Dr. adukia's how to be a super person successful

How to be a Super Super Successful Person in the Boundaryless World…!!!
Dr. Adukia’s
HOW TO BE A SUPER, SUPER
SUCCESSFUL PERSON IN
THE BOUNDARYLESS WORLD…!!!
Dr. Rajkumar S. Adukia
Author of more than 300 books
WINNER OF NATIONAL BOOK HONOUR AWARD 2018
B.Com. (Hons.), FCA, FCS, FCMA, LL.B, MBA, Dip. IFRS (UK),
DLL&LW, DIPR, Dip. in Criminology, Ph.D.
Mobile: 098200 61049
E-mail: drrajkumaradukia@gmail.com

iv
DISCLAIMER
The opinions and views expressed in this publication are those of the Contributor.
No part of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any
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This publication is sold with the understanding that neither the publisher, nor the
author will be responsible for the result of any action taken on the basis of this work
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Edition: January, 2019
Price ` 249/-
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Office Nos. 3 to 6, Meredien Apartments, Veera Desai Road,
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Tel.: +91-22-2676 5506/2676 3179
Website: www.rishabhtraining.com
E-mail: info@rishabhtraining.com
© All rights including copyrights and rights of translations etc., are reserved and
vested exclusively with Dr. Rajkumar S. Adukia. No part of this book may be
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reproduced on any information storage device, without the written permission of the
publishers.

v
COMPETENT INSOLVENCY PROFESSIONALS PRIVATE LIMITED
COMPETENT VALUATION PRIVATE LIMITED
1/3, Meridien Apartment, Veera Desai Road, Andheri (W), Mumbai-400058
Tel.: 022 2676 5506, 022 2676 3179
E-mail ID: info@insolvency.services, info@competentvaluation.com
As an Insolvency Professional, we render the following services:
 Act as an Interim Resolution Professional/Resolution
Professional.
 Representing on behalf of Operational creditor, Workmen or
Employee, financial creditor or corporate debtor.
 Assisting in formulation and submission of claims by
financial creditor/operational creditor and other creditors.
 Assisting for Public Announcement.
 Preparation of Information Memorandum and Resolution
Plan.
 Keep track on time management for existing IP in order to
complete CIRP within 180 days or such extended days.
 Assisting in Auction or Private Sale.
 Filing details to Information Utility.
 Analysing the financial statements of the Company.
 Drafting of Notice and Agenda for convening the meeting of
the Committee of Creditors.
 Assisting for appointing Registered Valuer in order to
determine Liquidation value of the Corporate Debtor.
 Managing the affairs of the Corporate Debtor as a going
concern.
 Studying various business verticals of the Company in
which it operates.
 Verification of all claims received by the Creditors and
determining the amount of claim followed by maintaining
the list of creditors.
 Exploring various other restructuring options.

vi
 Filing an Application with the Adjudicating Authority and
Representing before them.
 Act as a Liquidator.
 Recovery under various relevant Laws.
 Factoring, Loan & Sale Documentation.
 Assessment of distressed assets, cash position, due diligence
and turnaround feasibility.
 Advice on optimum utilization of resources.
 Revival of Companies when the name has been struck off.
 Winding up of the Company under the Companies Act,
2013.
Valuation Services
 Business Valuation.
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 Tangible and Intangible Asset Valuation, Intellectual
Property Valuation.
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 Arbitration and Litigation Support.
 Valuation under the Companies Act, 2013:
• Merger/Amalgamation.
• Issue of Securities.
• Non-cash transactions with Directors etc.
• Purchase of minority shareholding.
• Valuing assets for submission of report by Company
Liquidator for winding up proceedings.
 The Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code, 2016:
• Valuation required under Insolvency Resolution
Process, Liquidation Process.

vii
RISHABH ACADEMY PRIVATE LIMITED
Office Nos. 3 to 6, Meredien Apartments, Veera Desai Road,
Andheri (w), Mumbai 400 058.
Website: www.rishabhtraining.com Tel.: +91 - 22 - 26765506/26763179
E-mail: info@rishabhtraining.com
Services provided by Rishabh Academy Private Limited:
 Providing research opportunities and services including
collaborations and partnership projects at research
 Providing consultancy services on various complex issues
 Training on international subjects like International Public-
Sector Accounting Standards, International Financial
Reporting Standards etc.
 Organises workshops, trainings and guidance/seminar
programs for transferring knowledge on various complex
issues concerning the professionals
 Conducting self-development programmes on topics like
time management, managing workplace conflicts, effective
public speaking etc.
 Providing opportunities in co-authoring of books
 Research training
 Publishes articles on various topics ranging from those
dealing with Trade, Taxation, Finance, Real Estate to topics
like Time Management and Professional Opportunities
 Executives are provided with instruction and facilitation in
the areas of leadership, strategic planning, legal issues
 Business related training

viii
From Gaining Expertise to Authoring Books
Dear Reader,
The road to progress and development doesn’t just end with
knowledge and experience gained. Knowledge continues to grow
when it is shared among fellow aspirants.
I feel proud of the fact that I am amidst hardworking people who
have made their way to the pinnacle of success, by overcoming
obstacles and hurdles in their journey through professional life
and achieving the most needed knowledge and expertise.
My unquenchable thirst for knowledge has been my constant
inspiration to read more and gain more knowledge. It has also
been the source of motivation to author books, which has enabled
me to author 300 plus books on a wide range of subjects over a
period of time.
I find it apt to remember English Historian and Geologist Charles
Darwin’s famous quote
“In the long history of humankind those who learn to
collaborate and improvise most effectively have prevailed.”
In collaboration lies the spirit of greater achievements and carving
a niche for ourselves by setting the most inspiring example for
others to follow.
I take this opportunity to invite both budding and established
professionals/entrepreneurs/academicians/ readers to join me in
sharing the knowledge and expertise with our fellow professionals
and aspirants by developing knowledge series in the form of
books on a wide range of topics for example, business laws,
various forms of audits, accounting standards, arbitration and

ix
mediation, self-help and self-development and management topics
to name a few.
It will be my pleasure to co-author books with esteemed
colleagues who will be interested in presenting an innovative
approach with respect to any subject within the ambit of finance
and its related fields.
You may feel free to contact me at rajkumar@drrajkumaradukia.
com or reach me on my mobile phone 9820061049 by WhatsApp
for further details and discussions in this regard.
To receive regular updates kindly send test e-mail to
rajkumarfca+subscribe@googlegroups.com
Regards,
Dr. Rajkumar S. Adukia

x
CONTENTS
Introduction.....................................................................................1
The Human Mindset .....................................................................4
Power of Positive Choices .............................................................8
Setting Goals.................................................................................10
Skill Development .......................................................................15
Self Image ....................................................................................26
Stress Management.......................................................................27
Time Management.........................................................................31
Bullet Proof Mind..........................................................................33
Out-of-the-box Thinking...............................................................36
Self-Preservation............................................................................38
Financial Freedom.........................................................................43
Change Management.....................................................................45
Life Long Learning........................................................................47
Work-Life Balance.........................................................................50
Conclusion ....................................................................................51

1
INTRODUCTION
Today’s global, hyper-connected economy is being led by
knowledge that it no longer takes complex corporate structures
or massive factories to dominate. Knowledge based careers
have assumed the neologism boundaryless careers. Careers that
transcend beyond the boundaries of the countries into a free
world. Traditionally, careers were considered to be bound by
countries and were restricted to serve only within the territory in
which their parent institutions were formed. With the entire focus
shifting to knowledge based industries the professionals are now
boundary less and are on the journey to serve the world.
For students the next few years are promising because the world
is welcoming young and qualified professionals with open arms
providing them with opportunities. However, knowledge is the
key to success. Each student is the potential global professional
representing India to the world. We Indians have been making
our mark throughout the world since historical times. What
makes one stand out in the crowd is the ability to shine with
knowledge as your armour.
While we are gaining the knowledge from books and passing
exams entering the professions, there one aspect of life that needs
our attention at all times. That is how to be successful and how
to attract happiness in life. It is rightly said it all begins now.
Today, I am going to discuss the mantras to be super duper
successful in your life with global footprint. It begins with one
belief which I want each one of you to ingrain in your conscious
and subconscious mind that you are a genius. We all are geniuses
and no matter what is our current situation in life, we all have
the potential to achieve extraordinary things in life. The thoughts

