The inadvertent causes of success

When we try to list down the ingredients of success, a lot of them pop-up in our minds like - education, experience, focus, a powerful network, determination, risk-taking, efficient planning and so on – and all of these will certainly enhance our success. However, these are the things we CAN do to enhance it, knowing there are a few others that are not really under our control and yet influence our success. Now, this blog mainly highlights what we can do to make sure we take these latter set of items in our stride and use it to our advantage instead of them taking a toll and result in an unfortunate ordeal.

• Failure - Call it a setback or a mistake or a shortcoming, I cannot stress enough on the importance of this topic and may even take an entire blog to explain it more efficiently. Every successful person has gone through it - Amitabh Bachchan, Shah Rukh Khan, Dhirubhai Ambani, Steve Jobs, Bill Gates, Opera, Ellen DeGeneres, and the list goes on and on. Even though failure is not in our hands, the fear of failure can be considered as a mistake on our part. This is something they don't mention in school and always measure success on a scale of perfection. Mistakes or failure must always be welcomed with the right state of mind and never be misunderstood as a stop sign. We should keep going like horse in a race with blinders on. 

In summary, the most important key to leveraging this aspect is to learn from mistakes with the intention to never repeat them. This makes all the difference. To such a person, the first mistake is never an issue. Learn to love the leverage of failure and you will naturally be rewarded with success.

Chris Hardwick once said, “No human ever became interesting by not failing. The more you fail and recover and improve, the better you are as a person. Ever meet someone who’s always had everything worked out for them with zero struggle? They usually have the depth of a puddle. Or they don’t exist.”

• Luck - Call it our fortune or our stars, this is another one of those things we do not have a grip on. Firstly, here, let me make it clear that I am no fortune teller / turner, nor am I going to suggest any talisman or such to turn the tables in your favor. The way I deal with this (and which I think is the only way) is to think of every situation that we are put into as an opportunity no matter how demanding or how easy. Born with all limbs, no limb(s), born with money, or in debt, cultivated good habits or succumbed to vices, won the lottery, lost to gambling, have a charming personality, or people-repellent, whatever be the case - remember to treat every situation as a boon and think of ways to use it to our advantage. When searched over the web, we may find ample such living examples that are there to provide us with inspiration. Just to make a point, this man's name has been bounced all around the web/colleges/institutions to spread across the incredible spirit and optimism he has towards life in spite of a little shortcoming: Nick Vujicic - A successful man with a golden heart!

In conclusion, I encourage you all to step aside from letting anything stop you on your way up the ladder. Just remember to check your approach every time (learn from mistakes and avoid repeating them) and form your own conversion rules (what to do when & how to handle a particular situation based on first experience) in order to apply them efficiently and confidently.

I wish you all a wonderful journey on your road to success! 

PS: If you think there are more factors that inadvertently influence success and that are not listed above, please put them down below for all to know and leverage! We can even discuss more on them!

The Learning Attitude

God desires continuous progress on earth - Sirshree

Right from the day a life form takes its place into existence, its brain starts developing numerous connections across itself. It has become imperative to keep learning new things in order for us to advance from the stage our ancestors have left us and take it forward responsibly, efficiently and elegantly. Therefore, the habit of efficient learning needs to be cultivated in ways that prove fruitful for generations to come.

Amongst all the learning, it becomes very important to mold the process such that there is a measurable outcome which lasts longer and at the same time, is enjoyable. This blog mainly deals with highlighting this process of learning and ensuring one makes the most of what one takes up efficiently.

1. Keep an open mind: Don't stop before you start. Resolve to completely involve yourself in the activity without presumptions about how it will turn out to be or such assumptions. You have taken up the task for a reason and vow to complete it diligently before you start. This will prepare your mind for what you are about to take on.

2. Identify your approach: For the activity or learning process involved, identify the approach you would like to take - if it would be better for you to go top-down or bottom-up. Usually, what proves beneficial to most is as follows:

• For Theoretical learning - top-down, getting the bigger picture first and then drilling your way down.
• For Practical learning - bottom-up, learning it step-by-step and slowly taking it to the next level.

Of course, there is no hard and fast rule to follow the above. You may choose whatever you think would help you achieve the results quickly.

3. Memory techniques: This is not something you might not be aware of but, it sure helps us go a long way. Choose the most appropriate memory technique: Association, Imagination (paint a picture, form a story or write a poem!), mnemonics, linking and so on. As most of us already know, the most effective technique entailed by history is completely involving yourself practically or gaining complete experience of the subject matter. It has also been observed that if you attach an emotional aspect to the process of learning, it leaves an impact in your mind and you remember it for a longer time. This is a very essential and important step that requires your 100% attention.

4. Physical involvement: It has been observed that when you incorporate a physical activity such as writing, hand gestures, talking, etcetera into a learning process, it helps us remember better and makes it a less stressful activity. You may even also involve yourself in a group learning activity, however, ensuring not to digress from the main intention whilst making the process fun.

Picture Courtesy: Integration Languages

5. If you do not understand something, seek expert help. Do not overlook. For this, please refer to my earlier blog: Ask! But, Conditions Apply...

