“Rarely I failed because I did not get the right skills. Often I failed because I did not acquire the right attitude”
– Vineet Raj Kapoor
We think that people notice our lack of skills, but people are quicker at noticing the lack of attitude. Did we care what skills our parents had? We let them handle us even without any major skills at parenting. But, whenever there was any gap of attitude, we were quick to notice.
We often look for guidance about which skills to have. However, the skills are like arrows and you cannot march into a battle clutching a bunch of arrows in your hand. You need a bow! Bow is the dream or purpose. You require a bow to launch those arrows in the right direction. However you also require a ‘tarkash’ (Quiver) to store and carry those arrows! Quiver/ Tarkash is your attitude. You require the right attitude to be able to carry your skills.
Getting the right attitude is getting the right alignment. You have to keep on fine tuning and testing before you are sure. You need clarity of purpose. And purpose need not be a specific aim. It could even be as simple as doing good to others. And you need to believe in your purpose and your decisions must be driven by that purpose. That would automatically give you the right attitude.
Attitude can never be acquired without the right purpose in life.