“You never achieve success unless you like what you are doing.” ― Dale Carnegie.
King Drupada of Panchala had a daughter who had attained the age of marriage and was soon set to be the kingdom’s most beautiful bride.
Unlike today’s arranged marriages in which your family discovers your spouse. You get to accept, or you fall in love with your future spouse, and your family is made to accept the proposal. The groom had to pass a well-designed test called Swayamvara-When, the contestant( groom) wins the contest. If the bride consents to marry him, then it would be a marriage acceptable to all.
Since it was the beautiful princess who was the bride, the contestants were no ordinary folks. They were princes from different kingdoms. And one such prince was Arjuna — the son of Pandu from Hastinapur.
As the story goes, the Pandavas were in exile and spending time in the forest at the time of the Swayamvara. He disguised himself as an ordinary man as he walked into the contest venue(though some of the audience recognized him from the grace in him.
The contest was simple to explain but complex to achieve. There was a long pole on top of it was placed a bird(perhaps a wooden one); the pole at the bottom was fixed in a small pool of water. Now, the contestant would have to look at the target — that is, the bird’s eye — from the water below and should strike the bird’s eye with their arrow to be that worthy one to win the hand of the beautiful princess.
Many contesting princes came and went. Some of them unable to even lift the bow. When Arjuna of Hastinapur walked in, his majesty attracted everyone and even more Drupadi, who somehow intuitively knew that her man finally had arrived.
When Arjuna’s turn came in, he easily lifted the bow and aimed at the target — the bird’s eye from the reflection in the water and released the arrow that struck the bird’s eye straight.
The princess thus consented her proposal to the most eligible bachelor in the swayamvara gathering, and the glorious marriage was performed with Arjuna.
Later, when many inquisitive men in the hall asked Arjuna how he managed to hit the target with such precision, “I could see nothing else but the bird’s eye. Everything else was blank,” Arjuna explained.
Half this world knows about Arjuna’s story and has been a part of the classic lesson on focus among the corporate and elsewhere.
My take away :
During the 90s, while pursuing my master’s in business, the marketing professor began the class with the question: let me know each of your Goal? The class of 30 students answered this question in their way. No matter what, each said the Goal had an ordinary inherent meaning: lead a secure, healthy, and happy life.
That first-day marketing class had an important first lesson for me — No matter what social class or status, no person has an empty goal post. It may be expressed or implied, but a goal is always present.
Goals and Objectives
Goals and objectives can be viewed as two different entities in achieving success. Be it personal or organization. The Goal is a final destination, and dreams are smaller, tangible milestones aligned with the final destination. Hence objectives, play a more critical role in reaching the goals.
If Arjuna’s objective were not the bird’s eye, perhaps Draupadi(the Goal)would have slipped his hands. Hence a stronger focus on objectives is important while executing strategy.
Using our Inherent Ability
The best tool in accomplishing one’s Goal is our inherent abilities. In the case of Arjuna, archery was his strength, and he was trained in that. He used his power to his best, and that is what got him his Goal — Draupadi. Had the contest been designed for those whose strength was a maze or a sword, Arjuna would have been out of the swayamvara (and possibly Bheema or others would have been a winning contestant !)
Focusing on Goal
Ever since our school days, and later at work, we have commonly heard that remarkable statement — “focus on your goals…” So what does this mean? Align your thinking and tasks in line with the Goal. It also means be aware of your Goal at all times.
In practice, focus means a fixed amount of gaze on the Goal and does not mean losing out on everything else. Losing out on everything else sometimes can prove costly. Let’s say you are a driver, and while driving, focusing on the front totally and ignoring the rear can prove expensive!
Path to Goal
Each one would take her path to realize their goals and dreams. However, those who stay focused make it to the finish line well in time while losing their sight of the GoalGoal- withers away.
What’s the best way to realize what we desire, in other words, reach our Goal? Well, there could be two or even more ways. For now, let us look at two common effective ways.
Focus on the destination point and keep working with a single point gaze that is the final Goal. Most of what we think, act, and feel should align with the Goal insight. This is what it means when we hear “focus on your goals, and you achieve…”
The other approach is to keep doing what you enjoy as if this is the only chance to reach your Goal, and this gathers momentum and leads you towards the Goal.
Let us say you can and love to play the violin. You would also like to be a well-known music professional and achieve accolades. If you enjoy practicing music every day, play in front of small groups, on social media until the biggies notice you, and your passion takes off in the direction of your Goal.
In Conclusion…
Experiencing success involves focusing on the objective, keeping Goal insight. Having smaller attainable objectives -call them milestones- align with the Goal, which is often measurable and useful.
When working on a specific task that is Goal oriented becomes moments of joy. The journey towards the destination (the Goal)is not only a become a pleasure but also attainable.
