Break free and pursue your dreams!

“There is no FAILURE. That which looks to be failure is usually nothing but temporary defeat. Make sure that you do not accept it as PERMANENT.” – Napoleon Hill
It has never been possible to talk about success without touching on the subject of motivation.  And, I have always placed my bets on high motivation than on any quality except judgement. I believe it has always been a definite purpose that has for centuries commanded extraordinary men and women to never lavish little attention on themselves; to never have issues around self-esteem and a tendency to put their own efforts down compared with those of others.  And subscribe to the popular belief – failure is simply a reason to strengthen resolve.In a sense, your failure should never serve as a buffer zone between you and the harsh realities of the world out there.  If you study some of the stories of the most famous people, you will find that before success there were huge failures and that those same failed attempts were the starting point of something that led to become hugely successful. Steve Jobs got fired from the company he founded with Steve Wosniak. Apple’s board thought, at the time, the company needed to go a different way.  It was really devastating for Steve Jobs.  But he never gave up. He kept on dreaming and he was willing to pay a significant price, complete with innumerable sacrifices in order to succeed.  He founded new companies like, PIXAR and NEXT.

He was invited back to apple, created IMAC, IPHONE (it is a forgone conclusion that it has stolen BlackBerry’s glory), IPOD, HUGE. The Wright Brothers had a dream of creating the first plane ever. During that process they failed many times, creating numerous prototypes that didn’t achieve what they wanted. They didn’t give up on their dream. They learned with every failure and created, Flyer in 1903, the first ever plane to stay in air.  The US Smithsonian Institution describes the aircraft as “the first powered, heavier-than-air machine to achieve controlled, sustained flight with a pilot aboard”. They faced depression while growing up, but even that never stopped them from being legends. Not long ago, I lost hope of ever achieving my dreams. Life is painful and if you don’t have what it takes to handle a major crisis you will play a victim.  I blamed my chauvinistic and patriarchal society for my lack of success.  I blamed my childhood. I blamed everything and everyone. I refused to take responsibility for contributing to my own downfall.

It later dawned on me that I had quixotic notions of success — how easy it would be. So, the reasons cited for my failure to thrive were nothing but frivolous justifications.
Life is tumultuous, an endless losing and regaining of balance, a continuous struggle. Mr Churchill was right when he said, “I have nothing to offer, but blood, toil, tears, and sweat.”
It truly isn’t going to be easy to reach your destiny. Regardless, we can all attain our dreams. We all have what it takes to be the best we can be. Success is inherent: believe you have what it takes to be successful, believe you are worthy of success and believe you were born to be successful.
To those who have given up on success: You are a large elephant tied by a chain to a small stake in the ground. You can easily rip that stake from the earth and be free.
As a small elephant you could not break free and after much pain, your mind was conditioned that you would always be enslaved. You can break free now. Do break free and relentlessly pursue your dreams.