2
that we are discussing today are the guidelines which you can
pick up at any stage in life be it passing exams, or entering
professional world, finding a job, getting a promotion, choosing
a life partner or leading a happy retired life. These mantras are
universal and can help you in whatever stage of life you are. At
the same time I would like to tell you that competition is within,
happiness is within and success is also within one self. It is the
desire to improvise on each little aspect of our life to make it
fulfilling. We are going to discuss the following points
• The human mindset
• Power of positive choices
• Setting goals
• Skill-development
• Self-image
• Stress-management
• Time-management
• Bullet proof mind
• Self preservation
• Work life balance
I say every ‘HUMAN’ is ‘HANUMAN’. The tools are the same
- just as everyone has similar amount of ‘Time’, everyone has
similar amount of ‘Talent’ too – the key to success lies in the
effective management of the tools. All aspects of our lives need
to be managed for us to be super achievers – our time, our mind,
our talent, our identity.
Time is money or so we have heard but most importantly time
exists for everyone without discrimination. You cannot buy time
neither can you rent it. We generally blame ‘lack of time’ as the
reason for our inefficiency. Efficiency has got nothing to do with
the ‘lack of time’ and everything to do with the ‘lack of planning

3
your time’. Efficient people achieve more and move faster to their
goal. When one-hundredth of a second can decide whether you
receive a gold or silver medal in the Olympics, surely time is
extremely valuable. That is the power of time.
Every person is able and capable. However, somewhere down the
line one succeeds and others don’t – probably because we lost
sight of our goal and altered it to suit our circumstances than the
other way around; we were not thinking big; we were aiming for
mediocrity. A ‘Mind’ is the only thing which separates human
from animals. It is the driving force behind every single thought
or action which takes place. The only variance lies - A prisoner’s
mind is different from a priest’s mind. The presence of a mind
is confirmed in every human, and it can change a person from
prisoner to priest and vice-versa singlehandedly at any single
moment in time. That is the power of the mind.
“I” is the creator of every thought and feeling. Most of us go
through life pointing fingers at others – other people, other
circumstances, other situations, other opportunities. If we look
inwards we can go beyond ….beyond situations, beyond people,
beyond finding faults, beyond barriers, beyond limitations,
beyond the realms of possibility!

4
THE HUMAN MINDSET
A story.
Once upon a time there was a small boy who wanted to become
the President of United States of America. And he did. End of
story.
All stories can have such beautiful endings – as the power to
end the story lies in the hands of the storywriter. Barack Hussein
Obama was the first African-American to serve as the President of
USA. By being elected to USA’s highest office in 2008, he forever
changed the landscape of America and inspired millions of young
people to dream bigger dreams.
The single most important factor which directly determines
your position in life is your own mind. Your achievement is a
consequence of how your mind thinks. A ‘Thought’ is the Alpha
and Omega of success. Lord Buddha said ‘what you think, you
become’. Accomplishment of your goal has already started when
the seed was sown in your brain as a thought. To be successful,
you have to first train your mind. You must master your mind
and have dominance over your thought.
Imagine wealth, victory, success – and you will achieve it. You
want success and the universe will serve it to you if you can
control your thought process. A human mind is a reservoir of
power: It can conjure up zillion thoughts. The art is in taking
that one thought which you believe in, and turning it into reality.
Fill your mind with positive thoughts. Let there be no place
for negativity, gossip, worry and criticism. You will destroy the
beautiful seed of pure thought even before it germinates. Water
your thought, nurture it and let it grow into unimaginable wealth
and success. Every individual is his own person. He alone knows

5
what motivates him and drives him to achieve. With his personal
experiences and emotions he alone can work on his impulse to
make it a reality. Don’t poison that beautiful ability by clouding
it with negative thoughts. Negative thoughts are like toxins for
the mind.
The only way to control your mind and nurture your ‘positive
thought which is your goal’ to scale great heights is to live in
the NOW. There is no past and no future. Your present moment
is the only truth and that is all that exists. Just focus upon the
immediate present moment which is here and now and you will
make yourself powerful enough to control your mind.
Just like the water takes the shape of the vessel it is poured
into, let your thoughts also blend into the current moment. Let
it not focus on what has passed and what will present itself in
the future. Be aware and chalk out a planned action strategy to
achieve your goal, but while on the path of achievement don’t let
your thoughts sway. Train them to remain focused on the goal.
Blinkers, sometimes known as blinders, are a piece of equestrian
equipment that are placed on either side of a horse’s head next
to its eyes in order to keep the horse from seeing what is beside
it and to the rear and, in some cases, to the side. The blinkers
partly cover a horse’s eyes so that it can only look straight ahead.
If we put imaginary blinkers covering our eyes, we will condition
it to look only straight ahead and not get distracted.
We tend to get easily influenced by the achievements, success
and materialistic possessions of the people around us. Instead of
making the most of what we have and counting our blessings we
tend to count our shortcomings instead.
Let the mind be a storehouse of pure positive thoughts. There
should be no room for self-doubt. Bury your negative thoughts
and just like you do spring cleaning of your house, do mind
cleaning 3 times a day. Flush out the negative thoughts before
they permeate you.

6
Let no one and nothing deviate your focus from your goals
and shake your confidence. One sure shot way to achieve a
bulletproof mind is to declare your goals each day to yourself by
jotting them down in a diary. This keeps you focused and on the
right path without distractions and digression.
A GENIUS WILL REMEMBER
If you want to earn big riches and realize your dreams - ‘Get
out of Your Comfort Zone’. Nothing of consequence was ever
achieved by anyone unless they got out of their comfort zone. A
comfort zone is a situation where one feels safe or at ease. And
it is common knowledge that when one feels adjusted to the
situation which may be favourable or unfavourable he will never
do anything to change that situation. He will never show valor
to diversify and explore new fields in his business if he has a
comfortably good returns business. He will never be brave enough
to change the complete line of business if he comes across a new
idea which he ‘believes in’ even if the current business is failing.
Courage comes when comfort zone is exited.
Instead of focusing on the end result, just concentrate on the
present act. Remember you are capable of more than you think.
You just need to make a beginning and one single act of courage
will set into motion a chain of acts of courage. Read about the
lives of great men and women who have accomplished great
feats. You will see that everyone is human. Everyone feels the
same fear and anxiety as you feel. It is said that in a human
body, the navel is the centre of energy. When our energy centre
is strong and secure, we are able to stand up for ourselves and
we vibrate courage. Draw energy from the centre of your navel to
exhibit courage in the toughest times.
“If you want something you’ve never had, you must be willing to
do something you’ve never done.”
- Thomas Jefferson, American Founding Father and third President
of the United States.

7
Realizing the Power of ‘YOU’ is the basis of life. What ‘YOU’
think, ‘YOU’ become. What idea ‘YOU’ conceive, turns ‘YOU’ into
a success story. What ‘YOU’ believe in truthfully and blindly from
the depth of your heart ultimately happens to ‘YOU’. ‘YOU’ can
change your destiny by ‘YOUR’ karma. ‘YOU’ are the architect
of your own future. The first essential requirement for any
achievement is empowerment. The process of gaining freedom
and power to do what you want or to control what happens to
you is the idea of ‘SELF EMPOWERMENT’. The essence of self-
empowerment is the acceptance of the fact that YOU cannot
always determine what comes your way in life, but you need to
equip yourself well enough so that you can steer yourself towards
a more effective and fulfilling life. Let me discuss some pointers
on how to empower oneself. The more empowered oneself is, the
thirst for knowledge and achievement increases in every sphere
of life.

8
Power of Positive Choices
Everyone has to make choices in life. Even if you decide not to
make a choice – that itself is a choice too. Nowadays, even in
the voting mechanism of election there is an option of ‘None of
the Above’ (NOTA). So a choice has to be made and it may be
unnerving and anxious for many people to keep pondering over
whether they have made the right choice.
The choices to be made on a daily basis are endless. Making
positive choices ensures that you live a happy and enriching
life. A choice is a positive choice if it is made for growth and
betterment. A choice is a positive choice if it is made with a
positive mind-set and for a constructive outcome even in the
most difficult circumstances. How are we to ensure that we have
made the right choice?
There is no guarantee and no sure shot way to decipher if
you have made the right choice. However, there are ways to
consciously enable yourself to make positive choices, which can
be listed as follows:
• Focus only on your goal and what you desire as the end-
result when making a choice.
• Don’t let the fear of failure disarm you. Sometimes failure
is just disguised good luck.
• Don’t make any choice when in the moment of extreme
emotion i.e., anger, happiness, depression etc.
• Make informed choices based on factual information and
not on assumptions or hearsay or gossip.
• Don’t overanalyze either before or after making a choice.

