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Right Attitudes

Ideas for Impact

Nagesh Belludi

Inspirational Quotations #944

May 8, 2022 By Nagesh Belludi

Sometimes I think that the biggest difference between men and women is that more men need to seek out some terrible lurking thing in existence and hurl themselves upon it. Women know where it lives but they can let it alone.
—Russell Hoban (American Author)

Man needs more to be reminded than instructed.
—Samuel Johnson (British Essayist)

Brevity is the best recommendation of speech, whether in a senator or an orator.
—Cicero (Roman Philosopher)

Make no judgments where you have no compassion.
—Anne Mccaffrey (American Science Fiction Author)

He who hunts two hares leaves one and loses the other.
—Japanese Proverb

Life yields only to the conqueror. Never accept what can be gained by giving in. You will be living off stolen goods, and your muscles will atrophy.
—Dag Hammarskjold (Swedish Statesman)

The future struggles against being mastered.
—Latin Proverb

There was never a great man who had not a great mother.
—Olive Schreiner (South African Novelist, Feminist)

Introspect daily, detect diligently, negate ruthlessly.
—Swami Chinmayananda (Indian Hindu Spiritual Teacher)

If I had followed my better judgment always, my life would have been a very dull one.
—Edgar Rice Burroughs (American Novelist)

Say not that this or that thing came to thwart you; it only came to test you.
—Muriel Strode (American Author, Businesswoman)

The road to a friend’s house is never long.
—Danish Proverb

The great mass of women throughout history have been confined to the cultural level of animal life in providing the male with sexual outlet and exercising the animal functions of reproduction and care of the young.
—Kate Millet (American Feminist, Writer, Sculptor)

We go on fancying that each person is thinking of us, but they are not; they are like the rest of us—they are thinking of themselves.
—Charles Reade (British Author)

Life holds so much—so much to be happy about always. Most people ask for happiness on conditions. Happiness can be felt only if you don’t set conditions.
—Arthur Rubinstein (American Pianist)

This world is so full of care and sorrow that it is a gracious debt we owe to one another to discover the bright crystals of delight hidden in somber circumstances and irksome tasks.
—Helen Keller (American Author)

Filed Under: Inspirational Quotations

What Most People Get Wrong About Focus

May 5, 2022 By Nagesh Belludi Leave a Comment

'Choose Wonder Over Worry' by Amber Rae (ISBN 0385491743) In Choose Wonder Over Worry (2018) self-help author Amber Rae recalls novelist Elizabeth Gilbert’s interaction with a wise older lady who was helping Gilbert with her struggles as a writer:

Lady: “What are you willing to give up in order to have the life you keep saying you want?”

Gilbert: “You’re right—I need to start saying no to things I don’t want to do.”

Lady: “No, it’s much harder than that. You need to learn to start saying no to things you _do_ want to do, with the recognition that you have only one life, and you don’t have time and energy for everything.”

This anecdote is such a powerful illustration of how saying ‘no’ is so much easier when you’re clear about your priorities.

Saying 'no' is so much easier when you're clear about your priorities That’s what focus really is—saying ‘no’ to things you’d like to do so that you can free up your time to focus on the pursuits that truly matter—even tasks you have to do, even if they don’t energize and excite you.

Idea for Impact: Setting boundaries isn’t always easy, but it’s essential to establish an overall sense of well-being. Every ‘no’ is a ‘yes’ to something else.

  • Don’t find any excuse to say ‘yes’ to what shouldn’t be done.
  • Don’t find any reason to say ‘no’ to what should be done.

Wondering what to read next?

  1. Don’t Say “Yes” When You Really Want to Say “No”
  2. Here’s a Tactic to Sell Change: As a Natural Progression
  3. This Manager’s Change Initiatives Lacked Ethos, Pathos, Logos: Case Study on Aristotle’s Persuasion Framework
  4. Everything in Life Has an Opportunity Cost
  5. How to Make Others Feel They Owe You One: Reciprocity and Social Influence

Filed Under: Sharpening Your Skills Tagged With: Assertiveness, Balance, Communication, Decision-Making, Likeability, Negotiation, Persuasion, Relationships, Time Management

Get Good At Things By Being Bad First

May 2, 2022 By Nagesh Belludi Leave a Comment

You Have to Be Bad at Something Before You are Good at it

Your first attempts are going to be bad

A technique used by many a brilliant inventor:

  • Make something. Get it functional. Get it adequate. It’s okay if it’s subpar.
  • Then, stumble around. Iterate until it’s good.

Now, that’s a better creative process than making something good on the first go.

