Maximise Potential

Success is tantalizing and the word evokes a lot of positive images. As long as your success does not depend on tearing other people down you can be happy when you are moving towards your definition of success. I have identified 12 D’s of success that can help us get to where we want in our lives. Here they are. Desire:  This is the first word we should remember when it comes to success. Success truly requires a vision of something better than what is there today. What is it that you want so badly that you will do the necessary sacrifice to achieve? Desire is the starting point of all success. Desire has to be personal and it cannot be what someone else wants for you. Clearly defining a vision and mission for our lives is the starting point on our success journey. Discipline:  Jim Rohn said discipline is the bridge between goals and accomplishment. Basically successful people do the things that others don’t like to do even though they may not like to do it. For example...

All champions are born but a lot of them are made through sheer persistence and hard work. We almost always associate champions with sports and that can be still a metaphor for life. Life is like a sport as we all face defeat, victory, setbacks and elation. There are certain traits champions have whether it is in business, sports or politics. Here is my analysis of the 9 traits that set the champions apart from the rest. They know their outcome : If you don’t know where you are going then any road will get you there. Unless you have defined the outcome you want in your life it is very difficult to get any momentum. All champions have clearly defined what success looks like to them. It may be a financial goal, physical goal or learning goal. Whatever it maybe they have taken the time to identify what they really want their end game to look like. They stay hungry: I often wonder how does a champion like Federer keep coming back even after achieving everything he has ever wante...

Peter Drucker said “Culture eats strategy for breakfast.” Though the quote is attributed to him it is not known exactly when he said it. Either way it is still a wonderful advertisement for culture over strategy. In an era where products are being commoditized and every firm knows what every other firm does culture is what will set your organization apart. For example Southwest Airlines was the low fare airline and is well known for its culture of getting people with passion and providing customers with a unique experience. Though other airlines tried to imitate this model it never went well. This is because you can never copy the culture. Here are the 9 ways to build a winning culture for your organization. Evangelize the mission statement – I know this is not the most exciting topic but it is an absolute requirement for developing a culture of inclusion. Paraphrasing Shakespeare a lot of mission statements are full of sound and fury signifying nothing. A mission statement shou...

What makes some people very successful? What are their thought patterns which make them super successful? This is an interesting area I would like to analyze and deep dive. Here are the 12 ways the super successful think and act. As the cliche holds successful people don’t do different things they just do things differently. They define what success means to them — This is truly the most important step for anyone to take. Without defining what success means to us it will be very difficult to be content or happy. One of the best definitions of success I have come across is by Earl Nightingale “Success is the progressive realization of a worthy ideal.” This means that if you are moving forward towards something you want you are successful. It doesn’t matter if others think that is success. Only thing that matters is if you are happy with this definition of success. Comparing with others usually doesn’t work because we don’t know what their definition of success is. They don’t worry...

I just saw a poster today with some great ideas on success when I visited the Raymour and Flanigan store today. I have expanded on each item mentioned on the wall poster as it was good. There was no source mentioned. Here are the keys with my expansion of each. Dream big  – Dreaming big dreams is the starting point of all success. My dream might be to come to a certain level in the organization while for others it might be to start a business. It doesn’t matter what the size of the dream is and all that matters is if we think the dream is ours and we are excited by it. Dreams have to be our own for us to get traction. Strive for success  – I think there is nothing wrong in aiming for success whatever that looks like to you. You can feel successful right now with what you have and there is absolutely nothing wrong with that. There is no definition of success but the closest one is by Earl Nightingale who said, “Success is the progressive realization of a worthy ideal...

Management is both an art and science. It has specific actions that need to be taken and the results will be predictable. There is a lot of hot air around leadership and I totally agree that leadership is very important. However management is absolutely imperative to achieve the vision set by the leader. If we have a leader who can manage and a manager who can lead then we would have an ideal mix of traits to ensure the success of the organization. Sometimes management is also defined as getting the work done through others.  I read the book  Creativity, Inc. by Ed Catmull (President of PIXAR ANIMATION and DISNEY ANIMATION) a couple of years back and it is one of my favorite business books. He says  "The way I see it, my job as a manager is to create a fertile environment, keep it healthy, and watch for things that undermine it. I believe the best managers acknowledge and make room for what they do not know - not just because humility is a virtue but beca...

Here are a few books I liked reading so far in 2019. For me one of the ways to keep motivation ongoing is to keep reading. Reading is one way to be positive about your future and it is also relaxing for me. It also provides a great relief from the negative news cycles. So here are 5 books I enjoyed reading this year. Loonshots by Safi Bahcall  – This is already sighted as one of the best books of the year. It is so well researched with rich examples that will keep us well informed and entertained. A loonshot is a neglected project widely dismissed. For example, Nokia had a similar idea to the iPhone in 2004 but they killed the idea. The other famous one is Edwin Land of Polariod who was well within his reach to commercialize digital technology but didn't go through with it. The few rules mentioned are to separate the phases, to have dynamic equilibrium and embracing a system mindset. The latter was what I liked because it was based on how Kasparov analyzed bad moves he ...

What are the qualities that separate the winners from others? This is a wonderful topic which I am really excited in exploring. I have been a student of success in sports like tennis and cricket. I have in the past 10 years also researched the success secrets of business superstars like Steve Jobs, Elon Musk, Andy Grove and others. At the outset I don’t mean to say that you have to be a CEO to be successful but understanding what makes these people superstars is well worth a look. If we can incorporate some of those qualities we can reach our personal summits. Here are the 12 qualities of winners that I have identified.  Discipline – There is nothing that is more important to be a winner than developing the quality of discipline. If you want to be a winner then it goes without saying that you need to do what winners do. My favorite role model is Rahul Dravid. He may not have the natural talent of a Laxman or Tendulkar but he made that up with sheer discipline and tenacity. Ji...