9
• Find a quiet time to think about your choice.
• Accept the external and internal constraints within which
the choice has to be made instead of avoiding them.
• It is impossible to be totally free from influence when
making a choice, but if we become more aware of those
influences and understand how they affect our decision
making, it will help in making a positive choice.

10
Setting Goals
There is no formula for success and there never will be because
each individual is extraordinary and determines his/her own
formula enroute to success. The only thing to remember is to
‘start’ and not to just ‘wish’.
Action is imperative to achieve. Action is just the simple act of
doing. It is common knowledge that no idea can be turned into
reality without action on the idea. Creation of an idea and the
desire to turn it into reality backed by all the monetary power
available will still not guarantee riches unless there is action
performed towards that idea. Over-analyzing and over-thinking
will kill the idea even before inception.
Belief in your idea, belief in your line of action, belief in the
outcome, belief in yourself – is the cornerstone to strike gold.
If you don’t truly believe in the innermost soul of your heart
in whatever it is you set out to do, I can guarantee, you most
definitely will not succeed in it. However, if you believe in
your thought, even though it may sound foolish to the world
and unachievable at that point of time, it will most definitely
bring you laurels sooner or later. Belief is that unwavering faith
that cannot be shaken by strokes of destiny or the tumultuous
disasters. You convince your brain that you are one hundred per
cent sure that you will succeed in your endeavour.
If you love what you do, no one can stop you. You are bound
to reach the peak of success. If you don’t love what you do,
it is even better – because that is when you will truly make a
difference to mankind – by innovating and creating new and
dynamic solutions to infuse passion and vibrancy into that which
you don’t love so as to make it more appealing for yourself.

11
An aim triggers action. People find it easier to be motivated
by set goals. Further if those goals are put down on paper – it
adds a sense of finality to them. List what you aspire for in life
whether it is material possessions, happiness, strong relationships
etc. The structure you need to adopt for fulfillment of goals
needs to be chalked out and put on paper. Once the structure
is in place achieving the goals does not seem a daunting task.
We need to draw out a time schedule of work commencement
and completion and the methods to be adopted. Once that is
done we have attained a shallow foundation. To obtain a deeper
foundation we need to create an environment of introspection
and self-motivation.
Nobody is ever too old to learn. Sharpening knowledge in your
goal areas is imperative. There is always an innovation, a new
technique, a better way of doing things being discovered and it
equips you to learn the ways of the changing times. Always be in
transit in life. For goal fulfillment, you can keep supplementing
your knowledge forever.
Organized planning is the only route to success. Success
doesn’t happen overnight. Hard work, perseverance and years
of consistent implementation of plans eventually make you look
like an overnight success. Plans crystallize desire into action
which ultimately steer you to success. Your dreams and vision
take shape in the form of plans. To be effective, a plan of action
must have a definite deadline as the mind works on specific
information. Planning without timing is futile. Even if your idea
is still in the nascent stage, an itinerary is essential. If you had
the money to put the plan in action – What would you do? If you
have already prepared the blueprint of plan of action, then when
you actually have the capital to turn your idea into reality, your
job would be easier and quicker.
For a plan to succeed it must be practical and workable. However,
although your itinerary should be pragmatic but it should not
be too orthodox and laden with worry and over-caution. While

12
jotting down the plan of action remember that if you want to
achieve extra-ordinary things you can’t be ordinary. You may
have to stick your neck out and go out of your comfort zone to
make magic.
It should be a definite course of action with an unambiguous
time schedule of completion. If your plan fails to achieve the
desired result – make another plan – and then another. Don’t
be afraid if your plan fails. Failure of a plan does not guarantee
failure of your goal. It just educates you to adopt a different
approach and make a new map of action.
Just writing the plan will not be enough. It has to be put into
action. Putting off a plan and waiting for the right day and time
to put the plan in action is a guarantee of lack of confidence in
your goal.
Initially when we write our plan, enthusiasm and excitement
of making our first step towards our goal drives us. But as time
wears on, our goal becomes distant and unattainable. That is
why specifics are important when preparing a plan. E.g., I want
to complete the executive level of my course by December 2019.
This removes ambiguity about the initiation and completion
point.
When you have determined the tasks which need to be
implemented to achieve your goal, then you must determine the
actions you will need to perform to attain the goal. List these
actions and put each of them in a time schedule. You can break
the plan down to one task each day. At times the goal looks
overwhelming. When we break down the goal into small steps in
the form of a schedule or plan we make our goal seem attainable
as we decipher the way forward to our sub-conscious mind.
Let me give you an example: I am a huge advocator of reading
books. Reading books opens up an entire new world of knowledge
and experience. It helps you connect with the thoughts of another
and bring that experience into your own life. So I say as students

13
of life we must read a minimum of 100 books. You ask me how is
it possible to read 100 books? The goal seems difficult, right? But
if I were to give you a plan to break this goal into smaller goals
it would sound doable. So lets see how we can achieve this goal
of reading 100 books.
So target/goal is 100 books,
Total pages-25,000 (Approximately)
Timeline-2 years (730 days)
Daily goal: 34 pages only.
So with breaking down the master plan into smaller plans the
timeline decreases. It would have felt like it is going to take for
ever to read 100 books but when we made a smaller plan we got
to know that in fact reading 100 books can be achieved in just
2 years!
Once you have laid out a plan in the form of a daily schedule
and targets to attain for the journey towards the goal, the most
important part of the planning is to follow your schedule. Remind
yourself that until you don’t act and do the daily tasks you have
committed to, you are miles away from your dream of completing
the course and stepping into the world of opportunities.
The concept of karma (the law of Action) is the core idea of the
Bhagawad Gita, the Holy Hindu Scripture. You have to find what
you are truly passionate about. If today were the last day of your
life, would you want to do what you are going to do today? If the
answer is ‘No’, it is certain that something is wrong and needs
to be changed. For you will attract riches and fame only if you
are doing something you are passionate about. Fuel the passion.
Infuse enthusiasm into your work – then only you will achieve
success. If you think you can – you will. If you think you can’t -
you won’t. Your ‘WILL’ can change everything. It can pull you out

14
from the depths of misery. It can give you hope. It can make you
millions. It can change your fortunes and your future. The ‘will’
comes from ‘within’. You are unstoppable once you have willed it.
“Whatever course you decide upon, there is always someone to
tell you that you are wrong. There are always difficulties arising
which tempt you to believe that your critics are right. To map out
a course of action and follow it to an end requires courage.”
– Ralph Waldo Emerson, American essayist, lecturer, and poet
Ask yourself this question:
What is it that makes you get out of the bed every morning?
What is it that brings genuine smile in your eyes?

15
Skill Development
A wise man once said, ‘add life to your days, not days to your
life’. Your ability to do something is your skill. Skills need to be
enhanced and upgraded. Your competence and expertise can be
displayed by developing your skills.
Be a livewire: always full of life. Channel your passion towards
your goal into your personal self as well. When you are energetic
and vibrant you bring a new magical gusto in your small
tasks. This reduces struggle and inefficiency and fills you with
positivity to surge forward. Discover something new each day.
Create something new each day. Leave your comfort zone,
break habits, unlearn what you already know and explore new
territories.
Acquire new skills and hone your existing ones. Challenge
yourself and you will be surprised.
Constantly keep growing. As you age, physically you change as
your body grows. Grow your soul. Growth is the lifelong process
of learning. Growth involves being a student throughout your life,
acquiring knowledge, becoming more efficient as you progress
and marketing yourself well.
Knowledge is free. You can acquire it if you want. It is
everywhere around you. To acquire education you may need
money, but to acquire knowledge all you need is desire and
intense focus. With presence of mind, common sense, observation
and an intense passionate desire to learn – you can learn from
anywhere. You may need expert knowledge for the goal you want
to achieve and specialized knowledge may come at a price but
it may be a small price to pay for the achievement of your goal.

