I am proud of Sunil Bharti Mittal

This July, I made a trip to Zambia in Africa. I landed in this country with lot of curiosity and lucid expressions on my face. The airport welcomed with a large and beautiful hoarding saying ‘Welcome to the best country in Africa.’ I was happy to be in the best country of a continent which is a terrain for 54 countries.

While waiting for my turn at Immigration, I read a series of instructions – ‘be bold, be brave, be brilliant, be caring, be cool, be creative, be daring, be amazing, be awesome, be great, be all that you can, .....be Zambitious’. This beautiful campaign inspires everyone to reach his/her potential in life at the same time it provokes them to get back to their roots. I loved it. The messages were from none other than my most favorite & loved brand – Airtel. Zambitious is a term coined by Airtel’s Advertizing & Marketing and is theme of all its campaigns. I did explore, the brand not only claims big things for the people it serves but also believes and is committed to make a difference in their lives. It is the leading Telecom Operator in Zambia. Other than being a leader in India Airtel established so well as if it is there for decades in many Anglo & Franco African countries.

Founder of Airtel – Mr Sunil Bharti Mittal has been one of my role models for almost a dozen years. 

Mr Mittal decided to take the road travelled less in very young age. He borrowed $400 to start business - a very humble beginning of the journey for becoming a genius. Today, he heads a truly international conglomerate which not only makes revenue in billions but touches hearts of millions of people on the globe. Mr Mittal has become an inspiration for budding entrepreneurs today. After seeing so many happy customers (they call it so many smiles) across the world; I feel proud of Mr Mittal.

Reading and reflecting on the success & leadership of this tycoon offers following key learning to any entrepreneur who aspires to reach higher:

·   Have a vision and deep faith in yourself; these will take you a long way.

·   Given a choice between perfection and speed; choose speed, perfection will follow. Airtel kept it double to the change in market.

·   Ability to think big and execute it flawlessly makes all the difference. This is the secret of all the innovations.

·   Empower people to think big and do big so that the team is at pace with you.

·   The only measurement of your leadership influence is – to what degree do you achieve your goals?

·   Surround yourself with people of mettle. Tie up with big & the best (IBM, SingTel, Vodafone, Ericsson, Apple, Nokia, Wal-Mart and many others).    

·   Passion for the products you make, humility for the people you work with and love for the customers you serve – this trio has super power to take you to the heights in this time of fierce competition.

·   Develop your people to the level that they do not need you to guide them. Airtel’s management team is a great example of developed and empowered people. They take full ownership of their roles and run their divisions like a start up. I have been fortunate enough to meet some members of management and impressed with their ‘Commitment to Excellence’.

·   Give back to society. It not only fuels the growth but also makes you feel satisfied and happy, which is actually the aim of life. The schools, universities and other non-government organizations run by Bharti Foundation are adding to the motto of the group – ‘bringing smiles on more faces’.

Of course, my trip to this country was full of fun, excitement & learning. I loved being in Africa and it has given me motivation to explore the continent more. I can bet, this is better than you think.

The trip also made me feel proud on an Indian who rose from an ordinary to extraordinary level. The world needs more people like Sunil and I am sure few of my readers definitely have that mettle & courage. I wish you all the best for your journey to excellence in whatever you do. May you reach the pinnacle!

Eliminate two things from your life...

You must have heard the story of pouring tea in a filled cup and you can also imagine the result, of course. The cup will overflow; tea will spill over and spoil the floor. Instead if you make some space in the cup and then pour some fresh tea, you can enjoy the sips. In today’s blog I want to make a suggestion - stop doing two things which you think, are not adding much value to your life and you still have been doing them. Free sometime in your life for something new, for creativity and doing things what you love.  You will have better priorities in life and of course will sharpen your focus on worthy things which in turn will get better results to enlarge your life.  It is like solving a multiple choice question. Once you eliminate the options which for sure, are not the answers; you are left with more clarity and higher chances of getting it right. Eliminate two things/habits you should not be doing now and start investing that time in the things which matter to you most. So, which two habits / things are you going to stop today? Choose any two of the below which are taking your time without getting any fulfilling results. You can resolve to stop any two of the below:

·   Chaos and acting without plan

·   Not including quality down time

·   Forgetting to take breaks and relax

·   Not arranging uninterrupted work time

·   Putting small (and significant) things off

·   Failing to schedule your week in advance

·   Not taking proper sleep, exercise or meals

·   Making commitments which are not important to me

·   Accommodating someone else’s priorities in your days

·   Spending more than 10 minutes per day on social media sites

·   Not drinking enough water in the day to invigorate your body & mind

·   Reaching office late in the morning or reaching home late in the evening

·   Smoking too many of cigarettes or may be consuming too much of alcohol

·   Drinking so much coffee and reduce to one cup per morning / increase water intake

·   Checking email first thing in the morning before I exercise and get to the office / arrive

·   Working straight through the day and not finding even 15 minutes for a walk in fresh oxygen to refresh myself

Or maybe you can think of your own points and take action. It will help you making your life more fulfilling and rewarding.

Seven Classic Ways to Top Achievement

“Whatever the mind can conceive and believe, it can achieve”, said Napoleon Hill, the legendary personal-development expert and author. For most of his life, Hill lived with the conviction that every failure carried with it the seed of equivalent advantage. Here are seven of his principles for extraordinary achievement:

1.     Definiteness of Purpose. Definiteness of purpose is the starting point of all achievement. Without a purpose and a plan, people drift aimlessly through life.

2.       Mastermind Alliance. The Mastermind principle consists of an alliance of two or more minds working in perfect harmony for the attainment of a common definite objective. Success does not come without the cooperation of others. People skills have never been so important in the human history.

3.       Applied Faith. Faith is a state of mind through which your aims, desires, plans and purposes may be translated into their physical or financial equivalents.

4.      Pleasing Personality. Personality is the sum of one’s mental, spiritual and physical traits and habits that distinguish one from all others. It is the factor that determines whether one is liked or disliked by others.

5.       Personal Initiative. Personal initiative is the power that inspires the completion of that which one begins. It is the power that starts all action. No person is free until he learns to do his own thinking and gains the courage to act on his own.

6.       Positive Mental Attitude. Positive mental attitude is the right mental attitude in all circumstances. Success attracts more success, while failure attracts more failure. Another famous author Rhonda Byrne says it in other words, ‘All that you are grateful for will be given more to you and the things which you are not grateful for will be taken back.’

7.        Enthusiasm. Enthusiasm is faith in action. It is the intense emotion known as burning desire. It comes from within, although it radiates outwardly in the expression of one’s voice and countenance. Ralph Waldo Emerson said it this way, ‘Nothing great was ever achieved without enthusiasm.’

For more you might like to read Napoleon Hill’s bestselling book ‘Think & Grow Rich’. It is one of my all time favorites and has helped millions to realize their dreams.

Interesting Acronyms...!

ABC = Always Be Careful

ADIDAS = All Day I Dream About Success
BOSS = Built On Self Success
CHEF = Creating Heavenly Extraordinary Food
DIET = Don't Indulge Every Time
FAMILY = Father And Mother, I Love You
FATHER = Faithful And Trustworthy, Honoring Every Responsibilities
INDIA = I Nearly Died In Adoration
ISLAM = I Sincerely Love All Muslims
ITALY = I Trust And Love You
KASH = Knowledge, Attitude, Skills, Habits
KEY = Keep Extending Yourself
KOREA = Keep Optimistic Regardless of Every Adversity
LIFE = Learning Is Fun & Excitement
LOVE = Lots Of Valuable Emotions

POSTAD TV = Priorities, Outcomes, Sequence, Timings, Attendees, Date, Time & Venue

ROSE = Really Outstanding & Sweet Everyday
SMILE = Showing Miracle In Little Effort
TEAM = Together Everyone Achieves More
THAILAND = Totally Happy Always In Love And Never Dull
WATER = Wonderful And Totally Energizing Refreshment
YAMAHA = You Are My Angel! Happy Anniversary!

