Importance of Individual Resource Management

Poverty is bad resource management

Introduction

This study is about the importance of individual resource management.
Collective resource management, as in a corporate office, is not discussed here.
Every individual has resources sufficient for reaching the summit of success.
It is our choice to manage the resources well and succeed or neglect and fail.

For illustrating my argument I am using reference from history as cited in the Bible, a parable of Jesus and the famous quote about the African gazelle and the lion.

The study is secular and no theological argument is intended.

The story of a watchman

The watchman I speak of is the night watchman of the ancient days. He is called watchman because he keeps watch, keeps awake, throughout the night guarding the town with its people, livestock and wealth.

Time, during those days were divided into first watch, second watch etc.
Thus the modern wrist watch we use got its name which was later abbreviated to watch.

Watchman is the guard of the town, it's people and all precious things in the town during the night. He never sleeps.

He is an image for one who waits hopefully and patiently for the dawn of success in his life.

The Blind Cat

There were two good friends. They were friends since their childhood. Never quarreled, never envied and never parted.

One of them was very intelligent and a multi facet talented fellow. He was nimble in action. He was pure white in color – white as snow. He had sharp eyesight, a brilliant brain and a sound physique. But he was always hungry and complained about it.

His friend was black in complexion. He was slow in action and has not exhibited any amazing talents. None so far has commented on his intellect since no incident had ever occurred worthy of comment. His physique, of course was not bad. But he always showed lethargy to involve in any adventurous attempts. All these characteristics had a sad backdrop. He was blind, could not see even an elephant in day or night.

Fewer mistakes; fewer regrets

I do not decry mistakes. It is human to err.

Mistakes are synonymous with failures.

But failures are not always mistakes. Right decisions and right actions also may result in failures. So failures are not always the product of mistakes.

Mistakes are always failures. Rarely even a mistake may bring forth success. But that is never counted as success. That happens often in war. Very rarely mistakes committed by a sergeant or a military general may lead to victory. But in the ensuing analysis of the event, the action is always run down as fatal mistake and never rewarded. It is because a mistake is fatal in war whatever the accidental outcome is.

So mistakes are mistakes in spite of the nature of its outcome.

Mistakes are judged not by its outcome. Mistakes are defined by rules that govern the action. These rules are not written and not fixed. Every race has rules, every game has rules and every action has rules. Victory is not just the outcome but the successful outcome of an action completed according to its rules.

Mistakes are not always a purposeful action towards it. Many sincere attempts may also end as mistakes. Our life is not always our own life; it is the life of some others too. We cannot stand alone or without action on this great stage of life. We are born to this stage and from thence we are acting our role. There are some others always on the stage. We are to act with them and along with them.

Mistakes are harbingers of regrets. A mistake we commit is sure to lead us to failure. Every failure caused by a mistake takes us to regret.

Regrets are painful, discouraging and often disastrous. It murders our life force that helps us to move forward. It is a personal emotional crisis. It demands recoveries beyond our capability. Since time, money and health that are lost will never come back, causes incurable wounds.

I am afraid of regrets. I have had enough of it in my life. Nothing happened can be retrieved. Hence no wounds can be healed.

The only possible way to escape from regrets is to make fewer mistakes. I am not recommending a secluded life. Live the life in the midst of the crowd.

Life has given me certain lessons to help me to make fewer mistakes. They are personal. Every experience in life is personal and has a personal message to us. It leaves personal impressions on our mind that effect individual responses.

So what I have learned may remain very personal. Hence they are not general theories that can be applied to all and all problems I refrain from scribbling it here.

My only advice is to make fewer mistakes and less regrets.

Professor Jacob Abraham

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Self Awareness (Course material)

SELF AWARENESS

Ignorance is the cause of failure.

Ignorance is failure.

Failure is failing to realize yourself and failing to manage your resources.

Failure is failing to realize:

               

1.       Your resource – who you are – your personality?

2.       Resources that you accumulate

3.       Are you successfully managing your resources?

4.       How to manage your resources?

The 1 and 2 are yourself and 3 and 4 are how you profit from yourself.

I.      YOUR RESOURCE – PRIMARY RESOURCE

1.         Who You Are?

Personality is a construct, not an inheritance.

You are a unique personality

There are no two similar and equal personalities

You are not what you see in your mirror or your photograph

You are the unseen person inside your physical body

You are the tangible and experienced person beyond your physical body.

To understand your true self, let us dissect your being

You are not a mixture of a number of products, but you are a new and unique product

Many components might have gone into the formation of your personality

You are not salad of components

You are a new product formed in a crucible.