16
Acquiring knowledge and training is an investment; it should not
be an afterthought.
Infuse efficiency into your work. Efficiency is the art of achieving
maximum productivity with minimum wasted effort or expense.
It is the keyword which sets apart one individual from another.
It is the reason for organizations having some ‘prized’ employees
which are indispensable to them. It is the reason why some
people are more successful than others. Efficiency does not mean
‘shortcuts to success’, rather it is the route to ‘sure shot success’.
It will attract money and fame to you. Approach your day as one
of 86,400 seconds in a day rather than a 24 hours day you will
never feel you are short of time. Using a methodological way of
increasing the hours in the day by ‘prioritizing’ the work that
is important will end up increasing the efficiency of the work.
Efficiency has got nothing to do with the ‘lack of time’ and
everything to do with the ‘lack of planning your time’. Efficient
people achieve more and move faster to their goal.
Market yourself well. How you perceive yourself to the outside
world will determine how people perceive you, your idea, your
belief in your idea and the success of it. Your first impression
will make a lasting impression. To be successful and strike gold
you have to market your idea, your dream, your unwavering
confidence in your goal, your personal services.
When you are sure of yourself you market yourself well. You
assume full responsibility for mistakes, shortcomings, decisions,
achievements and conduct. When you assume full responsibility,
the battle is already half won. Responsibility brings with it
authority and accountability. You will exercise authority over your
methods and will stretch your limits if your goal is as important
to you as life itself. By becoming accountable to yourself you will
perform differently as you will have the extra pressure of not
failing in your own eyes.
Just as the physical body becomes strong through regular
exercise, the mind too requires mental stimulation to grow.

17
Use newspapers, magazines, television, video, internet, self-
help books, academic courses, training courses, online courses,
professional development courses, and awareness to the
environment around you – to contribute to your growth.
a. Personal Skills
Improve your personal skills. Soft skills are the personal
attributes that enhance an individual’s personality, job
performance and career prospects. Some examples for the
same could be Communication skills, Anger management
skill, Team management skills, General etiquette, Negotiation
skills, Behavioural traits, Time management techniques, Stress
management skills etc. which are your essential character traits.
Your soft skills set you apart from others and give you an edge
over them. They are the key factors in determining how far and at
what rate you will climb the ladder to success. In both personal
and professional field, soft skills are much harder to teach as
compared to technical expertise. But once you enhance your soft
skills, your goals come closer within your reach and the path to
success accelerates.
b. Interpersonal Skills
The ability to communicate or interact well with other people
(whether it is peers, subordinates or your team) is what is
known as interpersonal skills. Interpersonal skills differ from
soft skills or personal skills as they are the skills which come
into play when there is interaction between two or more
persons as opposed to personal skills which are essentially your
character traits. Whatever business or profession you may be in –
interaction with various kinds of people is essential. The people
you come in contact with may be from different social, economic
and cultural background. If in employment, you may come in
contact with maybe not One but many employers, your colleagues
and juniors. If in self employment, you may be transacting
business with customers, suppliers, creditors etc., almost every

18
day. Your interpersonal skills become vital in these cases – to the
extent that they largely determine your success and fame ratio.
Interpersonal skills can be loosely described as life skills we
use every day when interacting with others personally or
professionally. They may include a variety of activities like –
communication, listening, body language, ability to collaborate,
display of work ethics and workplace etiquette, display of
personal etiquette, commitment capacity, professionalism,
problem solving capability, decision making ability, self
confidence, receptiveness to feedback, showing appreciation,
positive attitude and overall vibrant demeanour. This list is not
exhaustive and may include many more skills depending on the
level of personal and professional interaction at play.
The importance of interpersonal skills
Your technical skills may get you your dream job, but
interpersonal skills will ensure that you retain it. Your location-
specific advantage may get you customers, but interpersonal skills
will ensure that they become your loyal customers for life. Your
university education may put you in proximity with people, but
interpersonal skills will ensure that you make lifelong friends.
Your personal relationships like parents, siblings, spouse, children
and relatives may me god given, but interpersonal relationships
will ensure that you forge undying bonds of love. Therefore the
importance of interpersonal relationships cannot be taken for
granted.
Some advantages of interpersonal relationships in the workplace
can be listed as follows:
• Leave a lasting impression on people
• Equip you with Productive Abilities
• Ensure your Personality development and overall growth
• Facilitates in Team management

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• Makes you Indispensable to organization
• Gives you an Edge over Competitors
• Forges Better Relationships
How to develop interpersonal skills:
Our inherent character traits have been developing our whole
life. As we communicate and interact more with others,
these character traits develop and in turn they develop our
interpersonal skills. Interpersonal skills are so subtle that at times
we don’t realize that we need to pay attention to them as they
are inbuilt and taken for granted. However, this may not be true.
We need to pay attention as to how we are communicating with
others; are we good listeners; are we bankable employees; are we
good employers etc. – this awareness will lead to a better quality
of personal and professional life.
As mentioned earlier that although our inherent character traits
are inbuilt but we can develop them as effective interpersonal
skills. They then need to be upgraded and enhanced from time-
to-time. Interpersonal skills can be developed by paying attention
to the following factors:
• Effective Communication
• Positive Body Language
• Effective Listening
• Congenial Environment
• Regular Participation
• Active Learning
• Keen Observing
• High level of Emotional Intelligence

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However, it should be remembered that to develop the
interpersonal skills, two essential pre-requisites must be satisfied
– 1. You must identify your need for improvement either in
particular areas or as a whole; and 2. You must keep an open
mind allowing yourself to embrace different possibilities,
opportunities, people, views, suggestions and interests.
You can maintain a journal by listing the skills which need
improvement, what steps you are taking to improve those skills
and what impact these actions are creating. You can record
observations monthly and compare your performances with
earlier records. It is also a good idea to take feedback from others
as to what they feel about your interpersonal skills and whether
any particular skills need more refinement.
c. Leadership Skills
What or who is an actual leader? A leader is one who has a
vision and set direction and inspires and guides others to the
right way. It is possible for anyone to be a leader as leadership
is based on the strengths and abilities individuals demonstrate.
These abilities are essentially known as leadership skills as they
lead the way toward achievement of goals. These leadership
skills are to an extent in-built and are of varying styles, but since
there is no particular style of leadership which can be considered
the benchmark it is clear that leadership skills can definitely be
acquired.
d. Communication Skills
Communication is important and it is the bridge to your
destination. If written communication is faulty and lacking, the
document becomes inadequate. Good correspondence has two
rules; promptness and precision. Come across as clear, confident
and concise. If verbal communication is ineffective you don’t
put across your ideas and views in the manner you had wanted
to and thus lose out on a potential opportunity or valuable
relationship. If your communication is not accompanied with

21
the appropriate body language, you run the risk of an unsatisfied
or unconvinced audience. Not only is communication vital in
professional life, but it is provides the ‘fevicol’ for relationships
in personal life too – it can make or break them.
Therefore the quantity, quality and style of communication are
very important for climbing the growth trajectory to success.
It empowers you to put across your viewpoint in an accurate
manner.
Effective ways of communication
The below mentioned points are ways to improve and make your
communication effective.
• To be a successful communicator, you first have to be a
good listener. Listen carefully to what others have to say
and listen even more carefully to what they don’t say. If
you listen to their silence and interpret it correctly, you will
communicate better.
• Don’t give your audience information overload. Authors,
Chip Heath and Dan Heath in their book “Made to Stick,
Why Some Ideas Survive and Others Die” have mentioned
in their book a study which became famous as “the
tappers and the listeners”. In 1990, a Stanford University
graduate student in psychology named Elizabeth Newton
illustrated the curse of knowledge by studying a simple
game in which she assigned people to one of two roles:
“tapper” or “listener.” Each tapper was asked to pick a
well-known song, such as “Happy Birthday,” and tap out
the rhythm on a table. The listener’s job was to guess the
song. The tappers were able to guess the songs better than
the listeners. The study showed that the audience was able
to grasp the communication better by actual practice rather
than over-communication.
• Actions speak louder than words. Your body posture, eye
contact and gestures communicate more than your what

22
you are actually saying. Focus on your posture. You cannot
come across as clear and confident by adopting a sluggish
posture while communicating
• Any audience whatever the age group has very limited
attention span. Even if the written or oral communication
is a subject of interest, the attention span will dwindle
away if the communication does not connect with them fast
enough. For example – when you watch a movie, within the
first half an hour (or even lesser) you have decided whether
you would like to watch the rest of it; similarly when you
read a book, you read the first few pages and put it away
if these pages have not captured your attention; when you
attend a seminar, the communicative ability of the speaker
determine whether you will sit through the presentation
of not irrespective of the topic being discussed. Therefore
to grasp the attention span of the audience, make your
communication interactive. Let them participate and feel
involved. Stimulate your audience in whichever way you
are communicating and they will love to listen to you. If
it is non verbal communication, the beginning and end of
your document etc., should be catchy bearing key points
which hold a brief vision of the magic which is yet to come
– this will capture the imagination of your audience.
• Natural Communication is more genuine and easier to
relate to. Whatever form of verbal communication you need
to adopt, remember it is better to have your key points
on paper, but your communication will turn boring and
unconvincing if you memorize each and every word and
vomit it out without any facial expressions and audience
connect. Even reading directly from the paper will ensure
that your audience doesn’t want to listen to you. If you
practice, take honest feedback and listen to constructive
criticism – you will definitely become a good natural
communicator.

