To do or not to do?

Why is it that whenever we think of doing something, there is a negative, annoying voice that pops out of nowhere that starts talking to me? 

It’s the inner critic which will show you all negative possibilities like - What are you going to do? Are you crazy? You will fail. You will become a fool. Etc., etc.,

The Unfortunate thing is, most of us give in to that voice, assuming it is not got to be right, so we stop even before we begin. For some of us that could mean we cannot follow our dream, we cant think big, we are not try something new, or we simply choose to stay in an unsatisfying job or relationship or situation.

And the fortunate thing is you always have a choice.  Yes, a choice to either keep listening to your inner critic and get sucked into the negativity OR choose to play a different role, by awakening the positive vibes within!

Recently, I have been to a networking conference and when we were given an hour’s time to reach out to fellow participants and network, I listened to my inner critic. I thought what if the people find me boring? What if they don’t respond to my ‘hello’. What if my services will not be useful to them? And then the worse thing happened. Out of the given one hour’s time, I was able to exchange my card with hardly a couple of people.

I felt miserable. I felt I am a failure. With that feeling I stepped into the conference room and started listening to the talk that was scheduled. I kept battling with my inner voice. It was difficult, but I continued to fight. Another hour passed by, and the talk show was thrown open to public to voice their questions. There were about 200 plus participants. I took a deep breath, requested for the mike and put forth my question. I gained confidence and incidentally, I created a revolution about a social awareness cause. At the end of the session, I found people coming to me to ask for my business card as they wanted to be in touch with me.

That was indeed a huge step forward for me. By wanting to stand up and being determined to speak is a success by itself for me to celebrate. I awakened the powerful and positive voice within me which was very much there along with my inner critic.  This positive inner voice is the wisdom and confidence you need to see the light at the end of a dark tunnel. 

Quickly to sum, I would like to put here the following important points:

• Keep being cheerful.  When taking a leap forward, this is the time for support and be positive. 
  

• Listen to your feelings, both positive and negative and then choose to be positive. Yes, trying something new is scary and can be unsettling but remember, it’s only a temporary feeling.

• Ignore your inner critic and listen instead to your inner knowing. The more you listen to your positive vibes and the empowering inner voice, the less your inner critic will control you.

• And hope for the best but prepare for the worst. No matter what the outcome is, celebrate the experience! You stepped out of your comfort zone, and you deserve to acknowledge yourself for this stretch.

Next time, your inner critic crops up ask yourself - How am I going to change my life? 

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

About Me:

I am Padmaja Duvvuri, a double MBA by qualification, Goldman sach’s – IBM certified women enptreprenuer by profession, 11 year experienced IT service provider, and a mother of two children.

My Wish:

With the experience, knowledge and insights I learned through my life (I am still in the learning phase), I wish to help the budding entrepreneurs, my peers, and friends understand the business challenges and needs and I wish to work with you to discover cost-effective solutions.

Wherever required I will share with you my business approaches and also offer you technical solutions and use my analytical problem solving skills in order to address your needs and help you discover new opportunities.

On the offer:

• Network analysis and business planning,
• Review and analysis of your entire Information Technology related strategies,
• Computer software and computer hardware selection, 
• Modification or development of software solutions, 
• Computer network installation and network support, 
• Project definition, planning, and supervision,
• Coordination of efforts of multiple vendors collaborating on a project,
• Computer training in all aspects of operations from the technical to the user level, 
• Analysis of the effectiveness of your web site for attracting traffic to your business, 
• Web site design  and development to enhance your marketing of your business as well as to support your clients over the internet, and 
• Individual user training and help desk support.

Please feel free to contact me to ask me any questions and to begin a dialogue. I look forward to hearing from you.

Advice and Consulting Rates

I offer the consultation services free of cost, but have time constraints, due to the enormous quantity of mails.  Regarding the technical solutions on the offer, the charges will be conveyed based on the requirement. Do visit www.arete.in for more details on technical services.

I want to work with you to develop a long term partnership and will provide the best possible customer service. If you have special circumstances or requests, please feel free to contact me.

I wouldn’t be successful if I weren’t such a perfectionist.

Right? No. Wrong!

"The important thing is not being afraid to take a chance. Remember, the greatest failure is to not try. Once you find something you love to do, be the best at doing it."  

- Debbi Fields, founder of Mrs. Fields Cookies

I was having a discussion with one my friend a couple of days back. She is a budding entrepreneur. Has all the right kind of products to sell. She is one of the most creative and talented women I have come across.  But, there was one factor that was stopping her. She is obsessed about perfection.

So this article is for her! And also for all those who believe in perfectionism and thus fail to succeed.

Most people experience an inner drive to improve their performance on some tasks, whether be it in completing a given task or even just being a friend/home maker/mother/wife etc. 

