Beggars are choosers

February 12, 2007 in Personal Development | No comments

Beggars are choosersNo. Here we are not talking about the dilemma you face when a beggar approaches you for money or when you see a beggar with a sign saying “Homeless. Need $$.” There are many kind people who have expressed their concerns and thoughts about it earlier.

OK. Back to the topic. Why I say that beggars are choosers? For that, you have to understand that there are two kinds of beggars – those who beg by choice, and those who are forced to beg because of inconvenient circumstances.

Beggars by choice

This kind of people have made begging their profession. They just love it. They don’t want to do any other kind of work. They earn enough from begging and are happy with that. These are the people who choose to be beggars.

Beggars by circumstances

This kind of people are those who if given opportunities would change their ‘profession’ willingly. These are the people who need help. Unfortunately, I don’t see them doing anything different to differentiate themselves from the beggars of the first kind. They also ask for money same as the beggars of the first kind. Why don’t they have a sign saying “Homeless. Will work for $$.“? I am sure with this sign, they will get more donors and it’s also possible that someone might arrange a job for them. But they choose to ask for money.

So, what’s the point? Attitude. Second kind of beggars need to change their attitude. And so do we. We are all begging in one way or another. What’s important is to know whether we are committed to provide value in return of what we ask for. No one likes the beggars of the first kind. They are not providing any value to the society directly or indirectly. Don’t be one. Everyone has a choice to make. What is yours?

Be the change that you want to see in the world. – Mahatma Gandhi

Bend it like Beckham. But how?

February 7, 2007 in Motivation, Personal Development | 10 comments

How do some people become great achievers?

David BeckhamHow David Beckham is able to bend football so much? Watch this video that demonstrates his talent. Did you see the turn football makes before entering the goal post? People still wonder how he did what he did.

Some researchers studied Beckham’s game and came up with this explanation,

The wind tunnel technique we’ve developed at the University of Sheffield enabled us to analyse in detail, for example, David Beckham’s sensational goal against Greece in the World Cup qualifiers. We know that the shot left his foot at 80mph from 27 metres out, moved laterally over two metres during its flight due to the amount of spin applied and during the last half of its flight suddenly slowed to 42mph, dipping into the top corner of the goal.

This does explain the physics but doesn’t really tell how Beckham managed to pull it. He didn’t study physics to compute the acceleration, projectile motion, or wind effect for his kicks. But his brain was surely computing such factors based on his experiences, practice and instincts.

Tiger WoodsHow Tiger Woods is able to swing the golf ball into the pocket? Watch this video that shows his master shot. What was he exactly thinking before playing his shot?

Was he computing all the physics factor with his brain? Well, yes in a sense. He was using his experience, practice and instincts to figure out the best way to play this shot.

Sachin TendulkarWhy more than 1 billion people are die-hard fans of Sachin Tendulkar ? Watch the master blaster in action in this video. How he is able to play such classy shots with such ease?

If you look into their past, you’ll be surprised to find how much hard work they put in to become the best of the best. As reported in a Fortune article,

Research now shows that the lack of natural talent is irrelevant to great success. The secret? Painful and demanding practice and hard work.

It is evident that only those people who have worked hard for thousands of hours with proper mindset achieve greatness. Every great person has failed number of times in his life, but it is after such learning experiences they beat the odds and shine. But most of us are so blinded by their shine that we only see their present and fail to remember their past. What differentiate an average from a great are dedication and persistence.

However, we should not forget that any two persons working equally hard might not reap the same fruit of their labor. This can be attributed to their different mindset. Attitude plays a key role in one’s success. If you want to get out of your comfort zone and become an expert in something that you enjoy doing then you are in right mindset. And long hours won’t bother you. All great achievers like Beckham, Woods, and Tendulkar enjoy what they do. That’s why they can put in so many hours of practice without any complaints. But they are not practicing same shot again and again. Instead they keep trying new and difficult shots. They take one step forward with each moment and become comfortable with uncomfortable drives.

So, basically to achieve greatness,

  • we need to have a suitable mental attitude to be able to enjoy the things we do.
  • we should be willing to put long hours with dedication and persistence.
  • we should be willing to overcome the barriers and take one step at a time towards the unknown.

