Coming close to losing it all

In an interview, Ambati Rayudu was asked if he had any regrets. His reply was interesting – he said he came close to giving up the game in 2009. Everything that happened after was a bonus.

In 2007, the Zee Corporation began the Indian Cricket League (ICL), a T20 tournament. It comprised current and former cricketers from top cricket-playing nations. The BCCI was at loggerheads with it from day one as it was seen as a threat to the IPL. After much arm-twisting, the ICL buckled under the pressure and its journey came to an end. The BCCI also threatened to ban all cricketers who had participated in the ICL for life. But in a change of heart, it offered amnesty to cricketers and allowed them to come back to the mainline fold. Ambati Rayudu was one of them.

Known for being short-tempered, his skirmishes with officials and players and his participation in the ICL meant he was overlooked for national selection. He made his India debut in 2013 and also had a successful IPL career by being a part of the winning team six times (he played for MI and CSK, two of the most successful teams in the league).

He was being groomed as the number 4 for the 2019 World Cup until he was dropped in the final moment in favor of Vijay Shankar, whom the selectors felt was more ‘three-dimensional’. Of course, it’s human for him to harbor some amount of ill will for that. Chief of Selectors MSK Prasad then went on to say leaving out Rayudu was one of his regrets.

Was Rayadu misunderstood? Maybe. Did he get in his own way? Maybe. Yet, he could have just been a footnote in Indian cricket had his career ended in 2009. While he might not have achieved everything he set out to and also faced searing disappoitments, it surely beats the alternative of being banned from the game for taking part in a rebel league.

Realizing how close you came to losing it all makes you look at things from a different perspective.

Finding perspective inside a roller coaster

A few months back, I went on a roller coaster ride of sorts. It had been ages since I had been on one, and I was scared out of my wits waiting for it to end.

I was reminded of this when I read about Glenn Maxwell taking a physical and mental health break from the Royal Challengers Bangalore. His form has been tepid, and the side has lost all but one of their matches and are on course to be eliminated. While the side has numerous gaps, one of the issues has been Maxwell’s inability to fire on all cylinders and put runs on the board in the powerplay.

Firstly, it’s a remarkably honest admission from a player to ask for such a break, and this isn’t the first time he is doing it.

In his statement, he said a couple of things that stand out and are food for thought.

“𝘛20 𝘤𝘳𝘪𝘤𝘬𝘦𝘵 𝘪𝘴 𝘢 𝘧𝘪𝘤𝘬𝘭𝘦 𝘨𝘢𝘮𝘦. 𝘌𝘷𝘦𝘯 𝘪𝘧 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘱𝘭𝘢𝘺 𝘸𝘦𝘭𝘭, 𝘭𝘪𝘬𝘦 𝘸𝘩𝘦𝘯 𝘐 𝘱𝘦𝘳𝘧𝘦𝘤𝘵𝘭𝘺 𝘵𝘪𝘮𝘦𝘥 𝘢 𝘴𝘩𝘰𝘵 𝘣𝘶𝘵 𝘪𝘵 𝘸𝘦𝘯𝘵 𝘴𝘵𝘳𝘢𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘵 𝘵𝘰 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘬𝘦𝘦𝘱𝘦𝘳, 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨𝘴 𝘤𝘢𝘯 𝘨𝘰 𝘢𝘨𝘢𝘪𝘯𝘴𝘵 𝘺𝘰𝘶. 𝘠𝘰𝘶 𝘮𝘢𝘬𝘦 𝘨𝘰𝘰𝘥 𝘥𝘦𝘤𝘪𝘴𝘪𝘰𝘯𝘴 𝘣𝘶𝘵 𝘴𝘵𝘪𝘭𝘭 𝘧𝘪𝘯𝘥 𝘸𝘢𝘺𝘴 𝘵𝘰 𝘨𝘦𝘵 𝘰𝘶𝘵. 𝘐𝘵’𝘴 𝘦𝘢𝘴𝘺 𝘵𝘰 𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘳𝘵 𝘰𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘬𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘴𝘵𝘳𝘢𝘺 𝘧𝘳𝘰𝘮 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘣𝘢𝘴𝘪𝘤𝘴.”

