The stories of celebrity achievers reveal that you can achieve your dreams only if you believe you can.
But, what are dreams? As per Sigmund Freud, considered father of psychoanalysis, dreams reveal a person’s deepest unconscious wishes and desires. Such wishes and desires should become not just an aspiration, but inspire one to channelize individual energies to realize their desires by self-awareness, planning and effective execution.
A success formula means a proven path to achieve what you want in academic and professional life. The first requirement is therefore to identify your dreams, passions and desires. Remember, your professional success depends on attaining knowledge and life skills, as relevant.
A formula for achieving success to define a clear strategy and take a series of identified courses of actions as below
Smart goals
Your dreams are a manifestation of what you want to do or achieve in your life. To achieve your dreams, translate them into SMART goals, which should be Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Realistic and Time bound. Such process goals have to defined for every stage that you go through in pursuit of your final goals.
For example, if you wish to become a computer science engineer specialized in artificial intelligence [AI] and work for a company like Apple or Microsoft by 2025, then you must define goals for every stage as below:
- Goals for 10th and 12th/PUC in terms of how you should fare.
- Goals for entrance exams with a potential list of preferred college for undergraduate engineering in computer science/IT.
- Goals for Master’s degree in CS/AI from a reputed institute such as IITs or similar tier 1 institute/university in India/abroad.
- Goals for entrance exams to get into these institutes for Master’s degree.
- Additional courses/programs required to get the right skill sets to be an engineer in AI.
- A preferred list of top companies extensively using AI technology, where you like to get selected through the campus placement or otherwise.
Ensure goals you define are realistic and achievable with deadlines to complete every stage.
Self-belief
As per Napoleon Hill, best-selling author of last century with books like, “The law of success” and “Think and Grow Rich”, the key factor for success, is indomitable faith in one’s ability, because 95% of people fail simply due to lack of belief in themselves. Having self-doubts, kills more dreams than failure does as negative thoughts stops one even from thinking big. Spiritual Guru Swami Vivekananda also emphasized the importance of this attitude, when he said, every human being has enormous power which remains largely unutilized.
However, the journey of success is not without hurdles, challenges and unexpected turn of events;But faith in your ability and a strong determination helps you overcome such challenges with flying colours.
Key resources
To become a successful AI engineer, apart from vision and faith, you need key resources to achieve goals at various stages:
- Learning is facilitated by active listening in classroom which includes receiving information, understanding, responding to teachers and remembering/recalling. Classroom learning should be enhanced through associated learning habits like concentrating on meaning of words as you read, increasing eye span and mind training. Decide a clear strategy for entrance exams, group discussion and personal interviews. Finally, ensure personal discipline restricting television viewing, mobile and social media usage.
- Convince and prepare family members for the long career path to stand united with you irrespective of challenges and difficulties.
- Identify a mentor well-versed with academic and industry expertise as relevant to guide you.
- Organize financial resources through family resources or a bank. Education is a priority sector and loans are easily available; collateral security or a guarantor may be needed for higher amounts.
Effective execution
Effectively executing your plan is vital to success. At times, despite your efforts and hard work, you might find reaching nowhere. This is not unusual and is similar to an entrepreneur who often meets several investors before someone buys his idea or a football player making several attempts before hitting a goal. It’s good to remember, that difficult roads lead to beautiful destinations. As a student pursuing success, learn from every situation, reviewing your position vis-à-vis the new challenges and adapt your strategies accordingly. Work closely with your mentor, as they provide not just strategic support but rekindle the faith in yourself, making the journey smoother and enjoyable.
Professional and life skills
Success lies beyond academic excellence and attaining professional and life skills is a must. For an AI engineer, some professional skills needed are programming skills, applied mathematical skills, data mining and analytical skills etc. Acquire these skills through self-learning or training centres. Essential life-skills comprising cognitive, personal and inter-personal skills are necessary, to thrive and flourish in any career and also in personal life. Knowledge and skill enhancement is a continuous process and hence periodic updating and sharpening your skills is a must.
Reviewing and rewarding
As mentioned above, you will pass through 5-6 intermediate milestones, which are important to get to your dream destination. For example, passing your 12th or pre-university with distinction, is an important milestone. When you reach such milestones, do pause for a while, review the next process and celebrate your achievement. Celebrating small wins or rewarding yourself upon reaching milestones, increases your self-esteem, making you motivated to reach the next milestone, with increased vigour and energy.
Dreams help to shape your career by establishing goals and achieving them with a strong determination. Imagining the long-term benefits of your dream career in personal life can be a key motivating factor. Like a true champion, continuously evaluate yourself at every stage creating new benchmarks of excellence to be happy and successful in your professional and personal life.
