October 10, 2019

Real Fasting for Navratri

*_Real Fasting for Navratri_*

Real fasting for purification of soul is:

1st Day - I will leave all my *Anger*

2nd Day -  I will stop *Judging* People.

3rd Day - I will leave all my  *Grudges*.

4th Day - I will *forgive myself & everyone*

5th Day -  I will *Accept myself &  every one AS they are*

6th Day -  I will *love myself & everyone unconditionally*

7th Day - I will *leave* all my feelings of *Jealousy & Guilt*

8th Day - I will *leave*
all my *Fears*

9th Day - I will *offer* *Gratitude* for all the things I have and all which I will get.

10 - There is *abundance* in the universe for all and I will always tap the same and  create what I want through unconditional love, sadhna, nishkam seva, faith, swamaans

   *Happy Nav Ratri*🙏🏼🙏🏼😊

Story- ख्वाइशें

ख्वाहिशें !

तस्वीर 93 वर्षिय हरभजन कौर की है।

अमृतसर के नज़दीक तरन-तारन में जन्‍मी हरभजन कौर शादी के बाद अमृतसर, लुधियाना में रही और करीब दस साल पहले पति की मौत के बाद वे कुछ समय से अपनी बेटी रवीना के साथ चंडीगढ़ में रहने लगी।

रवीना जानती थी के माँ का जीवन अपने आखरी पड़ाव पर है। एक शाम भावुक हुई रवीना ने सामने बैठी माँ से पूछा " ज़िंदगी में  मलाल तो नहीं न है आपको, कोई चाहत तो बाकी नहीं है। कहीं आने-जाने या कुछ करने या कोई जगह देखने की इच्छा है तो बता दीजिये।"

बिटिया माँ का मन टटोल रही थी। वह चाहती थी के उम्र के इस पड़ाव पर माँ की अगर कोई ख्वाहिश बची है तो वह उसे पूरी कर सके।

परंतु माँ ने जो जवाब दिया उसकी उम्मीद रवीना को बिल्कुल भी नहीं थी।
हरभजन कौर ने कहा "बस, एक ही मलाल है …  मैंने इतनी लंबी उम्र गुज़ार दी और एक पैसा भी नहीं कमाया।”

रवीना स्तब्ध रह गयी। 93 वर्ष की उम्र में माँ पैसे कमाने की इच्छा प्रकट कर रही थी जो असंभव सा जान पड़ता था। परंतु अब तो तीर कमान से निकल चुका था।

माँ की इस  ख्वाहिश को पूरा करने का निर्णय कर रवीना ने हरभजन जी से पूछा "इस उम्र में आप क्या कर सकती हैं!"

जवाब जैसे तैयार था ........चेहरे पर आत्मविश्वास से लबरेज़ हरभजन जी  बोली "मैं बेसन की बर्फी बना सकती हूँ।  घर में धीमी आंच पर भुने बेसन की मेरे हाथ की बर्फी को कोई तो ख़रीददार मिल ही जाएगा …. ” माँ का जवाब सुनते ही रवीना का गला भर आया। उनका आत्मविश्वास देख रवीना की आंखें छलक उठी।

रवीना ने ऑर्गेनिक बाजार नामक एक संस्थान से सम्पर्क किया और उनसे बेसन की बर्फी की खरीदारी के विषय में बात की।
93 वर्षिय माँ के हाथ की बर्फी जब ऑर्गेनिक बाजार के कर्मचारियों ने चखी तो वह स्वाद और शुद्धता के मुरीद हो गये और माँ को उनका पहला "ऑर्डर" मिल गया। बर्फी बना कर ऑर्गेनिक बाजार में भेजी गई तो बदले में पेमेंट मिली।

जब उनकी पहली कमाई को उनके हाथों में रखा गया तो 93 वर्षिय माँ के हाथ कांप उठे। आंखों से झरते आंसू इस बात की गवाही दे रहे थे के दशकों से दिल में दबी ख्वाहिश पूरी हो गयी थी।

परंतु माँ तो माँ है। हरभजन जी ने पैसों को तीन हिस्सों में बांटा और अपनी पहली कमाई अपनी तीनों बेटियों के हाथों में सौंप दी।

माँ की इच्छा तो पूरी हो गयी परंतु जिंसने जिंसने माँ के हाथ की बर्फी चखी उसकी ईच्छा दोबारा चखने की हुई। ऑर्डर पर आर्डर आने लगे। हरभजन जी ने भी कमर कस ली। जितना संभव हो सका उतना काम करने लगी। बर्फी का स्वाद चंडीगढ़ वासियों की ज़ुबाँ पर ऐसा बैठा के लोग माँ के हाथ के बने इस मिष्ठान के मुरीद हो गये।