Maxwell was in red-hot form before coming into the tournament but has seemingly hit a brick wall in the IPL. No one can be on a good run forever, and it is sometimes hard to come to terms with this. Players have different ways of dealing with a lack of form. Some believe in playing to get their rhythm back, and others believe in walking away from the game for a while.

“𝘐 𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘣𝘦𝘦𝘯 𝘪𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘴𝘪𝘵𝘶𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯 𝘪𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘱𝘢𝘴𝘵 𝘸𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘤𝘢𝘯 𝘬𝘦𝘦𝘱 𝘱𝘭𝘢𝘺𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘨𝘦𝘵 𝘺𝘰𝘶𝘳𝘴𝘦𝘭𝘧 𝘥𝘦𝘦𝘱𝘦𝘳 𝘪𝘯𝘵𝘰 𝘢 𝘩𝘰𝘭𝘦.”

When things aren’t on your side, it’s hard to step off the pedal and admit it. It’s like a gambler having a bad day trying another hand, hoping things will turn out differently instead of walking away (for good). Thinking rationally inside a roller coater (even a metaphorical one) is near impossible.

Walking away to regain perspective and rediscover joy in the journey is underrated, yet extremely valuable.

2nd April, 2011

13 years back, on this day, the Indian men’s team lifted the 50 over World Cup. For people born after the historic ’83 win, this was the first time we experienced a World Cup victory. To be fair, we also experienced in 2007 when India won the T20 World Cup but that was a new entity.

The side came within a whisker again in 2023 but fell short at the final hurdle to a familiar foe.

Some thoughts on this:

a) The Wolf and the Pack

Rudyard Kipling said, “For the strength of the Pack is the Wolf, and the strength of the Wolf is the Pack.” In the side that won the cup in 2011, Munaf Patel played an important but forgotten role in the campaign and he faded away from the scene soon after. Sreesanth also faded away from the international scene and effectively ended his own career by getting embroiled in match-fixing in 2013. Piyush Chawla, while still active in the IPL, didn’t see his international career take off. Yuvraj endured cancer and was never his old self.
Ashwin didn’t feature in a World Cup till the 2023 edition.

A World Cup win is historic but doesn’t affect every player of the squad in the same manner. Dhoni got a longer rope because of this victory, and Virat Kohli laid the groundwork for his meteoric rise.

Winning a World Cup at home brings immense pressure, and the win is historic. And in this case, the pack was stronger than the individual parts.

Collective success does not guarantee individual glory.

b) Yin and Yang

In a recent interview, Sachin Tendulkar said 2011 was the best year of his life. But 2011 was also one of Indian cricket’s worst. Post the World Cup, the side were whitewashed in England and Australia in the test series, and a glorious era came to an end with the likes of Laxman and Dravid retiring soon after.

Mental conditioning coach Paddy Upton said the side was so focused on winning the cup that they hadn’t planned for life after it, and the side looked like it had lost its way.

In any given time period, you can see the highest of highs and the lowest of lows. You get to decide how you interpret it.

c) Perspective Changes

Gautam Gambhir was the highest scorer when India won the T20 World Cup in 2007 and also the 50-over World Cup in 2011. While Dhoni’s innings was more impactful simply because of the juncture at which he arrived at the crease (the side had lost 3 wickets) and his middling form through the tournament, Gambhir’s knock helped the team recover from the early losses of Tendulkar and Sehwag. Yet, Gambhir still holds a grudge against Dhoni and the fact that he didn’t get his due for his contribution.

Not everyone looks at a victory in the same way.

d) Moments Get Remembered

For most people Dhoni finishing off with a six and Tendulkar being carried around the ground by his teammates are the moments that stand out.

In sport, work, and life, people remember moments, not the entire thing.

Numbers that count

Sai Sudarshan is the 400th cricketer to play for India. And when a player makes their debut, there’s a nice small ceremony that takes place before the start of play where the player is handed their cap. It’s also a way to remind them that they are part of a select club that very few have privilege.

Some other numbers:

Approximately 2 billion people lack access to clean drinking water.

Approximately 60 million children of primary school age aren’t in school.

Approximately 19% of the world’s population are iPhone users.

