We should also learn how to handle success.
Date: 30th March 2024
Dear Friend,
I hope this letter finds you well. It's been quite a while since we last caught up, and for that, I owe you an apology. Life got busy with various projects, but I've missed our conversations. How have you been? While I've been away from writing, I've found solace in sharing my thoughts on Instagram and threads. It's fascinating how these platforms have become avenues for expression and storing our reflections like threads in a tapestry.
Today, I want to delve into a topic often overlooked in our circles: the art of handling success. It's a notion that struck me recently while contemplating the career trajectory of Rajamouli, the renowned Telugu filmmaker. He is the one who directed mega-blockbusters like Eega, Magadheera, and Bahubali series, which broke the language barriers in India after a very long time. RRR, a film whose song went ahead and won an Oscar. In his 23 years of career as a filmmaker, he did not have one film that failed. With every successive film, he broke previous films' records - this is an impeccable Success track.
Reflecting on Rajamouli's journey prompted me to assess my relationship with success and failure. In my career as a finance professional, I've experienced highs and lows, much like a fluctuating graph. Then I realised that if there's one thing we can pick up from this man, it is to learn how to handle and manage success. Everybody speaks about managing failures, which is very important. I have seen people who have not been exposed to many difficulties panicking even at the slightest glimpse of inconvenience in their lives. It is definitely a bad place to be in.
If you look closely, both success and failure carry side effects that can mislead us. Failure breeds doubt and under-confidence, while success can foster arrogance and overconfidence. In both scenarios, external voices either criticise or praise, clouding our judgment.
Rajamouli seems to handle this through detachment from outcomes. During interviews, he speaks of his post-film assessments with his team; a candid review of each project's strengths and weaknesses is done, keeping its financial accolades aside. He also shared that while shooting the film, his mind oscillates between extreme confidence that "the film will break all records" and doubts like, "Will this film even run for 1-2 shows? Is it even any good?" He said that the only way he tackles these two extreme feelings is by not paying a lot of attention to these things and completely focusing on the process of making the film, which is in his control, whereas the outcome is not in his control and is dependent on many other factors.
If we pay proper attention, Ideally, success is anyway a natural by-product of a good process. This is something even M.S.Dhoni endorses; It is what even Lord Krishna's counsel was to Arjuna on the battlefield when he feared seeing the mighty Kaurava army.
"It is not your duty to worry about the results; your responsibility is to give your best for the task you have taken up with full focus and dedication without getting too attached to the outcome. -Bhagavad Gita"
Rajamouli has many other reasons for his success - his technical brilliance, his crew, his cast, etc. - but I think this mindset sets him apart, keeps him grounded and perceives things without any bias. As I conclude this letter, I encourage you to ponder on your journey with success and failure. I look forward to our next conversation.
Yours Lovingly,
D.S.S.R.Anirudh
(30/03/2024)
