CHANAKYA’S THREE ASPECTS OF SUCCESS - Radhakrishnan Pillai

[Guest guest]

CHANAKYA'S THREE ASPECTS OF SUCCESS

 

- Radhakrishnan Pillai

 

 

 

Who doesn't want to be successful? Forget the highly competitive corporate

world, today even children studying in schools and colleges want success. So do

folks in their own homes and societies.

 

Workshops and seminars are conducted on how to be successful. Entire

organisations spend huge amounts of time, money, efforts and energy in becoming

successful, and making their teams successful.

 

But what exactly is success? And how does one really become successful?

 

Well, success is very relative.

 

The parameters for success change from person to person. However, when we study

the lives of successful people, we come across some core areas and patterns on

the basis of which they succeeded. These will help each of us to succeed too.

 

Even our own Indian hero Chanakya had gone deep into the subject of success.

 

He said,

 

" Success is three fold – That attainable by the power of counsel is success by

counsel, that attainable by the power of might is success by might, that

attainable by the power of energy is success by energy " (6.2.34)

Let us look at each of these separately:

 

SUCCESS BY COUNSEL

 

Every person needs an advisor. Better the advisor, the better one is guaranteed

to succeed. In fact, one should aim at having the best advisor all the time.

 

Chanakya, in another chapter of Arthashastra, had said that, " Any undertaking

that one takes should be done with the help of advisors who are a specialist in

that particular field. "

 

If you ever have a choice between a mediocre teacher who charges less, and the

best teacher who charges more, go for the second option.

 

You would, thus, minimise possible risks and also reach the goal faster.

 

SUCCESS BY MIGHT

 

Muscle power is a strength too. But might also means what one derives from his

position, or the chair that one holds.

 

A mighty person can take many quick decisions based on his authority and his

execution capacity. Apart from holding such a high and responsible position,

another way for becoming mighty is to associate with someone mightier than

oneself.

 

SUCCESS BY ENERGY

 

This is called will power. A person can get success on the basis of the

enthusiasm and the passion shown.

 

A highly inspired and energetic person is very contagious. Anyone who comes

around such a person also feels charged. Great leaders had this power. They were

the ones that could mesmerise masses with their oratory skills. Such energetic

persons could also make the most lethargic person productive.

 

This is akin to what Napoleon once said: " It requires a stroke of a genius to

awaken the mass consciousness. In any given century, only a few can do that! "