POSITIVE ATTITUDE

If you think you can, youre right.

If you think you cant, youre right

again.

Yes, it is all a matter of attitude.

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)

Aruvinai enba ulavo?

(Is there anything impossible?)

If you use the right instruments and

choose the right time, that is.
Believe you can, you will.
Its all in your mind. Winning comes
from within.
It is not your aptitude, but your
attitude, that will determine your
altitude in life.
Happiness is simply a result of
choosing attitudes.
Progress has always come from those
who said it could be done.

Njalam karuthinum
kaikoodum..

Yes. Conquering the world. Even

that is possible, if only you would
act at the right time and from the
right place!

Smile, please.
To be positive is natural.
---------------------------------------

Be cheerful.
Happiness is a state of mind. If

you think you are in heaven,

you are.
Use bright & positive language in
everything you do.
Think positive. It is good for you.
--------------------------------------------------- Expect the best. You will get it.

Not doing good is evil.

Nallathu cheithal aatrir aayinum

(Even if you cannot do good, refrain

from evil at least) is it enough? The
answer is, No.
Cheithakka cheiyamaiyan kedum.
(Not doing good results in evil.)
Ollum vahaiyan aravinai ovathe..
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.
Dont jump to conclusions. See the
other persons point of view.

 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)

Be balanced!

Think right towards people.

Have a positive attitude towards

people. Find qualities in them to like.

Everyones, just everyones, life is

littered with compromises, morally

questionable decisions & inconsistent
behavior. Keep this in mind.
earthlier Kutras poll than
Kutras .. People can only be as
perfect as you are. Accept differences
& limitations.

Judge them less harshly. Dont be

hostile when they slip up in tiny ways.

Rudeness is a weak persons attempt

at strength.
Be considerate, friendly & affable.
Practice 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. Idipparai ill emirs
manna

Roudram pazhahu.
(Learn to be angry)
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
dont champion what is right.
Injustice anywhere is a threat
to justice everywhere.
Not to be angry at injustice is
to be dishonest.

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.
Dont drag out issues from the past.
Dont 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 .
Be playful. Import fun into all

things you do.

(We dont stop
playing because we grow old;
we grow old because we stop
playing. G B Shaw)
Be lively, not half-dead. Be alive
to things around.
View the world in wonderment.
Be curious.
Discover the joy in simple things
& deeds. Relish them.
Dream (but be wakeful). What is
life without impossible
dreams?

Battles are won first in the minds

before they are won in the battlefield.

..

If you dont control what you think, you cant control what you d.

If you dont control what you

think,
you cant control what you do.

Have a winning attitude.

Yes, we can.
We can make it

work.
We are perfect for
this job.
We are a lean,
mean machine.
Ill be glad to take
responsibility.
It is a
challenge.

Ill come up with

alternatives.
We have the
opportunity to be the
first.
Theres room for
improvement.
We shall learn
something new.
Lets try it a few
more times.

No great talent

without great willpower

Those who are determined and work to

win will win, no matter what the destiny

has ordained. (Tirukkural)
The difficult can be done right away. The
impossible will take only a little longer.

(J R D Tata)

There is nothing you cannot be, there is

nothing you cannot do, and there is
nothing you cannot have. All you have to
do is believe in you.

(a newspaper advt)

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.
Kaana muyal eitha
ambinil (Aiming at an
elephant & failing is more
glorious than targetting a
rabbit & felling it.)

Never quit. No one can cheat you

out of ultimate success but you.

Life is full of beginnings.

A mere bend in the road is not the
end of it.
Have belief in yourself. Never sell
yourself short.
There is always some good in
every situation. Look out.
Sharpen your awareness to the
opportunities that lie around.
You will never know what can be
done until you try 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

Idukkan varungal nahuha!

Dont give in.

Tough times dont 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.
(Mary Case)

One who feels bound remains

Invest in yourself. Grow.
bound.
Keep growing
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.

Dont 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.

He who has imagination without knowledge

has wings but no feet.
Creativity without knowledge is rudderless.

Build up knowledge.
Imagination helps in exploring the unknown.
Use imagination to go beyond knowledge.
Reinforce your skills. Constantly update
them.
Rich vocabulary helps. Remember 1984 of
George Orwell?
A higher order language allows us
- to deal better with processes and things,
and
to convey more, saying less./

Where is the difference between a rut and a

grave?
Only in the dimensions!

Should I stay with the routine?

No! Get out. Dont be stuck in the present.

When do I act?

Act now. Follow it through. Till success.

Should I self-start or..?

prompting.

Be pro-active, not reactive. Dont wait for

How can I do more?

Capacity is a state of mind. Do more of what you do,

just like that.

How can I do better?

Crave for excellence in whatever you do. You can

do better by just willing to do better.

One is never too old to learn

(something foolish?).

To read is to grow.
To read is also to lead.
Learn something every day.
Katrilan ayinum ketka.. Listen.
Discussions make you richer.
Grow every day. Overtake

yourself.
Practise Kaizen. Make
incremental improvements, every
day.

Cheivana thiruntha chei.

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.
Do it in time.
We are what we repeatedly do.
Excellence then is not an act, but a
habit.
------------------------------------------------------------

Enemy of the country,

and the people!

Q: Desh aur samaj ka dushman kise mante hain?

A: Jo samay par apne kartavyon ko pura nahin
karte hain.

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.
Begin. Take the first step which is the most
difficult.
Anything worth doing is worth failing at, until
you get it right.

Overcome your anxiety.

Failure is not a crime. All humans are fallible.
It is not terrible to be not perfect.
Negative stress comes from what you tell

yourself, like
I must always succeed.
Ive to meet everyones expectations of
me.
Im no good unless I do everything right.
Develop strategies to cope with stress &
performance anxiety.
Learn to like yourself.
Make a list of positive things about yourself.
Feel good about who you are & how you feel.

