Self Improvement International - October 2019

Self Improvement International OCTOBER 2019 Issue

Think like an Ant Habits that make you Bankrupt Indie Editing A Very Easy Job and many more !!!

Wealth of the Wise

Self Improvement International Wealth of the Wise October 2019 Issue

Copyright Š Thejendra Sreenivas. All Rights Reserved

Self Improvement International October 2019 Issue 82/1, Second Main Road, Sheshadripuram, Bangalore 560020, India. www.thejendra.com

Publisher - Thejendra Sreenivas Email - thejendra@yahoo.com & thejendrabs@gmail.com Single Issue: Rs 30 (India) & US$0.99 (Worldwide) Annual Subscription: Rs 360 (India) & US$9.99 (Worldwide)

Self Improvement International is a monthly electronic magazine edited and published by Thejendra Sreenivas on behalf of his private Seven Sages Consultancy, Bangalore, India.

No part of this magazine may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by information storage and retrieval

systems, or in any language without the written permission of the editor.

In this issue

From the Editor’s Desk

01

What my Lawyer makes me say

03

What Else?

05

Think like an Ant

07

Personal Development

Life Lessons from Great Leaders History

15

In this issue (cont’d) Leaders – Mass Motivation is Useless Leadership

Indie Editing – A Very Easy Job Writing & Publishing

Everyone needs a Website Personal Development

Habits that make you Bankrupt Personal Finance

Hidden Advantages of Disagreements Self Improvement

22

29

37

46

57

In this issue (cont’d) The Amazing World of Podcasts Personal Development

The Good Old Days History

Children Section Writing & Publishing

Comics – The Lost Priceless Treasures Nostalgia

A Few Questions FAQs

71

78

80

81

89

From the Editor’s Desk

H

ey, thanks for subscribing to my unique and

delightful

International

Self

Improvement

magazine.

This

is

a

magazine to be read, retained, remembered, and re-read from your electronic bookshelf.

Each magazine carries a bunch of sparkling articles on Personal Development, Stress Management, Humor, Frugality, Leadership, Resiliency, Workplace Issues, Spirituality, Life Skills, Satire, Writing, Publishing, and an occasional Harsh Advice.

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Self Improvement International – October 2019 Issue

Simplicity is the hallmark of this treasure chest. Unlike the hordes of dazzling magazines that you see in the newsstands the contents here are eye and eReader friendly, and not crowded with complex cosmetics, awesome advertisements, and gorgeous graphics that can distract or irritate your eyes. Like a basket of delicious fruits each issue can dramatically transform your personal and professional life.

Think of this magazine as your electronic personal coach who can make you superior to the rest of the crowd. Give it a try. You may be pleasantly surprised.

Back to Contents

2

What my Lawyer makes me say

D

isclaimer: Although this magazine has been prepared with utmost care, neither the author, publisher, seller, editor, or

any other party associated with this magazine can accept any liability for any direct or indirect damages caused by following the advice given here.

All opinions, ideas, and advice expressed here are largely my personal or the contributor opinions and don’t necessarily represent the opinion of any other organization or person, including my employer, my clients or their 3

Self Improvement International – October 2019 Issue

agents. Any reference to any persons or businesses, whether living or dead, existing or defunct, is purely unintentional.

Self Improvement International cannot vouch for or certify the claims made by advertisers and is not liable for any cause of action arising out of such claims. All disputes are subject to the courts and competent forums in Bangalore, India only.

Images used in this magazine are from open image sources like Openclipart, Pexels, etc., that are free for personal and commercial use.

My full thanks and attribution to the respective artists.

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What Else?

W

ise men say that one should never have any desire for wealth and must always be prepared to lead a life of

virtuous poverty. Also, writing articles is viewed by many as a hobby that doesn’t deserve any compensation for the writer as they must write purely for the passion and not for money. But writing involves enormous effort and we don’t live on such magnanimous money-free planets. By becoming a subscriber to this magazine you help me create valuable 5

Self Improvement International – October 2019 Issue

content for writers and executives. Thank you for being so generous.

Also, if you are a giving kind of person, then I am an accepting kind. So, if you have any unused excess wealth stashed away in Swiss Banks, Spare Jewels, Precious Gems, Spanish Gold Bars, Priceless Paintings, Rare Dinosaur Bones, Asteroid Pieces, Unused Rolls-Royce, Private Jets, Luxury Ships, or even an Exotic Island or Kingdom somewhere, please feel free to donate them to me along with all applicable taxes. Such humble gifts can nudge me to scribble more articles that could be of use to someone, somewhere on our lonely planet ď Š

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Think like an Ant Personal Development

W

hen was the last time that you thought about

ants?

