Zen Success

In today’s modern-day workplace where our homes have also become our offices and our children’s schools, managing both work and life seems to creates an imbalance. Many organizations are becoming people-centric and putting more emphasis on the need for employees to create a work-life balance. As many settle into permanent hybrid working arrangements, it’s more important than ever to keep a close eye on maintaining a healthy work life balance. Balancing your professional and personal life is challenging but essential. In most scenarios one often takes precedence over the other. Read here to find out about women  facing the brunt of the pandemic.

Divide and Delegate

Work

One of the limitations we face at work is the fear of delegation. We fear that there are chances the work won’t be done in the manner that we expect. However, like we read in the previous blog it is important to communicate clearly and delegate as much as possible, in order to free up space to focus on innovation and creativity that you can source for yourselves. The more transparent you are with your team and are able to show your trust in their week, you get closer to creating a happy workplace for yourself and your team.

Home

Most families live in a nuclear setup where the ideal thing to do is to delegate and divide responsibilities. Irrespective of the family setup, most child rearing and house hold chores are often considered to be the responsibilities of the woman. Do not let society and media make you believe that you need superpowers to run your home and offices.  An ideal case scenario here will be to communicate with your spouse or house help and divide various responsibilities so you can manage time well and get some well-deserved me-time.  

Focus on what Matters

Guilt often takes centerstage while we as women try to take responsibility of everything. We feel that our houses should be organized and clean, our kids must be well mannered and given attention 24/7. Failure to doing so gives birth to guilt. And that usually is a major reason that takes a toll on your life. Ask for help where you can. You may be the best at every role you play, but you need to understand that it is okay to hire a caregiver or order food from outside every once in a while.

On days that you need to binge watch a series, ask people in the house to pitch in. This works in more than one way. A happy and calm mind always gives you more time and space to doing things productively, freeing up some space for exploring things that you always wanted to do.

Always keep learning

As you free up time for yourself, it is advisable to use your time creatively. Learn something new weekly. Look at ways you can get creative and upskill. Some advisable options will be to read, to listen to podcasts and learn from people who are not only inspirational but also note a point or two from their challenging life journey.

Embrace and limit the use of technology for your benefit

Technology has brought a very big change in our personal as well as professional lives.

Things are not only easier but also faster. At the same time, technology is also clogging our minds. However, some practices can limit the effect technology has on our lives. For example, if you are watching a movie with your family avoid checking emails in between. Do not attend work calls while playing with your kids. Most important is do not let technology follow you to your bedrooms.

Demarcate your boundaries

Since work-from-home is a globally accepted concept, there is no reason to get intimidated with daunting work hours. All you need to do is ensure you are able to clearly demarcate your boundaries and maintain a flexible work-life schedule. What this clearly means is that if you are anticipating a work meeting post-closing hours, take some time off during your work hours to run your home errands. 

Maintaining a work-life balance is important and make you less susceptible to burnout, puts more focus on the things that matter (both at work and in life), and lessens stress — allowing you to be healthier, both mentally and physically. Click here to know more on how you can bring about the change in your life.

We all know that communication is extremely crucial whether it is in your personal life or professional. Effective and clear communication will allow you to create a happy  environment at the workplace as well as at home, help you promote wellness in the workplace  and your personal life, and enable you to better deal with stress as it can avoid a great deal of conflict that more often than not arises from ambiguous, unclear communication.

Communication is most effective when there is shared understanding. Many times we take this for granted. We assume the opposite person would understand an instruction/directive while actually they may require further clarity to deliver as per requirement.

I recall an instance of unclear communication that happened with me, and a common one at that. I asked a colleague to keep a certain report ready however, the following day, the report was not complete and work was still in progress. I questioned the co-worker and he said he took to another assignment presuming this report could wait. It was then that I realized I was not clear and concise in my instruction. I should have been specific with the deadline and stressed on the urgency of the task. This would have also allowed him to either negotiate the deadline or confirm it.

How to create a happy workplace with effective communication?

