Friday thoughts

Happy Friday!

Let's do a small exercise! I want you to think about your day. You woke up around your usual time, got ready for work, dropped your kid off at school, did your usual work tasks, had dinner with your spouse and family, watched some TV, and went to bed at your usual time. Does that sound about right? It's what you may call a routine day, neither exciting nor depressing.

While routines can be helpful and useful, we may inadvertently become creatures of habit. Monotony can set in, and we rarely try to break away from it. Simple, small R&R can help us break the routine to recalibrate and recharge.?Let’s take a look:

• A friend of mine had to renew his driver's license. His application was selected at random for a written test to renew. With the confidence of two decades of driving experience, he took the test without any preparation,?only to find out that he failed it. He had to reboot and retake the test a week later after studying.?–?Reflect.
• Speaking of driving, as my daughter just started learning to drive a car, everything is new and exciting for her. The awe and sheer joy in sitting behind the wheel were truly contagious. The questions she has about the rules of the road made me think twice to answer. I reflected on when was the last time I was this excited about something in my life.?–?Novelty.
• I was browsing the pictures my kids posted on our family album for Valentine's Day. The same old classrooms were fully decorated with flowers and red hearts, and all the students dressed up and shared all kinds of goodies. The school is lit up with fun and?celebration. –?Recharge.

Adding a little bit of enthusiasm to break the routine can make an immense difference in the quality of our work. When we approach our tasks with excitement and energy, we are more likely to perform at our optimal level.

• Last week, we experienced an incident with our application that could have been easily prevented if any of the three teams involved - the team that requested the change, the team that facilitated the implementation, or the team that executed and validated it - had taken a step back and researched the change.?It takes individual discipline and commitment to constantly evaluate the routine.??–?Reorient.?
• It's safe to say that none of us are using the same tools or technologies that we learned in school today. Every aspect of our life, including what we do at work, is changing rapidly. Unless we are open and willing to revamp and reconstitute our modus operandi to accomplish tasks, we will never be able to break the routine.?–?Newness.
• I personally find that nothing helps boost one’s energy and satisfaction more than a sincere appreciation and a pat on the back from peers, and supervisors respectively. We all instinctively know when an individual has made a difference in a situation. All it takes for you is to drop a note of thanks or send an impact award and it goes a long way in keeping their spirits up. –?Reward.?

Let me leave you with this final thought. Maha Sivarathri, celebrated this weekend, is a day of significance for Hindus when the alignment of our planet in the cosmos guarantees that there is an abundance of powerful energy available for all of us to embrace. I invite you all to tap into this positive energy to?Revere &?Recharge.?

BTW, this week also marks?3rd?anniversary of this article series. I sincerely request you to take 3 mins of your time to provide your quick feedback?here.?

Stay safe, Stay healthy, and Stay blessed. Thank you and have a great weekend.

PS: If the above link doesn’t work, here is a full URL: ?https://chkmkt.com/Fridaythoughts