Putting your best foot forward

Life is all about finding your purpose and creating a differentiating factor. What makes you stand out in a crowd? How are you different from a group of people? What are your main qualities and unique selling points as a person? It is very important to create your individuality in order to enter the winner’s circle. Winners definitely do things differently from the rest of the world; that’s what makes them different; that’s what makes them pioneers. When it comes to goal setting and becoming successful in all walks of life, you just cannot ignore putting your best foot forward. Whether it is doing a MBA to get the edge or simply taking all the steps needed to start your own digital media venture.

Let’s define what putting your best foot forward means:

·    Being highly goal oriented and target driven is very important for putting your best foot forward. Shooting in the dark is a waste of time, effort and resources. So whether it is admission for higher studies, taking a job in a specific industry, moving to a new country for career advancement of simply deciding to go back to studies after a break; always have a plan before making a decision.

·    Once you have decided to move in a certain direction, do not let self doubt or lack of focus cloud your judgement. Any thought or action that takes you away from your goal is a distraction and you should snap out of it as fast as you can.

·    Information and knowledge are armours that will always come in handy in any field. This is exactly why you should become a voracious consumer of anything you have set your mind to. What are the requirements for the project? How realistic is this deadline? How to manage or avert certain crisis? Once you have the aptitude to manage these situations, it will be impossible for anyone to catch you with the switch off.

·    Giving your absolute best to any task at hand is definitely all about putting your best foot forward. And giving everything comes from dedication, commitment and hard work. At the end of the day, no task is too big or too small; you just have to perform to the best of your abilities.

·    If you are not excited about what you do in your day, it is not possible to be happy or successful in the long run. Excitement comes only from finding what you are meant to do; knowing what your purpose in life is.

At the end of the day, putting your best foot forward is all about making your own rules and living by them. The best form of motivation only comes from within.    

Ten Tips for Time Management

We all have 24 hours in a day; but somehow some people are always pressed for time. No matter how much time they are given to work on a project or a deadline, they will always find themselves struggling till the last minute. Not having enough time to do what needs to be done, is often related to poor time management and has very little to do with the task at hand. Some of the most successful people in the world are juggling multiple hats. They are entrepreneurs at the top of their game, devoted parents to their beloved children, have a great social life and manage to commit to philanthropic causes also. They find the time to squeeze in their marathon training before a board meeting too. How do they do it? It’s all about time management!

Here are top 10 tips for time management:

·    Make a to-do list. If you don’t know what exactly has to be done, chances are you won’t get to it. Sometimes, mental lists just don’t work. So make a list on your phone, on paper or on your computer.

·    Put a deadline next to each task; make sure it is a realistic deadline; it should be believable to you. Even if it is about returning a phone call, put it down in writing and put the timing next to it.

·    Be honest with yourself and with others. Agreeing to things you have no intention of doing is a sure shot recipe for wasting your precious time and resources. The same rule applies to doing something half heartedly. So take on what you can and be honest about what you don’t want to be accountable for.

·    Get your priorities in order. Sometimes, the tasks just need to be placed in the right order for the chaos to disappear.

·    Don’t let one responsibility suffer because of another commitment. Sometimes we just don’t have a choice in this matter; but barring family emergencies and other dire situations, finish what you start before moving on to the next task.

·    Take responsibility. If you have messed up or made a mistake and you are in denial about it, you will end up wasting more time on covering your tracks instead of finding a solution.

·    Give up on blame. It is always easy to blame hundreds of things on the external circumstances. But it hasn’t helped anyone be successful; so let go of things that are causing unnecessary stress and focus on what’s important.

·    Set aside personal time for things you enjoy doing. Nothing recharges the mind, body and soul like a passionate hobby few times a week. It could be playing a sport, learning a language or playing a musical instrument.

·    Know when to throw in the towel. There is no bravery attached to flogging a dead horse. Accept if something is not working out and create change instead of wasting time over something that’s not going to change.

·    Have fun. You have to enjoy the things you do on a daily basis.

Efficient time management is definitely important to lead a well-balanced, wholesome life.