Free sample essay on How to achieve success? What is the secret of success? . Why are a few so lucky as to possess it while many others fail? Why does nothing succeed like success? These are some of the important questions which often trouble us.
Why are a few so lucky as to possess it while many others fail? Why does nothing succeed like success? These are some of the important questions which often trouble us. These also clearly show how important success is. Ask the people who have no taste of it. According to Emily Dickenson, “Success is counted sweetest by those who never succeed. To comprehend a nectar/requires sorest need.” No doubt most of the people are in dire need of it for they have never tasted its nectar. Even those who have its taste would consider themselves most unfortunate when deprived of it. The history of mankind shows that only those who have been spectacularly successful in their attempts find place in it.
The path to success lies through struggle, strife, hard work, sweat and sometimes even blood. To achieve success is not easy and to maintain it, even more difficult.
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Hard labour ultimately wins. Therefore, it is necessary that people, who desire to be successful, give in to hard labour and work. The same thought is expressed by R.L. Stevenson thus: To travel hopefully is better than to arrive, and the true success is to labour.”
For success one needs 99% perspiration and only 1% inspiration. There is no substitute for hard work. Perseverance and sweat alone takes one to the top. Those who talk of luck, intelligence and intuition as the only steps of the ladder leading to success are not to be believed. Nothing great, good and lasting can be achieved by inspiration or insight alone. Patience, perseverance, perspiration, and labour, etc., form the rock- foundation on which you can build your mansion of success. Even with great luck and genius, people have had to toil hard to be successful and famous as politicians, actors, painters, musicians, businessmen, sportspersons or men of letters. Perseverance and perspiration are the other names of good fortune and success. Most of the people fail only because their efforts are feeble, half-hearted and they lack the quality of a good and hardworking animal. Remember the story of King Bruce? He could succeed and vanquish his enemy because he never lost courage and heart, made persistent efforts until finally he had success and the spider showed the way. Tensing Norgay, only a Sherpa and porter, became world famous for his conquest of the Mount Everest but he had to make more than a dozen attempts before success and victory finally came.
It is said rightly that where there is a will there is a way. Strong determination, will power and motivation are the other necessary ingredients of success. The word “impossible” is only in the dictionary of fools and the frail. Nothing is impossible or unachievable in the world, if the efforts are in the right direction and backed by a strong will. Our desires mostly remain unfulfilled because they are mere wishes. They lack strong urge and motivation. God helps those who help themselves. We should differentiate between “will” and a wish. Will means unflinching determination, perseverance, labour and struggle, leading to sweet success and fulfillment. Will power is a great motivating force, more powerful than atomic energy. It has changed the course of history and fortunes of mankind. Remember Alexander, Chanakya, and Joan of Arc, Tilak and Napoleon. They were the very embodiments of strong will power. The same common clay of determination was used in shaping them out.
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Nothing can defeat one’s purpose if it is backed by strong resolve and determination, not even heavy odds, abject poverty and hardships. A determined person can even snatch victory and success from the jaws of defeat. Such a man can win great battles against heavy odds and large armies with a handful of determined and dedicated soldiers. There is no gain without pain. Such a person does not believe in luck or favours of Dame Fortune. His faith is always in himself, and his determination is always firm as a rock, and so, ultimately, he is bound to be crowned with success.
Another important requirement of success is doing things then and there. Procrastination is a thief of time. Know the value of time. Time is precious, more valuable than money and riches. Lost time can never be recovered or compensated. Time is opportunity; once lost, it never returns. All successful men and women, and all great persons have been great economizers of time. They have always been punctual in their habits and work. Culture and civilisation, great discoveries and inventions, conquests and achievements owe much to them who have made the best use of time and opportunities. They never waited for an opportunity but created one for themselves. They did the maximum in minimum time. For them, life was too short and there was so much to be done and achieved. A proper use of time means proper use of opportunity. Remember the famous words of Shakespeare, if you want to achieve success:
There is a tide in the affairs of man,
Which, taken at the flood, leads on to fortune;
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Omitted, all the voyage of their life
Is bound in shallows and miseries.
On such a full sea are we are afloat
And we must take the current when it serves
Or lose our ventures.
Always define your aims, objectives and priorities well with care and then pursue them honestly, with your full heart, mind and soul. Having decided your aim, move forward with steady steps towards it, without looking left or right. Remember Arjuna and his shooting of the clay-bird on the tree under the tutelage of his guru Dronacharya. Never be ashamed of your work and position, however humble it might be. Cherish it with all your being because all work is sacred, so perform it well. Even if you are engaged in shoe-making, make your shoes perfect. This is the only secret of success. Be always a learner. Learn from others and from objects of nature. Know your strengths and weaknesses and enlarge the former and reduce and finally eliminate the latter. Never find fault with your luck or tools; always engage yourself in doing the right thing, in the right place and time to achieve success. Never forget that good aims are not sufficient, they must be achieved by noble means. Aims are significant but so are the means. Success is also a means and never an end in itself.