Play your way up the learning curve
Foosball! I never understood it when I saw it. It looked silly and I couldn’t fathom the reason for all the excitement flying off the players (I thought Joey and Chandler were exaggerating it in FRIENDS). Then I tried my hand at it (for the first time at CitrusPay, 2 months back) and boy, I was terrible. The reason I write in the past tense is because I am not terrible anymore, I am well on my way to becoming terrific! The credit goes to what the game has taught me and some wonderful people I got to play with.
Let me share some of the lessons I learnt from this ‘silly’ game for gameplay, work & life:
- What looks silly, may not be all that silly. You need to give it time and attention in order to understand the underlying logic.
- Never start off by believing that you are bad at something. You can learn almost anything you want, if you focus on it.
- Do not give up too soon. Rome was not built in a day and miracles may not happen overnight. Practice and persevere with patience, you might be surprised by what you can do.
- Appreciate the talent in others. Play with those better than you so that your game gets better.
- Don’t be afraid to lose. You can’t learn to win without learning how to accept defeat. (This might sound clich éd. But its true)
- Play to Win! Winning is a mindset. Irrespective of what the end result is going to be, play like a winner, always. (I was on the verge of giving up on it when I changed my mindset)
- Mentor other players. Imparting your knowledge of the game and developing other players only makes you better.
- Don’t rest on your laurels. You might be the champion but the next challenger is just around the corner. So, keep learning and be humble.
- Play because you Love to play! Victories and defeats keep happening but that ‘fire’, that ‘passion’ for what you do, will keep you going.
- Be in the moment. Whatever you choose to do, be it playing a sport, singing a song, dancing, writing or building a space ship, be in the moment and give it all you have. You will be an artist creating a masterpiece.
So friends, if you haven’t already, roll up your sleeves and try a game of Foosball! Trust me, it’s worth it.