You never lose a game, you just run out of time. -Michael Jordon
We have all had many ups and downs in life. Get into a coveted college, you get all elite junta around you. This is the time when the oscillations frequency of being up and down increases. You look around in amusement pondering ‘do I belong here?!’ but then, the only thought of solace is that the other person would be thinking the same.
Then the time comes when you actually realise ‘who you really are.’ Yes, I am talking solely about the CV making time. That is the time when you keep changing forms from yourself to Batman to Superman to Spiderman to Michael Jordon to Warren Buffet to Steve Jobs or maybe an amalgamation of all. And now you finally realise life isn’t unidimensional but has many aspects to it.
Let’s think of a basketball game. You have to score every single time you have the ball in possession. Each time the ball goes in, your score goes up. But do you stop after scoring once or twice? No, of course not. Here comes the interesting part, the opponent is as smart. He can see through your moves and defend you from scoring if you use the same technique again and again. This is where a unidimensional life leads you to. You only go out of moves. So one has to have a diverse portfolio to score every single time. If we call scoring a basket as scoring a +1 on happiness, the diverse portfolio consists your family, your friends, your hobbies, your job and every other thing that makes you happy. Here are again a few catches.
1. The opponent will also score over you. There is nothing wrong in that till you defend to all your strengths but make sure that you score every single time you go to take an attempt. Learn to be happy in all circumstances.
2. Basketball isn’t a one man show. You need a team to sustain, let alone win. Life isn’t for loners who think to do big by just engrossing in themselves. You’ve got to be social and enjoy doing stuff. Be with your family, friends and dear ones. They complete and complement you.
3. Referees run the game. You might be damn good but there is someone else holding the whistle. Well, that happens in life too. You surely get irritated at the bad judgments but you simply can’t give in. You play as per the rules set by the referee and his extent of judging the fouls.
Life isn’t about winning a single game; it is greater than even winning a tournament. But for winning the tournament, you got to win the games (not all) and for winning the games, you need to score every single basket. It is necessary to realise that for most of us, these two years of MBA are probably the last two years of our college life. It is time to score a few on the other aspects too. It is time to do something you have never done. It is time to make memories!
Don’t just master business administration…..master the life you want to lead. After 15-20 years from now, when you would be playing with your children or sipping morning tea, you won’t remember how much you scored in subject X, how much you worked for subject Y but the things you will remember are the memories you choose to create in this time.
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About the Author:
Ayushmaan Agarwal is a sports enthusiast landed in the MBA kingdom. An ECE engineer from G. B. Pant University Pantnagar, he is presently pursuing MBA from IIM Lucknow.