In conclusion, I would like to quote what Kathy pointed out from the book The New Brain:

For the superior performer the goal isn’t just repeating the same thing again and again but achieving higher levels of control over every aspect of their performance. That’s why they don’t find practice boring. Each practice session they are working on doing something better than they did the last time.

Read also: Bend it like Beckham. But how? Part 2.

What would I do with 10 million dollars?

January 27, 2007 in Getting Things Done, Meaning, Planning & Action | No comments

Last week I was having a discussion with a very close friend about our past, present and future. When I asked him what he wants to do in life, his reply was, “Earn millions of dollars”. I believed that he had something specific in his mind so I asked him, “For what?”. And he had no answers. He didn’t even say ‘to live lavishly’ because he is not that kind of guy. He does not know what he want to do with that money. But then why he wants to earn so much? I couldn’t really understand. That set me thinking that earning money cannot be a goal.

Money serves a purpose, it is a means to a goal. What if somehow 10 million dollars appeared in my account? It doesn’t matter how – I inherited it, someone just gave it to me, I earned it, or I won a lottery. But what matters is that what would I do with it? I thought a lot about it but it seemed like my mind had gone just blank. There are many things a person can do – buy house, cars, travel, and blah blah. I couldn’t comeup with a to-do list that would make some sense to me. Finally, I narrowed down to the following options to discuss with you:

Use it for upliftment of poor children – Every once in a while I browse through the websites of the non-profit organizations working towards betterment of poor children and providing them education. Although many non-profit organizations (not all) are working hard towards upliftment of poor children, their efforts alone are not enough. They need more hands to share the load, more minds with right attitude, and more financial sources for the cause. As Annie puts it (35 million, 12 paise),

That’s right. Thirty-five million. These millions are, what the government of India collectively calls, ‘children in need of protection‘. Defined by the ministry of social justice and empowerment as children in ‘extremely difficult circumstances’, they include children in conflict with the law, victims of crime or natural disasters, orphaned, abandoned or runaway children, rescued child labourers, trafficked children, amongst others.

I do donate in small amounts whenever I can but I am not able to contribute significantly since even a small amount is infact a large percentage of my student stipend. However, what I really want to do is to sponsor complete education of atleast one child if possible. But that’s not possible yet on my student stipend.

If I had 10 million dollars, I could sponsor education for many more children. For that I need to find the right people and the question that arises is which organization I can donate to? Which one to trust with such a huge amount of money? How would I know that the money is being used for the right purpose and reaching the deserving ones? Or instead of just donating the money, can I use it for the same purpose in some other way? I have never thought about it. This means I am not ready to have so much money yet for this purpose. I am not prepared for it. Forget 10 million dollars, I have no idea how I am going to help towards the betterment of poor children once I graduate and start earning.

Start a company – Couple of times I had discussions with friends about starting my own company. I want my ‘company’ to have a good purpose, something useful to society, and not just profit-making. Paul Graham suggests to have right people, right products and right spending plan to start a company. With 10 million dollars in my pocket, I won’t have to worry for the funds (atleast for a while). But the problem is that I don’t know what I will produce and which customers I will target. I don’t know yet. I am not ready to have so much money for this purpose. I am an introvert person so networking, for me, is a nightmare. Rob listed excellent suggestions on how to network for introvert people like me. But I have not started working on it. It requires lot of efforts on my part. But If I won’t then how am I suppose to find right people when I’ll need them. Seems like I am just not prepared yet. When will I start preparing for it?

Make investments – Among other options, this seems to be a wise call. But I don’t know the ABC of how and where to invest. I read Ramit’s blog regularly but have never given enough time to research on his suggestions on how to start investing wisely and act on them. What stops me is the thinking barrier that I don’t earn ‘enough’ money right now. But that’s not the problem. I can start taking small steps like open a savings account (ING, HSBC, EMIGRANT). But I am too lazy to do it. The problem is my attitude and overthinking. I need to change my thinking to prepare myself to handle such a huge sum of money.

Spend it lavishly – Well, I won’t be able to do it without feeling guilty so this option doesn’t count for me. Been a student for so long, that I have learned to live within my means.

In summary, I have not prepared myself to do any of the above even to my capacity as of now. I can tell you that it is not the lack of money that is stopping me but my laziness and overthinking. People who are serious about doing something, just do it. Money matters don’t stop them. What’s needed is the DOer attitude, which makes every difficult-to-do and/or seem-to-be-impossible thing possible, be it starting Room to Read by John Wood or SUBWAY by Fred and Peter.

