Sadhguru: Those who are not successful think,
if you read 10 points in a book, you're going to be successful.
What does success look like? What does it take?
Without any kind of influence, you must stay by yourself.
If you enable yourself, other people will say you're a success.
[Laughs] If there were tips for success, everybody would have been successful.
There are no tips for success.
Hands on, you got to do a million things.
Only those who are not so successful, or those who are not successful,
think somewhere if you read 10 points in a book, you're going to be successful.
Those who are successful, they know, they stand on their head,
and do circus on a daily basis, okay? [Laughs]
Only in the parties they stand up straight,
rest of the time they're on their head, okay? [Laughs]
We need to understand this: if you want to be successful, don't seek success.
What you seek is competence.
If you enable yourself, and if you do something well,
other people will say you're a success.
If you think, “I'm a success,” it's foolish, isn't it?
You're doing something, and you're doing it well,
other people in the town, or in the country, or in the world, people will say,
"Oh, he is doing something really successful."
They're looking up to you – that's fine; you look up to yourself – that's madness, okay?
You don't seek success; you seek empowerment, you seek competence,
you do it the best that you can do.
You cannot do as well as somebody, but you can do the best that you can do.
So if you do your best, if your best is good enough, world will recognize;
if it is not, you will be happy. [Laughs]
So, what does success look like? What does it take?
Well...
you know, I know, family and friends
who always have their breakfast on time.
And after breakfast, of course they must have coffee.
After coffee, of course they must light up a cigarette,
and sit there nicely, because they're trying to become peaceful.
[Gestures] [Laughter]
And then they will go to work,
come back home exactly on time for lunch, eat lunch,
rest for one or two hours, sleep.
Then evening have one tea, and then smoke.
And then again, go to work.
And at 8 o'clock, 8:30, they're back home for dinner, and then maybe other things,
drink, and this and that, and whatever.
But those who have been very successful, either in music, sport, art,
business, spiritual process, doesn't matter what,
those people... [Chuckles]
never know when they ate, when they slept, when they got afternoon rest.
I've not seen such a thing in my life! [Laughs]
So, those who are committed to being successful with whatever they're doing,
one important aspect of their life is,
they're not settling down wherever it's a bit comfortable.
Because comfort will happen when they lower you to in the grave,
very comfortable you are, you know?
Right now it's about ensuring that there is profoundness of experience,
and there is impactfulness of activity.
Because... if they had given you a limitless amount of time,
you could do all those things – nothing wrong, I'm not against them –
but they gave you such little time, with such tremendous potential of being human,
that's the problem!
For every one of you, your life is precious, isn't it?
It's a precious life; if something is precious, where do you want to invest this life?
Because what you call as ‘my life’
is just a certain amount of time and energy, isn't it?
Yes?
As you sit here, your life is ticking away, or no?
What is ticking away is not time, what is ticking away is your life! Yes, or no?
Audience: Yes.
Sadhguru: So, this energy that you call as ‘my life,’ how are you going to invest it?
Because if you're doing something truly worthwhile,
it gets over before you know what happened.
Only if you're doing something worthless it feels like a long life.
Have you noticed this, on a particular day when you're very happy,
24 hours ‘poof!’ it went off like that, like a moment?
You are miserable, 24 hours feels like 10 years. Have you not noticed this?
So, only miserable people will have a long life.
Joyful people, life goes away like that [Gestures]
as if it's a couple of days, it passes away like that,
if you are creating what you really care to create.
So, one thing that every young person should do is,
without the influence of the peers of your own age group,
without the influence of your professors, and your parents,
without any kind of influence, somewhere you must stay by yourself at least for 2, 3 days,
and look at it: what is it that I want to invest this precious life into?
What is it that will be worthwhile today, and worthwhile after 50 years,
for me to invest myself into, you invest your life into that!
Whatever it is, however small, big, it doesn't matter,
if you see that this is something truly worthwhile and you invest your life in that,
this will be a life of fulfillment.