There are days, and no one is spared from those, where everything just seems off track. On some of these days, you are dizzy and overwhelmed by the list of things to do. On others, you are so lost that you don't even know what to put on the list. Existential questions like "Where am I headed?" and "What if I am not good enough?" start making a way into your head, until some youtube video or an Instagram notification comes to the rescue.
This post is an epiphany that I had on one such day.
A batsman (choose your favorite) comes on the field with the pressure of scoring tons of runs, in limited deliveries, while maintaining his wicket. The first few deliveries he faces are short and inviting. He succumbs to the pull and goes after them, yet misses them all. Time to enter the thoughts in Dravid's mind...
"What am I doing missing these easy balls?", "Everything is going wrong, I could've lost my wicket on any of those, haven't scored a run, and wasted 4 balls?", "I should not have played this position", "Ok let me focus hard on the next one. Whatever happens, this one has to be a boundary. (let me summon all my will power and focus). Ok, what might the bowler do?" "He might either bowl the same delivery as the previous one in which case I have a clear gap on the offside or he might just surprise me with one on the on side. There is some gap here for a leg glance" "Cool"."Ok here he comes" "Oh! but what if its a fuller ball! a yorker!.. oh there he is already coming". "God! I don't know how Sachin would have handled this? no doubt I am not good enough". "ok focus". "focus". "Here he comes..."
...coming back out of Dravid's head. It had started to get too hot in there!
I figured Dravid is Dravid because he probably doesn't take that line of thinking. Here is what he might be thinking:
"Ok, I tried to be aggressive for the first 4 balls. Doesn't seem to be working. Let me just aim for defending the next one. The aim is to connect to the center of the bat. Let me do this right and I will take it from there. (silence)."
To get back on track. To get in the flow. To find alignment. You don't need a spectacular act. You need a small act in the right direction. For reorienting you don't have to move much. One should not step on the accelerator while taking a turn.
Practically put, if you are feeling unsure, depressed, or overwhelmed. Something that derails you. Just pick up some small action that you do perfectly. No. This is not similar to 'break down a big goal into small actionable steps'. This is doing a minuscule act without gazing at the big picture. But doing this act perfectly. To the dot. To a precision where you can confidently say that you give yourself a 10/10 for it.
Write a perfect sentence. Make your bed without a wrinkle. Cut a fruit perfectly and eat it. Or just take 10 perfect deep breaths.
While doing it, don't think "How is this taking me closer to the goal?" or "Why am I wasting more time?". Just put all your focus on this tiny petty task and do it with the perfection of a tenth grader who is going to score full marks on a math test.
Chances are you will not disappoint yourself. If you do, take an even smaller task. Count to 50.
Now that you have a foundation, build from there. Take a slightly more challenging task. Slowly moving up the chain to the first actual task towards your goal.
You are now in a better state of mind to tackle it.
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