mother Teresa: "Do It Anyway"

« on: April 05, 2020, 02:58:31 PM »

The version found written on the wall in Mother Teresa's home for children in Calcutta:

              People are often unreasonable, irrational, and self-centered.  Forgive them anyway.

            If you are kind, people may accuse you of selfish, ulterior motives.  Be kind anyway.

            If you are successful, you will win some unfaithful friends and some genuine enemies.  Succeed anyway.

           If you are honest and sincere people may deceive you.  Be honest and sincere anyway.

            What you spend years creating, others could destroy overnight.  Create anyway.

            If you find serenity and happiness, some may be jealous.  Be happy anyway.

            The good you do today, will often be forgotten.  Do good anyway.

         Give the best you have, and it will never be enough.  Give your best anyway.

         In the final analysis, it is between you and God.  It was never between you and them anyway.

Source: http://www.prayerfoundation.org/mother_teresa_do_it_anyway.htm

24

Protect your Health/ your Doctor / Sample Tips for Healthy Living

« on: March 03, 2020, 04:01:24 PM »

Leading a physically and mentally well-balanced existence is the ideal way to live a healthy lifestyle. This is, of course, easier to say than perform, and there are many other things involved.

The way we think, what we eat, where we work, where we live, what we do, what our financial situation is, who we know, and so on.
We need to discover what works for us and what doesn't. We need to accept that certain things are beyond our control and there is little point in knocking ourselves out about them.

We need to understand that leading a healthy life-style is a continual and life-long process. Think of yourself as a work of art in progress.

Here are a few healthy living tips. Maybe they will work for all of us. We should always find our own path to living the healthy lifestyle anyway.

1. Don't take on more work or personal responsibilities than you can realistically handle.

2. Do what you love to do. Don’t run after money, better run after work and then money will run after you soon.

3. Try to be less materialistic and keep your life simple. Why buy a car if you can avail of public transport? Why own a cell-phone when you don't really need one? Why beat yourself up trying to upgrade to the latest software when the old one serves you just fine?

4. Pay all your bills regularly and on time. Never take a loan if you're not sure about meeting the monthly payments. Live within your means.

5. You should sleep for at least eight hours every night.

6. Control your mind. What you think and how you think affects your general well-being. Refuse to entertain negative or self-derogatory thoughts and emotions. This will require practice, especially if you have fallen into the habit of seeing the glass half-empty.

7. Cultivate your spiritual side. You don't have to turn religious and burn candles at public altars, but keeping in touch with your intuition and your inner self is important.

8. Eat well and healthy. Learn to cook well and get confidence. Try new recipes. Make meals interesting and funny.

9. Exercise regularly. Go for a short run every morning. Do Yoga. Exercise your eyes regularly, especially if you spend a lot of time in front of the computer. If you have to run errands around the neighborhood, walk or cycle around. Walk up stairways instead of taking the lift.

10. If you have health problems, talk to your doctor and discuss all the options that are available for you. Get a second, third, fourth opinion. Do research on the Internet. Don't panic, lose hope, or give up easily.

11. If you have the space, cultivate a garden. Working in a garden is a great form of exercise, and growing plants brings a lovely deal of cheer and satisfaction to the soul. If you don't have the space, make space. You can have your garden in small tubs or containers.

12. Maintain a good social life. Take an interest in other people and help without expecting anything in return whenever possible.

13. Be honest, ethical, polite, and sincere. Don't flatter anyone unless you mean it and don't ever lie.

14. Read books, magazines, newspapers. Be aware of what is going on around you, locally, nationally, and internationally. Try to learn at least one thing new every day.

15. Don't take yourself too seriously. Learn to laugh at yourself.

16. Pay attention to the thing that you're doing at any given moment, and do it well.

Source: https://artofliving.social/index.php/lessons/17-style-of-living-mindfulness

25

Story, Article & Poetry / Beautiful Woman by Fion Lim

« on: January 13, 2020, 04:30:30 PM »

Beautiful woman,
come out and play,
reveal your inner treasures.

