By Sriharsh Vaidya
Contributory Author for Spark Igniting Minds
Success, one of the most sorted topics of the human race. Pick up 100 working people and ask “who want to be successful?”, and you will see almost everyone will raise their hand and say “I want to be successful.”
You go on to social media and you will find thousands of quotes and articles shared by millions of people on what is a success, how to become successful, and what success can bring to you and whatnot. As we are into the information age, the exposure has made few topics like success & money as one of the most talked things in one’s life unlike what it used to be in the last few decades.
If I am not wrong, you already heard, read, and understood many things about success through various sources. You might be someone who has already tasted the success and on the path of sustaining your successful journey or you might be someone who is struggling to succeed in your respective endeavors. Irrespective of who you are, I believe reading this article will either reaffirm what you already know or it will give you a new perspective to succeed in life.
If I am allowed to request you something then I would like to request you to go through this article by being someone who is really looking for the ways and means to become happily successful.
So, if you have accepted my request then let’s go through the further part of the article. Let’s begin with a few fundamental questions which I asked myself when I was in the middle of my life’s downfall. It was the time when I realized that I have more conflicts and less confidence; more doubts and less belief in self; more confusion and less clarity. It was time to look inside and find the real purpose of my life.
The questions which I asked myself are
Is the definition of success the same for everyone?
Why do I need to be successful?
Who will decide whether I am successful or not?
Happiness and fulfillment are dependent or independent of success?
Can success in professional life lead to success in personal life?
Whom should I call as a successful person, the one who has success related to one particular area of life or the one who has succeeded in every area of his/her life?
What makes success permanent?
What about the success of the pedestal of spirituality?
The idea of bringing up such questions is to channelize the thought process in such a way that there will be more value and more meaning to what we do in life. These are certain questions to be asked to self before jumping on to working for a so-called successful life.
If you observe, from the time immemorial, pressure from superiors, peers, parents, society, are creating many illusions either consciously or unconsciously and causing chaos in an individual mind. This leads to taking up work without asking the right questions to self. Today many don't know why they do what they do. Due to this, the majority have failed miserably, some are literally broke whereas some made little advancement in material possessions, however, both living an unfulfilling life.
In the current scenario, the process of accomplishment, the desire to achieve something, the definition of success is mostly derived from looking at the world outside. The desires to possess or experience some things are getting emerged purely based on what is shown by others. Check yourself, is everything you have today or everything you want in the future is influenced by the world outside of you or it’s because of who you are really deep inside?
Technological advancements have created more opportunities to succeed but have also created more causes for lamentation. Today we see comparatively more people are under depression and stress. One of the major reasons for this is the misconception about self. Many of us have stopped living based on who we are and started living to match the lifestyle of the world outside. I have seen many people who choose their careers based on the perks they get rather than choosing on the basis of what they are good at or what they can feel fulfilling.
However, there are some who stood aloof to the negative impact of technological advancement, illusions, and misconceptions. their aim was never to be successful but to be happily successful. Their aim is not to take from the world but to give back something to the world. I am talking about those who made their journey of life so worth that they will be remembered not only by their loved ones but also by many others and generations to come.
The life they have lived or are living is an epitome of prosperity with fulfillment. They are what humanity can feel proud of, they are the ones which the majority look up to. Some of them made great money and some didn’t (as their goal was not money) but more than anything, all of them are known for their work and their contribution to humanity as a whole. They are from different walks of life but their purpose was to add value to the world with their work.
Mother Teresa, Martin Luther King Jr, Mahatma Gandhi, Shri Pandurang Shastri Athavale, Shri A.C Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada, Henry Ford, Wright Brothers, Nelson Mandela, Amitabh Bachchan, Dhirubhai Ambani, Shri Narendra Modi, Ratan Tata, Albert Einstein, Sachin Tendulkar and many more have inspired the world and given a reaffirmation about what a human being can do if he works with full potential and with a higher purpose.!
Some of the reasons why they are happily successful and so inspiring are
They know why they do what they do.
Their purpose was always higher than themselves.
They had a noble vision.
They had faith in God.
They preferred the well-being of people over profit.
They never worked for money.
They were highly disciplined and decision-makers.
Their biggest goal is to bring transformation in self and the world around.
They kept learning from their experiences.
Their failures did not stop their mission.
They are optimists.
They asked themselves the right questions to move forward.
They believed in teamwork.
They find fulfillment in doing the work
Those never felt insecure and built prosperity with peace.
They were ready to break the rules but not the principles.
They had the maturity to see abundance even in the time of drought.
Their wisdom was their biggest strength.
They embraced technology and pooled great talent to work.
They helped many others to become successful in the process.
Their intentions were to give a better future for the coming generations.
Want for success is there within almost everyone, accessibility to information on how to become successful is also there with the majority but still, we all know that there is a huge gap between the number of people who want success and the number of people who actually have success in their life. If we ask ourselves, the right questions and puts effort to find the right answers then we will find a reason beyond self and that reason will lead to a greater purpose. Gradually, all the qualities and mechanisms required for success will get unfolded with time.
In the end, I would like to share 2 verses from the Bhagavad Gita which has helped me in maintaining balance in tough times and also helped me in taking vital decisions of my life.
कर्मण्येवाधिकारस्ते मा फलेषु कदाचन ।
मा कर्मफलहेतुर्भूर्मा ते सङ्गोऽस्त्वकर्मणि ॥2.47॥
karmaṇy evādhikāras te
mā phaleṣu kadācana
mā karma-phala-hetur bhūr
mā te saṅgo ’stv akarmaṇi
Translation: You have a right to perform your prescribed duty, but you are not entitled to the fruits of action. Never consider yourself the cause of the results of your activities, and never be attached to not doing your duty.
While this doesn't mean we need to be martyrs, it means often the result becomes so much of a focal point, it can turn into a distraction. This detachment from the result also protects us from the disappointment that we are bound to feel at one point or the other in our professional lives.
मुक्तसङ्गोऽनहंवादी धृत्युत्साहसमन्वित: । सिद्ध्यसिद्ध्योर्निर्विकार: कर्ता सात्त्विक उच्यते ॥ 18.26 ॥
mukta-saṅgo ’nahaṁ-vādī dhṛty-utsāha-samanvitaḥ siddhy-asiddhyor nirvikāraḥ kartā sāttvika ucyate
Translation: One who performs his duty without association with the modes of material nature, without false ego, with great determination and enthusiasm, and without wavering in success or failure is said to be a worker in the mode of goodness.
If you have reached the end of this article with a feel of reaffirmation or with a new perspective about succeeding in life then I feel my purpose of writing this article is fulfilled.
If you find this article worth then feel free to share with your loved ones.
About the author:
Sriharsh Vaidya is a Pranic Psychotherapist, a Life Coach, and a Licensed Practitioner of NLP. He also contributes to and supports various learning and development initiatives that focus on areas such as entrepreneurship, psychology, and spiritual science. He is an MBA with a specialization in Marketing & Finance. Before he ventured into his business in 2013, he had worked at few chemical and biotech companies.