Why It’s Important to Surround Yourself with Like-Minded & Positive People

I'm sure that you all are familiar with this quote "No man is an island." It just simply means that we cannot live alone. We're not created to live by ourselves and for ourselves. We need each other to survive, live, and enjoy life. Each and everyone of us has something to contribute, something valuable to offer, to make this world a better place to live in.

This is why social networking has become such a huge hit because it is all based around the concept of building relationships.

Believe it or not, we are who we are today because of the influence of people who surround us...our families, friends, and business relationships or relationships in our workplace. There is so much power in association.

Our knowledge and experiences have been contributed by other people whether it's through personal affiliation or through books. On the other hand, people that we surround with may have one way or another learned something significant from us which made a difference in them. 

But as much as the effects of associating with other people is powerful, you must choose wisely on who you will associate yourself with. Keep in mind .. Birds of same feathers flock together.Eagles fly with eagles. You never seem them hanging out with chickens. Ducks with ducks, sparrows with sparrows, pigeons with pigeons. 

When you become friends with someone, you allow that person to influence you, to contribute to your learning process, to provide value in your experience in life, and vice versa. That's why it's important to surround yourself with like-minded people.

See if you hang with people who constantly think negative stuff, it's only a matter of time before you find yourself thinking constantly about negative things too. If you hang with people who whine about other people or about their situation, before you knew it, you're the same way. 

Remember that you can only give whatever you have. So if what you have is just negative, then those people that have allowed you to surround them will only Let me tell you a quick illustration. 

This does not mean though that you will not make yourself available for those who are less stronger than you are or have less knowledge than you do. Because at one point in our lives, someone stronger than us, someone better than us, someone more experienced and more knowledgeable than us, invested their time and knowledge in influencing us.

The key is to create a good balance in your associations.If you're a starting entrepreneur, make sure to associate yourself with like-minded people. 

Remember that you have the power to influence people and vice versa!

Surround yourself with like minded people, or successful people.Whether its to create a more balanced lifestyle,travel the world as an entrepreneur, start a new company,invent something new to the market place or complete a  goal or dream.

You must surround yourself with like minded people, or successful people. This is a very powerful way to support your dreams.

Mistakes Made by Small Business Owners

Entrepreneurial ventures are fraught with missteps, mishaps, and mistakes. The key to your success is to quickly identify your mistakes, learn from them, and prevent the same mistakes from happening again.

Most business owners fall into the same traps. It’s those mistakes which could make the difference between owning a successful and viable small business.

So, what are the biggest mistakes owners make when starting and managing their small businesses? 

Trying to Do It All

The greatest mistake entrepreneurs make is to believe they can do it all by themselves. While an entrepreneur can do almost everything, they do almost everything poorly. Just like any other person, an entrepreneur has one or two natural talents. As an entrepreneur, it is your job to identify those talents and focus on them to your fullest. Surround yourself with people who are strong where your talents are weakest. Great companies are built on the foundation of exploiting a few strengths, not on trying to be masters of everything.

Not Being Forthright

The anonymous nature and grand size of the Internet allows people to share anything with anyone at anytime. If your business tries to cover up a mistake, it is just a matter of time before word leaks and you are labeled a liar. That's not good for business. Be the one to break your own bad news, and you will be perceived as honest and trustworthy.

Having No Clear Marketing Strategy You 

You never know where, when, or how a new prospect is going to hear of your business. If you have a mix of messages out there, the prospects will have an unclear expectation of what your business can offer. Your company must present a consistent, clear message on all fronts. You will never get a second chance to make a first impression. Make sure every new prospect who sees your business for the first time receives the same, consistent message.

Cutting Prices

Often, the first thing entrepreneurs resort to when business is tough is to try differentiating on price. Cheaper prices mean more customers, right? Wrong! Most customers are willing to buy more expensive items because of the greater quality or the added convenience. During tough economic times, an increase in price, coupled with improvements in quality or convenience, can drive customers to your door. Price slashing is a dangerous game, which could lead to slashing employees or salaries to keep costs down.

Having No ‘Rallying Point’

There is a reason why employees leave high-paying corporate jobs to go to start-ups, and it's not for the money. People are driven to serve an important purpose, in addition to getting a paycheck. Many businesses never define their real purpose for existence, and continually attract a mix of employees who are seeking success in different ways. Clarify the purpose of your company, beyond just making money, and you set the stage for attracting like-minded employees. A team focused on the same goal is a very powerful force.

