A group of alumni, highly established in their careers, got together to visit their old college lecturer. Conversation soon turned into complaints about stress in work and life. Offering his guests coffee, the lecturer went to the kitchen and returned with a large pot of coffee and an assortment of cups: porcelain, plastic, glass, some plain-looking and some expensive and exquisite, telling them to help themselves to hot coffee.
When all the students had a cup of coffee in hand, the lecturer said: “If you noticed, all the nice-looking, expensive cups were taken up, leaving behind the plain and cheap ones. While it is but normal for you to want only the best for yourselves, that is the source of your problems and stress. What all of you really wanted was coffee, not the cup, but you consciously went for the better cups and are eyeing each other’s cups.”
“Now, if Life is coffee, then the job, money and position in society are the cups. They are just tools to hold and contain Life, but the quality of Life doesn't change.” “Sometimes, by concentrating only on the cup, we fail to enjoy the coffee in it.”
Cups hold the coffee and make it look better, however they don't determine the taste of coffee.
So folks, don't let the cups drive you…enjoy the coffee instead.
I'm glad to come back after some time with an interesting post, a story I heard some time back in a Leadership Development Program. It highlights the importance of planning for business continuity. The theme is quite useful for all the people irrespective of profession and I thought of sharing it with all of you.
Long ago there was a farmer who was looking for someone who can help him in managing his farm and cattle. He was frantically looking for people, but no one was available. At last a young man was eagerly looking for a job, approached him and said, "I hear you've been looking for help."
"I sure have", replied the farmer. "What do you do? Can you drive a tractor?"
"No", answered the young man.
"How about a milking cows?"
"Never been into that activity," answered the lad.
The farmer continued his questions but after hearing no positive answers, finally asked, "Well, what can you do?"
"I can sleep when the wind blows," said the young man.
The farmer was in no mood for joking and almost told the young fellow to get out. But the lad seemed so genuine and he needed help so badly, that he decided to give him a try.
A week or so later the farm was hit by a ferocious storm in the middle of the night. Rain, and gales stormed against the farm windows and doors. The farmer flew out of bed and went to the young lad's room but all efforts to get him up failed.
Furious with himself for having hired an idle a youth, the farmer decided to take care of things himself. He rushed outdoors into the howling storm. But when he got to the barn the doors were shut and safely bolted. The animals were firmly tethered to their stalls. And the hay and feed, instead of being blown away by the wind, had been carefully covered under piles of securely fastened-down canvas. While the storm raged outside, the barn was safe, secure, and protected. It was then that the farmer knew what the young lad meant when he said, "I can sleep when the wind blows."
Can You Sleep When the Wind Blows?
If you run anything in your life, whether a home, a shop, or a unit of a bigger business, you'll recognize the moral of this story: always plan for the worst that can happen and put in place measures to protect your assets. It may not be the most glamorous of your day's tasks. And often it will not seem the most urgent or pressing. But you need a plan to manage the very worst that can happen to you. And then you need to do something to put this plan into action. It is called Business Continuity and Disaster Recovery Planning business terminology. Organizations which have this plan ready can handle the stormy situations easily and recover fast than those which are not well prepared.
Similarly as individuals you need to manage the risks associated with health and wealth through adoption of healthy life styles and disciplined Financial Management. So, have your plan ready for a possible stormy day. When the nature’s fury is its peak and wind blows, you can be warm and cozy at your home with all the arrangements in place.
