Success Is A Mind Game – The one who has the ability to stay strong in the game finally wins!!!
Rising star PV Sindhu lost to world number nine Jiang Yanijiao in the women’s single semifinal of the Li-Ning China Masters Super Series badminton tournament in China. Had it not been for those unforced errors which Sandhu committed in the deciding third game of the semi’s, she would have surely been the winner. Nevertheless this defeat should not pull down the 17 year old Sandhu, because in effect she is one step ahead in her success venture. A lot many games are won and lost in the process of the making of a hero. This young shuttler from P Gopichand academy Hyderabad has a lot more to perform and the winner has yet to be unveiled.
Sindhu should take a lesson from the indefatigable Andy Murray who recently won his first Grand Slam single title by beating Novak Djokovik. Andy bruised through a long nasty patch of failures ever since he first reached his Grand Slam final in 2008 when he lost to Roger Federer. Only Murray could have the courage to face the incredibly disgusting statistics of consecutively losing 29 times out of at least 30 Grand Slam opportunities. Every time he fell down, he had the courage to stand up. Andy’s strength has been his flinty mind power. He never had a self doubt. His coach Ivan Lendl puts it appropriately, “It was always a question when would Andy Murray win a Grand Slam and not if at all he would win it ever!”
Murray lost to Roger Federer in the 2010 Australian Open finals and to Djokovik in the 2011 Australian Open finals. He again lost his chance in the London Olympics in August 2012. Taking on defeat year on year is no easy challenge. Andy Murray however is a man with iron strong determination and never dying spirit. Every loss taught a new lesson and prepared Andy to take on the next game with better alacrity. With the support of his coach, Murray realized that all he needs to win a match is the poise demonstrated by Federer, the maturity of Rafel Nadal and the beatific spirit of Djokovik.
A young MBA graduate came to me seeking advice for his job search. He was thoroughly discouraged by the rejections he faced in the previous few interviews. In the current recessionary market trend, jobs are sparse and selectors are highly fastidious. High rejection rate in job interviews is a natural consequence. Not just this young job aspirant, there are many such people around us who lose heart and conspicuously surrender to so called ‘bad luck’, too early in their endeavors. On the contrary, when the going gets tough, the successful people prefer to get mentally tougher. Sometimes it takes time for the results to show and one needs to develop perseverance to bear the lead time.
Andy Murray’s success story clearly shows that success is a function of mind strength as well as subject specialization. It is not enough to be the best in mastering your core skill area; you also need to be in control of your emotional maneuvering. The competition in every sphere is getting tough every next moment. Amongst the host of contenders for the top slot only the one who performs & pursues with mental calm can expect to be victorious. To fix a date with success one has to disqualify letdowns. While it is but human to be gullibly convinced on defeat and get disheartened easily, it is the characteristic of the winner to shut the doors to disappointment.
Hero’s like PV Sindhu and all those who might have just lost to make it a victory out of their opportunity should hold on with grace and give it yet another try. Success is more of a mind game, it takes birth out of multiple struggles. Time and again many successful people have proved the point. Success is kind of a prepaid deal, pay first and reap later. Be there, in the game, till it happens.
To conclude, I share the famous story of the Chinese bamboo tree which I read as a part of Rahul Dravid’s speech through some internet resource. A Chinese bamboo tree grows 80-feet in height in about five years time. However in the full space of these five years one would not see anything on the ground except some tiny shoots. But, then after five years it suddenly grows 80 feet. What does it do in this period? It just spreads it’s roots and wait’s for the right time to shoot up.
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