8 Steps on the Road to Success

Am I enjoying the journey at all? Just for a minute stop what you are thinking and ask yourself, what use is an achieved mission if in the process we get sleep disorders or our digestive system is weakened or we suffer from high blood pressure or diabetes.

We all live a life that is filled with different actions, which we perform from morning to night. Every action either in the personal, professional, social or financial sphere, is filled with the energy of an intention or a pure desire that ‘I have to achieve what I aspire or aim for’. But things go wrong when the ambition starts becoming an obsession and it starts affecting our mind or relationships or health or sometimes all of these together. 

Balancing Ambition and Well-being

They say success for some comes at a price – a broken soul, a stressful mind, an unhealthy body and harmed relationships. For some, life is like a continuous challenge to be overcome. Challenges are good; they bring out the inner powers and help in tapping the hidden potential inside you. But, at the same time, for the life of a man, who eats, sleeps, and breathes challenges, it is the wrong road to success. 

The Price of Overwhelming Ambition

The main cause of professional burnout at a young age is an obsession to focus simply on dreaming and achieving and achieving. But the truth is that no matter how much you achieve, accomplish, and acquire in life, there is always something more to be had. And, in this race to achieve more, many people put off what really matters in pursuit of the things they want to achieve. 

They tell themselves that they’ll worry about these things once they’ve reached their destination. Things like family, enjoying with friends, nurturing relationships, forgiving enemies, enjoying life and experiencing peace are put off, and, most of the time, they are never re-discovered. This is what causes people to become severely depressed, unenthusiastic and disinterested after a certain period of time in their careers and family lives. 

The Need for a Balanced Approach

Today, many people have realised the importance of meditation and relaxation techniques because they have lost the balance in their lives. We shall explain 8 different steps one needs to take on an emotional level so that success is achieved. At the same time, it is a success without any of the side effects, in the form of love lost in relationships or physical and mental illnesses. 

Effects on Mental and Physical Health

Just for a minute stop what you are thinking and ask yourself, if a goal or an achievement is so significant that you do not mind losing some of the important relationships of your life? Also, what use is an achieved mission if in the process we get sleep disorders or our digestive system is weakened or we suffer from high blood pressure or diabetes? Also, we may even suffer from mental illnesses like depression or sometimes even end up attempting suicide. The same purpose of life can be achieved without losing mental peace, even if the achievement takes place at a date later than the one intended. 

1. Defining Success Beyond Achievements: So, the first step on the road to success is revising our purpose to one that can be achieved at a slower speed than the speed we might see others working at. Competition is not at all an unrequired energy in mainstream society but when competition is accompanied by or mixed with comparisons, it becomes negative or self harming. So, competition can be healthy but do not compare, comparisons are unhealthy. 
2. Also, ensure that while moving towards the destination of success, we need to set smaller goals to be achieved instead of targeting directly at the bigger cause. This is important because this keeps us extremely light in our journey and keeps us on the road to success and does not let us become tired when the going gets tough. This is a way of unburdening oneself while travelling on the road to success which can be long at times. 
3. Another important feature of a relaxed journey to success is satisfying people who are a part of the journey and not developing cold relations with them. Very often, people are so obsessed with work or professional targets that a 12 hours a day at the workplace is a common practice with no time left for their family members. This causes distancing and differences to increase and very often children or husbands or wives are affected negatively by this and they become dissatisfied. 
4. Impact of Ambition on Health, Relationships, and Mental Peace: The road to success is filled with major changes, which we as travellers need to adapt to and face, without the changes affecting us negatively. There are people who are very weak at adapting to change because of lack of spiritual strength and the tendency to look at the changes negatively. ‘Brahma Kumaris’ knowledge explains that the one, who moulds himself, becomes real gold or valuable or in other words, spiritually pure or powerful.
5. So, the ability to mould or the ability to change is a spiritual power, which we need to fill ourselves with. Also, as with traffic signals, what is required is the ability to stop on the road while passing the rough certain signposts. These signposts convey to us that crossing them at that moment of time at the speed at which we are, will cause an accident in the form of an ill physical body or a broken relationship. This can bring the journey to the destination of success to a standstill. 
6. Recognising the Importance of Holistic Fulfilment: Another spiritual ability is the ability to inculcate new and constructive sanskaras as per the demands of what side-scenes are seen on the road to success. These side-scenes may, sometimes, be surprising for many. The type of sanskaras, which may be required to be inculcated at that moment of time could be simple like remaining egoless or keeping the feeling of love and empathy for everyone, not focusing on the negative points of others, being patient and unflustered or accepting each one’s role with ease.
7.  Some other sanskaras, which we need to evolve, may be like emerging the power to discriminate between wrong and right or remaining economical in using resources like money, time and energy, etc. 

Also, just like any other journey, sometimes it is also important not to get stuck in these side scenes. We need to ignore them and carry on with determination with our complete focus on enjoying the journey. It’s great to focus on the destination, but the most important thing is that we should learn to be happy right here and now and give priority to simple things in life.