Being an out of form cricketer

The form of just one or two players in every tournament can ruin our hopes of winning it. Now that the T20 World cup is gathering momentum, we are likely to see a few players going through a bad patch. Here’s a quick take on it from a psychological perspective based on the conscious competence learning model. The best way to explain this is to wind back to our own childhood days and think of something that we really wanted to do. In my case, Cricket.

Rohit Sharma - under fire 

When I was about four years old, I was unconsciously incompetent, meaning that I didn’t even know whether I can play cricket or not. Then I started bugging just about anyone who could throw a ball at my tiny plastic bat. Even though the ball came at me at the speed of a thousandth of a Malinga delivery, most often than not, I missed, fumbled and fell. Now I had successfully graduated to being consciously incompetent. Then I tried playing more often, before school, after school, inside and outside the house and later on, by going for cricket practices. That was my attempt to be consciously competent. But that still won’t make a great batsman like Kholi, Amla or Mahela. That also explains why I am only writing this article and not playing in the tournament. As one keeps practicing, one becomes unconsciously competent. You no longer have to think of the shots to play, where to place them, how hard and at which angle to hit them. All of it comes naturally, almost like the ball wants to be caressed by the bat. That’s when you are a good batsman. You are on autopilot.

Thinking is an exhaustive process and a player can’t bat through many overs with higher levels of mental exhaustion. So, a few shots after a batsman has walked in to the middle, his autopilot needs to take over.  Imagine the kind of pressure the reflective system that handles thinking has to deal with; playing for the country, the atmosphere, the target to reach and the overs remaining, with the speed of the delivery, the spin, the angle, the muscle co-ordination. It’s just too much. That’s when a batsman miss -times a ball and gets out. It’s purely because the reflective system in the brain is slower and this is further hampered by the situational pressures. He can play only a few deliveries with this kind of pressure but can’t keep it up for long. It is when the transition from the reflective system to the autopilot mode doesn’t happen, that a batsman is out of form, much to our dismay.

Not being a sportsman doesn’t mean you’re spared from being out of form. It is something we all go through, in our daily lives. Fortunately for us though, the entire world isn’t watching us when that happens

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Selling the unsellable

I just can’t get enough of this. Enjoy!

How the web decides what we see..

Click here to pop your filter bubble.

How to trick your mind into dropping those few inches from your waist

Google pics

Have you ever used your own bag of tricks on your own self? I have. Remember the way I quit smoking? It’s been a year and half and I am still off those cigarettes. And now I am on a new mission. To lose a good three inches off my pot belly.

The curse of being over-weight could be attributed to many factors, from genetics to culture, but really, it is mostly due to the sheer lack of will power, viz: not committing to regular exercise and giving in to the moment. The whole of last year, I set my mind on trying to walk regularly and going somewhat easy on my poor dietary habits. Both have failed miserably. I could say the walks failed because it rains here all the time, with no apparent weather pattern, even though I didn’t walk on perfectly fine days, sometimes. Going easy on food seems really hard considering I eat out all the time, but more often than not, I am guilty of giving in to my taste buds rather than choosing the healthier options out there. Since the strategy of trying to burn up the calorie intake has clearly not worked, I have now revised my approach to, ‘Reduce the intake and walk whenever possible’. So here’s how I have reprogrammed my thinking and am strengthening my will power. I have hung a regular measuring tape outside the wardrobe and every morning, I spend just five seconds measuring my waist and telling myself, “I am not eating high calorie stuff today”, then I open the wardrobe and survey all the clothes I can’t fit into any more.

So far, it has worked. It has been fifteen days, since. Hopefully, it will work.

The rich alone, can save the planet

Let’s assume that Al Gore and his goons were right about global warming. And that, we, being the most dominant species, are again the very core of the center of things. Which means that, we all need to unplug our chargers on time, may be even just take a nap instead of driving down to the park during weekends. While all eco messages burn a rather morbid image  into the deepest recesses of our minds, that post Sunday mass we will all either be burnt toast or unprocessed-blast-frozen-human-meat (they are not sure which one yet), actions clearly scream otherwise, considering that all ecologically made products, be it solar panels or eco cigarettes, are exorbitantly priced.

Marketers seem to follow the same old ice-age marketing tactics, like first capturing the innovators and then finding ways to spread to other segments. Now, is it due to sheer lack of imagination that they can’t find another way, whereby more people could be converted, or is it born from the belief that only the rich can save the planet?

Anyway, here are a couple of easy things to do if you are broke and still want to do do your bit for Al. Make it hip to wear crushed clothes. It saves a lot of electricity and I absolutely hate ironing. Go back to basics and to our savage ways by eating uncooked veggies and meat. If the Japanese can, so can we, emancipating those millions of women from legal slavery while we are at it.

Insightful 2011

I guess by now many must have wished you a happy, healthy, peaceful, and prosperous 2011. But here's my wish for you - an Insightful 2011. Watch this video to see one woman doing just that!

 

Why we must all shop like women do

I am sure this is going to hurt a lot of people, especially every kind of Marketer. In my opinion, Consumers must ensure their highest loyalty to themselves alone, by exploring new options. Benefits reaped, such as improving one’s knowledge base, enjoying new experiences and opening up new avenues of opportunity, definitely weigh heavier than loyalty.

The truth is, when all other sellers are thinking of making money from their buyer’s repeat purchases, Consumers must be smart in making the most from their first transaction, each time, much like a woman shopping for her clothes, bags and shoes. Exploring some places not usually on your radar may not work for breakfast cereals and candy bars, but it’s surely going to work for most other stuff.

So in 2011, make the better New Year resolution: “to be loyal to yourself and yourself alone!”

Have a fantastic 2011

Silentdog