Remember,

Ants? those

Yes,

tiny

ants.

crawling

creatures in your garden or elsewhere who always has spare time to invade your picnic 7

Self Improvement International – October 2019 Issue

spot in hordes? If you observe them closely, they are always doing something like carrying something on their backs, building an anthill, or fighting over food, and so on.

While most people may dismiss ants as some irritating creatures that need to be tolerated they can also teach you a valuable life lesson. Now you may ask how an insignificant creature like an ant can teach you something. The answer is simple.

We normally tend to look at big people and big things for lessons on how to get better, improve, and learn their secrets of success. But sometimes the biggest lessons in life can come from the smallest things around us. And that

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lesson ants can teach you is survival because they are great survivors.

Do you know how? This is because they have a four part process to their success as discovered by Jim Rohn, a motivational guru, who called it the Ant Philosophy. Here are the four lessons that he observed from ants.

Lesson-1: Ants never quit. And they don’t know how to quit. If you observe ants heading somewhere and try to stop them they will immediately look for another way. They will climb over, or they will climb under, or they will climb around. They won’t stop and will keep looking for another way. They never give up.

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Self Improvement International – October 2019 Issue

No matter how many times you destroy their ant hill, they will build it again. No matter how many times you kick them from your food, they will come back. Basically, the lesson here is to never quit and keep looking for a new way to get where you are supposed to go.

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Lesson-2: Ants think winter all summer.

They know summer will not last forever. So, they gather their winter food in the middle of summer. Basically, they are storing as much food as possible to tide over the winter time.

The lesson here is to think ahead knowing that the current good times won’t last forever.

Lesson-3: Ants think summer all winter.

During the winter, ants remind themselves, “This won’t last long; we’ll soon be out of here.”

Basically, during the winter they stay positive and patiently wait for the miserable times to get over. And immediately on the first warm day the ants are out in the thousands joyfully celebrating the end of the cold misery.

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Self Improvement International – October 2019 Issue

Lesson-4: Gather all you possibly can. How much do ants gather during the summer to prepare for the winter? All they can possibly collect. Ants don’t have limits or this is enough kind of thinking. They don’t gather a certain amount and then take a vacation. If an ant can gather more they will collect it even if they have to work two extra hours to gather it.

Summary - The Ant Philosophy can be applied to your everyday life. If you never give up, always look ahead, stay positive, and do all that you can do, then you will succeed at life.

Average people think of getting off from work, while successful people constantly look forward to getting on with it.

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Once you make the jump from wanting to quit to wanting to continue you can transform your life and do something wonderful every day. So, always remember to make hay while the sun shines. Good times never last long enough. And bad times also will not be forever.

Finally, we can end this article with a quote

by Robert Schuller - Most people who succeed in the face of seemingly impossible conditions are people who simply don’t know how to quit.

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14

Life Lessons from Great Leaders History

LESSON ONE

L

ong before Walt Disney made a name for himself in Hollywood he was a poor, struggling artist in Kansas City. But

something happened there that perhaps had something to do with his big break a few years 15

Self Improvement International – October 2019 Issue

later - The discovery of a friendly mouse. Mice would gather in Walt’s wastebasket when he worked late at night. He would lift them out and keep them in little cages on his desk. One of the little mice was Walt’s special friend.

Before he left the hard times of Kansas City behind, Walt carefully carried his little mouse friend into a field and let him go.

No doubt when his mouse cartoon idea came, he thought back on those Kansas City friends. He first decided to call his mouse Mortimer. But his wife didn’t like the name.

“Too sissy,” she argued. Finally, Walt suggested Mickey. Mrs. Disney liked it, but a movie exhibitor booking cartoons didn’t like it. He said, “It’s no use, Walt, nobody has ever heard

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of Mickey Mouse.” Walt, as optimistic as ever answered, “They will!” And the rest is history.

LESSON TWO Walt Disney’s formal education was only through the ninth grade. It was wartime, and he dropped out of school in order to join the navy. But he was turned down because he was too young. Then he joined the Red Cross ambulance corps, eventually going to France.

Walt didn’t let the lack of a formal education keep him from learning and doing things. He used to say that he would find the person who knew something about the subject he was interested in and begin to ask questions. I’ve never yet found anybody who knew a thing who wouldn’t drop whatever he 17

Self Improvement International – October 2019 Issue

was doing and try to help me if I went to him and said, ‘I know nothing about your specialty but I’d like to know about it.’ People enjoy being helpful like that. Disney used to advise people not to pretend that they knew more than they did. “All you’ve got to do is own up to your ignorance honestly, and you’ll find people who are eager to fill your head with information.”

