When something gets you down, do you wallow in the misery? Do you let yourself feel like crud? Or do you use it as an opportunity to look for the bright side of it and grow? Both are possible outcomes and both have a place. The important thing is to learn from the incident and move ahead.

When tragedy strikes I am not suggesting you ‘poo-poo’ it off. On the contrary, you should stay in the moment and grieve, feel your emotions, process your feelings. These are all necessary. But to stop there is a problem. Take some time to examine how you can learn from this and how you may prevent it from occurring in the future.

When you turn bad into good, you will feel awesome!

We are often warned not to push anyone into a corner because that is when they fight their best and most vicious battles. A good hunter will never force a wild animal in a situation from where it perceives no escape; the animal must feel there is still some escape route. Because it is when the animal loses hope of escape, that it will fight at its wildest and cause the worse harm.

A cornered creature, man or animal, is dangerous, even vicious. For, that is the point at which one loses all fear. You become fearless when you lose that which you value the most. Because, when that happens, the rest doesn’t really seem to matter as much. And, you also realize the futility of having lived in fear of losing something that is now beyond reach.

You understand that you could possibly have been able to enjoy the finer intricacies of your object of desire much more if you hadn’t lived in constant fear of losing it. When you lose it, you see the futility of all the anxiety, the heartburn over it. You start looking for and finding ways of living without it. and the human mind and spirit, amazingly resilient as they are, discover reasons and conviction for why you are better off iwthout that which is now lost.

And that is the point at which you start enjoying the positive aspects of fearlessness. For, when you fear nothing, nobody can manipulate you anymore. You would be your own person and not dependent on anyone for your happiness or peace of mind. Your best bouts of courage are reserved for times when you have nothing to lose.

Most manipulations in relationships occur because we hand over the weapon of our fear to be used against us to those we love most. A lover is able to manipulate his beloved’s emotions by threatening withdrawal of love and care. He will sulk, not talk or withdraw caring gestures – all the things that a loved one values. So you givein, bow to the will of the lover, and make compromises, all for fear of losing that which is cherished.

On the other hand, if the lover overplays his hand and carries on the withdrawal act beyond a point, the beloved may finally get used to the idea of rejection and taking the loss as a fate accomplish, lose all fear in the relationship.

Fear of losing leaves you impotent not just in relationships but also in everyday situations such as your work life, with friends or relatives and even with strangers. It extends beyond material things to prestige, respect, happiness, peace of mind, etc.

At work, how often we let people get away with delivering shoddy work, doing an injustice to someone or cheating us just because we fear losing our peace of mind over an altercation! we allow incompetent people to underperform for fear of creating a situation and so losing our calm.

For courage is not just required for doing battle, but also for maintaining a sense of calm, for making money for living a good life – in short for everything. the ‘fight or flight’ syndrome kicks in irrespective of the fact whether the thing we fear losing in physical, mental or a financial threat.

Those who can learn the trick of transcending this fear of loss, would find the courage to enjoy that which they love most while they still retain it. What is needed, rather than running away or controlling or suppressing or any other resistance, is understanding fear; that means, watch it, learn about it, come directly into contact with it. We are to learn about fear, not how to escape from it.

Think of worst that can possibly happen. Get used to the idea and accept it. From there on, things can only get better… and you can acquire courage even as you retain the object you feared losing, for you fear that no more. You know loss is a possibility and you are moving ahead with that in mind.

You can conquer almost any fear if you will only make up your mind to do so. For remember, fear doesn’t exists anywhere except in the mind.

The enemy is fear. We think it is hate; but, it is fear. – MAHATMA GANDHI

But the sad truth is that fury and intolerance bear away a man’s good reason. It is true that intolerance is never without a reason, but seldom with a good one. In fact, intolerance is the fret, fury and frenzy of the soul. Intolerance is hard to combat because it is willing to buy revenge with a whole life. But controlling the intolerance of one angry moment may mean avoiding a lifetime’s remorse. Shakespeare was entirely accurate when he wrote in Coriolanus; “Anger’s my meat; I sup upon myself!” To be angry is to take revenge upon ourselves for the faults of others.

Anger can surface without warning in the most loving and long-standing relationships. When a childhood friend suddenly flares up over something totally innocuous, it is better to ignore the angry present and focus instead on the harmonious past. Anger makes people insensible, be it a good friend or sibling.

