4th Sunday, 4th video… though it seems to be getting harder every week. In this 3-minute video, I share a principle that I’ve lived for over 20 years. It’s about differentiating between problems and situations, and focusing all our focus, time and energy on problems instead of situations. Fighting with situations can only lead to anger, frustration and disappointment. This simple practice has the potential to change your life by increasing your happiness, motivation and success. Have a look and let me know what you think.
Mush Talks #3: 4 D’s of Time (Life) Management
This was recorded at the Hong Kong Airport at 7AM this morning, just before boarding for Bangkok… then edited on the flight, and uploaded soon after reaching the hotel! I know it’s not going to be easy to do this every Sunday, but I am going to do my best. I hope this helps somebody improve his/her quality of life!
This is part of another one of my 2-hour workshops on ‘Time (Life) Management’, which also covers the concepts of ‘The Wheel of Life’ for work-life balance, and ‘Rocks and Pebbles’ for prioritizing and doing first things first. Thank you for watching!
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Mush Talks #2: 4 Steps to Achieve Anything
This has been one of my most popular and effective training programs for over 20 years. It has helped students, fresh graduates, entrepreneurs, salespeople and managers. It’s a 2-hour workshop which I have condensed into a 4-minute video. Thank you for watching and sharing
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Mush Talks #1: Gratitude
During a recent review of my ‘dreams list’ I decided to fast-track a few items to ‘goals, plans and action’. One of them was to share my knowledge and experience about happiness, motivation and success through short videos. These video will be 5-10 minutes, focusing on one topic. It’s a non-commercial activity, just for the sake of contribution. To ensure I can do at least two per month, I am doing my own amateur recording and editing. Thank you for watching and sharing…
You may want to subscribe to my YouTube channel or the Blog for auto-notifications of upcoming blog posts and videos.
Celeste Headlee: 10 ways to have a better conversation
I just heard one of the best TED talks about conversations. Celeste Headlee covers everything I try to include in my 1-3 hours of training on communication skills, and even more, in just 12 minutes!
The ten tips are:
- Don’t multi-task. Be fully present.
- Don’t pontificate. Set aside your personal opinions.
- Use open-ended questions.
- Go with the flow. Let your own thoughts come and go.
- If you don’t know, say you don’t know.
- Don’t equate your experience with theirs. It’s not about you.
- Don’t repeat yourself.
- Stay out of the details.
- Listen! Be interested.
- Be brief.
I also loved these quotes from the talk:
- “If your mouth is open, you are not learning.” -Buddha
- “No man ever listened his way out of a job.” -Calvin Coolidge
- “Most of us don’t listen with the intent to understand; we listen with the intent to reply.” -Stephen Covey
20 Chinese quotes that pack 4,000 years of wisdom
- A bit of fragrance clings to the hand that gives flowers.
- Better to be a diamond with flaws than a pebble without imperfections.
- Be not afraid to move slowly; be afraid only of standing still.
- A gem will not be perfect without carving and polishing, nor a man perfected without trials.
- Deep doubts, deep wisdom; small doubts, little wisdom.
- When you drink water, remember the spring.
- If heaven made him, earth can find some use for him.
- Dig the well before you are thirsty.
- If you don’t want anyone to know, don’t do it.
- Teachers open the door; you enter by yourself.
- A bird does not sing because it has an answer; it sings because it has a song.
- A book holds a house of gold.
- A filthy mouth will not utter decent language.
- A thousand cups of wine do not suffice when true friends meet, but half a sentence is too much when there is no meeting of the minds.
- Give a man a fish and you feed him for a day; teach a man to fish and you feed him for a lifetime.
- Do good, reap good; do evil, reap evil.
- A book is like a garden carried in the pocket.
- One generation plants trees, the next enjoys the cool shade.
- Studying is like rowing a boat upstream; if you don’t move forward, you move backward.
- Be patient in one moment of anger, to save yourself hundred days of sorrow.
The image is of one of the best Chinese New Year cards I received this year, from none other than the most creative Stepworks team; click to see the beautiful animated version.
Wishing you a happy Year of the Monkey!
Technology + Human Touch = Wow Customer Experience!
