Mission or Mirage? To raise or raze?

Covering parts of the work of Ronald Dworkin* due to my studies and interest in philosophy, I have reached a stage wherein I believe that those in seats of power are taking us for a merry round, not knowing what they're chasing, while simultaneously creating a mirage in our eyes. Dworkin speaks on the words most commonly used, least commonly understood; namely, Liberty and Equality.

Ronald Dworkin's works lead to the observation that there is a strong and weak sense of liberty.

A strong sense of liberty is given by law or by democratic form of government which says that each individual has an absolute right to liberty. These rights to liberty are mentioned in the constitution in the various articles to freedom in various lands. Now, when this law is to be actualized, and given to the people, this absolute right to liberty does not work. To make matters simple, there is a simple example. Everyone wishes to drive the car on the road at his own pace as and when he wants. Signals are put up on the road, and there goes absolute liberty. This shows that to enjoy one's own liberty, the government has to divide available facility, either in time, or in space. Hence the absolute liberty (strong sense) is available only on paper (abstract) and the weak sense of liberty is actualized.

The question which arises is how much liberty does the weak sense give? That is to say, does it give more liberty, or take away more liberty in the name of liberty? If we measure the deprivation of liberty by calculating the extent of frustration that it brings with it, then we actually realize that equality actually suffocates liberty even though the government wishes to give liberty.

Dworkin says the idea of liberty is a false notion. All forms of government speak against dictatorship since it is against liberty, but they themselves practice liberty appropriately in their own societies. Once people realize liberty has not been given, it creates unnecessary tension in the individual and in society. Hence the idea of liberty should be abandoned and other social values like equality or justice must be promised and popularized.

Personally, after taking these views into account I do not know whether liberty and equality actually exist in the forms we believe them to exist - yet governments stress on liberty and equality both, but I find that to speak of liberty is to speak against equality, and to force equality is to restrain liberty.

The question is, why are we speaking of these two which are two sets not overlapping? They are two different ideals, and yes, while both are ideals, they are opposites all the same.

Are we living in a world thinking we have liberty and equality and so on and so forth, or are we simply fooling ourselves by not understanding these ideals properly, and living our lives by words blindly said by those in power, without the knowledge to suggest which ideals to follow.

*Ronald Myles Dworkin, FBA (December 11, 1931 – February 14, 2013) was an U.S. philosopher and scholar of United States constitutional law.

Kayzad Jokhi introduces himself:

I have a strong passion for martial arts, being a first degree black belt in Taekwondo (Kroean martial art), and a level 2 practitioner in Krav Maga (Israeli martial art). I enjoy reading philosophy and psychology, and wish to be a clinical psychologist. I enjoy any form of social service, nation service, and strive to bring about a change in this beautifully ugly world, which leads me to enroll in almost any form of activity which comes my way. Children are my biggest love in this world, playing with them, guiding them, feeling awed by their shining innocence, and VYF gives me this love of mine on a silver platter, helping me and these children in ways which words fail to express.

A Winner; Are you?

Life is a long and exciting trip. It takes us to many different places. We watch successful people who were once strugglers as well as people who have the intelligence to succeed but never do. Like Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi stated, 

 "Hard work never brings Fatigue, it only brings Satisfaction."

Certainly, luck has a role, but, we usually create our own bad luck by regularly getting trapped in self defeating attitudes and behaviour.

Here are some of the worst traps or rather the 6 habits of unsuccessful people:

1. Delusional thinking: Unsuccessful people constantly lie to themselves about their own life and why they are there in life instead of achieving their goals and making life better.

2. Punishing friends: Unsuccessful people often have a habit of being friendly and grateful to those who are unhelpful to them and ungrateful to those who are kind to them. The inability to make and keep friends is involved in every failure.

3. Bad manners: Losers are routinely rude. They fail to show up on time, to thank and to apologise when one must. Thus, bad manners guarantee our failure.

4. Bad attitudes: The losers often have a sour pessimistic outlook. They dislike their work. They have a lack of self confidence and a deep rooted belief that they cant do better than what they are doing. They don't understand that this way they are advertising themselves as losers.

5. Needless arguing: Some people like to argue for the sake of argument. People who quarrel like that think that by doing so they can impress others which is wrong thinking.
 