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Self Improvement International – October 2019 Issue

WINSTON CHURCHILL

A

t the age of seventy-seven, in 1951, Winston Churchill was elected prime minister for the second time. Some of his

enemies - and he had more than a few were worried that he would live forever. Perhaps Churchill

himself

believed 19

it.

A

news

Self Improvement International – October 2019 Issue

cameraman taking his picture called out, “I shall photograph you on your hundredth birthday, sir!” Winston barked back, “I see no reason why you shouldn’t, young man. You look healthy enough.”

The battles between Winston Churchill and the American-born Lady Astor were long and often furious. Lady Astor, born Nannie Langhom in Danville, Virginia, had a seat in the House of Commons. One day she was exceptionally furious at Winston and roared at him, “If I were your wife, I would put poison in your coffee.” To which Churchill replied with dignity, “And if I were your husband, I would drink it.”

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Self Improvement International – October 2019 Issue

Bernard Shaw once sent Churchill two tickets for the opening of one his plays with a note: "Come to the first night and bring a friend - if you have a friend." To which Churchill replied: "Am too busy to come to the opening, but will be there the second night - if there is a second night."

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21

Leaders – Mass Motivation is Useless Leadership

N

owadays it has become a norm for many famous CEOs, business leaders, and top managers to frequently give flamboyant

jargon filled speeches to their global audience.

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Self Improvement International – October 2019 Issue

Such

speeches

are

normally

telecast

worldwide via their internal network or through the internet for various occasions like anniversaries, or some business achievement, or quarterly pep talk, etc., that is specifically designed to leave the audience dazed.

This is usually called motivational talk to a large audience or mass advice for short. Days and weeks are spent on preparing such speeches. Next, the business media will also add spice to such speeches or initiate further interviews with those leaders who will add more business jargon to what they already did.

The internet has hundreds of such videos from many Fortune 500 companies. But if you observe closely, such mass speeches will hardly 23

Self Improvement International – October 2019 Issue

contain any meaningful or useful information.

To know why, let’s play a small game.

For example, assume you are a jargon loving CEO or a business leader of a large organization

and

you

gave

a

grand

motivational speech to your worldwide staff (with diverse departments and age groups) and used sentences like - Reach for the stars, Conquer new kingdoms, Demolish hierarchy, Break all the rules, Thrill the customer, Add value, Act empowered, Connect the dots, Break all barriers, Do what is right, etc. Now what exactly are your employees at all layers and diverse departments supposed to do from tomorrow after listening to your grandiose advice?

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Self Improvement International – October 2019 Issue

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Can they start ignoring their HR policies to break the rules?

Can they take decisions without their manager’s

approvals

to

demonstrate

empowerment?

Can they stop a global downsizing because it’s not right?

Can

they

give

massive

discounts

to

customers to thrill them and add value?

Can they make everyone’s titles the same to demolish hierarchy?

Can they invade into other departments to break all barriers?

And so on.

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Self Improvement International – October 2019 Issue

Will you or your senior managers allow them to do it though you enthusiastically preached it? So, any mass advice with jargon just pumps up people for a short time, but the advice can’t really be followed and can also mean different things to different people.

Does this mean all motivational talk is useless? The answer is Yes and No. Unless, there is a clear real world takeaway from the advice you give, just using a lot of fancy words, waving your hands, and mesmerizing your

audience accomplishes nothing other than them being dazzled by you for an hour.

Finally, we can end this article with a quote

by Kellyn Roth - If Miss Elton spoke water 27

Self Improvement International – October 2019 Issue

instead of words, then there would have been a repetition of Noah’s flood.

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28

Indie Editing – A Very Easy Job Writing & Publishing

M

any Indie Newbies think that only the story or content matter to readers. But it’s not so. Readers judge a book not

only by its cover but also by the way it’s written inside. Even if a reader is not a 29

Self Improvement International – October 2019 Issue

grammar expert, he or she can notice several mistakes or oddities from their perspective. For example, a reader may notice that the author has unnecessarily repeated the same concept again and again different ways. This can irritate the reader as they will think this has been done to puff up the book and increase pages. In other words, the interior is not edited properly.

Saturday & Sunday - Whew! I can’t believe that I belted out 150 pages of my new book in four weeks. I have now entered the efficiency zone, the pinnacle of speed writing. At this rate I can easily write new books every month.

I will publish it tonight and start on my next one. Goodbye, writer’s block.

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Self Improvement International – October 2019 Issue

STOP! WAIT! HOLD ON! - Give it some time.

Why? My book is ready now.

Just do what I say. Review your book tomorrow, and again in a couple of days.