How far can you go on being a perfect person?

Perfectionism on one hand makes you strive for excellence and on the other hand, results in struggles with self-doubt and fears of disapproval and rejection. Therefore you should learn where to draw a line.

When you are eying at perfection, ensure that it is in a healthy way and do take a genuine pleasure in trying to meet high standards. When the pleasure becomes a pressure, re visit the standards you have set for yourself.

Signs to look out for which indicate an obsessive perfection:

• You are always working to reach the finish line.
• You are never satisfied with your work.
• The standards are beyond reach and reason
• You become depressed and feel a heavy heart when faced with failure or disappointment
• You are preoccupied with fears of failure and disapproval
• You see your mistakes as evidence of unworthiness
• You tend be overly defensive when criticized

How to overcome the above symptoms while still aspiring to succeed:

• Have high standards but see that they are within you reach and ability
• Keeping increasing the standards slowly and steadily, and not in one shot.
• Enjoy the process as well as outcome.
• Have connections/ friends who will help you to bounce back quickly from failure or disappointment.
• It’s ok to feel anxious and fear about the failure’s. Every one experiences that. But let these feelings do not take over you. Have control.  
• See the mistakes as opportunities for growth and learning
• Take criticism in your stride.
• Meditate on positivity. Keep telling yourself that you are going to do your best and whatever be the result/outcome you are going to like it.

Having said that about perfectionism, now let’s move a little further to discuss about “being successful”.

There’s a common myth. “I wouldn’t be successful if I weren’t such a perfectionist.”

Agree, disagree?

Well according to a lot of successful persons… Although some perfectionists are remarkably successful, what they fail to realize is that their success has been achieved despite—not because of—their compulsive striving. There is no evidence that perfectionists are more successful than their non-perfectionist counterparts. In fact, there is evidence that given similar levels of talent, skill and intellect, perfectionists perform less successfully than non-perfectionists.

To be successful, you need four things essentially –

1)      A vision,  

2)      100% involvement,

3)      Be willing to go beyond your comfort zone and dare to change.  

4)      And believe in your vision.

How to become successful without being obsessed about perfection but still striving healthy to be nothing but the best? Isn’t that a dream come true?

How do you go from a dream to reality?

Simple steps: 

1. Ask yourself, often…… 'What do I need to do right now, today, this month, in this project…..that will bring me closer to achieving my dream?', This exercise will bring you closer to your subconscious mind and it will help you to come up with ideas to help you. The more precise you are consciously, the more likely your subconscious mind is to turning it into reality.

2. Explore those ideas by writing them all down. Be specific, set deadlines, and take action every day. Discover a direction and visualize the outcome of your dream.  

  

Remember, if you know exactly what you want to accomplish then you will find a way to make it happen. Believe in your heart that you can do it.

Dream It, Begin It, Do It! Let nothing stop you. 

_________________________________________________________

About Me:

I am Padmaja Duvvuri, a double MBA by qualification, Goldman sach’s – IBM certified women enptreprenuer by profession, 11 year experienced IT service provider, and a mother of two children.

My Wish:

With the experience, knowledge and insights I learned through my life (I am still in the learning phase), I wish to help the budding entrepreneurs, my peers, and friends understand the business challenges and needs and I wish to work with you to discover cost-effective solutions.

Wherever required I will share with you my business approaches and also offer you technical solutions and use my analytical problem solving skills in order to address your needs and help you discover new opportunities.

On the offer:

• Network analysis and business planning,
• Review and analysis of your entire Information Technology related strategies,
• Computer software and computer hardware selection, 
• Modification or development of software solutions, 
• Computer network installation and network support, 
• Project definition, planning, and supervision,
• Coordination of efforts of multiple vendors collaborating on a project,
• Computer training in all aspects of operations from the technical to the user level, 
• Analysis of the effectiveness of your web site for attracting traffic to your business, 
• Web site design  and development to enhance your marketing of your business as well as to support your clients over the internet, and 
• Individual user training and help desk support.

Please feel free to contact me to ask me any questions and to begin a dialogue. I look forward to hearing from you.

Advice and Consulting Rates

I offer the consultation services free of cost, but have time constraints, due to the enormous quantity of mails.  Regarding the technical solutions on the offer, the charges will be conveyed based on the requirement. Do visit www.arete.in for more details on technical services.

I want to work with you to develop a long term partnership and will provide the best possible customer service. If you have special circumstances or requests, please feel free to contact me.

Entrepreneurship: Tough times do not last, Tough people do.

"Don't wait until everything is just right. It will never be perfect. There will always be challenges, obstacles and less than perfect conditions. So what?  Get started now. With each step you take, you will grow stronger and stronger, more and more skilled, more and more self-confident and more and more successful." - Mark Victor Hansen

In business, you need to make smart decisions. Unfortunately, many times it is hard for small business owners to understand the challenges facing their businesses.