Setting Unrealistic Financial Goals

If all business plans came true, being a billionaire would be nothing extraordinary. Many entrepreneurs go into new ventures planning astronomical returns. Yet most never even get the business off the ground. Unrealistic goals not only hurt your credibility, but can also be an emotional drain. Set specific, measurable, accountable, realistic, and time specific (or SMART) goals to ensure continual progress. If you do this, your chances of being an overnight success (in 15 to 20 years) are much greater!

Being All Business, All the Time

Many entrepreneurs put their personal lives on hold to focus exclusively on their businesses. Ultimately, both suffer. There is no question your business needs your full attention and effort, but only in short spurts. Just like an elite athlete in training, you need to have a proper, healthy diet, get enough rest, and take breaks. Balance your personal and business life, and you will actually do better in both.

Being a Weak Leader

The success of your company is contingent on you being a strong, effective leader. This does not mean you need to be an authoritarian, but you also shouldn't be everyone's buddy. A great leader sets the course for the company, communicates it constantly, and inspires the team to get to the next level.

Assuming You Have No Competition

Even if you have the latest, greatest, never-been-done-before approach to something, don't assume that you have no competition. Competition is more than just the direct, obvious competitors. Competition is also all the available alternatives. What else could the consumer do instead of using your product or service? Could they do nothing? The customer almost always has the option of walking away. That alone is a serious competitive threat.

Trying to Get Rich Quick

Overnight success usually takes 15 to 20 years to achieve. If you go in expecting to be rich overnight, you may become discouraged early on and give up your dream prematurely. 

Know that success takes time, perseverance, and a little bit of luck. Give your business the time to grow. Only if your company is stagnant for a long time should you take it as an indication that you need to try something new.

Mistakes that Prevent People from Achieving

There are many people who try to achieve what they desire in life. Unfortunately, many people don’t accomplish what they set out to do.

Here are some of the top mistakes that people make, and ways in which these can be avoided.

1. Setting timescales that are impossible to reach 
   
   
   Often, people will set totally unrealistic time frames to achieve goals in their lives. Before deciding on a completion date, take careful consideration of your other commitments. Don’t expect to be able to devote 3 hours every night to a particular goal if you only have one hour of spare time!
   
   
   
2. Failing to write down goals 
   
   
   You must commit your intentions to paper to know exactly what you are aiming for. This also acts as a form of contract with yourself, and you are therefore much more likely to carry it through.
   
   
3. Setting goals that are not going to make a marked difference to their lives 
   
   
   Achieving is hard work, so you want to make sure that the benefits of accomplishing your goal will far outweigh all of the effort that has gone into it.
   
   
4. Failing to consider the true extent of the work that needs to be done to achieve the result 
   
   
   Before starting on the road to a particular goal, carefully consider what is actually involved to ensure a successful outcome.
   
   
5. Setting goals that are far beyond their own capabilities 
   
   
   Be honest with yourself. Are you going to be mentally and physically able to achieve your goal?
   
   
6. Trying to achieve something that they do not enjoy doing 
   
   
   A sure way to get your motivation plummeting is to attempt to achieve something that you hate doing. Life is to be enjoyed, so avoid setting goals that aren't going to fulfill you.
   
   
7. Expecting far too much of themselves 
   
   
   The challenges that you set yourself should stretch you, but you shouldn't be setting yourself up for failure by setting goals that will be too difficult to accomplish.
   
   
   you control two things in your career; your attitude and your activity.

Stay Motivated

Be willing to say to yourself, "I'm on the right road. I'm doing OK. I'm succeeding." We too frequently become adept at pointing out our flaws and identifying failures. 

Become equally adept at citing your achievements. Identify things you are doing now that you weren't doing one month ago… six months ago… a year ago. What habits have changed? Chart your progress. 

Doing well once or twice is relatively easy. Continuously moving ahead is tough, in part, because we so easily revert to old habits and former lifestyles. Over the long run, you need to give yourself regular feedback to monitor your performance and reinforce yourself positively.

Don't wait for an award ceremony, promotion, friend or mentor to show appreciation for your work. Take pride in your own efforts on a daily basis. 

Keep the end result in sight. Always see the big picture of the ultimate goal you're working for and the benefits that come with it. 

Set up a dynamic daily routine. Getting into a positive routine or groove, instead of a negative rut, will help you become more effective. 

Success Begins With Your Attitude

once wrote, "Everything can be taken from a person but one thing: the last of human freedoms - to choose one's attitudes in any given set of circumstances, to choose one's own way."Attitude is a choice. You could be faced with a thousand problems, many or most over which you have absolutely no control. However, there is always one thing you are in complete and absolute control of and that is your own attitude. 

