People generally tend to think that great achievers are superhuman or singularly talented people. However, those who have made a thorough study have a different perspective. One such study brings out five major qualities which the achievers have. First and foremost, they have a great sense of mission and a strong desire to turn everything that comes their way to good account. Secondly, they concentrate on being result-oriented, so that one is not just preoccupied with unceasing activities, but with a definite outcome of their efforts. Thirdly, they take stock of whatever knowledge and skills they have and bring out whatever is latent and waiting to be used, so that it can be turned up to a peak of perfection.

Very often people make the mistake of thinking that achievement is about adding to one’s knowledge and skills, while in reality it is about the skill of developing what is already there—capacities of which we are sometimes barely aware. Frequently, it is one’s initial sense of mission which taps these hidden resources.

No one sails through life without bumping into obstacles and suffering a variety of setbacks. This is when one must beware of lapsing into passivity.

Sometimes it is impossible to achieve distant goals without the aid of one’s fellowmen, in which case, one has to develop the capacity to inspire the team spirit in others. Particularly in highly competitive situations, it is essential to be able to encourage other competent people to make a significant contribution to one’s own performance.

But no one sails through life without bumping into obstacles and suffering a variety of setbacks. This is when one must beware of lapsing into passivity. Then one has to take oneself firmly in hand and decide to look upon such things not as great gulfs from which one will never emerge, but simply as hurdles which have to be surmounted if one is to finish the race. One’s initial feeling of disappointment should quickly transform itself into a great determination to try harder, to alter one’s approach, to seek different and better ways of achieving one’s goal, and to channel one’s energies more effectively towards the ultimate target.