6. Summarize: Recite to yourself what you have learnt or run the practicals all over again in your mind or physically perform the entire activity. In a jiffy, you will get the gist of what you have learnt and also, remember the key points for various kind of deductions. This is a very important step for when you have to retrieve the information once again later and achieve long lasting memory.

In times when you do not have much time and have to learn something right away, first, really understand the outcome required (the end result), prioritize based on it and then make your way down the list. This way, you will, if not all, at least ensure maximum benefit for whatever little investment you can afford.

Eventually, I would like to highlight a very important aspect to the learning process. All of the above activities or approaches would definitely work wonders if your "Awareness" level during each of them is at its zenith and in a relaxed one at that. You might have noticed how, during your childhood, you might have just mechanically learned something, reciting it again and again, without really understanding what it is but, stuck in your mind until now. This is the power of relaxed learning. If you add that up with your added intelligence through the years, there won't be anything stopping you. The effect of having "Awareness" at every moment in our lives has the greatest significance and this point cannot be stressed enough. More about this, over here: How the Brain Learns.

The best rendition of all what I want to say have been beautifully depicted in this amazing article - ISAAC ASIMOV: A lifetime of learning.

Ask! But, * conditions apply...

As we know through experience, there is no doubting the fact that asking questions is always good. On the other hand, the experiences of a few has enabled them to be hesitant in doing exactly the same. When we dig deeper to identify the cause, the reasons have mostly been either the lack of satisfactory answer from the respondent or the lack of courage on the part of the questioner. In spite of taking these into consideration, one has to push past boundaries, identify the correct solution and gain as much information as possible in order to move forward.

It is only through experience that we learn what the right question is, who/what it should be directed to and what the right time is to ask, so that, we get most returns on our curiosity. If we ask questions haphazardly, we have a plethora of options/opinions available, getting us more confused, making us doubt the integrity of the source and we know, that is getting us nowhere.

The Right Topic - Say you want to know about the best options for investment. The topics for such discussions would range from Real estate, Mutual funds, Life Insurance Policies, Stock market and so on. However, instead of going to several people with expertise in each of these (which would obviously make it difficult to compare), will it not be better to put all of these topics under one umbrella and say you need a financial investment advice? Therefore, identifying the topic spot-on is of utmost importance.

The Right Source- preferably an expert in the area, gained some real-time experience in the matter and one who is capable of providing an impartial opinion with absolute equanimity. Of course, there are a few who get annoyed when bombarded with a lot of questions and respecting their stand would be a wise option. However, it is not the case with the inquisitive minds. After all, knowledge grows when shared, right? With respect to example referred above, as a result of identifying the most apt topic as Financial investment, you would easily identify the first go-to person to be an Investment Adviser or a Financial Planner.

The Right Mode/Time - Email / telephone / face-to-face - is just directly deducible from the amount of time we have on hand, the kind of interest we have in getting the answer as well as the kind of insights one requires. We understand better if the session is interactive, however, we get a deeper understanding in one coherent flow, possibly with graphics, when it is written / one-sided at a time. It is also important to value the time of the respondent (which directly affects the answer) and choose the mode accordingly.

To sum it up, first, identifying the most relevant topic, then finding the closest relevant source and finally, identifying the correct mode/time of shooting the question as per your need should be the way to go.

Eventually, to the questioners, i'd like to say -
No question is a stupid question if you ask it wisely...
and to the respondents, i'd like to say -
No question is a stupid question if you dare to answer it!

So, Go! Quench your curiosity buds! Good luck!

Why blog and start now?

To be honest, it has been a while since I wanted to start blogging here and had been procrastinating for various reasons. Nevertheless, here I am, penning my thoughts about absolutely anything under the sun or even beyond! :)

The reason why I always wanted to do this was because, well, it is always good to share knowledge, opinions, experiences, insights and what better for others than to learn from them. After all, who does not like their plate well served? The writings may be positive or negative suggesting the reader what to take or what NOT to take from the blog depending on what opinion he/she forms of it. Through the ages of human evolution, it has always been observed that knowledge gets passed on from ancestors to successors and it naturally becomes incumbent upon the successors to take it forward from then on for our advancement. Hence, my little effort to do my bit for the society.

From time to time I come across so many aspects of life that I feel I should share in writing. This way, it offers advantages such as perennial information for generations, a platform for instigating thoughts and conversations that welcome various perspectives, not to mention bringing together people from various backgrounds and ethnicity. Most importantly, it mainly allows the blogger to hone his own knowledge about the particular subject via forming coherent thoughts about it, communicating it with the right intent, right flow, being open-minded and willing to learn from others, taking the comments in his stride and perfecting the process as he goes along.

In today's world, it has become a necessity to stay up-to-date with the world and hence, to cultivate interests in a lot of aspects that majority of the people of today follow. Since my childhood, I have always been curious about a lot of things that took my fancy and made it a point to garner as much knowledge about the topic as i could whenever I got the time. It was this innate nature as well as the need of recent times that enabled me to curate articles, blogs, books, paper-cuttings, sites and what not, about varied topics that caught my interest.

So, I hope you enjoy reading my blogs, learn though my experiences and give your invaluable opinion below them as I hope to learn in return too! Even if reading my blogs make you smile or make the slightest positive difference in your life, my work here will be done.

Thank you for reading. Let us learn and share!