READ.

THINK.
ACT.
READ

KNOWLEDGE
EVOLVE & THINK
INNOVATION

ACT

Experience the unteachable…

RAGHURAM ANANTHOJ
What breath means to the body, education
is to success; what education means to
success, leadership is to the society!

1. Orange: Fire for change

2. White: Purity in Intent & Balance

3. Green: Wellness, Growth & Self Sustenance

All colors have a meaning, but a leader must

know when to be colorful/colorless!
 Successful
is the person who has no time, place, or energy
for negativity…
Great leaders are like ever-flowing rivers;
there is no one way or the other, all paths are
their paths. They flow -> come trees, turns,
twists, boulders, mountains, hot sun, rain,
storms until they reach the sea (/ become a
process, flow, continuity) …
READ. THINK. ACT

2022 Edition

RaghuRam Ananthoj

Leading Self Publishers, Hyderabad.

www.leadingself.net
www.readindia.info
Published by:
LEADING SELF PUBLISHERS
C/o LEADING SELF
• #23-6-87 Hari Bowli, Shah Ali Banda, Hyderabad – 500065.
E-mail: ananthoj1974@gmail.com; www.leadingself.net

2022 Edition

© All Rights Reserved.

Price: Rs. 225/- only

Note: – Due care has been taken while publishing this book, but the Author,
Publisher, and Printers are not responsible in any manner for any
mistake that may have inadvertently crept in.
Leaders don’t live like a ‘switch’ that any
person/situation can turn on or off!
Focusing on one thing at a time
wholeheartedly with commitment, much
can be accomplished; focusing on many
things at a time, one is bound to accomplish
nothing…

Is success all about 3i’s – Intent, Independent

Thinking (intelligence / ideas / innovation) &
Investment (time & resources) … think?

…know the value of 1 grain of food, 1 drop

of water, 1 sec, 1 opportunity, 1 possibility,
“I” self, doing 1 thing at a time to experience
the joy of doing…
 Your mind is your greatest asset; if you
don’t nurture and protect it, it will become
your greatest liability…
Humbly dedicate this book to my Grand Mother, Father (Late
Shri. A Shyam Karan Chary), Mother (Smt. Padmavathi),
Family, Team LS, Friends, Colleagues, Gurus, all the Authors
books I have read, all the People & Entities who taught me and
Mother Nature (Guru of all Gurus) for being a source of
inspiration & support.

- RaghuRam Ananthoj
Birds of different feathers should flock
together for creativity and success to
happen…
 Author’s Note
What makes a nation progressive & prosperous?

Who are the key forces that shape society?

What makes a society evolve? And what impedes the growth

of a nation most?

Teachers & Leaders are the two most significant influences.

It is indeed the quality of teachers & leaders that determines

the prosperity, harmony, and growth of a nation. It’s the
culture of openness to newness with reasoning (/ independent
thinking) and inclusiveness that makes a nation progressive.

Therefore, the evolution of society directly depends on its

ability to produce and chose quality leaders. Hence, it’s
imperative that countries put in place an “Education System”
which is capable of continuously churning out quality teachers
and leaders in quantity.

Quality Teachers = Quality Leaders = Progressive Society. If

we dig deep, it’s the underlying quality of the education system
that builds a society. *Root cause of all ignorant, failed,
underdeveloped, disharmonious societies is a failed or
inefficient education system.

Hence, educators have the biggest role in shaping humanity

and must realize that in teaching the teachable there is utility
but it’s in teaching the unteachable, the real value-add, that
students carry forward for an eternity!
The measure of an education system is in how well the
system aligns and keeps pace with changing times and
needs of a society!
“READ.THINK.ACT=Leading Self” is an endeavor to
enhance the education system. It’s an effort to define the
indefinable and teach the unteachable. As part of a social
experiment to introduce “Leading Self Education” into
academics for High School & College students,
www.leadingself.net in the last 7 years has conducted 175+
workshops attended by over 25,000 participants from various
walks of life including multiple pilots with the Commissioner
of School Education, Andhra Pradesh & Commissioner of
Intermediate Education, state of Telangana.

->> What is the worth of education if it does not enable

independent thinking?

Though no definition, size, form, or shape fits happiness and

leadership, efforts to sow, enhance, or nurture happiness and
leadership at high school and college levels should be taken
seriously & included as part of academics.

“Leading Self 2 Leading Others” is about teaching the

process called READ.THINK.ACT. It is the gateway to
knowledge & independent thinking. Information without
experience/knowing is like a flower without any fragrance. It’s
about making students experience and live that journey that
makes “Leading Self” education valuable.

How do you enhance creativity, and protect freedom, and

human essence from technological invasions and divisive
beliefs if not the READ>THINK>ACT process?

Nothing can be certain about how, where, and when

leadership can blossom, but one thing can be said, leadership
can come from anyplace, anytime, anywhere!
Path to success begins from aspiration,
necessity, problems, failure, hardships,
love, passion, rejection, learning &
Openness to Newness!
 Contents
Pg. No.
1. Why READ.THINK.ACT for Happiness, Success &
Leadership?...................................................................... 1
2. Essence of a “Leader” ..................................................... 7
3. Introduction to Leading Self .......................................... 11
4. Foundation of Success & Happiness ............................. 17
5. Self-Belief / Self-Trust .................................................. 24
6. Creativity, Non-Logical Thinking &
Human Potential ........................................................... 28
Food for Understanding! .............................................. 41
7. Purpose and Direction in Life........................................ 44
8. Happiness ...................................................................... 48
9. Positive & Healthy ........................................................ 64
10. Listener & Learner ........................................................ 67
11. Guru or Teacher ............................................................. 71
12. Temptations ................................................................... 72
- Tough times, Obstacles, Opportunities .................... 72
13. Antivirus for Mind ......................................................... 79
- Mind ....................................................................... 79
- Mental Virus ........................................................... 80
- Building Antivirus for Mind................................... 83
- Food for Understanding.......................................... 95
14. Elements of Success and Leadership ............................. 99
- Respectful, Humility and Values............................ 99
- Self-Effort, Think Big, Persistence and Focus ..... 102
- Clarity of thought & quality of effort ................... 103
- Teamwork and Collaboration ............................... 105
- Trust, Honesty, and Integrity ................................ 110
 - Sports, Music, and Art .......................................... 112
- Courageous ........................................................... 129
- Self-assessment, Feedback, Follow-up on
actions ................................................................... 130
- Sacrifice and Selfishness ...................................... 130
- Inspirational .......................................................... 131
- Knowledge & Skill ............................................... 131
- Decisive, Sets expectations .................................. 133
- Gratitude ............................................................... 139
- Stress Management............................................... 143
- Food for Understanding........................................ 152
15. Failure & Rejection – Food for Success...……………. 162
- Money: Tool for Failure...……………………......170
- Technology: Use, Abuse & Disruption...…………172
16. Time & Team are second to none ................................. 174
- Teamwork and Human existence ......................... 174
- Time...................................................................... 177
- Giving back - Bounden duty &
responsibility ........................................................ 178
- Food for Understanding........................................ 182
17. Short Story – The Educated Way….……………….185
18. The container and content puzzle - the thinker and the
non……………………………………………….……….187
19. Five Essential Leadership Styles (Air, Water, Earth, Fire
& Space) ………………………………………….…...….189
20. Lamp Posts ................................................................... 195
Only two types of people in this world,
educated and uneducated; knowing on
which side of the coin we are, makes
all the difference!!
 1. Why READ. THINK. ACT for
“Happiness, Success and Beyond”?
Who is the driving force in you?
“Self” the “I”?

Why READ.THINK.ACT is important? and

How is it tied to the purpose of education?
The purpose of education is not just to help people earn a living
or acquire new skills but to
– Enable independent thinking
– Help people realize the power of happiness, the value of
complementing non-logical with logical thinking
– Enable people to set direction & purpose in life (i.e., what
one wants to do, why & how (daily action; use the power
of compounding)?
– Help people understand the power of self-trust, self-
reasoning, self-effort, continuous learning & unlearning
– Enable people to realize the significance of time and team
(air, water, earth, trees, animals, people, etc.)
– Understand the difference between futility & utility, use
and abuse of resources i.e., nature, money, technology, etc.
– Finally, help people understand the value & joy of
knowing and being “Self” to realize their true potential!
*What is the outcome of education if not independent
thinking, behavior, happiness & gratitude?

The measure of education is not in academics, grades, or

skill but in how one thinks, behaves & lives...
 Why Leading Self? 2

What is “Leading-Self” education about?

It’s about enabling the “READ, THINK, ACT” factor to know
“Self” and realize one’s true potential!

Here are the key objectives of this course…

Obj1: Make students realize the true potential of their own

“Self”.
The focus of “READ.THINK.ACT / Leading Self” is to
make people aware of their inherent potential & value.
Emphasis is on how to effectively guide students to their
inner power and help them know the infinite “Self” using
the power of creativity, independent thinking, self-trust &
self-remembrance to stay progressive.
Obj2: Make students understand the significance of setting
direction and purpose in life.
Most students lack clarity on what they want in life & why?
They don’t clearly know their strengths, interests, likes &
priorities. READ.THINK.ACT is to enable students to dig
deep & explore within to help them know/find the direction
and purpose of their choice through self-evolution!
Obj3: Help students appreciate the significance & value of
knowing fear, failure, rejection, and openness to newness.

Knowing fear, failure, and rejection is a prerequisite for

success. Most schools/colleges are not teaching students what
fear & failure are? and how to use fear, failure, and rejection
as means to success with the mantra called openness to new
action. Unless a person can navigate fear, failure, and
rejections effectively, growth & success is not possible.
Only true understanding of “Self” can lead to
realization of infinite potential within
 The Everlasting Leader 3
Students don’t seem to realize that failure and rejection are
part of the package called success & leadership. Most
students don’t seem to know that the path to success
begins with failure, rejection, adversities, fear,
aspiration, problems & openness to newness. The focus
is to help students understand fear & accept failure and
rejections as enablers of success rather than deterrents!

Obj4: Educate students on the value of cultivating

positivity, teamwork, happiness & leadership skills.
Educate students on what positivity, happiness, teamwork, and
success means to the journey of life.
*Education that cannot enable people to live in happiness &
positivity is devoid of something fundamental?
Obj5: Educate students about the human mind, value of
learning, unlearning, essence of “Self”, relationships,
utility & futility of things, mental virus & antivirus for
mind
The emphasis of Leading Self is to make students
understand the nature of the mind and its ability to induce
forgetfulness about self and its infinite potential. Educate
whether a thought is a choice? Whether mind has a
beginning/end? Train students on how to prevent negative
energy/viruses from entering one’s mind. Educate how to
deal with the virus accumulated in the mind. Finally,
enable students to build antivirus so that their freedom &
intelligence is protected.
*READ > THINK > ACT = Process for Leading “Self”.
Both success & leadership is a journey of many wheels
coming & staying together; even if one loses balance, the
journey gets derailed
Why Leading Self? 4
 Only education can help balance and
sustain growth; without education - fame,
material prosperity & success will soon
turn regressive and eventually wane!

5
6
 2. What is the essence of
Success & Leadership?

The essence of success and “Leadership” is in “Leading Self”

and the basis to leading “Self” is knowing and being “Self”.
What is the process for learning/growth/success?
READ>THINK>ACT is the process while below traits and
tools are the accelerators…
- Happiness, Positivity, Harmony, Success and Failure,
Independent Thinking, Creativity, Power of Self-Trust,
- Ability to discriminate between utility & futility of
things, doing things & doing things well?
- Role of Learning, Unlearning, Time, Team, and
Openness to Newness (in thinking & action)?

All possibilities arise out of actions...? (After READ &

THINK?)

7
 Essence of The Everlasting Leader 8
Can we say, successful people and leaders…?
– Know how to be harmonious in life and build a
culture of openness to newness i.e., embracing
diversity and inclusiveness in thought and action?
– Realize that learning & knowledge is a personal
journey for every individual and borrowing
information even from the greatest masters will
never lead a person to real learning or
understanding?
– Align learning & living with changing times in the
information age. Understand the value of learning
to unlearn in sustaining success as new leaves can
only happen when the old is let go?
– Understand the tricks of the mind, the forgetful
nature of the mind. Realize the value of training
the mind so that the mind becomes a vehicle we
drive in life rather than a vehicle that drives us?
– Safeguard freedom and protect the mind from
invasions/infiltrations/virulent beliefs?
– Recognize that life is not a problem to solve but a
journey of mystery, evolution, and celebration!
– Realize that a million thoughts alone cannot give
way to a single possibility but a single, committed
action can make way for millions of possibilities?
Finally, a leader must be willing to play the role of a Guru,
Friend, Mother, Father, Grandparent, Doctor, Cop, Child, etc.
as needed, to empower people??

Greatest learning is also unlearning, letting go of old

(beliefs) for new flowers (ideas, thoughts) to bloom…
 The Everlasting Leader 9

Path of conscious and continuous learning

and unlearning is the way to connect with the
infinite potential within!
Essence of The Everlasting Leader 10
 3. Introduction to Leading Self
Essentially, READ.THINK.ACT/Leading-Self program is…
- Education about education
- Teaching the value of staying aware and balanced in life
which comes from knowing the difference between
believing and independent thinking
- Teaching the role of heartwork, Gyan, and courage in
success
- It is experiential & explorational, for all understanding
happens through experience & witnessing.
- About teaching students how not to live like a switch that
any person or event can turn on/off in an instant

It’s a course that can change the course of life…

Before getting started, let’s once again thank our Parents and
Teachers for laying the foundation for our lives. Without good
foundations, no building can stand the test of time therefore
we are forever indebted to them. Always remember their
sacrifices and have the highest regard for parents and teachers.
Those who do not respect parents and teachers can never
become successful in life.
Sun gives us light during the day, and moon/electricity at
the night but “Gyan / Vidya” alone has the power in this world
to give us light for life (i.e., 24/7 *365). Without
“education/vidya” our lives would be filled with darkness even
in the brightest of sun. Always remember, your “GYAN”,
EFFORTS, and COURAGE are the 3 biggest determining
factors in creating your path to success.

Leading Self is education for life not education in life...

11
 Introduction 12
There can be many contributors to your success but the “I” in
you is the only roadblock hence the premise that the path to
happiness, success, and beyond begins with leading “Self”.

Success is in knowing the difference between doing things

(0-99% effort) & doing things well (100% effort).

Let us look at some of the questions before we begin…

What is the most important thing in your life?

That which is at the center of your life all the time?
That which is with you everywhere you go & everything you do?

Some of the answers (from the “Leading Self” attendees):

Family, Money, Power, Education, Values, Country,
Patriotism, Relationships, Friends, Dedication, Self-effort,
Hard Work, Mind, Heart, Self, Honesty, Integrity, etc.

Where do all these elements reside? It’s your own “Self” ….

Your own “Self” is at the center of your life, driving you all
the time (wherever you go and whatever you do) and that is
why “Leading Self” is so important. The good thing about
leading self is that it is easy to relate to and understand since
everybody is “Leading Self” in one way or the other!

This book/course takes a simple 5 step approach i.e.

1. Help people discover their priorities and interests

2. Help people identify their strengths
3. Spot their weaknesses & opportunities for growth
4. Get people on the path of consciousness/learning
5. Help people build Antivirus for Mind

Light the lamp of positivity in mind to make way for

happiness & success
 READ, THINK, ACT 13
The path of continuous learning through learning,
happiness, experience, awareness, experimentation and self-
reasoning is the only way to grow and cherish one’s life.

Remember, it’s not just getting on the path of conscious &

continuous learning but also staying course all thru life. It’s about
having an eye for observation all the time. The moment we stop
learning, we slide onto the path of decay from growth. It’s a thin
line and we keep crossing it often. Unless we are observing our
own “Self” all the time, we may not realize when we cross the
line. Self-observation and self-reasoning are key to staying on the
path of growth.

This book is an attempt to make people understand one’s own

“Self – Body, Mind, Intellect, Emotions, and Energy”. It’s an
effort to make people aware of their energy, actions, feelings,
thoughts & learning. It’s an attempt to make people think &
reflect on their own “Self”.

It’s important to know where you are, to be able to get to where

you want to. From a known, you can reach the unknown,
never the other way around!

The path of conscious & continuous learning combined with

the right actions (actions guided by the right motive) is the
only way to growth. The goal is to get consciously &
continuously better from the current state, even if it’s 0.01%
every day. Who else is the best judge for knowing your
strengths, passion, likes, priorities, weakness, aka your true
inner “Self”??

A drop of knowledge added every day leads to an ocean of

wisdom one day
 Introduction 14
Listen & take suggestions from your friends, elders, parents, gurus, and
people you trust but always make your decisions with self-reasoning
considering your inner voice and instincts.

Good qualities and values can be learned from any being, form, or
entity, living or non-living which is part of the creation and not just
human beings. Keep your eyes, and ears open, and start taking your
own decisions based on Self-Reasoning (/ Independent Thinking).
Put yourself at the center and analyze where you stand and what you
should focus & cultivate?

Let’s look at the list of examples and see what stands out in these
famous personalities who yielded considerable influence one way or
the other. The list below is not in any order or consideration nor the
intention is to rate them based on their influence. Also, you do not
have to confine your selection to this list. You can choose any person;
famous or otherwise, for their unique qualities (e.g. mother, father,
teachers, siblings, uncles, friends, gurus, people known, unknown to
you, or crowds who you think are worth learning from).

It’s not about the name, color, shape, or form but the essence,
qualities, and values one wants to cultivate in “self”. The goal of this
book is to make people know, understand, and realize the essence of
the everlasting leader within. In the least significant you may find
found the most valuable!

It is not about agreement or disagreement with the views of the book

or elsewhere. In fact, the author would be happy if people disagree
with the views expressed herein earnest contemplation instead of
simply disagreeing or agreeing without any review. Agreement or
disagreement doesn’t matter but what matters is to know why the “I”
in you agrees/disagrees!

Examples: Gautama Buddha, Adi Guru Shankara Acharya, Guru

Nanak Dev, Mahavir Jain, Ramakrishna Paramhansa, Swamy
Vivekananda, Lao Tzu, Dalai Lama, Jalaluddin Rumi, Emperor
Ashoka, Chanakya, Jhansi Lakshmi Bhai, Alluri Seetarama Raju,
 READ, THINK, ACT 15
Bhagat Singh, Mahatma Gandhi, Sardar Patel, Rabindranath Tagore,
Dr. B.R. Ambedkar, Lal Bahadur Shastri, Dr. Rajendra Prasad, Dr.
Sarvepalli Radhakrishna, Mother Teresa, C V Raman, Abdul Kalam,
Sri Sri Ravi Shankar, Baba Ramdev, Sadguru Jaggi Vasudev,
Swami Rama, Osho, Aurobindo & Mother, Annie Besant, Anna
Hazare, Atal Behari Vajpayee, Jawaharlal Nehru, Indira Gandhi,
Sonia Gandhi, Dr. Manmohan Singh, L K Advani, Narendra Modi,
Rahul Gandhi, Bal Thackerey, JRD Tata, Ratan Tata, Azim Premji,
Dheeru Bhai Ambani, G. D. Birla, Godrej, Yusuf Khwaja Hamied,
Munjal’s, Mittal’s, K. M. Birla, Abraham Vergese, M.S.
Swaminathan, Charles Correa, Dr. Devi Shetty, Dr. S. S. Badrinath,
Dr. Bindeshwar Pathak, Fali Nariman, E, Sreedharan, Dr. Verghese
Kurien Amul, Venkatraman Ramakrishnan, Narayan Murthy,
Jamuna Lal Bajaj, Indira Nooyi, T.N.Seshan, Shiv Nadar, Satya
Nadella, Arunachalam Muruganatham, Ela Bhatt, Aruna Roy,
Ramlinga Raju, Dhyan Chand, Pele, Jeev Milkha Singh, Kapil Dev,
Sunil Gavaskar, Sachin Tendulkar, Mahinder Singh Dhoni, Anil
Kumble, Virat Kohli, Rahul Dravid, V.V.S. Laxman, Leander Paes,
Diego Maradona, Zinedine Zidane, Ronaldo, Michael Jordan,
Magic Johnson, Michael Phelps, Tiger Woods, Oscar Pistorius ,
Usain Bolt, Asafa Powell, Carl Lewis, Vishwanathan Anand,
Marion Jones, P.T.Usha, Ashwini Nachappa, Saina Nehwal, David
Beckham, Yogi Adityanath, Martina Navratilova, Roger Federer,
Steffi Graf, Serena Williams, Nikolai Andrianov (Russian gymnast
who won 15 Olympic gold medals highest till date); Nadia
Comaneci, Warren Buffet, Bill Gates, Steve Jobs, Martin Luther
King Jr., Che Guevara, Abraham Lincoln, Barak Hussain Obama,
Mao Zedong, Winston Churchill, Napoleon Bonaparte, Nelson
Mandela, Adolf Hitler, Saddam Hussain, Osama Bin Laden, Fidel
Castro, Gaddafi, Yasser Arafat, Thomas Edison, Eckert Tolle, Jiddu
Krishnamurthy, Jack Welch, Michael Dell, David Packard, Sam
Walton, Charles Coffin, Sam Goldwyn, George Eastman, Walter
Lippmann, Horace Mann, Susan B Anthony, Jones Salk, Albert
Einstein, Walt Disney, Alexander, Tughlak, Jalaluddin Akbar, A.
Graham Bell, Wright brothers, Andrew Carnegie, Henry Ford, John
D Rockefeller, Thomas Jefferson, George Washington, Sir Isaac
Newton, Socrates, Aristotle, Plato, Leonardo Da Vinci, William
Shakespeare, Charlie Chaplin, Khalil Gibran, Hazrat Inayat Khan,
Shiv Nadar, Narayan Murthy, Larry Page, Mark Zuckerberg, Pablo
 Introduction 16
Picasso, John Locke, Epicurus, Avicenna, Ustad Amjad Ali Khan,
Girija Devi, Pandit Jasraj, Hari Prasad Chaurasia, L Subramaniam,
Aurangajeb, Lata Mangeshkar, Asha Bhosle, Mohd. Rafi, Kishore
Kumar, Ghantasala, N.T. Rama Rao, Jyothi Basu, Mamatha
Banerjee, Jayalalitha, Y.S. Rajashekahr Reddy, Chandra Babu
Naidu, Kalvakuntla Chandrashekar Rao, Raj Kapoor, Dilip Kumar,
Amitabh Bachchan, Kamal Hassan, Ranjikanth, Hrishikesh
Mukherjee, Bimal Roy, Guru Dutt, Rajender Singh, Kailash
Satyarthi, Shyam Benegal, Mani Ratnam, R. K. Laxman, Vikram
Seth, Salman Rushdie, Tom Hanks, Dustin Hoffman, Robert De
Niro, Clint Eastwood, Al Pacino, A R Rahman, Aamir K, Akshay K,
Shahrukh K, Ajay Devgan, Salman K ….*The list above is only an
abstract reference of famous people who yielded influence one way
or the other.

Knowing “Self” is the first step on the path to success

 4. Foundation of Success and
Happiness
Clarity of
Thought, Trust, Heartwork,
Learner, Creativity,
Antivirus for Purpose &
Mind, Money, Direction in life,
Elements of Success

Gratitude,

Be yourself!
Knows Self, (Right motives)
Courageous, Positive, Happy,
Self-Reasoning, Healthy, Team
Preparation, work, Honesty,
Stress Mgmt., Never gives-up,

Inspirational,
Trustworthy,
Adaptable,
Enterprising,
Finisher,
Success is a package, not just a few qualities...

Look at the picture above for a minute and think for a minute?

- Foundation of Success - Be yourself with the right motives

& resolve!

Question: What is in your view the most fascinating aspect of this

world? The world has produced thousands of leaders and successful
people but not a single duplicate. All successful people are originals;
hence never ever compare yourself or copy someone or try to be like
someone. Always, be yourself. Being self is staying with one’s
inner instincts, interests, priorities, purpose (passion), and taking
actions by self-reasoning & trust. No self-trust, no success. Every
being is unique, and this very uniqueness is the essence of the whole

17
 Foundation of Success and Happiness 18

creation (world). To be yourself, you must know yourself. You must

know what your priorities, strengths, purpose, and weaknesses are.
When you discover, focus & fire (energy) should be on being aware
of it all the time. With a learning mindset, everything (i.e., all
situations, people, experiences, entities, acts, events, etc.) becomes
a tool/ladder for growth.

Learn positives from everyone you come across, known or otherwise,

every incident and experience that happens, but never lose your
“Self”. Conscious and continuous learning is the key to one’s
growth. Learn something good and new every day. Even if you learn
something equal to the size of a drop of water each day, you can
mark that day of your life as successful.

From a known you can go to unknown, never the other way

around hence be mindful of your priorities, strengths, weakness
& interests all the time for success to happen.

Never ever imitate others even the greatest leader or role models,
always act from the center of your inner intelligence (your purpose,
self-reason & strengths). If you are learning something new every
day and so long as all your actions & decisions are guided with the
right motives, you will be on the path of continuous growth and
success. The moment you stop learning and deviate from inner
purpose, right motives, self-reasoning, you inherently move onto the
path of degradation. You may still become famous while you deviate
but you will be known for wrong reasons e.g., Hitler was famously
known for wrong reasons.

It’s ok to not guide people instead of misguiding and setting a wrong

example. It is better not to become famous for the wrong reasons as
our actions have personal consequences. Success is happy, healthy,
and harmonious living irrespective of the name, fame, and material
wealth a person acquires in life. Life is a journey and so are success,
leadership, and happiness.
 READ, THINK, ACT 19
What is success? And why does it mean different things to
different people?
Success is a relative term and means different things to different
people. Success doesn’t end when one achieves the goal of
becoming a teacher, doctor, bureaucrat, policeperson, engineer,
lawyer, cricketer, athlete, singer, technologist, actor, businessman,
etc. Success is a way of being not becoming. It’s about keeping
things simple and clear. Simplicity (state of being) is the city where
all successful people & leaders live.

When it comes to success and happiness, one definition does not fit
all but there is one commonality about success is that “success is a
flow, a moving wheel with journey & destination as its two
sides/faces”. Also, for success, 1% or 99% doesn’t matter, only 100%
effort, every time, matters!

It is for a great reason that success means different things to

different people. Also, nobody else can buy/give you success. If
success were to mean the same to all the people, the whole world
will be plunged into crisis because everyone would be running
after the same thing.
Can you imagine a world with only engineers or doctors or lawyers
or farmers or industrialists or singers or athletes etc.?

Hard work without heartwork is like a flower without any

fragrance!
This world will be a disaster if success meant the same to everyone.
For some, making a positive difference to self and others with
happiness, good health, and wealth could mean success but it need
not mean the same to others. Is success all about having more,
chasing more, or doing what one wants to do? Though it’s hard to
define, success is a selfie. Success is a way of life, a journey with
clarity & purpose. Success is equally about knowing one's needs
(size) i.e., what one wants in life, why? And what fits!! Dig deep in
your heart and mind to know what success means to you personally.
 Foundation of Success and Happiness 20

All fame and wealth of the world put together without a state of
happiness, inner fulfillment, and harmony inside is of no use.
Having said the irony is most people tend to live in perceptions than
reality. Success is also relaxation & joy in the effort!
Success and happiness are a conscious journey and a choice similar
to some of the other choices one makes in life like the choicest color,
food, sport, etc. Remember, we cannot find something we don’t
know or understand hence it’s very important to know what success
means to you personally. The key to happiness is in knowing how
much is enough, and how much is more? Reasoning and
knowing what success means to ‘self’ matters more than success
itself else you will end up making futile attempts in trying to be
successful all life. For success, one needs to live life i.e., make
conscious decisions, heartfelt effort with clarity & purpose.
We happen to like a sport, type of clothes, food, and music for a
reason we don’t know but when it comes to success you have to be
sure about what success means else you will not be content and
happy even if you are the most famous, healthy, and wealthy person
in the world.

Success is the elimination of fear through purposeful action

Success is a continuous journey, a daily affair to keep things simple
& clear and can be as simple an act of a student playing in the ground
happily, eating food with joy & gratitude, watching a movie, teacher
enjoying teaching, student enjoying studying with focus & purpose,
listening to music, doctors treating patients, lawyers delivering
justice, grandparents teaching morals, gurus sharing wisdom, leader
of a company sharing insights with teams, watering a plant, reading
a book, musicians, singers entertaining people, workers laying roads,
labor building homes, maid helping with housework, playing with
kids, spending time with family & friends, helping someone, playing
the sport you love, etc. with 100% heart, focus, commitment, and
sincerity.
Life is the biggest miracle, and it has already happened to you and
there is nothing more precious than life itself. Success in simplest
terms is doing one thing at a time in totality.
 READ, THINK, ACT 21
Do not simply go by others’ definitions or interpretations of success
because every person’s thinking, priorities, feelings, instincts are
different. Know & live your own understanding of success. Success
is giving 100% in everything, every time, and yet being relaxed
@same time hence difficult to put in words!
If you can find happiness in everything you do, success will find you
but if your happiness is linked only to the outcome of your actions
then your success and happiness will be like flashes in the pan. It’s
the intent, purpose, focus, and heartwork (happiness) of a person in
the act that drives success. Having said that there is a distinction
between a successful person and a leader - “All leaders are
successful people but not all successful people make good leaders”.

The journey called “Success” is flowing with and against

water and begins if you make happiness the boat!

The key traits in leadership are clarity of purpose, fire (passion),

learning, courage, Gyan, focus, self-awareness, “Self-
commitment” and an unwavering “Self-trust”. The real foe of
success is doubtfulness, fear, worry, unhappiness & wrong motives.
We may take decisions based on wrong motives at times but when
we realize we have, it’s about acknowledging and getting back to
the path of right motives & purposeful action. When a person stops
worrying and doubting, the journey called success begins. *Success
which cannot make a person a better human being is good for
nothing!
It’s all about learning the lessons thru self-reasoning,
experience, and moving on by not wasting time & energy or
criticizing self or others. Remember, success rides on many
wheels, all moving together. Happiness in the heart hence where
the heart goes, the mind follows. With fire inside, doing everything
wholeheartedly with clarity & total focus, success should become a
way of life.

*Realize the value of 1 grain, 1 drop of water, 1 Sec, for 1 Sec is

what we get to live at a time for as long as we live!
 Foundation of Success and Happiness 22

Doing one thing at a time in totality should become an inherent

habit, a way of being. When there is fire (passion in the heart) in the
belly, when the heart and mind are focused on a single purpose, all
energy gets positively channelized. Successful is the lot who have
fire in the belly, hunger for achieving one’s goal; a thirst for
continuous purposeful action to make things happen and that fire
becomes a constant source of energy & light inside which shows the
path rather than turn into ego which burns “self”.

Openness to newness (i.e., independent thinking, diversity of

thought & action) is “fashion for being”

*A divided mind divides focus and hence the energy. Note, there are
many elements to leadership, but the key is balance & harmony of
heart and head. It’s about knowing that the visible is driven by the
invisible. It’s the being in the doing that matters more than what
you have or do!

Be yourself (with the right motives) to begin the journey of your

evolution…

Whatever manifests (behavior, acts, emotions, etc.) outside of a

person or whatever people see outside is driven by what a person
thinks and cultivates inside hence being self with the right motives
& purpose forms the core of success. Disclaimer: The author does
not intend to equate happiness and success with fame and material
riches. There is a lot of difference between doing things and doing
things well, living & living well. Success and leadership are not just
marked by fame, material richness, and recognition. Reiterating,
success is a selfie.

There could be hundreds of people who may be known only to a

handful but could be far more successful than those who are known
to millions of people. Success is not synonymous with reputation. A
guru can produce one student who may be known to millions of
people in the world but the guru himself could be known to a handful.
 READ, THINK, ACT 23
In reality - happiness, success & leadership are hard to define and
explain! The author is only trying to give pointers. Also, it is just an
attempt by the author to put some images and personalities against
each of the traits described in the book to help people reason and
connect.

All acts performed being “SELF” without fear & doubt equals
success, irrespective of outcomes!

Reiterating again, success is a package and not just a few qualities

hence there should be no room to think that illustrated people
possess only those qualities described under the respective chapters
and not others described elsewhere / untold. It is very much possible
that the author has missed describing many leadership traits.

Whatever be the act or outcome, only the right motives can

ensure happiness, peace & success!

Also, make no mistake; hundreds of others, living or otherwise are

suitable for a study. *Is success in realizing the value of one drop of
water, one grain of food, one second? since life can only be lived
one second, at a time? Understand vidya is the basis for success and
avidya or ignorance for failure & self-destruction. Operating from
ignorance is like a tiger ride, blissful until the face-off happens and
eventually, the tiger called ignorance consumes the rider. Wise is the
one who knows the ignorant side in self.

