In the project called life, results seems to be the name of the game – the process of achieving results is always relegated to the back burner hence if the result is not fruitful and the process is perfect, nobody seems to care about the process. So we focus on results – this is a fallacy that could destroy generations to come! I am facing this challenge personally and I am earnestly seeking for ways to combat it. For me, it started subtly from school days, when I wait till the eleventh hour to cram a course and get an “A” – the reasoning is simple – if all it requires to succeed is to get an “A” in a course then why bother understanding the key concepts of the course.
Last Monday’s Season 3 Episode 7 of Game of Thrones was very instructive:
Jon Snow: Maybe one day I will take you to Winterfed
Ygritte: Maybe one day I will take you there after we have taken our land back
Jon Snow: Ygritte, You won’t win – I know your people are brave – no one denies that.
Ygritte: Then you know nothing
Jon Snow: Six times in the last thousand years, the king beyond the walls attacked the kingdoms; six times they failed.
Ygritte: How do you know that?
Jon Snow: Every boy in the north knows it – We grow up learning it – where the battles were fought – the names of the heroes – who died where? Six times they have invaded; six times they have failed. Seventh will be the same.
Ygritte: Mine is different
Jon Snow: You don’t have the discipline; you don’t have the training; your army is no army; you don’t know how to fight together.
Ygritte: You don’t know that
Jon Snow: I do! I know it! If you attack the walls, you will die – all of you.
The same lesson was reiterated on Thursday on Super Sports 3 HD when they were making tribute to Alex Fergusson – coach of Manchester United. Simple lesson – His successes were due to the discipline he instilled in his team. No matter how far ahead the opposing team is (in terms of goals scored), Manchester United will most of the time come back from behind and win the game before the game stops.
Talent can never replace discipline. The storm will always differentiate the house built on the rock from the house built on sand. I stumbled on the talk below and I learnt a lot from it. Hope you do the same? Have a nice day!