Everyone knows the value of good customer service, yet such a few companies get it right. And that presents a great opportunity for the few to stand out from the crowd. Two recent experiences reminded me how technology, combined with the right human touch, can help improve customer experiences…
During a recent trip, I used Uber app in Dubai. Soon after reaching my destination, the pop-up asked me to rate my experience. I gave it a 3 out of 5. Usually, that would be the end of it, but not on Uber app. Another pop-up asked me ‘What went wrong?’ providing a box to write comments. I briefly wrote the two issues that were less than satisfactory: The taxi was waiting at the wrong address, until I called. The driver didn’t know the shorter route, so the 10-minute trip took about 20 minutes. Within a few minutes of pressing ‘send’ on the app, I got the following email:
What was most impressive was the promptness of the reply, the personal attention and something in return to quickly turn a less-than-satisfied customer into a raving fan!
The other experience was at an optician in Hong Kong. Most clinics in HK give you a form to fill out on your first visit – often a badly printed or copied sheet on an old clipboard with a cheap pen, and with English or punctuation errors on the form. Not at iSight. I was given an iPad to fill out a neatly designed, short and sweet form. The clinic had a comfortable waiting area with a coffee machine! The experience with the doctor was also perfect, so I thought ‘They are about to charge me more than twice the normal price’. To my surprise it was exactly the same price as that of an average clinic. And I got a reminder for my follow-up appointment on Whatsapp! How difficult can it be to use electronic forms and Whatsapp?
A small investment in technology, combined with the right human touch, can significantly improve the user experiences and help to delight and surprise your customers!
Moments of 2015 by Mush Panjwani
And 10 inspiring quotes about moments:
- “Life isn’t perfect, but it has perfect moments.”
- “Sometimes you will never know the value of a moment, until it becomes a memory.”
- “The best things in life are not things, they are moments.”
- “A good life is a collection of happy moments.”
- “Don’t wait for the perfect moment; take the moment and make it perfect.”
- “We don’t remember days; we remember moments.”
- “Fall in love with moments.”
- “You don’t get the same moment twice in life.”
- “Life is all about moments of impact, and how they change our lives forever.”
- “Make this moment count.”
Inspiration from a 70-year old entrepreneur!
Lalo is a 70-year old woman who owns and actively manages one of the best B&Bs in Guanajuato, a beautiful city in Mexico. She lives on her own in a house nearby. I was lucky to have a conversation with her over breakfast… and get super inspired!
She has a few grown up kids, and some grandkids, all living their lives in different parts of the world. She stays in her own house so she can be occupied in her business. She travels for 2-3 months every year, sometimes visiting kids and sometimes to see new places. She told me, ‘I’ve had a great life… but I want to be useful and occupied as long as possible…’ Just a few months ago she started an herbs garden in her backyard ‘to have a new purpose’. She then started teaching local women about the benefits of those herbs, and soon started making soaps, creams and other beauty products with the help of her ‘students.’ Lalo has had her share of challenges in life, including the loss of three husbands, but she accepts what she can’t control and continues to be grateful for all the goodness of life.
It’s been a few weeks since I met her but I haven’t stopped thinking about her, so decided to share the story through this blog – hoping it inspires us to live a life of purpose, find new challenges, be useful, accept what we can’t change, be grateful for life. Age is just a number.
10 Inspiring Quotes about Traveling
- The world is a book, and those who do not travel read only a page.
- We wander for distraction but we travel for fulfilment.
- You will go further and faster when you travel alone.
- It’s better to see something once than to hear about it a hundred times.
- Travel is the only thing you buy that makes you richer.
- Life is short and the world is wide.
- Do not follow where the path leads; go where there’s no path and leave a trail.
- A good traveler has no fixed plans and is not intent on arriving.
- Travel makes you modest; you see what a tiny place you occupy in the world.
- Travel is fatal to prejudice, bigotry and narrow-mindedness.
Which one did you find most inspiring?
What is Success?
For many years, I have struggled to come up with a perfect answer to this question. The following piece from Paulo Coelho’s “Manuscripts Found in Accra” is the best answer I’ve ever read. I hope it inspires you too:
Success does not come from having one’s work recognised by others. It is the fruit of the seed that you lovingly planted. When harvest time arrives, you can say to yourself: ‘I succeeded.’
You succeeded in gaining respect for your work because you did not work only to survive, but to demonstrate your love for others.
You managed to finish what you began, even though you did not foresee all the traps along the way. And when your enthusiasm waned because of the difficulties you encountered, you reached for discipline. And when discipline seemed about to disappear because you were tired, you used your moments of repose to think about what steps you needed to take in the future.
