18th August 2010
`Significant' Success!
`Take up one idea. Make that idea you life- think of it, dream of it, live on that idea. Let the brain, muscle, nerves, every part of your body, be full of that idea, and just leave every other idea alone. This is the way to success, that is the way great giants are produced'
Swami Vivekananda
The above quotation is my daily inspiration.
Almost all of us succeed in some areas and we have something to say that we have succeeded. But important question is: have we succeeded significantly? We have to distinguish between succeeding, achieving, winning and significantly succeeding, achieving and winning! The dictionary meaning of the word `significant' is important or large enough to have an effect or be noticed. This aspect relates to the scale of success and achievement and not merely succeeding and achieving. This is where the great people differ from the ordinary.
Let me give an example. Lets us say that we want to make a difference in others' life and we do something for the society. But have we made significant difference in others' life? I am sending this newsletter for the past more than fifteen years. I need to ask myself is I have made significant difference in the minds of the readers. This is what we should learn from the life of Mother Teresa, Mahatma Gandhi, Martin Luther King etc.
When we want to succeed like anyone else, we can do it alone. However, if we want to succeed significantly, we need to be a visionary and a leader. We need to build a strong team and our effort level should be far more than what ordinary. We should be passionate and we should be willing to stretch ourselves if we want to be `significant' in the society.
Over this weekend, you can do a small exercise: make a list of all that you have achieved in your life and ask the question how significant is the success? Ponder if you could have been even more significant. If the answer is yes, list what is that you are going to do differently to make a significant difference.
N C Sridharan
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