Hello Friends,
If I ask you one strategy that you apply to keep your mental health on track what it would be? May be travel for some, reading is another popular one, yoga or meditation is a go to option for many. Some prefer tuning into their favourite music or spending quality time with family & friends. Solutions too many but problem is the same. Managing a healthy mind is equally important these days along with a healthy body. Our generation goes through enormous stress to thrive in an extremely competitive world. Some of those stresses are unavoidable whereas some are self induced. Alarming to see the kind of stress even teenagers are going through these days. But is joining a yoga centre or consulting a doctor a viable long term solution to the ever increasing threat of mental health issues?
Silent Killer Of The Modern Generation
Recently the news came from the UK about former English cricketer Graham Thorpe ending his life after a long battle with depression. Many other sportspeople or celebrities have shared their experiences of fighting with this silent killer of modern generation in recent times. We talk about it in social media, in our colleague circles or with close friends. As per WHO report, in 2019 around 970 million people across the globe were living with a mental disorder. But still the enigma of mental health issues is not as easily acceptable in our society like any other health related matter. Lot of times we have witnessed people making fun of it which is nothing but sheer ignorance & lack of knowledge. It is high time that our education system starts including knowhows of this sensitive topic to create awareness which will help people to speak about it or fight against it with lot more confidence.
Sportspersons' Resilience Against Inner Battle
Ever wondered how a sportsperson who seems to be mentally so tough while performing on the field can too fall prey to his own mental puzzle. Yes they can as they too go through the same emotions like any other common person. But what is interesting is most of them find a way to tackle it in their own way. Their discipline, mental toughness & perseverance helps in overcoming this hurdle like another match on the field. It should be another responsibility of modern day leaders to be extra careful in managing their as well as team members' mental fitness. Stats already showing that stress becoming a major hindrance in productivity growth at workplaces all over the world. Hence we are already on a sticky ground and a collective fight is the need of the hour. Our today's book review is apt to address this issue. The book becomes more significant as it comes from one of the sportsman who had seen highs & lows in an eventful career.
A Cricketer, A Fighter, A Coach, Now An Author
Anything a cricketer does these days off the field whether a current cricketer or a former one creates lot of buzz. Former Australian cricketer Shane Watson's newly published book The Winner's Mindset has been doing the same for all the right reasons despite it not being his biography. He had been a phenomenal performer over the years on the cricket field for whichever teams he represented be it for Australian national team or the various state teams or T20 franchises across the globe. His attacking style of batting coupled with some lethal medium pace bowling made him a sought after asset across formats. Carrying an allrounder's responsibility along with occasional captaincy duties can be too much on the plate for any particular individual. But this Aussie great was instrumental in fulfilling all those responsibilities most often than not.
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| Shane Watson during his playing days Image credit: https://www.flickr.com/photos/naparazzi/11705344753 |
If we look at his overall achievements at the cricket field with two ODI world cups, two Champions trophy (For Australia); two IPL titles along with two IPL MVPs (Most Valuable Player) & two Allan Border medals it seems like he probably would have fulfilled all his cricketing aspirations barring a T20 world cup win. But that was not the case. His career was marred. by several injuries over the years which was a major roadblock to achieving even greater heights for him. Injury setbacks are not easy to deal with for players specially when you are loosing some of the golden opportunities of your career. Dealing with all such setbacks & still ending up as one of the best to play the sport talks about the volume of mental toughness he possessed or developed over the years.
And The Story Begins
The book predominantly talks about various challenges a sportsperson faces mentally and some systematically articulated strategies to overcome them. The book portrays a clear picture of how even the most successful or mentally strong person can feel overwhelmed under extreme pressure or adverse circumstances. It was a brave attempt from a premier sportsman like Watson to come up and share his experience of fighting out this inner battle with the world. The book is both a motivation as well as an eye opener about mental fatigue. It's real & even the best in the world can suffer from it. I am sure after reading this book lot of us will be more open to share their experience too.
Let us not get confused with the title of the book & the content we are talking about. Title is appropriate as after throwing light on all the challenges that a human mind faces the book eventually turns the focus on how after fighting out self doubt & closing out the outside noise a champion sportsperson emerges victorious. It's end of the day the mindset that defines our destiny. The book starts with talking about how human brain works including functioning of our conscious & unconscious mind. Then it slowly moves to various factors that affect our thought process & eventually performance. In between the author explains a few secrets of a successful team environment & how a strong communication strategy can do wonders. Ultimately he talks in detail about a particular model called ACT which he applied during his playing career to gain fruitful results.
Greats Sharing Their Journey
He also shares his experience of how all the mental mathematics started for him & slowly he could master this difficult puzzle towards the fag end of his career. Another great aspect of this methodology is that Watson who is now into cricket coaching trying to implement the similar model in his process to understand players better & improve their performance. Best part of the book comes at the end where some of the stalwarts of the cricketing world like Rahul Dravid, Allan Border, Matthew Hayden, Ricky Ponting, Sir Vivian Richards, AB de Villiers talk about their part of the story & share some valuable handy tips to be at your best mentally. Even though I loved the entire narration below mentioned are the quotes that really gave my thought muscles a proper workout
"But the one thing I have come to know is that being totally focused on the outcome was the biggest obstacle to me achieving what I wanted."
".... seven per cent of your communication is done through the words that you use, 38 per cent of your communication is through your tone of voice and 55 per cent of any communication is through your body language."
Great to see Lisa Sthalekar's name in that list too. It would have been great to include experiences of few more women cricketers or even players from other sports too. As far as the overall narration or the language is concerned they are quite simple and enjoyable. For the first timers few topics might seem bit overboard like the implementation plan of ACT model. But again kudos to Shane who has tried his best to keep everything simple for the readers' better understanding. If you are a cricket lover you would certainly love every bit of it. More so because of the mention of several cricketers' experiences & also Shane's personal experiences from some of the memorable matches of his career too. You would find the mention of 2018 IPL final many a times throughout the book which was won by Chennai Super Kings courtesy one of the all time best innings in IPL played by the author of this book. In his own admission that particular innings was a great landmark for him personally as he was not in the best frame of mind before that innings & even in the initial part of the innings.
The Fight Must Continue
To conclude I would like to appreciate the author's sincere efforts to bring forth an issue which is slowly becoming a menace to the mankind. As a cricket loving country we follow most of the things that our beloved cricketers share or suggest. I am sure all of you would reap rich benefits after reading this book irrespective of whatever profession you are in. You can be a winner in whatever you do if you have the right mindset. What are you waiting for then? Go grab The Winner's Mindset.
Image Credit: amazon.in
Personal Recommendation (Sports Leadership)
My Review | 
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