A tree doesn’t grow tall to reach the sun, nor does it grow to compete with its neighboring tree. It grows because growing is its very nature. Growing, evolving and attaining to your true potential has very little to do with what is happening around you and has everything to do with what is happening within you.

Reading a success story of somebody, and attaining to one yourself are two completely different things. Dissect a human being into thousand parts, you will find everything there except life. Dissect the life of a successful person, you will find everything there except success.

Let us understand the word success. What is success all about, who defines it, why is it necessary and is it as glamorous as people project it to be? We have heard people talk about discipline, dedication, hard work, punctuality and a host of other qualities one has to cultivate in order to attain to success. But honestly, how many of these qualities can you actually remember and practice, how many of these qualities can become the bedrock on which you can build your success.

A tree doesn’t grow tall to reach the sun. Growing is its very nature.

History has given us all kinds of successful people. Success of simplicity in Gandhi, success of stupidity in Hitler, success of innovation in Edison, success of imagination in Disney, success of silence in Buddha. If at all we can learn something from the rich vibrant past of human evolution, it is that with forceful assertion of your individuality, you can turn anything into success. It is not a certain quality of yours that will determine your success; it is the understanding of yourself and your individuality. To attain to any kind of success, knowing who you are is infinitely more important than knowing what you do.

Success is simply the afterglow of your individual creative self shinning bright in the darkness of human struggle. You cannot spread the light, unless you possess it yourself. You cannot succeed in the world unless you find success within yourself first. In reality, success is simply a journey inward. The deeper you reach within yourself, the farther you can go in the world. Finding the method, system and process of self-discovery is the first step on your ladder of success.

The day you understand yourself fully, every single expression of yours becomes a source of creativity, inspiration and drive. You don’t have to strive to succeed; success simply becomes your second nature. Then the word success will only make sense to those who are trying to understand your life. As for you, it just doesn’t matter.  Anyways success is neither the destination nor the journey; it is simply the footprints you leave behind on the sands of time.