Three Point Personal Lifestyle Charter for a Values-Based Manager - Part 2 ... Continued from Part 1
2. Lifestyle Management i. Work and Rest Sleep is closely linked to age. Infants need 22 hours of sleep. They are in the wakeful state only while drinking milk and bathing. For children between the ages of 5 - 12, 10 hours of sleep is essential. Those between 12 - 32 years of age require 7 to 8 hours of sleep. There is another aspect to be understood at this juncture. For instance people go to bed at 9 p.m. and wake-up at 4 a.m. which means that they have slept for 7 hours. And yet, you may have noticed that quite a few people doze off at work during day time. The treatment for this ailment is to sleep early and to wake up early. But do not wake up before 4 a.m. which may become a little too early. Instead, you can still find your seven hours of sleep by going to bed at 9.30 p.m. and waking up at 4.30 a.m. This will ensure that you do not feel sleepy during day time. After your dinner, spend some time in doing some activity such as reading, writing, etc. Then reflect over what you have done during that day and go to sleep by 9.30 p.m. After a few days, you will yourself be able to wake up at 4.30 a.m. through the adjustment of your biological clock. This habit will also gradually prevent you from feeling sleepy during the day time. Students and youth should not sleep during the day time. Elderly people can sleep for a while during the day. At the same time, students and youth must see to it that they do not rush to work immediately after lunch. They should recline on the chair for some time after lunch, close their eyes and take a little rest. That is why it is said, "Walk a while after dinner, rest a while after lunch". After eating, the blood rushes from the head to the digestive system. This induces some drowsiness. It is not proper to walk at that time. It is better to close one's eyes and take rest until the circulation to the head resumes. Those who are between 35 - 50 years of age can do with just 5 hours of sleep. Forgetfulness sets in if one sleeps for more than the required time. Hence, forgetfulness does not come with age, but it comes due to sleep in excess of the required time. ii. Regulated Habits Limits have relevance to various aspects of life. Therefore, limits are required for life as well as business. Limits are the confines or the restrictions beyond which a particular phenomenon under consideration would be perceived as abnormal. Limits to life originate from within an individual. For instance, when you are having dinner, though you have eaten enough, you may be tempted to eat a little more. At that time, from within every individual comes a warning, signalling that you have eaten adequately. How brilliant is this signal! Your own body will indicate to you that what you have consumed till then is enough. Whenever a car applies its brakes, at the rear end, you see a red light flash as an indicator. Similarly in life, you have several natural signals. When you are overtaken by uncontrollable anger, your lips start quivering. Your entire body trembles with rage. That is the signal from the body that your anger has exceeded its limits. Go away from that place and sit alone. That will help you cool down your temper. In this way, there is a signal for everything and also a way out of such problems. Your conscience also warns you when you go wrong. When you exceed your limits, it tells you to calm down. Hence, do not look for signals from the external world. There is nothing special about the external world. Nothing can be performed in a normal manner without adhering to the applicable limits. Take the human body as an example. The human body remains at a normal temperature of 98.4 degrees Celsius. If the temperature crosses the prescribed limit, one can assume that the symptoms of fever have set in. Similarly, your blood pressure should read 120/80. If it rises to 130/90, you may immediately infer that some problem is on its way. Eyeballs also have a limit to bear light. If the light is too bright, it may burn the retina. In this way, everything has a limit that must not be ignored or exceeded. Human Body: A Limited Company Body is indispensible for the existence of a living being. To live happily and peacefully, one has to be aware of the capacity of every organ of the body and its functions. Eyes are given to see, but only to a limited extent. Human eyes are not designed to see light beyond a certain limit of brightness. For example, the human eyes would get damaged by prolonged exposure to the sun. So also there is a limit for the human ear. The same thing holds good for every other organ of the body like the nose, skin, etc. Beyond a certain limit, they cannot function properly. Trying to exceed the limits amounts to misuse or abuse of organs, in which case there will be no delight but only despair. Similarly, there is a limit set to one's pulse, heartbeat, blood pressure, etc. If any of the functions exceeds the safe limits or fall below the limits set, there is surely an ailment or disease. Hence the body or human life is said to be a limited company. Above all, these organs should not be used for seeing evil, hearing evil, talking evil and doing evil. Take another example, when you are hungry, you may decide to eat a Chapati. When you finish it and have a feeling that you can eat one more, you must stop. Do not proceed to eat more and more. You must have seen puppies licking milk. They lick the entire bowl of milk and collapse out of drowsiness. They are unable to move anymore because of their bloated tummies. Their tummy bulges out because of which their growth would be affected. If the same feeding pattern continues, their bodies might also grow in a disproportionate shape. Hence, over-eating results in chubbiness initially and gradually leads to obesity. Physical appearance also gets affected by overeating. Hence one must cultivate limits for everything - eating, walking, talking, etc. This limit should act as a warning signal to us. iii. Control of Temper Sometimes, when you experience tension and temper, what must you do? Do not stay at the same spot and argue about it. Move away from that place and drink a cup of cold water. If the irritation still persists, take a look at the reflection of your face in a mirror. Your face will be distorted with anger and the reflection will make you feel disgusted with yourself. This aversion will automatically calm you down. For still severe cases of anger, a brisk walk for a short distance is suggested. This will definitely lessen your anger. There are several such ways to set you free from the grip of emotional irritation. By walking briskly, your blood circulation improves, which plays down the chaotic situation. You must all know that when a person is in rage, the essence of the food partaken by him for three months is instantly exhausted. To cool the system of the individual, it takes three additional months. Hence, as far as possible, stay away from emotional outbursts and upheavals. When talking to someone, if you feel irritated and angry, wish him good-bye and walk away from there. Your anger will then subside. Hence, there is enough scope for you to get rid of your anger and tension. To be continued... Source: Guidelines for a Values-Based Manager: Spiritual, Personal and Business, Chapter 11, Man Management: A Values-Based Management Perspective -- --- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "saimsg" group. To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to [email protected]. For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/d/optout.
