Former Union Finance Secretary highlights ‘7 Mantras to Success’

Mysore/Mysuru: Just gaining entry into top academic programmes or coveted civil services alone will not guarantee success, said Dr. Hasmukh Adhia, Chancellor, Central University of Gujarat and former Union Finance Secretary and Revenue Secretary.

Delivering the Foundation Day lecture of Shri Dharmasthala Manjunatheshwara Institute for Management Development (SDM-IMD) recently, Dr. Adhia said, “Success has over the years evolved into something that everyone wishes to lay their hands on, but success would come only out of sheer excellence in everything a person does no matter how trivial the activity might seem to be.”

Elaborating on 7 mantras to success, he said the first mantra “Importance of Setting Goals”, with a mental picture helped subconsciously in bringing one’s goal to reality.

The second mantra was ‘Importance of Excellence’ while performing a task, irrespective of the type, size or scale.

The third was ‘Acceptance of Results.’ He emphasised on the approach to respond to adverse situations and negative results, keeping in mind the hard work and dedication that had been put into the job. 

Fourth mantra which Dr. Adhia highlighted was ‘Avoidance of Ego’ despite personal success. In one’s journey to success, there would be involvement of many individuals and success is not something that was achieved by a single person’s effort. A lot of people and favourable factors contribute to one’s success. It was not a single factor but a culmination of multiple factors.

Dr. Adhia said that fifth mantra revolved around being a ‘Lifelong Learner.’ The day a person stopped learning, he/she stopped growing. He further reiterated the fact that to achieve success and excellence in life one must keep learning throughout his/her life.

The sixth mantra is ‘Making only those promises that could be delivered.’ Throwing light on this aspect he added that if promises, even if they were small ones, were kept, led to enhancing credibility of the person. Informing the other party on time if promises could not be met was also relevant. The seventh and the final mantra was ‘Managing oneself, before managing others’ and how important it was to keep body and mind in control. One must understand, examine and introspect where they stood as a person, because one could control emotions and body through the mind. Yoga is such a system, he added.