Resilience makes us winners

People who make major strides are rarely freaks of nature. They are usually freaks of nurture!” This has been quoted by organisational psychologist and professor of Wharton Business School Adam Grant. If we look back at the movie ‘Lagaan’ where a group of so-called untrained villagers managed to win the cricket match against the British, we would think what it is that made these humble country bumpkins win? A similar incident happened in 1991 at the US National Junior Chess Championship where the elite team from a private school in New York, who had previously won three titles in a row, were beaten by a group of students from a public School of Harlem. How could these students who practiced in parks where drug dealers did their business beat the Olympic-level professionals? The answer lies in Grant’s research in which he stated that we don’t need to be too comfortable to practice our skills. Too much comfort takes our attention away from our dedication to learning. Rather, the people who practice their skills in adverse and uncomfortable situations value the skills and their comfort grows while they practice their skills. Remember the life of Ishwar Chandra Vidyasagar, who studied by the street lamp?

Often, we are faced with challenges while we learn and grow. Imagine the death of a close relative a day before our interview, or no electricity a day before our Class 12 exam. How we deal with such challenging situations and still surge ahead actually defines how aligned we are to success. So more than facilities, it’s our resilience that makes us a winner.

While we believe in innate geniuses or earth-shattering achievements, what we overlook is success is a result of careful nurturing. Everyone can achieve success and do great things in life provided they are guided to develop their character skills, have the patience to stay motivated for a long time, and make use of opportunities to learn from others in the process of their growth. The interesting part is all these can be carefully imbibed in children or adults. We can be trained to be successful! While we bear certain instinctive personality traits since birth, character is something we develop as we grow up. We may feel or think according to our personality but our character makes us choose how we act. In the face of crisis, we may choose to prioritise certain acts or we may be taken over by our instincts. The ability to show courage in the face of crisis is an essential part of our character building.

There are times when we get stuck in a certain situation or stage in life. Things don’t go in our favour. It is not how hard we try… it is how many times we try without giving up that determines our success. Maybe, we need to change our strategy, maybe we need to refine our skills, but giving up is not a solution. Often we get our dream job later in life. Many people get success after repeated failures. The burning example of US President Abraham Lincoln’s story of success through failures is often used to inspire people to overcome life’s difficulties. KárolyTakács was the first shooter to win two Olympic gold medals with his left hand after his right hand was seriously injured. Sometimes, we have to start all over again to find a way to succeed. Life is not a straight line and often a detour is required to get back in line again. So, our patience to stick with our efforts defines our resolve to succeed. We often get a wonderful idea or advice from a veteran and realise we are very close to the path to success. So, difficulties can act as a springboard to success. Staying motivated and trying when we feel nothing is moving can also be nurtured and built into a person.

Working in a group, and taking advice from others, even in a different field often leads us to success. Let’s consider the incident of the “rat hole” miners, who finally rescued 41 Indian workers, who had been trapped in a mountain tunnel for more than two weeks. The rescue operation was one of the largest in India’s history, involving multiple government agencies and the army, and it was closely followed by millions of people. A large drill managed to penetrate about 50 metres of the rubble and debris blocking the Silkyara tunnel entrance, but it was the efforts of the rat hole miner’s small hand drills and shovels that led to breaking through the final 12 metres of blockage. The operation involved 26 hours of digging by hand. During high-intensity crises, we need a collaborative approach because we are not sure what will ultimately work. Life throws us opportunities or help in the form of new ideas, advice from people, and confronting different strategies. It depends on whether we are ready to collaborate and make use of it.

The author is the Chief Academic Officer (CAO) – Schools, Techno India Group SRC initiatives