Greetings from Confidence Factory !
Last week I watched the movie ‘Kesari’. I must admit that I was blown away by the fact that an incident like this truly occurred. That twenty one Sikh soldiers in the British regiment, made a valiant attempt to fight 10,000 fanatics who invaded the fort. All 21 of them were awarded the Victoria Cross, the highest gallantry award conferred by England, during the British rule in India. It speaks of the unflinching courage and commitment of these soldiers. And this triggered a deep and intriguing thought in my mind.
What galvanized these intrepid fighters to be infused with such valour? How did they prepare themselves to plan, execute and see through the mission? The answer lies in the reprimand and relocation of the protagonist, by his reporting authority, and the wound that was inflicted on him by ridiculing his pride that he fiercely possessed.
The motivation or ‘josh’ stemmed from it and hence his decision. But then, what is obvious is half the truth. The deep root of it lay in his Self Belief or Confidence .
It was not an emotionally overwhelmed unit. Self assurance backed up by shrewd calculation was the hallmark of this operation. They had the self assurance and grit to hold the marauders till evening before the reinforcement could arrive.
Now that’s confidence at work. Confidence, according to researcher, Alexander Stajkovic, is a combination of four distinct elements, HOPE, EFFICACY, RESILIENCE and OPTIMISM. The Sikh soldiers were clearly hopeful that their plan could be implemented. They also believed that it was effective enough to fight the thousands. Over and above, they showed resilience by bouncing back from setbacks in terms of losing team members. Optimism with a positive mind, kept them focussed all through.
The starting letters of these four characteristics are H. E. R. O. They knew that they will have to lose the battle to win the war. The essence of these four words strongly bound them together. There was no doubt, no insecurity. Only bursts of confidence.
Various researches have also proved that Motivation, Skills and Will are not enough to achieve success. They need to be propelled by truckloads of confidence.
The story for students, young professionals and also others, in this young country, is interpreted this way.
If you trust yourself and convince others to trust you, while you keep yourself inspired and motivated, you can do a task effectively. However, when coupled with Confidence, you emerge a H. E. R. O.
Practising H. E. R. O. (Hope, I Efficacy, Resilience and Optimism) helps you not only channelize your nervous energy positively, but reassures you to be successful in every task undertaken by you.
Because, when energy is channelised negatively, it triggers nervousness and fear. On the contrary, when driven positively, the result is confidence .
My deferential salute to those 21 martyrs.
By Sangramjit Pujari
