the praz blog : articles on self development, motivation, thinking and much more

Social Media and Personal Privacy

noreply@blogger.com (Praz) — Thu, 11 Apr 2019 10:06:00 +0000

Social Media has transformed our lives dramatically. With the help of Facebook we can remain connected with all our friends and even long lost acquaintances easily via a simple search. Twitter is so powerful that it can topple entire governments and usher in regime changes. But the use of social media comes with a hidden caveat, the data you publish on your profiles is permanent and can be misused.

Through your Facebook profile you offer a glimpse into your entire life. Any random person can piece together your lifestyle simply by looking at your profile page, for it contains information about where you work, your current city, your education, your friends and your family members. In today's data driven age this is a treasure trove of information for any "Social Engineer". Who is a Social Engineer? A person who is capable of misusing the information you furnish on social media for fraudulent purposes.

Information divulged on Facebook can also be easily misinterpreted by prospective employers who conduct an online search during the background verification process.

The photos you share of your family members and your loved ones can be saved to the harddrives of vicious nefarious entities called "stalkers". When looked at from this perspective, sharing is a daring and risky endeavour!

Twitter is an entirely different paradigm. In several countries you can be held accountable for vocally voicing your revolutionary tweets against any establishment. This has led to jail time for several Tweeple in many countries where free speech is repressed.

How to stay clear of trouble while maximally utilizing social media?

In Facebook, turn on profile picture guard and set the privacy category of all information you share to Friends only. Ensure that you approve only the friend requests of people you personally know.

In Twitter, refrain from sounding the bugle at all times and utilize the retweet feature with a disclaimer that the views are your own.

Social Media is veritably a two edged sword. Caution is the word when it comes to its use!

Supercomputers in your palms - Technological magic!

noreply@blogger.com (Praz) — Sun, 24 Feb 2019 06:50:00 +0000

The unfathomable capabilities of the incredible wondrous automatons of the 21st century, Computers, is fascinating.

We are all now living in the age of information. This age can be boldly categorized as the most advanced age in the history of mankind and of the Earth itself. Communication has advanced to the extent where one can instantaneously initiate a video conversation with another halfway or even to the most extreme locations in the World using just a small device called the smartphone.

This advent of the information age is a boon for humanity. For a nominal price one can acquire a smartphone - a device which is a supercomputer when compared to the first satellite in space - Sputnik.

We are now in the age of robot assisted surgeries, bionic implants such as circuits embedded inside the human body which augment the senses, artificial computerized retinal implants which allow the blind to see, bionic legs which allow for paraplegics and quadriplegics to walk, robotic machines which assist soldiers in war, electronic cars which are touted to save the world from pollution, space exploration and colonization proposals which are going to open humanity's foray into space colonization and even nano robots which will perform targeted nano surgeries to alleviate ailments. The applications of technological advancements are poised to propel humanity into an age of singularity - the union between man and machine.

Futurists are claiming the advancements of scientific research will even enable humans to upload their consciousness into devices which will permit the attainment of immortality.

Such enormous transformation facilitated by the development of the wondrous automatons called computers! This is indeed magic. In the words of famous author Arthur C. Clarke - Any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic.

Rant #1

noreply@blogger.com (Praz) — Wed, 13 Jun 2012 16:59:00 +0000

Who said the Internet is virtual?

What happens on the internet affects the real world.

Since the Internet exists in our minds, which exist on the basis of synaptic connections, which are real, how can the Internet be virtual?

It is based on the physical interconnections between physical devices called computers, and we operate these machines with our synaptic connections, and so we manipulate reality by transforming it to the so called virtual domain which then reflects back on the reality we live in.

Its how you utilize what you have been given

noreply@blogger.com (Praz) — Fri, 01 Jun 2012 00:14:00 +0000

A Tweet can be about the TV show you so willfully spent wasting the past one hour of your life watching. A Tweet can be about your mundane efforts at hilarity by creating a new Hash bang. A Tweet can be about publicizing to the World where you are this very instant so that unknown Joes across the World can utilize this data to improve the understanding of all humans.

I tell you, that same Tweet can change the World as you know it.

A Facebook Status update can be about food. It can be about how you feel. It can be about why you broke up with another Homo Sapiens because they indulged in unproductive mating with another.

Or it can change the World.

Its "How you use the utilities and Tools you are given."

The Tree

noreply@blogger.com (Praz) — Sat, 26 May 2012 10:29:00 +0000

Feed the poor. Provide them healthcare, vaccinations, and clean rations.

Shelter the homeless. Opportunities should be provided to the deserving.

Clean the surroundings. Clear the dust.

Vehemently endeavor to uproot Graft.

Plant and grow Trees. Reduce the Carbon footprint.

Educate the illiterate. Unlearn the unnecessary. Expand your vision, your outlook. Petty squabbles, ego battles, thirst for inconspicuous instant-gratification victories will all be relegated to the gutters in the course of time. Is not the Earth itself tremendously minuscule even in the smallest of all the Sun Spots?

Obtain the Big Panorama.

Enhance yourself. Self Improvise. Become an Autodidact. Learn self control, self restraint, mastery over the Senses.

Stop making mountains out of molehills. Stop wasting time, energy, resources, fuel, thought, that which cannot be regained.

The Tree will stand. The Tree will endure. The Tree isn't dumb, it is and always will remain a silent Spectator.

What will the Tree do? It sheds its leaves. Glorify it, decorate it, uproot it, you are only encroaching upon its serenity accorded to it by the Forest. In solitude the Rains will water it. The Elements will offer it sanctuary.

Its Fruit might take years to be reaped, but it should be accorded the solitude it so verily craves for, to repay the debt incurred due to its growth on the Mountain of Gratitude.

The Internet is fun!

noreply@blogger.com (Praz) — Wed, 16 May 2012 11:31:00 +0000

I grew up with the Internet, trawling it, crawling it, surfing it, assimilating it and unsuccessfully eschewing it.

You trawl it.

You crawl it.

You surf it.

You assimilate it.

You begin to live in it.

You, unsuccessfully, eschew it.

It's the digital wormhole,

The wormhole which can be a Time-Sink Black hole or,

An information disseminating Supermassive Black hole.

Tim Berners-Lee named it the Internet. The reason you are reading this article penned by me thousands of miles away partitioned behind a cornucopia of electrical and digital complexities.

You might be viewing this piece of avant garde Internet lingo influenced literature on the now archaic desktop computers, or their slimmer sleeker contemporarily ubiquitous counterparts - handheld devices with enough digital brains to call them Smartphones.

The Internet is fun. Fun in unfathomable ways. The Internet has now transformed to become the Digital Mirror of Man.

Regime changing, World influencing Fun

Internet Activism finds the internet to be fun when entire tyrannical regimes oppressing millions of people are brought to light and toppled overnight thanks to trending tweets on Twitter and chilling status updates and photos shared on Facebook, the Internet's reigning sons. Twitpic your grievances from your smartphone, and voila! The World observes and comes to your rescue.

The Window to Sociability

Desperate People craving for Social acceptance and connectivity with long lost ones find the Internet to be fun when it allows them to interact with people over the internet with ease and aplomb instantaneously. Tweet your status, Facebook your emotions from your smartphone, and voila! Your network listens and engages in digital social contact with you.

Pedantic fun!

The inquisitively curious student finds the Internet to be fun when it grants him access to treasure troves of educational resources hitherto locked away in obscure libraries inaccessible by him. Online courses, people willing to educate curious minds over the internet all transform the Internet into a gateway to endless education for the eager student. Educational applications on smartphones, supplemented by cognitive enhancement applications all transform today's internet ready phones into life defining tools which set the student on a career trajectory replete with success.

Find-what-you-are-looking-for fun!

People desperately seeking information on any topic conceivable by the human mind find the Internet to be fun when Search Engines present what they are seeking for to them in a silver platter. Appearing as tiny dashboard widgets on the user interfaces of today's smartphones, information is literally a few taps away for the curious searcher. The internet makes the arduous process of finding exactly what you want to be seamless fun!

The Island of Connectedness

Today's Internet denizen finds the internet not be fun, but to be of pure Bliss. Perched from his location, armed with Internet connectivity, he has everything at his disposal: from ordering food to books, to even buying shelter, with the added perk of earning for this sustenance through the same Internet itself! The possibilites are endless with the Internet. Yes, the Internet can translate the notion of "Fun living" into a reality.

Cartographically speaking..

Smartphones armed with blazing speed Internet connectivity are making modern day Cartographers of their owners. Gone are the days when people resorted to outdated maps to find their way through the sprawling metropolises. Geo synchronous maps with street level real time accuracy abound in the Internet which transform finding your way around intricate locations sheer fun!