1. Provide constructive feedback regularly
   Without regular feedback, your team can be left feeling confused, demotivated and unsure about where they’re headed.
   
2. Create and discuss future plans for every team member
   Career advancement is important for every professional so if you want your team to be happy and productive, regularly communicate what prospects they have if they stay with your company.
   
3. Express gratitude, faith and confidence
   Remember to always thank and appreciate your employees when they achieve certain targets and goals. And when they are unable to do so, tell them you have faith in them and the confidence that they can accomplish their goals with a little more uphill struggle.

How to deal with stress and How to promote wellness in the workplace using effective communication?

Stress is a contributing cause of depression, anxiety and many other mental health problems. While that may be fairly obvious, stress is also linked with physical health troubles issues like digestive conditions, insomnia, immune system disorders and even heart disease. Given the negative impact stress can have on your physical health, it’s worth paying close attention to any way you can reduce it.

Using the following tips will help you and others around you in dealing with stress and enable you to promote wellness in the workplace and eventually help you remain happy and healthy.

1. Good Communication Reduces and Prevents Stress Inducing Mistakes
   In a business environment, poor communication can cause a lot of stress. Whether it’s you receiving directions or giving directions to someone else, if work related expectations are not communicated effectively, it can lead to mistakes. This will lead to a delay in work and eventually unhappy clients and customers. All of which leads to stress.
   
   When mistakes at work need immediate attention and rectification, it has the team functioning on shorter deadlines with greater pressure. Often a lot of this kind of stress is avoidable if directions and requests were communicated effectively in the first place. With good communication, everyone knows what they are supposed to do and when.
   
   When the information flows from the boss to the team leader to the team to the minions, the last person doesn’t even know why they are doing  what they are told to do. When every member is enrolled in the importance and purpose of the work to be done, and once the work is done, to report back with a check to close the communication loop works wonders in effective communication and efficient work-flow.

2. Explore and express feelings
   Get in touch with your feelings.  Being aware of how you feel – whether it’s anxious, depressed or angry – is the first step to dealing with a stressful problem.  This means taking time out from work and family to be alone. It’s not always possible to avoid stress, but you can learn to cope with it better.  Expressing your feelings can dramatically reduce stress levels and enhance your own sense of well-being

3. Stick to the facts
   When under stress it is easy to distort problems, exaggerate the significance of an event or make sweeping generalizations.  When explaining an issue to someone, always be as specific and objective as you can.

4. Become an engaged listener
   People often focus on what they should say, but effective communication is less about talking and more about listening. Listening well means not just understanding the words or the information being communicated, but also understanding the emotions the speaker is trying to communicate.

If dealing with stress through the pandemic and work style evolution has been tough for you, then visit my website to learn about the 5 techniques to reduce stress as well as other informative articles on health & wellness that help you look after your well-being despite being part of a challenging business environment.

As women we are also known for our multi-tasking abilities. You will find it amusing how our resumes are incomplete without the word ‘multi-tasker’. Whether at work or home, we are made to believe that we need this super power to excel in everything we do. As true as it is, we should ensure we are able to work on multiple tasks at a time, while being able to maintain a great balance. At periodic intervals we must also pause to analyse how productive and meaningful each of our tasks have been. Going with the flow is okay, but stop, pause and reflect is a good way to add greater meaning to all you do.

Recently as office, parks, schools have all come into our living rooms and only limited to screens, routines have not only gone for a toss but also interferes with our daily routines. It is okay to feel overwhelmed but what is not okay is to allow it to take a toll on your health. This is when you should setup boundaries and do so efficiently through communications. You can read here to know Has The Pandemic Actually Helped Women Find That Elusive Work-Life Balance?  Effective communications are not limited to just a co-worker or friend. One should freely communicate with family members, children, caregivers etc with an intent to set clear expectations.

