Inspirational

5 Reasons Reading Is Healing

/ Naveeta Shokeen / Leave a comment

Benefits of Reading

It can make problem-solving abilities stronger. For many people, losing themselves in a good book is the pinnacle of entertainment. If you read a lot, you undoubtedly already know how simple it is to become completely engrossed in an engaging novel and lose track of time. You tell yourself, “Just a few more pages,” but when you look up after a few chapters, you see another hour has passed.

Although staying up past your bedtime while reading can be relaxing, books provide much more than a fun distraction. Moreover, the evidence that reading might increase IQ is growing.

IQ may be the first thing that springs to mind when considering intelligence. Although many experts now concur that intelligence goes well beyond IQ, IQ tests still measure both fluid and crystallized intelligence.

Fluid intelligence is the ability to think, draw connections, solve issues, and consider abstract notions.

  • Overall intelligence, including vocabulary and learned skills, is called crystallized intelligence.
  • The ability to identify sentiments in oneself and others and control or affect these emotions is referred to as emotional intelligence.
  • Although there are many ways to be intelligent, reading can significantly increase your intelligence in these three areas.

1. exposed to novel concepts

There is no disputing that some situations can restrict the ideas you come across daily.

You may be wondering how reading might improve your intelligence. Below are seven essential methods, as well as some advice on how to get access to reading materials. There is no disputing that some situations can restrict the ideas you come across daily.

You might have less general knowledge than someone who attended college, worked multiple jobs, or both, lived in a small town, did not finish college, and has worked at the same job their entire adult life.

Of course, this does not imply that you lack intelligence. On the contrary, your strengths may be in another field, such as music, the natural world, or interpersonal skills, as there are different varieties of intelligence.

However, general intelligence does depend on knowledge, and reading is a great way to increase your knowledge.

Some estimates place the total number of books at under 130 million. That means you can discover a book on almost any subject, from self-compassion to philosophy to home maintenance. In addition, well-researched fiction can help you learn more about history and current affairs, even if you do not like nonfiction.

In other words, regardless of where you live or what you do, you can learn new ideas and facts if you have access to books.

2. chance to experience various cultures

Maybe you’ve never been able to visit another nation or even travel to different parts of your home country. However, reading a book can still explore other cultures and customs.

Reading creates the possibility to bond with characters (or real people) who have very diverse life backgrounds. In addition, learning more about history, traditions, and everyday life in other parts of the world exposes you to new standpoints, which can help formulate greater cultural understanding and sharpness.

What makes this so important? First, the more you know and understand about other cultures, the less likely you are to hold on to stereotypes or preconceived ideas about the lives of others.

3. Increase empathy

You undoubtedly remember a few profound literary works from your most recent English or literature lesson, some more engaging and timely than others.

Regardless of your opinions on the given books, just reading them had a good impact on your capacity to empathize with or comprehend the feelings and perspectives of others.

The fact that literary fiction enables you to investigate other people’s thoughts and experiences could be one cause. When you read, you follow characters as they make decisions that define their lives and selves, but you do not have to live with the results of those decisions; instead, you can learn from their mistakes.

Reading provides a secure environment for considering actions and their effects and for gaining “experience” that improves character. You are more likely to develop knowledge and understanding if you read more.

4. Improve vocabulary

General intelligence includes language and vocabulary abilities; every time you open a book, you are likely to learn a new word.

You learn more than new terminology when your eyes scan the page Reliable Source. You are also learning to determine the meaning of unfamiliar terms by using context cues. This talent can improve your language skills undoubtedly, but it may also affect your ability to solve problems in other spheres of your life.

Additionally, reading printed books can aid in spelling improvement and the assimilation of written grammar rules. On the other side, listening to audiobooks could make it easier for you to become more accustomed to how to pronounce unfamiliar words.

Reading can stimulate your imagination by enabling you to imagine and explore new, excellent, and natural worlds. Expanding one’s imagination can also increase creativity, making it more straightforward to develop original answers to problems that arise in daily life.

5. construct problem-solving capabilities that are more robust

Nonfictional works like self-help books and how-to guides provide a comparatively simple method of issue-solving. But it is also essential to think about the parallels you can make between fictional characters and your own life as you follow them through difficult situations, such as:

  • Relationship difficulties or family issues
  • issues at work, school, or with pals
  • complex physical or mental health issues, significant issues like racism, homophobia, or bullying

You may not always do it correctly the first time—however, the creativity and imagination you might cultivate. Reading from a Reliable Source will assist you in coming up with fresh concepts for solutions that meet both your demands and the needs of the people you care about.

“Saral hu Saadharn nhi” (Simplicity is not Ordinary). This phrase encapsulates her entire existence. A woman of few words, a daydreamer, who is certain that there is life beyond stars. An HR professional who began her writing journey when corona knocked on our doors. A Content Writer, Screenplay Writer, and published Author. She is die-hard romantic and that reflects in her quotes, poems and short stories and currently working on her first book. She enjoys cooking, dancing, singing, travelling, and is a huge Bollywood enthusiast. She is a wife, a mother and a friend you can most certainly rely on.

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Jogging Down The Memory Lanes Of Summer

/ Pozicool Raga / Leave a comment

“Those Were the best days of my life” from Bryan Adams’ “Summer of 69” play as soon as the words “summer vacation” pop into my head. 

Summer holidays were a scheduled time to relax, frolic around, play with friends, gorge on “goals,” packet Pepsi, kulfi, and ice creams, and enjoy the little games we invented every day. It was a time to meet friends, catch up on our respective schools and exchange colony gossip. The best time to reload our last summer vacation memories and think of ways to make the current one memorable!

I fondly remember how I looked forward to my train journeys from Nagpur to Mumbai for my summer vacations. Two months were bliss for me. Mumbai being my birth city and home to most of my childhood friends, I have always had a soft corner towards it. So I made my first best friends there and got my best college buddies.

Apart from enjoying our favorite street food – pani puri, pav bhaji, cut raw mangoes in salt, and candy from the local shops – we loved window shopping in gift shops and roaming around markets. It was a time to invent the top games for our gang, sometimes reinventing old card games too. We played everything from pretend play to doll games and even trading books.

My summer memorabilia always included shells, stones, and various colorful items we got while playing in our colony. Summer rains were common in this region, and I loved getting drenched and dancing with friends. We just needed an excuse to get wet. So digging out shells from wet mud would be our pastime. When we reached home, we would be in on an excellent blasting from our families, looking at our muddy appearance. But nothing affected us as children. We took in all the yelling and even some bashing but did not give up our wild selves. Following the first rains, we fell sick, too, but the moment we recovered, we returned to our naughty tricks and antics. 

Such was childhood – those innocent, carefree days when our only worry was getting a scolding from elders, being grounded at home, or being told we would not get a particular meal. The one way we mostly escaped grounding was our friends ringing the doorbell or yelling our names from below the balcony to come to play. Our parents mostly gave in to our rapidly rolling tears and friends’ pleading voices, letting us go down to play. 

Summers had another attraction – mangoes! My grandmother would pre-order mango crates (unripe ones) a month ahead, and by the time we arrived during the summer holidays, we could dig into the juicy mangoes. Almost all meals had mangoes – cut pieces of ripe to eat, raw mango pieces dipped in salt and chili powder, the famous aamras (mango pulp), aam panna (juice from raw mangoes), murabba (grated mangoes made with either sugar or jaggery, cardamom, cloves, and kesar/saffron), Chanda (a word in Marathi for sweet and sour grated mango pickle) and a myriad variety that she made lovingly. I have eaten practically all Indian types of the King of Indian fruits, but the Konkan variety of mangoes plays another level of magic on our tongues. We would blissfully sink our teeth into luscious ripe mango flesh or even squirt juice on our friends as we ate them. 