Start, even if you’re bad at it

Case in point: Write bad first drafts quickly. Start by getting something—anything—down on paper. Let it all pour out. Let it romp all over the place. No one’s going to see it. You can shape it up later. You can gradually polish the thought flow and enrich the choice of words.

If you aren’t willing to be bad initially, you’ll never get started on anything new.

The way you create something good is by launching into it and then iterating gradually rather than by going into your cave and trying to create that perfect masterpiece.

Essentially, this is agile development. The best programmers write functional code to prove some concept. Along the way, they’ll get a better understanding of the business need for the software and the workflow. Bit by bit, they rework snippets of code and improve continuously.

Idea for Impact: Just start. Do a bad first job.

The bad is the precursor to the good. Bad will get you started. It’ll move you forward. Pressing on, you’ll get illuminated, enlightened, and informed.

Momentum is everything. Don’t put off any contemplated task thinking, “This is hard. I don’t know how to do this well. I’m going to have to do it perfectly. Or I need to wait till I have enough time.” The instant you stop cold and put something off, momentum starts the other way.

Motivation is often the result of an action, not its cause. Taking action—even in small, sloppy ways—naturally produces momentum. It’s a better solution than trying to do it right the first time.

Wondering what to read next?

  1. How to Banish Your Inner Perfectionist
  2. Doing Is Everything
  3. Just Start
  4. Zeigarnik Effect: How Incomplete Tasks Trigger Stress [Mental Models]
  5. Small Steps, Big Revolutions: The Kaizen Way // Summary of Robert Maurer’s ‘One Small Step Can Change Your Life’

Filed Under: Mental Models, Project Management, The Great Innovators Tagged With: Decision-Making, Discipline, Fear, Goals, Lifehacks, Motivation, Perfectionism, Procrastination, Thought Process

Inspirational Quotations #943

May 1, 2022 By Nagesh Belludi

The art of friendship has been little cultivated in our society.
—Robert J. Havighurst (American Researcher)

If you want to be creative, stay in part a child, with the creativity and invention that characterizes children before they are deformed by adult society.
—Jean Piaget (Swiss Psychologist)

In between goals is a thing called life, that has to be lived and enjoyed.
—Sid Caesar (American Comedian)

Sweat saves blood.
—Erwin Rommel (German Field Marshal)

Inspiration is a slender river of brightness leaping from a vast and eternal knowledge, it exceeds reason more perfectly than reason exceeds the knowledge of the senses.
—Sri Aurobindo (Indian Mystic, Philosopher, Poet)

Blessed is the man who has some congenial work, some occupation in which he can put his heart, and which affords a complete outlet to all the forces there are in him.
—John Burroughs (American Naturalist, Writer)

Nothing is so good for an ignorant man as silence; and if he was sensible of this he would not be ignorant.
—Sa’Di (Musharrif Od-Din Muslih Od-Din) (Persian Poet)

I always say beauty is only sin deep.
—Saki (Hector Hugh Munro) (British Short Story Writer)

Shame is an unhappy emotion invented by pietists in order to exploit the human race.
—Blake Edwards (American Filmmaker)

Our yearnings for happiness were implanted in our hearts by Deity. They represent a kind of homesickness, for we have a residual memory of our premortal existence. They are also a foretaste of the fullness of Joy that is promised to the faithful.
—Jack H. Goaslind (American Mormon Leader)

A person who is too nice an observer of the business of the crowd, like one who is too curious in observing the labor of bees, will often be stung for his curiosity.
—Alexander Pope (English Poet)

Just do your best today and tomorrow will come … tomorrow’s going to be a busy day, a happy day.
—Helen Boehm (American Entrepreneur)

Pray not for lighter burdens, but for stronger backs.
—Theodore Roosevelt (American Head of State)

For the person for whom small things do not exist, the great is not great.
—Jose Ortega y. Gasset (Spanish Philosopher)

The liar’s punishment is not in the least that he is not believed, but that he cannot believe anyone else.
—George Bernard Shaw (Irish Playwright)

Filed Under: Inspirational Quotations

Learning from Bad Managers

April 28, 2022 By Nagesh Belludi Leave a Comment

Learning from Bad Managers It’s always nice to have great bosses who’ll teach you many things the easy way. However, you’ll have a boss who’s bad for you at some stage in your career. Bad bosses come in all forms: tyrants, abrasive, unprincipled, insensitive, indecisive, inconsistent, unfair, uncaring, arrogant, insensitive, quick-tempered, manipulative, apathetic, and so on.

