Glad that I watched this video before starting my MBA - The Fringe Benefits of Failure, and the Importance of Imagination - J K Rowling

J.K. Rowling Speaks at Harvard Commencement from Harvard Magazine on Vimeo.

Video - J.K. Rowling, author of the best-selling Harry Potter book series, delivers her Commencement Address, “The Fringe Benefits of Failure, and the Importance of Imagination,” at the Annual Meeting of the Harvard Alumni Association.

 

I can't help but share this video on my blog whose readers are mostly the MBA aspirants and those who have the power to shape the future of their own and the world around them. This video will really inspire  the viewer to think positive, accept and learn from failures, look beyond their personal well-being and live life the right way.

What A talk.. Witty, Wise, Prolific all at once. Though am not a big fan of Harry Potter, I did become a fan of J K Rowling for her words and her thoughts. I am gonna quote few lines from this speech. Each one them is my personal favorite and taught me a lesson or two about life

 

The first thing I would like to say is ‘thank you.’ Not only has Harvard given me an extraordinary honour, but the weeks of fear and nausea I have endured at the thought of giving this commencement address have made me lose weight. A win-win situation! Now all I have to do is take deep breaths, squint at the red banners and convince myself that I am at the world’s largest Gryffindor reunion.

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I would like to make it clear, in parenthesis, that I do not blame my parents for their point of view. There is an expiry date on blaming your parents for steering you in the wrong direction; the moment you are old enough to take the wheel, responsibility lies with you.

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Failure gave me an inner security that I had never attained by passing examinations. Failure taught me things about myself that I could have learned no other way. I discovered that I had a strong will, and more discipline than I had suspected; I also found out that I had friends whose value was truly above the price of rubies. 

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 Unlike any other creature on this planet, humans can learn and understand, without having experienced. They can think themselves into other people’s places.

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"What we achieve inwardly will change outer reality"
That is an astonishing statement and yet proven a thousand times every day of our lives. It expresses, in part, our inescapable connection with the outside world, the fact that we touch other people’s lives simply by existing.
But how much more are you, Harvard graduates of 2008, likely to touch other people’s lives? Your intelligence, your capacity for hard work, the education you have earned and received, give you unique status, and unique responsibilities. Even your nationality sets you apart. The great majority of you belong to the world’s only remaining superpower. The way you vote, the way you live, the way you protest, the pressure you bring to bear on your government, has an impact way beyond your borders. That is your privilege, and your burden.
If you choose to use your status and influence to raise your voice on behalf of those who have no voice; if you choose to identify not only with the powerful, but with the powerless; if you retain the ability to imagine yourself into the lives of those who do not have your advantages, then it will not only be your proud families who celebrate your existence, but thousands and millions of people whose reality you have helped change. We do not need magic to change the world, we carry all the power we need inside ourselves already: we have the power to imagine better.

For the full text version and video visit http://harvardmagazine.com/commencement/the-fringe-benefits-failure-the-importance-imagination

So did this inspire you ??

I just realized something..

Here is some more non mba stuff.. So if you are up for such reading then go on..

There is a sea change in me and the way I lead my everyday life since last year when I started my MBA application process. I am a out and out multidimensional person who is into multiple activities at any point of my life. Outdoors, leading a Bangalore NGO, Music usually keeps me engaged other than my profession. Amidst all these, I used to have that "Me time" where I used to do the apparently useless but tremendously self rewarding chores like staring at mirror (myself rather) :P Like any other typical young gal, I used to love this activity.

Today when cleaning my room, I looked at the mirror and just realized that its been so long since I had my "Me time". All through the MBA application phase, I looked into myself to do all the self reflection and while it was immensely rewarding, somewhere in the process, I stopped looking at the mirror altogether.. While this is just an example, it just showed that I stopped enjoying those lil lil moments of life due to my demanding life schedule..

No regrets whatsoever.. But I don't wanna lose those moments at this age of 22.. Life is more than just one thing, be it anything..

So I decided to put back the "Me time" in my everyday life again.. I am resuming my Yoga classes as a 1st step.. And ya some more time in front of mirror.. I am lovin it :)

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Would love to listen the perspective of other MBA applicants in this regard. Guys please share your thoughts as comments..

This is what personality tests tell about me

Today I took the Jung Typology Test and this is what it says about me.

