It is said that Ali would not be Ali if it weren't for Frasier, and Foreman. The intensity of competition in the tennis at the moment is without doubt the highest it's ever been. You have the world's greatest in Federer, and two elite challengers in Nadal and Djokovic all almost rotating at the top during one half decade. There is no doubt that competition may bring out the best in people in some dimensions. When you are forced to dig deep to pull out your best performance as opposed to no pressure, there
is something about this environment which takes us to another level. How should we understand this dynamic in our work lives, and indeed our personal lives. Too often people view things in silo's expecting that competitiveness in one field stays in that field and doesn't boil over into others. The reality often is, that competitiveness is an attitude, that does boil over, and does affect other parts of our lives in ways that may be constructive, and if not handled in the right way, counter-constructive.
The 1.30am
I took part in a race the weekend just gone, and there were many many learnings, which am most grateful for. When we finished the race, the interviewer asked our team what the greatest challenges. One of our team said it was the three staircases per floor, which meant our body was constantly turning, and it made it difficult to gather a rhythm of some sort. Whilst I certainly agreed, my difficulties were different. I had worked until 1.30am on an occasion that week, and was not even recovered from a flu which I'd sustained for a week as a result of overwork and change of weather. This meant that a training process which was recommended to be 4-5 weeks was shortened drastically to 5 days, in which I needed to squeeze in a break also, meaning effectively two sessions as I'd need to taper off before the event. I had skipped my Muay Thai for two weeks due to being too tired from work, something that hadn't happened before, and had 5 days to train with a cold for what was known to be a intense tace. I finished work, and got into my gear, and starting from the base floor, went up all the flights in my apartment, 38. I was tired, it was hard, and the intensity concentrated on a very particular part of the thigh. After a two day break, I repeated the same thing twice, and felt ok. I guess I was kind of ready but conscious that the floors in the ICC were almost twice as high as those in a residential building. But once the technique is known, then with perseverance and grit, it would be ok. I ended the training with 400 skips on the jump rope, and felt satisfied that it should be enough, and at least the best I could do in the time I had. So then I tapered off till the event. I had two races; the relay race, and then the individual race. After a good team effort for the relay, albeit with some confusion, and a good finish time, I went back home to recover, shower up, and return for the individual race, which I knew would be the real challenge. I was far more relaxed, and even ended up doing some boxing before the race to loosen up as some guys from the MMA centre were there promoting.
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Neck & Neck
When the race fired off, I got off to a quick start, but knew the theoretical importance of keeping a steady pace, and not going too quick at the beginning as it was after all, 100 floors, not 38. My attitude was quite fixed; pretent no-one else is there, and it's just you running up. Ignore the noise. I got to the stairs first as I like a sprint. People then began to over-take. Many rugby players took part and they charged up, three steps at a time. I continued at two, and probably saw half the pack go ahead of me. It was fine, I wasn't bothered. It stayed this way until roughly the 20th floor. I then heard a group of people huffing and puffing. I then tip toed my way past about 10 people who obviously had gone too fast for themselves, run out of steam and slowed to two steps, or one step. Some of the rugby guys included. I had got into a good rhythm by 30-35 floors, and then came a point when we had to stop climbing, and run around the entire building to the opposite side's staircase. The running really helped break up the pressure which had been felt on the thigh. I noticed, if I walked, it used the same part, but if I ran it used another part. So I ran. I didn't stop for any drinks as I didn't want to break the flow. After a good stretch until 60th floor, I caught up with an Australian guy and a German guy who were very athletic and setting a very good pace. We went up 18 floors neck and neck, keeping the pressure on each other. Then came the next break of stairs where we had to get off and run to the next set. The other guys stopped for a quick drink and that was the last I saw of them. There was one more guy in my batch within reachable distance. He was taller than me and had done well so far. On 85th floor I saw him 2 sets of stairs ahead. I didn't mind his being there, he was clearly in great shape, looked well trained, and I just respected his being there. Suddenly, I got quite close to him, and he realised we were neck and neck. So he sped up, and then so did I, then he sped up again! In this way, we kept pushing each other. Then I thought, I will just set the pace I am capable of setting, and running at. I will simply go up to my best. In this way, I ignored his existence in a competitive sense. He began to tire, and by 97th floor, I didn't see him. With the final three floors, I continued at three steps a time, and completed. At the end of the race, I waited for the guys I'd seen on the way up, and thanked them for keeping the pressure on as they did. It was a nice experience.
Rise & Shine
That was a race, it's meant to be competitive. Life is not a race, nor is it a competition. The very next day, as I got into the lift of the Cheung Kong Centre, the Bloomberg weather was playing. "The Sun is trying to break through the clouds, and it just about coming through," they said. No, I thought. The Sun doens't try to break through anything, the Sun just shines. The clouds cover the bit of the Sun that we can see, and sometimes we see it and sometimes we don't, but the Sun doesn't 'try' to do anything, that's just what we see. It was so interesting that just because we 'try' to do things, we think other things have the same dynamic; they don't. We are all individual, we all have our unique
abilities. The Sun is the Sun, it just shines, it doesn't compete. In this way, it made me reflect that this is a nice attitude to have. it doesn't matter what pace the others go at, you just have to be satisfied that you are putting in a concerted effort in doing what you want to do. Ignore the noise. In this way, we will be able to respect others, we will be clear that life is not a competition, and we will be happy.