When you surrender control of your attitude to what appears to be a negative situation, you will react to that situation. More often than not, reacting is inappropriate. On the other hand, if you were to remain objective, you would respond to the situation appropriately, thereby creating a winning situation. 

Attitude is the composite of your thoughts, feelings and actions. Your conscious mind controls feeling and ultimately dictates whether your feelings will be positive or negative by your choice of thoughts, then your body displays those choices through action and behavior. 

Attitude is actually a creative cycle that begins with your choice of thoughts. You do choose your thoughts and that choice is where your attitude originates. As you internalize ideas or become emotionally involved with your thoughts, you create the second stage in forming an attitude; you move your entire being - mind and body - into a new "vibration." Your conscious awareness of this vibration is referred to as "feeling".Your feelings are then expressed in actions or behaviors that produce the various results in your life. 

Positive results are always the effect of a positive attitude. Attitude and results are inseparable. They follow one another like night follows day. What I mean by that is: one is the cause, the other, the result. There is a term we use to distinguish this "cause and effect" relationship, it is called The Law of Cause and Effect. Simply stated, if you think in negative terms, you will get negative results; if you think in positive terms you will achieve positive results. 

Winning and losing are opposite sides of the same coin - and that coin is attitude. 

Conversely, there are others who are forever winning and living the good life. They are the real movers and shakers who make things happen. They seem to go from one major accomplishment to another. They're in control of their life; they know where they are going and know they will get there. They are the real winners in life and their wins are a matter of choice. 

You can experience that kind of life as well, you only need to decide. Making that simple decision is the first step to a new life. By simply becoming aware that you can choose your thoughts each and every day, you will change your entire outlook. You have the power to choose an abundant life no matter your circumstances. That active choice will allow other positive people and opportunities to be attracted into your life. Don't wait to experience all the wonderful things the universe has in store for you. 

Start today by working on your attitude and welcome the abundant life that you were meant to lead.

Journey of Super star, Rajesh Khanna

Rajesh Khanna ,born Jatin Khanna; 29 December 1942 – 18 July 2012, was an Indian actor in Hindi films, and was also a politician. He was called as the first superstar of the Indian cinema.

He appeared in 163 feature films of which 128 films saw him as the lead protagonist; he appeared in 17 short films as well.

He won threeFilmfare Best Actor Awards and was nominated for the same fourteen times. 

He received the most BFJA Awards for Best Actor (Hindi) – four times and nominated 25 times. 

In 1991, he was awarded the Filmfare Special Award for completing 25 years in the industry, appearing in a record 106 films as the single lead protagonist in a span of 25 years. 

In 2005, he was awarded the Filmfare Lifetime Achievement Award. Khanna was referred to[by whom?] as the "First Superstar" of Hindi cinema.

He made his debut in 1966 with Aakhri Khat and rose to prominence with his performances in films like Raaz, Baharon Ke Sapne, Ittefaq and Aradhana. He gave 35 Golden Jubilee Hits in the period 1966-1975, three more in 76-78 and 35 more in the period 1979-1991 and gave 22 silver jubilee hits in the period 1966-1991.

Early life

Khanna was adopted and raised by foster parents who were relatives of his biological parents. Khanna lived in Thakurdwar near Girgaon and attended St. Sebastian’s Goan High School in Girgaon, along with his friend Ravi Kapoor, who later took the stage name Jeetendra, and whose mothers were friends. 

Khanna gradually started taking interest in theatre and did a lot of stage and theater plays in his school and college days and won many prizes in the inter college drama competitions.

Khanna became a rare newcomer who struggled in his own MG sports car to get work in theatre and films in the early sixties.

Both friends later studied in Kishinchand Chellaram College(KC).

When Jeetendra went for his first film audition, it was Khanna who tutored. Khanna's uncle changed Khanna's first name to Rajesh when Khanna decided to join films. His friends and his wife called him Kaka.

Adult life

In the late 1960s and early 1970s, Khanna fell in love with the then fashion designer and actress Anju Mahendru.

They were in a relationship for seven years. Mahendru states that the couple did not speak to each other for 17 years after the breakup.

Later Khanna married Dimple Kapadia in March 1973, six months before Dimple's debut film Bobby released and has two daughters from the marriage.

Khanna and Dimple Kapadia separated in 1984 as his schedule kept him away much of the time and Dimple became interested in pursuing an acting career,and thereafter lived separately, but did not complete the divorce proceedings.

