Use Your Mind to Grow Professionally

When I was a kid, I saw plenty of goldfish in the houses of my friends, and I remember wondering why so many people would want to keep such small, unexciting creatures as pets.

Then one day, when I was about ten years old, I went on a school field trip to a botanical garden that had a pond stocked with fish. One especially large, brilliantly colored fish stood out to me.

"What kind of fish is that one?" I asked our guide.
"That's a goldfish," she replied.
I was confused. "Aren't goldfish supposed to be small?" I asked with a note of 9-year-old sarcasm.
"Not at all," she replied. "Goldfish will grow even larger than these. It really just depends on the size of their environment."

I took in the information and determined to never again show myself so ignorant about goldfish, but it was years before I understood the broader lesson.

How often have I been like a goldfish in a fishbowl? How often have I limited myself by my perception of my world? Worse still, how many times have I put others in a small bowl in my mind? How many times have I written off someone as insignificant or unexciting? How many times have I failed to see others' potential to grow?

How much more could I achieve if I forgot my perceived limitations and dared to swim beyond the boundaries I've set for myself? And what would happen if I moved others from their small bowls into the ocean of limitless possibilities?

Just imagine a world full of people with that perspective, who truly believe that anything is possible and reach out to claim it. Together we could do astounding things. Apply this same principle to your professional life and see how things around you will suddenly start to bloom with more possibilities and success.

You are no goldfish. Even the world is not big enough to be your bowl. The limitation of your mind is the only thing that sets you apart from a successful achiever. Will you be one too? All you need to do is believe that you can.

Source: Timesjob - HR Dialogue - http://www.timesjobs.com/Mailers/HRDialogue/sep09/landing/in_focus.html based on excerpts from www.activated.org

The Dell Story: Most Troubled Consumer Awards - Send in your nominations now!

Summary: Dell thinks that its customers are the most jobless and useless people in the world. Dell thinks that its customers are born only to call up the Dell customer care. Dell also assumes that its customers are as dumb as they can be.
Conclusion: I won't say think twice before choosing Dell. Don't ever think of purchasing anything Dell.

Harddrive Crash:

In less than 8 months of purchasing Dell Inspiron 1525 my harddrive crashed!!! It was a nightmare for me. Lost lots of office data, personal data. All my business plans and necessary information that I had prepared for starting own business venture was lost. Well! Dell did replace the harddrive with no help for data recovery.

Battery not charging:

My power adapter stopped working. It did not charge my battery anymore and the result was I was using a Dell Inspiron 1525 desktop of small size (without mobility due to zero power back-up a laptop is as good as a desktop) of small size. I think the desktop was actually better in many ways. With desktop after a sudden power cut you have UPS to save your work, with this laptop there was no such option available as battery won't charge.

Automatic system restart:

You seen magic, you believe in magic. No!!! Use my dell laptop I am sure you will have secondary thought. You leave the system ON for sometime, it will automatically restart and then re-restart. You click on hibernation, it will hibernate and start automatically, you again hibernate, it will hibernate and start automatically. Imagine this, you need to hibernate your system as you are about to move out of your house, you hibernate and hibernate and just hibernate for next 15 minutes till it does not stop starting automatically after a hibernation. Also, bear frustration of your friends waiting for you meanwhile.

Bluetooth Not Working:

Then comes the Bluetooth not working which did not allow me to back up my phone data. I would say this was a minor issue as more was to come soon.

Overheating & Hang:

Here, Dell offered me a new set of problems. Dell replaced the Heat Sink only to give rise to increased heating and frequent hang. Now, I couldn't keep the LAP-top on my lap just to avoid heat burns. Not to talk about the hang issues because all of us are aware how much it frustrates and puts someone in mental stress if the system you are working on hangs for a minute in every 10 minutes.

Power adapter stopped working:

The worst had not come yet. After adapter replacement, for a moment I started feeling that all electric sockets/ power outputs in my house had stopped working, but fortunately that was not the case. With-in a minute of connecting power adapter to any power output, the green light indicator on the adapter would go off and the system power supply would be cut. It was worse than battery not charging. It just meant that I could not use my system any more. No data recovery possible either. To continue working while traveling I had to resort to beg and borrow.

The smart-mover Dell Customer-care The Smart Cheater

First Dell told that they would do all the necessary required services to keep the system running. After explaining the obvious to one of their managers, Mr. Harinder, that it was not about Dell providing free service rather it was about the business downtime that I was facing and the hassles - time and energy it required to call up Dell every time the system breaks down, the manager in context promised for the whole unit replacement if the service provided this time wouldn't work. Having previous bad experiences with customer care, I demanded him to give me in writing, he said, "I have given my words for the whole unit replacement, you don't have to worry about it now. Be rest assured." And, all I was praying for that I wouldn't have to waste time calling Dell again for the whole unit replacement.
But not always, it happens as you wish. System broke down again and this time I did not even want a complete replacement. All I wanted was total refund for the money I had paid. The manager, whom I had spoken earlier, did not agree on refund but promised the replacement and told that I would receive mail from Dell explaining the procedure for complete replacement. It is already long enough time that I haven't heard back from Dell and after calling the customer care they have refused to give complete replacement. Moreover, the manager who made all the large promises has refused to come online.
In this whole procedure, since first time Bluetooth not working to power adapter not working and system hang, Dell wasted months, only to come closer to the end of warranty period. Such a smart firm, first they give you poor and temporary services only to pass the time and then when the time comes to full-fill their promise of complete replacement they retract by saying that you are at end of your warranty period.
Take a call, next time you want to be a Dell customer unless you are aiming at the Most Troubled Customer Award.
P.S. Thanks Dell for giving me an opportunity to write after a long time and thank you so much for playing memory games of remembering countless names of your executives.