Five Finger Theory for Success in Five Steps

The Five Finger Theory Page 1 of 18
Date: 2nd
Feb, 2007
The Five Finger Theory for Success by Balakumar Ravichandran
eMail: balakumar.ravichandran@gmail.com Mobile: +91 9901919109
THE FIVE FINGER
THEORY– Extn.
BY
R. Balakumar

Date: 2nd
Feb, 2007
THE FIVE FINGER THEORY
If you want to succeed and don’t know how; “The Five Finger Theory” is a sure shot way
to tell you how to succeed with your ambitions.
Somebody once said “Success is like a golden lock; it is just that you don’t know where
the key is”. I, R. Balakumar will prove this wrong, with my theory.
In today’s competitive world, every person strives to create his / her own individual
identity and become successful. Few succeed but many fail. The ratio of people who
succeed is always less than the ones who fail. If we were to analyze and ascertain as to
what makes the few men and women climb unassailable heights leaving the others
behind, we will realize that these successful people do certain things that the others fail to
do. The five finger theory brings out those missed out characteristics, qualities, a step by
step pathway, enabling you to be successful.
Never tell people how to do things. Tell them what to do and they will surprise you
with their ingenuity. - George Smith Patton, War as I Knew It, 1947
Theories such as the CORE THEORY for SUCCESS, THEORY OF SUCCESS in
LEADING & SUSTAINING CHANGES, etc., are situational. While The Five Finger
theory provides you with a step by step process that is applicable and workable in all
circumstances. TFFT lists out 5 key elements / attributes that are essential to attain
success. Those five elements are PASSION, INTEREST to LEARN, EXPERIENCE
& EXPOSURE, ABILITY to THINK BEYOND and PATIENCE. These attributes
when used in the following prescribed manner leads to success.
When we consider all successful people at present and in the past, we understand that,
these 5 elements had played a vital role in their success. It is just that, we are unaware of
the importance of these elements and ignorant about a common path followed by all those
successful.
However, before we look at the path to be followed, we must understand the difference
between an aim and success. When would one consider being successful? “When we
achieve our Aim / Goal / Objective, we consider ourselves as successful”. The goal / aim
may be short-term or long-term. Therefore, the starting point is always with an aim/goal
or an objective. As per a survey conducted nearly 50% of professionals surveyed have no
well defined aim. Many are confused with a short & long term goal / aim and do not
know which of these to concentrate on. Hence having a well defined goal/aim is
quintessential for success.
“A human being without aim is just like a human body without life”
Let us see how “The Five Finger Theory” works…

Date: 2nd
Feb, 2007
STEP – 1 - PASSION
Once we have identified our aim, we must strive to be passionate towards the aim.
Passion is a strong feeling or emotion, intense desire which gives the drive to achieve
something. When we are passionate about something, it automatically increases the drive
in that field enhancing our chances of success.
Ray Charles Robinson and Stevie Wonder, It is about being blind and becoming the
most admirable musicians in the world. It is about being deaf and becoming the greatest
composer in the history of music, Beethoven. It is about having triple disabilities of
blindness, deafness and severe speech impediment and becoming one of the best
American author, activist & lecturer like Helen Keller. All the above mentioned giants
have one thing in common, and that is PASSION.
“Passion is a step-in stone for any success”
However, we should remember that passion alone would not lead us to success.
PASSION  INTEREST TO LEARN
PASSION INCOMPLETE1AIM
2

Date: 2nd
Feb, 2007
STEP – 2 – INTEREST TO LEARN
Once developing a passionate feeling towards the aim, the immediate action is to increase
our knowledge towards the subject we are dealing with. A passionate man with blighted
information is never going to make it far. The only way to obtain knowledge is through
Learning.
“Knowledge unused is useless.” Hence, we needs to “IMPLEMENT” (putting into
action) the knowledge acquired through learning. The implementation process is
followed with “VALIDATION” or “TESTING” to check whether,
1. The knowledge that has been acquired through learning is sufficient or not?
2. The knowledge that is implemented, is taking us towards our aim or not?
3. Is there any changes required in what we have learnt?
If you don't know where you are going, you will probably end up somewhere else. -
Lawrence J. Peter
Only through validation, we come to know where we stand in relation to the aim. The
possible outcomes through validation could be, YES – heading towards the aim or NO –
diverting. If YES, proceed to the Step-3.
KNOWLEDGE
IMPLEMENT
VALIDATE
3
YES
NO INCOMPLETE
INTEREST
TO LEARN
ADAPTABILITY
PERSEVERANCE

Date: 2nd
Feb, 2007
If No, we must find what went wrong and try to change them accordingly. This action is
called “ADAPTABILITY”.
To make necessary changes and correction, an individual would require Motivation.
Where would we get motivation at a stage after the changes and efforts are made?
Perseverance is the hard work you do after you get tired of doing the hard work you
already did. - Newt Gingrich
At this stage, we should develop the skill of “PERSEVERANCE”. Perseverance would
provide strength to fight back and self-motivate to get back to the start of the step-2 and
repeat the cycle until we gets an answer “YES” at the validation stage.
When Thomas Alva Edison was seeking to invent the electric light bulb, he did not get it
right the first time. It took him approximately 10,000 experiments to invent the perfect
set-up for the electric light bulb.
PASSION + INTEREST TO LEARN  EXPERIENCE & EXPOSURE