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• If you are communicating with an audience coming from
different cultural backgrounds, it’s a good idea to explore
and understand the different cultures and languages of
the people which will comprise your audience before you
intend to communicate with them.
A very important aspect of communication is “Silence”. When
to remain silent and when to speak is the core element of
communication. It can help you to say a lot without actually
saying anything. Pauses in your communication while speaking
with your audience give them a moment to reflect. These pauses
also give the speaker a moment to gather his/her thoughts. A
short silence in a heated argument gives each party the time to
figure out their mistakes. Similarly when coaching or imparting
training, the trainer can ensure better outcome and absorption
of his teaching with the trainee, if he gives breaks in his
communication and gives the trainee pauses of time to soak in
the information he/she is imparting.
You need to inculcate patience within yourself if you want to
use silence as an effective tool within your communication. Used
well, the tool of ‘silence’ can help you connect with the audience
and at the same time have a lasting impact on them.
Practice these principles of perseverance:
• Giving up is NOT an option.
• Work Slowly but Steadily
• Motivate Yourself everyday
• Don’t indulge in Self-Pity. It will destroy you
• Don’t compare your life with others
• You are not the only one. Almost everyone has not had an
easy journey
• Discipline your life

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• Believe in Yourself
• Focus on your Goal
• Success doesn’t happen overnight. Remember ‘Rome was not
built in a day’
Your sub-conscious mind listens to you. Motivate yourself to
overcome temporary failures. Listen to inspirational talks, read
self-help books, stay in the company of optimistic people and
summon up that strength to surge through another day to keep
moving towards your goal. Quit quitting because there is always
a silver lining at the end of every cloud. You may have achieved
a setback today but you are learning which means you are not
stagnant. It is important to grow and growth encompasses good
and bad both.
Through perseverance develop your resilience. The ability of a
substance or object to spring back into shape is called resilience.
Some people get punched and knocked down by life time and
again, and each time they bounce back stronger. Instead of letting
miserable situations break their determination they face their
demons head on.
If you get punched down by failure and bounce back up, you
have the strength of perseverance, resilience, grit, determination.
These are not just strong words, but words which can make you
learn, adjust and actually return better than before.
Imagine yourself in ten years time. What would you like to look
back upon? What would you like to achieve in 10 years from
now? Now remind yourself that your tough circumstances are just
an obstacle between your ‘Now’ and your ‘Future’ which you can
visualize ten years from now.
Keep going and keep growing. Supplement your knowledge and
be a lifelong learner. Nowadays with the existence of social

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media you can acquire any information at any moment in time
with the click of a button. Use Facebook, Youtube, Instagram,
Pininterest and LinkedIn to your advantage. Maintain a blog to
share your knowledge on any subject which you are passionate
about and thereby learn more in the process. You will grow and
broaden your horizon. According to American self-help author
Napoleon Hill, “No mind is complete by itself. It needs contact
and association with other minds to grow and expand”. He called
this association ‘Master-mind’. So create your master-mind group
– forge partnerships, form allies with family members, create a
support system, hire people who will be able to guide you in
areas you are not very accomplished. Individually you may not be
able to achieve, but these associations will provide you combined
experience and knowledge to grow.
“The mind grows only through use, and it atrophies through
idleness” – Napoleon Hill.

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Self Image
Self Image of our self impacts many aspects of our lives. Our
self-image in our own eyes is the most important determinant of
success. If an individual himself/herself has self-doubt of his/her
ability and is skeptical of achievement of goals – it is impossible
that success is ever attained by him/her.
Therefore our self-image impacts our life in a big way – it builds
confidence and helps us to accept our strengths and weaknesses.
Achievement becomes easier with the starting point of a clear and
confident self-image.
Your identity is the fact of being who you are, your beliefs,
your likes, your dislikes, your perceptions, your character.
Your identity is central to you and controls your growth, if you
waver and question your identity, then the growth trajectory
also falters. The Japanese concept of “Ikigai” which means “a
reason for being” or “the reason for living” is a cornerstone of
Japanese culture wherein it is important to find your Ikigai,
because discovering it brings satisfaction and meaning to life.
Your Ikigai is the source of value in your life and it makes your
life worthwhile. Your current situation may be good or bad but
your Ikigai gives you inner strength and makes you feel that your
life is valuable.

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Stress Management
‘Stress - the new killer’ is here to stay. It’s a part and parcel of
what we do. It was always present even in earlier times, but
probably didn’t get as much respect as it gets now. Stress is the
body’s response mechanism against situations. So, when the
body senses an uncomfortable situation it automatically kick-
starts a “fight-or-flight” reaction to protect itself. Walter Bradford
Cannon, a physiologist and professor coined the term ‘fight or
flight response’, and described it to mean a physiological reaction
that occurs in response to a perceived harmful event, attack, or
threat to survival.
Stress can strike anywhere and anytime - before an important
Board meeting, an approaching deadline, a job interview, your
child’s board exam, a surgical operation of a loved one etc. The
cause may be as trivial as the impending weather conditions.
Some people may even get stress just by the ringing of their
phone, even without having seen whose call it is or without even
having picked up the call. It may be caused due to circumstances
which are totally outside of human control and thereby imminent
– however despite that knowledge, when you continue thinking
of the circumstance, it completely stresses you out.
Stress need not always be harmful though. It motivates you and
helps you to perform better. Stress to complete a project may
actually motivate you to do a better job. Similarly stress before
a presentation may result in excellent preparation and practice
which in turn may turn out an exemplary performance from your
side.
However, too much of stress – turns it into a disease. It can create
negativity and generate inappropriate behaviour which can cause
immense loss in both personal and professional life. Therefore

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if you learn to manage your stress, you can take total control
of your emotions, responses and mindset and truly empower
yourself to take control of your life.
How to deal with stress
When there is ‘low battery’ you need ‘power bank’ – similarly
when your body experiences stress it needs stress busters to cope.
There may be many ways to deal with stress, and as the causes
of stress may be different for different people, the consequences
of stress and solutions to manage it may also differ from person
to person.
Some methods you can use to deal with stress may be:
• Acceptance – Accept what is being offered to you by life.
Stop doubting and start accepting. If you believe that there
is a universal energy over which there is no human control,
it will help you to accept everything as positive. Even the
most unspeakable negative situation can be dealt with
acceptance – ‘what is…IS…it cannot be changed. Focus
your positive energies on things you can change to decrease
the negative situation if not eliminate it
• Imagine – Imagination plays a big role in helping you to
create positive pictures in your mind and relieves you
of stress. Visualization involves the systematic practice
of creating a detailed mental image of an attractive and
peaceful setting or environment which serve as an element
of distraction from stress
• Laughter – Laughter is the best medicine. Robert Holden,
British psychotherapist and stress consultant who is
considered ‘Britain’s foremost expert on happiness’ has said
that ‘laughter can be a great workout for your diaphragm,
abdominal, respiratory, facial, leg and back muscles. It
also benefits digestion and absorption functioning.’ Norman
Cousins, political journalist and author, professor in his
1979 book ‘Anatomy of an Illness as Perceived by the Patient:

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Reflections on Healing and Regeneration’ suggested that
laughter and positive emotions have healing power. He
recovered from a fatal illness ‘ankylosing spondylitis’ and
he claimed that 10 minutes of hearty laughter would give
him two hours of pain-free sleep.
• Connect with nature – Nature calms. It is said that the cure
for every problem is found in nature itself. Since the first
human civilization on earth, records show that a universal
power has created a self rejuvenating mechanism whereby
every requirement needed by man to naturally heal is
existing in the environment around him. Nature has healing
powers. It has been proven that we are unusually different
when we are in the midst of nature - it makes us healthier,
happier, calmer and smarter.
• Don’t Exaggerate with Internal Dialogue – Before something
actually happens, we make it happen over and over again
in our own mind through our internal dialogue. By the
time the thing actually happens we have stressed our self
out just by communicating about it internally in our mind.
Stop this internal dialogue – if your board exam is on a
particular date it is going to happen on that date, no point
internally discussing about this board exam with your
our internal self months before the actually date. – its not
achieving anything.
• Rest – Rest and sleep are very important to overcome stress,
and they are the most difficult to attain as stress permeates
all your senses. Just before you hit the sack, create a picture
of something you are really very fond of in your mind. For
example if you like cake – imagine a delicious chocolate cake.
If you are fond of travel – imagine yourself in Paris admiring
the Eiffel Tower. Let your last thought be a happy thought
before you sleep and you are bound to get a sound sleep.
• Relaxation techniques – practice relaxation techniques like
Meditation and Yoga

