Secret of Success

A young man asked Socrates the secret of Success. Socrates told the young man to meet him near the river the next morning. They met.

Socrates asked the young man to walk with him towards the river.

When the water got up to their neck, Socrates took the young man by surprise and ducked him into the water. The man struggled to get out but Socrates was strong and kept him there until he started turning blue.

The young man struggled hard and finally managed to get out and the first thing he did was to gasp and take deep breath. Socrates asked ‘What you wanted the most when you were there?’ The man replied ‘Air’.

Socrates said “That’s the most secret to success. When you want success as badly as you wanted air, you will get it. There is no other secret.”

A burning desire is the starting point of all accomplishment. Just like a small fire cannot give much heat, a weak desire cannot produce great results.

Wish You All The Success... -Swaroop

Using Life Skills to Overcome Fear

There are many obstacles that can prevent you from realizing your hopes and dreams. Very often, fear is one of the factors that prevent us from doing the things we would really like to do. Fear is such a powerful emotion that it can literally put a stranglehold on our lives. Even when our logical mind says, "You can do it," subconscious fear can still stop us from taking action.

This is because our emotions are more powerful than our logic. In a battle between our minds and our emotions, guess who's going to win? You've probably experienced this in your own life. Have you ever been presented with a great opportunity and logically concluded that you should take advantage of it? If you did then great, but if not - what stopped you; was it fear?Coping with the fear factorFear comes in all shapes and sizes. For example, fear of failure creates doubt and anxiety, which can prevent us from taking action. Even if we are 97% sure that something will work out favorably, that 3% fear factor can still stop us in our tracks.Then there's fear of ridicule, or fear of displeasing someone whose approval is important to us.Emotionally, approval represents pleasure and it's something we all crave.

On the other hand, ridicule and disapproval represent pain, and the strongest human tendency is to move away from pain.

So even when our mind is 97% sure that acting on an opportunity will result in pleasure, the 3% possibility of pain can be very persuasive. This is especially true under challenging circumstances. For example: take the current economic squeeze. Are you feeling apprehensive about your financial future?

When things are going well and our life feels stable and under control, it's much easier to muster up the confidence to try something new. But that's not the case right now, is it?

The negative impact of economic uncertaintyThe current economic situation is chipping away at people's sense of stability and security. Things that they felt they could count on, such as jobs and investments, are suddenly gone. This can create a massive sense of fear and insecurity. When you're unsure of the things that you thought you could count on, how are you supposed to feel confident about trying something new?Many times it's our perception of circumstance that will determine how they affect us emotionally. Is the glass half full or half empty?

Has the economy just dealt us a fatal blow, or has it opened up a new opportunity? It's all about perception.

It's much easier to maintain an optimistic point of view when we've got all of our bases covered, or at least most of them. It's difficult though, to adjust to challenges when they come suddenly and unexpectedly. When you've invested years in a company, a business or a financial plan, the tendency to adopt a negative viewpoint can be very strong when theseassets are threatened.
How Advanced Life Skills can help

Learning how to control our own perception of the events and circumstances going on around us is a very empowering life skill. Most of us have never been trained to exercise this type of control. Consequently, the whole concept can seem extremely challenging, even impossible. Logically, you may reason that such control is possible, but how do you feel about it emotionally?

Once again we see that fear can create doubt, which in turn can prevent us from taking action. So any program designed to teach you to control your perception, would also need to show you how to change the way you channel negative, fearful energy. I use the term channel because energy is power, and it can be used for good or bad. It can serve us, or limit us.

Having someone suggest that you learn to view a situation as an opportunity instead of a catastrophe doesn't really help much, does it? Being told that you should be in control of your own emotions (including fear) is a lot different than actually having someone teach you how to exercise that control.

Learning the necessary life skillsAll too often, those who are looking for real help in this area, only receive bits and pieces. That is simply not enough to really make a difference.

It's a challenging prospect to transform the quality of your life. Those who are willing to take on this challenge deserve more than partial information and abstract concepts.