With umpteen avenues and endless channels of information available for the eager consumer, the Internet is what you make it out to be for yourself. It is a connected realm of endless possibilites for fun in so many unfathomable ways.

Endlessly, infinitely, fascinatingly and intriguingly, the Internet is fun!

This blog post is my entry to the Internet is fun! Vodafone contest. For more details, please visit www.Vodafone.in/fun

The Ingredients of Success

noreply@blogger.com (Praz) — Sun, 25 Jan 2009 05:42:00 +0000

What are the basic ingredients that are required, for a person to be successful?

Now, aside from limiting social factors, and financial difficulties, if an individual wanted to set his mind to succeed, no matter in what aspect he/she wants to succeed be it financially, academically, or even socially, what kind of a mindset should he/she have?Let's first get the definition of Success correct. In contemporary parlance, Success means Financial security in a massive scale, fame and other glitz and glam associated with a famous person.

But that doesn't necessarily be the only definition of Success.

If you try to mend a broken relationship, or even set yourself a goal and want to attain it, then if you end up accomplishing it, it can also be translated as Success. It's all dependent on your mindset. Remember, Business principles need not always apply to business ventures. They can also be applied with resounding outcomes to everyday events in daily life. And the same goes for everyday experience being applied to succeed in business.

That said, its time to begin analyzing What is Required of you to begin succeeding in whatever you do.

Goals and a Burning Passion

Now before you set a goal for yourself, you should first have a faint vision of what you want to achieve. Be it delivering a simple speech before your colleagues, or a new project at work, only if you have a clear picture of what your end result should be, you can work towards it.

Why has the word "Goal" become associated with setting objectives?

In Soccer, the ball has to be kicked inside the goal post after having been tacitly passed around the enemy's defenses, and the goalkeeper, for the kick to count as a goal.

Picture the defensive players as the obstacles in what you're setting out to achieve, and the goalkeeper as Yourself, the one person you should have complete control over, in order to succeed.

Now why should you have control over yourself? Doesn't that sound ridiculous? Aren't we sane, steady thinking human beings? Yes, we indeed are. But, the Human mind is a complex organism unto itself.

Temptation is anybody's prima donna enemy. Temptation can be in the form of alluring casual activities, those that provide instant gratification, or temptation can be in the form of Slumber itself, giving way to procrastination, another great foe in working towards your goals.

So only if you have control over yourself, you can allay temptation, and therefore master procrastination and instant gratification compulsions.

How can you have control over yourself?

This question can have a lot of different answers for different people.

Its not easy for people to control themselves after they cross a particular threshold in their lives. It may be easier in the case of youngsters, but for those people who have seen a lot of emotional stress and other travails today's world has to offer, it is indeed a mammoth task.

So how can self control be inculcated when it cannot be done by self?

You can resort to a lot of mind-soothing activities. Meditation. Yoga. Breath Exercises. But, there's a catch.

The only person who can cure yourself is you, and yourself alone.

Medication doesn't help. Counseling doesn't help. They do, but what they ultimately do is activate your conscience and ultimately open your reasoning eyes.

So why go to the extent of so many long hours of counseling and medication that might run into thousands of dollars when you, after a few days of self pondering can counsel yourself and set things right?

You can argue with me that self counseling sounds good on paper but is not practically possible. But what if you had the willingness to actually change yourself, have you not heard of the proverb : Where there is a will there is a way?

All these will help in granting you a firmer determined self with which you can set achievable goals and work towards achieving them.

Passion

How can you define passion?

I'll try to explain it in a easy way. Have you seen the look on the faces of Olympic Athletes when they win a Gold medal? That's real satisfaction. How were they able to achieve real gratification?

They achieved something that was an extraordinary thing to do. They set in tremendous mind boggling hours into what they wanted to accomplish. They were determined, didn't swagger from their path towards their goal.

And when they finally outlast tons of competitors from all the other countries in the world and stand on the podium and have the medals hung over their necks, the look on their faces betrays whatever turmoils they underwent, to achieve their objective.

Instant Gratification is not satisfaction. It is a hurdle actually. By gratifying your ego for an instant everyday, you actually diminish your desire and your passion for working towards your goal. Your resolve gets weakened. Your Passion for life also gets weakened. Scoff at me, but this is the truth. By delaying instant gratification for prolonged periods of time, far greater gratification can be obtained.

Gratification is permanent satisfaction, and gives contentedness of the soul.

I have just given a glimpse into what Passion really means. It is just the tip of the iceberg.

So, Having seen how Goals and a Burning passion make a few of the ingredients of success, its time for everyone of us to sit down and ponder whether we're giving fuel for long term satisfaction or instant gratification.

How to be Different

noreply@blogger.com (Praz) — Sun, 18 Jan 2009 08:14:00 +0000

Great things were done not by following the norms and rules that exist in society, but by actually creating a new pathway to do a particular thing. Tons of examples can be done to reiterate this fact. Your success may lie with your genius as much as your willingness to experiment,
And your willingness to experiment will only arise when you're willing to be different.

Being Different

Being different is nothing special. Its not some inherent quality. Its not a quality that's present only in intelligent people.

It is possible for every normal person to reach out to the world and be different in what he does.

And, Society, even though it firmly directs you to abide by its rules, ALWAYS APPRECIATES PEOPLE WHO DO THINGS DIFFERENTLY.

You might've read the expression: Winners do things differently. How to set about doing things differently?

The first thing you should do is, whatever the thing that you're doing, you should get to know all there's to do about it. Learn it. Read about it. See how the thing is done by others.

One of the basic stepping stones to success is, your familiarity with what you're setting out to do.

Only if the Teacher is well versed in his subject, he can teach effectively right?

So, You , like the teacher, only after getting to know something very well, can do it effectively right?

The first step, therefore lies in knowledge. By knowledge, I don't mean textual, factual knowledge. Its just the basic Know how of doing a thing.

After you make yourself extremely familiar with what you're doing, you'll find yourself that you naturally develop a flair for it. Once you develop a flair for doing stuff, automatically, you'll get involved with doing it.

Once Involvement arises in an activity, then all the rooms are laid bare for Innovation.

With Innovation, there comes doing things differently.

You'll find yourself Asking the question:

"Hm, What if, This was done the other way around?"

There, you try to innovate. When you try to innovate, you improvise, and when you improvise, you perfect yourself, and by perfecting yourself step by step, at the end, you end up being different than others.

Its a cycle, its like:

Familiarity ->
Flair ->
Consistency->
Satisfaction->
Thirst for more-->
Innovation
Improvisation
Perfection
Difference

This IS NOT A BUSINESS PRINCIPLE.

This does sound like one, but this is actually what happens when people try to be different.

BEING DIFFERENT IS NOT A SKILL OR TALENT.

Being different is just a NEED, a PERSONAL DESIRE. It only arises after a person gets INVOLVED with what they're upto.

Without Involvement, there cannot be satisfaction. Without satisfaction, there cannot be perfection, and without perfection, there won't be any difference, it will only fall short.

You can also see how Thinking Differently helps you out, and also about Positive Thinking.

Thinking Positively

noreply@blogger.com (Praz) — Sun, 18 Jan 2009 04:50:00 +0000

The world has lots of success stories. Some made it from, literally, Nothing. Rags to riches tales, heard of them? There are stories of Orphans making it to the highest Government offices. Not in novels, but in real life. What made these people achieve what they set out to do?
Was it just Opportunity, right decisions at the right time, or mere luck?

Not withstanding all the external influences and advantages they might've encountered, there is one very important attribute one has to consider. They thought. They kept thinking they could do it.

They kept telling themselves they HAVE to do it, they WANT to do it. They wanted it, they craved for it, they thought about it every second in each day, they made it their obsession to achieve their dreams.

This is what made them successful, to an extent.

Think of You and your aspirations in this situation.

You have lots of ideas, lots of thoughts, lots of concepts, lots of new brainwaves every day. But, do you actually see them through? Do you work on them, and do you translate them into reality?

Why aren't you doing it?

There can be a lot of factors.

a)You might be occupied with something else.

b)You might have other responsibilities. (Family, Girlfriend, Work etc.)

c)You might be lazy. (Sounds funny, but isn't it true?)

Okay, there are hurdles towards you achieving your goal. But, imagine if No one had any hurdle in their lives, NO PROBLEMO with nothing, then, will not the world be a peaceful happy place where everyone achieved what they wanted?

Yes, the world isn't a perfect place. So, its replete with obstacles. Success isn't a one day story.

Failure is just the first step, Success is the final step.

In order for you to succeed in any venture, be it a multi million dollar investment, or a simple negotiation for more play hours from your mother, you have to firmly believe in one thing: Tell Yourself you can do it, you will do it.

What are you doing here?