Patience is virtue

Work

With daunting deadlines and limited work hours, we are always in a rush and often impatient. Most often than ever we have no patience to completely explain and convey our views and tasks to our colleagues, subordinates and superior. We are always under the assumption that we have clearly communicated and later frown upon when our expectations are not met. It is okay to assume a shared understanding when a rapport is built and you are able to see through each other’s work. Allow creative freedom and be sensitive while giving feedback. Patience plays a very important role as you take time to understand each other an make a genuine effort to convey the right message.

Home

You have had a bad day at work and expect everything at home to go smoothly. This is not possible always. Not everyone at home understands how your day has been at work. You have to understand that children will behave a certain way not knowing what you have gone through. Similar with your spouse or a child’s care giver. Everybody carries their day into the evening and it is advisable to be patient and give each one a fair chance before shouting or being rude for any actions.

Clear Comms

Work

It is very important to put yourself in each team member’s shoes and understand their strengths and weakness and communicate accordingly. For eg, if there is someone who would understand something better visually, put in that effort to make him / her comfortable and explain to them. Your team member will not only acknowledge your efforts but also be extra motivated to give his/ her best.

Be sure on specifying the timeframe you would like to receive the information in. Mentioning vague terms like ‘as soon as possible’, ‘end of day’ not only decreases efficiency but also drives an unclear conversation. These terms mean different to different work cultures and environments and may not steer a clear indication on when it is expected.

Another example for an improper brief is while you shoot out a message on a group chat on WhatsApp saying you want some research statistics on the recent government policies for starting up new business with a hours’ time.  Your team will get you their respective information and present it. Some will get the industry wrong; some will get the country wrong; some will not know how recent you need the information from. That is why it is very important to structure your brief in a clear and concise manner and get everyone to repeat what their understanding of the brief is. This will help in getting not only the relevant information but also saves a lot of time going back and forth.

Home

Similar considerations to make while at home. Children often are playful and don’t necessarily adhere to timelines, specially if they are vague. Set clear timelines and routines in order to help your kids settle into their day in your absence. Setting routines help a lot. Once you are back home, they know exactly when it is time to play with mom and when she needs a bit of her own space. What also helps here is a clear rewards system, while you enjoy your me-time to unwind and re-energize. You can look up for some exercises to do in your free time here.

In all of the above, communication plays a clear role and leaves you with a happy family and motivated team members. What’s more important is that the happy surrounding will leave you with a happier self which is crucial to begin the next day with positive and renewed energy.  

Many a times I meet women who are constantly doing so much but seldom for themselves. They are either excelling at their workplace or round the clock managing their families. And because they are so occupied with ticking out tasks from their daily task lists, their life is on autopilot mode. This refrains them from exploring and living up to their own potential. This gives rise to search for identity, confidence and fulfilment in life. If you are one of them, who is discovering your meaning and purpose or finding smarter ways to navigate through life, then this blog will give you an idea on how to become a smarter version of yourself and the vital role of communication as you go about your daily life.

Communication is key!

Communication is vital in every relationship, and especially in the relationship you have with yourself. Communication comes in various forms and is recently listed as one of the seven important lamps of living. Read here.

In your personal and professional life, communication is very important and helps to build healthy relations and long-lasting friendships.  Communication doesn’t only mean by words, sometimes it has to do with talking through our ideas, thoughts and emotions.  The basic idea about communication is to send out a message. How you do it in a clear, concise way is very crucial. And it absolutely necessary for the receiving end to get the messaging correctly to avoid miscommunication and conflict.

One example I can think from our daily life is while communicating over email. Often, we are too busy to run a second look through our work. Later it is brought to our notice that there was a typo in our email, which has caused miscommunication with the other party. This oversight could lead in coming across as sloppy and unprofessional. Another classic example is the use of short forms in text. What we need to highlight here is that not everyone is well versed with the SMS / Text lingo and can derive at a completely different understanding. Hence it is advisable to keep communication over text very clear and always follow it up with a call, to understand if the message is conveyed and understood correctly.

