8 Entrepreneurial Lessons By Abhinav Bindra When you are under pressure you have the ability to bring out the best.
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An hour before our scheduled interaction, we reach the backyard of Abhinav's home, which has an indoor range for him to practice every day. Inside is the man already shooting, unaffected by our arrival and concentrated on his target. Above the target is glued his aim "Rio Olympics'. The walls in the range mount his glorious achievements framing pictures and medals alike. His 20 year long career has been full of achievements, the most famous one being the only individual gold win by an Indian at the Beijing Olympics in 2008.
1. You need passion and addiction:
It's one thing training, its one thing doing well. You do it in your own comfort zone; the idea is to replicate that. When you are under pressure you have the ability to bring out the best.
2. The idea is to better yourself every day:
It's such an addiction, the whole challenge of trying to better yourself. Trying to be the best that you can be. On a particular day, you see that you are really good. That kind of gives you a high, keeps you going, gives you hope.
3. Don't get bogged down:
There are going to be harsh and hard moments. There are moments when you are under pressure. Come out of those challenging times. Success is to back yourself and give yourself what you are capable of.
4. Pursuit of excellence:
To be successful in any field of life, be it sport or business, you need excellence. The motivation has to come from deep within. Whether you want it or you don't want it. You will be able to achieve anything if you want it from deep within yourself. It is demanding but anything you want to pursue for excellence to push the boundaries it will be demanding.
5. Love what you do, do what you love:
Because I love the sport so much I am most relaxed when I am actually doing it. I don't need to do anything out of it to specifically relax. For me, when I am involved in something I enjoy doing, it's in itself is relaxing.
6. Be the best version of yourself:
Winning is a combination of a lot of factors. You need a lot of determination; you need the belief to back yourself. That ability to back comes from everything you have done possible. That gives you the confidence to go out and be the best that you can be.
7. The journey is more important than the destination:
It's the journey that counts, the efforts that you put in. It's all about remaining true and dedicated to the task that you have in hand. Making the best of the journey that you are involved in. When you try and do that the outcome is there for itself.
8. Give it your best shot:
Take one step at a time and try and respect the opportunity that you have and make sure that you make the best of each shot. The idea is to remain in the moment and live the best in each moment you have.
This article first appeared in the Indian edition of Entrepreneur magazine (June 2016 Issue).