Every man wants success in life, but very few are able to achieve it, at least to their complete satisfaction, those who fail are in the habit of attributing their failure to bad luck, unfavorable circumstances, to the hostility of enemies, to everything except their own defects and shortcomings. Yet if we study our own lives without any vanity, we will have to admit that our failures are mostly due to our personal defects, and seldom to external circumstances. Of course, such a study requires considerable detachment of spirit, and considerable power of self-examination. But if we could bring ourselves to do this, it will mean taking the initial steps towards success.
The ancient injunction of philosophers was, KNOW THYSELF .to the extent that we are able to know our own merits and limitations; we should be able to correct our deficiencies and cultivate our merits. But too much self-criticism often has the effect of destroying one’s self-confidence that will be altogether bad, for self-confidence is essential to success. That is what Emerson said, “Self trust is the first secret of success.”
We must have confidence in our capacity to triumph over all obstacles, whether they lie within or outside us. The timid man who has no confidence in himself can never hope to be successful in life, timidity and nervousness’ lead to hesitancy often at the threshold of success. Therefore every aspirant to success must inscribe on the tablet of his mind the well-known saying, “What a man has done, another man can do better.”
Reason ought to convince us that what one person has achieved can be achieved again and yet again by others as well. And for this, something more than even self-confidence is required.
Another quality that goes hand in hand with self-confidence is the possession of a strong will. The German philosopher of the last century preached the cult of the ‘ Will to Power’; the superman who is to rule the world, according to him must have this supreme will. But we say that we must have will to succeed, the saying, “ Where there is will there is a way”, may seem hackneyed, but it is undeniably true. If we have the will, we find the way to do things. Now this will implies the power of tense concentration. We must gather together all our powers, physical and mental, and bring them to bear on the performance of a work. If there is this single-minded concentration, if there is no diversion or wastage of efforts, success is bound to be achieved.
If the will is weak and uncertain, a man can never apply all his strength to the work that he wants to do, then he works by fits and starts; he allows temptations to divert him from his object, this is the reason why so many men fail.
Of course, success can come in any field of life in which one’s aptitudes find adequate scope; therefore we must know how to choose our vocation according to our taste and temperament. We must have pleasure in our work.
Often failures in life come through a mistaken choice of life vocation. Where the heart is lacking, the head remains indifferent, and whole-hearted application of all the faculties becomes out of question.
For this, therefore, a good deal of self-examination is needed; we must study our capacities carefully. Confucius says, “In all things success depends upon previous preparation, and without this preparation there is sure to be failure.”
If we are able to choose our career according to our natural inclinations, if we can prepare ourselves for our life’s vocation with proper care and caution, the chances of success are greatly increased. If we assist our nature, our nature will assist us many times more.
If these are borne in mind, success will not be the elusive phantom that it so often is; man is the architect of his own destiny.
A study of lives of great men bears this out, those who talk about destiny and stars are only helping to subordinate their character to unknown forces, and thus allow a spirit of defeatism to develop.
The fact often is that most of us does not have enough determination; the lives are full of hours spent in indolence, of opportunities wasted, of aims surrendered at the first opposition. If we can minimize, if not eliminate, these defects, we will find the truth of the saying that every man is the architect of his own destiny.
Let us, therefore, if we want to succeed in life, fight with all our might against doctrines, which make us lose our self-confidence, self-esteem and destroy our self-reliance.
In conclusion, a warning seems necessary; it is no use trying for the impossible; that is one must not hitch one’s wagon to the stars.
The impracticable is undesirable; nothing in the world is worth doing, if it lies outside the reached of an informed understanding and well –directed pursuit, in other words, as Longfellow said “The talent of success is nothing more than doing what you can do well”