How many understand the mysterious nature of life? Why is it said

that greatest knowing is in knowing what one doesn’t know?
Paradoxical as it may seem - Know what you don’t know to be happy
& successful.Finally, what is life if one can’t experience all
emotions & feelings? What is success if one does not learn how to
be happy & harmonious from within and without?

Though success means different things to different

people, it is a flow, a journey, a way of being
 5. Self-Belief / Self-Trust
What is self-belief? Where to find this self-belief? Self-belief is one
of the most essential elements to be successful in life. Can we buy
self-belief from any market or store in the world? Life is all about
what one thinks and believes. The quality of our actions is an
outcome of our thoughts & understanding. Unless we understand &
believe in ourselves, we cannot achieve anything in life. If we don’t
believe in ourselves, nobody else will. Leaders and successful
people never doubt themselves no matter what circumstances they
go through.
Look at any successful person and you will see this element called
Self-Belief in every act they perform. Not having the skill or
knowledge to deliver something is different from not having the
potential and doubting oneself. Remember, success is always
teamwork and if you don’t believe in yourself, the team (parents,
teachers, friends, colleagues, forces of nature, corporates, etc.)
won’t back or invest their time in you. If at all you must believe
anything in this world, it must be your own existential self. All other
beliefs & systems only lead you to conflict & chaos unless you are
fully convinced from within. Remember, any skill and subject can
be learned by practice.
If a person wants to walk to a destination that is 5 kilometers away
but doesn’t believe can walk, he or she will not make it because the
decision is already conveyed to the command center which is one’s
mind. If the control center (human mind) is clear & convinced of
something, the way forward comes from the command center, be it
positive or otherwise. Self-trust is taking self-belief a step ahead!
Gyan is the knowledge (of objects/subjects/self) while Vidya
tells us whether we have it or not and what to acquire / not.
Similarly, if the same person wants to and believes can walk even
50 kilometers to reach a destination then the chances are that he or
she will make it to the destination because the mind has already
made the decision and is clear and prepared for the journey.
*Remember, the mind should be backed 100% by the heart and vice
versa. Research proves that if a person lacks belief in self for
accomplishing a task, the chances are 9 out of 10 times, he or she

24
 READ, THINK, ACT 25
will not accomplish that task. Similarly, whatever action the human
mind and heart perform with trust (zero% self-doubt) can be
accomplished 9 out of 10 times. Human beings are all about how
they see, listen & understand things. We believe in what we don’t
know hence element of doubt is inherent to self-belief whereas trust
is absolute - without doubt & fear. Trust is taking self-belief one step
higher. The power of self-trust is the greatest enabler of human
potential. *Self-trust is doing what one wants to do wholeheartedly
without any doubt or fear of outcomes.

Question: Did you ever face a situation where you doubted your
own ability to do something? If yes, how often do you get into such
situations? What do you do in such situations?

Reflect on your thoughts, whenever you get thoughts of self-doubt.

Analyze objectively the reasons why you are not able to do what you
want to do as a 3rd person and list out 2 - 3 actions that can address
such thoughts and beliefs. Actions could be learning a new skill,
professional training, acquiring knowledge through books, getting
practice or experience, doing things differently, etc. Consciously
work on the actions for a reasonable time (i.e., 4-8 weeks or so)
depending on the need and watch your thoughts thereafter. We may
fail our actions, but actions never fail us if we trust ourselves.

If you don’t trust in yourself, nobody else will

Even if the thoughts of self-doubt reduce by 1% in a span of time,

you will realize that the myth “I cannot do” will fade. Always
remember, any skill, capability, experience, and knowledge can be
acquired using training and practice. Some people learn faster while
some may take time but there is nothing a person with self-trust and
self-effort cannot achieve or learn. *Not having the skill, capability,
experience, or knowledge has nothing to do with your potential but
everything to do with your mindset and belief system. Leadership is
not just about leading people, it’s about inspiring human spirit in
people. *Evolution of human essence in a person is the real
measure of success & leadership!
 Self-Belief 26

Nelson Mandela – Well and truly an icon of Self-Belief,

Courage, Determination, and Inner Strength.

Nelson Mandela needs no

introduction in the world. He
was the face of the Anti-
Apartheid movement in South
Africa. He was also the first
democratically elected
President of South Africa.

*Great leaders have this

ability to teach the
unteachable through their
actions!

He stood for human values and waged a relentless fight against racial
discrimination all through his life. Compassion, politeness &
patience reflect a person’s true inner power which comes from
deeper self-connect & awareness!

If not me, who else? If not now, then when? We are what we think
and act!

He served extensive prison sentences for his actions, but nothing

deterred him in his fight for justice and equality. He emerged as a
true champion and led South Africa to freedom and democracy.
When you don’t believe in your own self, how can others? It takes
an extraordinary amount of Self-Trust (aka Atma Vishwas),
courage, and the resolve to fight even after 30 years of imprisonment
for what one thinks is right. No trust, no leadership!!

A drop of awareness added every day leads to the ocean of

consciousness one day.
 READ, THINK, ACT 27
Remember, all limitations belong to thoughts and beliefs otherwise
the body; mind & life energy combination is boundless. There are
no two ways to succeed, either we persist in action or perish.
Understand success never happens at the beginning of the
journey; never has it come without its share of pain, strife, and
suffering for they are the wrappers, guardians, and tutors of
success.

We do not know when the results will knock on our doors but surely
for the one who do not give up, the doors always open. Great
leadership is not about outcomes/results/winning, it’s about
inspiring human essence in people & winning hearts.

The path to leading others begins with leading “Self”.

So long as a person continues the march with “Self-Trust” without

giving up, the journey is bound to be converted to success for there
is no power on earth that can defeat a person of “Self-Trust”, higher
purpose, and determination.

There are no two ways about the journey called success,

either we persist in action or perish in fear or doubt!
 6. Creativity, Human Potential &
Non-Logical Thinking

-What we think!

How we think?
-What we believe!

*And what we don’t think!

The ability to think new or different is a critical element to be

successful in life. All successful people think differently and act on
what they believe, even if it is 180 degrees opposite view to a clear
majority of people around them. Doesn’t matter whether you think
from the box or out of the box, it is thinking new, doing new, it’s
the openness to the newness that matters!!

Self is all about what we think and believe!! What we think & how
we think to determine what we believe. Creativity is “Non-Logical
Thinking”- in simple words it’s the ability to think new, unknown.
Old is knowledge, new is creative. It’s no miracle to think differently
but it works like a miracle most of the time. Let’s test if creativity
works in a simple way!!

Question time: How many of you think you can prove 1=10?
1=100?
1=Infinity, using creativity? (*No math, just think new or different
or non-logical)

No two things, either creativity (nutrition & fashion for the

mind) or mental virus drive our life!

28
 READ, THINK, ACT 29
Observations from over 100+ Leading Self Workshops:
Normally at the start, less than 10% of people in any audience feel
they can prove 1=10, less than 5% feel they can prove 1=100, less
than 1% feel they can prove finite = infinite. Let’s look at some
examples of 1=10...
– 1 computer can be used for 10 different applications
– 1 electric bulb can give light to 10 people
– 1 bus can ferry 10 people
Let’s look at some of the 1=100 examples…
– 1 road can be used by 100 vehicles
– 1 teacher can teach 100 people
– 1 train can carry goods transported by 1000 trucks
Let’s look at some of the finite = infinite examples…
– 1 Electricity = helps run countless gadgets, devices
– 1 Internet = Immeasurable users and usages
– 1 Sun = gives energy to all trees, animals and humans
– 1 Air = countless trees, human beings, animals live
– 1 Sea = Countless drops of water
*When the mind starts thinking different it seems very simple but
for conventional thinking one equals to ten seems illogical or even
stupid to people in accounting and finance. It’s all about the power
of imagination which breaks the patterns of our conventional
thinking. It is this faculty of mind called “imagination” that
separates humans from others in creation.
Question time:
How many of you think you have potential of 10 people?
How many of you think you have potential of 100 people?
How many of you think you have infinite potential?
Let’s look at some of the stats around these questions.
Normally less than 5% people of the audience in the Leading Self
sessions (*100 plus Leading Self workshops conducted with over
ten thousand participants that includes Corporate leaders, IT
managers, Finance Managers, Lawyers, Students from Medical,
 Creativity & Human Potential 30
Engineering, Business Schools, Arts, Commerce, Higher Secondary
& High Schools) feel they have potential equal to 10 people, less
than 1% feel they have potential equal to 100 people and a very
minute % feels they have infinite potential.

Let’s take the example of a fruit seed (Apple / Orange / Mango).

Sow the seed & cultivate it. Take proper care and give it all the
nourishment (sunlight, water, etc.). After 12 -18 months the apple
seed will grow into a tiny little plant. Continue to cultivate the plant
and that same plant potentially can grow into a tree in 3-5 years.
Continue the good care, maintain the health of the tree; give it all
nourishment, water, resources it needs to grow. 6th, 7th year or so the
apple tree can give you 10 apples (everybody must have seen a tree
with 10 fruits), which is 1=10.

7th / 8th year the same apple tree can give you 100 apples which is
1=100; Take all the seeds from those apples and cultivate them. You
will have 100 trees which can give you 1000 fruits if you repeat the
same process for 7 years. If you take those 1000 fruits and cultivate
those 1000 seeds you will have 1000 trees in the time to come. If
you continue to repeat the process, the cycle can go on forever and
ever which is proving 1 (One) = Infinite i.e., Finite = Infinite.

Logically thinking finite can never be equal to infinite but if you

think non-logical/different/new/ use the power of imagination,
impossible becomes possible. That is the potential of a tiny seed.
*What makes us see that infinite potential in a tiny seed if not the
power of imagination???

Understand the limits of logic, you become unlimited

Question: How many of you know or remember your great

grandfathers, great grandmothers, fathers, mother’s names i.e., 5
generations or above you? Hardly anyone knows or remembers that.
Nobody can tell when one’s family tree started and when their
family tree can end.
 READ, THINK, ACT 31
Can one say it’s 1000 years ago or 10,000 years ago, the
family started with certainty? No one can be sure about this and the
only certain answer from 100% of participants, in this case, is that
nobody knows the answer.

Seed (Passion, Aspiration, Need) + Cultivation (Committed

Action) = Fruit (Success)!

However, everyone is convinced with the answer “countless” i.e.,

that their family tree could have started some hundreds or thousands
of years ago which they cannot traceback.
 Creativity & Human Potential 32
On top of that potential, humans are blessed with something called
the mind, which has infinite potential. Yes, every human mind can
generate countless thoughts and ideas (1mind =10 thoughts, 1
mind =100 ideas, 1 mind = countless or infinite thoughts so long as
one lives). Can anyone ever say that they cannot think about
anything they want to? Can anyone say there is a constraint on their
thinking? The only constraint is self-induced in the form of logic.

Yes, logic limits thinking whereas non-logical thinking makes a

thought limitless.

Can someone from outside confine a person to think only 100

thoughts a day or 100, 000 ideas a year and not more? Can anyone
deny or disagree that their mind whether they use it or not has
the potential to think about anything and everything and so long
as they want to? Can anyone disagree that every person born in this
world can think countless thoughts so long as they live? Does that
not prove beyond doubt that every human being is gifted with infinite
potential? Does one need more evidence than one’s own existential
“Self” and ‘Mind”? The key is to choose new thought, new is fresh
/ life.

*Bear in mind, it’s not somebody else’s truth and existence, it’s
your own. You are free to agree, disagree or simply ignore this view
if you feel so!! The choice is yours but always remember it is the
ideas that rule the world whether we can see or not. It was the same
resource that was available to all the successful people and leaders
in the past and it is the same human mind in the present bunch. The
key differentiator is how one uses the resources available to them.
Everything we see around us which is made by humans is a result of
human thought. A thought can be the most powerful thing in the
world if it’s new and put into action!

A single thought potentially can influence countless people. A

vaccine (Polio, Hepatitis), the cell phone, electricity, TV, airplane,
etc. invented touched countless lives around the world. Thoughts or
ideas rule the world.
 READ, THINK, ACT 33
Having said that, it’s a paradox though every single thought can
potentially impact or influence countless beings it is still limited in
capacity because it arises from the knowledge accumulated in the
past and has an end of life unless enhanced continuously.

Remember, “Ek Idea Jo Duniya Badal De” – One idea can

change the world!! Anyone who doesn’t agree with the above
IDEA Cellular advert punch line? Every human being is blessed
with infinite potential; it’s a matter of realizing and believing in that.
All successful people and great leaders of the world had the same 24
hours & mind which they made use of to achieve their goals and
purpose. Again, it’s not “what you have in life but what you do
with what you have”. Our life is all about choices we make; what
& how we think & act, makes the difference. Choose new, every
second is fresh.

A supercomputer can be used for playing games, browsing and the

same can be used for high-tech engineering, medical inventions,
rocket science, etc. The single biggest difference between successful
people and others is how intelligently and effectively they use not
abuse the resources available to them.

Carve it in your mind & heart: All knowledge/logic is of the past

whereas non-logical thinking, creativity is new hence can happen in
the present only. Logic is limiting, think non-logical, fresh, new, or
different to unlock your limits!!

“Self” in you equals infinite in potential, be aware!

“Resources are limited but creativity is unlimited “; if you make

creativity a resource, you will have unlimited resources at your
discretion. Mind is a global phenomenon without a beginning or an
end hence you should think and live like a global citizen. There is
nothing like an Indian mind, an African mind, an American mind,
an Arabic mind, a Chinese mind, a European mind, or a Latino mind.
 Creativity & Human Potential 34
All humans have a mind, and it works the same for all the people in
the world.

Do not limit yourself to a region, a belief system or a community or

a sect, etc. You are a universal phenomenon and hence universal
wellbeing & harmony are your obligations. Remember, realization
happens only with awareness and understanding of the mind!

Can someone find the beginning or end of the mind? Can

you tell where your mind (not the brain) starts and where it ends?
Can you tell how deep it can go? A thing that has no beginning or
end is immeasurable. ***It’s about remembering our infinite
potential continuously knowing the forgetful nature of the mind.

If you ever start doubting your abilities, think of your

favorite fruit seed and that will remind you of your infinite potential.
Remember, the seed must become one with earth to realize its
potential. It’s about the stream merging itself in the river and
becoming a river. It’s about the river merging itself to become one
with the sea.
Though it’s the same water, the energy levels significantly
vary in streams, rivers, and seas. Can anyone differentiate between
the stream water and river water when the stream is merged in the
river? Can anyone differentiate the river and the sea water when the
river is merged in the sea? Unless the seed is open to lose its limits
and becomes one with mother earth it can never spread its roots &
grow into a tree.

When you lose the finite (“I “the ego) in you, you
become “I” the Infinite

Unless the stream drops its own boundaries, it can never

become the sea. The choice is yours whether you want to remain as
a seed all your life or grow into a tree and realize the infinite
potential within? Don’t go with others’ opinions or theories; watch
 READ, THINK, ACT 35
and reflect on your own mind, existence, and intelligence. You have
it all inside you. It’s the same mind with every human being. It’s a
matter of looking in to understand. It’s a matter of focusing &
knowing “Self”. *Your continuous watchfulness of mind and
remembrance of self will lead you to great mysteries and energies
unknown to you.

Similarly, intelligence is the ability of a person to lose the thought

of “I” in the “self” to the acts he or she performs with happiness.
The point to note is that both the human body & mind has
limitations, though the mind is immeasurable. The key is to
understand the immeasurable that comes with limitations, the
immeasurable element which is driven by the infinite called “Life or
Energy or Mother Nature”. Human is a combination of body, mind,
intellect, and energy. It’s about body, mind, and intellect aligning &
complimenting life energy.

The “Finite” in you gets dropped inevitably every time you put your
heart to the act totally in happiness. Heart means 100% involvement
& commitment. Knowledge can be the starting point for our
thoughts and actions but not the end. Do not blindly follow
knowledge even if it’s from the greatest scripture or master without
reasoning. Knowledge is known whereas creativity is unknown.
Make no mistake; the mind is an absolute necessity.
The mind should become a bridge not a barrier for creativity to
happen. Understand the difference between logical, non-logical &
illogical thinking.

Best of creative thought (seed) without action &

commitment (quality cultivation) is good for nothing!

Remember, “Mother Nature” never creates anything unimportant

or unworthy. Realize that the creator blessed everyone with the
mind for a reason. If we were all supposed to follow persons or
scriptures, there was no need for a mind in all heads. Creator
wants everyone to use their brains and not blindly follow systems,
 Creativity & Human Potential 36
scriptures, or people. Blind beliefs are belittling creation. Learn to
listen and see things “As-Is” and walk your path with reason &
understanding from within.

Though knowledge often tends to make thinking repetitive it has its

own utility. *The key to success lies in one’s ability to use instincts,
knowledge, reason, and creativity to one’s advancement as
complementary. Knowledge will become dead if not enhanced on a
continuous basis. Innumerable products and technologies of the past,
which were considered path-breaking and great at one point in time,
have become obsolete. Remember, creativity and knowledge are
opposites. Creativity cannot happen in the past. Creativity is
intelligence and intelligence, happens in the present when you walk
your own path, not others. Other’s path is information to you, not
intelligence. Being informed is not being intelligent.

Only an inquisitive, reasoning, open, alert, fear-free, clear, and all-

encompassing mind can be creative and not a mind which fully
operates out of knowledge and experience. Creativity is life, life is
existential, existence in pure is intelligence, intelligence is in being
happy, happiness comes from understanding and only understanding
can lead to growth. Do not get carried away by the mind’s
incalculable potential. The body gets tired, but the mind doesn’t
because of its unlimited energy.

Creativity is freedom and unwinding from knowledge

It’s all about getting the body energy to complement mental energy
and vice versa. It’s all about complementing non-logical thinking
with logical thinking.

Learn to respect the body’s limitations while using the mind’s

immeasurable potential else the two will go out of sync and result in
disaster. The mind should be used as an effective utility not as a
master. Success and leadership are all about balancing body & mind
energy.
 READ, THINK, ACT 37
Creativity can only happen in an open, enquiring, alert, calm, and
fear-free mind which is not bound by accumulated knowledge,
theories, definitions, constraints, experience and beliefs. So long as
a thought originates from the known it will be limited in capacity
but when the thought originates from the unknown which is the
intelligence & serenity within, then it will have a creative imprint.

On a lighter note, computers are not creative, humans are.

Machines can only be efficient. They don’t do anything different or
new; they only do what they are asked to do. If people think like
machines, then years don’t matter, yield will be the same. No
wonder history repeats so much. Is it by accident that we love our
history so much? Is it by chance so much history is taught in our
schools?

*There is less of Peter’s and more of Repeaters in this world. Peter

will always be a Peter and a Repeater can never become a Peter.
The choice is yours whether you want to become a Repeater or be
your own creative self!!

The author is not against historians or the study of history; he only

wishes for a diverse history. The world has had enough of violence;
we don’t want more, do we? Hopefully this generation and
generation next will not be of Repeaters!! Unless we understand
the meaning of completeness in diversity, harmony in diversity, we
cannot become creative & wealthy!

*What we think & know is tiny compared to what we don’t

think & know hence openness to newness is key

History won’t repeat if people don’t do the same things again and
again. For history not to repeat, people should think new and
adopt diversity in actions. For societies to thrive and resolve some
of the long-pending conflicts, people need to embrace more and
more diversity/newness with compassion.
 Creativity & Human Potential 38

Mother Nature, we are part of is hustling and bustling with all kinds
of diversity i.e., a variety of Trees, Shrubs, Flowers, Fruits, Grains,
Mountains, Seas, Rivers, Lakes, Animals, Birds, Water beings,
Reptiles, Human beings, etc.). The world would be boring if it did
not have diversity.

In a true sense, diversity is creativity. Mother Nature is the

greatest example of creativity. Have you ever looked at the
diversity on the planet we live without judgment? So many
people, trees, animals, beings, and yet all are different in one
way or the other (forms, colors, substance, shapes, thoughts etc.).
Diversity is the essence of creation.

Mind is powerful than things known to most human beings, travels

faster than light and more powerful than all the inventions put
together. When you dismantle all fear, prejudices and opinions
inside, when you are not afraid of walking the unknown paths, when
you are fear free and unconstrained, you become vast enough to
accommodate all diversity of thought and beings in harmony, it’s
only then you are making way for creativity to happen.

As the sky above, there is enough space in every human mind to

accept all possible diversity and yet be in peace & harmony.
Where diversity meets in harmony, creativity happens naturally.
Newness & diversity is Fashion for Mind.

Be with people who think different from you and accept diverse
view as just another view. When you are open and comfortable with
the diverse view you become non-judgmental. Creativity can neither
be forced nor taught. You can only make a fertile ground for
creativity to occur. When contradictions become complimentary,
when the body, mind, intellect and heart become complimentary, in
that oneness & calm, creativity happens.
*Life is always moving into the new. Every second we live or move
into is fresh, life is never stale…
 READ, THINK, ACT 39
Something to sense >> Thoughts are dependent on life
(breathing, heartbeat) not the other way around. Take away life,
there is no thought or body, at the same time take away thought and
your life will be on song (an experience beyond words & expression).
Knowledge (known) can be taught but not creativity (unknown).
Creativity sprouts in a culture of diverse, non-logical thoughts and
actions in practice.

Logical thinking makes one’s mind mechanical. Practice non-logical

thinking and creativity will happen. Creativity is anything but
thinking and learning. It’s a happening like every new second, we
live is a fresh happening. Every minute we live is new. Life is never
stale only thoughts can make it stale if freshness, newness, diversity
is not allowed. *Openness to newness is key.

Living in the present moment is creativity. The practice of doing

things differently seeds creativity. Life is intelligence and
intelligence is creativity and creativity happens only when the mind
is made fertile with diversity, openness and calm but cannot be
forced. Creativity always happens in the present on its own without
planning when the mind and heart is quiet, fear free, virus free,
inclusive, clear, watchful, and open. Cultivate diversity but not
mental virus which eats into creativity.

Logical thinking is needed to use the creations (cell phone,

computers, machines etc.) whereas non-logical thinking is
needed for new creations / inventions
 Creativity & Human Potential 40
Thomas Alva Edison – One of the most technologically
creative persons of all time.

Thomas Alva Edison was one of the

most famous and prolific inventors of
all time. Thomas Edison holds 1,093
US patents which is highest till date
by any individual. Edison was also a
successful manufacturer and
businessman. *Action is the most
powerful tool available to people!

Edison is regarded as one of the greatest creative beings of

modern times. His inventions include electric light bulbs, motion
picture cameras; power utilities, sound recording inventions,
systems of electric-power generation and distribution amongst
others.

Edison is regarded as one of the greatest creative beings of modern

times. According to some estimates, he has made around 1000
different attempts before inventing the electric bulb and others
which is a testimony to his indomitable trust in “Self”, belief in
creativity, heart work, diversity of action, effort, and human
potential. Action can move mountains!

It’s not hard work alone which produces great results, it is the right
effort (100% focus & energy) combined with heartwork (passion,
love for the work), purpose, and willpower which leads to
extraordinary achievements. It’s walking your own path that
creates success not waiting or walking in others’ paths. Be
yourself, your way is the only for your success.

It is the heart at work that determines your

success not hard work alone!
 READ, THINK, ACT 41
Food for Understanding

The foundation of success & happiness in life is continuous learning

through awareness of “Self” not self-awareness.
– Success is not about doing things; it’s about doing things
well (100% focus & energy). Doing well has nothing to do
with results, it’s about living the act.
– We all get what we deserve not what we desire. There is
nothing called luck. If luck exists, god cannot exist, if god
exists luck cannot because god cannot be biased!
– What is creativity, self-belief? How important is self-trust for
success & happiness in life?
– Never ever doubt you’re potential. Human beings are what
they think and believe. Whatever the human mind and
heart can think and believe can achieve.
– Known is knowledge, unknown is creative. “I” in you
equals to infinite potential only if you trust “Self” 100%
– Success is the art of relaxation in action.
– What is the most powerful thing in this world?
– A thought is the most powerful thing in the world after
silence since tiny is the capacity of mind we use!
– An idea can potentially influence / change millions of lives
e.g. TV, Cell Phone, Vaccines, Internet etc.
– One mind can imagine / think 1, 100, 1 million, countless
thoughts so long as a person is alive
– Greatest learning is to know what learning is!

Everything comes with a price; to grow, act from heart

with commitment
 Creativity & Human Potential 42
– What is creative thinking? And how should we cultivate creative
thinking?
– Creativity is the ability to think, explore and act new
– Every “seed” can give infinite fruits i.e. 1 seed = Infinite
fruits; 1 Meal = Millions of cells (*Mind distributes
nutrition & value of the food we eat to millions of cells in
the human body seamlessly; unimaginable is the power of
the mind!); 1 breath = millions of cells!
– Break your thinking patterns every now and then; try new ways
of doing little things.
– Encourage diversity without division and discrimination.
– Passion without purpose and commitment is like a seed that
will never reach fruition.
– Learn to fly with your thoughts into the unknown every now and
then. Resources are limited, creativity is unlimited. Diversity in
harmony is creativity, choose new.
- Greatest education is to know what education is!
– A seed dissolves itself unto mother earth and only then the
roots are spread and the tree gains infinite potential.
– Similarly, it’s the ability of a person to lose the “I” in the “self”
to the acts he or she performs that determines success.
– “I” in you can only be dissolved if you live the present moment
fully (heart & mind) in the act with happiness.
– It’s the heart at work that determines your success not the hard
work.
– When you lose the finite (ego) in you, you become infinite.
– Remember, your essence is only as good as everybody else not
more or less i.e. it’s the same energy inside everything!
– Every human being is blessed with the same infinite potential,
so no question of one being superior and any other being inferior.
It’s only the usage of resources (mind & energy) that varies from
person to person.
 READ, THINK, ACT 43
– Always, it’s not what one has, but how one uses and lives with
what one has that matters the most.
– Health needs no reason or causes to be good but ill-health needs
a cause/reason; to be healthy is a natural way similarly one needs
reason/cause for unhappiness not happiness, happiness is the
way / natural state of human.
– A reasoned happiness cannot be true similarly true happiness
(joy) cannot be reasonable (come with reasons)
– Success turns into a journey cum destination when everything
& nothing becomes a reason for happiness & when all acts are
performed in totality (wholeheartedly).
– The journey called life, happiness, success and leadership
cannot be defined but can only be felt or lived.
– Live life in a living mode, experiential, existential mode not
problem solving / mind mode.
– Don’t become a learned person, become free. All knowledge
comes from outside whereas freedom comes from
understanding “Self” within in silence.
– Accumulation of words / information in mind leads to chaos
whereas silence within leads to clarity & harmony.
– Creativity when not backed with action is of no use!
– Fashion for mind is choosing diversity of thought.
– Silence is the greatest master ever.
– A person either lives or complaints, cannot do both!
– Life is not a problem to solve but a journey for exploration. It is
the greatest evolution & celebration!

Every human being is blessed with infinite potential; it’s a

matter of realizing and remembering it!
 7. Purpose and Direction in Life
- Purpose and direction in life: Two most important questions
in a person’s life are, where one wants to go and why? I.e. what one
wants to do & why? The biggest irony about human beings is; people
know where they are going and why, when they step out of their
homes every day, but when it comes to knowing the direction where
one wants to go in life, most people are unclear and have no answers.

When it comes to the journey of life, most people are just hopping
from one road to another with no clear vision and purpose in their
hearts and mind. They are taking the road which is convenient and
easy to pick without giving it any serious thought. This is one of the
biggest reasons why most people are unhappy in their lives.

Knowing ones interests,

likes, passion and priorities
early in life is fundamental
to happiness and success.
Where there is love, passion,
clarity of thought, purpose
& heartwork, there is
success & prosperity.

How do we find a purpose & direction in life? Whenever you try to

find answers for the two most important questions of your life,
always look inside your heart and find out what you are most
passionate about in life? What is that which fascinates you the most?
What is that you like to do the most in life? What is that one
profession, field, subject that is of greatest interest and love to you?

The highest purpose in life is to live in happiness and peace

with self, aka Leading Self

44
 READ, THINK, ACT 45
Before you make the decision of your life, make a list of all the skills,
activities, fields, areas, subjects & professions that are of interest to
you. List all the reasons you like against each of one of those. Gather
info, discuss and debate those options with your parents, friends, and
people you trust and admire. Once you complete that exercise,
prioritize all those options and select the top 3. Look into your heart
and find out what is the most important and interesting thing out of
those top 3, the one you love the most?

Knowing your interests, priorities and what you love to do the most
in life is fundamental to success. Choose that one profession or field
which is dearest to your heart amongst the top three. The choice you
make should not leave any doubt in your heart and mind. That one
profession should be the love of your life. At the same time, one
must be also very clear on the purpose as to why one is choosing that
profession or field because that is something that will fuel your
actions.

The higher the contentment, the greater is the joy of success and
working for it, every day. Take the decision with your heart and do
not let your mind interfere in that decision. It will be one of the
biggest and best decisions you would have ever made in your life.
Once the decision is taken put your mind & all the energy at work
on how to go about it.

It is fine to take extra time to make that decision but be very clear in
your mind and heart about the purpose (passion) and direction you
want to head for the rest of your life. Without passion (purpose),
there will be no fire or hunger in your efforts. It is your passion for
the purpose which acts like fire, the fuel inside to give you that
needed energy to do things.

Daily action (using power of compounding) to achieve

one’s goal is the key to living a successful life…
 Purpose and Direction in Life 46

Decision on what aspect should always be of the heart (choice of

field, subject, line of business, profession, etc.) and how to achieve
should be of both mind and heart whereas the effort you put in
towards it, must be total which includes everything you have i.e.
body, mind, intellect, and heart.
Once the direction, the purpose is decided, watch the TV series
“Kaun Banega Crorepati - Who Wants to Be a Millionaire” and lock
your direction and purpose like how the host locks the answers.
Write down what you want to become and why on a piece of paper
and paste it in your room where you can see it big & clear every day.

Say it to yourself every day when you get up first thing in the
morning why you need to act, why your purpose is so important for
you. This act not just trains your mind to focus but also seeds the
subconscious mind which plays a huge invisible role in your success.

Remember it’s not just clarity about dreams & purpose; success is
about daily action for achieving the purpose.

Once what you want & why (purpose) is concluded, the focus should
entirely be on action & dedicated action. At the end of each day
before going to bed remind yourself what you did towards the
attainment of your purpose in life. It’s how strongly one wants
success, how many hours one is willing to spend for the goal every
day. Success is putting 100% effort with passion & focus every time,
every day to realize your goal.
Having said that, single point focus & everyday action
(commitment) is the key to accomplishing things in life, and
henceforth what you want to do and why should always be at the
center stage of your heart and mind.

Our objective in life should be to help our “Self” first, if we

can’t help ourselves, how can we help others?
 READ, THINK, ACT 47
If you can write down notes in a book as to what you did every day
to realize what you set out to and what can be done differently
tomorrow to make the journey more progressive will help you a lot.

Swami Vivekananda – A man of great purpose and

determination.

Swami Vivekananda is a
renowned 19th century saint of
India and is respected all over the
world as a spiritual genius. He was
known for spreading Vedanta and
Yoga to the West and is accredited
with raising interfaith awareness
and the message that world is a
family & diversity is its essence.

He is regarded as a great patriotic saint who worked for the

empowerment of youth and poor in India. His birthday is celebrated
as National Youth Day. Vivekananda is widely regarded as a man of
action and great wisdom with a deep sense of purpose. He is
remembered as a man who set out to change the direction of the
nation. A man who truly believed in the philosophy that service to
humanity is service to god.

His life and teachings continue to empower millions of people

around the world. His popular saying “You are the creator of your
own destiny” resonates with the masses across the world even today.

“Arise, Awake and stop not until the goal is reached”

(Swami Vivekananda)
 8. Happiness
What is happiness? And what is lasting happiness? What is the
difference? How and where to find it? What do we need to be happy
in life? These are some of the questions most of us don’t really think
much though everyone is craving for happiness in life. The biggest
irony of human race is that most of us don’t seem to know or
understand this thing called happiness. It takes a lot of effort, time
to bring happiness home but as soon as it arrives it seems to vanish
within a few minutes, hours or days at the most. It never seems to
last long. Anyone remembers anything giving continuous happiness
for more than a month or a year?
Is it ever possible to find something one does not know or
understand, even if one searches all his or her life?
Fundamental to find something in this world is to know what one is
looking for. Unless you are clear in your mind and understand what,
you are looking for, even if you find it, you may not realize you have
found the thing. Most people make the mistake of linking happiness
to things they don’t have or wish to have because they don’t
understand the phenomenon of happiness. Material things, physical
comfort, words and thinking is not true happiness, it is only
convenience or comfort. Life is only in the experience. The higher
and deeper the quality of experience, the greater is the joy in living
be it through relationships, physical things or otherwise.
Happiness is in flowing with the heart, beyond materials, comfort,
words, thinking and mind. Knowledge and words about happiness
does not make one happy.