Eight Hours of Sleep - Let me have a quick check on my manuscript. What? This sentence doesn’t look right. How could I have missed this? Hey, I think these words don’t suit well for this topic. Let me find a better word for this, this, and that. Ah, now it looks better.

Isn’t this better than yesterday?

Eight More Hours of Sleep - Let me give one final check. Eeeek! How could I have done this? I have explained this concept a few pages earlier and I have now stated the same thing 31

Self Improvement International – October 2019 Issue

again using different sentences. Sigh! Let me delete this repetition.

Eight More Hours of Sleep - Let me check now. I can’t believe it. This paragraph doesn’t gel at all with the story. Why did I scribble it?

It’s unwanted. Let me delete it. Now what? The stuff looks broken and lost its continuity.

Looks like I have to reorganize all the paragraphs again. Sigh!

Moral of the Story - Many new writers think writing fast is a good thing. But when you write fast you will make many mistakes. This is why you should not have any urgency or deadlines for writing a book. For example, don’t promise yourself or others that you will finish a great book in six weeks or less. Always 32

Self Improvement International – October 2019 Issue

remember that when you are too eager to show off your talents to others you will make embarrassing mistakes. So, what can you do?

The simple answer is to revisit again and again.

When you give it some time and return to revise it with fresh eyes you will suddenly discover many ways of improving it further.

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Self Improvement International – October 2019 Issue

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Self Improvement International – October 2019 Issue

A book is a work of art and must be molded carefully. It’s like a diamond that must be carefully cut and polished to get that brilliant sparkle. You can always generate a better sentence, a better structure, a better plot, a better title, etc., if you give it enough time.

But if you are in a hurry, then such things cannot be done and you may end up publishing a shoddy book that will haunt you for years and also disappoint your readers. For example, imagine the horror of noticing dozens of spelling mistakes, grammatical errors, badly written sentences, repetitions, etc., in your book after it has been published and available for sale. Secondly, if such a book gets reviewed by professionals they will rip your work apart with a horrible review.

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Self Improvement International – October 2019 Issue

Writing a book involves plenty of editing, polishing, deleting, rearranging, moving, revising, etc., without hesitation. So, do not hesitate to chop entire paragraphs, or change the story entirely if necessary to make your book better. Take your time and don’t hurry.

Finally, we shall end this article with a quote from Lau Tzu who said — Nature never hurries, yet everything is accomplished.

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36

Everyone needs a Website Personal Development

T

oday

most

people,

whether

self-

employed or working for someone, will definitely have an email id, a mobile

phone, and a business card. But most of them would say no or appear hesitant at the idea of having a website or a blog of their own. The 37

Self Improvement International – October 2019 Issue

reasons for not having one could range from arguments like why have one, lack of technical knowledge, or even embarrassment of having a personal website when they have nothing specific to sell. They may think that having a website may seem pompous if their friends or relatives get to know about it.

However, contrary to what most people think having a personal website or a blog has several advantages and immense benefits to almost everyone today as outlined below.

A website is one of the easiest and cheapest ways of telling the world about your hobbies, talents, thoughts, or business by spending a very nominal sum of money. And anyone who has some knowledge to share or sell will 38

Self Improvement International – October 2019 Issue

benefit from having a website today. In today's competitive world you need every advantage you can to showcase yourself and your talents.

Your website can be used to promote and grow your hobbies and services, expose your talents to the world and customers who are interested in what you do, improve your personal

and

professional

image,

get

acquainted with people who have similar hobbies and interests, sell your goods, give free or paid advice, etc.

For example, if you are in a creative business like writing, publishing, arts, paintings, etc., you will definitely need a website to display your stuff. Unless you are an extremely famous person hounded by the press, paparazzi, and hundreds of fans, you will need a personal 39

Self Improvement International – October 2019 Issue

website or a blog that portrays who you are, what

you

do,

what

you

know,

your

accomplishments and how to contact you.

A website helps you promote and advertise your company worldwide. By having a website, you allow your customers to find you 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. If you are in a competitive business and your competitors have websites but you don’t, then you are already light years behind no matter how great your products and services are.

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Self Improvement International – October 2019 Issue

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Self Improvement International – October 2019 Issue

A website shows that you are in tune with modern times and new technologies. With a website you can offer complete details about your products and services than just listing your business in a microscopic yellow pages section

or

expensive

periodically newspaper

providing or

some

magazine

advertisements.

Another advantage with a website is you can update and revise your products and services as many times as possible with minimal cost and effort.

Websites and blogs today can also reestablish contact with your long lost friends and buddies. It provides a method of

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Self Improvement International – October 2019 Issue

contacting you through search engines and social networking sites.