Crucible is:

a container in which metals or other substances can be heated to very high temperatures

a place or situation in which different cultures or styles can mix together to produce something new and exciting

The components put into a crucible are contributed by:

1.       Your immediate society

2.       Your larger society

1.         Your immediate society – your family

i.           Father, mother, grandparents, brothers, sisters and other close relatives.

ii.          Traditional beliefs, customs and way of life of your family

iii.        Political and religious beliefs of your family

iv.        Habits of your family members

v.         Family’s attitude towards money, nature, rich and poor people

vi.        Financial security of the family

vii.      The success and failure of your family members

viii.     Ways adopted by your family for the sustenance in failures.

ix.        How your family manage success.   ….  …  … …  etc.

All these components are put together into a hot crucible.

These are further added with components from the Larger Society.

2.         Larger Society

i.        Your village

ii.       Your state

iii.     Your nation

iv.     Your religion

Larger Society consists of your Relatives, neighbors, friends, colleagues etc.

Components donated by the Larger society:

i.         Traditions and customs/ beliefs and practices

ii.        Political systems – similarities, conflict, values etc.

iii.      Religious beliefs - similarities, conflict, values etc.

iv.      Success and failures of people

v.       Ways adopted by your family for the sustenance in failures and to achieve success.

vi.      Your families attitude towards the Larger Society

vii.    The attitude of the Larger Society towards you and your family

viii.   Profitable and bitter experiences you and your family have received from the Larger Society

All these are put together in a crucible to prepare a new product – your personality – the true yourself.

There is a catalyst in this chemical reaction – your personal response to all these components.

Your personal response is not always your public response

It is your secret response in your heart – it creates certain impressions.

This catalyst makes the difference.

The product is always unique.

Do not live like a salad – a dissoluble mixture of different components

You cannot live like that

Even if you try it will create a conflict in your life – conflict within your own personality

You are unique

You are not like any other person

There is nobody like you

You are unique and so you have a unique resource or talent.

No river is like another river

No forest is like another forest

No tree is like another tree (of its own species)

No man/woman is like another man/woman.

Look deep inside you to find who you are:

1.       A teacher

2.       A writer

3.       A statesman

4.       A mathematician

5.       A physician

6.       An artist  ...  … … …  etc.

Everybody has his own resource

Even a beggar has his own resource – otherwise he would not survive

He has the resource, the talent to beg – he is successful in his trade

Now discover your own resource and write down:

I AM A TEACHER

II.    RESOURCES ACCUMULATED – SECONDARY RESOURCE

Resources accumulated supplements to the primary resource.

Secondary resource cannot exist or work without the primary resource.

It has no existence and action outside the primary resource.

It only supplements, never act on itself.

It is only a faithful slave, not a master.

Resources gathered are:

i.        Information gathered

ii.       Knowledge gathered

iii.     Expertise gathered

iv.     Skills gathered

v.      Accepted influences from the immediate and larger society

Resources gathered do not go into your personality

They remain as ‘ready tools’ with you.

A carpenter cannot work if he is not aware of the tools he has in his bag.

A writer cannot write if he is not aware of his talents and skills.

How you gather resources:

i.                     Reading/listening

ii.                   Interaction with others

iii.                  Expressing - writing/speaking

iv.                 Thinking independently

III.      ARE YOU SUCCESSFULLY MANAGING YOUR RESOURCES?

Are you managing your resources well?

1.       Do you feel that you are in your space – are you doing the right job according to your unique personality – are you an engineer working as a doctor – are you a teacher working as a teacher?

2.       Are you really happy in your present career?

3.       Do you enjoy your work – are you working out of love for the work or because of some other reason – will you remain in this career even if you are underpaid?

4.       Do you believe that this career will lead you to the final success point in your life – the fulfillment of your life’s purpose – the true satisfaction

IV.      HOW TO MANAGE YOUR RESOURCES

Poverty is poor resource management.

Managing your resource is making the best out of it.

It is turning the resource into successful life.

Successful life is not always creating wealth – it is fulfilling your life’s purpose

Success is attaining satisfaction in life.

Resources are different as individuals are unique

So there is no ‘Royal One Way’ to the management of resource.

Manage your resources to make the best out of it.

                         I.     Use it

                       II.     Trade it

                     III.     Exchange it

Whatever you may do, never let your resources lay idle.

 

“None can destroy iron, but its own rust can! Likewise none can destroy a person but its own mindset can!” – Ratan Tata

 CONCLUSION

What have you found?

1.       What are your resources – Your unique personality?

2.       Are you successfully managing your resource?

Finding answer to these questions is knowing yourself and your present condition of life.

If your answer to the second question is positive, go ahead to success.

 If the answer to the second question is negative, turn aside and move in another direction.

Professor Jacob Abraham