Mantra for success. Review on You Can Win - Shiv Khera

I read this book like I read so many other books on success or secrets of success or in other words how to achieve success.

It does not matter all are same, except probably by the author Stephen Covey.

Shiva Kera did not write any new concepts for achieving success. Not even a single one.

He wrote only all the prevalent ideas by many other authors in new, fresh words writing in simpler language. Probably 5th class English medium school girl can enjoy reading this book. There lies Mr. Shiva Kera's success as an author. Indeed I advised my school going daughter at that time to read the book after I read it. She liked it very much.

Those of the readers who never read books on ''success'' theme are well advised to read this book. They would like it for sure. But those of us who read at least one or two books on success themes , will only be smiling all the while reading the book because Shiva Kera did not even gives credit to the authors from whom he had lifted certain stories and ideas ( there are lots of stories in the form fables , anecdotes etc., ). It is true that some of the stories are so well known that they were very much used as examples by many authors ( on how to achieve success ) , so much so that no single author can be credited by the originality of the story.

I think probably Napoleon Hill with his book ''Think and Grow Rich'' was the first one to lay too much emphasis on visualization of success ( even before it is achieved , you should feel and behave as if you had already achieved ) . He says with an intense desire, a pure white flame like desire; one can get what he wants. All the relevant circumstances present themselves creating a conducive environment to get what any body wants if one’s dreams are backed by desires. The concept of visualization of the end ( that is the result ) was given highest importance for the first time and his success as author( Napoleon Hill ) , his own wealth creation has become an example for many authors later on.

All most all these authors like Shiva Kera ,laid emphasis on the result. ( visualizing the result, dreaming the result, intense desire for it and so on )

You shall visualize it clearly. Suppose you want to own a building , you should visualize it clearly including length and breadth of each room its corridars, its colour including yourself and your family sitting in it. If this is backed or burned by intense desire, one day you would really own the building no matter how big it is ,no matter how expensive it is ... etc., . This is sum and substance of the arguments, and theories of these authors.

I beg to differ. My life itself is a lit bit of success story. And I know that it has not yet reached its zenith.

Concentrating too much on the results leads to nervousness, frustration and some times to addictions ( from which you may not come out ) to calm down your nerves. The intense desire may never materialize, and even if it materializes , you would soon realize the hollowness of such a success.

Nevertheless I do advise the Zigzigler,Napolian Hill, Stephen Covey, and other church people wrote books on success by taking help from Bible ( they extensively quoted from Bible as to how one should keep faith in the Lord, or how prayers would be answered and so on ) .

They hold a little truth , I do not deny it. But ultimately happiness is what you need and need it in ample measures , otherwise life ends like a waste paper basket of emotions.

The crucial factor for success as I understand from my experience is the following :

1) Reading , reading and reading. Gaining knowledge alone ensures success.

You will not have the end result in front of your minds eye but the action ''karma'' as it may be called shall be the prime motivation for you ( to read ).

2) Wrong belief, as Lord Buddha said , definitely leads to failure or even worse than that , a life long tragedy.

So take care of perverted ideas, opinions that you may develop even by accident.

If kindness is the pivotal point of all your opinions,ideas,plans ,theories, and your actions ,then you would definitely save yourself from perversions. Otherwise a perverted idea looks real whereas a real idea looks like perverted !!

3) Telling lies, corruption, leads finally to failure notwithstanding some immediate success or to be precise an ''illusion of success''. Many people believe in quick success by immoral means and end up in an illusion of success. This illusion is what these people might have gained in the form of buildings or jewels or machines but had they followed truth and honesty , they could have most probably achieved a success beyond their own imagination ( even if measured in material wealth ) . I can give innumerable examples from life around us and the “illusion of success” but mouthshut is not the stage for it.

Although these 3 ideas I am quoting from Bhagavad-Gita ( the first one ) and Lord Buddha's teachings ( 2 and 3 ) and as old as most ancient civilization in the world , I can emphasize rather on these facts than on visulaization,white flame like desire, concentrating on target ( on the end result ) etc.,

Concentrating on the end result , the success or failure of your actions makes you a wretched creature says Bhagavad-Gita. Weather Lord Krishna really said it or not I do not bother ( as swami Vivekananda said it in his lecture on Bhagavad-Gita) , or worry about it. The fact is , it is the truth. And this is enunciated as the secret of success in Upanishads.

Coming back to Shiva Kera's I think school kids can read it for its fables and tit-bit stories and even they should be warned against too much emphasis on the result.