Shrikant, my hall mate from IIT Kharagpur had just finished reading my book ‘We Can! We Can!’ and was very enthused for its simplicity and the message conveyed and tips given for achieving excellence in our personal and professional life. He also appreciated that it inspires to become a good human being in order to be a good professional and then contribute to the society, the nation and the humanity as well.
Then he posed a question to me: ‘We Can! But Why We Don’t?’
Yes, it is a fact that there are many great things that each one of us can do. But we don’t. The first answer that comes to the mind is ‘Chalta Hai Attitude’. It is cool man. These days they call it ‘Chill Pill, man’. It is not a new phenomenon. In the beginning of the last century, Andrew Carneige had made a statement, ‘The average person puts only 25% of his energy and ability into his work. The world takes off its hat to those who put in more than 50% of their capacity, and stands on its head for those few and far between souls who devote 100%.’ Most of us will find the same story with most of the people.
It is very true that there is no alternative to hard work if you wish to do something great in this world or wish to climb great heights. But the problem is that a normal human being has the tendency of creating a comfortable cocoon around his/her life. The lurking laziness doesn’t allow us to break this cocoon. Our creative energy, our talent, our capability and our skills remain hidden.
The way 10% part of the iceberg is visible and 90% is hidden, similarly most of us hardly exploit 10% of our talent and skills. Balance 90% of our capabilities remain hidden from the world. We need a burning desire in our belly and the discipline to demonstrate this 90% of the hidden potential that each one of us have. The lack of self-discipline is one of the culprit that stops us from doing great things.
Another factor that stops many people from coming out of their comfort zone and try some big things is the ‘Fear of Failure’. It is not the failure that is the problem, it is the fear of failure that makes many of us stagnant and can be called as the enemy number one that stops us from doing great things. Acharya Chanakya had said, “Once you start working on something, don’t be afraid of failure and don’t abandon it. As soon as fear approaches near, Attack it and destroy it.”
Another reason is the inertia. Majority of us are contented with what we are, what we have, what we get and what we do. Many of us don’t have any dreams. We have ourselves put limits to our imagination about what we can achieve. We leave ourselves to just the fate and we believe that we can’t change. We talk more and work less. Some of us waste our time in endless debates instead of focusing on setting the targets, planning for them and then speedy execution.
So we shall have to be affirmative in telling ourselves again and again, ‘We Can! We Can!’ and that will motivate ourselves which will set the ball rolling. Remember a 1000 mile journey starts with a single step. Cultivate the desire and then follow the set direction with full commitment, energy, enthusiasm and passion and you shall reach your desired goal. 46th Issue, Mar , 2016 Monthly Management Mailer Happy Holi “Inaction breeds doubt and fear. Action breeds confidence and courage. If you want to conquer fear, do not sit home and think about it. Go out and get busy.” -Dale Carnegie
Let us throw away the inferiority complex and believe in ourselves and have full faith in our own capabilities and unleash the innovation and creativity that each one of us have. The malaise of ‘nothing can be done here’ has plagued us for a long time. Let us change our mind set from negativity to positivity and it will be easy to change from ‘We Can!’ to ‘We Did’
“Self-Discipline is a form of FREEDOM. Freedom from laziness and lethargy, freedom from the expectations and demands of others, freedom from weakness and fear-and doubt. Self-discipline allows a pitcher to feel his individuality, his inner strength, his talent. He is master of, rather than a slave to, his thoughts and emotions.” -H.A. Dorfman