Anger is an emotional state that varies in intensity from mild irritation to intense fury and rage. Anger is accompanied by physiological and biological changes. when we get angry, our heart rate goes up and the blood pressure rises, as do energy hormone levels, pumping adrenaline and noradrenaline into the system.

Is anger becoming a 21st century affliction? Some say these changing times make people workaholic and egoistic. Modern life may see many more expressions of anger than before, but could it be that we simply know about them now because the world’s information flow has multiplied to enormous levels? Or could there have been lots of unexpressed anger in earlier times?

Medically speaking, people who remain intolerant and angry most of the time are most susceptible to hypertension and related heart/brain diseases. Re-living unsuccessful or humiliating situations over and over can prove bad for one’s health. Simply remembering an incident that once made you angry can be stressful for the heart.

Often, terrible hurt owing to intolerance takes just minutes to inflict but forgiving the perpetrator requires time. Initially, we experience negative feelings such as anger, sadness and shame. then we try to make sense of what happened. Ultimately we learn to see the person who hurt us through new eyes.

So what is to be done to face angry people? the best way to feel better is the very opposite of revenge. It is saying the words, “I forgive you.” That could be the most powerful things we will ever do. Forgiving doesn’t mean giving in. It means letting go.

Once we forgive, we are no longer emotionally handcuffed to the person who hurt us. when we forgive, we reclaim our power to choose. One can express once’s anger, disappointment or intolerance with a trusted friend or counselor, giving us the strengthening experience of being heard. That is a way to let go of one’s feeling without the danger of saying or doing any thing we will later regret. It is equivalent of punching a pillow. Keeping a journal could help.

If at all you are feeling furious, you can try these things,

- Breathe deeply, from your diaphragm; breathing from your chest won’t relax you.

- Picture your breath coming up from your gut. Slowly repeat a calm word or phrase such as “relax”, “take it easy”. Repeat while breathing deeply.

- Use imagery; visualize a relaxing experience, from memory or imagination.

- Gentle and slow exercises can relax your muscles and make you feel much calmer.

- You could also try the stress buster machines at your nearest gym or spa.

When we are motivated we get following benefits.

* creativity – Once you become focused and motivated, creativity is a natural “side-effect”.
* energy – People who are motivated need less sleep and possess more excitement.
* health – When you are motivated, you have more reasons to get and stay healthy.
* magnetism – Others are naturally drawn to winners and people who are constantly energized.
* momentum – Building and maintaining momentum will breed more motivation and vice verse.
* multiplication – Motivation and energy is contagious! It will spread like wildfire.
* recognition – Others respect you for your achievements because people want to be associated with a winner. They will willingly offer their assistance.
* productivity – Motivated people get more done. They move quickly, deliberately, and maintain a can-do attitude along the way.

How to Develop Motivation

We must keep our goals in mind daily through writing them or reading what we have already written. It’s so easy to get caught up in the daily cycle that we make no effort to push forward. How many times have you said to yourself, “Wow, it’s Friday already?” Long-term goals get placed on the back burner and we simply react to whatever happens in our lives instead of leading the way. We may have been “busy” this week, but most times we haven’t accomplished anything significant. This will only make you feel worse which creates a domino-effect. Staying thankful of the things that you do have is a solid way of warding off negative thoughts and emotions.

Once we reach a major milestone, it is crucial to create a much higher goal and celebrate the achievement. In fact, it’s a good idea to celebrate the achievement before it arrives. When you do this, you put faith in God(universe or whatever you believe in) and yourself that what you desire WILL happen.

Are you motivated? What’s holding you back?

Is that good enough? Or, does one need to apply more stringent, rigid standards? In a book called “The Difficulty of Being Good” – By Gurcharan Das. He has examined the Mahabharata through an analysis of the one predominant characteristics – good or bad – of each of the epic’s characters. What is heartening is that all good characters in the epic seem confused too, at some point or other.

Yudhishthira is convinced he cannot declare war against his elders and brothers, but still does so; Arjuna is dead against killing his grandfather, his teacher and an unarmed Karna, and yet does it; Bhishma is goodness personified, but he doesn’t try to stop his grandchildren from attempting to disrobe the hapless Draupadi in court. He also leads the armies of one set of grandchildren against another!

Who can deny Lord Krishna’s goodness? and yet, at times we question the advice he gave Arjuna that let to the killing of his grandfather Bhishma, his teacher Drona and his brother Karna! Goodness, it seems, is confusing.

