Attitude is an external element of mind. It is like a key that we need to open our home. Once we unlock the door, key is no longer required for living inside. Likewise, once we have developed positive attitude in all respects affecting our life, attitude becomes a non-issue thereafter. However, till we succeed in achieving a positive attitude in all aspects, it is like standing outside one's home that is locked. So, no matter how palatial and beautiful the inside of our home may be; it is of no value to us till we learn to find the key of positive attitude and apply on each aspect of mind separately.
With open mind's willingness to learn, the next important factor is our knowledge with regard to:
• Ability to acquire material-wealth for day-to-day living and for growth
• Understanding the nature of self and purpose
The element which relates most with our day-to day life is our skills i.e., our professional competence which ensures that we are able to learn and do routine work proficiently. All our abilities ultimately have to take form of skills to enable us to execute thoughts into actions in a routine manner. Once learned well, skills, however, may not require the use of our mind's creative potentials. Continuing growth therefore requires us to make sure that we delegate some of our routine work to others and free our own time for fresh creative work. When we allow few skills alone to consume most of our time in routine work, our real creative potential remains untapped.
Traditionally, the human society is conditioned to believe that only a few gifted ones have the creative ability and are destined to think about the unknowns. The rest of the population must conform and confine themselves to the machine-like routine roles which are decided for them by those who know better. Their productivity would be measured in terms of routine work like in case of machines which have fixed output per unit of time. This possibly has been the greatest form of manipulation bestowed upon the mankind by limiting its growth within the orbit of just making a living, at most a comfortable maintenance.
Given a choice, who would not want to be happy while working? This however is possible if a person gets to work in area of his own aptitude (i.e., inherent characteristics that he naturally enjoys). The real aptitude is the one where a person wants to work for no other gains but for the sheer pleasure of doing the work. Knowing and developing skills in the area of one's own aptitude can be the most vital issue for every individual for achieving success at the fastest pace.
While acquired skills and knowledge affect the pace and extent of success, values (i.e. nature of motive and consistency) that any individual adapts would decide whether the success achieved is meaningful and remain irreversible, i.e. sustainable. There is little point in faster pace of success in a wrong direction.