Magic of first rains

The smell of fresh rains falling on hot soil is priceless. The way we all waited for thundering clouds to rumble and the slow fall of those tiny raindrops reflected our raw and unfiltered happiness (minus smartphones or who is clicking our photographs). Raincoats and gumboots were our favorites when we wanted to dig shells from the wet mud while cats and dogs were still raining. Nothing deterred us – getting a fever, cold, and cough – from going and getting muddy. 

Apart from the rains, even the hot sun did not limit our activities. We would go walking around in the colony, spy on “other kids” at times, do pretend to play, or if we felt like having a cold drink, we would quickly cross the streets to buy a bottle of either Gold Spot, Duke, or Rasna – one bottle shared amongst us. Even the taste of a few cold drops from the bottle was enough to send us into ecstasy mode! To get fancier, we sometimes would buy the sweet, mint-flavored Phantom cigarette (not the real one) and pose as if we were smoking.

Holiday homework blues

None of us were spared the “vacation spoiler” – the excellent holiday homework to be submitted on the first day of school. Our biggest villain for the summers but also a personal challenge we set among friends as to who would be the first to complete the homework. So, it became fun since all of us were sailing the same “homework” boat. It was another way of convincing parents to let us play for extended hours (till dusk). A motivation every morning to wake up and finish our activities at “Godspeed.”

Every night, my childhood friends and I would sit and talk about everything under the sun (I do not even remember the topics we spoke about now). As we grew older, our conversations extended to studies and life beyond school and chosen careers. We had come a long way from dolls to creating jokes and playing pranks on friends. Yet, in our almost 35 years of friendship, we have not yet lost our old bonds and essence – that is magical to us. Our gang still catches up now and then with each other – this time over jobs, children, and respective families! 

All my diaries were filled with memories shared with my buddies during the summers – one of the best times of our lives.

Indeed, I want my son to have the same sweet childhood memories. I love telling my son this: “There are only 18 summers in childhood. So, make each one count!”

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Priya is a quirky writer/photographer/closet poet, and singer who has traversed a non-conventional path. As a former entertainment journalist who has worked in print and online media for a decade, Priya loves talking to people and writing their unspoken stories. She is the single parent of an 8.5-year-old son settled in Tamil Nadu and a freelance Content Consultant. Priya is also an informal mentor to parents in her local parenting network. She dreams of being an author and maybe a scriptwriter someday!

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Men Have Feelings Too

/ dinah1995 / Leave a comment

Postpartum Depression
It Occurs in Men Too!

Postpartum depression is a term often regarded for women who have recently encountered pregnancy and childbirth. It is an episode of sudden outbursts of emotions and major depressive disorder soon after the birth of a child. It is most often reported in mothers: however, it happens in fathers too! So maybe here we should give a little more credit to the phrase – “Men have feelings too.”

One out of every ten fathers goes through postpartum depression. This change in their mood, body, and mind can be noticed before the child’s birth! If we see closely, about half of all expectant dads gain up to 30 pounds on average during their partners’ pregnancies. And that isn’t all. A dad-to-be can expect to be slammed by at least one pregnancy symptom, like nausea, fatigue, food cravings, odor aversions, mood swings, sleep problems, or bouts of bloat. The agitation of how things are going to be, the change in lifestyle, the responsibility of being a new father, watching “the wife” go through the process of pregnancy, the pressure to be there for everyone – the new mom, the newborn, family, society, etc., has a lot of impact in the mind of a new dad.

Thinking about everything around them during and after a child’s birth makes it normal for men to lose their minds, too, like women! However, PPD in men is different from that in women. They show symptoms like irritability, mood swings, change in sleep and appetite, fatigue, etc. However, they may not express it outwardly by crying as women do. Postpartum depression in men can result from financial stress, relationship issues, recent trauma or loss, unplanned pregnancy, not knowing how to help, and watching things they have never witnessed the women in their lives go through.

Sadly, people often forget that with the birth of a child, new parents are born too. It is not only the birthday of the baby; it is also the birthday of the parents! It is the transformation of two individuals, too – they have been transforming from the day they learned about the pregnancy! It is not as easy as the rom-com movies show us – real life is all about smiles, tears, anger, agitation, confusion, dilemma, change, laughter, milestones (for the parents, too), groundbreaking parameters that keep in check what each person including the new baby needs! Welcoming a newborn baby is not only about baby photoshoots and people all smiling and giggling. It is more about dirty diapers, loud crying, sleepless nights, feeding, trying to find sleep, getting irritated with the simplest of things, giving into food cravings, not having any interest in things you once found enjoyable, getting advice from all over the world, finding peace and most importantly, finding oneself and finding the depth and strength of the marriage and partnership! Therefore, the whole thing is about the baby and the new mom and dad! It is about how they are coping with the situation – together, hand-in-hand, lovingly, and with so much love and reassurance that they will do it in peace and calm no matter what.

It is, therefore, imperative to make the men feel validated and relevant in a newborn’s life! Most Indian homes do not include the fathers in doing the baby chores, which makes them ignorant about how things work! Allowing them to contribute to the baby’s duties can make a massive difference in helping them understand and cope with what is going on and also gives them an idea of what the woman is going through, making them more considerate of the situation – allowing themselves to deal with their own insecurities and strange feelings. Only when they see and feel the struggle will they be part of it and try to set things right in the best way possible. Inclusiveness is a great way to fight postpartum depression in men and women. Couples who understand and are there for each other end up coming out of the depression faster and more robustly. Children who grow up with teams who understand and acknowledge each other’s flaws and strengths become mindful adults. It is, therefore, important for everyone to be involved with one another and burn through the struggles of raising a family unit together! Postpartum depression is natural – it is as accurate as pregnancy in women and equally relevant in men. Let us, together as a generation, break stereotypes of gender roles and gender equations. Let us not tag the weaker sex with how they deal with their emotions. Let us understand and accept that men can and will feel emotions, men can and will cry, men can and will empathize, men can and must contribute, and men can and will have depression and anxiety. It does not make them less of a man, but it makes them more human and just how men are supposed to be – considerate and compassionate. Let us create a generation of strong, rooted, loving, and thoughtful men.

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Aakanksha Dinah, a passionate writer, orator, communicator focused on establishing a Training institution centered on creativity and innovation. Aakanksha is a true believer in loving the work we do and strongly believes in smart-work, the reason why creativity works better for her. Aakanksha is enormously focused on making a career in professional writing and publishing. She loves writing poems, self-help articles, and essays. An enthusiast when it comes to learning languages and in short, Aakanksha is a wanderer, an explorer, a mom, a dog-mom, a poet, a cook, a writer, and an influencer.

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Confident At Work

/ Naveeta Shokeen / Leave a comment

It may be preferable to learn how to be confident at work if you want to boost your reliability and contribute more to your teams. Usually, to develop this confidence, you must reflect on your requirements and objectives. You may enhance your performance and wellbeing by learning how to boost your confidence. In this post, we’ll talk about confidence, give you advice on how to be confident, go over a few confidence-boosting ideas, and address a number of often asked issues about confidence.

How To Present Confidence?

1. seek training for professional development

By honing the abilities, you frequently employ to execute challenging activities, you can boost your confidence. For instance, if you work in IT, you can enhance your proficiency with computers and their systems by learning new coding languages. You can feel more confident if you perform better at work because you are aware of your excellent skill set. You can enroll in professional training courses or skill development courses to advance your professional development. You may also find out from your boss if they intend to hold training sessions to assist team members in learning cutting-edge methods and approaches in your industry. As an alternative, you may read publications and look into cutting-edge methods.

Seeking professional training can boost confidence in several ways:

  1. By learning new skills and knowledge, individuals can feel more competent in their abilities and more prepared to handle challenges.
  2. Training often involves receiving feedback and guidance from experts in the field, which can help individuals identify their strengths and areas for improvement, leading to greater self-awareness and confidence.
  3. Being part of a training program can provide a supportive community of peers who are also learning and growing, which can help individuals to feel more connected and motivated.