The goody-goody characters on television confound the confusion. They are so good, so pure, so butter wouldn’t melt in their mouth that they are not just unbelievable, but actually irritating! They suffer vicissitudes and insults with never a word against those who persecute them. Their ‘nobility’ makes you squirm in your seat.

Now, why should goodness irritate? But truth is that too big a shot of goodness does arouse discomfort! All of us know at least one friend, aunt, cousin, or even our parent or sibling who irriate with their saccharine goodness or obsession of self-sacrifice! They are so good that they seem Divine! Such people are an anachronism in today’s world! They set such high standards that they make us feel inadequate.

Mahabharata too has its moments of irritating goodness. Yudhisthira is calm and unmoved during the period of exile as Draupadi’s temper blazes. “Why be good?” she asks and “Why doesn’t your anger blaze?” His goodness at that point is irritating to his beloved wife and brothers, as enumerated by Gurcharan Das.

The Mahabharata reminds us once again about the difficulty of being good.

Is it important to have some bit of vice because the bad instinct is inborn, a part of us? And goodness is the struggle against that instinct; we all achieve varying degrees of success and so are good in different ways. That’s human. And so Krishna is good, so are Yudhishthira and Arjuna. Their struggle against evil, their moments of weakness and their repentance make them so.

So then, are we saying that actually, it is the evil within us that makes us good? Just as without darkness, who would appreciate light? How can you be good if you have no shade of bad within you?

In any life, the only constant is change. Everyone faces different phases of life. Our ability to deal with those changes dexterously is called creativity. It requires that one be willing to step away from easy answers and quick solutions. It needs one to look beyond the familiar and into uncharted territory. Ultimately, creativity is about risk and courage.

As a toddler; we find life gloriously free from responsibility. As we grow older, social norms require us to adapt our behavior to the external world. Gradually, we get programmed to behave in a certain way.

It is almost a metaphor for life, which forces us to adapt to real time change. For example, life changes once we get married and have children, The carefree life changes into a life of responsibility. It is possible to feel stifled by the link between one’s behavior and the way others fee.

Every aspect of life requires us to be creative. As circumstances change, we should be able to dance in the moment. Many people find themselves unable to accept changed circumstances, making for great frustration. For instance, a strategy shift in an organization inf the form of either a merger or an acquisition will affect many employees. Some get more responsibility and some may lose jobs. Just months ago, recession forced change on reputable organizations, some of which filed for bankruptcy. Many faced management changes, retrenchment and relocation of employees. Many found employees resentful and confused.

These reactions indicate a collective and destructive emotion even though every individual should instead, take ownership of his/her reaction. The downturn was an irreversible process. But how does one handle such a devastating situation? We need to understand that once an event has occurred, it is entirely up to us to choose the way we accept and move forward. When we resist change, we stagnate.

Creativity requires the courage to let go of certainties. Conditions for creativity are to be puzzled; to concentrate; to accept conflict and tension; to be born everyday; to feel a sense of self.

Creativity in our interaction with people is one of the most crucial skills a human being can have. It is also the one that people focus on least, choosing instead to concentrate on developing our academic skills or general knowledge.

So, what is it that prevents us from accepting change? Our fear of failure because we underestimate our capacity to learn new things. It appears unthinkable because the mind says, “I am best at what I do”. But how will you ever know if you are good or bad at something else unless you try it. There are also the social pressures of being at a particular level in our job and egotistic anger about being passed over, say, for promotion. The right question for those who wait for the perfect job, perfect boss, perfect organization and perfect colleagues, is; “How perfect am I?”

Change by definition is temporary. The pace at which a person accepts the change and moves on truly shows his creativity. Re-creating one’s own life the highest form of creativity because “the future doesn’t just happen, it’s shaped by decisions.”

* When our ancestors encountered an enemy or a wild animal on a jungle trail, there were only a limited number of things they could do. They could fight, run away, become paralyzed with indecision, or give up. Each of these responses matches the four emotions just mentioned. But in the much more complicated jungle of modern life, these emotions are often no longer useful, and may actually do us a great deal of harm.
* In the following illustration, we will use depression as an example of how to the techniques of cognitive-behavioral therapy can be employed to reduce or eliminate the unwanted emotion of depression. But these techniques will work equally well with any of the others.

2. Recognize that emotions don’t just appear mysteriously out of nowhere. Ask yourself throughout the day: “How am I feeling right now?” If you can, keep a journal. When you feel depressed, stop and notice the situation that produced it. Rate your mood on a scale from 1-100, with 1 being the least intense and 100 being the most intense that you are able to feel.