Of course, there is a lot more nuance to these figures when you slice and dice them by region. And you can find relevant statistics on almost anything that matters.

It’s hard to make sense of large numbers. But they can give you perspective on the opportunities and privileges many of us take for granted.

Trying too hard to stay in the news

In an interview just after his presidency ended, George W. Bush was asked why he didn’t engage with the press much after leaving the White House. He said:

“𝘐 𝘥𝘰𝘯’𝘵 𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘺 𝘸𝘢𝘯𝘵 𝘵𝘰 𝘶𝘯𝘥𝘦𝘳𝘮𝘪𝘯𝘦 𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘱𝘳𝘦𝘴𝘪𝘥𝘦𝘯𝘵. 𝘈𝘯𝘥, 𝘧𝘳𝘢𝘯𝘬𝘭𝘺, 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘰𝘯𝘭𝘺 𝘸𝘢𝘺 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘮𝘦 𝘵𝘰 𝘨𝘦𝘯𝘦𝘳𝘢𝘵𝘦 𝘢𝘯𝘺 𝘯𝘦𝘸𝘴 𝘪𝘴 𝘵𝘰 𝘦𝘪𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘤𝘳𝘪𝘵𝘪𝘤𝘪𝘻𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘱𝘳𝘦𝘴𝘪𝘥𝘦𝘯𝘵 𝘰𝘳 𝘤𝘳𝘪𝘵𝘪𝘤𝘪𝘻𝘦 𝘮𝘺 𝘱𝘢𝘳𝘵𝘺. 𝘐’𝘮 𝘯𝘰𝘵 𝘪𝘯𝘵𝘦𝘳𝘦𝘴𝘵𝘦𝘥 𝘪𝘯 𝘥𝘰𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘦𝘪𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳.”

And that was that.

While Bush spoke out against Trump later, it was still measured. This has nothing to do with his presidency or politics. It’s about realizing when your time at the top is up and walking away. He didn’t want to needlessly interfere in how his successor ran the country.

Today, it’s easier to stay in the news, and this isn’t restricted to politics. Social media has made it easier than ever to get involved in everything, start an argument (or get into one). You can post controversial content all day and appear busy instead of actually doing the work. No doubt, social media has its place, but assuming that things will fall apart if you don’t weigh in on every issue is preposterous. In that light, George W. Bush’s approach was refreshing – 𝐈 𝐡𝐚𝐝 𝐦𝐲 𝐭𝐢𝐦𝐞 𝐚𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐭𝐨𝐩 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐞𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭 𝐲𝐞𝐚𝐫𝐬, 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐧𝐨𝐰 𝐢𝐭’𝐬 𝐬𝐨𝐦𝐞𝐨𝐧𝐞 𝐞𝐥𝐬𝐞’𝐬 𝐭𝐮𝐫𝐧.

Recognizing when to walk away, when not to get involved, and when your time is up are important skills as well.

Pretend Marketing

In his wonderful book ‘To Sell Is Human,’ Dan Pink writes about a very useful exercise created by Cathy Salit, an improvisational theatre expert. The exercise is called “Time Traveler.”

Here’s how it goes:

– Rope in a partner.

– Make a list of items that didn’t exist 100 years ago (the internet, microwaves, washing machines, post-its, Instagram).

– Ask the person you’ve roped in to play the role of someone in 1923 and explain a modern item to them. For instance, explain Instagram to someone living in 1923.

Just the thought of it makes you a little nervous once you realize how much a person living in 1923 isn’t privy to. Do you start by explaining a smartphone? Or the internet? Or digital cameras? How do you even explain social media to them?

Marketers face somewhat of a similar challenge. You’re trying to get someone to take action or make a purchase based on limited information and their worldview. It might not be as hard as explaining Instagram to someone from 1923, but it’s a challenge.

That’s why marketing is hard and why it’s hard to get it right.

PS: Link to the workbook for To Sell is Human

𝐖𝐡𝐨 𝐚𝐫𝐞 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡𝐨𝐮𝐭 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐩𝐫𝐨𝐟𝐞𝐬𝐬𝐢𝐨𝐧?

At two years and two months, my daughter has no clue what I do for a living. She has assigned roles for my wife and me in her head and all she wants is our presence. When she grows older, she’ll be able to understand (not that I do) what I do for a living, but my hunch is she won’t care all that much.

