Success & Failure are Neighbors: How to Win Either Way
"Fight for the sake of duty, treating alike happiness and distress, loss and gain, victory and defeat. Fulfilling your responsibility in this way, you will never incur sin" – Bhagavad Gita 2.38
We should first understand the terms 'success' and 'failure' properly to appreciate the above sloka. As I mentioned in the previous episode, 'Success' and 'Failure' are not in the opposite ends of the spectrum as what one would think normally. Success and Failure are neighbours.
"A step towards success is not necessarily a step away from failure. Taking a step toward failure is taking a step closer to eventual success" - Jaganathan T
Success is not possible if you don’t act. Agreed. But neither 'failure' is possible if you don’t act. It is called 'Failure' only when you act, and you don’t end up with what you wanted to get. Otherwise, it is not 'failure’ but 'inaction'.
That is why Lord Krishna says, 'Act anyway, as action is most important, Success or Failure, loss or gain is less important. Not acting for the fear of failure is a sin'.
Life is a continuous journey. Some might sprint every day, some might walk for most of the days, but you must KEEP MOVING. You cannot stop the journey.
There is no guarantee for success but there is no guarantee for failure as well. If you decide to fight only when there is a guarantee for success, you can never fight in life. YOU NEED TO TAKE RISKS.
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Begin with Responsibility in Mind
To "begin with the end in mind" is the second of the seven habits that author Dr. Stephen R. Covey addressed in his book '7 Habits of Highly Effective People'. But Lord Krishna in the above sloka seem to be conveying a different thought. Lord Krishna advises us not to fight for the glory of success and at the same time not to avoid fight for the fear of failure but fight just for the sake of fulfilling your responsibility.
Why would you not start a fight for the glory of succeeding in the fight? Does it sound paradoxical?
Because that will give you the equanimity to face and recover from possible failure. 'Beginning with the goal of succeeding' adds stress to the equation which could eventually become a dampener.
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When does Failure become Success?
End result is different, but the process is the same for success as well as failure. Remember they are neighbours. Failure will become success eventually when there is Belief, Perseverance, Confidence, Grit and most importantly ACTION.
Failure is a guarantee only when there is no ACTION or when the ACTION is not qualified with Belief, Perseverance, Confidence and Grit.
You may get what you wanted, aka success, at times or you may end up short at times. Read stories of highly successful people. They would have faced failures for sure in their path to success. Path to success for ISRO is studded with occasions when rockets plunged to the 'Bay of Bengal'. Secret to success is in incorporating the learnings in the preparation for the next launch.
For those people who come up short - the adventure, the learning, the growth, the experience are the gains. They will always have a story to share.
People who miss out (remember this is 'inaction' and not 'failure') are those who aren't willing to take a risk or just get caught up in the routines. Lord Krishna calls them sinners.
Every Success as a Failure & Every Failure as a Success
“We must treat every success as a failure and every failure as a success” - Jaganathan T
Does it sound too confusing and too eccentric?
It is easier to define why should every failure be treated as a success. Because failures give us more opportunities TO LEARN than success. Because failures are stepping stones for success. But why would you treat every success as a failure? There are many reasons.
We must be deliberate in our quest to acquire lessons from successes, so they are proportionate to our lessons from failures.
Treat your successes like failures – become reflective in your thinking immediately after you succeed. Force yourself to be hyper-critical of the entire process and ask questions to zero in on the lessons.
There are more answers to this question "Why Lord Krishna wanted us to treat every success as a failure?" We will see in the next blog.
'To Celebrate' success is an important part of a success. It is a wrong understanding that Lord Krishna cautioned against celebrating success. Celebrate every success. Don’t have to be ashamed of celebrating a success. Maybe, the wisdom to treat success and failure alike can lead to 'celebrating failures as well'.
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