We all love to dream for the best things to happen in our lives. As kids, we dream about ,what we want to become in life. As we turn teenagers, we dream for more material things, for our comforts. Then, as adults we want the best of cars and our own home to live in. I think, it is human to dream and all of us ,love to do it.

There is nothing wrong to dream. Even the visionaries in life or in corporates ,dream of where they want ,to take their organisations. Then they work on ,how to convert those dreams into reality. The problem with most of us is that ,we dream and we allow it ,to remain a dream. Even before realising a dream, we start dreaming about the next and they become like the gas balloons we played ,during our childhood.

I recall my childhood when I was playing with a gas baloon, my parents had bought me, to play with. As the baloon went higher in the sky, I was over joyed at the bouyancy of the baloon. But very soon, the thread tied to the baloon, got cut and it flew away. I ran after it for a few kilometers, till it disappeared into the cloudy sky.

Dreaming for most of us , is like the gas baloon. We keep buying more gas baloons and let them off in the air and it disappears. We need to realise that dreaming could be the first step for success in life but it is by no stretch of imagination, the last step.

The difference between “Dream”& “Reality” is “Action”. If we have to put it in the form of a formula , it would be – Dream + Action = Reality. If we do not act on our dream, they would remain dreams forever. It is almost like the new year resolutions for many of us. We resolve to lose 10 kgs in six months. We plan to jog or walk for 5 kms every day. But, as winter sets in, we dream more ,by sleeping more rather than walking or jogging , as we had planned. So, our goal of reducing weight remains a dream.

Even in corporates, many employees make grandiose plans and set goals to achieve them. But, if there is no systematic planning, action steps and tracking mechanism to measure progress, the plans remain on paper and have to be reviewed every quarter and may be become the plan again ,for the next year.

Life is no different. Every dream has to be followed up with systematic planning, evolving actions ,measuring them to track progress and take corrective actions, in case our actions are not sufficient ,to achieve our desired goals.

A dream will remain a dream ,if there is no consequent action.

S Ramesh Shankar

18th March 2025

Excellence is a never ending journey in life. It is like a journey ,with no destination in sight. We can improve ourselves every day of our lives and in every way. The best examples of practising excellence ,are our sportspersons. Even the world champions in any sport, never think they have arrived. They always think, they have a lot more to learn and do to excel in their sport.

Being in the HR function, I have been asked by many employees as to -“how do i plan my career ?” . I would always say – try to excel in whatever you do. Be the best that you can be and nobody can ignore you ,in your career. Imagine a cricketer scoring consistently in domestic tournaments ,year after year. The selectors may find it difficult to ignore him for the national team ,unless they are open to public criticism ,after they have selected the team.

The path to excellence is a quest in quality. We can and may be ,we should never consider ourselves, as arrived ,in whatever we do. If we are a painter, we could be the best in the state or the country. We could even become one of the best in the world. But, the journey cannot end there. What do you need to do to remain ,on top of the world ?

The best musicians across the world in vocal or instrumental will not rest with a grammy award or any other world recognition. They are aware that although they may have attained global recognition, there is still a lot to learn and grow. They will continue to practise every single day and strive for excellence ,in whichever branch of music they pursue.

Life is no different. We may be working in any field. We may be a student, a junior at the work place or the CEO of a company. We may be running a successful business or even a sportsperson, who has won the gold at the last Olympics. It does not matter. We need to realise that the quest for excellence ,for all of us , is a never ending journey.

We need to continually strive to be the best we can be ,at a particular time . If we relax at that point of time, we may be left behind and others may overtake us. The journey to excellence is a life long one. We cannot rest ,unless we do not want to be the best.

I have met people from different walks of life. Ordinary people with extra ordinary dreams. They set their goal and work towards it, with zest. They do not rest even after they have achieved their best. This is because they realise ,that even a world record ,does not remain static for ever. What was the best and a world record in the last olympics ,may not even qualify for the next olympics.

We need to learn and grow every single day ,of our lives. We need to reset our goals ,as soon as we achieve them ,if we strive to be the best in whatever we do. There is no end game ,for excellence. There could be milestones along the way but the end will always be ,like an elusive dream. We need to strive to achieve the impossible ,by continuously striving to be the best.

Let the journey of excellence for us begin today.

S Ramesh Shankar

20th Jan 2025

Life is a mixture of successes and failures. We may succeed in many of our actions and fail in some. We need to take both ,in our stride. While successes make us happier, failures may leave us sad. But one needs to realise that we can learn from both our successes and failures.

In my book, failures possibly teach us more than successes. We have so many instances of sportspersons teaching us valuable lessons, on how to learn from failures.

I was recently reading about two world champions ,in the field of sports. Both of them narrated that they failed more than they succeeded ,in their sporting career. But the crucial learning is that ,their failures made them learn more and ultimately ,they evolved as world champions.

Let me narrate a few of my failures and how I learnt from them. The first incident was when I was in school. I was the elected school pupil leader and was to lead the school march past ,on our annual sports day. Our school was in an Air Force campus. The chief guest was the top commander of the Air Force station. As expected, he was punctual and dot on time ,for the ceremony.

I had come early to school in my white uniform. But, while playing on the ground, I fell down and soiled my clothes. My friends suggested that I go home and change my uniform , as they were soiled. I cycled my way back home for 5 kms and then back to school, and in that process, was late for the ceremony. The deputy school pupil leader was asked to lead the school parade.

This was the most important lesson on punctuality for me ,in my life. From then on till today, I am normally very punctual unless I default due to reasons beyond my control, which would be very rare. So, this failure of mine taught me one of the most important lesson in life ,to be punctual.

The second failure was when I finished my graduation and tried for admission ,to leading business schools in India. I cleared the entrance test of two of the best business schools for HR in India. However, I could not clear the interview ,since my general knowledge and awareness was poor. This led to me to evolve as a quiz master in the future and also work hard and lead HR in some of the best organisations in India.

I would not state that ,successes do not teach you lessons. My career progression was excellent and each step ahead taught me to be grounded and be a life long learner. Success can sometimes blind you but if you keep your feet on the ground and are willing to be humble, the chances of your doing better in life and career ,is higher.

We need to realise that life will always be a combination of successes and failures. We need to learn from both of them. My life teaches me that possibly failures teach you more important life lessons than successes. But, if we are willing ,even successes teach us lessons.

Let us learn to learn from both failure and success ,in life.

S Ramesh Shankar

19th Jan 2025