What is success? What is it which famous and reputed personalities from all over the world did to become successful? How is success linked with happiness? Does success lead to happiness or happiness lead to success? What are some of the factors that differentiate an entrepreneur, leader, employee or student from their respective counterparts?
These are just a few questions that "Working Hard is Not Good Enough", a new management book by bestselling author TGC Prasad, attempts to answer.
We all know that hard work is an essential ingredient for achieving success. But is that enough? If not so, what are some other things that one should do to succeed in life? This book is written to help anyone and everyone achieve all that they've set out to. This book is for those who wish to live the life of their dreams. Written in simple words, the author is effective in expressing his perceptions on success by using a lot of real-life examples of people who made it big. The fifteen chapters of the book offer lessons that you would probably not find in fifteen different books. In the following paragraphs, I'll briefly touch upon some of those chapters.
As elders, we often scold the young ones, our kids or younger siblings, when they do not perform well in their academics. We continue doing so even as we grow older, making people who are junior to us realize that they are weak in certain areas and need to work on turning those weaknesses into strengths. But can weaknesses ever turn into strengths? And even if they do, is it worth the effort? The second chapter of the book, "Play to Strengths", advises how we should always leverage on our strengths because our strengths indicate what our real purposes in life are.
The sixth chapter of the book, "Leap of Faith", talks about how we should not be afraid of trusting our instincts and going ahead with something that feels right. This chapter strongly resonated with me. When I think about some of the offbeat things I did in my life, such as joining the Teach For India Fellowship programme, at a time when I could have instead chosen to play safe, say by joining an MNC and making more money in the process, I realize that I would have never gained so much had I not followed my instincts. Even now when it comes to making a choice between doing something and not doing that thing, I almost always do it. For me, it is better and safer to regret something which I did than regret something which I did not even try, but could have tried.
The Chapter on philanthropy lauds various individuals and organisations that have invested their monies and efforts into solving some of the most pressing challenges the world is currently faced with. While reading this chapter, I thought of Shaheen Mistry- the Founder of Teach For India- who chose to walk down the road less-traveled and live a life of dedication, commitment, inspiration and faith. As we read this, Teach for India continues to bridge the academic and achievement gap that exists between underprivileged children and their wealthier counterparts across five prominent cities of the country.
Coming to the last chapter of the book, "Humility", here, the author speaks about several individuals who didn't let success change them for the worse. Rather, they catalyzed on this quality to win support from people around to achieve their life's missions and goals.
All in all, Working Hard is Not Enough is a book full of memorable stories, experiences, lessons and ideas. It left a lasting impact on me and it will draw upon others too. I would advise everyone to pick up this book and make the best use of it.
