The ambition to accomplish, achieve or learn something takes us to success. If there is no aspiration, there would be no desire to do or achieve anything. Life remains vigorous and beautiful when there is hope and enthusiasm to do something. In absence of this desire the life turns into a burden. There are some golden rules, which not only make us successful, but also make us realize the utility of life:
Determination of aim
The first step is to determine what we want to do? The aim should be according to one’s interest, only then whole-hearted efforts could be made to achieve it. Attaining the goal is not easy. The path to success is full of hurdles; many challenges impede the way and these need to be handled carefully. This requires a mind completely dedicated to the cause.
Desire to learn new things
Everyone, irrespective of his age, should foster the habit of learning new things. Many people think that they have already acquired enough knowledge and they do not need to learn anything else. Such thoughts prevent any further internal growth. There is neither any age for learning nor is there any limit to acquire knowledge. So, age should not be a limiting factor to learning; and the quest for knowledge should always be continued.
Positive thinking
Positive thoughts play an important role in moving forward easily. The path to success has many such phases which bring unpleasant experiences and are sufficient to dishearten a person. An optimistic person, however, could change this disappointment into a new ray of hope. So, positive thinking should be encouraged.
Planning
Plans elucidate the path leading to the aim. So, they should be made carefully because on them depends the chance to succeed. If they fail, they take us away from our goal. Proper implementation of plans is also as important as planning itself. So, plans should be made according to one’s working capacity so that they could be implemented easily.
Constant endeavors
Our efforts are weapons which prevent our retreat and defeat and eventually lead us to our destination. One should not give up in frustration, rather should keep trying until he succeeds. Efforts and hard work are closely interlinked and essential for success.
Taking criticism positively
Criticism could disappoint a person. But, one should not be scared of it because it teaches us to move carefully. All our deeds may not fetch us appreciation. Some of them could make us liable to criticism as well. Criticism makes us alert about the mistakes we made. So, we should develop a habit to take them positively and learn from them.
Stay calm
This is the most important prerequisite to success. Everyone faces ups and downs in life. So we should neither be scared of them nor should give more attention to them. There is no set criterion for success. It is we who determine it by comparing ourselves to others. So the basic principle of life is to remain calm in all circumstances.
Do not hurry
Anything done in a hurry could force one on the wrong path. So one should have patience and give proper time to every work. Patience is a source of inspiration, which encourages us to move forward. By hurrying up, we could attain success, but its impact would only be short lived. So one should be careful and alert while moving towards his goal. In this way, he would surely attain it.
Don’t be scared of defeat
One should not be scared of defeat. But, on being unsuccessful, he should analyze the reasons for his failure and try to rectify his mistakes. Failures could frustrate us, but if one does not give up and strives to succeed with firm determination, he would surely succeed in attaining his target.
Success fetches happiness, while failure brings disappointment. But even after getting a big failure or success the way forward does not get blocked nor the aim moves out of our sight. However, if we have lost sight of our aim, we should look for fresh targets and make new aims. A failure does not put an end to life. There would be many opportunities and paths ahead which could lead to success. Life unfolds diverse opportunities and situations throughout its course. If we are not able to move forward with one method, we should try another one. But, we should neither stop nor accept the defeat. As long as we have life, we have the time–the time to succeed, to explore new ways of success and to give new meaning to life.
Akhand Jyoti Magazine 2015 Mar-Apr