The sparkle in your eyes,
the natural swing in your walk,
you radiate excitement and enthusiasm.

You need no latest fashion,
No expensive hair cuts,
No blinding big accessories.

You glow in your passions,
passionate in your pursuits,
you know what you are made of.

You are not easily bothered,
by the mindless opinions of others,
you know very well where you want to go.

You are a joy to watch,
an inspiration to others,
your pure soul an endless marvel.

Beautiful woman,
let your brilliance shine through,
your eyes speak of true inner beauty.

Source: https://www.great-inspirational-quotes.com/inspirational-poem-for-women.html

26

Benefits of Ethical Living / Benefits of Ethics and Value Education for the Business

« on: December 18, 2019, 01:13:40 PM »

For the business, ethical training can:

•   Increase productivity and profitability:
When employees follow ethical codes of conduct, they do not act inappropriately, cut corners or short-change customers. Effort is put into productive activities instead of being diverted to questionable practices.

•   Increase the public image:
 Today's customers are careful about with whom they do business. A commitment to ethics training is a commitment to act responsibly and do the right thing. Customers like to do business with companies they can trust.

•   Reduce the number of legal issues:
 When everyone is working systematically in accordance with a clear code of conduct, then the business is far less likely to face any problems of legal liability.

Source: https://bizfluent.com/how-7733543-understand-business-ethics.html

27

Benefits of Ethical Living / Benefits of Ethics and Value Education for Employees

« on: December 02, 2019, 03:11:53 PM »

Training employees on the company's ethical standards has benefits for the employees themselves and also for the business. For employees, ethical training can:

•   Make the job easier: When work is performed ethically in accordance with the company's code of conduct, then it's much easier for employees to know what to do and how to behave in a given situation.

•   Make the job more honorable: When employees know that the organization supports them in upholding high standards and reporting incidences of poor behavior, employees feel more comfortable and are proud to work for the organization.

•   Enhance the working environment: When the standards are known and upheld, it creates a friendly and respectful environment with less room for misunderstandings among employees. Ethical training boosts teamwork and ensures that everyone is pulling in the same direction.

Source: https://bizfluent.com/how-7733543-understand-business-ethics.html

28

Benefits of Ethical Living / How to Improve Ethics in the Workplace

« on: November 06, 2019, 02:51:03 PM »

A strong sense of ethics in the workplace can improve a company in a variety of ways, both internally and externally. If employees in a company make an agreement to treat each other more ethically, such as by refraining from certain kinds of office politics, the workplace will not only be a more amicable place, but also will, in most cases, be more productive. In turn, more ethical employees can often lead to a better public reputation for a company, a reputation that can lead to increased customer loyalty and often larger revenues. Creating ethical sensibilities in employees can be tricky, but it is made easier if a manager follows a plan.

Outline the rules of ethical conduct:

There's an old philosophical saying that you can't change what you can't see. For an employee to know he's behaving unethically, he has to first be apprised of what constitutes ethical conduct. To this end, employers should develop both a code of ethics, one that can be applied to many workplace situations, and a list of examples of ethical conduct with particular application to the workplace.

Install a reward system:

Ideally, ethical conduct should be its own reward: Employees should want to act ethically because it's the right thing to do and instills in them a sense of self-worth. But it doesn't always work like this, and employees might need material motivation, if just to remind them to do the right thing. What employees will be rewarded for and how they will be rewarded will vary by workplace. For example, in a telemarketing office, an employee could be rewarded for receiving high customer ratings from clients, which may indicate a lack of deception on the part of the employee when speaking to clients.

Institute training:

Many office managers mandate training seminars in which employees attempt to develop ethical behavior by listening to speakers and participating in activities designed to make them more aware of ethical aspects of their job. For example, a group of employees might be given hypothetical situations and asked to consider the most ethical way to proceed. This will serve to nurture a discussion about ethics.

