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The Last Lap
Lima Sehgal
The race to the new millennium having reached its finish line, the
unnerving question requires an answer – “Am I a qualified winner?”
That really bothers us. The media publicity was intense and bizarre.
Never before have we been so obsessed about our future. Our
projections of a new world, where we’ll become misfits, is a
reflection of our fears.
The turning century is not the issue, but we certainly are. We are not
afraid of entering a new millennium, but of fast approaching a point
when our qualification for successful survival will be questioned like
never before.
Winners are determined only at the finish line. And irrespective of
our complete depletion of energy and resources, we must make it. The
last lap is the hardest.
When the destination is in sight, the perspective changes. At the
beginning of the journey, you’re motivated, excited and energetic.
When you arrive, you’re tired and a bit apprehensive about facing a
new destination. And there is a feeling that, somehow, that station
looked quite different on a map.
Most drop out in the last lap. Usually not because of shortcomings,
but fears. There are many reasons.
Firstly, winning implies changing our own perceptions about ourselves.
The old, familiar self goes. The price of winning is usually the
surgical removal of old theories, beliefs and value systems.
Secondly, winning demands the setting of new standards for ourselves.
And the demand for better performance at more advanced levels. A
demand for being the best – then better than the best. Never ending,
and tiring. How many of us love the challenge of ‘ what next?’ Too
few.
Thirdly, winning may result in the emptiness that comes when goals are
fulfilled. We have to seek a new battle, a new cause – worthy to be
won.
And lastly, winning implies change. Sometimes sudden, irrevocable
change, which may be tough to digest.
Our solutions lie not in giving up on the last lap, but in rushing
headlong into the mess of problems that await us. Perhaps it’s time to
stop looking for cures. What is self defeating is our approach to
problems. Our greatest handicap is practicality. We still consider the
rational approach to problem solving as supreme, while what is
‘practical’ is being consistently re-examined and discarded, as
theories and facts get busted by the minute. It is all the impractical
things that people do that has been the main contributor to our
evolution. Solutions are born out of mistakes.
Its time to let go our obsession with facts and answers. They don’t
count anymore. We have entered an era where success depends upon our
intuition. Over the past decade, logical thinking based on inputs of
facts was at a premium. Today, when facts themselves are changing so
constantly, we must rely on our hunches. Psychologist Malcolm Westcott
defines a hunch as “The ability to reach accurate conclusions with
limited information”. He says there comes a time when you have to make
the leap and trust your intuition.
What will make us succeed in the next millennium is difficult to
define. A lesson from history is apt. The sixteenth century Spanish
explorer Cortez, after landing in Veracruz, burnt his ships, then told
his men – “You can either fight, or die. But you can’t go back home”.
Fortunately, progress and change burnt our ships ages ago. But we
still cling to ghosts.
Our future is round the corner, and the most important thing is to
keep trying to get there. But can we? Author Christopher Morley says –
“Big shots are only little shots that keep shooting”. Maybe, all we
need to find out is what will keep us shooting.
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