THE MAGIC OF BRANDING

This is for new entrepreneurs.

While entrepreneurs has to give a name to their new business for the purpose of registration, creating a brand name is quite a different thing.

Branding is magic. It is a very powerful concept that should be understood and adopted by all entrepreneurs. Whatever a new entrepreneur is trying to sell, branding makes it sell better and the business grow faster. The awareness of it is extremely critical. 

We walk through lanes and there are shops lined up on both sides of the road. Most of them we forget. We peep in to see if there is anything of our interest and then simply walk on. And then there will be shops in those very lanes where we will walk in just in search of that particular shop. Or visit shops in search of a particular branded product. Like the Tanishq showroom for gold jewels. Or the Nokia showroom. Or we scan shelves for Colgate toothpaste or Sunsilk shampoo. This is called branding. Branding make a difference. 

If you are thinking a little big than just a shop in the corner of the street, it is called growth. For growth you need to create trust. The first step towards that would be to create a brand. An entrepreneur needs to spend time and use technology wisely to advertise the brand name. The name should reach every target customer. From a simple paan-masala to the awesome concept of diapers – branding made the product real and marketable. Today people do not go searching for diapers. They ask for Pampers or Huggies. What was a household routine till yesterday is now been packed, sealed, labelled and branded for customers to pick and use.

While some entrepreneurs start a business as an answer to a particular market demand like ginger-garlic paste, powered spices and toothpaste, there are some entrepreneurs who creates a market need like instant noodles, aerated drinks or diapers. In each of these categories, a very simple idea became a multimillion business interest just through the power of branding.

What does branding do?  

It makes a promise. It creates quality assurance. The name itself means excellence and something that can be relied upon. Because with branding comes in a set of promises among which quality assurance and services being number one. The name will make customers return, expand the business base and bring in new customers.

THINK BIG – CREATE YOUR BRAND.       

10 Steps To Effective Time Management

I recently came across this picture on my Instagram feed- You have as many hours in a day as Beyonce. When I first saw it, I giggled and didn’t give attention at all. When I say that trust me because I usually take screenshots of interesting quotes to share with you guys. A few days later, I thought about the quote again and felt, sure, we do have as many hours in a day as Beyonce! And then a question struck me-Are we really making complete use of the time that we have at our hands?

We wake up in the morning, have our coffee or tea and after what seems like a few blinks and the day is over. And at the end of it all, we only have some energy to watch reality TV, have a half-hearted conversation with our spouse or just hit the bed and start all over again the next day. Does this sound familiar? If so, you are not alone!

So here I am sharing with you guys 10 most effective ways to manage your time effectively and not just live, but LIVE!

1.Kick the Habit: Like many poor habits, poor time management is a behavior that has been developed over time and the first step in “kicking the habit” is to recognize that you have a problem and then to make a firm commitment to do something about it.

2. Delegate Tasks: It is common for all of us to take more tasks than our desired potential. This can often result in stress and burnout. Delegation is not running away from your responsibilities but is an important function of management. Learn the art of delegating work to your subordinates as per their skills and abilities.

3. Prioritize Work and Schedule Tasks: Before the start of the day, make a list of tasks that need your immediate attention as unimportant tasks can consume much of your precious time. Some tasks need to be completed on that day only while other unimportant tasks could be carried forward to next day.  Carry a planner or notebook with you and list all the tasks that come to your mind. Make a simple ‘To Do’ list before the start of the day, prioritize the tasks, and make sure that they are attainable.

4. Determine what time in the day you will set aside for each task: Morning time is usually the best time to tackle your most difficult and highest priority tasks. As the day wears on and you wear down, you can then work on the other tasks requiring less mental effort. Now you're ready to begin your day.

5. Set up Deadlines: When you have a task at hand, set a realistic deadline and stick to it. Try to set a deadline few days before the task so that you can complete all those tasks that may get in the way. Challenge yourself and meet the deadline. Reward yourself for meeting a difficult challenge.

6. Start Early: Most of the successful men and women have one thing in common. They start their day early as it gives them time to sit, think, and plan their day. When you get up early, you are more calm, creative, and clear-headed. As the day progresses, your energy levels starts going down which affects your productivity and you don’t perform as well.