Having

a

website also

helps

people

distinguish you from someone who have an identical or similar sounding name. For example if people googled you and reach your website with your photo it will prove that you are not the same guy as that suspected serial killer the police are hunting for, who coincidentally has the same name as yours. :-) Of course, as with anything there are Do's and Don'ts and your website must be managed responsibly. That means no posting of inappropriate information, your company’s confidential

information,

people

your

or

foul

employers, 43

mouthing linking

to

Self Improvement International – October 2019 Issue

questionable sources, plagiarizing from other sources, peddling illegal stuff, etc.

What you post on your website must be eligible personal information, shareable stuff and publicly available information that are freely available from other sources.

Finally getting a website need not be a complicated,

expensive

or

frightening

business. It is possible to get a simple website for as low as a hundred dollars. With some simple online software and tools it is possible for you to create a decent website within hours or days if you have the content ready.

And contrary to what most people think your website need not be a super duper or glamorous one. It can be as plain and simple as 44

Self Improvement International – October 2019 Issue

possible. The content can be in the form of text or images. And there are several reputed organizations and freelancers who can create and maintain a great website for a small fee.

Or if managing a website seems daunting you can easily get a blog, which is a vanilla version of a website that you can use to upload text and images very easily.

So go ahead and get one today!!!

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45

Habits that make you Bankrupt Personal Finance

A

n Indian proverb says - A green coconut leaf looks at the brown coconut leaf and laughs. What this proverb means is that

the green leaf does not realize that it will also become old and weak someday. In a similar way, you may be vibrant and earning a ton of 46

Self Improvement International – October 2019 Issue

money today, but within a few years or a couple of decades you will become weak and unable to earn even one-fifth of what you are earning today.

Have you ever thought of such risks or do you avoid them? Or, you may think retirement is far away, so why worry about it now. Or, you may think that your great qualifications and contacts will keep you employed with money pouring in eternally.

Sadly, you are mistaken. Life doesn’t work that way and you must learn to save money when you are young. But how can you save money in this dog-eat-dog world? For this, you first need to know where your money is going or rather draining. This article will show you 47

Self Improvement International – October 2019 Issue

the various black holes where your money is disappearing every month.

Black Hole-1: Spending too much on your house. Maintaining a house is probably the biggest expense people have worldwide. There will always be something to spend like repairs, painting, or upgrades endlessly. So, start with you house. If you are staying in a rented house in an expensive locality ask if you can shift house to a medium expense locality near your workplace. This will save on rent and travel costs.

Or, if you own the house look at the various expenses you have to maintain the house. Are there lights and electrical gadgets burning 24 hours? If it is too cold why not wear a sweater 48

Self Improvement International – October 2019 Issue

instead of increasing the air-conditioner temperature? Are there fancy items that require monthly expenditure to maintain like a fountain? Are you subscribing to too many magazines and newspapers? Can you learn to do some minor repairs of plumbing, electricals, paining, etc? And so on. Then start cutting down as many expenses as possible.

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Black Hole-2: Spending too much on your car. Like maintaining a house, spending on a car can eat up a big percentage of your monthly income. New cars lose value even if you want to sell them the next day of purchase. Secondly, the car will have other continuous expenses like insurance, fuel, repairs that insurance don’t cover, parking fees, police fines, towing charges, punctures, parking problems, etc.

Each of these is like a hole in your pocket.

So, be smart, sell your car and start using public transportation or app based taxis like Uber. Or, if that is not possible then buy a good quality used car available at one third the cost of a new car.

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Self Improvement International – October 2019 Issue

For example, if you need a car for city transportation, a low priced basic car or a used car serves the same purpose as an expensive fancy car. A simple rugged car serves the same purpose and also softer on loan repayments, repair costs, and insurance when the axe falls on your monthly income.

Black Hole-3: Relying on Credit Cards. The idea of buying today and paying tomorrow is something few people can resist. Spendthrifts also fall for personal loans and payments through credit cards. But the downside is they will pile up debts that will never clear and slowly such people will get into a nasty debt trap. Ask if you are also in this mode. If yes, develop a strong will and cut down on all impulsive credit card purchases.

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Black Hole-4: Eating Out and Vacations. In the past, only the rich could afford to eat out every week and go on a vacation every few months. But that is now being imitated even by middle class salaried people. This is because of peer pressure and so they try to keep up with the Joneses.

For example, your coworker or family friend goes on a vacation to an exotic place and uploads a dozens of photos on social media.

Next, your family will start pestering and you will start feeling the pressure or guilt of not taking them on such vacations. And off you go next being unable or unwilling to say no. I have seen people even take loans for going on such vacations because they are easily 53

Self Improvement International – October 2019 Issue

available that you can repay in installments, but with high interest.

