Cost To Success

Dr. Subhash Pande (India, 31/03/07)

While interviewing one of the candidates for a middle management position, I came to know that the person had switched over to his present assignment leaving his earlier job ten days before. He has now been appearing for another interview and if selected, he has been ready for one more change. I became interested and asked for his salary expectation .The answer was minimum 30 % rise. This explains his expectation of 60 % rise in salary within ten days. Having been asked to justify this his reaction turned out to be quite interesting. The candidate said this all about success, “I wish to be a successfull man as compared to my colleagues in terms of salary and position and for that I will do what ever I can. “

His statement made me think as to what success in life means.

Is it money? Is it a position? Is it health? Is it recognition? No, this is not success. . Success is something different. It is a relative term.

In the present scenario a person is gauged to be a successful person if he or she holds a good position, has money for lavish lifestyle, own a house or two, a piece of land, has all the modern gadgets like DVD, mobile, TV that too plasma TV, refrigerator, washing machine, best model car (s). The members of the family wear designer clothes and expensive ornaments, travel by air or in A/C trains etc. To sum up the person has all the materialistic comfort at his or her disposal. In the eyes of the world in general such a person carries an impression of so called “Successful person”.

But is it the real success?

The answer is emphatically “No”.

Success, in reality, is the combination of many factors bringing satisfaction and making the man or woman complete. Incomplete man or woman cannot be termed as a successful one. Question arises as to what is that completeness.

The completeness is a function of satisfaction and a feeling of enjoyment on different aspects associated with you in your life. This includes:

·         Adequate earning capacity to cater to your needs [without borrowing from somebody and if borrowed from banks etc.  paying back the same as per the agreement] ;

·         A decent house which may not be luxurious but sufficient for the requirements, maintenance of good health and fitness so that you can enjoy life;

·         Freedom of thinking and sharing the thoughts freely with each and every member of the family;

·         Congenial  workplace leading to due acknowledgment of one’s contributions ;

·         There is good family life or good love life, pleasant environment at home, lovely children to play with and chat  so that one tends to forget all the hardships of the day.

·         Cordial relationships with parents and other family members.

·         Love and trust amongst  friends circle;

·         Commanding  respect in the social circle, relaxed weekends, time for participation in family functions and celebration of festivals with your near and dear ones.

If a person has been lacking in any of the above aspects of life, despite holding high position coupled with lot of money, number of houses, cars and other materials he cannot be designated as a successful one as he is not satisfied and unable to enjoy life with peace of mind.

I would like to share an experience on this “cost of success ” .One of my friends had a good settled life at his home with his parents and family. He took a decision to move on for better prospects for his career growth. He got a commanding position and monetary gain, but all other aspects of life were disturbed. He lost his mother, who wanted him to remain at home and to take care of them. He now suffers from a guilt feeling that she would have survived a few more years if he would have stayed back.

He really paid a heavy price for brightening his career, as there cannot be any thing more precious than “mother” on this earth.

The conclusion is “Evaluation of Success” should encompass all the relevant factors, which could result in real success, and the cost paid to achieve success is minimum to maximize the gains.

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Dr. Subhash Pande is the Vice President (QA) in a Pharmaceutical Company in Mumbai, India.