Moment of Truth – Is winning everything?

28th Oct 2007. Results were being announced for the Division E evaluation contest for Toastmasters (www.toastmasters.org). 3rd place – not my name. 2nd place – not my name. The winner of Division E, District 82 P evaluation contest for the year 2007 was Kumar Viswanathan. I did it! Moment of truth! Freeze this moment!!

French open finals at Roland Garros, 1998. Steffi Graf Vs Natalie Zvereva, an unknown Russian reached the Singles final for the first time. The match was over in 26 minutes, making it the shortest final in Grand Slam history. Steffi thrashed Zvereva, 6-0, 6-0. The poor loser, Zvereva totally won just 8 points in 2 sets. The match was over even before many people in the audience could settle down in their seats. During the post-match conference with the media, Steffi said, “Today I was in a zone. I was playing my best tennis. I did not see the opponent. In fact the opponent did not matter. I was playing against myself, trying to beat me. It was like a dream. I was woken up when I suddenly heard the noise from the crowd and the scoreboard read 6-0, 6-0” Moment of truth! Freeze this moment!!

Sergei Bubka, the world record holder from Ukraine in men’s pole vault did not have strong opponents who could give him a run for his money during most part of professional career. During the early 1990s the world record was 5.6 meters. Due to a boycott, he missed taking part in Olympics during his playing days. He had a goal in his mind and was not bothered about what was going on around him. In every tournament he was competing, he kept raising the bar and wanted to clear 6 meters, a feat no human being have achieved. He went on to beat the world record and became the first athlete to cross 6 meters! He went further and had beaten his own world record 7 times! The record he set in 1994 at 6.14 meters is yet to be broken. He was not competing with anyone, but himself. Moment of truth. Freeze this moment!

Is winning everything? Does winning really matters? Former International Olympic Association president, Antonio Samaranch said, “it’s not winning that matters; it’s participation”. Ricky Ponting, the Australian cricket captain surely will not agree to this. He is obsessed with winning. That’s why they play so hard and they continue to win almost all matches they play. Former F1 champion Ayrton Senna goes one step further. He once said, “I wouldn’t mind killing other drivers on the race track to win the title”.

25th Nov 2007, District 82 P evaluation contest for toastmasters, Mangalore. I was in a “zone”. I have just completed the best evaluation speech in my life. Everything fell in place. I didn’t mess up. The flow was flawless, all points covered, made excellent recommendation and my timing was just perfect. I had a very nice feeling at the end and was very confident that I’ll bag the 2nd or the 1st prize. This feeling was better than the one I had after I had finished my evaluation speech at the Division contest. There my summary was not all that good and I expected 2nd or 3rd prize. But I came first there a month ago. When the results were announced at the district contest, I did not hear my name! I did not win when I had performed at my best! My best was not sufficient to bag the trophy. Ok, I lost to better opponents!

Although I was upset initially, I recovered quickly thanks to couple of calls from my friends. I lost at the Area level contest the previous year. This year, I have reached the District finals winning at club, area and division levels. My performance at the district was the best by far, although it did not fetch me the coveted trophy. It set me thinking. Does the trophy really matter? What matters is my standard, my level of performance. I have beaten my earlier performances and today I’m a better evaluator. I have raised my own bar. Well, if I had bagged that trophy, it would have been nice, but do I need that external reassurance? Not always! Sometimes, your own satisfaction can give you more happiness than the external reassurances like the trophy! This is my moment of truth.