09 Oct The Power in You
Yesterday evening I was watching the snooker final of English Open.
The finalists were Judd Trump (5th ranking) vs Zhang Anda (57th ranking). Zhang was leading Trump with 5 to 1, then 7 to 3… Trump could not find his rhythm, he made mistakes, while Zhang was showing calm, confidence, moving forward. In addition, he had a new tip fitted to his cue for the evening session, another theoretical inconvenience during such an important game, as he needed to accommodate with it.
Starting with the 11th game everything changed…
Trump started to win game after game, his shots were perfect and there were 7 successive games won by him. He was recovering while his partner started to make mistakes, hesitating, coming less and less to the table.
Trump was winning with 9 to 7!
It was breath taking and meanwhile amazing performance! After getting the trophy, Judd Trump took the time to move around the arena allowing fans to take selfies with him. He was smiling, enjoying these unique moments. I went to sleep sharing the happiness of the winner.
I was reflecting to all these and the learnings coming out would like to share with you:
- Keep going, avoid giving up while in the game
- Trust yourself , you know you can do it
- Use your experience and expertise which are bringing maturity in your approach
- Concentrate only on what you are doing
- Be present
- Accept failures as part of the game
- On a long run, anticipation of the next move it counts
- Be patient, calm, control your emotions (without avoiding facing them)
- Unexpected changes might come, and you need to face them
- Take time to celebrate and enjoy the victory
How many times each of us was passing through such challenges, believing that “It’s done, I lost this game!”. It can be about a strategy, a decision, the next step in life or career, a project, a team and so on.
Snooker is a game which teaches strategy, tactics, performance as well as concentration, confidence, self-awareness, practice, fair play, and respect.
I enjoyed watching these tournaments which are sometimes full of surprises – new winners, or unexpected losers. Everything is possible as the players are human beings!
This is what I am taking with me…the mental power exists in each of us. We need to cultivate it and use it with wisdom in diverse contexts, adapting, learning, reflecting and then daring to act with confidence to reach a high performance.
Today’s business environment looks like a snooker table where anything can happen, and where you can be a winner!