Glad it helped Shylaja :)..

Hey thanks for such a thoughtful suggestion Vinay :)

Thank you shylaja :).. I think this is a very valid question and a very valid set of emotions you are going through. Especially in a work environment, when you are surrounded by people who are doing it for the sake of doing it. I am completely with you and I really feel for the plight you go through.

Having said that – I am afraid that in most cases we are surrounded by such people who do not want to take responsibilities cos it means work. But that doesn’t mean we take the responsilbility for them and not taking the fall for their faults.

We will be faced by these challenges every now and then. And these challenges will have consequences too. We certainly cannot own up to every fault there is but we can for the ones where we can make a difference. In this case, I think you were absolutely right in turning down the 6th project cos you knew what you were doing, you knew the time constraint and you finished the rest on time.

This way – you proved what you are capable of and more importantly you proved that you delivered everything you accepted on time.

Maybe a deft way of telling your senior was that you would finish these 5 first in the order of priority and then pick up the last one. You could say that it is too hard to commit right now and you would want to stick to your word when you say something. That way you are establishing that you are a person of your word which establishes a great degree of responsibility.

The unfortunate part is that we are surrounded by ‘yes men’. People say yes even if they don’t do anything. But in the end – the truth is – your actions are going to speak a lot for you.

Talk to your senior, tell him how interested you were to pick up the 6th one. Tell him that you didnt cos you didnt want to disappoint him. Ask him for his suggestion – ask him how to manage time and improve your capacities. This shows that you are not taking up the project cos you are serious about it and not for the sake of it which will certainly be respected at a higher order.

I hope this answers the question. Please let me know if it doesn’t. Happy to discuss further :)

Thank you Kanuj :)

Thank you Alok.. Martin Luther is certainly a very inspiring man. I am intrigued to know more about him and to read more about him and his works and of course his speech will keep ringing on my mind for a long time :)

Thank you Najm. I simply loved the last one – the perpetual motion towards achievement of our purposes. Mighty powerful indeed.

I’m completely with you. he’s perhaps one of the most powerful humanitarians at that part of the century and words are filled with fire.

Thank you Fayaz. I think that’s probably my favourite one in the list, That and the last one which says if you cant fly, run.. There’s something so powerful about each one of these quotes, something that pushes me out of the bed and makes me really want to get started. Speech sure is a great motivator :).

Thank you Sindhoo. I loved writing about each one of these quotes, so simple, so elegant and above all so inspiring.. Martin Luther King sure is one hell of a persona :)

A very motivating and inspiring post Vinay.

see now, I am reading ur post :)…but within this hour, I could have done that :P…but I
still did not accept it yesterday, cos, I had so many work to finish by today
morning….also yesterday evening, I had very high degree of headache
and thought I want to sleep one hour extra, to complete all my five
assignments with a good quality (I mean by doing it upto the mark) for
today…So, I did not want to take up the 6th one and do all the 5
assignments just for the sake and also do the 6th one again just for the
sake of doing it and be unhappy that I did not do anything
correctly…aBy accepting that, the pressure would have increased on me
and my head ache would have increased more and due to high level of
stress, my quality of work would have been affected for rest of the five
assignments too…so, now do u say, that I am escaping form taking up
challenges?

Now I am reading ur post, cos, my headache is gone,
and I have completed most of my assignments…but I did not know yesterday that, my
headache would be gone by today morning…cos, sometimes it will stay longer if I stress my sleep with out sufficient sleep….so, I did not accept work immediately
yesterday…so what do you say?