According a recent research, a baby smiles 400 times a day, an adolescent smiles 17 times a day and an adult doesn’t smile at all! The more successful one becomes the more stiff one gets. Is roughness a sign of success? Is being stressed, a sign of prosperity, growth or dignity? I do not think it makes good economics to spend half the health in gaining wealth and half of the wealth in gaining back health.

You should smile more. Every day, every morning, when you wake up, look at the mirror and give a good smile to yourself. When you smile, all the muscles in your face get relaxed. The nerves in your brain get relaxation and you get the confidence, courage and energy to move on in life. Life is not always a bed of roses. There are good things; pleasant and unpleasant events happen; different situations come. But we need the energy, enthusiasm and courage to get over the ups and downs of life and we have to create it ourselves.

You can be creative and productive, and at the same time not lose the humanness that we are all born with. Just material things or comfort alone do not really make a person comfortable. He may have a good bed to sleep on, but is unable to sleep due to insomnia or worry. He needs to get a broad understanding about himself and his priorities. Clarity in the mind makes things much easier — understanding his basic emotions like love, his interaction with people around him, knowing about his own ego or what his own intellect or mind is saying to him and introspection, will give him a few minutes of relaxation which is very vital.

If you have sincerity of purpose, inclusive attitude, integrity and God’s grace, you will progress. Have a commitment to whatever you take up, and an honour inside you which says you are going to see your commitments through.

Here are 7 ways to achieve success
Unity: Today in Kalyuga it is said “Sanghe Shakti Kaliyuge”– only unity has power in this era. In kalyuga, the power is in the team. You need to function as a group. When many bristles are put together to make a broom, they are far more effective in sweeping a large hall than they would have been individually.

The prerequisites for growth are patience, perseverance, clear intention, clarity of purpose and flexibility to accommodate errors. You must also have a sense of respect for all team-members, performers as well as nonperformers, and not indulge in blame games. Learn from the past, have a vision for the future and sustain enthusiasm.

Leadership: Team leaders need to bring in the right attitude and create an atmosphere of celebration, trust, cooperation and a sense of belonging. There is a willingness among people to refresh themselves, they just need to have it put in front of them in an effective, viable way. Nothing can last if it focuses only on productivity and net result. The task ultimately suff ers because the creativity,strength and the sense of belonging will ebb away. Similarly, the ‘command and control’ system, the military system, no longer works. Only inspiration and motivation are effective tools.

Take responsibility: In the team, those who take responsibility, gain authority. Each team member should give himself fully to his role. Like in the story of the squirrel. When Sri Rama was building the
bridge with his army of monkeys, a little squirrel was putting sand in the water. Some members of the team laughed at how much this little squirrel could contribute. But that squirrel was very happy playing
his role in Sri Rama’s army.

Sri Rama was very pleased and blessed the squirrel by moving his hand over his back. Because of the small size of the squirrel, only three fi ngers of Sri Rama covered his back, marking three lines on it. This can be a fi ctitious tale but the message is – we also have a responsibility, whatever we can do for the team, do it.

Have skill in action: The whole essence of the Bhagwad Geeta is to act without being attached to the
action. It’s all about your attitude. If you can manage your mind in the worst scenario or a situation like
war, then you can manage any situation. This skill in action is called yoga.

In life, the battle-field or sports arena, it is this wisdom of Yoga that transforms one from arrogance to self-confidence; from meekness to humility; from the burden of dependence to the realization of interdependence; from a limited ownership to oneness with the whole. And act without expecting the fruits of your actions. If the attention is only on the end result, then you can’t perform. Just give yourself fully with 100% sincerity and commitment.

Act without feverishness: Have a dream and passion but not with feverishness. With feverishness, desires and cravings your mind loses clarity, and you don’t get right ideas, thereby reducing your ability to perform. You want to quickly attain the highest- that propels you; but if it is too much then you are spoiling it. Greed and over-ambition can overshadow the faculty of your intuition and wisdom.

Winning and losing: Those who win should increase humility. See those who lost with love. Sympathize and be respectful with them. When you lose 3 vikalpas (choices) arise- Frustration, Depression, Anger. These 3 vikalpas cause harm to you. The fourth vikalpa is, ‘This is the Lord’s wish.’ This way, we get over bad feelings, and get on with productive work. Victory and defeat are part of life. Recognize this pattern and rise above it.

Meditation enhances performance: In ancient times meditation was used as a way for fi nding the Self, for enlightenment, to overcome misery and problems and to develop one’s abilities. Today’s stress and tension in society calls for meditation. Greater responsibilities and ambitions you have, greater is the need for you to meditate.
Meditation not only relieves you of stress and strain, it also enhances your abilities, strengthens your nervous system and mind, releases toxins from the body, makes you more capable and enhances you in every way. We have to renew our energy time to time. When you eat, your stomach becomes empty again. Like that sometimes when we are engaged in so many activities, we seem to collect all that dust and the energy goes down. Then it is the time to recharge again.

We are made up of both matter and spirit. The body (matter) has some material needs and our spirit is nourished by spirituality. You cannot live life without spirituality. There is one proverb in India, “Task gets accomplished with the Sattva, and not with the material”. Meditation and Yoga increase your capacity, skills and qualities. The ability to take responsibility, beyond our capacity, and manage it with inner richness and outer dynamism comes from spirituality.

What is most important is introspection about one’s own life and how to improve the quality of life — this intention itself will open many doors for you, to feel better about yourself. Develop a sense of caring for each other and smile more. Take responsibility to keep your enthusiasm and happiness high, and work with love, action, fun and celebration.