Another very important form of communication is intrapersonal communication. It can be defined as communication with one’s self, and that may include self-talk, acts of imagination and visualization, and even recall and memory. In my earlier blog I had touched upon goal setting, how about starting it with yourself?  You need to communicate all your goals and visions to yourself and align your daily activities around it.

Some of the practices that will help you with clear communications is:

Reading is your window to the world!

One of the age old tried and tested self-help techniques is that of reading. Reading is not age defined and if you have not yet explored this technique, it is never too late to rely on them to be your window to the world. Reading helps build your vocabulary and boosts your confidence as it improves your overall communication skills.

Practice Active Listening

Listening is an art and that is one of the most important traits of a good communicator.  You have to show people that you are interested in what they have to say and then expect to be heard out well in return.

Empathy

Empathy in today’s unprecedented times is a great emotion in order to communicate with anyone from your personal and professional circle. A critical leadership skill is to have empathy first, business second in every conversation. Most workplaces have employees from various diversities and cultures. Stereotyping communities and cultures are a big no. Best way to work this out is to keep an open mind while communicating and to set aside time to listen.

On most occasions it is of utmost importance to be able to communicate effectively in order to avoid miscommunications.

Stop saying ‘Yes’

If you think working on yourself requires a lot of work, you should know it requires a lot of undoing things as well. Firstly, you have to excel the art of saying ‘no’ and stop saying ‘yes’ to everything. If something causes you discomfort or is against your wish, you have to politely decline. And you have to know that it is completely natural and okay for you to do this. This frees up more room for you physically and mentally. Read my blog on the skill of saying an assertive ‘no’  to know more.

Stop pleasing everyone

Once you have mastered the art of saying ‘no’, the next thing to do is to understand that it is not your job to please everyone. You are free to chose a life that you want to own on your terms. It is not necessary to get an approval from everyone. Practically, since every individual is different it is seldom that you are able to align your doings with everyone. Hence take control of your life and stop seeking an approval from everyone. Begin to deal with change, one ‘no’ at a time and you will already feel it is liberating.

Here is an interesting article on the 8 bad communication habits you need to break immediately. Building your communication skills is a step forward in having a successful and happy life. This is a work-in-progress skill that you will need to continuously develop throughout your professional and personal life. Devote the best hours of your day for yourself to learn  the skill of communicating well. It is also very important to constantly ask questions and seek clarifications in order to seek more clarity. If you have been on track with the above activities and still need clarity on how to become a smarter 2.0 version of yourself, you can get in touch with me on my website or contact me to know more on how self-discipline plays an important role in personal development.

In the current situation, possessing only technical skills is not enough to get work done at the workplace. It doesn’t matter how hard-working or good an employee or employer you are, or how effective your working style is, your career will thrive on your soft skills. Among soft-skills, the most crucial one is communication because you can’t avoid communication in the workplace – whether it is real or virtual. Basically, completing a task or a project requires the support of the whole team, and without proper communication, things will remain under the rock.

It has been evident that adopting various techniques to ensure communication in the workplace is effective helps to create a happy workplace, to promote wellness in the workplace, helps employees in dealing with change in the workplace (like the scenario right now called for a great deal of adjustment and adaptation for professionals across the world owing to the colossal change caused by the pandemic) because the employees are satisfied, motivated and driven to achieve. Hence they are open to any kind of alterations and ammendments.

Here are some useful tips for effective communication that can help in creating a better workplace and in improving an individual’s professional life –

1. Active listening

Active listening means paying close attention to who you’re communicating with by engaging with them, asking questions and paraphrasing. Practicing active listening can build respect with your coworkers and increase understanding in the workplace. As you actively listen, focus on the speaker, avoiding distractions like cell phones, laptops or other projects, and by preparing questions, comments or ideas to thoughtfully respond.

Improve your active listening abilities by paying attention to other people’s facial expressions, body language and tone. Instead of preparing what you will say, focus on what the other person is saying and how they are saying it. If you need to clarify something, ask followup questions or rephrase what they’ve said to confirm that you understood them correctly.