You're simply thinking positively.

By merely thinking positively, you automatically open yourself to positive ways to achieve your goal.

Picture this. You think that a venture of yours will fail. Now, even if it isn't supposed to fail, it will fail, because you KEPT THINKING it would. You unknowingly do things that will make you fail.

Having seen what a negative attitude does to you, should you not henceforth think positive and stay positive, to actually materialise your desire and ambition into reality?

It is possible. Every one, notwithstanding their social status, economic limitations, age, gender, can become anyone, amass any amount of wealth, be famous.

What counts is: THEIR DESIRE TO ACHIEVE WHAT THEY DESIRE. Their thinking that they will do it.

Start Thinking, Start transforming your dreams into reality. The world might be a hard place, but nothing is impossible, yet.

Think Differently

noreply@blogger.com (Praz) — Sat, 10 Jan 2009 17:03:00 +0000

How much of a real questioner of beliefs are you? Are you the one in a million person, who dared to think differently, and managed to make a difference? OrAre you just another raindrop from the sky, finding its place among so many other raindrops in the rain?

A Nobody or Somebody?

Who Are you?

You might want to answer this question in so many different ways. You will begin to reason that you were, still are, a different and unique person than everyone else. Or you will simply own up and accept that you're like anyone else, didn't dare to think differently, and just went along with the ebb and flow of life and came to where you are today.

Ever wondered if something in your life had happened in a different way, and your life took a massive turn? Wonder what would've happened if you had dared to come up with something controversial to the normal unfurling of events in your life. Maybe there would've been a sea of difference. Maybe there might not.

But the bottom line is, after you've spent all your life's energy, you might find yourself sitting at some reclining arm chair and wondering, "What was my life all about?"

Now, if you were a successful businessman or an entrepreneur, you might have the satisfaction of answering that question all by yourself, "Yes, I was a hard working innovator!"

If you were just an employer for someone else, the someone being a reputed organization or any individual for that sake, you might find yourself having a not so satisfactory answer for the question you asked yourself.

What's the deciding factor, that demarcates a 'normal' life, and an 'extra ordinary' one?

Its the willingness to question things.

Throughout our lives, we've been trained to accept things for what they are. Always trained to do stuff how its meant to be done. Right through schooling, right down to working at some company. We never are allowed the chance to THINK, in the sense, to actively question WHY something happens and why it should happen.

Rarely one in a bunch of ten people questions why life has become so mechanical in contemporary times. Why? Because society has grown so vast that the room for a single human being to stand out as somebody apart from the normal mold, is getting smaller and smaller!

Successful people got where they are today not simply by hard work or luck. They did Hard AND smart work. Work hard, work differently. By differently, I mean a whole lot of things.

The basic foundation for all this uniqueness comes with the ability to ask questions.

If Newton had sat there, took the apple and just ate it, we never would have known about what made the apple fall, any day.

What did he do, that set him apart? He Questioned WHY.

Remember, nobody is more intelligent than anybody else. Intelligence, as far as humans are considered is mere APPLICATION of whatever you KNOW.

Intelligent people, simply apply what they know and tend to find a solution for

problems much faster than so called un-intelligent people.

Intelligence is merely a gauging factor for one's level of understanding of how human society operates at the scientific and theoretical level.

Take for example, something happens in your everyday life, that is totally abnormal from your daily routine. Do you stop to question WHY it traversed, instead of just simply getting on with it?

By merely asking the question WHY, you accomplish a whole lot of things.

It begins with you searching for an answer to your question. While searching for that answer, be it an emotional answer, a practical answer, whatever it might be, you encounter a whole lot of new situations to grapple with.

Now each and every unique experience in your life is a chance for you to LEARN something NEW.

If you keep learning new things each day for all of the remaining years in your life from this moment, will you not gain something, Something that might of be any use to you sometime in your life? Isn't it better than just being yet another victim of life, going along with the flow and drowning when your share gets filled?

So, Question. Seek the answer to whatever question that arises to your mind. Let your thoughts go on a free trail. Think about the things that happened in your life, question why they happened, and from the answers, derive the experience to equip yourselves to face your future with a better version of You. Question the stuff around you, you'll begin to notice so much difference from the banalities of every day life, and why you've been wasting the chance you've been offered all along to make a difference in this world, however be the magnitude of it.

Seven Magic Words for Success

noreply@blogger.com (Praz) — Mon, 05 Jan 2009 12:15:00 +0000

If I told you there were just Seven words which stood between success and you, would you believe it? Probably not. You'll just dispel the concept as yet another myth. But, Truth is, these six magic words do make an impact on everyday lives to a resounding extent.Most of us begin a day, not by thinking what we are going to do in the day that is to come, but by spending it on thinking about what happened the previous day.

Well, It IS good remembering the past, but living in the past isn't good at all, not even a tiny bit. What it stands to bring you is more grief and disappointment, and that is not going to help you or any loved one any bit at all.

The past just serves as experience for you, experience from which you ought to have learnt that whatever went wrong, shouldn't be repeated at all.

There's a saying,

Whenever you fall down, Pick up something, and stand up and start running again.

Its a rat race that goes on in today's world. You have to keep running fast, just in order to stay at the same place where you are. And in order to improve yourself, you need to run EVEN faster.

This might remind you of the Evolutionary theory by Darwin. Believe me, it applies to human lives too. Except that, humans evolve emotionally and intellectually each day.

Its therefore important that you channel your thoughts towards Improving yourself by analyzing your past for lessons learnt from mistakes and unpleasant events, and make sure that such mishaps never repeat themselves again.

Having read through this post, you might have noticed that I still haven't thrown light on those Seven Magic Words for Success.

What you think is who you're

They're those magic words. Its only you who can change who you are, if you want to improvise yourself. You'll be amazed at the results that arise from thinking differently, even an empaneled Shrink won't give you the results that you give yourself via positive thinking.

Communicate Effectively

noreply@blogger.com (Praz) — Sat, 03 Jan 2009 11:04:00 +0000

Communicate Effectively

Most of us, no matter how capable we are, what talents we have, what our individual intelligence is, will not achieve our real effective potential unless you and myself develop the ability to communicate effectively.

Lets look at this from a boiled down standpoint.

What does communicating effectively mean?

To Communicate effectively Does not, I repeat does not imply that one should have elaborate body language or facial expressions while talking, communicating with others.

Communicating effectively is just the way of expressing what we think and what we want others to know in a simple, concise and precise manner.

What are the mistakes most people do?

While talking, most of us are rather unfocused. We begin to talk on a particular topic, and during the course of talking about it, we tend to catch upon a phrase, turn to talking about it, and thus get distracted from what we set out to talk upon.

The primary measure to communicating effectively is to stay focused while talking on any particular topic with anyone.

In order to do that, you need to have a clear thoroughbred understanding of the topic you're going to be talking about. That implies, before trying to impress people with what we are going to say, we should impress the fact that we are proficient on the topic, upon ourselves.

Once You assure yourself that you withhold enough information on a particular topic, then the required confidence to communicate effectively on it comes naturally. Confidence is most often a feeling that arises when one is sure of what one is about to do.

Having imbibed the much needed confidence via garnering enough information on the topic you're going to talk with anyone, you eliminate most of the obstacles that stand in the way of effective communication.

These tidbits of information that are required for effective communication is also echoed by Wikihow

"No matter what your age, background or experience, communicating effectively is something that every person can achieve. It requires self-confidence, good articulation and knowledge of how communication can be made more effective."

No matter which person you're talking to, be it an average joe or the President of the US of A, if you follow a set of etiquette that goes behind effective communication, then you can always be assured that you accomplished in getting across all of your thoughts across the board effectively.

Effective Communication is a skill that can be learned by anybody, regardless of age, educational qualification, financial limits, and effective communication might make the difference between success and failure.

Consider this. You might be a computing wizard, or a cooking expert, or an extremely humorous person. But Unless you go ahead and talk with someone, and talk in an understandable and impressionable manner, they aren't going to know that you have such talents!

Having talents is good, but making others know that you have them is even better. That can only be achieved if you are able to get across all your thoughts and ideas across in a good understandable manner. This is where effective communication steps in.

Communicating Effectively is an art.

Renowned Communication (Human communication, mind it! Not Circuitry!) expert Dale Carnegie in his book How to Win friends and Influence People says this when it comes to effective communication.

Dramatize your ideas.

What does this mean?

Your ideas need to be given a pedestal. Research upon your ideas. Look up reference material pertaining to what your idea is all about. Read, read, read. Remember, the more the information, you only stand to gain more, nobody loses! Information is knowledge, Information is wealth, Information is what that contributes towards the evolution of a successful individual.

Talent development site Chllibreeze> advocates the use of Simplicity while communicating for the greater good.

