This amazingly insightful book had me hooked from the very beginning. Not only does it give a heart warming glimpse into the much acclaimed and revered cricketer
MS Dhoni. Also known as the
Captain Cool owing to his Cool exterior even under the most strenuous situations.
MS Dhoni. Also known as the
Captain Cool owing to his Cool exterior even under the most strenuous situations.
The following are the main insights that I will be taking away from this book, hoping to hit master strokes in my personal, as well as professional life.
The Right Attitude
Table of Contents
People are thrown into different situations from day one their lives when we play we learn and handle competition. We work, we earn money, we have dreams that we follow. We develop ambitions, identify a goal. Similarly, we develop hobbies for fun, while struggling for jobs, all the while fighting for success.
As a part of the FocusU co-facilitators group, we need to maintain the energy in the programs. A positive attitude and
c
an-do approach toward each workshop ensures a smooth execution. The
right attitude makes you reason better, and helps us train our minds to enhance strength, work on our talent, and follow our dreams with passion. The only way to feel completely confident about a script is to practice it a 100 times. This confidence will infuse you with a positive attitude. Furthermore, confidence without hard work is
fake confidence. Failure becomes inevitable in this case. The only way is to go full throttle.
c
an-do approach toward each workshop ensures a smooth execution. The
right attitude makes you reason better, and helps us train our minds to enhance strength, work on our talent, and follow our dreams with passion. The only way to feel completely confident about a script is to practice it a 100 times. This confidence will infuse you with a positive attitude. Furthermore, confidence without hard work is
fake confidence. Failure becomes inevitable in this case. The only way is to go full throttle.
Your Goals Define You
It is said that to achieve anything substantial, you need to put a timeline to it and make it your goal. Everyone wants to be successful. The trouble with not having a goal is that you can spend your life running up and down the field and never actually reach anywhere. If you don’t have your own goal in your life, you will be spending the rest of your life helping others fulfilling theirs. Some simple guidelines for creating and maintaining your goals.
- Set small goals
- Simplify your goals
- Visualize
- Grab & create opportunity
Dhoni encourages one to have a passion for life, explore, find our dream and fulfil them by going beyond the norm. His life further inspires us to make a difference before hitting the grave. No matter where we come from, we must strive to move up and about! Carry around with you, an invisible ladder you know you need to climb.
Follow the Process
What does it mean for us, you ask? Lets say that I have a workshop tomorrow and I am mighty nervous about it. How do you suggest I prepare myself? In this given scenario, how do you apply this follow the process concept? Preparation is the key!
To follow the process essentially means to focus on preparation. To draw efficient parallels, eliminating everything that’s not required for the upcoming workshop can speed up the packing process, as well as ensure the execution goes smooth. Hurdles like anxiety about the workshop, nervousness, a tendency to overthink resulting in the loss of sleep at night. All these are not a part of the process. Furthermore, reading up on your subject, acquiring the required skill set, resting well so that you are fresh and your mind is aware. Keeping your dress code appropriate and reaching the venue on time, and giving your 100% to every workshop. These are the essential part of the correct procedure.
Similarly, to achieve anything in life, the process can be broken down to a simple set of steps forming the right procedure –
Lose Weight — Exercise
Want to be calmer — Meditate
Crack workshop — Prepare
Business Decision — Strategize
I believe in the process more than the result. If you are properly prepared, physically and mentally committed to the task and fully engaged in the moment then I have no problem with outcome.
Take a Peaceful Walk Home
To be present here and now to be able to give your 100% and to experience it as a whole by not dividing the mind in several places is my idea of the proverbial
peaceful walk home. It’s simply the ability to treat wherever you are at the moment as home.
peaceful walk home. It’s simply the ability to treat wherever you are at the moment as home.
Ask yourself this question when you are in workshop, meeting or doing project work is what you are experiencing, a
peaceful walk back home? Is your mind there with your body or are you somewhere else?
peaceful walk back home? Is your mind there with your body or are you somewhere else?
That’s what people usually do. Think about it. The mind is mostly somewhere away from our physical location. People driving their car in the morning going to work are busy thinking about the meetings scheduled for the day. A person taking holiday from work to relax, hardly gets any because he is worried about the work that awaits him back home. I try my best to schedule my priorities and live accordingly. I will never be able to perform if I have random things running through my mind and the only way to get rid of them is to
live in the moment.
Be a Leader
A Leader, among other things, Needs to learn how to train his brain to keep it free from worries. One may counter that worrying from time to time is given. That goes without saying, however, people, who give in to worry easily, cannot be a true leader. Victory is not always guaranteed and yet, fighting each war with a victorious mindset can make a huge difference!. As long as once remains persistence, instead of running away at the first sign of failure, he will emerge victorious, eventually.
Conclusion
This book gives a lot of insightful lessons on leadership. It brings to light how leadership is a unique attribute and the recognition of it must come early on in life. One needs to identify those traits within themselves. Furthermore, In any organisation, leadership qualities or its acknowledgment is not confined to the time spent with the organisation.
The leadership trait in a person is independent of all these factors. Leadership is a complete mental skill partly natural, partly acquired or achieved. Even in a hierarchy, it has been seen that people who can successfully display leadership traits have broken the hierarchical ladder and stepped ahead. A leader is a person who has the capability to see much ahead of the ongoing game. He is the only person in the group who can see beyond the set rules and regulations, question norms and practices and is
cool enough to change a few. A leader is a person who leaves his signature on the job. Thus, leadership is independent of labels and can easily be displayed by any individual!
cool enough to change a few. A leader is a person who leaves his signature on the job. Thus, leadership is independent of labels and can easily be displayed by any individual!
