No wrong time for the right person

some people wait for the ‘ideal conditions’ to initiate endeavors - this is the approach of losers. Success is created and must be worked for regardless of externalities.

Saqib Omer Saeed August 15, 2010
I do not understand why some people wait for the ‘ideal conditions’ to initiate their endeavors. People think that they cannot succeed in a society where achieving anything looks impossible. All I can say is that this is simply the approach of losers. I have not come across many successful people who have prospered in ideal conditions, for great successes have always occurred in adversity.

I heard once that winners translate dreams into reality and losers translate reality into dreams. The best idea will not work until you work with it. When I heard these sentences for the first time, I thought they were cliches with no practical meaning. But after working with people and companies I have come to realise how true the sayings are.

Our working environment does not lack opportunities. A shortage of initiative causes so much of our potential to be wasted. Students, professionals and sportsmen in this country get frustrated when they see that success is not coming their way. But they have an easy excuse. "The system does not support us!" I am sorry but those who need support can never become successful. Success comes from collaboration not from support.

Why must we go to the West for examples of success like Warren Buffet or Bill Gates? Why not look at examples within our own country? For instance a man who hardly managed to accomplish his intermediate education due to poverty became Dr Abdus Salam, the only man to earn a Nobel Prize from Pakistan in Physics. Or the man who had struggled economically while he was studying at DJ Science College in Karachi became Dr Abdul Qadeer Khan, the top atomic scientist of the country.

None of them worked in ideal circumstances but they worked excuse-free. There is one main difference between those who can and those who cannot. The first group said “it is up to me” and the second said "I can’t". Simply waiting for ideal circumstances is useless. Initiative will construct ideal situations not waiting for them.

I have seen people chasing success in the field of financial markets. When they fail to achieve their goals degree-holders start to make excuses. I used to believe these excuses until I came across the examples of Khanani & Kalia, Aqeel Karim Dhedi etc. They started from scratch with no MBA degrees or foreign qualifications but are now icons of success in the market. We need to embed a character of success in our personality along with our education.

We need to program ourselves for success

We cannot wait for good news but must create good news. We always need to jot down variables by keeping clear targets in sight. If one way is not working, we have to look for relevant alternatives. Generally, the youth gets frustrated while they are unable to attain initial success because they only focus on one channel or they try to knock on all channels. We need to have a targeted area and diverse alternatives within that area.

It is is a matter of who 'can-do' rather than mere externalities. While It is important to do something different but sometimes it is important to do something at all! If we do not have an ideal task in our hands, we should do what we must the best way that we can.  We may not have the ideal work but we can make the work we are doing ideal, even if we are doing something that seems regular.

The things that distinguish successful people from the failures is initiative and resilience. It is foolish to wait for ideal conditions in a world that projects constant decline. If change must from within us so we can carry on despite the harshness of our surroundings. Believe in people so that the best can be done even in the worst circumstances.
WRITTEN BY:
Saqib Omer Saeed A financial researcher, analyst and adjunct faculty in CBM, SZABIST, BIZTEK & University of Karachi and blogs at http://www.bizomer.com
The views expressed by the writer and the reader comments do not necassarily reflect the views and policies of the Express Tribune.

COMMENTS (9)

Marium Mushtaq | 13 years ago | Reply i really like this article this is our biggest problem our Nation is gr8 in blaming other why not take responsibility why not face the failure if anything gets wrong we blame it to the 1st person we find n even i m not diff many times i did it to n ashamed of that but if n only if we take responsibility of our actions then see what wonders this nation will do . Another thing if we take notice all big leaders they came from poor families n their struggle helped them to become a leader every one here want o become a leader but no one knows the real way to be one ....
Hamna | 13 years ago | Reply initiatives should be taken but it must be in the right way. In this era people not even know what they should do or what would be better for them they are following others without knowing their own potentials i think this attitude of people needs to be change also .
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