Raj Gopal Katju - 40 Stress Busters For Executives

Raj Gopal Katju

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Pustak Mahal, New Delhi

ISBN 978-81-223-1211-9

Edition: 2011

The Copyright of this book, as well as all matter contained herein (including illustrations) rests with the Publishers. No person shall copy the name of the book, its title design, matter and illustrations in any form and in any language, totally or partially or in any distorted form. Anybody doing so shall face legal action and will be responsible for damages.

Printed at : Param Offsetters, Okhla, New Delhi-110020

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Pustak Mahal

Acknowledgements

O ur Epics inform us that there are thousands
of Gods and many of them live in our land
amidst us.

How to recognize them ?

Easy.

For me they exist in the shape of my Gurus, my bosses who drilled into me the Art of Living - particularly the Art of Corporate Living.

It is my pleasant duty to mention three of them. My corporate life of almost 40 years was continuously blessed by them and their benevolence continues to be showered on me.

Dr. A. P. Singh, ex-director of Camphor & Allied Products Ltd., Bareilly looked after me, my family and my interests for over 20 years - and still does - guiding me, putting his faith in me, giving me his trust.

Shri S. P. Srivastava ex-Director (Technical) Gujarat Alkalies & Chemicals Ltd., Baroda, brought me to the wonderful city of Baroda and then nurtured my career till his retirement.

Shri A. K. Luke IAS, ex-M.D., GACL had a hand - the main hand - in my destiny during my last 2 years in GACL, lifting my attitude to life sky high, lending me his full confidence thus enabling me to tackle life after retirement very satisfactorily and successfully for the past six years (till now).

Humbly and with all sincerity, I salute the above three gentlemen.

My thanks are also due to the Management of M/s. Pustak Mahal and to Shri S. K. Roy Executive Editor for reposing faith in me for authoring this book.

Heres hoping that the Readers like it.

Contents

My w ord 11

Few t ips on p ositive s tress 14

Stress Management 40 Case Histories 20

1. DIVINE CALLING 25

Remember the Gita 26

Seek Divine Help 28

Count Your Blessings 30

Pranayam and Meditation 33

2. HEALTH CAPSULE 37

Join a Laughing Club 38

Why not Cry 40

Exercise in Moderation 43

Go for a Second Opinion 45

Homeo Call 47

Try Aromatherapy 50

3. BOSSMANIA 53

Do Homework Thoroughly 54

Choose the Joy of Living 56

Recourse to Action 58

Tackling an Unreasonable Boss 60

Do not Fight the Inevitable 62

Sleep over it 64

4. A FRIEND IN NEED 67

Do not Carry Others Monkeys 68

Consult a Friend 71

Develop Body Language 73

No o ne Ever Kicks a Dead Dog 75

Take Expert o pinion 78

If in Doubt DO 80

5. CAREER TWISTS 83

Seize o pportunities 84

Seek Greener Pastures 86

Do not Act in a Huff 88

Shun Impatience 90

Avoid p rocrastination 93

6. BEHAVIOURAL PATTERN 95

Crack a Joke 96

Enjoy the Inevitable 98

Comparison 100

Jealousy 103

Give to it the Rainbow 106

Change Track 108

7. SPOUSE SPICE 111

Discuss with Spouse 112

Tackling an Unreasonable Spouse 114

The Spendthrift Spouse 117

From the Frying Pan into the Fire 119

8. MISCELLANY 121

See the Silver Lining 122

Prepare a Directory of Experts as Friends 124

Do the SWOT Analysis 126

My Word

T he premise What is stress and how and why Executives acquire it is an intriguing one.
To answer it, one needs to go into the depth of
human mind.

As starters, one needs to know that stress like cholesterol is of two types the positive type
(like HDL cholesterol) and the negative type (like the LDL type).

Positive stress tends to stimulate the human brain to go into overdrive i.e. accepting challenges, planning to accomplish them, and finally the most important aspect taking action. Thus, positive stress has resulted in human development through the ages as regards social, technological and cultural changes and developments. From living in cave-like enclosures and using stone weapons to protect and preserve oneself millions of years ago, man has evolved into a being in the 21st century, delving into issues such as cloning and stem cell research.

Negative stress, on the other hand, gradually tends to destroy the mind. How does this happen?
h eres how.

Recent researches in Medical Science have conclusively proved that nearly all diseases of mankind originate from the mind the brain. Factors such as regular or continued negative traits or behaviour, viz. anxiety, worry, irritation, anger, melancholia and depression easily find their way into the human system resulting in the person becoming a victim of some disease or the other. The above traits are usually caused by stress due to emotional behaviour starting from early childhood. Sansk r or upbringing is a major factor.

The great Swedish lady Madam Maria Montessori recognized this aspect in the early decades of last century and delving into the root cause developed the Montessori System of Education. In this, tiny tots from the age of 2 to 3 were exposed to an atmosphere of enjoyable education and curiosity in the form of Playpens or Nursery Schools. The latter were equipped with items such as balloons, coloured balls, illustrated alphabets with coloured blown-up photographs of animals, fishes, birds, fruits, vegetables, multicoloured beads, etc.

An individual brought up in such an atmosphere is likely to love education, attending schools, inter-acting with his peers; thereby, developing a cheerful open mind and a positive approach to problem tackling. The moral of sharing, co-operation, inter-acting in a cool manner, knowing the difference between right and wrong, respecting others differing views and being truthful get imbibed. Such persons in later life, thus, have less chances of becoming prone to permanent stress attacks of the negative kind.

An executive can get stressed negatively due to a variety of causes. Some of these may be:

i) Too heavy a work load;

ii) Difficult or tough assignments;

iii)Unable to tackle workload because of: