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Hi, I’m Karan Bajaj and today we’ll answer the question that’s always on the top of our minds when we first leave college. Or in the middle of our careers.
How to always be successful?
I’ll explain three principles which have been extremely useful The first principle of success. To become successful you have to leave your known and comfortable path and walk an unknown one. That’s because the known world, the work that everyone’s doing, as well as you, the potential for discovery is minimal. When you walk an unknown path in a new direction the potential for discovery is much more. And success is always at the edges of the system and never quite at the center of it. Joseph Campbell has termed this the ‘Hero’s Journey’. He says that no matter who the hero whether Buddha or Mahatma Gandhi, for anyone to be successful, to get the answers which inspire thousands, they had to leave their known world and venture to the unknown world.
They had to face a lot of difficulties and turmoil. But they faced them. They came back with answers that lifted hundreds of people. You’ll also have to walk that unknown path. Even when I look at my career I was 29 years old when I left my job, traveled for a year, and wrote my first novel ‘Keep Off The Grass’. At the time I took the decision, which now seems minor, seemed huge back then. Because all my friends at IIM were successful in their careers, they were buying houses. And I left those comfortable and known paths to set out on an unknown path to write my first book. After which success seemed to follow. The second principle for success. When you choose a new unknown path know that the beginning will definitely be difficult.
Most people give up in the beginning. But if you’re relentless and show up every day eventually you will gain success in the long term. When I left Discovery Channel and started my start-up, WhiteHat Jr the beginning was extremely difficult for me. Just a day before I had two to three hundred people in my team at Discovery. We would discuss big TV shows with the government at very high levels. I left all that for WhiteHat Jr. I would sit with two or three people in a small office room and call customers all day. I would explain coding and life classes.
The customers would either hang up or would ask us to call later and not answer the call later. This continued for a few months after which the classes began. I would fix customers’ hardware, software, and laptops myself. I often thought about giving up. People would also tell me that this was the wrong decision. But I stood my ground. And when you are relentless in the long term you’re bound to achieve success. And the third and final principle. When you venture onto an unknown and unconventional path then you’ll have to ignore the conventional advice. I remember I was roughly about 35 years when I decided to quit my job and learn yoga in India for a year. I had close relatives who told me that they never want their kids to grow up like me. Travelers, drifters, people who can’t stay put, instead keep moving. They have new jobs or sometimes a new country. At the time I felt very bad. Anyone would be hurt if they heard that people don’t want their kids to grow up like them. But now those words have no effect on me. Because when you tread an unconventional path conventional people will not understand. You will have to keep at it and eventually, you will achieve success.
These are the three principles of success.
- Set on the unknown path.
- Know that the beginning will be extremely arduous. But you have to be relentless. Every day you just have to show up.
- On these unconventional paths, you have to ignore the conventional advice.
If you follow these three principles you will keep climbing the ladder of success. Was this advice useful to you? Have you tread on an unknown path? And what was the result? Positive or negative? Do drop me your note in the comments. I would love to read your stories and I read every comment. I’m Karan Bajaj and I look forward to seeing you in the next video.
Subscribe to my channel for your free startup and meditation course and 3-5x weekly videos on startups, success models, and writing, https://www.youtube.
