Path to excellence

There are four steps in the path to excellence - Passion ->Science->Luck ->Killer Instinct. And strictly in that order!

Let me dive a little deeper.

Passion

The first step to achieving excellence in any field is being passionate about it. Ask any top performer in any field, they enjoy what they are doing, and are deeply passionate about it.

Its no point doing something that you are not passionate about, because you may start, but would be just another person doing the same thing. I think this is what plagues most people... they do things that they are supposed to do, rather than things they are passionate about. This leads to them not being too excited about going to work in the morning, or cribbing about the day on return in the evening. The reason cited for still doing it is ‘money’, or 'something like it'; we all need to make our living after all, and we all have our reasons!

Another argument could be, ‘if everyone starts doing what they want to do… then who would do the necessary things that nobody wants to do… such as cleaning shit!!’

My answer is, ‘Absolutely right, so please continue to clean shit!!’ J

Science

Passion can take you only that far. Then comes in science - figuring out the technicalities.

Sachin Tendulkar would have been only that good, unless he was taught how to correctly hold the bat. Lance Armstrong would not have stood a chance in hell to win the Tour-de-France if he had used those standard ‘doodhwaali’ bicycles, or went in without thaose fancy gears, or he dint know how to time his effort through the course of the race. Science gives passion a direction… the most optimal direction, which gives maximum leverage for the given input.

In case of academics, science is getting the right teachers, surrounding yourself with the right kind of people, getting the right environment that lets you focus on the task at hand.

Luck

Passion and science take you to the next level. Now you are competing with the best. The journey from here to excellence has a lot of external factors. However, there is some merit in the saying, ‘harder you work, luckier you get’. Of course, you cannot control an earthquake or a Tsunami. Luck includes the fact that you were born with some talent. That talent is a waste if you aren’t passionate about what you do.

There is only one thing that can dilute the effect of luck… killer instinct.

Killer Instinct

Faith can move mountains. Strong killer instinct can make you achieve anything… even if it is flying. Yes, I firmly believe that you can fly if that’s all you want to do…and deeply believe in it. You’ll figure out a way to do it. At IIT we used to call it ‘jehad’. Though never made meaning of it.

Reason, logic, technically speaking etc. are words for those that lack killer instinct… or the desire to excel. Excellence is for those that seek no reason and defy all logic!! That’s the way to excel!!