The Game of Change

Geeta Ramakrishnan

#success

Claim your power on Life.

By

Do you struggle with work-life balance?
Are you successful at work and your other priorities like family or social life takes a hit? Or are you the type that gets so engrossed in your day-to-day mundane things, that you are unable to focus on the larger picture.

My Personal Experience…
I can tell you from my own personal experience of being in a family business, of bringing up two children, being a wife to an ambitious husband and… I also want to be very confident and hands on at work and at home. It all sounds good but in practice I realized that the balance was not so easy. Meaning when I used to focus more at work, at business, I realize it was at the cost of my attention at home and to my children. And being a very protective mother, it took a big toll on my emotion. And then when I decided to focus more on my children and my house, I notice that it took a toll at work and on our social life. When I say it took a toll on me, it affected my confidence level and at some point, it started affecting my health because I was feeling stressed and unhappy most of the time. I was living in resentment and started playing the blame game, blaming others for my unhappiness and stress. And believe me when you are in that circle it is very hard to objectively see things in perspective, as I can see it today.

Work, Family or Me, what comes first?
Many times, when I ask people to rate in order of priority: your work, your family and you, the most common answer is work of course because that is your bread and butter and then comes family and then if you have some time let over then it is you. Now look at it this way. If you start from ‘me, then family and then work’ what does that entail. What I mean by that is, if you start with focusing and taking care of yourself first, taking care of your physical fitness, of your healthy eating habits, your mental fitness, so that you feel strong and physically healthy and mentally alert. This way you show up more calm and less stressed and more present at work and to your family. You will find yourself less likely to be snappy, to be irritated and more likely to be pleasant often.

Getting your Best:
This general mood that you wear allows you to get your best done. And it increases your efficiency at whatever you want to do. It is a great idea to start by taking some time off and focus your attention and your thought on what you really want from life, what goals you want to achieve, say one year down the line. Now spread these goals into professional goals, into physical fitness goals, into family goals and some social type of goals. Then work backwards, prioritizing your every-day. You will soon realize that you must let go of certain things because they were not so important now and you have to give more of your energy of other things that work towards you achieving your goals. This will help keep your day more organized and you will be able to handle stress with calmer.

Positive Frame of Mind:
Another great aspect that I realized, something that is very easy to do and yet so important, is being in a positive frame of mind. Now you can ask, if things are going so bad around you, how can you be in a positive frame of mind. Now think about this fact … there is always a 50% chance of things going the right way, so why not give your focus and attention to the positive side of things. For example, if you had to work with the team and you thought the team members were so bad at organizing, instead of getting annoyed at them, try saying this. ‘I like your effort and I like that you’re also enthusiastic and want to make it happen’. You will notice a sudden happy change in mood of the team members. When you start appreciating more, people try to make that extra effort for you.

End Result:
So how does all this go with the Work-life balance. You are in a lighter frame of mind. You can give more of you to the family and to your work, and you are able to achieve more because you have converted that stressed and unhappy self to a very enthusiastic and positive person. This forms a good backbone to a work-life balance. You can life to its fullest, enjoy life, achieve your goals, and ace your professional and personal life and claim your power back from life.

Need more ideas to deal with Stress?
For more inspiration and ideas on handling stress and achieving success in what you seek, you can read through all my blogs.

Interested in taking this Further?
Curious about my coaching methods and easy to follow tips and tricks in managing your stress and achieving success in professional and personal life?
To learn more about Winning the Game of Change, you can schedule a complimentary coaching call from my website : https://coachingwithgeeta.com/book-a-session/

Keep a watch….
Uploading some complimentary resources ..coming soon

7 Tips to Ace Your Exam

By

My article from Femina

https://www.femina.in/life/knowledge-and-education/7-practices-you-never-knew-could-enhance-exam-performance-171304.html?fbclid=IwAR1Bc3JySscYynxyDRqShwv8IioCwA5LT2i2pKw28NFT5L5WnMmx7LQMGZs

Expert Speak: 7 Practices You Never Knew Could Enhance Exam Performance

A question that probably lingers in the mind of every student is, “How do I become perfect in exam preparation?” The answer to this question is like an asymptotic to a curve – you cannot exactly reach it, but you can get close to it. To ace your exams, you need to perfect your preparation techniques.

Treat studying like a 9-5 job, so when you unwind in the evening, you won’t feel guilty. Also, by implementing a routine, you will teach yourself that during these hours you must be doing things relevant to your studies like revising for an exam, doing the required reading or working on assignments/projects. Give yourself an hour’s lunch break like at a workday and then at 5 pm you can wrap up. This can also help reinforce a healthy sleeping pattern which will improve your memory.

When you understand a concept, memorisation follows naturally. Try to understand the core of what you’re learning and build upon that, versus memorising for each test and forgetting afterwards. This will also help you master your final exams!