Overall, seeking professional training can help individuals develop their skills, receive guidance and support, and connect with others in their field, all of which can lead to greater confidence and competence.

2. Dress To Impress

If you want to boost your confidence, you might want to think about whether your present wardrobe encourages or discourages it. Dressing appropriately can have a significant impact on one’s confidence. When individuals dress in a way that is appropriate for the situation or occasion, they are more likely to feel comfortable and at ease. This can lead to greater confidence as individuals present themselves in the best possible light. Dressing appropriately can also help individuals to feel more professional or prepared, which can be particularly important in specific settings such as job interviews or important meetings. Additionally, when individuals think they look good, they are more likely to carry themselves confidently and feel more positive about themselves overall. Therefore, dressing appropriately for the situation can be a simple but effective way to boost confidence.

3. Investigate discomfort

Investigating the parts of your employment that make you uncomfortable can be helpful if you want to boost your confidence at work. For instance, those who feel uneasy when presenting work at faculty meetings might gain confidence by honing their presentation abilities and discovering how to make effective presentations. This encourages better teamwork and puts more of an emphasis on your ability to progress.

You can overcome these deficiencies and learn how to take advantage of opportunities you might have otherwise missed by pinpointing your uncomfortable regions. For instance, enhancing your presenting skills will help you network better and attract more clients.

4. Take after others

It may be helpful to think about your coworkers’ confidence displays at the office. Those who already have self-confidence can teach you how to develop it and how to interact with people more successfully.

Find out which mannerisms they are most comfortable expressing for yourself. You could look at how your coworkers stand or sit, for instance. You can adopt this posture if you see that your self-assured coworkers stand straight or with their shoulders pushed back. People may treat you more confidently at work if you improve or develop your body language, which will make you feel more confident.

5. Set goals

You may want to consider your short-term and long-term career goals, along with how they impact your performance and confidence at work. When doing so, you can also identify your strengths and weaknesses, along with whether you believe that you can accomplish those goals. If you have confidence in your ability to obtain your goals, you can experience more confidence while you work toward them. This requires you to review your goals and to readjust them to help ensure that they’re realistic.

You typically experience more success when you accomplish small or realistic objectives that contribute to your career. Evaluating small successes in achieving a larger goal can help boost your confidence because you can identify where to apply effective strategies for further development. For example, you can set a goal to increase your overall work productivity. You can then set smaller target objectives to help you reach that goal, like improving your time management skills or focusing on single tasks rather than multitasking.

6. Pay attention to your assets

Because it forces you to evaluate your success and abilities, concentrating on your strengths can boost your confidence. Despite these little nuances, professionals who concentrate on enhancing their work typically consider their flaws or shortcomings rather than their overall success. By creating a list of your talents and skills as well as a second one of your accomplishments, you might lessen this propensity. For instance, people who wish to get better at reading can make it a daily habit to read first thing in the morning.

7. Recognize your errors

When implementing improvement plans and goal-setting techniques, mistakes are frequently unavoidable. In order to avoid making the same mistakes again and to improve your problem-solving abilities, it is helpful to analyze your mistakes and learn from them. For instance, you might input the code for a data entry software improperly. However, rather than identifying the issue and starting over, you can look at the place where the defect code was entered and determine whether your error resulted from an error or from a specific, faulty code. Then, by using the knowledge you discovered through self-reflection to make the necessary corrections, you can learn from this error.

8. Remove all offensive language

Taking an honest look at how you see yourself might also help you gain confidence. You can take action to alter your thinking if you realize that you are overly critical of yourself. You can use self-affirming strategies like focusing on all your recent victories or listing the professional qualities you most value in yourself in a notebook. Continue to assess the beneficial professional advancements you have achieved, and be sure to give yourself credit when you execute tasks to your manager’s satisfaction or higher standards.

9. Ask For What You Deserve

You can increase your self-confidence in your career by being assertive in your self-learning and asking questions. To help clarify any information that you find difficult to understand during team meetings, project planning sessions, or conferences, think about making it a practice to ask at least one question.

When you do this regularly as part of your work routine, you can boost your emotions of confidence and self-worth through participation. This can demonstrate to your team mates and supervisors that you can take initiative when you feel like you might need more direction. Coworkers who are attempting to increase their confidence may exist. You could allay their fears by taking the initiative to speak out and ask questions.

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“Saral hu Saadharn nhi” (Simplicity is not Ordinary). This phrase encapsulates her entire existence. A woman of few words, a daydreamer, who is certain that there is life beyond stars. An HR professional who began her writing journey when corona knocked on our doors. A Content Writer, Screenplay Writer, and published Author. She is die-hard romantic and that reflects in her quotes, poems and short stories and currently working on her first book. She enjoys cooking, dancing, singing, travelling, and is a huge Bollywood enthusiast. She is a wife, a mother and a friend you can most certainly rely on.

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Making Of A Young Chief

/ Chippy Kurian Chacko / Leave a comment

Leadership skills are crucial for young children. It helps them develop and become confident, independent, and capable individuals who can positively contribute to their communities. Encouraging children to develop leadership skills teaches them to take initiative, make decisions, and work collaboratively with others. It also helps them develop critical thinking and problem-solving skills, which are essential for success in both personal and professional contexts. By fostering leadership skills in children, we can help them to develop a strong sense of self-worth, empathy, and social responsibility. These qualities benefit the kids and the broader society as they become responsible and engaged citizens.

How To Foster Leadership In Kids?

1. Set Clear Goals

Teaching kids to set clear goals is an essential skill that can help them succeed in school, sports, and other activities. Here are a few tips for teaching kids to set clear goals:

  1. Start with Small Goals: Encourage kids to start with small, achievable goals that they can accomplish quickly. It helps build confidence and motivation to tackle more challenging goals in the future.
  2. Use Specific Language: Teach kids to use specific language when setting goals. For example, instead of saying, “I want to be better at math,” encourage them to say, “I want to improve my math grade by two points this semester.”
  3. Make Goals Measurable: Help kids to make their goals measurable, so they can track their progress and see when they’ve achieved them. For example, if a child wants to improve their basketball skills, they might set a goal to make ten free throws in a row by the end of the week.
  4. Create a Plan: Help kids to create a plan for achieving their goals. This might include breaking down larger goals into smaller, more manageable tasks or setting a timeline for completing specific steps.
  5. Celebrate Achievements: Celebrate when kids achieve their goals, no matter how small. It helps to reinforce the importance of goal-setting and builds motivation to continue setting and achieving goals in the future.

By teaching kids to set clear goals, we can help them develop essential skills such as planning, perseverance, and self-discipline. These skills will serve them well throughout their lives, allowing them to achieve their dreams and reach their full potential.

2. Lead by Example

Teaching kids to lead by example is essential to developing their leadership skills. A good leader leads by example and sets a positive tone for the team. If you want your team to work hard and stay motivated, you must model this behaviour yourself. Here are a few ways to teach kids to lead by example:

  1. Be a Role Model: As an adult or teacher, model the behaviour that you want to see in your students. Show them what it means to lead by example through your actions.
  2. Teach the Value of Integrity: Teach kids that being honest and having strong moral principles is essential for leadership. Please encourage them always to do the right thing, even when it’s complicated.
  3. Encourage Responsibility: Give kids opportunities to take responsibility for their actions and encourage them to take ownership of their mistakes. It helps them to understand that leadership is about accountability and taking responsibility for their actions.
  4. Demonstrate Empathy: Encourage kids to demonstrate empathy towards others and to show kindness and compassion. Teach them to put themselves in other people’s shoes and consider their actions’ impact on others.
  5. Encourage Collaboration: Teach kids to work collaboratively with others and to value teamwork. It helps them to understand that leadership is not just about individual achievement but also about bringing out the best in others.
  6. Celebrate Good Examples: When kids demonstrate leadership through their actions, celebrate their good example, and recognize their positive impact on others.