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• Diet – Eat healthy and balanced meals. Stay away from junk
food and unhealthy snacking
• Exercise – Exercise releases endorphins that make you feel
good
• Activity/Hobby – get involved in an activity which ensures
your complete involvement. Spend time on your hobby so
that it livens you and relieves stress
• Music – Listening to music has always been termed a stress
buster
• Express your feelings – If you aren’t comfortable sharing
your feelings with others, then maintain a diary
• Interact with friends
• Keep away from technology
• Seek Professional help
Whatever your stress (it could range from something drastic as
the death of a loved one to something as moderate as loss of a
lifetime opportunity) and whatever your method you chose to
adopt to deal with your stress, there could be one ‘root-mantra’
you could consider keeping in mind which will most assuredly
assist you in eliminating stress out of your mind. That ‘root-
mantra’ is - “the fact that you are alive and in a stressful situation
is a blessing – dead people are not stressed; so be thankful for
being alive and solve every situation without a feeling of gloom.
If it goes your way – it is good; If it doesn’t go your way – it is
probably good which you cannot see as of now and time will
reveal sooner or later.”
“Everything is going to be right at the end. If it’s not right, then it
is not the end.”
- A Quote made famous by the 2011 movie ‘The Best Exotic
Marigold Hotel’

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TIME MANAGEMENT
If the Egyptians had known when they invented the 24-hour day
that the future generations will use it as an excuse for not getting
things done in time, I’m sure they would have added a couple of
hours more to the day. However, we would have found excuses
of shortage of time in that scenario as well! Without realizing we
have mastered the art of ‘blaming time’ as a culprit for everything
that goes wrong in our life.
Now approach the 24-hour day with the attitude that you have
86,400 seconds in a day! Now that’s a lot of time.
The reason a 24-hour day seems short is because when we
prioritize our jobs, we take it as an excuse for never completing
the ones on low priority. We all have things we don’t want to
do, but we have to do them anyway. However in life you cannot
chose the enjoyable parts and leave out the unpleasant parts of a
task. You have to do the entire job. That’s the only way to reach
your goal. The sense of accomplishment you will feel at the end
of the most hard, boring and complicated task is immeasurable.
There is a methodological way of increasing the hours in the
day. For having more than 24 hours a day, improve your time
management skills.
Ways to improve your time management skill
• The first stage of improving your time management skill is
to list absolutely everything that you have to do. This may
sound obvious, but speaking from experience, most people
tend to leave important tasks until the last minute, which
can impact on the quality of their work and their overall
grade.

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• Prioritizing the work is important .This can be done by
making 2 lists viz., Priority List and Delegation List.
Priority List – Make a list of the important work which
needs to get done in descending order of priority – very
high priority jobs moving down to the lowest priority job.
Delegation List – Then study the Priority List you have
made from bottom to top and decide which of the least
priority jobs can be delegated and which have to be done
personally by you. Make a Delegation list through which
you delegate the jobs which do not require your personal
attention. This will help you to focus your energies on the
vital tasks and complete your tasks in time.
• Think about when you are most alert, so that you can plan
your most important work to be completed around these
times.
• Make sure that you get enough sleep. Most people need
between 7 to 8 hours sleep every night to remain focused
and alert.
• Be flexible and realistic
• Avoid procrastination and distraction
• Motivate Yourself
• Take out time for relaxation and entertainment as that will
increase your productivity
Ask yourself this question:
– If this is the task that will make me feel that “today is a
successful day”?
– or what is it that you would want to do if you knew that
today is the last day of your life?

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Bullet Proof Mind
Your achievement is a consequence of how your mind thinks.
Neuro-linguistic programming (NLP) is an approach to
communication used for both personal and professional
development. It was created by American authors Richard
Bandler and John Grinder in California, United States in the
1970s. NLP works from the starting point that you may not
control much in your life, but that you can always take control
of what goes on in your head.
A ‘Thought’ is the Alpha and Omega of success. Buddha said
‘what you think, you become’. Accomplishment of your goal
has already started when the seed was sown in your brain as a
thought. To be successful, you have to first train your mind. You
must master your mind and have dominance over your thought.
Imagine wealth, victory, success – and you will achieve it. You
want success and the universe will serve it to you if you can
control your thought process. A human mind is a reservoir of
power: It can conjure up zillion thoughts. The art is in taking
that one thought which you believe in, and turning it into reality.
Fill your mind with positive thoughts. Let there be no place
for negativity, gossip, worry and criticism. You will destroy the
beautiful seed of pure thought even before it germinates. Water
your thought, nurture it and let it grow into unimaginable wealth
and success. Every individual is his own person. He alone knows
what motivates him and drives him to achieve. With his personal
experiences and emotions he alone can work on his impulse to
make it a reality. Don’t poison that beautiful ability by clouding
it with negative thoughts.

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Negative thoughts are like toxins for the mind. They annihilate
the vast universe of the thought and reduce it to rubble. Add to it
the venom of gossip and you have the perfect recipe for disaster.
The only way to control your mind and nurture your ‘positive
thought which is your goal’ to scale great heights is to live in
the NOW. There is no past and no future. Your present moment
is the only truth and that is all that exists. Just focus on the
immediate present moment which is here and now and you will
make yourself powerful enough to control your mind.
Just like the water takes the shape of the vessel it is poured
into, let your thought also blend into the current moment. Let
it not focus on what has passed and what will present itself in
the future. Be aware and chalk out a planned action strategy to
achieve your goal, but while on the path of achievement don’t let
your thoughts sway. Train them to remain focused on the goal.
Blinkers, sometimes known as blinders, are a piece of equestrian
equipment that are placed on either side of a horse’s head next
to its eyes in order to keep the horse from seeing what is beside
it and to the rear and, in some cases, to the side. The blinkers
partly cover a horse’s eyes so that it can only look straight ahead.
If we put imaginary blinkers covering our eyes, we will condition
it to look only straight ahead and not get distracted.
We tend to get easily influenced by the achievements, success
and materialistic possessions of the people around us. Instead of
making the most of what we have and counting our blessings we
tend to count our shortcomings instead.
Let the mind be a storehouse of pure positive thoughts. There
should be no room for self-doubt. Bury your negative thoughts
and just like you do spring cleaning of your house, do mind
cleaning 3 times a day. Flush out the negative thoughts before
they permeate you.

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Let no one and nothing deviate your focus from your goals
and shake your confidence. One sure shot way to achieve a
bulletproof mind is to declare your goals each day to yourself by
jotting them down in a diary. This keeps you focused and on the
right path without distractions and digression.
Focus helps us magnify our efforts in a single direction. It
also gives us the sense of cutoff from other things. E.g., if you
are approaching exams, use your entire energy into studying,
preparing for the exam. Keep other thoughts at bay. This way
you will be able to make the best of the time that you will have
in hand.
The same is true when you are going on vacation. Enjoy the
break that you have taken from study or work. When you are on
vacation cut off yourself from the work be hundred per cent in
now. This will help you to have a stress free life.

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OUT-OF-THE-BOX THINKING
Think laterally. When you observe something try not to see what
everyone sees. Make it a habit to observe things innovatively.
Slowly you will realize that you have started thinking ‘out-of-the-
box”. ‘Out-of-the-box’ thinking refers to a way of looking at things
unconventionally from new perspective.
There may be many professionals with the same qualifications.
There may be many businessmen with business acumen. There
may be many artisans with the same expertise. There may be
many people with the same skill-set. But what sets apart one
individual from another is their ‘creative thinking’ on handling
situations.
Ways to cultivate ‘out-of-the-box’ thinking:
• Take out some ‘Me-Time’ for yourself and just be with ‘YOU’
only and then try to observe the situation you are trying to
tackle.
• Do something which you love like early morning walks,
going for a solo holiday, visiting old friends etc. These
activities which relax you and make you happy will
enable you to think intently about your idea from a new
perspective and silently brainstorm within yourself.
• Avoid saying negative things to yourself that limit your
thoughts and always give you a dead end. “This will
not work,” “I don’t think I have ever done it that way
before,” “I can’t solve this problem,” “There is not enough
time” – these kind of phrases you repeat to yourself will
hamper your creativity and nip your enthusiasm to “think
differently” in the bud.

