In a 100 or 200m race, every milli-second counts.
Which is why getting off the blocks as soon as the gun shot
goes off is critical.
Let me correct that – A sprinter needs to be off the blocks
before the echo around the gun shot ends.
A slight delay and the race is as good as over.
There is only one thing coaches tell you about your start; “FOCUS
ON THE GUN SHOT”
It sounds easy. But let me break it down for you:-
1. It’s
a competitive race and so the nerves are active.
2. It’s
just you on your track, standing against your block. There is pin drop silence
around you.
3. You
can hear your breathing, your muscle twitching…even a car moving in the
distance.
4. And
most importantly, you can hear your thoughts.
There is no external noise to distract you but the noise
inside your head is amplified. You lose focus for a second and drift into a
thought – about the visit to the golawaala after the race, how your crush is
watching you in the stands, how you didn’t prepare enough for this….anything,
absolutely anything. You lose your focus for a second and the gunshot goes off.
It is an exercise in training your mind, which all athletes
go through. The training that allows them to shut out all other noise inside
their head.
And focus once the announcement goes…”On your mark. Get set……Bam”.
It’s the gap between “Get Set” and “Bam” that wins or loses many
athletes the race.
Similarly in my professional life, I have struggled often to
focus on my work in the moment when I need extreme concentration. Like when I need
to do a dry run for an important presentation. Or the last revision of a
concept before it gets sent for testing. Or the last moments before giving an
interview or addressing a large audience.
It’s in the time when I need extreme focus that my mind
tends to drift.
It doesn’t always work. But that is the time I tell myself “Focus
on the gun shot”.
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