Your Type is ENFJ

Extraverted	Intuitive	Feeling	Judging
22	50	38	11

So what does that mean ? I am a

• slightly expressed extravert
  
• moderately expressed intuitive personality
  
• moderately expressed feeling personality
  
• slightly expressed judging personality

This kind of helped me reassert my career and life choices.

Furthermore, typelogic gave its breakdown about ENFJ personality type.

ENFJs are the benevolent 'pedagogues' of humanity. They have tremendous charisma by which many are drawn into their nurturant tutelage and/or grand schemes. Many ENFJs have tremendous power to manipulate others with their phenomenal interpersonal skills and unique salesmanship. But it's usually not meant as manipulation -- ENFJs generally believe in their dreams, and see themselves as helpers and enablers, which they usually are.

ENFJs are global learners. They see the big picture. The ENFJs focus is expansive. Some can juggle an amazing number of responsibilities or projects simultaneously. Many ENFJs have tremendous entrepreneurial ability.

ENFJs are, by definition, Js, with whom we associate organization and decisiveness. But they don't resemble the SJs or even the NTJs in organization of the environment nor occasional recalcitrance. ENFJs are organized in the arena of interpersonal affairs. Their offices may or may not be cluttered, but their conclusions (reached through feelings) about people and motives are drawn much more quickly and are more resilient than those of their NFP counterparts.

ENFJs know and appreciate people. Like most NFs, (and Feelers in general), they are apt to neglect themselves and their own needs for the needs of others. They have thinner psychological boundaries than most, and are at risk for being hurt or even abused by less sensitive people. ENFJs often take on more of the burdens of others than they can bear.

TRADEMARK: "The first shall be last"

This refers to the open-door policy of ENFJs. One ENFJ colleague always welcomes me into his office regardless of his own circumstances. If another person comes to the door, he allows them to interrupt our conversation with their need. While discussing that need, the phone rings and he stops to answer it. Others drop in with a 'quick question.' I finally get up, go to my office and use the call waiting feature on the telephone. When he hangs up, I have his undivided attention!

Functional Analysis:

Extraverted Feeling

Extraverted Feeling rules the ENFJ's psyche. In the sway of this rational function, these folks are predisposed to closure in matters pertaining to people, and especially on behalf of their beloved. As extraverts, their contacts are wide ranging. Face-to-face relationships are intense, personable and warm, though they may be so infrequently achieved that intimate friendships are rare.

Introverted iNtuition

Like their INFJ cousins, ENFJs are blessed through introverted intuition with clarity of perception in the inner, unconscious world. Dominant Feeling prefers to find the silver lining in even the most beggarly perceptions of those in their expanding circle of friends and, of course, in themselves. In less balanced individuals, such mitigation of the unseemly eventually undermines the ENFJ's integrity and frequently their good name. In healthier individuals, deft use of this awareness of the inner needs and desires of others enables this astute type to win friends, influence people, and avoid compromising entanglements.

The dynamic nature of their intuition moves ENFJs from one project to another with the assurance that the next one will be perfect, or much more nearly so than the last. ENFJs are continually looking for newer and better solutions to benefit their extensive family, staff, or organization.

Extraverted Sensing

Sensing is extraverted. ENFJs can manage details, particularly those necessary to implement the prevailing vision. These data have, however, a magical flexible quality. Something to be bought can be had for a song; the same something is invaluable when it's time to sell. (We are not certain, but we suspect that such is the influence of the primary function.) This wavering of sensory perception is made possible by the weaker and less mature status with which the tertiary is endowed.

Introverted Thinking

Introverted Thinking is least apparent and most enigmatic in this type. In fact, it often appears only when summoned by Feeling. At times only in jest, but in earnest if need be, Thinking entertains as logical only those conclusions which support Feeling's values. Other scenarios can be shown invalid or at best significantly inferior. Such "Thinking in the service of Feeling" has the appearance of logic, but somehow it never quite adds up.

Introverted Thinking is frequently the focus of the spiritual quest of ENFJs. David's lengthiest psalm, 119, pays it homage. "Law," "precept," "commandment," "statute:" these essences of inner thinking are the mysteries of Deity for which this great Feeler's soul searched.

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A unusual way to look at life

MBA Application process and the MBA decision is a highly goal driven process. But paradoxically, I really liked this alternative view point on life.

I came across this interesting article which puts forth a interesting alternative of looking at life and happiness.I have quoted the Full article below for my readers.
Source  : http://mnmlist.com/minimalisms-logical-extension-break-free-from-goals/

"By letting it go it all gets done. The world is won by those who let it go. But when you try and try. The world is beyond the winning." - Lao Tzu

One of the unshakable tenets of success and productivity literature is that you need to have goals in order to be successful (see Seth Godin on this - he's someone I respect, btw).

