Capsules of Wisdom Taken from Swami Swaroopananda's morning lecture at the Success Inc. Youth Conference at Kings College London, September 2006

· Never be afraid of failure.

· Everything in nature has a purpose. The very fact that I exist means that I have a use. And if I have a use, I can never be useless.

· We must discover that which makes us unique.

· If we feel stress, it is because we are doing something unnatural, something contrary to our nature. We must reflect upon this and change the route cause of our stress. Relaxation techniques are useful but they do not target the route cause of the stress - as such they can only provide temporary relief. We must introspect, discover what drives us, where our aptitudes lie and what makes us unique; then live according to this true nature.

· The 3 Ds of Success: Decision, Dedication, Dynamism.

· What is the secret of dynamism? To do something you love.

· Work never tires you: work is in fact energising. It is the mental dissipation of energy that makes us tired. Work should focus our energy and not dissipate it therefore work should enthuse and vitalise us. But this can only happen if the work we are doing inspires us.

· How do I cultivate this inspiration? Set a goal. But no ordinary goal will do. The goal must lofty and noble, such that it inspires and motivate us to strive to achieve it. Such inspiration focuses our energies and far from becoming stressed and burnt out, we find our work will fill us with enthusiasm, dynamism and joy.

· But only a noble goal will do. One that is selfless and serves others.

· Sacrifice will be required.

· What is sacrifice? It is the forgoing of a lesser desire to fulfil a higher purpose. Sacrifice will be required and there may be hardship in the short term, but the reward is a life of purpose, direction and fulfilment.

· Once we have discovered and set ourselves our noble goal, we must have the courage to live up to it. We must have the internal honesty to never compromise upon it. Remember, honesty breeds strength, whereas dishonesty (at all levels) breeds weakness - even a simple, harmless lie manifests itself as a weakening of the muscles - think then of the disintegration caused by being dishonest to our own values and principles.

· Only speak when necessary, when you speak, always speak the truth, and when you speak the truth, always speak it sweetly