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Ideas for Impact

Nagesh Belludi

Want to boost your self-confidence? Dress sharply and look neat.

December 22, 2009 By Nagesh Belludi 1 Comment

The ‘Axe Effect’

Consider the following ‘news’ story (possibly a spoof) from a few weeks ago.

How the Axe Effect works Vaibhav Bedi of India sued Unilever, the Anglo-Dutch consumer goods conglomerate, for “depression and psychological damage” caused by letdown from the ‘Axe Effect.’ Vaibhav believed in ads that showed attractive women throwing themselves at men who use the Axe brand of deodorants. “I used it for seven years but no girl came to me,” he said in his complaint accusing the manufacturer of false advertising.

False advertising? Hardly. The ‘Axe Effect’ often works. Clothing, cosmetics and lifestyle companies sell more than merchandise—they sell means of boosting a consumer’s self-confidence. Studies have shown that when men and women improve their appearances, they feel more self-assured. Naturally, charm and self-assurance are very appealing characteristics. As a result, others pay confident people more attention, seek their company and value their opinions. Individuals who are perceived as attractive stand a better chance at winning others over, securing jobs and promotions, and benefit from better career prospects.

Clothes Talk, People Listen

It is possible through the skilful manipulation of dress in any particular situation to evoke a favourable response to your positioning and your needs.
* John T Molloy, Source: ‘New Dress for Success’

Attractiveness is not the only thing others judge you on, but it is generally an important subliminal consideration. Attractiveness encompasses clothing and accessories, tidiness and grooming, physical appearance and posture, flair, mannerisms, personality and other traits. Of these attributes, your clothing style is the easiest to improve.

Look, the clothes you put on effect how you feel throughout the day. Your awareness of yourself has a considerable impact on how others perceive you. By dressing sharply and looking neat, you can become more self-assured and attractive. Follow the following four simple guidelines. Seek suggestions from a tailor at a clothing store in your neighbourhood or a mall.

  • Research and adopt a dress style that is appropriate to your industry, place of work and social circle. Observe the dress styles of successful professionals and executives in your company/industry.
  • Conform but choose a distinctive wardrobe that projects the impression you desire. Dress for the position to which you aspire.
  • Choose clothes that are comfortable and make you feel good about yourself.
  • Err on the side of conservative styles and darker shades. Simple and classic is often reasonably priced and sophisticated enough.

Filed Under: Career Development, Sharpening Your Skills

Inspirational Quotations #303

December 20, 2009 By Nagesh Belludi Leave a Comment

We often take for granted the very things that most deserve our gratitude.
—Cynthia Ozick

The spirit of a person’s life is ever shedding some power, just as a flower is steadily bestowing fragrance upon the air.
—Thomas Starr King (American Unitarian Minister)

The glory of friendship is not the outstretched hand, nor the kindly smile, nor the joy of companionship; it is the spiritual inspiration that comes to one when he discovers that someone else believes in him and is willing to trust him with his friendship.
—Ralph Waldo Emerson (American Philosopher)

Selfishness is one of the qualities apt to inspire love.
—Nathaniel Hawthorne (American Novelist)

If you can’t state your position in eight words or less, you don’t have a position.
—Seth Godin (American Entrepreneur)

Some cause happiness wherever they go; others, whenever they go.
—Oscar Wilde (Irish Poet)

The future belongs to those who believe in the beauty of their dreams.
—Eleanor Roosevelt (American First Lady)

Sleep is the golden chain that ties health and our bodies together.
—Thomas Dekker

It is only when we forget all our learning that we begin to know.
—Henry David Thoreau (American Philosopher)

Filed Under: Inspirational Quotations

Inspirational Quotations #302

December 12, 2009 By Nagesh Belludi Leave a Comment

Don’t let the bozos grind you down.
—Guy Kawasaki (American Investor)

The whole secret of existence is to have no fear. Never fear what will become of you, depend on no one. Only the moment you reject all help are you free.
—Swami Vivekananda (Indian Hindu Mystic)

Who sees all beings in his own Self, and his own Self in all beings, loses all fear.
—The Upanishads

Conscience is the root of all true courage; if a man would be brave let him obey his conscience.
—James Freeman Clarke (American Unitarian Clergyman)

Ignorance is not bliss—it is oblivion.
—Philip Wylie (American Dramatist)

The first requisite for success is the ability to apply your physical and mental energies to one problem incessantly without growing weary.
—Thomas Edison (American Inventor)