Instead of flamboyant, belligerent words, if the words and phrases used during communication are Simple, Precise, Cut to the chase, and have brevity yet resound meaning to them, they very well serve the purpose in helping you communicate effectively.

Speak to impress, Not to Express

What's the point if a 100 million dollar movie was made with a A list star cast but had sloppy dialogue?

Just get that picture in mind and most of you will know what's the real deal when it comes to effective communication.

Here's what Talk show host Queen Oprah Winfrey's website has got to offer when it comes to effective communication:

"We tend to look at the world from a negative, pessimistic perspective, rather than the positive one. Stress and lack of sleep cause people to lack patience, gives them a rush to criticize, be easily irritable and condescend others."

Do you see how simple, everyday stuff like sleep, psychological factors like stress contribute towards how you communicate with others?

When you're tired, stressed out, or not in the right frame of mind, and you're talking with a person, how will the conversation be? It will be either drawn out, straightaway boring, or might be rather quick with you ending on the bad books of the other person.

This stresses the need for you to have a clear frame of mind while you're communicating important stuff with others.

Solhaam.org has this to say when it comes to Improving Communication:

1. Clarify your own ideas before attempting to communicate them.
2. Be clear about the purpose of the communication. For example, its purpose could be to inform others, to obtain information or to initiate action.
3. See if the other person can repeat what you have said, in his or her own words.

This implies the importance you need to lay on Empathetic Thinking.

While communicating, only 20% of the entire job is done by you. Disagree? Read on.

There is the most important part of your communicative efforts, the listener. You have to get your thoughts across, that the listener is able to grasp them and understand them and he should also be able to recollect on it and give a few words when asked about it!

Ever read the Einstein and his Driver Story? (See here : Anecdotage) When Albert Einstein had difficulty explaining a particular concept to a group of scientists, it was his driver that came forward and clearly in layman's language explained the concept to the astonishment of the scientists. What a great genius couldn't achieve by means of his intellect, a simple average individual accomplished by his effective communication.

30% of the job while you're communicating is done by the listener, he's a receptor for the information that is pouring from you, the remaining 50% is lying with your choice of words and the body language you use while communicating.

Body language while communicating is a vast science unto itself. You needn't be like a Stand Up Comedian flapping your arms around, you just have to make the much needed Eye Contact with your audience.

Collegewebeditor has this to offer when it comes to effective communication.

-> Find your voice and keep it real

-> Use humor

Now, the use of humor while communicating is a significant aspect. This isn't a totally necessary entity of communicating effectively, but when you'er employing it, make sure the humor isn't crass, just keep it on a friendly casual level.

There are lots and lots of other factors which go into effective communication.

Take the internet for example. Professional Blogger, Internet Blogging Hero Darren Rowse of problogger.net uses simple, down to Earth language when it comes to composing his blog posts. Same goes for all the other successful bloggers out there. They use simple, right words to get across their points to an audience spread over millions of people.

Brevity, Simplicity and Conciseness is the key.

The facts discussed here only cover a limited range of topics. There are tons of other factors which make or break a person in communicating effectively.

Need a Good Vocabulary? Here's What People Say

noreply@blogger.com (Praz) — Fri, 02 Jan 2009 11:47:00 +0000

Following my previous blog entry on the need for a good vocabulary, Do you need a Good Vocabulary? I proceeded to begin a discussion on the popular Blogger's hangout Blogcatalog The discussion elicited a lot of responses, and it was Very informative, So I took it to task that all the opinions offered there should be clubbed together to present a consensus on the question. Here's what people have to say about the need for a good vocabulary:

Meds, who blogs at Gears of Rock says:

As long as you can write clearly, then I feel there is no need for an extensive elitist Shakespearean vocabulary.

He also says by using excessively difficult words, one shouldn't end up sounding incoherent.

You shouldn't be a jerk about knowing special words. It only impresses the weak so stop taking advantage of them.

Jenn thorson, who blogs at Thriftshopromantic says a good vocabulary is Absolutely needed, and it helps in impressing the readers and makes them come back for more.

As bloggers, having a good vocabulary is one terrific way of making our posts compelling-- of giving each sentence variety, flow and saying just the thing that we want to say.

It allows our work to have a flow that SOUNDS right, that crackles with interest (and otomotapoeia!) and makes people want to come back.

Zentastic, the advocate of Geek Confidence went forward to write an in depth comment on the real need for vocabulary and its advantages as well as shortcomings.

I think of vocabulary as a toolset - the right word for the right time. Obviously, the more tools you have, the better, but using the wrong tool in a situation just makes things worse.

I value people who can get the point succinctly. If I were working in a fast-paced environment, the last thing I'd want is to have to read an essay any time someone sends me a memo.

People who have a limited command of vocabulary often resort to throwing around as many big words as they can in order to impress. The problem is, people who actually know how to use vocabulary elegantly can see right through that.

Me-me King from MadMadMargo Unequivocally supports the need for a Good Vocabulary.

Shiley Gnu, from Proof Positivity has lots of personal experiences with her husband when it comes to excessive use of difficult words. She says sometimes she ends up intimidating her husband and makes him think She's actually swearing at him whereas shes really cuddling him with soft yet rarely used words.

My husband thinks I'm cursing at him half of the time because of my vocabulary.

I keep doing the free rice thing that does the vocabulary (I'm addicted). My husband doesn't want me messing with it. I say "It's for a good cause." He huffs off and says "It figures!" He won't admit it he's just as bad I fall asleep reading text books and he loves them. I must love slaughtering language.

Touche?!

Arnous and Steve both concur that :

Good Vocab is when you can use words to say less and mean more.

Arnous blogs at The Arnous Blog and Steve is from Zobop Republic

Karin, a ski expert from Sweden who blogs as the Silly Swedish Skier is of the view that a Good Vocabulary is needed, but only in a moderate amount, more like a casual necessity.

Hatingtherain from the Rain Hate blog also accepts the view that vocabulary is only a tool of necessity.

Jeremy Long from Good Internet Marketing dismisses the need for a good vocabulary. He says the ability to express thoughts clearly will do.

not necessary...
Just be able to express your thoughts, feelings, etc , clearly.

Maddie from Irrelevant Twaddle says a good vocabulary contributes to the overall personality of an individual.

I think having a good vocabulary is vital as it enriches your understanding of information in general and creates a good impression to those that see your good use of vocabulary, beneifical in emplyoment, education, et al.

Sofia from Filosofia, a philosophical blog, says that a good vocabulary is an Indicator of the overall monetary success of a person.

The Conviction is that people with larger vocabularies tended in general to have larger incomes.

Bottomline

Various people of different ages, different walks of life all concur that a good vocabulary is indeed a valuable tool. But, they also imply the fact that it is not a mandatory necessity. The lack of a good vocabulary doesn't limit an individual, it is just an enhancing attribute in any language.

A Good Vocabulary is in the end, a valuable tool, that should be used wisely as to the benefit of effective, simple communication.

Do You Really need a Good Vocabulary?

noreply@blogger.com (Praz) — Wed, 31 Dec 2008 10:34:00 +0000

When it comes to the English Language, there comes the question of one's Vocabulary.

English, being the "lingua Franca" of the world, freely derives upon words from other languages, example , Latin, Greek and so many others, that it has evolved into possessing a massive vocabulary in its present state.
First off, What is Vocabulary?

The Simplest definition for vocabulary is:

Vocabulary is the set of words a person is familiar with, in any language.

Its apparent that a person's extent of vocabulary indicates the level of proficiency a person has with relation to a language.
More the vocabulary, more the person's command of the language.

The Language, we're discussing at the moment, is English.

There are majority of people who use the Internet. English speaking people, Non English Speaking People, People who are proficient in English, and so many other categories.

Now the Interesting point you have to keep in mind when it comes to English Vocabulary is that, a person who has English as his mother tongue, might have lesser vocabulary than a non native speaker of the Language!

That is the beauty of English. Though the Native English speakers have a natural form of accented English, The correct Accents associated with English, it is possible for non native speakers with a better vocabulary to get to know English more than them.

What does it matter, if you have a better vocabulary than others?

You can express yourself in a much, much better way than you ever imagined.

How so?

Languages exist only as a means for people to communicate.

The More words you know of in a language, will help you in expressing how you feel more easily, and more effectively!

For Example, lets consider two persons. They're taking up an examination, which evaluates the person's confidence level. Its for a spokesperson job.

One person has an excellent command over English. He knows a lot of words.

The other person, though he can speak fluent English, has only a limited choice of words, for he isn't that well versed with English.

They're asked to write a single line, describing their confidence level.

The person with a good vocabulary writes:

I'm never the bombastic person, always the suave, slick yet serenely foresighted to formulate the apparition of the best possible outcome of any precarious predicament.

