Commenting on the ongoing 2018 Berlin Candidates Tournament last week, Susan Polgar wrote on some Facebook page and said something like: “The mistake Kramnik made was to beat Aronian in the first round. After this win, Kramnik overestimated his strength. He completely lost objectivity and started losing”
True, in life, your hindrance to your future success may be your present success or your comfort zone. May you sober up and look at yourself with the right measure, even after an earth shuttering victory. Don’t lose objectivity, thinking you are on top of Mount Everest. Always be on alert.
Malawian Fide Arbiter, Paul Nyirenda once said, “When you are leading or have a better position on the chess board, that’s when you should work even harder to ensure you convert”. Success comes with it’s own challenges. Suddenly, a lot of people look up to you for solutions, people study your games seriously, even creating novelties against you and you become a public spectacle. You must always make sure you are ahead of your rivals.
The great Julius Caesar once said “Conquering can be easy, but maintaining the conquest can be a problem”.
Be it in business, school, career etc. Never get satisfied by your present success. Never be complacent. Continue exploring new ways of stepping up your game. Read and have the necessary information to keep up the lead, ensure you never sleep on your laurels.
The book of Proverbs in the Holy Bible says: “A little sleep, a little slumber, a little closing of the eye, and poverty will take you like a bandit”
Keep on studying yourself as well as your competitors. Know your advantages and disadvantages as well as your rival’s, so that you know how best to consolidate your lead or even improve to become better. If you are an painter, like Malawian chess player Cassim Mdoka, keep on improving yourself even after that magic painting, which sold like hot cakes. If you are a writer, like Oyeleye Olawale from Nigeria, keep on reading even after that powerful article that takes you before Kings and Princes. Or if you are a footballing coach, like Manchester City’s Pep Guardiola, who’s team has won a trophy this season and almost wrapped up the English Premier League, keep developing news ways to take your game and your team to the next level.
Even in Christianity, when God blesses us in a mighty way, or uses us in a mighty way, it is not time to stop seeking God. Keep on reading the word and praying. Be humble enough to take advice from your mentors.
I remember Michael Jordan once said, as far as he is on the basketball court, he works hard to impress this “imaginary” guy, who just hears about Michael Jordan, and is seeing him for the first time. There is always an imaginary guy in his mind on the terraces when he is on the court. He doesn’t have time to relax.
Great movie actor, Bruce Lee, once said: when he is fighting he takes each of his opponent as his equal. He never underestimated anyone, that’s why he was great. So we can also come up with similar philosophies that will ensure that we continually engage the greatness in us.
May you move out of the Comfort Zone into your Continuous Glory Zone.