When the heart is at work, no work seems hard

You can only understand happiness through your personal
experience, by living and understanding that moment or state of
being without words and thoughts. Knowledge without experience
is like eating food without taste and smell. It’s like smelling a paper
flower. If the state of mind is to link happiness to what we don’t
have e.g. a luxury car, a house, good business, good job, position,
reputation, money etc. then it’s obvious that we will continue to be

48
 READ, THINK, ACT 49
in the same state of mind (i.e. state of unhappiness) even when we
find the so-called objects of happiness because it’s a state of mind.
The state of mind in itself is not changing when the so-called object
of happiness or desire is acquired.
The object of desire or happiness simply moves to another object
one doesn’t have and the state of mind continues. If happiness is
just a state of mind then, can we not link it to what we have instead
of what we don’t? Whether a person possesses a thing of desire or
not, we are always in possession of the greatest treasure in the world
called “life” so long as one can realize and understand that.
Yes, life is the most precious and valuable gift one can ever ask
for, be thankful and celebrate everyday…
Have you ever heard of a financially rich man in the history of
mankind, who was willing to give away his life for money? Go to
any billionaire who’s alive in the world and say I will give you a
billion more, please give me your life and see what he has got to
say!! At the same time, when the rich man is suffering and wants to
live, he will be willing to give away all his wealth. A person can give
away his or her life for money only if that money is of use to others,
never for self.
Being healthy, happy, and positive is not everything, but
fundamental to everything we do in life
Again, a person can risk life for money only if he or she thinks can
be alive but never when he or she is convinced will die in the act.
Think why (all unhappiness is created by the ego)?
Let’s look at what changes when we are happy? The air we breathe
remains the same, the food we eat & water we drink, the people, the
buildings, job, roads etc. seem to remain the same. Then what is that
changing when a person is happy and where is the change happening?
Is the change only in the mind? If it’s just a mind thing then it has to be
a thing of thoughts?
If it’s just a thing of thoughts, do we not have a choice to think what
we want to no matter what happens outside of us? Can we not control
our thoughts? If happiness is an outcome of a thought, then can’t
happiness be reproduced with certainty if a thought can be? If it’s
 Happiness 50
true that a thought is a choice, then happiness which is an outcome
of a thought or no thought should also be a choice. If happiness is a
choice, then why shouldn’t we choose to be happy all the time???

A thing of physical and mental comfort can only give you happiness
momentarily while we use it, but not always. Can you think of a
thing in your possession no matter how expensive or valuable it is,
which can give you lasting happiness when not in use? Is it in the
experience of material things or the material objects themselves? or
the identification or attachment to material things, which gives us
happiness?

We are madly running after objects, one after the other and despite
acquiring so many things which we didn’t have in the past, we still
don’t seem to realize that objects of comfort cannot give a person
lasting happiness. Is the way of the heart the way for everlasting
happiness…watch it?

In every situation, Positivity & Happiness is a choice; learn

to be happy and positive by choice not chance

Once the perceived objects of our happiness, be it a Luxury Villa,

Car, Watch, Phone, Jewelry, Job, Business deal, so-called Love,
Money, etc. are in our possession, the thing called happiness seems
to stay only for a few hours or days in most cases and a few weeks
in some rarest of rare cases but it’s never the long-lasting happiness
a person craves for, why?

To be happy you must understand what happiness is through your

own experience. All conflict and unhappiness in the mind are due to
borrowing of somebody else’s knowledge and understanding of
happiness. Always, rely on your own understanding, existence, and
experience of things because experience and understanding vary
from person to person.
 READ, THINK, ACT 51
Somebody else’s experience can never become your own. Only
your own understanding of things can lead you to real learning.
Agree it’s difficult to find lasting happiness inside but it’s
impossible to find it elsewhere. When you have a choice, why not
make the best? The approach should be to try and understand things
be it resources, happiness, success, health, mind, power or love.
***All conflict and illusion cease when you understand utility &
futility of things.
All unhappiness and ugliness originate in the mind before getting
manifested into physical expression, emotion or action on the
ground. No ugliness can ever happen without germinating in the
mind. Making your own self happy & harmonious is the greatest gift
you can give yourself and the whole world. Remember, even the
hardest criminal will not forget good done to him / her. Never
stop being human. Humanity touches everyone; it’s only the lack
of understanding of mind and “Self” which turns them astray.

Human thinking is the greatest enabler and the only

bottleneck to human evolution
Let’s look at some of the causes of unhappiness. Most unhappiness
is caused because of this inherent tendency to judge, compare and
measure people. We tend to judge and measure almost anything and
everything that comes our way or happens with us. Stop judging
things and people unless it’s a must or you get paid for it. Somehow
the urge to judge & compare seems to happen very natural to most
of us. Throwaway all your judgment hats and you would have
thrown away 80% of your unhappiness. Don’t always see things in
terms of likes, dislikes, right, wrong, bad, good etc. “Choices we
make, makes our life (good or bad)”.
Hold yourself for a few seconds before judging anything, just think
about what good or benefits the judgment you are trying to
pronounce will bring to you or to others? If you think your judgment
or opinion does any good whatsoever, wear your judgment hat and
deliver the judgments else see off the mental urge as you see off an
unwanted guest at your party. People don’t seem to realize that they
pay a heavy price for judging and comparing unnecessary things.
 Happiness 52
We pay by two most precious things in this world i.e. our time and
happiness to deliver judgments. Are the judgments we make worth
the price we pay?
How many times our happiness or someone else’s happiness
increases when we judge something or somebody? Do we have to
see everything from the lens of good or bad? NO, we need not see
everything from the prism of right or wrong. Everything is perfect
in its own place. Things and people can stay as they are. They don’t
need our judgment.
Key to happiness lies in seeing and understanding things
“As-Is”; dropping all avoidable judgment, competition &
comparison
First let’s worry about what we have created in our own mind before
others. All worry and unhappiness is our own creation. The creation
outside of mind is already perfect. It doesn’t need any help. If we
stop imagining and creating unwanted things in our mind, all
unhappiness will cease to exist. See things as they are not as you
want them to be. Live in the present moment totally because that is
the only thing you have.
Don’t miss what you have for what you don’t. Unnecessary
thoughts are the root cause for all the ills of life.
Let’s study what a thought is for a min. Every thought has a
beginning and end hence thought is always limited and time bound
whereas happiness is not. Thought is a choice and is always linked
to time (past or future) whereas life is in the present. It has no
beginning and what has no beginning has no end and hence life
continues.
Life happened to you; you did not start or create it. You have no
choice about life per se. The choice is only about what you do with
your life. The highest purpose of life is to live and let others (people,
animals, trees) live in happiness and harmony.
What you may have in the future is in the future. Present is all that
matters because life can only be lived in the present. Future has no
meaning or relevance in the present moment. Future is an
imagination of mind. Mind can create thought, but not life. Most
 READ, THINK, ACT 53
often, judgments we pass on things, events, issues, others & our own
self tend to cause disharmony & grief. The choice and wisdom are
yours as to what you want to judge and why? In any case, you are
the best judge for assessing the urge and need for your judgments.
If we must judge anything more often in this world, it must
be our own actions, judgments and thoughts
Judgments are a symbol of authority, whereas life is in freedom.
Acceptance of things As-Is leads to freedom. Another big occasion
for unhappiness is people linking success to happiness but the
opposite is true. Unless a person is happy doing what he or she is
doing, he or she can never give his or her best. Unless one gets into
the practice of giving the best in everything they do, they cannot be
happy. Success happens everytime when you give the best you have
with total involvement, wholeheartedly. Success is being the act in
happiness. There can be reasons for unhappiness and disease but not
health & happiness. Happiness & health are but natural. People don’t
ask why you are healthy? People only ask you reasons / cause when
you are unhappy.
There will be times in everyone’s life, where we all face bad news
and there will be situations where we get upset many a times, but the
key is to see & accept situations As-Is and not reject or avoid.
Avoidance and denial leads to unhappiness. The key is in staying
calm when we face such situations? Simply accept and live all
experiences in totality and not look away. Never escape or blame
others for your actions.
For all the good that happens in our life, we seem to take credit most
of the times but for all unpleasant things we seem to blame everyone
/ everything else except our own self. All experiences are equally
important for our growth especially the bad & painful ones. They
all teach us great lessons in life. Why accepting our own mistake
happens naturally? Is it because of self-love? But seems so much
difficult when it comes to others? Why? (Find for yourself!)
Next generation leaders are those who can inspire a happy,
playful, stress & fear free work culture while enabling
people realize their true potential
 Happiness 54
Leading Self is about facing and accepting facts with a free, calm
& open mind and using all our energies to live in positivity, joy
& harmony. It’s not about scripting imaginary situations in
mind which lead to conflict and chaos. All schools, colleges &
education institutions in the world would do a great favor to
humanity if only they start teaching students what happiness is
amongst many good things they already teach. They are creating
great many learned people but very few happy people. When
education systems worldwide start producing happiness at schools
and colleges, they will truly make successful societies, which will
be rich both inward and outward. Remember, a happy person cannot
indulge in violence or crime. The educationists have the greatest
duty in this world in making our planet a better place. All learning
in this world without happiness is incomplete.
In life, it is not possible to be 100% happy all the time. Make no
mistake; we cannot avoid illness, sorrow, anger or being emotional
at times. Accept that we cannot drive everything outside of us but
at the same time remember we can always control / drive things
inside of us. ***If we don’t lead /drive our lives, everything else
will. Remember, it’s neither good to drive others life nor to let
others drive our own life. * There will always be things and
situations on which we will have no control externally though they
will influence our internal state. At times, actions of others without
our involvement; air, water polluted by someone else will impact
us. It’s the acceptance of anger, sorrow, negative thoughts, fear &
inner conflict as they happen with openness leads to freedom from
unhappiness not denial or rejection.

The freedom to be happy by choice is the greatest gift to the

humankind by the creator
Why human life craves for happiness and harmony? Life is
intelligence, intelligence is freedom, freedom is happiness and
happiness are always unlimited. Intelligence has no beginning or end.
Intelligence was, is and will. Harmony was, is and will. If you notice,
all elements of creation live in harmony except humans.
Every thought has a beginning and an end, not the mind. Mind
has no beginning or end but is dependent on something for its
 READ, THINK, ACT 55
existence. Whereas thought is time bound and dependent on
knowledge. What is that something on which the mind is
dependent? It is something for each one of us to observe, explore
and find out? We can only find that if we understand thought, mind
and happiness!!

Whether we read one book or a hundred, it makes no difference. It

is not knowledge to be acquired by words but an experience which
becomes an understanding only with self-reasoning, a realization to
be felt within. What is in the present moment has no beginning or
end (psychologically not chronologically). You cannot be happy in
the past or future. Happiness is independent of thought, words, mind,
and time and happens only in the present moment.

The one who has learned to celebrate life As-Is can only be happy.
The one who has learnt to live happily and responsibly can only
lead an intelligent and successful life. Your ability to live happily
and responsibly leads you to success, not the other way around.

Success doesn’t bring happiness and responsibility to people, it only

adds. Face and accept the facts “As-Is” for one day in your life. See
and understand things with an open mind as they are, not as you want
them to be. Drop all judgments, comparisons and measurements and
you will be left with a free, happy, and creative mind with full of
energy. An unhappy person can never be productive at work or sport.
Remember, no matter what happens in life, you always have a choice
to be positive & happy inside.

Thought is material and hence dependent. All material things perish

whereas things which are independent are imperishable.
Dependency is a constraint. A thing of constraint is always
momentary hence so long as you link your happiness to material
things it will always be momentary. Reiterating, physical comfort is
not true happiness. Happiness is independent of thought and material.
 Happiness 56
When you are happy neither the material changes nor the way you
think changes but what changes is the experience, state of mind, and
heart which becomes joyous.
Another major cause of unhappiness is relationships. Relationships
tend to influence happiness a lot. Happiness and intelligence are not
bound by anything though humans are bound by relationships. Life
is relationships and relationships are life. Relationship with self,
relationship with other human beings, relationship with air, water,
trees, rivers (Mother Nature or Environment), issues, problems,
emotions, challenges, etc. The key to happiness is living all
relationships independent of issues, beliefs, rituals, procedures,
negative emotions, and problems.
If you let issues, problems, beliefs, rituals, things (home, car, etc.),
shapes, forms, and names take the center stage of any relationship
then they all become our life. All relationships soon will be reduced
to conflicting mindsets, negative emotions, forms, issues, problems
impacting your happiness & decisions. Relationships and human
beings can coexist independent of issues and problems only when
you accept diversity in people and nature as an integral part of our
existence. Relationships turn sour when we try to manage.

Expectations replaced with Acceptance = Happiness!

Accepting people & self “As-Is” and not managing is the mantra for
happiness & harmony in life. We have a relationship with air, water,
earth, etc. without which we cannot live but how many of us ever
think of managing those? Human beings can live without
relationships after birth but not without air, water, earth, etc., How
many of us think of air, water, and trees unless we don’t get enough
of them? Why don’t we think of them? We don’t think because they
are needed for our physical existence only not psychological. It’s a
paradox that physical discomfort can give you unhappiness, but
physical comfort can never give you happiness.
It’s easy to teach the utility of things but hard to teach the futility
of the things! Knowing the utility & futility of things & the value
of relationships is key!!
 READ, THINK, ACT 57
So long as the harmony in the relationships (be it with self,
other beings, air, water, trees, things etc.) is maintained our
happiness is not impacted. Most of us live and die without doing
anything for the air, water & tree’s we use all our life. Though they
are part of our existence how much does it matter in our
psychological world where happiness lives?

Disharmony in relationships leads to unhappiness. What is physical

can only give us comfort but not happiness. True happiness is
beyond material & physical comfort. Happiness is dependent on
what happens in the mind and heart with respect to our relationships.
We don’t care for air, water, trees so long as there is no pollution or
discomfort in that. The moment it gets bad, the harmony in a
relationship is broken then our happiness is impacted. Relationship
and happiness are independent of each other and can co-exist as long
as there is harmony inside our mind (logical) & heart (non-logical).
All problems are seeded in the thoughts of becoming
whereas all solutions are in being
The way one thinks, and acts is the issue, never the relationship. You
need to understand relationships, thought and mind to understand
happiness. If you indulge in thinking you can never find out, but if
you become aware of your relationships, thinking, thoughts, feelings
and mind, then you can. Mind is a utility. Mind is not you, but the
actions are you; the emotions are you, the happiness is you and what
you think and believe is you!
Observe and understand thought, thinking, things and relationships,
only then you will be able to move beyond the measurable. Thoughts
cultivated manifest into actions. No negative action can happen
without a thought. Only positive actions can happen without
thinking. We breathe but don’t think. We get hungry and body tells
us but there is no thinking involved.
We need to employ thought for getting to food but thought itself is
not required for the body to let us know that we are hungry.
Intelligence is built everywhere; we just need to see and understand
it. All thoughts need not be translated into emotions and actions.
Action and thought are free of each other if you slow down thinking.
 Happiness 58
*It’s about creating harmony inside with logical & non-logical
aspects of mind!
All unwanted thoughts (i.e., unnecessary imagination, thoughts of
fear, misery, judgement, laziness, indecisiveness, greed, grudge,
arrogance, ego, lack of self-respect, comparison etc.) in the mind
create darkness. Darkness always begets darkness. Unhappiness
begets unhappiness. Every thought has the potential of a seed
(remember any seed has infinite potential!).
The only way to be happy is by being happy through
understanding happiness (utility & futility of things!)
Seed begets another seed. Thought begets another (good or bad).
Mind per se does not have the intelligence to differentiate between
good or bad; right or wrong, happy or unhappy. It’s we who
introduce and feed that decision mechanism in mind. Mind is only
about known or knowledge. Mind cannot comprehend the unknown.
Less or more darkness never removes darkness. Arrival of light
negates darkness. Darkness per-se is never removed. In fact,
darkness per se does not exist but is there everywhere where there is
no light. Darkness is absence of light. Similarly, negative thoughts
per se cannot exist unless we hold on to them and cultivate them.
Negative thoughts can induce unhappiness and similarly positive
thoughts can lead you to happiness. When you can hold on to
negative thoughts, can you not hold on to positive thoughts? So long
as we don’t bring in light, darkness will be, but the moment you
bring in light you cannot see darkness. Similarly, bring in positive
thoughts and it will drive away unhappy thoughts. Happiness always
happens when the mind is positive.
Unhappiness originates from looking at what you don’t have and
what you wish to have whereas happiness originates from what you
have. The choice is always yours whether you chose positive over
negative or negative over positive!! Mind cannot feel happiness; it
only records the knowledge and memory of happiness. True sign of
happiness is absence of thought. Mind always wants to be something
and cannot accept what is. Ever noticed, when you are very happy
you feel like time has passed in a flash and that is because you are
not thinking of being somebody or something.
 READ, THINK, ACT 59
Thought is anything but happiness. Happiness is a state of being not
a state of thinking, but the state of thinking can make way or become
a bottleneck for happiness to happen.

Is happiness something to be picked up on the way ta o place at

some destination? Is happiness a journey in itself? Is happiness
life itself or a way of life? *What is life without happiness? If
life is independent and not bound by all the things/situations we
face, how is happiness different? If happiness is an inner state of
being, why should it be bound by outside?

One cannot choose life, but can one not choose happiness in life?
Having said mind cannot create happiness but only a positive
mind is conducive for happiness to flow in or happen. Happiness
happens when we simply live in the present moment without fear
& unnecessary thinking. Not thinking is a “No-Mind” state,
which simply means “Mind” is not being used unnecessarily, not
that mind has gone out. *5 F’s - Fun, fire, focus, feeling &
fitness (healthy body, positive mind & energy) in an act @ same
time is a success!!

Only human beings can have everything and yet be unhappy – why?
(Mind?)? Mind is anything but happiness. When you live in the
mind, you live either in the past or future thoughts. Mind is a past
record trying to correct future. If you think you are happy
remembering the past or imagining the future, then you are being
fooled by your own mind or thinking. Become a CC camera and
simply watch your own mind in alertness, with patience & calm,
surely you will understand its ways.

Mind is the greatest trick on earth. For your own mind don’t rely
on others knowledge. Does it make sense to ask others when you can
watch yourself in the mirror? Other’s reality and experience cannot
become your own no matter how intelligent that another person may
seem. Always, rely on your own understanding and truth for your
happiness.
 Happiness 60
Happiness as a choice is only available to human beings in
this world no other species has it!
Don’t be fooled by smartness / functioning of mind. Mind based on
usage, functions out of either left side (logical) or right side (non-
logical). The more logical / calculative a person thinks the more
unhappiness / disharmony in life. It’s about using minimal of left
side and maximal of right side.

Don’t be caught in the highlights of the past events of life or future

planning all the time. If you are caught watching past match
highlights all the time, you cannot watch a live match that in the
present. Highlights will give you the same results no matter how
many times you watch it. The mind is always craving for the known.
Mind (efficiency) wants the same situations but better results
whereas heart (grace, creative & adventurous) wants to explore and
live new things.

Think of any new adventure? Heart says yes, it wants to try whereas
mind says no. Mind says there is a risk, don’t do it. Happiness is
always in living with the heart but not blindly. Your intellect, self-
reasoning must be ever alerted to assess the associated impact,
outcomes, risks & decisions objectively.

Heart has feelings whereas mind houses fear. Mind is lifeless

whereas heart is alive and kicking every second. When heart stops
beating, mind has no existence but when mind stops thinking heart
is so much better. Your life feels light and blissful when not
thinking. No mind is a rarest of rare experience beyond words and
thoughts. Happiness is a heart thing and heart knows only living in
now (beats every second).
You either live or think but you cannot do both at the same time.
Heart can never beat in the past or future. All heart knows is to beat
in the present because present is all what we have. Heart is happiness;
happiness is intelligence and intelligence is creative. Thinking after
the experience at times helps to feel the difference.
 READ, THINK, ACT 61
Planning is needed for future, but you need to know how much
thinking is needed for planning. Happiness and intelligence go
together. One begets another. They are complimentary. Thought
(mind) and happiness are opposites because thought is always of the
past or future whereas happiness can only happen in the present
moment.

Let’s try to enquire why we crave for harmony and happiness?

Creation is the most intelligent phenomenon in this world. Analyze
Mother Nature and you will be amazed at the perfection of this
creation. So much diversity in creation but yet there is harmony and
joy. We must understand that we don’t exist; we only coexist. We
are part of creation, not separate. In fact, we are creation (air, water,
trees) and hence the craving for harmony and happiness. All answers
to one’s issues and so-called problems can be found if one aligns
living with the ways of Mother Nature or creation.

The unintelligence and imperfections we see in this world are the

result of only one thing, which is human thinking, rest all is perfect.
Human being is the most intelligent of all beings, yet the thought
makes us most stupid. Yes, it is the thinking which makes us both
great and stupid. Nothing part of creation is more sophisticated,
refined, magical and powerful than a human being.

Simply watch and understand “Mother Nature” without

judgment and you can find answers to all your issues. Mother
Nature is the greatest of all teachers in this world. All unhappiness
in life is due to our own thought cultivation. The only way to change
this is through de-cultivation of negative thoughts by our own efforts
& actions through watchfulness.

The greatest blessing to human beings in this world is the

freedom of thought and no thought
 Happiness 62
Creation As-Is is a delight and joy in itself. The fact remains that we
have a choice when it comes to thoughts no matter what happens
outside of us. Watch the way you think for your thinking to change
as your world is in your thought. Think less, live more. Is happiness
in the belief systems, thoughts, or external things?

Why things or actions (food, swim etc.) which give happiness at

times cannot give at other times? Is happiness in experience itself?
Watch and think!! Is it in the inner state of joy & comfort in the
middle of every action (eating, drinking, walking, talking, work,
workout, sleeping etc.) and no-action? Where the heart goes, body,
mind, happiness & energy flows.

*The above verses of the famous Sufi poet Jalaluddin Rumi sum
it all. (Ref - http://sologak1.blogspot.in/)
 READ, THINK, ACT 63
When false identification and attachments in one’s mind with sect,
creed, caste, money, power, position, religion, nativity, beliefs, and
ideologies, etc. are dropped; the heart takes center stage and drives
our life. Follow your heart always with checks & balances from
mind but never follow mind with or without checks from the heart.
Though it’s hard to explain, happiness is not in the act or things or
relationships per se but in the quality of our experience whatever
maybe the act, relationship, situation, position, path or material
thing.

Food for thought, on a lighter note >> the two greatest mysteries
of life are birth and death. Success of a movie no matter how good
the beginning or the middle is; is also dependent on the end. You
will never be happy with the best of a meal if the last bite you take
is sour. Every end has its own significance. An end which is an
equally fulfilling experience as life, a rich death which is happy,
painless, disease & fear free!!
When you live each moment happily in the present you will
not fear for death because life and death are inseparable, both are
happening together, one after the other in the present. Physically,
breathing keeps us alive and the process of breathing is twofold
(breathe in - living, breathe out - death). Forms and shapes (human,
animal, trees etc.) change but life goes on. Death is an unavoidable
event to be witnessed by every person. The born cannot experience
the beginning or birth but has to witness and experience one’s own
end. The quality of end has to be a true testimony of the quality of
life a person has lived.
In life, everything good comes with a price be it a good living or the
end, we need to earn it. Most people do anything and everything for
a happy living but mostly nothing for a happy ending. If you spend
95% of your time, effort and resources for a happy living, should
you not spend at least 5% of your time, effort and resources for a
happy ending? The choice is yours!!

The highest being is the happiest and harmonious in just

about everything though not always!
 9. Positive and Healthy
Successful people always have a positive outlook on life no matter
what situations they get into. It’s all about looking at what can be
done with what we have instead of what can’t be done. Positivity in
the mind generates positive energy overall and opens doors to
unthinkable opportunities. Positivity is about how to make things
happen instead of waiting for things to happen. Positivity is the
absence of doubt & distrust within!

We can either live or complain!! Focus all your energies on doing

the right things and not worry much about the outcomes (future).
Always link your mind and heart to giving your best no matter what
you do and not do what others think. It’s all about how we cultivate
ourselves. The quality of the fruit is only as good as the quality of
the cultivation.

If something is worth doing, it’s worth giving everything. In any and

every situation, always give your best and keep moving forward
because that is the best one can ever do. If one is learning the lessons
and taking all the positives from the actions, situations, incidents,
and outcomes, one is on the path of growth and wellness. True
leaders learn to enjoy the journey irrespective of what challenges life
throws at them.
Being positive, happy, harmonious, and healthy is not
everything but fundamental to everything we do in life

64
 READ, THINK, ACT 65
One must understand that we can never control 100% of what
happens outside of us, but we can always control 100% of what
happens inside of us. Life is all about give and take. It’s the law of
nature, “As we sow, so we reap”. Sow positivity in your mind and
reap positivity in your life. Only unwanted things, disease, and ill
health come for free.

As we think, we acquire things & habits. The easiest way to test this
is to stop exercise, stop eating good food, stop learning, stop
working, stop taking baths, stop cleaning your mind, stop taking care
of yourself, very soon you will be converted to a useless, unhappy,
stinking, and unhealthy being (100% guaranteed results).

Bad comes to you for free whereas you need to go to good. You
always pay a price for good to happen. We go to school; the School
doesn’t come to us.

It’s no different when it comes to your physical health. Good health

doesn’t come for free. You need to earn good health. You need to
respect your body for the body to reciprocate. Give respect and take
respect. For physical health, we must exercise; spend time and effort
to stay healthy. When it comes to mental health, we must learn to be
happy by choice. If a person cannot to be happy or healthy in life,
he or she can never be successful.

We don’t really think about breathing, we just do it all the time.

Similarly, one should make a positive living and exercise a way of
life, not something one should try to do. Life without positivity and
happiness is like an empty vessel.

An empty vessel cannot fill another. Only that which has something
can fill another. We can only give what we have not what we don’t.
One must understand the natural link between health, positivity, and
happiness. All three co-exist but never alone.

Being happy, healthy, harmonious & positive should

become a way of life like breathing
 Positive & Healthy 66
Never think of life as a problem to be solved. Once such a mindset
is cultivated your whole life will pass in trying to solve one problem
after another. Remember, a wrong step can never lead you to right.
Live life in the present as a mystery to be unveiled at every stage.
Live and enjoy life as a journey for evolution and celebration with
all its colors in totality.

Edson Arantes do Nascimento known as Pele – Considered as

one of the all-time greats in soccer.

Pele was born to a

poor family. His
family was so poor
that early on in his
childhood he could
not even afford a
football.

At times, he worked at tea stores to make extra money. At the age of

17, he made his first world cup appearance for Brazil, and the rest
all as we know after that is history. He was declared as a “National
Treasure” by the Brazilian president subsequently. Winners live &
cherish life, rest complaint!!

He was voted as the player of the century along with Diego

Maradona, Athlete of the century by IOC & was also named in
TIME’s list of the 100 most influential people of the 20th century
amongst many other awards & recognitions. Pele from hardships of
poverty achieved pinnacles of glory through positivity, self-belief &
good health. Only a positive “self” inside gives one the strength
to overcome the challenges and adversities of life.

Quality in thoughts and actions is quality in life

 10. Listener and Learner
Unless we learn to listen; we can never learn. Listening and learning
go hand in hand. Only empty can be filled, when you start with “I
don’t know”, listening & learning is possible. The more one learns
to listen, the more one learns. Remember, the world always works
in give and take mode. Hence unless you learn to listen to others,
nobody will listen to you.

Learning is not just from others or outside entities; the biggest

learning happens when one looks inside & listens. Knowing and
understanding “Self” is the greatest learning. All knowledge can be
mined inside of you if only you can turn the eyes inside onto yourself.
Listening is an art. For knowing self, a quiet mind which doesn’t
interfere while listening is the key.

Sustaining success and leadership is not just about people following,

power and fame, it’s about listening without thinking (hearing).
Listening is sound, hearing is content/message. Unless you are
willing to listen patiently without prejudice and discrimination,
people will not open up before you. Openness & acceptance is the
key to building trust.

No trust, no leadership. Learning is a journey. Learn not just from

one’s own experiences but also other entities. All learning begins &
ends with listening. For a person who has learned to listen, no
teacher is needed, everything becomes a teacher.

The greater the success & leader, the greater is the appetite for
listening, learning, and reading. Learning means flowing and
growing. A flowing river is always fresh and lively. Stagnant water
can never be fresh on its own. Understand that everything in this
world is a process, a cycle, a flow, be it learning, happiness, success
or leadership.

Patience is a pre-requisite to listening and listening is a

prerequisite to learning

67
 Positive & Healthy 68
If you look at Mother Nature, the process is simple – Begin (create),
continue (sustain), End (dismantle). It doesn’t matter from where
you look at this process. If you start from “End”, it will be followed
by a “Begin” and if start from “Begin” it will be followed by an
“End”. The law is a cycle; Cause followed by Effect or Effect
followed by Cause i.e. Day after Night or Night after Day, breathe
in – breathe out.

Try and understand the process of learning – Listening / Observation

/ Experience leads to > Learning. You can either start from the cause
i.e. “Listening”, “Observation”,” Experience” and reach effect i.e.
“Learning” or create the effect i.e. Intent to learn inside, then cause
will happen. Do not wait for opportunities to come your way to learn.

You cannot create the cause on your own, but you can always create
the effect and with effect, cause will follow. Effect (fire for listening
& learning) can be created inside you whereas cause (teacher,
situation, incidents, information, etc.,) is outside of you.

If you create the fire/passion for continuous learning inside then

everything (every situation, incident, person, experience, element
of creation) will become a tool for hearing, observation,
experience, and learning. Remember all learning has a life span
(start & end) hence continuous learning is the key for success.
Listening is one step deeper than hearing!

True learning happens through listening, openness, inquiry,

observation, experience and reasoning and finally culminates in
understanding. Mere information gathering is not learning. Putting
that information to practice, exercise, self-reasoning, and experience
convert it into understanding and awareness. *Listening,
watchfulness and openness to newness are the most defining
qualities of sustaining success.

A manager / boss appreciates deliverables & valuables more

than values while a leader does vice versa!
 READ, THINK, ACT 69

The one who realizes that Books / Gyan / Vidya

/ Guru is the 4th necessity after food, clothing &
shelter is well & truly on the path of growth…
 11. Guru or Teacher
Guru is a Sanskrit word and is formed by the syllables “GU” and
“RU”. GU indicates darkness, and RU indicates destruction, guru
means "dispeller of darkness". Without gurus, our lives will be filled
with darkness even in the brightest of the sun. Those who do not
understand the importance of education/books can never become
successful in life. Always have the greatest of gratitude and respect
for parents, teachers, mentors & books.
Only education can turn a person into a human being!?

The creator cannot teach everyone everything hence he created

gurus…

Candle, electric bulb, moon, etc. are sources of light outside in the
dark while the sun in the day but education/knowledge alone in this
world has the power to give you inner light all thru your life i.e.
24/7*365 days, nothing else.

All successful people & leaders in the world are readers!

 Temptations 72

12. Temptations
A person who has not learned to resist temptations can never become
successful. Not just the ability to resist temptations till one becomes
successful but also guarding self from temptations all along is very
important to stay successful and happy in the long run. Staying
successful is much tougher than becoming successful on occasions.
Temptations are nature’s means of disciplining the leader.
Temptations and tough times are life’ exams that teach every person
has to take. Temptations are the attractions and distractions which
try to drag one down from the path of growth and success. The more
success, the greater are the temptations on the path. One needs to be
aware & alert all the time to deal with temptations else it’s not
possible to stay successful. It’s the ability to stay the course during
the journey that ensures the longevity of success.

- Tough times, Obstacles, Opportunities: A leader is someone

who never gives up on tough times & obstacles; is the one who
doesn’t give in to temptations, at the same time, has the courage to
face challenges head-on, accepts & learns from mistakes, and is
always willing to do the course corrections. Tough times and
obstacles are life’s exams and they only happen to strengthen you.

Nobody is an exception to this and there is no discrimination either,

be it the king or the pauper, everyone must take these exams. The
determining factor is the ability to endure tough times with poise
and cheer. A balloon flies or goes up with the help of air inside not
the outside, in fact outside doesn’t really matter.

“Mother Nature” never errs, we all get what we deserve not

what we desire; always focus on the deserving aspect!

A king may become a pauper and the pauper the king depending on
the inner strength, but the exams called tough times will continue to
happen all through life. Whether one accepts it or not they are the
mechanisms to make you stronger and better.
 READ, THINK, ACT 73
All successful people understand the importance of utilizing the
opportunities that come their way.

