Monday Musings - Episode 209 - Success & Failure are neighbours
MONDAY MUSINGS SEASON 2 - EPISODE 209
Success & Failure are neighbours.
15th May 2023
#Success&FailureAreNeighbours.
Fight for the sake of duty, treating alike happiness and distress, loss and gain, victory and defeat. Fulfilling your responsibility in this way, you will never incur sin – Bhagavad Gita 2.38
We should first understand the terms 'success' and 'failure' properly to appreciate the above sloka. As I mentioned in the previous episode, ‘Success’ and ‘Failure’ are not in the opposite ends of the spectrum as what one would think normally. Success and Failure are neighbours.
“A step towards success is not necessarily a step away from failure. Taking a step towards failure is taking a step closer to eventual success” Jaganathan
Success is not possible if you don’t act. Agreed. But neither ‘failure’ is possible if you don’t act. It is called ‘Failure’ only when you act, and you don’t end up with what you wanted to get. Otherwise, it is not ‘failure’ but ‘inaction’. ?
That is why Lord Krishna says, ‘Act anyway, as action is most important, Success or Failure, loss or gain is less important. Not acting for the fear of failure is a sin’.
Life is a continuous journey. Some might sprint every day, some might walk for most of the days, but you must KEEP MOVING. You cannot stop the journey.
There is no guarantee for success but there is no guarantee for failure as well. If you decide to fight only when there is a guarantee for success, you can never fight in life. ?YOU NEED TO TAKE RISKS.
To “begin with the end in mind” is the second of the seven habits that author?Dr.?Stephen R.?Covey?addressed in his book ‘7 Habits of Highly Effective People’. But Lord Krishna in the above sloka seem to be conveying a different thought. Lord Krishna advises us not to fight for the glory of success and at the same time not to avoid fight for the fear of failure but fight just for the sake of fulfilling your responsibility.
Why would you not start a fight for the glory of succeeding in the fight? Does it sound paradoxical?
Because that will give you the equanimity to face and recover from possible failure. ‘Beginning with the goal of succeeding’ adds stress to the equation which could eventually become a dampener.
End result is different, but the process is the same for success as well as failure. Remember they are neighbours. Failure will become success eventually when there is Belief, Perseverance, Confidence, grit and most importantly ACTION.
Failure is a guarantee only when there is no ACTION or when the ACTION is not qualified with Belief, Perseverance, Confidence and Grit.
You may get what you wanted, aka success, at times or you may end up short at times. Read stories of highly successful people. They would have faced failures for sure in their path to success. Path to success for ISRO is studded with occasions when rockets plunged to the ‘Bay of Bengal’. Secret to success is in incorporating the learnings in the preparation for the next launch.
For those people who come up short - the adventure, the learning, the growth, the experience are the gains. They will always have a story to share.
People who miss out (remember this is 'inaction' and not 'failure') are those who aren't willing to take a risk or just get caught up in the routines. Lord Krishna calls them sinners.
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“We must treat every success as a failure and every failure as a success”. Jaganathan
Does it sound too confusing and too eccentric?
It is easier to define why should every failure be treated as a success. Because failures give us more opportunities TO LEARN than success. Because failures are steppingstones for success. But why would you treat every success as a failure? There are many reasons.
We must be deliberate in our quest to acquire lessons from successes, so they are proportionate to our lessons from failures.
Treat your successes like failures – become reflective in your thinking immediately after you succeed. Force yourself to be hyper-critical of the entire process and ask questions to zero in on the lessons.
There are more answers to this question “Why Lord Krishna wanted us to treat every success as a failure?” We will see in the next episode.
Footnote – ‘To Celebrate’ success is an important part of a success. It is a wrong understanding that Lord Krishna cautioned against celebrating success. Celebrate every success. Don’t have to be ashamed of celebrating a success. Maybe, the wisdom to treat success and failure alike can lead to ‘celebrating failures as well’.
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Nothing stopped this millennial in his quest for making a change.
I happened to meet and listen to the mesmerizing stories (including that of how to face a King Cobra when it coils next to you in the bed!) from a young man, #AnkitDash, yesterday and I thought it would be very interesting for our readers to know how he fought against many odds to make change to the lives of villagers in a remote village in Rajasthan, Tilonia near Ajmer. Meet Ankit Dash, young and enterprising change maker.
Driven by passion to explore rural India and make a meaningful impact to the society, Ankit stepped away from the security of cushy jobs for 4 years to embark on a transformative journey as an #SBIYouthForIndia?fellow in the year 2019.
His spirits did not dampen because of the hardships he faced while living in Tilonia in Rajasthan away from the comfort zones of home as well as the initial apathy of the villagers to his efforts in bringing about a change for them. In his own words “I would have faced failure in my attempts to bring a change for almost 360 days in a year but I persevered to make them accept the change”.?
Ankit lived in an old abandoned school building for 18 months surrounded by infrequent guests in the form of serpents making occasional enquiries. He had to often survive on the food provided by the villagers as the nearest hotel would be of 8 kms by walk.
He discovered a pressing solid waste issue rooted in historical caste-based customs. The heart-wrenching moment came when he saw a fellow worker segregating sanitary waste barehanded. Determined to make a difference, Ankit collaborated with the staff of Barefoot College and a local ironsmith to create a sanitary waste box (SWB) - an ergonomic, contactless solution for the disposal and collection of sanitary waste.
After piloting the SWBs at?‘The #BarefootCollege (Social Work and Research Centre)’?campus, Ankit gained the support of the village council head, a woman who understood its potential to help girls attend classes during menstruation. The SWBs were soon adopted in schools, clinics, and public toilets in Tilonia.?Ankit’s idea was later adopted by the Government of Rajasthan for other villages.
Ankit concluded “My journey taught me the power of empathy, resilience, and sustainable solutions in transforming lives and communities”.
Ankit took up corporate life after his 18 months stint at Tilonia and now works as a Business Manager with Simpl (LinkedIn profile - https://www.dhirubhai.net/in/ankitdash94/details/experience/)
He sums it up by stating “I would have probably continued my village life if not for that day when I woke up to see a serpent slithering across my thigh to coil up next to me in my bed”. I hope Ankit will continue to be a change maker in whatever he does.
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Conceived and compiled by Jaganathan (www.authorjaganathan.com) and published as a weekly newsletter of #OnlyPositive information every Monday in LinkedIn. Subscribe to the newsletter #MondayMusings in LinkedIn
Head - Strategic Alliances, Business Development & Partnership. Bootstrapped to million dollars!
1 年Well said sir
Realtor Associate @ Next Trend Realty LLC | HAR REALTOR, IRS Tax Preparer
1 年Thanks for posting.