2. Friendliness

A wise soul once said : ‘It is better to be kind than right’ and it is true many times. Friendly traits like respect  and kindness can help foster trust and understanding when communicating at work. Try to communicate with a positive attitude, keep an open mind and ask questions to help you understand where they’re coming from. Small gestures such as asking someone how they’re doing, smiling as they speak or acknowledging and  offering praise for work well done can help you foster productive relationships with colleagues and managers.

3.  Clarity

I want to share with you an interesting anecdote that happened many years back.. We had this super enthusiastic  young man in our community  who used to help us with errands at times. One day my mom told him to go to the market and look for some fresh vegetables. She had to take a 2 minute pause in the conversation to attend to some urgent work.. By then this young man darted to the market.  Perplexed, as my mom had not yet given him the list of veggies to buy, we waited for him to return. He returned to report to my mom that the veggies were indeed fresh and available. I still remember the young me rolling with laughter, but the importance of clear communication stuck to my mind.

When you’re speaking, it’s important to be clear and audible. Adjusting your speaking voice so you can be heard in a variety of settings is a skill, and it’s critical to communicating effectively. Speaking too loudly may be disrespectful or awkward in certain settings. If you’re unsure, read the room to see how others are communicating.

Another aspect of verbal communication is tonality. This involves your tone, your pitch, your accent pattern and the pauses you place between phrases. These details essentially reveal the emotion with which you are communicating and that can help your audience interpret your message better (or worse, if you use the inappropriate tone).

4. Confidence and positive attitude

In the workplace, people are more likely to respond to ideas that are presented with confidence. There are many ways to appear confident, including body language by making eye contact when you’re addressing someone, sitting up straight with your shoulders open and preparing ahead of time so your thoughts are polished and you’re able to answer any questions. 

5. Empathy

Having empathy means that while you may not agree with another point of view, you  can still try and understand from the other person’s point of view,  and also  acknowledge the emotions of others. This communication skill is important in both team and one-on-one settings. In both cases, you will need to understand other people’s emotions and select an appropriate response.

For example, if someone is expressing anger or frustration, empathy can help you  diffuse their emotion.  Being able to understand and share the feeling, when someone is feeling positive and enthusiastic can help you get support for your ideas and projects. In both the cases, the other person feels heard and understood.

6. Respect

A key aspect of this part is knowing when to initiate communication and respond. In a team or group setting, allowing others to speak without interruption is seen as a necessary communication skill tied to respectfulness. Respectfully communicating also means using your time with someone else wisely—staying on topic, asking clear questions and responding fully to any questions you’ve been asked.

Here’s an insightful read on how to treat employees with respect to increase productivity. This is a crucial factor as treating your team with respect (or not) can define the way they reciprocate and perform.

7. Body Language

Now the body language is another important factor in communicating well. For instance, while you’re leaning forward and your hands are very animated, it could demonstrate your enthusiasm and excitement, or it could show your aggression. In this case, your tonality and expressions come to play.

You could want to offer comfort or solace but you could come across as intruding and nosey if you end up leaning in too close to the other person. Now, on the other hand, if you are seated straight or standing straight with your shoulder wide, it indicates a calmer state of mind.

A relaxed, approachable stance with a friendly tone will encourage everyone to speak to you openly without any hesitation. Maintaining eye contact with the person with whom you are talking is also important. It establishes the fact that you are focused on that individual and the conversation. It keeps the person engaged in the conversation. 

Essentially, you need to understand that non-verbal signals are also a kind of communication. Non-verbal signs such as eye contact, facial expressions, gestures, nodding, etc. signify how a person is actually feeling. 

Good communication can help one sail through any kind of problems at the workplace. It can help employees in dealing with change – (growth, evolution, ups and downs), dealing with stress, find motivation and eventually create a happy workplace.

To read more about Change Management, you can pick up a copy of my book, also available in Kindle and Audible version from Amazon.