6. Putting first things last: Unsuccessful people CANT set priorities. They never seem to learn that its not a sacrifice to give up things of lesser importance for the things of greater importance. In fact, its a bargain.

Maybe, you and I have some of these habits, But remember, Winners know they can change and they do, always, with time. 

After all, the only thing that overcomes hard luck is hard work.

 

Darshini Prajapati is a Third Year Bachelor of Arts (TYBA) student in Mumbai's Mithibai College. She has selected Sociology as her major graduation subject. Darshini likes reading, trekking and enjoys going on hikes. Darshini is still searching her dreams for her future life ahead. 

Competition ~ Not a “Necessary Evil”

As a rookie mechanical engineer, Radhika enjoyed every minute of her two-year MBA programme. The only flaw was the apparently relentless competition in the class full of bright managers-to-be. Five years later and working as a Senior Manager in a large and dynamic engineering firm, she realises the situation is far worse – stress due to peer group comparisons is on the rise and is affecting productivity.

Competition is frequently treated as a necessary evil. Sometimes, the approach swings to the other extreme, with a highly aggressive approach with one’s peers.

Healthy handling of competition - need for acquiring this “Life skill”: 

Usual approaches towards competition can have the following consequences:  

• Insecurity-driven choices, leading to low job satisfaction
• Low team spirit, decreased co-operation
• Low individual and group productivity due to the above
• Stress with its consequent psychological and physical ailments
• High turnover of skilled manpower

How can we then improve things?

Running in the “rat race” without becoming a rat:

Experts in holistic living say that competition is unnecessary and wasteful. The following are four useful concepts:

• Recognize your uniqueness

Competition presupposes sameness of people whereas in reality, every inhabitant of this planet is unique. One needs to ask: “What is it that makes me refreshingly different from
others?” The answer to this question can then be used as a tool in one’s work, for useful self-differentiation. Tools such as the Johari window, the SWOT (Strength- Weakness- Opportunity- Threat) analysis and mindful journal writing are of help in discovering one’s unique traits, skills and talents.  The focus thus shifts from “Being a part of a herd and hence competing with others” mentality to “Effectively using one’s unique strengths”.

• Re-assess your goals in the light of the above

It is critical to periodically re-assess one’s goals, in the light of one’s strengths. Else, one may persist in working along avenues that yield sub-optimal results – not because one is not working hard enough but because the task is not aligned with one’s own inclinations and abilities.

For example, a very senior executive working with a nationalised bank has for long nursed dreams of becoming the chairman of the bank. He is also aware that he is very high on technical skills, such as economic analysis and forecasting, but not equally strong at “people skills”. This awareness, coupled with the realization of the duties entailed by the post of chairman, might make him reconsider his goal. Would he then be better placed elsewhere, say, as a special advisor to an institution like the World Bank, where his strong analytical
skills and knowledge of macro-economics would make him an invaluable asset? This analysis might lead to mutually satisfying outcomes for the nationalised bank, the World Bank, and the senior executive. The stress that accompanies the “compete and fight for it” syndrome vanishes, as does the frustration and subsequent lowering of morale that might have emerged if the executive had persisted in working towards the chairman’s post and not succeeded.

• Focus on efforts alone

Competition sometimes arises from a misguided sense of purpose, a fear-propelled need to constantly “look over one’s shoulder” to see what the others are doing. It helps to realize that the only thing one can truly control is one’s own efforts – not the environment, one’s colleagues or bosses, or the state of the economy. Hence one could:

a) Plan one’s desired outcome after carefully considering possible external variables.
b) Next, focus exclusively on one’s efforts .
 

One asks, “Am I doing the very best that I can?” Thus competing with others gives way to competing with oneself; the challenge is to stretch one’s intellectual, emotional and other capacities to do full justice to the task on hand, dynamic and unpredictable external circumstances notwithstanding.

• Keep the “Big picture” in mind

It helps to place the seemingly all-important presentation, project or promotion against the backdrop of life. Taking a long-term perspective before zooming into the short-term details helps to fix appropriate priorities. This weeds out unnecessary competition and the misleading “do or die” attitude that sometimes leads executives to unproductive choices.

