Attitude Determines Altitude

by Shah Saleem Faruqi – The Star 11 January 2012

An excerpt from the article written by the Emeritus Professor of Law at UiTM and Visiting Professor at USM.  

 

Nice one and inspiring too.  Happy reading.

Success is a matter of personal perception.  To some people, wealth, power, influence and status are the tests of having made it.  To others – success is to bring sunshine into the lives of others.  When you do that, some of that sunshine will illuminate your life as well. 

Whatever your concept of success is, its attainment is rooted in some conducive mental attitudes and a great deal of planned, hard work.

Visualising and envisioning: You must envision, constructively imagine and role-play whatever you wish to be.

Dreams are the foundation of reality.  If you can dream it, you can achieve it.  Any fulfillment is, of course, subject to your courage and discipline to act on your dreams and materialize them into concrete actions.  Kipling’s admonition must be remembered:  “If you can dream and not make dreams your master.  If you can think but not make thoughts your aim”.

Daily planning:  On a daily basis, plan your schedule. Fill every minute with 60 seconds of distance run.  Sail in a chartered course.  Do not drift in the wind and the waves.  

Act on, not just react to, things as they come.  Do not let others lead you by the nose.  Do not count on luck.  Luck is what happens when preparation meets opportunity.

Mapping the road ahead:   Careers are like ladders with many rungs.  Map out the steps.  Fix time frames.  Periodically review your progress towards your long-term goals.

Intensity:  There must be an intensity of commitment, a fire, a burning desire, an over-riding, if not single-minded, determination to attain your goals.

Ambition:  Think big.  Do not settle for too little.  Make plans to reach the sky.  If you land on the clouds, that’s OK.  Strive harder next time.

Faith in God:  When confronted by inevitable storms, trust God.  God does not burden any soul with more than it can bear.

Self-confidence:  We are all specks of dust in the universe.  This necessary humility can, however, go hand in hand with a self-confidence that everything is attainable if we strive hard enough.

We must doubt our doubts but not our beliefs.  We must remember that attitude, more than aptitude, determines our altitude.

 

Discipline and hard work:  Work is part of worship and must be given the same type of devotion.  Hard work compensates for lack of genius.   Many ordinary people achieve extraordinary things because they toil through the night while the world sleeps.  Genius is 10% inspiration; 90% perspiration.  A toiling tortoise can beat a heady hare.

Over the course of four decades, I have seen scores of extremely intelligent people fail in their endeavours because they lacked the humility that drives hard work;  the discipline and planning that ensures progress; and the courage and persistence that overcome odds.

In most challenges in life, natural talents do not take us very far.  Discipline does.

Passion:  Whatever you do , do well.  Let reason be the rudder and passion the sail.  There are no small jobs; only small people.   There is honour in every profession provided we put our heart and soul into it and do ordinary things extraordinarily well.

It is often the case that those who do small jobs meticulously are likely to confront major challenges majestically.

Do not wait for ideal conditions: Do not wait for the perfect time to start building on your dreams.  External conditions will never be ideal.  We have to make do with what we have.  The wind often changes for the better once we set sail.  It is our inner determination that makes the world stand aside to let pass a man who knows where he is going.

Show-case your talents:  At a place of work, substance and form, isih dan gaya, the ability to be relevant, as well as to seem competent, are all equally important.  Don’t be like the peacock that dances in the jungle but is not seen by anyone.

Find sophisticated and civilized ways to show-case your talents.  Polish up your communication and PR skills so that your hard work and competence will be known.

Rewards come in many ways:  It is natural to expect appreciation and recognition.  However, one must remember that in the workplace there are rivalries, jealousies and injustices.  As in the outside world, so in the workplace, justice does not usually prevail.  If the rewards do not come when they are due, remember that God is watching.  His justice will one day prevail.

Work never goes to waste.  A competent man is like the moon.  Clouds can hide the moon for a while but in the end the beams of light will break through and the world will be filled with their luminescence.  Remember also that hard work with sincerity is nourishing for the soul and good for health.  The rewards of hard work are long term, internal and intangible.  We all know that of all the things that matter in life, most are not things.

Success and failure:  Success is never final.  It is a journey, not a destination.  It is a continuing process of repeating , reinforcing past accomplishments and conquering new challenges by adapting to a changed world.  Success is sustained effort over time and persistence in the face of hurdles.  It is an attitude of “I think I can”.  It is the courage to treat adversity as an opportunity.  It is the willingness to regard every dare as a door.

Falling down does not amount to failure.  Failure is to stay down.  Falling down is never fatal.  Life breaks all of us.  The thing to do is to learn from our failings and to emerge stronger where we’re broken.

Happiness:  To seek inner peace, live simply.  Richness is not the accumulation of wealth but the smallness of needs.  Think deeply.  Act nobly.  Leave the world a better place than you found it.  Learn from people you admire.

“Lives of great men all remind us:  we can make our lives sublime and departing leave behind us, footprints on the sands of time.”

The Man by the Window

Two men, both seriously ill, occupied the same hospital room. One man was allowed to sit up in his bed for an hour each afternoon to help drain the fluid from his lungs. His bed was next to the room's only window.

The other man had to spend all his time flat on his back. The men talked for hours on end. They spoke of their wives and families, their homes, their jobs, their involvement in the military service, where they had been on vacation. And every afternoon when the man in the bed by the window could sit up, he would pass the time by describing to his roommate all the things he could see outside the window.

The man in the other bed began to live for those one-hour periods where his world would be broadened and enlivened by all the activity and color of the world outside. The window overlooked a park with a lovely lake. Ducks and swans played on the water while children sailed their model boats. Young lovers walked arm in arm amidst flowers of every color of the rainbow. Grand old trees graced the landscape, and a fine view of the city skyline could be seen in the distance.

As the man by the window described all this in exquisite detail, the man on the other side of the room would close his eyes and imagine the picturesque scene. One warm afternoon, the man by the window described a parade passing by. Although the other man couldn't hear the band, ­he could see it in his mind's eye as the gentleman by the window portrayed it with descriptive words. Days and weeks passed.

One morning, the day nurse arrived to bring water for their baths only to find the lifeless body of the man by the window, who had died peacefully in his sleep. She was saddened and called the hospital attendants to take the body away. As soon as it seemed appropriate, the other man asked if he could be moved next to the window. The nurse was happy to make the switch and after making sure he was comfortable, she left him alone.

Slowly, painfully, he propped himself up on one elbow to take his first look at the world outside. Finally, he would have the joy of seeing it for himself. He strained to slowly turn to look out the window beside the bed. It faced a blank wall. The man asked the nurse what could have compelled his deceased roommate who had described such wonderful things outside this window. The nurse responded that the man was blind and could not even see the wall. She said that perhaps he just wanted to encourage you.

There is tremendous happiness in making others happy, despite our own situations. Shared grief is half the sorrow, but happiness when shared, is doubled.
-Source Unknown

"Happiness when shared, is doubled." It couldn't be much more simple than that, could it? Make it a goal to share your happiness with others - family, friends, and those around you. Each day, try to share some of your happiness with at least three other people. After all, doubling your happiness is a winning proposition for everyone!"