Most people feel perplexed when it comes to striking a balance between their personal and professional lives. The entire process relies on an individual’s goal setting and time management game. If one knows what they want in life, and how to manage time in a way that it catalyses the process of achieving what they want, the next steps of maintaining the perfect work life balance become easier. It is  because you’re focused,  more organized and better prepared in dealing with stress and other challenges.

I strongly believe that goals are the fuel that drive your ambition and teach you to pursue your dreams. Read this blog on the importance of work-life balance to understand why you need to create a balance before I go on to ‘how’.

Having a definite set of goals not only allows you to manage your time efficiently but also helps you to prioritize your work in such a way that you meet your targets. And when you learn to prioritise, you will find that maintaining work-life balance becomes easier.

Now although the term work–life balance is widely employed, an agreed definition of this term has proved elusive. So what really is work-life balance?

In your professional life, you obviously ought to dedicate time to your work, building skills and qualities that support your career development, networking and learning. In your personal life, you have to spare time for yourself, your family, friends and your hobbies. You also need to devote time to society. Like, how do you plan to give back to the community? – Because after all, we’re all social creatures. I strongly believe in the value system and believe it is the root of our tree of life. Let me give you an example here – children learn from us and as a mother, I have the power to inculcate kindness and show them the joy of giving.

I often get them to participate in a clothes collection drive where my children and their friends put together a package of pre-loved clothes that can be used by kids at an orphanage. This act allows them to feel compassion and the sheer happiness that comes from giving. Now things like these can take a lot of time (learning how to manage time is more important than you can imagine), energy and effort from you and certainly but it’s well worth it. And it’s much stronger and impactful than any textbooks.

So once you have the roots in place – like holding on to values such as empathy, compassion, being truthful, helpful, respectful and kind, you can start building your goals and targets in all the different spheres of life. And it is target-setting that will teach you how to manage time effectively and eventually enable you to strike a balance between your work and personal life.

To begin, rate the various aspects of your life in order of importance and then chalk out a plan on how to manage time in accordance with that so you can give a little of yourself to every fragment of your life. Here are some time management tips that, according to me, are highly effective and can teach you how to manage time successfully.

1. Start each day with a plan: Spend the first 30 minutes of each day, determining how you will spend the rest of it. Make a to-do list on your phone or use the old-fashioned pen and paper list. Your plan should prioritize action items and estimate how long each item will take you.
2. Shut out the distractions: One hugely problematic result of 24/7 connectivity is the constant receptivity to distractions. Perhaps you’re finally getting somewhere on that report you’ve been putting off. But then you receive a Facebook notification, and, oh look, somebody’s friending you! Many of us have come to believe that by blocking these distractions we are missing out on something important. That is rarely the case. Whatever you’re missing will be waiting for you when your work assignments are finished.
3. Make note of where your time is going: Do you have any idea how much of your day is spent on tea/coffee breaks? Now that we’re all working from home, we have the liberty to indulge in a quick nap or a longer-than-usual coffee break. Keep track of  all the unimportant activities you do during the time meant for more important things and strike t
4. Learn to delegate: If you want to have a life beyond work, don’t insist on doing everything yourself. With time, I’ve come to realize that a lot of us hate letting go of control. Maybe we believe that if we want something done right, we have to do it ourselves. But guide your subordinates and learn the art of delegation. Delegating takes getting used to but it has many advantages for managers and their employees alike. Remember that delegation is not a sign of weakness, it’s a sign of leadership.

You must know that none of what I’m saying is easy. We are slaves of habits, and easily fall back into the usual routine that keeps us feeling overwhelmed. But it is ever so important to take time off to slot all the different important aspects of your life because that goes a great way in helping with creating the right work life balance.

If you have been scuffling with setting the right goals, managing your time and maintaining work-life balance, or are facing any other issues that you believe may be hindering your growth, visit my website to book a coaching session with me. The session will offer you guidance on how to break vocational barriers and grow exponentially on the professional front.

During the course of my career as an ontological and wellness coach, I have come across a few people who don’t really believe in target setting. Perhaps, they are intimidated by the term ‘target setting’ because it can send your brain into a frenzy. It may make one feel overwhelmed about the goals they have to achieve, so they would rather choose to have no set goals and or direction and just go with the flow.