I am fortunate enough to work with several organizations/entrepreneurs who are scaling up, who are growing their capacity to meet greater challenges. Well, I call this a self evolution of myself.

I have been helping a few groups/individuals to plan and work their plan on their entrepreneur journey. This includes planning their growth, setting goals, fulfilling their missions while simultaneously increasing their capacity. As a result I have learned a lot about what it takes to successfully stay ahead.

I’m sure a lot of entrepreneurs out here experience stress, tension, irritation, depression, frustration, anxiety, sense of chaos and the confusion of just not knowing where to start.

"Most people spend 90% of their time on what they're not best at ... and ... only 10% of their time on their best ability. Successful people delegate that 90%...and ... are thus able to spend all their time on their "unique" ability." - Gary Halbert

Aligning what you think, do, say, believe and practice is integrity. It is essential for the peaceful, creative, prosperous life, relationships and livelihood that fulfill you.

Few tips to become exceptional from being acceptable in your business:

1. Have a mission. Plan your work, work your plan: This is the essence of starting anything…big or small. What you plan, you document, revisit, analyze and importantly implement. This is especially true in times of stress or when tough decisions are called for.

2. Focus: everything might look to sweet to implement. You will tempted to take up everything that comes your way. Know how and when to trade off. Don’t shift your focus too early or to frequently. Every action regardless of its logical excellence relies on engagement, support, and contribution or it will fail.

3. Transform, slowly but surely: Not everyone is born with a skill to achieve. Experience is needed at each stage of your business, Management, coordination between various vendors, administration…the list is endless and it requires a complete transformation of yourself. Be prepared. Identify where you need to evolve and work on it.  This need represents a substantial burden on small businesses, whose prior experience may not prepare management for dealing with this kind of change or complexity. The skills that business owners have acquired pertain to the operation of their businesses.

4. Learn to act according to situation. Of course your business plan is your Bible, but this requires controlled steering and not mindless following of plan that has been written and endorsed. Keep visiting back and re evaluating your plan according to circumstances. The only thing permanent in life is ‘Change’

5. Network, network, and network: Have a network of people. They could take up any role. The role of a mentor, the role of a leader, they could become your client or you colud use their service. Join such networking communities where member understands and supports the potential positive impact of the scaling opportunity. Have a close group responsible for big picture oversight, helping to make critical strategic decisions during implementation, and help you to meet tough challenges.

6. Know you focus areas: The key dynamics of a successful entrepreneur are:  Leadership, development, Information technology, Knowledge, risk management, public relations, Talent, legal knowledge and finally business process and administration. Keep visiting each one of them from time to tome and audit where you fit. Evaluate and evolve.

7. Keep reading/listening to success stories. To reach your goals of your scaling up, you should be continuously under the influence of various success stories. Keep reading. Keep getting influenced by their successes. Have an idol to worship in your business field. You will feel motivated whenever you think about him/her.

Running a business is risky and hard. There are many challenges. But the satisfaction of performing will make you feel overwhelming. You are an entrepreneur, because you are worth it. Believe!

About Me:

I am Padmaja Duvvuri, a double MBA by qualification, Goldman sach’s – IBM certified women enptreprenuer by profession, 11 year experienced IT service provider, and a mother of two children.

My Wish:

With the experience, knowledge and insights I learned through my life (I am still in the learning phase), I wish to help the budding entrepreneurs, my peers, and friends understand the business challenges and needs and I wish to work with you to discover cost-effective solutions.

Wherever required I will share with you my business approaches and also offer you technical solutions and use my analytical problem solving skills in order to address your needs and help you discover new opportunities.

On the offer:

• Network analysis and business planning,
• Review and analysis of your entire Information Technology related strategies,
• Computer software and computer hardware selection, 
• Modification or development of software solutions, 
• Computer network installation and network support, 
• Project definition, planning, and supervision,
• Coordination of efforts of multiple vendors collaborating on a project,
• Computer training in all aspects of operations from the technical to the user level, 
• Analysis of the effectiveness of your web site for attracting traffic to your business, 
• Web site design  and development to enhance your marketing of your business as well as to support your clients over the internet, and 
• Individual user training and help desk support.

Please feel free to contact me to ask me any questions and to begin a dialogue. I look forward to hearing from you.

Advice and Consulting Rates

I offer the consultation services free of cost, but have time constraints, due to the enormous quantity of mails.  Regarding the technical solutions on the offer, the charges will be conveyed based on the requirement. Do visit www.arete.in for more details on technical services.

I want to work with you to develop a long term partnership and will provide the best possible customer service. If you have special circumstances or requests, please feel free to contact me.