Bring in an outside ethical advisory group:

Sometimes it's difficult for someone embedded in a workplace to view the situation with the objectivity necessary to determine what conduct is ethical and what is not. For this reason, you may want to consider bringing in outside help. Many consultancies offer ethics-based training. Consider bringing one to make suggestions about increasing ethics in your workplace.

Source: https://bizfluent.com/about-5044074-definition-code-conduct.html

29

Time and Financial Management / Understanding the Time Value of Money

« on: October 24, 2019, 01:47:24 PM »

Congratulations!!! You have won a cash prize! You have two payment options: A: Receive $10,000 now or B: Receive $10,000 in three years. Which option would you choose?

What Is the Time Value of Money?

If you're like most people, you would choose to receive the $10,000 now. After all, three years is a long time to wait. Why would any rational person defer payment into the future when he or she could have the same amount of money now? For most of us, taking the money in the present is just plain instinctive. So at the most basic level, the time value of money demonstrates that all things being equal, it seems better to have money now rather than later.

But why is this? A $100 bill has the same value as a $100 bill one year from now, doesn't it? Actually, although the bill is the same, you can do much more with the money if you have it now because over time you can earn more interest on your money.

Back to example: By receiving $10,000 today, you are poised to increase the future value of your money by investing and gaining interest over a period of time. For Option B, you don't have time on your side, and the payment received in three years would be your future value.

Time literally is money—the value of the money we have now is not the same as it will be in the future and vice versa. So, it is important to know how to calculate the time value of money so that we can distinguish between the worth of investments that offer us returns at different times.

Source: https://www.investopedia.com/articles/03/082703.asp

30

Art / What Makes Art Beautiful?

« on: October 22, 2019, 03:53:42 PM »

Beauty in terms of art refers to an interaction between line, color, texture, sound, shape, motion, and size that is pleasing to the senses.

What makes art beautiful is a complicated concept, since beauty is subjective and can change based on context. However, there is a basic human instinct, or internal appreciation, for harmony, balance, and rhythm which can be defined as beauty.

Aesthetic Art:

Aesthetics is the branch of philosophy that deals with the nature and appreciation of art, beauty, and taste. Aesthetics is central to any exploration of art. The word “aesthetic” is derived from the Greek “aisthetikos,” meaning “esthetic, sensitive, or sentient. ” In practice, aesthetic judgment refers to the sensory contemplation or appreciation of an object (not necessarily a work of art), while artistic judgment refers to the recognition, appreciation, or criticism of a work of art.

Numerous philosophers have attempted to tackle the concept of beauty and art. For Immanuel Kant, the aesthetic experience of beauty is a judgment of a subjective, but common, human truth. He argued that all people should agree that a rose is beautiful if it indeed is. There are many common conceptions of beauty; for example, Michelangelo’s paintings in the Sistine Chapel are widely recognized as beautiful works of art. However, Kant believes beauty cannot be reduced to any basic set of characteristics or features.

For Arthur Schopenhauer, aesthetic contemplation of beauty is the freest and most pure that intellect can be. He believes that only in terms of aesthetics do we contemplate perfection of form without any kind of worldly agenda.

Beauty in art can be difficult to put into words due to a seeming lack of accurate language. An aesthetic judgment cannot be an empirical judgment but must instead be processed on a more intuitive level.

Art and Human Emotion:

Sometimes beauty is not the artist’s ultimate goal. Art is often intended to appeal to, and connect with, human emotion. Artists may express something so that their audience is stimulated in some way—creating feelings, religious faith, curiosity, interest, identification with a group, memories, thoughts, or creativity. For example, performance art often does not aim to please the audience but instead evokes feelings, reactions, conversations, or questions from the viewer . In these cases, aesthetics may be an irrelevant measure of “beautiful” art.

Source: https://courses.lumenlearning.com/boundless-arthistory/chapter/what-is-art/