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• Broaden your perspective. Learn new things. Meet new
people. Don’t follow set routines every day. This widens
your horizon and gives your mind the ability to think
differently. Even in something small like driving to work
each day, try not to follow a set route, but explore new
roads so that it awakens you to something you had not
observed before.
• Identify your ‘X-Factor’. When you identify your X-Factor,
you will observe things from your own unique angle and
will be willing to go beyond set boundaries.
X-Factor is that noteworthy special talent or qualities that makes
you unique and stand out from others. If you go for your dream
job and there are other contenders for the job apart from you with
the exactly same qualifications – then why should you be given
the job in preference over them. What is that uniqueness in you
which gives you an edge over others or makes you stand out?
Your X-Factor differentiates you from others. Identify it and
enhance it. There are many successful men who have achieved
what they wanted and have become sources of inspiration for
others. It may be their intelligence, hard work, persistence,
resilience or charisma which may have made them so endearing
to others – but the most important quality in every successful
man is his ‘X-Factor’ which is difficult to duplicate. You may
acquire the same qualifications and expertise as someone else but
you cannot photocopy his ‘X-Factor’; that belongs to him alone.

38
SELF-PRESERVATION
The idea of self-preservation or protection of oneself from
harm is a basic instinct in humans. Nutrition, healthy food,
exercise, mental health, social activities all go hand-in-hand in
improving our quality of life. All these factors which help in
self-preservation should be taken seriously as without having a
healthy and well-functioning body, all other qualities are of no
use and will not empower us.
Eating Right
Eating right has become a mantra in today’s polluted and
adultered times. Every person is becoming more conscious of
the substances he/she is putting into their body. A balanced diet
comprising foods that contain vitamins and minerals, proteins,
carbohydrates and right amount of fats are the way to a healthy
life.
If you have health problems which are lifestyle diseases – blood
pressure, cholesterol, obesity etc. – you can improve your
condition with better nutrition.
It is hard to make a radical overnight change in your diet and
eating habits. But if you consciously make small changes, you
will eventually reach an overall healthy diet. Find the strong and
weak points in your current diet and start from there. See what
you can immediately change, and what needs to be handled
slowly. Consult a dietitian for best results and healthy way of
eating. Keep track of your food intake by writing down what you
eat and drink every day. This record will help you assess your
diet. Try baking or grilling your food instead of frying it, so as to
reduce fat intake. Don’t eat in large portions.

39
There is innumerable literature on the types of super foods
you should include in your diet. Try to read up as much as it
interests you. However even if you have no knowledge of what
foods should be consumed for healthy living, remember one thing
which can never ever go wrong – “Eat natural. Avoid anything
which comes in a packet”. Limit your intake of sweets and calorie
high food. Eat nuts when hungry between meal times instead of
snacks which come in packets. Small changes can go a long way.
If you truly want to remain young, energetic and keep your body
in good health – you can make small lifestyle changes in your
everyday life. Carry nuts and salted natural seeds which can be
used as a quick snack when hungry instead of ordering a ‘samosa’
from the vendor close to your office.
It is rightly said that ‘Health is wealth’. You will not even be
able to read what you are reading right now if you have an
excruciating stomach ache. Even a small imbalance in your body
can turn your entire day upside down. Eat right. Live Right. This
will empower you to take control of yourself and perform to your
super best capability, as only when you feel great, you work great.
Exercise
Exercise benefits all parts of your body – skin, muscles, brain,
heart, body weight and also prevents us from chronic diseases.
With so many benefits to boost, everyone must obviously
be exercising. But that is not so. We want to attain self-
empowerment by developing skills and goal attainment but how
will we have a body which is working in tandem with our goals
and attainment of success. There can be no way in which we
can transform our external life without first feeling totally fit,
energetic and vibrant in our internal self.
Meditation
Meditation is an art which makes you aware of yourself. It
identifies “You” to “Yourself”. As you meditate, you become
more aware of each breath you take. Through Meditation you

40
can identify your energies and then harness them to attract
good fortune. To perform meditation and achieve its benefits
it is always advisable to get in touch with a certified Yoga and
Meditation practitioner. If you have never meditated before,
follow these simple steps to make a beginning.
1. Wake up early at a time when there is absolute silence
for you to meditate. For meditation to be most effective
(especially for a beginner) it is imperative that there is
silence around you.
2. If you are comfortable indoors - Find a quiet corner at
your home to perform Meditation. Otherwise go to the
neighbourhood park or other serene and peaceful area in
your vicinity where you will not be disturbed.
3. Close your eyes and sit with your legs loosely crossed and
both feet resting below the opposite thigh or knee. However,
if this sitting position is uncomfortable for you, adopt the
position that works for you. The idea is to be comfortable
and totally at ease so that you are not distracted.
4. Keep your spine straight and rest your hands in your lap.
It is important for the hands to be at rest so that the mind
can focus within.
5. Shut out all thoughts and just focus on your breath. As
you breathe in and out focus on each breath. This may be
difficult at first but with continued practice every day you
will master the art.
Social Activities
Man is a social animal. Healthy relationships are the
fundamentals of good health and well being in turn determining
personal and professional success. When you forge strong
relationships with others you will generate a sense of
camaraderie. Declare your goals and aspirations with supporters

41
and people you trust which will in turn move you one step closer
to achieving them.
The secret of happiness is being part of a community – a part of
a whole. It gives you a sense of belonging and the willingness
to achieve. There is a certain feeling of contentment or security
which comes with kinship. Unification can come about in
innumerable ways knowingly or unknowingly – you forge strong
friendships in school and college; you strengthen relationships
with relatives and loved ones; you bond with your neighbors; you
mingle with associates and colleagues to get to know them better;
you enjoy and party with friends; you join business groups with
likeminded people to connect and form a network; you join the
gym, hobby classes etc., to interact. Whatever the medium you
adopt the purpose is to unify with others.
Although each of us has different skills, understandings and
interests, we can become more conscious of our own thoughts
and feelings when we integrate with our surroundings. You can
follow some of these ways to integrate with your surroundings:
• Stop to greet neighbours and try to make the newcomers in
your locality feel comfortable by your friendly behaviour
• Join your favourite hobby class in your area
• Start a book club and encourage people of your locality to
join in
• Volunteer for community work. Be a part of your local
resident welfare association
• Form an exercise club or morning walk or joggers club with
people who you meet at the time of your daily exercise
regimen
• If you are an employer, start a new informal interaction club
within your organization allocating just 2 hours at the end
of the week for employees to interact

42
• Join a business group to network formally or informally
with others
• Learn a new activity or language. Acquire a new
qualification

43
FINANCIAL FREEDOM
Robert Frost, an American poet aptly said “A bank is a place
where they lend you an umbrella in fair weather and ask for it
back when it begins to rain.”
That sums up financial freedom in a nutshell. You are rich but
don’t have freedom to use that money. You are rich but don’t have
freedom to earn that money. You are rich but don’t have freedom
to have alternative sources of income. You are rich but don’t have
freedom to lend that money to friend in times of need. All these
are cases of absence of financial freedom.
Financial freedom would mean the luxury of not having to be
anxious about money. It would mean a scenario in which money
would not be the governing factor when making personal and
professional decisions in life.
The first step towards attaining financial freedom is to create a
‘Financial Freedom Fund’.
Build an alternative fund other than your savings purely for
utilization for that ‘One’ passion in your life which you aspire for
but always ignore due to shortage of funds or guilt of spending.
It will motivate you to work hard and achieve. You will want
to push yourself everyday just so that you can make a small
contribution to your ‘financial freedom fund’. But a word of
caution – Always contribute to the fund only AFTER you have
set aside the amounts you hoard every month as your savings.
Otherwise you would have not only misunderstood the spirit
behind the financial freedom fund but also put yourself in a
difficult monetary situation.
Eventually, when you feel the time is right, dig into that fund
guilt-free and spend it on the ‘reason’ you created it for. If your

44
passion is travelling – grab your time and utilize your fund on
that adventurous river rafting trip you always dreamed about
but were always cash-strapped to undertake. If your passion
is shopping – go splurge your fund on that Dolce & Gabbana
designer dress you always pined for.
Another word of caution – Always remember that the Financial
Freedom Fund HAS to be utilized for the reason for which it was
created. It is not to be built and then added into savings or spent
on things it was not created for in the first place.
Always remember – Financial Freedom is more important than
wealth.

