MEDITATION-CONQUER THE STRESS || Black and White CA ||

MEDITATION-CONQUER THE STRESS

The benefits of mindfulness meditation, increasingly popular in recent years, are supposed to be many: reduced stress and risk for various diseases, improved wellbeing, and a rewired brain. But the experimental bases to support these claims have been few. Supporters of the practice have relied on very small samples of unrepresentative subjects, like isolated Buddhist monks who spend hours meditating every day, or on studies that generally were not randomized and did not include placebo control groups.

Put most simply, meditation is a way to train the mind. Most of the time, our minds are wandering — we're thinking about the future, dwelling on the past, worrying, fantasizing, fretting or daydreaming. Meditation brings us back to the present moment, and gives us the tools we need to be less stressed, calmer and kinder to ourselves and others.

To meditate mindfully demands ''an open and receptive, nonjudgmental awareness of your present-moment experience,'' says J. David Creswell, who led the study and is an Associate Professor of Psychology and the Director of the Health and Human Performance Laboratory at Carnegie Mellon University. One difficulty of investigating meditation has been the placebo problem. In rigorous studies, some participants receive treatment while others get a placebo: they believe they are getting the same treatment when they are not. But people can usually tell if they are meditating. Dr. Creswell, working with scientists from a number of other universities, managed to fake mindfulness.

Mindfulness meditation isn't about letting your thoughts wander, it isn't about trying to empty your mind, either. Instead, the practice involves paying close attention to the present moment — especially our own thoughts, emotions and sensations — whatever it is that's happening.

It's important to approach your new meditation practice with a healthy outlook. Try to be relaxed, curious and friendly. Staying in touch with these qualities will be useful as you encounter some of the inevitable ups and downs of meditation. If you find yourself striving too hard or criticizing yourself, take a few deep breaths and give yourself permission to relax and take it easy. Remember, the purpose of meditation isn't to achieve perfect control over your mind or stop thinking altogether. The intention should be to bring a more compassionate, calm and accepting approach to whatever happens.

By CHIRAG JITENDRA SAMANI
CA Student
At Skill-Set & Will-Set to be A Chartered Accounant
Students Skills Enrichment Board (ICAI)

Read More

I FACE CA EXAM WITH A GLOW ON MY FACE || Black and White CA ||

I FACE CA EXAM WITH A GLOW ON MY FACE

Exams are to teach us, Exams are to preach us,
Exams are to test us, Exams are to show best of us,
Exams are not to increase our load,
But Exams are to make us into shining gold……

It is truly said that if you work for scores, you may pass the examination but if you work for gaining knowledge and grasping the basic concepts, you will surely succeed in every examination may it be your CA exams or your life

CA is one of the toughest exams of our country and its toughness in terms of examination and evaluation increases the stress in a student's mind. But CA is not an exam to just score 50% marks in aggregate but to teach us some basic lessons of life like time management, stress management, workload management, facing the failure in life, trying again and again till we succeed and many more.

To conquer such a challenging phase of our life, we need to be with a cool mind as only a focused mariner can cross a stormy sea towards his destination. For me, marks don't matter but efforts do. To give our 100% efforts, we need to have a goal oriented thinking and for me, the goal is getting full knowledge of the CA exam which helps me to tackle the stress and have a glow on my face while I prepare for the exams.

Only one person can obstruct your path to success and that's no one other than you yourself… Just like a butterfly has to struggle a lot for coming out of its cocoon but that struggle makes it stronger to face upcoming challenges, we have to do the same in our life. We need to understand that this stress, this struggle will make our future happier and thus, we have to work towards our destination with zeal and enthusiasm that will make our face glow with gleam of self confidence and pleasure for the journey towards our goal. At last, but not the least,

Our mind is like a vast ocean,
Where there is a mixture of peace and motion,
Peace acts as our energy potion,
And we face a whirlpool of emotions,
For success to be in our hands,
We must be peaceful at all stands,
Our zeal must not know any limits,
Because a person is known by glow it emits……

By DIVYA SHARDA
CA Student
At Skill-Set & Will-Set to be A Chartered Accounant
Students Skills Enrichment Board (ICAI)

Read More

LIFE SKILLS || Black and White CA ||

LIFE SKILLS

LEISURE
What is this life if, full of care,
We have no time to stand and stare
No time to see, when woods we pass,
Where squirrels hide their nuts in grass
No time to see, in broad daylight,
Streams full of stars like skies at night.
- W.H. DAVIS

This verse of leisure resonates with each of us as we always crib about “No time”. While we are busy acquiring skill, learning facts and data consciously or unconsciously, we have absolutely forgotten who we are and our personal elite nature.

