We live in a complex and a competitive world. Its an era of survival of the fittest. The best is not enough. Everyone wants ‘out of the box’ ideas and innovative approaches. Evolution truly is jet-setting. There is a new innovation almost every minute. The customer has a plethora of choices. Much more than ever before. Work has moved to tracking just deliveries. DAR (Daily activity reports) are rife across industries for professionals. Soon there might be a new software to measure our hourly productivity! What you contributed yesterday does not count. If you are not productive today your hit of yesterday is forgotten. Passion is no more a fashion, it’s a basic requirement expected of a resource. Time has become the most valuable asset. Besides, given the internet and technology fast pacing, turnaround time has shortened significantly, without any compromise in the quality of output. In this environment heightened alertness is a pre-requisite.
How do we combat this environment with high impact solutions? At the end of it all its all about your mind and the way you think, respond and act. Being alert by nature really helps you to be successful. So, how do you evolve to an alert mindset?
Declutter
In today’s work environment where work life balance is constantly challenged, professional and personal pressures just mount up. Your brain’s hard drive slows down and how. You take more time to process thoughts and think realistically and practically, often you compromise or procrastinate. The Cambridge Dictionary defines alertness as “The state of being ready to see, understand and act in a particular situation”. Our ‘sight’ becomes blurry if we are clouded by stress or pressure. Therefore, de-cluttering is critical. The best way is to list down your personal pressures first. See how you can lighten them. Try and find practical solutions, or else these pressures will keep orbiting in your mind like satellites! Do the same with work pressures. Once the mind knows that you have a road map to your troubles it works better. Worrying does not do anything. It just distracts you.
Focus
You will need to focus better and sharper on your priorities and be watchful of your environment, like the person who climbs to the top of the mast in his sailing ship, in the earlier days and keep a constant lookout at the sea. Its lack of alertness that sank the Titanic but that is another story. Remember that saying? “There are three types of people. The first who make things happen, second who watch things happen and the third who wonder what happened”. You surely don’t want to be in the third category! So be alert. Let me try and explain this to you more simply. Like the pilot of an aircraft is vigilant, he looks out of windscreen less but checks his instruments more, you too can create your critical indicators to watch out for. Does your client suddenly start avoiding your calls and does not respond to your e mail or messages? Is the economy headed for a recession? Are there any significant fundamental changes in the domain you work in or your client operates in? Be alert and make timely corrective actions.
Nourish your mind
Nurture your mind by looking after your body and health. Remember that saying “A healthy body houses a healthy mind”? Eat well, exercise, keep fit, be positive, hydrate. Boost your wellness quotient. Laugh more, be positive. There are many things you can do. Take small steps which are meaningful. Do you know the value of human sleep? Many people think that it’s a waste of time. Sleep is a basic requirement of the human body which repairs and reboots itself when you slumber. The brain too reboots. If you don’t sleep, you create sleep debt. After a while thinking coherently gets impossible, leave alone developing an alert mindset!
“If you are intelligent, if you are alert, the ordinary becomes the extraordinary.” Osho
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