7. Manage time in increments: Play a game with yourself by competing against the clock. Work in fifteen minute, half hour or hour interval, scientifically it is known that 45 minutes work followed by a 10 minutes rest is the best for the average studier. Give yourself a time goal to complete a portion of a task or the entire task.



8. Minimize Distractions:  Distractions like the phone, internet, email, co-workers, daydreaming, etc., can and will work to thwart your plan. Make the necessary arrangements to keep these distractions to a minimum.

9. Keep track of your progress: Cross things off the list as they are completed. You'll feel more relieved and relaxed just by getting through the daily tasks. Not only will you be getting things done, finishing tasks will give you a sense of accomplishment and spur motivation.

10. Leave time for fun: While there are times when we just need to power through a large project, it's important to give yourself time to let loose. Not only will it refresh your mind, it's good for your body, too. It doesn't have to be a lot of time but make sure that you do!


So you see friends, all you have to do is just put in little dedication and it will become possible for you to achieve things that were on  a back seat.

May you have a great week ahead.

Loads of love, BSR. 

Mid Life Crisis - Top 5 Signs & Ways to Overcome It

What is this 40+ crisis that I am talking about?

As a motivational Speaker, it came quiet as a surprise to me when big reputed leaders of the corporate world walked up again and again to me with one crisis – “I have hit the end of the road. I am tired. I want to quit everything. But I do not know what to do.”

With EMIs to pay, car loans to deal with, house and a lifestyle to maintain and mouths to feed, an escape route becomes bleak. The realization of it, further mounts the ‘crisis’ pressure.

It was surprising for me because we are under the impression that this lot of people had it all – success, money, position, respect, and an envious lifestyle. When you confront them, they are super-confident, highly intelligent, witty and interesting people. They know their liqueur and can differentiate their dessert spoon from the caviar spoon in a hoity-doity dinner party. Such people, when they say “I do not know what to do,” feels like a complete knock-out. I thought I had to know more.

I started reading a lot of books about this. Turned out that the psychological angle to the so called mid-life crisis seeps into their professional life as well. 

I spoke to a lot of people, collected data, studied their background, pinned up charts and sketched colourful graphs to see what causes this and how it can be helped. It took me some time, but here is what I found –

Mid-life crisis, especially in your professional life is highly common. We do not get to know about it because people going through this either does not recognise it for what it is, or shy away from discussing it for obvious reason.

Signs of mid-life crisis.

1.     Doubt their own decision making ability – All of a sudden they are unsure of themselves. They keep double checking their decisions at work. “What if I lose my job, be exposed, made a fool of,” plays large in his mind. Life suddenly stops making sense and life-race feels pretty useless.

2.     Constantly unhappy – There is a constant restlessness in them. They neither enjoy their work nor their family. Family, work, career, everything seems to be a wrong decision and there seems to be no escape. They are constantly unhappy and in a complaining mode. They find faults with too many things around and searches for that ideal set-up.

3.     Lacks energy – One of the sure sign is loss of interest in the things that they usually enjoyed doing before. Like – if a person liked to rock-n-roll on weekends, now would much rather spent time at home lazing around. Or if he was a person who liked to chill it out in front of the TV, now indulges in some crazy spree, like maybe get his hair streaked or join the salsa. He feels the pressure to do different and quickly so to make his life count.

4.     In the verge of giving up everything – Most corporate leaders feels the need to give up on their luxury quotient in order to make life meaningful. They suddenly find themselves questioning the need for branded clothes, the big car or the 18,00sq ft. apartment. They feel that they need to learn to live a simpler life and find peace.

5.     The urge to give back to the society -- It’s quiet a strange observation that people going through this mid-life crisis suddenly develop this urge to do social service. While this in itself is not bad, it might not be his true calling and after a month or so they fall back into the same vacuum. They are searching for something or escaping from something and giving up everything for the betterment of mankind just seems to be the right answer.