By teaching kids to lead by example, we can help them develop essential leadership qualities such as integrity, responsibility, empathy, and teamwork. These skills will serve them well in all aspects of their lives, helping them to become confident, responsible, and booming adults.

3. Foster Open Communication

Encourage open communication and create an environment where team members feel comfortable sharing their ideas, concerns, and feedback. Fostering open communication is a crucial aspect of training kids in leadership because it helps them to develop strong communication skills, build trust, and promote teamwork. Here are a few ways to foster open communication in kids:

  1. Create a Safe Space: Create a safe and welcoming environment where kids feel comfortable sharing their thoughts and ideas without fear of judgment or criticism.
  2. Encourage Listening: Teach kids to listen to others actively and ask questions to understand their perspectives better. It helps to build empathy and encourages a culture of mutual respect.
  3. Promote Dialogue: Encourage kids to engage in open dialogue with each other, sharing their thoughts and ideas and working collaboratively to find solutions.
  4. Model Good Communication: As an adult or teacher, model good communication by using active listening skills, providing feedback, and encouraging discussion.
  5. Provide Opportunities for Feedback: Provide opportunities for kids to give and receive feedback in a constructive and supportive way. It helps them to develop their communication skills and learn to receive feedback positively.
  6. Celebrate Communication Success: Celebrate when kids demonstrate good communication skills and highlight the positive impact of open communication on a team.

We can help kids develop essential leadership skills such as effective communication, collaboration, and teamwork by fostering open communication in kids. These skills will serve them well throughout their lives, helping them to build strong relationships, navigate challenging situations, and achieve their goals.

4. Provide Feedback

Give feedback regularly, both positive and constructive. It helps team members learn and grow while also feeling valued and supported. Teaching kids the importance of providing feedback is essential in assisting them to become good leaders. In addition, feedback helps individuals understand their strengths and weaknesses and identify areas for improvement. Here are a few ways to teach kids the importance of providing feedback:

  1. Start with Positive Feedback: Teach kids to start with positive feedback when providing feedback to others. It helps to build trust and confidence and sets a positive tone for the conversation.
  2. Be Specific and Constructive: Encourage kids to be specific and constructive when providing feedback. It means giving specific examples and suggestions rather than criticizing or blaming.
  3. Focus on Behaviours, not Personality: Teach kids to focus on behaviours rather than personality when providing feedback. It means focusing on what someone did rather than who they are.
  4. Encourage Active Listening: Encourage kids to actively listen to their feedback and ask questions to clarify anything they don’t understand.
  5. Provide Opportunities for Practice: Provide opportunities for kids to practice providing feedback, such as in group activities or role-playing scenarios.
  6. Celebrate Success: Celebrate when kids provide effective feedback and highlight the positive impact that their feedback can have on others.

By teaching kids the importance of providing feedback, we can help them develop leadership skills such as effective communication, empathy, and self-awareness. These skills will serve them well throughout their lives, allowing them to build strong relationships, navigate challenging situations, and achieve their goals.

5. Empower Team Members

Empower your team members to take ownership of their work and give them the autonomy to make decisions within their area of responsibility. Empowering team members is an essential leadership skill that involves giving team members the tools, resources, and support they need to be successful. Here are a few ways to teach kids the importance of empowering team members:

  1. Encourage Autonomy: Encourage kids to give their team members autonomy to make decisions and take ownership of their work. It helps team members to feel empowered and increases their engagement and commitment to the team’s goals.
  2. Provide Opportunities for Growth: For team members to develop new skills and take on new challenges. It helps to build their confidence and encourages them to take on more responsibility.
  3. Encourage Collaboration: Encourage kids to work collaboratively with their team members, sharing ideas and supporting each other. It helps to build a sense of community and encourages team members to work towards a common goal.
  4. Provide Recognition and Feedback: Provide recognition and feedback to team members for their contributions and achievements. It helps to build their confidence and encourages them to continue to take on new challenges.
  5. Model Empowerment: As an adult or teacher, model empowerment by giving kids the resources, support, and autonomy they need to be successful.
  6. Celebrate Success: Celebrate when team members demonstrate empowerment and highlight the positive impact that it can have on the team.

By teaching kids the importance of empowering team members, we can help them develop leadership skills such as collaboration, communication, and empathy. These skills will serve them well throughout their lives, allowing them to build strong relationships, navigate challenging situations, and achieve their goals.

6. Recognize and Reward Success

Celebrate the successes of your team members and recognize their hard work and contributions. It helps to build morale and foster a positive team culture. Encouraging kids to recognize and reward success is essential to leadership training. Recognizing and rewarding success can help to build confidence, promote a positive team culture, and motivate team members to continue to work towards their goals. Here are a few ways to encourage kids to recognize and reward success:

  1. Celebrate Achievements: When team members achieve their goals or complete a project. It can be as simple as a verbal acknowledgment or a more formal celebration.
  2. Provide Recognition: Provide recognition to team members for their contributions and achievements. It can include awards, certificates, or other forms of credit.
  3. Encourage Peer-to-Peer Recognition: Encourage kids to recognize and reward their peers for their contributions and achievements. It helps to build a positive team culture and encourages collaboration.
  4. Make it Personal: Make recognition and rewards personal by tailoring them to each team member’s interests and preferences. It helps to show that their contributions are valued and appreciated.
  5. Encourage Creativity: Encourage kids to be creative in recognizing and rewarding success. It could include creating a team wall of fame, designing a special trophy, or organizing a special event.
  6. Model Recognition and Reward: As an adult or teacher, model recognition and reward by acknowledging and celebrating successes and achievements.

By encouraging kids to recognize and reward success, we can help them develop essential leadership skills such as empathy, communication, and teamwork. These skills will serve them well throughout their lives, helping them to build strong relationships, navigate difficult situations, and achieve their goals.

7. Address Conflict

Address conflicts quickly and fairly to avoid negative impacts on team morale and productivity. Training kids to address conflict is essential in helping them become good leaders. Conflict is a natural part of any group or team, and learning how to handle conflict effectively is a critical leadership skill. Here are a few reasons why it’s essential to train kids to address conflict:

  1. Improve Communication: Addressing conflict requires practical communication skills. By teaching kids to address conflict, they will develop communication skills such as active listening, clear expression of ideas, and the ability to negotiate and find common ground.
  2. Build Resilience: Addressing conflict can be challenging and emotionally taxing, but it is an essential skill for building resilience. When kids learn how to address conflict, they develop the resilience and confidence to navigate difficult situations.
  3. Promote Creativity: Addressing conflict can require creative thinking and problem-solving skills. By teaching kids to address conflict, they will develop their creativity and find innovative solutions to problems.
  4. Enhance Teamwork: Addressing conflict can strengthen teamwork and collaboration within a group or team. When kids learn to address conflict effectively, they can work together more effectively to achieve common goals.
  5. Promote Empathy: Addressing conflict requires empathy and seeing things from multiple perspectives. By teaching kids to address conflict, they will develop empathy and learn to approach conflicts with understanding and compassion.
  6. Prevent Escalation: When conflicts are left unaddressed, they can escalate and become more challenging to resolve. By teaching kids to address conflict, we can prevent conflicts from escalating and becoming more significant problems.

By training kids to address conflict, we can help them develop essential leadership skills such as communication, empathy, and problem-solving. These skills will serve them well throughout their lives, helping them to build strong relationships, navigate difficult situations, and achieve their goals.

