The Book I read during the summer recess 2009

Name of the Book: YOU CAN WIN Author: Shive Khera Publication: Macmillian India Ltd. New Delhi, India Year of publication: 2002 (Revised Edition) No. of pages: 290 pages ISBN: 0333 93198 0 No. of Chapters: Eleven chapters Note on the Author: Shiv Khera is the founder Qualified Learning Systems Inc., USA. He is an educator, business consultant, entrepreneur and a great orator. He has also appeared in numerous radio and television shows. He inspired and informed millions of people across the globe through his orator skills and books. And I am sure many people need no introduction of this great leader. Winners Don’t Do Different Things but they Do Th gs Differently were what Shiv Khera said in his Book, You Can Win. I was inspired by the subtitle of this book. I have seen this book but never read in the past. But this time I grasped the opportunity and did it. Chapter 8 of this books which talks on 25 steps to building positive personality made me to realize what kind of personality I have and what are the changes I need make so that I become a better and more civilized person. This book has 11 chapters in total. It brings the issues of attitude and positive attitude, motivation and self esteem, interpersonal skills, subconscious mind and habit, goal setting and how to achieve our goals, Values and Visions meaning doing the right thing for the right reason. More interestingly every issue is brought through various examples and often short stories which are applicable in reality. Let me share and quote one of the stories from a chapter. This is an extract of a story in chapter one which is on importance of attitude. Acres of Diamonds Hafiz was a farmer in Africa who was happy and content. He was happy because he was content. He was content because he was happy. One day a wise man came to him and told him about the glory of diamonds and the power that goes along with them. The wise man said “if you had a diamond the sixe of your thumb, you could have your own city. If you had a diamond size of your fist, you could probably own your country”. And then he went away. That night farmer couldn’t sleep. He was unhappy and he was discontent and discontent because he was unhappy. The next morning he made arrangements to sell off his farm, took care of his family and went in search of diamonds. He looked all over Africa and couldn’t find any. He looked all through Europe and couldn’t find any. When he got to Spain, he emotionally, physically and financially broke. He got disheartened that he threw himself into Barcelona River and Committed suicide. Back home, the person who had brought his farm was watering the camels at a stream that ran through the property. Across the stream, the rays of the morning sun hit stone and made it sparkle like rainbow. He brought it would look good in his living room. He picked up the stone and put it in the living room. That afternoon the wise man cam and saw the stone sparkling. He asked “is Hafiz back?” The new pwner said, “no, why do you ask?”. The wise man said “because that is diamond. I recognize one when I see one”. The man said “No that’s just stone I picked up from the stream. Come, I’ll show you. There are many more”. They went to pick up some samples and sent for analysis. Sure enough, the stones were diamonds. They found that the farm was indeed covered with acres and acres of diamonds. This is the end of the story. We can now very well understand how much this book can have influence on us if we read. I was further touched by some of the profound quotations from famous persons or phylisophers. Some of them I have found were: “We are what we repeatedly do. Excellence is not an act but a habit” (Aristotle) “Great minds have purposes, others have wishes” (Washington Irving) “If you think you can or if you think you can’t you are right”. (Henry Ford) “How many times it thundered before Franklin took the hint! How many apples feel on Newtons head before he took the Hint! Nature is always hinting at us. It hints over and over again. And we suddenly take the hint”. (Robert Frost) “Don not confuse motion and progress. A rocking horse keeps moving but does not make any progress”. (Alfred A. Montapert) The author says that “Success is not an accident. It is the result of your attitude and your attitude is a choice. Hence success is a matter of choice and not chance”. He also give the reader (me) a lot tools and techniques how to face problems so that the reader achieves what he or she wanted to. Shive Khera said has made the following comparisons between the winners and losers as follows: • The winner is always part of the answer where as the loser is always part of the problem. • The winner is always has a program; the loser always has an excuse • The winner says “Let me do it for you”, The loser says “That is not my job”. • The winner sees an answer for every problem; the loser sees a problem in every answer • The winner says, “it may be difficult but it is possible”. And the loser says “It may be possible but it is too difficult.” • When a Winner makes a mistake, he/she says, “I was wrong”. And the Loser says, “It wasn’t my fault.” • A Winner makes commitments; a Loser makes promises • Winners see possibilities; Losers see problems • Winners believe in win/win; Losers believe for them to win someone has to lose • Winners use hard arguments but soft words; losers use soft arguments but hard words. • Winners make it happen; Losers it happen In short, this book is something I feel everybody should try once and see the essence. It is because, it give a better definition of life and perception of success in one’s life.