It was long time back when I was still in my MBBS years. One of my friend was reading '7 Habits of Highly Succesful People'. He was quite impressed with the book and recommended that to me.

"I do not need all this improvement stuff", I replied, I am quite content with the way I am."

As the time passed I could not help at introspection. Slowly my ego humbled and I found the flaws with myself. I was arrogant. I was poor at time management. I was hesitant to start a conversation. I never scheduled my goals. I was more emotional than practical.

I was always a good student. I was best in my school days. I was competitive. I did strive to do the best.But the very best was always determined by my surroundings. It is a different when you perform at local schoool level in a countryside school.But it is different when you compete at national level to enter into medical college.

I failed first time.

It was the first failure that I had encountered.

I did make it second time. I needed to study more. I did.

The MBBS is 5 and 1/2 years long course.The goal of pursuing postgraduation comes at the end of the course. Nothing stops one from early goal setting. But I said I was not that practical.

Another failure. Another push. I was into my postgraduation.

Postgraduation was totally different game. You are a doctor who is student at the same time. You need to interact a lot with the patients, colleagues, seniors, staffs, technicians.Suddenly you find that you need to improve upon yourself.

I looked for directions and help. I observed the successful & effective clinicians. I observed good and not so good surgeons and their habits.I imbibed and learnt.

Of course everything can be learnt. You need only to stress that fact upon yourself.

I learnt a very important fact.

One needs to be open in order to improve.

It was a kind of irony. I was open to learn from the surroundings but I was not ready to accept that a self improvement book can help me.

This kind of dualty had always existed as I analysed myself retrospectively.I had always responded to my surroundings but always shut my eyes whenever I had a chance to look beyond.

This needs to be resolved. This needs to solved.

Reluctantly I picked the book my friend recommended long time back. It was a good book.

It may sound ridiculous but as we grow up we start loving our weaknesses instead of mending them . We show our pride in them. Somehow we convince our minds that we are unique because of the qualities we possess. And when we say qualities we also mean our weaknesses.

But we hardly realize that.

How often have you heard these kind of statements-

I think with my heart.

I do not like to interact much. I am a kind of introvert . Who needs too much money.Why should I work more!

And so on

But somewhere in our minds each of us wants success. Each of us wants to get rich. Yet we keep on our deniak because it does not match our personality we have created for oursleves.

We want to achieve but we are not ready to follow the path success demands. I was blind as a goat when it comes to self improvement books.

I always believed nobody can teach you to become better. But at the same time I was learning from my available milieu. I was learning from somebody. Knowingly or unknowingly somebody was teaching me.

I was open to that idea but closed myself at the mention of the subject.

Slowly I have killed that irrational pride. I am an open person now.

One can learn from anywhereone wants. Same goes for self improvement stuff.

Moreover it is not the stuff that teaches us. It is we who learn from that stuff.

The world of today demands a lot of interpersonnel interaction. It is no more a place towered by eminence. The society today demands some basic qualities in order to achieve. Just one talent or quality cannot carry you for. You need to have a set of qualities.

Even if a reading can provoke single thought in our mind it is worth it.