In the eighties Tina Munim was romantically involved with Khanna till the time she decided to leave the industry to pursue her higher studies.

Years of separation brought about mutual understanding between Rajesh Khanna and Dimple Kapadia.

Their elder daughter Twinkle Khanna, an interior decorator and a former film actress, is married to actor Akshay Kumar while their younger daughter Rinke Khanna, also a former Hindi film actress, is married to a London-based investment banker Samir Saran.

Political and business career

Rajesh Khanna was a member of Parliament for the Indian National Congress, from the New Delhi constituency, where he won the 1992 by-election, retaining his seat until the 1996 election.

When Khanna was MP, he did not accept new acting assignments.

After leaving parliament, he was a political activist for the INC and campaigned for the party during the 2012 Punjab election.

Khanna and a group of foreign investors bought land in Shirdi on which they planned to build a religious resort for disciples of Sai Baba of Shirdi.

Illness and death

In June 2012, it was reported that Rajesh Khanna's health had been deteriorating for some time,On 23 June he was admitted to Lilavati Hospital in Mumbai due to health complications. He was discharged on 8 July from the hospital and was reportedly fine.

On 14 July, Khanna was readmitted to the Lilavati Hospital but was discharged on 17 July. 

He died the next day at his bungalow, Aashirwad, in Mumbai due to kidney problems.

Dr Trivedi, a spokesman for the hospital, said that he cannot confirm the nature of the illness. However, a friend who acted as his spokesman during the illness had said his food intake had decreased over the previous days and he was "very weak." 

His funeral was due to take place on 19 July at 11:00. He died in the presence of his wife Dimple Kapadia, daughters Rinkie Khanna and Twinkle Khanna, son-in-law Akshay Kumar, grand children and other close relatives.

This is the end of a era. 

I am deeply saddened by the death of Super Star, Rajesh Khanna.

Love : Weakness or STRENGTH ?

I was asked by my colleague ,Madam, can you give me your opinion about love, love is weakness or strength ? According to me love can not be define in words, as love has no meaning as well as love has endless meaning. Love has been defining till today and it will be defining forever. Every one defines meaning of love according to their experience.Some time it can be most powerful, and some time it can be weakness.If you try to find true meaning of love , If you ask to different - different people,you will get different-different answers.

Whenever, we alone then we need someone to love. When we get, we think we are happiest person,. when we get all according to our choice, we feel we are so lucky , when we get something wrong then we think we are unlucky. Sometime, when we love some one , sometime we hate them who was loved ones. why we love and hate the same person? No one can give satisfactory answers because there can be different - different reason, so there can be different-different answers.

Why we discover meaning of love ? Why we want answers of unanswerable question ? There are so many up and down comes in our life ,choices can be change,lovers can be change,situation can be change , our mentality can be change, in coming future all thing can be change, what is going to happen in coming future we don't know, then how can we find the answer of question which has not raised ? what is happening in other life and it will be happen in our life also?How can we justify that our problem will be the same? we decide according to our mentality ,when our mentality is different to each other, then how answer can be the same? in the same situation all people do not take same decision then, Is it possible to get 100% right answer?

If we can not find the answer then why we disturb our present life. what is we  have , we should accept it. Whenever any question will be raised, whenever situation will change , then you try to find answer, not now. Sometime we feel, love is weakness and sometime it is strength.It is requirement of circumstance which we face every day. It is feeling so do not try to give it a meaning,do not try to explain meaning of love  in the words.

According to me,love has different- different meaning in the different - different   situation . It is always change.Love is not a weakness not a strength, it is need of ourself. Sometime it empower us , sometime it disturbs us. whenever we alone ,we need . Whenever, we busy, We need not love . We can not do every thing with love as well as  we can do every thing without love also.It is inner feeling , it is our inner weakness, it is our inner strength.

I have bitter experience in my love life , in spite of that I believe Love is Love with endless meaning.I have no doubt about purity of love. I say, if you love someone, then you will be loved by someone also. So,Do not ask anyone about it, it is purely individual, it is purely personal.

Apologies for cheating on your partner

We all make mistakes, and some of them are bigger than others. No one can deny the fact that cheating on a spouse or a committed partner is a big one. So what do you do once the damage is done, and better still, how do you deal with the problem and fix the situation … and, furthermore, can it be fixed?

Why?

The first thing to understand is that cheating often signifies that there is something wrong with, or missing from your marriage/relationship. You will be unable to go forward until you analyse what the problem is.

