Presented by: Hena Prasun, Life Skills Teacherwww.udgamschool.com

A,B,Cs of Life Skills

Life skills are behaviours used appropriately and responsibly in the management of personal affairs. They are a set of human skills acquired via teaching or direct experience that are used to handle problems and questions commonly encountered in daily human life. The subject varies greatly depending on societal norms and community expectations.

The world is your mirror and your mind is a magnet.

• Life will give you what you attract with your thoughts.

• Think, act and talk negatively and your world will be negative.

• Think, act and talk with enthusiasm and you will attract positive results.

(Michael Lebeuf)

Smile, please.

• To be positive is natural.---------------------------------------

• Happiness is a state of mind. Be cheerful.

• If you think you are in heaven, you are.

• Use bright & positive language in everything you do.

• Think positive. It is good for you.

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• Expect the best. You will get it.

“Not doing good is evil.”

• Even if you cannot do good, refrain from evil at least– is it enough? The answer is, No.

• Not doing good results in evil.• Try to help in every little way,

whenever & wherever it is possible.• Every time something good happens

to you, make sure something good happens to someone else.

Be open.

• Free your mind from prejudices. • Have an open mind. “Emptied,

you hold.”• Be receptive to ideas. • Be quick to listen. Be slow to

respond.• Perceptions differ. What is right

in your view may not be that.• Don’t jump to conclusions. See

the other person’s point of view.

Be balanced!• Have a sound sense of

proportion.• See the things as they

are. See the big as big and the petty as petty.

• Wisdom is knowing what to overlook.

• Seeing negative is not being negative.

• Those who see the negative are as important as those who see the positive. (Plane & parachute)

Think right towards people.

• Have a positive attitude towards people. Find qualities in them to like.

• Everyone’s, just everyone’s, life is littered with compromises, morally questionable decisions & inconsistent behaviour. Keep this in mind.

• People can only be as perfect as you are. Accept differences & limitations.

• Judge them less harshly. Don’t be hostile when they slip up in tiny ways.

“Rudeness is a weak person’s attempt at strength.”

• Be considerate, friendly & affable.

• Practise courtesy. Say - please.

• Tell the truth by all means, but with tact & kindness.

• Explain. Do it patiently.• Accommodate the other

viewpoints.• Allow criticism. It is

often constructive.

• Know what to be angry about.• One cannot be neutral

between the right and the wrong. One so neutral is on the side of injustice.

• Evil multiplies when good people don’t champion what is right.

• “Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere.”

• Not to be angry at injustice is to be dishonest.

Learn the correct way to get angry

But, manage that anger.

• Attack the thing rather than the person.

• If you must say unpleasant things, say them in a pleasant way.

• Sugar-coat your criticisms.• It is easy to say a few mean

words in the heat of the moment. Refrain.

• Don’t drag out issues from the past.

• Don’t make any personality digs or snide remarks.

• Avoid being embroiled in a screaming match.

“ You can be young just once. But you can be immature anytime! ”

• Resist the temptation to be childish.

• Be a grown up. Be mature. • Be liberal in outlook &

considerate in action.• Be understanding & forgiving.

Refrain from mischief. • “An eye for an eye will

leave the whole world blind.”

• ‘Inna seitharai oruthal ….’ Do good to the person who has done you wrong. Let this be his punishment.

Grow up. But retain the child in you.

• Dream (but be wakeful). What is life without impossible dreams?

• Be lively, not half-dead. Be alive to things around.

• View the world in wonderment. Be curious.

• Be playful. Import fun into all things you do. (“We don’t stop playing because we grow old; we grow old because we stop playing.” – G B Shaw)

• Discover the joy in simple things & deeds. Relish them.

Is there anything impossible?

• It’s all in your mind. Believe you can, you will.

• If you use the right instruments and choose the right time, that is.

• Progress has always come from those who said it could be done.

Have a winning attitude.

• ‘I’ll come up with alternatives.’

• ‘We have the opportunity to be the first.’

• ‘There’s room for improvement.’

• ‘We shall learn something new.’

