A helping hand

Tragedy struck Japan in the last week. A major earthquake and a resulting tsunami struck on March 11 2011 which caused destruction, death and suffering to thousands of people.

Images have been plastered all over televisions the world over and every newspaper in the world has been covering the catastrophe.

Living just under 6000 miles away I can still feel the impact. The unbelievable loss of human life has left a permanent mark on my mind. To say this puts things into perspective is a major understatement.

We spend most of our lives worrying about things which at the time feel more important to us than anything else in the world. I have to hold my hands up and say that I am more guilty than most. I spend too much of my time procrastinating and worry about the past instead of taking action.

I have always been drawn to success stories. I remember reading books and articles about people that have come from nothing and achieved amazing feats.

Many of us are in a privileged position, unlike those suffering in Japan or the millions of people that are born into poverty and struggle everyday of their lives.

I do agree with those who say we should help others whenever we can. That could be donating to charity or volunteering to help others when they are in need.

In addition I believe we need to help ourselves. Think about it, there are millions, nay, billions of people that would swap their life for yours. I have often seen more drive and determination from people living on the streets of Punjab than I have in some office blocks in London.

It is our responsibility to make use of our position. To educate our mind, change our behaviours, improve our skills. The more we do this the more likely we are to be able to make a difference in the lives of those who can not.

Dale Carnegie Training is running a free preview of our flagship programme, The Dale Carnegie Course: Skills for Success on the 23rd of March, you are more than welcome to attend. I will leave you with a quote from Mr Carnegie himself.

'When ill luck besets us, to ease the tension we have only to remember that happiness is relative. The next time you are tempted to grumble about what has happened to you, why not pause and be glad that it is no worse than it is?'

Amar Garcha

Sales Consultant

www.London.dalecarnegie.com