These lines give me essence that how far we have gone from ourselves, how detached we are at the excuse “This is how life should be lived, this is what everyone does”, silencing our inner voice by calling ourselves practical birds

We are working hard trying to show others 'What we are capable of'. Well actually we are going away from our actual self, our treasure. In my following poem I describe our lives..

I lived in my own luxury cage of EMI,
And I lived my life as an advertising script,
I consumed sugar water for happiness
And I replaced my brain with an apple library

My world was controlled and the sky
was a lovely artificial blue projected
on a protective anti UV dome

And I wondered what took humans so
long to convert the planet into this
beautiful cave of steel. We should
have killed all the animals and cut all
the trees and spewed carbon by tones
much faster.

I am living in incredible computational
power , where virtual world is more close,
facebooking has super liking compared
to face to face talks and having smartphone
ensures one' s smartness.

And I woke up frightened shaky like a
leaf, I saw that I had turned into a consumer zombie.
And I quickly switched on my tablet
and turned on the application for
counting sheep.

Firstly, we are creating problems and then we are creating temporary solutions, zombies work like this, we are HUMANS.

“Simplicity” is answer. Once Gandhiji said, “It is always the simple, that produces marvelous''. Live like humans and more than half of your problems are solved.

Add color to your life everyday.
Add meaning and
Most importantly “LOVE THYSELF”

Learn to see the world like you used to see as a child, full of possibilities, and all your worries shall disappear, queries will be answered, anxieties will subside and stress shall release.

Instead of same old stereotype mechanical way, see world from your own eyes (mind), everything around you shall automatically gloom

By CHARMI CHHEDA
CA Student
At Skill-Set & Will-Set to be A Chartered Accounant
Students Skills Enrichment Board (ICAI)

Read More

TIME MANAGEMENT - LIFE MANAGEMENT || Black and White CA ||

TIME MANAGEMENT - LIFE MANAGEMENT

Time, the most precious but limited resource. Be it a rich or a poor person, a successful or a failure, the almighty has gifted equal time to everyone. Then why do we find some of us saying – Oh, I don't have time.

“It is the Time Management that makes the difference.”

With every new life born to this world, there starts its time. What is life meant for?

• Is it just a cycle to be born, earn livelihood and die?
• Is it just a matter of abiding rules, systems or values?


Obviously, no. Life is actually meant to live utilizing our time fruitfully. It doesn't mean that we need to always keep ourselves engaged towards our responsibilities or professional or business or employment objectives. Sometimes we find people who usually seem extremely busy and hardworking still they may not be much satisfied with themselves.




Why is it so?
That's only because they lack work life balance which originates from time management. It is well known fact that exercises, entertainment, social participation and vacations are also basic needs of a worthy life. It applies to everyone. All of us dream to have a well settled, happy and healthy life and in fact it is our right. But we need to learn that it is our first and foremost responsibility to respect our time and carry out all activities whether it is related to work, studies, fitness, social events, domestic work or any sort of activity in a well-planned manner.




Time management is a practice. The more we will practice, the more we can improve it. We know that planning our time is a matter of utmost importance but a plan is useless if it is not acted upon and so arises the need of managing time with plan. Time when managed will ultimately result in life management as it sets everything in order. We can make our life much more beautiful with the skill of time management.




It is said that –

Time and Tide wait for none!





And of course, we, being the part of CA fraternity are well aware about importance of time. So, let us come together wholeheartedly and be determined to nurture the habit of time management. This will not only make us more successful but also give the immense happiness and satisfaction of living a quality life, the greatest gift of God.




By PRACHI KUMARI
CA Student
At Skill-Set & Will-Set to be A Chartered Accounant
Students Skills Enrichment Board (ICAI)

Read More

KILL THE STRESS || Black and White CA ||

There is a famous quote that

It is not the stress that kills us, it is our reaction to it

Stress is body's reaction to a challenge. A Positive stress would help us in preparing for certain challenges, deadlines like preparing for Examinations, completing projects, etc. But too much of stress could result in both physical and emotional problems. Therefore, kill the stress before it kills you

Managing stress is all about taking charge of your thoughts, your emotions, your schedule, your environment and your way to deal with the problems. The ultimate goal is a balanced life, with time for work, relationships, relaxation and fun. Below are few sources of stress and how to manage the same :

First one would be comparing ourselves to others. For example, When your friend clears exam and you don't. Instead of constantly comparing yourself with others, just be yourself. Prepare and implement your own strategies for achieving short term and long term goals. Evaluate your performance at regular intervals. Lastly, When you can't stop comparing yourself with others, compare yourself with your highest self

Next one would be making excuses. For example, postponing works for petty reasons, diverting your valuable time to unproductive things and later on regretting for it. So, whenever you feel like getting diverted or losing focus, just think about it for a couple of minutes “Which one is important for me?”