Wish You All The Success... -Swaroop

ACRES OF DIAMONDS

There was a farmer in Africa who was happy and content. He was happy because he was content. He was content because he was happy. One day a wise man came to him and told him about the glory of diamonds and the power that goes along with them. The wise man said, "If you had a diamond the size of your thumb, you could have your own city. If you had a diamond the size of your fist, you could probably own your own country." And then he went away. That night the farmer couldn't sleep. He was unhappy and he was discontent. He was unhappy because he was discontent and discontent because he was unhappy.
The next morning he made arrangements to sell off his farm, took care of his family and went in search of diamonds. He looked all over Africa and couldn't find any. He looked all through Europe and couldn't find any. When he got to Spain, he was emotionally, physically and financially broke. He got so disheartened that he threw himself into the Barcelona River and committed suicide.
Back home, the person who had bought his farm was watering the camels at a stream that ran through the farm. Across the stream, the rays of the morning sun hit a stone and made it sparkle like a rainbow. He thought it would look good on the mantle piece. He picked up the stone and put it in the living room. That afternoon the wise man came and saw the stone sparkling. He asked, "Is Hafiz back?" The new owner said, "No, why do you ask?" The wise man said, "Because that is a diamond. I recognize one when I see one." The man said, no, that's just a stone I picked up from the stream. Come, I'll show you. There are many more." They went and picked some samples and sent them for analysis. Sure enough, the stones were diamonds. They found that the farm was indeed covered with acres and acres of diamonds.*
What is the moral of this story?
There are five morals:
1. When our attitude is right, we realize that we are all walking on acres and acres of diamonds.
• Attributed to Dr Russel Conwell .
• Opportunity is always under our feet. We don't have to go anywhere. All we need to do is recognize it.
2. The grass on the other side always looks greener.
3. While we are dyeing the grass on the other side, there are others who are dyeing the grass on our side. They would be happy to trade places with us.
4. When people don't know how to recognize opportunity, they complain of noise when it knocks.
5. The same opportunity never.

Wish You All The Success... -Swaroop

The Winner's Edge

Improve your body language. Stand erect yet relaxed. Walk purposefully but without arrogance. Your jaw and face should be relaxed, your eyes bright and in direct contact with others while in conversation, your pronunciation should be clear, your voice projecting confidence and intensity. Always extend your hand and offer your own name first in any personal encounter -- and offer your name first in phone conversations. Smile with your eyes, voice, face and body language. In every language, a smile is a light in your window that says a caring person resides within.

Wish You All The Success... -Swaroop

Quotes

CHALLENGES

"Self-acceptance comes from meeting life's challenges vigorously. Don't numb yourself to your trials and difficulties, nor build mental walls to exclude pain from your life. You will find peace not by trying to escape your problems, but by confronting them courageously. You will find peace not in denial, but in victory." -- J. Donald Walters

"Challenges make you discover things about yourself that you never really knew. They're what make the instrument stretch—what makes you go beyond the norm." -- Cicely Tyson

"When we long for life without difficulties, remind us that oaks grow strong in contrary winds and diamonds are made under pressure." -- Peter Marshal

"You may have to fight a battle more than once to win it." -- Margaret Thatcher

CHANGE/CHOICE

"You must be the change you wish to see in the world." -- Mohandas Ghandi

"One's philosophy is not best expressed in words; it is expressed in the choices one makes. In the long run, we shape our lives and we shape ourselves. The process never ends until we die. And, the choices we make are ultimately our own responsibility." -- Eleanor Roosevelt

"Whether you are a success or failure in life has little to do with your circumstances; it has much more to do with your choices!" -- Nido Qubein

"Between stimulus and response, one has the freedom to choose." -- Stephen Covey

CHARACTER

"Truthfulness is the main element of character." -- Brian Tracy

"From long familiarity, we know what honor is. It is what enables the individual to do right in the face of complacency and cowardice. It is what enables the soldier to die alone, the political prisoner to resist, the singer to sing her song, hardly appreciated, on a side street." -- Mark Helprin

"Character may be manifested in the great moments, but it is made in the small ones." -- Phillips Brooks

"The man that makes a character, makes foes." -- Edward Young

Wish You All The Success... -Swaroop

Leadership

The Qualities of Skillful Leadership

If you want to be a leader who attracts quality people, the key is to become a person of quality yourself. Leadership is the ability to attract someone to the gifts, skills, and opportunities you offer as an owner, as a manager, as a parent. I call leadership the great challenge of life.