They are always alert & ready to grab the opportunities that come
hidden in the form of tough situations & obstacles. Where the rest
see challenges and difficulties, the successful people see
opportunities & growth. *One of the biggest differences between
leaders and others is the ability to spot & utilize the opportunities
that come their way in the form of obstacles or otherwise. Being
open to new things is the key. Underscoring - suffering, obstacles,
and unknowns in life bring the greatest opportunities for self-
advancement.

A diamond is tough because it has learned to resist tremendous

pressure, hundreds of meters below earth’s crust with a smile (shines
always even in the greatest of darkness, a light unto itself) and
that’s why it’s precious. It takes a long time for a diamond to form
because toughness (strength from within) doesn’t happen
overnight.

A stone that has not learned to take stress can be easily crumbled
whereas a gemstone that has learned to sustain tough conditions and
pressure cannot be crumbled so easily. Only a diamond can cut
another unlike a stone on the surface of the earth which can be easily
crushed by standing on it or with a hammer.

It’s the person who learns to endure tough times with enthusiasm
and cheerfulness (like playing one’s favorite sport) that sustains
success. A mind with negativity can never be home to success.
Tough times, pain, suffering is nature’s way of strengthening us
hence be thankful to the creator for that.

It’s the ability of the person not to be impacted by negativity

around like how a lotus leaf is untouched by the water around
where it grows or how sandalwood tree doesn’t lose its fragrance
even if it’s frequented by snakes makes them stand apart.
 Temptations 74
A sandalwood tree gives its fragrance even to the axe that cuts.
That is how intact the fragrance of positivity is in the everlasting
leader! *Remember, what we give is what we get.

You cannot control 100% of what happens outside of you,

but you can always choose 100% of what happens inside of
you!

Dr. B. R. Ambedkar (Architect of Indian Constitution)

Dr. Bhimrao Ramji Ambedkar

popularly known as “Babasaheb”
was independent India's first law
minister, noted economist and is
regarded as father of Indian
Constitution. Dr. Ambedkar faced
a lot of obstacles in his life. As a
child, he was also a victim of
untouchability.

He along with other students from lower castes were not allowed to
sit inside the classrooms along with higher castes. The students from
lower castes were forced to sit outside the classroom. Even if they
needed to drink water, the school peon would have to pour that
water. They were not allowed to drink water on their own. If the
peon was not available at school then he had to live without water
for that day, "No peon, No Water".

He was a man of great inner strength, learning, positivity, and

toughness, who sustained the test of time.
 READ, THINK, ACT 75
He did not let the negativity around impact him at the same used
obstacles as an opportunity for betterment. All great leaders
understand that suffering, tough times, pain, etc. are “Mother
Nature’s” resources for teaching and strengthening us. The greater
the suffering and pain, the greater is the scope for learning hence
always be thankful to the creator for those opportunities and
experiences. Success is in living every situation wholeheartedly
without negativity!

What differentiates an ordinary from extraordinary leader is their

ability to use suffering, pain, challenges & tough times as a ladder
for growth. Real growth is when we flow in balance in all seasons
& weather accepting all events & things with openness & gratitude.

It’s Dr. Ambedkar’s ability to learn and use those extraordinary

experiences early on in his life as a means for his growth &
strengthening that made him a leader of such high stature. It’s his
ability to keep the light of positivity “ON” all the time that helped
him burn all the negativity which came his way.

The greatest skill a person can ever acquire & possess in life is the
ability to live in happiness & harmony for that is the only light
(positivity). No two things in life, it’s either the light or darkness
inside which drives us.

He was a symbol of hope, endurance, and social justice. He has

saved millions of people from discrimination and untouchability. He
is one of the greatest leaders India has ever produced. His vision and
work continue to empower & inspire millions of people more so the
marginalized and underprivileged section, even today.

Successful is the person who has no time, place, or

energy for negativity
 Food for Understanding
– What is the importance of direction & purpose in life i.e.
significance of a GOAL in one’s life?
- Life is a journey, so is success. A life without direction and
purpose is a life without any meaning.
- Unless you set direction and GOAL’s, you cannot achieve
anything in life. We all get what we deserve not what we
desire.

– What are the two most important questions in everyone’s life?

- Where one wants to go and why?
- Purpose of life i.e. why you want to become what you want
to become?

– What should you consider when you set the direction and
purpose for your life?
– You must know your inherent interests, priorities and likes
in life
– Listen to everyone but always chose the field or area of your
prime interest which you love the most
– Use your heart when you decide what you want to do & why?
And the mind for how aspect!

– Importance of staying positive, happy & healthy?

- Being healthy, happy & positive is not everything but
fundamental to everything we do in life
– If you cannot learn to be happy in life, you can never be
healthy and successful.
– Similarly, if you cannot be healthy, you can never be happy
and successful. Worry ends, success begins!

– Why is listening so important?

– Patience is a pre-requisite to listening and listening with
calm mind is a pre-requisite to learning

76
 READ, THINK, ACT 77
– Unless you learn to listen, you cannot learn
– Learning is a conscious and continuous process

– Why do we need Guru’s / teachers?

– Knowledge alone in this world has the power to light your
way all thru life
– Only guru’s / teachers can lead a person to that light called
understanding / education

– What is the role of temptations, tough times & the ability for
course correction in happiness, success & leadership?
– Temptations & tough times are exams which every human
being has to face in life without any exceptions
– A person who doesn’t give-in to temptations, never gives-
up on tough times at the same time has the courage to accept
mistakes, learn from it, and willing to do a course correction
is a true leader.
– One must learn to embrace tough times and understand
temptations to become successful in life.
– Gyan / Vidya (real knowledge) is very subtle (thinner than
water) hence can only be received thru openness, alertness,
sensitivity & gratitude.
– Greatest learning is to know what is unlearning, what
&why to unlearn, what to learn and how to learn!
– Success & leadership is a selfie, a personal experience for
everyone and cannot be borrowed from others.
– Greatest learning happens in the stillness of mind.
– Greatest knowing is to know what we don’t know!!
– A diamond is tough because it has learned to resist
tremendous pressure & temperature hundreds of meters
below earth’s crust with a smile (shines always) and that is
why it is precious
Understanding is the magic light that can dispel the
darkness within…
 Science & technology give power to humans
while education gives the wisdom to use things
beneficially hence power without wisdom is
dangerous like a missile without any
guiding system…

Shiksha gives the ability to read, write, talk

while gyan is the knowledge (of objects,
subjects & self) but is it vidya (education) which
tell us what gyan we have, what we don’t, what
to acquire, what to not, what to do with what we
have…?

78
 READ, THINK, ACT 79

13. Antivirus for the Infinite Mind

– Mind: What is the mind and how does it work?
To simplify, the Mind is a tool that generates thoughts and acts as a
bridge between various sense organs that connect the body & “Self”.
Mind is also a device or a process that records and stores information
about all the responses, memories, events, experiences, actions,
reactions of the sense organs, and the associated emotions.

All thoughts occurring in the mind have a life span of a few seconds
or minutes if not prolonged. Thoughts are like the seeds of tress
sown in the ground or sparks of fire. Unless the seed is given water
to become a plant or spark the oxygen it dies naturally.

The mind has no beginning or end like a sky mirror but it’s in the
very nature of the thought to die on its own unless there is
interference from “self”. Mind is like a chain of thoughts (series of
clouds, layers of smoke, etc.). Unless one holds on to a thought and
continues further thinking, the thought itself cannot survive on its
own.

To begin with, the mind as such does not differentiate between

negative and positive thoughts like how air, water, trees treat all
human beings and animals. In one aspect, the mind works very
similarly to computers i.e., garbage in garbage out.

The mind simply propagates anything and everything one feeds it

directly or otherwise through sense organs, without differentiating.
It is we who introduce the judgment mechanism in the mind, the
good and bad, right, and wrong in the form of intellect/reason. Mind
is an amazing experience, a phenomenon & mystery beyond words.

No two things in life, either we drive out the mental virus or

let mental virus drive our life
 Antivirus for the Infinite Mind 80
If you were to understand the mind you should understand thought.
Remember, though the mind doesn’t, a thought has both a
beginning and an end. Only in the stillness of watching mind in
great admiration can one know and understand the ways of the mind.
So long as you indulge in words and thinking you cannot
comprehend the beauty & potential of the mind.

Mind is the only mirror in the world that shows you

everything you are, both inward and outward.

If without a mind life becomes impossible is true, then it’s equally

true that with excess, it becomes miserable. Having said make no
mistake, the mind is an absolute necessity for living. It’s a miracle
beyond expression. It’s the effective and optimal usage of the mind
that determines the quality of living.

- Mental virus: What is a mental virus and how do we protect our

mind from various viruses?

All negative thoughts present, entering, or getting generated in the

mind are mental viruses. Even the seeding of one negative thought
can potentially destroy our life for good. A bad thought is like a seed
that can grow into a tree and before we even start realizing it, we
will be in the middle of eating the bad fruits, which get into our
blood, corrupting the whole human decision system.

It’s in the very nature of creation that all things in this world start
acquiring dirt over a period if not cleansed and properly used on a
regular basis. The home needs regular cleaning, the human body,
cars need regular wash & proper usage and trees if not cleaned by
rains will also look dusty and dirty.

It’s a fact of life that unless a regular cleaning mechanism is

employed, anything and everything in this world acquires dirt.
 READ, THINK, ACT 81
Most people in the world seem to understand that for all the things
except the mind. It’s important to understand that mind also on its
own acquires dirt or virus. Unlike human body, cars, and home etc.
most people don’t even think or feel the need to cleanse one’s mind
because they don’t even realize that mind also acquires dirt like any
other thing in the world. We eat good and fresh food every day, but
a part of that intake gets converted into unwanted. Body has the
intelligence in-built to get the shit out.

Understanding the mind is the basis for winning in life.

*The key difference between the mind and body is that the mind on
its own does not differentiate between the wanted and unwanted;
there is no signaling mechanism in the mind whereas the human
body has an inbuilt mechanism to get the waste out through its
signaling function. All nature’s calls are preceded by a signal when
the time is ripe.

Remember, the basic nature of the mind is to create need & greed.
The mental virus could come from any quarters i.e., people known
or unknown, events at home or streets, TV, posters, news,
commercials etc. for various known and unknown reasons. It’s not
from where it comes but how we deal with it that matters! Learning
to ignore trash in mind is the key.

Examples of mental virus are >> Wrong motives, Fear, Confusion,

Indecision, Panic, Laziness, Anger, Ego, Unhappiness,
Procrastination, Indiscipline, Temptations, Bias, Shortcuts, Greed,
Over attachment, Impatience, Grudge, Anguish, Anxiety etc.
Letting go such thoughts is mind cleaning.

All negative thoughts are mental viruses which can

potentially destroy your life
 Antivirus for the Infinite Mind 82

It’s not the situation, people, body, mind,

energy, money, power or things, the only issue
is not knowing how the mind works and
how to use it!
 READ, THINK, ACT 83
– Building antivirus for mind:
In simple terms, antivirus is an act of washing one’s own mind on a
real time basis to rid mind of acquired dust and junk. It is like taking
bath, washing clothes, cleaning home, washing cars etc.
Fundamental to building effective antivirus is to know and
acknowledge the fact that there is virus in our minds else all efforts
in this direction will become useless. *Inaction, laziness is the
biggest virus a person can cultivate!

The mind generates and stores thoughts like a machine so long as

it gets the feed from sense organs. The discriminating intelligence
to identify good and unwanted is not inbuilt in the mind originally.
That intelligence mechanism needs to be developed in the mind
unlike the body where the intelligence is already present.

Unlike computers, we cannot buy antivirus for our minds. We all

need to develop our own antivirus which is strong and ever alert 24/7.
So, this brings us to the question, what is antivirus for the mind and
how does one build it?

Antivirus is a protective / cleaning mechanism that identifies,

prevents/removes negative thoughts from our mind on a real time
basis i.e., as and when negative occurs. To simplify, Antivirus is
the discriminating intelligence of the “Self” which

– Differentiates between positive and negative thoughts

– Eliminates the negative thoughts leading to cultivation of
positive thoughts and calm in the mind
How do we build it? The first and last step is to understand the mind.
Watching mind leads to understanding. We must become an
observer of our own thought constructs, watch, and watch mind,
understanding will happen on how the thought process works.

What and how a person thinks are the only variable in this world,
rest all is a constant.
 Antivirus for the Infinite Mind 84
Everything else, part of this creation other than a person’s thinking
remains a constant all through. Air, water, lakes, seas, animals,
human body, mountains, a carrot, banana, apple, vegetables, seasons
remain the same all over the world. Take example of human body,
the eyes of any person in the world can only see, the ears can only
hear, the mind, heart, liver, blood, bones etc. work alike.

Skin deep, parts of human beings perform the same functions

irrespective of where they live and what they do. Yes, only thinking
varies. Your “self” must be ever alert with your thoughts because
the mind is the most powerful and smartest of all the creations in
this world. The “self” gets easily fooled by the mind’s
cleverness/rationalization and the irony is we don’t even tend to
realize that most of the time. Let’s look at how to build an antivirus
for the mind.

Steps for building antivirus for the mind (no order is being
prescribed here, chose your own that fits you best)
– Keep an eye on your thoughts and become a watcher to
everything that happens in your mind i.e., be aware and alert
of your thoughts 24/7
– Constant watch on thoughts without indulgence slows down
thinking, fewer thoughts mean more peace and happiness!!
– Whenever negative thoughts occur in your mind, identify
them and see-thru

No virus (ego), no problem!!

– Watch those negative thoughts in mind as one looks at the

traffic on the highway as a passerby without any interactions.
*If someone said something unwanted to us, we don’t have
to act/react unnecessarily.

– We don’t have to live like switches or machines which

anybody can turn on / off at will, knowingly or otherwise.
 READ, THINK, ACT 85
– The traffic on the highway never stops for long similarly, all
thoughts happen and disappear over a few seconds or
minutes unless we hold onto them and extend them by
thinking further
– Thoughts are like the seeds of fruits sown in the ground.
Unless the seed is given water & nourishment to become a
plant, it dies on its own
– If you give seed water and sunlight, the seed grows into a
plant and tree, similarly thought gains strength with further
thinking by holding on to it and replaying.

– Every time you think again about the negative thought post-
occurrence, it’s like you are giving water and nourishment for
the negative seed to become a plant/tree.

– That tree will give fruits in the form of negative emotions;

feelings which we are made to eat so long as the tree with
negative seeds exists in the mind.
– Every negative thought is like the weed in the garden which
grows faster in no time. If you do not get rid of the weed in the
lawn regularly you will be left with only weed and no garden.
That is the character of weed or negative thoughts. Virus
multiples very fast if not checked and removed.

– All the nourishment provided to the garden (Mind & Intellect)

will be consumed by the weed (negative thoughts/virus) and
very soon the weed (mental virus) will consume the garden
(Mind and Intellect) and will start driving your life.

– Understand the difference between the generation of thoughts

and the discriminating intelligence though they both exist in the
mind.

– The stronger the discriminating intelligence, the better is the

control on the proliferation of negative thoughts.
 Antivirus for the Infinite Mind 86
– Positive thoughts are like trees of fruits and flowers which make
our mind a garden of peace and happiness.

– Generation of thoughts (positive and negative) happens for

various reasons. You may not control the generation of negative
thoughts completely but can always halt the proliferation and
subsequent actions you take.

– On positive thoughts, think more, the more you cultivate the

positive thoughts the better it is.

– Cultivate thoughts of right motives, courage, honesty, integrity,

good behavior, tolerance, heartwork, creative thinking, focus,
concentration, discipline, teamwork etc.

At a given point in time mind can hold only one thought. Human
mind cannot hold two thoughts at the same second. One cannot
experience sadness and happiness at the same moment.
Understanding mind is fundamental to winning.

If one second your mind generates a pleasant thought which results

in making you happy the next second another thought generating
due a piece of sad news, a bad event occurring could lead to grief
but both emotions and thoughts cannot happen at the same time.
That is how the mind works!

Get into the practice of saying to yourself “no virus please” when
negative thoughts happen in the mind, detect the mental virus at the
entrance and watch them die naturally by not further holding on to
them. Watch and see-off mental virus-like inconsequential TV ads,
vehicles at the traffic signal, traffic on the road without any
engagement, like a passerby with whom you don’t know or like a
phone call you don’t want to answer, let it ring and become silent on
its own.
 READ, THINK, ACT 87
The mind phone keeps calling you. The phone (thoughts) can ring
but cannot force you to answer. Do not answer unwanted calls.

Mind never becomes calm in thinking. Calmness of mind is the key

to learning. Understand that mental virus which is also part of
mind in the form of thoughts has this amazing tendency to
convince self of its validity & need. It is about “self” isolating itself
from the other unwanted self.

Only true understanding which comes from watching mind through

personal experiences can help one shield self from tricks of the mind,
rest all is imagination, words & information.

Remember, negative thoughts (mental virus) cannot hold on to

you, it’s you who holds onto them. Dropping such thoughts is
always a choice for you. Unwanted thoughts get dropped only in
the present on its own when you watch mind in calmness or by
means of positive actions.

On the other hand, if for some reason a negative thought has already
entered and is bothering you continuously, the only other way to
deal with it is to replace the negative thought with a happy thought,
a positive thought. When people pass demotivating comments at you;
your antivirus must be alerting to detect and block them right there
at the entrance of your mind. Don’t accept anything which is
undesirable. Make not accepting unnecessary and junk gifts from
situations and people a way of life.

The key is to be watchful of your thoughts, feelings and

actions all the time!

What situations, experience, incidents, people offer is not the key

but what you accept and what you don’t is the key. Remember,
getting angry and losing your balance is also virus (negative) hence
a “No thank you” must be handy in your mind to such thoughts or
emotions.
 Antivirus for the Infinite Mind 88

Just face & watch the virus in stillness. Make it habit to say
“no virus please” in the mind. Do not accept unwanted gifts from
people or situations. Whatever people may offer, positive or
negative is their choice but whatever you accept is always yours.
Always remember, thoughts are a choice.
Replacing negative with positive thought is the simple remedy if
you fail to detect some virus but a little hard to implement in the
beginning. It’s more or less same as learning to ride a bicycle. Initial
few times it seems so tough to ride the bicycle but eventually with
practice you learn.
It’s the same with blocking and replacing viruses (negative thoughts)
as well. Play it like your favorite sport and enjoy it because that is
the only way you can play it all your life.

You can run, but never, from your own mind.

Remember, it’s either you or the virus that is in control of your life.
Without antivirus protection, your life will get corrupt and lose
direction and purpose. Building antivirus for mind is like a 24/7
football match, play it like your favorite sport and enjoy; health,
happiness and success will follow.

Exceptions in the form of viruses sneaking in once a while are ok,

but that should not become a norm. Your “self” or the discriminating
intelligence must always be alert. As soon as such thoughts come to
your mind, kick it or block it.

Observation of thoughts leads to quietness and control on

the mind; control on thoughts is harmony in life

Again, kicking and blocking is a symbolic gesture. It’s about making

negative thoughts insignificant in your mind just like many activities
happening on the streets, schools, offices, etc. which don’t draw or
need your attention.
 READ, THINK, ACT 89

To do so, you must understand the process of thinking. You must

understand the mind and its functioning. Only when the mind
becomes quiet, human intelligence and creativity come to the fore.
The mental virus will keep coming at you stronger and you got to
keep blocking playfully.

There are no two things in life, either you control the virus or let the
virus control you. It’s a continuous play in your head and you got to
learn to kick those negative thoughts.

Remember, thoughts cannot contain thoughts, but positive actions

can. Use action!!

Mind is the only problem and solution to everything

 Antivirus for the Infinite Mind 90
If you miss one of those balls it will be a self-goal for you. Even one
negative thought penetrating your antivirus can cause harm to you.
It’s like one bad fish that can spoil the entire lake. Unless you
develop a strong antivirus, you cannot stay successful and happy for
long. At times, it is like holding on to one positive thought while
ignoring a thousand plus junk in a stream.

Thoughts which have the seeds of potential

virus >>Thoughts of fear, unhappiness, panic, sorrow, self-doubt,
disbelief, frustration, lack of confidence, lack of self-belief, self-
esteem & determination, lack of direction and purpose, thoughts of
greed, deceit, self-praise, arrogance, ego, I am smart and can get
away with wrongs, I’m in good health & it’s ok to eat & drink junk
a few times, etc. contain inherent seeds of the virus, so be mindful
of such thoughts all the time.

The eyes, the blood, the heart, the lungs, the ears, the tongue, the
mind of all human beings essentially do the same thing. The cats,
the rat, the lion, the fish everywhere in the world remain the same.
The air, water, mountains, trees, animals, etc. remain the same. The
way we use the collective whole i.e., the body, mind, intellect & self
is the only difference.

If you go further deep, the only difference is due to the quality of

thoughts. Quality of thought defines the quality of life. At the lowest
level of detail, it is the understanding of self (watcher) and mind
(watched) that defines the quality of life you lead. When one
watches the mind closely only then does one understand the
difference. Watch the ways of the mind, the tricks of the mind to
understand the nature of the mind. Think minimum (reduce thoughts
to only the needed) and live maximum. Remember, thoughts can
exist only for future or past things.

Thoughts cannot exist for the present moment. The present moment
can only be lived not thought. Always live the present moment
totally because the rest all is imagination, wishful thoughts of future
or of memories.
 READ, THINK, ACT 91
It’s not the quantity of thinking but the quality that makes the
difference. Remember, every needless thought is robbing you of
your life & energy.

What can help in building a strong antivirus!

*Readers should adopt their own paths for building Antivirus, make
choices based on what makes sense experientially with reason and
not blindly accept others.

– Sitting and watching your mind in silence for 15 minutes every

morning after your getup and every night before going to bed.

– Being watchful of all your thoughts, feelings, and actions.

– Do not try to understand the mind, in trying the mind is still in

play hence you cannot understand. Understanding will happen
on its own, only in observing the mind in calmness.

– For rest all, be it Technology, Science, Professional Skills,

Language etc., you need to try to understand but for the mind,
it’s the opposite. It’s the un-trying that works in the context of
the mind.

- Whatever you eat, part of it will always get converted into waste.
No matter how well you cultivate your mind, negativity will
emerge in the mind from time to time. One needs to watch and
clean the mind, regularly.

- Remember, no matter what happens outside or inside of our

mind, we always have a choice of actions (knowing what to act,
how to act, whether to act or not is the key).

- *Knowing our weakness is our biggest strength whereas not

knowing our strength is our biggest weakness.

Even for the greatest leaders, just a few seconds is

enough for the fall from glory to the gutter!
 Antivirus for the Infinite Mind 92

- Negativity will continue to happen in the mind. It’s not about

negativity per se; it’s all about not getting impacted by it just
like the human body where it’s continuously segregating the
waste from the needed and showing the exit on a regular basis.

- Discovery and remembrance of “Self” leads to clarity of thought.

It’s never the quantity of thoughts; what matters is the quality of
thoughts & silence of mind.

- Cultivate positive and eliminate negative thoughts. Learn to be

consciously positive and happy by looking at what you have
rather than what you don’t.

– Judge yourself always and others when must. When you can
choose to be unhappy by looking at what you don’t have then
you can also choose to be happy by looking at what you have.

– Remember, you have the greatest treasure in this world called

“life”. Understanding the forgetful nature of mind, continuously
remember that “Life is the most precious and beautiful thing
ever happened to you in this world”.
.

– Extremism in thoughts & beliefs is the source of all mental

virus & disaster in the world whereas moderation, self-
reasoning & self-awareness is the cause of its elimination!

– The quality of input and processing determines the quality of the

output. Try to think for a few minutes with eyes wide open
looking at “self” in front of the mirror.

– The thinker becomes the thought, the analyzer becomes

analyzed, the observer becomes observed, and the watcher
becomes watched.

If we can’t find an outlet for the mental virus, nobody else

can!
 READ, THINK, ACT 93
Most of the time, our state of mind is like keeping the lights
on during the daytime. It only results in a wastage of energy.
Similarly, usage of power in the form of an electric bulb has
great significance after the sunset. Mind is like energy, power,
or electricity when used effectively and efficiently has great
value.

Use mind only where required else it drains your creative

energy. The watching of the mind leads to the dropping of the
mental virus. In the stillness of mind, is hidden, the greatest
wisdom!

*Health & happiness is normal; reasons & causes exist for

unhappiness & disease only. Antivirus is the mechanism to
remove all the dust, filters, veils the “I” has accumulated in the
mind in the form of info, beliefs, and false knowledge over the
years from eyes, ears, nose, touch, sense organs & other minds,
etc.
Everyone knows when to keep the lights on but not many
know when and how to turn it off, in the mind’s context. Do
not keep the lights “ON” when not required (during daytime)
meaning don’t use mind when not needed.

Most of us don’t even realize that the lights are on (18 out 24
hrs.) since we are lost so much in the world of thoughts and
imagination. If not alert, mental chatter goes on endlessly
consuming us.

For an effective antivirus, be watchful of your “Self” and

mind’s rationalization & justification tendencies. Justification
is not intelligence, understanding is.
 Antivirus for the Infinite Mind 94
Persevere in watchfulness (same alertness one shows while
crossing a busy road where there is no Zebra crossing/signals)
of thoughts, clarity & understanding will happen else the flow
with confusion & justification will continue. To summarize >>
Rest in watchfulness & flow with heart (gratitude).

Antivirus for the mind is not the best way but the only way
to lasting success & leadership

Example: Buddha – The greatest explorer and researcher

of human mind.
Gautama Buddha is considered as
one of the most intelligent persons
ever lived in the history of mankind
post Vedic era. Being born into a
princely family, he quit all luxuries to
find the root cause of human misery.
Measure of a person – more ego, less
evolved; less ego, more evolved; no
ego, a Buddha!!
Buddha is famous for his research and findings of matter, mind, and
self. His findings continue to positively influence and show the way
to millions around the world every day. In modern-day civilization,
he is widely perceived as the man who cracked the mystery behind
body, mind, and intellect, and beyond.

He epitomizes infinite success and joy. Mankind will always be

grateful to Buddha for his teachings on mind management and self-
realization. He is the greatest example of everlasting
leadership.

“Mind is the root cause and solution to all problems -Buddha”

 READ, THINK, ACT 95
Food for Understanding!
– What is the mind? How does it work?
– The mind is a tool that generates thoughts; it takes the inputs
from sense organs and records them. Records all events,
incidents, and emotions attached to self.
– Mind as such does not discriminate between positive and
negative thoughts
– Thoughts manifest into emotions and actions

– What is a mental virus?

– All negative thoughts happening in the mind are mental
viruses and can potentially destroy your life

– Every negative thought is like a seed that can grow into a tree
and before you even start realizing you will be in the middle of
eating the bad fruits which get into your blood and the whole
system.

– The virus could come from any quarters i.e., people known and
unknown, events at home, events on the streets, TV
commercials, voices from inside, outside for various reasons.
It’s not from where the virus originates but how we deal with it,
is all that matters.

– What is antivirus for mind?

– Antivirus is discriminating intelligence of the “Self” which
differentiates between positive and negative thoughts real
time. Understanding “Self /I” is the key.
– Enables cultivation of positive and elimination of negative
thoughts in the mind
– It must be a conscious and continuous effort to minimize thinking
and maximize watchfulness of the mind and self.
– What you can think / create, you can un-create / un-think.
 Antivirus for the Infinite Mind 96
– At any given point in time, mind can hold only one thought.
Human mind cannot hold two thoughts in the same second. One
cannot experience sadness and happiness at the same moment.
– Quality of the thought defines quality in life. Know that mind is
a marathon runner, always chasing one thing after other hence
restless all the time. Happiness is in living the act not thinking.
Happiness leads to success.
– Our ability to live in the present moment creates success.
– The one who knows he or she is everything (with the team) and
nothing (without the team) is a leader…
 READ, THINK, ACT 97

A person who can be nothing and everything

at the same time is a leader, therefore,
leaders must know what they cannot do, to
understand what they should focus on doing,
in any situation…
Antivirus for the Infinite Mind 98
 14. Elements of Success and Leadership

*The Everlasting Leader is traversing from the top to

bottom with openness in all directions. When at top, should
be like “SUN”, giving light (clearing darkness) & energy to
all without discrimination and interference; when at
bottom should be like “SEA”, lying low than others and
having the depth & vastness to welcome and dissolve all
streams (muddy & clean) for the common cause!

Respectful, Humility and Values: Great leaders are known to

be very respectful towards others. Unless a person learns how to
behave well and act respectfully, he or she will never become
successful. Even if a disrespectful person becomes successful as an
exception, he or she may not stay successful for long unless the
person learns to behave. Always remember that the world works in
give and take mode. No matter how talented a person is, if that
 READ, THINK, ACT 100
person doesn’t have a strong value system, he or she cannot remain
successful for long. Bear in mind what we think is a variable and
hence changes with a change in thought process or mindset, but the
constant called life in all of us never changes.

Remember, you can discount people’s thoughts and mindset, but

you must always learn to respect the constant called life energy.
Give respect and take respect. Not just what you win but how you
win is equally important. Winning with honesty and humility is the
hall mark of great leaders.

Ratan Tata – One of the most respected business leaders

in India.

Ratan Naval Tata is one of

India’s most respected business
leaders. Started his career from
the shop floor of Tata Steel, went
on to become the chairman of
Tata Group. He was the driving
force in the development of Tata
Nano, hailed as the world's
inexpensive passenger car.
Under his leadership, Tata group acquired Tetley, Jaguar Land
Rover and Corus which made Tata truly global with 65% revenues
coming from abroad. Ratan Tata is a man of great respect,
responsibility, values, integrity, inclusiveness and humility.
Humility comes from knowing our own self!

A leader appreciates values more than deliverables &

valuables while a boss / manager does vice a versa!
If you do not learn to respect people for what they are, people will
never respect you for what you are. The deeper the roots go down
the higher the shoot (tree) goes above the ground. Leader is the
person who understands that people don’t like to be managed by
 Elements of Success and Leadership 101
others and that includes him or herself. Maybe cattle & sheep can be
managed with happiness but not humans. All management is
through power hence breeds misery. Whether a person can realize
it or not all the time, but every person feels at occasions that there is
an unconquerable spirit, power hidden somewhere inside which
resists control. It is not the exclusive, elitist nature or behavior of the
leader that connects people but the inclusiveness. It’s the leader’s
inclusiveness which makes them exclusive not the other way
around. People can be led happily but not managed. Energy cannot
be controlled; it can only be guided or channelized.

After all freedom is the greatest gift to human beings by the

creator. Even kids don’t like the parents to manage them. It’s the
ability of the person to show the way and make others a part of their
agenda, process, system, values & journey with humility defines a
true leader. Leadership happens only with self-consent of others
where they see inclusiveness at the core of the person.

As a leader, you don’t have to like or dislike people for what they
do but it’s necessary to make people feel the oneness in journey you
are making together. Oneness stems from the ability of the person
to embrace diversity, differences as a part of self-existence like
Mother Nature. With leadership comes great responsibility and
power hence the stronger the self-connect, the value system, respect
& inclusiveness in a person, the greater is the ability of a leader to
stay grounded and humble.

Remembering all our food (energy) is a gift from creation keeps us

humble always. Though it’s tough to become a leader it’s far more
difficult to sustain leadership because of the ever-changing
expectations of people. Funniest part is that expectations only go
one way and that is up!!

Learn to respect & accept people for what they are if you
want people to respect you for what you are.
 READ, THINK, ACT 102
- Self-Effort, Think Big, Dream Big, Persistence and Focus:
There is no substitute for self-effort. Take example of any successful
person, they all are energetic and action-oriented people. No matter
how smart one is, no matter how creative one is, it must be
complemented with self-effort to be successful. No matter how
many times you sharpen the axe, you still need to cut the wood to
have it.

Dhiru Bhai Ambani – A story of rags to riches, a story of

dreams, a story of indomitable human spirit.
Dhirajlal Hirachand Ambani
popularly known as Dhirubhai
Ambani was an Indian business
tycoon who co-founded Reliance
Industries, India’s largest
private sector companies. He
was a man of vision, focus, self-
effort, action and perseverance.

From a 17-year-old boy who worked in a gas station in Yemen, he

went to create one of India’s largest private sector companies.
Water cuts stone not with strength but persistence & drive
within. Dhirubhai was a man who always thought and dreamt big.

According to estimates Reliance group pays almost 5% of India’s

total central govt. tax revenues. Dhirubhai will always be
remembered as one of the greatest examples of self-made, “rags to
riches” stories in India.