You were not paralyzed by the defeats that are inevitable in the lives of those who take risks. You didn’t sit agonising over what you lost when you had an idea that didn’t work.
You didn’t stop when you experienced moments of glory, because you had not yet reached your goal. And when you had to ask for help, you did not feel humiliated. And when you learned that someone needed help, you showed them all that you had learned, without fearing that you might be revealing secrets or being used by others.
50 Life Lessons by Mush Panjwani
I’ll be 50 in a few hours! And as a gift to my children, family and friends, I started writing my life lessons a couple of weeks ago. It started looking like another book, so I cut them all down into one-liners and still ended up with about 65. Thanks to Sara who helped keep the best 50. I hope these inspire you to change your thoughts and take some action towards making your life more dinchack…
- Life is fair even when it doesn’t seem to be.
- You are not supposed to be like everyone else.
- When in doubt, listen to your heart, and take a small step.
- Change your actions, reactions and the way you put yourself out there, and you will change the way the world responds to you.
- Three things change your life: love, suffering and dreams.
- Focusing on all you have rather than what you don’t have is far better use of our brainpower. Gratitude is the first step to positivity and happiness.
- Holding a grudge is like holding burning coals in your own hands.
- Life isn’t perfect, but it has perfect moments.
- Nobody has extra time. You just have to make room for what’s important.
- Dreams are important, but only when we follow them with goals, plans and actions.
- The less stuff you have, the freer you are.
- You don’t have to win every argument.
- Accept and expect that failure is part of the experience. Learn from it and move on.
- Don’t let your past mess with your present.
- Don’t compare your life to others’. You have no idea what their journey is all about.
- Success with people comes not from being interesting but being interested.
- Make exercise a daily priority. It makes you physically, mentally and emotionally stronger. It improves your health and your outlook.
- It’s hard to live a high performance life in a low performance body.
- If a relationship has to be a secret, you shouldn’t be in it.
- Friendships need time and attention. Nurture them.
- Anything can change in the blink of an eye.
- Change is good; don’t resist it. Embrace it and consider it an adventure.
- Life is too short for pity parties. Get busy living, or get busy dying.
- Angry outbursts result in regret, stress and unhappiness.
- The only way to overcome a fear is to jump right in.
- When it comes to going after what you love in life, don’t take no for an answer.
- If you haven’t found your passion, make it a mission to find it. The joy it brings reflects in every aspect of your life.
- Don’t wait for special occasion to do or say something special. Today is special.
- Plan well but be prepared to go with the flow.
- Follow-up and follow-through are critical, though few people practice either.
- Work harder and smarter – not one or the other.
- Travel enlightens you, expands you, and makes you more interesting, insightful and accepting. Spending on travel is an investment in yourself.
- Learning is our most powerful leverage in life.
- Thoughts become things. Whether positive or negative, limiting or liberating, our thoughts can become our reality.
- Frame every so-called disaster with these words: “In five years, will this matter?”
- Forgive everyone everything.
- Time heals almost everything. Give time time.
- Your job won’t take care of you when you are old and sick. Your family and friends will. Stay in touch.
- Believe in miracles.
- God loves you because of who God is, not because of anything you did or didn’t do.
- Your children get only one childhood. Make it memorable.
- You can teach them, love them and support them, but you can’t change them. They are unique individuals who must live their own lives. Let them.
- Don’t audit life. Show up and make the most of it now.
- Get rid of anything that isn’t useful, beautiful or joyful.
- Envy is a waste of time. You already have all you need.
- No matter how you feel, get up, dress up and show up.
- Take a deep breath. It calms the mind.
- Everything you want is out there and everything you need to achieve it is inside you.
- Age is a number. Don’t allow a number to hold you back from being the person you are inside.
- The best is yet to come.
- Have faith. (Sara suggested to add this to the list)
Please let me know through comments which one did you find most useful/inspiring, and also feel free to share your own life lessons. Thanks!
A Dinchack 2014!
2014 was indeed an awesome year in every area – family, work, personal growth, traveling…
Hector and his 23 Observations about Happiness!