Now this is a natural reaction. Everyone loves to progress; however, we tend to procrastinate where there is fear of failure and the fear of being judged by others. We constantly reel under the apprehensions of ‘what will people think of us?’ or ‘will they laugh at us?’ But it’s so important to first understand and accept that nobody really focuses on these aspects because they’re all involved in their own lives dealing with their own trials and tribulations.

The next important factor is to ensure you have a set of goals and targets and to achieve them you must be ready to reinvent yourself! Become a new, improved version of yourself – call it the smart version 2.0 of you, if you must. This process will entail a great deal of self-discipline, self-confidence and self-belief. If you want to progress and move into leadership roles, possessing these qualities is utterly crucial. Self-discipline plays an important role in leadership development because many forms of personal development require self-discipline. It is instrumental in enabling you to sharpen your willpower and decision making skills along with building several other leadership qualities.

Along with self-discipline, there are several other things you can do to become a smarter version of yourself. Read them in this very insightful piece here.

Setting targets gives you a sense of control. Personally, I would always like to take that pause, take a step back, audit and amend. As you turn to the new, smarter version of yourself, audit your life, audit your habits, analyze how to manage time effectively, how to deal with stress, what is working well, where you can find better opportunities and where you failed. After all failure can be described as an opportunity to learn from and do better. It certainly is a tough lesson and it can come with a big cost, but the brighter side of it is you learn not to make the same mistakes again and the clever part is to accept, understand, move on and embrace change. Of course, dealing with change also takes a lot of effort. But if it’s the right kind of change, it keeps you in that positive space and this positive space is needed for not only progressing in life, trying out new things, or experimenting in life, it also helps you in facing your fears and in dealing with stress. I think it is the best success formula.

Setting targets also gives you a sense of direction. If you do not start with a target or a goal in mind, how do you know where you’re heading? It’s like having a roadmap to your journey. Make sure you make the journey worthwhile and fulfilling because you can be stressed and anxious and still achieve your targets and be deemed as being successful but if you lead a stressful, unhappy life it will definitely affect your lifestyle and your physical and mental well-being.

So if you want to be a smarter version of you, my take would be, to start with a focus a goal in mind. And for that much like you happily do the appraisals that your organization plans for you, do a 360-degree appraisal of yourself. Do it for your professional life, for your personal life, understand how to manage time and how to deal with stress. Rate yourself on a scale from 0 to 10, on where you stand in terms of your eating habits, your physical fitness, how good or bad you are at dealing with problems, dealing with stress and dealing with change. Evaluate what Zen steps or mindfulness activities you are following, rate your relationship with your family – your children, your spouse, your parents, and the people around you – your colleagues, friends, et al. I strongly believe taking time off to introspect will help you form these targets and once you have a target in mind, you can focus on the path ahead. Furthermore, in this path when you construct failures as opportunities, fears as an excitement to try something new, you become more enthusiastic in life, and you suddenly start feeling confident. Honestly, this has nothing to do with you having achieved your targets in real, it just becomes a part of how you are and how you feel – your outlook towards life, work and challenges changes – and that is how you become a new, 2.0 version of yourself.

Once you fixate your mind on transforming yourself into a better, smarter version of yourself, you can grab a read on ‘How to invest one hour of your time to create a successful you’ on my website. This resource will teach you how to use one hour every day to help you manage your energy for the day and bring back the zest in your life.

Target setting is important in many ways where it helps you begin with an end in mind, and that helps you be more motivated in achieving your goals. Without goals, you can lack focus and direction. Setting personal goals hands you the steering wheel, giving you the power to transform your own life into whatever direction you desire. By setting targets you can plan your day, week and month ahead, so it will help you be less overwhelmed and teach you how to deal with stress.

Consequently, once the stress reduces in your brain, it helps you relax and that sets the creative part of your brain going.

