NEW DELHI: Swami Vivekananda had said, “Whatever you think, that you will be. If you think yourselves weak, weak you will be; if you think yourselves strong, strong you will be.” These words prove the power we hold in our hands about our own destiny. It is our thoughts, which guide our actions, mould our character and shape our destiny. It is we who consciously and unconsciously decide who we are and who we are going to be. Blessed are those who have understood and trusted this power of self.

I remember an incident in this context, which occurred on the very first day of our management class. As it always happens, we went through a series of self-introductions in different formats, with every professor who walked into the class stressing how crucial it was for us to take his subject seriously.

After a long day with about 10 professors, a small gentleman almost hopped into the class. “I am your maths professor. Since maths is the most important subject of this MBA course, I would like to know from each one of you the level up to which you have studied maths.” Another round of introductions started and

after about 20, a girl stood up and said, “My name is

Aroonima and I have studied maths only up to grade eight.”

“My God! In that case you forget about doing MBA. The maths we teach is of graduation level and you will not be able to clear it. And of course if you fail in one subject you fail in all...” the professor said. The girl stood silently with a strange glint in her eyes and listened along with others to the discourse which followed on the toughness of the subject, and how it was tough even for the brightest of the students to cope with.

Time passed with the professor driving home this fact in every class he took, not missing on a single opportunity to let her know what he thought of students like her who had so little background in his most favourite subject. And then came the exams for the first year followed by the result — not only did she secure 88 per cent marks in her maths paper, she went on to top the MBA exam the next year. At the end of it all, she just said one thing, “I wanted to do my MBA and I simply worked towards it — that’s it. No challenge (maths) could be big enough to stop me from doing it!”

If we look around us, we find that most people today are what they always wanted to be — whether actors, models, doctors, beauty professionals, engineers or media persons. They are there because from their early consciousness that is where they wanted to be.

Be it personal goals or organisational, the ingredients for success remain the same. We need to manage self before we can manage others. Learning from so many who have done it, the ingredients for creating our own future are:

• Clarity of goal

• Faith and belief in self

• An inner fire and zeal to achieve the goal

• Willingness to work hard

• Strong determination and willpower to overcome all challenges

A generous measure of each of these, seasoned

with lots of positive attitude

and the ability to laugh at

oneself and one’s mistakes is a

near perfect recipe for a

successful future.

(The author is a learning and development consultant and the chief synergist at Kiai Peoplez Solutions at New Delhi. She can be reached at kalpanaarora@hotmail.com)