Wednesday, December 4, 2013

Thought For The Day - You Need Greater Velocity To Get Out of the Current Orbit

To jump out of our rut (orbit) into a higher orbit (all we want), we need booster doses. Once that escape velocity is reached, you jump to the next level. Then you need to sustain it. This is the problem that most people face, specially sportsmen, who do not have the resources to guide them along the path. That is why many talented people get stuck at one level and never go further. I have seen many first class cricketers who have had fine talent and who have squandered it all away. I have done it too.

The lack of understanding of attaining the right velocity at the right time.

Single point agenda of gaining mastery
What one needs to get out of the rut is this - a single point focus aimed at one item in the next orbit. This item must be chosen wisely because you will spend much time on it to gain that orbital velocity. You are better off spending time and energy on something that gives you pleasure and something that keeps going for life. Aim for it and pack in as many hours of purposeful effort you can to gain expertise, to gain mastery that gives you some kind of an edge of the average population.

By this time you see the benefits of the next orbit - after spending a year or two at it to begin with - people start recognizing you as an expert, compliments flow, you feel like an expert yourself, some opportunities, name, fame start showing up. You have risen to the next level of energy. A first class cricketer would now b knocking or getting selected for the zone. (Getting selected for the IPL does not indicate mastery really if you're not in the state side or zone side.)

The good thing is that this new orbit, this new level, brings many things that are common to it at its level. Money, fame, material comfort, opportunities etc - and a new world opens up as you travel this orbit. Many new things come by and all you need is to keep accepting them as they come by. (Sadly for IPL players they get many benefits of the new orbit that took many of their accomplished colleagues, years of purposeful effort to attain, and they get distracted. If they have to learn anything it is about the path to mastery that these esteemed colleagues have chosen and to learn from it. Else, one season they are there, and the next they are not.)

The key is to sustain yourself at this new level of energy.

Losing focus
This is where most people make the mistake of losing focus. What got you here was the single minded devotion to get here. It must be sustained at the same level, and all distractions must be sacrificed. If anything you should look to stabilize here and then, increase the tempo to the next level. Because others will be climbing up as well.

Sustaining One self - Growth Is the Key
One needs the same amount of time and more, and more efficient use of time and energy, because one meets several talented people here. So you must study the technique, the process, and hire the kind of people who keep you on the path of growth. People who know what they are doing and who can keep you focused and at your best. The efficient use of resources happens which shows in performance. If you rise higher to the next level, you get more things associated with the next level. Good, enjoy the same, but never at the cost of what keeps you there.

Self Realisation?
Your focus on the one thing that brought you there. And on and on. Somewhere as you aim for mastery, you can see the divinity in the process, the enjoyment you get out of doing this one thing you honed so well and it all goes off into another level beyond goal setting, effort etc. It becomes a practice for understanding the divinity within, the quest beyond excellence, for perfection.

But to start the process, one needs to get out of the current rut. The current orbit. One needs that extra bit to propel oneself out of the comfort of this orbit. 

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