To become an effective leader – managing money, property, people and all kinds of situations – you must enhance your own capabilities. As Sadhguru explains, if you cannot maintain a pleasant state of mind, your body and mind will never function at their optimal level. Your intelligence and productivity naturally increase when you are able to keep yourself in sustained levels of pleasantness within.

Full Transcript:

Sadhguru: When we say leadership, most of the time any kind of leadership training is spent on learning to manage situations, people, money, property. Yes, all this is important but how could you… Essentially a leader means you must be able to manage a few thousand people, or in other words you are trying to manage a few thousand minds. But if you are incapable of managing this one, this mind (Referring to one’s own mind), how will you manage that mind? -Just by chance. When you’re managing situations by chance you will be always freaked. Anxiety and leadership has become synonymous today because you are managing people by chance. If you cannot manage this (Referring to oneself) one, managing that one is definitely by chance. So, one of the most significant aspects of leadership has been generally ignored or people have acquired this out of their own natural capabilities.

When you do things accidentally, being anxious is very natural. And today we have enough medical evidence to prove that if you are not in a very pleasant state of mind then your body and your mind will never function at its optimal level. There is substantial medical evidence towards this. Only when you are very peaceful and blissful your body and your mind works at its best. And your success in this world is just this - to what extent can you harness the capabilities of this physical body and this mind. That’s all success is. It doesn't matter what is the nature of your activity, that's all it is. Is it so? And the most fundamental and the basic requirement to make your body and mind work properly, sensibly in the highest possible way is, that if you sit here you must be in a state of pleasantness within you. If I ask you this simple question, how many of you in these many years of living have had a 24-hour stretch, that is one single full day where you did not have a single moment of irritation, hesitation, anger, anxiety, stress, nothing, you just passed through it blissfully? How many? Very few people can say yes to this. Not just here, in the whole world unfortunately. In all these years of living, not even a single day happened the way you want it. Not outside, within yourself. If your body and your mind took instructions from you, how would you keep it, pleasant or unpleasant? Let me know your choices. How would you keep it?

Participant: Pleasant.

Sadhguru: For yourself I'm saying; I'm not talking about your neighbor. You may have other intentions for him but for this (Referring to oneself) one, pleasantness. Isn't it so? Yes or no? So, if one 24 hours did not pass in utter pleasantness, obviously your body and your mind are not taking instructions from you. Any instrument is truly useful to you only if it takes instructions from you, isn't it? Right now I'm using this microphone, this public address, it’s very useful to me because it’s amplifying whatever I say. Suppose it starts saying its own things, I (Laughs) better not be here, isn't it? Yes? Your mind and your body should do what you want it to do. And if it is doing what you want it to do I'm 100% sure you will keep yourself in utmost blissfulness. Can I trust you on this? Hmm? Can I trust you on this one thing, that if your mind was taking instructions from you, you would keep yourself blissful every moment of your life? If that’s not happening obviously it’s not taking instructions. And there is enough scientific evidence to prove today that only when you are blissful your mind and body does their best. I would say most human beings are functioning at 15 to 20% of their natural capabilities. If only if they could sit here in a sustained levels of pleasantness you would see within a… for one week if you simply sit here, simply blissful, in one week you would be 100 or 200% more intelligent and sharp than the way you are right now. I’ll assure you this; I can prove this to you, if you give me that one week. (Laughs) One week you just stay simply pleasant and wonderful… I think these days you are trying to do that by taking a vacation, isn't it? Yes? Have you noticed? You went out and you had a good time and you were pleasant. When you came back, you seem to function so much better. But if vacation is the only pleasant time in our life obviously we’re not going to be a very productive… (Laughs)isn't it? If we do not know how to wake… make our work hours very pleasant, we obviously are not going to be very pleasant or very productive in our lives.

