The Habit of Winning

by Prakash Iyer

  Winning a gold medal in pistol shooting is less about the hand, more about the mind. Life’s like that. Winning is less about skills, more about attitude. Skills can be acquired, as Károly demonstrated with his left hand.

  When you watch the next game of cricket or football, when you see the winners there, remember to win something for yourself too.

  Remember the Károly Takács mindset. The winner’s mindset!

  We all have moments in our lives when we seem so close to glory but suddenly lose everything. When that happens, don’t worry about what you’ve lost. Focus on what you still have.

  Break Your Mental Barriers: The Roger Bannister Story

  If you think you can, you can. If you think you can’t, you are right!

  To understand the truth in that dictum, let’s journey back to the 1950s.

  In the world of athletics then, it was widely believed that no human could run the mile in less than four minutes. The best time was credited to Sweden’s Gunder Haegg, who ran the mile in 4 minutes and 1.4 seconds. And he did that in 1945. The record stood for several years, and doctors and athletes and sports experts were unanimous in the view that the four-minute barrier could not be broken. Not possible, they said. Can’t be done. In fact, it was believed that no man could attempt it without causing significant physical harm to his body.

  Then, on 6 May 1954, Roger Bannister did the impossible. At a track and field event in London, Roger ran the mile and touched the finishing line in 3 minutes and 59.4 seconds, thereby shattering the four-minute barrier. He did what they had said was impossible. His body did what they said no body could.

  John Landy—an accomplished runner and Roger’s rival—had a personal best time of 4 minutes and 1.5 seconds till then. In fact, after running the mile in under 4 minutes and 2 seconds three times, John said that the four-minute barrier was ‘like a wall’—it couldn’t be broken. However, just fifty-six days after Roger smashed the four-minute-mile mental barrier, John too broke his own mental wall and ran the mile in 3 minutes and 57.9 seconds.

  That’s not all. By the end of 1957, sixteen other runners had run the mile in less than four minutes. The mental barrier had been well and truly smashed!

  So what actually happened? Did the athletes’ bodies suddenly get stronger? Was there new technology to improve the runners’ shoes? Did training methods get enhanced? Did athletes simply try harder? None of the above, really. It’s just that the mental barrier—the self-limiting belief that a mile can’t be run in under four minutes—was shattered. And that opened up the floodgates.

  Roger was a doctor by training. And as he explained later, to him it seemed illogical that you could run a mile in four minutes and a bit, but could not break four minutes. His mind refused to accept that barrier. In reality, what Roger did was prove that the barrier was not a physiological one—it was merely a mental barrier. What Roger did on that windy day was not merely set a new world record; he, in fact, demonstrated that breaking mental barriers can help us deliver breakthrough performances.

  We are all like that. We all have our beliefs about what we can achieve, and what we can’t. And our success is limited by those barriers. Even our effort is often restricted by those barriers. We don’t try, because we see those barriers. What Robin Sharma calls ‘those little invisible fences’.

  As the Roger Bannister story shows, once he broke the four-minute-mile barrier, the mental barrier in the minds of all runners was shattered. And soon thereafter, sixteen people ran the mile in under four minutes.

  Life is all about breaking mental barriers. Leaping across and clean over those little invisible fences. Dreaming the impossible dream.

  What’s your four-minute barrier? What’s holding you and your team back? Go on, shatter that barrier. Today.

  If you think you can, you can. If you think you can’t, you are right!

  Acres of Diamonds

  ‘Acres of Diamonds’ was the title of a talk delivered by Russell Conwell in the early part of the twentieth century. Russell was an American Baptist, orator and founder of the Temple University in Philadelphia. His talk became so popular that Russell is reported to have delivered it over 6000 times around the world. At the heart of the talk is a little story—about acres of diamonds—as relevant today as it was a hundred years ago.

  The story goes that many years ago there was this prosperous Persian farmer named Al Hafed. He had a large tract of land, and an even larger heart. He would play host to visiting traders, travelling salesmen and explorers and priests, and it was from one such priest that he learnt about diamonds. Diamonds that could make people rich, and make all their dreams come true.