8. Develop Team Skills

Invest in developing the skills of your team members by providing training opportunities and encouraging continuous learning. Developing team skills in kids is crucial in training young leaders. Teamwork is an essential component of leadership, and learning to work effectively with others is a critical skill for success in all areas of life. Here are a few reasons why it’s important to develop team skills in kids:

  1. Collaboration: Developing team skills in kids helps them learn how to collaborate with others to achieve common goals. It teaches them how to work effectively with others and value their teammates’ contributions.
  2. Communication: Effective teamwork requires good communication skills. By developing team skills in kids, we teach them how to communicate clearly and respectfully with others.
  3. Leadership: Good leaders know how to lead and work effectively within a team. By developing team skills in kids, we help them develop their leadership skills and learn how to guide and motivate their team.
  4. Problem-solving: Working in a team requires problem-solving skills. By developing team skills in kids, we teach them how to approach problems collaboratively and find innovative solutions.
  5. Accountability: Effective teamwork requires accountability. By developing team skills in kids, we teach them to take responsibility for their actions and hold themselves and their team members accountable.
  6. Diversity and Inclusion: Teamwork provides an opportunity to work with people from different backgrounds and perspectives. By developing team skills in kids, we help them learn to appreciate and respect diversity and inclusion.

By developing team skills in kids, we help them develop essential leadership skills such as collaboration, communication, problem-solving, accountability, diversity, and inclusion. These skills will serve them well throughout their lives, helping them to build strong relationships, navigate difficult situations, and achieve their goals.

9. Lead with Integrity

Lead with integrity, honesty, and transparency, as these qualities inspire trust and respect from your team. Teaching kids to lead with integrity is essential to developing their leadership skills. Integrity is about doing the right thing, even when no one is watching, and it’s an important trait that all good leaders possess. Here are a few ways to teach kids to lead with integrity:

  1. Be a role model: Children learn by example, so it’s essential to lead by example and model integrity in your actions.
  2. Teach honesty: Encourage kids to be honest and truthful in all their interactions, whether with friends, family, or peers.
  3. Discuss ethical dilemmas: Discuss ethical dilemmas and moral issues with kids to help them understand the importance of ethical decisions.
  4. Encourage critical thinking: Encourage kids to think critically about their actions and impact on others.
  5. Promote accountability: Teach kids to take responsibility for their actions and to be accountable for their mistakes.
  6. Encourage empathy: Encourage kids to consider the feelings and perspectives of others when making decisions.
  7. Discuss consequences: Discuss the consequences of dishonesty and the benefits of acting with integrity.
  8. Reward honesty: Reward kids when they demonstrate honesty and integrity, and praise them for doing the right thing.

By teaching kids to lead with integrity, we help them develop critical leadership skills such as honesty, accountability, empathy, and critical thinking. These skills will serve them well throughout their lives, helping them to build strong relationships, navigate difficult situations, and achieve their goals with honesty and integrity.

10. Stay Positive and Motivated

As a leader, it’s crucial to maintain a positive attitude and stay motivated, even in challenging situations. It can inspire your team to keep pushing forward and focus on their goals. Fostering positivity and motivation in kid leaders is essential because it helps them stay focused on their goals, inspires them to persevere through challenges, and enables them to encourage others to do the same. Here are a few reasons why it’s crucial to foster positivity and motivation in kid leaders:

  1. Resilience: Positive and motivated kid leaders are more resilient in facing challenges and setbacks. They are better able to bounce back from disappointment and keep moving forward.
  2. Creativity: Positive and motivated kid leaders are more creative and innovative. They are more likely to think outside the box and develop new ideas.
  3. Team morale: Positive and motivated kid leaders can help boost team morale. They can inspire and motivate their teammates, creating a more positive and productive team environment.
  4. Success: Positive and motivated kid leaders are more likely to be successful. They are more likely to set and achieve goals and inspire others to do the same.
  5. Mental health: Fostering positivity and motivation in kid leaders can positively impact their mental health. It can help reduce stress and anxiety and improve overall well-being.
  6. Leadership development: Positive and motivated kid leaders are likelier to continue developing their leadership skills. They are more likely to seek opportunities to learn and grow as leaders.

By fostering positivity and motivation in kid leaders, we help them develop essential leadership skills such as resilience, creativity, and team building. These skills will serve them well throughout their lives, helping them to build strong relationships, navigate difficult situations, and achieve their goals with a positive and motivated mindset.

Leadership training is crucial to help children develop the necessary skills to become successful leaders in the future. Introducing leadership training at a young age can give children a strong foundation of essential leadership qualities, such as effective communication, critical thinking, empathy, and problem-solving. These transferable skills can be applied in various aspects of life, including personal relationships, academic and professional pursuits, and community involvement. By cultivating strong leadership skills early on, individuals are more likely to succeed personally and professionally, contribute positively, and lead others to achieve collective goals. Therefore, it is imperative to include and introduce leadership training at a young age to nurture and develop the leaders of tomorrow.

——

Chippy is a dreamer and optimist. She believes, we become what we hope, aspire, dream to be and knows how to make a dream or two happen. Seventeen years of experience, struggling, winning, failing, succeeding and failing again and making it, she knows what it takes to build a successful project, a business, and what it means by starting from the bottom up. It takes determination, dedication, and direction and that’s why her mission is to ‘step up & inspire.’

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Take Your Time

/ dinah1995 / Leave a comment

Slow and steady wins the race. It is so accurate and relevant even today. In such a fast-paced world, the idea of slow and steady or taking your time and being in control… Does it actually work?

There is a lot of wisdom and power in understanding and acknowledging the importance of patience and doing things at our own pace. There is no rush or hurry, unlike most people think. Yes, time is precious and not to be wasted, but there is profound intelligence in waiting and grasping the wonderful essence of what it is all about and giving your all!

Taking your time has benefits, like managing stress – you don’t want to be constantly rushed and feel anxious over the most minor things. Once you understand the power and advantages of doing and looking at things at a more sensible and reasonable pace, there is no looking back! You are in control; you know your priorities. You learn to strategize and allocate tasks better, understand how you will find the solution (your way), and know when to slow down and break – nothing is more important than making yourself feel confident and efficient. So what must you do to master the art of taking time to do things, taking time for yourself, and exploring new prospects? Well, deliberately SLOWING DOWN!

Write slowly, speak slowly, cook slowly, and do things slowly and steadily – ensure you understand each step and process clearly before jumping to conclusions and actions. This will ensure better results and a peaceful mind with the satisfaction of completing what you intended. The significant benefit of taking your time and knowing your pace is that you will make fewer mistakes and errors. Of course, you won’t make mistakes when you do things slowly. However, the chances of fallacies are much less if you first understand the task.

The attitude plays a vital role in your self-love journey… The habit of not rushing and having a calm aura to yourself enables a serene sensation in and around you that benefits not just yourself but others. You can draw your boundaries, live your present moment, plan and strategise for your next move and make an impact. So next time, take your time. Live the moment and fix it correctly – which should be YOUR WAY! There is no shortcut to doing things – the shortcut is when you know how you will achieve them – the more you align yourself with the contentment of little things, the more you control yourself and your time. Take your time.

——

Aakanksha Dinah, a passionate writer, orator, communicator focused on establishing a Training institution centered on creativity and innovation. Aakanksha is a true believer in loving the work we do and strongly believes in smart-work, the reason why creativity works better for her. Aakanksha is enormously focused on making a career in professional writing and publishing. She loves writing poems, self-help articles, and essays. An enthusiast when it comes to learning languages and in short, Aakanksha is a wanderer, an explorer, a mom, a dog-mom, a poet, a cook, a writer, and an influencer.

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Who Is The Perfect Housewife

/ msriddhijadhav / Leave a comment

The irony of being a working woman is that no matter how much you earn, you still have an unpaid job as a housewife to return to. It is because you are not a mere wife to your husband but to your home too. It is said that without a woman, the house feels empty because she is the one who fills it with joy and also the groceries. The latter gets counted less. 

Women are accountable for bringing joy, peace, and happiness to a home, even without feeling these emotions themselves. So it begins her struggle to become the perfect housewife. 

When girls are married and step into another home, they are expected to let go of where they come from and adapt to a new ‘home.’ It gets more difficult within inter-caste marriages because what she loves cooking is not so willingly accepted. She has to learn new methods of cooking the same dishes to suit the taste and preferences of this family. Eventually, she gets there. But is she the perfect housewife? No, she doesn’t dust the home every alternate day. 

