The two keys to success…

Trending Ted-Talk videos, best-selling books, a chapter in our school/college course, a motivational speech by a famous person during our Annual Day function, a biographical film or so on… We all have come across atleast one story of a successful person by either of the above-mentioned means, haven’t we? But the actual question here is, how many of us understand and apply it in our daily lives? Success is something we all aim for and the version of success perceived varies from person to person. For few, success is how much fame, power, job status or money they possess and for the other few it is personal growth rather than materialistic things like the former. Real success in life is when you achieve something that matters to you the most. Since, every individual comes with different ideologies, background etc., we should never impose our own definition of success on anyone. We should understand that the only thing in common amongst all of us is the path of constant struggle, we all volunteered to travel through, to reach our respective goals. With this being said here’s presenting you the success mantra of Rancho from 3-Idiots: “Success Ke Peeche Mat Bhaago, Excellence Ka Peecha Karo, Success Jhak Maarke Tumhare Peeche Ayegi”. Read on to understand the two things that we need to follow in order to be successful in our own ways:

Courage to accept: “Instead of repeating the same lessons over and over again, learn from them quickly by having the courage to accept them” – Roxana Jones. What if I am not right? What if things went wrong because of me? Do not ever let the ‘what ifs’ obstruct you from making any choice or rather hinder your first step towards something that you are intrigued by. No one is perfect and it is understood that nobody can get anything right at the first go. As a child, it was easier to open the long list of mistakes that we had committed, in front of anyone. You may have a reasoning that you were a child back then and people hence accepted your mistakes easily because of your innocence. Well that is true, but the only thing that’s stopping you now probably would be the ego yelling out to you ‘why should I broadcast my wrong doings so as to let anyone else snatch away my chance?’ Skip the E from the word EGO and let it GO. Feel free and muster all your courage to accept the mistakes. Own it and mean it. In such situations, just close your eyes and ponder if you’d accept a person who is ready to accept their own mistakes and correct themselves or a person who is just stubborn enough to not admit the same? You need to have the courage to accept the fact that things do take time to be right. Own your mistake instead of putting the blame on someone else, irrespective of the position you hold in that place: superior or a junior. In that way, you not only promote a healthy work atmosphere but also create opportunities for wild and creative ideas to flow in! You can excel at the cost of few scoldings from your colleagues rather than keeping quiet out of fear of humiliation and repeating the same mistake again and again. Well, a fun fact is that you get to do a new mistake the next time.

P.S. “It takes immense courage to accept, the reality of the truth, told to you and about you by someone, without just being angry” – Emotional strength

Dedication to improve: “I’ve missed more than 9000 shots in my career. I’ve lost almost 300 games. 26 times, I’ve been trusted to take the game winning shot and missed. I’ve failed over and over and over again in my life. And that is why I succeed.” – Michael Jordan. How many of us have tried to extract the true essence of the phrase ‘sky is the limit’, completely? As common and easily these words are said, it opens a portal for the million different ways of doing a specific thing. It just requires enough patience to turn clay into a beautiful art-piece or in transforming diamond from a rough stone into a faceted gem. What is amazing is that at the end of the process, you eventually get to turn your frowns of failure to smiles of success. Strive hard until you get to eat the sweet fruits you reaped for. Don’t settle for anything less than perfect because you, my friend, are answerable to only one question that your inner-self will haunt you with, i.e. “Did I give my best? Was I capable of something more?” If you have a satisfactory yes to the former and a no to the latter, you will be the most content person as you have been truthful to your self and worked for something while stepping out of your comfort zone. Just imagine, what would have happened if you had not tried to walk after a few bruises, as a kid? Life is so, dear friends, you either get to walk up with your head high after giving your best or …….!

Well, to conclude, APJ Abdul Kalam has rightly quoted that “Confidence and Hard-work is the best medicine to kill the disease called failure. It will make you a successful person.”

Cherish every moment!

AIM: To take my dear readers on a stroll, back to the time where everything in life was actually easy and simple.

To Prove: Never ever judge a book by its cover and all that glitters is not gold!

Current Scenario: Age of 22 and above.

Stroll back to: Yourself in your teens or age below.

Life’s way of proving me wrong:

I still remember those times, where I wished I could just fast forward all those moments I felt was really frustrating, difficult and most importantly pointless, and enter the career life ASAP just to enjoy sitting in an air-conditioned office, sipping a cup of coffee and working on something that interests me (’cause obviously my ambition was my choice), having a personal laptop or a work desk, taking a day off whenever I wished to and have lit parties. Here is a list of wrongly tagged things which I really crave for now and I’m sure everyone of you miss too!

