Here's part one of a masterclass with India's first individual Olympic gold winner on how to harness the power of the mind to achieve goals with honesty and integrity even when the odds are stacked against you
About three feet from where he sits, a piece of recording equipment is less than four seconds from crashing on the floor. It had skipped everyone's attention until then. But we watch in awe as he catches it just in time! His reflexes are sharp, effortless, and his timing is perfect. There's a certain Zen energy around him. He's composed and focussed: Doesn’t fidget, nothing distracts him, and every sentence he speaks is measured. These are the hallmarks of a five-time Olympian who devoted 22 years to shooting but hasn't picked an air-rifle in seven years.
He is Abhinav Bindra, India's first individual Olympic gold medallist. But he doesn't gloat over the fact that he created history. He's entitled to do so, but for him it's the past and he has moved on. Instead, he dearly treasures the values he learnt as a sportsman. “Sport teaches one so much. It teaches you a thing or two about winning, but more importantly sport teaches you how to lose. Sport teaches you how to set goals and go after them with honesty and integrity. Sport teaches you a lot about respecting rules, competitors, and also about learning to respect yourself,” Bindra says in an exclusive interview on Forbes India Pathbreakers.
His contribution to Indian sports, his openness to talk about his imperfections and vulnerabilities make him a hero and a pathbreaker. But much beyond his many achievements and medals is his boundless and courageous spirit, his determination to do his best, and his ability to win despite soul-crushing setbacks. That's what I found most remarkably inspiring. Here's his story of what it takes to achieve that perfect shot against all odds. Edited excerpts:
Also read: With two Diamond League wins, Neeraj Chopra sets the tone for another smashing year
Frankly, post Beijing, I was in half a mind to quit sport at that time and move on to some other calling. Of course, I did not know what the other calling was but I was very confused and certainly had a lack of motivation and exactly this void what you talked about. I went on a vipassana meditation course with the goal of trying to find my new calling. On this silent retreat I had to meditate 10 hours a day for 10 days. Frankly, all I did in these ten days was think back to shooting and how I could get better.
That taught me something. It taught me that I loved what I did. I loved the process of my sport and that realisation in itself was very empowering. To move ahead after a success like that you know you can’t jump on to the next peak. You have to climb down from the mountain peak you are sitting on to climb the next peak one step at a time and that requires full commitment to the process, the boring and the mundane. There is a lot of boring and mundane in achieving big successes.
Also read: I was afraid I wasn't good enough, so I just kept working hard: Ray Allen
Now that I have exited my investment of sorts and I look back at my 20-odd years in sport far more dispassionately, I don’t look back at this room or these medals that hang on these walls, but I really look back at my many years in sport for the relationships I was able to build, starting with my mum and dad, for example. The relationship I was able to build with my coaches, my support staff, many of them who became extended family. Those are incredible relationships which will stay with me in whatever I do. Some of those relationships were difficult relationships as well. There was one particular coach in my career who I did not get along with but found a way to work with and we continue to be very good friends. He, of course, doesn’t give me any sports advice any more but he is now my stock market adviser.
(Here’s the magic bullet Abhinav Bindra recommends for success-- Coming up in part two of the conversation)