There’s this woman, who knows how to sweep the corners, she knows how to wash the clothes, she knows how to clean the utensils without wasting too much water. So what she ends up doing? She works at other people’s homes to do the same. She works as a housemaid because she needs to educate her children. She toils in five houses daily and then returns to her own to ensure it is just as spic and span. Is she the perfect housewife? No, she makes her mother-in-law cook. 

Another woman I have heard of tends to her little one and readies the lunch box for her husband every morning. She fulfills the daily tasks of being an entertainer for her toddler, cleans a bit when the child’s asleep, finds time to talk to her friends, and manages the home when the guests arrive. Is she the perfect housewife? No, she only does it because she has the help of her housekeepers. 

No matter how much you do, how long you do, and how willingly you try, being the perfect housewife is a tedious task that is always understated. But unfortunately, we live in a society where we glorify being excellent at managing the home and yet find flaws in someone trying to get there. 

Every house has so many little aspects that make it a home. Unfortunately, some of us are oblivious to it until we shoulder its responsibility. Every married woman strives to become the perfect housewife and silently curses herself for not knowing so many things that are supposedly so basic for our daily survival. We rely too much on our mothers to worry about when the gas runs out or how many days will the rice grain be sufficient for the family. 

Is my mother the perfect housewife? No, I agree she is not. Because despite cooking for more than three decades, she still does not know how to make round chapatis – another requisite in the perfect housewife checklist. Is your mother the ideal housewife because she can cause soft, round rotis(round flat bread)? Maybe or maybe not. Ask her if she feels so, and she will list her home management flaws. The most common complaint is having no time for herself. 

It blows my mind to know how we, as women, are expected to learn and master everything that involves the kitchen. If I have learned cooking, I also need to learn how to store the raw material, I must know how to change the cooking gas, and I should keep a tab on oil consumption in the family. Moreover, I am responsible for everyone’s health, and I need to remember that my maid will not be coming next week. I also need to know the exact water measurements for making a cooker full of rice and the right pinch of salt when cooking for a group of ten. I should know how to store lentils and finish the soup packets before they expire. I also need to have a plan to keep ants and lizards at bay during summers and ensure none of my food is left uncovered for the flies to feast. I must defrost the refrigerator weekly and clean the spilled water left underneath. I am tired, and as I wipe my sweat off, I look to the ceiling to see cobwebs. It’s the next on her weekly agenda. My thoughts are interrupted by the pressure cooker whistles, and I recall if it is the first one or the third one. The spiral continues. 

Am I the perfect housewife? No. 

I always wonder who is the perfect housewife. What does she look like? Does she even exist? Because this society has always seen a version of the ideal housewife somewhere and wants it to replicate in their homes. Because everybody agrees that no one is 100% perfect as a person, but in a role of a housewife, you need to be 110%. 

When discussing gender equality, we should find some space for equality in the kitchen chores. It is the first step to moulding the perfect househusband.

——

Writer by day, an overthinker by night. I let my thoughts flow through my writing. As a definite misfit, I let my words speak louder than my actions. Welcome to my journey of sailing through emotions and experiences, with words as my paddles.

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Candles A Game Changer

/ Chippy Kurian Chacko / Leave a comment

Candles have been used for centuries as a source of light, warmth, and spiritual significance. Today, they continue to be a popular addition to homes worldwide for their aesthetic appeal, mood-setting capabilities, and practical uses. Whether you’re looking to create a relaxing and inviting atmosphere, enhance the ambiance of a room, or provide a backup source of lighting in case of a power outage, candles can serve various purposes in your home. With a wide range of scents, shapes, and sizes, there is a candle for every occasion and personal preference. In this age of modern technology, candles offer a simple yet effective way to add warmth, charm, and a touch of elegance to any living space. In this article, we will explore why you might consider having candles at home and the benefits they can provide beyond just providing light.

10 Reasons Why Candles Can Be A Game Changer

1. Aesthetic appeal

Candles can enhance the aesthetic appeal of a home in several ways. First, they come in various colors, shapes, and sizes, making them versatile decorative items that can be incorporated into any style or theme. From simple white pillar candles to intricately designed votives, a candle suits any taste or preference.


Second, candles can create focal points or accents in a room. Placing a group of candles in a decorative holder, for example, can draw attention to a particular room area and add visual interest. Similarly, putting candles on a mantel or bookshelf can add height and dimension to the space.


Third, candles can create a warm and inviting atmosphere that can make a home feel more welcoming and comfortable. They provide a soft, warm glow that can be especially appealing during the colder months when natural light is limited.

Finally, candles can be used with other decorative items like flowers or vases to create a cohesive and stylish look. By incorporating candles into your overall decor scheme, you can create a beautiful and functional space. Overall, candles are a simple yet effective way to enhance the aesthetic appeal of any home and create a warm and inviting atmosphere for you and your guests.

2. Mood lighting

Candles can enhance mood lighting at home in several ways. First, the soft, flickering light of candles creates a warm and inviting atmosphere that can help to reduce stress and promote relaxation. The gentle glow of candles can help to create a sense of calm and serenity, making them a great addition to any meditation or relaxation practice.
Second, candles can be used to create a romantic and intimate atmosphere. The warm, inviting glow of candles can be especially appealing during dinner parties or special occasions, helping to set the mood and create a cozy and romantic ambiance.

Third, candles can create a cozy and comfortable atmosphere during the colder months. When natural light is limited, candles can provide a valuable light source that adds warmth and comfort to any living space.

Finally, candles can create a sense of ambiance and luxury in any room. For example, you can create a spa-like atmosphere in your bathroom or bedroom by choosing scented candles with aromas such as lavender or vanilla. Similarly, using candles in decorative holders or lanterns can add a touch of elegance and sophistication to any living space.

Overall, candles are a simple yet effective way to enhance mood lighting at home, creating a warm and inviting atmosphere that promotes relaxation, comfort, and tranquility.

3. Emergency lighting: 

Candles can be a valuable source of emergency lighting in a power outage or other emergency. Unlike electric lights, candles do not require electricity, making them a reliable backup lighting source.

To use candles as emergency lighting, it is essential to keep a supply of candles on hand, along with matches or a lighter to light them. Using candles safely and responsibly is also necessary, as keeping them away from flammable materials and never leaving them unattended.

In a power outage or emergency, candles can provide light in a specific home area, such as a room or hallway. They can also provide a source of heat, although it is essential to use caution when using candles for this purpose.
Overall, candles can be a valuable and reliable source of emergency lighting, providing a way to navigate a darkened home and stay safe during power outages or other emergencies.

However, using candles responsibly and following basic safety precautions are essential to prevent accidents or fires.

4. Aromatherapy: 

Candles are commonly used in aromatherapy to provide therapeutic benefits by inhaling essential oils. Aromatherapy candles are specially formulated with essential oils and natural plant extracts that have been used for their medicinal properties for centuries.

When the candle is lit, the heat from the flame causes the essential oils to evaporate into the air, releasing their aroma and therapeutic benefits. Different essential oils have other properties, and the choice of essential oil will depend on the desired effect.
For example, the lavender essential oil is often used in aromatherapy candles for its calming and relaxing properties, while peppermint essential oil is used for its energizing and invigorating properties. Other popular essential oils used in aromatherapy candles include eucalyptus, rosemary, and lemon.

In addition to their therapeutic benefits, aromatherapy candles can also enhance the ambiance of a room, providing a warm and inviting atmosphere that can help reduce stress and promote relaxation. Many people find that the gentle glow of candles and the soothing aroma of essential oils can help create a calming and meditative space perfect for relaxation and stress relief.

Overall, candles are a popular and effective way to incorporate aromatherapy into your daily routine, providing a natural and holistic way to improve your mood, reduce stress, and enhance your overall well-being.

5. Religious or spiritual purposes

Candles are often used in religious or spiritual practices as a symbol of prayer or devotion.