If you’re perceptive, you can learn more from these bad examples than you’ll from the great bosses you’ll work for. Remember the axiom: “No one is totally worthless; you can always serve as a bad example.”

When you have a bad boss, ask yourself, what things about this boss will you commit to never doing? Make a list and refer to it occasionally. Avoiding doing these things will help you be a better boss—and be a positive role model for others.

Idea for Impact: Bad bosses can become useful teachers precisely because they provide some of the best lessons in what not to do that you’ll ever be offered. Take it upon yourself to never be like your bad boss.

Wondering what to read next?

  1. The High Cost of Winning a Small Argument
  2. Good Boss in a Bad Company or Bad Boss in a Good Company?
  3. Five Ways … You Could Score Points with Your Boss
  4. 20 Reasons People Don’t Change
  5. No Boss Likes a Surprise—Good or Bad

Filed Under: Managing People Tagged With: Balance, Feedback, Getting Along, Learning, Managing the Boss, Relationships, Wisdom, Workplace

Why You May Be Overlooking Your Best Talent

April 25, 2022 By Nagesh Belludi Leave a Comment

Affinity Bias - Overlooking Your Best Talent Many organizations have a hard time articulating their culture. They can’t explain what they mean when they evoke the phrase “culture fit.” Sometimes it’s just an excuse to engage employees better whom managers feel they can personally relate.

Affinity bias is a common tendency to evaluate people like us more positively than others. This bias often affects who gets hired, promoted, or picked for job opportunities. Employees who look like those already in leadership roles are more likely to be recognized for career development, resulting in a lack of representation in senior positions.

This affinity for people who are like ourselves is hard-wired into our brains. Outlawing bias is doomed to fail.

Idea for Impact: If you want to avoid missing your top talent, become conscious of implicit biases. Don’t overlook any preference for like-minded people.

For any role, create a profile that encompasses which combination of hard and soft skills will matter for the role and on the team. Determine what matters and focus on the traits and skills you need.

Wondering what to read next?

  1. The Unlikely Barrier to True Diversity
  2. The Duplicity of Corporate Diversity Initiatives
  3. Can’t Ban Political Talk at Work
  4. How to Hire People Who Are Smarter Than You Are
  5. Consensus is Dangerous

Filed Under: Leadership, Leading Teams, Managing People Tagged With: Bias, Group Dynamics, Hiring & Firing, Introspection, Social Dynamics, Teams, Workplace

Inspirational Quotations #942

April 24, 2022 By Nagesh Belludi

One must know not just how to accept a gift, but with what grace to share it.
—Maya Angelou (American Poet)

Happy is he who still loves something he loved in the nursery: he has not been broken in two by time; he is not two men, but one, and he has saved not only his soul but his life.
—G. K. Chesterton (English Journalist)

Virtue is more clearly shown in the performance of fine actions than in the non-performance of base ones.
—Aristotle (Ancient Greek Philosopher)

The superior man is aware of Righteousness, the inferior man is aware of advantage.
—Confucius (Chinese Philosopher)

All I want of the world is very little. I only want the best of everything, and there is so little of that.
—Michael Arlen (British Author)

He who seeks vengeance must dig two graves: one for his enemy and one for himself.
—Chinese Proverb

If every fool wore a crown, we should all be kings.
—Welsh Proverb

The gift we can offer others is so simple a thing as hope.
—Daniel Berrigan (American Catholic Poet)

When you walk on a court, clear your mind of everything unrelated to the goal of playing the match as well as you can.
—Stan Smith (American Sportsperson)

One sometimes finds what one is not looking for.
—Alexander Fleming (Scottish Bacteriologist)

There is a difference between conceit and confidence. Conceit is bragging about yourself. Confidence means you believe you can get the job done.
—Johnny Unitas (American Football Player)

Don’t take anyone else’s definition of success as your own. (This is easier said than done.)
—Jacqueline Briskin (American Novelist)

Dharma is not upheld by talking about it. Dharma is upheld by living in harmony with it.
—Buddhist Teaching

Our lives can only be lived forward and understood backwards. Living a life and understanding it occupy different dimensions.
—Hanif Kureishi (British Novelist, Screenwriter)

Great is peace, for it is to the world what yeast is to the dough.
—The Talmud (Sacred Text of the Jewish Faith)

The future is always beginning now.
—Mark Strand (American Poet, Essayist)

If we are to change our world view, images have to change. The artist now has a very important job to do. He’s not a little peripheral figure entertaining rich people, he’s really needed.
—David Hockney (British Artist)

Filed Under: Inspirational Quotations

Why You Can’t Relax on Your Next Vacation

April 23, 2022 By Nagesh Belludi Leave a Comment

Why You Can't Relax on Your Next Vacation Some managers can’t slow down even on vacation. They keep worrying about their work and won’t come back feeling rested and rejuvenated.

