Success vs. Joy
- LIX -
Real Men Don't Succumb
However, realizing this will not be sufficient to withstand the many distractions that are imposed on you. You will need to build will power. There are many who are excellent, but only two or three in each field are great.
To go from excellence to greatness you need consistency and this will come by exercising will power. I do not for a moment believe that Sunil Gavaskar and Sachin Tendulkar are in any way more talented than some other cricketers. They are great because they have recognized that it is only pure action that is important, and they have had the will power to resist every temptation thrown at them by society. There is no such thing as greatness without great will power.
I once told Sachin (during a talk given to the Indian cricket team at the request of BCCI), ultimately all our meaningful relationships can be counted on the fingertips. We all have only two or three close friends, a wife, our children, our siblings, and parents. The public in India may treat you as someone special but you have clearly realized that you are not special. You have not succumbed to society’s pandering but have been true to yourself, to your profession and your gift. However, the day your wife starts believing and treating you differently because of your achievements, will be the day when you will come to your professional end. Because then you may actually start believing that you are ‘special.’
We are invariably biased towards ourselves and find it tough to acknowledge our faults and limitations. I have learnt to accept what others say about me with an open mind. Not everyone who is critical of you is necessarily your opponent. Many are critical because they want you to remove your shortcomings. And we would not be able to improve ourselves if we were not able to recognize our limitations.
The real ‘I, me, mine’ is independent of anybody’s expectations – be they of parents, spouse, children, partner, associates and, above all, your own. You just cannot live your life according to the expectations of others. Courage is in doing what you believe is right.