Do your best: Perform any task you are doing to the very best of your ability. With determination, you will be able to accomplish any task and any goal.
Don’t hurt others: Do not accomplish things at the cost of anyone in the short or long run. Accomplishing things to the detriment of others will inhibit your ability to be truly successful in the long run.
Believe in your work: Believe in what you are doing. Self-confidence is essential to accomplishing a goal successfully
Success is seen as the measure of one’s will. Those with the strongest will and the dedication to back it succeed. But is that all there is to it? I think there is an even simpler definition. The formula to becoming an accomplished person is simple. Perform your work to the best of your ability in every given moment. That’s it! Nothing more is needed!
I remember attending a sewing class at the Convent of Jesus and Mary School in Delhi. I was six years old, and was working on the embroidery for a tea cosy. I was painstakingly sewing in the outline of the red flowers in ‘chain stitch’ and filling the petals in to give the flowers depth. Before I knew it, the bell rang and my neighbour said, ‘Oops! You did not finish the green stems! We were supposed to have all that done. The teacher will be so mad at you!’
I was nervous as I took my work up to the needlework teacher’s desk. She looked at my embroidery and said, ‘This is flawless.’ She held it up to the class and said, ‘Look at this example of neat work.
All of you should talk less and focus on doing such beautiful work.’ ‘But I did not get to the green stems,’ I said softly. ‘Yes, I see that,’ said the teacher kindly. ‘You will have to come in five minutes early for the next class, missing five minutes of break time, so that you can get this done.’ She was smiling. ‘But your work is excellent,’ she added.
This is one of my earliest memories of being commended for my work. I understood the power of excellence and enjoyed the feeling of doing my best and knowing that it was the way forward. While working hard on our personal goals, we have to believe in them and accomplish them without hurting anyone—even ourselves—in the process. These ideas have led many great people to accomplish their ideas with ease and success.
When I think about success, I remember the cycling race organized by the Jaycee Committee in 1978. I was then a teenager in Mumbai. I loved bicycling and wanted to take part in the amateur cycling race, which was to start at the Flora restaurant in Worli and end at the Oberoi Hotel at Nariman Point. I told my parents that I wanted to participate and they said that I had to practice the route and work hard if I wanted to succeed. I wanted to accomplish more than just finishing the race; I wanted to win the race. My father said he would help me. Every morning, at 5 a.m., he would drive me and my bike to the Flora restaurant and I would get down with my bike and ride the route; my father would drive the car alongside, encouraging me.
On the day of the race, I felt strong and calm. I had worked hard and was excited about the race. The race flagged off and I started cycling. I gave it my best and kept going strong. As I was biking, I could hear people cheering along the roadside. I realized they were cheering me on as I was ahead in the race. I was the leader and quite a bit ahead of the other cyclists. I kept on giving it my best shot and soon saw the finish line ribbon, and crossed it. It felt so good that I had won the race and that my hard work had paid off. I was just fifteen and I could see the joy and pride on the faces of my parents and my younger brother and sister. I went to hug and thank my father for waking up so early every day—before his long day of work—to help me practise for this race!
When the time came for the medals to be presented, I received a terrible blow. I was told that I was disqualified since I was not an ‘amateur’ cyclist. They said that I came in three kilometres ahead of the girl who came in second; there was no way I was an amateur! The girl who finished second was the daughter of someone in the Jaycee Committee, and it seemed like they used the ‘not amateur’ argument as an excuse to disqualify me. I was very disappointed, and even more so for having seen the sadness in my father’s eyes. It crushed me. I did not mind my hard work being in vain, but my father had woken up each day with so much love and dedication. It was unfair and that moment hurt me more than anything in life.
When we got home, my father called me and said, ‘You are a champion in my eyes. We are so proud of you! You won the race and were successful and no one can take that away from you!’ His words have stayed with me. Isn’t it worth more than any medal? This incident taught me the meaning of success. I learnt to ascertain what success means to me and that I don’t have to prove anything to anyone. The feeling of knowing that I have done my best and succeeded is the best and truest feeling of success!