  Sensing an opportunity to earn a fortune, Al Hafed decided to go out and hunt for the diamonds. ‘I want them, and I am going to go look for them,’ he told the priest. He sold his farm, left his family in the care of neighbours and went looking for diamonds. Unfortunately, even after spending six months—and a lot of money—he did not meet with any success. Broke and heartbroken, he died soon after.

  Meanwhile, back on the land Al Hafed had sold, the new owner was watering the plants one evening, when he suddenly saw something glistening. It was a large stone and, seeing its radiance, he picked it up and put it on his mantelpiece at home. That night, the old priest happened to stop by. Seeing the large stone, he exclaimed: ‘Ah, a diamond! Is Al Hafed back?’ ‘No,’ said the new owner, ‘I just picked it up from the garden. In fact, there are lots of such stones all over the garden!’

  Yes, there were literally acres of diamonds in the plot of land which Al Hafed had sold and gone away from, in his search for diamonds. It’s an old story but the lessons are as valid today. For individuals and organizations. The goals we seek, the wealth we lust for, they are all there—right beneath our feet. Often in our quest for more, we believe we need to abandon our current position and go out looking for success. We think a change of job or a change of industry or even a change of location is essential for success.

  Why do we fail to recognize the diamonds in our own backyard, under our own feet? That’s probably because diamonds often appear in their rough, uncut form. And polishing those uncut stones is hard work. Very hard work in most cases. Like diamonds in their rough form, we fail to recognize the opportunities that come our way, because opportunities often come disguised as hard work.

  Large corporations too are guilty of ignoring their acres of diamonds. Starved for growth they think they’ve hit a wall, and go into unrelated diversifications, exposing their traditional areas of strength. Only to find a newcomer come in and mint a fortune—in a market considered nonexistent by the leader.

  Good lesson to remember, in times good and bad. We all have acres of diamonds right beneath our feet. We only need to learn to look!

  Often, in our quest for more, we believe we need to abandon our current position and go out looking for success. We fail to recognize the diamonds lying right under our feet.

  Tyrone Bogues: Standing Tall!

  It probably won’t surprise you to find out that the average height of an NBA basketball player is 6’7”. It’s a sport that clearly demands and rewards tall men. Look at some of the all-time greats: Michael Jordan (6’2”), Kobe Bryant (6’6”), Magic Johnson (6’9”), Kareem Abdul-Jabbar (7’2”), Yao Ming, the Chinese sensation (7’6”). Each of them has a huge fan following and they have all entertained and inspired millions of young people around the world.

  While you are probably aware of the exploits of most of these stars, have you heard of Tyrone ‘Muggsy’ Bogues?

  Tyrone was an NBA star too. In a career spanning sixteen seasons, Tyrone was one of NBA’s all-time leaders in assist-to-turnover ratios. Voted as Charlotte Hornets’ Most Valuable Player for several years, Tyrone also held the team record for maximum minutes played, steals, assists and turnovers. Quite an achievement that!

  But here’s what really made Tyrone a crowd favourite and an all-time hero. In a world dominated by the tall men who could easily rest
their elbows on the hoop, Tyrone was a short guy. In fact, at 5’3”, Bogues was—and still remains—the shortest player in NBA history.

  As a child growing up in the bylanes of Baltimore, Tyrone practised the slam dunk by standing on upturned milk crates. He was short and, though he was passionate about the sport, no one really thought he could ever be NBA material. After all, he was so short! But Tyrone was determined to succeed, and ignored naysayers and sceptics. What he lacked in height, he made up with his speed, stamina and explosiveness on court. ‘I always believed in myself,’ he said in an interview with Sports Illustrated. ‘That’s the type of attitude I always took out on the floor, knowing that I belonged; that with my talents, my abilities, there’s a place for me out there.’