The power of God is with you at all times; through the activities of mind, senses, breathing, and emotions; and is constantly doing all the work using you as a mere instrument.
—The Bhagavad Gita (Hindu Scripture)

We don’t accomplish anything in this world alone, and whatever happens is the result of the whole tapestry of one’s life and all the weavings of individual threads from one to another that creates something.
—Sandra Day O’Connor

It is not the brains that matter most, but that which guides them – the character, the heart, generous qualities, progressive ideas.
—Fyodor Dostoyevsky (Russian Novelist)

Filed Under: Inspirational Quotations

Inspirational Quotations #301

December 6, 2009 By Nagesh Belludi Leave a Comment

If you have the same ideas as everybody else but have them one week earlier than everyone else then you will be hailed as a visionary. But if you have them five years earlier you will be named a lunatic.
—Unknown

If you think about disaster, you will get it. Brood about death and you hasten your demise. Think positively and masterfully, with confidence and faith, and life becomes more secure, more fraught with action, richer in achievement and experience.
—Eddie Rickenbacker (American Military Leader)

The most gifted members of the human species are at their creative best when they cannot have their way, and most compensate for what they miss by realizing and cultivating their capabilities and talents.
—Eric Hoffer (American Philosopher)

Most people live and die with their music still unplayed. They never dare to try.
—Mary Kay Ash (American Entrepreneur)

I can’t do it never yet accomplished anything: I will try” has accomplished wonders.”
—George P. Putnam

An expert is a person who has found out by his own painful experience all the mistakes that one can make in a very narrow field.
—Niels Bohr (Danish Physicist)

Diligence is the mother of good luck, and God gives all things to industry. Work while it is called today, for you know not how much you may be hindered tomorrow. One today is worth two tomorrows; never leave that till tomorrow which you can do today.
—Benjamin Franklin (American Political leader)

The more original a discovery, the more obvious it seems afterwards.
—Arthur Koestler

Know the true value of time; snatch, seize, and enjoy every moment of it. No idleness; no laziness; no procrastination; never put off till to-morrow what you can do to-day.
—Earl of Chesterfield

An expert is a person who has found out by his own painful experience all the mistakes that one can make in a very narrow field.
—Niels Bohr (Danish Physicist)

I am still determined to be cheerful and happy,
in whatever situation I may be; for I have also
learned from experience that the greater part of our happiness
or misery depends upon our dispositions, and not upon our circumstances.
—Martha Washington (American First Lady)

You cannot be a creator and a victim.
—Unknown

Filed Under: Inspirational Quotations

Inspirational Quotations #300

November 29, 2009 By Nagesh Belludi Leave a Comment

The results of life are uncalculated and uncalculable. The years teach much which the days never know. The persons who compose our company, converse, and come and go, and design and execute many things, and somewhat comes of it all, but an unlooked for result. The individual is always mistaken. He designed many things, and drew in other persons as coadjutors, quarrelled with some or all, blundered much, and something is done; all are a little advanced, but the individual is always mistaken. It turns out somewhat new, and very unlike what he promised himself.
—Ralph Waldo Emerson (American Philosopher)

If it is given with love, a mere handful is enough.
—Indian Proverb

We may not be interested in chaos but chaos is interested in us.
—Robert Cooper

Let us accept truth, even when it surprises us and alters our views.
—George Sand (French Novelist, Dramatist)

Ability & Attitude & Activity – Excuses = Success.
—Unknown

Have you invested as much this year in your career as in your car?
—Molly Sargent (American Management Consultant)

Character cannot be developed in ease and quiet. Only through the experiences of trial and suffering can the soul be strengthened, vision cleared, ambition inspired, and success achieved.
—Helen Keller (American Author)

I succeed because I expect to.
—Unknown

Love is but another name for that inscrutable presence by which the soul is connected with humanity.
—William Gilmore Simms (American Poet)

We cannot fight against anything, unless we fight for something—and what we must fight for is the supremacy of reason, and a view of man as a rational being.
—Ayn Rand (Russian-born American Novelist)

Filed Under: Inspirational Quotations

Inspirational Quotations #299

November 22, 2009 By Nagesh Belludi Leave a Comment

Blessed are the meek, for they will inherit the earth.
—The Holy Bible (Scripture in the Christian Faith)

All beings seek for happiness; so let your compassion extend itself to all.
—Mahavamsa