The person with a limited vocabulary writes:

I'm a calm guy, I always take things the way they come, and try to turn them to my side.

Now, who among the two, creates a better Impression?

Obviously its the guy with the better vocabulary.

This does not mean that those who are fluent in English yet endowed with a limited vocabulary are looked down upon. Its just that those with a better vocabulary always fare better.

The primary difference is that there will be a better awareness in the person with a better vocabulary, a quicker response to any situation that arises and needs a quick use of persuasion to be done.

But, there are instances where a person who speaks simple, yet understandable English fares much better than a person with a masterful command over English.

But, if you ever take it to task, to work on your vocabulary, you can at any time Impress anyone, or take hold of a situation that involves verbal persuasion, and can turn it to your advantage, with a better choice of words right?

Think :)

Have an opinion concerning the above Discussion? Feel free to drop a comment below, Your opinion is valued very much!

How to present answers

noreply@blogger.com (Praz) — Mon, 29 Dec 2008 05:09:00 +0000

Having discussed about bettering your grades obtained in the previous posts, its time we looked upon a very important step in the process of any examination : Presenting your answers.

No matter how impressive your answers are, believe me, you'll never get the grades you deserve if your presentation is shabby.

For, the Examiner is also a person, he should also be able to read your answers quickly yet he should also be impressed by the presentation you have provided to the answers.

A Good Presentation makes a good first Impression for the Examiner to provide you with more grades.

The First Answer

A lot of attention should be directed by you towards providing the best possible presentation for the very first answer in the evaluation sheet.
It Should be Neat, without any overwriting, legible, to the point, and should be written with a language that's simple yet classy.

You should also be careful in Choosing which question you're attempting to answer first.

It is not possible to provide an excellent answer to a question you barely know the answer to, is it?

So make sure the question you pick is one that you have read thoroughly about.

Proceed to answer the question, make sure its presented in a tidy manner and that the important points are underlined. Its okay if you spend five minutes or a little more towards answering the first question, to maximize the impression it creates, then you can proceed answering the other questions.

By presenting the first question's answer neatly, you subconsciously instill some confidence within yourself to answer the subsequent questions more effectively. You also impress the Examiner a bit, coax him into thinking that the paper he's evaluating has a lot of effort put into it.

Page Margins.

The Answer sheet you are working on usually comes with the default margins, on the top and left corners.
It serves a good purpose if you take some effort in drawing an additional margin to the right and the bottom of the page.
This additional margin you draw adds some more succinctness to your paper, gives it an impression that it contains some information that is worth looking into.
It all comes down to the 'Placebo' effect, a way of coaxing the Examiner into thinking that the paper is that of an exemplary student.

Avoid Overwriting.

An oft committed mistake, this greatly reduces the value of your answers. An overwritten answer gives the impression of Insufficient preparation, Unsure-about-the-answers attitude, an overall detrimental effect on the Examiner to award more grades.
So, its vital that the answers provided are written in a continuous flow with as little overwriting to them as possible.

Underline the Keywords.

After having written the answers, quickly glance through them and underline the keywords and phrases you deem important with relevance to the answer.

Segregate Different Answers

Make sure you don't club all the answers together, leave a substantial amount of space between each and every other answer. Draw a simple line below each answer, to differentiate one answer from the other.

Underline the Headings

The Headings of each paragraph can do with a bit of underlining to them. It serves to accentuate the content of the following paragraph.

Remember, the answers do count a bit, but the impression you cast upon the examiner is also a vital part towards improving the grades obtained.

For, unless you cast the fishing pole into the water, you can't catch the fish right?

Without any effort, there cannot be an outcome.

Without a smart effort, there cannot be an appeasing outcome.

How to plan ahead

noreply@blogger.com (Praz) — Fri, 26 Dec 2008 16:56:00 +0000

Each and every one of us would have invariably been caught in a precarious predicament at one point in our lives. And therein, we ask ourselves a very difficult question.

What lies ahead?

Life is replete with surprises. Surprises are exciting. In two ways : Good and Bad.
The Good way a surprise excites someone is when it turns out to be a pleasant one. Something that heralds better oppurtunity, better financial security, or even something that grants one a passionate love life.

The Bad way a surprise hits on someone is when they're faced with a daunting problem, a major financial crisis, joblessness, emotional turmoil, coping with stress, relationship issues, and various other crises that gloom normal, happy life.

Did you notice one thing?

The list of things that are "counted" as bad are endless. They keep stretching, and they're intertwined. They form a vicious circle.

On the other hand, the list of things that count as "good" are few. Why, pray? Cause Good things are generally never realized that they harbor goodness with them.

You, being the self analyzing, confident, intelligent person that you are, sometimes fail to realize the real crux of the situation that you're in.

Say, lets ponder on a small story below.

Two men are rowing kayaks. The river suddenly turns turbulent. One says to the other, "Hey man, the river seems to be in a bad mood, make sure you maintain your balance on the kayak!"

The other person, a -things-the-way-they-come person, retorts, "Why don't you shush and concentrate on the rowing?"

What happened?

The river was headed into a waterfall. The person who sensed it and prepared himself for the oncoming descent, managed to have a safe fall through the waterfall and down to the calmer water below.

The other person, who failed to realize the impending catastrophe, was swept along with the river in full force and crashed headlong into a rock precipice, hurting himself.

What does this tell us?

To plan ahead, to always keep an eye open for what might traverse us in our lives. No matter how secure/ insecure we feel about it.

How to plan ahead?

The primary step in planning ahead, is to set yourself a target.

Without a target, how can someone accomplish anything?

It's like a car on a friction less road. It keeps traveling, forever. Hypothetically proven.

Set a Goal.

Set yourself an objective. A Goal, a target, something you might feel like working towards to.

Let it be realistic, but by keeping it realistic, you need not restrict the limits to which you set yourself to.

The Goal should be something you will have to put in a lot of work to do it, it should be more or less a challenge.

Remember, if Edison hadn't taken it as a challenge to keep experimenting with the filament for a thousand times, we would never have seen the electric bulb in action!

Prioritize.

Classify your everyday activites into two types. Useful/ Useless.

Useful activities should be those that help you move one step closer to your goal. Useless activities are those that do not relate in any way to your goal, but they might be a casual activity in your daily life. It might be important, but that doesn't matter.
Just fill in the list according to the usefulness of the activity you indulge in.

The importance of this step is to self analyze yourself and to inform You of what you're really upto in each passing day of your life.

Be Confident.

The single most important foundation to achieving whatever your objective is to be sure of yourself that you're capable of doing whatever you set yourself to. This article might help you allay any fears you may have about your potential.

Don't waste the Present.

Remember, the past is finished. It's over, done, that's it. The future is uncertain. Its only the present that you hold in your hands. No matter what befell you in the past, if you make use of your current time usefully, the future will be good right?

Planning Ahead

Take up the list you made containing the activities you indulge in daily. Look at those that pertain towards the completion of your goal. Draw a mental picture of what you have to do in order to further your objective. Think. Think what you'll do to improve upon what you were already doing. Think of the pitfalls you might encounter, but also think how you will equip yourself to face them and succeed.

If at any point, you feel that something might not turn out favourably, convince yourself that it will, indeed turn out for the overall improvement of your current predicament, and whatever turmoil that heralds only serves as experience, a powerful tool with which you can bravely face the future!

Remember, it's not the bad things that pull us down, it's us thinking that things will end up bad that pull us down!

Please feel free to drop a comment on whether you liked the article, or if you have any similar experiences or suggestions. I'll be very glad to read it, Drop a comment below!

How to lose fear of failure

noreply@blogger.com (Praz) — Fri, 19 Dec 2008 04:56:00 +0000

One of the basic reasons people don't attemp new things is because they're afraid. Afraid of its outcome. This may be taken as an indicator that they're having foresight, but that might not be the true case.

They're just letting an imaginary fear take over their thoughts and prevent them from actually doing something.

They end up as lambs to the slaughter, like countless other humans who spend all their lives doing what everyone else does, nothing different, and die a unnoticed death, unremembered and uncared for, an unknown entity that walked the Earth.

Compare this with "successful" and "famous" persons, and you instantly realize what they had and what got them to where they are.

It's entirely psychological

Where does this fear have it roots?

From the person's past experiences.

Why does this fear arise?

This fear arises because you strive subconsciously for a good outcome, and you also have suffered an experience which was unsatisfactory in your past, while attempting a new challenge.

How to overcome this fear?

Approach things with an open mind. Don't let any misconceptions drag you down.

Think of it, how will you fail, if you don't even attempt to actually DO something?

There were two athletes. It was the olympics. They were discussing their tactics, and their target for the ongoing competition.