45
CHANGE MANAGEMENT
Change is the only constant in life. Accept Change. It is the
shortest route to success. Acceptance does not mean compromise.
It means to consent to the reality of a situation.
Flexibility or adaptability is a gift. The ability to be easily
modified, change directions easily when required and
compromise when appropriate, is a quality which people with
strength of character possess. Flexibility does not mean ‘not
sticking to your time schedule’ or ‘not doing the required task’. It
means analyzing the situation and then altering a certain course
of action to achieve the desired results.
Refusing to accept ‘Change’ in our lives is like refusing to accept
that we are growing older – it will still happen anyway. We are
too settled in our comfort zones and feel uneasy on experiencing
something different from the usual. What we forget is that the
only permanent thing in this word is ‘change’ and one who does
not change with the times gets left far behind.
Charles Darwin, English naturalist, geologist and biologist
rightly said ‘It is not the strongest of the species that survives, nor
the most intelligent that survives. It is the one that is the most
adaptable to change’.
Search for different ways in which you can accomplish your
goal. Sometimes in life you need to stop whatever you are doing,
take a deep breath and look from another point of view to see
things differently. Approach the goal more creatively, with a new
mindset. Sometimes all you need to do may be just to take a leap
back and then re-emerge again, this time ‘packaged differently’.
Changes are not an end in itself. They are just new beginnings

46
of something different. We just have to transform, change
perspective and work from a different angle.
Things, events, people cannot always be classified as good or
bad; right or wrong; black or white. There are greys too – that in
between ‘no man’s land’. Sometimes what is…is…and cannot be
changed. In times like those it is best to change oneself and go
with the flow – and you will be surprised where the flow may
take you. Change your perspective and you may hit the jackpot.

47
LIFE LONG LEARNING
No person is ever old enough to acquire knowledge. As per the
dictionary Knowledge is “facts, information, and skills acquired
through experience or education; the theoretical or practical
understanding of a subject”. Experience, education, observations,
abilities, creativity – is all knowledge. Even if you have never
been to an educational institution and acquired a degree, you
may be illiterate but you may still be knowledgeable.
Knowledge is free. You can acquire it if you want. It is
everywhere around you. The answer lies in choosing the
knowledge you wish to acquire and the purpose for which it
is required. You may need expert knowledge for the goal you
want to achieve. Take steps to obtain expertise to achieve your
goal. Specialized knowledge may come at a price but it may be
a small price to pay for the achievement of your goal. Acquiring
knowledge and training is an investment; it should not be an
afterthought.
Instead of fearing lack of knowledge, be ready to learn. In the
technologically advanced times which we live in, knowledge is
available at the click of a mouse. There are numerous ways to
attain specialized knowledge – online courses, training courses,
continuous education, courses from colleges and universities,
libraries, apprenticeship, reading books, group discussions with
people who already have the required knowledge of your field.
Many professional institutions and educational bodies have a
system of Continuing Professional Education (CPE) for their
members whereby even after completing a course and obtaining a
degree, a member has to earn a stipulated number of CPE credits
to retain his/her degree. These credits are earned by attending

48
educatory seminars, workshops and conferences on further
learning in the field. We must imbibe the system of CPE in our
life too. Never think you know enough and there is no room for
further knowledge.
Once you acquire the knowledge it needs to be organized
and used in the best possible way. It is a globally competitive
environment. Excellent talent may be available elsewhere but
your expert knowledge will develop strong skills that enhance
your performance. The pool of knowledge you have accumulated
will give fresh ideas, expertise in the chosen area and practical
techniques to grow your wealth.
Your ability to learn and transform that learning into an
advantage will be the key to unlock your potential. Economically
the world is going through a whirlpool of changes. There is
technological and economic volatility. Specialized knowledge will
guide you, show you opportunities and stretch your mind.
The ultimate purpose of being successful cannot be achieved if
there is no aspiration to be valuable. What is the value addition
we can make – will determine how successful we will become.
What more can we provide? What is our skill set that is unique
and cannot be duplicated by anyone? The knowledge, with which
we equip our self, will help us acquire that skill set which takes
us to the goal of our dream.
Sources to supplement knowledge could be of various kinds:
• Magazines
• Newspapers
• Radio and Television
• The Internet
• Books
• Academic courses

49
• Professional Development courses
• Training courses
• Online courses
• Awareness to the environment around you
• Observation
• Communication with other people
Apart from acquired learning there are two more teachers
which impart valuable lessons to students who are willing to
learn – These are ‘Criticism’ and ‘Failure’. Take these teachers
constructively and the life lessons imparted by them positively.
Thus life-long learning if undertaken with an eager positive
mindset, will empower you to reach the pinnacle of success.
Finally, last but not the least is to keep ablaze forever the fire to
keep learning. Age should never be a barrier to stop studies, work
or living. Train your mind that every day you aspire to learn
something new no matter how hard the concept is, how bad my
health is and finally how difficult the circumstance is. Learn to
overcome such situations and then only you will stand out from
the crowd.
Ask yourself this question
Am I open to learning new things?
Am I open to let go off that which is old?

50
WORK-LIFE BALANCE
Balance is everything. If you want to know the perfect work-life
balance you should accomplish – Ride a bicycle. As is the case
in riding the bicycle – maintaining a sense of balance while
riding ensures you don’t fall off midway and your ride is smooth
and enjoyable - same is with life. A sense of balance gives you
a hiccup free daily existence – it keeps you away from boredom,
over-indulgence, sickness and disease, stress and anxiety,
emotional imbalance and overall lack of control over yourself.
When balancing your career and personal life don’t think it’s the
number of hours you spend on the two that create a balance. It’s
not the quantity of time but the quality of time spent. There may
be days when you devote more time to career while others where
personal life takes a front seat. Have realistic expectations from
life and don’t indulge in self-pity. Remember you are not the only
one facing the crisis of a perfect work-life balance.
Now just like in bicycle riding, the tough part in life too is –
the weight on the cycle and the force applied to take it forward
ensures that there is a different sense of balance for different
individuals. So what may work for one need not necessarily work
for the other because his/her parameters are different.
So everyone must create their own work-life balance. Often
unrealistic expectations from oneself push us to be workaholics
and diminishing the work life balance.
Ask your self:
Am I carrying any baggage which I can offload?
Is there anything that I can lighten my life with?

51
CONCLUSION
As put by Wallance Wattles in his book the Science of getting
rich, he says everything happens twice, once in thought and
second time in the physical realm. I motivate you to begin the
story of your success in mind right now. Use your imagination to
create a scene as detailed as possible about anything you want
to achieve, feed this with your actions and positive mind set and
you will see that every episode that filled your visualisation is
unfolding infornt of you in your physical realm.
SHAPE THE FUTURE
Be dynamic. Connect, provoke, inspire, insight, influence,
guarantee results.
Believe in Yourself. ‘You and Only You’ can achieve your goal.
Introspect, improve and innovate – challenge yourself and
compete with yourself – to rise beyond your potential.
Breathe one Idea.
Sleep one Idea.
Talk one idea.
Live one idea.
If every moment of your soul thrives on that one idea – no one
can stop you from being successful, achieving great wealth and
all your dreams.
Most people who have not reached the pinnacle they wanted to
reach is because they have not laid down their goal precisely or
have been changing their goal ever too often. If you 100% decide
on your goal and then with full belief in yourself persist towards

52
achieving it, there is no force that can stop you. Sooner or later
you will achieve what you had set out for.
“Put your heart, mind, intellect and soul even to your smallest
acts. This is the secret of success.” – Swami Sivananda, a Hindu
spiritual teacher and a proponent of Yoga and Vedanta
Depend only on Yourself.
Hold only Yourself responsible for your setbacks and failures.
Compete with Yourself.
Challenge Yourself.
You are only what you want to be. You can be much more.
A man enters the world alone and he is alone when he leaves it.
So do not depend on others for fulfillment of your dreams and
your life. Take responsibility for your actions and realize that
you alone are responsible for what you have achieved or failed
to achieve. Blaming circumstances and situations will do no
good. The will and determination to conquer all odds and emerge
victorious is what makes a person successful.
Have a goal and have the courage to achieve it. There will be
hurdles on the way but that should not stop you or make you
change course. Stay on the determined path. Dream Big. Set your
goal. Focus on it. Persist with hard work every single day. YOU
WILL MOST DEFINITELY REACH THE SUMMIT OF SUCCESS
BECAUSE THERE IS A GENIUS IN EACH ONE OF US!!
“We know what we are but know not what we may be.” (Hamlet)

Dr. adukia's how to be a super person successful

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