Success Simplified

The simplest and the best definition of Success that I have found is: “Success is measurable progress in reasonable time.” There has to be a noticeable progress within a given time frame. Success is not only reaching the destination but how have you undertaken the journey, how have you progressed with time.

What does Success depends upon? It depends on our beliefs, thoughts, actions, habits and our character. Our beliefs are the foundation of Success. What are our core beliefs about ourselves, others and the world in general? If we believe that we are intelligent, we will become intelligent. If we believe we are smart, we will become smart. If we believe that we are lucky, we will become lucky. What are our beliefs about others? Are others good and helping or they are mean and selfish? Is the world a lovely and beautiful place or it is harsh and unforgiving?

We may not like it but most of our beliefs are not even our beliefs. Science is now agreeing that even before we are born, when the baby is in the womb, the programming of beliefs takes place. Whatever the mother reads or watches, its impression is carried on to the baby. When we are growing-up our beliefs are being shaped by our parents, relatives, teachers and friends. Later on they are influenced by the books we read and by media, television and films.

So take out some time. Sit in a quiet place and try to fathom out what your core beliefs are. Are they helpful and positive or they are negative and detrimental to your progress? You can erase your negative beliefs by doing daily affirmations. Suppose, you believe that you are not smart. To change this, stand in front of the mirror every day, look yourself in the eye and say this loud, “I am smart, intelligent and attractive.” Feel every word to be true. Do it for 03 minutes minimum or longer if you wish. Within a week you will find a change and you would have replaced the negative belief with a positive one, changing yourself into a smart and an attractive person.

Our beliefs create our thoughts. It is estimated that we think over 80,000 thoughts in a day but the irony is 80% of that, approximately 60,000 of them are repetitive. We continue to think the same thing over and over again. Einstein said, “It is madness to think the same thing and expect a different result.” If you want to succeed you should get in the habit of fresh thinking. Think of new ideas of doing the things you have been doing. Think of new ways of increasing the quantity and improving the quality of products or services that you provide. In my article  Taming the Monkey Mind  I have shown ways how to control the thoughts. We become what we think so choose wisely.

Our thoughts result into action. We can take action only in the present moment. We can’t take them either in the past or in the future. We have to be fully present when we take an action and we have to give it 100%. We can’t take half-hearted actions and expect favourable results. If we want wonderful results, we have to give our complete heart and soul. The Pareto Principle or the 80-20 rule says that the 80% of results come from 20% of your actions. Find out what these 20% of actions are for you and perfect them. If we continue to take such powerful actions our day will be a successful day. And if we have a series of such successful day our life will be a success.

What we continuously do becomes our habit. It is said that man is a creature of habit. Find a man’s habit and you will know how far or how close he is from success. Habits like getting up early in the morning, doing physical exercise, yoga or meditation, having a regulated and balanced diet, planning the day, maintaining calm amidst chaos, go a long way in making a man successful. Take an account of yourself. See, which all habits are helping you and which all are detrimental to your progress in the path of success? Take a pledge to shun the destructive habits right NOW. Start a new habit, do it religiously for 21 days and it will be a life-long habit.

Our habits make our character or our character is the sum total of our habits. If we have good habits, our character will be strong and with bad habits our character becomes weak. It is said that personality can open doors but only Character can keep them open. So lay a strong foundation of character beginning with strong beliefs, positive thoughts, powerful actions and good habits.

And finally our Character determines our destiny, whether we will be successful or not. By going through your beliefs, thought-pattern, actions and habit you can construe whether you have a strong or weak character. Take positive actions in all the domains if you have a doubt that your character may be weak. I am sure by now you would have realised how simple it is to be successful. Take these small but powerful steps and success will come knocking at your doors.  

Sqn Ldr Manish Kumar (Retd.) is a Motivational Speaker, Lifestyle Management Expert, Consultant, Life Coach and Author of Best-selling book Be Your Own Pilot