When we start working, our identity gets tied up with our profession. Linkedin profiles aren’t just about where people work, they’re also about where they’ve previously worked.

At a time of mass layoffs when people are having their identity stripped, it helps to look at it through another lens.

There’s an identity that exists outside of work as well, one that you are made aware of when you don’t wear the career hat. Career success (on your terms) is important and people who care about you are genuinely happy when you succeed at work. They are also the most concerned when you aren’t happy and give you the encouragement to quit a bad job or boss.

The people who care most about you don’t judge you by your professional accomplishments.

They just want you to be happy.

PS: Slightly different context but an excerpt from an article on Metallica in the New Yorker where lead singer James Hetfield writes about the difference between being a rock star and being a normal person.

Why did you begin?

Sushmit Sen is the former guitarist of the band Indian Ocean and was a pivotal member of the band. In 2014, he announced that he was quitting the band. When he released his book Ocean to Ocean, he chronicled his reasons for doing so.

Indian Ocean, he said, started playing more to please the audience instead of creating original music. In his words:

“Finally, on the day the band began to play Nani teri morni ko mor le gaye and Old Macdonald had a farm to an enthralled audience, everything fell into place in my head. There is a fine line between expression and circus, and I could see it clearly now.”

In 1997, Andre Agassi fell from being the world’s greatest player to being written out of the game. A failed marriage to actress Brooke Shields, injuries and a lack of motivation plummeted his ranking to 141. He said he resented playing tennis and becoming World No.1 didn’t fill that void. He had lost a connection to the game and was doing things to harm himself (like taking drugs).

This is how he describes what changed his approach and inspired his comeback:

“That’s when I saw children whose lack of choice was far worse than mine. I found myself feeling pretty blessed but compelled to confront the unconscionable reality of these kids – which is that, without education, there’s no hope, no choice, no breaking the downward spiral. Once I started to focus on that, tennis became a vehicle for me. I started to appreciate it. I learned a lot when trying to get back to No.1 as it’s much harder.”

When in doubt, it might help to ask yourself why you began whatever it is you are doing. It can be a career, a project, a job, or a relationship. If you didn’t start it for the right reasons, you’ll know it’s time to pull the plug. If you started it for the right reasons but have lost the spark, you’ll know what to work on.

Why did you begin?

The hand of reality

Diego Maradona

I recently saw ‘Diego Maradona’, the documentary on the late Diego Maradona. It comprises rarely seen footage of the life and times of one of football’s most iconic, and troubled stars.

One line towards the end of the documentary stood out:

“After he stopped playing, all that was left was the myth of Maradona”

While he is arguably the greatest basketball player to play the game, his life, for the most part, was in shambles. He fought a cocaine addiction that almost killed him twice, put on weight and underwent weight reduction surgery. Later, he also battled alcoholism, albeit unsuccessfully.

Like many athletes, he struggled to adjust to life away from the spotlight.

Shaq ‘O’ Neal

In a podcast, former Lakers star Shaquille O Neal spoke about how his divorce. Compared to others, he is fairly outspoken. This is what he said:

“I live in a 30 thousand square foot house by myself. You don’t think I know I messed up?”

Some lessons:

– Fame is ephemeral. Life is long.

– Outside of work, you have a bunch of other roles. Your family doesn’t really care how big a star you are at work. Leave your ego at the door when you come home.

– Fame (in any form) makes you feel invincible and as if the normal rules don’t apply to you. You wrongly believe that you can get away with anything.

-Whatever you fill your time with, at the end of the day, you need to face yourself.

All the things you were wrong about

Picture courtesy – Unsplash

The job you thought would be perfect for you

The boss you thought had your best interests in mind

The investment you thought would give you great returns

The person you wrote off

The colleague you thought you could trust.

The time you wished you stuck it out a little more instead of quitting.

The designation you thought would make you happy.

There’s nothing wrong with being wrong about things. The problem is when you view the future through the same lens of all the things you were wrong about.

What if this is a boss you can trust?

What if this job can fulfil you?

What if you can trust this person?

What if you aren’t wrong this time around?