"There are many competitors in ordinary business affairs. A karmi (materialistic person) must be envious because he wishes to enjoy material pleasures to their fullest extent. Consequently there is always competition between these people." Srila Prabhupada, Srimad Bhagawatam
is something about this environment which takes us to another level. How should we understand this dynamic in our work lives, and indeed our personal lives. Too often people view things in silo's expecting that competitiveness in one field stays in that field and doesn't boil over into others. The reality often is, that competitiveness is an attitude, that does boil over, and does affect other parts of our lives in ways that may be constructive, and if not handled in the right way, counter-constructive.
I took part in a race the weekend just gone, and there were many many learnings, which am most grateful for. When we finished the race, the interviewer asked our team what the greatest challenges. One of our team said it was the three staircases per floor, which meant our body was constantly turning, and it made it difficult to gather a rhythm of some sort. Whilst I certainly agreed, my difficulties were different. I had worked until 1.30am on an occasion that week, and was not even recovered from a flu which I'd sustained for a week as a result of overwork and change of weather. This meant that a training process which was recommended to be 4-5 weeks was shortened drastically to 5 days, in which I needed to squeeze in a break also, meaning effectively two sessions as I'd need to taper off before the event. I had skipped my Muay Thai for two weeks due to being too tired from work, something that hadn't happened before, and had 5 days to train with a cold for what was known to be a intense tace. I finished work, and got into my gear, and starting from the base floor, went up all the flights in my apartment, 38. I was tired, it was hard, and the intensity concentrated on a very particular part of the thigh. After a two day break, I repeated the same thing twice, and felt ok. I guess I was kind of ready but conscious that the floors in the ICC were almost twice as high as those in a residential building. But once the technique is known, then with perseverance and grit, it would be ok. I ended the training with 400 skips on the jump rope, and felt satisfied that it should be enough, and at least the best I could do in the time I had. So then I tapered off till the event. I had two races; the relay race, and then the individual race. After a good team effort for the relay, albeit with some confusion, and a good finish time, I went back home to recover, shower up, and return for the individual race, which I knew would be the real challenge. I was far more relaxed, and even ended up doing some boxing before the race to loosen up as some guys from the MMA centre were there promoting.
When the race fired off, I got off to a quick start, but knew the theoretical importance of keeping a steady pace, and not going too quick at the beginning as it was after all, 100 floors, not 38. My attitude was quite fixed; pretent no-one else is there, and it's just you running up. Ignore the noise. I got to the stairs first as I like a sprint. People then began to over-take. Many rugby players took part and they charged up, three steps at a time. I continued at two, and probably saw half the pack go ahead of me. It was fine, I wasn't bothered. It stayed this way until roughly the 20th floor. I then heard a group of people huffing and puffing. I then tip toed my way past about 10 people who obviously had gone too fast for themselves, run out of steam and slowed to two steps, or one step. Some of the rugby guys included. I had got into a good rhythm by 30-35 floors, and then came a point when we had to stop climbing, and run around the entire building to the opposite side's staircase. The running really helped break up the pressure which had been felt on the thigh. I noticed, if I walked, it used the same part, but if I ran it used another part. So I ran. I didn't stop for any drinks as I didn't want to break the flow. After a good stretch until 60th floor, I caught up with an Australian guy and a German guy who were very athletic and setting a very good pace. We went up 18 floors neck and neck, keeping the pressure on each other. Then came the next break of stairs where we had to get off and run to the next set. The other guys stopped for a quick drink and that was the last I saw of them. There was one more guy in my batch within reachable distance. He was taller than me and had done well so far. On 85th floor I saw him 2 sets of stairs ahead. I didn't mind his being there, he was clearly in great shape, looked well trained, and I just respected his being there. Suddenly, I got quite close to him, and he realised we were neck and neck. So he sped up, and then so did I, then he sped up again! In this way, we kept pushing each other. Then I thought, I will just set the pace I am capable of setting, and running at. I will simply go up to my best. In this way, I ignored his existence in a competitive sense. He began to tire, and by 97th floor, I didn't see him. With the final three floors, I continued at three steps a time, and completed. At the end of the race, I waited for the guys I'd seen on the way up, and thanked them for keeping the pressure on as they did. It was a nice experience.
That was a race, it's meant to be competitive. Life is not a race, nor is it a competition. The very next day, as I got into the lift of the Cheung Kong Centre, the Bloomberg weather was playing. "The Sun is trying to break through the clouds, and it just about coming through," they said. No, I thought. The Sun doens't try to break through anything, the Sun just shines. The clouds cover the bit of the Sun that we can see, and sometimes we see it and sometimes we don't, but the Sun doesn't 'try' to do anything, that's just what we see. It was so interesting that just because we 'try' to do things, we think other things have the same dynamic; they don't. We are all individual, we all have our unique
abilities. The Sun is the Sun, it just shines, it doesn't compete. In this way, it made me reflect that this is a nice attitude to have. it doesn't matter what pace the others go at, you just have to be satisfied that you are putting in a concerted effort in doing what you want to do. Ignore the noise. In this way, we will be able to respect others, we will be clear that life is not a competition, and we will be happy.
"There are many competitors in ordinary business affairs. A karmi (materialistic person) must be envious because he wishes to enjoy material pleasures to their fullest extent. Consequently there is always competition between these people." Srila Prabhupada, Srimad Bhagawatam