Communicate

If you were caught cheating on him, he'll be very angry, and will most likely ask many detailed questions. These are going to be hard to answer ... but be honest. If you shut down now and refuse to answer further mistrust can develop.

In order to fix it, you're going to have to reprove your love, which means dealing with his lack of trust for you over a LONG period of time. Be willing to call him if you're going to be late, and if he asks you to be in touch, then BE in touch. Furthermore, don't give him reasons not to trust you. If he asks you to come home early ... come home early.

Understand that, in situations like this, emotions will run deep and strong

By your actions you've torn away a piece of his heart and that scar, like any other, can last for the rest of his life. That doesn't mean you can't salvage the relationship. Explain to him that there is no excuse for your actions and that cheating was an inappropriate solution. Let him know with what aspects of the relationship you're not happy and consider counselling.

Apologise

Make sure you deliver a complete and proper apology to your partner. This CAN be the first step in the long road to forgiveness. Don't place blame or try to justify your actions. Nothing short of admitting fault, apologising, and communicating about the problem, will help the situation.

Cut off communication completely with the third party

Obviously your partner isn't the only one involved in this now that you've cheated. You've taken an outsider into your relationship as well. You need to contact the other person, and explain to them that your actions were wrong, and that you need to repair your relationship with your partner. To do this, you will need to cut off all ties to and communication with the third party.

Patience

Don't set a time limit for how long your partner is "allowed" to remain hurt or angry. You set this process in motion so you must be prepared to deal with the mess your selfishness has left behind. Remember, it takes a moment to break down trust and a lifetime to rebuild it.

He will continue to hurt over your actions so make it up to him. He's going to feel insecure and not trusting of anything you say or do. You need to prove that you are there for him, that you are sorry for what happened, and that you still love him.

Monkey and Stock market

Once upon a time in a village, a man appeared and announced to the villagers that he would buy monkeys for $10 each.

The villagers seeing that there were many monkeys around, went out to the forest and started catching them. The man bought thousands at $10 and as supply started to diminish, the villagers stopped their effort. He further announced that he would now buy at $20. This renewed the efforts of the villagers and they started catching monkeys again.

Soon the supply diminished even further and people started going back to their farms. The offer increased to $25 each and the supply of monkeys became so little that it was an effort to even see a monkey, let alone catch it!

The man now announced that he would buy monkeys at $50! However, since he had to go to the city on some business, his assistant would now buy on behalf of him.

In the absence of the man, the assistant told the villagers. "Look at all these monkeys in the big cage that the man has collected. I will sell them to you at $35 and when the man returns from the city, you can sell them to him for $50 each."

The villagers rounded up with all their savings and bought all the monkeys. Then they never saw the man or his assistant, only monkeys everywhere!

Now you have a better understanding of how the stock market works.

Management Speak

Management Speak: That's a good question.

Meaning: I don't have a good answer.

Management Speak: You have to show your flexibility.

Meaning: You have to do it whether you want to or not.

Management Speak: I don't totally disagree with you.

Meaning: You may be right, but I don't care.

Management Speak: We're going to follow a strict methodology here.

Meaning: We're going to do it my way.

Management Speak: Empower.

Meaning: Freely blame your subordinates for your problems.

Management Speak: I'd like your buy in on this.

Meaning: I want someone else to blame when this thing bombs.

Management Speak: I'm not saying no, but I'm certainly not saying yes.

Meaning: No.

Management Speak: The system has to be flexible.

Meaning: We don't know what the hell we want.

Marketing Lesson

LESSONS IN MARKETING

You see a gorgeous girl at a party. You went up to her and say "I am very rich. Marry me".
That's DIRECT MARKETING

You are at a party with a bunch of friends and see a gorgeous girl. One of your friends goes up to her and pointing at you says, "He is very rich. Marry him".
That's ADVERTISING

You see a gorgeous girl at a party. You go up to her and get her telephone number. The next day you called her and say, "Hi, I am very rich. Marry me".
That's TELEMARKETING.

You are at a party and see a beautiful girl. You get up and straighten your tie, you walk up to her and pour her a drink. You open the door for her, pick up her bag after she drops it, offer her a ride, and then say, 'By the way, I'm very rich. Will you marry me?'.
That's PUBLIC RELATIONS

You are at a party and see a gorgeous girl. She walks up to you and says, "You are very rich".
That's BRAND RECOGNITION

You see a gorgeous girl at a party. You go up to her and say, "I am very rich. Marry me".
She gives you a nice hard slap on your face.
That's CUSTOMER FEEDBACK