For everybody, each day is a new day that brings a new opportunity to do better than the previous day’s performance. Most of us have the potential and capacity to make even a seemingly impossible task possible. It is rightly said that if you want to see the things around you, you can very well do that. Otherwise, you fail to see even the obvious. The great warrior and emperor of France Napoleon Bonaparte used to say that there is no word like impossible in his dictionary. You can always find some people who believe in the process of knowing themselves well and registering gradual improvement. They used to focus on looking inside and exploring themselves instead of looking outside and finding fault with others. They firmly believe in self-development from the inside out.
It is worth noting that who knows and can know any person better than that person himself or herself. Who can say how many qualities any particular person possesses or what is the known and latent potential of that person? It is believed that exploring those qualities and potential is necessary to take suitable action for ensuring the optimum development of that person.
It is also
observed that in a number of cases the people are not in the know of their
actual potential. They need an expert, mentor or guide like the great
‘Jambavantha’ of Ramayana days to make such people realise that they can do
wonders like Hanuman. The famous American author Napoleon Hill says that you
might well remember that nothing can bring you success but yourself. He also
asserts that man alone has the power to transform his thoughts into physical
reality; man, alone can dream and make his dreams come true.
It’s a well-accepted reality that people who keep on trying their best may fail occasionally, but finally achieve success. The inventor of the electric bulb Thomas Alva Edison proved this saying by his numerous inventions time and again. There are many examples of exemplary deeds in all fields - science, literature, architecture, music, sports, painting, social service and many others, throughout the world.
Yes, there are instances where you fail
individually or collectively to achieve the desired result despite your or your
team’s best efforts. But the beauty of that moment is to maintain calm and
cool, and take the setback sportingly in order to find out the missing points
to ensure better performance next time. In fact, that’s the time when everybody
in your team gets an opportunity to look inward deeply and explore their real
talent to do exceedingly well.
Interestingly,
when we focus on knowing, understanding and exploring ourselves, we come to
know many new things – may it be about our merit, demerit, potential,
creativity, strength, weakness, values etc. In this process of exploring
ourselves, we also get the opportunity to re-evaluate our goals and dreams on
the practical plane. Obviously, such persons are having full clarity as far as
their thoughts and action plans are concerned. As such, they find it easy and
simple to move forward in a systematic manner to achieve the desired results.
The world-famous management guru Dale Carnegie asserted while citing the
example of some extremely successful persons of the world that you must know
what you are in real sense; you need to take suitable efforts very thoughtfully;
ask yourself honestly about the leadership qualities you actually possess and
can develop.
Actually, it is necessary to explore ourselves well and also to sharpen our existing skills in order to stay relevant and perform all the time. To say, we need to improve and upgrade continuously to prove ourselves. Abraham Lincoln says that give me six hours to chop down a tree and I will spend the first four hours sharpening the axe. The message is loud and clear. Just think for a moment, can any sports person reach to the top and stay there for years without sharpening his or her skills to improve the game? Absolutely not. This also applies to people engaged in other fields. As such, they sincerely practise regularly, learn new techniques, improve their overall performance and keep on reviewing every aspect dispassionately to take care of the disconnects, if any. So, it is better to follow this principle in our life. Finally, the golden words of Henry Ford: There is no man living who can’t do more than he thinks he can.
As always, I'm keen to know what you think on this subject. Hence, I request you to post your comments to share your valuable opinion. (hellomilansinha@gmail.com)
# Published in my Sunday Column of "Morning India" daily. # Click here to enjoy my Blog in Hindi, "Chalte, Chalte" (चलते, चलते)
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