Career Management my way

How should I manage my career? Where do I want to be in 5 years time? What is the best career line for me? etc. etc. I have never met a person who has proper answer to these questions and I am among the confused lot.

That said, there is something I know (that's what I think) which is different but provides foundation on which answers to the questions posed above can be based. What I know is not restricted to career or job but can be applied in personal life, education and career.

Let me put it in easy points -

1. If you choose to do a thing, strive to be the best. It doesn't mean to say you will turn out to be the best. But it will mean that you will be much above the average. You shouldn't study to just pass; you shouldn't work to be just good; you should not ain to be an average. And if you unfortunately find you still cannot be great in what you do, think harder - you might need a change. Eagles are great not when they run but when they fly.

2. Be Good to others (sincerely and intentionally). Success in life has never been one man's game for anybody. Then how do some people succeed magnificently and some fail miserably. Answer lies in the way they interact with others and the way they make others feel. Sincerely be good to others. Help them when they need and you can expect to be treated the same. (Principle of Reciprocation). Once you have start doing it, it becomes your second nature and you are always helpful. Then make sure you do more and for that be good intentionally.

3. Focus on your reputation: Reputation is a blend of lot of things. Both the topics discussed above play their part and add consistency, confidence and more interaction (networking) in the mix. Reputation is the best long term friend leading you to success. Now you know why companies invest so much on building brand.

4. Find your weakness and solve it. The first part is much easier that many think. Try saying what you are not good at or bad at. Examples-I cannot talk in front of many people; I am not confident; My English is weak; I am bad with excel; I have never managed anyone; How can I influence others? etc. etc. Make sure to focus on those that is hurting you or impacting you the most. Once you found your main weakness, get some advice. What I do is search for podcasts in Itunes relating to my weakness, download to my IPOD and listen while traveling. You can talk to your parents, your mentor etc. etc. Then practice. Now if you think you cannot talk infront of people, vocal cord wouldn't open, join a local toast masters club or public-speaking club. Just go and listen for few sessions. Gain some courage, prepare and talk about something you like the most for 1 minute. And I can tell you that the most effort is to get the wheel rolling, once you have done it, you just need to guide it.

5. Use commonsense: At times we feel pressured to act different because we are too educated or we are in competition. What we forget is that commonsense would have led us to a totally different route. With any big decision you think of making, it is worthwhile making time to think on the ground of commonsense. Disregard any popular notion or theory for a while. This way you are sure you have used your brain as well.

There could be many other things to focus on but hey this is what my commonsense tells me. And my commonsense tells me that if I try to focus on more than these many things - I wouldn't be able to proceed.
Hope this blog makes you think.


Copyright July 2009 Raghab Nepal

Why do people Blog?

We as a human have a remarkable ability to think about things that make lot of sense and also about things which does not. But what we don't realise is that our thoughts whether it makes sense for us or not will make sense to somebody else.
Why should you Blog and why do I blog? Apart from monetary benefit in the form of advertising, all I know why I blog is for this one reason. There are other reasons which can be made to fit into this same reason. So what is that reason?

1. If you want to develop personally, it is very important that you start having your opinion. This means, have an opinion on news you hear every day, have an opinion on employee communication you receive at office, have an opinion on your friends talk, have an opinion on the city you just travelled to, have an opinion on advertisement you see in TV, have an opinion on every possible thing you can. Opinion can be negative, positive or neutral. Note that having opinion does not always mean you have to talk it out or communicate to others. You will start to engage your brain steadily and realise you have started retaining messages. So you must be asking what it has to do with blogging. An average human beings needs motivation in some form or other to act. By blogging about your opinion you share your thoughts with other human being. This feels like a social accomplishment to many and a motivating factor in itself.

• Have an opinion
• Blogging motivates you to have opinion of your own

Those who don't blog but read others blog, please provide comments. This has similar effects.

Note: The topic above is specific for personal blog writing and not for blog writing for commercial usage. There might still be few exceptions like blog for deceiving others or exposing others etc. but majority of personal blog is for sharing opinions or a way of expressing opinions.


