Many of us, if not all of us, regularly encounter situations when our personal confidence is tested. People come to tell us that we are not capable, that we cannot do it, that they tried and failed, that it is not possible. What is worse is that when we fail, some people tell us that we have reached the end of our capability, that there is no way out of our trouble, that we are total failures. Today, we want to discuss how you can gain courage to encounter such challenges positively.
We will begin with illustrations from Arsene Wenger, the manager or managing coach for Arsernal, one of the leading football clubs in the English Premier League (EPL). As you may have heard or watched the actual game, Arsenal lost by five goals to one to Liverpool on February 8 this year. This was a very embarrassing result for a team that has been topping the EPL most of the time during the current EPL season. Many people ridiculed Arsenal and Arsene Wenger about this embarrassing result.
What was worse was that not long after the devastating loss, Chelsea manager Jose’ Mourinho suggested that Wenger is a ‘specialist in failure.’ Many of us would have resigned from hope and completely given up if we had been subjected to the embarrassment that Wenger went through. But, Wenger kept faith. In fact, Wenger wanted to prove his doubters wrong. He wanted to prove Mourinho and all those that were ridiculing him and Arsenal wrong. The best proof would be on the football ground through great delivery and superb performance.
It was impressive that not many days after these negative experiences, Wenger took advantage of the game that they had against Liverpool on Sunday the 16th February. Wenger and his team made sure they held on to the narrow win that they registered on Sunday. This win was a great response to Mourinho’s statement. This win against Liverpool was a great statement to Liverpool and its fans. This was a great way of proving wrong everyone who thought that Arsenal has completely lost form.
Even at the start of the season, Arsenal suffered a major defeat. But again, they came out of that stronger with a series of football match wins. They were proving wrong those that thought Arsenal is no longer a force to reckon with. They proved wrong those that were celebrating the great loss that Arsenal had been subjected to. Clearly, the Arsenal boss Wenger has some tough muscle, very rigid stamina to be able to withstand such pressure and to come out of it much stronger than before.
In fact, we all need aspects of such strength. We will all suffer a failure of some sort from time to time. How prepared are we to withstand such catastrophic situations? We need to draw big lessons and strength from the experiences of Wenger and his Arsenal team as shared above. When we fail, we must stop wasting time brooding over grievances, complaining about past losses. Instead, we need to refocus our energies positively on next actions. We need to draw strength from those who ridicule us so that we can prove them wrong.
The best revenge is to do it best next time, not to fight the doubters. Prove them wrong by working hard. Even if it means doing it ten times again, do so until you prove them wrong. Focus on your game, on your goals and your plans, not on the onlookers. Play your game, not the game of others.
Move at your pace not the pace of others. If you stick to this approach, you are bound to triumph one day and that day, you will rise and shine like Wenger has been doing recently. Prove them wrong!
