Bhupinder Rehal

Time will depend on the following:- a. Identifying the fear responsible for not allowing you to speak fluently. Fear of embarrassment, fear of making mistakes, fear of what others will say. b. Efforts you put in towards practising speaking in English. c. Environment. Get help in identifying your fears. Challenge them. You will find that they are all imaginary when you challenge them. Create resources. Ask your friends, family members, colleagues to tick you off when you do not speak in English. Asking them to impose a fine will be fine :). A month or around 40 days should be enough. So tighten your belt & get on with it. Best of luck

Aspirants for Defence Services as officers have to undergo a very stringent selection process. It consists of assessment of personality through Psychological Tests, Group Tests and Personal Interview. The procedure is conducted over a period of Five days. In the last few years many Institutes have cropped up offering coaching classes. What is missed out is the fact that such training cannot be imparted in classes consisting of 100-150 candidates. This specialised training needs one to one guidance. Persona Primers provides such training through Col Bhupinder Singh Rehal (Retd) specially trained at Defence Institute of Psychological Research and posted as Group Testing Officer at Services Selection Board. Joint Director(Officers Selection) at Army Headquarters and as Director Recruiting.

We all wonder how some people seem to have all the motivation in the world, while others struggle to get out of bed in the morning! The first lot makes for 20% and the other lot 80% in any group or organisation. If you take a look at people around you (family, friends, colleagues) and more importantly yourself (through introspection), you will notice that 20% of efforts give 80% results and 80% efforts give 20% result. So what is important? 20% effort which gives you 80% result or 80% effort giving 20% result? 20% effort isn't it. So, what stops us from doing that important 20% and what makes us remain busy with the 80%? Well the answer is PROCRASTINATION which means 'To put off doing something'. What do we put off? Anything that WE THINK is unpleasant. Most of our efforts are directed towards avoiding these and doing what WE FEEL is pleasant. Here comes MOTIVATION which commits us into doing the important (maybe what we avoid) things which will make us successful anywhere - family, friends, home, work and career. Take one step at a time and you will find the will and power to succeed. You will find, it automatically imbibes into your personality and takes you on the path to success. To begin with take the following steps:- a. Set goals. Goals which inspire you and are your own. b. Every day lay down a clear set of inspiring objectives however small initially and achieve them. c. Set achievable personal standards to help you stay focused. d. Focus on just being happy. These are the first few steps. Initially you may feel that motivation doesn’t last. Well, neither does bathing — that’s why we recommend it daily.

Personal Grooming many a times taken as change in physical appearance. But more important is how you look at yourself as well as what others think and feel about you. Self: Self Esteem, Self Confidence, beliefs, values and habits. Knowing own Strengths and Weaknesses. Others:What others see in you and feel about you. Impression through appearance has a very short life. It may count in jobs like receptionist/ front office executives. But people who matter as far as a career is concerned are the persons taking the job interview, your seniors in a job, your colleagues and your subordinates. They are looking for "Effective Intelligence", Team Spirit, Integrity, social effectiveness and dynamic part of the personality as well as Etiquette and manners. Once a person is aware of his strengths and weaknesses one can start working on improving the strengths, overcoming weaknesses and the beliefs which stop one from moving forward in life. The side effect is improved Self Esteem and Confidence. I hope this will help you in deciding your course.