• ‘Let’s try it a few more times.’

Aim high.

• Let no horizon be too large for you to gaze at.

• “In the long run you hit only what you aim at.”

• “It is not failure but low aim which is crime.”

No one can cheat you out of ultimate success but you.

• Life is full of beginnings.

• Have belief in yourself. Never sell yourself short.

• Invest in yourself. Grow. Keep growing.

• There is always some good in every situation. Look out.

• Sharpen your awareness to the opportunities that lie around.you try it.

• Hope for perfection, but do not expect it.

The secret to success is never to give up.

• Failures are but stepping stones to success. • There are no mistakes in life, only lessons. • Every failure is a lesson in learning.• There is no failure except in no longer trying.• Failing is not bad. Staying down is. • No failure is final.

------------------------------------“Failure is a noun. The only fear it holds for us is in the meaning we give it. Define failure as giving up. Take control of it. ” - David Taylor

One who feels bound remains bound.

Only those who dare reach great heights.

Opportunity exists only when you can see it.

Opportunity is no accident. It must be attracted.

Opportunity of a lifetime should be seized within the lifetime of the opportunity.

Don’t be weighed down by knowledge!

• You are what you know. • Knowledge is power. But,

left unused, it has no power in it.

• Little is ever achieved by persons who are bookish.

Indifference and unconcern make a superior & knowledgeable person average.

“One is never too old to learn (something foolish?).”

• To read is to grow. • To read is also to lead. • Learn something every day.• Listen. Discussions make you

richer.• Grow every day. Overtake

yourself. • Practice Kaizen. Make

incremental improvements, every day.

Practice Makes a Man Perfect

• Aim at perfection. Achieve excellence.

• Develop an instinct for quality. It pays.

• If it is worth doing, it is worth doing well.

• Try to do it right at the very first instance. A work done poorly must be done again.

Belief & Behaviour• Accept your limitations.• But be aware of your qualities

& strengths. • Change your beliefs, and you

change your behaviour. • Change your behaviour, and

you change your results, and your life itself.

• Self-limiting beliefs are learnt behaviours. Anything that is learnt can be unlearnt as well.

• List all negative beliefs. Replace them with the positive.

Annihilate these assumptions:

• Inefficiency is normal.• Delays are inbuilt &

cannot be cut down.• Performance will not be

rewarded.• Only manipulators will

get ahead.• We are made this way &

things just won’t improve.

• Things will get only worse.

• Nothing can be done.

Don’t give in.

• Tough times don’t last. What comes after them is bound to be good.

• “The harder you fall, the higher you bounce.” – American proverb

• Learn to make the best of a situation. Optimism is a duty cast upon you.

• Have hope. Things may change in a day, and for the better.

“No pressure, no diamonds.”

“Experience is what you get when you don’t get what you want.”- Dan Stanford

• Dare! Innovate!

• Don’t be risk-averse. Only those who dare reach new heights.

• Dare to be different. Discovery follows exploration.

• Challenge the givens & the ‘un-changeables’.

• Be ready: planned destruction may be necessary before planned construction.

• Never mind that you didn’t succeed.

“May you not enjoy the work you do!”

The worst possible curse. That one is, in any language.

Learn to like and enjoy the work.

Any work, just any work, can be made interesting.

There is always a better way of doing things.

Do your work creatively. Import fun into it.

Every problem has a lifespan..

Know the stage at which it is . Compartmentalize. Prioritise. Recognize the minor hassles from the major

ones. Know what to worry about & what to take coolly.

Take one step at a time. Deal with them in small bits.

No knee-jerk reactions. No short-term patches. The real obstacles are not the pbms

themselves, but the wrong approaches to finding the solutions.

Think solution, not problem.

See a solution, where others see a pbm. There is a solution to every problem.

Try to solve, not prolong. Ascertain the facts. Have an uncluttered mind. Cut out

the extraneous. Identify the core. Face the issue head on. Take it on

without breaking step. While with major pbm, stay

detached. Intractable? Sleep over it . Let it

work its way out.

Don’t be in self-doubt.