Date: 2nd
Feb, 2007
STEP – 3 – EXPERIENCE & EXPOSURE
Having successfully completed the step 1 & 2, we would have obtained knowledge,
information, awareness and understanding of the aim. Acquiring all the mentioned details
in depth, we would certainly have the necessary “EXPERIENCE & EXPOSURE” on
that particular field.
Some people get confused between Experience & Exposure.
The stated definitions are,
EXPERIENCE – Understanding a situation through constant learning practice.
EXPOSURE – Having undergone a variety of situations so as to have quantifiable
knowledge of the universe of situations.
Experience & Exposure must go hand in hand.
At this stage, having enough E&E, meaning to say, having enough knowledge,
information, awareness & understanding, would certainly keep us a step ahead of others.
There are so many people who reach this level and find very difficult to move forward.
The reason is that, when we reach this level, we start considering this level as the success
point and get stagnated. Some people could also develop a negative attitude, that they
know everything and assuming that they have succeeded in their journey and stop
thinking beyond this stage.
The only disability in life is a bad attitude. - Scott Hamilton
POSITIVE
ATTITUDE
INCOMPLETE
4
EXPERIENCE
& EXPOSURE

Date: 2nd
Feb, 2007
Negative attitude at this stage would not let us go further. Implementing any work at this
stage along with negative attitude, might sometimes lead us to failure. In addition,
negative attitude might corrupt our thoughts and will not let us move in the right
direction, so negative attitude should be avoided.
The greatest discovery of my generation is that a human being can alter his life by
altering his attitudes. - William James
When “POSITIVE ATTITUDE” is developed / implemented, a lot of positive changes
would happen. This change would provide clarity of thought, an understanding of the
purpose of action, logical thought flow, interest to do right things and etc. Positive
attitude would help us push forward to see what is next.
Attitude is a little thing that makes a big difference. - Winston Churchill
Example 1
Step 3 will absolutely make us think different. “ABILITY TO THINK BEYOND”
PASSION + INTEREST TO LEARN + EXPERIENCE & EXPOSURE 
ABILITY TO THINK BEYOND

Date: 2nd
Feb, 2007
STEP – 4 – ABILITY TO THINK BEYOND
“ABILITY TO THINK BEYOND” in this theory, it doesn’t speak about creative
thinking or innovative thinking, but intellectual thoughts.
They who dream by day are cognizant of many things which escape those who
dream only by night. - Edgar Allan Poe, "Eleonora"
This is a step, where we understand our SELF and create our own identity.
After completing Step 1, 2 & 3, our thinking ability would have gained more space. We
would start looking at things with a different perspective. We would have developed a
new vision for our AIM, meaning to say we will have an ability to view our aim in
different angle.
We would start asking a lot of questions regarding our aim and on our SELF, “SELF-
REALIZATION”. The more we question and more we answer, we start realizing the
importance of SELF, purpose of our existence and try to find the meaning to our life.
I paint objects as I think them, not as I see them. - Pablo Picasso
Mother Teresa taught at St. Mary's High School in Calcutta, but the suffering and
poverty she glimpsed outside the convent walls made such a deep impression on her that
in 1948 she requested her superiors to allow her to leave the convent school and devote
herself to working among the poorest of the poor in the slums of Calcutta. Although she
had no funds, she depended on Divine Providence, and started an open-air school for
slum children. Soon she was joined by voluntary helpers, and financial support was also
forthcoming.
ABILITY TO
THINK BEYOND
SELF-
REALIZATION
5
INCOMPLETE

Date: 2nd
Feb, 2007
On October 7, 1950, Mother Teresa received permission from the Holy See to start her
own order, "The Missionaries of Charity", whose primary task was to love and care for
those persons nobody was prepared to look after. This made it possible for her to extend
the scope of her work.
Mother Theresa being born in Macedonia, thought about do something for the suffering
people in India, which we being an Indians had not thought about (At that point of time).
“MORE YOU THINK, MORE YOU GROW”
Thus “The Five finger theory” tell us how the “ABILITY TO THINK BEYOND” and
“SELF-REALIZATION” helps us to get closer to AIM, to become SUCCESSFUL.
Hence, before taking any decision, we have to think of all possible ways to achieve a
meaningful outcome.
Step – 1 to Step – 4 will provide all the necessary paths to attain success.
Step – 1 to Step – 4 will not take us to Step – 5. Patience has to be implemented at this
stage for any situation.