You can substitute one creative idea with another but not heart-work.
That said, its Self-Effort (Body + Mind + Emotion +Energy)
combined with Self-belief, big thinking, resolve, courage, and focus
pave the way to one’s dreams.
 Elements of Success and Leadership 103
Courage to think and dream big opens un-chartered paths. Work
done with single point focus; wholeheartedly in happiness is more
productive than any amount of hard work.

It is not hard work alone but the happiness (heartwork) and

fulfillment you derive from work that determines productivity and
success. No amount of work seems hard or tough when you do it
happily. Success is well articulated by this phrase “Winners don’t
quit, and Quitters don’t win”. Your smartness, courage, and
creativity should complement your self-effort, joy & enthusiasm and
not replace it.

- Clarity of thought and Quality in the effort: Knowing your

“Self” will bring about clarity in thought. The clarity in your mind
as to what you want to do, why, and how is the most defining factor
in the journey called success.

The sooner one knows what they love to do the most in life & why
the higher & faster can be the rate of success. With clarity of thought,
it’s all about quality in efforts. Quantity without quality is like dead
meat. Doesn’t matter how many fruits you have if they are not of
good quality. Only quality efforts matter. Giving everything, one has
with 100% focus & involvement is quality effort.

Highly successful people are very clear in their minds from an

early age as to what they want and, why. You are the best judge for
yourself since nobody knows your better than yourself.

Being connected to “self” and conscious of one’s purpose and

direction all the time is the hallmark of successful people. The
higher the purpose, the higher the quality of effort, the greater is the
success.
 READ, THINK, ACT 104

Dr. Devi Prasad Shetty – Surgeon with a golden

heart.
Dr. Devi Prasad Shetty is
the founder of Narayana
Hrudayalaya. He reformed
the process of delivering
heart care at affordable
prices through innovative
techniques. He has
performed over 15,000
heart operations.

At Narayana Hrudayalaya, heart surgeries are performed at one-

tenth of the cost of surgeries in developed countries.

He was also instrumental in setting up a micro-insurance scheme to

increase the healthcare spending power of the rural population.

Success mantra – He is a man who knew his priorities and what

he wanted to do in life since 5th grade in school. Amongst many,
clarity of thought guided by passion and a sense of purpose that he
was going to become a heart surgeon to serve the needy
(“Selfishness for Selflessness”) is the core of his success story.
Quality of thought & purpose determines success not just quality
of efforts!

Clarity of thought in purpose & pursuit is the key 2 success

 Elements of Success and Leadership 105
- Team Work and Collaboration: Human body is a perfect
example of teamwork. Eyes, nose, ears, heart, lungs, blood, bones,
hands, legs, veins, etc. they all do distinctly different things but
when a person moves, they all move like one entity. Human beings
are a product of teamwork by existence.

It’s all about getting ahead by taking people along

All successful people understand the importance of teamwork. It’s

not about getting ahead; it’s about taking people along. Success is
an orchestra where every instrument has a role to play. Successful
people understand that even if they are very good at playing all the
instruments, they cannot play them all, at the same time. Success is
a synonym for teamwork.

No great work can ever be achieved without teamwork. Realize

leader is nothing (without team) and everything (a thread holding
team) at the same time!

Success happens when the efforts of the team are tied to common
good with impersonal motives of the leader. It’s all about knowing,
learning & complementing each other’s needs, strengths along the
journey as one unit. It’s all about connecting each other’s diversity
and moving together as one unit to fulfill needs and aspirations of
people.

Human beings are a product of teamwork by existence

 READ, THINK, ACT 106
It’s about being just and inclusive in everything you do. Leadership
is all about tying people with common purpose and helping them
fulfill their needs and aspirations. It’s about building the team &
tying up the efforts to need & aspirations of the people involved. A
team is only as good as the need and purpose which ties them
together. Doing one thing at a time, a team & leader can achieve
many things but by focusing on many things at a time nothing can
be achieved. *Remember, success, leadership is a continuous
orchestra not a one-time play. Persistent action whether there is
support or not is key!

The biggest motivator for the team is the common need &
purpose combined with a trusted (inclusive) and able leader. A
leader is only as big as the needs & aspirations of the people he
connects.

Rajender Singh – Popularly known as “Water Man of

India”
Rajender Singh has won
many awards including
prestigious Ramon
Magsaysay, Stockholm
Water Prize known as
“Nobel Prize for water”.
Compassion & service to
humanity is the mark of
his identity.

It’s a classic example of teamwork & leadership linking efforts to

the needs & aspirations of people. Rajender Singh who runs the
NGO TBS (Tarun Bharat Sangh) used to be an Ayurveda doctor
before turning into a water conservationist.

Biggest motivator for success is the tying up of efforts to the

common needs and aspirations of the people
 Elements of Success and Leadership 107
He has brought back water to 1000+ thirsty villages of Rajasthan,
India with the construction of JOHADS (rainwater storage tanks),
check dams, and other ancient Indian water harvesting techniques
through community efforts reviving multiple rivers. It’s never easy
to make diverse communities work together. TBS has helped build
over 8,600 johads and other water conservation structures to gather
rainwater which helped increase groundwater levels, agricultural
productivity & green cover.

- Task Master, Never Gives-up, Discipline, and Goal

Setting: All leaders and successful people are taskmasters themself.
Unless you deliver yourself, you cannot command work from your
team. No matter how good the team is, if you don’t work or deliver,
the team will reflect the same. A leader is as good as his team. Every
team reflects the leader’s attitude and qualities in one way or the
other. Leaders are not the least working but the longest & hardest
working people hence they command respect.

All successful people are surrounded by taskmasters. If you don’t

deliver you are out of the leader’s team. Successful people and
leaders understand that leading from the front is important to gain
the team’s trust and respect. Success happens when the talk is
backed by the walk. Leadership is not established by setting
expectations but by setting examples, by being the person you want
your team to be. Leadership is established by actions taken with
100% effort & commitment.
There is a thin line between the ordinary and the
extraordinary. That little extra is when you hold on to your gut when
things don’t seem like moving forward. Ordinary quit action when
things don’t move forward in tough times but the extraordinary keep
moving ahead by multiplying actions without giving up.

The secret of success is in multiplying action & not giving up in

tough times. Whether its 1% or 99% makes no difference, it is
always 100% effort, every time in every act, which makes the
difference. It’s the air inside the balloon that takes it up.
 READ, THINK, ACT 108
It is not how many battles one wins or loses outside, but how many
one quits inside, defines success. For a leader, winning and losing is
only a thing but giving 100% and living the acts totally is everything.

- Discipline: If you want to speed away on the roads and be safe at

the same time, you got to follow the lane system. No matter how
smart and hard you work, it’s got to be matched with relative
discipline else you will not achieve desired results. To be in good
health, you got to have discipline in food & lifestyle habits. No
matter how many hours you spend in the gym/fitness, you still got
to eat good food to stay healthy.
Discipline truly means learning, learning through self-observation
and experience. Learning through self-understanding is discipline.
It is not imposing rules but going to the bottom of things through
inquiry. No amount of self-effort can fill the tank if there is a leak.
Indiscipline is a leak which can bleed you all your life. You need
discipline in thoughts, discipline in actions, discipline in planning
and execution, discipline in finance, discipline in communications,
intellectual discipline and discipline in behavior amongst all. If you
eat junk food all the time & don’t rest well, no amount of exercise
and fitness will give you good health.

Self-effort minus happiness and determination is like a

flower without fragrance and form

- Goal setting: Why do we go to a movie or watch news on TV?

We watch movies for entertainment; we watch news for information,
in the same way, try to think why you are doing what you are doing?
Is it just to make a living, earn degree or there is more to it?

Why do you go to school? What are you studying for? Why do you
go to work? What is the objective of your work or education? Are
you learning things for the heck of it or for your parents or just to
get a degree? What is the end goal? Well, whatever the reason, when
you have already chosen a direction, a path, focus on learning and
understanding the subjects keeping the end goal in mind not just read
to get through the exams.
 Elements of Success and Leadership 109
Kiran Mazumdar Shaw – From Garage to Glory, India’s
Biotech Queen is the nation’s wealthiest self-made woman.

Kiran Mazumdar Shaw is

the Chairperson &
Managing Director of
Biocon, India’s largest
biotechnology Company.

She is also the 1st female chairperson of one of India’s top business
schools (IIM, Bangalore). Biocon is focused on delivering
affordable innovation in the health care industry. Biocon makes low-
cost drugs for chronic diseases from cancer to diabetes to
manufacturing enzymes to many more.

She has won many eminent awards in her career including the
PADMA SHRI, PADMA BHUSHAN (one of India's highest
civilian honors), featured on Forbes’ 2014 list of ‘100 Most
Powerful Women, Economic Times placed her at India Inc.’s top 10
most powerful women CEOs for the year 2012.

She started her business from a garage in Bangalore, has faced

many a challenge in her career early on in an area that was
entirely a male bastion. She is a person of enormous self-
confidence, self-belief, and grit.

She is a great taskmaster with a never-say-die attitude, a champion

in setting expectations and goals. Determined and disciplined in
her pursuit of delivering affordable and quality drugs. Well and
truly an inspiration to millions of people in India and elsewhere.

Women are natural leaders who are blessed with

compassion & tolerance which makes them inclusive!
 READ, THINK, ACT 110
Remember, achievement of your goal depends on how strongly you
want success and how many hours of your everyday are you willing
to sacrifice for your goal? Time is very critical during student life.
When you are spending the life of your time on something, make
most of it. Enjoy the journey.

Remember, the goal is also the way, if you don’t enjoy the way
(what you do), there is no way you can enjoy the goal.

Get into the practice of setting small goals every now and then. Set
a small goal for the day and measure how you did on that at the end
of the day. Make goal-setting a habit and that habit will set your life.
Realize goal setting is both a journey & a destination.

The habit of setting small goals and achieving makes one a

taskmaster and strengthens the resolve to achieve bigger
ones

- Trust, Honesty, and Integrity: Nobody wants to be friends

with or work for people who are not truthful or trustworthy. Have
you ever heard anyone say he or she wants to be friends with
someone who is not trustworthy? Honesty & trust are two sides of
the same coin and one cannot exist without the other. It’s not the
words but deeds that earn trust. Honesty is one of those rare priceless
elements in this world which touches human beings faster than any
other emotion. We know it when a person is being honest. As the
saying goes “Trust is like a glass built over a long period of time and
can be broken in a few seconds”.
A leader’s greatest strength is the trust in self & others. Nothing is
as powerful as the power of trust. When a leader earns the trust of
people, people are willing to sacrifice anything. Only the power of
trust can accomplish extraordinary things. Honesty is the gateway
to trust. Both honesty & trust are absolute hence NO amount of
creativity or smartness can replace them!

The power of trust & honesty is the most powerful force in

enabling leadership potential
 Elements of Success and Leadership 111
Like all precious things, honesty & trust comes with a heavy price.
You can fool some many times, a few sometimes but not all the
people all the time.

Lal Bahadur Shastri (2nd Prime Minister of India) – Rich

with Honesty.

Lal Bahadur Shastri was the second

prime minister of India most
famously known for his honesty,
Integrity, and humility throughout
his life. First person to be
posthumously awarded the “Bharat
Ratna” (Highest Civilian Award),
and a memorial "Vijay Ghat" was
built for him in Delhi.
Although Shastri had been the prime minister and a cabinet minister
for many years, it is said he at times did not have money to pay for
his electricity bills, when not in the office.
All he owned at the end was an old car, which he had bought in
installments from the government and for which he still owed
money. He left a rich legacy though was short of money. *The most
valuable is the person whom we can trust!

The good thing about honesty is that there are no two

things about it; a person is either honest or not!
 READ, THINK, ACT 112
- Sports, Music and Art: All successful people are fond of sports
because it teaches all essential spirit of accepting defeat gracefully.
Also staying connected with sports; music or art ignites the creative
spirit and refreshes the heart and mind. Every child must play at
least one sport to practically understand the importance of practice
in learning (/acquiring skill). If not sports, one should learn music
or stay linked with some form of art every day even if it’s for 10
mins. Sports, Music, Arts have this tendency to light-up life.

A win is as good as a loss when you don’t enjoy & learn

anything from a game while a loss is as good as a win if you
learn something & enjoy the game.
*In the larger scheme of life, it’s not the outcome of the
games but your ability & openness to live the situation fully
& learn continuously makes you a winner!

Only sports & music teach this all-important lesson in life that it’s
how you play / do things that matters more than winning & losing.
Sport teaches a person & team how to cope with defeat, rejection
& challenges and at the same time importance of using failure,
rejection, practice, strategy & humility as tools for growth. *If you
play like a champion, even when you lose, you lose like a champion
else you win like a champion.

- Passion, Commitment and Dedication: Successful people

are not just interested but very passionate about what they do. Unless
you love doing what you do, you cannot put your heart into it, unless
you put your heart & soul into it, you cannot enjoy it and unless you
enjoy what you do, you cannot be at your best. Passion is the fire,
fuel for success. The only way to be successful is to give your best,
whole heartedly all the time. Successful people are fully committed
to the path they choose and are not afraid of failure, people or
circumstances.
In fact, they don’t consider unfavorable outcomes and results
as failure. Their dedication is so resolute that nothing else matters in
pursuit of their cause except the march ahead. Their passion (fire &
 Elements of Success and Leadership 113
hunger) not just challenges themselves, but also people around them
to greatness. Successful people know everything comes with a price,
and if you are willing to have something, you must be willing to pay
the due price.

For them, giving 100% in what they do matters more than anything
else. They understand they will have to live with both favorable and
not so favorable outcomes. It is making the effort with all sincerity
that matters more than anything else. Their sheer love, passion and
happiness for the cause take them above failure and success. Also,
one must understand and be aware of what one is doing and why?
The opportunity to do what you want to do is the greatest reward.
There is no happiness in winning a gold medal or an award in the
role you didn’t enjoy or like to play.

- Risk takers: Successful people understand that there is always

risk associated with doing something new and challenging. They
accept uncertainty as a way of life. If you were to trend new paths
there will always be unknowns on the way. Successful people are
constantly challenging themselves and the status quo. The risk of
failure does not deter them from being themselves and trying
different things.

They see opportunities where people see difficulty. They see what
can work while others see what cannot work. There is always a great
opportunity when there is self-exploration, but any new exploration,
comes with inherent risk. Opportunity and risk are the two sides of
the same coin. Where there is risk there is success and wealth!

The greater the opportunity, the greater is the risk associated because
it’s a path less travelled. Great leaders see the light where ordinary
see darkness. They have this inner urge to take challenges and
tougher terrains. It’s the consistency by which they create success
out of new opportunities defines the leader. It’s never a blind risk;
it’s always a well thought and calculated risk that succeeds. Success
lives in passion, details, and courage; success means a lot of purpose,
preparation and groundwork, it’s never by chance.
 READ, THINK, ACT 114

Facing fear straight-on in the mind (in stillness) dissolves it

on its own enabling us to understand the imaginary nature
of thoughts which create it!

Laxmi Niwas Mittal – Steel baron of the world with

unmatched risk-taking abilities.

Lakshmi N. Mittal is the

Chairman and CEO of
ArcelorMittal, world’s
largest steel making
company. He is the founder
of Mittal Steel and is widely
recognized for the role he
has played in consolidation
of steel industry
worldwide.

He has received many awards which includes Padma Vibhushan

(India’s second highest civilian honor) Dwight D. Eisenhower
Global Leadership Award, was named Man of the Year by the
Financial Times, Businessperson of the year, Newsmaker of the
Year, European Businessman of the Year and Entrepreneur of the
Year by the Wall Street Journal. L.N. Mittal is famously regarded
for the ability to take sick plants and turn them profitable.

He has a bachelor’s degree in commerce from the University of

Kolkata but a master’s degree in managing risks and challenges
from the Global Steel Industry.

Success and leadership never happen by chance.

Leadership is even a contradiction at times; it is like
flowing with and against the water at the same time
 Elements of Success and Leadership 115
- Adaptable: Change is the only constant in this world. The ability
to anticipate and adapt to change ahead of time is one of the biggest
strengths of successful people. Leaders understand the importance
of being alert to change. One needs to realize that no matter how
good or bad the situation is, it will change & pass. If the present is
bad, you must be prepared for the next good ride. If the situation is
good one must start preparing for the next new thing because
everything in world has a shelf life. Successful people accept change
as constant & work towards getting the best out of every situation
preparing for the next new thing.

Everything which begins must change and end. Everything which

comes must go. World is a cycle of change. No point fighting with
the facts just accept change as a reality, as a way of life and work
your way forward. Success & creativity finds those who embrace
and enjoy living the change.
Everything is rightfully in its place. You got to learn to respect the
law of time, law of change and keep walking. End of the day,
everything in this world is a passing phase. It’s not about changing
the world outside; it’s all about changing the world inside you.

“It is not the strongest of the species nor the most intelligent
that survives, it is the one that is the most adaptable to
change.” (Charles Darwin)

- Performance: All successful people are great performers. A

great deal of respect and recognition is earned from their
performance. Whatever field one chooses, you must give it all to
make a decent living. There are no exceptions to practice. Practice
and performance can be termed as two sides of the same coin. As a
leader, unless you perform and deliver, you can never command
performance from others.

There is no substitute to good performance no matter how talented

you are it must be translated into actions and results on the ground.
When you demand, people may listen to you in front of you, but they
 READ, THINK, ACT 116
will not respect you on your back. The only way to command respect
from people is by being a high performer yourself. Success is
synonymous to practice with totality.

No amount of smartness and talent can substitute performance on

the ground. Success is the ability to wholeheartedly practice &
perform consistently. True performance can only happen by living
the act totally / heartfully!

Lata Mangeshkar – Melody queen of India, a name

synonymous to performance.
Lata Mangeshkar is popularly
known as the melody queen, to
some she is the nightingale of
India. She is unarguably one of the
most respected names in Indian
music industry. Not many know
that she too was rejected in her
early days as meek voice. Rejection
adds fire to the fuel of performers!
From thin voice to a famous household name, her songs mesmerized
millions of people across India. Who can forget her famous song
“Aye Mere Watan Ke Logo” so long as India celebrates
Independence Day!

She is estimated to have sung over 25,000 songs in as many as 20

different languages. She has won many prestigious awards which
include “Bharat Ratna (India’s highest civilian award)” and “Dada
Saheb Phalke” award.

*Lata Mangeshkar is performance personified. Performance

excels only if you put your heart and soul into the act. Great
performance comes through when you lose/surrender your “Self” in
joy to the actions you perform.
 Elements of Success and Leadership 117
- Time Management: Time is the greatest & most precious gift
one has, and the best part is, it’s the same 24 hours for everyone.
Unless one understands the importance of doing things at the right
time, one can never become successful in life. All successful people
know how to manage their time well. If you are late yourself, you
can never command punctuality from others.

Successful are those who are relaxed in the middle of a busy life.
Without prioritization, proper planning, and utilization of time, you
can never manage success even if you become successful on
occasions. Plan & live one day at a time, to begin with and you will
fast learn to manage your life and success. Every time you feel you
don’t have enough time for doing things, pay attention to your time
management aspect because it’s an indication of poor prioritization
of tasks/to-do lists. The ability to take time and prioritize activities
to balance health, family, work, and friends are the hallmark of all
successful people.

- Visionary, Challenges Status Quo: Successful people

develop this ability to look through the future. They anticipate things
ahead of time. They think differently & and believe in their gut
feelings and instincts. They are not afraid of thinking and venturing
into the unknown.

They are always trying to get into new territories challenging the
status quo. They are the ones who have learned to conquer their fear
through action. They are not afraid of failure and what people think
about them, they are just focused on doing what they believe is the
right thing following their heart. Their efforts and thoughts are
directed towards the work they want to accomplish rather than the
outcomes or consequences thereafter. It’s their selfless efforts for
the larger benefit of humanity that empower them to achieve great
accomplishments!
They are action-centric, not self-centric. Unless a person
understands the importance of time, he or she can never be
successful and happy in life. A self-centric person can never achieve
 READ, THINK, ACT 118
greatness because the fear of losing is always alive whereas in the
heart work-centric person the self is dissolved in the work.

The way to success is to direct all thoughts, energies on what one is

pursuing with 100% heart and focus.

Dr. Verghese Kurien – Father of the white revolution in

India.
Dr. Verghese Kurien is better
known as the “Father of the
White Revolution” in India. He
was the architect of the largest
dairy development program in
the world and recognized as
Milkman of India.,

In Anand, Gujarat, KDCMPUL, was involved in the battle of

survival with the privately-owned Polson Dairy, a leader in its field.
Inspired by the challenge, Dr. Verghese Kurien quit his govt. job
and offered to help. This led to the creation of AMUL and the rest
as we all know is history.

*A leader’s biggest contribution and the challenge is in creating a

culture and system of producing successors. “He was a visionary in
true spirit and form”. Under Dr. Kurian’s tenure, India became the
largest producer of milk in the world and brand AMUL continues
to rule India even today.

Amul is an unparalleled legacy and leadership culture

created by Dr. Kurien. During his renowned career, Dr. Verghese
Kurien won numerous honors and awards. Vision, Self-
commitment & trust are the biggest enablers for leadership.
No vision, no trust; no trust, no leadership!!

The ability to look beyond and challenge the status quo

makes successful people think and try new things.
 Elements of Success and Leadership 119

- Willpower, Flexibility, and Judgment: Dreams backed by

persistent action are the key to great success. Without a STRONG
WILL, no dream can be turned into reality. Same time, willpower
and flexibility are two sides of the same coin and must be exercised
with judgment.

All successful people understand the importance and difference of

using willpower and flexibility to their advantage. Lack of strong
will is one of the biggest reasons attributing to non-achievers. A
leader must know when and where to hold the ground (willpower)
and when to yield (flexible). It’s a judgment call and comes with
learning.

The secret to success is to have the will, the hunger, and the fire for
success burning strong inside all the time so that it incessantly burns
the fear of failure and thoughts of self-doubt as and when they
happen inside.

Great leadership is also knowing where to let go (flexible)

& where to hold on (show resolve) …

So long as you are conscious of your actions, with experience, you

will learn to apply willpower and flexibility prudently. The guiding
light however is acting with the right motives.

To know what we can do with human potential &

willpower, we must understand that we cannot do!
 READ, THINK, ACT 120
Dr. A P J Abdul Kalam – Renowned scientist and Former
President of India.
Dr. A. P. J. Abdul Kalam was an
eminent scientist who served as the
11th President of India. He has
received many awards in life
including Bharat Ratna, India's
highest civilian honor. Dr. Kalam
was the project director of India's first
indigenous Satellite Launch Vehicle
(SLV-III) which successfully
deployed the Rohini satellite.

Dr. A. P. J. Abdul Kalam was born in a family of a boat owner. He

was from a poor financial background and made his way to the top
against all odds.

From distributing newspapers to delivering satellites to becoming

the President of India, he is a man of tremendous determination and
judgment. Well and truly a man of inspiration to millions of Indians.

The key differentiator between a successful person and a

successful leader is the ability to live by example and bring
out the best in others
 Elements of Success and Leadership 121

A good strategy always looks at how things can succeed

and fail with equal focus. Similarly, a good leader while
preparing for the success of a task gives equal importance
to what can cause failure & keeps measures ready for
prevention!
 READ, THINK, ACT 122
- Strategy, Planning, and Execution: All successful people
understand the importance of having a good strategy and plan to
accomplish things. They are either good strategists themselves or
surrounded by people who are good at strategizing things for them.

Again, the greatest of planning & strategy is of no use if you are not
able to execute it. It’s all about getting the priorities right and
managing them all well.

Jack Welch – Ex- CEO of General Electric Corp – Master

of Strategy, Planning, Execution & Perseverance.
Jack Welch is a world-renowned
transformational business executive.
He was the chairman & CEO of General
Electric between 1981 to 2001 during
which the value of the company went
only upwards for an incredible 20 years
in a row. His success as a CEO is
unmatched in the world biz history.

He is considered as one of the greatest business strategists of

2the 0th century. Though he is criticized for lack of compassion for
the working, middle class due to his unconventional ways of job
cuts, cost cuts, business policies, etc. but the fact remains he saved
and created more jobs and wealth for the deserving.
Many people may not praise him in the public but appreciate his
uncanny ability to deliver growth for such a sustained period of time
inside closed doors. It takes extraordinary foresight, gut,
strategy, planning, execution, perseverance, and tolerance to
bring about changes in cultures ahead of time. Remember, it’s
impossible to please all. Sometimes pain paves the way for
pleasure. It is the intent that matters!
 Elements of Success and Leadership 123
It’s an unparalleled achievement by a non-founding CEO of a
company to manage expectations of shareholders, customers,
stakeholders & employees for such a long time. Founders of the
company have an added advantage whereas a non-founding leader
delivering such results consistently for 2 decades is unimaginable
because by the very nature human beings and their expectations
keep changing. It’s very hard to manage expectations of humans for
they keep going upwards all the time. Strategies must change in line
with changing times!

A good strategy is always a new one. Failing to prepare for new is

preparing to fail. Leaders and successful people put even more
energy and focus into preparation and execution after planning.
They all understand that strategy and planning is a closed-door thing
with few people compared to preparation and execution which
involves taking along a lot more people who are not part of the
strategy & planning process.

Only we are responsible for all that happens to us, not

others or situations; change strategy before EOL!
The greatest of planning & strategy is of no use if you are not able
to execute it. Execution needs a lot more effort, focus, monitoring,
and attention since it entails mobilizing more people who are not
part of the planning & strategy process. Leaders must be
enterprising & execution focused as there is a huge difference
between selling an idea / product and bringing product / idea to life!

Though the trust of team members in leader holds the key, the leader
should make team members comfortable and an integral part
(owners) of the agenda & journey else executions fall apart since all
executions are often time taking and laborious.

It’s one thing to have a strategy and plan in place and

another to execute it
 READ, THINK, ACT 124
- Objectivity and Accountability: Successful people think
objectively. They are not biased or prejudiced when they make
decisions. There are only 2 sides to any perspective i.e., the partial
and the impartial (right motive) view and the rest is all debatable.

Great leaders always take ownership of their actions and results. The
one who shy’s away from ownership and accountability can never
become successful in life. Success happens only when we take
ownership of things and bring accountability into everything we do.
A person who is not objective in decision making, who doesn’t own
up his or her actions can never become successful. The results as
such don’t matter in the long run so long as one takes a view with
the right motives.

There is room for judgmental errors but not the motives. So long as
all your actions are guided with the right motives, people accept
judgment errors. Progressive and healthy societies and relationships
always thrive on tolerance, respect, and moderation. If you don’t pay
attention to your team, resources, staff, family, kids, friends,
colleagues the chances are, you are going to get the same treatment.

Attention and due consideration to people’s views and expectations

is necessary to connect. Learning to deal with others’ imperfections
in an objective way is key to establishing trust. Attention not just to
people but also to details where it matters is needed in resolving
conflicts and issues because the devil lies in the details most of the
time.

Never make decisions in haste based on scant data, always hear all
sides of the story. *Greatest strategy, after all, is to have the right
people in the right place at the right time and give freedom to be
themselves, wholeheartedly!

Be just in everything you do so that everything else will

have the opportunity to be just with you!!
 Elements of Success and Leadership 125
Defender: Successful people must know when and how to defend
their teams. At the same time a leader cannot afford to be
overprotective and irrational in their defense of self or team. It’s
about playing the defender and enabler with the right balance and
judgment. It’s about being consistent and transparent in both
criticism & support of self and team. A leader has to wear many
hats i.e., parent, grand parent, guru, friend, child etc. as needed to
defend the team. It’s about not giving up on the team. What role to
play & when is a personal judgement which comes through
experience & learning!

- Responsibility and Righteousness: Successful people are

clear and conscious of their responsibilities all the time. Great
leaders understand the need of owning-up things and being
righteous in their actions. Remember, where there is no
responsibility there is no change, i.e.., No responsibility, no results.
Success, leadership, responsibility & righteousness go hand in hand.
If one goes off, others fall apart. *If you start with the premise that
I am responsible then you can right every wrong in your life else _!
You are not required to agree with anything and everything others
think and say but it’s always important to learn to agree, to disagree,
responsibly and respectfully.

Not just the end goal but the path you chose is equally
important

- Self-motivated and Resilient: Successful people and Leaders

are self-motivated people with full of resilience, confidence, and
energy. You talk to any great leader; you will realize they have this
ability to make you feel good and comfortable. Great leaders come
across as natural motivators. All successful people acquire this
ability to motivate themselves and others when the going gets tough.
Great leaders are the ones who accept and overcome failures with
poise. It is their ability to recover and bounce back every time they
are down and out that differentiates them from others. Their
motivation and resilience stem from theer connection and strength.
 READ, THINK, ACT 126
At the same time leaders are quick to pass the credit where it’s due
and take the blame on their head and handle it gracefully when the
outcomes of their team’s actions yield unfavorable results. Though
I have been using success & leadership as interchangeable at some
places I must say, all leaders are successful people, but all successful
people may not make good leaders.

Success = One thing at a time with 100% commitment

The premise only talks of the beginning in this context “the road to
success and leading others begins with leading self”. It doesn’t end
there. You got to understand the difference between leading self and
others. Unless you can lead yourself, you can never lead others!

Leading self is living existentially (facing facts) every time

and not living in thoughts and imagination

Leading self is a pre-requisite not a passport to become successful

in life. For any strong building to stand the test of time you need goa
od foundation. Similarly, leading self is the foundation on which one
can build the building called success and leadership. It is the
launching pad for your leadership flight.

The foundation for leadership can only be built with trust and trust
can only be earned through actions pursued with the right motives.
Results don’t matter much so long as the intent & motivation behind
the actions is right.

Great success is often established when a person owns up

failures, learns and continues the march with
responsibility and grace
 Elements of Success and Leadership 127
- People Connect and Communication: Leaders learn this
knack of connecting with people. One must realize that connecting
and communicating with people are two different things linked to
each other. Leaders understand that communication becomes far
more effective when you can connect with people. Communication
without connection is ineffective.

Successful people understand that every individual is unique and

hence one approach doesn’t work for all. If you want to be
successful as a leader, you must find your own ways and approaches
to connect with people. The surest way to connect with all kinds of
people is thru the voice & acts of the heart. A person either acts out
of head or heart. The difference between head & heart is that head
is a divided house.

Martin Luther King Jr. – American civil rights activist is

considered as one of the greatest orators of all time.

Martin Luther King Jr. is one of

the most highly regarded civil
rights leaders in the history of
America. His ability to connect
with the people was the hall
mark of his communication
because his way was the way of
heart.

The voice coming from the heart is always honest hence the instant
connection with hearts. The inner connect and higher purpose paves
the way. The key differentiator between an ordinary and an
extraordinary leader is the capacity to connect and articulate the
purpose, vision, and mission.
“Our life begins to end the day we become silent about the things
that matter – MLK Jr.”
Communication without people connect is like a flower
without any fragrance
 READ, THINK, ACT 128
The head creates divisions within and between other people whereas
the heart is a connecting agent. Ego is the creation of head/mind and
hence voice of the mind, acts committed from the head can never be
selfless. It’s the voice spoken from the heart, it’s the acts committed
from the heart that connects other hearts because there is no
distinction between two hearts.

We have no choice when it comes to the heart. The phenomenon of

the heart is inclusive whereas the mind is exclusive. All hearts in the
world feel the same irrespective of region, sect, creed, and color but
minds think differently. The heart communicates whereas the mind
gives out information.
 Elements of Success and Leadership 129
- Courageous: Successful people are anything but courageous.
They never shy away from difficult situations. True leaders are
people who believe in doing the right things irrespective of the
situations they pass through. They pursue the cause they believe in
undeterred by the consequences. They understand courage can only
be cultivated in facing difficult situations.

Rani Lakshmi Bai (Queen of Jhansi) - Epitome of

Courage.

Maharani Lakshmi Bai is accredited as

one of the foremost figures of the Indian
rebellion which started in 1857 against
the British invasion. Because of her
courage, intelligence, sacrifices and her
liberal views on women's empowerment
in 19th century India, she became an icon
of India’s freedom movement.

Rani Lakshmi Bai is widely acknowledged as the epitome of female

bravery in India. During the Indian independence struggle, when
Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose formed the Indian National Army, he
named its first female unit after her.
A heart where fear resides can never be home to success &
leadership. Fear is in thoughts whereas success is in action.
Thoughts can never drive away fear, only actions with resolve can.
Only acts of courage in pursuit of a higher purpose in life can create
new history else our actions will only be repeats of history. Fear is
the worst enemy of success.

No worthy success can ever be achieved without

sacrifice, courage, and higher purpose
 READ, THINK, ACT 130
- Self-Assessment, Feedback and Follow up on actions:
Leaders and successful people do continuous self-checks to ensure
they are on track of growth not just financially but overall. They
know it’s important to stop by every now and then to monitor how
they are doing in the journey of life.

