“Do You Believe in Luck?” - Professor M.S.Rao

"The heights by great men reached and kept were not attained by sudden flight, but they, while their companions slept, were toiling upward through the night" - Henry Wadsworth Longfellow


When I was doing work out at gymnasium, an young man approached and asked me a question, “Dear Professor! People often say ‘do your duty but don’t look for rewards’. Don’t you think it is a contradictory statement as we work only for results? Could you explain?” I smiled and said as follows:

I complimented for asking a good question and probably many youth may have this query in their minds. Lord Krishna said, “Action is the duty reward is not thy concern.” That means man has to put in his efforts consistently without focusing too much on results as focusing too much on results diverts his mind from putting in efforts. Man gets discouraged when encountered with failures as he is more concerned about results than efforts. Besides, for some people success comes early while for some people success comes late. Hence, our duty as human beings is to put in efforts regularly without getting unduly worried about success. When I explained in this way the young man smiled and said, “Thank you Professor for clearing my long overdue query.”

People often talk about ‘luck’ when someone achieves something. They ignore the hard work put in by the successful individual. The truth is that there are two forces that govern any individual. First is internal force and second is external force. Man has to put in his best efforts to achieve the desired goals and objectives. However, the external forces often hinder in achieving success. When external forces favor, man can reach his tipping point. That external force is nothing but ‘luck’. However, if you don’t work hard and achieve success due to the favorable so-called external forces such as ‘luck’ your success will not last long enough. Hence, keep doing your best without looking for results and returns, and, over a period of time success will touch your toes. Here is a caution! The higher you achieve higher the humility you must possess otherwise the success doesn’t have any meaning.

Good luck and keep putting in your efforts!


Professor M.S.Rao
Founder and Chief Consultant,
MSR Leadership Consultants, India
Blog: http://profmsr.blogspot.com
Where Knowledge is Wealth
Email: profmsr7@gmail.com



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