Don't Slip Near The Finish Line – Be More Vigilant

 ‘Life’s getting back to normal,’ said Rahul. ‘The lockdown’s ending.’

‘We’ve got to be careful still,’ said Rinku severely.

‘Don’t worry Rinku,’ said Rahul.’ I’ve been careful all these days. I’ll continue like that only.’

‘No Rahul,’ said Rakesh. ‘You should be even more careful now. That’s what winners do.’

‘But bhaiyya,’ asked Rahul. ‘We went through the toughest part already and followed all the rules. Why be extra careful when the government is lifting the lockdown?’

‘Remember what our cricket coach told us?’ said Rakesh. ‘When we’re playing well we must not get out before finishing the game. There’s no point in doing all the hard work and then throwing it all away before the job is completed.’

‘But,’ said Rahul. ‘We don’t throw it away wantedly do we bhaiyya?’

‘True,’ said Rakesh. ‘However if we understood how champions think, we can also end up with great results. You see, when we’re getting closer to our target, we get a false sense that we’re already there. In that small moment when we take our eyes off the finish line, we lose it ll.’

‘Really bhaiyya?’ asked Rinku.

‘I read somewhere that more people die while descending Mount Everest than while climbing up,’ said Rakesh. ‘And in the movie ‘The Walk’, based on Philippe Petit’s 410 metre high tightrope walk between the twin towers in New York in 1974, there’s a famous line by his coach Papa Rudy - that most tightrope walkers who die, actually fall in the last three steps. They take the last three steps arrogantly, thinking that they have already arrived, and fall. Clearly, we need to be extra careful towards the end. There are umpteen stories of people taking their foot off the pedal before they crossed the line and ending up losing.’

‘Does it hold true for everything bhaiyya?’ asked Rinku.

‘Yes Rinku,’ said Rakesh. ‘Exams, applications, resumes, interviews, project work, submissions, games – whatever is important to you – don’t take your eyes off until the line is crossed. Towards the end is when we’re tiring after all the hard work we put in. We hope that we’ll cruise through, that someone else will finish the job for us, and because of that one lapse in concentration, we fail. MS Dhoni is so highly respected as a match winner simply because he digs in, handles the last three steps, and finishes things.’

‘Thanks bhaiyya,’ smiled Rinku. ‘We’ll be more careful now on until the very end.’

‘You know bhaiyya,’ said Rahul. ‘I wrote my assignment yesterday and was about to send it without a final check. I was taking my eyes off. But now, I’ll get myself a nice cup of chai, and run through it carefully. I’ll send it only when I’m absolutely sure that I crossed the line.’

Pro tip: Don’t take your eyes off in hope. Don’t celebrate until you cross the finish line. Be very vigilant until the job’s fully completed.

 

Exercise: Pick stories from students over the number of things that didn’t end well and analyse why. Most times they would not have been careful when they came to the finish line. For examples exams or performances that could have gone better if they held themselves till the finish line.

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