Success without excess 
Reviewed by D S Cheema

Winning without Losing
by Martin Bjergegaard and Jordan Milne
Profile Books, London. Pages 290. Rs 350

Since our childhood, we have been programmed by wise people about virtues of hard work and sacrifice for achieving success in any aspect of life. A student must put in hard labour day in day out to get good marks, an artist must put in 12 to 14 hours of rehearsal every day for several years to make a mark and entrepreneurs and businessmen must put in at least hundred hours a week to make their millions. Hard work which leads to success has to be invested at the cost of leisure, family and other relationships. Here is a book which breaks the myths of hard work and sacrifice; it shows that it is actually possible to put family, friends and other relationships first and win without losing on many other precious gifts of life.

The book is based on distilled wisdom of the experiences of the authors, who have created many successful enterprises in different fields, and what they have learnt from 25 of their role models, including N R Naryana Murthy, who subscribe to the philosophy of getting ahead in different fields without a punishing schedule and without sacrificing their happiness. As many as 66 strategies to live a successful life without sacrificing people or things one loves have been divided in seven parts. Each strategy has a lesson which can inspire would-be entrepreneurs, hardcore business persons as well as some one who wants success without compromising on a balanced and good quality of life.

Lessons from each success story are simple and can be adapted easily, if a person believes that it is actually possible to come home early and spend quality time with family, find time to party with friends and yet be highly successful in one's chosen field. The reader does not have to read the book in a particular order to benefit from the profound wisdom of each strategy; each is independent of the other and can be used the way one wants. The message in the book is universal since more and more people across the world are seeking to create happiness out of what they do and find a balance in their lives. It is a good blue-print or reference book for those who are struggling to move ahead at the cost of other more important things in their lives. Most of them want to get out of this rut of their own creation but find themselves helpless to do so. The book equips the readers with required knowledge and motivates him to adopt the strategies for living a balanced and happy life; how ever no tool, except self-actualisation, has been invented to convert inaction in to action.

It is never possible to plan a perfect life, but it is possible to learn to lead a purposeful life by filling the "knowing-doing" gap. The book can help the readers to achieve both; success as well as happiness, through doable insight in what really matters to be successful and happy.

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