Making Change That Can Last

There was a nice little video that I recently came across, featuring Virat Kohli. https://www.facebook.com/yourdostcom/videos/2702403023160869/?t=2

In the video, Virat Kohli is reminiscing about how he transformed from being ordinary to the world-class champion that he is today.

He comes back home after a bad day at the game , has a shower, comes out, stands in front of a mirror and looks at himself. He is ashamed of what he sees.  An unfit athlete trying to compete at the highest level. Something happens- may be extreme shame- he wants to be better. Starting that instant , he changes his entire diet. He cuts all junk food. Starts consuming only lean food. He starts hitting the gym 5 days a week. He does not cheat on his own commitment even once. He sheds about 8 kilos in a few months and becomes an extremely fit athlete. His approach to the game changes thanks to his fitness and he attains a completely different level of proficiency.

Virat Kohli moved from being ordinary in 2012 to becoming extraordinary in a couple of years thanks to the change that happened in that one instant when he stood in front of the mirror, ashamed at what he saw of himself.

There are some amazing pointers we can take from the story of Virat Kohli.

• Personal change does not have to take time. All it takes is an instant.

• Any personal change starts with internal change. In our mindset. Change happens only when you want to change, desperately. Most of the time we seek change but without the deep desire or desperation. That will not work.

• We can use negative emotions like Shame, Anger, Jealousy, Fear, positively, to propel us to make change in our attitude and behavior. These emotions are a fuel for the action necessary to make the change.

• Personal Change should focus on that first little step that needs to be taken and there should be relentless focus and commitment to that first step. In Virat’s case it was a change in diet.

• Change focuses on the action that needs to be taken and not the outcome. Virat did not set out to make the change to become world class. He just wanted to change because he was ashamed of being unfit and mediocre and he changed his diet. All the results came much later and were a consequence of the one change he made.

Its the season of the New Year. Many of us are looking at all sorts or new year resolutions. We want to lose weight, learn new skills, run marathons, write blogs…. Let’s take inspiration from Virat Kohli’s example to build the right mindset, commit to that one little change and action to make the resolutions count.