How to be successful?

Success has been an elusive term since the beginning of time. For ages men and women have pursued that which would make them happy and fulfilled. At the same time they have tried to determine that which would make them feel as though they have achieved success. Some have defined success themselves, while others have been content to have others, or societies at large, define success for them. To truly understand success one must understand the nature of human beings.

Steps to a successful life

Each of us is gifted with the capability to be successful. We all have the innate intelligence, self-sufficiency, toughness, fitness, resilience, imagination, personality and honesty that is required for being successful. What holds us back on our path of success is not the lack of the above mentioned qualities, but lack of confidence in our abilities.

Here are some of the ways that would prove to be extremely helpful in your pursuit of personal success. While our actions and methods may vary, these actions provide the basics needed to have a successful and happy life.



Cultivate the right attitude

It is said that our destiny depends on the decisions we make. And these decisions are a product of our thoughts and attitude of mind. So, the first step on the road to personal success is taken right inside our head. Success is not luck, hard work or good judgement only. Success, more than anything else, is an attitude of mind, and that attitude begins with the realisation that nothing in your mind and body can stop you from achieving anything you want. Everything else is secondary to this realisation.



Think about the consequences

As the saying goes, you should be careful in what you wish and pray for, in case your wishes and prayers come true. This goes deeper than it sounds. Very often we are not sure as to what we exactly want in life. Even more often when we think we know what we want, we do not take into consideration the consequences of getting it.

When you step onto the road to personal success, you need to make sure where exactly it leads you. You have to figure out the consequences of the route you propose to take and make sure that you are happy about those consequences. There are numerous examples around us of people with fame, power or wealth having problems like ill-health, insomnia, lack of privacy, marriage-breakdowns, drugs, drinking, etc. You have to take into account consequences such as these when you set your objectives and try to achieve them.



Create a base/foundation for yourself

You need to use all your resources in your path of personal success. So you need to take care of factors that might hinder your progress. You might have personal or family problems or may suffer from bad health or other things like that. You need to take care of such problems. If they cannot be solved, you need to adjust to them. If an obstacle in your path to success cannot be removed, you have to figure out a way round it.



Set your objectives

Make a list of all your objectives in the order of priority. Your objectives should not be vague. Having an objective of 'making a lot of money' is not of much help unless you realise how you are going to achieve your objective. Your objective, for example, can be set-out in the following way:

-Within six years I want to be making Rs.600,000/year as an executive manager of a well-known organisation after obtaining a top degree from a leading university/institute.

Acquire the necessary information

Before you start your journey on the path of success, you need to get directions to reach your destination. Acquire all the necessary information that is vital for the attainment of your objective. Make sure you access the right sources and get specific and accurate information. Re-confirm the information if necessary. Getting on the wrong path will take you away from your goal, so make sure you are on the right path from the very start.

Deal with your fears

Our fears affect our lives in many ways. If you observe your thoughts and actions carefully, you will realise that it is fear that drives us to make efforts to survive, to succeed and to stay away from troubles. By consciously analysing your fears you can easily overcome them. You need to understand what fears drive and guide you and what fears limit and prevent you from reaching your goals.

Work hard
You need to work very hard to achieve all your goals. And you also need to be prepared for situations when things don't work out as you plan them to be. In such situations you need to keep your composure, be persistent in your efforts and do a little bit of re-thinking if necessary. Remember, things do fall apart, sooner or later, in everyone's life. It is only those who do not break in such situations that come out as eventual winners.



Learn from your mistakes

It is very important that you learn from your mistakes: no matter how big or small they are. Each time you have a setback or fail to meet a target, think about what you could have done to avoid that setback or failure. By making adjustments like that or realising how things work out, we bring things into our control and eventually make them happen as we want them to happen.



Motivate yourself

You are lucky if you have people around you who motivate you. If it's not so, then learn to be your own motivator. There would always be some attributes that would act as the driving force. Rely on them to motivate you.

Trust in God

Pray regularly and ask God to help you achieve your aims and to show you the path of success. Remember that God will show you signs if something you want is not good for you.



Be Courageous

Fortune favours the brave. Remember that all the attributes you need to be successful are inside you. You just have to bring them out of yourself. And for that you need to believe that there is absolutely nothing that you cannot achieve.

May Allah almighty bless all of us with success and happiness.

Quotes on success:

Here are some quotes on success. Consider them as reflections on a successful life and secrets to success. And learn from them.



A successful person is one who can lay a firm foundation with bricks that others throw at him or her.

-David Brinkley



The person interested in success has to learn to view failure as a healthy, inevitable part of the process of getting to the top.

-Diane Bauer





Nothing great in the world has been accomplished without passion.

-George Wilhelm



Choose a job you love and you will never have to work a day in your life.

-Confucius



It is not because things are difficult that we do not dare; it is because we do not dare that they are difficult.

-Seneca



Destiny is not a matter of chance. It is a matter of choice. It is not a thing to be waited for; it is a thing to be achieved.

-William Jennings Bryan



Raise your sail one foot and you can get ten feet of wind.

-Chinese proverb



The secret of life is to fall seven times and get up eight times.

-Paulo Coelho



Success is the best revenge.

-Unknown

__________________
Time is like a river.
You cannot touch the same water twice,
because the flow that has passed will never pass again.
Enjoy every moment of life.

I have learnt silence from the talkative, toleration from the intolerant, and kindness from the unkind; yet strange, I am ungrateful to these teachers.

Failures and difficulties faced by famous personalities:

Isaac Newton, the great scientist and mathematician, got no affection and care from his parents, as he had to live with his grandmother after his motherre-married. He was inferior physically and in studies to his classmates. Just when he made up for his shortcomings in school, his mother withdrew him from school due to financial difficulties after the death of his stepfather. But his love for studies and getting further education made him succeed eventually.




Ludwig van Beethoven is considered the greatest Western composer of all time. He handled the violin awkwardly and preferred playing his own compositions instead of improving his techniques. His teacher called him 'hopeless' as a composer. Even Beethoven's hearing loss did not affect his ability to compose music.



Abraham Lincoln became one of the greatest presidents in the history of USA. Born in a poor family, Lincoln was faced with defeat throughout his life. He lost eight elections, failed twice in business and suffered from a nervous breakdown.



Walt Disney, the famous American cartoonist and film producer was fired by a newspaper editor for lack of ideas. Walt Disney also went bankrupt several times before he built the Disneyland.



Charles Darwin, father of the Theory of Evolution gave up a medical career and was told by his father, 'You care for nothing but shooting dogs and rat catching.' In his autobiography, Darwin wrote, 'I was considered by all my masters and by my father a very ordinary boy, rather below the common standard in intellect.'



Albert Einstein, the father of 'Theory of Relativity' which altered mankind's fundamental concepts of space and time did not speak until he was four-year-old and didn't read until he was seven. His teacher described him as 'mentally slow, unsociable and adrift forever in his foolish dreams.' He was expelled and was refused admission to Zurich Polytechnic School.



Winston Churchill is widely regarded as the greatest British leader of the 20th century. Churchill is celebrated for his leadership during World War II (1939-1945), one of the most desperate struggles in British history. He failed sixth grade. He did not become Prime Minister of England until he was 62, only after a lifetime of defeats and setbacks. His greatest contributions came when he was a senior citizen.


Source: 100 Great Lives by John Canning

__________________
Time is like a river.
You cannot touch the same water twice,
because the flow that has passed will never pass again.
Enjoy every moment of life.

I have learnt silence from the talkative, toleration from the intolerant, and kindness from the unkind; yet strange, I am ungrateful to these teachers.