  Tyrone became a terrific symbol of determination, hard work and self-belief. And he demonstrated how by ignoring your critics, focusing on your strengths and not getting caught up in your limitations, you can achieve your goals. ‘You can’t dwell on what people think you can’t do,’ he once famously remarked.

  Think about it. How often do we allow the world around us to decide whether we are good enough? ‘You can’t do this because …’ is a refrain we hear all the time. And we let our goals slip away because we think we are not tall enough, or rich enough, or educated enough … Pick your favourite self-limiting belief!

  There are several lessons to be learnt from the life and times of Tyrone Bogues. Focus on your strengths. And not on your weaknesses. Ignore the pessimists and non-believers. Don’t waste time trying to set right limitations.

  Organizations and individuals can benefit from the Tyrone mindset. Think of the detergents markets in the late 1970s. Unilever and Procter & Gamble were the dominant players worldwide, and it was well established that brand-building skills, marketing wizardry and huge advertising budgets were prerequisites to success. Quite like being a six-footer was seen as essential to success in basketball.

  Then a local Gujarati businessman with some familiarity with chemicals and detergents decided to sell a washing powder. He’d make some of it in his backyard, load it on to his bicycle and sell it in the neighbourhood. No brand-building skills, no hot-shot MBAs, zero advertising. But by focusing on his core strength—which was low cost—Karsanbhai Patel managed to create the Nirma phenomenon, which took on multinational superpowers with considerable success.

  For most of us, the temptation is to focus on our weaknesses and ignore our strengths. When a ten-year-old is fond of reading and can bowl a cricket ball reasonably quick but is weak at mathematics, what do we do? We send him to maths tuition, not to a class for writing skills or cricket coaching sessions. Why?

  There’s a Tyrone inside each of us, struggling to become an NBA great. But we are busy giving him vitamin tonics and stretching his limbs, trying to make him taller. And not allowing him to show his speed and dexterity. There’s a Nirma-like success story waiting to happen in our businesses. But we are busy raising money, getting sexy advertising, hiring marketing talent, instead of capitalizing on our unique low-cost proposition.

  Go on, unleash the Tyrone magic inside you. Forget your limitations. Ignore the pessimists. Build on your unique strengths.

  Success is beckoning. Are you ready?

  Focus on your strengths. And not on your weaknesses. Don’t waste time trying to set right the limitations.

  The Water Bearer, the Cracked Pot

  Come examination time, and the city pages of newspapers get filled with stories of examination fever gripping the city. The agony of misplaced hall tickets, anxious parents rushing their children to test centres through traffic snarls, valiant stories of injured kids taking their exams …

  If you’ve been reading carefully, you will know another set of stories springing up along with the exams. Stories of children taking their own lives, for fear of failure. Now that’s a real tragedy. A tragedy that underscores the misplaced emphasis our society has placed on examination grades. The sad tale of people being branded failures for life, merely because of their inability to score 35 per cent marks in a test paper. When will we learn?

  The tale of the water bearer comes to my mind. Every morning he would carry two pots of water tied at either end of a pole resting on his shoulder. One pot was perfect, the other was cracked. By the time he reached his master’s house, the perfect pot would still be full but the cracked pot would be half empty, having leaked some of the water along the way.

  This went on for a while. Every morning, the water bearer would reach his master’s house with one and a half pots of water. The perfect pot felt proud of his accomplishment, of doing what was expected of him. The cracked pot felt bad, guilty of letting down the poor water bearer and delivering only half the water. ‘I am ashamed,’ said the pot to the bearer. ‘I let you down, every day. I only deliver half the amount of water I should. Why don’t you just smash me to pieces?’

  ‘Oh, you shouldn’t really feel so bad,’ said the kind bearer. ‘When we go to the master’s house today, take a look at the beautiful flowers along the path. I am sure they will make you feel better.’

  Sure enough, the cracked pot saw the bed of flowers along the path, dancing in the breeze. It cheered him but only a bit, because as they neared the master’s house, he realized he had yet again delivered only half the water. ‘I am sorry, I am letting you down!’ he said with a sigh.

