Realize your potential by competing with yourself

If you could identify the athlete below accept me giving you a warm handshake.

 Did you also know that he held the world record in Pole Vault for a good 30 years, and he was the one who broke the psychological barrier of jumping and clearing a height of 6.00 meters with the help of a pole? 6.0 meters, almost close to 20 feet; that is the height of a two storey building! 

Talk about sustained motivation? While improving his own record event after event, he broke world record in pole vault 35 times! 

For those of you who still can’t identify; this legendary athlete’s name is Sergey Bubka. He set his first world record of 5.85 meters on 26 May 1984, which he improved to 5.88 meter a week later, and then to 5.90 meter a month later. He cleared 6.00 metres in 1985 - a height that had long been considered unattainable. With virtually no opponents, Bubka improved his own record over the next 10 years until he reached his career best and the then world record of 6.14 meters (20 feet 13? inches) in 1994. 

Bubka improved the world record by 21 centimetres (8 inches) in the period from 1984 to 1988, more than other pole vaulters had achieved in the previous 12 years. He cleared a height of 6.00 meters or higher on 45 occasions, more than all other athletes in history of the sport combined till the year 2010. 

True; during our college days anytime there was an international track and field sports event we were used to Sergey Bubka making sports headline, “Bubka broke his own Pole Vault record again!” 

Pole Vault! This field and track event sport is played with just one assist tool in hand; a pole usually much longer than your own height. You run with the pole in hand, plant it firmly just before approaching the target horizontal bar, bend the pole to store some energy while you convert your horizontal running to a vertical jump, attain as much height as possible by using the stored energy released from the pole, control your body as you vault into the air and release the bar after clearing the horizontal bar skilfully! And then, 

Then what? 

If you are skilled enough, you land safely on the other side of the bar, like Bubka did while breaking his own record 35 times; if you are like me, you fall on the same side from where you had taken off and quit playing the sport! 

Pole vaulters combine some of the best track and field qualities into one event. They require the leaping strength that any good jumper possesses, together with a gymnastic-like ability to control their bodies in the air. A successful vaulter generally has a sprinter’s speed, and must build that speed while carrying a long pole. Finally, pole vaulters need to focus on their body; they are typically tall and lean, they require strong arms to control, plant and push off from the pole. In short, they have to be well-coordinated athletes who can multi-task athletically. Beginning vaulters may learn the different aspects of the sport separately, but ultimately a successful vaulter must treat the sport as one continuous manoeuvre, with each segment flowing smoothly into the next. 

Any time you’re vaulting yourself into the air there’s some risk. As a beginner, you won’t be vaulting immediately, and when you begin you won’t be vaulting very high. Some coaches invest in extra-large landing pads to protect young vaulter trainees if their jumps go amiss. It is also important to match a vaulter trainee with the correctly-sized pole for better control of his initial vaults. 

A pole vaulter’s first lessons will likely include the proper way to grip the pole, and how to hold it at the start of your run-up. You will place your hands about shoulder-width apart toward the top of the pole, with your dominant hand closer to the end. In the long run you’ll want to grip the pole as close to the end as possible. In the beginning, however, your coach will have you place your hands in the proper positions, depending on the type of pole you’re using and the speed of your approach run. He may by all probability try you to take your first vault without the horizontal bar! 

Enough of pretending to be a pole vault coach without being good at it myself; getting back to the blogpost, in such a competitive sport who was Sergey Bubka competing with when he was breaking the world record year after year, event after event, for not just once or twice, but 35 times over his illustrious career? 

He was competing with himself! 

That is where most of us fundamentally go wrong as individuals. We compete with others furiously, but don’t compete with ourselves objectively. 

Segey Bubka woke up every morning thinking how he could be an improved pole vaulter compared to what he was just the previous day; with several questions in his mind – “How could I grip the pole better today? How could I optimize my run up as I hold the pole and approach the planting point today? How do I bend the pole as I take off today? How do I release the pole at the right point, after exploiting every bit of energy stored in the pole today? Most importantly, what do I today to maintain a BMI required for a champion pole vaulter?” 

As professionals, our life should be no different. Every morning we should wake up thinking, how can I learn few new things and apply the learning to the day to day job I am executing? 

I am good at doing my work; how can I present my ideas to my stakeholders with convincing algorithms and flow of thoughts? 

I am good at a particular skill; how can I pick up few complimentary skills and have an improved understanding of a broader application space? 

In short, how can I be a better myself, compared to what I was yesterday? 

Friends, I thought of picking up Sergey Bubka’s example to emphasize the thought process of continuous improvement and realizing ones potential by comparing with the self. Would love to hear your thoughts and comments, also any other exemplifying examples on the topic…