Fear of the unknown

There are times when we get stuck. Stuck at a point from where we cannot move ahead or think of any solution. We try several times, make the same mistakes over and over again and finally give up excruciated, drained out.

We think: "What wrong am I doing?", "It should work but why it isn't?" and things like these. And when all this happens over and over again, we fear it, avoid it, curse it. What we do not confess to anyone, or even to ourselves, is that the fear is nothing but ignorance, the avoidance hatred, the cursing jealousy. Ignorance of not being able to decipher the code, get the gist of it; hatred of getting accross something like this when everything was going on smoothly; jealousy of people who have got through such situations, who seem to have mastered a trick still unknown to you, and teasing you.

Instead of going haywire, kicking the coffee table and picking up the telephone and throwing it on the ground, what we need to do is sit down and ask yourself one question: "Do I need to learn something new?". These are the times when you have to ascend to a higher level. This is what they call risk management. There was a time when in business people avoided risks, longed to make it more secure than profitable. They feared risks, avoided them. But they saw some people taking risks and still getting away with its dangers. They started envying them. What they did not understand was that when they stopped muttering over their misfortune, that's the moment they'd start thinking of some soultion.

Every good businessman says "Play it safe. Avoid risks". Every great businessman says "Take risks and learn to manage them". It's the fear that makes them stop thinking and start muttering. It's the fear that creates the difference. Those who have the guts to fight it, overcome it, work it out are the haves. Those who can't the have-nots.

Have you ever wondered why a highly skillful batsman like Rahul Dravid is struggling with his form while someone like Dhoni who, many would agree, doesn't possess that technical soundness and finesse, creating waves when many would have thought he wouldn't last even a few years in international cricket. Well, here he is, four years after making a trigger-happy, rash century against Pakistan, which could well have been a fluke, on top of the world being the most valuable player, the best captain and what not! But then how has he managed not just to survive at the big stage but rule it the way Dravid never could?

The key is adapting, acclimatising, changing and more importantly knowing when to change. When to ask youself the question: "Do I need to learn something new?". That's how you can find the answer and jump over the hurdle. That's how you can zoom in and see what you were unable to see. You'll find out what you didn't know, the unknown. The fear will fade away. And you will win it. All you need to do is zoom in into the finer details. Kyunki 'Darr ke aage jeet hai'.