While I found more or less this same pattern of psychology when I spoke to these people, I discovered that they are not alone. And the pattern suggests something – that it is more than just boredom. It’s a phase where the mind and the body is going through a change. A change, which is lesser known or acknowledged by people, but never-the-less exists. Getting up and going to work and doing the things that you have done for the last 20 years suddenly becomes difficult.

How do we deal with it? 

    

Awareness. That’s the very first step – to be aware that whatever is happening to your body and mind, you are not alone in it. This transformation is a natural process. The person who has knowledge about this will flow with it. Trying to fight nature by denying it will only enhance the crisis.

Secondly, by approaching it with the Correct Attitude. The correct attitude here will be to take a deep breath and see what will be the right thing to do about it. Since it is a psychological as well as a physical phenomenon, it might be a good idea to indulge in some yoga, meditation and a fresh morning walk along with pursuing your old forgotten hobby or picking up a new one. These changes, put together, will have a profound effect on your mental health and sooth your nerves.

Seek help. Since this is an established problem, there are well researched and scientific approach to deal with it. There are trained professionals available. Me being one of them. No matter how much you think you will be able to deal with it, a trained professional will always be able to help you more effectively.

Trust your partner and seek cooperation. Remember, your partner knows you best. So it will be a good idea to begin by being completely honest with her. The change in your behaviour might throw your partner off guard and instigate conflict. A conflicting ambience will only worsen the situation. Your partner must be weaned into the new-you.

It is important to realize that at this age a NEW-YOU will emerge. If you approach it with a positive attitude, the new-you can be more evolved, matured and a better version of the present-you.

So what does all this positive attitude, acceptance and acknowledgement does? It shows light. People going through this 40+ scenario will know what I mean when I say ‘light’ because they feel the darkness envelop them in such a way that their tunnel seems to have no end.

It does.

There is always an end. There is always light. We just need to sit up and act. One baby step after another and life will be beautiful once again.

My advice? Open your arms and usher in the change. It’s once in a life time phenomenon. Enjoy it and see the difference!

Wish you a happy time ahead.

Lots of Love,

BSR

11 Motivators to Enhance People Performance

Hello folks! Are you all set for the coming week? Well, after reading this particular piece I am sure you will be.

Friends if you remember a few days back I shared with you guys a short list of de-motivators that should be kept away at the work front.  In the same post I also promised you guys that I will be sharing a list of motivators, so here it is. I want you to read each one of the following carefully and understand it completely.

I have derived these from several discussions that I have had with entrepreneurs, managers and other employees over workshops and other events. We all should incorporate these in our work life.

1) Praise - Your employees need to know that you really appreciate them.  Your voice, your body language, and the language that you use will affect how your praise is received.  Praise should come from the heart. Recognize outstanding performances at all levels in the organization.  Give praise sooner than later. Praise openly.

2) Be a great communicator- Leadership is influencing others, and this cannot be achieved without effective communication.

3) Trust- Any positive working relationship is based on trust. The most effective leaders are the ones who take the time to listen not just to their team members’ words but to the priceless hidden meaning beneath them. Remember that during good times and bad, sometimes your employees just need someone to talk to. Communicate to them that you are always waiting with open ears. This will definitely help in building trust.

4) Energy- Be an energetic soul in your workplace. Be that kind of leader who brings passion and positive energy in the environment.  Don’t be that spoilt one who just sucks energy from others and treats juniors in a disrespectful manner.

5) Focus/concentration- Take short breaks. Do your hardest tasks when you're most alert , this will help you maximize your concentration. Promise yourself a reward. For instance, make a rule that if you focus intensively for 45 minutes on one task, you can take a break to get a cup of coffee when you're done. Little "self-rewards" can often be great motivators.


6) Confidence- Build the Knowledge you need to Succeed. Focus on the Basics. When you’re starting, don’t try to do anything clever or elaborate. And don’t reach for perfection – just enjoy doing simple things successfully and well. Set Small Goals, and Achieve Them.  You’ll feel your self-confidence building.

7) Love/connection/sense of belonging- Great leaders have deep reserves of physical, spiritual, and emotional energy, and that energy is usually fueled by a strong and supportive relationship with the people they love, regular exercise, a healthy lifestyle, and setting aside time for reflection.

