Ever increasing fuel prices...

Hi,

I should start by accepting that fuel prices in Delhi are still cheaper than in other metros of the country. I should also mention that roads are much better here than most of the other metros of the country. Both these realities point towards relatively cheaper travel-by-car lifestyle...but is that really so!

Even if that is so - does it matter to me that I am paying less than some other guy in Bombay or Madras (btw, I still like the older names of these cities). The point is - I am paying more than what I used to. The point is my entire lifestyle is travel-by-car dependant and now it has started to pinch (a little more than that actually).

I just hope that the fuel prices come down sooner than later, or else I would surely be on a two-wheeler!

My weight loss program continues...

Hi,

This is in continuation of my previous post "I have lost some weight..." and unlike the woman in cartoon above, I have lost a few kilos!

Its been a little over three months that I was first made to realise what a heavy (and big) frame I had become and that I had to do something about it. This something about it was also served to me on a platter, with booking receipts to a gym membership.

I joined the gym, which was for the first time in my life and did take a fancy to the treadmill and the cross-trainer machine. Coming back from office, changing hurriedly and rushing to the gym to sweat it out was great fun - I must admit. In a few weeks itself - I could see that there is some improvement and I mentioned this in my last post on the topic. That time I had lost about 2-2.5 kgs.

But then, unfortunately the gym got sealed out by the sealing authorities (it was apparently illegal to run a gym from the basement house of a residential colony). Along with this closure - came the end of my exercise regime as well. But to my surprise, today I stand 6 kgs lighter than the day I first went to the gym.

What caused this continued loss of weight - well I don't know...just that my wife had ensured that we eat a little less fatty stuff and manage to go out for evening walks a little more regularly than otherwise...

It is such a great feeling to have all my jeans loose enough to fall down unless worn with a belt. But, the supreme happiness comes when people start telling you that you have slimmed down. And I have not been told by one or two - but a plenty!

Now - even though the gym remains closed (despite being un-sealed) I have started doing Yoga. This does not make me sweat just as much as I used to in the gym - but it certainly tires me out completely...let's see if I can manage to lose some more kgs in the coming weeks and come closer to my target weight.

Is A Business Owner the Only One Responsible

Hi,

I came across an interesting question that someone had posted - what is it that a business owner understands and not his employees?

This question immediately struck me - as I have been on both sides with being an employee for much longer than a business owner. I still feel that most of me works, thinks, functions like an employee - but this part of me is fading, slowly but surely.

I have not been able to truly pin-point what is the difference between an employee and an employer - but in my understanding, it is the sense of ownership.

I think the biggest challenge that one faces when the 'cross-over' happens, is the fact that now ownership is all yours. And I don't mean ownership as just who owns a business, but ownership of thoughts, ideas, results, drive, motivation, learning, speed, finances (or the lack of it) - well, just about everything is your own. That means, the-buck-stops-at-you!

As an employee, whether in a large-scale organization of a small one, there is always someone else who was supposed to deliver something - and since that didn't happen, I didn't do what I was supposed to. When one has his / her own business, then these things don't matter. Work not done means lost opportunity and time-wasted.

Having said that, I think it is not only the business owners who can actually feel the pressure of ownership - there are many employees who would take complete ownership of their set of responsibilities and when these responsibilities grow - sense of ownership grows as well.

What it all comes down to is this, if all employees start taking complete ownership of their responsibilities, then their relationship with the employer would improve and thus the employer shall not look like a scary halloween character! This shall improve the overall work culture and atmosphere - thus the results, for one and all!

Cheers...Happy Working!