Friday, May 15, 2009

Be - Do - Have

This is a great principle to follow in life and everyone must put serious effort to follow this path.

It's a paradigm shift alright, but it's fully worth the trouble. Trust me it allows you to reach success. There are many who assume that by having a thing (such as more money and time) will allow them to "do" things (such as taking up a hobby, starting a study program, reading a book) which gives them the opportunity to 'be' what they ultimately wanted be. For most people "having" something, an achievement or 'being' comes as the last result in their efforts. However just try to live the life or the person you want to be after achieving the result and see how it actually helps you to achieve your goal. This is something I have constantly tried to drill in to my colleagues and certainly myself as well.

This is a universal truth which is relevant for everything in life be it money, career achievement or relationships.

The core issue is that we as members of the society was brought up in an environment which strongly encouraged a Have - Do - Be culture.

Examples include,

- If you Do study hard at school, you can Have a good job, and you'll Be successful.

- If you Do eat the right food and exercise, you'll Have a healthy body, and you'll Be happy.

This mentality grooms us to take life path down DO -Have - Be. However the problem with this approach is that it is very difficult to motivate one's self do it and only a few who have the courage to see it through.

With the new approach of "Be-Do- Have" gives any person greater chance succeeding in their goals in their lives.

Lets take my favourite example from the corporate world. Every person who gets in to the corporate world expects to be successful. However very few people realize (or very few are made to realise by their superiors) that they need to start "being" at the level they aspire to be and the road to glory will be successful. This means they need to identify the qualities and attributes of those who are already in those positions and see how best one should adapt while keeping one's identity intact. Learning curve becomes shorter, more effective and you tend to practice what you learn. Idea here is not to copy some one or be someone else's replica. But instead it is about identifying qualities which made them successful. And then Adapt!

There is a way successful people approach problems, how they carry themselves, how they talk, how they behave in different situations, their dress sense and so much more. One needs to carefully study these good attributes and see how best s(he) should adapt the same in to their lives.

After all this is neither new nor it is rocket science. For thousands of years people have done this. When one step in to adulthood he or she is shaped and moulded by the first few years of his or her experience. At offices, trainees and 'just out of schools' behave and dress in a very amateurish way compared to most of the experienced colleagues. (how they put the tie knot, how they tuck they shirts, types of trousers and colours they wear etc). However with time you clearly see the transformation of most of them. The corporate value systems have 'deep impact' on how they go about thereafter. They learn from their bosses and peers etc.

This is just one example and this approach is both practical and relevant for any aspect of life.

So BE- DO - HAVE approach certainly helps one to succeed in their own endeavours.

True life lessons work and they can be translated to many different areas in life!