They are pro-active seekers of feedback. Introspection and feedback

are two great instruments to get a check on what’s working and what
is not. Only introspection and self-awareness can lead to knowing
of the “I” don’t know. Remember, those who say “I” know cannot
grow, only “I” know not individuals can continue to grow. Key to
growth is openness to newness!

They are always inquisitive and looking for ways to get better. They
understand the importance of the other view because we may not see
our own flaws while we are focused on the journey and destination.
Leaders don’t just take feedback but also chart down actions on
improvements and follow-up on actions be it for themselves or their
team. Having said, feedback is of no use if not followed up with
actions.

- Sacrifice and Selfishness: Often greatness is achieved through

sacrifice in pursuit of “Selfishness”. A “Selfishness” deep down to
be happy & harmonious. Greatness is all about living the purpose of
the “Self” every day, which is to live in happiness & joy. A
dedication to self for the cause of “Self” not through force but
through love & joy which arises inside with thorough understanding
of the true “Self”. Sacrifice and ‘Selfishness” are two sides of the
same coin joined with inner voice & love not for the sake of want of
things, earning fame or money but for the sake of inner peace.

One must know & live the purpose of life (Self) every day.
Selfishness is a synonym for “Sacrifice” but not in books. The
greater the joy in purpose, the greater is the success. It is a choice
that becomes a way of life and not something to be forced upon
people. Success is a journey linked to “Selfishness” which is the
highest purpose in life.
 Elements of Success and Leadership 131
Understand the word “Selfishness” well because it will mean
different things to different people based on their knowing of the
“Self”. Remember, no greatness can ever be achieved without
selfish motives. Growing up, out of selfishness, arises selflessness
that is pure and universal. All great leaders are products of that
“Selfishness” and gratitude that arises out of knowing the real “Self”
within.

- Inspirational: Leaders and successful people by their

achievements become an inspiration to many people. Like trust
begets trust, love begets love, success begets success, leadership
begets inspiration and inspiration begets leadership. Leadership to a
great extent is bout inspiration, trust, and empowerment. People like
being with inspirational people who are driven by a higher purpose.
People like to follow leaders because they see them as role models.

Leaders are already where people want to see themselves and hence
the natural inclination to learn from them. Leaders come across as
natural mentors and hence the tendency of most people around them
becomes one of a listener and followers. Good leaders turn great
because of their humility and selfless acts. Leadership is all about
living the higher purpose every day in spirit and form without bias,
fear or favor. It’s about being the change and inspiring the human
essence to bring about the change in others. The greater the leader,
the greater is the compassion!!

The true value of leadership is in the ability to inspire

human essence in people.

- Knowledge and Skill: One of the key components to be

successful in any profession is working domain knowledge and
expertise. One should focus on acquiring the right knowledge rather
than getting good marks in the exams or getting things done at work.
The emphasis should be on understanding the domain, learning the
subject, learning the skill, gaining competence in specialized areas,
becoming subject matter experts’ rather than securing sensational
 READ, THINK, ACT 132
numbers in the report card or appraisals. All-knowing starts with the
premise “I do not know”. Only empty vessels can be filled hence
stay open & empty for learning. A calm & quiet mind is a fertile
ground for learning!

Skill (/ Merit) doesn’t go to money; the money goes to skill.

Marks will have no meaning in life after the day of results if one
does not know the subject. Skill or subject matter expertise is about
knowing & feeling the nuts and bolts. Every person should acquire
at least one skill or expertise in any one subject else life becomes
redundant. Without any skill or knowledge, a person is rendered
useless in a world dominated by commerce.

The greatest skill & art a person can ever acquire is the
ability to live in happiness & harmony!

One needs to understand the difference between information,

learning, education, and knowledge. Information is reading and
hearing about apples whereas the process of seeing, smelling,
touching and, eating the apple is learning, and once learning is
complete then the information gets converted into
knowledge/understanding!

Knowing effort is needed to maintain information while knowledge

becomes part of the being is key to understanding the difference. No
amount of information and books can ever give you real knowledge
unless you see, feel, experience & reason things for yourself.
*Success is not just about making your knowledge & skill a tangible
asset and putting it to effective use but also about exploring into
unchartered paths without fear while education is the ability to
conduct “Self”.

Ability to stay calm & focused in the storms; staying

grounded & humble during peaks of success is the
hallmark of a true leader…
 Elements of Success and Leadership 133
- Decisive, Sets Expectation, Go-getter: Leaders are anything
but indecisive people. They are not like a cat on the wall looking to
jump both sides. It doesn’t matter which side you take but you must
always take a position on things.

Leadership comes with a price, at times the decisions one takes may
not yield the expected results but that should not deter them from
making decisions. All successful people and leaders are good at
setting expectations & communicating. Unless one tells people,
what is expected from them and where they need to go, you cannot
get the team there. When leaders decide, they go for it all the way
even if there is no one to back them up. To be able to rally people
behind you, you must back your decision with substance and 100%
belief.

The ability to define goals and objectives clearly and set

expectations is the most critical and defining aspect of a leader.
*One of the golden rules for teamwork is to have no assumptions.
No assumption is the best assumption. Leaders must learn to
clearly define and communicate the direction, purpose, vision,
mission & goals for all stakeholders.

Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel – Architect of India’s

integration, post-independence.

Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel was one of

the most eminent social leaders in
India’s freedom struggle. He was the
first home minister of India. He is
widely known as the “Iron man of
India” and was the chief architect
behind India’s integration and
unification.
 READ, THINK, ACT 134

He has integrated over 500 princely states into the Indian Union.
A humongous achievement! His ability to set expectations marked
with astute diplomacy of advocating the option of using dialogue,
force where needed with decisiveness, convinced every other
princely state to merge with India.

He will always be remembered as a decisive leader, as a master

in setting expectations and a go-getter in tough situations.
He is also called as the "Patron Saint" of India's civil servants for
instituting modern all-India services.

- Preparation, 100% Involvement, Finisher: Leaders and

successful people are anything but unprepared lot. They understand
the importance of preparation. Not preparing for success is
preparing for a failure. Fortune favors the prepared and brave. A
prepared person is better equipped to face the uncertainties than the
unprepared. Research shows most companies who do fire drills
handle real situations better.

Action is the only tool available for success. Understand action and
you will understand success. It is the greatest of the preparation
combined with total involvement, determination and focus that
makes most great tasks achievable. Successful people don’t let go
anything unfinished if they take up something.

They develop this uncanny ability to finish things. Leaders are

winners because they don’t stop till they reach the finish line and it
is this ability to cross the finish line more often than not sets them
apart from the rest.

It’s the ability of a person to give 100% wholeheartedly every time

sets them apart. 100% involvement is only possible if there is
inherent joy in the activity, if there is love & passion for the act one
performs. The act is all that matters!!
 Elements of Success and Leadership 135
Only love generates happiness and positive energy. A person cannot
give 100% when he or she is unhappy doing what they are doing.
The key is to do things that make you happy or find happiness in
things you do.

Without being happy, a person can never become successful no

matter how hard one tries. The following adage sums up the winners
very well - Winners don’t quit and quitters don’t win. So long as one
continues to play wholeheartedly, there is always a chance to win.
Himalayas can’t get any bigger than what they are, but human spirit
can and that’s why many people have conquered the Mount Everest.
The distance to moon can’t get any bigger than what it is and that’s
why man has landed on the moon despite all odds.

- Patience and Tolerance: All successful people understand that

to achieve a great feat it takes maturity. You must understand it takes
nine months for the baby to develop fully, no matter how much you
feed the mother, you got to still wait.

Everything takes its own time, and it is for a reason. It is better

to fix the screws of the aircraft on the ground even if building aircraft
takes a few days longer rather than fixing the screws mid-air. Also,
big things are never achieved alone; it must be a team effort. If you
are working with others, you must always have the patience and
poise when dealing with others divergent views. It is easy to
convince and tolerate self in the event of mistakes but it’s always
difficult to convince & tolerate others for their misjudgments,
misdemeanor & errors.

It becomes easier when you learn to accept and see people and
situations as they are, and not as you want them to be. When
something has happened there is nothing you can do to reverse it.
Learn and see how to take the best and move forward from every
situation.
Learn to tolerate others’ imperfections like we tolerate our own if
we want people to tolerate our imperfections. Intolerance of
diversity, cultures, mannerisms, beliefs, others’ imperfections, or
 READ, THINK, ACT 136
so-called imperfections is one of the major causes of bad relations
and unrest in organizations and societies at large. With patience and
openness, you will understand the diversity of thought & creation,
and only by understanding diversity can one accept it
wholeheartedly. One must respect the law of time and the law of
sequential evolution and try not to bypass the established nature’s
laws that govern us. Maturity comes with understanding.

Like the saying, Rome was not built in a day; all great things take
time, effort, patience, persistence, tolerance, will, and poise to
accomplish. The art & skill of living in happiness & harmony is the
greatest trait and proficiency a person can ever possess. Only when
a person is truly happy can he or she truly understand the importance
& acceptance of diversity. Be patient, watch “Mother Nature” & its
ways with openness and gratitude, understanding will happen as a
natural consequence! Patience and tolerance are the measure of a
person’s evolution.

Do not bypass the laws of nature which govern us.

Always respect the law of time and the law of
“Sequential Evolution”

- Simplicity and Quality: How difficult is it to simplify life?

What is simple living? What is quality living? Why quality is an
important aspect of success and leadership? Simplicity is the
greatest city in the world and yet the most uncommon city in the
world. Only people who are evolved can think and live in simple
ways. Simple living is most soothing to see and hear and yet most
difficult to accept for the mind. Never ever underestimate the power
of simplicity.
Quality of life lies in simplicity. Only the greatest can live simply.
Deep understanding and connect with self can lead to simplicity.
Ironically, not many seem to understand the value of simple thinking
in modern age. Simplicity referred to here is not related to material
riches. You can live a rich material life and yet a simple one
psychologically.
 Elements of Success and Leadership 137
There is nothing wrong in material richness. Material richness can
give you physical comfort to the point where the body needs are
satisfied but not psychological. It’s the simplicity and quality of
thinking that marks the real richness in life.
Quality is the ability of a person to stay grounded when she or he
tastes success and assumes greater responsibilities. With greater
responsibilities comes power. With power comes authority. With
authority ego gets nourished as a side effect. The ego is an amazing
mental phenomenon (virus) that convinces people of its need.
Ego is nothing, but the imaginary image created by mind of the
“Self”. It’s all mind-made, there is nothing existential, original, or
positive about it. It’s a negative phenomenon (false identity) in the
garb of security, beliefs, and rationales in the mind.
Power of anything be it position, be it authority, fame, reputation,
success tends to hypnotize a person into believing he or she is bigger
and above others. Power also injects a shade of selfishness in the
person.

A person who tastes success, fame, power, authority tends to

develop an attachment for it and wants to hold on to it hence the fear
of losing arises in one’s mind. Once tasted success and leadership,
people tend to crave more of it which leads to greed. Greed is again
a mental virus. Greed makes people do funny things. Greed destroys
the antivirus mechanism in a person and the person becomes
susceptible to thought disorder. Remember, your mental balance and
poise is the biggest determining element in your journey called
success.

A person in awareness of self understands that everything comes to

an end. Everything will change in this world. Nothing is permanent.
Change is the very essence of this creation. Time is always ticking.
Everything will pass no matter good or bad or great. The realization
that it takes a lot of elements and people to make you what you are,
keeps one rooted to the ground. No successful person who
understands success can ever solely claim success as theirs.
 READ, THINK, ACT 138
There is a team involved in making you successful whether you
agree or not. Your parents, teachers, mentors, friends, guides etc.
have played a role in your growth and success. Not many people can
stay grounded when they taste success. Success, leadership, fame,
reputation comes with a lot of energy. Unless one knows how to
channelize energy in a positive way it may go astray. Energy when
not guided turns negative. This is where the quality of a person
comes into play.

Tolerance of other’s imperfections is the measure of a

person’s balance & strength

Warren Buffet – Man of simplicity and Quality.

Warren Buffet is an
American business
magnate, investor, and
philanthropist. He is
widely considered as the
most successful investor of
the 20th century.

Warren Buffett is the chairman, CEO and largest shareholder of

Berkshire Hathaway and is consistently ranked among the world's
wealthiest people. Warren is also considered as one of the most
influential people in the world because of his simplicity, investment
acumen and philanthropy.

He has made the largest charitable donation in history till date.

Being one of the richest in the world, he lives a very simple and
frugal life. Success when not understood becomes the biggest
instrument of failure. At the same time if one becomes aware of the
nature of energy success brings in and channelizes it positively, he
or she goes on to become even more successful.
 Elements of Success and Leadership 139

Humility comes with a deep sense of connectedness and

understanding of the self. When the inner self takes control of the
wobbling mind, modesty happens.

Sustaining success is far more difficult than becoming successful.

Arrogance is a weakness in the garb of strength whereas humility
is strength in the garb of weakness. Success is a journey, and it
must be walked with a great deal of responsibility and humbleness
to sustain.

The greater the awareness and understanding of self, the

greater is the humility and simplicity in a person

- Gratitude: What is gratitude and why is it important in life?

Gratitude is the emotion we express when people help us or give us
something very significant in need. It is much more intense and
deeper than conveying a simple thank you for help received from
outside. It’s about being aware of other’s contributions in our life.

Just going back in time for a minute, when we began our life, we
were a white board. Eating, walking, talking, love, teamwork,
friendship, and some of the fundamentals of living were taught by
our parents, grandparents, uncles, aunts, teachers, siblings, friends
and those who were around us. We all grow up by watching people
around us. Whether people explicitly tell us something or otherwise
we learn a great many things from them. How often do we think
about those people and their contributions?

Understand “Air”, Air is an everlasting leader – colorless,

odorless, invisible, and ever-present, on the move always &
yet silently does the most important job (keeps life alive &
refreshing!!)
 READ, THINK, ACT 140
How often do we express our gratitude to them? It does not mean
that if everybody gets that same thing, the significance of the things
goes down. Most of us don’t think much about the ones who helped
us with the basic things which are fundamental to everything we do
in life. Those fundamentals are like ABCD of life.
We all understand the importance of learning ABCD to learn
English language. How often do we take a moment to express our
gratitude to juniors, support staffs & critics who help us indirectly?
Quality & success is not a surface game, it’s a play at depths. Only
in understanding how human beings are interconnected and
interdependent on each other’s, animals and all entities of Mother
Nature arises deep gratitude.

Things usually on the surface and at depths are very different (*Sea
on the surface is very restless / in motion / continuously generates
one wave after the other whereas the same Sea is calm & motionless
at the depths).

To grieve, is in vain. Grief can neither heal anything (sorrow of

the past, pain in the present) nor give any hope for the future. So,
why should we allow it to master us (Buddhist Story)?

Whatever be the situation in life, only the educated understand and

appreciate the inherent diversity and contradictions life offers!

While success is letting go the old ideas & beliefs for the new,
venturing into the unknown from known, a successful person is the
one who not just recognizes and remembers the help, contribution,
value, and support received from other people, entities but also
expresses gratitude wholeheartedly by returning the favor.
 Elements of Success and Leadership 141
Even if a person becomes successful for a while, he or she will not
remain successful for long unless his or her gratitude touches people
and entities around through their actions. Having said, don’t mean
to say we should thank them all the time we see them, it’s enough if
we are just aware of others contributions & support in our life. In
that self-awareness emerges gratitude & respect for the whole.

*Measure of a leader is in the way he or she deals with a

person who does not know how to deal with “self” & others!
 READ, THINK, ACT 142

Successful is the lot who acknowledges & expresses

gratitude to every entity that touches them!
 Elements of Success and Leadership 143
- Stress Management: What is stress? What causes anxiety or
tension? How to manage stress? How to get back to happy ways?
From children to old age, everyone seems to be a victim of stress in
one way or the other at some point or the other in life. Stress has
become part and parcel of our daily lives. There seem to be no
exceptions when it comes to escaping stress.

Everyone, no matter how educated, rich, poor, knowledgeable one

is, no matter where one works or what one does, we all seem to feel
stress. It has become a part of the package a job or profession seems
to offer these days. Even those not employed seem to feel stress at
homes, schools & colleges for various reasons.

When the mental energy is over-focused on the dependencies and

outcomes of the acts, we or others connected to us are involved in,
we seem to feel anxiety, tension, and stress.

Only physical stress or pain happens in the present, rest all is the
creation of the mind that is either an imaginary future or an
unwanted past playing in the form of thoughts. Funny as it may
seem but most of the time, stress is an outcome of the perceived
situations or outcomes. Mental stress can be linked to the past or
future but never to the present unless it’s bodily or physical in nature.

You can never feel the stress in the present moment unless there is
physical pain. The irony is human beings worry more about what
they don’t have at hand rather than feeling happy with what they
have at hand. Strange as it may seem, the stress in m of cases is a
worry on something which is non-existential. It may seem stupid but
that’s the underlying fact about stress. Are we stupid to worry about
things that are non-existential and imaginary?

Practice relaxation in action. *Relaxation in action is not being

casual or taking things for granted, it’s about enjoying the act /
moment without worrying about the results or anything else. It’s
 READ, THINK, ACT 144
about losing the “I” to the act and yet performing the act totally, a
contradiction which is hard to explain in words!! To be candid, I was
stupid for most part of my life to feel stressed about imaginary things
though such occurrences have reduced significantly in recent times.

The reason I can see the falsity of this because of some

watcher inside me who surfaces when the mind is calm and is
separate from the “I” known to me earlier?

Remember, it’s a continuous self-observation not a onetime search

for the watcher inside. Watcher seems to surface only when the
mental chatter stops. Rare is the appearance of watcher because rare
is the absence of traffic in mind. It’s about connecting with the light
inside, watcher, the awareness, the “Self” inside which is a part of
“I” and yet apart, which sees all and yet is completely untouched,
serene and fresh from all the chaos inside the mind and outside of
the “I” or the “Self”.

Paradoxical as it may sound; worry seems stupid only after passage

of time in the form of realization but very real until then. It’s seems
natural to get caught in the games mind plays at the beginning but
with watching one’s own mind constantly with alertness over a
period, you happen to see through the disconnect between existential
and imaginary.

The key is to understand the energy which gets

generated from fear of failure, success, fame, power and
channelize it for growth?

At times there could be genuine reasons like unbearable bodily pain,

disease which can cause worry but it’s on rare occasions. Apart from
genuine reasons, stress and tension is mostly self-inflicted agony
through imagination, falsity. Stress is an outcome of worry. What is
worry? Worry in simple terms is imaginary unpleasant thoughts
happening in mind. It is only a state of mind. Worry is almost always
non-existential but strangely seems real.
 Elements of Success and Leadership 145
Thoughts leading to stress could be fear of failure, fear of losing
something, losing someone, guilt of not having something, lack of
self-belief, self-respect, fear of insecurity, physical pain, disease,
lack of clarity, lack of understanding of self, ignorance, self-
imposed family pressure, peer pressure etc. Can we ever get any
benefit out of worrying about something whether we can do
something about it or not? Does worrying help in any way?

Is giving the best not the best, we can do in any given situation?
Just think about it!! Can we not afford to be less imaginative about
future situations? When we can choose to be stressed and unhappy,
we can also choose to be happy!! Can we not??

We are what we act and not what we think because thoughts are
imaginary and need not be converted into actions, but actions
are tangible. Remember, thought & action are always a choice
whereas the fruits of our actions are not. The greatest gift to
humankind is freedom of thought & action.

The best way to deal with stress is to reason, analyze and

understand the element causing it. You can solve the problem only
if you understand what’s causing the problem. When you identify
the element causing the stress, analyze objectively and think new to
address it. Is your energy (food grains, fruits, meat etc.) coming from
outside of you - Earth??

Objectivity lies in seeing and accepting things as they are and not
as you want them to be. Think about what is the best you can do
under the circumstances? Keep thoughts and actions simple and
informal. Don’t ever forget that resources are limited but creativity
is not. Formality binds thinking whereas keeping things informal
leads to freedom and creativity. Make a conscious choice to either
accept stress or happiness wholeheartedly.

Why cook something which you don’t like to eat? Why carry
unnecessary baggage in the mind when it’s of no use? Does it make
sense to worry about situations (whatever they maybe??)? Why
 READ, THINK, ACT 146
human mind is more worried about past, future things than present?
Why mind is more focused on results than actions? Think of last few
occasions when you were faced with worrisome situations and how
long they lasted? Look at how much perceived damage they caused
to you and what you gained out of that worry? You will realize that
9 out of 10 times worrying is stupidity more than anything else.
Simply say to yourself, this too shall pass like the many in the past.

No matter what, situation will change & pass hence keep

enjoying the journey, because that is the best you can do.

There are many reasons for the current result orientated mindset in
the society. One of the biggest reasons is conditioning of mind at
home and schools. The entire education system is result oriented not
learning oriented. We are told from childhood that we must become
something special else we will end up as nobody. Strange as it may
seem but the fear or feeling of being nobody seems to be the biggest
worry in most human beings. Worry and stress are two sides of the
same coin called “Ego”.

The fear of being nobody gives rise to the urge of becoming

something noticeable. Irrespective of where we are born, what we
do, we all seem to crave for one thing called recognition. Everyone
is in a race to prove their specialty, worth.

How can you prove something you already are or something you are
not? Hence every effort one puts in this direction is bound to go
waste and cause more agony. In the blind race, everyone is trying to
establish something which is not. The whole problem is in trying to
be somebody. You can never be somebody else other than yourself.
Stop trying to become somebody instead simply be your-self.

You can never be happy being somebody else. A white color wall in
your house or elsewhere need not prove it is white. It is there for
 Elements of Success and Leadership 147
everyone to see. The very idea of proving or trying to prove your-
self for somebody else is meaningless. A salesperson wearing his or
her name plate makes sense in Retail Stores since people who don’t
know the person can address the person with the name, but do you
see such people other than at workplace putting a name plate on their
dress?

The real issue is not what we can prove or what we cannot. The real
problem is the thinking behind it. We are all groomed at home in
such a way that without trying to become something our life seems
waste. It feels like an inconsequential life without recognition,
adoration, and praise. The urge for praise and being something is so
strongly cultivated that if someone fails to recognize our presence,
we feel hurt.

The whole education system and the commerce around it are driven
by the glorification of results and a sense of pride associated with
recognition. There is an exaggerated sense of competition created
everywhere in society, not just in educational institutions.

The whole commerce in the society has been created on a false sense
of pride and grandeur around results. Competition and results have
taken the center stage of debate and discussion everywhere in social
and family gatherings.

Results are important, but we must remember that actions leading to

results are far more important than the outcomes. What is more
important than results is the joy we derive from the actions we
perform because that is the biggest determining factor in success.
Our actions, efforts, focus, dedication, etc. are the inputs and
processing elements to our outcomes. The quality of any product is
only as good as the quality of the raw materials and their processing.
 READ, THINK, ACT 148

When the focus of the human being is split on the actions one
performs and the anticipated results, then it is natural to have
productivity loss. The focus should be 100% on the actions alone
not less or more. Results are an outcome that is dependent on the
quality of action.

In trying there is always stress, but in being there is none.

Being is the heart way!! The more in something will lead to less in
something else. In life, it’s not more of something versus less of
anything. Understand mind means the more, mind is unlimited
wants, that’s the very nature of it.

You cannot prove what you are and what you are not.

Giving everything, you have, to every act, every time and not
worrying about results is success. Tons of money & fame packaged
with stress cannot be called as success. Success is stress-free life!!
It’s all about the right action performed in the right way.

Line of sight to the end-product should act as a guiding star but not
as a distraction or worry. It is the total focus on the actions we
perform that determines the quality of the outcomes than anything
else.

It’s the mindset of putting too much emphasis on results leads to

stress and loss of quality. Again, too much emphasis on results gives
birth to fear in one’s mind. When fear of failure and insecurity takes
shape in the mind, people tend to overstretch. Overstretching leads
 Elements of Success and Leadership 149
to a mental and physical imbalance resulting in stress and
unhappiness.

An unhappy person can never be at ease and at peace. Success and

happiness are, to be at ease and peace in everything you do. What is
the point of striving and acquiring a thing (100 million $ or fame)
which does not give you happiness and peace?

It’s neither the craving for greatness nor the fear of failure or
insecurity which drives productivity but the power of self-effort in
happiness. Work hard only if you are happy doing so. It’s the power
of self-effort with inherent interest and passion that drives great
results not hard work alone.

It’s the ability of a person to revel in the self-effort; it’s the ability
of a person to lose track of time in the act, it’s the ability of the
person to lose the “I” in joy to the act i.e., the “I” which houses pride,
ego, fear, insecurity, stress, worry, tension to the act while keeping
the line of sight one is headed for. “Mind means Me In the eND”.
Don’t live in the mind (thoughts) always; the mind is another name
for ego (false identity).

In fact, all worry (virus) is of the ego, for the ego, and by the ego.
*Understand ego and all worry ceases.

Use your mind to live all acts with heart (peace & joy) and you will
have no worry. We can either live in peace or worry, we can’t do
both.

Don’t just work hard, work happy!

 READ, THINK, ACT 150
This idea and mindset of focusing more on the results must be
dropped and the mindset of doing things with 100% involvement
and happiness must take the center stage for a successful society. A
total result-oriented mindset will only breed tension and anxiety in
the society leading to disharmony. Always watch your mind for the
mind is where all mischief/anxiety gets created. Ignore mind when
not needed!

Focus on results alone should never become the driving force for an
organization. Results are important but how you play the game, is
everything. It’s the essence, amount of joy you derive out of playing
the game, more important than winning or losing. Can you be
grateful to “Mother Nature”? All your energy (derived from food,
water, air) is but her gift/blessing!!

Remember, you cannot manage stress because of imaginary nature;

you can only manage your existential self. You can never manage
something which is non-existential or imaginary in nature. Stress is
a choice and so is happiness to all of us. It’s a personal choice
(conscious or otherwise), whether one picks stress over joy or joy
over stress.

It’s the ability of the person to take the unnecessary “I” i.e. the ego
out from thinking, paves the way for happiness & success.
Imagination cannot contain imagination; negative imagination must
be stopped completely.

*To sum it up, all stress is of the ego, for the ego, and by the ego.
Understanding ego is the key to dropping all stress & worry!

Winning and losing are both part and parcel of the journey called
life. One cannot win all the games one plays, it’s all about
celebrating and cherishing the game called “journey of life”. Every
breadth is gift and festivity. Life itself is the greatest celebration &
joy ever!
 Elements of Success and Leadership 151

- Nature does not hurry, yet everything is accomplished.

- The Tao (truth) that can be told is not the real Tao (truth)
because truth can only be felt and can never be captured in
words or expressions.

- Mastering others is strength, mastering yourself is true power.

- When the best leader’s work is done the people say we did it
ourselves.

- When I let go of what I am (ego), I become what I might be.

- At the center of your being you have the answer; you know
who you are and what you want.

- Your “Self” is the traveler, journey, and destination.

“Lao Tzu”

The everlasting leader follows and flows with heart…

 READ, THINK, ACT 152
Food for Understanding!
– Importance of good behavior and why being respectful matters
in life?

- World works in give and take mode. Unless one learns to

give respect, he or she cannot expect it back
- One should always learn to respect the diversity of thought
and opinions
- Being respectful and tolerant towards others is a necessity
not a choice for success.

– Why acceptance of others’ imperfections and diverse views is

essential in life?
- Success is also about learning to accept others’
imperfections and be comfortable with them. It’s only
through diversity, creativity happens.

– Intolerance breeds negative feelings in the mind whereas

acceptance ceases negativity

– Leadership is all about getting along with people not getting

above

– Intolerance and disrespect for dissenting views, cultural and

thought diversity is a major cause for lack of creative energy in
the society

– Smart work and creativity is no substitute for self-effort

- Your creativity and smartness should always complement self-
effort and not replace

- One smart or creative idea can be replaced with another but not
self-effort. You may change the brick shapes and design of the
 Elements of Success and Leadership 153
building with another, but someone still needs to build the house
to have one.

Honesty is not the best policy but the only policy!

– Role of discipline in success and happiness
- No matter how smart and hard you work, you still got to
match it with discipline to achieve the best results
- Doesn’t matter how many hours you spend on fitness in the
gym or elsewhere, you still got to eat good food to stay
healthy

– What are we without a team? Why are team and teamwork

important in life for success?
- Human beings (eyes, ears, heart, lungs, blood, bones, etc.)
by existence are a product of teamwork.
- Even if you learn to play all the instruments, you can’t play
them all at the same time. Success is a continuous orchestra,
not a one-time play.
- It’s about all about getting ahead by taking people along.

– Trust, Honesty & Integrity play a vital role in one’s success and
happiness
– Nobody wants to be friends or work with a dishonest person.
A person who lacks integrity will lack respect.
– You can fool some people all the time, some people
sometimes but not all the people all the time.
– Honesty is one human quality that touches people faster
than any other human emotion.
 READ, THINK, ACT 154
– Why is clarity of thought, patience, tolerance, and being
connected to the “self” important in life?
– Knowing and being self is fundamental to success &
happiness
– Being clear and aware of the goals, priorities, interests,
strengths, areas of improvement in mind all the time is the
essence of success and growth in life
– Leaders don’t panic and are the most patient &
tolerant lot in testing times!

Don’t become the doer, just do it!

– Importance of association with sports and games?
– Being associated with a sport teaches us the essence of
sportsman spirit
– We all know when we play or watch a sport while one wins
the other loses. It teaches us how to handle successful and
unsuccessful outcomes with grace

– The one who cannot handle failure gracefully and learn

from it, cannot climb the heights of success
– Always play sports if not be associated with at least one
sport

– Importance of challenging self, taking risks, being passionate,

and enjoying everything we do?
– Unless you love doing what you do or do what you love,
you cannot put your heart into it, unless you put your heart
into it, you cannot enjoy it and unless you enjoy what you
do, you cannot be at your best

– The only way to be successful is to give your best

wholeheartedly all the time
 Elements of Success and Leadership 155
– One need not worry about the outcomes of one’s thoughts
and actions if one’s actions are guided with the right
motives. Leaders are not afraid of failure, people, or
circumstances
– Complaint not and be thankful for everything in life because
what one achieves or not is only a passing thing but how one
lives (contentment), is everything!

– Goal setting - Get into the habit of setting small goals and
achieving them every now and then. It’s all about doing
something with a direction and purpose in mind.

– Education helps understand the contradictions of life.

Lack of understanding of “self” is the root cause of all

failures?
– Make goal setting a habit and that habit will set your life to
success and happiness.
– Being adaptive - Change is the only constant in this world.
Leaders and successful understand the importance of being alert
and responsive to change.
– The ability to anticipate and adapt to change ahead of time
is one of the biggest strengths of all successful people.
– It’s not the fittest of all but the most adaptive to change that
survive.
– Performer - The only way to command respect from people or
your team is by being a high performer yourself.
– As a leader, unless you perform and deliver when it matters,
you cannot expect the same from others.
– Always, be the change you want to bring about in people.
 READ, THINK, ACT 156
– In life, always your actions command respect not words.
Words go everywhere but for nothing unless matched
with actions.
– Time is the greatest & most precious gift one has and the best
part, it’s the same 24 hours for everyone. Unless one realizes the
importance of time and learns to manage time well i.e. doing
right things at the right time without wasting time, one can never
become successful in life.
– The ability to look beyond traditional confines combined with
the urge to challenge status quo makes successful people think
and try different things.

Building antivirus for mind not just builds your road to

happiness and success but also sustains it!

– There are only 2 sides to any perspective i.e. the partial and the
impartial (right intent) view and the rest is all debatable. The
results as such don’t matter in the long run if one takes the view
with right motives

– Failing to strategize and plan is planning & strategizing to fail.

- It’s one thing to have a great plan and strategy in place and
another to execute it.
– The greatest of planning & strategy is of no use if you are
not able to execute it.
– Execution needs even more focus, energy and attention.

– Will power and flexibility are two sides of the same coin and
must be exercised with judgment?
– All successful people understand the importance and
difference of using will-power and flexibility to their
advantage.
 Elements of Success and Leadership 157
– A leader must know when and where to hold the ground
(willpower) and when to yield (flexible).
– It’s a judgment call and comes with experience. If you are
conscious of your actions, with experience you will learn to
apply willpower and flexibility judiciously.

– Leaders must be clear and aware of their responsibilities all the

time.
– All great leaders understand the importance of owning-up
things and being accountable for their actions.

Lack of knowledge and understanding of “self” is the root

cause of all unhappiness and ill will?
– At the same time leaders must learn how to take the blame
in their stride and handle it gracefully.