• Feel & act confident. Stand by your convictions.

• Be positively assertive, when you are in the right.

• Where speech is due, silence may be betrayal.

• Insist on your right to be heard & reckoned.

• “Don’t say ‘yes’ when you want to say ‘no’ .

Think on your feet• Thinking first, action

only then.• Act by all means, but

only after considering all relevant matters.

• Don’t make decisions based on just one or two dimensions.

• Don’t act impulsively.• If you have to act, act

fast & decisively.

Integrity signifies wholeness

‘Integrity’ means absence of inner warfare.

It gives extra energy & clarity of thought.

It means – living up to the best in oneself. having a developed sense of

honour. having a conscience & listening to

it. having the courage of one’s

convictions. obedience to the unenforceable.

“If one desires a change, one must be that change before it can take place.”

• Anticipate change. Things can change in a day.

• Be alert to the first signs of change.

• Feel obligated to effect the change.

• Look at opportunities that change represents.

• Keep renewing yourself. Don’t allow routines to become chains.

• Keep managing the present while managing the change.

Be physical. Be dynamic.

• Take care of the body. It takes care of the mind.

• Physical well-being gives you stamina, both physical & mental.

• It makes you focussed. • It makes you optimistic &

confident to face the challenges of life.

Learn from the past. Focus on the

future. Be in the present. Enjoy.

• The past is finished. Learn from it & let it go.

• The future is not even here yet. Plan for it, but do not waste time worrying about it.

• Live in the present. Enjoy its joys.

Relish the journey!

• There is more to life than running non-stop. • Happiness is all along, not merely at the

destination. The joys along the route are perhaps more delightful..

• If you are enjoying the journey, you are not upset by a delayed arrival.

• Count your blessings. One rarely appreciates one’s blessings as much as when they are gone.

“We don’t laugh because we are happy.

We are happy because we laugh.” (William James)

• Control your emotions by your actions.• Be cheerful, in order to feel cheerful. • Act brave, in order to be brave.• Want a facelift? Smile. It’s the duty you

owe others.

Work energises. (William James)

• Strenuous application of effort anywhere - even on hobbies or games - provides the bonus of energy.

• Make as many of your actions automatic as possible. The more actions we make automatic, the more energy we have left for creative work & pbm-solving.

WJ, again: • Constantly redesign your habits. Switch hobbies & interests.

• You habitually use only a small part of the powers you actually possess.

• Push back your fatigue point. It is far below the stage of real exhaustion.

• Continue working on thro’ deep fatigue, you get ‘2nd, 3rd, even 4th winds’, the bursts of new energy. Thus, you don’t need to warm up again & again.

Pleasantness is the duty we owe others.

• Never allow things to ruffle you.

• Practise liking people.

• Never miss the opportunity to congratulate, sympathise, or express sorrow.

• Be a comfortable person to be with.

Be a big boss without seeming to be so.• Be affable. Be light to lift. • Develop zero tolerance of

inertia, indifference & inefficiency.

• Motivate, guide, enable, lead.

• Don’t appropriate credit. But, accept responsibility.

• Settling personal scores through official means is mean.

• ‘Walk a mile in others’ shoes before you say ‘no’ to their request for new shoes.’

Order! Order!

• Absent order & regulation, what remains is chaos. Chaos is the enemy of performance.

• Enforce order to ensure performance.

• Enforcement is education.

• Organise. Set the right thing (or person) in the right place.

• Put in place proper systems.

• What gets measured gets done.

As the leader, challenge the status quo!

Motivate. Create enthusiasm & passion.

Plant seeds of thinking. Let people think in a breakthrough fashion.

Institutionalize imbibing ideas & suggestions.

Acknowledge & reward good ideas.

Honour errors resulting out of experimenting.

Create a dream & make the team go towards it.

“I receive & I must give back.”And this is the pay back time.

• Life is not about how much you make but how you live it.

• How you make a difference is what will matter.

• Each one of us is a debtor. We have taken so much from the system.

• It is but fair that we pay back the debt, with interest and do it fast.

• Perhaps it is already late. Better hurry up.