Friends, during my college days one of my professors told us(me) the secret of success. In his lecture he told us that there are three things which are required to be a successful person. Though the word success is very subjective and it cannot be quantified, different people interpret success in different ways. But for simplicity let's define success on the following two criteria
1. Achievements and accomplishments of a person
2. The effect of achievements on the society and the world
So this is the time to reveal the three things, which according to the professor, are required to be successful. Let's discuss them one by one
1. Skill set:- Skill set is the collection of the skills possessed by a person. To be successful one must have some or the other skill or say expertise which can help in achieving a goal. For example Sachin has got a very good timing, Lata ji has got a very sweet voice, Barack Obama has got good oratory and convincing skills. For an MBA skill set can be communication skills, business understanding and subject knowledge, for an engineer it is his engineering skills and for a leader it is his/her ability to influence others. So the first thing required to be successful is that one must have skill or expertise in the given field. Skills can be by birth or can be developed by practice.
2. Emotional Quotient(passion):- Skills alone do not guarantee success. So the second thing which is required to be successful is the emotional quotient or the passion associated with the goal. As it is said that the best idea does not work until we work the idea, and we work hard for a target if we feel emotionally connected with the target.
Let's take the example of Sachin. Now if he had not loved playing cricket he, probably, would not have been a great batsman and then his talent(timing) would have gone waste. So one may be an expert or skilled in something but until there is no emotional attachment with the goal the probability of success reduces a lot.
Let's take the example of Mahatma Ganghi and Adolf Hitler, according to the first criteria both can be said successful as both had some achievements and accomplishments. Gandhiji worked for his nation because he loved his nation that is, he was emotionally connected with the idea of free India or may be because the British insulted him in South Africa but this again is the case of emotions( this time may be of anger).
Again Hitler killed many people because he hated them again he was emotionally connected to the goal.
Let's take one more example. Suppose there are two teachers of the same ability of teaching.One says that he teaches because he gets salary for it and another says that he teaches because teaching is his passion. And it is but natural that the one who is passionate about teaching, will be, generally, more successful. So this is how emotional quotient determines the success.
3. Spiritual Quotient:- Whatever goal we may have the accomplishment of that goal should make the world and the society a better place. So working for a goal which will bring a positive change in the society is known as the spiritual quotient.
Since Mahatma Gandhi and Adolf Hitler had some achievements and emotional attachment with their goals But the accomplishment of one's(Ghandhiji) goal brought a positive change in the world while that of the Hitler's did not make the world a better place.
So according to both the criteria Mahatma Ghandhi seems a more successful person.
So above three things are the Success Mantra which I learnt from a professor. Though I myself is not a very successful person but I believe that if you and I follow the given success mantra our probability of success will increase a lot.
Friends please read and comment, your valuable comments regarding language and articulation will help me a lot.
