Bounce Back with a Smack!

Jugglers don’t normally make mistakes in performance; they do make an abundance of them during practice and training. It is almost deplorable if a professional juggler drops a ball during the complex, dynamic actions. I observed that the judges were quick to pick on the ‘failures’ of contestants on one Moment of Glory (OMG) – a weekly talent show, modeled after America’s Got Talent and Britain’s Got Talent.

Bouncing back from failure is part of one’s resilience. Professional jugglers know that it is a surefire device to deliberately drop a ball, and then successfully juggle with an additional ball. Successful entrepreneurs learn very well that being resilient allowed them to recover from costly and painful mistakes. Live and learn! Avoid the same mistake in future. Effective leaders learn to bounce from one crisis to another by asking the right questions, balancing asking with telling, and being flexible. Flexibility allows elasticity of nature. Help your team create choices for themselves, instead of dishing out answers. You are not a solutions-vending machine!

I know of enough athlete-executives who get frustrated over their injuries, missed opportunities to gain better timings, and training plateaus. The idea is to not wallow in self-pity and regret for long, and to refocus your energies to another purposeful outcome. If you are injured, heal your body; seek treatment, recover and recuperate. If you hit the hilt of your training, review your program: seek a coach, periodise your training, and pinpoint your strengths and weaknesses. The results you seek will emerge in time. Like a silicon ball, create potential energy before you can unleash its kinetic energy. The height of the falls equals the bounce.

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On another note, the results are out for my run yesterday. Despite not earning my best PB, I improved (over last year) by two minutes, and moved my rankings (in a larger field) to top-4 percent overall, and top-6 percent (in my age group). I am in awe of the Masters-level runners - many of them continue to post brilliant timings still! I overtook about 166 runners in my last 10K. My last 10K was done at a 4:30min/km pace while my first-10K was a leisurely and meandering 5:20min/km. I can live with 5-minute pace for the half-marathon. Main take-away from the run: patience, posture and pace. I feel I am recovering from my injuries and beginning to peak for next weekend’s marathon.

Boing! Boing!