It is 100% un-natural

We get a sense of confidence when we read "100% natural", "natural contents only" or something similar on product labels. We feel rest assured this is not going to harm us, we are going to get the best of what nature has produced, it has not been tempered by humans, it is 100% natural etc. etc.

Yes, this line sells products. Just look at all those soaps, shampoos, cold creams, food products which contain "pure" extracts of a natural thing, probably a herb or a fruit or a vegetable.

It is debatable whether these 100% "natural products" or "pure extracts" are of any value if at all. But this is a topic for some other time. What I want to discuss is just the opposite of these claims.

What if the manufacturer writes; "100% man made", "No natural contents", "Synthetic chemicals only", "No fresh juice inside". Will this make you uncomfortable? Will you still buy that product?

It makes sense to assume that if there is no first type of statements (100% natural), the opposite is true. But the manufacturer is of course shy to tell this to you explicitly. The 100% un-natural statement can make you uncomfortable. You may not buy that product.

Next time when you visit your superstore, have a closer look at all those items which are not 100% natural; juices, drinks, food items, cosmetics and others. Will you still buy these? Especially the edible items?

(CC photo credits.)

Posted via email from Saqib Awan

Thinking about thinking

As I said earlier, positive thinking is not the only thinking you need to do. Thinking about thinking is also an important one. You may need to sit down alone, preferably with a paper and a pencil, and start asking questions.

Warning: Your own answers can be scary.

1. Why I am doing what I am doing? Can I do something better? When will I do that?
2. What is the worst thing that can happen if I stop doing this today? Can things get better? Perhaps I shall get rid of my ever scolding boss and start living with dignity.
   
3. What other possibilities (perhaps better ones) are there for me? Have I ever tried to explore?
   
4. Should I re-evaluate my priorities? Reading, teaching, kids, spending, eating, pleasure, exercise, money, volunteering etc.
   
5. What I am going to do in next 10,20,30 years?
   
6. What is my past performance for the last 2, 5, 10, 15 years? Do I need to change my tactics radically?
7. Is it time to develop new habits or get rid of old ones?
8. Am I thinking too little?
9. Am I thinking too much? (with too little action)

Not every question is tied to money.

Thinking about thinking comes under green and blue hats.

Posted via email from Saqib Awan

A pdf reader which allows you to highlight text and add notes

Foxit is a free pdf reader for windows (similar to adobe reader) but it allows you to highlight and underline text as well as add notes.

Posted via email from Saqib Awan

Incorrectly placed priorities

I am tired of it; the wrong sort of priorities and optimizations.

1. Friends ask me to get their website on the first page of Google search.
2. Clients ask me to optimize the data entry screen to get the maximum possible juice out of a data entry operator.
3. Accountants ask me to provide as many analysis reports as possible.

This blog post (the non-optimized life) by Seth Godin made me feel relaxed. Let us think this way:

1. Friends can optimize the website/blog text by learning to write a story.
   
2. Businesses can get better returns by spending more time on generating new ideas for sales and simpler business processes rather than worrying about the extra tab key needed to post a transaction.
3. Accountants need to learn that "we can analyze the past but we have to design the future".

I have so many friends in my facebook who are in the SEO (search engine optimization) business but not a single one who teaches how to write well. (Let me know if If you are the one) May be it is time to step into this profession too.

"That's one reason I resist the temptation to optimize this blog for traffic and yield. I'd rather force myself to improve it by having the guts to write better posts instead."

If Seth's policy can result in more than 700 re-tweets of his blog posts, we badly need to re-evaluate our priorities.

Posted via email from Saqib Awan

Why we can't eat less (or how we can)

This blog post is for you if you are endlessly trying to stay fit and smart by dieting and eating less but slacking.

I often refer to Michael Pollan's work on diet and health. His book "Food Rules, An Eater's Manual" is a wonderful collection of 64 eating rules. Each rule is described in a concise and simple way. Recommended.

On eating less he has also quoted Prophet Muhammad (PBUH): "the Prophet Muhammad described a full belly as one that contained 1/3 food, 1/3 liqued and 1/3 air."

Now back to today's question; why we can't eat less? Does it really require a lot of will power? This is what I always thought. Michael tells us a little hack which can help.

Neurons in our stomach can take up to 20 minutes to send the message to our brain that our belly is full. This means that we can eat more, a lot more, if we eat faster, within this 20 minutes window.

So the trick to eat less is to eat slowly spanning your meal time to 20 minutes or more.

If you cannot eat slowly for some reason, eat a small portion, promise yourself to eat more after 20 minutes. Here you might need to exercise your will power just enough to restrict your eating for 20 minutes. You won't be able to stuff your belly much even if you try to eat again after 20 minutes.

Try this little hack today.

Posted via email from Saqib Awan

Do this and you won't need to visit your dentist

Last month I had to visit my dentist for a number of days. While talking to him I asked what was the best way to keep my teeth in good order. I was expecting something like "brush three times a day, regularly" or "use this great tooth paste because it contains x, y and z".

But his reply was totally unexpected. He said, "eat less".

He said that when we eat more, our blood's pH level gets disturbed and that's the single biggest source of tooth decay.

Now "eat less" is the advice I always acknowledge (though I yet have to practice it on regular basis). I had heard this first from Michael Pollan's famous quote, "Eat food. Not too much. Mostly plants.".

So time to "eat less" now. And this blog post is going to serve as a constant reminder for me.

Posted via email from Saqib Awan

Some more Ubuntu Linux hints

Few days ago I suggested to try Ubuntu Linux as your desktop operating system instead of Microsoft Windows. Here are few more points which may be helpful.

1. You can try Ubuntu Linux without installing it on your computer. Just put the CD into your computer's cd/dvd drive and select the live desktop when it shows initial boot options. Ubuntu will discover and configure almost your hardware appropriately (including most wireless network cards). You should be able to browse Internet, try out OpenOffice and few other things of interest.

2. You can start installation on your hard disk from this live cd environment.

3. You do not need to have a free partition on your hard drive. You can install it on your existing C: or D: drive. (Though hard disk performance will be suboptimal)

Feel free to share your experiences here.

Posted via email from Saqib Awan