What's important in leadership is refining your skills. All great leaders keep working on themselves until they become effective. Here are some specifics:

1) Learn to be strong but not rude. It is an extra step you must take to become a powerful, capable leader with a wide range of reach. Some people mistake rudeness for strength. It's not even a good substitute.

2) Learn to be kind but not weak. We must not mistake kindness for weakness. Kindness isn't weak. Kindness is a certain type of strength. We must be kind enough to tell somebody the truth. We must be kind enough and considerate enough to lay it on the line. We must be kind enough to tell it like it is and not deal in delusion.

3) Learn to be bold but not a bully. It takes boldness to win the day. To build your influence, you've got to walk in front of your group. You've got to be willing to take the first arrow, tackle the first problem, discover the first sign of trouble.

4) You've got to learn to be humble, but not timid. You can't get to the high life by being timid. Some people mistake timidity for humility. Humility is almost a God-like word. A sense of awe. A sense of wonder. An awareness of the human soul and spirit. An understanding that there is something unique about the human drama versus the rest of life. Humility is a grasp of the distance between us and the stars, yet having the feeling that we're part of the stars. So humility is a virtue; but timidity is a disease. Timidity is an affliction. It can be cured, but it is a problem.

5) Be proud but not arrogant. It takes pride to win the day. It takes pride to build your ambition. It takes pride in community. It takes pride in cause, in accomplishment. But the key to becoming a good leader is being proud without being arrogant. In fact I believe the worst kind of arrogance is arrogance from ignorance. It's when you don't know that you don't know. Now that kind of arrogance is intolerable. If someone is smart and arrogant, we can tolerate that. But if someone is ignorant and arrogant, that's just too much to take.

6) Develop humor without folly. That's important for a leader. In leadership, we learn that it's okay to be witty, but not silly. It's okay to be fun, but not foolish.

Lastly, deal in realities. Deal in truth. Save yourself the agony. Just accept life like it is. Life is unique. Some people call it tragic, but I'd like to think it's unique. The whole drama of life is unique. It's fascinating. And I've found that the skills that work well for one leader may not work at all for another. But the fundamental skills of leadership can be adapted to work well for just about everyone: at work, in the community, and at home.

Wish You All The Success... -Swaroop

How Perseverance Wins the Prize?

"Great works are performed not by strength, but by perseverance." - Samuel Johnson

Be honest: how many times have you given up in the past? Once? Ten times? Dozens of times? You are not alone!

Each of us has at some time ended up feeling like we were fighting a losing battle and thrown in the towel. As you well know, giving up means admitting defeat. It means failure. No one likes to think about that, but it's true.

Have you ever asked yourself what might have happened if you'd continued on instead of quitting? Would you have been successful eventually? Did you give up too soon, or was your goal really not meant to happen?

Imagine running a marathon and getting mad because the finish line still hasn't appeared. So you sit down, take off your running shoes and brood. It sounds funny, but that's what many of us do when pursuing our goals. And in that little example is a hidden gem of wisdom: we give up because we can't SEE the finish line, so we mistakenly assume it doesn't exist.

We throw our hands up in frustration and quit. If you can change this ONE TENDENCY, your life will never be the same.

Perseverance literally means: TO PERSIST IN SPITE OF DIFFICULTIES.

It doesn't mean persist until you run into an obstacle, or persist until it becomes easier, or persist only when you feel like it. It means keep going no matter what. No matter how rocky the road becomes, you just keep moving forward.

What will determine your willingness to persevere?

It all depends on how important your goal is to you. If you're not willing to persist in spite of difficulties, then perhaps your goal isn't as important as you think it is. Perhaps it's not what you really want, after all.

Only you know for sure. If your goal is vitally important to you, you will do what it takes to achieve it no matter what obstacles you may encounter.

Make the choice to succeed, moment by moment.

Wish You All The Success... -Swaroop