Social Validation - New tool of seeking acknowledgement

                                                               Technology and human beings are so closely related , that some times it is difficult to distinguish the significant relationships which both possess these days . We are in a world which is highly inclined and skewed towards technological intervention and technological immersion. Technology and usage of technology has become important part of our day to day routine . 

                                                              The social media is also an emergence of the output which is generated from the technological interpretation and technological perspective. These days it looks like that people have more time to converse through social media than to converse physically . As we speak world is looking towards two ways of looking centuries now i.e one is pre covid and other one is Covid era and possibly post covid era . The social distancing and physical distancing which has become a new norm in covid times , is also a primary reason that people hesitate to talk to each other more physically . The communication is an important part of human interpretation and human skills and talking to each other is important part of discussion and to remain in aloof is not what human beings are tuned to . 

                                                           Appreciation and Acknowledgement is an important part of human skills and behavioral patterns . Why only human beings ? perhaps ,  it is there with each living being that they need some or other kind of acknowledgement and appreciation . As when physical interaction was more physical acknowledgement was also more and now with change in times , people want social validation . Social Validation is in terms of whatsapp status which they put , facebook post which they write and instagram photo which they share. Social validation has become an important part of acknowledgement . People get birthday wishes and they take screen shot and put that on their status thanking each others and other forms of apprecation regulary have become a part of acknowledgement . it is important for us to understand the previous version of acknowledgement and new avataar of validation. 

Welcome to the world of Social validation .... 

Important tips for good content writing

I am happy to see that , you people have started creating content and thats what the lesson I want to start with this innovation in teaching. Content marketing is an important part of digital marketing. If you can write meaningful and enthralling content , chances of you getting visibility in digital world is more . As I told you earlier,  DM is such an interesting field and writing content which audience like to read is in demand always. Good content writer who writes content which is in align with client requirements are always in search by companies.

Some important points for content writing 

1)schematic flow of thoughts in a readable manner .

2) You should plan your content well before you write specifics of it 

3)Always search for relevant key words and optimised your content by providing authenticity in your writing 

4)Please remember message is the most important part of content .

5)Be humble in your writing ,avoid conflicting views in your content 

6)Plagiarism is a strict no in content writing . Give proper reference when ever you are quoting some one and give credits to speaker from hain you have learnt your lessons

7)Back links are important part of good content , develop good understanding of back links 

8) Always think about that if you are a SEO writer , how can you ensure that website for which you are writing content gets good authentic ranking 

9)Last but not the least read what you have written , after you write your first draft , it will help you to refine your content writing.. and yes keep writing .

Article on pointers of Content writing by Dr Ankush Sharma on 07.07.2020 for Digital marketing lectures . 

Nothing for granted in life - Post Corona - Important lesson

These days , every body and every industry veteran is talking about , this is what is going to happen , post corona , this is how business will change and this is how things will change .

We need to understand following points to understand how far fetched is our thought process.


 People are suggesting changes , because they do not see any hope , only hope which exist is in vaccine .

Now what may happen once vaccine is out in the market , whether we will still talk about social distancing ? whether we will still care about hygiene... Come on , give me a break .

We all have short term memories and short term stories to sell.. May be 2 years from now when corona will become one like other disease , people will forget all that they are talking right now.

We all are very good in forgetting things , had it been not we could have taken care more of environment  and nature but we hardly think about  that in our day to day life. Point is very simple .. we all have tendency to forget and move on .. but we must always remember that whatever science and technology advancement we are talking about , some times disease or virus can bring everything to an halt. we were all very confident .. oh no way it is not going to happen that world will be closed for so many days just because of a virus .. but now this has happened and one important lesson which we should learn is not to take any thing for granted .. taking any thing for granted is the biggest mistake which we can do .

If we can take only one important lesson in life .. that do not take any thing for granted .. i think half of the problem will be solved..

Corona teaches important lesson " Nothing for Granted in Life  "

