New Year Resolutions - A productivity tip

[vasanthakokilam]

I thought I will share this here in case it is useful to some of you. This is not specific to Music but it can definitely be applied to music related matters.

New Year resolutions are notoriously hard to keep. The main reason is, these resolutions are usually about unnatural acts. Change something drastically in one day. It might work in some occasional cases but more often than not, it is just a fantasy.

If that is the case, how do we implement changes that we desire? There are a set of new year resolutions people make that is about personal productivity. It takes several forms. Music related examples are: "I am going to practice 3 hours every day", "I am going to listen to good music 2 hours every day", "I am going to improve my swara recognition knowledge this year", "I am going to attend concerts of musicians off the beaten path" etc. Similarly for non-music related resolutions like 'I am going to write 1000 Sri Rama Jayams every day', 'I am going to develop better relations with my children', 'I am going to develop better relations with my parents', 'I need to do some amends to some broken friendships', 'I am going to read/write everyday', 'I am not going to procrastinate' etc..

The commonality here is 'personal productivity' defined in a broad manner.

Now, some of these requires some resources. For example, to improve swara identification skills, one needs advice on what to do. You can ask people around here or ask a musically inclined friend. etc. We should work on acquiring such infrastructures and resources.

Such infrastructure and resources are mightily required. But the truth of the matter is they are not sufficient.

All this is a prelude to offering this link without much commentary. It provides a simple but effective tool for implementing many things we want to accomplish.

http://lifehacker.com/281626/jerry-sein ... ity-secret

We can discuss if this simple tip has been useful as the year progresses. More importantly, we can support each other as motivational coaches to keep the chain going. May be Vijay can help us with an online calendar tool for this purpose, so we can keep a watch on each other

[PUNARVASU]

V K, Good suggestion. In this context, I very well remember what my mother used to say when we were kids. She would say ,'if you start lifting a new born calf EVERYDAY, from its birth, you will be able to lift it even when it grows to be an adult'. The logic is 'I had lifted it yesterday, so I can lift it today.' The condition is NOT TO BREAK THE CHAIN. Wonder why she gave that as an example; probably because we had a lot of cattle in the house and every couple of months there will be a new one born.
But I am amazed at the words she used 'NEVER BREAK THE CHAIN'. Coming from a simple housewife more than 50 years back, it makes me think our parents were no less than the motivational gurus of today.

[Nick H]

She would say ,'if you start lifting a new born calf EVERYDAY, from its birth, you will be able to lift it even when it grows to be an adult'.

Amazing! I thought this was a British rural myth: never realised that it was international

But, even though, in absolute terms, it is not true, the principle is certainly correct. A more mundane and every-day, everywhere example is the new mother who lifts her baby. She may not be able to lift a three-year old, but she will be able to, by the time her child is three --- but, maybe not at thirty.

it makes me think our parents were no less than the motivational gurus of today.

Of course! Doesn't every generation think that we made stuff up new, only discover that Grandmother knew it

[arasi]

Thanks, VK!
And to think that Seinfeld, who projected a laid-back, lazy attitude (even in his stand up comedy), has practiced this!

Punrvasu,
Both your parents were so wise...

Nick,
Wisdom is universal and it comes in many languages. It so happens that this particular one comes under the rural wisdom category!

[anandasangeetham]

in one seminar one TQM expert said...you all want to what is TQM and how to practice it? just observe your mother in the kitchen for a week or fortnight...it (observation) can teach more than any TQM expert around....Most of the worldy knowledge is very much amoungst our elders..only we fail to observe understand and learn due to sheer arrogance, stupidity, egoism and what not

[Nick H]

But don't let us forget, while we glorifying the elders, that age does not necessarily bring wisdom, and that there is no fool like an old fool. I've known a few, ...and sometimes I fear I may even become one!

[vasanthakokilam]

Imagine a circular route through a forest with interesting challenges and dangers. It only makes sense to ask those who are coming out at the finishing end of the route about the course. Most young ones think it is more exciting to embark on it without knowing much about it in advance. That is very natural and in fact the normal thing. After a few mishaps, most of us do ask for help. Lucky are those for whom those mishaps occur early in the route.

BTW, the productivity tip is about doing little bit consistently rather than taking big swings once in a while. Punarvasu's mom's example is right on and an equivalent metaphor. The calendar is a visual motivator. Try this with kids to motivate them to do things they usually do not want to do by themselves. It works pretty well.

I am still deciding on a few things to try that technique on. That is my first task, a meta-technique: Think everyday about implementing this technique

[VK RAMAN]

Most of the worldy knowledge is very much amoungst our elders - then we would have stayed in stone age without any change

[PUNARVASU]

VK wrote:
I am still deciding on a few things to try that technique on. That is my first task, a meta-technique: Think everyday about implementing this technique

VK, think every day; DO NOT BREAK THE CHAIN.

[vasanthakokilam]

Yes

[VK RAMAN]

Take one day at a time and implement the resolution that will have impact on your health, peace, passion and if one can complete 21 days that way of implementation, that becomes implementable next 69 days and once 90 days is completed, it becomes easy for next 90 days; in 180 days it becomes part of ones life style. How can one eat an elephant, one bite at a time!