So what does it take to be effective, efficient and to be satisfied on a wholistic basis? What I mean by “wholistic” is enjoying a sense of accomplishment and satisfaction in every facet of life across the roles we play and not just being brilliant in one particular role. The true essence of success is completeness, it is wholistic and not partial nor compartmentalised.Is this definition of success just plain rhetoric or wishful thinking? Of course, it is possible if you practice the “Power of 10”. Allow me to present to you the Power of 10.

Learn 1 new thing every week

The day you stop to learn is the day you decide to stop to earn. Make it a point to learn a minimum of one new thing each week. It could be something to do with your area of expertise or it could be a new practice, an exciting idea, a new sport or even a new culinary dish. Each time you attempt to learn you exercise and expand your mind. As your mind expands it improves your ability to process, understand and exercise creativity.

Encourage/ appreciate 2 people each day

You empower people not just with rewards or monetary gains but by instilling self-belief and self-worth. If you take time from your busy schedule to pause and honestly encourage someone who is trying hard to achieve but isn’t quite there as yet or appreciate someone else for their effort (notice I deliberately used the word effort and not results ). By doing so you have just created value in the minds and lives of those particular individuals, which I’m sure will impact not just performance but more importantly commitment to performance. The irony is when you encourage or appreciate some else you will experience an equal sense of satisfaction as the receiver. Don’t believe me? Well just try it for yourself. Make it a habit to either encourage or appreciate two people every day and feel the satisfaction.

3  tasks maximum daily

Multi tasking is good, however, what is great is to be is excellent in what you do. Choose and devote yourself to not more than 3 tasks daily across an 8- 10 hour day. With a three task formula, you could actually divide your day into 3 parts. This gives you quality time to excel in the areas you have chosen. More isn’t necessarily good if it doesn’t culminate in quality and excellence. This approach eliminates wastage of time required in rework besides negative impact to credibility arising out of below average quality.

4 hours spent across a week with your self

So where and when do some of the best ideas come? Alone times. During a jog, shower, while driving to work etc…Newton discovered the law of gravity while sitting under an apple tree by himself! Don’t be so busy that you don’t have time for yourself. Be decisive in spending time with yourself. Pray, meditate, think, go on a stroll, do whatever you enjoy. It’s in the spending time, a minimum of 4 hours ideally spread across your week that you will discover not just ideas but recognise the potential that you have been endowed with.

5 hours of exercise across a week

The secret to achieving more, well is to be physically fit. Exercise is a great way to keep you physically active, emotionally sound and mentally alert. Study the lives of some of the contemporary CEO’s and you will recognise an important cog in their routine and that is exercise. 5 hours across a week is the price of an investment that is invaluable and in excusable.

6 hours of sleep daily

Yes, you can stay awake all night to get what needs to be done to achieve in the short term. But these sleepless nights are doing you more damage than good and it will manifest sooner or later. Recovery is birthed out of resting. Research proves that information retention improves after sleep. Muscle growth, tissue repair, hormone synthesize are triggered during sleep. 6 hours of sleep daily is a minimum requirement.

7 hours of family time across a week

The truth is your family need your time more than the gadgets, the children need parents not maids and the house is built for family fellowship and not for empty furniture. Money can build a business but it cannot buy a family. Work can be delegated but the role of a spouse or parent cannot be.Invest a minimum of 7 hours across a week with your family. Watch a movie, play, chat, sing but spend time together.

If you fall 7 times ensure to rise up  8 times

“Nana korobi ya koi” is Japanese proverb which literally means seven times fall eight times get up! The sum and substance of this line is, simply don’t quit no matter what life throws at you. Yes, you will have head on collisions with obstacles, you will tread the epicenter of adversity and face the ignominy of perceived failure.You cannot control your circumstances but you definitely can control your response. Refuse to stay down rise up each time you fall… Be a “Nana korobi  ya koi” person…7 times down but 8 times up

The circle of 9

Learning is accentuated by the wisdom of  3 mentors, the shared learning of 3 peers and 3 mentees to teach, guide, share your knowledge and experience. These make up the circle of 9. Wisdom gained from those above us, those beside us and from those supposedly below us. Wisdom is received by asking, by sharing and by giving. The circle of 9 generates wisdom. Create your circle.

Read 10 pages of a good book daily

Tai Lopez speaking at a TED talk on the topic “Why I read a book a day?”  made many intriguing points. But one really caught my attention,Tai asks what if you could have Bill Gates as your business coach, Warren Buffet as your investment advisor, Arnold Schwarzenegger as your gym instructor, Mother Theresa to advise you on how to make a difference by caring for the needs of the under privileged, Mahatma Gandhi to train you to achieve world peace? What if that were actually possible? What would this advantage do to you? It would make you unstoppable, wouldn’t it? The answer is you can have access to the minds of these leaders if you choose to read books written by them or about them. Yes, I hear you “Where is the time ?” The secret is to read only 10 pages of a carefully selected book daily. By the end of a year, you would have read 3650 pages which is give or take ten solid books. I promise you this will do wonders to the way you function cerebrally and culminate in wholistic transformation. Don’t go to sleep without feeding your mind with 10 pages of great reading content daily.

So that was the Power of 10.This is the recipe for wholistic progress. Yes, you are entitled to be skeptical as you read this but you will never be able to come to a conclusion unless you give it a try. I invite you to practice the Power of 10 for just two months and experience the difference. Well, if it works  (which I’m sure it will) that’s great if it doesn’t what would you have lost!

Rajiv Chelladurai, is the Managing Partner at ERGOS MIND Pvt Ltd. He is an author of couple of books the latest being Wisdom Workout. Rajiv is also a sought after speaker. Ergos Mind is an organisation specializing in transformation that focuses on an individual’s internal change to bring about external organisational impact. You can write to him at rajiv@ergosmind.com