For those moments when you can’t conceivably have your nose stuck in a book – while you’re walking, driving, exercising, folding laundry – considering listening to a recording that complements your studying. Whether you have recordings of your professor’s lectures, found a podcast on the topic, or taped yourself reading over your notes, plug in your earbuds and listen up. This is especially helpful for auditory learners who do best when they hear (and not read!) information. 

Now, this tip might only work for particular subjects, as not every subject or degree has pragmatic answers in exams and coursework. However, for instances where you and your course mates have all had to read or memorise information for an exam – get together and have a quiz night. Create a set of relevant questions and answers, get into teams and quiz each other. Hopefully, the competitive streak will help you remember information and also have fun.

It could be chocolate, 10 minutes of social media or television or maybe a nap, the choice is yours. When you have something to look forward to, you’ll tend to be more dedicated to finishing that task. No cheating, though.

Within 12 to 24 hours of the test, it’s time to stop studying. You’re not going to learn a lot of new content. The likelihood is much higher that you’re going to stress yourself out and confuse yourself. For the last-minute studier, flashcards can be a good resource. They can earn you a few more points on test day, and it’s a much healthier thing to do than starting on page one of the textbook.

t cannot be stressed enough how important this factor is. If you eat heavy, unhealthy foods late at night, your brain isn’t going to be in prime form. As such, it’s especially important to factor food into your study routine! Fruits and nuts are particularly good choices during munch time. And fuel goes beyond what you’re putting in your mouth: Getting enough quality sleep and taking some time to recharge is also super important. After all, what’s good for the body is good for the mind.

In conclusion, one simple fact that students tend to forget is that relaxation is not a luxury. It is a necessity, especially while preparing for examinations or your brain will be in a daze. Studying can be mentally exhausting, and if you don’t give your brain some rest, it will burn out. But relaxation should not become procrastination. Ensure that relax enough to re-energise your brain.

Coaching VS Counseling

By

In this extensive article for Medium, I map out the difference between coaching and counseling, the core essence of these two words, along with the approach followed by the two practices. Both help us brighten our outlook towards the world, and teach us how to deal with essential parts of our inner lives.

https://medium.com/@tejali/ever-wondered-what-is-the-difference-between-coaching-and-counseling-here-are-four-of-them-aac56739a10

Ever wondered what is the difference between coaching and counseling? Here are four of them

Coaching and counseling, both germinate with the same premise. The presumption for both will always remain that every individual undergoes pain in their life in some form or the other. And that many individuals do not go to the bottom of the core problem and rather live with the wound unhealed — raw or camouflaged. This happens more unconsciously and many accept their problem as part of life and do not feel the need to seek help. Sometimes these often recurring problems are so entrenched into their daily way of living, that it seems normal. This is mainly due to the lack of awareness on what counseling and coaching are and what it has to offers and how it can help people. Some people also live in denial and do not want to accept they have a problem. The social stigma and acceptance level of going to a counselor or a coach, let alone a psychologist or a psychiatric is still very negative. This can lead to self-sabotage of some kind. At some point in their life, to desire a different result, they must allow themselves to become vulnerable, to seek help. After all, everything you want is on the other side of fear, as aptly said by Jack Canfield, an American author and motivational speaker who co-authored the Chicken Soup for the Soul series.

Mental illness like prolonged bouts of feeling sad or depressed for no apparent reason, where going through with your day to day activities becomes a challenge, or feeling suicidal requires immediate help and clinical treatment. On the other hand if you are surrounded with stress and don’t know how to handle it, like un-reconcilable differences or conflict in a relationship or at work, you feel stuck in life, you lack motivation and don’t know what the next better step in life is, or you are curious and want some help with introspecting life, what do you do? If you do decide to step out and seek help to help, would you go to a counselor or a life coach? The biggest difference in coaching and counseling is the difference in approaches. Life coaches focus on creating a new life path to achieve certain goals. They help you introspect and help you find your solutions. They focus on the now and what next. Whereas counselors focus on specific problems in hand and look into emotional resolutions to past problems to move forward, finding solutions to those specific problems, while making ‘healing’ as one of the main objectives. One must be aware of the many areas of overlap between these above methods of seeking help.

Let us explore more on the differences between coaching and counseling

Coaching helps you take action and Counseling enables you to cope\

You seek a life coach when you are surrounded with stress, feel stuck in life with a problem or an issue, not knowing how to handle it and feel frustrated in life, you have low self-confidence, you need motivation, you need to be a better version of yourself and need that push, you need help to reflect your next step, you are unhappy and unsatisfied in your job and maybe want to change your job or your profession, you are feeling low, you have a relationship issues, you want a better work-life balance, you want to improve your health but don’t know the next step and you need someone to handhold you, you procrastinate and waste time and need help in planning and organizing your life better.

