Success is a dream that many nurture.

A reader analyses the sayings of some of history’s most successful personalities and gives

a mantra for achieving success.

Dr Tek Raj Joshi

Success is the ultimate goal in life for every human being. Success could be prestige, money, power and security. The success system is a holistic approach, which stresses achievement at the personal and group levels. Why then are some people successful and not others?

Is there any formula for success in life? Is there a certain path to accomplishing achievement? Nobody is born successful or tagged with a destiny towards success.

In 1986,Gallop Organisation undertook a research on success with 1,500 prominent men and women. They published that the formula for success contained five necessary traits:

1. Common sense

2. Knowing one’s own field

3. Self-reliance

4. General intelligence

5. Ability to get things done

All highly successful people had a clear vision of what they wanted to achieve in life. The best way to improve is to learn from other’s experience. In the famous speech that Winston Churchill delivered to his countrymen during World War II, he said, “Give me blood, toil, tears and sweat and I shall give you victory.” This sentence contains clarity of thought, purpose and thoroughness in execution of action; it led him to become one of the most famous prime ministers of his era.

Chinese philosopher Confucius said, “Our greatest glory is not in never falling; but in rising every time we fall.” One of the best

examples of this is Abraham

Lincoln, the 16th president of America. He failed both in business and politics several times very badly. He lost the elections

of various posts totalling to about a dozen; from legislature, senate to vice-president, but finally

he became the president of the USA at the age of 51. Abraham Lincoln never heeded to what people said about him when he failed; he was the epitome of the old saying, “Winners never quit and quitters never win”.

From Lincoln we learn that persistence in the face of adversity is the single most important factor in determining the success of any venture. HW Longfellow wrote, “Perseverance is a great element of success. If you knock long enough and loud enough at the gate, you are sure to wake up somebody.”

Everyone is born with the seeds of greatness, with the ability to win. Without a doubt, one of the attributes shared by all successful people is that of dogged determination, perseverance and persistence. Poet Edgar Albert Guest in his poem “Do not quit,” wrote, “Life is queer with its twists and turns Stick to the fight when you are hardest hit

It is when you must not quit.”

Roman philosopher and emperor, Marcus Aurelius Antonius quoted, “Our life is what our thoughts make it.” People are failures, not because they are stupid, but because they are not sufficiently impassioned. Strong passion is a great force. The only thing that stands between failure and one’s desired goal is often the will to try and the faith to believe that it can be done.

Jesus said, “Everything is possible for him who believes” (Mark 9:23). The first thing one has to do to succeed is to visualise it. One must feel that he has that much competence inside of him, that he can reach that goal. He needs to assure himself of his capability in achieving it. This belief will drive him towards his dream. A famous Japanese proverb goes, “A vision without action is a daydream; an action without vision is a nightmare”.

Imagination is just as important as action and dreams. The emperor of France, Napoleon said, “Imagination rules the world”. Even Albert Einstein, the world’s genius believed that, “Imagination is more important than knowledge”. Many a time, thoughts occur suddenly out of the blue. Jot these down, no matter how trivial and save them for serious consideration later on.

A study conducted by Harvard University found that when a person receives a professional promotion, 85 per cent of the time it is because of his attitude and only 15 per cent because of his intelligence and knowledge of specific facts and figures. The foundation of success, regardless of one’s chosen field, therefore is basically one’s attitude.

Positive attitude often brings reward. “I can succeed” can give one hope when all else fails. But first, one must learn to love what one does. Human beings can alter their life by altering their attitude and mind-set. The human mind is never inactive even in sleep. If a man neglects control of personal thoughts, it is likely to be fixated on negative influences. The object of controlled attention is to keep one’s mind busy through positive thoughts. Dr Maxwell Maltz in his book, ‘Psycho Cybernetics’, says, “Get yourself a goal worth working for. Always have something ahead to look forward to.” One of the best ways to do this is to start your day with a positive attitude.

Everybody has a weakness. The ability to make this weakness a positive strength takes a lot of effort but is necessary for obtaining success. You weakness could be intolerance, greed, jealousy, suspicion, revenge, egotism or others. Philosophers like Zoroaster, Confucius, Lao-tse, Buddha and Jesus have all emphasised, “Do unto others as you would have others do unto you”. Benjamin Franklin found this successful and was known to say, “I will speak ill of no man, and speak all the good I know of everybody.”

Abstain from negative conversations because they condition one’s mind to negative thoughts. Look on life as a continuous learning process. Make it a habit of constantly updating one’s knowledge. Stay in touch with the world. There are three things needed to reach the top: talent, ambition and initiative.

Anatole France mentioned that, “To accomplish great things, we must not only act but also dream, not only plan but also believe.” Strength of purpose drives the essence for success. Faith adds to this because if you believe in yourself, you will not fail. You need to think creatively. Weak men wait for opportunities, strong men make them. Her is your opportunity, make it happen.

A Mahendra Vidya Bhusan medallist of 1972 and a leading industrialist, Padma Jyoti shares his business mantra, “No short-cuts; quick money comes back to haunt you; impatience leads nowhere; work attitude a must. Test an idea in the market, analyse it, only then, use it.”

Tools for success

• Belief and determination:

Believe in the existence of infinite

intelligence, the supreme power. Identify your goal, problems. Look for the solution to your problems. Believe in yourself.

• Be positive: Always look for the best in everything.

• Immediate action: Do not

procrastinate. Make a habit of

doing things now.

• Listen: Listening is an art that

few possess, an even greater

accomplishment than speaking well. From listening comes

wisdom.

• Vision: Visualise yourself as

an achiever. Do not think you

cannot. Think that you can.

• The Bible says, “As a man

thinketh in his heart so he is”.

The key to success is to fight

fear with faith and facts. Develop confidence in yourself.

• Always know: “He, who moves

not forward, goes backward” (Goethe). Always press

onwards, and solve the problems one by one.