Sharpening the saw

Anyone who stops learning is old, whether at twenty or eighty.  ~Henry Ford

Would you go to or recommend a doctor who had stopped studying his profession the moment he graduated from medical school? A doctor that no longer kept up with the latest medical advances? Would you consider him competent? What do you think would happen to a professional athlete who stopped training when he made the team? The one who said he/she gets all the training needed by participating in games or matches. How long do you think he/she would last?

So why is it that the vast majority of sales people stop learning or  for  that  matter anyone  in professional field reluctant to  learn new way  of  doing  things and  keep on doing  things  that  they  had  learnt

. I am constantly amazed at those who think they can get all they need from on the job training. This is utter foolishness. The best of the best never stop learning. They never stop training. They never  stop trying to get better. They understand that they do not know all there is to know. They understand that they are not  the most successful professional  in the world and thus they can still learn to be better. Ever wonder why there are very few High performers in  all  field ? Ever wonder why those that don't quit spend their careers mired in  mediocrity? The problem is, that learning, training, practicing...it all takes an investment of time, effort, and in many cases we  fail to understand  that some  times  Unlearning ,and  relearning  is  essential part  of  any  professional life I  mean  successful professional life  . Most are not willing to  make those investments, certainly not all at the same time. Oh ,they will always have an excuse. It won't work for me. My customers/business/product/service is different. Whatever the  excuse, it is just that...an excuse. Nothing more, nothing less .

Invest nothing in your future, get nothing back. Very simple. If you truly want to find success in your  chosen field , you will  understand right here, right now, that  you must never stop learning. Never stop getting better. Never stop Axing  your  saw .

 Yes Might  have  heard  this  story  many a  a  times but  I  feel  it is  ok  to  repeat Habit #7 in Steve Covey’s The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People is called “Sharpen the Saw.” Covey uses the common analogy of a woodcutter who is sawing for several days straight and is becoming less and less productive. The process of cutting dulls the blade. So the solution is to periodically sharpen the saw.I’ve found that in practice, however, most people fail to understand what sharpening the saw really means. If you’re overworking yourself and your productivity begins to fall off, common wisdom says to take a break, maybe even go on vacation. However, that isn’t sharpening the saw — that’s putting the saw down. When you put down a dull blade for a while, the blade will still be dull when you pick it up again ! then  what  is  sharpening  the  Saw?

.Sharpening the saw is actually an activity, just as the analogy suggests. Think about what it would mean to sharpen the saw of your life. Here are some saw-sharpening ideas: attend  training relevant  to  your  job  ,Learn a  new skill  that  is  Relevant  to  present  day need  of  your  Job where  earlier  skill  may  be  obsolete  or  need  changes Now the woodcutter can’t just alternate between cutting wood and sharpening the saw indefinitely. Downtime is needed too, but it isn’t the same as sharpening the saw. The woodcutter can become even more productive by sharpening the blade, studying new woodcutting techniques, working out to become stronger, and learning from other woodcutters. Forgetting to intentionally sharpen the saw can lead to a feeling of burnout. If you merely alternate between productive work and downtime, your production capacity will drop off. You’re still working hard, but you don’t feel as productive as you think you should be. When you sharpen yourself regularly, you’ll find that you can flow along at a steady pace week after week without getting burnt out. Whenever I feel burnt out or overwhelmed, taking a day or two off helps a little, but not very much. What yields a much greater benefit for me is attending a weekend seminar, reading an inspiring book, or having an interesting conversation.

 It’s common to see people return from a conference with a notable spike in motivation that lasts for weeks. But this isn’t really a break or a vacation — going to a conference is an activity, but it’s the kind that often increases energy and motivation. How are your various blades doing? Your skills, your knowledge, your mind, your physical body, your relationships, your motivation, your commitment, your capacity for enjoyment, your emotions — are all of them still sharp? If not, which ones are dull, and what can you do to sharpen them?

I am learning all the time.  The tombstone will be my diploma.  ~Eartha Kitt

Bangalore going to Dogs

 Passing  by a  school near  our  house all  of a sudden someone grabbed my jacket from behind. Taken aback, I turned around to find a little girl. She was wearing a brown pant  with   matching shirt her   age  may be 5 years .I was staring at her in astonishment.As though to respond to my curiosity, she raised her finger and pointed towards my left.

Looking into that direction I found a street Dog gazing fixedly at both of us.The little girl was passing by and upon seeing the dog lying by the side, she got scared to go any further.To help her arrive at her destination, I held her hand and walked some steps till she could walk the rest of the distance. 

This was to draw attention towards the street dogs that are seen loitering about all day and night. They pose a serious threat.  Yes We knew it was bad, but not this bad and  defnitely Bangalore  is  going  to  Dogs!!. it  seems there is a stray dog for every 37 persons in Bangalore city, according to a study by NGO Janaagraha Centre for Citizenship and Democracy. Apart  from  attacking  small  kids they also pose a lot threat to road commuters, especially to cyclists and two wheelers, traveling at dusk. They chase these travelers, in most cases, cross frenziedly across the streets unexpected. The result is obvious, the travelers hurt and left to bleed on the road side and in some cruel cases, attacked by these ruthless packs
The main reason behind such a menace is that we fail to check the increasing population of stray dogs. The city municipalities have there after successfully captured many stray dogs with the help of expect dog catchers, but were criticized for their cruel treatment and killing of the captive dogs by PETA and other animal rights activists. In the land of Ahimsa, we need not resort to brutal killing of these abandoned dogs, but surely must prevent stay dog menace effectively and scientifically.With all due respect to Menaka Gandhi and her opinions, I think we should try and painlessly eliminate the dogs that cannot be adopted. These dogs are hungry, wounded and live in pathetic state. What is the use of keeping these dogs and allowing them to multiply. The number of children who have been mauled by dogs, the number of people getting bitten everyday, is reason enough to take drastic measures

In Western Europe, there are lot of associations for the welfare of abandoned pets and stray dogs. There are also centers for pet adoption. We hardly get to see any stray dogs or cats on the street there. We need to set up such welfare organizations and adoption centers for dogs in India too.
On  lighter  vein  Dogs from  Bangalore  can be ported to wild life sanctuaries as they are becoming almost 'little' tigers and lions. One more question to all those who are against killing these mad dogs, do you restrain from using chemicals to killing bugs like mosquitoes and others, if not then how are they different from these canine that causes threat to normal life?