This is a little story of a boy and a girl who were playing together. The boy had lot of marbles and the girl had sweets with her. The boy asked the girl if she would exchange her sweets for the marbles. The girl agreed and handed over all the sweets to the boy. However, the boy sneaked out the biggest and the most colorful marble that he had and gave the rest to the girl. That night the girl slept well but the boy was restless all night thinking that the girl may have hidden some sweets from him like the way he had hidden the marble.

The moral of the story is – ‘What you give is what you get and what you get is what you deserve’. In this case, the boy was not honest and thus had a sleepless night filled with doubt.

How often do we come across people who cheat themselves and blame the rest of the world or curse destiny for their level of existence? By nature most people like to play an inferior game and expect superior results; when results fail to come in, they begin the blame game. Isn’t that true?

Introspect and see if you too have been a victim of this self-initiated unfair game of defeat.

While you were in college, you wanted to score a distinction in your academics but put in efforts only to get a second class. What was the result?

While at work, you promised to achieve a certain result but failed to achieve it. Did you and your team really play the game of commitment at level 10?

While attending a training program you expected the trainer to give his level 10, but you never participated at level 10. What was the end result?

Think about it! Why do 1% of people control 85% of the wealth of the world? Why is it that only a handful of people have millions of followers? Why only a few people attain and maintain stardom? Why and how do champions become champions?

The answer is simple – they play their game at Level 10.

You can either believe in destiny or make your own destiny.

Do you think Sachin Tendulkar was destined to become a great cricketer or did he actually steer his life in a manner to become one? When he was barely 8 years he would spend hours practicing cricket, at the age of 12 he was scoring centuries, at the age of 16 years he played for our national team facing the likes of Imran Khan and Wasim Akram. Imagine if he had spent hours watching TV, playing silly games with friends or just lazing around for hours, would he have become an Icon?

At the age of 37, most people ignored his achievements and passion for the game and criticized him for not retiring. And he went to score a double century in one-day internationals, he was the most consistent performer in test matches and was also the highest run getter in the 3rd edition of IPL T20. Imagine if he had to give in to pressure and make compromises, he would not have been the God of Cricket like we know him.

The question is why only him? That is because he plays a superior game and gets superior results first in his mind and then on the field. And by the way, he is not the only one; haven’t we heard of Mahatma Gandhi, Nelson Mandela, Mother Teresa, Ratan Tata, Steve Jobs, Andrew Groove, Michael Jordan, Pele, Sergei Bubka, Michael Phelps, Usain Bolt and the list can go on. What made them champions? Level 10 attitude for success!