8) Ambition/challenge- Figure out what you’re scared of – and do it for one week consistently. If you’re in sales, and you’re scared of talking to people personally or over the phone, then you have a problem. You can’t just relate with your clients online, can you? Now, instead of crippling in fear and automatically thinking you’ll fail, spend at least five minutes a day to pick up the phone and make a call to a prospect. Yes, it’s scary. Yes, you may embarrass yourself. And yes, someone may hang up on you. But don’t stop on the first try just yet! You’ll get the hang of it eventually. After a while, you can look at fear in the eyes and say, “Go on, I’m not scared!”

9) Open mind/ Flexible mind- Opening up your mind to new ideas allows you to the opportunity to change what you think and how you view the world. Now, this doesn’t mean you necessarily will change your beliefs—in fact, the process may actually reinforce your current beliefs more strongly–but thinking with an open mind gives you the option of creating positive change and stronger results.

10) Survival in crisis- Mentor your employees, encourage them, make partners out of them, and your organization is sure to benefit. If you want to survive the tough economy, that’s exactly the kind of leadership motif you need for your organization.

11) Growth – The ultimate motivator is growth. If growth is visible in an organization, employees are motivated and the performances are further accelerated.

Tip-Post a sign above your office door that reads, “Don’t Bring Me Problems. Bring Me Solutions.”

If you have anything which still needs to be sorted out or a personal experience that you would like to share, feel free to contact me on Facebook or Twitter.

THE AWARENESS OF AWARENESS

The world face is fast evolving, demanding and competitive. And in this today’s world, an aware person has the vantage-point.

Why?

We see every spectrum of life today moves with an accelerated speed. Speed, as an essential equity has arrived to stay in the fast moving society. Only an aware person possesses the kind of speed to become a winner. Because we know that even while a mediocre person is wasting time thinking, an aware person has already made a break through.

So what is awareness?

Awareness is knowing what you already have. And then the things you do not have. Awareness is being conscious of your surroundings and to be always present in the moment. Awareness is knowing your skill sets that you possess -- mental and physical. The knowledge of the existence of such a mind power called ‘Awareness’ decides the differentiator. It divides people into two sections -- winners and losers.

 Awareness gives you power.

Most people range between less aware to completely unaware.  The rest all are winners.

People are basically ignorant of their strengths and weaknesses. They fail to recognise what they are good at and identify their passion early in life to make good of it. They get themselves a job at random and live on unhappily, mostly cribbing and complaining for the rest of their lives.

So what does awareness do?

Awareness makes you happy. Knowing that the awareness parameter exists, people can take stock of their strengths, like “I have an excellent leadership skill,” “I have good managerial skill,” “I am good at basketball,” “I can bake well,” “I can speak well,” etc. While most people use their skills in their everyday lives, they are not actively aware of its presence. So they fail to optimally use them. Like, if I am a good basketball player then I should get myself trained professionally and not study civil engineering. Or, if I have a gift in baking, then I should plan on opening a bakery and not get a job in a multinational company. Or that if I am so passionate about being a doctor than I should probably not join the army. This, in the long run, will make me unhappy.  Being unhappy will never let me give my 100% to the job at hand. If I fail to give 100% to my job then I will never be successful in my life. And that’s how most people lead their lives. It’s called the life of mediocrity and dissatisfaction.

Awareness is that knowledge which makes you believe that each and every person should follow their passion. They should hone their skills towards that very passion. They should never give up. This is, in a nutshell, the success mantra.

All the big names worth taking in every walk of life, followed their passion and were highly aware. To name a few -- Amitabh Bachchan,  Sachin Tendulkar, MS Dhoni, Steve Jobs, Bill Gates, Narayan Murthy, Nelson Mandela, Mother Teresa,  and Neil Armstrong.

We all know that the list of great people is unending. One look will tell you that all they have done with their lives is follow their passion wholeheartedly and were highly aware of their abilities that actually made them reach their desired goal.

A highly aware person belongs to that list of winner. If you give yourself 15 minutes a day towards acquiring this ‘awareness’ parameter in your life, you may also add up to this very existing list. It’s not difficult, neither impossible. These people did not come from outer world. They are very much like us -- only just highly aware.