  ‘Oh no!’ said the water bearer. ‘Didn’t you notice that all the flowers were only on your side of the path? That’s because I noticed the crack and took advantage of it. I planted the flower seeds on your side of the path and you watered them every day. Without you, we wouldn’t have those beautiful flowers!’

  What is true of pots is true of people too. We all have our cracks and flaws, and the real challenge is to find good use for our unique talents.

  Think of a little boy with a polio-affected arm … What chance do you think he would have of playing a competitive sport like cricket? Well, B.S. Chandrasekhar did just that. He used that polio-affected arm to his advantage, turning the wrist like few could, to bowl those googlies and flippers that set up many a famous Test victory, making him one of India’s all-time great bowlers.

  Think of the scientist called Dr Spencer Silver, who worked to create a new glue. Something went wrong with the molecular structure. The glue would stick but not quite, so you could pull it off. A failure? Hardly, when you consider that it led to the invention of the ubiquitous Post-its!

  Those flaws, those cracks, they probably hide the magic within. That little boy flunking his maths examination may just be a Sachin Tendulkar. That young boy struggling to get past Class 10 may just be a certain Dhirubhai Ambani. Let’s not condemn the cracked pots. Let’s work harder ourselves to discover those talents and find uses for their special abilities.

  Failing to do that probably means that there is a real crack. Not in the pot but in the beholder.

  We all have our cracks and flaws. The challenge is to find good use for our unique talents.

  Good Ol’ Charlie Brown and the Uthappa Factor

  The difference between successful people and failures is rather simple. Those who succeed recall past successes and wins. And those who fail remember only misses and failures. And, as is often said, it’s all in the mind.

  Flashback to 5 September 2007. The sixth One-day International cricket match between England and India at the Oval. England, leading the series 3–2, batted first and put up an impressive 316 in 50 overs. India, at the start of the fiftieth over, were 307 for 8, with Robin Uthappa and Ramesh Powar at the crease. 10 runs to win, 2 wickets in hand.

  Two singles off the first two balls meant India still had to make 8 to win off 4 balls. And that’s when Robin played an audacious-looking stroke that saw him transform instantly from a raw twenty-year-old kid to a man. A shot that is probably still etched in your mind if you watched that game. Playing his first international series, Robin shuffled across outside his off stump and scooped a straight ball perfectly pitched on his
middle stump, hoisting it over the wicketkeeper’s head towards fine leg for 4. Next ball, another 4, and the game was won.

  That scoop shot was a stroke of supreme confidence, perfectly executed, that took India to the doorstep of victory. But had Robin missed that ball, his stumps would have been knocked over. It would have looked ugly, even embarrassing. Experts would have pilloried him for not caring for the team’s interest, for playing irresponsibly. For losing India a game. It’s a different story that it worked, and Robin’s 47 runs off 33 balls meant that India had found a new batting hero.

  In the post-match interview, Harsha Bhogle asked Robin about that shot. ‘When you played that shot, did it occur to you that if you missed, the critics would have been out baying for your blood? Did the thought of failure ever cross your mind?’

  Robin explained that it was a shot that he and the team had been practising in the nets and working on in the build-up to the series. He had got it right several times in the nets, he said. And then those magical words: ‘I never thought I’d miss!’

  I never thought I’d miss. Wow! And he sure didn’t.

  Often, too often perhaps, the fear of failure holds us back. As a result, we don’t even attempt to do what we are capable of. The thought of failure crowds our minds. We think of the miss. We think of our weaknesses, our limitations. The consequences of failure. The humiliation. The agony of defeat.

  And our thoughts become our reality.

  Winners think differently. They think of how they’ve succeeded in the past. Their strengths. They visualize success. They imagine the joy of winning. The glory. The accolades. And bingo—success is theirs.

  In that moment of challenge, you can either think of your past successes, or of your failures. The choice is yours. And you impact your outcomes. ‘If you think you can, you can. If you think you can’t, you are right.’