3. Notice what was going through your mind at the time. Suppose you suddenly find yourself feeling 50% depressed. Stop and analyze what you were thinking about, until you find the “automatic thought” that was the cause of your depression. Your boss may not have made eye contact with you at lunch, for example; and without even being aware of it, the thought may have been in the back of your mind, “He’s getting ready to fire me!”

4. Write down the evidence which supports the automatic thought that produced the depression. For example, you may have let slip something that you should not have said which angered him, but which it is too late to retract.

5. Write down the evidence that is against the automatic thought. When you begin to think about it, you might realize that since nobody gets along well with this particular boss, he can’t afford to actually fire anyone, because the department is too short-staffed.

6. Ask yourself, “What is another way to look at the situation that is more rational and more balanced than the way I was looking at it before?” Taking this new evidence into account, you may conclude that your job is safe, regardless of your boss’s petty annoyances. You still may not like your job or your boss, and you may want to look for another job. But at least you can take the time to find a good one — and you won’t have to worry about losing your house!

7. Rate you mood now, on a scale of 1-100, and see how much better you feel. You not only have a new set of beliefs which are less likely to lead to depression, you also have an action plan which will permanently change your mood by changing your work setting.

8. Continue working on your emotions in this manner until you are able to control them! It takes considerable practice to overcome habits of thought which have developed over a period of years. Greenberger and Padesky’s workbook, Mind Over Mood, listed in the “Sources and Citations” section at the bottom of this page, may be helpful for this purpose. It contains several more illustrations of how cognitive behavior therapy can be used to change your moods, along with a number of workbook exercises which will help you to reduce or eliminate your own unpleasant emotions.

9. You can also directly eliminate many of the underlying core beliefs which give rise to your disturbing thoughts and negative emotions. Albert Ellis compiled a list of ten irrational ideas which upset us. They are all false, but many of us have are inclined to at least some of them part of the time. You can get rid of these ideas by debating within yourself until you have cast them out. Here’s his list of potential culprits.

* I must be perfect in all respects in order to be worthwhile. Nobody can be perfect in everything that we have to do in life. But if you believe that you’re a failure unless you are perfect in every way, you are setting yourself up for a lifetime of unhappiness.
* I must be loved and approved of by everyone who is important to me. Sometimes you just can’t help making enemies, and there are people in the world who bear ill will to almost everyone. But you can’t make your own life miserable by tring to please them.
* When people treat me unfairly, it is because they are bad people. Most of the people who treat you unfairly have friends and family who love them. People are mixtures of good and bad.
* It is terrible when I am seriously frustrated, treated badly, or rejected. Some people have a such a short fuse that they can are constantly losing jobs or endangering friendships because they are unable to endure the slightest frustration.
* Misery comes from outside forces which I can’t do very much to change. Many prison inmates describe their life as if it were a cork, bobbing up and down on waves of circumstance.
* If something is dangerous or fearful, I have to worry about it. Many people believe that “the work of worrying” will help to make problems go away. “Okay, that’s over. Now, what’s the next thing on the list that I have to worry about?”
* It is easier to avoid life’s difficulties and responsibilities than to face them. Even painful experiences, once we can get through them, can serve as a basis for learning and future growth.
* Because things in my past controlled my life, they have to keep doing so now and in the future. If this were really true, it would mean that we are prisoners of our past, and change is impossible. But people change all the time — and sometimes they change dramatically!
* It is terrible when things do not work out exactly as I want them to. Could you have predicted the course of your own life? Probably not. By the same token, you can’t predict that things are going to work out exactly as you want them to, even in the short term.
* I can be as happy as possible by just doing nothing and enjoying myself, taking life as it comes. If this were true, almost every wealthy or comfortably retired person would do as little as possible. But instead, they seek new challenges as a pathway to further growth.

10. Learn to avoid the cognitive distortions which make things look worse than they really are. Most of us have heard the expression, “looking at the world through rose-colored glasses.” But when you use cognitive distortions, you tend to look at the world through mud-colored glasses! Here are some examples.