If you feel the added guilt of being away, it may be time for you to look inward and reflect upon your ability to delegate. Don’t bring fear of inadequacy with you on vacation.

Sure, most people responsible for delivering big things find it difficult to be away. Feeling out of control is always stressful. Here’s how to make time off as restful as possible:

  • Schedule 1-hour check-ins every day.
  • Manage your team’s expectations and make sure everyone knows what matters you want to be bothered about.
  • Build-in buffers at both ends. Don’t work right until you leave for the airport and don’t get back to work right off the plane. Schedule an extra day off before you depart and another when you return. Dive back in slowly.

Idea for Impact: Time off should be time off. Get the most out of your time off by unplugging completely.

Wondering what to read next?

  1. Do Your Team a Favor: Take a Vacation
  2. The Truth About Work-Life Balance
  3. Yes, Money Can Buy Happiness
  4. How to Boost Your Willpower // Book Summary of Baumeister & Tierney’s ‘Willpower’
  5. The #1 Cost of Overwork is Personal Relationships

Filed Under: Health and Well-being, Living the Good Life, Sharpening Your Skills Tagged With: Balance, Delegation, Mindfulness, Relationships, Simple Living, Stress, Work-Life, Workplace

The Important Role Imagery Plays Within Marketing

April 23, 2022 By Nagesh Belludi Leave a Comment

Images grasp our attention, the bright colours and fascinating visuals can help us retain far greater amounts of information than words on a page or screen. Within a digital marketing campaign, the right imagery is vital. It will initially grab the attention of the audience whilst also encouraging them to engage further with the product or service, often providing them the information they need to proceed with the advertisement.

Sourcing images for marketing purposes

When finding the right images for your marketing campaign, there are many options. Often the most popular solution is to search a photo sharing site for royalty free images and stock photography. These types of photos are ideal for use across social media campaigns and sites.

Evoke emotion

One key role imagery will play within marketing, and in life in general, is to evoke emotion. An image has far greater capability to achieve a reaction from an audience since they are so memorable and can be very impactful. This is important for marketers and businesses since emotion will often lead to some sort of reaction or engagement from the audience.

Convey a message to your audience

A key advantage of utilising imagery within your marketing camping is how quickly an image can communicate/convey a message. No matter what the goal of your campaign is, an image has the ability to communicate this much faster than written text. With the emotional reaction to an image happening almost instantly. This means you can communicate with your audience as they scroll through their social feeds or past by your billboard sign.

Encourage engagement

It’s widely known that the use of images within social media campaigns, articles and blog posts help to boost engagement. Those articles featuring complimentary images have a far greater view count over those that do not. Additionally an online advertisement that features a good, high-quality image is much more likely to see positive results, i.e. a high click through rate.

Conclusion: Images are far more memorable than words

Being able to see a beautiful image or impactful photo is far more memorable than written text. This is important for marketers, as you want your campaigns to be memorable to encourage engagement and to build brand awareness.

Filed Under: Inspirational Quotations, Mental Models

10 Best Tools for Making a PDF File Attractive

April 23, 2022 By Nagesh Belludi Leave a Comment

10 Best Tools for Making a PDF File Attractive

You don’t have to be a well-seasoned graphic designer to make a PDF presentation visually appealing. However, you will need a couple of tools to help you transfer the ideas in your head into the PDF document.

So whether you’re preparing a professional presentation for business partners or creating a how-to manual, it’s always a good idea to have at least a few of the tools I listed below.

#1: Canva for Graphic Editing

Canva works great for PDFs because it comes with a few pre-designed templates for documents, ebooks, marketing materials, blog articles, and so on. So you can just use one of these and avoid the anguish of creating a design from scratch.

However, there are other tools you can use, such as Photoshop, InDesign, or GIMP(if your budget is limited.) Canva also has a free version that you can use (with limited functionality) to put together gorgeous PDFs.

#2: PDFSimpli

Since PDF is one of the most popular formats used for documents online, it was only natural to have tools dedicated to the editing process. And I’m not talking about the content here (this will come a bit later.) I am talking about the frame of the document and its overall structure.

For instance, a tool like PDFSimpli is useful when you want to merge snippets from different documents in a single file. Plus, an editor also has the split feature, so you can split PDF into pages and choose only the pages you need. Of course, editors have several other useful functions, but these are the ones I use most often.

