"The art of Being everything and nothing you want to be"
It's not zen I'm going to write about here; I'll just try to understand how people find ways to succeed.
What's it I'm saying? You all would have heard about a quirky statement on us folks, being the fastest ever when a dog is chasing us behind? Yes, precisely that.
Have you ever wondered why? Biologically and scientifically, there are a good number of reasons, but what about psychologically?
We are in the worst or non-favourable conditions, and we lack resources, time, support etc., but it works out and for the best. How come?
How come when we're calm, collected, and at the best of our favourable conditions, we don't give our best?
Because we think and overthink when we have time. We don't trust our instincts, habits, and the amount of work that has gone into it; we instead go on to imagine and devise our perfect performance. We analyse the possible outcomes and try to predict them. We even start savouring possible victories (or failures, if you're a pessimist like me) way early.
That doesn't mean we don't need planning or thinking. We absolutely do. We prepare ourselves, hone our skills, make strategies, but we only know how to deal with a situation when it presents itself to us, much like any sport.
There's something else also at play that could explain this.
In crunch situations, we don't change anything about ourselves. Sorry, we CAN'T. We are just like the substance in laboratory conditions with no external factors, that we react, only according to our nature. We have the right proportion of elements and chemicals in the states we need and nothing extra affecting us.
We're just everything we are and nothing we ever were.
That's why we perform to our abilities. Doesn't mean we succeed at that; no, our capabilities may be short of what's needed to win.
We may be at our fastest, but that may not be fast enough to escape the chasing dog.
Now, the question begs, right? What do we need to do to be where we want to be?
It' not rocket science, but it ain't simple either, I believe. Not many people have genuinely achieved everything. Even though the leaders and greats have repeatedly succeeded in what they set ought to, did they ever meet their own expectations? We may never know, but if they did at any point in their life, they wouldn't have been that successful.
Imagine if Newton had stopped with his findings in Mathematics or Elon musk was satisfied with Tesla's progress alone.
These successful people rose to the challenges in crunch situations despite knowing they'd fail on numerous occasions. They had high hopes for themselves or their beliefs, which was not realistic then, but they worked hard and did the right things to achieve it. Once they did that, they looked for another challenge, set another high standard to chase.
It is also important to discard the things we don't need or limit those activities to the minimum.
Let's say that I now want to start a business. I cannot afford to be risk-averse or rigid in my functioning. I'll have to consider various factors, take quick decisions and put together many people who'll work and be committed to my set-up. These are the core strategies I have to follow and discard the unnecessary, irrespective of what characteristics I possess.
So, in a nutshell, keep updating your skills, find new goals, and eliminate distractions and bad habits.
Do these ensure success? Well, I'm just a nobody trying to explain how anybody can do it, but not how each one can do it. That, only you have to find for yourself.
Since success is not the same for everyone. For Elon Musk, it's a successful mission to Mars, but it would be just earning enough to get 3 meals a day for some people. That doesn't mean only some should aim for some things and others shouldn't. Anyone can dream of anything. But what you dream of, should matter; not what others do or expect from you.
Not just me, but also so many successful people, motivational speakers and leaders who have tried to answer "how to succeed" from their experiences or perspectives have failed. Because there's no one recipe for achieving this.
The recipe to that success, with just two ingredients, "being everything and nothing you want to be," is unique to each one of us and if you can find that recipe, who knows?
You might just keep outrunning the dog enough to reach the end line.