What would you do if you had 10 million dollars? What are you doing right now? Do you really think that lack of money is stopping you?

How to be a good teacher

January 19, 2007 in Education & Learning, Graduate School | 4 comments

In American graduate schools, a professor gets promotion on the basis of how much money they bring in through grants, how many papers they publish every year, how many students graduate under them, blah blah, and lastly how they teach. It is sad that such an evaluation method forces many ‘teachers’ to focus more on research and publications instead of teaching. And many new recruits mistakenly undervalue the importance of teaching ignoring it completely. But blaming the system won’t help. Agreed that it is expected from them to work hard on grants and papers, but they do have a basic responsibility to teach and guide the future generations.

There is no formal training for the new professors on how to teach. Most of the professors have no idea about what is expected from them. Teaching is not about reading slides, putting a number of complex topics on syllabus, or overburdening students with assignments to keep them busy. If you really want to be a better teacher, here are some points that I have borrowed from Chuck and put it from a (Ph.D.) student perspective.

It is not about you, it is about them – No, really it is not about you. You are there to help students learn what you know and explore what you don’t know. No one knows everything and in that sense you are also a student in the class. Create a learning environment in class instead of the ‘traditional’ teaching one.

Know your students – Knowing your students is very important. Assuming that they are like a clean white board is wrong. Each one has different experiences, background and prior knowledge. Every one sees the world differently. Knowing them will help you understand their expectations from the course.

Make your students feel comfortable – If your students feel comfortable then only they will have courage to ask questions and take initiatives. They won’t take the risk of speaking their mind to avoid embarrassment, if you are providing them a safe learning environment.

Show genuine passion – I have observed that students like the professors who are passionate about their field and exhibit it genuinely. Don’t make the mistake of thinking that students are naive and they won’t know if you are faking. They might not know your subject but they are not dumb. They have their own criteria to make decisions.

Tell them what they will gain – Every course every class has a purpose. If you make clear what students will learn in the course and what they will gain from it, they will be more inclined to learn and take efforts.
Communicate clearly – Even if you are well learnt and expert in a subject, if you can’t communicate clearly, your students will be confused and doubt your authority.

It is OK to say ‘I don’t know’ – I have seen professors for whom it is very hard to say, ‘I don’t know’. They try every possible thing to avoid the question or rebound it back to the student. As I sais earlier, students are not dumb. You’ll lose your credibilty. Better to say, ‘I don’t now but I’ll get back with you in next class’.

Teach from heart – Just like powerpoint slides are not ‘the presentation’, jsut repeating what you have learned is not teaching. Presentation is good when it is personalized by the presenter. Similarly, you will teach well when you can connect with the subject.

Repeat important points – I call them take-home points. Everytime I teach a class I make sure that the take-home points are repeated through out my presentation but are delivered in different ways. If you are just dumping more and more material on the student without ever repeating what is important, then students don’t learn anything. Yes, I am serious. I can say this because recently I recieved feedback from a class TA that the students expressed that they learned most from my class of all the other classes. And since I am a student too, I can tell that I mostly remember only the take-home points(if there are any) from a class.

Ask good questions – Ask such questions that show that you are really interesting in knowing what your students think and how much they have learned. These questions can be the ones that basically repeat the take-home points and/or explorative types that leads to open discussions.

Teach how to think – Your job as a teacher is not a transaction where you get paid for sharing your knowledge. If you want to be better, give some space to your students, help them learn how to think independently and solve problems, make meaningful conclusions, and take decisions.

Listen to them – Listening to your students will help you in understanding them better. Don’t try to guess what they are thinking. Let them speak without interruption.

Listen behind the words – It is important to listen to the emotions behind the words. This way you can connect to your students better. You’ll understand how they really feel about the subject and how much comfortable they are with it.

Create a synergetic environment – Try to build an environment where there is healthy competition among the students and they are not afraid to share their knowledge with each other.

Every student is different – Every student has different strengths. If you know your students you can figure out the best way to teach them the subject. Your lectures need to have different components for varied taste of students.

Never stop teaching – I never stop learning so I like teachers who never stop teaching. Become a teacher once, be a teacher for lifetime.

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