Now, to accomplish your goals, it is crucial to understand how to set them. This process begins with careful consideration, followed by ample amounts of hard work in order to achieve what we set out to do.

When I was younger, I had several duties to juggle with. I had to manage my children- their school, their meals, their homework, playtime and leisure time with my family – all alongside my career. The daily roster was always packed and I didn’t have the time or energy to pause, review my day and analyze how I could organize my time in a way that didn’t make me feel bogged down in work. But I often found myself wondering – How to deal with stress?  What is time management? Am I faltering at my time management game?

I spoke to friends and family, flipped through pages on the internet trying to find a solution and the one thing that constantly popped up was – Target setting! An interesting piece I stumbled upon while on my quest for tips and guidelines was a blog by Brian Tracy on importance of goal setting. You can read it here.

It was then I came to realize that if I had to find the answer to ‘How to deal with stress?’ then I had to understand how to manage time.

Dealing with change in lifestyle after marriage and children was not easy. I started to feel extremely overwhelmed and all over the place, losing hold over important activities, events and deadlines. That’s when I chose to organize myself and my routine. I believe that self-discipline plays an important role in leadership development because it allows you to stick to the roadmap you have created for yourself. So I decided to chart out the things I wished to achieve and how I was going to do it. I considered every element of my schedule to create a plan for myself – both short term and long term. And it worked wonders! Now when I look back I see how useful it is for all of us to take some time, even if it is for a couple of minutes, to step back and breathe, evaluate and set targets.

Here are some steps for effective goal setting:

1. Believe – in yourself and the process

The first, most important step to setting goals is having absolute faith and belief in the process. If you don’t have the confidence in yourself and your abilities, then your set targets will mean nothing. However, it is natural for your confidence to quiver sometimes. In times like these, look around you. Everything you can see began as a goal in someone’s mind. Allow this idea to motivate you and turn your thoughts into a reality. Also, understand that dealing with change is no cakewalk, but the eventual outcome will always be favorable.

• Create a storyboard

To start working on your targets, note them all down with a specific timeline (because remember, you must know how to manage time) and outcome. This can perhaps be the key to success, as writing down your goals will position you as the creator. If you neglect this step, you may continue to forget them or they will diminish in importance. Having them somewhere you can see them every day will help to reiterate their significance, instill the positivity of realizing them in your mind and increase your chances of achieving them.

• Set specific goals

A goal has a much greater chance of being accomplished if it involves specific facts and events. If your parameters and guidelines are vague, they can be misconstrued and easily skipped over. Specific goals provide regimen and precision to your plan.

• Set realistic goals

When you are unable to achieve something it can feel like a major setback and a demotivating factor. So it is important to be realistic. Your goal must signify an objective which you are able to work towards. And it is only you who can determine just how substantial your goal should be. You should also ensure there is a realistic chance that in a conducive environment, you are able to achieve it.

• Ensure continuous assessment           

As time passes, there is a possibility that your goals may change and evolve. The end result may not look anything like what you initially set out to do; however, this can still be a good thing as long as you’ve reached a desired stage in your professional and personal life. In order to learn from your mistakes and fix them along the way, constantly assess your progress throughout your goal-setting journey.

As aspiring professionals it is important to examine whether the goals you wish to achieve and the plan you’ve orchestrated for it is really applicable to you and your lifestyle. For the most effective goal setting, ensure you are planning your steps wisely and establishing a realistic time frame that will allow you to carry out those steps. Stick to the plan, no matter what. Self-discipline plays an important role in leadership development because it helps an individual focus and get things done.

Also, setting both personal and professional goals will help give a structure and path to success. Companies value candidates that have a record of setting and achieving goals. This shows that you can be a reliable, focused, goal-oriented employee. And if you run a business or are self-employed, it shows your associates that you are a resolute, dedicated individual driven for success.

For further tips on goal setting and managing life, career, health and wellness in tandem, visit my website to purchase your copy of the Time Management Matrix – a visual tool to help you invest your time optimally so that you can build good, sustainable habits.