How mentors can inspire individuals to pursue their aspirations
Three thousand years ago, in ancient Greece, Homer wrote the poem “Odyssey.” The epic poem was 24 books long, detailing the wanderings of King Odysseus, and giving us the words “odyssey” and, more surprisingly, “mentorship”. In the epic poem, when Odysseus leaves to fight in the Trojan War, he entrusts his son Telemachus to the care of Mentor, his trusted companion. While Odysseus was away for decades, Mentor nurtured and guided young Telemachus in his time of need. Homer didn’t know it then, but he had given a name to the foundational human practice of mentorship.
“We’re here for a…
Using the love language model to develop healthier relationships
Over 150,000 years ago, around the same time we were evolving as homo sapiens, we developed the complex communication system we now call language. Language allowed us to share our ideas and experiences with a stunning degree of accuracy. Similarly, human connections have a language system of their own. We express and experience love in a myriad of ways. Dr. Gary Chapman identified five distinct ways humans communicate love, which he called the love languages.
It is important to know the ways you give and receive love. The role of love languages takes on added significance when you are relating…
Two major reasons why you should take calculated risks
Have you ever wondered how life might have turned out had you not taken a few risks? If you had not quit your job to run your own business? Or taken a year off to restructure your life?
Whether you have had to dive into financial uncertainty or emotional vulnerability, risks have no doubt been a necessary evil. In fact, decisions with a ninety percent possibility of success also have a ten percent probability of failure. Life will always be a gamble so we might as well learn to take calculated risks.
“There is freedom waiting for you, On the…
Embracing work-life harmony to create a life filled with content
In the 4-Hour Work Week, Tim Ferriss tells a little story that illustrates the idea of work-life balance. Listen to it here: The Parable of The Mexican Fisherman and Investment Banker.
Which of these two characters reflects how you work? Are you the determined American, constantly seeking to expand your career with a vision of a content life upon achieving your goals? Or are you the content Mexican whose life is a beautiful blend of work, family and personal time?
Regardless of whether we are self-employed or work a nine to five, each of us desires a balance between work…
An insightful look at why women are drawn to flowers.
Did you know that the practice of giving flowers dates back to prehistoric times? The Victorian era holds the record for the most interesting floriography. During this period, verbally expressing emotions was not considered noble. So instead of saying how they felt, Victorians used flowers to communicate their emotions.
The Victorian era was a time when flowers were not only a woman’s object of desire, but they also symbolized a love language. Victorians were quite intentional in how they used the language of flowers. …
Developing a growth mindset to make the most of feedback
How old were you when you first watched The Jungle Book? Do you remember how it made you feel? Did you dance along with Mowgli and Baloo, and sneer every time Shere Khan came on? No? — I guess it’s just me, then. The timeless story has been told and retold a myriad times. Its 2016 film adaptation grossed close to a billion US dollars. The Jungle Book is a big deal!
Rudyard Kipling, the genius behind it, is a big deal himself. Beyond his success with the Jungle Book, he is also a world-renowned poet. I was introduced to…
I’m certain most of us get asked this quite often. It is in fact one of the most prominent interview questions! Where do you see yourself in five years? This has always been a challenging question for me because quite frankly I don’t know. I have come to realize that this question is mostly used to determine one of two things:
1. Your ambition. People assume that a great response to this question would be one that indicates an individual’s vision for the future. The more specific and well thought through it is the more ambitious someone is said to…
I say feel it, feel it,
When it’s too dark and you can’t find your way back,
When it’s too deep to pull yourself out,
When it feels like there’s a void at the end of the tunnel,
When it seems like there’s no one but you in the middle of the night,
When it seems like all your cries for help go unnoticed,
When you can’t seem to find your own shadow,
When it feels like you have had enough,
When it feels like you are ready to succumb,
I say feel it, feel it,
Let it go through…
There is a voice inside me,
Quietly taking up space,
It wakes me up in the morning,
And demands to be heard,
As I lay awake at the brink of dawn,
It shows me my greatest desires,
Like a chest filled with treasures,
It draws me in and pulls me close,
It shows me where to sail and which path to take,
It shines a light on my journey,
So, I get up every day to chase after a reality I have yet to see.
There is a voice inside me, Recreating the world I live in, It speaks to…
An analogy to help you build great relationships with overflowing emotional reserves
How can you build and sustain a strong, secure relationship where you and your partner feel that your needs are met? One tip is to think of your relationship as a love bank.
The theory of love banks stems from the basic concepts of ordinary bank accounts. Essentially, a bank account grants its user a platform for making deposits and withdrawals. When we transfer funds to our bank accounts, we are making deposits. Deposits create positive balances. On the other hand, when funds are taken out, we are making withdrawals. …
