‘An effective leader is one who has a service attitude'

Swami Mukundananda went to IIT Delhi and IIM Calcutta, before he turned a seeker. In a chat with BW Businessworld Editor-in-chief Annurag Batra, the yoga and spiritual guru talks about his book, 7 Mindsets for Success, Happiness and Fulfilment, leadership, entrepreneurial challenges and, of course, inner peace

- Annurag Batra

Your book is relevant for corporate executives, leaders and entrepreneurs. What motivated you to write it?

People are always struggling with a lot of things like circumstances, situations, positions, external success. However, from the Vedic perspective, success has to grow from inside. Your mind is the most important thing.

Many studies have been done in the corporate world and the most successful people were interviewed to find the secret. And it was repeatedly discovered that they all attributed their success not to the skill sets they possessed, but to the attitude they had cultivated. So this mindset can lead to success, happiness and fulfilment.

You say in your book that it’s time to learn some of our beliefs. What are these beliefs and how can we learn them?

We are no longer serving the purpose of growth of community and beliefs are essential to the human personality, right? For example, when I see you, I believe that you exist the way I perceive you to be. However, what is happening inside me really, I don’t know. So, no human being can exist without beliefs.

The problem is, unproductive beliefs begin to get adopted and most of us never make a conscious attempt. (We need to) develop productive policies for ourselves. Now when we realise the belief in us, it unleashes such a tremendous force on the outside. And if I believe I am sick, I can actually fall sick. If I believe I am healthy, I can actually become healthy. That is why somebody said that whether you believe you will succeed, or you believe you will die – in both cases, you are correct absolutely. So what I propose is that belief should not be gathered from people, but from the environment. That belief will unleash a tremendous effect on us.