Overcoming Indecisiveness

Tomorrow is the first day of sixth semester of bachelors in business administration studies and as a student, I am expected to choose between HR and finance. Yet here I am, not knowing what to do. Even though i have been thinking about this day and night for the past two weeks. I've also read countless articles about which is better for someone like me, and asked for suggestions from friends and family. The problem still persists.

Indecisiveness is my worst quality and it has caused me many problems, big and small, over the years. Being afraid of making the wrong decision is what gets me each time I have to choose between two or more options. Now don't get me wrong, I don't mean to say that one should not be worried making the right decision, but being so worried that it causes delays in your decision making process is something that should be avoided as much as possible.

Usually, I am able to take decisions for myself. But when it comes to taking decisions that can have an impact on other people, that is where the indecisiveness kicks in. For example when going out for dinner with my family, when my father asks me which restaurant we should go to, I am unable to give a proper answer. The reason is that I worry that the restaurant I choose, might not be preferred by my siblings. This usually ends up in me giving my answer as merely a suggestion and not the final decision.

Fortunately, over the years I have tried and succeeded in overcoming my indecisiveness. I haven't completely overcome it, I don't think anyone can be one hundred percent sure of something when making a decision, especially when it's a major issue. But I have seen a considerable reduction in the times I've found myself being indecisive.

The trick is simple, trust your instincts. All the math and facts and figures tell you that A is the right thing to do, but your gut tells you to go with option B. In this case, go with option B (unless it is illegal). If your gut tells you to do something, there might be a reason why, you just might not know it. But be sure to have a look on your past experiences of following and not following your intuition. More positive experiences resulting from making decisions based on your instincts can be a green signal for you to go with what your gut is telling you to go with.

Another tip is to have confidence in yourself. Which is closely related to the third tip, trust yourself. Believe in yourself. You know yourself better than anyone else does. You know your life better than anyone else does. Only you can fully understand the situation you are in which requires you to make a decision. That is why you are the best individual to make the decision. If you are fully aware of the entire situation and have full knowledge of the outcomes of each decision that you make (tip 4! Get complete information about the issue at hand), then there is no way that your instincts will tell you to do something that isn't good for you. This is why trusting yourself is of utmost importance.

Indecisiveness is something no one wants to deal with, but everyone has dealt with it at some point in their lives. If you're indecisiveness, don't lose hope, deciding that you are indecisiveness is proof that you can make decisions. Following your intuition and trusting that you can make the right decision, is the first step towards overcoming indecisiveness. Like every philosopher says, follow your heart.

7 Things You Probably Didn't Know Your iPhone Can Do

Apple's iPhones are the most common phones owned by people all around the world. If you live in the U.S., you have definitely seen a lot of iPhones. But if you've been to the third world countries, you still found people having iPhone. You have friends that crazy about it. There's at least one that's always waiting for the next iPhone to release so that he or she can buy it. There's also that one who cares about their iPhone more than they care about you. (sorry for the reality check). Anyway, the point is that iPhones are extremely popular but there are some things about them that not many people are aware of.

Here is a list of things you probably didn't know about the iPhone.

1. You can change Siri's accent: 

If you're an American and find it hard to understand British accent, or a British trying to learn the Australian accent, then use this trick to change Siri's accent to your desired accent. Go to Settings > General > Siri > Siri Voice > Choose Accent.

2. You can take higher quality photos using HDR mode: 

By using the HDR mode in your phone's camera, you can take better quality photos even though the camera resolutions are the same. In HDR mode, the lights and darks are balanced in such a way that the lights do not appear too light and the darks do not appear too dark. Here's a sample:

To turn on HDR mode, open your iPhone's camera and tap the HDR button at the top of the screen ( to the right of the flash button).

3. Find overhead planes with Siri: 

With Siri, you can do this fun activity of finding out about the planes that are currently near you (in the air, of course). To do this, simply ask Siri to "Show overhead planes" and there you have it, a list of planes that are right above your head! (not exactly).

4. Make Siri pronounce names correctly: 

Nothing is more annoying than someone pronouncing your name incorrectly. It gets even more frustrating when that someone is a robot who you can not even teach the correct pronunciation of your name. What if I told you that that is not the case anymore? Siri has grown old enough to learn new things like name pronunciations. All you need to do is teach her how. The next time she pronounces your name incorrectly, simply tell her "You didn't pronounce my name correctly", Siri will then ask you for the correct pronunciation and voila! the problem has been solved.

5. Shake your iPhone to undo an error: 

This is one of the useless stuff that seems cool in the first attempt but is very inconvenient and a waste of time (and energy for us lazies), unless you're a six year old. Type a misspelled word in the text box and shake your phone. The undo button will pop up for you to erase the mistake in style. This feature works in iMessage, Mail and other such apps.

6. Use earphone button to take pictures: 

In this era of selfies, we all want to snap a few good selfies every now and then. You are well dressed, feel beautiful, you pick up your phone and take a cute selfie. But when you see the photo, you realize that half of the screen space was taken by your arm. Total bummer. To avoid that from ever occurring again, plug in your earphone into your phone's earphone jack and use the volume up button to capture, instead of clicking the camera app's capture button. Now you can take pictures of yourself pretending like someone else took them for you.

7. Use Timer to automatically turn off music:

Ever woken up one morning and found out that your phone has been playing songs all night long while you were asleep? And noticed the drained battery? Yeah, me too. To avoid that from happening, use this simple yet useful trick. From the timer app, select 'When Timer Ends' to the function of "Stop playing".

Which hidden tricks did you already know and which ones have we missed? Tell us in the comments below. 