For example, a young sales manager may be tempted to inflate his sales figures in order to go one-up on his colleague. But an understanding of the price of such an approach, legally and ethically, might help him choose more appropriate methods for bolstering sales. In the latter approach, competition becomes irrelevant; focus shifts to “Does this add up to the person I am / want to be?”

To conclude:
Competing against others, while offering the same skills as others are offering, is a choice with limited application. Other choices include complementing skills and talents (win-win versus win-lose), and constantly competing with oneself, to give the best of oneself to the task on hand. The intelligent manager may well consider stocking his basket of skills with all the above choices, to be used judiciously, as circumstances demand.

Written by: Piya Mukherjee, Director – VES Leadership Academy and Research Centre, Corporate Trainer and Life Skills Coach.

Piya Mukherjee, MMS-Fin from NMIMS, started a career in investment banking but moved, after a few years, to corporate training and teaching MBA students. For close to 18 years now, she has been working in the areas of business ethics, human values, Vedanta, life-skills and cross-cultural sensitization, with b-schools such as JBIMS, SIMSR, SP Jain (Dubai and Singapore), NMIMS and VESIMSR.
She is the founder-Director of VES Leadership Academy and Research Centre (VESLARC) since 2010.Her corporate training clients include diverse organizations such as L&T, TCS, RBI, Taj Hotels, Trident Hotels and BPCL. A contributor to the Speaking Tree supplement to the Times of India, Piya is deeply passionate about sharing everyday tips that help us apply Vedantic principles in our lives. In this article, recently carried by Business Line newspaper, she debunks the myth that competition with others is a necessary evil in our lives. Instead, she says, focus on discovering your own uniqueness and polishing that, for productivity, success and joy.

ATTITUDE IS ALTITUDE

Attitude or our outlook towards a particular situation defines us. It’s not the situation that decides and categorises us as winners or losers, it’s our attitude towards the situation that matters the most. One may look at a glass of water and conclude that it is half empty or one may have a different opinion and consider it to be half full. It’s not the glass of water that will make one feel upset or happy it’s the way you look at it. You may be sad as it is half empty or may appreciate the fact that it is half full. Our success not only depends on our efforts but also on our attitude towards our goals. 

Once there was a deaf frog that lived in a pond. He was extremely captivated by a very beautiful tree located near the pond. The frog decided to fulfil his wish of climbing the tree. One afternoon when he began to climb the tree, he discovered that all his friends gathered to see him climbing. His friends kept discouraging him and kept telling him that it was an impossible task thus, he must stop. However, the deafness of the frog was his blessing in disguise. Being an optimist he thought that all his friends were encouraging him to work harder and achieve his goal. With a lot of hard work and a positive attitude the frog achieved his goal. The drive to fulfil his task along with his optimistic attitude was the key to success. 

In life, we often tend to consider the “CANNOTS” more than the “CANS”. One must remember that with an optimistic attitude it is possible to perceive “IMPOSSIBLE” as “I-M-POSSIBLE”. One must learn to appreciate the bright side of a given situation rather than focusing on the darker side of it. Attitude is one of the most important aspects that build our character. We are the ones who sit on the front seat of our car (life). We are the ones to decide if we want to travel on the path of positivity or on the path of negativity. We must not waste our time or energy feeling bad for ourselves, because when we do that we get stuck in a paradox, where there is no room for happiness or success. 

Swami Vivekananda said, “It is our mental attitude which makes the world what it is for us. Our thoughts make things beautiful; our thoughts make things ugly. The whole world is in our minds. Learn to see things in the proper light.” 

We must develop an optimistic attitude and the rest will surely fall in place. Keep your faces towards the sunshine (positivity), you’ll never see the shadow (negativity).

Mitali Madhyani is a second year Arts student at Mumbai suburban’s Mithibai College. Mitali aspires to make a career as a Clinical Psychologist. She loves to cook, paint, dance and read. Her interests have lead to her strong belief that art besides being a stress buster is an excellent medium to express one’s ideas and emotions. Mrs Sudha Murty, Nick Vuijic, Mother Teresa are some persons whom Mitali has tremendous respect. She values all people who have contributed in the betterment of society and people all over the world. Mitali lives her values by Volunteering with various organisations, including VYF.