Both weren't well known athletes, they hadn't set records earlier, but they were considered promising and capable.

One said to the another, "Hey, I'm aiming to set a new world record today."

The other mocked him. "How will you? You haven't even come close to doing that anytime in your history. Stop thinking like a frog in the well. Be like me, I'll just cross the minimum mark for qualifying."

The competition got over. You might have guessed what would've happened.

The person aiming for setting a new record, though he came close to it, WON the competition, atleast. He set a new benchmark for him, for his sporting career, one that he could work upon.

The other person, the one who just wanted to qualify, was unable to attain the minimum requirements to qualify itself. Why? Because he set himself an abysmal objective.

The successful person on the other hand, though having set a far flung objective, atleast managed in coming close to it.

What does this tell us?

Set Your Goals to the maximum limit possible.

You might have come across the expression, "Aim for the skies!"

The true meaning of this expression is that, if one aims for the skies, one might atleast move satisfactorily on the ground.

What would happen, if you aim for the stars?

Simple. You'll be soaring in the skies!

So, think expansively, aim high. Remember, there are no limits, the limits are only meant to be broken!

How to get better Grades - Part Two

noreply@blogger.com (Praz) — Tue, 16 Dec 2008 12:28:00 +0000

Dissatisfied with those C's and D's you see each time whenever your papers get to you after evaluation?

Think you're worth much more, say, a B or even an A grade?

The previously written article on this subject was on improving your grades, focusing on the A and B graders. This article, is totally for those who aren't in the top tier yet.

There are a few basic reasons which lead to unsatisfactory grades (say C and D grades)

What are they?

Preparing at the last moment.

Not doing the necessary follow-up work for the subject.

Lack of interest towards the subject.

Poor understanding of the concepts.

Inability to properly present the answers.

Now any one of the above factors could be contributing to poor grades.

On first sight, they present themselves as casual, not-so-serious factors. In substance though, they are merely different manifestations of procrastination.

You need to realize what your primary objective is.

What should you do to attain that objective?

You're getting grades. You aren't satisfied with them.

Now this in itself is an indicator that there's a small part of you which feels the urge to put in more effort and achieve better results. Let's set about transforming that small, teeny urge and turn it into a huge, burning desire.

If you have been thinking all along that "intelligence" is a factor that contributes towards better grades, you're totally mistaken.

What is a grade? Its merely a reflection of your performance in an evaluation of a subject by a teacher.

The teacher evaluates a paper, finds what the paper contains with respect to the questions asked, and according to the answers, awards grades. If the answers are outstanding, the student gets an A. If they're to the point, but still lacking the final touch, that's a B. If they're okay, and agreeable, its a C. Mediocre and those below it, go with D's E's and with the penultimate F leading to the glorious "U".

Sounds like a musical note? In a way, yeah.

The primary thing you're going to do, in order to improve upon your grades, is to start preparing in advance. "In advance" means, you're going to begin preparing when there's atleast a full month before the evaluation of your papers.

You needn't put in ungodly hours into it. Just half hour a day. Open the book, or access the reference materials, and simply read the topics at hand. You needn't begin memorizing them. See what's in those materials, try to correlate them with the information you listened to during those classes, and relate them. Tell yourself that, "This concept is actually the process behind this."

For example, if the topic at hand is Nuclear physics, tell yourself that, "This concept is Nuclear physics, it actually deals with the various physical attributes of the nucleus of atoms."

Get what I'm hitting at?

You're making mental reminders to yourself, so that, at the time of the evaluation, you actually know what you're writing upon.

Then begin reading the subject. Remember, just casually read it. Approach the subject with a clear, unadulterated mind. Don't have any psychological blocks like "It's difficult" or, "I won't understand it"

Just simply read. Keep reading. Discuss it with your roommate or a friend. The discussion need not be one which is entirely for discussing the subject. You can try to include a few lines, ask a few questions during a casual talk with your friend about what he thinks of the concept of the forthcoming examination. He might be on the same boat as you are, so you both might end up discussing what you know (or the lack thereof!) and might even begin a joint venture to understand the subject at hand.

I imply again, you needn't put in hard work. What you're doing here is smart work.

By gradually building upon understanding the concepts and the subject from the grassroots level, step by step, day by day, over four weeks, you ultimately accumulate enough information about the subject, that at the time of the evaluation, you fare a better performance than what you'd do by preparing only on the previous night.

When the results come, you'll be surprised, for you'll see your C's and D's transformed into a B.

The important thing at this point is, don't be satisfied with what you get!

Strive for more

Once you attain and accomplish an objective, don't sit still. Set a higher target and find about ways achieving it! A,B graders should aim higher, and what lies ahead? A+! The final step in academic exellence. How do you improve upon an above average grade, and achieve even better results? The answer lies here.

Please feel free to drop a comment on whether you liked the article, or if you have any similar experiences or suggestions. I'll be very glad to read it, Drop a comment below!

How to avoid the Writer's Block

noreply@blogger.com (Praz) — Sun, 14 Dec 2008 06:45:00 +0000

With the Blog Explosion giving Writing a whole new dimension and surge of life, people all over the world have begun giving life and shape to their ideas via their writing. Except that they now call it Blogging. But the process behind it is just the same. You Type out your views, you attach links to it, you draw upon reference sources, you add tags then you publish it. It is similar to writing, right?

Some have it easy. They have a continuos flow, their articles are short, simple and sweet. Some on the other hand take ages to type out their thoughts, then work on it meticulously to make it look better.

Whereas some, even though they are overflowing with ideas, find it difficult to begin.

This is called The Writer's Block.

Is it good to have a Writer's Block?

Absolutely. It implies that your intuitions are working correctly, that you are conscious of what you're going to write. Its a self imposed quality test. It means that you attach a certain self respect to yourself and your opinions which are going to be read by diverse people all over the world.

This is an indicator of whatever you're going to write is going to be really, really good.

How to get around it?

Two people were climbing a hill. One was a withered, Old man. The other man was in his early twenties.

The young man, who was athletically built, asked the old man, "Hey, How are you going to climb this hill? It's too long a distance to cover for an old man like you!"

The old man replied with a benign smile,"I'll meet you at the other side of the Hill."

The young man scowled at the Elder and proceeded to begin climbing the hill.

The old man started climbing the hill step by step. He didn't let the fact that the hill was a steep one to daunt him. He just proceeded step by single step. Each step was small, and so the old man gradually made progress.

That night, the old man saw the Young man stooped under a rock. The young man whined,"I'm turning off, it's impossible to ascend and descend this hill. Its too long!"

The young man returned home, failing in his task.

The Elder on the other hand, stuck to facing the Hill as one rocky step after the next one, and though it took him quite a bit of time, eventually got to the other side of the hill.

So, how can you write an entire article on a topic, then continue writing articles on topic upon topics, if you let the beginning lines of your initial article make you think so much?

The First Tip is to just write whatever comes to your mind, no matter how simple or unimpressive it is. Huge downpours are made up of countless raindrops which are so minuscle. Its only the small trivial things that add up to become great momentous achievements.

During the course of writing down whatever that strikes you, You will tend to hit upon the very concept you were searching for earlier. Incidents from your very own life will come up in your memory, and you will automatically find a way to apply those experiences to lucidly express the contents of your article with them.

Whenever you begin composing an article on any topic, there are three Very important things you should do:

1.Research
2.More Research

3.And Research again.

You need to keep gathering data, garner reports, access videos of the topic if there are any, read previous articles on the subject, understand what it really is at its core, what you're dealing with, how it can be related to everyday life, where you can draw examples from. The bottomline is :

Its imperative that you have a clear-cut understanding of the topic you are going to write on.

Once you have an in-depth understanding of the topic at hand, Opinions will freely originate from you. They will surprise yourself to such an extent that you'll wonder,"My god, am I the one who's coming up with all of this?"

Yes. You have it in yourself to become an impeccable writer. Anyone can become an expert on any subject, become a best selling author, an impressive writer.

The basic criteria which lead to these achievements is the complete understanding of what their objective is.

Writing an article isn't about writing lines upon lines of text that simply imply no real meaning. The opinions that are provided should be universally applicable. Everyone should be able to benefit from those opinions. The opinions, thoughts and ideas expressed should be time-less in their substance. They should have the potential to be applied at any point in time in a person's life.

Stop Doubting your ability!

The single most important thing that causes a severe Writer's block is : Fear of failure.

People tend to unnecessarily begin thinking that they're not cut to the job.

That's a gross misconception! It's just a manifestation of Fear of failure.

Now why does this fear arise? Because there isn't enough Confidence. Why isn't there enough Confidence? Because the necessary tasks for the job haven't been done.

