If you have a vision, stick to it - Part III

Last week, I came across many different personalities and all of them unequivocally expressed same thought, in different forms. First, an American country manager, the Global account executive of Vodaphone account of our firm, but very friendly in nature. He invited me for a surprise dinner and it was my pleasure to attend a casual dinner with a senior director of US, where we discussed limited necessary business topics and more about general objectives. What impressed me more about him is his focus to work and adherence to objectives. He has given some example in his twenty years of professional career, where he simply focused to get the job done. According to him, we are here to perform certain tasks and it’s obvious that many problems will arise before completion. We have to complete it in a proper way, following the guidelines and overcome all hurdles by means of our constant endeavors. Yah! It sounds simple, though this is the fundamental aspect to be succeeded, that most of us do not follow, or try to follow and give up in certain point of time. A failure in any form is comparable to a small death. The constant effort, focus of objective, the fight for every inch, the adherence to goal, and the continuous battle to the objective makes the very difference between success and failure, living and dead.
Now comes the question of objectives, how to determine and what to do? The set of objectives are determined by the vision of each individual. Well, I am not going to deliver a small lecture on how to objectives and vision, but want to tell about two Indians I met in flight while coming back to India. Both of them are from AP (HYD based) and incredibly focused in their vision. The first gentleman (sorry I can not tell the name/company name as I haven’t sought permission beforehand) was seating next to me and is in IT industry for last 10 years. Ten years is a long time, but very short compare to what he has done so far. After completion of his BE and MBA from Hyderabad, he went to US and worked in IT, opened a firm, learnt latest technologies, trained people and developed a firm of 80 consultants only within a span of four years, then got a good offer and sold the firm in million dollars. It was impressive, but what stunned me was his next innings. In last five years he has built one ERP software product development with the help of 30 consultants. He finally launched it this year and implemented in some small medium scale industries. This is completely unbelievable and just a dream for me. This is just not possible without vision. He is not from IIMs/IITs, but a man with a vision, where degree, Institutes hardly matters. Education is the basic step which only can give a start up. Rest on the will and effort and of course on the Vision. Vision is something in which we can see the futuristic realistic dream and which can be attained by the successful execution of a set of objectives in a definite timeframe.

Now the question comes, what should be one’s vision? How to determine what to do? These questions has wonderfully answered by another US-UK based businessman, another entrepreneur originally from AP and harvesting his dreams. I encountered him in Mumbai Airport. He is a man with definite projection of his vision, where he wants to see himself after 5/10/20/lifetime. What impressed me most was his understanding of Vision, in short and long run. He emphasized that everyone should jot down what you really want to do, even if it is about taking care of your parents or writing a book. Most of the young graduates always ask what they should do, but it has to be decided by every individual, what he like to be, his vision, his path.
He told, in an engineering college three hundred students were asked to write about their vision in after thirty years, and only three of them were able to write. The interesting observation after thirty years is those three people are earning eighty five percent of the total of all students. It’s nothing but because of planned traversal in a particular trajectory. Vision comes from dream, Visions gives us the path of traversal. But we may have many contradictory paths of interests, which one to choose? Obviously we should follow the most important dream of our life, which is worth, which is closely associated with our soul, of which we are capable. It reminded me the words from Carlos Castaneda---“My friend, you know for me and for you and perhaps for everyone there is a path, a path that has heart, there we have to travel, looking, looking breathlessly.”

While most of us are busy in apprehending what we should do, some of us are really making their dreams a reality. The recent trend of entrepreneurships by Indians in US market has changed my notion about us, Indians. We can do things, can achieve the pick in every field, and may be we will achieve it one day. I don’t feel comfortable to criticize my country in everything, because the words are not going to deliver changes. Important to me is what each of us are delivering to change the so called shabby image of Mother India.
Finally on Sunday evening, I was watching IFEA awards. The concluding words were from the Winner of Filmfare Best Actor Award - Hrithik Roshan. He reiterated the same voice “Nothing is impossible, believe me nothing is impossible”. Impossible means – I am possible. It’s just a mental barrier makes our tasks sometime harder, remove it, and feel free …