* All-or-nothing thinking. Everything is good or bad, with nothing in between. If you aren’t perfect, then you’re a failure.
* Overgeneralization. A single negative event turns into a never-ending pattern of defeat. “I didn’t get a phone call. I’ll never hear from anybody again.”
* Mental filter. One single negative thing colors everything else. When you’re depressed, it sometimes feels like you’re “looking at the world through mud-colored glasses.”
* Disqualifying the positive. If somebody says something good about you, it doesn’t count. But if somebody says something bad about you, you “knew it all along.”
* Jumping to conclusions. You make a negative interpretation even though there are no definite facts that convincingly support your conclusion.
* Mind reading. You think somebody is disrespecting you and don’t bother to check it out. You just assume that he is.
* The Fortune Teller Error. You think that things are going to turn out badly, and convince yourself that this is already a fact.
* Magnification (catastrophizing) or minimization. Imagine that you’re looking at yourself or somebody else through a pair of binoculars. You might think that a mistake you made or somebody else’s achievement are more important than they really are. Now imagine that you’ve turned the binoculars around and you’re looking through them backwards. Something you’ve done might look less important than it really is, and somebody else’s faults might look less important than they really are.
* Emotional reasoning. You assume that your negative emotions necessarily reflect the way things really are: “I feel it, therefore it must be true.”
* Should statements. You beat up on yourself as a way of getting motivated to do something. You “should” do this, you “must” do this, you “ought” to do this, and so on. This doesn’t make you want to do it, it only makes you feel guilty. When you direct should statements toward others, you feel anger, frustration, and resentment.
* Labeling and mislabeling. This is an extreme form of overgeneralization. When you make a mistake, you give yourself a label, such as, “I’m a loser.” When someone else’s behavior rubs you the wrong way, you attach a negative label to him, “He’s a louse.” Mislabeling involves describing an event with language that is highly colored and emotionally loaded.
* Personalization. You believe that you were the cause of something bad that happened, when you really didn’t have very much to do with it.

To illustration this point, let’s say a mother is focusing on cooking dinner and she’s feeling relaxed and at peace. However, her son, who is helping her set the table, says to her during their conversation, “Mom, you just don’t care if I live or die!”

The mother’s emotions are immediately triggered, since her son is near and dear to her heart. She can’t help wondering why her son would feel this way. Her first reaction is to feel hurt and then, as her stronger emotions take over, she reacts with anger and their conversation quickly turns into a nasty argument.

As their emotions escalate, chaos is the result, which is one of the main reasons why so many people find it difficult to feel inner peace. Emotions and thoughts are complex. If your emotions do not automatically create a sense of quiet, then you will quickly become a victim of chaos and distress.

Inner peace requires quiet emotions and thoughts. To find your own inner peace, it helps if you learn self-talk that quickly reminds you to remain calm no matter what obstacle you are facing. Mothers often have a difficult time with this because they must care for self, while also thinking about their mate, children, and what they need to feel fulfilled. Thus, moms searching for inner peace would be wise find times throughout their day to relax for self.

The many problems we face each day can make it hard to find inner peace. Meeting financial obligations, dealing with your children, world problems, and other problems can often make it difficult to find quietness of the mind and emotions. One thing that helps is to minimize the news the media brings to you each day unless it has a direct affect on your life. Carrying the weight of the world on your shoulders will never bring you inner peace because you have so little control over any of what is going on. So, pay attention, petition the government if necessary, or protest if you feel the need, but do not get trapped into being overly caught up in the things you cannot change.

Also, if you allow others to take up residence in your mind it will only result in causing emotional stress. Therefore, by taking control of your mind, you will not allow anyone else to rent space in your head, especially if they don’t trigger emotions and thoughts that make you smile.

Our emotions store up mechanisms that can destroy our inner peace, data that comes from the subconscious mind. This includes negative information such as jealousy, anger, hate, frustration, etc. all stored within the subconscious, which has a strong affect on our emotions.

Thus, taking the time for self-analysis is the best way to resolve any struggles you may have that allow your emotions to frustrate your ability to find inner peace. When we express thoughts and emotions, this reflection of our mind becomes public, and anyone around you will form their opinion of your character based on their observations of you.

Therefore, if you feel lost and unable to get a sense of your inner self, you could ask friends and family tell you exactly what type of person they think you are. This may help you come to grips with your self, and start you on the process of finding your inner peace.

Human beings are imperfect. Thus, trying to find perfection is a waste of time and energy. It’s always good to work hard at minimizing bad habits and behaviors, but never allow yourself to think you’re working towards perfection. If you do, then you can’t help but be let down and inner peace will never arrive.