What are the necessary tasks that are to be done before writing?

A fresh, open, free thinking mind. Being creative helps a lot. There shouldn't be any other things clogging at you behind your mind, telling you you have this to do, that do to. You should be focused upon what you're doing : You're in the process of writing a good article!

While writing it, you shouldn't write it to please the readers, write it to please yourself.

Yes, self satisfaction brings out the best out of anyone. For, who is a better analyst , who knows more about you, than you yourself?

Sometimes some writers do bizarre things before beginning to write. Some go on a spiritual trip. Some begin voracious reading. Some get drunk beyond their senses. Some go on a soul searching trip. Some actually do what they're going to write.

There are different ways to open up all those ebbing thoughts inside your mind. The first step is to have a clarity of thought. Focus on what is to be done, and just do it. Don't let thoughts about your work's outcome clog your brain.

How could have Michelangelo painted the Sistine Chapel for so many years, if he had let the Pope's snide remarks on his work affect him while he was working single handedly in solitude?

Michelangelo had self belief. He believed in himself. He believed he could pull it off, and he pulled it off amazingly.

That's what you need to have, to write without any obstructions in your flow of thought. You need to have self belief, belief in your ability to deliver as a writer, belief in your ability to captivate the attention of writers.

Stop thinking how the end result would appear like. Errors are permissible during the initial draft. What's important is that you are letting the ideas flow. You can always review the draft and perfect it. Its better reviewing what you have written, instead of contemplating on what to write isn't it?

Remember, writing anything is an art. Even writing a blog post. If you do it just for the sake of writing a meaningless array of words, you can, but how can you achieve any sort of satisfaction from it, if you yourself know that it is not written for its real worth?

Get into what you're writing about!

Another important thing to do, is to actually place yourself in the thick of things about which you're writing. You need to strike the chord of relevance between everyday events and the contents of the article. How will this help the normal person? How can a student benefit from this? You need to think empathetically.

Place yourself in the shoes of the readers themselves.

Once you become a neutral reader of what you've written, then the ways to improvise, the weak points, the points that have to be given more importance, ideas that have been left in the dark, and ideas on what follow up articles you have to write will automatically present themselves to you. It's just, by simply thinking that it's difficult to begin writing, you've placed all your ideas in a steel vault. It's upto you, and it IS you, who is going to unlock that treasure trove, and let it flood the minds of the readers.

Set aside self doubt, sow the seeds of self belief in your heart, and research extensively on the topic you're going to write on. You'll be amazed at the results!

If you have, at any point, suffered from Writer's block, or if you have any different approaches to combat writer's block, then you're Very welcome to share it in the comments below! Or if you liked the article, or if you had a difference of opinion on the article's contents, you have every right to state it in the comments below!

How to get better Grades

noreply@blogger.com (Praz) — Sat, 13 Dec 2008 03:31:00 +0000

Throughout your lives, you would have, at one point, asked yourself this question. You might have thought of this question when you were getting mediocre grades, or when you were getting above average grades.

This post will cover a few of the areas that might help you maximize your scoring potential and to get better grades.

First of all, whatever grades that you have obtained, consider it as a benchmark. You need to set a goal for yourself. The goal being : Bettering your previous grades. How do you set about achieving it?

I'd like to quote a saying here :

"You have to run faster Just to stay in the same place."

Now, I can hear a lot of groans coming up cause I said that. Don't let the fact that you need to put in more effort bring you down. It's just that, there are so many others co-existing along with you in your class, your neighborhood and the entire world. The world keeps changing every single second. Population increases, methods of earning money increases, way of living changes second by second.

Being a part of an ever chaning environment, how will you fare if you remain the same person you always were?

I'm not telling that you should work upon your personality and change it. Each one has an unique personality. Every personality is equally special, intriguing and liked upon. But, what counts is, how you apply your thoughts to suitably chameleonize yourself to blend with the changing trends and make your personality stand out.

You can ask me,"Ha, how does one's personality, character, social well being reflect upon one's grades?"

Believe me or not, it's true. Its often extremely trivial things that produce changes of mammoth magnitude. Little did scientists predict that the splitting of an atom- a particle that is unobservable unless you have an electron microscope- could cause such mass destruction. Small things, when left unnoticed, will spiral into bigger things that can produce massive detrimentive effects.

The first step you should do in order to achieve better grades, is to Analyze yourself.

You do know that you're capable of much more, You know that you can do better, and your teachers and professors know that too. So, what really is stopping you from achieveing what you really deserve?

The primary thing that prevents most people from realizing their true potential is Procrastrination.

By postponing things, concepts to be memorzied, understood, you're just imposing more workoad on yourself. And at the final moment, when the time of submission of your answer sheet comes, the workload becomes huge, and you tend to lose out on the finer points, thereby costing you some grades.

The difference between an A+ grade and an A grade is not tiny. Its enormous. Do you know that?

Why is there so much difference? Its because, getting an A means that you have memorized the concepts thoroughly well, you are capable of reproducing them Verbatim, also, you have written them in a coherent manner appeasing the Examiner.

Wheres, an A+ implies that, you, not only having memorized,

having done the assignments perfectly, having given impressive seminars, have also gone one step further.

You have found a way to apply the concept In your life, that is, you have realized in what way the subject at hand is going to aid you or any other human in the real world.

Concepts on paper might seem totally out of context when we try to relate them to our daily lives. So why are they included in the syllabus?

Education is a compilation of Humanity's work over the ages, and its provided to contemporary Humans in order that they can get a better insight into how the world around them really works, right down to the grassroots.

This is what ultimately all those grades, those GPA's, those marks, all boil down to. Not mindless mugging up of mundane concepts. Its an evaluation of how much You, as an individual, has benefited from it.

In the beginning of this article, I talked about running faster in the same place to retain your current standing.

So, If you want to achieve a higher objective, you should think about this too:

"If you want to go somewhere else, you have to run atleast twice as fast as that!"

Self analyze yourself. Think. Think where you are going wrong. Look at people who are obtaining better results. Ask them, discuss with them. Mulling over spilt milk never serves a purpose, but learning how Not to spill the milk again serves one!

Having talked about those who get an A grade and an A+ grade, its easy to assume that there is no redemption for those who are scoring lower grades. Definitely not. Do you know how many people out there are underachievers throughout their lives because they failed to stop and realize what their mistakes were, and kept on mulling over the mistakes they committed?

If you're getting low grades, its just an indicator that, either you haven't had a good understanding of the subject, or, you have other distractions that keep you from giving in the necessary hours to achieve the result.

Maybe you've always had an aversion to the subject. You don't like it in some cases. In some cases, you might deem the subject as "being unworthy to waste time and effort upon."

In that case, if that subject doesn't really matter in your academic performance, feel free to forget it!

But if, that subject also counts towards the end aggregate, then there's no alternative other than to master it.

You need to find a way to turn your dislike into your like so you would ultimately stand to gain from something you hate so vehemently!

Approach the concepts with a clear mind. Allay all your doubts and set aside any psychological blocks you might have that prevent you from learning the subject.

If you're having any difficulties understanding a particular concept, feel free to ask your peers or the professors/teachers for guidance. They're always ready to help!

Its just you who have to take the impetus to actually study.

Remember, the choice is upto you. You can either choose to work harder, put in more hours, and achieve the result you so desire.

Do you also know that, once you achieve your aim, you will automatically find a better, more satisfying one?

Its true!

In the next article, I will provide more hindsight for the B ,C and D graders to improve their grades, and I'll show the magic tricks that will get them an A+!

Please feel free to drop a comment on whether you liked the article, or if you have any similar experiences or suggestions. I'll be very glad to read it!

Remember, sharing is caring ;)

How to Cheat the Invigilator - An In Depth Real time Guide.

noreply@blogger.com (Praz) — Thu, 11 Dec 2008 17:33:00 +0000

You're seated in the exam hall. The exam has begun. Time ticks on.

You, the intelligent person that you are, unfortunately forgot to read the topic of today's exam earlier. You are definitely not in any position to even attempt to answer the questions, for realization dawns on you that its entirely Greek and Latin to even make a guess at.

What should you do now?

You have to pass the exam. No other way. If you flunk it, you WILL have to revisit that nightmare once again in the not so distant future, for this exam counts towards you gr

aduating.

There's only one viable option for you.

And what is that?

I'll get around to it. In time.

Now, look around the exam hall. You see other people. Few are engrossed in writing answers. Few are rackling their brains for the answers, head in their hands. Few others are staring at the ceiling. A few are dozing off, resignedly accepting their failure in the exam.

But you don't fit in here do you? No.

You see your friend just ahead of you. He's studied well for today's exam. He, apparently is doing a good job at writing furiously, obviously giving you the impression that he will get an A grade.

