Meaning of Success Success consists of doing & accomplishing things. It is doing ones best to make the most of oneself.

However, it is not something that can be measured in relation to the accomplishments of others. It is an individual matter & must always be determined by the degree in which a specific person has attained his own highest potentialities.

The first success factor is the formulation of a Goal. The general causes of our mediocrity in performance are not lack of ability, unwillingness to work. The real cause is our inability to formulate Specific, Positive, Realistic & Concrete Goals. Besides, occasionally it is necessary to break end goal into sub-goals & set specific goals to achieve the targeted end-goal gradually.

Passion To attain our goal we should pursue it singlemindedly, with Passion and Strong Enthusiasm which moves heaven & earth. Nothing great has ever been achieved without enthusiasm. According to William James(the father of modern psychology) in almost any subject your Passion for the subject will save you. If you only care enough for a result, you will most certainly attain it. If you wish to be rich, you will be rich, if you wish to be learned, you will be learned; if you wish to be good, you will be good. Only we must do only these things & not at the same time a hundred other incompatible things.

To pursue a goal passionately is the best possible assurance of success in it. If there is a way to Success, passion finds it & it is not cowed by difficulties/obstacles. No person who is enthusiastic about his work has anything to fear from life. Real Passion is indispensable condition for a truly great achievement. To put it differently, Passion is one of the prime success factors.

Driving Force Closely related to passion is driving force that there is no gain without work. The old saying has it, Through hardship to the stars. Anyone can be successful if he prepared to continuously pay the price for it. If a person stops paying the price when he has achieved some success then he will slip back. It means that driving force has gone & price is no longer is being paid. The trouble with some people is that they want to get to the promised land but without going through the wilderness.

Pay for it & take it. said Emerson. Everything worthwhile has a price & to make it meaningful we must pay the price continuously. Two young men of equal abilities started in the business world at the same time. One remained stuck in a small job all his life, while the other climbed to the top in his trade. What is the difference? Just this, the one who was stuck refused to continuously pay the price of Success.

Courage Courage is not the absence of despair, it is rather the capacity to move ahead in spite of despair. It is the willingness to confront fear. It means flying in the face of criticism, relying on ourselves, being willing to accept & learn from the consequences of our choices. It is the recognition that failure is a genuine possibility & that absolute certainty is an illusion.

A great deal of talent is lost in the world for want of little courage. In different words, it is not because things are difficult that we do not dare; it is because we do not dare that things are difficult.The fact is that to do anything in the world worth doing, we must not stand back shivering & thinking of the cold & danger, but jump in & scramble through as well as we can. It will not do to be perpetually calculating risks and adjusting nice changes, but at present a person waits, doubts & consults his well wishers, till one day he finds that he has lost much time in consulting and he has no time to follow their advice.

The bravest thing we can do when we are not brave is to profess courage & act accordingly. The idea of professing courage is sound because the important thing is to act, rather than try to convince ourselves of how brave we are or are not at given moment. SELF PITY DOES NO ONE ANY GOOD. Success Visualization The effectiveness of the foregoing success factors will be greatly enhanced if we visualize ourselves as a Success & act accordingly several times a day. Success/failure in any enterprise is caused more by mental attitude rather than mental capacities. The success attitude magnetizes success, the failure attitude attracts failure.

We must assume a virtue if we do not have it. We must build up a very vivid picture of ourselves behaving in the way we want to behave, being the sort of person we want to be & let this image drift into our minds. Perhaps the greatest power we have is to use our imagination to help us change in the ways we want to change. We should firmly fix in our minds what we would like to do & then without getting distracted , we should move straight to our goal. We must preserve the success attitude under all circumstances. It is wisely said that all things come through Desire. We become like that on which our hearts are fixed. We must set our heart on a goal, visualize its attainment, work for it like blazes, give it that little extra & with Gods blessings we will achieve it.

Persistence Persistence enables us to hold on when there is nothing in us except the WILL which says to us, Hold on. The magic formula for success is never-say-die attitude. In other words, we must abandon our giving up & replace it with dogged persistence. If we persist & follow up tirelessly never even entertaining the idea of being put off we will almost always emerge not only having reached our goal but often having far exceeded our initial expectations.

There is no substitute for persistence. The slogan Press on has solved and will always solve the problems of human race. The Will to Succeed Success comes to the person who has the will to succeed. It is no bonanza, it does not come as a gift of heaven. It is the end product of our own efforts. It is the result of our will to succeed. The individual who has the will to succeed takes charge of his success. He knows what he wants and he plans the sequential steps for attaining it. He directs & bends the forces of his life to the attainments of his goals. He does not expect the fate to throw success in his lap, nor does his rely on other people to give it to him. He knows exactly & precisely what he wants & he regulates his daily actions to attain it. He succeeds because he has the will to succeed. At the back of 99 out of 100 assertions that a can not be done is nothing but the unwillingness to do it.

