Success Sutras

What is the most common cause for failure? In my experience, there are many such causes. There is no point in discussing the causes, without looking at the cure. After all we do not need to understand how we can fail; we need to understand how we can succeed. So let us take a close look at some remedies for some of these causes.

Be Decisive

Lack of decision heads the list of thirty odd major causes of failure. This is a common enemy that each one of us must conquer. If you study all the successful people (past and present) in this world, you will realize that every one of them had/has the habit of reaching decisions promptly, and changing these decisions slowly (if they do need to be changed at all). Unsuccessful people on the other hand reach decisions slowly, and change them very quickly and often.

Unsuccessful people are easily influenced by the opinions of others. They let the newspapers and gossiping neighbours do the thinking for them. If you analyze people, you realize that every one has a whole lot of opinions to be wished upon any one ready to listen to them. In fact opinions are the cheapest commodities on earth. If you are the type who gets influenced by opinions while reaching a decision, you can bid good bye to success.

Improve your memory

A good memory really helps in being successful. There are many fun ways to sharpen, exercise and develop your memory, just as you develop your muscles! These are:

Every night before you fall asleep, try and recall all that you did and saw during the day. Try to remember the names of all the people that you met during the day. Try to recall their addresses.
Improve your power of observation. A great exercise to do this is in a shopping mall! Look at a store window for a while, now walk away, and write down the names of as many objects as you can recall. This method is very convenient and effective for improving your power of observation.

Develop the ability to concentrate. Make an effort to concentrate on your reading. Try to read as rapidly as possible. Choose a quiet environment to read where you are not distracted by noise or interruptions. Avoid fidgeting while reading. Light reading is fun, but reading of serious articles and books help develop your power of concentration much more effectively.
Close your eyes and picture words, names, and numbers that you especially want to remember. It helps if you speak these out aloud.
When you are introduced to someone, repeat the name several times in your mind. Use it as many times in your conversation as appropriate.
Word, name, place, or object associations work well for some people. In this process you memorize by associating a person with something similar or contrasting.

Learn better and faster

· Discard all limiting beliefs about your capacity to learn. If you think that you are a slow learner than that will become your truth.
· Relax so that the information is well absorbed. When we are relaxed we use our entire brain for learning, thus learning faster.
· Create a mental map of what is to be learned. Mental mapping is a great learning tool.
· Read your passages aloud in a dramatic tone. This not only makes learning fun, but helps you absorb material better.
· Listen to some calming music. It works on certain brain areas that influence learning.
· Make learning fun by making a game out of it. This re-activates your child-like ability to learn effortlessly.

Boost your Confidence

Self confidence is one commodity that puts you out there, shines a spotlight on you, and helps you astound the world with your presence. People brimming with self-esteem are the ‘lucky’ guys; but what about those people who still need to figure out a way to develop this wonderful skill.

You must understand that developing self-esteem is no mystical deed. It is not something that has been programmed into your DNA by birth. Self- confidence can easily be cultivated, if you so desire and intend. The cool colleague you so admire at work, has not necessarily inherited this trait. In all likelihood he had to work hard to overcome his shy demeanor, before becoming a self assured ‘dude’.

Knowing your strengths makes you feel worthwhile and boosts your confidence level. So get up and assess yourself. Ask yourself, ‘Who are you?’, and ‘Where exactly are you in life?’ Be honest and brave to take a good look at yourself, but do not berate yourself. Be self disciplined. Analyze your inner critic. Silence him. Don’t let that inner voice tell you that you are not good enough. Don’t ever believe that others are better than you. Pay attention to those thoughts that cheer you up. Pay attention to those thoughts that tell you how good you are. Never focus on your negative aspects. Remember that whatever you focus on, grows in your life. So be careful of what you focus upon. For example if you want to clear CAT, ‘see’ yourself scoring 99 percentile, and hear people congratulating you on your success. Feel confident and excited about your success

Never let yourself be overcome with despair. Use each opportunity to determine ways of improving yourself. Take stock of all your achievements. What have you achieved in life? What are you good at? What talents do you have? What are your special skills? Be proud of your fine qualities and hone them.

Are you afraid of saying or doing the wrong thing and appearing awkward? Are you the type who hangs back from the rest of the crowd? If you are a shy person, you need to overcome that. You prevent people from seeing the ‘real’ you if you let shyness prevail. You need not dominate conversations and hog all the attention; all you need to do is ‘speak up’. Show respect, empathy, and recognition to others. Come out of your shell and learn to be alert. Interact with people. Be open.

St. Francis of Assisi had said, ‘Start by doing what is necessary, then do what is possible, and suddenly….. you are doing the impossible.’

Do the impossible, and EXPECT success.