So know what awareness is. Be aware. And win in life. Because all others are losers!

Let's have NO MERCY

Friends, today I am going to share a little incident from an organizational training that was conducted by me.

The training was being conducted for twenty leaders of an organization. On the second day of the session, a participant walked up to me and struck a conversation. Interestingly, he was the only person who remained quite throughout the program and didn’t participate with enthusiasm. Apparently, he wanted to share something with me.

His concern was that he was stuck at the same position in his company for the last 7 years. On the other hand, his juniors were getting promoted and this was making him unhappy.

I enquired and asked him if there was any particular reason for this? Initially, he blamed his manager, colleagues, policies of the company and the list goes on. After a lot of probing he finally opened up and said that poor communication skills might be something that was keeping him away from progress.

At this point I just asked him a simple question – What actions have you taken to improve your communication skills. I wasn’t surprised with his answer, he said – Not a single.

Friends, most of us suffer from the same thing. We want to achieve many things, we want a prosperous life, and we plan some of it too. Eventually we end up doing nothing and come up with every possible excuse for it.

Tell me, if you have an early morning exam and while preparing for the same you end up sleeping late, will you not get up and appear for your paper? Of course you will! You will go to the examination hall no matter what because you know it is important and your future depends on it. When your life depends on something you work for it without coming up with excuses because somewhere deep inside you know that you might suffer great loss. In a nutshell, you overcome your ‘Inner Resistance’ that keeps you from doing things.

Mr. Raj Mali (my teacher) has given me a beautiful mantra to overcome one’s inner resistance. It is called- "No Mercy With The Self". When you want to do something that might help you move ahead in life but don’t have the time to do it, or the energy (...and the list goes on), just follow this simple rule that I have shared with you.

Do you want to suffer same loss like the gentleman at the training? Then what are you waiting for? If you want to speak English fluently make sure you dedicate half an hour every day for the same.  Practice it daily and remember, show no mercy to yourself. You will see miracles’ happening as someone has rightly said,

Convert "You Should" into "You Must" and your dreams will become a reality.


Have a happy week ahead.

Lots of Love,
BSR

5 points to enhance leadership qualities

Here are 5 points to enhance leadership qualities:
1.Notice your people doing something right, even approximately right.
2.Praise them even for doing something partially right.
3.Praise, even when something correct is done by chance.
4.Praise them to a third person.
5.Don't forget, praise builds rapport.

Have your registered for Business Success Summit yet? If not, below is the link:
https://www.facebook.com/events/800560603320709/

ARE YOU A LEADER? - 10 Points For the Clarity

When Venketarajan went to the head office in London after 3 months of his assuming office as a Vice-president, Finance of South Zone, of a multi-national company, a very proud man indeed, the group CFO asked him a very simple question over an official dinner – Are you a leader?

The question shocked him. In the given 3 months’ time he has shown an impressive body of work. So why this question? But to his surprise, he failed to answer!

Managers and leaders are completely different roles and most leadership roles are really ‘managed’ by highly efficient ‘managers’, who, no matter how efficient they are, does not qualify as leaders.

So, are you a leader? I will take it here that people who are reading this blog are aspiring leaders and hence I would suggest that they look at these pointers with utmost seriousness for all these are valid and time tested.

So, let’s take a few pointers that every aspiring leader should be able to answer and be aware of.

---- Are you capable of taking risks?

That’s point number 1. A good leader is one who is fearless of the outcome and immune to criticism. The capability of taking calculated risks should be a natural flow in his personality system. While a business can be run and improved by an efficient manager, to take it to the next level requires a fearless leader. Because transition to the next level will only come through changes in the existing system. Change is an unseen entity which will have an element of a possible failure. A leader, while initiating a change takes failure into account but is not bogged down by the possibility. He knows how to take it into his stride and move ahead. This fearlessness give him the capacity to take risks, lead from the front and initiate the next level.

A business without a proper leader but good managers can be well run, but can never grow. 

---- Are you a confident decision maker?