Black Hole-5: Not tracking your Spending.

Millions of people don’t track their expenses and don’t live within a budget. But knowing where your money goes gives you control over your finances. So, starting today make a detailed list of all expenses per month and classify them as necessary or unnecessary. You may discover that a lot of money is going out for stuff that you never use like unwanted magazines,

digital

subscriptions,

club

memberships, and even charities that you enrolled in long ago. Then cut down all unnecessary expenses. And even for the necessary stuff like insurance, rent, or other expenses see if you can get a better deal.

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For example, I had not bothered to check the monthly rentals of my mobile phones and was still paying the old plan charges for all my family members. Later, after several months I got to know about an annual plan that was 20% cheaper than what I was paying. Then, I quickly changed everyone’s plans to annual from monthly plans. I had the same experience with my internet and landline plan also. Now I pay 20% less than what I was paying last year.

Black Hole-6: Buying New Goods. This is another financial area that most people don’t know or think at the time of buying. Not every item you require need to be purchased new.

Several of such items can be purchased second hand or in a used store. For example, I never bought new text books for my entire 55

Self Improvement International – October 2019 Issue

engineering course, except for a few new syllabus books. And I saved 40% of the costs every year. Remember, there is nothing wrong in buying used goods and should not be considered shameful or embarrassing.

Similarly, there are many ways you can cut costs and save for a rainy day. Finally, we can end this article with a quote - The safe way to double your money is to fold it over once and put it in your pocket - Kin Hubbard.

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56

Hidden Advantages of Disagreements Self Improvement

A

popular comic strip once showed a soldier diligently watering a lawn in the rain. When a puzzled passer-by questions

the need for a hose during a rain the solder answers he was simply following orders that the lawn must be watered every day. And then 57

Self Improvement International – October 2019 Issue

mischievously adds that soldiers are forbidden from disagreeing or questioning the orders made by their superiors. Conventional wisdom usually shows that going quietly with the established flow is the path to success and happiness.

For example, if you are the boss and you have team members who don’t support you in everything, you may argue that it can undermine morale, reduce your authority, weaken the team, project or even sabotage the company goals. So, a good team player is one who does not rock the boat, delay decisions or introduce roadblocks. And obviously having people who agree with you on anything and everything has many perceived advantages like below.

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Self Improvement International – October 2019 Issue

1. Working with cooperative people is a joy and necessary to achieve a goal. After all who would like to work with people who disagree?

2. Things get done faster when you have people who agree with you on anything and everything.

3. With people who collaborate easily, there will be fewer conflicts, stress, and irritation.

And so on. The above reasons appear valid because people see disagreements in the workplace lead to anger, confusion, fear, embarrassment, etc., and so it must be avoided at all costs. However, putting the popular reasons aside for some time there are several hidden reasons why surrounding yourself with yes-men, apple-polishers, and people who 59

Self Improvement International – October 2019 Issue

blindly agree without questioning for various reasons (including fear) can actually be a poison

pill

for

you.

While

preventing

disagreements may have its valid reasons in the armed forces, the same formula in the civilian and corporate world can often become a disaster as you will soon see.

To be truly successful you must periodically welcome a generous dose of disagreement in every major or important decision you take, even if you are an expert in what you do. The suggestion for openly inviting disagreement may seem odd because it can be infuriating, insulting, irritating and seen as a roadblock to your plans. But beneath the hood, there are several advantages of accepting people who can question your plans, decisions, demands, 60

Self Improvement International – October 2019 Issue

ideas, etc., provided you learn the ability to see it in an objective way.

Many times the advantages of seeking advice from people who have the courage to disagree

can

often

far

outweigh

the

advantages of surrounding yourself with only who agree. The reasons why you need some disagreement are as follows.

Lack of dissent and disagreement means lack of analysis. Everything has a downside when viewed from certain angles.

This has been aptly demonstrated by Alfred Sloan (CEO of General Motors from 1923 to 1956) who once said in a directors' meeting, ‘Gentlemen, I take it that we are all in complete agreement on the decision here. Then, I propose 61

Self Improvement International – October 2019 Issue

that we postpone further discussion to give ourselves time to develop disagreement and perhaps gain some understanding of what the decision is all about.’ If Alfred Sloan couldn’t find opposition to an important decision, he would postpone it to give his business managers some time to think about the pros and cons in different ways.

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A disagreement can often prevent you from rushing into bad decisions and choices. They give you time and press the brakes to ponder over it though you may get irritated by the delay and roadblocks. It is quite possible you may have done extensive homework on a decision, but still may have overlooked a simple, but important point, which the dissenting person can see when looked from a different angle.