Thoongathey thambi
thoongathey..
(Dont doze off, brother,

wake up)
Also, be not a pretender.
Be a performer.
Being busy is irrelevant. It
is performance that
matters.
Slow performance and
under-performance are
bad enough.
Non-performance takes
the cake: it is plain theft.

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 wont
improve.
Things will get only
worse.
Nothing can be done.

Experience is what you get when you

dont get what you want.- Dan Stanford
unchangeables
Be ready: planned destruction may
be necessary before planned
construction Dare! Innovate!
Dont be risk-averse. Only those
who dare reach new heights.
Dare to be different. Discovery
follows exploration.
Challenge the givens & the.
Never mind that you didnt
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.

If you see only problems

you will have only problems!
Every solution contains a

problem within it.

syndrome. (Murphys Law)
Suppose we win?
syndrome.(The story of
the one crop nation
planning to wage war on
the US)
If anything can go
wrong, it will. (Sodds
Law)

Weighing problem!
A man carrying a baby wanted to weigh the baby in a

scale.
Our baby weighing machine has gone for repairs. But
we can weigh the baby on the general weighing
machine, the sales attendant offered.
How will you do that? asked the man.
Simple. We do it all the time. The father first stands
on the weighing machine with the baby. Then he stands
without the baby.
It wont work, said the man, looking disappointed.
Why?
Well, you see Im the babys uncle, not his father.

Mind halfused

Look at pbms as challenges. Success often

presents itself as an alluring challenge.

Most problems are produced, or left unsolved, by
half-used minds.
Face pbms with keenness & from a new
direction, each time.
Dont jump to the obvious solution. (This is the
tallest peak! syndrome)
Challenge what is accepted. You will find a whole
new world of possibilities uncovered.

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.

Cursing a flat tyre does not fix it.

If you cant go over the hill, go

around it. Digging a tunnel is a clear

option, if going to the other side is all
that necessary.
The solution often lies in identifying
the solvers.
Take help where needed. If
something seems far too big, maybe
its because youre meant to share
the load with someone else.
Look for solutions where you will find
them. (Mullah story)

Gangrene cannot be cured with palliatives.

(Simon Bolivar)

Face pbms resolutely. Gordian

knots may have to be cut.

Extra-ordinary pbms call for
extra-ordinary solutions.
Weeding out is necessary for a
good crop.
Sometimes it is necessary to
go a long distance out of the
way in order to come back a
short distance correctly./

Nothing great was ever achieved by sitting still.

* Progress has always come

*
*
*
*

from people who said it could

be done.
I cant- are sad words in any
language.
Whatever you can dream, you
can begin.
Put passion, enthusiasm & zeal
into everything you do.
Keep pushing. Its wiser than
sitting aside.

* Udyamena hi siddhayanti karyani,

na manorathaiha.

Think your work is

important.

The way we think

towards our jobs
determines how
our subordinates
think towards
their jobs.

Rules are for human beings,

not the other way round.

Dont be rule-bound.
Interpret the rules positively.
Let them enable, and not
inhibit, you.
Precedents should be guides,
not fetters.
Good people follow the rules.
But, it is often the
unscrupulous who quote the
rules.
Breaking norms in order to
frame better ones is an option
to be explored.

Dont 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. But, be
accommodative of the other
point of view.
Dont say yes when you want
to say no .

Ennitthuniha karumam..
Thinking first, action only

then.
Act by all means, but only
after considering all
relevant matters.
Dont make decisions
based on just one or two
dimensions. (Many a fellow
in love with a dimple)
Dont 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 ones

convictions.
obedience to the unenforceable.

In doing a good deed take it that everything

is permitted which is not prohibited.

Be performance-oriented.

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. Dont
allow routines to become chains.
Keep managing the present
while managing the change.

Be physical. Be dynamic.
Udambai valarthaen, uyir
valarthaenae! Tirumantiram
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.
Ethanai kodi inbam vaithai
engal iraiva..
(How many
crores of pleasures you have
created for us, oh our Lord!)

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 ones blessings as
much as when they are gone.

Thus spake William James

If we often flinch from making an effort,

the effort making capacity may go.

Good impulses, must be translated early
into actions. Failure hinders realization of
future resolutions/ emotions.
Dont wait until all the returns are in. It is
unlikely that all of them will ever be in.
Act now. Plunge in as soon as you feel
competent & learn as you go, by trial &
error.
If you believe well of your fellow men,
you may create the good you believe in.

We dont 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. Its the duty you owe
others.

Dont just throw out a vice.

Replace it with a virtue.

Sow an action, you reap a habit. Sow a

habit, you reap a character. Sow a

character,you reap a destiny.
As we become drunkards by so many
separate drinks, so we become saints &
authorities & experts by so many
separate acts & hours of work.
How to break a habit or acquire it ?
Break off abruptly & with all emphasis.
Abrupt acqn of the new habit is the best
way, if there be a real possibility of
carrying it out.

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 & pbmsolving.

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 dont need to warm up
again & again.

Pleasantness is the duty

we owe others.

Be natural & humble.

Drain off your

grievances.
Sincerely attempt to
heal.
Acquire the quality of
easygoingness.
What is practical is
just.
Relax, for easy power.
Never allow things to
ruffle you.

Be interesting.
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.
Dont 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.

Why crib,

when you can think positive?(!)

Boss to the cribbing
employees:
Its quite simple
just think positive and
most of your problems
will just fade away..!
(From Blinkers Off by
Salam in Economic
Times)

But,thinking is not enough...

Goodness not translated into action
is no goodness.

Thought that does not lead to action

is betrayal. (R.Rolland)

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.