Astounding Compounding

Who does not know Mr Vishwanatha Anand? Five time world champion in chess, truly a king of the game. Did you ever wonder when and where was the game originated? Who invented this lovely game?

1500 years ago there was a king in India. He set some goals for himself and achieved all of them. Then he became complacent and literally had nothing more to do. The king got bored after some time and he announced that whosoever takes in boredom away will be given any reward which pleases the person.

Lot of musicians, artists, singers and dancers came in the royal palace but none of them could kept the king engaged for long.

Then came a Persian student Sassa with a wooden board with 64 squares in it and few other pieces of wood. He explained the game to the king and soon the king was busy playing this wonderful game with ministers and the queens with their lady slaves. Sassa kept on training people in this game and all the people in the state liked the game very much. Then the student Sassa wanted to go and the happy king asked him: “How can I reward you? Gold or Jewels? Perhaps you want to marry one of my daughters? - the most beautiful one. Choose anything you like.”  Sassa replied "Your Majesty, all I ask for is some grains of wheat. Put 1 grain of wheat on the first square of the board, 2 grains on the second square, 4 grains on the third square, and continue to double the grain on each square until all 64 squares have grain."

They all wondered at how this silly Minister was, since he only wanted a few grains of wheat after winning such a prize. The King Kaid at first thought he'd gotten off easy and readily agrees.

First the King's Ministers sent for a few stalks of grain, then they sent for a few buckets of grain, then they sent for a few bushels of grain and then... they sent for a few fields of grain!! After that, they sent for a Mathematician. The Mathematician told the Ministers and the King that the amount of wheat that Sassa requested would take all of the wheat in the entire world! And perhaps still will not be met. It is multiple times higher than the annual world production of wheat.

Do you want to know how many grains would it take to fulfill this condition? Let us do a quick calculation:

Square 01 = 1
Square 02 = 2
Square 03 = 4
Square 04 = 8
Square 05 = 16
Square 06 = 32
Square 07 = 64
Square 08 = 128
Square 09 = 256
Square 10 = 512
Square 11 = 1,024 (Thousands)
Square 21 = 1,048,576 (Millions)

Square 31 = 1,073,741,824 (Billions)
Square 41 = 1,099,511,627,776 (Trillions)
Square 51 = 1,125,899,906,842,620 (Quadrillions)

Square 61 = 1,152,921,504,606,850,000 (Quintillions)
Square 64 = 9,223,372,036,854,780,000

On the entire chessboard there would be 2⁶⁴ − 1 = 18,446,744,073,709,551,615 grains of wheat, weighing 461,168,602,000 metric tons, which would be a heap of wheat larger than Mount Everest. This is multiple times the global production of wheat.

Yes, this is the power of compounding. ‘The most powerful force in the universe’- as Albert Einstein said it. Really it is astounding.  Mr Einstein also gave a rule to calculate the number of years it takes to double anything which is getting compounded annually. This rule is known as - Rule 72. You simply need to divide 72 with the current interest rate. For example if the rate of interest is 24% per annum, your money will get doubled every 3 years.

If you invest Rs 1 lac on your 25^th Birthday and it gets compounded at an annual rate of 24%. You will have Rs 1300 Cr in your account on your 75^th Birthday. And if you are lucky enough to live for 100 years, your ATM will show you a balance of Rs 335544 Crore.

That is the power of compounding. The good news is - compound effect is not limited to numbers only. It is equally effective on our choices, behaviors and habits. Small steps taken on consistent basis can do wonders in your life.

Go make the first bang and start harvesting the power of compounding. Remember, early start is the key in compounding. Just to give you a perspective - In the first 3 years the money grew just by 1 lac while in the last 3 years this grew by 167772 Crore.