Use disagreements to your advantage.

Cynics, pessimists, and people who can disagree are right nine times out of ten. Hence, learn how to extract gold from it. When you are doing a project or a major task you need people who can blurt out problems and roadblocks openly, not someone who will 64

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gleefully say everything can be done and pat your back.

Every time a cynic opens his mouth you know what exactly needs to be fixed so that a project can succeed. Ask yourself, ‘How can I use this information?’ or ‘How much time, money and effort is involved to solve all these problems?’

You need to accept opposition objectively and professionally. You should encourage people to disagree with you so that all sides of the decision can be carefully examined.

Unless you are a megalomaniac, or an extremely dismissive person, you must accept the fact that countless people below or above you

will

be

more 65

talented,

smarter,

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knowledgeable and more powerful than you.

It’s not enough to invite dissent and criticism because it’s the new management fad or just for the heck of it, and later victimize or target the person for saying something you didn't like to hear.

Don’t be afraid to disagree or accept disagreement.

Real

leaders

accept

disagreement. Surrounding yourself with yes men simply means they are just rubber stamping everything you say without adding any value or digging deep into the issue. A certain amount of honest friction heightens interest and establishes mutual respect.

However, when dealing with subordinates you have to invite dissent by asking beautiful questions. People beneath you will never 66

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openly dissent if you have blown your fuse or acted irrational earlier. Many employees, especially newcomers, will not speak up in an atmosphere where they feel their ideas are not welcome.

If you are famous or popular, everyone around will always agree with you and applaud all your decisions. If you notice such a thing, then you need to be extra careful of those who are too supportive of your ideas and suggestions. This is because they will also not prevent you from making mega mistakes. So, whether it’s your decision of buying an unsuitable equipment for your organization, or even going to the extent of cooking the books to commit some fraud they will not oppose or openly dissent. Later on, when something goes 67

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wrong badly the yes men around will quickly disappear and not share the blame by promptly claiming that it was all your decision.

Of course, if they had disagreed earlier but you did not care or bulldozed their opinions then only you are to be solely blamed.

Another key to managing disagreements is to prevent it from taking a personal turn as 99% of disagreements turn into conflicts and become dirty. The simple reason for this is the way a disagreement is put forth. Many a time, a particular suggestion or idea may invoke a swift and brutal objection due to various reasons, bad past experiences or the way it’s proposed.

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Disagreement has to be strongly focused on the issue or idea, and not on the person or the way the person blurted out the opinion, or body language, bad choice of words, etc.

Though etiquette counts, the emotional aspect must be carefully and consciously filtered out so that you can to refocus on the issue or in extreme cases abandon the idea completely.

One

must

also

understand

that

disagreement and dissent should not be done just for the sake of it like opposition politicians who have a standard policy to oppose everything that the ruling party does. Arguing just for the sake of arguing is also not productive disagreement.

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Finally, we can conclude this chapter with two great quotes on agreeing.

‘The fellow that agrees with everything you say is either a fool or he is getting ready to skin you.’ Kin Hubbard ‘The people to fear are not those who disagree with you, but those who disagree with you and are too cowardly to let you know.’

Napoleon Bonaparte.

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The Amazing World of Podcasts Personal Development

A

re you one of those tired city workers who commute every day in the jampacked roads and unruly traffic for

several hours either in a public transportation of your own vehicle? So, how do you spend your time? Did you say FM music? Good, but 71

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that is so old-fashioned. Today there is an ever better way to spend your time while commuting. And that can be done right from your smartphone. Today, there is an exciting world of audio programs produced by some the leading experts in every field. And that is called Podcasts.

Podcasts are basically short audio files on a specific subject. There are thousands of podcasts on hundreds of subjects. For example,

if

you

like

photography

the

traditional method of learning the ropes was by reading books or through personal experimentation. But today you can subscribe to a free podcast on photography created by leading photographers of the world who will

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share their tips, tricks, and other stuff on photography.

Podcasts are a knowledge treasure house at your fingertips accessible through your smartphone. Never in history has so much information been made available to everyone to listen freely. And even the paid podcasts are also highly affordable.

How to use? Just install a podcast app on your smartphone and look for the latest or popular podcasts and you will see a screen as in the next page with podcasts on a range of subjects. Click on any image to read its details, producer, and a subscribe button.

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Most podcasts are free but there are a few paid ones also. If you subscribe then you can listen to the latest as well as all previous episodes. The uploading of the episodes depends on the producer and may be daily, weekly, or at random.

Now let us look at some of the advantages of podcasts.

You can gain a tremendous amount of knowledge on the subject of your choice.