Candles are commonly used in religious or spiritual practices to symbolize light, purity, and devotion. In addition, in many traditions, lighting a candle is a symbolic act that represents the presence of a divine or spiritual force.
For example, candles are often used in Christianity during worship services and other religious ceremonies. The candle’s light is seen as a symbol of Christ’s presence, and the flame represents the Holy Spirit. Candles are also used in prayer and meditation, lighting a candle representing a spiritual offering or intention.
Similarly, candles are used in many other spiritual and religious traditions, including Buddhism, Hinduism, and Judaism. For example, in Buddhism, candles symbolize the Buddha’s enlightenment, while in Hinduism, candles are used to represent the divine light of the gods. In Judaism, candles mark the beginning of the Sabbath and other religious holidays.

Beyond their symbolic significance, candles can also help to create a sacred and meditative atmosphere during religious or spiritual practices. The candle’s soft glow can help focus the mind and develop a sense of peace and tranquility, making connecting with the divine or spiritual realm easier.

Overall, candles are a powerful tool for spiritual and religious practitioners, providing a way to connect with the divine, express devotion, and create a sacred space for prayer and meditation.

6. Decorative accents

Candles can be used as decorative accents throughout the home, adding a touch of elegance and sophistication to any room. They can be placed on bookshelves, windowsills, or bathroom counters to create a chic and stylish look.

Candles can enhance decorative accents in several ways, adding a touch of warmth, texture, and ambiance to any living space. Here are some ways in which candles can enhance decorative accents:

  1. Adding color: Candles come in various colors, allowing you to choose candles that complement or contrast with your existing decor. For example, if you have a neutral color scheme, you could add a pop of color with a brightly colored candle.
  2. Creating focal points: Candles can be used to create a focal point in a room or on a table. Grouping candles in varying heights and sizes can create an eye-catching display that draws the eye.
  3. Adding texture: Candles can also add texture to a space, particularly if placed in decorative holders or lanterns. A candle in a woven basket or a glass jar can add an exciting and unique texture to a room.
  4. Creating ambiance: The soft glow of candles can create a warm and inviting atmosphere in any living space, adding a cozy and intimate touch to any room.
  5. Providing fragrance: Scented candles can add a pleasant aroma to a room, creating a multi-sensory experience that enhances the overall ambiance of the space.

Overall, candles can enhance decorative accents in various ways, adding color, texture, ambiance, and fragrance to any living space. Whether used as a focal point or simply as a subtle accent, candles can help create a warm, inviting atmosphere that enhances your home’s overall look and feel.

7. Enhance ambiance

Candles can enhance the ambiance of any room, creating a warm and inviting atmosphere. This is especially true during the colder months when the warmth of candles can add a cozy touch to any living space.

Candles can enhance the ambiance of any room in several ways, creating a warm and inviting atmosphere that promotes relaxation, intimacy, and comfort. Here are some ways in which candles can enhance the ambiance of a room:

  1. Providing Soft Lighting: Candles provide a soft, warm glow different from the harsh glare of electric lights. This soft lighting creates a cozy and intimate atmosphere, perfect for relaxation and unwinding.
  2. Adding Fragrance: Scented candles can add a pleasant aroma to a room, enhancing the overall ambiance. Fragrances can evoke different moods and emotions, such as lavender for relaxation, peppermint for energy, or citrus for freshness.
  3. Creating Focal Points: Candles can create a focal point in a room, which draws the eye and adds interest to the space. A grouping of candles in varying heights and sizes can create a striking display that adds a touch of elegance and sophistication to any room.
  4. Enhancing Décor: Candles can improve the décor of a room by adding color, texture, and style. A candle in a decorative holder or lantern can add a unique and interesting texture to a room, while colored candles can complement or contrast the existing décor.
  5. Promoting Relaxation: The soft glow and pleasant fragrance of candles can promote relaxation and reduce stress levels, creating a calming and soothing atmosphere perfect for winding down after a long day.

Overall, candles can enhance the ambiance of any room by providing soft lighting.

8. Create a focal point

Candles can create a focal point at home with their warm, inviting glow, drawing the eye and building a sense of ambiance and coziness in a room. Here are a few ways that candles can create a focal point:

  1. Placement: Placing candles in a prominent location, such as in the center of a dining table, on a mantelpiece, or in a decorative holder on a coffee table, can help draw attention and create a focal point.
  2. Size and color: Large, colorful candles can be eye-catching and add color to a room. Choosing candles in shades that complement the room’s decor can also help them stand out and create a cohesive look.
  3. Scent: Scented candles can create an additional layer of ambiance and sensory appeal, drawing people’s attention and creating a relaxing atmosphere.
  4. Grouping: Grouping candles in clusters can also create a focal point, particularly when they are arranged in a visually exciting way, such as in varying heights or a symmetrical pattern.

Overall, candles can create a focal point at home by adding warmth, color, scent, and visual interest to a space, making them a versatile and popular decorative element.

9. Meditation and relaxation

Candles can be a valuable tool for meditation and relaxation by helping to create a calming atmosphere and aiding in focus. Here are a few ways candles can be used for meditation and relaxation:

  1. Candle Gazing: This meditation technique is where you sit before a candle and focus on the flame. The flickering flame can help to quiet the mind and create a sense of inner peace and tranquility.
  2. Aromatherapy: Burning scented candles can create a calming atmosphere and promote relaxation. Scents like lavender, chamomile, and sandalwood are known for their calming properties and can help to reduce stress and anxiety.
  3. Setting the Mood: Dimming the lights and lighting candles can create a soothing ambiance, making relaxing and letting go of any tension or worries easier.
  4. Guided Meditations: Some recommended meditation practices may involve visualizing a candle flame as a focal point, which can help to calm the mind and deepen the meditation practice.

Incorporating candles into meditation and relaxation practices can create a peaceful and calming environment, making connecting with oneself and finding inner peace easier

10. Romance

Candles have long been associated with romance and intimacy. Whether used for a romantic dinner or to set the mood for a special occasion, candles can help create a romantic atmosphere and make any moment more memorable.

Candles can be a romantic addition to a special occasion or setting. Here are a few ways that candles can add to the romantic atmosphere:

  1. Soft lighting: Candles provide a soft, warm glow that can create a cozy and intimate atmosphere. Dim lighting can also make people look more attractive and develop a sense of privacy.
  2. Scent: Scented candles can create a romantic ambiance by filling the air with a pleasing fragrance to enhance the mood. Scents like rose, vanilla, and jasmine are popular choices for romantic occasions.
  3. Setting the mood: Candles can help to set the mood for a romantic evening or occasion. They can be used to create a centerpiece on a dining table, placed around a bathtub for a relaxing bath, or scattered around a bedroom for a romantic ambiance.
  4. Symbolism: Candles have long been associated with romance and love, making them a traditional and meaningful addition to a romantic occasion. They symbolize warmth, passion, and intimacy.

Candles can be a simple yet effective way to add romance to a special occasion or create a romantic atmosphere. The soft lighting, pleasing scents, and symbolic meaning can create a romantic ambiance.

The warm, inviting glow of candles can create a relaxing and soothing atmosphere, helping to reduce stress and anxiety. In addition, they can set the mood for special occasions or create a romantic and intimate climate. Candles offer a simple yet practical way to improve the ambiance of any living space, providing a touch of elegance, warmth, and comfort to our daily lives.

——

Chippy is a dreamer and optimist. She believes, we become what we hope, aspire, dream to be and knows how to make a dream or two happen. Seventeen years of experience, struggling, winning, failing, succeeding and failing again and making it, she knows what it takes to build a successful project, a business, and what it means by starting from the bottom up. It takes determination, dedication, and direction and that’s why her mission is to ‘step up & inspire.’