Enjoy the spring of love and youth, to some good angel leave the rest; For time will teach thee soon the truth, there are no birds in last year’s nest.
—Henry Wadsworth Longfellow (American Poet)

Happy are those that persevere to the end, for they shall inherit the earth.
—The Holy Bible (Scripture in the Christian Faith)

The strongest oak of the forest is not the one that is protected from the storm and hidden from the sun. It’s the one that stands in the open where it is compelled to struggle for its existence against the winds and rains and the scorching sun.
—Napoleon Hill (American Author)

We must have friendship for all; we must be merciful toward those that are in misery; when people are happy, we ought to be happy; and to the wicked we must be indifferent. These attitudes will make the mind peaceful.
—Swami Vivekananda (Indian Hindu Mystic)

I learned that it is the weak who are cruel, and that gentleness is to be expected only from the strong.
—Leo Rosten (Russian-born American Humorist)

To love someone – is to love their potential into reality.
—Unknown

Fate is nothing but the deeds committed in a prior state of existence.
—Ralph Waldo Emerson (American Philosopher)

If you wish to make an apple pie from scratch, you must first invent the universe.
—Carl Sagan (American Astronomer)

Filed Under: Inspirational Quotations

Inspirational Quotations #298

November 15, 2009 By Nagesh Belludi Leave a Comment

Do not anxiously hope for what is not yet to come; do not vainly regret what is already past.
—Chinese Proverb

We have to believe that a creative being lives within ourselves, whether we like it or not, and that we must get out of its way, for it will give us no peace until we do.
—Mary Richards

It’s what you learn after you know it all that counts.
—Unknown

It’s what you learn after you know it all that counts.
—John Wooden (American Sportsperson)

The man who works need never be a problem to anyone. Opportunities multiply as they are seized; they die when neglected. Life is a long line of opportunities. Wealth is not in making money, but in making the man while he is making money. Production, not destruction, leads to success.
—John Wicker

Men of learning are those who have read the contents of books. Thinkers, geniuses, and those who have enlightened the world and furthered the race of men, are those who have made direct use of the book of the world.
—Arthur Schopenhauer (German Philosopher)

Don’t pray for fewer problems; pray for more skills.|Don’t ask for smaller challenges; ask for greater wisdom.|Don’t look for an easy way out; look for the best possible outcome.
—Steve Goodier

When you arise in the morning, think of what a precious privilege it is to be alive—to breathe, to think, to enjoy, to love.
—Marcus Aurelius Antoninus Augustus

In loving, you lean on someone to hold them up.
—Rod McKuen

We change, whether we like it or not.
—Ralph Waldo Emerson (American Philosopher)

Look upon every man, woman, and everyone as God. You cannot help anyone, you can only serve: serve the children of the Lord, serve the Lord Himself, if you have the privilege.
—Swami Vivekananda (Indian Hindu Mystic)

Have great hopes and dare to go all out for them. Have great dreams and dare to live them. Have tremendous expectations and believe in them.
—Norman Vincent Peale (American Clergyman, Self-Help Author)

There ain’t no rules around here.|We’re trying to accomplish something.|There’s a way to do it better—find it.
—Thomas Edison (American Inventor)

Filed Under: Inspirational Quotations

Inspirational Quotations #297

November 8, 2009 By Nagesh Belludi Leave a Comment

Nothing of any importance can be taught. It can only be learned, and with blood and sweat.
—Robert Anton Wilson (American Polymath)

When you can do the common things of life in an uncommon way, you will command the attention of the world.
—George Washington Carver (American Scientist)

What is a grain? It is the companionship of the virtuous.|What is grief? It is the company of fools.|What is loss? It is the dissipation of time.|What is prudence? It is devotion to virtue.|What is valour? It is the conquest of the senses.|Who is the beloved wife? One who is devoted to her husband.|What is wealth? It is knowledge.|What is happiness? It is to remain settled in one’s own country.|What is rulership? It is to command obedience.
—Subhashita Manjari

Garner up pleasant thoughts in your mind, for pleasant thoughts make pleasant lives.
—John Wilkins (English Anglican Clergyman)

It is said that when the world ends, even the moutains start moving due to the force of the wind. But even when such a thing happens, the mental state of the brave does not waver since it is very clear. Clarity in thoughts gives you the strength to withstand anything.
—Subhashita Manjari

