Third principle of success

A question often arises in our minds that why some people succeed and some people fail even though they face the same circumstances. Sometimes the reason for this difference is considered to be the goddess of fortune and sometimes the constant struggle.

But if we look closely, there is another, third, and important process that works with these two factors. Before I explain what this process is, let me tell you about an incident that happened in a restaurant.

The narrator of this incident is the former chief executive officer of the famous beverage company Coca-Cola. According to him, he was waiting for his dinner at a res restaurant and suddenly he heard screams.

“I saw some people standing around a table and a woman who is about 35 years old is screaming loudly and was constantly moving his hands and feet in a state of extreme anxiety. As a result of the quake, pots fell from nearby tables and some people were injured.”

The narrator said I was standing by my chair watching the scene when a waiter came running and started looking at the woman who was in a state of extreme anxiety. Later the waiter understood the situation. Actually, a cockroach flew over the woman’s shoulder and was screaming in order to get rid of it.

After a few seconds, the waiter very comfortably grabbed the cockroach and throws it out. In an instant, the situation calmed down again. The narrator said that this small incident solved an important entanglement in my mind. The entanglement was that when so many people face the same situation, why is it different for each person? Because each person reacts differently, the result is different.

There are two options for how we understand a situation and take action: First, the immediate emotional response to any situation (Reaction). Second, the rational reaction (Response). Often, decisions made under emotional pressure are wrong.

The woman’s reaction, in the restaurant, was emotional because this woman started screaming without realizing the situation and the result of this reaction could be dangerous. On the contrary, the waiter’s action was a rational response because he understood the situation and acted on it.

Apart from luck and hard work, the third thing in which success depends is our reaction (emotional or rational). Along with luck and hard work, the most important thing is to understand the situation and act accordingly. There are millions of examples around us when people react emotionally and suffer the consequences for a lifetime.  

According to an estimate, 45 percent of homicides in our society is the result of an immediate emotional response. The bottom line is that if we think for a moment before reacting to any situation, what our reaction might be, we can accurate our decision-making to a great extent.

Immediate response should be avoided in emotions, whether happy, sad, or angry. Because emotional reactions can be wrong and even harmful. Instead of reacting immediately to the situation, we need to make a conscious decision to deal with the difficulties and hardships that come our way.