– Successful people must know when and how to defend their

teams. A leader cannot afford to be overprotective and irrational
in defense of himself or his team.
– It’s about playing the defender and the enabler with the right
balance and judgment.
– It’s about being consistent and transparent in both criticism
& support of self and team.

– Leaders must learn the ability to connect and communicate

effectively with people.
– One must realize that connecting and communicating with
people are two different things though linked to each other.
– Communication without connect is like a flower without
fragrance.
– You are not required to agree with anything and everything
what others think but it’s always important to learn to agree,
to disagree, respectfully.
 READ, THINK, ACT 158
– Leading self is a pre-requisite not your passport to becoming
successful in life.
– Leading self is the foundation on which one can build the
stamina and character to walk the journey of success and
leadership with happiness.
– The key differentiator between a successful person and a
successful leader is the ability to motivate and bring out the
best in others.
– Leaders are self-motivated people with full of confidence and
energy. Talk to any great leader; you realize they have this persona
to motivate and make you feel good

Know that the, visible is driven by the invisible & vice versa!
– Great leaders come across as natural motivators because
they are genuinely interested in wellbeing of people.
– Successful people have this uncanny ability to motivate
themselves and others when the going gets tough.

– Every person is a born leader by virtue of existence. Technically,

our body is made up of 5 base elements i.e. Earth, Water, Air, Fire
& Ether or the Space element. It means, we are born with leadership
traits of all these 5 great entities and it’s only a matter of knowing
and realizing that “Self’ishness”?
– Being “Self” is being happy & harmonious which is but
natural? Is Self ‘ishness joy & harmony in flow?
– There are no short cuts to success but many to failures. Not
knowing & being “Self” is the biggest failure?
– Is selfishness another name for sacrifice? The greater the
success the greater is the joy & selfishness?
– Successful people are anything but resilient and courageous
people.
– Any achievement worthwhile will offer tough and challenging
situations.
 Elements of Success and Leadership 159
– Successful people understand that the only way to gain strength
and toughness is by walking & enjoying difficult situations.
- Leaders develop a liking for demanding situations. A diamond
is tough because it has learnt to handle extreme pressure
hundreds of meters below earth with a smile (shine)

– Leaders and successful people by virtue of their success and

achievements become inspiration to many people.
- Like love begets love, success begets success, leadership begets
leadership.
– People follow successful persons because they see them as role
models. Good leaders turn great because of their selfless and
benevolent acts.

– Leaders and successful people do periodic checks to ensure they

are on track.

– Feedback is a great instrument to do a reality check on what is

working and what is not.
– They understand the importance of the other view because we
may not see our own flaws while we are focused on the journey
and purpose.

– Leaders don’t just take feedback but also chart down actions on
improvements and follow-up on actions be it for themselves or
their team.

– Knowing your-self, your strengths, interests, priorities &

weaknesses is the first step towards success & leadership.
Clarity in your mind and heart as to what you want to become,
and how, is the next biggest thing.

– You are the best judge for yourself since nobody knows your
better than yourself.
 READ, THINK, ACT 160
– Being aware all the time of the direction and purpose in life and
playing to one’s strength is the hall mark of a successful person.

– Leaders are anything but indecisive people. All successful

people are decisive, good at setting expectations and are go-
getters. They don’t wait for things to happen, they make things
happen.

– They are not like a cat on the wall looking to jump both sides. It
doesn’t matter which side you take but you must always take a
position on things.

– Leadership comes with a price, sometimes the decisions one

takes may not yield the expected results but that does not drive
them away from taking decisions.

– Learn to set expectations and measurable goals.

– Leaders are anything but unprepared lot. They understand the

importance of preparation.

– A prepared person is better equipped to face the uncertainties

than the unprepared. Most companies who do fire drills handle
real situations better.

– It is the greatest of the preparation combined with persistence

and focus that makes most great tasks achievable.

– Leaders develop this uncanny ability to finish things. It is the

ability to cross the finish line more often, than not sets them
apart from the rest

– Everything takes its own time. One must respect law of time and
law of sequential evolution and not try to bypass the established
natural laws which govern us.

– Big things are never achieved alone; it must be a team effort.

 Elements of Success and Leadership 161
– If you are working with others, you must always have poise
when dealing with others’ imperfections and divergent
views.

– It is easy to convince and tolerate self in the event of mistakes

but it’s always difficult to convince & tolerate others for their
errors.
– Fortune favors the prepared and brave.

All learning & success in this world without happiness is

incomplete
 READ, THINK, ACT 162

15. Failure and Rejection: What is failure?

and why do people fear failure? Is failure is a myth in the minds of
quitters? Is there something called failure in reality? Or is it a self-
induced roadblock in the mind? Is failure a point-in-time event
accepted as eternal by a person who doesn’t understand human
potential? Leaders understand that failure is for the efforts, actions,
strategy & path chosen by the person and not the person per se. A
leader is the one who sees the lessons it offers and knows how to use
them as a ladder for growth. The leader is the one who sees failure,
rejection, challenges, and problems as food for success &
leadership.

Failure has meaning for those who have cultivated fear.

Rejection & failure are two of the greatest tools Mother Nature
offers for growth. No success can ever be achieved without
experiencing failure and rejection. So long as a person doesn’t quit
action, doesn’t lose focus, he or she is always in with a chance to
succeed. Failure is waiting for things to happen while success is
heartfelt action to make things happen.

Success is a journey of courage, commitment, and

persistence in action…
 Elements of Success and Leadership 163

What breath is for body, education is to

success; what education is to success,
leadership is to a nation…
 READ, THINK, ACT 164
It’s like winners don’t quit and quitters don’t win. Failure is also a
journey like success. People continuously fail themselves every day
not because of their potential but because of lack of action &
purpose. The deeper the roots go below the earth; higher & stronger
the tree goes above the ground. Similarly, the more one is grounded
in continuous & purposeful action and learning; higher will be the
rate of success. A person cannot be failed unless it is a self-inflicted
conditioning. *Fear & inaction is failure; committed and focused
action never fails!!

So long as a person learns the lessons from all the events, people
and experiences without wasting time criticizing self or others,
he or she will be on the path of growth.

Perception called failure is imaginary & temporary. All perceived

failures are attempted efforts not yielding expected results hence in
reality they have nothing to do with human potential or capacity.
Failure is a signal for learning, course correction, lack of fire & will.
People fear failure because they link outcomes of their actions to
their pride & self-respect.

Fear is always associated with false pride. In fact, outcomes of the

activities we perform have nothing to do with the self-respect &
potential. In fact, the aspect pride should be associated with the spirit
and passion one performs the activities not the result as such. Fear
and failure always go together like happiness & success.

Failure (mistakes, errors) & rejection in fact are the greatest tools
for growth. A person who cannot embrace and use rejection &
failure as a means for learning & growth can never become
successful. Continuous learning & action should become a way of
life.

Remember, gold needs to go thru fire for getting

converted into an ornament
 Elements of Success and Leadership 165

The obstacle is the path. (Zen Saying)

 READ, THINK, ACT 166
Trying to live the mentioned qualities can only happen
occasionally but if you make it a way of life then success happens
as a natural consequence with the help of adversities.

Note, hard work without heartwork is like a flower without any

fragrance. Understand that all try is an effort of mind whereas total
involvement in the act in the present moment is the way of heart.
When doing everything wholeheartedly becomes a way of life, a
way of being like breathing without any effort only then can success
become an integral part of you. All tries are against heart and hence
can make way for occasional wins. When the heart is for something
you don’t try, you simply flow into the act; you are lost in the act
you love doing. When in love for an act / purpose / goal, adversities
are but your friends, strengthening tools & guides.

The key is to do things wholeheartedly without fear. You need

to cultivate the heart way of living complementing the mind. It’s
about thinking before the action and doing one thing at a time in
totality and not thinking during the action.
Enjoy the food every time you eat like you are born to eat, enjoy
water every time you drink like you are born to drink, enjoy studies
like you are born to study, listen to a song like you are born to enjoy
the song, play a sport like you are born to play that sport. Success
follows heart…

What is rejection?
Rejection is a signal for course correction. It’s a tool to teach us that
the way chosen is not sufficient & effective. It’s a tool for self-
evaluation and rectification. Rejection is a mechanism for enabling
toughness & empowerment.

Success is, not giving up…

All successful people use rejection and failure as a tool for growth
and learning while rest fail to understand the lessons it is trying to
teach. The quitters or so-called losers rather fail to read the message
and get depressed and demotivated with rejection and failure. An
Airplane takes-off against the wind always! The greater the
resistance, the greater is the success.
 Elements of Success and Leadership 167
Remember, rejection is not the end but the beginning to
something new & great. Rejection is a means to make one accept
that current skill, energy, plan, the way is not working or effective
and hence the need to look for renewed skill, energy, a new plan,
a new route, a new strategy, a new approach.

Rejection means to look in and change the direction you are headed
or change the way you are headed in that direction or simply rethink
how you do things. *Always be open to newness, diversity &
learning. Unless a person navigates rejection and failure
gracefully and learns to use it to his or her advantage, the person
can never become successful.

If success is a journey on many wheels, Rejection & Failure are two

sides of all those wheels that you have to play around with and use
to move forward. Failure and Rejection are always with you but so
long as you are moving on, both failure & rejection take you forward
in the journey called success.

Fear=Failure. Moving forward continuously in pursuit of your

goal/purpose without fear is success which essentially means
continuous actions irrespective of outcomes i.e., success, failures
and rejections. Moving forward is not quitting and not quitting or
giving up on purposeful action is success!!

Inaction is the root cause of all failure whereas action is the

root cause of success?
 READ, THINK, ACT 168
Food for Understanding
– Failure = Doubt = Fear = Inaction…
– You either perish in fear or flourish in persistent action
– Diamonds cannot be formed on the surface of earth!

– Failure (Mistakes, Lack of Skill) => Learning => Growth.

- Failure is a point in time lapse accepted as eternal by a

person who does not know “Self” or lacks self-trust.

- One who does not make mistakes never learns. Fastest way
to growth => Make as many mistakes as quickly as possible
but never repeat.

- Doing one thing at a time without quitting, he or she is

always in with a chance to succeed.

- As long as a person learns the lesson from all the mistakes,

errors, events, activities, experiences or tasks, he or she is
on the path of continuous success. Perception called failure
is a myth. It’s a creation of mind and only exists in the mind.

- Remember all reason, intellect, learning, failure, success,

leadership is only part of the mind and neither mind nor
body is whole. It’s again the reason / intellect which tell us
that everything is part of the whole. Part can never become
whole but whole can become a part.

- Whole or existence or Mother Nature of which we are part

of is too vast and beyond words, mind, intellect, space, time
or person hence be open and receptive all the time so that
understanding, or truth may descend.
- Great leaders learn to lose gracefully with gratitude!

- Learn “One thing” at a time and you can learn much!

Logic is limiting whereas non-logical is un-limiting?

 Elements of Success and Leadership 169

The one who cannot learn to lose

gracefully can never win gracefully hence a
win without compassion & gratitude only
leads to erosion of human essence in a
person!

-
 READ, THINK, ACT 170

- Money: Tool for Failure!

What is money and why money can be a cause of failure?
It’s important to understand that money is of utility when spent or
exchanged else it’s just a piece of paper / some number / lifeless
resource. When money is spent on education (self/others) it gives
the highest value & returns but beyond a point, necessities, and
moderation it is futility. The sooner one understands the purpose of
money, the futility of hoarding it, the sooner one starts living life
else you will have everything in a living except life.

Earning money (even loads of it) is not bad per se when used wisely
but it is the drive, love & attachment for money that makes a
mockery of the person. For happiness & success to happen, it’s
imperative to understand both the utility & futility of money else
you run the risk of making the headless slave a master!

When a lifeless resource becomes the driver of your life, all you end
up doing is…continuously chase lifeless things (eat skin & miss
fruit!).
Is money a goal? Can money cause unhappiness & failure?
To begin with, let’s try to understand why currency was created in
the first place by humans? Money was created to facilitate the
exchange of materials & services.

When the usage of money is confined to necessities & moderation it

serves its purpose but when it crosses the shores of reasonableness,
it becomes one of the biggest reasons for unhappiness & failure.
Live money but don’t live for money. Due to lack of insight people
mistake convenience and comfort for happiness, power & success.
If we attach power to money or things outside of us, it is bound to
make us powerless. Note: Money can never buy skill/knowledge.
When we lose the power of discrimination, power of education we
are bound for disaster.

Use money but don’t be used by money…

 Elements of Success and Leadership 171

Understand that Talent / Knowledge / Skill / Education

Merit does not go to Money (must be earned; money /
fortune can never buy it) rather Money goes to
Talented / Knowledgeable / Skilled / Educated /
Meritorious…
 READ, THINK, ACT 172

- Technology: Use, Abuse & Disruption!

What is the role of technology and how technology can act as a
catalyst for human progress?
And at the same, it’s equally important to understand how and why
the same technology can become an instrument for abuse, disruption,
disease, and failure!
In the current scenario where information technology and internet
devices are perceived as the 5th human necessity alongside food,
clothing, shelter & education, it’s imperative to understand both the
pros and cons of its usage.
There can be no debate about the utility of the internet. Everyone
understands the benefits it brings but what is conveniently
ignored is the ills, risks and dangers it also brings home along with
those benefits.

Undoubtedly, there is a lot of useful information / data on the

internet which can be accessed through technology, devices, social
media etc. and can be very effectively used for human progress but
the key is to be able to discriminate between the useful and useless,
wanted and the unwanted, the harmful and harmless which is being
prompted, propagated, and packaged seamlessly.

It’s critical to realize that with the good always comes the bad as a
package and hence the emphasis should be equally on educating
students on the ills and risks associated with the improper and excess
usage of internet, social media & technology. Students must be
made aware as to how a person sitting in any corner of the world can
easily influence, lure, manipulate and lead them into trouble when
not watchful.

Learn to switch-off technology for some time in your daily

life else technology will switch-off life in you
 Elements of Success and Leadership 173
Human mind has always been an easy prey for centuries and with
technology things could become even worst. Technology can be
used as a great manipulator since personal data / behaviors will
become more public than ever before making people more
vulnerable. Unless students are taught and made aware of the
inherent ills and weaknesses technology brings to our homes it will
be difficult to ensure social order, harmony, safety & security of
humanity at large.

Any person sitting anywhere in the world could easily influence

large sections of society in the easiest possible way and shortest
possible time for their selfish aspirations and goals.

Henceforth, teaching the students how to optimize the usage of

internet / technology / gadgets / social media is key to ensuring that
unwanted is filtered and exited from the useful. Addiction to
resources, be it good or bad has its own perils. Students spending
more time on internet, electronic gadgets and social media
potentially expose themselves to unimaginable social, physiological
and psychological disorders.

*Food is great, is a need but overeating is bad. Understand the

difference between use and abuse, utility and futility of technology
& resources. Technology is fantastic but for a better life, learn to
switch off technology else technology will switch off life in you.

If the usage of technology is not checked at a personal &

organizational level, this enabler called technology could
potentially turn into one of the greatest manmade disasters. *Again,
at a societal level, it may not be possible to control but clear lines
will have to be drawn personally by every individual to ensure
effective and safe use of technology else disharmony, disruption &
abuse could become order of the day!

Use technology but don’t be used or abused by

technology…
 16. Time and Team are second to
None
- Team work and human existence
Who are we? What are we made of? Do we ever think about all the
people and elements which made us what we are?

What is the significance of team in our life and success?

Humans by existence are a product of teamwork. Eyes, ears, nose,
lungs, hands, legs, heart, brain, bones, blood etc. all perform
distinctly different functions and yet each one of those is critical in
the functioning of the body. When a person moves, all the parts in
the body come together and move as one entity. If heart thinks I’ am
the greatest, close your eyes for a minute the best of the heart in the
world cannot help you see things.

Close your nose and mouth, the best of the heart cannot help you
with breathing. Without eyes all your life will be in darkness.
Without lungs there is no life. To put it in perspective, whatever we
learn and earn by parenting, schooling, college, work, business or
otherwise, there is a team involved. At every stage of human life,
there is a dependency on others though we are independent by
existence. In fact, we exist only in co-existence. It’s paradox, that
we are independent and yet dependent on a lot of things outside of
us for our existence, survival, growth and wellbeing.

Air, water, animals, trees, mountains, rivers (under and over

ground), seas, seasons, temperature, rains etc. are a part and parcel
of our life. Do we not have a bounden duty to respect, protect and
safeguard the team? Is there an inherent message from the creator
that we must all learn to respect and co-exist with each other despite
being unique and different from each other, be it human beings,
animals, plants, or other elements of creation? Can we not say we
are only a part of a team and every element has a role to play in
maintaining this system?
 Time and Team are second to None 175
Humans are the most sophisticated of all creations and hence even
more responsibility on us. Apart from human beings no other entity
that is part of creation, abuses creation. Only human beings have this
dubious distinction of exploiting the Mother Nature or “Creation”
we are part of, nobody else.

Let’s stop by for a moment and see who all helped us in our journey.
To begin with, we are greatly indebted to our parents and elders for
teaching us how to speak, walk, talk, behave, think and eat which
are the fundamentals of living. We must also be ever grateful to all
our gurus and teachers for education, be it schooling, college,
university or at work, spiritual or religious. There are so many
contributors to our life but how often do we think or acknowledge
them?

At each stage of our life there was, is and will be a team or a group
of people and elements which continue to touch our lives. Not just
direct, there are many more indirect relationships as well.

Indirect contributors are farmers who produce agriculture products

be it related to food or clothing, the military who protects the borders
and balances the country when there is an internal crisis, judiciary,
doctors, state administration (bureaucrats, technocrats, police,
people serving in various govt. & non govt. departments), engineers,
scientists, industrialists, business class, working class, people
involved in the supply chain who make things available to us, the
political class etc., they all have played a role in our life and touched
our life in one way or the other.

Extending the list, there are many other elements like animals, trees,
air, water, mountains, rivers, seas etc. who are part of our life,
happiness, growth directly or indirectly about whom we seldom
think.
Human beings don’t exist, they co-exist…
 READ, THINK, ACT 176
Those who do not understand existence as team and teamwork can
never become successful. Though we pay for school, college,
clothes we wear, food we eat, the supply chain involved, tax for govt.
services etc., does the money we pay end our responsibilities
towards them?

Or do we have a larger role to play in returning their gratitude or

conserving the natural resources? If you take the money element out
of the equation, is everyone who contributed to our growth in a
better shape, or do they need our support? Our life is touched by so
many people, elements in so many ways for which we must be ever
thankful to them all. Even if you are good at playing all the
instruments in the orchestra, you cannot play them all at the same
time.

Remember, nothing worthwhile can ever be achieved without

teamwork in life. How many times have we expressed our gratitude
to all the people and elements who contributed to our living, growth
and sustenance?
Is it not our bounden duty to protect the air which keeps us alive? Is
it not our bounden duty to protect & conserve the trees? Is it not our
bounden duty to protect & conserve lakes, rivers, mountains, coal,
oil, gas, climate, and everything which is part of environment since
our very existence is dependent on them?? Should we not look at
creating reusable & renewable sources for our larger sustenance?

**To exist is, to coexist. We can’t even live for 5 minutes without
air, a few hours without water and a few days without food. Can
we afford to destroy our own self by polluting the air we breathe,
cutting the trees which give us clean air, rain & food? Can we
afford to exhaust all our energy i.e., coal, oil & gas reserves?

We must protect the team we are part of for our own interest. We
cannot shy away from our responsibilities thinking others would do
it.
 Time and Team are second to None 177
Every person must play a part in safeguarding & conserving the
creation we are part of, else be prepared for the curse of Mother
Nature. There cannot be any exceptions in this regard. *Protection
& Conservation of natural resources by creating more reusable &
renewable resources in all aspects of life must become a way of life
else there is no salvation.

It is not only our responsibility, but a bounden duty to

protect & conserve “Mother Nature” because we owe
everything to her

- Time – One of the most precious things in this world

All successful people understand that it’s imperative to do the right
things at the right time for the right results to happen. Time is, was
and will always be the witness to everything we do.

A person who does not realize the value of time can never become
successful in life. A 100 million can be earned back if lost, but not
a single second, once lost. When it comes to money we all know
how much we have but when it comes to time we don’t know how
much we have so live life of no regrets fully, every second.

There is no greater advantage than having time on your side to

turn things around. Nothing can buy us time. The great thing
about time is that you either get better or worse with the passing of
it, but you cannot remain the same

Time cannot keep us the same. The choice & decision is ours
whether we choose betterment or degradation, consciously or
otherwise. Reiterating again, the key to success is in realizing the
importance of teamly and timely actions.

The single biggest difference between successful persons and others

is they realize the importance of time and make most of the 24 hours
they have every day. People say time is money, but it is much
beyond money. Time is one of the most valuable gifts every human
being gets free of cost from birth.
 READ, THINK, ACT 178
- Giving back - Bounden duty and responsibility

Giving back is a bounden duty and responsibility of every human

being. Take the example of any successful person in this world and
you will see an overwhelming passion for giving back to society and
nature. It is their gratitude for people and “Mother Nature” which
creates that inherent passion.
A person is known by what he or she gives, not by what he
or she takes. Mother Nature explains this through the phenomenon
of colors. Light is formed by 7 colors i.e. Violet, Indigo, Blue, Green,
Yellow, Orange, Red. An object when put to light acquires the
VIBGYORic color it gives away. A rose is red because it takes in
all the other 6 colors (i.e. VIBGYO) and gives away red. An object
which takes in all 7 colors appears black whereas an object which
gives away everything appears white. It’s not by accident that white
has been used as a symbol for purity and black a token for protest.
(*Vedanta Treatise by A Parthasarathy)

Make your time count in life else your life will have nothing
to count at the end

We don’t have a choice but to give it back to the team we are part of
called the creation i.e. air, water, trees, animals, lakes, rivers,
mountains, other people, etc. because any harm to them is harming
“Self”.
If we don’t do enough to protect the “TEAM” we are part of, we
will be forced to face with more “Mother Nature’s” calamities. This
will lead to more and more suffering, disease and destruction to
human society. Nature calamities like Draught, Tsunami’s
Tornadoes, Earth Quakes, Floods, Death, Violence and Wars for
natural resources will become a norm. Not much humanity will be
left in humans. Maybe a need will arise someday to coin a new word
to address human beings in the future with a different name if this
madness goes on.
 Time and Team are second to None 179
It is now or never. Everybody should wake up and act now. Each
one of us should raise at least one tree and do their bit to restore and
maintain the balance of Mother Nature. Those who don’t do are
guilty of failure of existential duty and are inviting trouble for
themselves in the form of disease, ill health, social disharmony,
ecological unrest & more.

All-natural resources (air, water, trees, rivers, coal, gas etc.) are our
team and part of us. We are air (breathing), water (drinking), trees
(food) as earth (food grains, fruits, cattle) etc. Everything we eat
directly or indirectly, come from mother earth along with the energy
used for living, transportation (Oil, Gas, Coal & Electricity etc.).
Those who abuse or misuse Mother Nature’s resources (Air, water,
trees, rivers, animals, coal, oil, gas, hills etc.) are not abusing others
but themselves.

We cannot afford to destroy things we are made of and use

for our very own survival and progress
A person who does not respect and show gratitude to “mother” can
never remain connected with the human essence in their being. Your
actions are the only testimony to prove that there is still evidence of
humanity left in your being. Are we not a package of all those
nature’s elements???

*Social disharmony impacts all be it rich or poor, literate or illiterate,

educated or uneducated and is caused by inequality & deprivation.
Can we afford to let our future generations suffer for lack of food,
education, medicines, clothes, shelter etc.? Should we not address
the issue of production (food grains, clothes, medicines, electricity
etc.), distribution of resources for our and our family’s future
wellbeing?

Remember, we live in an interconnected & inter-dependent world

where everything touches everything, and everything contributes in
creation and sustenance of this world. As a responsible & duty-
bound global citizen, everyone must play their part in addressing the
issues confronting our larger “Team” i.e. humans & environment.
 READ, THINK, ACT 180
*Human being by birth, existence, sustenance is a product of team
work and it will continue to be the same till we breathe our last. Let’s
not wait for others, let’s take the first step our self and show some
proof of gratitude with our actions by doing something for Mother
Nature else we all will be cursed by future generations. Time and
team are second to none in our lives. We all are part of a larger
team called civil society and environment no matter what we do and
where we live. Bondage to material, thoughts & beliefs is the only
constraint to human evolution.

*Even the final journey after our death needs a team to

accomplish

Education should lead us to freedom, not bondage. Giving leads us

to freedom. True power comes from freedom, not bondage. Break
the chains of thoughts & beliefs. Freedom from material thoughts
and beliefs is the only way for human growth. Accept that we are a
team of unlimited diversity within and outside. Take note of the
diversity within, it is so telling and complementary i.e., the eyes, the
ears, nose, hands, legs, lungs hearts, bones, blood, fingers, etc. when
a person moves, they all move as one.

In this world, everything complements everything, everything

thrives on everything. As a team, the world sustains, divided it
breaks. It’s the giving that makes our living possible. In other words,
giving is living. Understand that inclusiveness & diversity makes
us complete.

Understand that change, diversity & giving is a tool for growth &
sustenance. The social or administrative divisions of land, culture,
resources, communities, language, economies, race, color, gender
etc. are only to complement each other and not to create conflict,
disharmony & discrimination. All human beings want variety, but
the same variety should not become a curse.

We can’t eat the same food, fruit, vegetable nor sweet every day,
can we??? Variety is the very essence of creation. We cannot touch
 Time and Team are second to None 181
all the elements that touch our lives but certainly, each one of us can
touch one element and make a positive difference in our own way.

There is nothing more fulfilling than the joy of giving back!!

The outcome of learning is understanding, understanding

is in awareness and awareness is in the flow, and in flowing
with the heart is living, and living wisely is using the
mind/thinking harmoniously with the heart…
 READ, THINK, ACT 182
Food for Understanding
– What is the value and significance of TIME?
- Time is one of the most precious gift every human being
is blessed with
- One can earn back lakhs of rupees when spent but not a
second once spent
- A person who does not realize the value of time can never
become successful in life
- Make your time count in life else your life will have nothing
to count at the end

– What is the importance of TEAM (Teachers, Parents, Air, Water,

Trees, Mountains, Lakes, Rivers, Supply chain of people etc.)
in our life?
- At every stage of human life (Creation - birth, Sustenance –
living, Destruction – death) there is a dependency. Every
human being though may appear independent by existence
but is made of mother (woman), father (man), air, water,
earth, fire (heat inside body), clouds, seas, trees, rains,
animals, mountains & everything part of this creation.
- Humans are a bit of everything part of this creation!

– What is our bounden duty and responsibility towards our larger

TEAM?
- We are what we give not what we take.
- Protecting the air, water, elements of nature we use for our
survival is not a choice but a bounden duty of every human
being irrespective of creed and sect.
- Respecting & protecting the interests and wellbeing of
creation (Mother Nature) we live in is not a choice but a
bounden duty of every human being.
- Normal is ego talking to ego; rare is human talk!

We are richer by what we give not what we hoard!

183

Realize everything in this world works on the

principal called cause and effect. One follows the
other in a cyclic motion. Therefore, a leader must
use both cause & effect to be successful. The key
however, is to know when to create the effect to
make the journey better…
184 READ, THINK, ACT
 185

Short story – The Educated Way

This is an incident/story believed to have happened during

the times when Germany was divided. A boundary wall
was constructed on the border to divide Germany into
East & West. In those days, East Germany was considered
poor & backward while the west was a wealthy &
prosperous region. Because of the distasteful environment
created during division, East German people out of
temper started throwing trash on the West German side
over the boundary wall. For that West German people
responded by putting fresh Fruits, Vegetables and Farm
produce on the East Germany side and put up a hoarding
which said, “We all give what we have”. That gesture
not only made them stop throwing garbage but also
realize that behavior, actions & success is an outcome of
what we cultivate inside!

*The difference in thinking & behavior of people is due to

difference in the quality of learning & education!
186 READ, THINK, ACT

Education that cannot transform a boy, girl, man,

or woman into a human is
incomplete!
187

17. The container and the content

puzzle - the thinker and the non?
What is the classic container and content puzzle for most?
Why do people often, even the so-called highly smart and
educated, fail to differentiate between the package and the
product? The label and the essence?

What is the difference between Water, Jal, Paani, Thanni, Neer,

and Neelu?

Are different labels referring to the same product? Can you

differentiate between the container (labels/names/package)
and the content (what we all drink)? Is it the substance we
drink or the label? Is it the liquid itself or the name/word that
we drink?

Can you differentiate between Hunger, Bhook, Aakali, and the

real experience? What is the distinction between the
descriptors/words and the reality/experience?

Can you see the difference between the word (i.e., God,
Creator, Shri Ram, Shri Krishna, Ma Durga, Mother Mary,
Jesus, Allah, Buddha) and the essence/content? (i.e., bhakti,
ibadat, prayerfulness, gratitude, service, thankfulness, worship,
surrender, etc. as a feeling or emotion or experience)?

Now, what is the conflict or argument about? (Is it the

container or the content?) Isn’t the container/label/package
local and the content/essence universal?

Is it the difference between thinking and

understanding that makes a person wise?
188 READ, THINK, ACT
 Lamp Posts 189

18. Five Essential Leadership

Styles (i.e., Air, Water, Earth, Fire
& Ether)
Every person is a combination of these five basic elements and
therefore their inherent qualities & characteristics exist in every
person. Each of these five basic elements possesses extraordinary
leadership qualities and hence I say every person is a born leader!

The fundamental question, however, is…

Why is it that a vast majority of people are ignorant about their own
“Self”? why human beings are unaware of their inherent qualities,
strengths & characteristics? Is it because most education systems
around the world do not teach students how to read and lead “Self”?

Is it because the teachers and parents themselves do not know their

own “Self”? The irony about human beings, despite having such
extraordinary treasures within, they are unable to use those!

It’s high time education systems around the world introduce

“Leading Self” education as part of the curriculum. It’s an
established fact that Reading Self > Knowing Self > Leading Self >
Leading Others.

Let’s look at the five leadership styles in accordance with the quality
and characteristics of these five essential elements we are made up
of…

The 5 base elements & the leadership styles:

a. Air: Colorless, odorless, formless, always on the move, non-

discriminative while performing the most important task of keeping
everyone (plants, animals, humans, etc.,) alive. No air means life
cannot sustain even for a few mins or hours.
190 READ, THINK, ACT

Leadership style: These are the leaders who selflessly, silently,

without making any noise, without craving for name or fame,
without any discrimination, without any attachments perform all
their activities in the organization/society.

Usually, everyone is touched (people at all levels) by their goodness

and deeds, but most people can’t see them, hear them, or feel them.
Find their way in and out of the most difficult situations without
making any noise and make it feel as if, it’s business as usual.

But when they decide to make way, rarely does anyone fail to take
note…most fierce, loud, and unparalleled in expressing themself.

*Such leaders are of great value but of rare occurrence in

current times.

b. Water: Colorless, odorless, formless, flexible to take any shape

as needed, non-discriminative and playful in discharging the duty of
nourishing and sustaining life. 60 – 80% of the human body is made
up of water depending on age while 70% of the earth is covered with
water.

Leadership style: Leaders belonging to this clan while focused on

their actions, goals, and destination are playful in nature. They
charter their own path and are usually not aggressive though
assertive to an extent at certain times and places but beyond which
they just go about their business on their own. Since their actions are
selfless and have a higher purpose, people naturally want to be
associated with such leaders.

Their higher virtues and values put them on a high pedestal and
hence irrespective of what actions they perform or decisions they
take, they command trust unless or otherwise conditioned differently.

They are never silent no matter what they do. Whatever they do, the
sound and flair of their actions touch people either in an attractive or
distractive way. Due to their overwhelming presence and charm,
 Lamp Posts 191
their work either commands appreciation or demands
acknowledgment.

Whether such leaders are personally accepted or not, their leadership

style is so impounding that people seldom ignore them. Their
personality is such that even people who do not like them will have
an opinion about them. Though such leaders are highly cooperative
and flexible (blends with all colors) in nature they can be most
forceful and ruthless at times to make their point. One must
understand their true character is in that their determination,
commitment to purpose, and discipline are non-negotiable.

*Leaders are of this style are truly amazing but very rare in
society.

c. Earth: Rich, colorful, with innumerable smells, shapes, forms,

diverse, creative, balanced, magnanimous, indescribable, and all-
inclusive.

Leadership style: Leaders belonging to this class are inclusive and

provide space and conduciveness for all types of people (diversity)
to unite and work for the common cause. They are the ones who
balance progress with harmony, complement consumption with
growth.