आज माँ के हाथ की बनाई हुई बर्फी एक ब्रैंड बन चुकी है। ब्रैंड का नाम है  "Harbhajan's" और टैगलाइन है ”बचपन की याद आ जाये"।

कितनी ख्वाहिशें हैं जो हम सब के सीने में दफन हैं।..........यह सवाल किसी और से नहीं खुद से पूछने की ज़रूरत है......कितनी खव्हिशें हैं जिन्हें पूरा करने के लिये हम उपयुक्त समय का इंतज़ार कर रहे हैं। यह जानते हुये भी के इस क्षणभंगुर जीवन में अगले सेकिंड जीने की गेरंटी नहीं है।

93 वर्षिय अम्मा से कुछ सीखना होगा। बेशक लज़ीज़ बर्फी बनाना ना सीख सकें परंतु दिल के कोने में दबी उन ख्वाहिशों को पूरा करने का जज़्बा और जुनून सीखना होगा।👇🏾👇🏾👇🏾👇🏾👍👍👋👋

October 04, 2019

Story- God, Temple and Society

बहुत सुन्दर कथा

एक महिला रोज मंदिर जाती थी ! एक दिन उस महिला ने पुजारी से कहा अब मैं मंदिर नही आया करूँगी !

इस पर पुजारी ने पूछा -- क्यों ?

तब महिला बोली -- मैं देखती हूँ लोग मंदिर परिसर में अपने फोन से अपने व्यापार की बात करते हैं ! कुछ ने तो मंदिर को ही गपशप करने का स्थान चुन रखा है ! कुछ पूजा कम पाखंड,दिखावा ज्यादा करते हैं !

इस पर पुजारी कुछ देर तक चुप रहे फिर कहा -- सही है ! परंतु अपना अंतिम निर्णय लेने से पहले क्या आप मेरे कहने से कुछ कर सकती हैं !

महिला बोली -आप बताइए क्या करना है ?

पुजारी ने कहा -- एक गिलास पानी भर लीजिए और 2 बार मंदिर परिसर के अंदर परिक्रमा लगाइए । शर्त ये है कि गिलास का पानी गिरना नहीं चाहिये !

महिला बोली -- मैं ऐसा कर सकती हूँ !

फिर थोड़ी ही देर में उस महिला ने ऐसा ही कर दिखाया ! उसके बाद मंदिर के पुजारी ने महिला से 3 सवाल पूछे -

1.क्या आपने किसी को फोन पर बात करते देखा?

2.क्या आपने किसी को मंदिर में गपशप करते देखा?

3.क्या किसी को पाखंड करते देखा?

महिला बोली -- नहीं मैंने कुछ भी नहीं देखा !

फिर पुजारी बोले --- जब आप परिक्रमा लगा रही थीं तो आपका पूरा ध्यान गिलास पर था कि इसमें से पानी न गिर जाए इसलिए आपको कुछ दिखाई नहीं दिया|

अब जब भी आप मंदिर आयें तो अपना ध्यान सिर्फ़ परम पिता परमात्मा में ही लगाना फिर आपको कुछ दिखाई नहीं देगा| सिर्फ भगवान ही सर्वत्र दिखाई देगें|

      '' जाकी रही भावना जैसी ..
        प्रभु मूरत देखी तिन तैसी|''

जीवन मे दुःखो के लिए कौन जिम्मेदार है ?

👉🏻ना भगवान,
👉🏻ना गृह-नक्षत्र,
👉🏻ना भाग्य,
👉🏻ना रिश्तेदार,
👉🏻ना पडोसी,
👉🏻ना सरकार,

जिम्मेदार आप स्वयं है|

1) आपका सरदर्द, फालतू विचार का परिणाम|

2) पेट दर्द, गलत खाने का परिणाम|

3) आपका कर्ज, जरूरत से ज्यादा खर्चे का परिणाम|

4) आपका दुर्बल /मोटा /बीमार शरीर, गलत जीवन शैली का परिणाम|

5) आपके कोर्ट केस, आप के अहंकार का परिणाम|

6) आपके फालतू विवाद, ज्यादा व् व्यर्थ बोलने का परिणाम|

            उपरोक्त कारणों के अलावा सैकड़ों कारण है और बेवजह दोषारोपण दूसरों पर करते रहते हैं | इसमें ईश्वर दोषी नहीं है|
अगर हम इन कष्टों के कारणों पर बारिकी से विचार करें तो पाएंगे की कहीं न कहीं हमारी मूर्खताएं ही इनके पीछे है|
*_गिले-शिकवे सिर्फ़ साँस लेने तक ही चलते हैं,_*
   *_बाद में तो सिर्फ़ पछतावे रह जाते हैं..!!_
💐👏🏻
आपका जीवन प्रकाशमय हो तथा शुभ हो l