I watched ‘Hector and his Search for Happiness’ movie on a recent flight and loved it! It’s about a psychiatrist who feels guilty of dispensing recommendations to his patients that never change their conditions or make them any happier. So he sets out on a journey to find what makes people happy. It’s quite funny, interesting and inspiriting. During his ‘research’ he makes the following 22 observations:
- Making comparisons can spoil your happiness***
- Happiness often comes when least expected
- Many people only see happiness in their future
- Many people think happiness comes from having more power or more money
- Sometimes happiness is not knowing the whole story
- Happiness is a long walk in beautiful, unfamiliar mountains***
- It’s a mistake to think that happiness is the goal***
- Happiness is being with the people you love; unhappiness is being separated from the people you love
- Happiness is knowing that your family lacks for nothing
- Happiness is doing a job you love***
- Happiness is having a home and a garden of your own
- It’s harder to be happy in a country run by bad people
- Happiness is feeling useful to others***
- Happiness is to be loved for exactly who you are (People are kinder to a child who smiles)
- Happiness comes when you feel truly alive***
- Happiness is knowing how to celebrate***
- Happiness is caring about the happiness of those you love***
- Happiness is not attaching too much importance to what other people think
- The sun and the sea make everybody happy***
- Happiness is a certain way of seeing things
- Rivalry poisons happiness
- Women care more than men about making others happy
- Happiness means making sure that those around you are happy
*** These are my favourites. Which one is yours?
Mush Panjwani interviewed about Romantic Relationship
One of Hong Kong’s top hypnotherapists, an image consultant and a fellow trainer, Sonia Samtani has been producing a series of videos called Raising the Bar. She interviews people who have done something extra-ordinary that can inspire others.
I was happy to be chosen to talk about romantic relationships, and my love story that started at the age of 15! And I hope this talk inspires people, or even one person, to improve their relationships. Great relationships can often mean more happiness, increased motivation and greater success in everything else.
Mush’s Lessons from the Himalayas: The joys of disconnecting (being offline)!
My two weeks in Nepal were full of inspiration, with some important lessons learnt and many beliefs reinforced. Through this series of blog posts, I am sharing some of those thoughts and hoping to inspire some of my readers.
There are many things that we take for granted in life. When you are up in the mountains or in villages, a network on your phone is a privilege and Internet access a luxury. Imagine waking up in the morning completely offline, with no emails, messages or FB to check. And going through the day, using just the camera function on your phone. Once I accepted the reality, I began to see the beauty of the situation and the many benefits of disconnecting, unplugging and being offline:
- Connection. I was better connected to everything and everyone around me. I was able to better appreciate the beauty of the nature; I was more aware of the presence of other human beings and the opportunity to talk to them, listen to them and learn from them.
- Inner voice. By ceasing the flow of information and news, and other people’s opinions and updates, I was more in tune with my inner voice. I became more aware of my own thoughts and feelings. I even found solutions to some of my problems, within myself, due to the clarity and focus.
- Mono-tasking. The increasingly unusual state of doing just one thing at a time. I was reminded of the pleasures in simple things when done with mindfulness – a sip of coffee, a hot shower, breathing with awareness, a bite of wholesome food, an eye contact, a smile, listening to someone with 100% attention!
I was still connecting to the Internet for an hour or so almost every evening after the trek. I was posting photos to Facebook, blogging my daily diary, and even uploading my daily 2-minute videos to YouTube whenever the connection was ‘good’. And I found that even my connected time was so much more productive and efficient due to the focus, and the awareness that I only had an hour or two to get everything done.
Since getting back from the trip, I have incorporated some of these ideas, yet again, into my life. I have switched off many ‘push’ notifications on my phone, so I can better control the flow of information. I have again started doing emails in blocks of an hour, 2-3 times a day. I have again limited my social media time to the bare minimum, and only twice a day. I have again started switching off my phone after 7pm. It’s only been a week, but it’s working out so well then I’m unlikely to go back to the old habits.
What do you think about disconnecting, unplugging and going offline for scheduled periods of time every day? How will that affect your productivity at work and the quality of your time with yourself, friends and family?
Please also check out Dinchack Facebook page for daily inspiration.
Inspiration from a 21-year old Everest climber!
I was lucky to meet this girl during my recent trip to Nepal. She had climbed the Mount Everest last year, and was on her way to climb Lhotse (the 4th tallest mountain in the world). I found her story so inspiring that I recorded a short interview, using my iPhone on the spot, hoping to inspire hundreds of others who read my blog…
What inspired you most from Priyanka’s story? The courage to climb solo; the dream to climb 14 of the highest mountains; the way she finds time to follow her passion… or something else?
Mush Panjwani 