Hence, whenever we attempt to do a thing, we should do it with a will and be confident that we will succeed. We should act as if, it were impossible to fail. It is will-power that makes dreams come true. We should not pray for lighter burdens but for stronger backs. To put it in another way, it can be said that when the things get tough, the tough gets going. Efficiency Efficiency is the quality of being able to complete a job successfully without wasting Time/energy. In order to live successfully in our environment we have got to be efficient. We have to learn to make the most economical use of Time, Space, Energy & Materials. Intelligent organisation of these ingredients means richer and more rewarding life. Without efficiency we are not likely to hit bulls eye very often. In addition, Efficiency increases our self-confidence & self-esteem.

Shaping our Destiny Ourselves We should not loose sight of the fact that our destinies are individual things and that it is up to us personally to take charge and shape them according to our capacities, needs, ambitions & ideals. They can not be handed over to an assembly-line and come out tailor made to fit us. They must be designed and hammered out by each one of us individually. To permit forces outside of us to shape them for us is to abdicate our birthright as individual human personalities.

Assuming responsibility for oneself mostly pays dividends. It enables an individual to develop his potential fully. It fosters individuality and develops creativity. It adds to ones motivation to perform better. Taking full responsibility for ones behaviour at all levels-physical, inter-personal & spiritual-leads to new self-undertaking. It is key to selfknowledge. It enables one to look oneself straight in the eye. It develops initiative. It enhances ones capacity to cope with reality effectively & boldly.

Along with personal responsibility goes personal freedom-the freedom to live as he chooses, freedom to think and act as he wishes, the freedom to keep in his own hands the power to decide each step, the course of his life, the freedom to make mistakes & profit by them, the freedom to mould his own life & the freedom to develop his own talents.

Optimistic & Positive Thinking Positive thinking is fundamentally a matter of believing in a favourable future and being convinced of ultimate success in our efforts. It is having faith in ourselves and forcing our way to our goal by sheer will-power and determination. Even when confronted with obstacles and setbacks, the person with a positive slant of mind is not depressed or disheartened. Without the basic hopeful and optimistic approach and attitude of mind, one will find it difficult to sustain ones efforts, especially over long periods under severe stresses and strains in the force of stiff opposition & competition. Positive thinking automatically imbibes one with confidence & enthusiasm. It enables the individual to visualize positive goals and definite objectives and work for them with patience, perseverance and determination. With positive attitude an individual gains enormous inner strength. He is fortified with a strong will power and sustained enthusiasm. A positive frame of mind injects one with tremendous courage & enables him to take reasonable risks with pluck & promptitude. He is able to take firm decisions without hesitation, vacillation and mental reservations. He is certain of victory and proceeds towards his goal with determination, no matter the obstacles, odds, difficulties/dangers. The positive frame of mind enables one to always look at the brighter & lighter side of things. A positive-oriented person has the ability to turn initial defeats into ultimate victories. He considers what he gains with successive experience and how he could turn it to his advantage. He radiates joy, friendliness, cooperation, warmth. He enjoys hard work and his allotted or chosen course of action. He does whatever he has to with Enthusiasm, Thrill and Enjoyment. He may have setbacks & difficulties but his positive thinking will enable him to try again and again and press on in spite of apparent failures & mishaps. In the end his tenacity and perseverance gains him success.

If we are positive minded, we will not say or think that something is impossible or can not be done. On the contrary we firmly believe that all is possible to him who truly believes & firmly act on that belief. When we have positive outlook we invariably make a sincere and honest attempt before we say that something is even difficult. Pessimism and Negative Thinking are the worst enemies of an aspiring leader. They undermine his self-confidence and make him imbalanced, hesitant, doubtful , timid and uncertain. He is assisted by his self-worries, fears & imaginary worries. He avoids taking decisions, keeps on postponing things and give up the efforts on the flimsiest excuse. He neither exercise initiate nor he accept responsibility. Hence a person obsessed with failure can not rise to leadership. He will always be content to remain a follower and obey the orders.

The person with positive outlook forgets his failures and begins counting his assets, strengths and gains. Even if the worst has happened, he still looks for a silver lining and attempts to get the best out of the worst. Having salvaged what he can from a seemingly hopeless situation he rises up and fights his way again. Because of his optimism he never gives up or abandons his efforts in midway. Nothing, therefore, really worries him. He has abundant energy, a zest for life and finds anything and everything interesting and fascinating. He is on the go, doing things, taking parts enthusiastically in whatever is afoot. Positive always breeds boldness and daring. It makes us dashing, enterprising & adventurous. We show Pluck, Display Courage and take risks. We accept responsibility cheerfully and Dare to try new ideas, Novel Methods & Untrodden Paths. We have the courage to search out and take on highly responsible assignments. We never run away from difficulties and dangers but face them squarely and confidently.