A symbol of Love??? Tajmahal or Ram Setu

🌹🌹🙏🙏🙏

*बच्चे के जवाब ने आँखें खोल दी*

मैडम - उस इमारत का नाम बताओ जो प्रेम के प्रतीक के रूप में प्रसिद्ध है ।

समूची कक्षा , जो 90% हिंदु छात्रों से भरी थी , एक साथ पुकार उठी , " *आगरा का ताजमहल "*

तब एक छात्र खड़ा हुआ और कहा , " मैडम जी , विश्वभर में प्रेम के प्रतीक के रूप में *"रामसेतु"* प्रसिद्ध है, जिसे श्रीराम ने अपनी प्रिय पत्नी श्रीसीताजी की रक्षा हेतु *अहंकार से गरजते समुद्र की छाती* पर बनवा डाला था , और फिर सेना सहित उस पुल से होते हुए लंका पर आक्रमण कर रावण का कुलसहित मर्दन कर *अपनी प्रिय पत्नी* को सकुशल वापिस ले आये ।
*श्रीराम ने सेतु बाँधने वाले वानरों के हाथ नही काटे* ,
बल्कि *प्रेमसहित* उन्हें अयोध्या ले गए । *ये प्रेम है* !

आज पहली बार टीचर की आंखें खुली!

लेकिन.......
क्या हमारी आंखें भी खुली?

🌹🌹🙏🙏🙏

Story - Surprise Test

🍃SURPRISE TEST......
     🧨🧨🧨🧨🧨🧨
        एक प्रोफ़ेसर अपनी क्लास में आते ही बोले,
........“चलिए,आज आप सभी का Surprise Test हो जाय।"
         सुनते ही घबराहट फैल गई Students में!
         कुछ किताबों के पन्ने पलटने लगे तो कुछ लगे पढ़ने सर के दिए नोट्स।
         “ये सब कुछ काम नहीं आएगा….”, प्रोफेसर साहब मुस्कुराते हुए बोले, Questionpaper
.............रख रहा हूँ आपके सामने, जब सारे पेपर बट जाएं तभी आप उसे पलट कर देखें।" 
        बाँट दिए गए पेपर्स सभी Students को।
         “ठीक है ! अब आप पेपर देख सकते हैं।"बोले प्रोफेसर साहब।
         
अगले ही क्षण सभी *Question paper को  निहार रहे थे, 
       लेकिन यह क्या?       .............कोई प्रश्न था ही नहीं उस पेपर में !
        था तो White पेपर पर केवल एक Black स्पॉट⚫
       "यह क्या सर?  इसमें तो Question है ही नहीं!", एक छात्र खड़ा होकर बोला ।
         “जो भी है आपके सामने है। आपको बस इसी को Explain करना है।लेकिन!ध्यान रहे इसके लिए आपके पास केवल 10 मिनट ही हैं And ur time starts now."
           चुटकी बजाते 😊 मुस्कुराते हुए बोले प्रोफेसर।
         कोई चारा न था उन हैरान Students के पास।
       वे जुट गए उस अजीब से प्रश्न का  Answer लिखने में।
       10 मिनट बीतते ही प्रोफेसर साहब ने फिर से बजाई चुटकी Time is over.और लगे Answer Sheets collect करने।
          Students अभी भी हैरान परेशान।
           प्रोफेसर साहब ने सभी Answer Sheets चैक कीं।
         सभी ने ⚫ Black स्पॉट ⚫ को अपनी तरह से समझाने की कोशिश की थी, लेकिन किसी ने भी उस स्पॉट के चारों ओर मौजूद White Space के बारे में लिखने  की जहमत ही नहीं उठाई।
           प्रोफ़ेसर साहब गंभीर होते हुए बोले,“इस Test  का आपके Academics से कोई लेना-देना नहीं है, ना ही मैं इसके कोई Marks देने वाला हूँ। इस Test के पीछे मेरा एक ही मकसद है..........
...............मैं आपको जीवन की एक अद्भुत सच्चाई बताना चाहता हूँ।
         देखिये! यह पेपर 99% White है…...
.........लेकिन आप में से किसी ने भी इसके बारे में नहीं लिखा और अपना 100% Answer केवल उस  एक चीज को Explain करने में लगा दिया जो मात्र 1% है….........
.............. यही बात हमारी  Life में भी देखने को मिलती है।
.............. Problems हमारे जीवन का एक छोटा सा हिस्सा होती हैं, लेकिन हम अपना पूरा ध्यान इन्हींपर लगा देते हैं….....
...........कोई दिन रात अपने Looks को लेकर परेशान रहता है तो कोई अपने carrier  को लेकर चिंता में डूबा रहता है, तो कोई पैसों का रोना रोता रहता है,कोई दूसरे की छोटी सी गलती को अपने दिमाग में रखे रखता है।
          क्यों नहीं हम अपनी  Blessings Count कर खुश होते हैं….....
..............क्यों नहीं हम पेट भर खाने के लिए उस सर्व शक्तिवान प्रभु को Thanks कहते हैं….......?
         क्यों नहीं हम अपनी प्यारी सी फैमिली के लिए शुक्रगुजार होते हैं….....?
         क्यों नहीं हम Life की उन 99% चीजों की तरफ ध्यान देते जो सचमुच हमारे जीवन को अच्छा बनाती हैं.........?
         क्यों नहीं हम अपने मित्रों सम्बन्धियों की Mistakes को Ignore कर अपने Relations को टूटने से बचाते है..........?
      Students प्रोफेसर साहब की दी गई इस सीख से गदगद थे।
           आईये आज से  ही हम  Life की Problems  को ज्यादा  Seriously  लेना छोडें,मित्रों/सम्बन्धियों की  Mistakes  को भूलें और जीवन की छोटी-छोटी खुशियों को..........
........... ENJOY करना सीखें तभी हम ज़िन्दगी को सही मायने में जी पायेंगे......
        सही है न ✅✅✅

