Secret of Success

How to become a Millionaire in a month ?. How to lose 20 kgs in week ?. How to become an expert speaker in a day ?

These are some of the catchy phrases used by people, who want us to use their products. Lured by the attraction of instant results, some of us buy these products and then find that they do not deliver what they actually promise.

Imagine the sort of response these companies would get, if they were to change their advt along the following lines,

How to become a Millionaire after 20 years of hardwork and shrewd investment ?. How to lose 20 kgs after a year of strenous exercise and dieting ?.

In our society, the fruits of success is displayed everywhere, but seldom do we get to see the secrets behind it.

So, what exactly are these secrets ?

1) Setting you objectives clearly

When it comes to setting objectives, most of us do not have a problem, often setting very high objectives. If we are a cricketer, we want to be the next Sachin, If it is a software engineer, we would like to be the next Bill Gates. While there is nothing fundamentally wrong with having such lofty ambitions, we are bound to face quiet a lot of failures in trying to measure up to those lofty standards. With each failure, our resolve to excel decreases and finally we set aside our original goals and settle for more managable mediocre standards.

How do we then keep up the motivation to pursue our goals ?. The secret lies in splitting the objective into smaller targets that can be tracked within specific time frames. For example, if a budding athlete wants to the olympic champion in 100 m sprint, which requires him to run the race in less than 10 sec, he might adopt the following goals,

Target to run the state level of the race (timing 11-12 sec) in the next 6 months.

Target to run the national championships (timing 10.5-11 sec) in the next 12 - 24 months.

Target to run the asian games (10 - 10.5 sec) in the 24-48 months and

finally the olympics if he can manage the timing of less than 10 secs.


With this approach, the athlete is constantly focussed on short-term goals and with every target that is achieved, the motivation levels for reaching the next target increases.


2) The second key to success lies in Innovation. More often than not, we fail to innovate because of the fear of failure. Although most of us know that failures are the stepping stones for success, we prefer to have those failures in private. The reason for fearing failures is primarily because, we tend to attach our egos to our performance. So when our idea is rejected by some one, it is our ego which is hurt. If our speach is criticised by some one, it is our ego which is hurt and consequently we turn defensive. If we can learn to separate our egos from our performances, we can handle our failures with a lot more confidence and consequently attempt innovation more easily. The ability to innovate and differentiate us from the rest is a key success factor. This is why, A.R. Rehman will always be appreciated more than Anu Mallik, Sachin Tendulkar will always be appreciated more than a Shewag. Remember, it is the originals which are appreciated, the clones are merely tolerated !



3) The third key to success lies in continious learning. Every year, we goto our bosses and ask for a salary increase. Seldom do we ever stop to think about " what have I learnt last year ?", "What is the increased value that I am going to deliver this year ?", "Why should my company pay me more this year ?".... Most of us tend to work hard to reach a level in life and then take it easy for the remaining period. Some of us stop learning as soon as the university education is over. Some of us stop learning as soon as we find that brilliant job that we always wanted, Some of us stop learning as soon as we get married....

The danger with this approach is being replaced by an alternative, when one is available. For example, the advent of Yuvraj singh has made Ganguly's position shaky. If we do not keep up with the latest trends, we will be sidelined in the near future.


Remember, by setting managable objectives, striving to innovate and learning continiously, we can better utilise the dormant potential in all of us. This increased confidence will let us give the thumbs down sign, when somebody comes telling you that it is possible to become a Millionaire in a month .......