You travel will become more pleasant as you will be engrossed in listening to the episode.

Unlike FM you have control over what you listen. You can skip or fast-forward the episodes, listen to unique podcasts, or even unsubscribe if you don’t like it.

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With FM you can only listen to your local channels. But with podcasts you can listen to amazing stuff from around the world.

There are hundreds of topics to choose from and each topic has several experts sharing their valuable tips and advice.

By listening to podcasts your knowledge on a subject will increase exponentially within a short time. But if you have to gain the same knowledge from other sources like books or reading on the internet you will have to spend many days and weeks to gain the same amount of knowledge.

If you are expert on some subject you can also start a podcast with minimal investment.

There are podcasts on how to start a podcast.

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So, go ahead and install a podcast app on your smartphone right now and dive into the wonderful world of podcasting. You will never regret this decision.

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The Good Old Days History

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Children Section

T

his section is dedicated to articles for children and also their own contributions.

You can submit articles, drawings, and

paintings done by your kids for consideration.

This is to encourage them to cultivate the awesome habit of writing and reading books and magazines, instead of thinking that their computers, smartphones, and tablets are only for playing games and chatting.

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Comics – The Lost Priceless Treasures Nostalgia

T

his section is dedicated to remembering the golden era of comics that lasted from the 1930s till the late 1980s. When we

were kids we didn’t have dozens of TV channels, Smartphones, Apps, Internet, Social Media, etc.

Our main sources of entertainment were movies in theaters, a radio set, books, magazines, playgrounds, and the wonderful world of comics. Dozens and dozens of brilliant

graphic

comics

would

hit

our

magazine newsstands every month ranging from as low as 10 cents to 50 cents. The arrival 81

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of our favorite comic every month was always a gala affair that would send a thrilling chill down our spine. We even had awesome libraries that would lend us comics for a small fee.

Practically, every child on our planet grew up as diehard fans of various comic book heroes, heroines, and villains. Collecting and protecting our comics was a thrilling exercise, and we had to guard our precious comics from our mischievous friends, cousins, relatives, etc., who would vanish with our priceless treasures.

Each comic book’s hero, heroine, and villain would take us deep into their imaginary wonderland and make us laugh, cry, giggle, angry, and even get furious. The stories used 82

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to so great that countless comics could have been easily been made in super movies. Did you know that each comic were meticulously hand drawn and colored by those great comic artists as there were no graphic softwares like today?

Want to know how those golden comics looked? See the next few pages for some awesome covers. Some lucky grown up child will be having these lovely treasures stored in their attics or cupboards somewhere on our planet (sigh!).

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Watch out for more awesome covers in next month’s issue.

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A Few Questions FAQs

How do we contact you?

Via

email

on

thejendra@yahoo.com

or

thejendrabs@gmail.com.

I am a writer and want to submit articles to your magazine. Will you accept it?

Yes, but with some conditions like you must have your own website, blog, and preferably be a self-published author with your books available on amazon and other sites. If you want to contribute regularly, then I would prefer you become my magazine subscriber.

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This link contains the submission details and template.

Do you pay for articles?

Not yet. This is still a new magazine and to pay you my circulation must improve. But I will provide a PDF copy of the magazine if I include your article in this magazine.

What kind of articles do you accept?

Your articles must be related to selfimprovement, stress management, leadership, management, writing, publishing, and so on. It must help the reader learn something useful for their life skills. Also, your article must be your own and not copied from anywhere. All 91

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images used must cite sources and must be free for personal and commercial usage. I can also consider publishing articles, drawings, and paintings done by your kids to push them towards the habit of reading books and magazines.

Do you accept advertisements in your magazine?

Yes, you can have a half-page or a full-page advertisement. Half page is US$10 and fullpage is US$20 (see samples next page).

Authors can also advertise their books and its short summary for just US$5/-. For half page send a JPG or PNG file of size 5 inch x 3.75 inch and for full-page send a 5 inch x 7.5 inch size file.

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I have some other questions.

Just send me an email.

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About the Editor

Thejendra Sreenivas is an Author and Life Skills Coach and offers personalized coaching in Book Publishing and Personal Development. He has also written 20+ mild & wild books on a number of subjects. His inspiration for writing unique books comes from Toni Morrison who said, “If there is a book that you want to read, but it hasn’t been written yet, then you must write it.”

Please visit his web cave - www.thejendra.com for details of his books, magazine, and coaching information.

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Books by the Editor

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Books by the Editor

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Books by the Editor

99

Books by the Editor

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Past Issues of this Magazine

I hope you enjoyed the ride. If you liked this magazine please coax all your friends to subscribe.

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Wealth of the Wise