Why Meditation is Necessary

*WHY  MEDITATION is  necessary from the Medical Science's point of view?*💐🌷🙋

*From the time of the  birth till be death the heart works continuously. Everyday the heart pumps 7000 litres of blood, of which 70% blood is pumped to the Brain and the remaining 30% to the rest of body.*

*How does the heart work so efficiently and effectively?*

*Heart works effectively because it follows a discipline. In normal conditions the heart takes 0.3 secs to contract {systole} and 0.5 secs to relax {diastole}.*

*So, 0.3 + 0.5 = 0.8 secs are required by the heart to complete one beat {1 cardiac cycle}.*

*That means in 1 min, the heart beats 72 times which is considered as normal heart beat.*

*During the relaxing phase of 0.5 secs the impure blood travels through the lungs and becomes 100% pure.*

*In some stressful conditions, the body demands more blood in less time and in this situation the heart reduces the relaxing period of 0.5 secs to 0.4 secs. Thus, in this case the heart beats 82 times in 1min and only 80% of blood gets purified.*

*On more and more demand the relaxing time is further reduced to 0.3 secs & then only 60% of blood is purified.*

*Imagine the consequences of the lesser Oxygenated blood circulating in our Arteries.*

*Deep Breathing is the key to ensure better Oxygenation of the blood.*

*Factors responsible for the activity of the brain :*

*1. 25% - 30% is due to the Diet we consume.*

*2. 70% - 75% is due to the emotions, attitude, memories and other processes of the brain.*

*Thus, to calm the brain and reduce the demand on the heart to pump more and more blood, brain needs to be given a rest.*

*Meditation is the most useful tool to calm an agitated mind.*

*When we sit with eyes closed and meditate, the brain gets calmer, heart gets rested, thus insulating us from the Diseases of Heart & Brain.*

*MEDITATION IS THE KEY TO THE REAL HEALING.  😃🎺🐢🐢🚴🏻‍♂

October 03, 2019

A poem on Nathuram Godse(नाथूराम गोडसे पर कविता)

*आज नथुराम गोडसे की कविता मिली देखना ना भूले सच क्या था*

*वर्षों बाद किसी एक कवि ने दबे सच को फिर से उजागर करने की कोशिश की है !*

*आप सभी  साहित्य प्रेमी पाठकों के लिए कवि की मूल कविता नीचे विस्तार से लिखी गयी है !* 
                                 
          🙏🙏🇮🇳🙏🙏
_______________________

*माना गांधी ने कष्ट सहे थे ,*   
*अपनी पूरी निष्ठा से ।*
*और भारत प्रख्यात हुआ है,*
*उनकी अमर प्रतिष्ठा से ॥*

*किन्तु अहिंसा सत्य कभी,*
*अपनों पर ही ठन जाता है ।*
*घी और शहद अमृत हैं पर ,*
*मिलकर के विष बन जाता है।*

*अपने सारे निर्णय हम पर,*
*थोप रहे थे गांधी जी।*
*तुष्टिकरण के खूनी खंजर,*
*घोंप रहे थे गांधी जी ॥*

*महाक्रांति का हर नायक तो,*
*उनके लिए खिलौना था ।*
*उनके हठ के आगे,*        
*जम्बूदीप भी बौना था ॥*

*इसीलिये भारत अखण्ड,*
*अखण्ड भारत का दौर गया ।*
*भारत से पंजाब, सिंध,*
*रावलपिंडी,लाहौर गया ॥*

