Mind Over Matter
Let's do an experiment together...get a pot, pour some water into it. Now, in the same pot, drop an egg and a potato...then place the pot on the fire. Leave the pot till the water boils...then take out the potato and the egg. You should find that the potato has now become softer than it was before you threw it in the pot. And as for the egg, it should have become solid after you peel off the shell. Two different food items, tossed into the same environment, subjected to the exact same conditions but came out differently.
For those who are old enough to remember, the "Miracle Of Dammam" should still be fresh in your minds, for it was one of the most glorious moments in the history of Nigerian football, and a record making feat back then. For those not old enough to remember, you can check it out on the internet to find out what happened (I was not old enough either). It was at the prestigious Prince Mohammed Bin Fahd Stadium in Dammam, Saudi Arabia and it was a quarter final game between the Nigerian U-20 football team and the USSR U-20 football team at the 1989 FIFA World Youth Championship. USSR was the old Soviet Union before they split up into Russia and 14 other countries in 1991.
Less than an hour into the game, the Flying Eagles (as they are fondly called), were 4-0 down to the Soviet Union. With barely 30 more minutes to their elimination, and with the opportunity of a reset and half time team talk gone, the young lads would have been contemplating their flight back to Lagos. But then, everything changed. In 23 minutes of the time remaining, they had gone from 4-0 down to level up at 4-4. They eventually went on to win the contest through penalties (5-3) and dumped the USSR out of the competition.
How was it that the same set of players, in the same field of play, under the same prevailing external conditions, and still against the same opposition defied the odds and put up a truly global spectacle never before seen at that level of football. Maybe because I follow sports a lot, I see it happening time and again in many sports. An athlete apparently down and out would pick himself/herself up, fight back with the most intense determination and go on to reverse the situation.
Like the potato and egg experiment, it is not so much about the prevailing travails, it is what they each carry inside them. The mental toughness to never give up till the very end, till they are either down and out or till they come out on top.
It takes time and practice. Just like muscles, building the strength and conditioning of the mind does not, will not happen in a day. Constant, consistent and deliberate actions are needed in order to keep the mind engaged and conditioned. Do not wait till extreme situations come to test your courage, determination and perseverance. Let the little domestic situations that irritate become your playground. Learn to overcome those, then look to go at bigger, more challenging situations. Mental toughness is like a muscle. It needs to be worked to grow and develop. If you haven’t pushed yourself in thousands of small ways, you are very likely to wilt when things get really difficult.
Stay on a schedule, not only when you feel motivated or when it feels convenient for you. Motivation does not always come. It is not willpower that drives us all the time. It is the daily habits that we form that help us stay consistent. It is from those established habits that mental toughness is derived.
The egg and potato experiment inspires hope and optimism and reminds us that situations around us are no match for the strength we carry inside. It is not about what is happening around us, it is about how we choose to react to what is happening around us.