Australia Vs England
Yesterday, I was watching Australia Vs England the ashes series that is going on. It was an interesting contest. Australia scored 152 in the first innings followed by a 110 of England. It looked like no matter how badly Australia plays, England was there saying, we can play even worse. I thought 152 is literally nothing in terms of score. The next thing that happened, Australia came out to bad, scored a 132 all out. Wow. Now that means there was something in the pitch. It was a tough job to bat on the wicket. 174 would not be an easy score to chase. That was the actual moment I started watching the game. England's second innings, and the match's 4th innings was the point I was watching the game.
The commentators were saying the Australian's were disciplined and patient about the game. They did not chase after wickets and hence they got the wickets. Now this was a time, the game just had 174 on the board, and the Australians were desperate in search of a wicket. I know the challenge of getting the wicket, and rather I understand the desperation as well. However, the thing that works in the long run is patience and discipline without desperation. That's what I learnt. If you get too desperate in trying to get what you want, you lose patience and discipline. That's the difficult thing to build. Especially during tough moments, it's the pressure that can get to us. Through this blog, I want to tell you that do not try too hard for everything, let things come to you. Do your job well and be patient.
In the quest for their wickets, Australian's were leaking runs. Sometimes too short, sometimes too full. Although, Starcy was bowling really well. I could see why he is so threatening, swinging the ball after pitching at 144kmph. That's extremely difficult to play. So I repeat the words to you, patience, discipline and no desperation. In everything, at work, in relationships, and in friendships. Have these 3 things and you are going to achieve a lot in life.
The question that arises is that how do we do this in our practical world? What is it that makes us patient? What is it that makes us disciplined? What is it that makes our relationship's beautiful. Let's go back to the drawing board to see the benefits of patience. First of all, let's understand patience, and what I mean by it. It does not mean passively sitting. To me patience is sitting with something for a long period of time. Whether that is patience with work, whether that is patience with a colleague, or the patience of sitting with a problem for a long period of time. Patience is the basis on which life is built. Patience is about doing things day in and out, knowing that it will pay off. Patience is about having a good attitude when things don't go your way. You know what patience brings, it brings depth. It brings confidence. And most importantly it brings big things come into life.
A house is built, wall by wall, brick by brick, atom by atom, if we go towards that granularity. A principal engineer is built, by understanding one technology in depth, and the next one and the next one and after doing multiple rounds of going through the SDL cycle. From coding to deploying. And then of course being able to design the system. It's a rare trait and that's why it's expensive. Beautiful relationships are not built in a day, it's built by continuous efforts. Lots of understanding. Lots of listening. Lots of patience. Lots of knowing each other inside out. You know what all of this brings about, authentic confidence, the real confidence that one is able to manage life and its circumstances through the sheer depth and patience of working towards a better future.
Now the question about desperation. Desperation is when you are in search of something very quickly. You want the wickets very quickly, you want to be a principal software engineer very quickly, you want to earn money very quickly, you want to score runs without practice, if you want to score a century quickly, it's not about the 33 ball, 35 ball century, but it's about the amount of patience you need behind close doors. A quick century is actually a result of years of patience to get better at the skill of scoring a quick century. Your desperation of doing anything quickly is your biggest hurdle to success. While your desperation will scream and lose a lot of quality in the process, others will utilise their patience in the meanwhile to get successful.
The next point is about discipline. Imagine you have a big goal in life. If that is about building a home, it can be about mastering software with depth, all of this takes years of practice to get better at. This requires discipline to achieve it. It's this discipline that makes things better for you and the world around. Discipline is choosing what will give you value in the long run, rather than short term value. It's about choosing your goals over your urges. On a different note, it also makes you feel good about yourself. You know what discipline is hard. Discipline also requires a lot of patience and hard work. But it is also worth it when you see the results. You know there are some books about discipline that also add a lot of value to your life. You should read the books and reading some books like these will improve your life so much everyday that you won't even think of anything else.
Reading books is a valuable addition to your life. I think discipline is also about reading books. It's a discipline, it's not result.
What you can do today?
1. Audit your "Bowling Line" Just as the Australians were leaking runs by bowling too short or too full in their desperation for a wicket, ask yourself: Where am I rushing? Look at your work or your relationships. Are you trying to force a result (the wicket) rather than focusing on the process (the line and length)? Catch yourself in that moment of desperation, take a deep breath, and step back. Remind yourself: Let the result come to me.
2. Lay one single brick Stop worrying about becoming the Principal Engineer or building the whole house today. Instead, identify one small "brick" you can lay with absolute quality. Maybe it is understanding one specific line of code deeply, or listening to your partner for 10 minutes without interrupting to give advice. Do one thing with depth rather than ten things with haste.
3. Build the "Reading Muscle" You might wonder why I mentioned reading. It is because reading is the gym for patience. Today, pick up a book, not a tweet, not a blog post, but a physical book. Commit to reading just 10 pages. Sit with it. Do not check your phone. This isn't just about learning facts; it is about training your brain to be disciplined and focused. If you can sit with a book for 30 minutes, you are building the exact same patience required to bat on a turning wicket or debug a complex system.
Start there. Be patient. Be disciplined. And let the wickets come to you.
Practical tips:
Start Small with Patience: Pick one area in your life where you've been rushing. Maybe it's learning a new skill or waiting for results at work. Commit to giving it one more week of focused effort without checking for results. Trust the process.
Identify Your Desperation Triggers: Write down three things you're feeling desperate about right now. Ask yourself: "What am I afraid will happen if I slow down?" Often, recognizing the fear behind desperation is the first step to overcoming it.
Build One Disciplined Habit: Choose one small action that aligns with your long-term goals and commit to doing it daily for the next 7 days. It could be reading for 15 minutes, writing code for 30 minutes, or having a meaningful conversation with someone you care about. Don't aim for perfection, just consistency.
Practice the Pause: The next time you feel the urge to force something or rush a process, pause for 30 seconds. Take three deep breaths. Ask yourself: "Am I being patient and disciplined, or am I being desperate?" Then proceed with awareness.
Reflect on Your Progress: At the end of each day this week, spend 5 minutes reflecting. Did you practice patience today? Where did desperation show up? Did you maintain your discipline? This self-awareness is what transforms these concepts from ideas into lived experiences.
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