*तब जाकर के सफल हुए,*     
*जालिम जिन्ना के मंसूबे।*
*गांधी जी अपनी जिद में ,*
*पूरे भारत को ले डूबे॥*

*भारत के इतिहासकार,*
*थे चाटुकार दरबारों में ।*
*अपना सब कुछ बेच चुके थे,*
*नेहरू के परिवारों में ॥*

*भारत का सच लिख पाना,*
*था उनके बस की बात नहीं ।*
*वैसे भी सूरज को लिख पाना,*
*जुगनू की औकात नहीं ॥*

*आजादी का श्रेय नहीं है,*   
*गांधी के आंदोलन को ।*
*इन यज्ञों का हव्य बनाया,*
*शेखर ने पिस्टल गन को ॥*

*जो जिन्ना जैसे राक्षस से,*
*मिलने जुलने जाते थे ।*
*जिनके कपड़े लन्दन, पेरिस,*
*दुबई में धुलने जाते थे ॥*

*कायरता का नशा दिया है,*
*गांधी के पैमाने ने ।*
*भारत को बर्बाद किया,*   
*नेहरू के राजघराने ने ॥*

*हिन्दू अरमानों की जलती,*
*एक चिता थे गांधी जी ।*
*कौरव का साथ निभाने वाले,*
*भीष्म पिता थे गांधी जी ॥*

*अपनी शर्तों पर आयरविन तक,*
*को भी झुकवा सकते थे ।*
*भगत सिंह की फांसी को,*    
*दो पल में रुकवा सकते थे ।।*

*मन्दिर में पढ़कर कुरान,*             
*वो विश्व विजेता बने रहे ।*
*ऐसा करके मुस्लिम जन,*   
*मानस के नेता बने रहे ॥*

*एक नवल गौरव गढ़ने की,*
*हिम्मत तो करते बापू  ।*
*मस्जिद में गीता पढ़ने की,*
*हिम्मत तो करते बापू ॥*

*रेलों में, हिन्दू काट-काट कर,*
*भेज रहे थे पाकिस्तानी ।*
*टोपी के लिए दुखी थे वे,*     
*पर चोटी की एक नहीं मानी ॥*

*मानों फूलों के प्रति ममता,*
*खतम हो गई माली में ।*
*गांधी जी दंगों में बैठे थे,*
*छिपकर नोवाखाली में ॥*

*तीन दिवस में श्री राम का,*
*धीरज संयम टूट गया ।*
*सौवीं गाली सुन, कान्हा का*
*चक्र हाथ से छूट गया ॥*

*गांधी जी की पाक, परस्ती पर*
*जब भारत लाचार हुआ ।*
*तब जाकर नथू,*                 
*बापू वध को मज़बूर हुआ ॥*

*गये सभा में गांधी जी,*          
*करने अंतिम प्रणाम ।*
*ऐसी गोली मारी गांधी को,*
*याद आ गए श्री राम ॥*

*मूक अहिंसा के कारण ही*
*भारत का आँचल फट जाता ।*
*गांधी जीवित होते तो*          
*फिर देश,  दुबारा बंट जाता ॥*

*थक गए हैं हम प्रखर सत्य की*
*अर्थी को ढोते ढोते ।*
*कितना अच्छा होता जो*       
*"नेताजी" राष्ट्रपिता होते ॥*

*नथू को फाँसी लटकाकर*
*गांधी जो को न्याय मिला ।*
*और मेरी भारत माँ को*      
*बंटवारे का अध्याय मिला ॥*

*लेकिन जब भी कोई भीष्म*
*कौरव का साथ निभाएगा ।*
*तब तब कोई अर्जुन रण में*
*उन पर तीर चलाएगा ॥*

*अगर गोडसे की गोली*       
*उतरी ना होती सीने में ।*
*तो हर हिन्दू पढ़ता नमाज ,*
*फिर मक्का और मदीने में ॥*

*भारत की बिखरी भूमि*
*अब तलक समाहित नहीं हुई ।*
*नथू की रखी अस्थि*          
*अब तलक प्रवाहित नहीं हुई ॥*

*इससे पहले अस्थिकलश को*
*सिंधु सागर की लहरें सींचे ।*
*पूरा पाक समाहित कर लो*    
*इस भगवा झंडे के नीचें ॥*
_______________________

