Hard Work

Hard work needs no introduction, we all know what hard work is. It means working towards your path of success, overcoming obstacles, learning from mistakes and all the other stuff you are taught in the Class 2 Moral Science. But, the age old concept of hard work is moot today. Today, it's the era of Smart Work, i.e. is hard work in smartly judged areas. You cannot take a hammer up to hill, start banging it to break it to stones and proclaim you should be remunerated because you worked hard. You have to work hard in the most remunerative manner by judging the effects of your actions.

What Is Hard Work?
Hard Work, as I used it here, means Hard Work in Smart manner. Judging the effects of your actions, making sure you it helps you achieve what you want with the least use of resources possible, where time is also a resource. Hard Work has it's own place in your CART, you cannot succeed anywhere without hard work. Now, in management, we learn that even if the Planning is ineffective but the execution is effective, the organisation can survive. This however does not mean that we leave smart planning out of the picture, because it is what causes the difference between thrive and survive.

Hard Work As a Wheel
Hard Work is a very important part of your CART. Not only is it a wheel but also a fuel. It will take you to your goals and when you achieve them, they'll fuel you to work harder, remember when I said Goals are like checkpoints or refueling stations, this is how they refuel.
If not seen as fuel, it can be thought of as the bolts that keep the wheels attached to the CART, as without hardwork all other wheels are useless.

Importance Of Hard Work
I once read on a poster in my class, 'Hard work beats talent when Talent does not Work Hard'. I understand solving complex mathematical problems is a genetic trait but that does not mean if we work upon it, we'll not get better. Hard Work is like a fuel to your CART, it will take you from desire to destination.
My father used to say, 'Ability to work is what makes us superior to God Himself', i.e. we can work hard to improve our stature but God can't.
There is an old Urdu proverb which reads, 

'Khudi ko kar buland itna, ke har takdeer se pehlay

Khuda bande se khud puche, bata teri raza kiya hai.'

which means that one should work hard enough that the person's destiny asks him, what should be there in his future.

You Need Smart Work - Signs

Here are a few signs that one may be falling into that rut:

• They work hard throughout the day, but at the end of the day wonder if what they’ve done really made all that much of a difference.  
• They work hard but don’t feel like they get the recognition that they deserve.
• They work tirelessly but it rarely feels like they accomplish much of anything.
• Their task list is endless and they often feel overwhelmed.

Working Smart

1. Assess everything that needs to be done. Before you plunge into something headfirst, remember that enthusiasm needs to be tempered with wisdom. Look over every aspect of the job, and allow yourself ample "pondering time" so that you can be sure that every detail is accomplished on time and accurately.
2. Make an outline. Whether it's in your head or on paper, you should have a checklist in mind and follow it in order. You don't want to repeat steps, duplicate the efforts of others, make mistakes or forget anything.
3. Learn to say no. Avoid over-scheduling yourself and be realistic about what you can accomplish in a single day. Sometimes you just have to cut yourself off because in most professions, there is almost always something that could be done.
4. Limit your goals. Try to avoid multi-tasking because you often get less done since your brain is switching back and forth between tasks. Pick one thing to work on and put your best effort into that until it is accomplished.

Remember Success cannot be guaranteed everytime, but if you work hard in the direction of your goals, you are bound to achieve greatness.

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Dealing With Leverage

This article is not like my regular 'What you should have?' and 'What you should do?', it is based on the fact that you cannot always have the upper hand and you'll have to sometimes let go of the small things to achieve the big ones.

This post is based on the sole philosophy that, "You'll not always have the upper hand, but you should always hold the arm that it belongs to". My father says, "Words cost nothing but can mean everything".

Leverage Management as a Wheel:

This is a wheel, after so many posts, it is actually a wheel. Dealing with leverage is the best item in my bag of tricks. You cannot always be the one with the bigger stick, many times your lives would be at the disposal of others and that is the time you have to make sure those in power work in your benefit. Now, when I talk about dealing with leverage, I don't ask you to become a Yes Man or a Sycophant, but yes, regard those in power, there is a reason they have it and you don't.

Importance of Leverage Management

My personal experience says that you cannot utilize the influence of your superiors by insulting, or for that matter, not regarding their superiority. I will share an experience regarding an examination hall incidence. So, imagine a regular examination hall with a lot of students to give the exam and a couple of teachers to invigilate. As the exam progressed, this guy sitting two rows next to mine made some joke about the activity of a the invigilator, something regarding delaying the distribution of question paper, not the point of the story. Now, as she came up to me, I was prompt in receiving it and replied with a thanks and a smile. Later in the exam it so happened that he asked for a supplementary sheet to write and seconds later, so did I. Our invigilator had set our course to him and was nearing him but she changed her path and came up to me first instead. Now, this may seem trivial but you can imagine what the meaning is of a few minutes towards the end of an exam. Also, this little gesture made me realize that I did nothing out of the ordinary, but it did help me when she had leverage.