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Believe to Succeed

I am certain that anyone who can ‘think’ harbours a sincere desire to succeed. Each one of us wants to succeed in whatever we do. We want all our endeavours to be ‘successful’. Wow! The very thought of success raises my vibrations. Do you feel them too? No one, I repeat no one ever wishes to deliberately fail at anything. (Although the onlookers might feel that way about some people!)

Now the question arises that if everyone wants to succeed, why don’t they do so? What stops them? There must be umpteen answers to this question, but after interacting with a large number of people I have come to believe that the answer to the seven lettered word ‘success’, lies in another seven lettered word ‘believe’. Most people do not ‘believe’ that they can win. Losers certainly do not believe that they can make it. What stops them from believing in success? Is it something as common as repeated failures? Do you see a pattern here? More we succeed, more we start believing in success; it is as simple as that.

You must have heard this famous dictum, ‘All things are possible for those who believe.’ Are you one of those who believe in success? Those who face difficulties in being successful should listen to American psychologist and philosopher William James, who said, “Believe and your belief will create the fact.”

What determines our belief system? Mostly it is based upon our evaluation of something. We wish to clear CAT, but keep telling ourselves, ‘It is not easy to crack CAT. I don’t think I will be able to do it.’ Generally when we re-evaluate the situation, our belief about that situation changes. Try telling yourself, “Fine, CAT is a tough exam. It is meant to be tough to separate the chaff from the wheat. But I am doing my best. The other aspirants too are like me. We all have an equal chance of winning. When I put in my best, I get to join the best institute.’ Does it feel any better? Does it make you believe in success? For a while at least, it does. If you keep thinking these thoughts along with your sincere preparation, what do you think will be the result? Yes, SUCCESS.

Most of us waste our lives, not trying to accomplish anything of value because we don’t believe in ourselves. We hardly know anything about our true potential. Once we start re-evaluating ourselves, we begin to understand our marvelous mind and its possibilities. More you learn about yourself and your magnificence the more you will start believing in yourself. You will see marvelous things happening to you. There is a sleeping giant inside you. It is time to wake it out of its slumber. It is time to either create or disintegrate. It is time to believe in yourself.

If you do not believe in success, you stop growing and start rusting away. There is a tremendous life force inside you that is pushing you for greater expression and expansion. If you do not use this life force you will begin to shut down. On the other hand if you believe in this life force and co-operate with it, you will become a powerful success magnet.

Who hasn’t heard of Sir Edmund Hillary? When he failed in his first attempt to climb the Mount Everest, he shook his fist at a picture of the unconquerable mountain and said, “Mount Everest, you beat me once but I’ll beat you eventually, because you’ve grown all you’re going to grow…..but I am still growing.” What faith, what confidence, what belief!!! Can we match his conviction? If we can, we can succeed at just about anything we set out to do.

Look at the challenge in front of you. Now you have two choices. Either you slink off to hide in a corner or you see this as an opportunity to transcend all your past limitations, and succeed. Be grateful for this Mount Everest of all exams: the CAT. This is an invitation from the Universe to help you grow and stretch into a great expression of your true magnificence. This exam is a blessing in disguise. Use it. Be grateful for it.

Try believing in yourself. See how it feels. Can you make your dream come true? Do you carry that burning desire to succeed? Desire your success with all of your heart and manifest it in your reality. Have you read ‘The Secret’ by Rhonda Byrne? Do you believe in Law of Attraction? Besides belief, the burning desire to achieve success will ignite a fire within you that will attract success to you with an incredible force.

Most MBA aspirants take CAT because they think that their life will get better with an MBA from a premier institute; but inside of them they do not have that intense desire for an IIM admission. When you fail to mix your belief in success with an intense desire to succeed, you send a message to the Universe that it is not something that you really want.

When your heart is on fire with the desire to succeed, you will attract all the right things. Right opportunities, right preparation material, right faculty, right study group etc! You will find it easy to believe in success. Visualizing a favorable outcome will become your second nature. It will become effortless to think success thoughts. You will attract all the qualities that you need to succeed: Courage, belief, persistence, hard work, easy assimilation of facts, quick recall, and a powerful will to win.

An intense desire coupled with belief will light up your complete being. It will produce a great magnetic force that will enable the law of attraction to remove every possible obstacle from your path and make your dreams come true. So don’t cheat yourself by not believing in yourself. Don’t listen to people who say, “Aren’t IIMs hard to get into? Don’t you have to be really smart to crack CAT?” Don’t let anyone sway your belief in your dreams. Continue imagining and feeling success.

In these chaotic times that are filled with confusing messages from a great number of competitors, learn to ignore the nay-sayers. Perceive yourself as the best; have faith in your abilities and use our talents to your best advantage.

Control your own perception of yourself, and EXPECT success.

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