The Ace Awakening

Exactly a year ago, I blogged about Murali Murthy's book The Ace Principle that listed 15 success principles to Absorb Comprehend and Excel (therefore ACE) in every area of life.

It is a brilliant book that helps understand the meaning of life and living, and helps setting
up a plan to achieve one’s objectives in life. Many authors would settle down into easy obscurity after having their first book published, or at least rest of the laurels for a while. 

Not Murali. Within a year, he’s back with another ace – The Ace Awakening – 8 Milestones to scale the peaks of life.
 

The book begins by a simple observation by the author: 

“Each year, I trek over 60 kilometres across one of the most inhospitable terrains in southern India and join thousands of people from around the world who overcome extreme challenges to climb five peaks in the attempt to reach the summit of Sabarimala.

As I write this book, I have successfully climbed Sabarimala 26 years in a row.

Why did I want to climb a mountain?

On my very first trip to Sabarimala, that question was answered. Because mountains are majestic and inspire awe. They tower and loom above us. They outscale us. When we climb a mountain, we participate in its majesty and awe. Some part of its aura enters our life story and imbues it with meaning. It is not that we become as great as the mountain when we scale it but, rather, its greatness becomes part of us. That power which loomed over us at the foot goes inside us at the peak.”

Murali shares his experiences of trekking and overcoming extreme challenges to successfully climb five perilous peaks, and describes his personal journey using his experience of reaching the top of the mountain as a metaphor to the challenges in life we all face. 

The result is an illuminating enumeration of eight milestones that will serve as a guide to everyone on the journey to reach the pinnacle of excellence in life.

Murali Murthy reading from his book

The eight milestones are:

• Identifying a life purpose
• The insight and the understanding
• The research
• The mentorship
• The journey begins
• The uncompromised long route
• At the peak
• The next peak

Each of these milestones is a stage in the journey to the shrine of Sabarimala, one of the most important temples in India, and also in the world, reportedly attracting over a 100 million devotees annually. And each of the milestones is accompanied by an insight that translates the mountain trekking experience into a scalable life goal.

With the permission of the author, Generally About Books is reproducing one the insights from the book – insight that accompanies Milestone 7: At the Peak.

See the blog entry below:

At the peak

Continued from the blog above:

Reflections on the way to the top: As I climb, I am always reminded that climbing a mountain is a metaphor for the journey of life. Even though I am focussed on taking just one more step upward, Neelimalai still affords me time to reflect on what has been happening to me as I climb.

Go slow to go fast: On the first few days of the trek, I wanted to blaze the trail ahead of the others. But the hills have taught me that to go slow is to go fast.

Twenty minutes into my Neelimalai trek, I know this is true. When I began, I had boundless energy. Now I am in agony, swaying and staggering with every laboured breath under the effects of altitude  sickness.

Yet, slowly, at what seemed like a snail’s pace, I do make it to the top of the Neelimalai along with all the others.

Reflection: There are always areas in life where we need to slow down.

Be aware that the temptation to hurry and take short cuts will cost you in the long run.

Both the journey and the destination are important: There is a profound sense of accomplishment and exhilaration that we all feel when we make it to the top. But there is truth in the saying, “It’s all about the journey, not the destination.”

We need to take time, as we struggle towards our goals, to enjoy the landscape, nature and each other’s company.

Reflection: As you strive to your ultimate goal, make sure you enjoy the moments of your life along the way.

Working hard to reach the top: As I climb, I am aware of all the long months of preparation, fasting, planning and dreaming of the ultimate goal of climbing to the summit. Now I am underway. Now I can taste the victory at the end and the fruit of all my labour.

Reflection: Set a goal, plan and prepare, and then work hard to achieve your dream. The hard work will be worth the effort. The pride you will feel when you reach your goal will be priceless.

It takes a team to live the dream: There are so many of us on this journey together and, as we all reach the Pamba base, we can rejoice together in each other’s success. It is indeed a great thing.

In the last two days of my journey, I have had the chance to befriend many strangers from many different places like Malaysia and Australia who are now good friends. We have become a team and share the challenging Sabarimala journey together.

Reflection: Allow friends or family members who share your passions to pursue your dreams with you.

Overcoming obstacles is part of pursuing any dream: Why am I investing all this time to inflict pain on myself by climbing a mountain?

