Nothing Succeeds Like Success

The recent India win in the T20 World Cup is a story of the individual redemption of many players, none more so than that of Hardik Pandya. Just a few months back, he was booed on every ground he went to. He was called names and was the object of derision. The fact that his team was also not winning added to the nastiness. And here he was bowling the last over of the World Cup final. He had to defend sixteen runs. The hopes of India were on his shoulders. He delivered, defended the total, and won India in the final. Then he slumped to the ground and let emotions take over.

In the same over, Surya Kumar Yadav took a magnificent catch, showing the athleticism of another world. He had barely scored any runs in this final. He had failed to score briskly in the ODI World Cup final a few months back. The tag of a choker who fails to perform under pressure hung heavily on him. Then, with everything on the line in the final over, he took the catch, which sealed the cup for India. It was a catch that required extreme game awareness, position awareness, and quick thinking under pressure. That catch washed away all the sins of not scoring runs before and also removed the tag of being a choker.

There are stories about Virat Kohli, Shivam Dube, and Arshdeep Singh, who were trolled at various points but succeeded and kept everybody quiet.

People respect success. It builds admiration. It validates the path you have taken. It also acts as a point to show when people doubt you. Some people want you to fail. They take vicarious pleasure in your failure. Some others want you to succeed and get frustrated and disillusioned when you don’t live up to your potential. Both keep quiet when you succeed—one with gritted teeth and the other with a wide smile.

So, always strive for success. The result matters. Shut down the haters. Reward the admirers.