Success Is Servicing Oneself

(Published in Banking Services Chronicle June 2005)

When you keep on doing the same thing repeatedly—howsoever successful it may be—you may have apprehensions of failure. I sometimes feel that even Bill Gates gets sceptical at times about his success. Though he tops the Rich List year after year, he feels there is something amiss. This is perhaps what prompted him to go for charity foundation. And this is perhaps what made him relinquish the post of Microsoft CEO.

Success means to re-define oneself. Every time you have cleared a height, you need to up the bar further. Or maybe change the sport itself, if that gives you satisfaction. Billions of people have an imposed notion of success. So they toil and toil, night and day, summer and winter, to become recognised on those parameters. But there are a few who, when they are on the crest of the wave of success, suddenly feel themselves to be “the hollow men”.

And then comes the feeling: What have I been doing all these years? The parameters on which my success is based are not mine in the first place. They are mere crutches on which I am hobbling. I have forgotten the power of my legs. And why, I have wings too? I can fly if I will to do so.

A sudden feeling of this kind has the danger of crippling you further. It may even lead to a nervous breakdown. And it is therefore important to master the art of “servicing”.

The word breakdown is mostly associated with machines. How can we prevent a machine from breaking down? By taking it to the mechanic for servicing at regular intervals. The regularity with which this is done ensures the longevity of the device as well as its efficiency.

Our concept of success is also a machine and deserves similar treatment. Only, the best mechanic in this case doesn’t reside in a faraway workshop. It is ever available within oneself. Waiting to be consulted free of cost.

What I mean to say is that there is a need for each one of us to communicate with oneself from time to time. Look how I left the frequency vague—“from time to time”. Because how often this exercise needs to be done will be determined by the person doing it.

And the exercise is quite easy. I wish Ramdev Maharaj took it to the soul of every human being. First of all, you need—maybe you’ve already guessed it—a quiet place. Because, remember you are the arbiter of your success. Success is neither money nor power. It is not even knowledge. It is the getting of what you set out to achieve. The only problem is what we set out to achieve yesterday is not what we want to achieve today. Hence my emphasis on a regular visit to the mechanic.

Secondly, you need—and this is the tough part of the game—to shed all your biases. Because, even when we are solitary, we carry with ourselves the baggage of expectations, influences and ideology. They inhibit us from making an objective choice.

So, am I suggesting you to make a choice in a vacuum? No, that’s simply not possible. The medium will exist in the form of expectations, influences and ideology. Just as air exists and we are blessed with it as breath. But they should not become the wind—or worse still, the tornado—that sweeps us away from our point and imperils our very existence.

The message is thus simple and can be learnt from everyday devices: success is servicing oneself. At regular intervals. Whenever you hear the slightest noise, check your machine.