Can I make it? Each time the trek becomes so tough that I think I cannot continue, these questions that I have suppressed resurface and tempt me to give up and turn back.

Reflection: We all face doubt whenever we are faced with opportunity or challenge that will require risk yet great reward on the other side.

The key is to be strong enough to supress the doubt and persist with your dream – one small confident step at a time.

Celebrate your victories: It is hard to put into words the euphoria I feel when I get to the top of the mountain.

Perhaps it is simply the lack of oxygen that makes me feel a little light-hearted, but I think it is also that sense of fulfillment, joy and feeling of being truly alive.

Even though I am bone weary, cold and plagued by the aches and pains of my efforts, the joy and exhilaration are overwhelming.

Even before I reach the summit technically, I am still truly elated and proud of myself and my accomplishments.

Reflection: Celebrate all the large and small accomplishments in your life and in the lives of those you care about. Celebration builds confidence in people and helps them to risk and face failure.

Cheer the next generation: As we get closer to finishing our trek, I see that there are still thousands of people attempting the climb. That’s when I realize my bigger role. I need to be the cheerleader for the next generation, encouraging them to dram big and go for it.

Reflection: The next generation needs us as coaches and mentors. We must cheer them on and, when they ask, pass on our life wisdom.

More importantly, perhaps, we must create space for them to explore, risk, and, yes, sometimes fail, They need us to be the champions of their dreams.

The ACE Principle - Murali Murthy

A good teacher is not necessarily one who knows her subject well; she’s one who is able to engage her students into the learning process by making the dense and the dull exciting and accessibly. Often, the distinction between a brilliant and a good teacher is the ability to communicate.

Murali Murthy is a communicator par excellence. His felicity at transforming complex ideas into simple factoids makes his ACE Principle an immensely readable book. What Murali says in the book may not be new but the way he says it is completely unique. He brings diverse ideas together and organizes them into a cohesive action plan to change one’s thinking and approach to life and living. And he illustrates every idea of his with plenitude of examples.

The ACE Principle is a life guide to 15 Success Principles to Absorb Comprehend Excel in Every Area of Life.  For each of the 15 principles, Murali gives a three point action plan. Together, the principles and the action plan form a comprehensive strategy to evaluate one’s life and try to reorient one’s thinking to achieve success. Each principle is illustrated by a biographical example that illustrates success in achieving that particular principle.

The simplicity and the effective way in which the message is conveyed belie the complexity of the structure of the book. It also reveals the multiple levels at which the author has marshaled his arguments, weaving a myriad web of ideas.

The book (re)introduces us to simple principles that we have known all along, but didn’t really think of putting them to form a strategy. I haven’t read a book that is as useful as the ACE Principle in a long time, and I don’t say this because Murali is a friend. It’s a genuinely good work guide to success. I also strongly recommend it to newcomers to Canada, who have to restart their lives and careers from scratch.

The book is published by Friesen Press. You may buy the book here:  ACE Principle

The 15 principles with their action plans are:

Be hungry – desire success

Staying focussed on the end reward
Creating more opportunities
Practicing self-discipline

Be focused – set goals

Committing to a specific goal

Taking action

Believing failure is not an option

Be proactive – Take initiative

Staying in control

Building momentum

Vanquishing fear

Be disciplined – Master habits

Loving what they do

Making it happen

Being patient

Be tenacious – build resilience

Autosuggestion

Impossible is nothing

Building the will power muscle

Be responsible – take charge

Taking 100% responsibility

Knowing what they want

Productive actions

Be imaginative – dream big

Dreaming big long enough

Exercising the power of the spoken word

Excuses versus results

Be moneywise – control finances

Living within their means

Focusing on net worth

Planning ahead

Be choosy – associate right

Being around the right people

Getting a mentor

Excelling at networking

Be sharp – stay teachable

Ability to be a sponge

Aligning with a pro

The ABC of success

Be assertive – display posture

Moving fast on opportunities

Keeping a positive attitude

Building a credible personal brand

Be high quality – deliver excellence

Constant self development

Managing time efficiently

An attitude of gratitude

Be leading – exercise influence

Thinking like one

Acting with prudence

Servant leadership

Be bold – demonstrate courage

Resilience

Acting to impact

Stepping up and claiming it

Be happy – celebrate life

Believing that it’s not what happens, it’s how we react

Building a healthy mind and healthy body go hand in hand

Identifying a life purpose and celebrating life