Positive Personality is made possible when built on firm foundation of positive mental outlook. If we have a positive attitude, we automatically acquire a positive personality. A positive personality means Strength, Success & Leadership. By deliberately changing our Thought Pattern from the Negative to the Positive Side, we can get into the habit of Thinking & Acting in a positive way. Use of positive words like yes, can, will, laugh, good, nice, bold, believe, faith, easy, cheerful, sweet, enjoy, confident, happy, warm, energetic, love, affectionate and the like in place of pessimistic or negative words like can not, try, bad, nasty, doubt, difficult, dull, sour, suffer, afraid, cold, fear, unwell etc we will find that we automatically become optimistic. We can develop optimism in action by continually taking action based on optimism. Imagine ourselves becoming what we want to be. We must suggest to ourselves that we can and we will be what we imagine. We must think, talk and write freely about the things which are good, beautiful, healthy, encouraging & cheerful. Our optimism helps to make full use of our inherent talents and abilities and we will invariably lead and succeed.

Concentration In order to achieve the selected goal we must concentrate all our efforts at all points of time on foregoing selected goal. We should think, dream & live on that goal. We should let our brain, muscles, every part of our body be full of that goal and just leave every other goal alone. We must focus sharply and clearly on one thing at a point of time. The weakest creature by concentrating his power on a single object can accomplish something whereas the strongest by dispersing his powers on many may fail to accomplish anything. Alexander Hamilton whom the world acclaims as a great genius says, Men give me some credit of genius. All the genius I have lies in these linesWhen I have a task in hand I study it profoundly. Day and night it is before me. I explore it in all its diamensions. My mind becomes pervaded with it. Then the efforts I make are what the people are pleased to call fruits of genius. It is a fruit of labour and thought. Accordingly, we should also strive single mindedly and steadfastly for success.

Standing on our own feet The importance of doing things our own way can hardly be overstressed. That is what makes for full flowering of personality, self-fulfillment and high achievement. Refusal to follow the crowd, to follow our own bent of mind, to be nobody but ourselves in what pays the ultimate dividends. Some people just drift. They go with the tide, follow the line of least resistance, just think and do as others think and do and thus deny individuality and personality. Self-denial amounts to self-betrayal. To be self-reliant, self-fulfilling and achieving personality we must master the techniques of standing on own feet. Self-help is said to be best and the sure help for attaining success. Our aim should be not to depend on other people.

Do not lose temper Only those persons who are emotional and excitable, lose temper easily and instantly. A quick tempered person will prove to be highly irritable and difficult to get along with. When we get emotional and lose our temper, our reason and logic will take to flight. We tend to say things which we really did not mean. We are prone to overstate or exaggerate. We may also reveal a lot of things which we should not disclose. A person under the grip of temper invariably loses his self-control. Thus by losing our temper we are likely to incur a lot of avoidable trouble in addition to saying unpleasant, unwanted, unnecessary and incorrect things and there losing friends and creating enemies. A sharp, unguarded, quick temper causes us great harm and no good whatever. It makes us vulnerable and weak. We should, therefore, give way to our temper. An individual lacking self-confidence can not establish himself as a firm leader. To become a successful leader we must control our temper and guard our tongue. We must be objective and should not get excited. We must never act in haste. A smiling and friendly approach will fetch us co-operation and success.

Judicious Time Management If we manage the time at our disposal effectively, there is every likelihood of our success. In other words, we should not fritter away our precious time in unproductive and trivial activities. It has been wisely said that time does not come with buy-back facility. Like an arrow once gone it never comes back. God may have made several other discriminations amongst different human beings. However, as far as issue of allotment of time is concerned, He has remained totally neutral. He has granted the same 24 hours to everyone on this earth right from the poorest man to the richest person. The significance of the time has also been explained beautifully in the following small poem:-

To realise the value of 1 year Ask a student who has failed in his exam; To realise the value of 1 month Ask a mother who has given birth to a premature baby; To realise the value of 1 week Ask an editor of a weekly magazine; To realise the value of 1 day Ask a daily wage earner; To realise the value of 1 hour Ask the lovers who are waiting to meet; To realise the value of 1 minute Ask a person who has missed the train; To realise the value of 1 second Ask an athlete who has won the second prize.

Judicious Time Management helps us in becoming punctual which in turn make us efficient and skilled. It shows respect to others time as well. It also give us more time to us to think and act. Napoleon Bonaparte(Emperor of France)once said that the greatest secret of his success was his absolute mastery of time. Mahatma Gandhi (Father of our Nation)also observed punctuality meticulously.

If we reach our schools, colleges, offices etc early, the interval can be profitably spent in arranging our thoughts, socialising with others and finally sitting quietly for a few minutes to get our breadth and compose ourselves to start the work calmly. If the appointed time for doing and finishing things is gone, it only brings a feeling of guilt in us. Hence it is essential for all of us to plan and spend our time wisely.

Conclusion If we want to achieve and maintain success in any sphere of life we should keep in mind all the above essentials. Eventually, I would like to quote the following inspiring lines of famous English poet Longfellow:The Heights achieved and kept by great men were not achieved by sudden flight, They, while their companions slept, were toiling upwards in the night.---RAJ JAGGI