Over thinking is very common and it may be caused by self-doubt, low self-esteem and past experiences. Too much of thinking causes stress and results in psychological problems. If you are over thinking about something means, you are creating a problem which really doesn't exist. Boost your confidence, recycle your thoughts, throw away negative thoughts into dust bin and keep yourself away from negative people. Don't get so caught up in the hustle and bustle of life that you forget to take care of your own needs. Nurturing yourself is a necessity, not a luxury

Few healthy ways to reduce stress are:

• Going for a walk
• Curl up with a good book
• Jog down points like what causes you the stress and how you have coped up with the same
• Listen to your favorite music
• Practice Yoga, Meditation
• Watch comedy shows or hang out with friends who make you laugh.

By NEHA DHARPALLY
CA Student
At Skill-Set & Will-Set to be A Chartered Accounant
Students Skills Enrichment Board (ICAI)

Read More

ART OF NEGOTIATION || Black and White CA ||

When it comes to Art and especially the Art of Negotiation, its not only about presentation but preparation and execution play equally important roles. If I try to define it in simple terms then we can say that Negotiation means convincing a person in such a way that he/she comes out of his conscience and accepts all our conditions.

Here, preparation can be a vital component. It interprets to have complete research and to collect all the relevant data which helps to have a more convincing point. After that, execution annotates to analyze the collected relevant data, and then the discussion is a must to review all the absurdities.

Negotiation can be performed over these expedients i.e. the ethos- an ethical appeal, the logos- the logical appeal or through the pathos - the appeal through emotions. One can be the master of negotiation by pursuing experience and patience. The art of negotiation in a person becomes stronger over time. Once an Entrepreneur said,

"When I was 4 years old I used to negotiate for a penny but I failed and at present, I negotiate with people for millions and make them agree.”

Sometimes negotiation can be quiet but at the same time, it can be penetrating. One should learn to tolerate and to regulate his agitations for becoming a lucrative negotiator. Sometimes, the person's euphemisms dominate the person which leads to drain. Also, patience is necessary because you never know how long it will take the other person to acknowledge to your terms.

Many successful negotiators focus on reading minds rather than reading the numbers which empowers them to know the deliberation of the other one. Thus, to master this art one should be a connoisseur in examining the minds

As we discussed above, one should be patriarch in terms of ethics, logic, and emotions i.e. Ethos, Pathos, and Logos.

“No is not the end of Negotiation but it's the only word to start "

By ANUJ VINOD VIDHANI
CA Student
At Skill-Set & Will-Set to be A Chartered Accounant
Students Skills Enrichment Board (ICAI)

Read More

EFFECTIVE PUBLIC SPEAKING || Black and White CA ||

EFFECTIVE PUBLIC SPEAKING

He came, He saw, He trembled.

Believe me! No one wants to end up being on a stage in this stage while public speaking yet most of us (even the experienced ones!) go through stage fear and this is natural, very natural for a human being who is a live representative of what he is speaking and how he speaking.

People from every corner of the room are observing him, listening him and some might even start yawning (remember the last time you yawned while listening to someone?) But the good news, is you can excel the art of public speaking if you have these 3 things – time, patience and most importantly, persistence.

The reason why most people think they are not good at public speaking is that they have never tried it! So yes, try it whenever and wherever you get an opportunity and remember to follow these tips (almost daily; if possible) as every art form has its own basics. Let us dive right into this

READING

It is one of the most basic things to get started with public speaking. But why is this so? Answer is pretty simple. Every one of us is unique. We have different tastes, preferences and interests. Thus, different people tend to express same thing in a different manner

The above maxim also applies to public speaking. Some of us are funny, some are bold, some are simple, some are poetic and so on. Also it is no secret that we cherish variety.

Reading is helpful for public speaking as we find a variety of words which may resonate with us and with our audience. It makes us more flexible in terms of vocabulary as more reading means we can express same thing in many ways.

BODY LANGUAGE AND TONE OF VOICE

Alright, so you are almost done reading all of your favorite stuff. Your brain has all weapons (in the form of vocabulary) ready. So what's next? Go out and speak.