The way to build a nation is to build a good citizen. The majority of the citizens should be efficient, of good character and possess a reasonable high sense of duty.
—Mokshagundam Visvesvaraya (Indian Engineer)

Habit is a second nature which prevents us from knowing the first, of which it has neither the cruelties nor the enchantments.
—Marcel Proust (French Novelist)

Filed Under: Inspirational Quotations

Inspirational Quotations #296

November 1, 2009 By Nagesh Belludi Leave a Comment

Hope is the thing with feathers|That perches in the soul|And sings the tune without the words|And never stops at all,||And sweetest in the gale is heard;|And sore must be the storm|That could abash the little bird|That kept so many warm.||I’ve heard it in the chillest land|And on the strangest sea,|Yet never, in extremity,|It asked a crumb of me.
—Emily Dickinson (American Poet)

High station in life is earned by the gallantry with which appalling experiences are survived with grace.
—Tennessee Williams (American Playwright)

The quality of our expectations determines the quality of our action.
—Jean-Baptiste Andre Godin

Some men have thousands of reasons why they cannot do what they want to, when all they need is one reason why they can.
—Willis R. Whitney (American Chemist)

Each of us is given a pocketful of time to spend however we may. We use what we will. We waste what we will. But we can never get back a day.
—Unknown

If you want to make good use of your time, you’ve got to know what’s most important and then give it all you’ve got.
—Lee Iacocca (American Businessperson)

A challenge gives you the opportunity to flex your spiritual muscles.
—Unknown

The fact that I can plant a seed and it becomes a flower, share a bit of knowledge and it becomes another’s, smile at someone and receive a smile in return, are to me continual spiritual exercises.
—Leo Buscaglia (American Motivational Speaker)

The life that is unexamined is not worth living.
—Plato (Ancient Greek Philosopher)

Working hours are never long enough. Each day is a holiday, and ordinary holidays are grudged as enforced interruptions in an absorbing vocation.
—Winston Churchill (British Head of State)

Filed Under: Inspirational Quotations

7 Easy Ways to Get More Done in Less Time

October 30, 2009 By Nagesh Belludi Leave a Comment

  1. Divide and conquer. Break up large projects into smaller tasks. If you think a task will take less than five minutes, get it done right away. If you can reply to an email in less than two minutes, reply immediately and file or delete the incoming email.
  2. Fight procrastination. One of the easiest ways to fight procrastination is to focus on starting your task. Commit to your task for just ten minutes. Avoid distractions and interruptions and continue to work for just ten minutes. By the end of the ten minutes, you probably get absorbed in the tasks, build momentum and can choose to continue working towards completion.
  3. Put things in their place. Designate a place at your home and office for everything—your keys, wallet, watch, clothes, electronic gadgets and all personal effects. Always put each item in its proper place. Being orderly prevents you from anxiously searching for these belongings the next time you want to use them.
  4. Create checklists for all tasks. Consider preparing checklists for everything from cleaning the home to packing for travel. Checklists help you remember everything critical and thus reduce the persistent worry of forgetting something important.
  5. Start planning your day on the prior day. Before you leave office or before you go to bed, plan the next day and prepare a ‘To Do’ list. Check your calendar for meetings, deadlines and commitments. In addition, put out everything you need the night before. Planning ahead not only helps you start the next day with purpose, but also gets things off your mind. You can thus enjoy your time away or sleep better.
  6. Pick up after yourself and clean your home and workspace. From time to time, glance through all areas of your home and office for things that are out of place. Tidy up before the clutter gets out of hand. Use the wastebasket liberally. Realize that mess leads to stress.
  7. Maintain a ‘On-The-Go’ folder. When you receive your copy of a subscription magazine, tear out all the articles that interest you and dispose of the rest of the magazine. Maintain an “on-the-go” folder and file such articles. Take this folder wherever you go and read these articles during transition times—when you wait for a doctor’s appointment or when your flight is delayed at an airport. Review this folder frequently and toss out everything that is older than six months.

Wondering what to read next?

  1. Niksen: The Dutch Art of Embracing Stillness, Doing Nothing
  2. The World’s Shortest Course on Time Management
  3. How to … Combat Those Pesky Distractions That Keep You From Living Fully
  4. How to … Incorporate Exercise into Your Daily Life
  5. How to Prevent Employee Exhaustion

Filed Under: Health and Well-being, Sharpening Your Skills Tagged With: Time Management

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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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