Life by Design

Leading life by Design (not by Default):

In Life we all go through a lot of Push and Pull – leading to Tension , Pressure (Compression) and being torn apart (Shear) by multiple priorities. At times you may even feel that you are unable to control the Loads Thrust upon you, but I assure you this : you can certainly design your Load Path to react the load efficiently so that you won’t? Fail ,even under Moments of burst pressure situations. We have a savior in the form of stress-strain curve !!!

Ideally, We could lead a life ,at Point in O in Fig 1 below, ?where there is zero-stress and strain.. but that means stasis - No challenge faced? or skills deployed – and that means - No progress : It will be a boring life; We need stress and strain in Life at optimal levels to feel excited and look forward to everyday; Having said that, we need to choose the right stress path to traverse; There is? the brittle path : a mind that is fickle , reactive and lacks purpose will be brittle; it may look glossy and shiny from outer , but pretty weak internally - a minor impact , would cause ?rupture and fracture!

Sudden Fracture

And then there is the ductile path - When you develop a flexible mindset through reading and learning and writing ductile path will enable you to find your purpose , enable connect with others? and attain intervals of composure and acceptance. You will behave like Aluminum : Stiff and Light and at same time, while being? ductile and malleable to positive influences;

?As you tread through the ductile path , choose the right slope as defined by “Yours Modulus” …(Fig 2) Don’t compare your Life Elasticity Modulus to “Their’s Modulus” ; You may be Aluminum; Somebody a Titanium and further someone ?a Composite fellow (who may be lighter & stronger but may not have figured yet their failure limit !!!).

If you compare your own path to somebody else – you shall end up choosing a stress level that may land you up in the ultimate stress or breaking stress. (Fig 3). Each of us here have a purpose to fulfill – so Run your own race. Again as you compare your self to others ,? you may push yourself beyond your limit load, you enter into the plastic zone – strain hardening happens - strain becomes permanent even after load removal – you feel effects of strain rankling your brain even after you shutdown the computer for the day. Climbing the stress-strain curve is like climbing the hill : you got to return back to basecamp without strain in the neck (necking effect!). That way you can conquer many a summit!

Even as you choose the ductile path, stay in your “Zone” - the elastic zone of the stress-strain curve (OA) ??In this elastic zone , you can recover to zero strain due to? stress relaxation , at end of each day and will be ready for the challenges the next day ! Every morning, You will feel the zing in your Life –feel alive and kicking every morning!

You may ask though: Am I then limited by Nature and cannot Push beyond the limits ? ?Fantastic question …You can increase your Working limit through “Nurture” by a couple of ways: ?Learning new skills through the skill development initiative !!! ?Use this competency framework as a catalyst, and alloy yourself to attain superior 2X improvement in strength ; (Fig 4) ; Another way to push your limit, is to take on a challenging assignment beyond your comfort zone: Face the “Trial by Fire” of this new assignment and go through the heat treatment - you will emerge out with 4X better strength. (Fig 5)

Sometimes, external environment may Test you to “Yield”? from your purpose and principles. Exhibit your toughness and Resilience– and absorb the negative energy without fracture ! Don’t Buckle to these influences! Be Fixed-Fixed to the boundary conditions of Safety, Integrity and Quality. Never ever - Hinge about or Roll around the ?Values ! Hold tight on your Flexural Rigidity and 100% compliance to Values - ensure minimal bending . Doing so, you will develop a reputation for being a No-fluff and Simply-Supported (low-maintenance ??)Professional and everyone wants to work with you!

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One word of caution on the elastic zone : ?– its not free from trouble : As you put yourself through stress cycles each day , sliding up and down the slope of elastic zone , you could start developing fatigue syndrome. Crack may start surfacing. This may be because you may have rough edges , that become point of stress concentration . In crucial conversations, this sharp corner can act as a stress raiser and manifests as crack even within few cycles (Low cycle Fatigue)…You need to be alert to those moments…

You could do a couple of things here – By using the Boeing Well Being benefits, of Physical and Emotional Well Being, ?you could temper your body and mind ?- this polishes your personality , blunt your sharp edges and enable become a well-rounded personality : This will prevent the stress concentration effect and prevents crack initiation – Overall, your endurance limit stands enhanced and you can withstand high cycles of fatigue.. Life is a marathon…not 100m sprint.

Sometimes you cannot prevent the crack initiation – Don’t worry – but don’t allow it to propagate to others; you gotta be damage tolerant ; Along the path of your Service Life, mishaps are inevitable : dents , scratches or holes in your confidence levels will happen. No worry…So promptly engage in the Repair process : Actively address conflict and ?build reinforcements with others in-time so that you can restore your bonding strength to pre-damage levels of Equivalent Strength and collaborate well!

Ensure that you have reinforcements in life - multiple load-paths, ?built in your life in form of : Family, Friends ,Peers and Manager Support. They will ensure your remain Fail-Safe. And your ultimate goal should be “Safe-Life” ?operating under Positive Margins-of-Safety.

If you followed above suggestions , you would have identified the common failure modes of Life and built-in the required Positive Margins of Safety against any testing that world will put you through! This is the Life by Design

A Life by Design, where in you can Lift (Fig 7)your spirits each day through conscious endeavor against the Weight of expectations, and able to Thrust you to high Altitudes against the Drag effects(challenges). Remember you don’t need to do this alone – Seek , speak and Listen to your Friends, Family , Colleagues and Leadership at the right moment who would provide you the Balancing Load support and ensure that your Inner Center of Gravity is maintained right!

May this new year bestow you with Bearing Strength – to face challenges , Stiffness – to adhere to Values ?, Stability – in face of Success or Setback ! This will ensure that you are in the right Form of mind, Physically Fit , both of which will provide foundation that you Function well – Now, That is the essence of Life By Design.