But how? Now this point is very crucial as this is our actual starting point where we would be looking out for opportunities to speak. You can speak anywhere from your cousin's weeding to a local speech competition. The key is to start slow by taking small leaps and then slowly improving yourself and this TAKES TIME, so better be patient. Secondly, no matter how you speak you need to be confident on stage. It is very common to become more conscious of yourself in front of bunch of people who have set all eyes on you. For a second your heart will beat like a drum but tell yourself to be confident because at the end of the day those people are just like you and me with 2 eyes, 2 ears, 2 hands and legs and they make mistakes too! They are just like you so be comfortable and smile. This is where the confidence comes from .It comes from within you.

Also, confidence comes from comfortable clothes. So make sure that you don't give your speech in the tightest pair of jeans. Just wear something comfortable and nice stuff.

Thirdly, your voice should be clear enough so that people will be able to understand what you are speaking. This of course, comes from practice.

So moral of the point: The more you practice, more improved will be your body language and tone of voice will be. So no matter how small the opportunity, promise me you will be grabbing it anyways! same thing in many ways.

KNOW YOUR AUDIENCE

I don't need to tell you that you speak because you want to be heard. You want all the ears in the room curiously thinking that what he/she will say next.

They don't want a boring speaker who will make them feel that they have been sitting in this room from ages and now all they want is to get rid of this speaker!

Thus, it is very important to know who your audience is. Most common points to analyse your audience are –

• Are they children, teenagers, elderly people, etc?
• What is their profession? (Student/Housewife/CA/Doctor/Engineer/Lawyer/etc.)
• Why are they here? (Free lunch/college authorities will mark them absent if they don't attend this seminar/etc.)
• At what time they would be listening your talk ? (Because if it's after the lunch your audience will be sleepy so you need to be walking of the whole stage asking them some questions or crack a good joke to induce a huge wave of laughter in which their sleep would be washed away) And many more points...

Knowing your audience will help you with proper choice of vocabulary while writing down your speech which in turn would make you more confident as you know what are you doing and why are you doing.

KNOW YOUR STYLE

I previously quoted in point 1 -

Every one of us is unique. We have different tastes, preferences and interests. Thus, different people tend to express same thing in a different manner

This means that we do have different styles and we should know our style not just for the sake of knowing it but we can actually use our style to engage people. Remember we don't want them to yawn while listening to us.

If I were to speak about public speaking how would I speak?

I have read enough books. I am also confident about myself. I have a clear tone of voice.
I don't know the age group of my audience but I surely know that for many of these people coming up to the stage and speaking fluently seems like a dream. So, I need to design my talk in a very simple and understandable manner and of course, they should be interested in what I am speaking.

On the other hand, I love reading poetry, stories and jokes. I want to grab everyone's attention from the very first word I utter. So inspired from the famous Latin phrase - I came, I saw, I conquered (Veni, Vidi, Vici) I plan to open my speech by saying - He came, He saw, He trembled.

Of course, there is no one correct way to design a speech. It is just like maths where we can solve 1 problem in many ways. Thus, it is now your job to find your style like I found mine! Again, this process of finding your style takes time as you would know it after speaking at least 3-4 times in front of the public.

But I am sure with practice and time you will surely know your style and then(in future) you can try experimenting with your style in front of different audiences by using different words, body language, tone of voice, literary devices, etc.

At last but not the least remember friends that it does not matter if you are a beginner or an expert enjoy the art and it will be yours (maybe forever).

By SAMRUDDHI PRAKASH HUNDIKAR
CA Student
At Skill-Set & Will-Set to be A Chartered Accounant
Students Skills Enrichment Board (ICAI)

Read More

ATTITUDE+ || Black and White CA ||

ATTITUDE+

Attitude is a great way to achieve success in our life. A positive attitude converts the difficulties into opportunities. It gives us self-motivation, courage and also rise the power of visualisation. Good things only happen when things will be visualised. It builds up a good personality. It fills courage to convert our own dreams into reality and it also boosts our confidence. If we want happiness in every work of the life so a positive attitude is very necessary. It also encourages doing every work which creates some value to the life whether it is small or large because every work have their own importance. If our attitude is positive in every situation so it gives a peaceful life.

ATTITUDE MAINLY DEPENDS UPON WHAT WE THINK, HOW WE LOOK TO EVERY SITUATION, ETC

What we think - Attitude relates to our thinking because everything in our life is dependent upon what we think. If our thinking is positive then it gives us better results and also gives courage to fight the problems and also convert problems into opportunities.

How we look to every situation - Attitude also depends upon how we look to every situation because it gives courage to take responsibilities and perform the work. Attitude gives a better framework to handle the any situation in the life.