And from this tenet comes all sorts of other beliefs:

• You need to set goals the right way (such as the SMART method).
• You need to break goals down into actionable tasks.
• You need to have deadlines and timeframes.
• You need to make goals the focus of your day.

I know this, because I've believed it and lived it and written about it, for a long time.

Until recently.

Until recently, I'd always set goals for myself -- short-term and long-term ones, with action lists. I've made progress on each one, and accomplished a lot of goals (read My Story for more). And from this traditional viewpoint, I've been successful. So no argument there: goals work, and you can be successful using goals.

But are they the only way?

More recently I've moved away from goals, broken free of the shackles of goals. I've liberated myself because goals are not ideal, in my way of thinking:

• They are artificial -- you aren't working because you love it, you're working because you've set goals.
• They're constraining -- what if you want to work on something not in line with your goals? Shouldn't we have that freedom?
• They put pressure on us to achieve, to get certain things done. Pressure is stressful, and not always in a good way.
• When we fail (and we always do), it's discouraging.
• We're always thinking about the future (goals) instead of the present. I prefer to live in the present.

But most of all, here's the thing with goals: you're never satisfied. Goals are a way of saying, "When I've accomplished this goal (or all these goals), I will be happy then. I'm not happy now, because I haven't achieved my goals." This is never said out loud, but it's what goals really mean. The problem is, when we achieve the goals, we don't achieve happiness. We set new goals, strive for something new.

And while many people will say that striving for something new is a good thing, that we should always be striving, unfortunately it means we're never satisfied. We never find contentment. I think that's sad -- we should learn how to be content now, with what we have. It's what minimalism is all about, really.

And if minimalism is being happy now, with enough, with the present, then how are goals consistent with this? It's something I've tried to reconcile over the last few years, with limited success.

So what would a true minimalist do instead? If we are content now, and we abandon goals, does that mean we do nothing? Sit around or sleep all day?

Not at all. I certainly don't do that. We should do what makes us happy, follow our passions, do things that make us excited. For me and many people, that's creating, building new things, expressing ourselves, making something useful or new or beautiful or inspiring.

So here's what I do, instead of setting and achieving goals:

I do what excites me. Each day. I wake up, and work on things that I'm passionate about, create things that I love creating.

I don't worry about where I'll be (professionally) in a year or even six months, but where I am right now.

I don't make plans, because they're an illusion -- you never know what will happen in a year or even six months. You can try to control what happens, but you'll lose. Things always come up, sometimes good and sometimes bad, that will disrupt plans. Instead, I've learned to go with the flow, to not worry about things that disrupt plans but worry about what to do right now. This allows me to take advantage of opportunities to come up that I could never have planned for, to work on things I couldn't have known about, to make decisions about what's best right now, not what I planned a few months ago.

I don't force things, but do what comes naturally.

And I focus on the present, on being happy now.

This has taken me time -- letting go of goals is a scary and uncomfortable thing, but if you let them go gradually, it's not that hard. I've slowly adapted the way I work, and learned to work in the moment, and go with the flow of the world that surrounds me (online and off).

It's a beautiful way of working. And not incidentally, I've accomplished even more this way, without making that a goal. It's a natural byproduct of doing what you love.

"A good traveler has no fixed plans, and is not intent on arriving." - Lao Tzu

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My Dreams

This space is dedicated for some of my life's ambitious, sweet, cute, daring, silly, stupid dreams.

• Buy a nice cycle
• Roam around the world
• Mentor atleast 10 people during my lifetime and see them achieve their dreams !!! (oh this is my favorite)
  
• Get into a Top B school
• Enjoy the 2 years of MBA
• Do a great MBA internship
• Do a exchange program during MBA
• Make atleast 3 lasting friends and some hundred new friends during MBA
• Master the art of Yoga n Pranayama (On the way to realize this dream !!)
• Buy a car for my parents
• Have a home with a sea facing window seat !! If not a sea, some water body will do !!
  
• Give a music concert (have done couple of performances, but a full fledged performance is what am dreaming about)
• Learn Skuba diving
• Do Paragliding/para sailing/water rafting
• Climb himalayas
• Spend few days on Kerala boat houses
• Start/Run a successful business (for profit or social enterprise ) 

 More to come ......


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