How to win the pot of Gold at the end of a rainbow?

One does wonder why some amoung us are great and others not so. Destiny, some might say. But God loves us all; He wouldn’t choose one over the other. There is no carrot and stick approach by God.  Thus, it leaves us with that daunting question “Why some great and others not so?”

We all get up every morning with a purpose and a grand plan. Just that Bill Gates tells it to the world and most others don’t. We don’t tell not because we don’t know the purpose of our existence. We shy away in thought of what others might think. For example, I wake up every morning in hopes that one fine day I could become a writer. But I wouldn’t have voiced it out to many, because at multiple levels I doubt my purpose myself. Lack of trust in ones dreams; this is a pandemic.

The reason for all this is that all that we love to do or feel is the purpose of living need not be a good and dependable source of bread and butter. Maslow’s hierarchy rightly stated that only when you have the basic necessities of life will u even think of self-esteem and actualization.  In this pursuit for basics we forget the supreme goal and the reason for our very existence.

So what does all this have to do with greatness? Trust me, it does. People are great by choice. They decided what they wanted and worked towards it. They didn’t work for the end result but for the joy that the journey gave them. Success was an outcome not the objective. There was a popular study (Marsh mellow challenge: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H0_yKBitO8M) which described how performance depreciates with increase in pay. When the external motivators such as money keep increasing the pressure to perform also increases and suddenly the work becomes less fun.

A good friend of mine jovially mentioned that the job of human resources department is all about motivation. It angered me at first. But he was in no way wrong. Laugh all you may but that is all there is to it. Simplest things are the most difficult to perform. It reminds me of a line from a poem that my sister used to recite, “Easy to say, but difficult to do.” So, how does one ensure that the employees of an organisation are all great in what they do? The answer is quite simple; choose people who love doing what they are meant to do. Don’t send a lion to do a dog’s work.

We all have dreams, they are startlingly different from our actual profession. This is the sad fact. Soon we all resign to our fate and perform our jobs for the plush salary and beautiful sedan. The hours in office seem long and painful. When you hate something so much, how can you ever be good at it? When good is not achieved, why even bother about great?

Another reason for lack of greatness is poor goal setting. If one has the skill to win Olympics and instead sets national level goals, the person soon loses purpose in life. Goals must be evolutionary. If you have achieved all that you dreamed of, please dream  bigger and better. Success is the biggest depressant for most people. They reach a state where they don’t know what they must do next. Thus, to avoid this most people just don’t attain success. There was a character in a play, who wanted to go to a temple of Vaishnav Devi but never did despite of having all the time and money needed. He felt that if he went there, the purpose of living would be lost. We all thus keep running on a treadmill reaching nowhere useful.

If you want to be great here are the golden steps:

1.       Find out what you love from within.

2.       Don’t let your past decide what you future can or will be. Start on a clean slate.

3.       Take steps towards your goal.

4.       Enjoy every second in that journey.

5.       Make many friends on the way up, they will hold you if you don’t reach the top.

6.       Keep telling out loud what you want to achieve in life, even if it makes you seem stupid. It is others right to judge you and your right not to bother.

7.       When you reach your goal cherish it but don’t rake in it. Dream gain, find a new purpose. Then go to step one.

I remember a poem in which the poet drew an analogy between ones heartbeat and the drum beats to ones own grave. It is morose but true for those who lack purpose. If you love what you do, greatness will come to you on its own accord. Walk over the rainbow of life with love and purpose and not with greedy eyes on the pot of gold.