*(भारत के इस सत्य इतिहास को प्रसारित करने के लिए शेयर अवश्य करें)*

August 22, 2019

Like It or Not, “Smart Drugs” Are Coming to the Office


You’ve managed the same team for the past five years — then one day you find out that your most successful employee uses cognitive-enhancing drugs on the job.
This scenario may not be hypothetical for long. The unauthorized use of prescription drugs such as the ADHD medications Adderall and Ritalin and the narcolepsy drug Modafinil is now common among American university students. They use these drugs not to escape work and avoid responsibility but to be able to work more and better.
Up to 20% of Ivy League college students have already tried “smart drugs,” so we can expect these pills to feature prominently in organizations (if they don’t already). After all, the pressure to perform is unlikely to disappear the moment students graduate. And senior employees with demanding jobs might find these drugs even more useful than a 19-year-old college kid does. Indeed, a 2012 Royal Society report emphasized that these “enhancements,” along with other technologies for self-enhancement, are likely to have far-reaching implications for the business world.
And yet aside from anecdotal evidence, we know very little about the use of these drugs in professional settings. The Financial Times has claimed that they are “becoming popular among city lawyers, bankers, and other professionals keen to gain a competitive advantage over colleagues.” Back in 2008 the narcolepsy medication Modafinil was labeled the “entrepreneur’s drug of choice” by TechCrunch. That same year, the magazine Nature asked its readers whether they use cognitive-enhancing drugs; of the 1,400 respondents, one in five responded in the affirmative.
Meanwhile, the world of management remains stunningly silent. But sooner or later executives will have to confront the issue of these drugs. And before making up our minds, we need to understand how these drugs work (or don’t) and ask ourselves some serious questions about what taking them means.

The Drugs

First off, overwhelming evidence suggests that smart drugs actually work. A meta-analysis by researchers at Harvard Medical School and Oxford showed that Modafinil has significant cognitive benefits for those who do not suffer from sleep deprivation. The drug improves their ability to plan and make decisions and has a positive effect on learning and creativity. Another study, by researchers at Imperial College London, showed that Modafinil helped sleep-deprived surgeons become better at planning, redirecting their attention, and being less impulsive when making decisions.
It’s easy to imagine that these benefits would be welcomed in some organizations. The U.S. military has already started experimenting with Modafinil, including with controlled use for Indian air force pilots.
We know that at least some of these drugs are medically safe. According to Anna-Katharine Brem, a coauthor of the Harvard-Oxford study, Modafinil has “vanishingly few side effects” when used in a controlled environment. After the study was published, media reports began to refer to Modafinil as the world’s first safe smart drug.
And the drugs are not terribly difficult to get, depending on where you’re located. Modafinil has an annual global share of $700 million, with high estimated off-label use. Although these drugs can be purchased over the internet, their legal status varies between countries. For example, it is legal to possess and use Modafinil in the United Kingdom without a prescription, but not in United States.
ADHD medication sales are growing rapidly, with annual revenues of $12.9 billion in 2015. These drugs can be obtained legally by those who have a prescription, which also includes those who have deliberately faked the symptoms in order to acquire the desired medication. (According to an experiment published in 2010, it is difficult for medical practitioners to separate those who feign the symptoms from those who actually have them.) That said, faking might not be necessary if a doctor deems your desired productivity level or your stress around a big project as reason enough to prescribe medication.

