The Hindu Business Line : `Thought x Knowledge x Action = Attitude'

Your attitude matters much more than your skills, says Dipankar Biswas in 9 Secrets, the Ultimate Success Strategies (www.landmarkonthenet.com). It is attitude that shapes your style of connecting with others, your way of communicating, and your respect for others, Biswas adds. Also, "your attitude and your professional image help you to form the first impression others have of you."

Importantly, as the author explains, attitude is a personality trait that you continue to develop throughout your life. "Your attitude pervades your actions and is evident in every detail of your life. Your attitude is evident in your body language, how you complete tasks, your attention to details, and your consideration of those around you. Attitude begins on the inside and shows on the outside."

A simple formula that Biswas explains in his book is: `Thought x Knowledge x Action = Attitude.' If you can improve the quality of your thinking, in any area, you will improve the quality of your life in that area, he assures. "Mind generates thought and there is compulsive thinking; and most of the thoughts are negative unless we take a conscious effort to generate positive thought."

On `compulsive thinking,' the book cites psychologists' estimates that we talk to ourselves more than 50,000 times a day. And this self-talk directly influences our self-image and determines our behaviour and attitude. Comparing the mind to fertile land, Biswas says that just as one can grow useful plants rather than allow weeds to multiply on land, so too can the mind be used for generating positive thought, as a way to take charge of our lives.

Knowledge is power, but it is only potential power, Biswas avers. "Knowledge is power when you apply it constructively." For example, only knowing how to listen is not going to serve the purpose unless we put it into action, and keep on practising the same to form a habit over a period of time.

The final piece in the formula is `action,' which closes the loop, notwithstanding the fact that growth or improvement in life is infinity. The present time is very small and we have to take action in the present or `now' to achieve whatever we want to achieve, urges Biswas. Inspiring read.

D. Murali

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