Success Sutras

Many people celebrate Vijaya Dasami (tenth day of Navratri) and pray for all success in all spheres of their life. I am sure they pray to God in all earnest and seek His blessings. However, one must remember that God blesses and supports those who put in their human efforts. If anyone were to pray without his or her initiative in the first place, then even God may not help! That is my belief.

So, what can one do to achieve success before praying to God for support? I could think of many habits and styles of successful people. Let me present to you the best of those that I believe in!

Take yourself seriously: Many people suggest that one should not take oneself too seriously. That is primarily because it induces stress and pressure. But one should not take oneself too easy either. Happy-go-lucky attitude may give us fun; but not success. We must believe that we are meant for something bigger; we are capable of making some serious contribution. We must be serious about what we want to achieve. That to me is the foundation for success!

Focus: Having started off well with seriousness, we must get the focus right and maintain it. Some people end up drifting and trying too many things. While experimentation is good for innovation and learning, it should not be a directionless approach. Focus will help us in pooling concentric energy towards achieving success. When our attention is completely dedicated to a certain goal, we gain deeper insight towards achieving success. If one does not have focus, we may end up trying multiple things with half hearted attempts, which will leave us completely frustrated.

No short cuts; only smart routes: Those ambitious of success should also be worried about sustainable success. Short cuts to success may be very enticing but are surely not sustainable. Getting a job through bribe or recommendation are desperate measures of success. But can you repeat such success on your own in your career? Danger of such approach is we will end up legitimising those practices for success. Instead, strive to get smarter in achieving success. One needs to be ethically smart. Success that is achieved through our own efforts tastes much better than the success that is somehow managed through shortcuts.

Take responsibility: Successful people demonstrate high degree of ownership. They take things onto themselves. They seldom end up externalising failures. We don’t hear them saying, “I could not do because of them”. They don’t find excuses for not achieving something. If one approach did not work, then quickly reflect and explore what can be done to change the situation. They operate with a mindset - “I am in charge of my own destiny”. Same attitude must prevail during times of success or distress.

Be pragmatic & patient: Successful people are also practical people who know that success may not be visible in the very first attempt. They sustain their motivation; they retain their focus and strive harder to achieve success. They pursue their goals with patience and work for success. It is interesting to note that their passion is their companion during the journey towards success. Overnight popularity and instant gratification are not what successful people aspire for. They are much more realistic!

Fall, learn, but don’t give up: While one is hungry for success, it is important to be equipped to deal with failure. People who are obsessed with success do not know how to cope with failure. Those who succumb to the pressure of failure get tempted to give up the pursuit. On the contrary, successful people prepare themselves well to deal with initial failure; they always have a contingency plan. If one route does not take them to the destination, they will be ready to change the route but not the destination.

To summarise, we must realise that by merely wishing to get success, no one will be successful. By praying to God without commensurate human effort will not make us successful. God too will bless those who have the self-discipline to inculcate winning habits. All these habits are very much within the reach of all. One needs to recognise and harness them. There is no better day than today to start our success journey!