Chak De India!!! 6 motivational lessons taught by the Commonwealth Games
Updated: Mar 6, 2021
India’s stellar performance at the Commonwealth Games that concluded recently in Gold Coast, Australia offers a ray of hope to thousands and thousands of children who want to do better in sports but are constrained by the societal mindset, “if you are not good in studies, probably you are not good for anything”. Sports are good for the nation as well as the people participating in them. A country that appreciates sports is a country that becomes emotionally mature, understands competition, believes in hard work, believes in success and knows how to handle failures and also overcome them. The recent success of the Commonwealth Games offers us a few invaluable life lessons irrespective of our age, lessons that perhaps are given by great motivational speakers!
Lessons taught by the Commonwealth Games
As mentioned above, the recent Games were not only a pot of entertainment but also a teacher of many virtues and values, that help us in our life’s development and personal well-being too. The athletes may not outright give you a speech on life lessons, as some of the top motivational speakers in India do. They subtly impart these values to the viewers through failures as well as successes.
You can win if you believe in yourself
Even though it sounds like a clichéd piece of advice, that’s the biggest reason for India’s stellar performance this year. We won medals in Tennis, Badminton, Squash, Boxing, Shooting, Wrestling and so on. While some of these sports have an existing legacy and role models in India, some are absolutely new and not played by many in the country. To create benchmarks and a great legacy, it’s important that we follow our strength and not just follow the previous records and patterns. Greatness always lies outside of our comfort zones.
Age is just a number
15-year-old shooter, Anish Bhanwala, created history by being the youngest-ever gold medalist in the Commonwealth Games. At this age, people are not even sure of what they want to be in their professional lives and here we have a live example of meritocracy, excellence and commitment.
Rankings are temporary, timing is important
Indian sprinter Mohammed Anas who qualified for 400 m finals was the first Indian after Legendary Milkha Singh to compete in this run. He, however, missed the medal with just 0.2 seconds. Next time you are thinking about timing and its role in success, think of the sprinter, who missed the medal by a fraction of a second. It’s OK to miss, but it’s very important to try and do one’s best.
Teams that trust, win
It was another breakthrough for the Indian Badminton team which won gold for the first time ever in its mixed team event. It’s important to trust your team and play to their strengths to emerge as a winner. When individuals complement each other in a team, possibilities are endless.
Practice and Perseverance Pays
Just like any public speaker takes a lot of takes to make their motivational speaker videos, the moment of glory that we witness in any such games follow months and years of practice. Just like it is important for the players to keep practising and perfecting their game, likewise, it is important that we also work to improve our own game of life. There may not be rewards like medals or trophies in the game of life, however, if we are continually working to improve and better ourselves, we shall not only enjoy the game but also become excellent at it.
It’s OK to fail
Think of any player that you admire and look at their careers. Almost all of them would have failed sometime or the other and not just once but multiple times. Failure is no taboo. It’s OK and humane to fail. There is no need to take failures personally. It’s important that we accept the failures, understand what their root cause is and then work to overcome them.
To conclude, we see how something like sport, which we more often than not, treat as entertainment, also teaches the viewers a lot of lessons. The ups and downs, successes and failures, all have a part to play in culminating these values, almost as if the sportspersons are the best motivational speakers in India.