Coaches focus on introspection and are action-oriented when it comes to resolving the issue. They believe in giving the clients problem-solving skills rather than specific solutions to a problem. It helps the client handle and successfully adapt to any other situation and stress the client may face in the future. They work with you to identify the problem, set goals to resolve the problems and create a path to achieve the goals.

Some situations which can help by going to a counselor are when you have addiction issues like smoking, alcohol, substance abuse, eating disorders like excessive eating or anorexia, physical or verbal abusive behavior, any phobias like fear of water or crowded places, feeling frustrated with others, suffered a traumatic experience, maybe a bereavement, or sometimes you are just feeling demotivated. Counselors encourage their clients to talk about their problems and help them cope with the problems that they are facing by finding solutions to those problems. They take you to your past, delve in the emotional turmoil, looking for links and solutions to your issues. Healing forms a big part of finding solutions. They also work with other coping mechanisms like communication skills, group support, and therapy to get better solutions for the problems at hand. This enables clients to either reduce or tolerate the stress or conflict in their lives. Broadly there are two types of coping mechanisms: active and avoidant. Counselors also guide clients on using adaptive coping mechanisms such as support, relaxation, physical activity or humour.

Feeling and thinking

A life coach assists one in thinking and introspection. And thinking is hard! This by itself is challenging. Thinking is encouraged to overcome a situation and to optimize potential. Counselors help one realize the deepest of the feelings. They support one with a lot of understanding and help one stay at peace.

Goal-centric vis-à-vis clarity-centric

Coaches are trained to help one see clearly where one is today and then move towards the goals. Counselors create a safe and supportive space to find out where one is tuck in their life and not able to liberate themselves.

Training and certification

Counselors have various master’s and doctorate degrees and they are licensed by their respective states too. Coaches obtain certification through an accredited program like the International Coaching Federation and there are no degree requirements. Though coaching training does consist of several weekends of in-person training along with online modules. Case studies are submitted for review. Counselors in the UK have extensive training in human emotions and thinking, followed by being a supervised trainee. However, anyone can legally designate themselves as a counselor or a coach in the UK. This is different in the United States, where it is not legal to call oneself a counselor without recognised training. In India, most counselors have a background in psychology. Hence it is important to ask one’s coach or counselor about their training.

We would also like to cover a few myths on this subject:

Myth 1

Coaching only focuses on the present and the future. Counseling exclusively focuses on the past.

Myth 2

Counselors offer advice and on what to do, whereas, coaches do not.

Summary:

Coaching helps people achieve their goals. The basic presumption itself of coaching is that coaching clients are in a healthy mental and physical space and are prepared to receive guidance and direction on how to achieve their goals. And hence the work involved is on getting inspired and motivated on planning, changing and updating.

Counselors create safe and supportive spaces so that one can explore questions like ‘where one is stuck’, ‘who one really is’ and ‘how to cope up with what one is facing in life’. Counselors help you identify problems and act as a solid support system to assist you in gaining strength.

Parenting

By

The joy of being a parent is something that cannot be explained but needs to be experienced. But it is also something that seriously requires your time, financial, physical and emotional commitment. My article in Femina lists down some of the ways in which you can manage your energies as a parent!

https://m.femina.in/relationships/parenting/managing-your-energy-as-a-parent-166673-4.html?fbclid=IwAR3yWdvigpIbIQRLsk6Nc6cbPU8lT_7SkxInYMzExh4xwQiUprWzd9Xh_dY

Being a perfect parent is a myth. Yet this is a constant endeavour as parents. To begin with, the decision to be a parent entails enormous responsibilities. As prospective parents, you need to give serious thought to the time, financial, physical and emotional commitment. Yet sometimes too many thoughts, ifs and buts, am I capable, and can we afford, does not work either. The joy of being a parent is something that cannot be explained but need to be experienced. You can never be prepared enough when your bundle of joy arrives and turns your world upside down.

With young children, you need to be high energy super-parents. You have to multitask, and be there for them and somehow magically manage your work, find time for yourself, your relationship and your social life. Young children depend on you for their physical needs and emotional support. It is worth investing in getting a perfect time management routine in place, with both parents chipping in.

Despite this juggling, often parents need some help and support. Enrolling the grandparents and friends or outsourcing help is usually a win-win formula. It can give you, as a parent, some free time for each other, to gather your sometimes chaotic and fast-paced life. This allows you to be fully available as parents, where you are more fun to be with rather than be stressed and in an angry mood.

When you are with your children, give them your 100 per cent attention. By attending office calls during family time, you are unconsciously sending the message that they are less important to you, while ironically, you are working for your family. The best parts of your childhood are not those expensive gifts your parents gave you; it is the time you spent together, the times you laughed and played together. Wouldn’t you want to provide the same to your children?\

If your life is more organised and disciplined, your children learn by example. Co-create the rules and boundaries together, enrolling the children in the process. Define the consequences of breaking the rules. It need not be severe. Missing the weekend out or washing the dishes perhaps. And follow through with it. Playing board games or doing a barbeque together is excellent family bonding exercises.

