How to be successful?

The simple answer is go through ordeals !

 I once remember a colleague of mine saying that we get Diamond only after it goes through tremendous pressure, same is with suffering. Sufferings are a test of your true character.

 Sufferings make you humble, modest and grateful. Tough times are when one starts looking for help, and that is when we realize the value of resources ... any resource ... time, money, people, own skills etc. If you have been initiated into spirituality, even something as simple as praying, you start appreciating the strength of spirituality.

I have from my own experiences realized the truth in it.

Everyone of us would have gone through ordeals of varying magnitude. The greater the magnitude, the greater it shatters our existence and comfort zone, the better the chances of developing success traits ! How you emerge also depends on the framework of your upbringing. If you have been brought up on basic values of life, you will no doubt emerge strong. In India typically families are cultured around our ancient scriptures. And our ancient Hindu scriptures in a nutshell prescribes detachment and with it comes honesty, modesty, empathy, responsibility etc. Though it is not possible to drill in detachment right from childhood, children are taught to respect qualities like honesty etc. And I guess it is not any different in other cultures. Given this assumption, most of us are destined to emerge strong / stronger from ordeals.

Try to recollect the worst ordeal in your life and jot down how you tackled it.

• Your own skills that helped you
• People who helped you and why
• How important was time 
• Opportunities that came by or you created for yourself
• Things that made the situation worse

      etc.
This will give you an idea on your strengths, your character traits that can make you successful and potential weaknesses that you have. Keep a note of this and play your strengths everyday and try avoiding derailing traits and you are bound to be successful

Any thoughts, counter-views, experiences?

How to deal with stress at work effectively?

I firmly believe in practicing teachings from Ancient Indian Scriptures in Managing oneself personally and professionally.
Stress as I have observed is the result of extrovert tendency. People generally tend to look outwards for a sense of worth. We spend our lifetime yearning for appreciation, recognition and encouragement. I have tried to turn it on face, and have benefited from it. As Stephen R Covey said, I tried beginning with the end in mind literally. For a moment, I imagined that this moment was my last moment, and noted my immediate thoughts. I was surprised that none of my professional and personal problems / achievements were in my mind. All that I was thinking of was, if I had nurtured my daughter well enough that she could handle the rest of her life all by herself, had I spent enough time with my family…

And then it dawned on me that I was going after things that really don’t matter to me. I need my job, I need the money, but that was not the be all and end all.  I need to do justice to my job, but what happens beyond that is not my concern.  Which I realized is what our ancient Indian scriptures meant “Perform your duties without any expectation of results” ! How true !Believe me, this simple realization has helped me better focus my energies at work and personal life. It has cleared the clutter in my mind.

Share your experiences and thoughts