individuals in sports, cinema, politics, business or any other field, whose success seems hand written by god himself. As soon as these individuals get a chance to showcase their talent you know they are destined for a bright future and lots of success. But ever so often these bright stars just fade away into the oblivion in no time. All the promise that they held, all the good luck that you thought would be bestowed upon them eludes them and they are forgotten, never to be remembered again except as part of conversations where you talk about how that guy had so much promise but could not make it because he could not digest his success... because he had no respect for his seniors...because he forgot where he came from.....so on and so forth....
Every time I hear such stories I am compelled to think-why is it that even with all the talent in the world we could not see more of our talented future superstar. And every time I am faced with this question one common differentiating factor which emerges from all my internal dialogues is the "Value" system of that individual and his/her ability to practice that value system which can explain his/her fall from grace.
Basic values of respect, integrity and persistence are what I often see as missing in all these one time superstars.
Its an age old saying you give respect, you get respect and that's what our superstars sometimes forget. Take a lesson from your successful peers and seniors and always be respectful to others. Every time you are respectful to the other person, you are adding a drop of positivity to his/her mental bucket and making him/her richer with your words. Make sure that you are as respectful to others as you would want them to be to you and you will never ever be in a situation where you feel you are not being treated well.
Integrity in all your dealings is critical to ensure you win respect of others. Be honest in your dealings both professional and personal. So, no matter how great the temptation is always be mindful of what you are putting at stake with this one act of dishonesty and evaluate whether you should give in to that temptation or not. Your inner balance will guide you towards making the right decision.
So much has been written and so much has been said about the value of being persistent and the rewards that lay ahead of you if you do not give up on your dreams. Yet we see our promising stars missing the mark because of their inability to see beyond the present and the need to be persistent in their efforts. Your success may open a lot of doors for you but you have to make sure that you are making a continuous efforts to keep those doors open for you. It does not take time for this world to find newer heroes to praise and newer idols to worship so make sure that your efforts are forever aligned to keeping you on the right track without comprising on the basics of what got you there in the first place.
These values though may sound very obvious and basic are often one critical piece which could explain the fall from grace for many of our stars and I sincerely hope that the all mighty gives all our promising superstars of future the clarity of thoughts and actions which may help them live these values in all their actions.
While I sign off from this post, I just want you all to know that I wrote this piece to just get you to start thinking and make your own list of values which may help you become superstars in your own right.
One last thought: Talent may get you the first date with success but it is your ability to live your value system that may help you translate that first date into a lifelong relationship.
2 comments:
Hi Saurabh,
A nice piece indeed. I completely agree with your point of view. But in my opinion their are other things too which can be attributed to this
1. Constant Hunger: What brings you here won't take you there. I feel the hunger which these superstars show to arrive at the centre stage diminshes post they have arrived. What differentiate those who are successful to who are not is the fact that you are capable of innovating different ways of doing things, your constant inclination towards learning things, your ability to find new meaning to the task you are doing and full commitment towards your profession. Two people who come instantly when I talk about this are, Amitabh Bachchan and Sachin Tendulkar and both of them are in their respective professions for more than 2 decades.
2. Distance from reality: What happens once you r in limelight people start behaving little differently. There are lot of psychophants around who want your attention for their own benefits and would not like you to see the truth. Slowly the successful person starts beliveing that whatever he is doing is right and nothing is wrong with him and that's why he starts going away from the reality. These people don't have trusted advisors who can sit with him and tell him this is wrong this is right and make him see the mirror. LML went out of business not because it didn't had good technology etc. it went because what leadership did when the change was coming..
3. Huility: Last but not the least is your humblensss. Its said in vedas, the tree which bears more fruits, bends and those which doesn't bear any fruit stands erect. Similar is case with small rivers which makes so much noise, vis a vis an ocean which is calm and quite despite having so many rivers inside it. Similar is the case with successful people, those who are successful, aren't insecure..they help others overcome thier fears and inspire them for bigger success. For them the success bestows new responsiblity of taking more people along with them and they want others too be successful along with them. If this is not in you, you would not be able to attract constant success.
But thanks for sharing your thoughts on this nice topic which definately requires a closer look on what we call, "Flash in the pan"
Cheers!!
Ashish
Third point is Humility.. Sorry for the typo!!
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