Keep an eye on your impulses. If you’re the type that acts out every impulse, inner peace will be difficult to find since your emotions and thoughts control your actions, behavior and attitude. Impulses are responses to emotions that enforces action. If you tend to act impulsively in every decision you make, you will constantly be looking back at all the mistakes you made — not the best way to find inner peace.

Finding inner peace takes time, effort, skill, and the will to achieve. By staying alert to how your emotions react in every situation, you can learn to shift them into a path that will bring you peace of mind and a happier and healthier life.

1. The strategies most likely to win are the ones that are the easiest to understand. If the situation is complex, figure out a way to make it understandable. Otherwise, you’ll end up being another one of those really smart people who has no followers, no success stories, and no promotional future.

2. Emotion wins over logic 9 times out of 10. When we get emotional we generate energy and enthusiasm within others. An emotional team can get a lot done, they’ll work longer hours, and help make converts. It can beat a larger or better-equipped team without emotional buy-in. You’ll accomplish what you intend.

3. The best deals come together fast. You’ve probably experienced this before like when you were buying a car, or being hired for a new job. Things just fell into place and everyone walked away feeling good about the deal. It’s the same for new programs, or changes in business direction: If you find that the same things need to be addressed repeatedly, it’s a warning sign. It may be time to cut bait.

In many companies, and in life generally, some great projects are shelved while other poor ones get the green light. We see it with choices for technology and vendors all the time. Usually such decisions have more to do with how each side made their case, and less to do with logical comparisons of features and prices. It’s often the same, by the way, for decisions affecting who gets promoted and who doesn’t.

Come to think of it, ego is one of the two deadliest traps you could fall into – at work, or even in your relationships. The second of course is emotion. The two forces within that could conspire to ruin you with very little help from external enemies. The enemies within.

Ego that blinds you to all else but a perceived slight. And emotion that blinds you to the outcome of your resultant outburst. Ego that makes an entire clan believe their honor has been hurt by a young couple’s romantic liaison. And emotion that makes them kill their own child and the lover.

From the Gita to Osho to Bhuddhist teachings to modern Western analysis of the constructed nature of self, all religions and philosophies have attempted to define ego. Yet, ego remains almost as abused a word as “sexy!” “He has a huge ego;” “Don’t let ego ruin your relationship;” “Ego comes in the way of success” are oft-heard phrases. And yet, how many understand what the word means?

Here are few definitions, Ego is “a pseudo reflection of the soul” (Lord Krishna in The Gita); “a false sense of the self,” (Master Sheng yen, one of the world’s most respected Bhuddhist masters); “an emotional charged image of self” (Otto Kernberg, pioneering psychologist); “A false centre. The reflection of what others think” (Osho).

So then should one rid oneself of all ego and emotion as religious texts prescribe? Well, so long as you wish to live in the world and not take off to the mountains in the loin skin carrying a kavandal, the better deal surely is to learn to handle ego and emotion rather than give them up!

You can either make ego and emotions your strength or your greatest weakness by allowing someone else to handle them to their advantage. If someone who knows you mildly can play you like a musical instruments, eliciting the emotions and responses they want from you, that is your biggest Achilles’ heel. If your enemy knows what most angers you and so makes you lose control, undoubtedly he will be tempted to use his power over you.

In our everyday lives, we are bound to be faced with situations that hurt our ego or incite emotions. A hurt ego almost always responds emotionally. The emotion amy be one of sadness, anger, revenge or aggression. Give in to it and you have walked into a trap; to walk away is to transcend on to tanother plane and feel thrilled with your will power and control over yourself.

People take a catlike delight in playing with those trapped by their emotions. As Deepak Chopra says, managing others begins with managing yourself first. “Business leaders who don’t know themselves too well and cannot get a grip on their emotions and ego, fail miserably.”

The top performing companies are usually those who CEO’s names you wouldn’t know. They have none of the ego and arrogance associated with a CEO. That’s because “these people were not into themselves; their goal was not adulation or power, but to create a great company.” Their companies would do well even after they leave. Which is more than can be said for Jack Welch, former CEO of General Electric. But can certainly be said for Infosys’ Narayanmurthy!

The aim should be to develop a high level of emotional intelligence, which enables you to think through your emotions intelligently. And to use your emotions to help you think more intelligently. It is important to stay in touch  with who you are as a human being, because that is who you will be in every sphere of life, be it work or relationship.

To that end, ego or an awareness of self is important. Who you think you are is an integral part of who you become.