Now, here realized two things, respect others and they shall respect you, and what goes around, comes back around. These are petty things we leave about and come back biting our ass. Now, I could have been like the others taking my sheet, thinking that it was their duty to do so, give no reply and left unnoticed, but I didn't  I got noticed and that helped me where I didn’t even think. People want love and respect, we all are hungry for it, never gloat of what you are and never undermine the achievement of others that if they get the opportunity to ruin you, they don’t even hesitate.

Maintaining Quality Professional Relationships

1. Break the Ice: Initiate conversation with the one in power, those in power, in illusion of power would be a little hesitant to come up to someone below their stature and to get things done, you'll have to let them know you exist. Break the ice with little empty talks, or small talk, and be memorable, don't break ice with insults.
2. Smile: Now, it may seem highly obvious that we should smile and often we are in the illusion that we do it in high frequency, but we do not. Smile is the first step for registering positive thoughts about yourself in the mind of others. When I meet old acquaintances and am not willing to talk, I smile at them and they themselves initiate conversation, now that is the effect of a simple smile, it can change the outlook of people towards us.
3. Respect the Authority: What little authority people have over you, respect it, there is a reason they have it and you don't. Often times people get the validation that they're living a respectable life due to the limited scope of authority they have, in other words the authority that you may disregard is the one they achieved over their life’s hard work and measure their success with. It is common that people get beat up by cops for disregarding them. Now, I’m pretty sure that you’d have met someone whose some relative is some kind of powerful person and they badmouth cops because of it and the cops without any regard to that relative beat the shit out of them, it is common place in my locality at least.
4. Charm Them: Now, Charming people would seem awfully difficult and improbable, as it is difficult to determine what constitutes charming. Rest assured, I’ll tell you. Have a Charisma. Carry an aura of positivity and respect, treat everyone how they’d like it. Now, I don’t ask you to pay unnecessary efforts to please everyone, not make people feel they’re the only thing in life, but make sure they know that you regard their relationship.
5. Troubleshooting: Critically analyse your relationships, if they're long term, there are bound to be troubles, try to detect them early and work upon them to not let them ruin the relationships. An age old proverb by Saint Rahim, that implies that Relationships are like weak threads, don't test their endurance, if it breaks up, even if you join it again by tying, the resultant wouldn't be the same smooth thread.

A simple rule in dealing with those who are hard to get along with is to remember that this person is striving to assert his superiority; and you must deal with him from that point of view.

Friendship

Today is the Friendship's Day and well I can't help but think about the fact that friends play a big part in our life. Friends, it is said, make life beautiful. But, let's not get carried away, this blog is about Wheels To Success, and with that in mind, always remember, no one can live in isolation, we're social animals and can't survive without collusive togetherness. In social aspects, we’re judged by the company we keep. And all in all, Friends are an important sphere of existence.

Friendship As A Wheel

I know it may sound horrific but no relation exists without mutual benefits. If someone is your friend, that means they see you as an asset. It may be a terrible analysis, but it is true nonetheless. Now, when I say benefits, it does not mean financial benefits only, benefits may be in all forms, sometimes illusory as well but regardless, you cannot pest up to someone who does not want you.

Friendship I believe is not a wheel but force that pushes you forward when your cart is stuck in a rut and you’re rendered hopeless. It is said that friendship is a ship that sails when all else fails. It is important for you to keep good friends and be a true friend as well.

Making Quality Friendship

1.     Lower Your Expectations: Friendship does not mean you own the other person, or that the other person has to act a certain way just because they are your friend, the low you’ll expect the lower will be the times you’ll get disappointed and the lower will be the sourness in the relation

2.     Make Friends With Those On Your Stature: Now this may seem difficult, but it is necessary. It is said that, “A foolish friend is worse than a smart enemy”. Make friends with people who share your interests, think like you and the presence of whom will enhance your existence.

3.     Don’t Make Friendship Difficult: No one will choose you over themselves, this is a fact, make friends with people who’ll procrastinate such a choice as far as possible, also, be the kind of friend who does not make them fall into situations that require such choices.

4.     Bring Up Solutions, Not Problems: Everyone has his own problems, and it is said sharing things reduces the pain, but it may only reduce yours, and increase that of others, Bring solutions. It may seem like an awful thing to say when we feel friends are there to support us, but you cannot always bank upon it, make them not have to support you all the time, everyone gets tired and they may not be consciously thinking it but sub-consciously they’ll build upon this track and may later break out on small triggers.

5.     Be a Friend: It may seem overly obvious but be the kind of friend you want to have. Think of what you’re saying or doing from other person’s point of view and how you’d like it if that happened to you. Friendship shouldn't be a power struggle; you should not seek to have the upper hand. It may feel obvious, like I said, but we don’t follow the most obvious things we should.

6.      Don’t Test Friendships: Don’t try to let your friends run loose thinking that they’re truly your friends if they come back when you let them go, If you've abandoned them, then you yourself have no right to test if they come back. Friendship is a mutual relation, if you try to test it, you yourself may be failing and you’ll push them farther.

I read these lines somewhere, “It’s been said that everlasting friends go long periods of time without speaking and never question their friendship. These friends pick up phones like they just spoke yesterday, regardless of how long it has been or how far away they live, and they don’t hold grudges. They understand that life is busy and you will always love them.”