5 life lessons to learn from the missile man – APJ Abdul Kalam

Wednesday, July 29, 2015

“You have to dream before your dreams can come true” said A.P.J Abdul Kalam – a name that will always be remembered in our hearts! He was great a source of learning and the most humble person of that stature. It’s sad that he is not with us anymore, however he will always reside in our hearts.

1) Be prepared

No matter how much effort & time you’ve put in to achieve a goal, life does not always follow the plan we have set for ourselves. There will be times where it decides to take its own course and makes you follow it instead. What next? In such emergencies, it becomes essential to be prepared. And for that, you need to have the right presence of mind to decide what steps to take next in order to ensure you fall back onto track.

2) Taking failures in your stride

“If you want to become unique, defeat fear and become the captain of the problem” he highlighted. The best way to succeed is to take success and failure in the same stride. Both come hand in hand. If you learn to take failure in your stride, you will also start looking at the solution for the problem than the cause itself. Learn to treat your failures, the same way you treat success & you will be amazed to see how you master the art of succeeding.

3) Think & act different

“My message, especially to young people is to have courage to think differently, courage to invent, to travel the unexplored path, courage to discover the impossible and to conquer the problems and succeed” he emphasized. In a country like ours where lakhs of students are preparing & competing for that one seat in their dream college, what’s the probability of you making it through them? It is your mind & thinking that makes all the difference here & not all those hours you’ve spent solving a paper! Dare to think different & identify a technique that sets you apart from the rest.

4) Have A Vision

Vision and strategy are both important to lead a successful life. Which one comes first? Undoubtedly, vision. If you have a clear vision in mind, you will eventually adopt the right strategy. If you don’t have a clear vision, no strategy will work in your favour. Don’t just stop there! Once you define a vision in mind, nurture it, work towards it, wait for its fruition & finally get ready to reap its benefits.

5) Be humble, even if you are the head of the nation

This should top the list because everything else fails in the absence of this. Dr. Kalam always emphasized that you should never lose out on your humble self even if you are the head of an entire nation. No matter where life takes you, it is essential to always remain grounded and maintain humility at all times. Modesty has, and will always remain, an alluring trait because where egoism fails, humility conquers. Agree with us?

This is why an icon like Kalam makes us shout out loud – Kalam Tujhe Salaam!