Eureka! Edison's lamp alights inside your brain, You have found a path, a light at the end of the tunnel, to escape out of the darkness you are presently in.

Yes, you are going to solicit the help of your friend, DURING the examination to get some answers out of him some way or the other and get around to eventually obtain a decent score in the exam, thereby leaving no trace of it behind in your academic career.

In all this euphoria about you having found out a recourse, there's one huge obstacle. Its Enormous. Every bit enormous as all of the letters in the word Encyclopaedia.
He is the Examination Invigilator. The one obstacle standing between you and revelation, Mmk, that is, passing the exam.

You have to find a way to circumvent this surreptious individual, in order that you, Undetectedly stealthy sneaky Cat that you are, are going to obtain answers from your friend.

How do you set about garnering answers from your friend?

Here's how I would do it.

This is part one of how you cheat the Invigilator

Wait for the moment the Invigilator lets his guard down a bit. He turns, bored, and looks at the blank board in the classroom. He's faced away from you.

Instantly, you hiss, HISS, at your friend.

Startled, your friend, broken from his furious writing, turns back at you.

Important Tip! :Make sure that you have one eye upon the invigilator at this crucial moment, for they have a unique knack of identifying normally unscrupulous Hisses and promptly catch the wrongdoers red handedly.

You signal the question for which you are seeking the answer, and you, using your left hand, signal the question.

Step one done.

This being done, now the Invigilator returns back to his usual routine. He starts scanning the faces of the people in the hall, and tries to make eye contact. As much he tries to make this act look subtle, believe me, there's every bit of malicious intent in those eyes.

He's marking his prey.

Its of utmost importance that you keep your head firmly rooted in the pages of your answer booklet and even though you aren't writing anything, atleast give an Impression that you are TRYING to do SOMETHING.

Being lazy in the exam hall is a sure give away of your precarious position to your adversary, the Invigilator.

Your friend, in this time, is aware that you are in need of dire Intellectual assistance. He turns the pages of his answer booklet, and being seated just a few feet before you, you can see him resting his hands on the page which contains the answers you're looking for.

Now begins the period where you wait.

Have you seen the cheetah that waits for four or even eight hours in broad, roasting daylight in the african wilderness to spot out its prey?

That's who you're going to transform into, so you can get the answers you so direly seek.

Divide your visual and perceptive senses into two parts. Set one on getting the answer Just at the right moment your friend lifts the sheets and shows it to you. Set the other part of your senses on the invigilator himself. Start thinking empathetically when it comes to cheating him.

Right when the invigilator turns his head so that his line of sight doesn't include you, your friend, being the correct timer he is, lifts up the sheet and displays the answer.

This moment has a lot of factors in play. You have three objectives. You need to KNOW what the answers are, you need to jot it down real fast, in span of five seconds, and you need to arouse Zero suspicion in the Invigilator's eyes.

For, getting caught means severe penalties, penalties that far outweigh even the worst possible outcomes that you are trying to avert.

Here's what you do.

Scan the sheet. Look For formulae. Look for diagrams, and parts in those diagrams. Look for paragraph headings. Do not, I repeat, do not attempt to copy the answer of your friend word by agonizing word, its simply not feasible. You'll end up getting caught , or you'll end up wasting both you and your friend's invaluable time.

Remember, you need to do this, all in the extremely short span when the Invigilator lets down his guard.

Another very important factor is deciding the question that you're going to seek assistance for. The question should be one that has the least amount of descriptive answering required, for, the lengthier the answer is, the harder it is for you to reciprocate on your answer booklet.

So, Make your decision aptly, and keep the factors I outlined in mind, and lets hope it serves us for a better outcome!

Also, I have a long list of different ways to Cheat the Invigilator, and more updates on this context coming soon! Bookmark this page, or subscribe to the RSS feed, so you don't miss it!

If you have any memorable experiences in this context, or would like to share them, You're Most welcome.
Feel free to leave those thoughts, experiences, or opinions as a comment below, I'm sure everyone will love reading it!

The Best Thing to do before an Exam is...

noreply@blogger.com (Praz) — Wed, 10 Dec 2008 14:11:00 +0000

There are two different possibilites.

The subject of tomorrow's examination is one of your favourites.
You are ..ahem... kinda aversed to the subject.

FIRST CASE

Since its one of your favourites, you really like spending a lot of time with the concerned subject naturally. You tend to retain information for a longer period after studying the subject's concepts.

Naturally, You also tend to score progressively good in the subject's exams. You adore the teacher, you'll feel piqued if by any chance you are forced to skip one of that subject's classes.

So, even if by any unforeseen chance you haven't prepared for that exam aforehand, even before the day of the exam, the chances are that if you launch into a full fledged preparatory effort, you'll fare well.

If you like the subject in question, then allay any fears you have and start reading.

Remember, Time lost is never gained.

SECOND CASE

Its always been a hard nut for you to crack. You're a proclaimed adversary of the subject at hand.

You hate the teacher, the books, you hate that subject with such maddening rage that the very sound of it makes you curse all the bad things .. or Hey, even everything in the world.

So, What would you do, if you have an exam of such a subject tomorrow, and haven't prepared a bit?

The natural recourse would be to sit with the book in your hand and wade through the pages all the while praying to Mighty Exam God Almighty that tomorrow's question paper is the easiest one ever in examination history.

There is, however, an extremely viable option too. Simple. Forget it. Yes, don't put in any effort. Scared of a huge Zed ee arr Oh ? Nah, don't be. Its just, you have more important things at hand instead of wasting time on something you never ever wanted to spend time on in the first place.

Having considered both the alternatives, what's the bottom line?

It all boils down to your attitude towards the subject of the exam.

I might even venture to say that, the determination to score good or simply get on with the exam.

The choice you make determines the outcome.

If you want to feel good about tomorrow, then spend today fruitfully.

You might have different choices, ideas or strategies on how tackle a predicament as seen about in this post. Feel free to share it with us in the comments below!

Blog Reviews - For Free!

noreply@blogger.com (Praz) — Wed, 10 Dec 2008 11:56:00 +0000

I'm doing in depth Blog reviews of your blog, replete with all the details right down to the last sidebar you've customized in your blog's theme.

There will be an in depth analysis which will clearly point out what your blog has that sets it apart from others and what is needed to make it a much better blog.
I'll include a screenshot of your blog and a link to it.

Your blog might only be lacking a few minor details before it could transform into an enormously successful site. From my past experience, its natural tendency to overlook few slight discrepancies in the form of Improper formatting, misused ad-space, Improper placing of widgets and ads. My blog review will cover all of these and will also come up with new innovations for improving site traffic, and in the end, more personal satisfaction for you.

If you wish to get your blog reviewed for free, its simple, just drop me a comment below.

Sometimes, my review might get your blog the break it has always deserved.

Exam Blues!

noreply@blogger.com (Praz) — Tue, 09 Dec 2008 15:24:00 +0000

Its that time of the year when all those flippant youngsters begin to have a slow gloom spread on their faces.

Yes, Its Exam time folks!

All those accumulated lessons, miles and miles of formulae, Countless drawings with specifications surpassing those of Picasso's daunt the normally jubilant teen.

What should they do to get through this greasy patch of time in the year?

Prepare early, regularly.

THE most viable option but hey, SCRAP IT!

Burn the midnight oil.

Pardon me for using a vintage phrase but this is the most logical reprieve for any teen in such a predicament.

Forget about the scores (GULP!)

Now this option is a most intriguing one. It takes a massive amount of courage to muster and actually take this choice. This serves anyone well for the period the exams are happening, but drop a bigger nuclear bomb when the results are announced.

So...

Which category do You Fall into? [:D]

Mankind's obliteration of the last vestiges of Racism

noreply@blogger.com (Praz) — Thu, 04 Dec 2008 14:58:00 +0000

With the election of Barack Husein Obama to the office of the President of the United States of America, a collective melting pot of humanity has voiced, though subliminally, Racism's end.
As evidenced sporadically in the mass media now, Racism has been reduced to a joke, literally. Its only a subject where humorists try to squeeze whatever they can out of it.
Skin colour, a thing which decided the fate of millions of humans even a half century ago, has finally been accepted by the masses as nothing but a mere veneer for yet another human soul to traverse the corridors of life.
Well, if theres a rule, or theres a rule thats in its formative stages, in this case The End of Racism, there are always exceptions.
And these exceptions readily apparate(Harry Potter lingo!) themselves in the guise of the wars waged in a few third world countries and Terrorism. Delving into these subjects will consume the winter season in all its entirety for myself.
All said, there can be no denying that Brown, Black, Yellow or White, a human is gauged only by his actions and societal standing a la occupation, education, financial status, and not by his melanin content.