It develops positivity and also converts the selfish behaviour into selfless behaviour. It enhances the feeling of uniqueness in oneself and not to compare with others. It gives a best direction to the mind to reach the goal in a systematic way. Positive thoughts and attitude always construct a beautiful life. It is a powerful way to express the opinion in a better way and also increase our skills. It also encourages in handling the mistakes and making a better strategy to perform more and more in the life. A great example of positive attitude is that nothing is impossible in the life and also depends upon simple equation i.e. without efforts - nothing is possible, with efforts - something is possible, with efforts and positive attitude - everything is possible.

So always be positive in the life and it always depends upon the thinking. With a positive attitude, whatever happens in the life gives happiness whether it is small or big. All successful person have a positive attitude in their life. Always be happy in life.

By BHAVESH BANG
CA Student
At Skill-Set & Will-Set to be A Chartered Accounant
Students Skills Enrichment Board (ICAI)

Read More

PLEASANT PERSONALITY || Black and White CA ||

PLEASANT PERSONALITY

“I want to be the center of attraction!! I want to be the talk of the town!! My goal is to create a lasting impression and have a magnetic personality!!” It is the tendency of the human mind to always wonder and have such desires. The question is “Is it wrong to have such thoughts?” Absolutely not. However, the approach should be a little different. Looking beautiful, being the center of attraction or just trying to impress others by imitating someone is not the answer. It's about being the best version of yourself. It's just being who you are and developing your own unique personality. In today's world, the idea is to maintain a pleasant personality.

What do you exactly understand by a pleasant personality?? It's a combination of SPICE - Social mannerisms, physical traits, intelligence, character and emotional behavior. Inner beauty is very essential to achieve a strong personality. The very thought that comes to our mind is “Is it really possible to achieve a pleasant personality?” Well, you can have an attractive exterior only to some extent but each one of us has the ability to train our minds as much as we want and create an amazing personality that lasts for a lifetime!!

A person with a pleasant personality is confident and believes in himself. He is always open to new opportunities and challenges. An optimistic attitude is his guide and a wonderful smile, his best companion!! In the pursuit of achieving success, originality is his recipe and imagination along with mental alertness is the key ingredient. And needless to say, he garnishes it with fun and humor without which the dish is incomplete! Furthermore, one has to be an active listener and an avid reader as well. One should always meet new people, treat them with respect and show gratitude. Dressing style and body language act as a supplement to enhance your personality. Pleasant personality kills negativity within yourself, you start building trust and it automatically attracts positive people. Just a smile on one's face can be worth a million dollars and lightens up the mood easily. Imagine what wonders a pleasant personality can create!! Of course, it is not possible to achieve it overnight. It requires self-acceptance along with patience to change yourself!! And remember, PERSONALITY DOES TALK!!

By DEEPAL VIKAS GOHEL
CA Student
At Skill-Set & Will-Set to be A Chartered Accounant
Students Skills Enrichment Board (ICAI)

Read More

BORN TO BE A LEADER || Black and White CA ||

BORN TO BE A LEADER

What does the word leader mean? To be strong, positive? Well, these are the features of being a leader but what does the word mean? For me, "Leader" is a void word. I have an opinion that people have not correctly framed LEADER. The grammatical meaning of a leader is to lead but is it so? I feel to lead does not mean leadership, to stay at the back and let others lead does.

A leader not might be the one who leads but the one who let all the people with him lead. That’s why he’s a leader. It’s not fundamentally wrong for someone to lead but it is fundamentally right to give others the chance to lead. I once read an article about a pack of wolves and it was surprising that the leader of the pack was at the last, why? To ensure that no-one is left behind.

Leadership comes with much more responsibility than power. The question is whether leaders are born or created or something else? I do not know the answer but I definitely know one thing which is Leaders do not blend in because they are born to stand out. They are ordinary people with extraordinary responsibilities. Being in charge of responsibility takes an enormous amount of courage.

IS EVERYONE SUPPOSED TO BE A LEADER?

I believe that if we have a term, the opposite of that must exist. So, let us imagine if there are no leaders. If there are no leaders there would be no followers. If there are no followers people would be independent. Everyone would be concerned about their life. The problem which I’m imagining is about the people who are not able to do things independently

There are no leaders so who will come to their rescue? Or is it not important for humans to uplift each other? Who will come to their backup? Not to solve their problems but to guide? You need a map to get out of the desert. Leaders are those maps. They won’t help you. They’ll just give you a reason to start. You’ll have to continue your journey alone but with a guided path. I’m not going to answer the question. Are leaders necessary or not? It is for you to decide.

By ANEESH JAIDEEPSINGH DEORE
CA Student
At Skill-Set & Will-Set to be A Chartered Accounant
Students Skills Enrichment Board (ICAI)

Read More