What is attitude? Is positive attitude necessary for winning? Do circumstances dictate attitude? Is positive attitude cause or effect of a winners mindset?
Staring at the light overhead I stood there cursing. I had just missed a shot, an easy one at that. The score line was daunting and inspite of all the exhaustion and pain endured over the last hour and half, all that mattered were the next two points! How do I play my next point, how do I get over the agony of missing a straight forward shot, how do I interact with my partner? What is he thinking right now? So many things to consider before I take my position on court to play the next point. And yet as I looked over my shoulder trudging back to my mark, I saw the steely look in my partners eyes, a look that said, I know you are tired, but you better not give up on me now!! It was so intense that for a moment I forgot that its only a game of badminton, but boy it could well have been WAR!!! I knew then, no matter how tired I felt, I had to pick myself up. I have to give it my 100% for my partner was not taking no for an answer. In a strange way it inspired me. I took those precious extra seconds to gather my thoughts and stood there to play the next point. As luck would have it, the pair on the other side were just as tired as we were and two unforced errors were made giving us the match. I saw my partner clench his fists in delight. All that stern determination was gone replaced by pure joy. He was actually more relieved then happy and there I was right next to him thinking that I was so tired 2 minutes back and here I am jumping up and down with joy! We live life for moments like these and yet as I was walking away from the court, all I could think about is how that one look from my partner made me stay on the court and put in that extra effort. I had always wondered what made winners different from the others, and here the answer was starting me right into the eye. Its this magic word ATTITUDE!!
I had written earlier about a management seminar that I attended and how they discussed about team work ( http://bizcovering.com/management/team-work-2/) and Leadership ( http://bizcovering.com/management/leadership-lead-by-example-naaaah/ ) qualities. Attitude or to be more specific positive attitude was often listed as one of the qualities of a good Leader and strangely attitude was important for being a good team member! So is positive attitude important to be successful? In a simple world, the answer would be a plain and simple and an overwhelming YES! However, life is never so black and white. I think too often we tend to take parallels from the world of sports or army ( highly organised group ) as anecdotal evidence for the recipe of success and based on that it is easy to conclude that a positive attitude is a must for success. Life in general though is never so straight forward and more often then not has shades of grey. One of the popular joke to explain the positive attitude of managers is that they think that if one lady can get pregnant and deliver in approx 9 months then two can do it in 4.5 months!!! I don’t think I need to elaborate the scenarios in office when the ‘positive’ attitude of bosses often ends up upsetting the employees and creating an environment of discontent!
Your attitude towards life is a good reflection of your state of mind. Circumstances often play a role in moulding the attitude of individuals. Each person follows a different path in life and its his or her experience that often reflects their decisions and is often wrongly interpreted as their attitude towards life. So then the big question is can attitude be developed? Or is it a personality trait? Can a person be moulded into thinking in a particular manner? Can we be ‘programmed’ for success? If I were to a classic cause effect analysis, I think winners develop a positive attitude and not vice versa. I know it’s a wee bit controversial to say that cause since we were kids we were told that attitude is what separates winners from losers. I think the thing that makes anyone a winner is practice! As mundane as it sounds, that is exactly what it is! It is often said that some people just have the right attitude that is necessary to become a winner and I think this myth is one that has perpetrated into the inner sanctum of our society and our minds. And I for one don’t buy it.
I later asked my badminton partner what made him behave the way he did and did he know that it inspired me? He said he wasn’t sure. But the more he played and the more he won, the more he wanted to win! And as he tasted success and got into the habit of winning positive attitude followed. What I learnt from this and many other experiences is that attitude doesn’t make winner, but it helps sustain them! It is therefore more important to be good at what you do and make winning a habit, positive attitude will follow. Am I right in thinking this? What do my readers think?
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Disclaimer: No attitudes were hurt in the creation of this blog. The writer does not have an ‘attitude’ and any suggestions about the same will not be tolerated :p No animals were hurt in the game of badminton as the shuttle used was a plastic one.
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