The Only Key To Success
The measure of success is not determined by the number of degrees we hold or by the number of zeros added to our bank accounts. The drive for obtaining success in life is the aim of every single person, but the true meaning of success is not fixed. A person can be called successful in the true sense only when he/she inspires a cross section of people throughout his/her life and even after death. I firmly believe there is no shortcut to success. It takes hard work, perseverance and of course the most vital of all, determination. Determination in a broader term can be explained as the motive or the mindset that one firmly holds onto his heart, set the goal straight and has priorities clear and work tirelessly towards achieving it. When one is determined to do something and works hard to achieve that goal, it is almost impossible for anyone to break or undermine that ‘zeal’. The real price of success is determination. Colin Powell had once said, “A dream does not become reality through magic, it takes sweat, determination and hard work.” Determination and persistence are the two common traits that we can find in every successful person.
The path towards achieving success is never easy; hurdles galore, we often come across many unpleasant situations. In today’s context, it is not uncommon to have deep-seated fear of failure, fear of being an average and not being able to prove oneself to the world. We all wish to do better in life, better than our friends, foes and colleagues, and in the middle of this rat race, we often fall in the trap of anxiety and depression. We are constantly competing with somebody or the other and in its midst, we forget to live a life of our own. There is nothing wrong in being competitive but it becomes threatening when it takes a toll on one’s life. Social media plays a crucial role here. Most of the time, people get depressed and insecure seeing what others are doing, not realising that nobody posts their failures on social networking sites.
Nobody can achieve success without going through failures. Everyday is a new opportunity to make
ourselves better human beings. There is no point in being rich and successful if one does not have the basic
moral values.
Elon Musk, Steve Jobs, Dhirubhai Ambani, Oprah Winfrey, Ratan Tata, etc., they are who they are today only because of the determination that they had, it was the ‘never let go’ attitude which made them so successful. Starting his early career as a dispatch clerk, late Dhirubhai Ambani reached the position of one of the wealthiest men in our country and is also credited with having started the equity cult in India. Starbucks is a big name today; its coffee is world famous, but not many people know that the founder Howard Schultz grew up in a poor family, he neither had resources nor wealth as a child. Geeta Gopinath was in the news recently for being appointed as the Chief Economist of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) in October 2018. She stands out as a young, bold, dynamic independent Indian lady and an inspiration to young girls in India and the world. Specially in a country like India where women are still looked down upon, female foeticide is still prevalent in certain areas and people still prefer to have a boy child instead of a girl. The irony being Indians have sent satellite to the moon but the government still needs to implement schemes like ‘Beti Bechao Beti Padhao’ on a large scale. These are only a few examples; there are many people who started from scratch and climbed the ladder of success and never looked back.
Success, I believe, is a gradual process. It is not about the results but the efforts we put in. It is indeed very easy to get carried away, choose the ‘easy way out’ to get things done. People often get lured by lucrative offers, run after pelf, power and fame and go astray. There comes the real test of a person; how far one can go and to what extent one can remain loyal. Our acts and deeds reflect where we come from. Every single individual has some responsibility towards his family, society and the nation. Success and failure are not permanent but what remains eternal are the deeds. A person is always known and remembered by his deeds towards the society.
I have always believed that if success is sunshine, determination is its shadow; This reminds me of the story of a very powerful young lady IAS Ummul Kher, who fought against all odds and came victorious. Despite all her struggles and her battle with fragile bone disorder, she appeared in one of the toughest exams of the country and came up with flying colours. It is the people like her who teach us how to lead a life despite hardships, failures and difficult situations.
Two of the most important things that we need in our life to succeed are—(a) Determination and (b) Inspiration. Determination is something that comes from within and inspiration is something that we see in others and try to inculcate in our lives. The journey of a person from life to death is a very short one. And in this lifetime of ours, we undergo many stages—childhood, teenage, adulthood and finally old age. Each stage has its own struggles, right from struggling to learn to how to walk, talk, eat, succeed and take on the world. Failures and misfortunes are inevitable. Failures make the fruit of success sweeter. The pursuit of success and happiness is an integral part of our cultural DNA.
According to an article published in the Forbes India web magazine (March 27, 2018) a survey was carried out in sixteen countries, in which India ranked third in feeling successful, the first and the second spot was bagged by UAE and Brazil respectively. It was stated that 10% of Indians are positive about reaching newer heights in a year, double than that of global average, despite having a neck-to-neck job economy and inflation. Deepa Sapatnekar, Head of Communications for India, LinkedIn said, “The growing economy in India’s macroeconomic environment shines through in the confidence Indian professionals feel towards achieving success”.
The million dollar question that often arises in our mind is, how determined one needs to be in order to achieve success outreaches that spot in life from where everything seems pleasant and satisfying. The answer is simple, one must have a clear goal in life and work harder towards achieving it without leaving any stone unturned. The very first step towards success is determination, followed by a positive mindset. We should always abstain ourselves from negative
thoughts and negative vibes and rather concentrate on grabbing every opportunity that we get. A person having a negative mindset and who constantly thinks that he is not capable of doing anything in life can never succeed. When a person is determined to succeed, no matter what life throws at him, he deals with it vigorously.
A successful person always accepts criticism positively. One very important aspect that we tend to forget here is, no wonder success is achieved by dint of hard work, years of patience and determination but that should never make us haughty. Condescending behaviour is never liked by anyone and no matter how successful one is, if a person behaves in an arrogant and disdainful manner, receives no respect at all. Success should never lead to arrogance and we should never forget our roots no matter how successful we are. Thus we come to the conclusion that nobody gets anything for free. No man becomes successful in one single day. Success is not about the luck factor but the ‘determination’ and ‘hard work’. Life is designed to be tough, but the key to success is determination always. The courage to continue and the resolution to fight all odds is what counts the most. In a nutshell we can say, that determination is the key to success and there lies no alternative.