If you are a Hindi movie buff or what we call as Fan of Bollywood movies, then you would relate to the below dialogues.
“Jo main Bolta hoon, woh main Karta hoon .. jo main nahin bolta woh main definitely karta hoon” (I do whatever I have said and I definitely do whatever i haven’t said)
“Ek baar jo maine commitment kar di, toh phir main khudki bhi nahi sunta” (Once I commit, then I don’t even listen to myself)
English is a phunny language, but so is this light hearted post. However it teaches us one important lesson that tell us how one should be determined. Determined to execute tasks, go all the distance, pursue your dreams and what not. Determination is nothing but “Not going back on the promises made by you to yourself” , in other words not cheating yourself.
How this helps? Let me take an example I recently witnessed with myself, during my TCS Open10K run on 21st May 2023. I started my journey by registering for 10km run, in Mar timeframe and had this vision that I shall run this stretch. I was in no shape to run even 5k. Mar became Apr and then beginning of May 2023.
Initially in Apr I had some success in completing my 5k run , but times were disappointing. I had a target which was to beat my earlier 10k time of 1hr :11 min :xx seconds , but it seemed distant. Beginning of May is when i started training
–> running 5k twice in Week1
–> running 5k thrice in Week 2
–> however i still had doubts whether I could run 10k in one stretch without stopping.
A run is a run, with no stoppages, that was my rule. You end running only when you finish it.
–> Week 3 (15th May to 19th May) –> I ran two times 5k and once 10k , to check if I had the stamina. The timing at home stretch was 1hr :17min: xx seconds for 10k run (slower than my 2019 score).
On Saturday 20th May (D-1) , the events were totally different. My wife had to leave immediately to Pune to tend to my 80 aged Mother In Law , as she had fallen off in the bathroom. I arranged for her travel and cab. I had planned for a movie that night with my daughter and it was heavily raining in Bangalore. The traffic was chock o block and we were running late for her favorite movie by 30 mins. We reached venue late by 30 mins and that was not all, while watching the movie, I was worried whether my wife shall catch the flight on time as she was stuck in traffic and I was chatting with her. Thought “Worry only about things that are in your control and not out of your control”
All the signs spelled DOOM, before the D-DAY. We watched the movie , came back home , I packed for my race late at night and by the time I had hit the bed, the clock showed 11:45 pm. The next day was supposed to be reporting at the Kanteerava Stadium by 4:40 am (45 mins before the 5:30 am race). Sleep schedule had gone for a toss, where i slept only for 3.5 hrs.
I was full of doubt , if I was really in a good shape to beat my previous timings with less hrs of sleep. I said to myself, lets get it done, no matter what. Got up at 3:30 am and left home by 4:00 am. While driving towards the venue I did see a lot of guys also making to the venue at that time. The crowd was super exciting and I had one thought “Everyone is travelling in the same boat as me and I am no special”
After reaching the venue , forgot all the worries back home and was preparing myself for the race. The race started at 5:30 am and I was running at a snail’s pace with congestion for 700m. I had turned on my running app to measure the timings and indicate to me the distance remaining and the time taken.
Surprisingly from the beginning onwards, I was running, faster than what I was clocking in my dry runs at society . This meant I covered 1km, 2km, and 5km runs faster than at home. This gave me confidence that my timings could be better and I could beat my old time. Thought “You continue to chug, as long as you don’t worry about the obstacles”
As I crossed the half way mark, I heard some fellow runner say to another “TCS 10K is a game of 70% Mental strength and 30% physical strength”. Wow, what an insight. Its true , that all our actions originate first in the mind and if they are strong, actions are stronger. Doesn’t it prove the above two quotes ?
I completed my 10k run beating my 2019 score by a whole 1 min and 30 seconds. Time 1 hr:10 min: xx sec. What this all leads to is “Determination is the key to any action being completed successfully and stands for not going back on your own promises , come what may.”
If you like and agree , please feel free to comment as below.
Here is the pic from my 10k run as a Finisher.