So, as there is a science and technology to create external well-being, there is a whole science and technology to create inner well-being. This is what we are offering as Inner Engineering. This could be offered in a million different ways. It is just that as we have paid so much attention to learn our way through the world, we need to spend a little bit of time to find a way through this (Referring to oneself) one. The better you know this mechanism the better you can use it, that’s for sure, isn't it? That’s true with anything? Whether you are using a computer or a cell phone or a car, the more you know about it the better you can use it. Isn't it so? So, definitely that’s true with this (Referring to oneself) one too. The more you know about this the better you can use it. But how much time have we spent to this? When I say this I'm not talking about you going and reading a book on psychology or on your physiology. -No. What you call as my body and what you call as my mind, both these things you acquired over a period of time. When you were born you came with such a small body, isn't it? Slowly you accumulated this. What you accumulate can be yours, can never be you. Yes? I'm not disputing whether it’s yours or not for now; but what you accumulate can be yours, can it be you? Whatever you accumulate can be yours, but can never become you, isn't it? If you start thinking yourself to be something other than what you really are, there are bad medical terms for this; I will not go into that. Two cows were grazing upon an English meadow, two English cows, and one of the cows said, “What is your opinion on the Mad Cow disease?” (Laughter) The other said, “I don’t care a hoot, and anyway I'm just a helicopter.” (Laughter) Okay? (Laughs)

If you think yourself to be something other than what you are, there are bad words for that, I won't use such things upon you, but it’s very very very important, especially people who are in positions of power, positions of responsibility, their every action, every thought, every emotion that you generate has impact on many lives around you, when you are in such a position it’s extremely extremely important that this (Referring to oneself) one is in a state of utter pleasantness and well-being. Isn't it so? Hmm? If your life was just your own nonsense it’s upto you. Once you say ‘I'm a leader’ in some place, everything that you do, the way you think, the way you feel, the way you act has impact on a few thousand lives. When that is so, it becomes of paramount importance that you take care of this (Referring to oneself) one in a completely different way, not just being physically healthy; much much more than that.

Right now unfortunately most people’s well-being is so fragile; just about anybody can hijack it. You went out today, and somebody told you, “You are the most wonderful person in the world,” and you were floating on Cloud… (Laughter) what number?

Participants: Nine.

Sadhguru: Nine? You do only nine? In South India we do 11, you know. (Laughter) You were floating on whatever number cloud and you came home and people at home told you who you really are. Pooff… (Laughter) It’s a very fragile well-being. Isn't it so? Just anybody can hijack it; just anybody. It doesn't take some earthshaking event to hijack your well-being, please see. Anything can stress you; anything can make you anxie… anxious; anything can make you disturbed, anything can make you lose your sense of joy and peace. Now, in this state, your ability to use, your ability to manifest the capability of who you are is not at a very high level. Unfortunately today most people when they use the word ‘human’ they are always using the word human as a bundle of limitations. If someone says, “Oh, I'm only human” he is not referring to the possibilities of being human, he is not referring to the immensity of being human; he is only referring to the limitations of being human. Isn't it so? Yes?

When someone says ‘I'm only human’ he is only talking about his limitations. These limitations have become significant mainly because of the kind of identities that one takes on, and above all because, even this (Referring to oneself) one is not happening the way you want it to be. See in your life nobody happens 100% the way you want them. Isn't it so? Hmm? Has anybody happened in your life? Your parents, your friends, your spouse, your children, none of them happen 100% the way you want them. These days not even your dog; he does his own thing. (Laughter) Has anybody happened 100% the way you want them? Or are you such a hopeless romantic you’re still happening that somebody will happen 100% the way you want them? Nobody will happen. They’ll happen to some extent; if they happen 51% the way you want them you are doing great. (Laughter) Yes? (Laughs) Yes or no? If people are happening… or people around you in your life are happening 51% the way you want them to be, that means you are doing great, your stake is good.

So, nobody happens the way you want them to be. It doesn't matter, that’s not the real problem. The problem is this (Referring to oneself) one is not happening the way you want him to be. Nobody happens, it’s okay; this one person must happen the way you want him to be. Isn't it so? Yes? If this one doesn't happen it’s a lost case. If this one did happen the way you want him, I'm sure you would keep him in the highest level of pleasantness and well-being, and that is a sure way of ensuring that who you are finds full expression in your life. Then when you say ‘I am human,’ you’ll refer to… refer to the immensity of being human, not to the limitations of being human.