It is not that, those artists have not performed later, however, their later performances could not be “hit”. I have just quoted these three examples as “One Hit Wonders” from the basket of many, by this time you might have recollected a few more examples of “One Hit Wonders”. Now you might be wondering; whether this article is on Music & Films. No dear friends, this article is on one of the important aspects of how to sustain success and how to continue achieving target after target.

Many of us including the “Rich & Famous” put the full Stop on learning after achieving a certain amount of success.  I have mentioned in many training programs, that, treat Failure as a ‘comma’, I would like to add on the same lines that, you also treat Success as a ‘comma’ …if you want to maintain, continue your success story and go miles. Do not limit yourself to ‘one hit wonders’. The best example I can quote is Mr. Amir Khan, who always enhances his performances as compared to earlier ones. Remember his debut film QSQT? He continued his learning, tried a variety of roles, and raised his bar till the date & result you all know. My point is that one should have that hunger for the best.If someone asks you what is your best? The answer should be the best is yet to come or the famous lines “I have not done Yet”…

It is observed that after failures many people rise, do the root cause analysis, keep themselves in ‘positive’ company, keep hope alive & achieve the desired result. Whereas success has a peculiar characteristic, it brings your learning to a halt, it gives you an inflated ego that may stop your journey towards future success stories and you become “one-hit wonders”. A scientist was offered a Noble prize at the age of 83 for the research, he did when he was in 30’s, when asked how he felt to get it so late…he just said, For all these years I was enjoying Science, Had Noble offered me early, I would have enjoyed the position…I stand at this point as; do not treat any happening as success or failure. Treat it as an experience and make it very sure that after every experience… Challenge Yourself…

Make, Challenging Yourself, a habit, as this is the key to grow you taller, taller & taller. Do you, remember playback singer SonuNigam as the host of the television serial dedicated to music, Sa Re Ga Ma? Undoubtedly he was a good singer at that time too…What position does he enjoy today as a singer?  Definitely…he is at the Top of the list of singers, the country has produced.  Yesterday he was good /better and today he is best, this journey is called as bettering the best. Mind well there is always and always a scope of improvement. Whatever you performed yesterday can be performed better today if your CY (challenge yourself) mode is ON. You need to sharpen your Axe, Use yourself to optimum level, give your 100% and polish yourself continuously.

When I was actively working with JCI, our Zone president used to emphasize in almost every of his speech ”Improve yourself 1% daily in your Personal, Professional &  Social life, it will make you grow 30% in a month & 365 % in a year”  Give it a try. It will lead to a huge amount of growth…in your personal, professional & social life.Before few years, motivated by some external forces  I went to a Gym, to “shape its owners pocket” by cropping mine, My fitness instructor used to say, Everyday you should add some weight to your machine as compared to yesterday. One of us argued with him, about how it is possible to add one more disc to the machine daily. I know my limits, I am aware of my capacity, and I can’t do this. To this, the Gym instructor silently replied, I asked you to increase your weight daily, you may put newspaper on the machine or for that matter put a “Bus Ticket” in your pocket and then do it, I won’t mind. Raising your bar should be in your attitude.

Challenge your thinking, Challenge your physical capacities, Challenge your presentation skills, challenge your communication skills, cooking skills… sometimes it may happen that you need to challenge your beliefs also…We are living in a world that expects, “Get More done better, faster with Less”.

Learn at least one new point in your day-to-day routines in your Personal, Professional & Social life. Another day I was watching a cookery show hosted by a famous Chef of Nagpur, while cooking he was saying, “The new recipe keeps on coming to my mind as the new tunes keep coming to a music director’s mind”. This shows his involvement in the subject matter and seriousness about his job. I could read the thought process behind this, what best can I do/ offer? How best can I do it?  This very thought process becomes your attitude which keeps you in a race to continue the journey of success.  These two questions should always keep on coming to your mind after every little or big achievement.  Try new techniques, Increase and improve your Exposure, Go places, Read Books, Think outside the box, use the Internet as a source (mind well it should not be the ONLY source), “Listen” to your competitors & customers, Be in a company of people who prefer improvement. Be Flexible enough to understand/ accept new things and techniques and most importantly be with Today and think ahead of Time… Avoid, the “I know all”, attitude and avoid being a slave of technology. If you want to fly high as the eagle, don’t waste your time swimming with ducks.

Pandit Ravi Shankar, a Sitar Legendary, when asked about, how much he feels that he knows about sitar playing, I think it would take me 150 years to learn Sitar well, was the polite reply by Pandit ji. As we all know Pandit ji is the last word in Sitar, but still he thinks there is a scope…this forces me to emphasize that there is always a scope for improvement at whatever level you are, the real question is, are you ready to bridge this gap?  Are you ready to raise your bar? Someday after my regular schedule, in a bit relaxed mood, I was watching my favorite

 reality show Tomorrow’s Voice on satellite television, the singer was doing his best, that day he just mesmerized the audience & judges, after the song got completed, one of the judges commented “your competition should be with yourself only” if you follow this golden rule, you will not only win the title but will continue to grow when this competition is over. Those who stop this process become stagnant & everybody knows even stagnant water stinks after some period. Choice lies in your hands. This week onwards think of your recent success and what you plan to do this year to grow. Accept new & difficult challenges beyond what you have mastered, this will ensure your continuous improvement as an individual, as a group, as a community, as a city & of course Country as a whole… Ask yourself, is my CY mode ON?  Vande Mataram!!

Kumar Zilpelwar – K Zi
Iconic Trainer
Performance Coach