Hard work, the best route to the top
A burning desire, they say, is the starting point of all accomplishments. Just as a small fire cannot give much heat, a weak desire cannot produce great results.
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This is where Socrates’ philosophy about success – “when you want success as badly as you want air, you will get it. There is no other secret” – is of significant importance.
This, however, does not mean that one need not struggle for success because if you need it as badly as the breath, then it will come with hard work and determination.
It is for this reason that on the Springboard Sunday evening’s radio programme on Joy FM, Mrs Alipt Sanam Hari, who is a motivational speaker and an Indian tennis star, noted that the underlining thing about success was hard work.
Mrs Hari’s appearance on the show was the third of the ‘Critical Success Factors,’ series aimed at providing a platform for informed discussions on the key critical factors that lead to success in people’s lives.
It is expected to inspire and motivate audience across the country to emulate and imbibe the successful life stories of people and use them to better their lives.
Relating sport to real life
Mrs Hari said it was very crucial for an individual to give his or her best in every endeavour in life in order to be successful.
That, she said, would help unearth the talent hidden in every person.
“There are many people who are talented in life but the virtue of hard work is what success is all about. When talent stops working hard, that is when hard work outcompete talent,” she said.
Asked about the link between sport and life’s lesson, she said sport was a microcosm of life, which meant that all experiences gathered in sport could be implemented in life for one to become a winner.
She said her experience on the tennis court involved dealing with pressure, anxiety, performance and emotions. She said transforming those lessons from the tennis court to life ensured that she was successful both professionally and in real life.
“It is very hard to defeat someone who never gives up, so you just have to keep persisting, and be courageous because the definition of courage is to have a love affair with the unknown,” she stressed.
Critical success factors
She mentioned determination, innovation, sacrifice, commitment, independence, passion and persistence, loyalty, imaging the impossible, never giving up and being earnest as her 10 critical success factors.
Identifying the reason she chose the 10 success factors, which is the acronym ‘DESCIPLINE,’ Mrs Haris said everyone in life needed to choose to be disciplined or regret later on.
According her, ‘DISCIPLINE’ is the delayed gratification in a short term in order to enjoy greater reward in the long term and that was a prerequisite to success.
Be innovative
She urged Ghanaians, especially the youth, to be innovative in the struggle for success.
“Every day, you wake up in the morning, there should be an idea that you work with and every creative thought that you put to execute that idea is innovation and that also distinguishes a leader from a follower,” she added.
“When you are eager to learn and experiment, it is crucial to be humble, think of yourself as foolish and you will be eager to learn, you will be open to other people’s ideas and you will be open to educate yourself and that is the touch stone of an innovator,” he said.
She said success stories were determined by the amount of sacrifices made, and added that if a person wanted to be successful, it would not be about what that person was willing to do but what he/she would be willing to give up in exchange for the goal.
Remain committed
She noted that it was important for a person to remain committed to the health, life partner and work. Above all, Mrs Haris said people should be committed to their word.
She explained that there was a vast difference between interest in something and being committed to that thing and advised people to note the difference and apply them accordingly.
She said when one was not interested in something that thing would usually be done at the convenience of that individual but when one was committed, there would definitely be no excuses.
“People fail not because they lack the desire but because they lack the commitment to cause something to happen. So, for success, you have to be committed to your goals and yourself,” he said.
Again, she said, one of the notable features of life was about an individual becoming true to him or herself and not comparing their lives with other people’s failures.
“Each one of us has a unique talent, we need to explore that talent and make it a calling in life,” she said.
Focus on your passion
According to her, it was crucial for the youth to focus on things that caught their eyes. She said things that caught the eye mostly represented things people were passionate about, and added that “passion is born when you catch a glimpse of your true potential.”
“It is very important to be loyal to your conscience, work, and relationship and to yourself because, if you are not loyal in these circumstances, you are not going to be loyal to your inner peace and if you are not loyal to your inner peace, then you have betrayed everyone.”
“Therefore, the best and easy way to be loyal is to be honest,” she said.
The next critical success factor she identified was impossible.
She said impossible was a big word that people found easy to use rather than adopting its power to change it.
The motivational speaker added that the word impossible was the word possible written differently.
She noted that in life, it was very difficult to defeat people who never gave up on something.