Your children learn from you. Empower them with ethical values like mutual respect and empathy. Teach them through example, by living it yourself. Engage them in social discussions and increasing their awareness. Allow them to make their mistakes and learn from it, nurturing them into mature young adults ready to transform a better tomorrow, a better world.

Online Content : Increase Visibility

By

https://simplebusinesshelp.com/blogs/leadership-development/what-s-the-best-way-to-get-people-to-read-your-content-in-a-crowded-online-world?fbclid=IwAR3rIjoYwZ1UIMD0Q-MQdSlHH7q785-IUWxC-wmXEKTEtRsoxIDD08DsaTI

Our content is always close to the heart, and is aimed at sending out a beautiful message to as many people as possible. In a world filled with ready availability of a plethora of content all over the internet, I provide useful insights and tips on helping your content reach as many people as possible, in this article by experts all over the world.

Below excerpts from Barndon’s article…

‘One of the most asked questions I receive is, “What’s the best way to get people to read your content in a crowded online world?” So what I did, is reach out to recent Entreprenuer.com content authors to gain their insight as they’ve already mastered their content marketing strategies.

The insider knowledge each content creator shares is magical. There’s no need to rewrite the book when there’s already a proven strategy that works. Enjoy their answers, and be sure to connect and follow them on their social channels as they can help you improve your authority and influence.’

READ AND LEARN FROM THE EXPERTS…

The simplest way to get people to read your content in a crowded online world is to be really clear on WHO you’re talking to… many books, articles and pieces of content get overlooked because the writer or publisher is trying to talk with too many different audiences and isn’t laser-focused on a particular niche or a segment. If you’re incredibly clear on who you’re talking to, that will lead to much more relevant information that those types of people are likely to seek out. If I feel like you really know and understand me and all of my problems and desires, I’ll pay attention to you and filter out those who don’t speak to me as directly.’ -Brandon Schaefer

My contribution to the article:

When you become vulnerable and show up as your authentic self, sharing your life learnings and experiences as against just posting inspirational quotes and sermons, you are more likely to draw people’s attention over hundreds of thousands of material floating in this crowded online world. People are looking for an emotional connection, wanting to know and see and hear how you live your life, handle your daily stress, what you eat to stay healthy perhaps and what you do to relax.

Your Ultimate Work From Home Guide

By

  1. Set your space: Find an area in your house where you can sit comfortably and focus. Make it separate to your relaxation space. Ideally away from a TV screen or other distractions.
  2. Take Notes: Zoning out? Note-taking keeps your mind engaged
  3. Plan your Day: If you have a list of things to do, break it down into tasks and plan to do the hardest once when you have the most energy.
  4. Lessen Distraction : Harness your imagination and picture that you’re at work and not at home. Lock your phone away if you need to.
  5. Change it up: You probably have a schedule for your work, but if things are becoming difficult to focus on, take a 5-min break and come back to it – maybe listen to some soothing music for a bit.
  6. Take a break – Get up once in a while and have a snack break
  7. Journal it – use a journal to track your progress so you are in control of everything.
  8. Be positive – When things get tough, don’t just push through it. An excited and eager to learn attitude will speed up your progress.

Blog 29/52 : Emotional vs Practical

By

Monday Blog 29/52

Finding the balance between our emotional self and our thinking practical self is an art that comes with wisdom and practice. Sonia noticed her best friend was constantly becoming argumentative and they were not getting along as they used to. Sonia was sad. Yet she did not react or confront. She also did not jump into conclusions. One day she decided to meet her friend over coffee, saying she was upset and wanted to iron out a few things. They realized with time they had grown apart, in views and thoughts. While Sonia still couldn’t come to terms with it, they decided to agree to disagree and still be close friends, glad to have had this difficult conversation.

7 Virtual Team Building Exercises in the Times of Work from Home

By

My article from Femina.in, dates 21 July 2020

7 Virtual Team Building Exercise in the Times of Work from Home

https://m.femina.in/life/careers-and-money/virtual-team-building-exercises-in-the-times-of-work-from-home-164728-6.html?fbclid=IwAR1v6ex3vdylVk8WOvcJ79rUVcTjdt4gEy7qW1fwAt-yykL2gURuX1Hv9I4

One of the crucial factors for a healthy & productive work environment is a strong team. With the world situation today, it is essential to motivate each other, and lift ourselves up together. Here are some of my specially curated virtual team building exercises. Each of these activities can have an impact on the collective consciousness, enhancing the professional, physical, and emotional well-being and development of employees.