The Big Questions

Because these drugs are — for the most part — safe, effective, and easy to get, they pose several ethical challenges for both workers and organizations.
Is it morally wrong to use these drugs? Should we compare smart drugs to doping — in other words, to cheating?
Yes, according to a new policy at Duke University, which says that the “unauthorized use of prescription medicine to enhance academic performance” should be treated as cheating.” And no, according to law professor Nita Farahany, herself based at Duke University, who has called the policy “ill-conceived,” arguing that “banning smart drugs disempowers students from making educated choices for themselves.”
For Malcolm Gladwell, “the thing with doping is that it allows you to train harder than you would have done otherwise.” He argues that we cannot easily call someone a cheater on the basis of having used a drug for this purpose. The equivalent, he explains, would be a student who steals an exam paper from the teacher, and then instead of going home and not studying at all, goes to a library and studies five times harder.
Another moral concern is that these drugs — especially when used by Ivy League students or anyone in an already privileged position — may widen the gap between those who are advantaged and those who are not. But others have inverted the argument, saying these drugs can help those who are disadvantaged to reduce the gap. In an interview with the New York Times, Dr. Michael Anderson explains that he uses ADHD (a diagnosis he calls “made up”) as an excuse to prescribe Adderall to the children who really need it — children from impoverished backgrounds suffering from poor academic performance.
Either way, if more and more people use these types of stimulants, there may be a risk that we will find ourselves in an ever-expanding neurological arm’s race, arguesphilosophy professor Nicole Vincent. But is this necessarily a bad thing? No, says Farahany, who sees the improvement in cognitive functioning as a social good that we should pursue. Better brain functioning would result in societal benefits, she argues, “like economic gains or even reducing dangerous errors.”
Should the use of these drugs be encouraged at work? As a manager at a hospital, would you want your surgeon to be under the influence of these drugs, provided there was clear evidence that they improve his or her work? As the CEO of an airline, would you prefer to have a pilot on drugs if it decreased the probability of accidents?
Companies already know a great deal about how their employees live their lives. With the help of wearable technologies and health screenings, companies can now analyze the relation between bodily activities — exercise, sleep, nutrition, etc. — and work performance. With the justification that healthy employees perform better, some companies have made exercise mandatory by using sanctions against those who refuse to perform. And according to The Kaiser Family Foundation, of the large U.S. companies that offer health screenings, nearly half of them use financial incentives to persuade employees to participate.
Sure, today it seems unlikely that companies could mandate drug use. But then again, if companies can penalize people with poor health, why couldn’t these companies, at least in theory, incentivize the use of drugs if it’s safe and it makes the firm more productive and profitable?
Legal issues aside, this wouldn’t be very difficult to achieve. Many companies already have in-house doctors who give regular health check-ups — including drug tests — which could be employed to control and regulate usage. Organizations could integrate these drugs into already existing wellness programs, alongside healthy eating, exercise, and good sleep.
Can smart drugs lead to a better life outside of work? Perhaps the strongest argument against the use of smart drugs is that it could lead to an ever-intensified corporate rat race. It is clear that we are currently distressingly incapable of drawing a clear boundary between work and nonwork.
Organizations, and even entire countries, are struggling with “always working” cultures. Germany and France have adopted rules to stop employees from reading and responding to email after work hours. Several companies have explored banning after-hours email; when one Italian company banned all email for one week, stress levels dropped among employees. This is not a great surprise: A Gallup study found that among those who frequently check email after working hours, about half report having a lot of stress.
Some critics argue that Modafinil is an expression of that, a symptom of a new 24/7 work routine. But what if the opposite is true? Let’s say you could perform a task in significantly less time than usual. You could then use the rest of your time differently, spending it with family, volunteering, or taking part in a leisure activity. And imagine that a drug helped you focus on clearing your desk and inbox before leaving work. Wouldn’t that help you relax once you get home?
In other words, smart drugs could be used to alleviate stress while also making us more productive. In theory, we could work shorter hours in a more focused and productive manner, rather than long hours in an unfocused and unproductive way.
Taken together, it’s hard to say how executives will respond to these questions. The issue of smart drugs is rife with ethical and business dilemmas. But people are turning to smart drugs in the workplace even as we ask and try to answer these questions.
Over the last few months, as part of a new research project, I have talked with five people who regularly use drugs at work. They are all successful in their jobs, financially secure, in stable relationships, and generally content with their lives. None of them have plans to stop using the drugs, and so far they have kept the secret from their employers. But as their colleagues become more likely to start using the same drugs (people talk, after all), will they continue to do so?
I have also tried to get in contact with senior executives who have experience with these drugs (either themselves or in their firms), but without success. I have to wonder: Are they completely unaware of the drugs’ existence? Or are they actively suppressing the issue? For now, companies can ignore the use of smart drugs. And executives can pretend as if these drugs don’t exist in their workplaces. But they can’t do it forever.