Then: boring lectures and brain wrecking exams Now: The amount of fun that we used to have during those late night group study sessions or tuition classes, trying to make sense in those ‘senseless’ ( now invaluable) things by making the weirdest acronyms that anyone could ever think of and scribbling down the notes that the professors bombarded us with, is incomparable.
Then: chugged down food when I had no other option ’cause obviously I was a kid/ student and I had to eat what I was given Now: I’d really appreciate any kind of food served to me because after a hectic day at work, all that you care is how to shush your tummy so that you can proceed to crash on your bed! Maa tussi great ho (Mom, you are great). I really do mean it and I’d love to take a moment to apologize for all those tantrums I threw at you. It is amazing how you manage the house without any complaints, even after an arduous day. Three cheers to all the mothers out there!! [P.S. It is surprising if you don’t knock us with the roti roller in your hand, when we sulk over the meal you prepared] ❤
Then: pointless assignments which was mere wastage of paper and my precious time. Pffft! Now: There is a whole lot of black and white papers in front of you created by you, the robot. The creative part of your brain literally dies day by day. Be grateful to all those teachers who try to invoke that part of your brain because, Oh child, they know how it is to be an adult! They know your life is going to run in a robotic manner and that you are going to be a slave of time. They know you are going to run one hell of a relay, exchanging your responsibilities, just like the batons.
Then: had to do activities that never interested me, just because my friends were participating and that was the best reason to bunk a class Now: I would love to do any activity voluntarily that will help rejuvenate the over-worked up soul that I carry daily to office, anything to add some spice masala to my life because even dal fry is bland without tadka! But you know what? As much as an outgoing person I am, staying at home on a Sunday after a monotonous week, doing nothing, is itself a bliss I’d count now!
Then: people ignored my talks just because I was a kid! Now: I have to think before each word that falls out of my mouth because people are more interested in arguing than hearing. They wait for you to screw up one thing you tell so that they can pester you for the rest of your lives telling, “I can’t believe you told me so, that day!” [P.S. It is the best that people can’t read your minds because more than what gets censored by the Censor Board or backspaced in your daily messages, you edit the content your mouth is bound to speak]
Then: carry those heavy school bags that weighed definitely more than me and made me look like a ladybug Now: Oh God! Those days were much simpler and beautiful. It was just the bags that I carried on my back that were heavy. Before I sleep every night now, the heavy dark bags that my poor eyes weigh after the incessant use of the PC is unavertable.

These were few of the instances that I could recollect in such a short span of time. I am pretty sure there are many more important moments to you that I may have left off! All that matters is how our attitude is. Now, as I help any of my younger ones in their academics, I understand how silly and easy those contents were. It is just the attitude that matters in how we accept a situation. I know, I can’t time travel back to those days and correct myself, but I have learnt to accept and move forward with an attitude that can never pull me down. Easy or difficult a task – is your call! Stress over it or fight it out – is again your call! The misconception that we all live in is that ‘the grass is greener on the other side‘. Maybe it is, but each path that you trod over has its own ditches and weeds. Walk over it or make it a garden for you to live harmoniously – is your call! Stop stressing over things that you don’t have and value the things that you have! Try to change the stones into gems and look forward for the rainbow after each storm you encounter.

“Sometimes, you will never know the value of a moment until it becomes a memory” – Dr.Seuss.

One Step makes a big difference!..

“Once upon a time you were a little kid with big dreams that you promise you’d make real one day. Don’t disappoint yourself”. It’s all the more comforting to know that your family or your dear ones have seen you make all kinds of dream and also that phase where your ambitions kept fluctuating. They have always been there to provide you with every single support and zeal required to chase your dreams. They have cried deep within even when you were bruised slightly and their pain have been unnoticed many a times. They’ll never leave your hand however old you turn and provide continuous support in every stage of life, because to them, you are still their little kid. Your dreams are their dreams too. So, when you doubt your capability and take a step back from the challenge against your opponents in this competitive world to get a dream job, think of all those faces who have only taken steps forward just so that you never would find the need to halt to attain what you want.

“Success in life comes when you simply refuse to give up with goals so strong; that obstacles, failure and loss only act as motivation”. Certain people are too emotional which sequentially makes them indecisive. Sentiments and emotions somewhat gets stronger during the departure from home to a new place and it is something that gives way to a dilemma on whether the job or your family is more important. They tend to make you feel weak on your legs. All those sweet and easy-going time will revolve in your head when life throws even a small obstacle in front of you. You will begin to search for reasons just so that you could leave everything, your new job, your dreams, and so on, and rush to where your family or your loved one is. Life isn’t fair always. You will have to lose something in order to gain something. It’s just the initial phase that’s going to make you doubt your worth. If you successfully pass that phase with optimism and strive hard with determination, there are no words to measure the happiness you will experience to see your dreams actually working out.

Many a times, you tend to give up on your dreams and follow the stereotypical path your family have been treading on for ages and most common ones being that of an engineer, doctor or a teacher. The need for a change is never felt and if you are a person with no ‘ambitions’ yet, it’s all the more easy to turn into a pushover. You’ll never bother to spend time to analyse what exactly you are apt for or where exactly do you see yourself in few years. Family’s or your loved ones’ say definitely do matter a lot, but that shouldn’t make you so dependent on them that makes it impossible to take a decision to shape your future alone. With no worries you can precede, because your dear ones will definitely be there to provide constant support in every process towards your happiness and success, but it’s you who have to take the main step, a step towards your dream. Your family should never be a hurdle. Instead they should be considered the bridge of support in your life.

Dreams are to be chased and not to let go. Hold on to your dreams. Yes, the separation from your dear ones is truly the biggest hurdle you will have to face before taking this huge step in your life. But the life after that is what you longed for and they’ll be equally happy to see you successful in a place where you were meant to be. Remember that, they are able to take care of you happily because they are doing something they love to. Do something you love, and you’ll be able to return that happiness to everyone around you. Create that magical vibe of happiness. That one step is all that makes a difference. It’s up to you to take a step back from your dream job or a step ahead to a life you yearned for!