Date: 2nd
Feb, 2007
STEP – 5 – PATIENCE
We see patience as the last element because; “PATIENCE” is the most powerful tool to
achieve success. Patience is a final check point for any success. If we lose patience at this
stage, we lose everything. We might still reach our AIM, but satisfaction is not
guaranteed.
Adolf Hitler, the most powerful dictator the world had ever seen, shot himself to death.
The only reason for his failure was his lack of patience. The crucial decision in his career,
the invasion of Soviet Russia on June 22, 1941, was his first step to failure…
Hitler prematurely proclaimed in October 1941 that the Soviet Union had been "struck
down and would never rise again." In reality he had overlooked the pitiless Russian
winter to which his own troops were now condemned and which forced the Wehrmacht
to abandon the highly mobile warfare which had previously brought such spectacular
successes.
Hitler would have been a very successful leader, if he had to wait for the right time and
acted according to the situation.
One moment of patience may ward off great disaster. One moment of impatience
may ruin a whole life. - Chinese Proverb
In this theory, patience means “always wait for your turn”.
Being patient, if we “ACT and REACT ACCORDING TO THE SITUATION” We
can definitely achieve our AIM and become SUCCESSFUL.
PATIENCE
SUCCESS COMPLETE
REACT
ACCORDING TO
THE SITUATION
6

Date: 2nd
Feb, 2007
Arriving at one goal is the starting point to another. - John Dewey
Hence, once our goal is met, lay a foundation for the next.
Now, achieving success, we should understand that, there is something above success.
PASSION + INTEREST TO LEARN + EXPERIENCE & EXPOSURE + ABILITY
TO THINK BEYOND + PATIENCE  SUCCESS

Date: 2nd
Feb, 2007
STEP – 5 (Extension) – SUSTAINABILITY
On achieving success, we would look for a longer success period. If we are not able to
sustain our success, then we are definitely not successful. Hence, “SUSTAINABILITY”
plays an important role for a long-term success.
Considering satisfaction as a final requirement for the ultimate success, Let me throw a
question to the entire human race. How many of us have succeeded in our lives, yet
satisfied? (Note - Those who say, “they have succeeded, yet satisfied” will not have
any need for want thereafter). There are very few people in the world, who have
reached this stage.
As long as I have a want, I have a reason for living. Satisfaction is death. - George
Bernard Shaw
On being successful, take a break to “Realize / Recollect / Recall” our entire journey.
We will feel an everlasting “SATISFACTION” and this satisfaction is our
“ULTIMATE SUCCESS”.
Mother Teresa's work has been recognized and acclaimed throughout the world, for
Peace. She was very successful in reaching the heights in achieving whatever she wanted
to (despite of all the challenges & struggle) and never took a break from her journey till
her death. Very important things to note here is, she achieved what she wanted and was
satisfied with everything she did for the world.
SUCCESS
SATISFACTIONSUSTAINABILITY REALIZATION
6
ULTIMATE SUCCESS

Date: 2nd
Feb, 2007
Mother Teresa is a successful person according to The Five Finger Theory.
One filled with joy preaches without preaching. - Mother Teresa
SUCCESS + SATISFACTION  ULTIMATE SUCCESS
----------------------------------------------------------------
NOTE:
“THE FIVE FINGER THEORY” is a very simple pathway to attain success, but
needs practice. The theory leads to success, when used according to the steps prescribed
as above, because each step is dependent on the previous step.
----------------------------------------------------------------

Date: 2nd
Feb, 2007
WHY “THE FIVE FINGER THEORY”?
In the present competitive world, the life has become hard-hitting for every individual.
Competition, change in technology, change in lifestyle and various other external factors
challenge the people of today’s generation at every stage they step into. People spend half
their time thinking on how to cope up with the nonstop varying scenario.
It is very obvious that, People are more concerned about their day to day needs and wants
(Survival) and scared to take risk or to think beyond. Thus people often compromise
themselves for whatever they are, and loose focus on what they wanted to do. These days,
people consider themselves as successful; if they had just managed to survive year after
year.
This attitude of present generation will not let us grow. The main reason for this
stagnation is just that, people don’t have a proper pathway which will guide them till the
end.
This “THE FIVE FINGER THEORY” provides a step by step process for any
individual, under any circumstances to achieve success in whatever they wanted to
achieve and also help the people to identify where they stand regards to their aim.
Different scenarios in different time frames pose different challenges and obstacles for
individuals and entities to attain success. These challenges and obstacles could be
minimized and a proven path could be laid for attaining success. “The Five Finger
Theory” describes those methodologies and sequences in detail.
TFFT talks about five top primary elements and those are PASSION, INTEREST to
LEARN, EXPERIENCE & EXPOSURE, ABILITY to THINK BEYOND and
PATIENCE.
TFFT is a combination of the above mentioned primary elements along with necessary
subsidiary elements followed in a particular format, proves to be a guideline for attaining
success. The Five Finger Theory elucidates those primary and secondary elements and
their impact on the overall objectives.
This theory shows us the common path followed by all those successful personalities.
This theory would be a benefit for all the individuals who just need an appropriate
pathway to achieve their goal and to become successful.

Date: 2nd
Feb, 2007
DIAGRAM

Date: 2nd
Feb, 2007
FLOW-CHART

Date: 2nd
Feb, 2007

Date: 2nd
Feb, 2007
-NOTES-

Five Finger Theory for Success in Five Steps

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