Their leadership style is localized at one level while being global at

the other. Leaders of this class are highly evolved and hence
understand the constant (i.e., essence/content) among the variable
(names, forms, shapes, colors/container). They are negotiable but
not easily understood by others who are less evolved. It’s hard for
many people to imagine someone like this can exist, since the
conditioning/attachment to race, religion, color, region, language,
etc. is too strong in most people.

For this reason, though they are the most hardworking, selfless,
universal, and generous, they are also the most misunderstood
leaders.
192 READ, THINK, ACT
Leaders of this category think ahead of time, keep changing their
strategy (shed old leaves for the new), keep raising their standards
all the time as they are always adaptive and learning.

Though they are the most generous and tolerant people, their intent
and values are non-negotiable and hence are liable to acquire the
most destructive means to get things done, teach lessons and get the
message across. They are ever positive, creative, and unrelenting in
making things happen, and for that reason, impossible has no place
in their dictionary!

*Magnanimity combined with inclusiveness and tolerance is

extremely rare in occurrence.

d. Fire: Forceful, bold, predictable, powerful, no-nonsense, non-

negotiable, flamboyant, and pure.

Leadership style: Leaders belonging to this segment are aggressive

in nature, pure and clear in intentions but non-compromising in
nature. They are well understood by people and the most predictable
of all leadership styles.

They are highly ambitious, energetic people who go all the way once
they make up their minds. They are usually uncontrollable when out
on a mission hence suitable only for specific situations. Such leaders
only succeed in flashes. Most people subscribe to them during
emergencies or special cases else, they are not preferred!

*Such leaders do more damage than good in usual

circumstances but are needed for handling extreme situations.
e. Space: All-encompassing, too vast to comprehend, silent, rarely
understood.

Leadership style: Leaders belonging to this type are passive and let
everyone do their own bit without any interference. There is an
absence of discipline and determination in their actions. They
silently enjoy their stint and leave the outcomes & responsibilities
to owners. Such a leadership style can work in highly evolved
 Lamp Posts 193
societies that are Gyan-based cultures. They are not the ones who
can bring about changes. Logical minds cannot comprehend
space/ether.

They are usually considered in a transition or a passing phase. They

are the least forceful hence are not leaders by choice. They are used
and abused by most hence not very suitable for the largely
commerce-based cultures around the world.

*Such leaders are most suitable for utopian societies which do

not exist.

Summary: The path to leading others always begins with leading

“Self”. Having said that there is no one way or leadership style
which works for all, in all situations, but it helps everyone to know
these basic styles.

It helps leaders to understand what their existence is made up of,

what qualities and characteristics they already have so that they can
adapt/tailor their own style based on the situations and need. It also
helps them in knowing that the others are also made up of the same.

It’s imperative for a leader to know that the difference in people’s

understanding is due to the educational and cultural background
else discrimination and bias will become the basis for decision
making. A true leader needs to go beyond the mind and must
understand the connection with people and rest all at the existential
or energy level. No matter what people, animals, or living beings
eat, it all gets converted into energy and that is the universal/
existential/constant aspect in all. Remember, ignorant leaders and
societies have caused the greatest destruction and damage on the
planet.

How do we know what is our leadership style if we cannot read our

own “Self”?

Most leaders in the world are unaware of their leadership styles

unless they have made a conscious effort to read and know “Self”.
194 READ, THINK, ACT
They are unaware of their own “Self” partly because of the
inadequacies in the education systems worldwide but mostly due to
their own belief system/identifications/attachments/conditioning etc.

Leadership coaching has always been a major focus area in all

progressive corporates, organizations, and governments across the
world since time immemorial. In these times of rapid globalization
and technologization of the world, the emphasis on leadership
training and coaching has only gotten bigger, and rightfully so but
the pertinent question however is how effective are these leadership
evaluation techniques which are based on psychometric
analysis/behavioral patterns rather than using existential realities?

That brings us to the question…. Is the one with no fixed leadership

style the most effective? Is the one with no fixed mindset open to all
possibilities?

Yes, only an inclusive person will have an open mind. A person with
a fixed mindset, attachments, and identifications cannot be
progressive and harmonious. Leadership is not about style, beliefs,
perceptions, or definitions, it’s all about the situation and the need
hence the mature and highly evolved leaders are the ones who use
one or a combination of all those five existential styles or new ways
based on what the situation needs or demands on the ground?

Read, Think & Act!

 Lamp Posts 195

19. Lamp Posts

– Drop of knowledge added every day leads to the ocean of
wisdom one day.
– A life without happiness, purpose, and direction is a life without
any meaning.
– Continuous purposeful action is the best instrument/weapon
available to people for achieving success!
– Find a purpose and direction for your life; when you find it, be
100% passionate and convinced about it and focus all your
energies and thoughts on it and enjoy what you do. That is the
only approach to success and happiness.
– Choices we make, makes us (good or bad?)
– Knowing and trusting in self is the first step to the path of
success.
– If you don’t trust yourself, nobody else will.
– All negative thoughts are mental viruses that can potentially
destroy your life.
– Your mind is your greatest asset and only you can guard it. If
you don’t protect, it will become your greatest liability.
– No two things in life, either you drive out the mental virus or
let the virus drive you.
– If you can’t find an outlet for the mental virus nobody else can.
Either you win or the virus in you wins!!
– When you can read & know your own self, there is no need to
read any other book.
– If you don’t build antivirus, the mental virus will build you?
– Nothing worthwhile can ever be achieved in this world without
sacrifice and a higher purpose.
196 READ, THINK, ACT
– Building antivirus for the mind is like a marathon run or a 24/7
football match, play it like your favorite sport and enjoy; health,
happiness, and success will follow.
– Without antivirus protection, your life will get corrupt and lose
direction and purpose.
– Realizing faith (bhakti/feeling inside) matters more than the
connection with the outside i.e., words, names, forms, shapes,
colors, formless, emptiness, entities, etc., which initiate that
inside is the key!
– Make yourself happy and comfortable before others because it’s
easier to extend something you have.
– Do what you love or love what you do because that is the only
way to be at your best and only by giving your best all the time,
can take to you to happiness, success, and greatness.
– All your actions must be guided with the right motive to be on
the path of growth.
– From a known you can go to unknown never the other way
around so be aware of yourself all the time.
– To be successful, always be on the path of conscious and
continuous learning because that is the only way to realize one’s
true potential.
– Deconstruction of fear in mind is a pre-requisite for success and
success a prerequisite for leadership!
– “Self” in you equals to infinite in potential. Focus on cultivating
self, fruits will happen.
– Smart is the learned person but wise is the learning person
– Truth is one but is expressed in many ways similarly life is one,
but forms & shapes are many.
– Everything comes with a price, to grow; you must labor and
cultivate self.
 Lamp Posts 197
– When you lose the finite (Ego) in you, you become infinite.
– Unlock the limits in your thinking you become unlimited.
– It’s not what we have but what we do with what we have.
– No substitute for self-effort; heart work & creativity should
complement hard work.
– “I” in you is the greatest enabler and only bottleneck to your
success and happiness.
– Mind is the problem and solution to everything (Buddha).
– Nothing is more powerful and stronger than a human mind.
Understanding the mind is the basis for winning.
– Understanding the mind can lead to true happiness.
– It’s not always what you like to do but also what you ought to
do!
– Human beings are a product of teamwork & dependency by
existence.
– Time & team are second to none. Judge yourself always and
others when you must.
– Judgment, comparison, denial of things involves conflict &
unhappiness whereas acceptance As-Is ends conflict.
– Path to leading others begins with leading self.
– Don’t become the doer, just do it!
– There are no short cuts to success but many to failures
– Beware of the traps like laziness, indecision, Inaction,
indiscipline, procrastination, shortcuts, temptations etc.
– The nature of mind is wanting whereas heart is gratitude and
giving hence more of mind is less of peace & joy
– Don’t work hard, work happy (heart work!)
198 READ, THINK, ACT
– Success & leadership is a package not just a few qualities hence
start cultivating your “Self”
– Biggest motivator for success is the tying up of efforts to the
collective need and aspirations of the people involved
– In any situation, there is only 1 choice, be in control or get
controlled
– All conflict and illusion end when we understand relationships
vis-a-vis utility & futility of things
– An act performed with joy and happiness never seems hard
– We all get what we deserve not what we desire hence keep
working on the deserving aspect
– No matter how eager the parents are the baby needs 9 months to
be healthy; do not try to grab the fruit before it’s ripe, respect
the law of time & sequential evolution
– Respect law of time and evolution; It’s wiser to fix screws of the
aircraft on ground than in skies even if building the aircraft is
delayed by a couple of days
– The “I, Self” in you is the maker and the made
– Gyan is pain followed by bliss; Gyan based societies are
progressive while ignorant societies are self-destructive!
– Learning, Education, Knowledge, Wisdom = Leading Self
– You cannot control 100% what happens outside but you can
always choose 100% of what happens inside of you (Attitude is
key but being human is living!)
– Knowledge is the only light which can dispel darkness for life
unlike sun or lamps which do it during day and night.
– There is no one path, view, dimension, or direction that paves
way to Leadership; it’s the ability to embrace all ways and
dimensions with openness that makes a Leader
 Lamp Posts 199
– Action is inevitable since our existence (Human body works
24/7) is based on action but the nature of action is our choice.
Chose right action.
– We have no choice but to eat the fruits of our actions after
committed (both good & bad); be alert in choice of actions!
– Creator cannot teach everyone and everything hence he created
gurus; Have the greatest regards for gurus and mentor.
– Don’t study (/work) while you play and play while you study
(/work), if you want to be successful and happy
– Getting ahead is ordinary but getting ahead taking people along
is extra-ordinary
– Being healthy, happy & positive is not everything but
fundamental to everything we do in life
– Health cannot be outsourced. Give respect and take respect,
exercise and eat healthy to stay healthy
– Take control of your life; learn to be happy & positive by choice,
rest all is outcome
– Money is with many, rich is the one who can be trusted!
– Failure can be achieved but success can only be lived…
– If you cannot manage your time, you can never command others
time
- Even in a win you are a loser if you don’t learn from the game
and a winner if you learn something from the loss

– Winning and losing is only a thing but playing with right

motives and being human is everything!
– Not just the end goal but the path you choose all along is equally
important
– Find a purpose and direction for your life else the journey of life
will mean nothing.
200 READ, THINK, ACT
– Watching and facing fear leads to deconstruction of fear in mind
- if something is worth doing, it’s worth giving our best and
enjoying without fear!
– If you cannot find happiness in what you are doing, do
something else where you can!!
– No two things about happiness; learn to be happy doing what
you do or do what makes you happy
– Knowing and being self is the basis for winning self.
– Your “self” is at the center of your life all the time; hence take
care of yourself before others
– When you learn to take care of yourself, it’s easier to extend it
to others. You can only give or extend what you have, not what
you don’t
– Little progress everyday ads up to big results. Little goals add
up to big. Little happiness & positivity add up to lasting
happiness, positivity & progress!
– Build your own antivirus for the mind, you cannot buy!
– Nothing is impossible for a willing heart because where there is
heart, there is total involvement
– Every human being is blessed with infinite potential and 24
hours every day; it’s about believing in that and taking step(s)
towards achieving your purpose in life every day
– Life is a very simple exam which many fail because they try to
copy others not knowing that each one has got a different
question paper – P. Raghavulu
– A big difference between money and time; you always know
how much money you have but you do not know how much time
you have, so always live every second to the fullest & value time
– P. Raghavulu
– Grow & change with the time, if you do not change life will
change you but not on your terms – P. Raghavulu
 Lamp Posts 201
– The difference between a loser and a winner is the difference in
their willingness and readiness to change and improve. There
can be no learning or improvement without change – P.
Raghavulu
– Resistance to change at times may provide a false sense of
security but it will soon make you obsolete – P. Raghavulu
Uncle
– Human beings are point in time species; it’s ok to change the
direction and purpose when you are convinced in future but
always be 100% convinced about the choice in present
– Knowing is learning, learning is understanding, understanding
is flowing, and flowing is growing
– Honesty isn’t the best policy but the only policy
– Be just in everything you do so that everything else will have
the opportunity to be just with you
– Mark of a true leader lies in inspiring the human essence in
shaping future leaders
– When we chose our response, we are free from invasions
– Leader must know where to compete and where not, where to
judge & where not!
– Surest and quickest way for a country to progress is to create
more and more quality leaders in all functions, segments and
aspects that life
– True value of a great leader lies in creating more leaders
– Fear is construction of the ego & by the ego and is the root cause
of all mental virus & unhappiness
– Seeing things as-is in the now (present moment) is awareness
and awareness leads to discovery
– Path of Conscious & Continuous learning and unlearning is the
only way to realize ones’ true potential
202 READ, THINK, ACT
– Awareness leads to understanding and understanding is true
learning
– Understanding cannot be forced it has to happen in an instant
– Understanding is effortless (happens in awareness, instant)
while knowledge acquisition takes effort
– Understanding happens from watching, reasoning, and
experiencing not simply gathering information.
When knowledge, fear, beliefs, actions are distanced from ego,
the real self emerges
– Successful is the person who has no time, place or energy for
negativity
– Happiness & harmony is always between wanting and not
wanting. When fear & worry ends, success begins!
– When our actions turn to response from reactions, we are free
from mental virus else we are under the influence of virus
– When you understand the self in you, you will realize you are
nobody. When you become nobody, you become everybody

– Love is the only light, either you love (heart) or judge (mind) a
person, but you cannot do both at the same time. Drop mind for
love to happen!
– Forgiveness and compassion are at the essence of a person in
love, a love which is not confined to beliefs, regions, religions,
sects, forms, shapes & colors
– When we are free from all mental viruses, there will be place
only for gratitude & compassion inside
– Understand diversity and you will understand creativity
– Embrace diversity, openness and you would have embraced
creativity
 Lamp Posts 203
– Beliefs without reasoning is like virus which always misleads
under the garb of security whereas knowing and seeing things
“As-Is” clears all falsity
– In being “Self” is growing and living rich!
– You only believe things that you don’t know whereas when you
see & feel you don’t need to believe anything
– We will be prone to manipulations as long as we react!
– Knowledge is material in nature whereas wisdom is above and
beyond material things which emanates from within
– What is education if not the ability to conduct “Self”?
– A leader acts from the voice within and flows where his heart &
reason takes him but never with blind beliefs or emotions. Act,
not react is the core of a leader
– Next generation leaders are those who can inspire a happy,
stress-free & playful work culture while enabling people realize
their true potential?
– Free is the person from mental virus who, doesn’t live-in beliefs,
disbeliefs, judgments, good and bad, right and wrongs
– Free is the person from mental virus whose behavior is not
driven by factors, reasons & elements outside of him. Free is the
person who is open & empty inside
– Often when it comes to our own self, we first accept and justify
/ judge our self (subsequently or rarely) but for others its
judgment first followed by acceptance (rarely!!)
– All stress and unhappiness are creation of the Ego, for the Ego
and by the Ego?
– Acceptance leads to liberation whereas judgment leads to
captivity and unhappiness
– Reading books helps in reading mind & knowing self
204 READ, THINK, ACT
– If the creator didn’t want you to reason there was no reason to
put a brain in each head, scriptures were enough
– What we give to creation; creation gives it back many folds!
– Self-Ignorance = Our greatest self-made tragedy & enemy
– Only a person who believes in things without self-reasoning &
awareness can be fooled not the one who uses the power of self-
reasoning & the light within
– Conclusions and beliefs are the major obstacles to growth
– Silence is the greatest master. More is revealed to a person in
silence than by words
– Building antivirus for mind is key to leading self
– Read books for they add great value but if you can read “Self”
there is no need to read anything else!
– Worth of all books & scriptures put together is in guiding people
inward. Discovery of self leads to leading self…
– Leaders harvest blame, deflect praise; value individuals but
worship teams (Chris Murphy, VP – Dell EMC)
– How can something changing be part of everything which is
constantly changing? Only a constant which does not change,
which cannot be consumed by change (time & space) can be a
part of all changes
– Understand that a seed which can produce countless seeds which
takes so many shapes and forms is driven by a formless,
invisible, infinite force at the root of it
– Eyes can see objects only when there is distance between eyes
and the objects not when the distance is absent, same is the
difficulty with seeing the difference between body, mind & the
real self / energy in a person?
– Ignorance is bliss followed by self-destruction
 Lamp Posts 205
– It’s easier to know others, things outside because there is a
distance between the knower and the known but when it comes
to self, there is not much distance between yourself & you hence
the difficulty
– Acceptance which comes from understanding that one cannot
understand everything is the greatest understanding and wisdom
in this world
– Is advantage not a disadvantage & disadvantage a boon?
– Majority who succeeded in the world are disadvantaged!
– While people wait for things to move, leaders move and make
things happen
– Connect with the invisible, formless, changeless, and
unconquerable seed inside the self which is at the root of your
form & action to realize your true potential
– Where diversity meets in harmony; creativity & intelligence
happens paving way for great achievements
– Antivirus for mind isn’t the best way but the only way to stay
happy & successful
– Understanding the nature & difference between the various
aspects of self (physical body, mind, thoughts, intellect,
emotions, energy etc.) is needed to know them!
– Leading Self is also connecting with the formless, changeless &
all-knowing witness inside the self that sees through all the
changes inside-out i.e., physical to intellectual growth from
childhood to at whatever stage of life you are right now. It’s also
the same who witnesses activities like heartbeat, breathing,
digestion, so many other functions of the body though not
actually performing those activities, from seeding to fruition of
trees, all weathers & seasons and yet is unfazed & calm?
– Is “Air” the greatest leader? Formless, colorless, invisible,
noiseless & odorless yet accomplishes the most critical job
without any discrimination, interference & ego?
206 READ, THINK, ACT
– Measure of a leader is in the willingness of the people to work
for the leader whole heartedly
– Handling praise needs more maturity than fear & failure!
– Living is not to a pack of thoughts & beliefs but actions Your
happiness & success lies in actions you perform with heart not
in thoughts & belief systems in head
– Mechanism to continuously keep the mind clean of the
accumulated dust & garbage is Antivirus for mind
– Building antivirus for mind builds your road to happiness &
success but the key is to acknowledge the virus in mind
– Light the lamp called positivity within to make way for
happiness and success
– Unnecessary Judgment, measurement, competition, and
comparison are the greatest viruses which are destroying human
intelligence & joy
– Humans are not commodities to be statistically sampled unlike
disease and merchandise. Every human being is unique and
unparalleled unless conditioned to think otherwise
– It is easier to undo somebody else’s creation from our mind but
very hard to undo our own creations because of self-attachment
– Only the positive thoughts matter, rest all can be ignored
– 3i’s to success = Intent, Innovation (intelligence) & Investment
(time & resources)
– Drop all judgments after you have judged yourself enough as
judgment itself becomes that final veil which hides your real
being
– Praise is a double-edged sword in the form of a sugar pill
which leaders must learn to protect themselves from & stay
insulated all the time else it will trigger their downfall!
 Lamp Posts 207
– A leader who does not understand the value of diversity of
thought & form can never lead an organization in harmony.
Only in harmony can sustained growth ever be achieved!!
– When your being itself becomes the reason for happiness, it
becomes lasting else all other reasons make it
momentary
– When we can’t understand ourselves how can we understand
others? When we can’t see & hear our own self how can we see
& hear others?
– Biggest reality between understanding and acceptance is that we
may not understand everything that happens in this world, but
we can certainly accept everything which can bring in
understanding later
– Life is a journey / flow so is everything in and around life i.e.
learning, happiness, success & leadership
– It’s hard to define & express truth in words because truth is a
wholesome phenomenon / experience (i.e., Body, Mind,
Intellect & Energy combined) whereas all verbal expressions are
a mind phenomenon only
– Success in an act = Surrendering “Self / I” to the act!
– The journey called happiness, success & leadership is personal
and unique to every individual hence hard to define. Only
pointers are possible hence all text in this direction must remain
relative & open ended
– Antivirus for mind is the mechanism to remove all the false
filters, veils, seals the “I, Self” has accumulated over the years
in the form of experience, thoughts, beliefs, knowledge from
sense organs. It is from the imaginable can we move into the
unimaginable realm!
– The only issue is not knowing how mind works and how to make
mind work for “Self”!
208 READ, THINK, ACT
– The only solution is in understanding Mind & its ways. The key
to success lies in knowing the utility & futility of mind
– Leadership is like an ever-flowing river; come rocks, mountains,
turns, trees, twists it has to reach the sea (goal)
– Education enables people to live rich not simply acquire wealth;
teaches the difference between being & living rich!
– Understand the entity called “fear” in mind which converts
positive energy to negative
– Mind is the only roadblock to success. Success is doing one
thing at a time with only one goal in mind
– Mind is a bit of everything we know (hear, touch, smell, see,
feel, imagine) and we don’t know (99.9% unknown)
– All knowledge, knowing is possible only from a distance (time
& space); Silence of mind is the basis for all knowing!
– Success in an act = Power of Focus + Relaxation in Action!
– Realize happiness needs no reason and when no reason is needed,
every act becomes a reason for happiness
– Experience is the key to completeness in understanding!
– Though every human being is born with immeasurable capacity,
nobody is a born artist, painter, singer etc. Capacity is not to be
mistaken for learning, knowledge, skill, art or understanding
– You are a seed outside and fruit inside; but to reach the fruit
inside, you need to travel & toil, to become the fruit is a
destination cum journey
– Nothing comes for free in this world; art of being happy, art of
success, leadership, singing, cooking, dancing, painting,
farming, politics, teaching etc. must be learned consciously
hence the premise that conscious and continuous learning is the
key to realizing the infinite potential in you
 Lamp Posts 209
– Try to understand, when you are “I” the mind, you cannot be
happy and when you are not “I” of the mind, you are happy
– Understand there can be reasons for ill-health not health. Health
itself is the reason, health is natural state of being and health is
“Self”
– Understand there can be reasons for unhappiness but not
happiness. Happiness is the natural state of “Self”, happiness is
“Self” and “Self” is happiness or joy
– Knowing the “Self” /” I” in you is the only way to everlasting
happiness, success & leadership
– Power of trust is the greatest enabler of human potential
– It’s all about harmony in diversity. There are no contradictions
in life, there is only diversity i.e. of thoughts, emotions and all
emotions are good. All emotions must be accepted and lived
totally & harmoniously for growth
– The essence of success is in knowing what fear is, in realizing
who constructs the thing called “fear” in our mind? Finally, in
knowing who can destroy the entity called “fear” in our mind!
– Wanting one thing after the other is the very nature of mind.
Mind is like the surface of the sea, which is always restless,
unlimited waves (wants) are formed one after the other hence
it’s important to focus only on one goal at a time and ignore the
rest of the thoughts in mind
– Important to understand that though “Mother Nature” has
unlimited resources to offer, human desires still cannot be
fulfilled because the wants of mind are unlimited. The unabated
chasing of desires goes on and on in the mind leading to loss of
concentration and energy
– There is no superior or inferior being, realize it’s the same
energy in all no matter what you eat, where you live, how you
live or what you think! It’s about what you do with the energy
that makes the difference!
210 READ, THINK, ACT
– Major aspect of “Leading Self” would be to manage the “ego”
if not how often do we get to meet the seer within?
– The power of hope combined with self-trust; imagination
(creativity) & purpose is the most potent tool for growth
– As a leader, when best folks are at work, let the show continue
and not act. Your act may become an interference!
– If leader’s action & inaction become tools and
opportunity to enable people’s growth and not deprive them,
their job is done, irrespective of outcomes!
– As a leader, knowing when to engage and act and when to
disengage and watch in withdrawal is key for success
– Difference between “Vidya (Education)” & “Avidya
(Ignorance)” is just one letter “A”. It’s in knowing the value of
that 1 letter, 1 grain, 1 drop of water, 1 second makes all the
difference (since life only offers 1 sec at a time?)
– Planning is needed to pass exams, build a house, learn a skill,
execute a project but life is not a project. Life is an inexpressible
& indefinable flow. Beauty of life is in flowing with heart. Heart
beats in present whereas mind is past or future. Living life on
your own terms (heart) in the present moment with right motives
is leading self!
– To know what we are, we must know what we are not, as tiny is
the part of our self we think we know
– Education is about letting go animal instincts to grab things,
money, power, reputation etc. to make way for human essence
to take center stage
– After a stage “We are what we think & believe” is small
compared to what we don’t think & believe-> as miniscule is the
part and capacity of “Mind” we know and use!
– Success cannot be sustained without a still & trained mind
- Measure of education is in how one behaves with a person who
does not know how to behave?
 Lamp Posts 211

- Success = Commitment + Gyan; Ignorance=Bliss= Failure!

- Never underestimate the small; is not a child the next best
teacher after “Silence”?
- Life, Success, Leadership & Mind are a contradiction hence
what we don’t think & believe is always significant than what
we think & believe!
- In understanding the significance of what we don’t think &
believe is the real knowing!
- The one who conducts “Self” with an understanding and
awareness of gratitude, ego, human potential, possibilities &
laws of nature is apt to lead a life of happiness & success
- Education cannot prevent storms it only gives the ability to sail
thru storms in calm
- Life is a mystery beyond words, in understanding &
accepting with gratitude that everything happens in life for a
good reason is key to be on the path of growth
- Trust is known (absolute) whereas belief is unknown
- You only trust a person once as trust is absolute, second time
onward it’s only a belief that they don’t break it again!
- *Many forget creating the next pool of quality leaders is one
of the most important contributions of a leader to the society
- Great leaders do not try to accomplish everything themselves
rather give others opportunity to act & grow!
- Successful is the one who lives in the present, who lives &
enjoys every act as much as the outcomes, no less no more!
- No lost opportunities in this world, only learned opportunities!
- Wise is the one who knows the ignorance in self?
- Growth & prosperity comes from using opportunities!
212 READ, THINK, ACT
- In remembering (being aware) that money was created for
facilitation of exchange of goods & services breaks the
bondage from it
- Educated is the one who does not let his past or future spoil the
present moment as present is what we will always have!
- Understand that Knowledge / Skill / Talent / Merit doesn’t go to
money instead money goes them
- If ever money becomes a goal in life, life turns lifeless & living
becomes machine like!
- Real wealth is that which is inside a person and cannot be taken
away or stolen by people / forces / situations outside!
- Money has this peculiar characteristic, beyond necessities, when
spent on “Self” is a utility / futility but when spent on others it
turns valuable
- Though money finds the deserving and is enough to suffice all
the needs, it’s never enough for the mind & it’s wants!

- Educated is the one who understands that book / guru / Gyan is

the 4th necessity for humans after food, clothing & shelter

- How a “Cloud” can obstruct the mighty “Sun” similarly one

negative thought can obstruct your infinite potential!

- Our ego is the biggest obstacle & tool for our growth!
- Fear, criticism & praise are the biggest tools of manipulation
hence leaders must be mindful, all the time!

- Reading, knowing & being “Self” is the basis to happiness,

success & leadership

- Ignorant cultures & people harm themselves and others?

- Leadership is not about fame, authority, money, brand, people
following, inspiration etc. it’s a journey of solving issues,
 Lamp Posts 213
celebrations, enabling growth, peace & harmony and can come
from anyone, anytime, anywhere!
- A leader grows as human equally in failure and success!
- Food is great, is a need, but overeating is bad. Understand the
difference between use and abuse, utility and futility of
technology & resources. Technology is fantastic but for a better
life - learn to switch off technology else technology will switch
off, life in you!
- It’s the quality of usage that determines richness not the quantity
in possession. Any resource or situation you abuse, turns into
your weakness while same put to effective use / learning, turns
into your strength
- Everyday mantra for success & leadership - If not me, who
else? If not now, then when? If not new, then what?
- Leader visible in form, shape and color makes action
invisible while visible in action makes rest invisible!
- Biggest myth / expectation is that something or someone else
will make us happy, successful or a leader
- Just a few seconds is enough for the aware to comeback to grace
from the fallen path!
- Success & leadership is not about size, form, shape, color or
interest, it’s about courage and commitment
- Success & leadership is both a journey cum destination!
- Leaders always find a way for growth, if not, make one!
- No Self (ego), No Problem (Buddhist Saying)
- Unknowns & uncertainties are the essence of life!
- Leading “Self” is to live in positive energy (waves on the
surface of sea) & peace (stillness at the bottom of the sea)?
- Measure of a leader is in knowing how to deal with people who
do not know how to deal with situations and people, with
compassion!
214 READ, THINK, ACT
- Power to be “Your Self” is the greatest source of success!
- Understand, the everchanging life can never be in harmony
with an unchanging mind! How can success be?
- Education which cannot enable self / independent thinking in
a person is devoid of something fundamental?
- Knowing, getting caught in stream of thoughts is different from
thinking independent / self-thinking, is the key!
- Only the known can be led into unknown hence a leader must
spend time knowing self, team & work!
- Evolution of man is the evolution of the creative personality.
Behind all great nations and noble work done in this world is
noble ideas (Rabindranath Tagore)
- Time is the greatest of all filters and ideas are the best of all
wealth. Fortune is that rare opportunity that helps a person
express ideas & ability at the proper time (Rabindranath
Tagore)
- Ideas & awareness about the not known is key to leaders?
- Yesterday’s answers may not be right for today’s questions; the
key is changing the answer / finding new before it reaches the
expiry date but not values!
- Also, somebody else’s answers may not be right for your
questions, go independent and find your own!
- An everlasting leader is ever-changing (i.e. a mind which is
not constrained by the known or beliefs, a mind which is
always open to newness / independent thinking?)
- Leaders make them self-accountable for what they say and do
and not for what others perceive / understand
- Learn we must - If not from the words of kindness, then the whip
of suffering (The book of Mirdad, Mikhail Naimy)
- Leaders must understand -> Only people who do things, make
mistakes hence leaders must accommodate mistakes of the team
 Lamp Posts 215
so long as the intent is not suspect. It’s not about making
mistakes; what matters is the intent behind the action & ability
to learn & move forward post failures & errors with enthusiasm!
- Is gyan the only journey which has a beginning but no end?
and creativity the essence of living?
- Life is all about unlimited living possibilities and learning
opportunities, live & learn!
- Those who lack power inside look for power outside (hence
dominate others / tend to be authoritative?)
- The difference between a TRADER and a LEADER is
compassion & balance. Without compassion & balance, a
leader turns into a trader …
- Leader is like a zero, everything and nothing at the same time
(Everything with the team & nothing without a team)?
- Leadership at the highest level is not about results, profits,
numbers or being somebody but being human…

Drop of awareness added everyday leads to the ocean of

wisdom one day
216 READ, THINK, ACT

Thankfulness is the most powerful emotion in a person

while thank you is the most defining word in this world!
Lamp Posts 217
218 READ, THINK, ACT

Life is either a journey of fear or success...

219 The Everlasting Leader
 220 RaghuRam
The Everlasting Ananthoj
Leader

READ.THINK.ACT is not about the

messenger. It’s about the process. Everything
that had to be said in this world is already said
and there is nothing more to add. The message
as such is everywhere, all pervading and is as
alive and fresh as life itself though nothing
unheard of before. It’s all about the process for
success (knowing & being self)!!

The message is probably as old as the civilization itself. The same

message perhaps is being propagated by thousands of persons around
the world in thousand different ways to help people connect with it. The
newness could be in the packaging of the message!

Raghu has a bachelor’s degree in engineering from Osmania University.

He has about 20 years of experience spanning 10 countries (India, Hong
Kong, China, Dubai, Bahrain, Egypt, Germany, France, United
Kingdom, and the United States) across major world geographies
largely in the field of Information Technology.

He has worked with people from over 50 different cultures across the
world in various personal & leadership capacities. He is presently
working as an IT program manager, based out of Hyderabad.

Raghu has successfully conducted 175+ Leading Self Leadership

workshops attended by over 25,000 participants from various walks of
life in India and the United States. He enjoys sports and was also part of
the Hyderabad Ranji trophy cricket team. His interests include yoga,
music, sports, travel, and reading. Feel free to send your feedback,
reviews, and suggestions to ananthoj1974@gmail.com

Leadership is flowing with and against the water…

 221 The Everlasting Leader
READ.THINK.ACT

READ.THINK.ACT is not about education in life, its education about

“Life” / “Self”. It is not about experiences in life, it’s about experiencing
the process for success. It’s about realizing, “that the evolving life
cannot be in sync with an unchanging mind”. It’s about leading “Self”
before others. It is about knowing mind and its ability to induce
ignorance, forgetfulness about “Self” and its infinite potential. It’s
about discovering the viruses which destroy the intelligence &
happiness within.

This book is about ways to protect mind and its freedom from invasions
& viruses. No two ways, either you drive out mental virus or let mental
virus drive your life. This book is an effort to convey that a leader is an
independent thinker and leadership is a unique mix of both convention
and unconventional traits. To say the least, leader is a person flowing
with and against the tide, all the time...

Even for the greatest leaders, just a few seconds is

enough for the fall from grace!