3 Ways to Live longer : Important content of life

Each one of us these days are worried about our future , Covid -19 has shook up thought process of life and happiness which we use to take for granted . Unfortunately now people are worried for every small thing .
” When you see your future bleak you stop living in present” – Dr Ankush Sharma
We started visualizing things in such a way that everything has come to an end . Crisis is the time when you really learn the integrity and character of individual or group . This is the time where you need to remember three things which is always important and remain important. Let me tell a story before I deep dive into 3 important pointers.
One of my friend who has started a retail outlet recently on lease basis and predicted break even in few hours looking into the market potential . Suddenly corona crisis attacked and social distancing became a new norm , because of which his fundamentals of business and business model is taken aback . He landed up in severe depression and one of the important reason is he started seeing his future bleak , having said that situation is really bad for him , unfortunately entered into the business at wrong time , destined .. may be .. But if he start worrying too much .. what he is going to achieve . easy to say but difficult to execute. Three basic fundamentals which can help anyone to live life more peaceful and it is an important attention seeking content .
1) Eat well and Eat right – Lot of people , in there day to day life doesn’t focus much on their eating habits . Eating habits and eating healthy is important . There are lot of plans . lot of diet plan which tells you about your eating habits . I have completed few half marathons and maintain fitness regime and always believe that eating right and eating what is good for your body always helps.
2) Exercise – “ if you cant give 1 hour to your body in your entire day, you should not talk about time management”  . Exercise of any form , may be running , yoga, aerobics or just simple walk will help you to remain happy . Fitness or exercise is more to make you feel good about yourself . it helps you to manage strong positive vibes and build confidence in your day to day life.
3) Empathy with yourself  I have seen lot of people , don’t empathize with themselves and keep troubling them with lot of stress. Stress if not avoidable can definitely be manage . Stress is never going to help you and most of us overthinks in our day to day life and in the hindsight when we evaluate those overthinking thoughts it has never helped us in any positive way . do they ? think about it .
Above mentioned points are important to live happy and life full of consciousness , which is indeed the need of the hour . Post corona scenario it is surely going to make us all worth thinking about it . Eat right , exercise and empathy and managing stress .

Online Vs Offline Teaching

Online Vs Offline teaching 

 Paradigm shift , which we are observing in training and teaching is with respect to given circumstances of Covid 19 , online mode of teaching is gaining wider acceptance , and with that there is always a discussion which has surfaced is which is better " online vs offline " . 

After completing few reputed online courses in recent times and as an educator for a longer time , I wish to submit following submission for kind consideration In cricket there was an upsurge of T 20 cricket and faster format of cricket and people have same discussion there , which one is better than other T20 or 50-50 over , what we saw that both stayed with their own target market . T 20 is in the business from last 13 -14 years but still 50 overs has its own audience , having said that it is also true that fast format of cricket had also created some dent in 50 over market or audience . 

There are good number of cricketers who have adopted their bowling and batting patterns according to the format of the game . In the same way in the long run online and offline education is going to stay but like cricketers both for educators and learners , they need to adopt themselves according to the situation . 

 "Change is the only constant "


Written by  Dr Ankush Sharma #covid19 #elearning  

" Digital Fasting "

                                                     Digital Fasting - Detox or Lock down 

Digital Detox - A period of time during which a person refrains from using electronic devices such as smartphones or computers, regarded as an opportunity to reduce stress or focus on social interaction in the physical world. This is what Google Dictionary has to say about the word " Digital Detox " . In this article we will try to understand the three aspects of Digital Detox -

1) Why it is needed ?

2) How it can be practiced ?

3) Evaluation goals .

Before taking any other word , let us directly address the questions and throw light on possible outcomes , which can be measurable . 

1 Why it is needed ?

Digital Detox , this term is becoming more and more pertinent in today's world because of two reasons
 (i) less of social interaction (2) more of online interaction .

 Now a days it is very common that people are friends on Facebook but they have not met each other,  from ages or perhaps may have not met each other ever . One of the primary reason why people spend more time online is because they hardly have friends in the physical world with whom they can spend time offline , actually even if they have offline friends , they really rely more on digital friends, because they can also control expectation through like, comments and share mode of mechanism . It is important to state here that online interaction is more of an addiction these days and on an average various studies suggest that people spend more than 6 hours online . In India we see a upsurge trend on people spending lot of time because there are lot of various outlets available like Facebook , Instagram , Whats app, Twitter and other outlets . Facebook posts ,Instagram photos , whats app group chats and status uploads , Instagram stories , memes and too many other medium of communication . 

In the hind sight, if we evaluate this actually lot of time people feel that after spending six and seven hours a day on internet , people have actually no clue on what have they achieved . They find completely lost or feel like full of anxiety , stress and other physical ailments which they develop while staying online all the time . Lot of people  started feeling that enough is enough , I need to practice social discipline so that I can really spend time in a more productive manner rather than just wasting time online . So people who are looking for the answer to practice fasting from digital channel , can surely  find point (2) and point (3) more worth and may practice some of these points for their purpose , which is to stay away from digital channel for some time in a day or for longer duration . 

2) How it can be practiced ?
 This section is more useful for all those , who are trying hard to maintain some kind of digital fasting , which is nothing but signing of from digital communication from regular interval of time . 

More from engineering back ground , I always feel comfortable in addressing a challenge with the help of a equation , so my equation goes like this .

                               Digital Fasting = Digital Detox + Digital Lock down 

so let us try to understand above mentioned  equation , which may help you to practice digital fasting . 

What are the challenges which one face in practicing digital fasting . As we mentioned it is some time a habit that after every few seconds your eyes goes on the mobile to see " FOMO "  which is called as fear of missing out . so here is the point , what is the which you feel you are missing out , actually if you analyse you will find 90 percent of the time , there is nothing which you are missing so you need to prepare and condition your brain in such a way that there is nothing great , which you are going to miss even if you are offline . 