This would be our point number 2. Confidence in decision making is paramount to the successful execution of it. With a confident decision comes a high degree of clarity. Clarity eliminates the unnecessary frills. It not only saves time, it also increases productivity. A leader is required to be confident at any given situation when it comes to his ability of decision making. But never is a leader’s confidence more at test than when there is a need for a split second decision. Again, to drill in the concept, or the difference -- while a good manager may efficiently arrive at a decision in a boardroom meeting, it will take extreme leadership skills to make a quick decision in the time of emergency.

  

---- Are you creative?

This is point 3 in my list and readers may question the importance of its need. “Am I supposed to know painting or poetry to become a leader?!” In business a creative mind means a mind that has new ideas. To run a business which is already existing is good managerial skills. To make it grow, new ideas are the key. That is work of a creative mind. When a leader has a creative bent of mind the business sees out of turn growth and prosperity. Innovative ideas like the cell phone, Bluetooth devices, LCD screens and even the enchanting kohl in a woman’s eye are all the work of a creative mind. And ofcourse, all a multi-million business stretch. Worth a thought!

    

---- Are you honest?

Point 4 and one that needs no elaboration. If you are not honest, you are a failure. Making money does not need a cunning mind as is popularly propagated. Nor does it involve one’s ability to cheat. A shrewd and highly successful businessman is always honest.

 

---- Do you have a positive attitude?

Point 5 is positive attitude and is everything in a nutshell, when we talk of leadership skills. All great things comes out from a positive frame of mind. It’s the greatest of all mental skills. Positive attitude in a business means no matter what the situation is, you need to have the ability to view it from a positive angle. To be successful, a positive attitude means to never give up and that’s the basic sustaining character of a born leader.

---- Do you have good communication skill?

That’s point 6. A leader must be able to create the necessary ripple effect within his team players. For that he needs to have clarity of his ideas. An idea can never materialize if it cannot be shared with the same passion across the board. To bring in the players on-board a leader must have an extremely good communication skill and understand the need for doing so. An effective flow of communication removes all blocks and maintains the necessary flow.

---- Are you able to delegate?

Point 7 – the ability to delegate is a leader’s quality to trust. Do you trust your teammates? An extremely confident leader has the ability to trust his teammates and delegate workload to them. Gives them responsibility and trusts them to deliver. He is not a control freak and understands that without delegation a business cannot rise to level -2. With business expanding, e-mails pile in and protocols line up. An effective delegation gives the leader time and mind space to concentrate on work that cannot be delegated. To understand the importance of it is the work of a good effective leader.

---- Are you intuitive?

Point 8. Being intuitive may not is an absolute essential skill but an intuitive leader definitely has an edge. While key decision making in any organization involves meetings, sharing of ideas and opinions, pulling in facts and files, comparing data before arriving at a decision, some leaders like to put aside these fact files and taking intuitive decisions.

Cricket Captain MS Dhoni is known for intuitive decision making streak and the importance of it has been highlighted in the recent years only after closely observing him and studying his pattern.

An intuitive leader is a highly aware person who can draw from his sub-conscious easily and make effective decisions. He is considered to be more evolved and a superior leader.   

---- Do you have the ability to inspire?

Point 9. Can you inspire? Because without it an organisation cannot have life. The productivity value of an organisation comes from the ability of its workers to deliver. Only a highly motivated worker can deliver successfully. A leader should be a visionary. He not only should have a vision of the company, he should also be able to see the future path of his workers in it and be able to motivate and inspire them from time to time.

Who is an inspiring leader? A leader who has words, phrases and ideas to motivate is an inspirational leader. Also a leader who has the ability to stand shoulder to shoulder with his workers and do the job is highly inspiring. A leader who keeps his door open for his workers to walk in and talk is inspiring. A leader who knows the ground level job and can get his hands dirty on-job is highly inspiring.

 

---- Do you have a sense of humour?

Point 10. Never let the blood thicken in your workplace. A true leader knows that there will always be criticality in the workplace. There will be situations to handle. Failures to fight against and disappointments to deal with. It’s the job of a leader to keep the stress level low and spirits high. A sound mix of humour thrown in from time to time will ensure that no matter what the situation is, the team does not lose hope. And a highly motivated and hopeful team will always keep the boat afloat in times of criticality.