Your comments are welcome
Raghab Nepal

Should you travel to Kathmandu or Chennai or London?

Travelling to Kathmandu, Chennai or London? Read before you travel...

You must be surprised to see why does someone want to tell you about ice, sand and coin at the same time and why does it have to bother you. Lets see if it does.............

I was born in Kathmandu, Nepal and traveled everywhere in Nepal except Pokhara, Solukhumbu and other places except Kathmandu. That means to say that all I know about Nepal is Kathmandu (whole valley). I stayed in Chennai for about 8 years so I know quite a lot (Mylapore to Sriperumbudur to Mount Road). I have been in London for the last 2 years (Shepherds Bush to Hyde Park to Victoria).

What is so unique about Kathmandu -

1. It is a lovely City with lots of things to see. You can smoke marijuana for a price of a cigarette (I know my friends tell me this), you can see excellent Hindu and Buddhist temples with a rich history that very few young Nepalese remember and many stuffs in a very cheap way.
2. You can see riot or mob almost everyday. If you dare to, you can very easily be part of the riot. If throwing stone at police is in your to-do-list but is illegal in your country, please visit Kathmandu. I can assure you that there is no other place in the whole wide world where you get to participate in this everyday local festival.
3. If you do not believe in global warming, you know where you should go. Kathmandu is situated at 1,355 M above sea level, surrounded by beautiful hills with a clear view of snow-capped mountains. You would assume climate to be cold or not warm. You would have been right 15 years back. But these days, smoke from sources you won't want to imagine, embraces you with so much love, I won't tell you how exactly you will feel. You should experience this for yourself.

What about Chennai –

1. It is a lovely city with nothing to do or see. You can see temples and beach and that’s it. And yet people are good in Chennai.
2. If you are a non-vegetarian and want to feel how chicken feel when fried, visit Chennai in May. Chicken are killed first and then fried but unfortunately people in Chennai do not have the pleasure of first dying before getting fried. Sun is so mercy-less.
3. Public transport is one of the few things you should praise in Chennai. An average bus will have 200 people or more inside. That is called full capacity utilization. But Public transport system in Chennai is highly sexist and discriminating. Bus seats on the right hand side are reserved for females and no male passengers are allowed to even watch those seats, even when empty. On the other hand, females can sit on the any side. When in the bus, you will surely wish you were born a female.

What about London –

1. It is a very well maintained city (north of the river only). You can walk around whole day and find that everywhere looks the same. Depending upon which country you come from, a good lunch here can cost about your full month's salary.
2. It is very easy to get stabbed here. Go to a borough which lies south of the river and man you are lucky if you come out without feeling (if not really) stabbed. Under 10s scare you more than teenagers here. I guess that is what a developed city means.
3. You will find people from every part of the world here. This leads to a real confusion. In Kathmandu or Chennai, it is very easy to differentiate a tourist from a local which helped everybody play pranks on tourists. In London you don't know who is who; you miss out on the fun.


There are so very many things I thought I knew about these places and I am stuck with 3 things each for a city now. Nonetheless I guess this should help you when you visit these places and not miss out on anything mentioned above.

HATE (Poetry)

My soul knows the discomfort,
The pain that I behold within
The anger and hate that breeds
Push me under my own belief.
To keep the unruly world smiling
How long will I disregard my pride?
How long will I put it aside?

Copyright 2007 Raghab Nepal

PS - It is always been easy to hate somebody and feel the anger. I tried to put down an emotion in words that I was not feeling at the time. I think I did succeed.

Cigarette (Poetry)

I burn your legs,
Bite your head
Suck your soul
And inhale straight.
I crush you beneath
My dirty feet,
Throw you lonely
To your merciless fate.
Been no friend, for so long
Living in my blood, in my lungs
I hate living, you help me die
I puff you out into the sky
Still you call me a friend
And I rush, to get your smell.
You are only true friend of mine
In my dark and lonely times
None had been so close, so dear
To my heart and to my lungs,
Love in my heart, lies for you
And I don’t care about your bitter truth.

Copyright: 2006 Raghab Nepal

PS - I do not smoke anymore.............