Opportunity cost - time which you unnecessary spends on various digital platforms just to see what others are doing , what others are saying , unnecessary discussion or debates , as if we take the example of current lock down which is announced in various parts of the world , because of pandemic, caused by n covid -19 corona virus which has unfortunately shook the world and brings everything in a standstill situation , so people are just online , because of work from home or people are so much addicted to the digital world , that even if they are getting this opportunity to spend time with family , spend time with themselves , but they are hooked to digital social media platforms performing various challenges some times those challenges posted by their friends just have no sense . 

Hit the bulls eye - Find out the way you have put discipline in your time so the important point here is if you are not discipline in your day to day life , you will surely find it difficult to maintain that discipline in social platforms also. Like Digital fasting is not that you do not check social platforms , it is required to be connected for some important reasons, some time but you should know how much time you are devoting to online activities .

So Practice following 

First step is digital detox 
Digital Detox - 6-8 hours of your day ,of course other than your sleeping hours you decide no social media interaction and you will put more time on your professional or personal goals. Just keep mobile phone out of your range or any other device out of your range , devote this time with family , fitness ,cooking , working on your passion or any other things which you feel good about it . No checking status , no checking of  Facebook walls , no Instagram feeds (period).

If you can practice step -1 , you should pat yourself for social media discipline and by the way you achieve digital fasting .

Second step is  digital lock down 

Just decide one or two days in a week , where you just lock down , your social media interactions ( of course if need doesn't  exists , which normally is not there ). if you decide you can do it you can do it .  It is basically how you condition your brain , if you condition in your brain you can surely achieve this . 

so here if you get this equation right you can evaluate yourself 

Digital Fasting = Digital Detox + Digital lock down  

3) Evaluation goals 

First week , just see that how good are you in detox and lock down , if you can practiced extended detox  and limited lock down that is also good enough ,  so i suggest that you put weights on both i.e. digital fasting and digital lock down . if you get those weights right , believe me you will find it so worth and satisfying and it will surely gives you more time for your own self , your fitness , your family and other important aspect. ( further detail on this  in my video lecture )


Regards,
Dr Ankush Sharma 
4th April 2020

Cancer Detection Test - Are you scared ?? Not to be .. Have Patience ....

As we speak there are some unwanted situations in life which nobody plans for and one of those situation is when some body very close to u is called for detection test and that too for a dreadful disease called cancer .. This is the moment where entire family goes into the phase of " how to deal with this situation" .. Yes every time whenever u heard of this word u feel it should not happen to u or ur loved once in life.. but we have learnt from our example that one should always be prepared for worst.. On the basis of our own experience I have made some points which can act as an interesting  read for any one who God forbid but first of all listen to this word I.E. CANCER..

1) Most important part is u need to ask this question to yourself.. R u Alone ? or u have family with u during this time ....Family is the greatest support..it is more of emotional journey and u need to be well supported by Ur loved once.  During my interaction with people I have met few who are alone in this fight.. I have one piece of advice for them.. there are lot of self help groups which can help u in this time...

2) Selection of Doctor - Selection of Doctor is the most important aspect in this regard and where u are getting tested.. I am blessed that I was in the family of Doctors.. so it was a easy sail thorough for me.. but yeah this is the most difficult question to address.. based on your location , your  place,financial capabilities.. u need to figure it out.. plan it well .. talk to people.. refer word of mouth.. experiential sharing .. is the key .. experience of others help you  the most..

3) Too much of anxiety kills-- U will certainly have too much of anxious moments during this phase.. but i think this is the time where u need maximum strength .. u need to be very calm and composed.. if u panic .. it is difficult for u to to deal with the patient.. Be very much positive.. Positive is the answer for every situation .. if u r not positive at this step.. then it is difficult for u to handle the situation.. it is very easy to say to remain positive , but answer lies in saying that keep your each and every moment work towards that.. which will surely help u to achieve desired goals.

4) Faith in Almighty-  People say that one has to be practical but faith in almighty always works.. have faith in almighty.. God has a plan for every individual .. God is great.. what God does is for some thing good .. these are all emotional but equally true sayings..Faith always works.. have faith.. have patience .. things will surely improve..

5) Waiting for BIOPSY result-- This is the time where patience is checked the most.. have patience , keep patience and there need to be one guy in the family who is very strong.. there strength is what is the magnet for the entire family.. magnetic strength.. which attracts.. one person has to be very strong.. normally patient are not .. in our case.. my father is very strong . he has great mental strength which help us to sail through the situation ... strong foundation is what matters the most... keep ur head high ,have great mental strength..

6) Listen to Music, Be Active .. Have Hobbies -- Music is always a great stress buster ... having stress buster is important .. u can have any stress buster.. sports and following sports is a great stress buster.. point is u need to deviate your mind as mind keep hovering and keep thinking about the same point again and again.. One need to deviate mind and have your attention on other things .. Keep yourself  active.. exercise .. watching television.. going out and spending time with loved once is always important..