These 10 pointers are quintessential to any leader and though the list is unexhausted, possessing these above given 10 skills will ensure that you have what it takes in the making of a good leader.

Not all leaders are born. Some very good leaders are made. Autobiography of great leaders have proved that they have travelled through rough terrains and have seen failures umpteen number of times before they tasted success.

What made them successful?

They never gave up.

And what made them a leader?

The awareness of these leadership skills.

So never give up and always, always be aware.

***************--------------------------------*****************

The Calling

Hello people! Did you have an amazing weekend? I know you did and to give the following week a good start here I am sharing this beautiful piece ‘The Calling’ with you! Now, you may be wondering what this is all about. Before getting you acquainted with it let me share with you a small story.
I am sure some of you are familiar with the story of Moses. For others, he was an Egyptian prince who delivered Hebrews from slavery and led them to a promised land he never saw. He is a powerful figure who personifies the human struggle for freedom, balanced by a sense of belonging to and thus having a responsibility towards a community.
The story is as follows, Moses was out doing his job one day, minding his own business, keeping watch over the flocks, when he saw a bush on fire. When Moses went to investigate, he saw that the bush was burning, but was not being consumed by the flames. Moses went to investigate his burning bush, and when he got close to it, he heard a voice that seemed to come from inside it. The voice told Moses to do something – first to remove his sandals because he was standing on holy ground. And then the voice told Moses to become a spokesperson for his people, who were being held as slaves in Egypt – specifically, the voice to go to the Pharaoh and persuade him to give the Hebrews their freedom. The Moses didn’t want the job, and offered legitimate excuses for not being able to accept the mission. Eventually the voice and Moses worked things out, and Moses accepted the call. This was Moses’ “burning bush” experience, when he came face to face with something unexpected, which at first made him curious, and then made him anxious, but ultimately caused him to change his way of thinking or believing or feeling about himself and his world and to do something he didn’t really want to do.


Friends, have you ever felt an inner urge to follow something; may be an occupation or a trade? Or have you ever felt a strong impulse like an inner voice or a voice from God, or a combination of both? That is exactly ‘The Calling’! We’ve all seen something like this bush in our lives, haven’t we? I saw it one morning at sunrise, as I watched the dawn light skim the tops of the trees, blinding me with a bright flash of yellow-gold. You’ve seen it in the smile of a baby, or in your lover’s eyes. You’ve felt it in the middle of a prayer service while people were singing a familiar bhajan as chills covered your arms or in the silence after the last note. It has whispered to you in a tender voice. It has held your attention and stopped you in your tracks.So we all have had a burning bush experience in our lives! A voice from an unexpected place calling us to do something outside of our comfort zone, making an offer we couldn’t refuse? We’ve all had these kinds of experiences at one time or another, whether we realize it consciously or not. What do I mean by a burning bush experience? Whether it is a major, life altering one, or one that has more to do with something on a less global level, think of it as one of those experiences that may have the following components: it comes unsolicited, unexpected, perhaps un-welcomed, unwanted; it changes our way of thinking, or believing, or feeling about some aspect of the world and/or about ourselves and leaves us unsettled and perhaps distressed, compelled to do something; it places a burden on us that we feel is uncomfortable and seems unfair, which may test us in some way, or require us to go outside of our comfort zones.
Friends if we are searching for answers in life (and all of us are doing that, trust me) we don’t have to look any further than our own self. We just have to tap into our inner voice for guidance.  We have only one life and hence we should live it to the fullest so that we have no regrets at the end. The things we want to do, we should do it! Most of us just think that we have all the time in this world and that is how every dream of ours takes a backseat and we move on with our normal lives. We should pursue our dreams and not look back later in life, when it is too late to do anything about it.
So what are you guys waiting for? Go on and find your ‘burning bush moment’. Begin creating the kind of life that you dream of. It may take you a week, a month or a year, but that doesn't matter. Just listen to your calling and you'll become a more positive and optimistic person. Even Mahatma Gandhi has rightly said, ‘The only tyrant I accept is my inner voice.’