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Should We Hold On

/ dinah1995 / Leave a comment

Sometimes the most challenging is to hold on. The mind cripples in the thoughts of letting go and the heartaches to stay longer. There is the bitter truth and absolute reality in the chaos of relationships. There is a triumph in holding on and letting go – all based on which side of the coin you are looking at. However, when there are times that question the core of how things are in life, the heart and mind have a tough time deciding which side of the coin it is this time. Healthy relationships conquer such dilemmas from a much calmer perspective. And not all bonds are the same – just like the two different sides of the same coin! 

Well, the question remains: What is the quest all about? What is helping you become who you are destined to be? Is it this relationship? Because it sure has to be a significant part of your growth – emotional, physical, mental, social, spiritual, and psychological. When you know, there is room for chances that you will not be violated and ridiculed. There can be space for awareness and humble submissions. When two completely different individuals come together, there is always some agitation over the silliest reasons. How you reason with them and maintain the bond cordially determines how long the relationship will last. While there is beauty in holding on and being present, there is wisdom in understanding what is best for you. Therefore, do not, in any way, depend on any external factor to ladder your growth and advancement in life. May that be the longest and the strongest bond. There is always and forever only you by your side. Never let that light stop shining. 

Ultimately, the decision to hold on or let go is personal and requires careful consideration. Remember that letting go can be difficult, but it can also be liberating and lead to new opportunities. Knowing when to hold on and when to let go is a challenging but essential aspect of life. Holding on or letting go depends on the situation and context.

5 points to consider

  1. Evaluate the situation 
    Before making any decision, assess the situation carefully. Analyze the pros and cons of holding on versus letting go.
  2. Consider your emotions 
    Emotions can cloud our judgment. Be aware of your feelings and try to evaluate the situation objectively.
  3. Identify what you are holding on to 
    Determine why you are holding on to something. Is it out of fear, insecurity, or habit? Understanding your motives can help you make a more informed decision.
  4. Consider the future 
    Consider how holding on or letting go will impact your future. Will holding on bring you closer to your goals or hinder your progress? Will letting allow you move forward and grow?
  5. Trust your instincts 
    Sometimes, our instincts can guide us toward the right decision. If you feel strongly about something, trust yourself.

Hold on as long as it is worth holding on, and holding on should not hamper your mental health and everyday life choices. And it must cost nothing. Your happiness and joy in your life are paramount.

——

Aakanksha Dinah, a passionate writer, orator, communicator focused on establishing a Training institution centered on creativity and innovation. Aakanksha is a true believer in loving the work we do and strongly believes in smart-work, the reason why creativity works better for her. Aakanksha is enormously focused on making a career in professional writing and publishing. She loves writing poems, self-help articles, and essays. An enthusiast when it comes to learning languages and in short, Aakanksha is a wanderer, an explorer, a mom, a dog-mom, a poet, a cook, a writer, and an influencer.

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Success Mantra Delayed Gratification

/ msveenagupta / 1 Comment

Since childhood, we are all expected to learn ways and traits that will eventually spell success in later life. It is like the entire childhood being your playground culminating into the final plan for adulthood success. 

Everybody wants to be successful. No one wants to be a failure. 

Although failure is critical, we always try and condition ourselves to work and look out only for success. This, however, gets confusing and pretty overwhelming to a little child who is still trying to understand how to use his hands!  

Success means different things to different people. It could mean standing on their own 2 feet as a child… scoring good numbers in their teenage years… securing a high-paying job as a young adult… owning a house, a car, and a good family in middle age… to (again) standing on their 2 feet as an Octogenarian!

Success is a subjective concept highly dictated by socioeconomic conditioning, personal goals, cultural beliefs, and life experiences. For some, it means professional accomplishments, while for some, it could mean just a good night’s sleep. For some, it means having close-knit relationships or positively impacting someone’s life, while for others, it may lie in amassing wealth and fortune. 

Whatever it is, it is deeply personal yet very, very important. No wonder, then, that everyone is looking for shortcuts to success. Everyone is seeking the secret to getting there quickly, and why not? After all, you got just one life – ‘You live only Once, right?’

Just as everyone defines success, everyone has their secret ways to get there. While I still don’t consider myself as ‘successful,’ life’s experiences did present a sneak peek into the ‘possible’ mantra of success. So let me share it with you today…

DELAYED GRATIFICATION

Yup. In times of instant gratification, delayed gratification seems totally out of place! 

While instant gratification seems to be the norm of the day, it harms your success. Instant gratification can hurt you in several ways, reducing your motivation to work harder and longer for more extensive and rewarding goals. In addition, it constantly entices you to seek pleasure now than later. This is a deterrent to your focus and keeps you in the loop of being comfortable now than sweating it out for a bigger and better reward later. You know, most FMCG, convenience, and luxury goods companies bank upon and feed your need for instant gratification to make a fortune for themselves?

They play on your basic human instincts. According to Freud’s “Pleasure Principle,” humans are naturally wired to seek immediate pleasure and avoid pain. This is why children seek instant gratification. However, this is not how things pan out for an adult. Instant gratification leads to poor impulse control, addictive and impulsive behaviours, and frustration and anger when you do not instantly get what you want.

As against this, delayed gratification and the final big reward you worked for pay off in innumerable ways. For example, let’s say you control your impulse to cheat on your diet plan and give in to the temptation of ‘indulging in the rich, creamy goodness of a chocolate ice cream’ to have it only on your cheat day versus ‘now,’ you reap the benefits of better health and achieving your diet goals. This has worked towards your final destination of sticking to your diet and helped you exercise better impulse control and self-discipline. 

In obvious and not-so-obvious ways, our parents have demonstrated the benefits of delayed gratification in our daily life. ‘’Finish your homework, and I will give you two chocolates instead of one!” – heard this from your parent? Yeah…. This was their demonstration and lesson to teach you delayed gratification!

A famous experiment conducted in the late 1960s and the early 70s called the Marshmallow experiment is a great measure.

The MARSHMALLOW Experiment

In the experiment, little children were offered a choice between a small immediate reward now, i.e., a marshmallow, or a larger reward, i.e., two marshmallows, if they were willing to wait till the teacher returned. Then, the teacher would leave the room, and the child would be left alone with the treat. Then, the children were instructed to eat the smaller reward at any time, but if they waited until the teacher returned, they would receive a more significant compensation. 

Unsurprisingly, some children jumped at the opportunity in favour of instant gratification. At the same time, some resisted but eventually gave in, and then some could practice self-control and waited till the teacher returned.

This experiment followed these children’s lives for a while, and the study results were an eye-opener. It showed that the children who could delay gratification and wait for the larger reward had better life outcomes in later years. They had higher SAT scores, higher educational qualifications, better social skills, and on average, were more successful than their instant-gratified counterparts!

In your adult life, too, there are numerous examples of delayed gratification’s benefits. Take your stock market investments, for example; there are times when the market is going yo-yo, and you feel like selling an entire stock at the highest price for the day… but you resist the temptation and find that the stock has gone higher and higher over years of holding. Of course, there are other things at play in a typical bourse. However, if you were to trust the investment boss ‘Warren Buffet,’ he credits much of his success to his ability to delay gratification. According to him, by postponing the temptation to sell the stocks for short-term gain, he could reap the long-term benefits of his investments, eventually making him the ‘Tzar’ of wall street!

Delayed gratification teaches you self-control, impulse regulation, self-discipline, patience, the ability to manage your emotions, and a capacity to tolerate discomfort while working hard toward your final goal. 

Isn’t this the exact recipe for SUCCESS?

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Veena Gupta, a homemaker, doting mother, and a loving wife, who takes pride in a long-standing career in Banking and Finance. While her life took shape and as she was pursuing all this, something kept tugging her creativity. This pull lead her to decide to express her thoughts through writing. True to her name, her words flow from her pen to resonate with the reader’s mind like the soothing music that the musical instrument Veena creates! For someone who likes to experiment in life through adventure sports, trekking, and other varied interests, Veena likes to bring her experience, background and perspective to her readers through her simple yet effective writing to push the fact home!

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