Competition has been the buzz word wherever we go. Ironically,
day in and day out, most of us are engaged, knowingly or unknowingly, with a
mind-set of outsmarting others to achieve success on various occasions
including competitive examinations, may be, at times without knowing or
thinking as to what that success really means to us in terms of a sense of fulfilment,
advancement or a feeling of happiness. Many a times, the competition is
so cut throat that we find it very difficult to cope up with the situation and
get stressed disproportionately.
In
our eagerness and compulsion to succeed by hook or by crook, we fail to
understand that each individual has his own level of strengths and weaknesses,
potential and capacity, willingness and motivation to perform. When no two persons are absolutely
similar either biologically, physically or intellectually, how can they be same
and similar in delivering the same results, when subjected to undergo some test
or the other in day to day life? Though we know, yet forget to appreciate in
practice that every individual is a unique entity having diverse levels of
knowledge and skills, conception and perception, potential and commitment. As
such, the competition always is fundamentally with ‘self’ to become better day
by day and to enjoy the fruits of improved productivity by getting the grammar
of life gradually more right.
Before moving forward, please enjoy and emulate what these lines
try to convey: “There
is nothing noble about being superior to some other person. The true nobility
is in being superior to your previous self.” Precisely speaking, learning and
acting for improving one's own performance should be a continuous process, that
is to say, competing on a regular basis with your own old self for definite
value addition.
There are thousands of examples of great and successful
personalities, both past and present, from different fields of activities,
which proved by their own making that self-improvement is a sure way to achieve
both success and happiness in life.
Nobody can deny or dispute the fact that every improvement
starts with 'I' and to ensure that to happen, the first step to embark upon is
to undertake an objective self - ‘SWOT’ analysis. Here, as you might know, 'S' stands for Strength, 'W' for Weakness, 'O' for Opportunity and 'T' for Threat. As such, you must jot down on a piece of paper your present status in
respect of all the four parameters. Then, make reasonable assessment of your
capacity to perform to the optimum level for consolidating and then improving
the positives and for diminishing the negatives with a well-formulated strategy
and action plan to grab the available opportunities and managing the risk or
threat, if any in order to move towards your own goal of life. In
Lord Buddha's golden words, "Know well what leads you forward and what
holds you back and choose the path that leads to wisdom."
While talking with students in his own inimitable style on the
monthly Radio Broadcast 'Mann Ki Baat' a few months back, Prime Minister of
India, Narendra Modi exhorted every young listener to compete with himself and use every examination as an opportunity to
understand and test himself so as to
ensure their betterment on a regular basis. He (PM Modi) cited the example of Sergei Bubka, the
renowned International Pole Vaulter who broke the World Record for Men’s Pole
Vault 35 times and also broke
his own record 14 times. Modi said, "You should set a standard for yourself and test
yourself …"
Finally, the golden words of Howard Cosell: “The ultimate victory
in competition is derived from the inner satisfaction of knowing that you have
done your best and that you have gotten the most out of what you had to give.”
(hellomilansinha@gmail.com)
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