#3: Google Docs

PDFs are great because they keep everything as the author intended regardless of the viewer’s device. As long as you have an up-to-date browser, you can open and read a PDF.

However, when you put everything together (the text and other elements,) it’s best to use a text editor such as Google Docs, MS Word, or LibreOffice Writer. These tools were created exactly for this type of activity and have the necessary features to help you create astonishing-looking documents.

When you’re done with the creative process, and you feel satisfied with the result, you can simply export the content into PDF format.

#4: Canva for Templates

I already talked about PDF templates when I mentioned Canva (check #1,) but you can find PDF templates on a wide range of websites (free and with pay.)

But what exactly is a PDF template?

In short, a template is an already designed frame that allows you to replace the text and graphic elements with your own simply. Everything is already placed within the document, but you can adjust it to your liking.

Overall, I love working with templates because you start knowing what the end result should look like.

#5: Canva for Infographics

Any presentation or document, regardless of format, looks better with graphic elements. These can be images, charts, diagrams, graphs, and more. However, the ones that I found to perform the best are infographics.

These can be used as-is or as part of a larger document and have huge sharing potential. Still, you do need the talents of a graphic designer if you want a visually attractive infographic that’s easy to understand as well.

The other alternative is to use an infographic maker tool such as Free infographic maker by Canva.

#6: Image Color Picker

Image color picker is a simple tool, but it can save you a lot of time and frustration. If you use a graphic design tool like Canva or Photoshop, these come with a built-in color picker, but when you don’t feel like opening a resource-consuming software just to get a color code, you can find an HTML Color Picker online.

#7: Adobe Reader for Backgrounds

Backgrounds are easy to make your PDFs look professional without investing too much effort. The background can be anything from a solid color to a faded image or text (depending on what you’re trying to highlight.) However, it needs to fit well with the foreground, and you need to make sure it doesn’t obstruct the information you’re trying to share.

If you use the Adobe Reader PDF (or any other PDF tool that lets you manipulate the background,) you should be able to add backgrounds on specific pages, on all pages, or a range of pages. However, you can only add one background per page, so if you want something more complex, you will have to piece it together before inserting it into the file.

Also, keep in mind that adding background images will make the resulting PDF bigger in size.

#8: PDF Link Editor

PDFs can be used as lead magnets or to attract new subscribers. This is why many websites offer ebooks in PDF format, how-to guides, or exclusive success recipes when you agree to become their subscribers or start a trial with them.

Furthermore, since it’s easy to insert links, you can easily guide readers toward your landing pages. So you can also use them as marketing tools, especially in awareness-raising campaigns.

However, when it comes to editing links in large files, things can get a bit challenging. So to avoid missing out on any old links, it’s best to use a link editor like PDF Link Editor. This tool allows you to work in batch mode, or you can remove all the links in a PDF file, which comes in handy when you want to repurpose your marketing materials.

#9: DocuSign

Whether we’re talking about an official document or one designed for marketing purposes, an official signature with your company’s contact information makes everything seem more straightforward.

Luckily, plenty of tools let you insert a signature and other details in various PDF files with ease. However, if you want to sign legally binding electronic documents, you may need DocuSign. So make sure to discuss it with business partners and third parties first.

#10: Acrobat DC for Increased Protection

As we already mentioned, one of the reasons PDF is so popular is the fact that it keeps the content as designed regardless of the device you use to read it. However, this doesn’t prevent anyone from copying and redistributing your content as their own.

So if you want to share sensitive information or you’d like to protect your content from being copied, you can use Acrobat DC to password-protect the file or remove access to the copy feature. Also, passwords can prevent anyone without the right access to information from reading and sharing the document. While this is not a 100% guarantee your content won’t still be shared, it is a serious deterrent.

Wrap Up

The PDF is a great format for various types of documents. It can also be used to stimulate productivity for remote teams since it makes sharing and collaboration easier. Plus, it doesn’t take much to create beautiful designs and spread your knowledge and ideas in a well-designed format. Overall, the more care you put into your creations, the better they will fare with your audience.

Filed Under: Inspirational Quotations

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About: Nagesh Belludi [hire] is a St. Petersburg, Florida-based freethinker, investor, and leadership coach. He specializes in helping executives and companies ensure that the overall quality of their decision-making benefits isn’t compromised by a lack of a big-picture understanding.

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Unless otherwise stated in the individual document, the works above are © Nagesh Belludi under a Creative Commons BY-NC-ND license. You may quote, copy and share them freely, as long as you link back to RightAttitudes.com, don't make money with them, and don't modify the content. Enjoy!