How will Economy Turnaround?

Don't look where you fall, but where you slipped." - African proverb

Excessive Subprime lending, Inflated Home Prices, High Leverage, High Energy (Oil) prices, Low Dollar rate and countless other factors were breeding in the back drop of booming economic growth (some might like to call it as a bubble). When so many factors were cruising on the wrong track, it was a disaster waiting to happen.

Mid 2007, the news of Subprime Crisis hits the so thought resilient economy. To the discomfort of all, the so called resilient economy has stretch too far to stand ground. Countless job cuts (yet to unfold), massive banking write-downs, banking and financial disasters - Northern Rock, Bear Sterns etc., zero trust in the economy, high inflation (thanks to oil and commodity prices), low consumer sentiment, and various other aftermaths which nobody knows yet, have happened ever since and are yet to happen. Everybody talks about the crisis and the pain. The bigger question is what can turn this sliding economy back to prosperity and turn the arrow green and facing back towards the sky. Let me be different, let me be optimistic.

World Economy cannot be in recession forever. Yes, it happened for a long period in Japan in the last decade, but it was the monetary policies that were to blame. 1930 and 1992 felt the wrath of recession but things did turn out good at the end. So what are these self healing powers that market possess?

What else can turn the economy? Lets discuss

1. Consumer and business confidence is said to be low in times of recession. In fact, the confidence level is over depressed than required. Households as well as business community hold back on their spending and save for any unforeseen possibilities like layoffs, softer cash-flow etc. This held back demand creates a potential future demand. It can be comparable to potential energy created by holding water back in a dam to be released. To release this potential demand, an external impetus might be needed in the form of new entrepreneurial idea (a new service), fiscal policy (tax cuts or favourable tax treatment), monetary policy (interest rate adjustments) or any other external catalyst. The power at which this supressed demand gets released determines how quick the recovery happens.

2. A new invention which is yet to be known can change the direction of the economy. Computer was an innovation which helped the world economy over the last few decades to take a different height. Securitization helped the economy to grow (by also helping a lending business like American Express and others). This was an invention. But yes, I agree, misuse of this same invention has led to the current recession. Will there be anything new? Yes the possibilities are high.

3. Stock Markets are always known to anticipate the direction of the economy. But there is a hidden truth. The truth of self-fulfilling prophecy. When stock markets are high, the cost of capital to the business is low as it can raise needed capital with ease and at favourable price. This motivates business to invest and grow which helps the economy. On the other side when the economy is at recession, stock markets are at its lowest. Raising capital is difficult and the prices are not favourable to the business, hence higher cost of capital. Again I repeat, stock markets are known to anticipate the direction of the economy. One or few favourable news might lead to this surge in stock prices, without anything to do with the real economy. Nevertheless, surging stock prices lowers cost of capital to the business and induces higher investment thus creating the path to economic recovery. In this way the stock market feeds the self-fulfilling prophecy.

4. Political Change can have a major impact on the sentiment of the whole economy. New reforms can help the economy to grow; examples are that of India and China. Or the change in government can also do the trick, for example when Bill Clinton was elected the president of US, market responded favourably.

Fall in oil prices, rising dollar prices, Govt. (or whoever) induced market optimism and never to forget government (central bank included) intervention can play a part in helping heal the economy.

The question has never been whether the economy will regenerate or not, the question is when. The economy has the power and the tools (discussed above) to heal itself and there is no doubt about its intention.

- Raghab R Nepal, July 2008,

Poetry for the Credit Card

Ode to the Card

Green, Gold and Colorful Plastics
Credit crunch has been too drastic
Your love with POS terminal is on the line
Your spending has been on decline

People have been losing jobs
Default rate is on the up
Housing crisis in the reason
And we are increasing our credit provision.......

Discount rate is under pressure
Our coverage has not been so better
Our stocks have seen too many bears
For a good company, that's not fair

Future may look all too bleak
Economic downturn may be too deep
But every dark tunnel has an exit that's brighter
I hope we manage and come out stronger.......

Copyright Aug 2008 Raghab Nepal