Happy to announce my new Penguin Book “Innovate Happily” to be released in April 2012.
To read more about it, please follow the link
http://www.facebook.com/notes/rekha-shetty/innovate-happily/348439081851480
Be Inspired! Innovate!
Balance your life
A successful woman, today is expected to think like a computer, look like a woman and work like a dog. Is this too much to expect from one person? A recent study shows that 70% of double income families, especially if they have kids feel that work interferes with family life. At least 50% feel that they don’t spend enough time with family. Another survey reported that 82% of Indian women are stressed out.
Let us consider the responsibilities at home.
* Preparing food and drink
* Cleaning the house
* Getting clothes ready
* Shopping for food and necessities
* Managing a comfortable atmosphere
* Deciding the rules
* Preventing and dealing with conflict
* Indoor maintenance (plumbing, electrical and architectural)
* Outdoor maintenance (roof, lawn, plants, etc.)
* Automotive maintenance
* Household bills, checking and saving accounts, and personal financial investments
* Household services
n Entertaining and taking care of pets
Identify which members of the family can take charge of the activity. Remember the new man is the Raymond’s Man, who is allowed to change a baby with a smile or shed a tear. Reflect on which activities can be out sourced. Don’t try to do everything yourself.
Here is a table that you can use to share the tasks with different members of the family.
Today the family has gone nuclear and we all worry that the shock absorber is under attack. “It needs a village to bring up a child”, says an ancient proverb. We need to replace the lost village and the disappearing joint family, with a new network.
Build networks with in-laws, parents, neighbours, support staff, friends, local library, school, teachers, colleagues, and hobby centres health clinics.
Steps to develop work-life balance
* Love yourself enough to outsource
* Take short relaxation breaks, at least thrice a day.
* Eat fresh, energy-giving foods.
* Take a walk outdoors.
* Spend time reading
* Involve family members and children in your work. Bring them to the office during lunch break or on a Saturday.
Dr Rekha Shetty is the author of the bestseller The Happiness Quotient and Zero Heart Attack Path
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Live Chat
Hello to everyone:) Join me on Wednesday at 4 p.m. for a LIVE chat on corporate innovation, managing work stress and to gain tips on how to climb up your chosen career path! I will be chatting live for an hour between 4-5p.m. Visit the following link and confirm your attendance!
http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=230677596990550
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‘The Happiness Quotient’ Article in New Indian Express -1st August 2011
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Introduction: The Happiness Quotient
The King of Bhutan coined the term Gross National Happiness in
1972. He believed that the wellbeing of a country does not depend on
the figures of its Gross Domestic Product (GDP). Thailand publishes
monthly GNP figures. Australia, Canada and China are on the same
path. France, and most recently, David Cameron of England have
commissioned studies on national wellbeing. Surprisingly more
education, youth or income, does not translate into happiness.
Happiness is a gift, not a commodity. Even the poor have the
ability to cultivate and share happiness. There is joy to be found in
the small things we take for granted—a smile, a helping hand, a
kiss, a wave, a pat on the back, a glass of cool water, a promise kept.
Each new day holds out a chance to create a whole new beginning,
a sparkling new field of possibilities. At dawn, sweep out the toxic
waste of hatred, anger and petty disappointments from your life.
Sprinkle the pure waters of prayer on your soul and prepare afresh for
a brand-new day. Go peacefully amidst the noise and the haste. Enjoy
the sweetness of every day things. Practice Swayambhu—a word that
describes happiness welling out of you, like an underground stream
in the mountains. Very rarely will an event or a person crash-land to
disturb your life.
We all have a choice to make every moment, through our senses,
our thoughts and our actions. We can choose what we want to
see, hear, touch, taste and smell, think, feel and do. Most of the
time, we are responsible for our decisions—for our happiness and
unhappiness. We can decide how we want to feel even in the worst
possible situations. To a jealous mind, an innocent smile is proof of
adultery; a prisoner can choose to keep the flame of freedom alive
and maintain a cheerful disposition Events or people around us are
not under our control. But our reactions, our responses to them are.
Respond with love and peace. The ecology and geography of your
inner mindspace is in your hands. Study how to deal with each of
your five senses to be happy.
Focus on happiness, not the lack of it. I believe the focus on stress
and unhappiness should be turned upside down. Instead of attracting
unhappiness, we should plant a garden of happiness, by welcoming
the positive emotions into our lives—love, compassion, wonder,
courage, laughter and peace. Focusing on our unhappiness only
helps to accrue more power and attention to the negative person,
event or object that causes it.
Focus on cultivating happy people and avoid toxic people. Build
protective walls against toxic events that threaten your tranquillity.
Too much television is tele-visham—tele-poison. Too much
stimulation, a mindspace crowded by fantasy, people and events
distracts you from working on your own home and backyard to
create a healthy self. Some days we seem to live a fantasy life
dominated by day-dreams while reality tugs at our heartstrings for
attention, like a neglected child. There is not focusing on Aishwarya
Bacchan’s beauty while neglecting to do the most basic things to
maintain yours. This is the only body, mind and soul you will be
given. Take care of what is yours and enjoy it.
When the garden is clean, blooming and full of life, the snakes
of anger have no place to hide; the thorns of greed get cleared away.
When the clutter of old hatreds is replaced by order, the flowers of
friendship bloom. The scorpions of revenge and jealousy scuttle away
and the butterflies of laughter return to celebrate the flowers.
Let the cells of your body be gently bathed in happiness, positive
thoughts and healing energies. The Vedas speak of the self as a
beautiful lotus growing in the muddy waters of life. With its roots in
the muck the lotus rises above it, in perfect beauty and bliss.
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The Happiness Quotient – Is it possible to achieve excellence in the corporate world and still be happy?
The Happiness Quotient tells you how. Dr. Rekha Shetty, Ph.D, is the founder of the Mindspower brand and managing director of Farstar Distribution Network Ltd, a twenty-year old consulting company working exclusively on innovation initiatives and work-life balance. Her thoughts come from a deep study of many disciplines: Management, Sociology, Psychology, Economics, History and Spirituality. Her ideas are practiced in over 30 countries.
The Indian tradition shows us that positive, radiant happiness is our birthright, and the programme outlined in this book illustrates how to achieve it for ourselves. The Happiness quotient (HQ) is a concept that measures approximately, the measure of happiness each person has achieved in his life. This book provides a blueprint to increase one’s HQ. It starts by describing the creation of a positive mindspace, one that nurtures the positive emotions that increase happiness. It also discusses the impact of negative fields and how to avoid them.
Anti-happiness traps, too, find a special place in this book. They require special identification as they can be very misleading, like a comfortable golden cage full of fruit, must seem to a free-flying parrot. Whatever the external circumstances may be, the individual is responsible for his inner state. Events are not under our control, but our perceptions and reactions to them are. This book is an investment in Life’s greatest prize – Happiness.
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