Success has different meaning for different people and is not measurable.
Financial success is measurable. Most of us in our hearts do want financial success but due to various reasons, we are not ready to declare. One main reason is the fear of failure. Also we have been made to believe that money is the root cause of evil. Money is only an instrument. It is good or bad depends on how we use it. A knife in the hands of a criminal can take life but in the hands of a surgeon can save life.
Financial success has a very simple formula
Financial success = Dreams (Can be nightmares)… X… Work …. X…. Path
Dreams :- Everyone has dreams inside us which is the driving force for us to keep putting efforts. When we are young, the dreams are clear but unfortunately as we grow older it hides in the subconscious mind and starts gathering dust. Try listing out 100 dreams on a piece of paper. Young people will be able to list them but it is difficult for people who have crossed 40. Successful people never let go of their dreams and makes them their Passion. Others turn them into wishes.
Here is a quote from Reliance table calendar of 2003
“ Our dreams have to be bigger: Our ambitions higher: Our commitment deeper:
And our efforts greater: This is my dream for Reliance and for India.”
Here are some simple steps to identify your dreams and turn them into passion and not a mere wish
1. Write down at least 100 dreams in a nice notebook with one dream on one page preferably supported by a picture. You can categorise them as under
a. What you want to be
b. What you want to do
c. What you want to have
2. Go through it every day. It will probably take just 2 mins.
3. Paste the pictures of your dreams on your fridge, mirror, car or even your desk top.
4. Start visualizing your dreams
Work :- We all generally are hard workers. The key lies in “to love what we do”
1. We must make efforts to diligently choose what we love or
2. We start loving what we choose.
Work also involves two important things
1. Learning relevant things. After our academic education when we enter the arena of “Real Life” we slowly realize that a bigger part of our academic education is not relevant to what we are actually doing. Successful people learn to develop :-
a. Positive attitude
b. Trust, relationship, faith
c. System
d. Leveraging
e. Building Teams
2. Applying what we have learnt. We have often heard this “ Knowledge by itself is nothing but knowledge when applied becomes power “. You may have come across people saying “Pay peanuts get monkeys” or “ Why should I put more effort when I am paid less”. Right learning and working with right attitude will always put you on a growth path.
3. Right priority :- There are many areas where we are working eg job, family, education, physical and mental health etc. Successful people have learnt to give priority to each area and will not let lower priority to overtake the higher priority. Most of us have our job as our first priority by default. So, when a guest comes home at a time when you have to go for your job, we tell our guest to relax at home or attend to his work and we shall meet after we come back from our work. Often, people take up some opportunity shown to them but do not give it any priority thus inconsistently doing the activities which results into slow or no growth at all. They either blame the opportunity itself or their circumstances.
4. Comfort zone :- It is said that “Enemy of a Great Life is Good Life”
Path :- A path is a means to accomplish your dreams. A path should be chosen which has the capabilities of accomplishing your dreams. Often we confuse the path with our dreams. There was a pilot who got his flying licence but did not get a job for a long time due to demand and supply factor. He said that his dream was to fly. He was offered an opening to flying job but with half the pay that he was drawing in a non-flying job and a long contract. He declined. He then realized that flying was not his dream. He was actually attracted to the money and the glamour associated with flying.
Many of us are shown paths known by our elders. They have limited knowledge which they pass on to us and we enter that field. Along the way we realize that the path they have chosen is not going to fulfill their dreams. An average person realizes it a little too late and is unable to take decisions because he has responsibilities, he is already in the rat race, his risk bearing capacity is low and he has the fear of unknown.
Today there are a lot of opportunities but only those who are looking for them will be able to see. There are all types of opportunities which opens the doors to our dreams. There are part time risk free opportunities created for ordinary people giving them hope. Any new idea meets with lot of skepticism. It takes time for an idea to mature and then it grows. In 1980, the idea of computers in homes, the idea of Bisleri and the idea of mobile phones at affordable price are some of the examples which met with skepticism but are a reality today.
“Often people think opportunity is a matter of luck. I believe opportunities are all around us. Some seize it. Others stand and let it pass by”. From Reliance table calendar of 2003.
“ Think big, think fast, think ahead. Ideas are no one’s monopoly”.