Things You Shouldn't Point Out About People

1. Acne.
This has to be the most obvious one. But apparently, it isn't. I used to have acne from age 14 to 16 and I absolutely hated it. The acne didn't bother me as much as the people talking about it did. You'd be surprised to know it was usually grown up aunties that pointed out at it. They only did it out of concern. They were worried about my acne more than I was.
Trust me, they know they have acne. They have tried all the home remedies and tips and tricks you are planning on recommending to them. Don't give them those tips that might have worked for you, unless they ask you for them. Besides, everyone's skin is different. If one thing worked for you, it doesn't mean it will work for them.

2. Scars.
Nothing is more humiliating than someone pointing out your scars. Scars often carry a personal meaning and an unpleasant event. Don't be the person reminding others of the unpleasant time of their life. Secondly, people are often insecure about them and are very sensitive in this case.

3. Weight.
Just as you know if you are overweight or underweight, so does everyone else. Do not make fun of someone for being fat but don't skinny shame them either. As long as that individual's weight is not a hindrance in him or her performing all the day to day tasks, he or she is good. Remember, being overweight or underweight is okay, weakness and disease is not.

4. Body hair.
No girl wants you to tell her how you think her legs look gross because she didn't shave them, or how you think she looks manly with that microscopic mustache. No guy wants you to tell him he looks like a beast because of his thick body hair, or looks like a girl because of the absence of it. The only time you should point out someone's body hair is if you are planning to shave or wax those hair for them, which is not the case 99% of the times, which is why you need to shush about it.

6. Sweat.
Sweat is a completely natural thing. Don't pretend like you've never been a sweaty mess, because we all have. Don't tell someone who is sweaty, that they are sweaty. Chances are, they already know that, because trust me, if I'm sweating, I would know it earlier than you notice it.

7. Misaligned Teeth.
I just can't stress this one enough. People have misaligned teeth, get over it. Because guess what? People are real, they aren't barbie dolls with perfectly straight and white teeth. In my opinion, perfectly straight teeth are weird.

Make the world a happier place by not pointing out these things about people.

What is Life?

When asked the question, 'What is life?' everyone seems to respond with 'something that is hard to define'. Although this definition of life is accurate, it does not quite give any idea about what life actually is. 
More often than not, I have found myself pondering about the whole concept of life. As I lay in my bed in the middle of the night, unable to sleep due to my highly active brain activity, I came up with some things that actually define what life is. Here is what life is for me:


Life is a struggle to move forward, passing through the ups and downs.
Life is a blessing.
Life is a road trip.
It is like the sea. It is either calm or storm.
Life is a gift.
Life is a test.
Life is a climb and despite the ups and downs, it holds a view extraordinarily beautiful.

It is temporary and nothing belongs to you.
Life is worth living.
Life is like a car with no reverse gear.
Life is a one-way street.
It is a war. Fight until your last breath.
Life is a journey of unknown destination.
Life is nothing but a dream.
Life is a mixture of gains and losses.
Life is unpredictable.
It is the present moment and that's it.
Life is a roller coaster that only goes up.
Life is pain.
Life is a classroom.
Life is an adventure.

How Giving Charity Can Change the World

Charity begins with those that are closest to you. Your friends, relatives, neighbours that are in need. Maybe you have a friend that is struggling financially or is buried in debts. Or a cousin who lost his job and has trouble standing up on his or her own feet. Or a brother who can barely pay the rent. You can help them out.

What if there is somebody that you want to help, in your family or in your circle of friends, but you had a fight with them? Someone you know but aren't on good terms with? Then what do you do? You don't know whether or not you should help this person or not. You don't know whether they are still holding a grudge against you or not. You don't know if they even deserve your help or not. In that case, help them. Forgiveness is better than charity. Forgive that person for what happened in the past. But remember not to talk down to them or use your money as leverage against them.

When you give charity, then there are no strings attached. That is it. You get nothing more out of it. You don't expect anything in return. If they thank you or do you a favour in return, that's their good nature. You shouldn't expect it and if they don't do that, you should not get offended.

Sometimes people give charity but they condescend as they give. They don't exactly insult the person they give to, but they give in a way that pierces through the receiver's dignity. They make the receiver feel ashamed of him or herself. They make them feel worthless and inferior.That type of giving is not charity. Charity is not a way of showing off your wealth to the helpless. It is not a way of showing off to your peers that you are a good person.

The ultimate rule of giving charity is simple. When your right hand gives charity, your left hand should not know about it. This means that give charity in such a way, that no one except you know about it. Don't tell anyone, don't show off to anyone. No one else but only you should know about it, to ensure that the real purpose of charity is fulfilled.

Through charity, the receiver gets many benefits. Some are obvious, like getting financial help, but there are others that are far more beneficial in the long run. If a person needs money for something important, like food, but has no source of getting any, he might consider stealing and thus end up becoming a thief. To defend himself from being caught, he will start lying as well. But if the needy had received charity, he would not have even thought of stealing, and ultimately, wouldn't have needed to lie. This is how a little help changes the receiver's future.

Charity is not only beneficial for the poor in helping them better their way of living, but is also beneficial for the giver of charity. How? you may ask. Well, let me put it this way. If a person intentionally gives a part of his wealth to someone else, without expecting anything in return, can that person ever become selfish? Absolutely not. This is how charity helps improve the giver's personality. Furthermore, giving charity cleanses the wealth of the giver. It helps in making the person feel more peaceful and positive. 

Giving charity is what the world needs. It is a way through which world poverty can end. There is no shortage of well off people. Giving charity reminds us to not be selfish. It helps us from wanting more and more money. It prevents us from trying to get what we don't deserve. That is why I say charity is what the world needs.