Why You Should Watch Out for Your 5-Year Job Anniversary


Most of us begin a new position with energy and a desire to impress. Our effort is high. Our passion is infectious. Our enthusiasm helps us to excel quickly.
But for some, work becomes mundane and repetitive. They lose some of their passion, and their work can begin to feel like a chore. Eventually some of those executives who had initially loved their careers enter the dimension we call the “day prison.” As they enter their workspace, they feel the metaphorical bars close around them in a zone where they are unmotivated, dissatisfied, and much less productive than they could be.
To better understand this phenomenon we examined data from 970 such people in a single organization. They were between 35 and 44 years old (the typical range for the onset of a mid-career crisis), and they all rated their engagement at work in the bottom 10%.
How did these “day prisoners” compare with the rest of the organization?
  • Compared to the makeup of the overall organization, there were slightly fewer males (-3.7%) and more females (+2.4%).
  • There also were fewer high school graduates (-5.9%) and more graduate (+2.5%) and post graduate degrees (+2.2%).
  • Thirty percent had been at the company from five to 10 years; 36% had been there between 10 to 20 years, but the age sample spanned all levels and positions in the organization, including executives, and we found people in day prison in all tenure categories. In fact, we found three executives who were in day prison along with their staffs.
What was troubling them? When we performed a factor analysis on the items on their employee feedback surveys that drew the most significantly negative responses, we identified eight critical issues. Here they are, in order of importance:
  1. Lack of pride and satisfaction with the organization. The most discontent stemmed from employees’ identifying a situation where the organization mistreated customers in some way that shook their confidence and caused them to feel a loss of pride in their company. These employees were much less likely to recommend the organization to a friend and described themselves as much more likely to leave the organization.
  2. Minimal appreciation or recognition. This was not only a sense people had that they had tried their best and not gotten recognition but was particularly strong among those who felt the organization failed to recognize anyone.
  3. Absence of challenge and meaning in work. Some jobs are challenging at first, but after the 10,000th iteration have become monotonous and boring. These people felt unable to make use of their skills and abilities in their current roles. They felt that most days they had not achieved anything worthwhile. In these roles, they felt they were no longer on a path to career advancement.
  4. Unwillingness to go beyond basic requirements. Every day people make judgments about their discretionary effort. Will they do just the minimal amount of work required to keep their jobs, a bit more than that, or are they willing to give a 100% effort? We were not surprise to see that these unengaged individuals resisted putting forth extra effort. For some, the rationale was this: “I get very little from this organization and therefore I choose to give them only my minimal effort.” Simply put, their built-up resentment resulted in a refusal to accomplish more work.
  5. Conclusion that they were not treated fairly. Stuck in monotonous jobs, it’s not surprising that these people now believed they were continually getting the short end of the stick while others received benefits they didn’t deserve. They had become bitter — and sometimes even belligerent.
  6. Feeling of powerlessness. Not only did they feel they were treated unfairly but that any effort to point out their concerns would not be heard or addressed. They felt helpless, with no advocates and no influence. The way they saw it, they simply did not matter.
  7. The company failed to value and practice values such as teamwork, trust, and fostering diversity. As they observed the organization, what stood out for these people were failures of the organization to “walk the talk.”
  8. Minimal opportunities for growth and development opportunities. This disengaged group felt like a pair of hands that were used and abused. Others in the organization had been given opportunities to develop new skills, but they rarely were.
It did not surprise us that many of these factors mirror those we found in earlier research  in which we examined 360 feedback from more than 320,000 employees in a variety of organizations and found that the most unhappy people were mid-level employees and managers who’d been at the their companies between five and 10 years.
In both cases, people felt their contributions were not being fairly recognized and appreciated. In both cases, they reported feelings of helplessness and powerlessness. But in our previous research, most of the grievances focused on feelings of overwork, and problems with an immediate boss, whereas here we see a more generalized discontent with the shortcomings of the company as a whole, and the nature of their work and career opportunities. Far from suffering from overwork, these people are protesting that their talents are being underutilized. They’re complaining of soul-sucking boredom.
While we would make no claims to any universality to data stemming from only one company, these findings suggest some fairly simple steps that would certainly do no individual or organization any harm and might offer the possibility of forestalling a possibly avoidable mid-life crisis.
To the organization we would say this: Over the years, we’ve asked executives to reflect on their own curve of excitement and creativity in all the jobs they’ve done. At what point does the downturn occur? The consistent answer we receive is five years. Asking people to do the same job for years is cruel and unusual punishment. So at the very least, we would suggest that managers be on the lookout at the five-year point for signs of boredom in their staffs, and nip it the bud by giving some thought to assignments that will require new skills and capabilities. Don’t let these people languish just because they are continuing to do a good job for you.
We recognize that managers love to hang on to good people too long. But even the simplest organizational intervention – the requirement that all job assignments be posted – can be remarkably effective. For example, one of the large global consulting firms we counsel was having a turnover problem when project managers resisted supporting their employees in their efforts to take on new assignments because the managers feared losing the assistance they needed for current projects. To solve this, the firm designed a process in which internal assignments were posted and every employee could apply for jobs that interested them. This seemingly obvious, low-cost step gave employees the impetus to take new assignments and while also giving the company a better ability to keep the best talent in the firm.
And to individuals we would say this: If this list of grievances resonates with you, we would direct your attention to point #4 — the impulse to withhold discretionary effort. However justified and natural, working to rule will just feed into your feelings of uselessness, powerlessness, and boredom, not to mention justifying the organization’s view that your contributions don’t deserve special recognition. Before you throw in the towel, consider whether you can escape this prison on your own.
You can try to pull yourself out of the career ditch by shifting the burden from blaming the organization to raising the bar on your own efforts. If the organization won’t help you do it, use your own initiative. Taking on new and important challenges can change the dynamics of the game. Work may not have to be about feeling underutilized and disconnected from the organization. It can be about putting your best efforts to good use and making a discernable difference. That effort may not get the recognition it deserves. But it could bring the satisfaction back of doing important work, and doing it well. At the very least it will set you up for a better position at a wiser organization.



BRAND Archetypes through lens -Indian-Brands

There has been so much already written about brand archetypes and this is certainly not one more of those articles. In fact, this is rather ...