Surya Speaks..

You Got Game?-----------------------------

1. What is the game?

So think of your life as a game. Or your career. Or you weekend club game. Whatever. Take any situation that you are facing. Think of it as a game. To be successful in it you ought to be able to answer these questions.

2. What is the prize?

This reminds me of an old saw. A young boy was asked to run 50 yardsfast and was promised a plastic cup as a prize. The boy ran for the cup. An older man was asked to do the same. He asked why? He said,I'll give you the cup, you run! In other words the prize has to fit the stage in life you are in to be motivated

3. What are the rules?

In a regular game the rules are written. But in the game of life (or career) it is mostly unwritten rules that we will need to learn in addition to the written rules (laws)

4. Who is your competitor/ opponent?

Nothing focuses the mind like your opponent. India-Pakistan incricket. Coke-Pepsi. FedEx-UPS. US-USSR.

5. What does it take to win?I believe it takes head-heart-guts to win. All three. Not just brains. Not just drive. But also, as we say in tamil 'dil irrukka?'

6. What happens when you lose?

Grace under pressure. Does one lose sorely? Or be gracious in defeat? (Al Gore's 2000 concession speech). What does one learn. How does one come back? Life is full of second chances. So how do weget away from the 'all is lost syndrome' after one loss.

7. Practice

There is a fantastic story about Ronald Reagan. He always photographed well. All his pictures of meeting visitors were great. Why? President Reagan knew that each visitor valued the visit to the white house. But he himself saw hundreds, so he could get bored. So he made a routine out of it. When a visitor came, he would go to the exact same spot in the oval office, with the exact same pose - so that each visitor would get a great picture. Practice makes perfect.

8. Peripheral Vision

We are good at looking at what is in front of us. But as humans weare gifted with peripheral vision as well. When I was playing basketball at college, more than anything else, it was peripheral vision that I found helped us the most. When I was playing center, I could sense our star player (Prof's son) coming from behind me towards the basket. I would look the other way and get theball to him through my peripheral vision. Those were some of the most satisfying points we scored.

9. Final Whistle

In any game there is the final whistle. Boy, if you sit on your lead and hope to run the clock out, you are in big trouble. As they say,it ain't over until the fat lady has sung. You can be pipped at the last second. Ask the Lakers as Larry Bird of the Celtics repeatedly singled them with a last second three-pointer.Or Miandad and Chetan Sharma at Sharjah.So awareness of the final whistle and what it takes to get past it is important.

Finally,
10. LegacyThink of the Gavaskar-Border trophy.

Think of the Masters that BobbyJones left behind. What is one's legacy through sincere contributionto ones field of endeavor? Has the contribution been meaningful. Can you look back with pride and satisfaction at what has been.

Is one's honor and dignity intact?------------

It seems to me that if one asked oneself of any endeavor he or she is embarked upon, that these 10 questions above might frame the motivation to excel as well as the aspects of action that could lead to long-term and lasting success.I am sure that there are several more questions you can add (and hope you do) to extend this metaphor.

So....you got game?